Mileena paused at the door to the small house. The sight of a man crashing through a window had done nothing to calm her nerves at approaching it's inhabitants. Is this how they handle unwelcome visitors? Mileena wondered.
Mileena's heart fell as she thought of her recent experiences of acceptance. She could still remember her last day at the castle with vivid clarity.
Mileena had woken up that day to be greeted by silence. The usual rustling of clothes and the heavy breathing of the guards that so normally greeted her were missing. She quickly got up and dressed. She poked her head out of her rooms, hoping to find her ears had decieved her. Unfortunately, they had been telling the truth. No one was around where so much activity normally happened. No one was here. Maybe they were somewhere else. Mileena walked the halls of the castle in hopes of finding anyone to tell her she wasn't the only one left. It took her awhile, but she succeeded in her goal. Partly.
After hours of aimless wandering, she had come across Sheeva striding toward the door a few feet behind Goro. "Sheeva!" She had called to the four-armed female. "Where is everyone?"
Sheeva stopped in her stride and turned to look at her with something almost resembling pity written on her strange shokan features. "They've all left, Mileena. We ourselves are on our way."
Mileena was confused. They've all left? Without telling me?
"But why?"
Goro answered this question, the contempt in his voice throwing a sickening feeling in the pit of Mileena's stomach. "The emperor is dead. There is no reason to continue living here. We go to claim our homeland, before the centaurs have the chance to take what is ours."
Mileena was scared at the thought of being alone in the huge castle. It wasn't exactly the friendliest of places. "Can I come?"
Sheeva cast a glance at Goro here. Goro had merely tilted his head and frowned. The look still stung Mileena, even now. Sheeva nodded at Goro and turned back to face the hapless girl. "I'm sorry Mileena, but you can't join us. You're too…"
"Freakish," Goro muttered. Sheeva cast her male counterpart a withering glance.
"What do I do then?" Mileena asked Sheeva with wide eyes. She couldn't remain at the castle all by herself.
"I don't know, Mileena. I bid you farewell." Sheeva turned and walked out, tailing Goro's departure.
And just like that, Mileena was alone. All alone. She sat down and began to cry.
After a while, she grew tired of crying, but she was still horribly lonely. She still couldn't believe everyone had left. Even Baraka. Baraka was a Tarkatan, similar to her. Out of all of the castle's inhabitants, she had felt closest to the general. The thought that he had just abandoned her cut Mileena deeply.
Mileena picked herself up and began to wander around the castle aimlessly. Her journey took her through both magnificent and plain rooms, through dark halls and breath-taking walkways. Also, it took her through the kitchen.
Mileena was disheartened to discover the kitchens had been raided. Hunger had began to gnaw at her some hours ago, and the lack of food did nothing to lift her spirits. She managed to find a bag of hard tack at the back of a dusty closet. She tasted the dry morsels, and promptly spit out what had previously entered her mouth. She left the kitchens more depressed than she had come.
Her directionless wandering eventually took her to Quan Chi's old quarters. Before, she had been forbidden to enter the sorcerer's rooms. They hadn't given her an exact reason, but she wasn't about to question the emperor's orders. Now everyone was gone. She looked around anyway, in case someone might be watching. Hesitantly, she pushed open the doors and went in.
A chill ran through her. The sorcerer was gone, but she could still feel his danger. Perhaps her father had been wise in banning her from these quarters.
The sorcerer's quarters were surprisingly Spartan for one of the emperor's higher ranking followers, although lavish by any standards. Rich, thick carpet covered the floor, tempting Mileena to take off her boots and let her feet sink in it's luxury. She obliged. A huge bed was leaned against one wall, facing an intricately carved cabinet. She wandered into a couple of adjacent rooms, finding nothing out of the ordinary, just a bathroom and a writing room. She went back to the first room. She looked at the cabinet again. I wonder if there's anything interesting inside it. It does belong to a sorcerer, after all.
The promise of adventure lifted Mileena's bruised spirits. There was bound to be something interesting in the sorcerer's cabinet. Maybe some potions. She held her breath and opened the cabinet. It was completely bare. Row after row of empty dust-covered shelves stared back at her. She picked up the offending cabinet and hurled it at the wall to her left. The sight of it breaking into so many pieces satisfied her for a minute, but whatever satisfaction it brought was short-lived. The ache of loneliness wouldn't leave. Then she turned back to the cabinet's original location. And gasped.
A portal had appeared where the cabinet had stood. Mileena stared wide-eyed at it for a few minutes. It was definitely the work of Quan Chi. Shang Tsung's portals were made of fire, while this one had the eerie chill of souls. Should she go through it? It could lead anywhere. Then she remembered where she was. There was nothing – and no one – here for her. Maybe she would find someone willing to accept her wherever the portal might take her. She stepped through the portal.
The portal had ended up leading to the site of the invasion. Mileena had looked around for a few minutes at the ruins where the battles had raged heaviest. Now that she was here, she realized how lost she really was. She had only ever been here once before, and it hadn't been on the best of terms. She had been sent here to kill those who opposed her father's plans, the earthrealm warriors. Then it struck her. The earthrealm warriors!
She stopped a nearby pedestrian who was hurrying along the sidewalk. "Do you know where I can find the earthrealm warriors?"
The man was staring at her body for some odd reason. She couldn't fathom why. As far as she knew, her body was the same as most female humans. It was her mouth that most found scary, and that was hidden behind a veil.
"Who?" the man asked.
"The earthrealm warriors." Mileena frowned as she tried to remember names, but none came forth. Then her countanance brightened as she remembered one of the warriors had a rather large tattoo on his chest. Surely the man would be able to recognize who she was talking about.
"One of them has a tattoo on his chest, about here," She gestured to her own chest where the tattoo would lie. The man stared intently at the implied area.
"Oh yeah, them. They're staying in one of the outskirt houses. It's over that way." The man vaguely waved down the road to Mileena's right. He hadn't shifted his gaze. "They're in the only blue house there. Can't miss it."
"Thank you," Mileena said, and bowed to the man. The man raised his eyebrows, but did not return the bow, which struck Mileena as rude. She hoped the warriors were nicer.
That had been some hours ago, and now she stood in front of the door to the house that held the earthrealm warriors. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
The door was opened by the blonde warrior. "Holy shit," the blonde said. Then the door was slammed shut.
"Who's at the door?" Mileena heard a man call, presumably to the woman.
"Come here!" the blonde woman shouted back.
The door was opened once more, this time by the warrior with the tattoo. He looked shocked to see Mileena at his doorstep, but didn't react as fiercely as the woman had. "Hey," the man said.
"Hey," Mileena answered quietly. This didn't look too bad. At least the male warrior was actually talking to her. Mileena hoped this was a good sign. Then the female stepped back into the doorway.
"What the hell is she doing here?" the woman asked her companion.
"Hell if I know, but I've got just the person to ask." The man turned back to Mileena. "Wanna come in?" The woman looked aghast at the man, but was too far in shock to stop him.
"Ok," Mileena replied. She followed the man into the house and into the living room.
"Have a seat," the man told her. Mileena did as she was asked and perched on the couch. She looked expectantly at the two warriors. "So, what brings you here?"
"The castle is empty, so I came here. Can I stay?" Mileena asked the two warriors.
"Yea-"the man started, but was cut off by the blonde.
"Johnny, can I see you for a moment in the kitchen?" the woman asked Johnny.
"Sure Sonya," Johnny replied.
The two warriors – now known to Mileena as Johnny and Sonya – left for the kitchen. Mileena could still hear them though. Her tarkatan senses were stronger than an average human's.
"What the hell," Sonya was saying to Johnny. "You're just going to let her stay here? Just like that? She could be a spy! You can't trust her."
Johnny replied easily. "Didn't look like a spy. And anyway, why can't I? I don't remember her ever telling me any lies."
"Because you've talked her so often!" The woman went on. "You know she's crazy, right? For God's sake, she's not even wearing shoes. What do you think Raiden will have to say about this?"
"I don't know." Johnny said cockily. "I guess we'll just have to find out."
Johnny walked back into the living room, followed by a very pissed Sonya. "Looks like you're staying." Johnny announced.
Mileena smiled, though neither of the warriors could see it, and clapped her hands. "Thank you," Mileena said, more to Johnny than to Sonya.
"Come on, we'll get you settled in Sonya's room," Johnny told Mileena. Then Johnny turned around and saw Sonya's face. "On second thought, you can sleep here with me. Is that OK?"
"That's good," Mileena answered. She was relieved she wouldn't have to room with the mean blonde. She would have chosen Johnny any day.
Just then, Raiden appeared in his customary burst of lightning in the middle of the living room. Mileena nearly fell off the couch, but steadied herself as she saw what the lightning became. She was still awed by the whole affair. The thunder god certainly was an impressive figure. He seemed to be a bit excited at the moment, which did nothing to diminish his intimidating presence. "Johnny, Sonya! Are you two alright? I saw-" Raiden saw the woman on the couch. "Why is she here?" Raiden didn't say it with any hostility though, more out of curiosity, so Mileena didn't take offense.
"About time you joined the party, Raiden," Johnny said. "You just missed Saibot though.
"Too bad you couldn't have been here earlier." Sonya added.
Raiden looked at the broken window. "I see."
"This is Mileena. She's decided to join us." Johnny informed Raiden.
"Yes Raiden, Johnny had decided it would be a great idea to have a-" Sonya looked hard at Mileena. Mileena squirmed a bit in her seat. "-to have Mileena join our cause."
Raiden studied Mileena for a while. Mileena, for her part, regarded just as carefully the storm warrior while he stood there. She took in how the thunder god stood. A lot of his father's generals had stood like that. His eyes also earned her attention for a long while. Although they showed nothing but white, they still were unusually emotional, openly displaying the god's intense focus. Mileena guessed they would betray the storm warrior's various other emotions as they came. All together, she thought the eyes looked rather nice.
"I see no reason this should not be," Raiden finally stated. Mileena felt a thrill of joy run through her. They're keeping me.
"Cool then," Johnny said. "Will you be staying too?" he asked Raiden. "Seems like this is where it's at tonight."
"No, I must go tend to the city's needs. I shall be watching." Raiden left in a burst of lightning, making Mileena jump. The earthrealm warriors hardly reacted though. I guess he does that a lot.
"I feel so safe," Sonya muttered.
"Imma go get some blankets and stuff. You can have the couch," Johnny said to a grateful Mileena. Maybe this man would like to be her friend. He was definetly nicer than Baraka had been. Johnny left, presumably to get some blankets.
Sonya didn't seem inclined to leave yet. "Don't try anything. Johnny may be willing to trust anything that comes his way, but I'm not fooled so easily. I Will be watching you." Mileena just looked at the woman. Sonya didn't seem terribly pleased by this reaction and swept off to her room.
Johnny reappeared at the doorway. "Goodnight Sonya!" he called out to the angry blonde. Sonya didn't reply.
"Here's a pillow for you, and here's a pillow for me." Johnny handed Mileena her pillow. "Now, which blanket do you want?"