Finding a replacement for Frost was proving a lot more difficult than Sub-Zero would have thought. While Kori powers were rare as far as such things go, he couldn't believe that he had located no one with the gift in the three weeks since his student had run off. Granted, his primary goal was really to bring his prize student back, but his "scouts" hadn't come up with anything worth mentioning.
"Not a single lead," he grumbled to himself. Currently he was sorting through page after page of notes his people had sent back. Those instances where a few individuals seemed to have the gift turned out to be a clever series of fakes. "Better to find the fakes out now," was what he kept telling himself, but he was getting severely frustrated. It wasn't just the search for a new student that was bothering him either. Just imagining the havoc Frost could be wreaking was giving him a headache.
Sighing loudly, he ran a hand through his rapidly graying hair and leaned back in his seat. Those closest to him jokingly swore that his protégé was the reason he had gone gray so early, and he secretly agreed. He remembered exactly the effects his own headstrong brother had on their sifu. Unfortunately, he also remembered how that same arrogant attitude likely caused the elder Sub-Zero's demise at the hand of a familiar ninja specter.
As mean as it sounded, his greatest hope was that the youngest ice ninja was simply hiding out, nursing her injured ego. It hadn't made sense for her to run off, after all, he was known for being incredibly lenient when the next generation of Lin Kuei fouled up. On the other hand, Frost hadn't been displaying the highest levels of maturity and perhaps running away was her only way of coping with failure.
In any case, he couldn't waste all his attention on the subject. There were more pressing matters at hand, not the least of which were a disturbing series of rumors about a planned attack by the Red Dragon, as well as the looming threat of the Dragon King...
Ridiculously Long and Perhaps Unnecessary Author's Note:
Hopefully this will keep future author's notes to a bare minimum.
Point 1: I've been heavily inspired by the movie/cartoon versions of the characters when it comes to characterization, causing me to have such abominations as Snarky!Raiden and WiseCracking!Jax. I try to keep the characters as close to what the games say, but occasionally I'll fill in the blanks myself (and not always correctly). If you've got facts from the games that would point to a different characterization, feel free to tell me what you think.
Point 2: For argument's sake I've decided that the game timeline and our timeline are roughly the same. A little over a decade has passed since the first Mortal Kombat, and I've pegged Subbie at being 36/37 partially because of his brothers age at his death. As far as I know, there's no information to provide a better clue at his actual age.
Point 3: This story will be updated on the WTHIFLI schedule. For those of you who don't speak "Belligerent" that reads, "Whenever the hell I feel like it". I'm not trying to be rude, but I've got a job and college courses to attend, and I won't always have time to work on the story. Sometimes there may be weeks or even a month or two between chapters. I'd rather update slowly than put up something I don't like. If you really like the story, just put me on your author alert list, and you'll know when I finally get around to updating.
Point 4: Visitors to the FF.net site are my beta readers. If you feel moved to review my story, please include something that you would like to see fixed/improved. Constructive criticism is greatly encouraged and I'm genuinely thankful when I get it. Don't worry, I don't bite.
Point 5: I know the story starts out very dialogue driven. I promise it will start to pick up.