Chapter 4: Healing Remedy
"Go loud!", Kuai Liang called out as they enagaged the surprised Red Dragon troops.
Kuai Liang formed an Ice Sword as he slashed the captain in the abdomen before turning around two freeze two of his men. One tried to strike him with a combat baton from the rear but he was stabbed from behind when Kitana threw one of her tessens before roundhousing another guard towards two others who was coming after them, knocking them out.
Soon enough, the alarms went off and more Red Dragon guards were approaching their positions, with automatic weapons on the balconies and upper decks.
"Dài tāmen chūqù! Kāihuǒ! (Take them out! Open fire!)", one guard called out as Kuai Liang widened his eyes and gripped Kitana's wrist just as the Red Dragon guards fired their weapons, which where automatic rifles and bullets rained afterwards.
"Over here!", Kuai Liang shouted as he pulled Kitana out of the way from the line of gunfire to a nearby wall.
"Surely you know how they work?", Kuai Liang asked, as he thought that Kitana may or may not know of Earthrealm weaponry which was more dangerous than primitice ones at Outworld
"I do", she replied, breathing heavily. "I saw some of Outworld's soldiers practicing with them when Kano and the Black Dragon supplied Shao Kahn's army with their merchandise".
"Tínghuǒ! (Ceasefire!) ", the Red Dragon Captain called out as the other guards complied before calling out to the blue-clad adversaries. "Wǒmen bāowéi nǐle! Tóuxiáng hóng lóngzú! (We have you surrounded! Surrender yourselves to the Red Dragon Clan!)", he ordered.
"What did he say?", Kitana asked as Kuai Liang gritted his teeth in annoyance and anger towards the Red Dragon Clan.
"He demands our surrender but I'll doubt he'll let us live. Considering they would want to negotiate to Outworld, I have the feeling they would want the bounty that Mileena would be willing to give for your head.", Kuai Liang stated with concern as he remembered what Raiden said about Mileena at Outworld, and he would not allow that to happen.
"I have an idea. Come here", Kitana said as she whispered something to Kuai Liang's ear before he reluctantly nodded.
"Nǐ yǒu wǔ miǎo zhōng de shíjiān lái zūnshǒu! Rúguǒ nǐ bù chūlái, wǒmen huì! (You have five seconds to comply! If you won't come out, we will!), the Captain stated and he began to count.
On the fifth count, he saw Kitana raising her hands in surrender, not before pulling out her fans.
"Kāihuǒ! (Open Fire!)" the captain ordered as they fired their weapons at her.
Kitama then used her fans to gracefully deflect the bullets, with some coming back to the ones who fired on them. They failed to notice Sub-Zero on the balcony, who froze the guards in place. Jumping beside him, the two took out the remaining guards as Kuai Liang freeze them and blasted them with icicles and Kitana using her tessens to unleash a gust that knocked the Red Dragon guards at mid-air until one remained with Kitana holding her tessen on his throat and Kuai Liang readying a ball of ice in hand.
"Sub Zero!", the guard called out before glancing at his partner, "Kitana! Look, I'd never mess with Quan Chi-" but he was cut off.
"Quan Chi is in the past", Kuai Liang stated in a threatening tone as Kitana took a glance at him.
"We need to get through that door, can open it for us?", Kitana asked the guard who was very reluctant to cooperate.
"But Daegon will swallow my soul", the guard reasoned but it was obvious neither of them are going to have no for an answer.
"You don't have a choice", Sub-Zero stated before throwing the guard at the door, busting it open it as a result.
The two entered the chamber as they examined it, Kuai Liang and Kitana looked at the pedestal, only to find no dagger as they further inspected it. "The dagger is not here", Kuai Liang seethed as Kitana had the same reaction.
"It could only mean that someone took it, but who-", Kitana didn't get to finish as Kuai Liang noticed a red glowing light pointing towards them.
"Look out!", Kuai Liang shouted as he pushed Kitana out of the way and a lazer beam came at her path, which it managed to knock his mask away. Not noticing from behind, he felt two arms grabbing him in a headlock before dragging the Kamidogu over Kuai's eye, scarring him as he growled in pain.
"Thank you for distracting the Red Dragon for me, mate", a man sarcastically remarked at Kuai who was screaming in pain. "You made my job, easier, today!"
"The dagger...it's cursed..", Kuai Liang barely called out as the wound on his eye was becoming more severe at every second.
Kano laughed. "Raiden lied to you, mate. It's the Curse of the Kamidogu".
"The dagger possess whoever who cuts. That curse can only be broken. Of you kill the possessed.", Kano stated as he pointed the dagger at him. Kitana, who regained her composure, looked with a mortified expression.
"KUAI!", she shouted as the figure behind Kuai Liang became clearer and it revealed to be Kano, who was smiling evilly.
"What do you know? Didn't know Shao Kahn's fake daughter is still alive", Kano said with glee as he looked at her angered form. "Mileena might be willing to pay me good by bringing you to her!"
That statement angered Kuai Liang, who was becoming closer to the woman at their journey, regained his composure as he slammed Kano on a pillar backwards.
"I've been dead once, never again!", he called out as he freezes and smashes Kano's optic implant, then with Kitana teleporting to his position and kicking away the mercenary as she tended to Kuai Liang, who was clutching his wounded eye.
"We have to leave now, Kuai", Kitana stated as Kuai Liang complied and the two escaped by jumping through an open exit, leaving an angered and wounded Kano behind.
"You sonofabitch! This isn't over!", Kano cursed out as he fell into his knees.
Nearby Forests
"Kitana, I'm fine. You don't have to do this", Kuai Liang said, trying to get the cotton coated with Betadine away from him as Kitana nursed his wounds.
"Saying that makes you a hypocrite, Kuai Liang", Kitana sassed as she managed to get him down and apply the cotton on left eye. "Now that we have the dagger, what can we do now?"
Kuai Liang thought for a moment, "Our option would be giving back the dagger to Lord Raiden. But, truth to be told, I have my own objectives after that"
Kitana appeared to be a little saddened of what he said, as she was hoping to continue aiding him, "What would that be?"
"I have to deal with Sektor and the Cyber Lin Kuei", Kuai Liang replied as Kitana recalled when she first encountered the very group that turned Kuai Liang into a machine. "Then, perhaps restore the Lin Kuei but there was another problem that I am concerned with."
Kitana listened intently as she finished putting up the gauze to temporarily cover his left eye. "With Kano alive and in league with Mileena, I could forsee that he would inform her of your survival.", Kuai Liang said with concern as Kitana looked down for a moment. "And given to her lust for power, I don't think anyone in her family would want to be involved in it, and would do what she can to prevent it. Meaning, she would most likely mark you as a target and a threat to her rule due to your own existence as a daughter to Shao Kahn"
Kitana pondered for a moment, this was not surprising as she knew this was bound to happen to her once Mileena knows of her survival and, though she could not admit it, she did not want to seperate from Kuai Liang just yet.
"Which is why I'd suggest that we stick together otherwise it would be unsafe for us to seperate, considering that the Cyber Lin Kuei might be after me though I would be concerned for your safety", Kuai Liang solemnly stated as Kitana widened her eyes as she was touched and relieved that they are not going to seperate anytime sooner.
"That reminds me, now that we finished our task, would you like to celebrate Chinese New Year?", Kuai Liang asked as she remembered her asking if they can see the fireworks. She was unfamilliar at first but with Kuai Liang, maybe her experience would be different.
"I-I'd love that, Kuai", Kitana said with embarassment as Kuai Liang gave a smile despite his wounded form. Though she self-loathed that he had been scarred because of her, that will not stop her in aiding him of their journey. The two stood up and returned to the Wu's residence.
The Next Day
Kuai Liang and Kitana returned about eight on the evening. The family was naturally shocked of the scar Kuai Liang now possessed but he assured them that he was fine and the scar came from an accident, covering up their tenure earlier. As morning passed, Shumeng and Chang Chang invited Kitana to go shopping with them in preparation for the Lunar Festival at the Chinese New Year, to which Kuai Liang encouraged her to go with them as he and Wu Fong were out shopping of their own.
After a few hours of searching and a few dozen dresses later, she found one which was a blue Qipao dress that reached to her knees with white lotus designs at he lower portion and the left side of her chest . There were no extravagant designs like some of the other dresses in the store but the simplicity of it enhanced Kitana's beauty by a long-shot.
"Wow Kitana, that one's perfect for you! I was just joking before but I think you really are going to impress him!" said Shumeng giggling.
Kitana however decided to just ignore her for the moment and examine herself in the mirror. A small smile graced her face, she did look nice in it. Back in Outworld, she never had the chance to do these types of things, looking for a dress to impress a ma-'No! That's not what I'm doing!', she thought.
Chang Chang watched as Kitana looked herself over and developed a feint pink tinge. "Thinking of the reactions you're going to get, hmm?"
Kitana turned to her, embarassed, "I am not thinking about him!"
Chang Chang smirked evily, 'And she takes the bait', "What are you talking about? I said reactions, it's a festival, there's going to be a ton of people that will gawk over you. Gods, I didn't know your mind revolved around one person so much, I wonder who it could be to have you acting like this, he must be pretty special…", 'Hook line and sinker'
Kitana's face turned redder from both embarrassment and disbelief. She kept on falling for Chang Chang's constant mind games that mysteriously always involved Kuai Liang. It was making her think of her Lin Kuei comrade more than normal and the thought of him possibly taking an interest in her didn't seem that bad at all… 'maybe this will turn out just right' she thought as she gave herself one last glance at the mirror smiling. Little did she know, that tomorrow night would be very far from normal as she would know...
The evening of the festival came around the next day and Kuai Liang found himself getting dressed in the outfit Wu Fong had suggested to him which was a blue long-sleeved tunic called Changshan or Dagua that had white outlines on the strips with black pants and Tai Chi shoes.
Kuai Liang put on his shoes and then went into the bathroom to see how he looked. Examining the rest of his new look he realized it wasn't that bad, a bit different from his usual look of an assassin but it was a nice change from his usual assassin look.
After brushing his teeth Kuai Liang glanced at the clock, It was 4:15, he was suppose to meet up with Kitana, Wu Fong, Shumeng, Chang Chang and little Mei in fifteen minutes so he left his temporary home and made his way towards the meeting spot.
When he arrived he noticed he was the first to arrive. After a few minutes Wu Fong was the next to arrive.
"Hey Kuai!" he greeted walking up to the Lin Kuei.
"Hello, Wu. Now we just need the women to get here" replied Kuai Liang as Wu Fong joined him.
"Women tend to be the late ones in certain events for perfection but I ain't complaining. Looks like they are already here" said Wu Fong pointing behind Kuai Liang.
Kuai Liang turned around spotting them and instantly started waving, then a second later his mind finally registered something different. More specifically, something different with Kitana. The moment he noticed her and what she was wearing, he was mesmerized. Sure he knew she was beautiful naturally. But now… he realized beautiful was a major understatement. This woman walking in front of him was a like an Elder God's blessing in his mind. 'By the Elder Gods help me here…'
Kitana could be compared to a tomato at the moment. She was hoping to get a reaction out of him but she didn't expect for him to be this shocked by her. 'Is it because I look weird? I've never worn anything like this before…'
Wu Fong was the first to speak, "Glad you guys could join us" he said as he put his arm around Shumeng and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
Kuai Liang then realized he was still spacing out over Kitana. 'Well?! Say something!' he berated in his head. "You look, incredible, Kitana" he stuttered out. 'Great, I bet Bi-Han and Tomas would be rolling on the ground, laughing at me if they see me like this'
Kitana was starting to doubt this was such a good idea when Kuai Liang wasn't saying anything but that thought instantly vanished after his comment which caused her to blush harder. "T-Thank you" she too stuttered as she looked at the ground nervously as she cursed her lack of experience with these types of things due to her training as an assassin.
Chang Chang and Shumeng were smirking as they watched the interaction. The obvious nervousness between them was both funny and cute.
Wu Fong decided to help the two out, "Well why don't we get going, don't want to miss out on anything now" he said as the other three nodded and they all proceeded into the heart of the Festival.
They walked around talking for awhile checking out everything that was going on. They had everything a normal festival had including several kinds of food, games, music but also some unique things too. Such as various martial arts related competitions and even a few sparring areas where a good deal of people were gathered to watch some fights and occasionally betting. All in all everything was indeed oriented around prople.
Shumeng then started pulling Wu Fong off somewhere, "My husband has something that he needs to do, have fun you two!" she shouted back at Kitana and Kuai Liang as she and her husband disappeared into the crowd.
Chang Chang and Mei followed suit, "Well we have to go to a elderly and children's event, have fun you two!", she shouted back as they too disappeared into the crowd.
'Are they… Are they trying to get something to happen between us' thought Kitana as she watched the retreating back of her friend. Then the present dawned on her, 'We're alone now, is this considered like...a..a d-date…?'
Kuai Liang was having similar thoughts, 'Since when did they started playing matchnakers?' he then glanced over at Kitana and quickly back. 'There's no way, she is so… beautiful… she could have any man she wanted, wait what am I thinking?' he thought looking back again at Kitana. "Do you want to play any of the games here?" he asked her. 'Sometimes I wish I took Bi-Han or Smoke's advise in socializing'
She looked at him and nodded nervously.
"Well, shall we proceed?" he said in a more positive tone to try to ease the mood a bit. He noticed how nervous she was, 'Probably embarrassed to be with me right now, traveling and training is one thing, alone together being dressed up at a festival is different in many ways…'
Soon they came across a kunai throwing game, from the looks of it, it didn't seem difficult at all, a Lin Kuei exercise if anything. Kitana and Kuai Liang walked up to the booth, "So all we had to do here is hit that target with a kunai?" questioned Kuai Liang pointing at the target in the distance.
The man running the shop answered, "Yeah but it has to stay, if you don't throw it hard enough you won't be getting one in that target!"
Kitana noticed that there wasn't anyone else attempting this one and wondered why since it seemed simple enough. She could only think of one reason and leaned over to Kuai Liang, "I think this one might be rigged somehow, everyone else is staying away" she warned as she observed the booth beforehand.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try" he replied and paid the fee while the owner smirked. Kuai Liang threw one Kunai and it hit dead center but bounced right off the target making the owner smirk more and Kitana frown.
"Whatever that target is made of it sure is hard. Good thing I know how to get around that' he thought as he took out a second kunai and focused some ice into the kunai to sharpen it.
The owner continued smirking until the kunai hit, or more accurately went straight through the rock dead center. The owner's jaw was hanging while Kuai Liang was smiling triumphantly.
Kitana smiled, 'That's probably one of the only ways to win here, he probably never expected someone with Cyromancy to succeed here
Kuai Liang then began to look through the prizes he could choose from and his eyes immediately found the perfect item, a brown, hazel-eyed Shiba Inu plushy. Kuai Liang asked for it and once the owner handed it to him, Kuai Liang turned around and handed it to Kitana. "I think you'll like this one. Honestly, I don't really know what to choose" said Kuai Liang smiling causing Kitana to blush from both the thoughtful item and his smile.
'No one has ever given me anything before other than Jade, but still it looks wonderful.…' she thought as she took the plushy. "Thank you, Kuai" she said giving him a smile in return causing now him to blush.
They continued walking around enjoying themselves until they saw a Dragon Dance to which amazed Kitana due to Eartrealm's creativity as she first thought she was looking at an acual dragon. After that, the two went on until someone called out to them.
"Hey you two, enjoying yourselves?" asked Shumeng as she winked at Kitana.
"We are, this festival is wonderful than any of the ones I've seen before" replied Kuai Liang.
Kitana noticed something missing, "Where are Chang Chang and Mr. Fong?" she asked.
"At the northern district with Chang Chang and Mei, the fireworks is also also going to kick off any time soon" said Shumeng. "By the way, you two should head down to the lake" she said giggling.
"Why?" asked Kuai Liang, confused.
"Oh you'll see…" she replied still giggling as she took off towards the northern district.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to go to the lake, wouldn't it?" asked Kuai Liang looking over at Kitana.
"Sure…" she replied but she had a feeling something was up, and it wasn't the obvious way Shumeng mentioned the lake…
As they came into view of the lake they both became shocked. The lake was very picturesque the way the bright moonlight was reflecting off the lake surface. There was also soft music being played over the entire portion of the lake in front of them. But these things weren't what really caught their attention, they were also dancing, near the shores.
The atmosphere made the two ninja get extremely nervous.
'What?! It's beautiful but Kuai Liang wouldn't ask me to dance! May Argus curse me, I don't even know how to dance!' Kitana screamed in her head as she began to hyperventilate.
'This has got to be the most frustrating night of all time, ..' he glanced at her and she seemed to be thinking as well, 'Might as well'
"Kitana?" asked Kuai Liang as he mentally berated himself for his lack of social skills.
"Kuai?" she replied also stuttering. 'I-Is he really going to ask me?'
"Would you like to dance?" he asked, hoping that the Elder Gods would help him at his current predicament.
Kitana's eyes widened. "I-I don't know how" she replied, cursing herself for ruining the moment.
"Perhaps I can teach you while I take the lead, would you like that?", Kuai Liang replied, deciding to muster all his might at this one.
"I...I would like that", she replied as they took their positions near the lake.
They both came to a stop and faced each other blushing as Kuai Liang slowly rested his hands on her waist while she locked her arms around his neck equally as slowly. They then slowly started swaying around the lake both being very careful to not step on the other's feet…
"In my entire life, I never thought I would do this…" said Kitana quietly as they moved around the lake, remembering her days training at Outworld.
"You haven't danced with anyone before?" questioned Kuai Liang, 'Who wouldn't want to dance with her…'
"N-No, men in Outworld just wanted me so they can brag about having the 'emperor's spawn' as their own"
Hearing her say that Kuai Liang instinctively pulled her closer causing her face to flush for the millionth time that day, though the Cryomancer would not have planned it. "I don't want to hear that again, you're far from that name. And from the moments I shared with you while we were travelling, you are unique yourself, and that is what I admired about you other than your determination. No matter what people would refer to you, you would always be Kitana, not the princess of Outworld nor the servant of Shao Kahn, but as a close friend not just me, but to many"
Kitana's head quickly shot up at hearing this and saw that he had a genuine smile on his face and his eyes were telling the truth. Small tears started to from at the corners of her eyes as a smile formed on her face and she rested her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat quickening. "Thank you…" she whispered.
Just then fireworks started going off lighting up the sky in all kinds of gorgeous colors. Everyone stared in awe at the beauty as some of the projectiles turned into animals in the sky.
"Gong xi fa cai! (Wishing you great happiness and prosperity!)", people called out as they now celebrate the new year ahead of them.
Kitana thought this scene couldn't be more perfect, 'This is so nice… Thank you so much Kuai' she said in her head as she kept her head on his chest as they enjoyed the moment.
'I do not know why. But, I do not want anything to happen to you, Kitana. Not while I'm breathing, you have my word', Kuai Liang thought as he leaned his forehead on the top of her head.
'I never felt this...relaxed and safe', Kitana thought as she felt Kuai pressing his forehead at the top of her head. 'I know this might be too much to ask but...', she stopped before gathering all courage to say what she had mentally, 'I wish to be with you Kuai, at every step in the way and I will do my very best to help you, no matter what', she finished while admiring the sight of the fireworks.
Unknown to them, Fujin and Raiden were watching as they smiled at the sight, with the Thunder God hoping that he made the right decision in having them fullfill this journey. Though this night would not last long for both of them, to them, it was an eternity.
AN:
Aaaand cut! Wow, took a lot of time to execute this though this was a little bit cliché at my own point of view. But anyways, I won't be updating for a while but doesn't mean I'm giving up on it. For now, I enjoy some of the reviews of this story. Spectre, signinf off!
