Elora's back hurt terribly and her head ached horribly. She tried to sit up and winced at the pain that shot through her spine, letting out a loud gasp as she did. Again, she felt stitches on her stomach and placed a hand over her them before placing it on the back of her head which hurt more. As her fingers ran in her hair, she felt a split on the back of her head. Whatever hit her hit her hard. She looked around at where she was and noticed that she was on a bedroll in a tent. She carefully crawled to the entrance and peeked out. It was nighttime and she was back at camp. She saw the others crowded at the other end discussing something she couldn't hear. She saw that some of them had a few wounds that had already been treated.

Elora crawled out of her tent and stood up, wincing again as her back straightened. She reached behind her and felt as much as she could up her spine and felt a few open wounds here and there. As she limped towards the center fire, she saw that her scythe was back and laying up against a tree. When she caught the attention of the others, they had stopped speaking and stared at her in silence. Confused at first, she didn't know why they acted that way. It was if they didn't trust her. She tried to recall what had happened earlier and remembered everything only up to the fight with Ermac. She remembered him slamming her down on her back with him on top before her memory went blank.

"I what?" Elora asked as she was sitting down on a log. Raiden, Lui Kang, Sub-Zero, and Sonya stood before her.

"You," Raiden began, "almost killed all of us. You became uncontrollable." Elora looked down at his words and rubbed the back of her split open head again. He spoke once more, "Luckily, Kenshi was able to hit you with a telekinetic projection that stopped you."

Kenshi did this? Elora thought as she felt the wound. She looked over and saw Kenshi sitting on a table they had set up with his normal red and black pants on but shirtless. His red band was still on and his torso was wrapped in bandages. Elora learned that he had fought Reptile and took a few nasty, poison covered hits.

"Which is why," Sonya felt the need to speak up, "she shouldn't be with us, Lord Raiden. She is unpredictable! What if one of us pisses her off? She could kill any one of us!"

"She," Sub-Zero defended Elora, "just needs some training in controlling this!"

"But," Lui Kang spoke up now, not really on either side, "who is to help her? None of us can get close to her! You saw what happened to the Tarkatans. That's what would happen to us!"

"Raiden!" Sonya yelled, "She shouldn't be here!"

"Do not," Raiden said, "make an enemy of her."

"I'm right here," Elora finally said lowly. The four before her fell silent and looked at her. She held her head low and knew that the majority of the camp wanted her gone.

"Do you remember," Raiden began carefully, "what I told you to do to help control this power?"

Elora nodded slowly, "I do."

"You should do just that, then." Raiden said.

Elora nodded again and stood, keeping her gaze away from the others before her. She dismissed herself and walked away from the campsite until Sub-Zero caught up with her.

"I heard what happened," Sub-Zero said. "You'll be able to control the Enenra. Smoke is able to do so."

"Where is Smoke?" Elora asked, looking over at her Grandmaster.

"I'm not sure," Sub-Zero said honestly. "We last saw about a month ago. I was contacted by Raiden to help defend Earthrealm and left for here. Smoke left on his own mission." He paused before asking, "What happened to Cyrax?"

Elora rubbed the back of her aching head again, "He sacrificed himself so I could get away. … I'm going to fight to either save him, or avenge him."

"You don't know," Sub-Zero began, "if he died?"

Elora shook her head. "I didn't see him."

Sub-Zero nodded and looked ahead of him. The two began discussing what they would do after the tournament if they survived and planned on avenging their clan but only after they began rebuilding it in secrecy. They then turned their conversations into more casual topics until Elora dismissed herself to go bathe. She knew there was stream ahead to was in and saw Kitana already there. Kitana's clothes were already off and she was in the water but Elora didn't decide to come back later. She was mature about the situation and so was Kitana.

Kitana looked back at Elora, her shoulders and head only above the water. "Elora? How are you?"

"I've been better." Elora answered. She started taking off her shoes but winced every time she would bend and straighten her back.

"We've all been," Kitana sighed. She could see the depression on Elora's face and spoke, "We don't want you gone. Not all of us anyways." Kitana noticed Elora's pain as she tried to undress and quickly got out of the water to help her. "If it means anything," Kitana began, "I don't want you gone and I still trust you. We would have all been overrun by Shao Khan's forces if it wasn't for you. We all know it. Just some of us are too scared to admit it." Kitana carefully pulled Elora's shirt off over her head and hesitated when she saw the wounds down her spine. Kitana could tell that Elora's spine was cracked in a few places and the wounds were from shards that stabbed out. She undid the back of Elora's bra and the wounded woman slipped it off her shoulders. Elora undid her own pants and stripped down the rest of the way before carefully entering the stream. Kitana following suit.

Kitana was gone from the stream long before Elora was but stayed first to ask if Elora needed help re-dressing. Elora dismissed her after thanking her for earlier. Elora slipped under the water to get her hair all wet and some dried blood washed away. Her mind pondered. She knew she didn't really belong. Either she left and had to learn to control these powers on her own if she even could, or she stayed and sought help. She felt the back of her head and thought of Kenshi. She should speak with him. Maybe he wouldn't be mad at her like most of the others were. She used the soap that Kitana left her and cleaned herself completely before exiting. She grabbed a towel that was also left for her and dried her body off; goosebumps formed on her skin from the chill night air. She dressed back in old mundane clothes but not her shirt. It was ripped and bloodied. Elora zipped her hoodie up all the way to cover her entire torso and made her way back to the camp.

Elora found Kenshi alone away from the others. His back was to her and he also had the rest of his clothing on now.

"I heard," Elora spoke up first, hesitantly walking up behind him, "about what you did."

Kenshi looked back at her and stood, walking to her which made her stop advancing to him, "I had to. You would have killed everyone."

Elora winced at his words and looked down, rubbing the back of her head now subconsciously, "I'm sorry. I couldn't control it. I-"

"We know," Kenshi interrupted. His tone made Elora's body go cold. Why was she concerned if he was mad at her or not? She didn't know why his words hurt her but they did and she took a few shaky steps back. She wasn't welcome anymore. Her eyes teared up as she squeezed them shut. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. She went to take another step back but felt his hands grab her shoulders. Suddenly, she was pulled against his chest and her eyes opened from it.

"I was so worried for you," Kenshi said lowly. "I was afraid that I'd lose you. After I knocked you out, I felt your injuries. I didn't think you'd make it." He lowered his head and rested the side of his face against the top of her head and against her wet hair.

"K, Kenshi…?" Elora breathed as she laid her hands carefully on his mid back.

"I'm not mad at you," he said. "Just… worried." Elora felt his arms tighten around her upper back and her heart rate quickened from it. She could feel the sincerity in his body actions and his voice. He was honestly concerned for her Kenshi smiled softly at the feeling of her fast heartbeat against his body. He suddenly frowned when he felt her body jerk and he knew that she was either crying or on the verge of it.

"I, I can't stay…," Elora stammered with thickly watered eyes. She ripped away from his grip but he still held her shoulders, refusing to let her run. "Most of the others don't trust me and are scared of me. … I almost killed them all! I almost… I almost killed you… I'm so…," Elora looked down and her eyes closed as tight as her fists, tears forcing their way down her cheeks now, "I'm so lost… I don't belong anywhere… I failed Cyrax, I trusted Shang Tsung; fell for one of his pawns; almost got raped by Shao Khan's fucking General! And now I almost killed those that had put their trust in me and had given me an honest chance and an honest choice!"

Kenshi's hands now released her as she spoke. He didn't know about some of the things she had just said. He wasn't aware that she was almost raped while she was still with Shang Tsung and the thought of it made him become enraged with disgust and anger. He also didn't know that she had actually fallen for someone there too and those words hurt his chest just thinking about it. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice her run at first. He quickly sprinted to her and snatched her upper arm and she jerked away from his grip, twisting her body and accidently slamming her back against a tree. Pain shot through her entire body and she released a loud gasp of pain. Almost immediately afterwards, Kenshi sweetly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away from the hard tree and spoke softly to her, his hands comforting her greatly. When she looked up at him, his head was tilted down and only a few inches from hers.

"You belong here." His voice was even, "Promise me you won't run when I let go of you."

Elora stared at him for a long time before speaking, her ragged breathing settling, "Only if you promise something in return."

"Anything."

"You," she began, "have to stop me if I can't control myself again. In any way you can. … Even if that means—"

"I promise," Kenshi said. "But I won't have to take it that far. I will help you. I will protect you."

Elora swallowed hard and started rubbing away her tears, "I promise."

Kenshi let go of her but trailed his hands to her cheeks. His thumbs rubbed under her eyes to wipe away any tears from them. He suddenly hesitated as his fingers moved on her smooth face.

"Wh, what is it?" Elora hesitantly asked.

"I've just…," Kenshi appeared nervous, "never seen you before… I've only got glimpses." He fell silent and his lips were parted slightly. His fingers twitched slightly in the urge to see her again but he pulled them away, "I'm sorry Elora—"

Elora grabbed his hands as they were moving away from her and quickly brought them to her face, placing them back where they just were. "Look at me," she said lowly.

Kenshi's heart quickened and he nervously began moving his fingers again. He stroked her cheeks again and had his fingertips run down her jaw line, taking in the shape of her face. They moved back up to her eyes and she closed them as he carefully felt her eye lids then with one hand, he slid his thumb slowly down the bridge of her nose and hesitated again as he eventually got just above her lips. He felt her hands sweetly grab his and encourage him to continue. Kenshi slid his thumb to her lips now, his other hand cupping her cheek with his fingers in her hair. Kenshi's thumb rubbed across her upper lip and as he passed it down to her lower, he noticed that her lips were parted a little and he pressed his thumb to her bottom lip, it getting wet slightly from saliva on the inside of her mouth. When he felt the shape of her mouth, his could feel his heartbeat pounding in his body and his cheeks started to grow hot.

"You're beautiful," Kenshi almost whispered. He could feel her heartbeat increase rapidly through the tips of his fingers and spoke a little louder this time, "You'll stay, won't you?"

"Yes," Elora answered at the same volume.

Kenshi smiled and his hand on her lips moved to mirror his other hand by cupping the side of her face and pushing his fingers in her hair. Before he could do anything more, he stepped away from her as he sensed approaching footsteps but relaxed when he realized it was Sonya.

"Hey Kens—" Sonya choked on her words as she saw Elora. She gave Elora a hard stare before speaking again, "Foods ready."

The camp was divided. Elora sat on one log with Sub-Zero and Kitana next to her, Kenshi next to Kitana but on another log. At the logs ahead of her and to her left and right had Raiden on one and Kung Lao and Lui Kang on another. Directly opposite of the campfire from her sat Johnny, Sonya, and Stryker. Lui Kang had made a rabbit stew for them all and Elora only stared down into the cup she held. She felt so awkward. Even though they weren't looking at her, she couldn't help but feel as though Sonya, Johnny, and Stryker were staring holes through her. The camp conversed with one another. Lui Kang and Kitana mostly spoke to each other, Johnny flirted endlessly with Sonya while the others exchanged friendly jokes and stories with one another. Elora tilted her cup of stew side to side slowly as she remained silent; watching the broth move with her movements.

"Eat," Elora heard Sub-Zero speak next to her. It sounded almost like an order. "You know," Sub-Zero began, "what happens when you're not at your best." Elora looked over at him and knew that she stared too long at him. She rarely saw Sub-Zero without his mask on and he was very handsome. Pale skin, dark eyes that glowed a magnificent blue every time he used his powers. "I remember," Sub-Zero reminisced with her, "when I first found you. You were so stubborn and disobedient that you refused to eat or sleep. Finally, you tried to run away and didn't even make it fifty feet out of the main gates before you collapsed. I carried you back."

"Then you," Elora couldn't help but smile a little with her Grandmaster, "yelled at me in front of everyone. Nearly scared the life out of me."

"And you didn't run anymore," he said with a broad smile.

"Because I thought you'd kill me," Elora laughed lightly.

"You came around."

Elora smiled and looked back down in her cup, "Yeah."

"Now eat," he ordered.

Elora nodded and took a small sip. It was delicious, she admitted but also forced. She appreciated her Grandmaster cheering her up but she still felt awkward and depressed among the group. She thought long and hard as she forced a few more gulps of stew. She promised Kenshi that she wouldn't leave and hated the thought of breaking her word but she reasonably wondered if it would be better for her to be gone. She didn't want to be a part of the group at first, so why now? All she wanted was to find a way to save Cyrax but also to get revenge on Shang Tsung. If she ridded him, not only would she feel at peace, but she would also prevent him from ever misusing anyone ever again. She looked over at Kenshi and saw him having a conversation with Raiden. As she stared, she couldn't help but feel her body temperature increase along with the beating of her heart. Almost immediately, Elora shook the feeling from her. Why was she feeling like this towards him? After Ermac, she didn't want anyone else. She didn't deserve or even need anyone else to have those kinds of feelings for.

The rest of the night was long but finally, Elora found a good time to part from the group as everyone retreated to their tents to sleep for the night. Elora laid awake in her tent and stayed up for about an hour longer until she knew everyone was asleep before sneaking out and not looking back as she left the campsite.

The morning sun lit up the entire area through the trees and Kenshi was the first one up. He was nearly in a panic but didn't wake any of the others. He felt the absence of Elora's being and even checked in her tent to find her not there. Sento spoke to him and he followed where his sword took him. He traveled far from the camp but not long enough for the sun to move much in the sky. He finally emerged from the trees and into an open field. His demeanor calmed as he felt the comforting presence of Elora just ahead of him.

Elora sat crisscross with her back to Kenshi but she knew he was there. She sat up straight with her eyes closed, her palms left open towards the sky. She was meditating.

Kenshi smiled as he soon realized what she was doing and silently walked to then sit in front of her and copied her stance. After a long moment of serenity, Elora broke the silence.

"It's about time you showed up."

"You said," Kenshi began, his eyes still closed behind his red cloth, "that you wouldn't leave."

"And I didn't." Elora said. She opened her eyes now but kept her position. She was smiling as she stared at Kenshi's face. She had meditated all night without sleep and, even though it took several hours before she finally understood how to meditate, she learned it and her soul had felt rested and relieved.

Kenshi and Elora met up every day at the same spot at the same time in the morning and meditated when they could. Kenshi had taught her so much in just a few days and they had even begun sparring. He allowed her to channel her dark energy but to never actually use against him. Instead, he would stand a good distance away and use one of his telekinetic clones to spar with her and it fought just as he did. Elora soon learned that Kenshi was a formidable foe with his fighting. It didn't matter if he was blind or not; he was good.

A few days later, they had recruited another member named Nightwolf and were soon to set out. Elora and Kenshi met up again to spar. This time, Kenshi promised that he wouldn't hold back anything and Elora prepared herself. After fighting him for so long, she had eventually been able to get a few hits in and counter other attacks from him. However, she had taken a hard beating and both Elora and Kenshi observed that the more hits she took; the more adrenaline for battle she built up fueled her powers. Her pestilence started to grow and eventually consumed all of her limbs with each hit. Another few hits she took made her power almost erupt in a small burst from her body.

"Control it!" Kenshi yelled from across the field.

Elora tried to steady her breathing as he didn't let off from his attacks but she couldn't get the power under control. Her heart rate increased and she started to panic. Kenshi sensed this and stopped his clone immediately to let her breathe but she couldn't control herself.

"K, Kenshi…!" Elora yelled in a panic, "Help me!" She looked down at her hands and her eyes started to turn a foggy black. She closed her eyes and her hands into fists as she tried to steady her breathing but her heart was doing the opposite. She suddenly felt hands touch her face and opened her eyes to Kenshi's telekinetic clone again before her.

"Control it," Kenshi called softly from the distance but she could hear it through the clone. Elora nodded and closed her eyes again. Even though it wasn't really Kenshi, it felt as though it were really his hands on her head and her heart started to flutter in another way. She started to feel more at peace and by the time she had finally opened her eyes again, she flinched when she had seen the real Kenshi before her with his hands on her face now. Her power had died away.

"Good job," Kenshi said with a smile.

Elora blushed and was grateful that he couldn't see it though he must have been able to feel the heat from her cheeks as he stroked them softly with his thumbs. Elora's heart was in her throat. She didn't know that he could have this effect on her. He never had before.

The next day, just the sight of him from across the camp made her feel lightheaded. She bashfully went to the training ground with him and he tried a new way of meditating for her. They sat down in front of each other and Kenshi took her hands in both of his. She closed her eyes and when she did, she could only see him. She forced herself to focus as she felt him pass some of his energy through his body and it flowed through hers. The serene feeling was definitely new and exhilarating. Her mind felt as though it had grown ten-fold with concentration. She felt Kenshi let go of her hands and she opened her eyes as he stood.

"Let's begin," he said.

Elora nodded and stood and got into her fighting stance. This time, when she fought his clone, during the middle of the fight, a real hit came through his clone and caught Elora off-guard. She almost panicked when she saw Kenshi standing close to her even with her hands coated in a black mist.

"Are you crazy?!" Elora yelled at him.

"I believe," Kenshi began confidently, "that you can filter it from poisonous to just immobilizing. Such as, using it to blind an enemy without actually killing them." He waved at her to come at him, "Continue."

Elora was extremely hesitant. Finally, she ran at him and hit him. Sure enough, his skin didn't rot at the touch. What she didn't know is that Kenshi could sense when her hits would turn from normal to fatal so he knew when to get away from her. When she was more aggressive, her strikes would kill. When at peace in her mental state, her attacks were normal. They started sparring again and Kenshi turned up the difficulty when he started fighting himself and also with his clone. Elora took endless hits but her mind stayed at ease. She managed to use her new found patience to overwhelm him at one point. As soon as she thought she may have won, he swooped her feet out from under her and she fell to her back in the grassy field.

"Much better," Kenshi said as he panted. He kneeled down by her and grabbed her hand even with some of the black still on it. "I'm sorry to have hurt you," he said sincerely.

"I'll win one day," Elora challenged playfully. She, still on her back, felt her lip and saw blood on her fingertip as she pulled her hand away.

"Sorry again," Kenshi said as he still had her hand in his and with his free hand, he felt her face and carefully stroked the blood from her lip. Elora blushed again as she felt Kenshi's thumb sweetly slide across her bottom lip, as if he was teasing her. Again, her heart rate was up and she narrowed her eyes at him when she saw a small smile dance at the corner of his lips.

"You can tell," Elora said lowly, "can't you?" When he was quiet, she continued. "You can sense what you do to me."

Kenshi nodded slowly with the smile still on his lips.

"When," Elora asked, now embarrassed, "could you tell?"

"About," Kenshi parted his lips, "two weeks ago."

Elora's eyes widened and her cheeks were now red from embarrassment. He could tell that he made her heart flutter for that long?! Of course he did. He always knew everything about her. Fine, Elora thought as she looked at Kenshi's amused face while he sat back away from her, two can play at that game.

Elora sat up and rubbed the back of her head a little. She then looked at Kenshi who was now sitting next to her and spoke with honesty in her voice, "Thank you for this. … You've helped me so much, and…," She leaned to him and laid her hand over his, this time taking him off-guard. Even though she was getting back at him, she still told the truth and spoke with sincerity in her voice, "I don't know what I would have done if I never met you. If you never saved me from that forest…" She leaned closer to him and heard Kenshi's breath hitch in his throat at how close she got. Elora blushed and felt her plan backfiring on her. She raised up on her knees slightly and now placed her hand on his cheek. She had never touched his face before and started to caress his smooth cheek and could feel the hotness from his flesh. Kenshi slowly raised his hands and placed them on her waist as she brought her lips closer to his.

"I," Elora continued from where she left off. She could feel his breath against her lips and he could feel hers as well, "wouldn't have been able to get back at you like this."

Elora triumphantly saw his expression drop and she smiled proudly before standing up. "See you back at camp, Kenshi."

Kenshi looked down ahead of him, still sitting in the grass and a smile eventually spread across his lips. He knew she was playing him but couldn't help but be sucked into it. He looked off in direction she walked off in before standing.

Elora was halfway back to camp and back in the forest. She couldn't help but smile the whole way and she felt her lips as she walked. A few minutes later, a force grabbed her and pinned her to the nearest tree but not painfully or roughly. Elora only had a second to see Kenshi standing over her before he crushed his lips to hers. Elora's heart nearly exploded with the euphoria that erupted in her body. Her cheeks flushed brightly and her eyes were wide as she was caught off guard. She quickly melted into his kiss and threw her arms around Kenshi's neck while her eyes closed. He wrapped his arms around her mid-back and pulled her tightly to him while their kiss deepened. They broke the kiss at one moment to catch their breath before locking them again. Kenshi slid his tongue across Elora's lips and her mouth parted for him. She moaned as butterflies filled her stomach and Kenshi's tongue filled her mouth. She lustfully slid her tongue around his and he pressed her back against the tree again; his left hand sliding through her long red hair.

"K, Kenshi…," Elora panted as he pulled away from her but only by an inch or so.

"It's what you get," he was panting lightly too, "for teasing me." Elora ginned but moaned again as he pressed his lips passionately against hers again.