"Ama. Ama, get up."
I groaned and rolled over to the other side of my body. I heard an unsatisfied groan and felt my body shaking rather violently.
"Ama, I said get up!"
"Not now, Ma..." I groaned.
"Wha...Ama, get up. Seriously, this isn't funny."
"Noo..."
Smoke picked me up by my torso and shook me. "Ama. Ama!"
"I said nooo!" I droaned, my eyes still closed and drool escaping my lips.
He huffed and lay me down. Growing satisfied once I felt his body leave the bed, I snuggled deep in to the bed sheets and tried to allow myself to re-enter dream land. That's when I felt myself being abruptly dragged out of bed. My eyes shot open, I panicked as my body flew away from the warmth and comfort of the king sized bed and I saw Smoke pulling me without any hesitation or trouble.
"Smoke!" I screamed.
"Hush up, you'll wake everybody else up." He said cooly, still pulling me.
I grabbed on to the end of the bed and Smoke sighed. "Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Ama."
"Too late! Release me!"
"Release the bed post and I'll consider."
"Never!"
"Alright, have it your way." Smoke replied as he raised his eyebrows.
What was he going to do? I felt something warm by my feet and as I looked down, I saw him concoct a growing cloud of smoke.
"What are you doing?!" I yowled.
"I told you to be quiet." Smoke hissed, his face suddenly turned intimidating and serious.
I settled down, but that didn't mean that I got up. Smoke watched me carefully, his patience obviously growing thin.
"What do you not understand, Ama. I told you to get up."
I raised my eyebrows. "That doesn't mean I'm going to."
In seconds, he forcefully pulled me by my feet from the bed. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with a tremendous headache. My head must have hit the ground with a cracking amount of force.
"Ahh, damn..." I swore under my breath, trying to settle the roaring inside of my head.
"I had warned you," Smoke said indifferently, walking around me to fix the crinkled sheets. "I'm sorry to inform you that you need to get up early for your training sessions, your majesty."
I threw him a harsh glare and rubbed my head. "What...what time is it..."
"Three o'clock." He responded.
"...Come again?"
"You heard me. Breakfast will be given to you after your training session."
"Ugh...how long is the training session?" I stood on my feet, rubbed my head, and felt my stomach growling right on cue.
"Five hours."
"Fi! Five?!"
He smirked. "You complain a lot, Ama. And yes, you heard me correctly, five."
"What...what are we going to be doing for five hours?!"
"Uh. Training?" He said sarcastically, still fixing the crinkled sheets.
"Oh..." I blushed. The headache was still there, but it wasn't all too bad as it was before. Blasted Smoke and his super-human strength. Or..super enenra strength...or...gah, forget it.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked.
"Very. Then you had to come along." I complained, crossing my arms and staring out the window.
"You know how easy life is," Smoke chuckled. "Besides, Sub-Zero hates late pupils. He punishes them with another hour of training sessions, and he doesn't make them easy."
"That doesn't surprise me, Smoke."
"Just saying, no need to be so defensive."
I huffed and walked over to the window. The moon was still high in the sky, beaming gracefully at me. I should have seen it as a blessing, but saw it as a bother instead. I had the whole day ahead of me and freaking Sub-Zero wanted to train me now, at three o'clock in the morning?!
"You may want to prepare yourself, Ama. Stretch, breathe, give yourself ample time to relax before training."
"Right, right." I took in a deep breath, held it, then released it after a couple of seconds. Then, I touched my toes and felt my back crack. Done. I straightened my body and watched Smoke as he fixed the bed.
"I didn't know you snored, Ama." Smoke sighed.
"I...I do?"
"Uh huh. Pretty loud too, you have no shame in it. You also seem to talk in your sleep, which is a phenomenon to me."
"You've...you've never heard anybody talk in their sleep?"
"No. It was...new for me. I thought that you were trying to converse with me, but you weren't. It was more than a little strange."
I giggled and blushed. "Well, that makes both of us. I didn't know that I snored and talked in my sleep!"
He laughed and grabbed the pillow from the bed to fluff it up. However, he looked at it questionably.
"What is it? I asked.
"...Do you know that you...drool in your sleep? This pillow is soaked."
"Oh cracker jacks, yeah. I knew that."
He laughed and threw the pillow to the ground like it were a dead animal. "No harm done, the custodians will worry about that. Did I mention that you soaked the whole damn pillow?"
"Shut up, Smoke..." I blushed.
He laughed and patted my back. "Come, let's go."
"Uh...I don't have anything presentable to wear, Smoke. I can't train in a school uniform."
"Lesson number one, Ama. You deal with what you have and shut up about what you don't have."
"...Great."
"Let's go. He's been waiting for a while now."
"Wait, a while? What time did he get up?"
"Earlier than you did, that's for sure."
"How early are we talking here, Smoke."
"Two hours earlier than you, Ama." I could tell he was peeved at me just by hearing his short, clipped way of speaking. He obviously wasn't a morning person. Or maybe he was, but I just knocked it out of him.
He took my arm and opened the door quietly. "Are you ready?"
"Do I have a choice?" I asked, irritated.
"No. Let's go."
He pulled me alongside him just like he did yesterday. On our way to the training grounds, he was speed-walking once again, so I couldn't keep up. My sweat actually began to drop on to the ground, but he didn't seem to notice or care. He just didn't want me to get there late...whatever late meant around here. The sun didn't show any sign of rising, the moon was still high in the sky; this was not late. This was disturbingly early.
"Keep up with me, Ama." Smoke scolded, his grip on my arm turning in to one that belonged to death itself.
"I would if you would just slow down." I complained.
"It doesn't take much to break your shy side, does it?" He asked, still tugging me along.
"You remind me of my younger brother. Only you're older. Way older. And way hotter."
"I'll take that as a compliment I suppose, considering what I told you last night about you being a long lost sister."
The more he pulled, the more my arm cried out for a breather. He was moving so quickly, his grip was so tight, I was sweating so profusely; this felt like my training, screw training with Sub-Zero.
After another fifty minutes of being dragged by Smoke and complaints spewing from my lips, we arrived at the training grounds. There was Sub-Zero at the center, his legs crossed in a criss-cross applesauce way, his hands resting on his knees, and his eyes closed. Smoke huffed and firmly placed me in front of him, both of his hands rested on my shoulders.
"We are here, Grandmaster. I apologize for being so late."
...Late? I looked up at Smoke, giving him a 'We aren't late, it's early! Early I say!' look.
Sub-Zero opened his eyes and looked at me. "It isn't your fault Smoke, but Ama's. She must learn to wake up at the necessary time, show up prepared and ready to learn."
My mouth dropped open. What? This is my first freaking day, Subby! Cut me some slack, man!
"I'll leave her to you then," Smoke bowed and crossed his right hand over his chest. "Be stealthful as the night."
Sub-Zero stood and returned the gesture. "And deadly as the dawn."
Smoke straightened, gave me a small wink, and was gone in a flash.
"Oh no..." I moaned as I threw my head up dramatically, closing my eyes.
Sub-Zero cleared his throat and I looked over at him, his fists clenched. "Let's get started."
I walked over to him unassumingly and lowered my head. I knew that he was towering over me, and it scared the bejeezus out of me.
"What do you know besides drawing, writing, and singing, Ama." Sub-Zero demanded.
My throat closed up and I played with my fingers. "N-N-N-N-N-Nothing."
"Hmmph."
...Oh jeez, what did that mean?!
"Then we start with the basics." He announced as he stood to my left.
"B-B-Bas-B-Basics?"
He nodded once and sat back down. "Sit."
I did as he said and watched as he had took his previous position. "Do as I'm doing."
I crossed my legs criss-cross applesauce and grunted in the process. I hated criss-cross applesauce...my legs always fell asleep. After doing what I could with that position, I rested my hands on my knees and looked over to him. He wasn't even looking at me, how did I know that I was doing the position correctly?!
"Now, close your eyes and focus."
"...A-A-Am I positioned correctly?" I whimpered.
Sub-Zero looked at me and nodded in response. I smiled, briefly proud of myself.
"Focus." He commanded.
"Oop..." I blushed as I closed my eyes. Wait. What was I suppossed to focus on? Anything? Yeah, I'll just go with that. He didn't tell me what to focus on, so I could think about Edenia again. Right?
"Quiet your mind. I can hear your thoughts." Sub-Zero scolded.
...No...freaking...way. He could hear what I was thinking? How did he do that?! Wait, could all of the Lin Kuei members do that shit?!
"Ama." He boomed.
Oh...oops. I refocused my thoughts and the image of clear springs entered my mind. Was this the Edenian fountains that Smoke had told me about last night? Ooh, they were so pleasing to the mind's eye. The water jumped in different directions, sprouting from the main stream yet rejoining it after a couple of seconds only to have all of it land in the grand pool below. It was like a dance; the main flow was the man while the sprouting water was the female. The pool surrounding this one specific fountain was seemingly transparent, exotic fishes of purple and green swimming peacefully, their fins flowing along with the water. I smiled and lifted my head only to see the top of the fountain, somehow discolored. This discoloration didn't make it hideous or deformed...no, it made the fountain all the more attractive. I reached up, wanting to feel the water hit my skin, yearning for it's cool embrace to take me in.
Instead, my peaceful thoughts were inturrupted. I felt somebody staring at me, and that stare wasn't one of happiness. I opened my eyes slowly and turned my gaze to Sub-Zero; I was right, he was staring at me. Gawking at me, really.
"Uh...I'm...did I...I'm sorry..."
"You were thinking about the fountains in Edenia." Sub-Zero said mildly.
"Y-Yes..."
He nodded, his eyes broke their contact with my own. "Have you ever seen the fountains?"
"Only on t-t-the Mortal K-Kom-Ko-K-Kombat television s-s-s-s-s-shows..."
He chuckled slightly and I looked up at him in amazement. I had made him chuckle again! Thank God, I thought he was still angry with me over what happened last night. I was still pretty peeved at him, but...yeah, it doesn't matter.
"What...wh-what's so funny?" I asked.
His slight chuckle turned in to an actual laugh. I smiled awkwardly, unaware at what he was laughing at.
"Are you always so inarticulate?" He laughed.
"...W-W-W-Wha-What?"
He laughed harder and I kept the awkward smile going. "You stutter fluently, Ama."
A frown quickly replaced my bungling smile and and a big blush ran across my cheeks. He continued laughing melodiously, but I wasn't amused...nah, just embarrassed. Very, very embarrassed. I could tell that he was trying to calm himself down, and he managed to do so in just a couple of minutes. He saw my embarrassed state and looked away.
"I apologize."
"No, no, you're...you're fine." I squawked.
He sighed and stood gracefully. I climbed to my feet and flattened out my skirt.
"Now that your mind is somewhat cleared, let us begin with offense against the enemy. Punch me."
My eyes widened. "Come again?"
He stood firm, his fists clenched. "Punch me."
I really didn't know what to do here. He probably had something up his sleeve, but I wasn't sure what it was. I recalled my brief anger with him last night and I clenched my fists together.
"O-Okay..." I breathed out.
I really didn't know how to throw a punch, but according to Johnny Cage's moves, you just had to wind the arm back, allow the power to overtake you, and release. I winded my arm back, further than I had planned, and closed my eyes as I felt my fist crash against Sub-Zero's stomach.
Silence. My eyes were still closed, but I felt the tears of misery coming.
"Ow...ouch, owwie, ow, ow, ow, ow..."
I quickly removed my throbbing hand, my knuckles actually lost some skin and blood was beginning to sprout from them. Sub-Zero simply looked down at me as I tried to calm the throbbing by shaking my hand gently.
"Gah, that hurt!" I hissed as I threw back my head in agony and clutched my hand to my chest.
Sub-Zero sighed, took my hand in his, and cooled the burning pain. "Lesson number one, Ama. Do not overestimate your own abilities. There is always one who is stronger than you are, no matter how many often you train."
"...I thought lesson number one was to deal with what you did have a shut up about what you didn't have."
"Who told you that?"
"Smoke."
Sub-Zero rolled his eyes, obviously amused. He then removed his hand and the burning continued. "Again."
"...What? You want me to...do it again?"
"You need to build your strength."
"Yeah, but...that hurt."
"Of course, you didn't expect that you would feel pain in training?"
"...Well, yeah, but this is a little too much, don't you think? I mean look, my knuckles are bleeding."
"Welcome to the Mortal Kombat universe, Ama. Again."
I sighed and looked at my mangled fist. "Can I at least use my other hand?"
"Sure." He replied nonchalantly. "I'll have you alternate between your left and right hand."
"Alright..." I whimpered as I winded my other fist.
'Oh jeez Ama, don't do it. Whatever you do, don't do this!' My mind screamed.
I threw my fist with a slight grunt and yelped on impact. "Ahhh, dammit!"
"Don't show weakness. Again."
What the hell was this guy's stomach made out of, bricks and bowling balls mixed together?! Oh jeez, I didn't know if I could do this. It was taking it's toll on both of my hands, the other hand was also beginning to bleed if you were curious, and I gave out a frustrated sigh.
"What is the point of this?" I groaned.
"You must build up the strength in your fists. The use of the hands are the most common form of combat, and the most powerful if one knows how to use them."
"Okay, I get that, but you're like a brick. Could you even feel the punches I threw at you earlier?"
He didn't answer me, so I took that as a flat out, 'Hell no, woman, I've been training my entire life. You think I felt such a weak punch?'
"Again." Sub-Zero grunted.
I whined and closed my eyes as I threw a weak punch at him. I opened one of my eyes and looked at him, seeing if he approved, but his eyes only expressed disappointment.
"That was weak, and you know it. Again, harder and better this time."
"...Faster and stronger too?" I grinned.
He obviously didn't get the reference, so I rolled my eyes and raised my mangled right fist.
After throwing more insubstantial punches, I felt like I was going to pass out. I needed water, sweat was leaving my body rapidly and every part of my body gleamed just like it did the other day. This was ridiculous...I didn't know how long I would last with this. The leather from his outfit only made the bleeding worse and it even caused tearing to my skin.
"How hard...d...do you...expect for...me to punch..." I wheezed.
He didn't respond. Before I threw another punch at him, he stopped it by grabbing my wrist. I looked up at him, praying that we were done. Oh God, have mercy-
"Run." He commanded.
...Oh, hell no.
"Uh, yeah...I can't run." I said, my lips making a grim line.
Sub-Zero raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, running isn't exactly my...thing. I can do push ups!" I smiled.
"Run." He repeated as he crossed his arms.
I felt my body sag. I was tired, bro! It's my first day, go easy on me!
"Don't make me repeat myself again, Ama-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going..." I grumbled as I slumped to one corner of the grounds. I inhaled and exhaled, looked straight ahead, and started jogging. Oh my gosh, my tiny breasts were bouncing all over the damn place, and they wouldn't have to if I were supplied with more suitable training clothes!
"Faster." Sub-Zero boomed.
I sighed and picked up the pace. Dots of sweat began to form and roll down my face, arms, legs...stupid physical activity.
"Faster!"
Ugh, when I returned home, I swore that I would perform every fatality on Sub-Zero. I picked up more speed, more than I thought I was capable of, and ran around the rather large training grounds more than twice. The third time around, my legs felt like jello and I looked over at Sub-Zero, begging him in my mind to get me to stop.
"Enough. You are done for now."
With that, I collapsed on the ground, heaving every bit of air I could take in. I heard Sub-Zero's footsteps approach me and before I knew it, a large arm brought me to my feet. I looked up at him and was ecstatic when I saw that he was holding a water bottle.
"Very good, Ama. I will see you after breakfast. We will continue our training then."
He gently handed me the bottle and left the training grounds without another word. Smoke entered right on cue and rushed over to me when he saw that I almost collapsed again.
"Whoa, whoa, steady," He said as he grabbed me. "Can I ask you how it went, or-"
"Shut...up...Smoke..." I coughed.
He chuckled and took the bottle from me.
"Hey-" I whispered, reaching for it.
"Calm down, I'm not going to drink any of it. Lean back."
I did as he said...I was too tired to argue. He put his hand behind my head and gently poured the water in to my mouth. I closed my eyes and took the water like a little hampster, sipping and gulping over and over again. When he removed the bottle, I had felt like I had enough...how did he know?
"Come. I'll prepare a bath for you." He said smoothly as he grabbed my waist with one hand and slung my arm around his neck.
We arrived at his room and he told me to lay on the pillows so that I wouldn't get the bed all wet and soggy. I obeyed and threw myself on the pillows while he was preparing a bubble bath for me. Get that, a bubble bath. Does Smoke from Mortal Kombat ever prepare a bubble bath for any of you? Yeah, didn't think so!
I heard the water running and closed my eyes just imagining it form a pool, waiting for me to submerge in it. My thoughts then began to travel to the fountains in Edenia. Ugh, I wanted to go there so badly...maybe now I could open a portal to Edenia...there was no harm in trying. I stood up and began to think of the lush surroundings that Edenia had to offer. The fountains were my main key point; there were no fountains in the Netherrealm that I had seen from the games, and even if there were, they were either fountains of lava or fountains of blood.
"Focus..." I whispered to myself. The waterfalls of Edenia entered my mind and I smiled as I heard the water from the bathroom continue to run in to the tub, only making the image more realistic. I giggled as I saw little children dancing, laughing, playing by their houses or by the streams that led to the main palace walls. I imagined the palace itself, glowing under the Edenian sun...how perfect it was.
"Okay." I sighed. I opened my eyes and saw the crimson portal again.
"What the holy-" I raged as I stormed towards the portal. "How did this happen?!"
I groaned and crossed my arms. Stupid Netherrealm portal, getting in the way of my Edenian visions. I stared at the portal and began to notice how alluring the thing was. It was swirling and flicking off orange, gold, and yellow sparks. Was this how it was with all portals? I reached out to it like a moth to a flame, and everything went black.
"Uggnnnhh..." I groaned. My eyesight began to get blurry, not from tears, but by the fact that I hit the ground with a tremendous amount of force. It was so weird to me...why was the ground so hot? Did Smoke have heating on his floors or something?
"S-Smoke?" I called out.
No answer. Uh oh.
"Smoke?!" I called again, panicked and confused. I automatically jumped to my feet and looked around...this wasn't Smoke's room. Why were there hanging corpses from spikes? Why was it so hot?! Where was I?!
"Smoke, this isn't funny!" I yelped, looking around and trying to take in my surroundings.
"Who are you."
My head spun and I saw a man dressed in black and gold attire, his fists clenched against his palms tightly, the anger in his pupil-less eyes more menacing than any demon...why did he look so familiar to me...OH SEXTUPLE DAMMIT. Scorpion?!