Chapter 2: Ditdoe in the desert
The dark glow of morning, orange and green crept in through the wooden shutters and hovered over the rice bags. The wooden paneling of the room showed ornate Chinese symbols in black calligraphy. A tough red headed man worked hard taking out dishes from draws, a black haired girl was setting round wooden tables setting chop sticks and napkins. Rice bowls were put out in places around the tables and chairs were straightened. His red hair was tied back in a single dreadlock that flapped about as he pulled things out of cupboards by force. A pan landed with a clang on the tiled floor behind the counter.
The dark haired girl's clothing was white with an apron, a single aqua ribbon tying her hair back. The red headed man looked up at her with a crash of plates "Hey Mialta, get more water, we'll be starting soon" she nodded briefly and headed quickly to the door. It was unusually chilly that morning she shivered and turned round the side of the house. The darkness was all consuming as she came to the well. It was hard to see even a few paces in front of her. Taking the bucket she fastened it to the rope and turned the cord round. It descended slowly down the well, the handle jammed a moment as she reached the water far below. She brought it up slowly with a heave and the bucket appeared with soft water inside. Untying the bond she unfastened it from the rope and careful took the heavy bucket up in both hands.
There was a cracking sound and she paused, it came from the bucket. Looking down she saw that the water had stopped moving. She touched it with her arm but it had become solid. She wrapped her knuckle against it and put it on the floor in curiosity "I don't believe it" she muttered to her self. The water had turned to ice. A dark shadow descended over her suddenly, she looked up quickly. A blue cloak and a rush of cold air.
"Don't move" said Subzero, his eyes glanced at the building to his left, he breathed white cold air as if he had been smoking a cigar and then turned back to her "Is this Wong's place?"
She backed off with a frightened look but her back met the wall and she moved no further "yes" she nodded hurriedly "Why do you want him?"
"I've got business to attend to" replied Subzero turning away "You don't need to be frightened, just be glad your not involved"
"Are you going to kill him?" she gasped "Please! I tell you it wasn't him whatever you've been told!" Subzero chuckled quietly "You have a guilty conscience, perhaps I should kill him anyway, it will save time for later"
"No please!" she begged
"I'm only kidding" replied Subzero coldly "You have no Sense of humor" he walked away leaving nothing but cold in the air. She took the buket up in her arms quickly and hurried after him. She'd hit him over the head if he attacked Wong. He entered through the door leaving a cold air trail behind him.
Wong looked up as he entered with a gasp and watched as Mialta followed carrying the ice bucket.
"Subzero?" he asked softly "Well I never, I haven't seen you in a while. Do you want something to drink?"
"You got anything hot?" asked Subzero taking a seat, the fans above whirled softly freshening the warm air. He glanced up at them briefly before gazing at Wong. Wong sighed "I got some soup here, but I was going to drink it myself, you can have it if you want"
"That will do" replied Subzero "The Lin kuei will no doubt reemberse you for anything I take"
Wong had an anxious face but quickly placed the soup on the table without a second word. Subzero took up the bowl in both hands and drank it down, it was warm and good. It brought some life back into his cold frosty hands. He wrung them and held the bowl tight sucking up the warm life from inside.
Mialta strode past and glanced suspiciously at Subzero as she went. She went over to the sink and washed her hands perhaps in disgust. She started on some dishes noisily that were already clean. Wong strode round and sat opposite the blue assassin. He frowned and rested his chin on his fist. Evidently having a Lin kuei assassin in the house wasn't his favorite occupation, you could tell he wanted to get rid of Subzero as soon as possible, the tension was in his face "Hard Night?" he asked.
"Very" replied Subzero touching his cheek. The herbs amazingly enough had completely removed the visible bruising, but the cheek itself still stung from the various blows he had received the day before. It was thanks to Serriana the house maid that he had such good medicine, he'd have to thank her for it later.
"You on the job or off it?" asked Wong getting down to business.
"Off" replied Subzero briefly wiping his lips, he put the bowl down "I'm heading back to head quarters now"
Mialta came up suddenly with an angry frown, she put the bucket down loudly on the table "Wong! Who is this person!" she demanded, she looked pretty in her own way, she had been toughened by her life. Wong as well was a handsome man with a neat pointed nose and sharp eyes, Subzero wondered whether they were going to marry.
"Calm down Mialta and don't be so rood!" replied Wong with a meaningful glance "This is Arch assassin Subzero of the Lin kuei. Please Subzero forgive Mialta, she is ignorant of your profession"
"I can forgive a pretty girl" replied Subzero leaning back "...Shame I can't forgive you, heck I don't know what your talking about Wong, tell the truth all I do is go about killing people, its dirty business"
She frowned "What do you want? And why are you here!" she again demanded putting her hands on her hips. Wong glared fiercely at her "Your not making this easy Mialta!" he growled.
"I disagree," replied Subzero "Lets get this over with. I need a horse that's good for the Gobi desert and enough rations to get me across, water and food"
"We can't spare anything!" moaned Mialta "We're low on supplies as it is already!"
"Mialta shut up!" roared Wong turning on her suddenly "Get out!" she hushed and backed off staring from one to the other. She ran back into the the kitchens and closed the door behind her. Wong rubbed his forehead and turned back to Subzero slowly "Silly girl, you need all that?"
"My last method of transport broke" replied Subzero with a shrug "What does she mean you cannot do without the supplies? The Lin kuei pays you enough already"
Wong sighed "I lie to her so I can pay her cheaper. But recently, we have been hard up, we still haven't received the payment for the last assassin who passed through here"
"That is out of my control but on behalf of my clan I apologize for it. I will inquire about it I assure you"
"Thank you very much" said Wong weakly "I only have one horse left"
"Don't try to cheat me Wong" growled Subzero
"Okay okay! I have three... one of them's a racer. I'm sorry I just didn't want you to take it" he sighed and rested his head on his hands in despair.
"The Lin kuei has the right to take anything you own" returned Subzero with a threatening finger "The money invested in your property is not yours, these fans were bought with Lin kuei money, these chairs were bought with Lin kuei money, everything here is an investment, not a single retainers property"
"Actually I bought the fans with profit" grumbled Wong with a frown
"I could take the ceiling instead then"
"Never mind" sighed Wong gazing down at the table. Subzero tilted the soup bowl in his hands and looked at the left over bits, onion rice and other vegetables "I haven't spoke to you in a while, how are things?"
Wong smiled half-heartedly "Good I guess, customers are coming. We've got several rich regulars"
"Who is this Mialta anyway? Is this where your extra profit has gone to?"
"Heh, a man mustn't work too hard" he smiled
"I just pray for your sake she's not listening to this conversation" said Subzero glancing towards a crack in the door. Wong widened his eyes and felt his neck pulse.
"I need to leave before the sun rises" continued Subzero "...now"
"This minute!? But I have to prepare the restaurant!" grumbled Wong with a gasp
"I said now," said Subzero coldly "I mean now, show me the horse"
Wong nodded half heatedly and lead Subzero through the door into the kitchen. Mialta frowned again as she passed through a side door into what looked like the storerooms. They passed into the kitchens where a cauldron was already boiling and then out into a large back garden, enough room to keep a horse exercised at any rate. Light was beginning to come in from the horizon as the sun rose. The stables were wooden things and Wong opened all three shutters to reveal three different horses. Subzero recognized the racehorse immediately. A small sleek brown one with sharp eyes "That will do fine" he smiled. The others were large workhorses a black and a white both spotted. He might not have taken it if Wong hadn't lied to him. But then again if he hadn't he would never have known that he might have and thus would have by default likely taken it anyway. This was sorcerer thinking, he disregarded it and got down to business.
Crossing the Gobi desert is no easy feat. But when you have a race horse and the ability to create ice lollies out of thin air it becomes relatively easier. Dust rose under the morning sun as the horse crossed the sandy lands. The bright sun passed across the sky like a large ball of fire, heating and burning the dusty ground like a furnace.
Subzero was heading north to the mountains. There the Lin kuei fortress was kept, a huge establishment built for assassins interested in the arcane arts. Its location was kept secret from the world and men, only sorcerers and the "gods" knew of its whereabouts. For ages past the hide out of the Lin kuei had never been found. It was itself a legend, rumored but never discovered.
The air shimmered as the horse with its black flapping tail passed across the bleak sands. The sun was hot but Subzero knew how to keep cool. He slowed the horse down with the rains and it stopped, sand rising off of the hot baking ground. His hand glowed blue and he handed an icicle down to the horse's lips, it licked it thankfully and they set off again at high speed, dust rising up into the hot air. The sun moved round like clockwork and brought up like a second hour hand the moon in a pale glow lighting the desert with the coulers of the night. It was in the darkness that it became hardest for Subzero. He could feel the cold biting into his hands. He could move them there was no problem with that. They worked better in the cold. But they were painful and stang with pain. They went a pale blue in those times and burned his cheek if he touched them. He breathed hard on them to try and keep them warm, hot air coming up from the pits of his lungs. The horse whinnied as he touched its neck by accident, and it took him a long time to calm it down again. He calmed it with soft whispers and tried to familiarize it with the cold.
The night passed into day and the day passed into night. The deserts are renowned for their ability to change on a massive scale their temperatures. Subzero looked forward to the day times and dreaded the cold nights. He fed the horse with the green packaging behind him that Wong had given him and fed himself seemingly less than the horse. Rice and dried bread and beans. It was not as much as he wanted, but there never was enough on or off the job. He looked forward to a good rest when he returned, hopefully he'd get a good chance to go off to one of the big cities of the world and enjoy a good vacation from his work. Still that seemed too good to be true. He was the Lin kuei's head assassin; he was always needed for some job or other. Perhaps being Grandmaster wouldn't suit him he wondered. Maybe retirement would be better, there were always others to take his place, as long as it wasn't that jerk Sektor.
The clouds above moved slowly, and then began to speed up. They moved faster and Subzero knew the signs and knew that he was in trouble. He could feel the air currents; from the west he could feel hot air and from the north there was cold. The two meeting together was bad news. The sky was becoming dark and the sun was disappearing as evening came on. If this turned out to be the storm he thought it was going to be then it would likely in all events kill him. What could he do? He sped the horse on fast hoping to avoid it with a gallop.
He had been in desert storms before, but never as ferocious as the one he received on that day. The sand billowed first across the sky hurting his face and almost blinding him before he brought up the blue cloak to guard his weather warn face. No rain came yet the sky flashed with lightning and he shivered with fear. This was extremely dangerous.
The horse ran faster as he urged it on but to no advantage. The sky broke as harsh winds ripped down on the ground billowing the sand in great torrents and tornadoes. The downpour broke suddenly an onslaught of cold rain water onto the hot burning sands below. He shouted out as the sand and fury of the storm hit him from above and the horse panicked. Bolting it ran far and wide looking for shelter but there was none as Subzero tried his best to calm the moaning beast. The more he tried to hang on to the horse the more his freezing cold hands dug into its mane. It bucked suddenly and he was sent flying back to the ground with a scream. It disappeared into the torrent and he shouted out rolling aside trying to block his body from the stones. Wind picked him up and carried him far across the ground; he landed with a yelp of pain as the sky above flashed with thunder. If he stood up too far then the wind would carry him off and drop him too his death, this he knew was a risk, yet if he stayed where he was then the storm would finish him off for sure.
He belted on through the chaos trying somehow to get to any kind of shelter. He could not see any way in front of him and often tripped or fell onto the sand below. The darkness and sand consumed all light, he was a single being locked in the dark room of the world. He shouted out loud and ran through the downpour skipping over sand and guarding his head with his cold hands. An impact hit him hard in the chest and face and he fell onto his back dazed. He got up as quickly as he could and felt what was in front of him. His eyes swam trying to pick up light, he could feel better than he could see. Stone, some kind of stone. He moved round taking the force on his back, he felt wood. A door he scratched across the surface feeling the wood bite into his nail and caught hold of the door handle. It gave way and he entered closing it with a slam behind him with no comprehension of what had just happened.
His eyes were still black, yet slowly the couler appeared and he began to see things in the darkness. It was unusually quiet. The noise of a fire burned quietly to the far end of the room, he could see things, stone, wooden chairs.
"Are you alright?" said an old voice in the darkness, he stumbled forward and fell to his knees feeling the floor. It was wood, moving forward he felt a rug "Who are you?" he replied rubbing his eyes, his voice was hoarse with pain. He raised his gaze slowly to see an old women looking down at him frail face and frail in body.
"You poor thing" she said, her white hair fell down long over her black silk shoulders. Her clothes were all black and silky, a small dress that came down onto the floor covered her feet and legs from sight. It contrasted strongly with the simple interior of the house "Come have a seat by the fire, you must be exhausted"
"Who are you!" repeated Subzero raising his voice
"Oh you are so insistent!" she complained backing off "My name's Madame Ditdoe, I live here" she turned as if insulted to the fire, she rested her hand on the back of a large orange padded arm chair "have a seat" she beckoned. Subzero wanted to refuse but he felt too tired, in his weakened state even this women would be a match for him to assassinate. If she was a threat he'd just have to trust her until now. He sat down and warmed his freezing hands by the fire. The glow of the flames wasn't enough to quench the cold and he pulled the chair closer so that his hands were licked by the flames. Finally still not satisfied he put them right inside the fire where they smoked ice and water. After a good few seconds he started to feel pain and took them away gazing at the water on them dropping from his fingertips. Not even a scorch mark, the horrid cold had protected him as it departed. He shuddered as a nervous jolt went down his back bone.
"You must be famished" smiled the old lady going to a table, she picked something up and returned "I've got an apple pie here if you want it"
Subzero nodded hungrily and took it from her, his hands trembling he almost dropped the plate. She sat next to him in an old rocking chair and picked up knitting needles spinning webs with the wool. A large red ball of wool was at her feet and she kept it in place with her foot creaking back and forth on the old chair.
"Why are you helping me?" asked Subzero in between mouthfuls. Madame Ditdoe smiled and made a loop in the pattern "Oh it's not often that I receive company in the desert. Always lost souls like yourself of course. If it was all the time I might not be so happy about it, but I don't mind the occasional visitor like yourself"
"I don't understand" coughed Subzero leaning closer to the fire "Why are you out here in the desert?"
The window pains flashed with lightning and rain ran down the glass across the wooden supports and down the stone walls outside. Jars were on the mantle piece along with Chinese dolls with eyes that follow you across of the room "I live here of course" she chuckled "You ask too many questions ... you got caught in a bad storm it seems"
"Yes" sighed Subzero "I've never seen anything like it before" he rubbed his hands together hard and blew on them as he gazed out of the window. A reindeer head was on the wall yet at the time there didn't seem to be anything odd about that at all.
Madame Ditdoe's expression changed suddenly as she leaned back to a serious one "Looks like Raiden's angry tonight, shame you got caught in all that"
"You believe in all that bullshit?" asked Subzero
"Of course I do. There's always a reason for a storm... you aren't running from anything are you?"
"Of course not" replied Subzero glancing at the flames "I'm just crossing the Gobi desert"
She paused a moment and crossed her legs the black silk draping down over the floor "Have you stolen anything recently?"
Subzero shook his head and breathed hard on his hands, she gazed at him intently and he looked back surprised "How do you know about that?" he asked.
"I do now" she replied coldly "Come on, show me. What was it? Some trinket? A holy item of some kind? Surely its not worth the trouble whatever it was"
Subzero looked at her inquisitively before reaching into his blue robes "Your probably right" he murmured" he found the parchment rolled up and handed it to her "Be careful with that" he cautioned "That's my wages"
She unrolled it and the same kind of light seemed to emanate from the dry paper. She looked it up and down and her lip hardened "Sacred map of elements aye? That's quite a big item to steal, no wonder Raiden's irritated, but between you and me I bet he doesn't know it was you"
Subzero snorted "I've never seen a god in my life and I'm about as likely to meet one here as I am anywhere else, its a load of lies the lot of it"
"Oh rubbish!" she replied with a wave of her hand and roll of her eyes
"Do you know what Karl Marx said!?" asked Subzero pushing forward his view "Religion is the Opium of the people, now I don't like taking drugs. As far as I'm concerned I want to keep my feet on the ground, in this world, the only world!"
"You don't believe in anything do you Subzero?" laughed Madame Ditdoe with a turn of the needle
"I believe in my hands and my talent"
"They didn't save you from the storm Subzero... you could have died out there"
"We all die sooner or later" he returned looking into the flames he moved his hands close again and sighed rubbing his forehead "How do you know my name anyway?"
"You told me" she shrugged
"No I didn't," he returned gazing at her "Who are you?"
She chuckled to herself again and patted her hair over her shoulder, the window flashed and thunder sounded out across the darkness "I told you already" she smiled "My name is Madame Ditdoe, I live in the desert and you found me through a stroke of luck"
"No I mean who are you" inquired Subzero forcefully. She shook her head from side to side and turned away "You ask too many questions... now, as I do for all my guests I give out a free gift for coming to see me"
"Thanks for being so generous" coughed Subzero fingering crumbs from the plate, the pie was very refreshing, he wished he'd tasted it better now. He'd been too hungry and tired to really taste it at the time. She got up from her chair and walked away to the back of the room "Lets see now what could you do with?" she fingered over jars slowly and looked across a wide selection of items. Many had strange things, bobbles or glass shapes. They all looked very expensive and also very fragile. A small plate had that same symbol of the dragon on. It seemed strange seeing that in a place so far from the temple. It seemed to be a popular design he'd seen it in several places in the Lin kuei head quarters.
"I know, some of my miracle formula" she smiled coming back to Subzero, she handed him a small bottle with a pale green liquid inside.
"What is it?" asked Subzero with a raise of the eye brows.
"I call it Ditdoe formula" she smiled "It stops bruising. Just put a little bit here and a little bit there and you'll feel as solid as a rock"
"Thanks" grumbled Subzero, he glanced at it once turning it over and then put it inside his robes without a second thought.
"Oh, and just a thought, don't believe everything people say about that map, when humans are concerned the map tells the truth a lot better than any words can"
Subzero laughed "To tell the truth Miss Ditdoe I'd like to see the back of this parchment as soon as possible, I got a real beating from the person I took it from"
She smiled "Oh good for you, I hope you get rid of it as soon as possible! Dear me I hope you didn't hurt anyone too bad"
"They'll live," muttered Subzero
"I hope so" she replied, "The ending of a life is not something to ignore, remember that. It can come back on a person" Subzero grunted and dabbed his finger across his tongue, she yawned "I think its time for us both to get a good nights sleep. I don't know about you but I'm going to go to bed" she ascended the wooden stairs slowly a step at a time the black dress folding up the crevices and cracks.
"I think I'll stay up for a bit myself" returned Subzero rubbing his eyes but already he felt deeply tired.
"Suit yourself" she yawned and a moment later she was gone. Subzero stared at the fire and tried to think what he was doing and how he had come here, but he couldn't remember. The more he thought about it the more tired he felt as he gazed into those warm flames. The fire light in this place never seemed to hurt his eyes for some reason, his eyes slowly closed and he fell softly asleep in the warm orange chair.
The dark glow of morning, orange and green crept in through the wooden shutters and hovered over the rice bags. The wooden paneling of the room showed ornate Chinese symbols in black calligraphy. A tough red headed man worked hard taking out dishes from draws, a black haired girl was setting round wooden tables setting chop sticks and napkins. Rice bowls were put out in places around the tables and chairs were straightened. His red hair was tied back in a single dreadlock that flapped about as he pulled things out of cupboards by force. A pan landed with a clang on the tiled floor behind the counter.
The dark haired girl's clothing was white with an apron, a single aqua ribbon tying her hair back. The red headed man looked up at her with a crash of plates "Hey Mialta, get more water, we'll be starting soon" she nodded briefly and headed quickly to the door. It was unusually chilly that morning she shivered and turned round the side of the house. The darkness was all consuming as she came to the well. It was hard to see even a few paces in front of her. Taking the bucket she fastened it to the rope and turned the cord round. It descended slowly down the well, the handle jammed a moment as she reached the water far below. She brought it up slowly with a heave and the bucket appeared with soft water inside. Untying the bond she unfastened it from the rope and careful took the heavy bucket up in both hands.
There was a cracking sound and she paused, it came from the bucket. Looking down she saw that the water had stopped moving. She touched it with her arm but it had become solid. She wrapped her knuckle against it and put it on the floor in curiosity "I don't believe it" she muttered to her self. The water had turned to ice. A dark shadow descended over her suddenly, she looked up quickly. A blue cloak and a rush of cold air.
"Don't move" said Subzero, his eyes glanced at the building to his left, he breathed white cold air as if he had been smoking a cigar and then turned back to her "Is this Wong's place?"
She backed off with a frightened look but her back met the wall and she moved no further "yes" she nodded hurriedly "Why do you want him?"
"I've got business to attend to" replied Subzero turning away "You don't need to be frightened, just be glad your not involved"
"Are you going to kill him?" she gasped "Please! I tell you it wasn't him whatever you've been told!" Subzero chuckled quietly "You have a guilty conscience, perhaps I should kill him anyway, it will save time for later"
"No please!" she begged
"I'm only kidding" replied Subzero coldly "You have no Sense of humor" he walked away leaving nothing but cold in the air. She took the buket up in her arms quickly and hurried after him. She'd hit him over the head if he attacked Wong. He entered through the door leaving a cold air trail behind him.
Wong looked up as he entered with a gasp and watched as Mialta followed carrying the ice bucket.
"Subzero?" he asked softly "Well I never, I haven't seen you in a while. Do you want something to drink?"
"You got anything hot?" asked Subzero taking a seat, the fans above whirled softly freshening the warm air. He glanced up at them briefly before gazing at Wong. Wong sighed "I got some soup here, but I was going to drink it myself, you can have it if you want"
"That will do" replied Subzero "The Lin kuei will no doubt reemberse you for anything I take"
Wong had an anxious face but quickly placed the soup on the table without a second word. Subzero took up the bowl in both hands and drank it down, it was warm and good. It brought some life back into his cold frosty hands. He wrung them and held the bowl tight sucking up the warm life from inside.
Mialta strode past and glanced suspiciously at Subzero as she went. She went over to the sink and washed her hands perhaps in disgust. She started on some dishes noisily that were already clean. Wong strode round and sat opposite the blue assassin. He frowned and rested his chin on his fist. Evidently having a Lin kuei assassin in the house wasn't his favorite occupation, you could tell he wanted to get rid of Subzero as soon as possible, the tension was in his face "Hard Night?" he asked.
"Very" replied Subzero touching his cheek. The herbs amazingly enough had completely removed the visible bruising, but the cheek itself still stung from the various blows he had received the day before. It was thanks to Serriana the house maid that he had such good medicine, he'd have to thank her for it later.
"You on the job or off it?" asked Wong getting down to business.
"Off" replied Subzero briefly wiping his lips, he put the bowl down "I'm heading back to head quarters now"
Mialta came up suddenly with an angry frown, she put the bucket down loudly on the table "Wong! Who is this person!" she demanded, she looked pretty in her own way, she had been toughened by her life. Wong as well was a handsome man with a neat pointed nose and sharp eyes, Subzero wondered whether they were going to marry.
"Calm down Mialta and don't be so rood!" replied Wong with a meaningful glance "This is Arch assassin Subzero of the Lin kuei. Please Subzero forgive Mialta, she is ignorant of your profession"
"I can forgive a pretty girl" replied Subzero leaning back "...Shame I can't forgive you, heck I don't know what your talking about Wong, tell the truth all I do is go about killing people, its dirty business"
She frowned "What do you want? And why are you here!" she again demanded putting her hands on her hips. Wong glared fiercely at her "Your not making this easy Mialta!" he growled.
"I disagree," replied Subzero "Lets get this over with. I need a horse that's good for the Gobi desert and enough rations to get me across, water and food"
"We can't spare anything!" moaned Mialta "We're low on supplies as it is already!"
"Mialta shut up!" roared Wong turning on her suddenly "Get out!" she hushed and backed off staring from one to the other. She ran back into the the kitchens and closed the door behind her. Wong rubbed his forehead and turned back to Subzero slowly "Silly girl, you need all that?"
"My last method of transport broke" replied Subzero with a shrug "What does she mean you cannot do without the supplies? The Lin kuei pays you enough already"
Wong sighed "I lie to her so I can pay her cheaper. But recently, we have been hard up, we still haven't received the payment for the last assassin who passed through here"
"That is out of my control but on behalf of my clan I apologize for it. I will inquire about it I assure you"
"Thank you very much" said Wong weakly "I only have one horse left"
"Don't try to cheat me Wong" growled Subzero
"Okay okay! I have three... one of them's a racer. I'm sorry I just didn't want you to take it" he sighed and rested his head on his hands in despair.
"The Lin kuei has the right to take anything you own" returned Subzero with a threatening finger "The money invested in your property is not yours, these fans were bought with Lin kuei money, these chairs were bought with Lin kuei money, everything here is an investment, not a single retainers property"
"Actually I bought the fans with profit" grumbled Wong with a frown
"I could take the ceiling instead then"
"Never mind" sighed Wong gazing down at the table. Subzero tilted the soup bowl in his hands and looked at the left over bits, onion rice and other vegetables "I haven't spoke to you in a while, how are things?"
Wong smiled half-heartedly "Good I guess, customers are coming. We've got several rich regulars"
"Who is this Mialta anyway? Is this where your extra profit has gone to?"
"Heh, a man mustn't work too hard" he smiled
"I just pray for your sake she's not listening to this conversation" said Subzero glancing towards a crack in the door. Wong widened his eyes and felt his neck pulse.
"I need to leave before the sun rises" continued Subzero "...now"
"This minute!? But I have to prepare the restaurant!" grumbled Wong with a gasp
"I said now," said Subzero coldly "I mean now, show me the horse"
Wong nodded half heatedly and lead Subzero through the door into the kitchen. Mialta frowned again as she passed through a side door into what looked like the storerooms. They passed into the kitchens where a cauldron was already boiling and then out into a large back garden, enough room to keep a horse exercised at any rate. Light was beginning to come in from the horizon as the sun rose. The stables were wooden things and Wong opened all three shutters to reveal three different horses. Subzero recognized the racehorse immediately. A small sleek brown one with sharp eyes "That will do fine" he smiled. The others were large workhorses a black and a white both spotted. He might not have taken it if Wong hadn't lied to him. But then again if he hadn't he would never have known that he might have and thus would have by default likely taken it anyway. This was sorcerer thinking, he disregarded it and got down to business.
Crossing the Gobi desert is no easy feat. But when you have a race horse and the ability to create ice lollies out of thin air it becomes relatively easier. Dust rose under the morning sun as the horse crossed the sandy lands. The bright sun passed across the sky like a large ball of fire, heating and burning the dusty ground like a furnace.
Subzero was heading north to the mountains. There the Lin kuei fortress was kept, a huge establishment built for assassins interested in the arcane arts. Its location was kept secret from the world and men, only sorcerers and the "gods" knew of its whereabouts. For ages past the hide out of the Lin kuei had never been found. It was itself a legend, rumored but never discovered.
The air shimmered as the horse with its black flapping tail passed across the bleak sands. The sun was hot but Subzero knew how to keep cool. He slowed the horse down with the rains and it stopped, sand rising off of the hot baking ground. His hand glowed blue and he handed an icicle down to the horse's lips, it licked it thankfully and they set off again at high speed, dust rising up into the hot air. The sun moved round like clockwork and brought up like a second hour hand the moon in a pale glow lighting the desert with the coulers of the night. It was in the darkness that it became hardest for Subzero. He could feel the cold biting into his hands. He could move them there was no problem with that. They worked better in the cold. But they were painful and stang with pain. They went a pale blue in those times and burned his cheek if he touched them. He breathed hard on them to try and keep them warm, hot air coming up from the pits of his lungs. The horse whinnied as he touched its neck by accident, and it took him a long time to calm it down again. He calmed it with soft whispers and tried to familiarize it with the cold.
The night passed into day and the day passed into night. The deserts are renowned for their ability to change on a massive scale their temperatures. Subzero looked forward to the day times and dreaded the cold nights. He fed the horse with the green packaging behind him that Wong had given him and fed himself seemingly less than the horse. Rice and dried bread and beans. It was not as much as he wanted, but there never was enough on or off the job. He looked forward to a good rest when he returned, hopefully he'd get a good chance to go off to one of the big cities of the world and enjoy a good vacation from his work. Still that seemed too good to be true. He was the Lin kuei's head assassin; he was always needed for some job or other. Perhaps being Grandmaster wouldn't suit him he wondered. Maybe retirement would be better, there were always others to take his place, as long as it wasn't that jerk Sektor.
The clouds above moved slowly, and then began to speed up. They moved faster and Subzero knew the signs and knew that he was in trouble. He could feel the air currents; from the west he could feel hot air and from the north there was cold. The two meeting together was bad news. The sky was becoming dark and the sun was disappearing as evening came on. If this turned out to be the storm he thought it was going to be then it would likely in all events kill him. What could he do? He sped the horse on fast hoping to avoid it with a gallop.
He had been in desert storms before, but never as ferocious as the one he received on that day. The sand billowed first across the sky hurting his face and almost blinding him before he brought up the blue cloak to guard his weather warn face. No rain came yet the sky flashed with lightning and he shivered with fear. This was extremely dangerous.
The horse ran faster as he urged it on but to no advantage. The sky broke as harsh winds ripped down on the ground billowing the sand in great torrents and tornadoes. The downpour broke suddenly an onslaught of cold rain water onto the hot burning sands below. He shouted out as the sand and fury of the storm hit him from above and the horse panicked. Bolting it ran far and wide looking for shelter but there was none as Subzero tried his best to calm the moaning beast. The more he tried to hang on to the horse the more his freezing cold hands dug into its mane. It bucked suddenly and he was sent flying back to the ground with a scream. It disappeared into the torrent and he shouted out rolling aside trying to block his body from the stones. Wind picked him up and carried him far across the ground; he landed with a yelp of pain as the sky above flashed with thunder. If he stood up too far then the wind would carry him off and drop him too his death, this he knew was a risk, yet if he stayed where he was then the storm would finish him off for sure.
He belted on through the chaos trying somehow to get to any kind of shelter. He could not see any way in front of him and often tripped or fell onto the sand below. The darkness and sand consumed all light, he was a single being locked in the dark room of the world. He shouted out loud and ran through the downpour skipping over sand and guarding his head with his cold hands. An impact hit him hard in the chest and face and he fell onto his back dazed. He got up as quickly as he could and felt what was in front of him. His eyes swam trying to pick up light, he could feel better than he could see. Stone, some kind of stone. He moved round taking the force on his back, he felt wood. A door he scratched across the surface feeling the wood bite into his nail and caught hold of the door handle. It gave way and he entered closing it with a slam behind him with no comprehension of what had just happened.
His eyes were still black, yet slowly the couler appeared and he began to see things in the darkness. It was unusually quiet. The noise of a fire burned quietly to the far end of the room, he could see things, stone, wooden chairs.
"Are you alright?" said an old voice in the darkness, he stumbled forward and fell to his knees feeling the floor. It was wood, moving forward he felt a rug "Who are you?" he replied rubbing his eyes, his voice was hoarse with pain. He raised his gaze slowly to see an old women looking down at him frail face and frail in body.
"You poor thing" she said, her white hair fell down long over her black silk shoulders. Her clothes were all black and silky, a small dress that came down onto the floor covered her feet and legs from sight. It contrasted strongly with the simple interior of the house "Come have a seat by the fire, you must be exhausted"
"Who are you!" repeated Subzero raising his voice
"Oh you are so insistent!" she complained backing off "My name's Madame Ditdoe, I live here" she turned as if insulted to the fire, she rested her hand on the back of a large orange padded arm chair "have a seat" she beckoned. Subzero wanted to refuse but he felt too tired, in his weakened state even this women would be a match for him to assassinate. If she was a threat he'd just have to trust her until now. He sat down and warmed his freezing hands by the fire. The glow of the flames wasn't enough to quench the cold and he pulled the chair closer so that his hands were licked by the flames. Finally still not satisfied he put them right inside the fire where they smoked ice and water. After a good few seconds he started to feel pain and took them away gazing at the water on them dropping from his fingertips. Not even a scorch mark, the horrid cold had protected him as it departed. He shuddered as a nervous jolt went down his back bone.
"You must be famished" smiled the old lady going to a table, she picked something up and returned "I've got an apple pie here if you want it"
Subzero nodded hungrily and took it from her, his hands trembling he almost dropped the plate. She sat next to him in an old rocking chair and picked up knitting needles spinning webs with the wool. A large red ball of wool was at her feet and she kept it in place with her foot creaking back and forth on the old chair.
"Why are you helping me?" asked Subzero in between mouthfuls. Madame Ditdoe smiled and made a loop in the pattern "Oh it's not often that I receive company in the desert. Always lost souls like yourself of course. If it was all the time I might not be so happy about it, but I don't mind the occasional visitor like yourself"
"I don't understand" coughed Subzero leaning closer to the fire "Why are you out here in the desert?"
The window pains flashed with lightning and rain ran down the glass across the wooden supports and down the stone walls outside. Jars were on the mantle piece along with Chinese dolls with eyes that follow you across of the room "I live here of course" she chuckled "You ask too many questions ... you got caught in a bad storm it seems"
"Yes" sighed Subzero "I've never seen anything like it before" he rubbed his hands together hard and blew on them as he gazed out of the window. A reindeer head was on the wall yet at the time there didn't seem to be anything odd about that at all.
Madame Ditdoe's expression changed suddenly as she leaned back to a serious one "Looks like Raiden's angry tonight, shame you got caught in all that"
"You believe in all that bullshit?" asked Subzero
"Of course I do. There's always a reason for a storm... you aren't running from anything are you?"
"Of course not" replied Subzero glancing at the flames "I'm just crossing the Gobi desert"
She paused a moment and crossed her legs the black silk draping down over the floor "Have you stolen anything recently?"
Subzero shook his head and breathed hard on his hands, she gazed at him intently and he looked back surprised "How do you know about that?" he asked.
"I do now" she replied coldly "Come on, show me. What was it? Some trinket? A holy item of some kind? Surely its not worth the trouble whatever it was"
Subzero looked at her inquisitively before reaching into his blue robes "Your probably right" he murmured" he found the parchment rolled up and handed it to her "Be careful with that" he cautioned "That's my wages"
She unrolled it and the same kind of light seemed to emanate from the dry paper. She looked it up and down and her lip hardened "Sacred map of elements aye? That's quite a big item to steal, no wonder Raiden's irritated, but between you and me I bet he doesn't know it was you"
Subzero snorted "I've never seen a god in my life and I'm about as likely to meet one here as I am anywhere else, its a load of lies the lot of it"
"Oh rubbish!" she replied with a wave of her hand and roll of her eyes
"Do you know what Karl Marx said!?" asked Subzero pushing forward his view "Religion is the Opium of the people, now I don't like taking drugs. As far as I'm concerned I want to keep my feet on the ground, in this world, the only world!"
"You don't believe in anything do you Subzero?" laughed Madame Ditdoe with a turn of the needle
"I believe in my hands and my talent"
"They didn't save you from the storm Subzero... you could have died out there"
"We all die sooner or later" he returned looking into the flames he moved his hands close again and sighed rubbing his forehead "How do you know my name anyway?"
"You told me" she shrugged
"No I didn't," he returned gazing at her "Who are you?"
She chuckled to herself again and patted her hair over her shoulder, the window flashed and thunder sounded out across the darkness "I told you already" she smiled "My name is Madame Ditdoe, I live in the desert and you found me through a stroke of luck"
"No I mean who are you" inquired Subzero forcefully. She shook her head from side to side and turned away "You ask too many questions... now, as I do for all my guests I give out a free gift for coming to see me"
"Thanks for being so generous" coughed Subzero fingering crumbs from the plate, the pie was very refreshing, he wished he'd tasted it better now. He'd been too hungry and tired to really taste it at the time. She got up from her chair and walked away to the back of the room "Lets see now what could you do with?" she fingered over jars slowly and looked across a wide selection of items. Many had strange things, bobbles or glass shapes. They all looked very expensive and also very fragile. A small plate had that same symbol of the dragon on. It seemed strange seeing that in a place so far from the temple. It seemed to be a popular design he'd seen it in several places in the Lin kuei head quarters.
"I know, some of my miracle formula" she smiled coming back to Subzero, she handed him a small bottle with a pale green liquid inside.
"What is it?" asked Subzero with a raise of the eye brows.
"I call it Ditdoe formula" she smiled "It stops bruising. Just put a little bit here and a little bit there and you'll feel as solid as a rock"
"Thanks" grumbled Subzero, he glanced at it once turning it over and then put it inside his robes without a second thought.
"Oh, and just a thought, don't believe everything people say about that map, when humans are concerned the map tells the truth a lot better than any words can"
Subzero laughed "To tell the truth Miss Ditdoe I'd like to see the back of this parchment as soon as possible, I got a real beating from the person I took it from"
She smiled "Oh good for you, I hope you get rid of it as soon as possible! Dear me I hope you didn't hurt anyone too bad"
"They'll live," muttered Subzero
"I hope so" she replied, "The ending of a life is not something to ignore, remember that. It can come back on a person" Subzero grunted and dabbed his finger across his tongue, she yawned "I think its time for us both to get a good nights sleep. I don't know about you but I'm going to go to bed" she ascended the wooden stairs slowly a step at a time the black dress folding up the crevices and cracks.
"I think I'll stay up for a bit myself" returned Subzero rubbing his eyes but already he felt deeply tired.
"Suit yourself" she yawned and a moment later she was gone. Subzero stared at the fire and tried to think what he was doing and how he had come here, but he couldn't remember. The more he thought about it the more tired he felt as he gazed into those warm flames. The fire light in this place never seemed to hurt his eyes for some reason, his eyes slowly closed and he fell softly asleep in the warm orange chair.
