Kalliste managed to find a boat manageable to travel on seas. Now, she remembered the way to Shang Tsung's island and all feelings about it just felt hollow and hollow. It seemed almost ages ago when she last arrived.
The sea waves slightly felt nauseating for her, but her mind pondered on Kollector who sat empty and bare. He no longer carries his satchel, his little set of arms flung out. Kalliste felt a bit worried about their arrival at their destination. What sort of mission did Mileena even attend to? All questions overcame her but she brushed it all off - the dark sea filled her mind with emptiness.
Kollector's gaze followed the waves as he began to gleam at Kalliste; looking into the mist upon an unknown abyss of the world.
"...You now speak from your tongue?" Kollector asked out from the blue. Kalliste slowly turned her head at him.
"...Yes. I don't know the cause... maybe... when Kotal..." Her words trailed off quietly as her brain was being filled with thoughts and questions. Kollector was uninterested in her little prattle, instead his face went soft as another notion entered his mind.
He gave an uneasy and "sincere" smile but it quickly dropped as he felt uncomfortable holding it on his face. "Kalliste." He called out. She laid her eyes on him and bitterly waited for his comment.
"...Perhaps I should... give my gratitude for you. No other soul would... ever ... —care to free me..." His words stammered, stumbling with uneasiness, he lacked eye contact with Kalliste.
"...Well... I had to know if you were still even alive. ...You're crucial to the Empress."
"Did the empress ask you to come for me...?" Kollector asked. Kalliste scoffed but stopped immediately as she became more delicate with her next answer.
"No. Mileena ordered me not to... I choose to save you because I care for you." Kalliste bit her lip. The intensity of her words made her heat up abruptly. But her heartfelt so soft and it slowly melted into amity. She stopped rowing the boat and crawled her way to Kollector. Kalliste hesitated a bit, her hand slowly planting against his chest; Kollector's vermillion eyes widened with bewilderment and diffident. He raised his chest as he inched a bit further away from her, but he didn't seem to be entirely hostile by this closer interaction.
She began to wrap her arms around her thick neck, her hands collided with his upper side of arms. Kal swore she could feel a bit of resistance in this embrace but his movement slowly fell leisurely. The blood from inside his flesh was warm, heating his skin, and his breath was sharp and curling. Kalliste felt truly content by this clasp. His hands lightly hovered over her waist - without effort but the closeness fell short. Finally, they released touch, and the mellowness in Kal's peculiar eyes gave an endearing feeling in Kollector; a feeling he never felt before.
"Are you feeling alright now...?" Kalliste asked, delicately drifting her eyes elsewhere. No answer came from him as Kollector shifted in front of her, proceeding to row the boat himself.
—-
Upon arrival, there were many boats near the shore, but that didn't interest them. There were piles of dead, torn bodies near the shoreline and a huge pile of insects and bugs, blue blood...? A couple of moving souls began to carry bodies into the deeper forest. As the boat finally reached the shorelines, Kalliste hurriedly stepped onto the sandy grounds.
"Where would the Empress be...?" Kalliste said. Kollector shrugged as they began to hear footsteps shuffling against the sands.
Suddenly a group of Red Dragons came from the trees, wielding their weapons as they violently charge towards them. Kollector managed to swipe a couple of them off their feet, his strength seemed to return. Only a few were defeated as they both continue to venture onto the island.
"...I suppose the Red Dragon is no longer on Mileena's side..."
"Why would the Red Dragon consort themselves with ... Mileena...?" Asked Kollector.
"They are under Reiko's leadership... Do you know Reiko...?" Kalliste said.
"Yes...He was Shao Kahn's general. Though he was not entirely present under his court." Kollector replied. Suddenly, the sound of trees shuffled and Kalliste stopped Kollector's movement. They both looked up in front of them. Two mortals; women stood confidently at them. But what was more unusual was their glowing red eyes. It almost seemed like they were in control of some sort.
"Well, looks like a bunch of wondering freaks have come to play. They one of Kotal's minions?" Says the girl in blonde hair. They both wore athletic attires, staring down at the two.
"Who cares, they'll join the blood code." Says the other woman. Kalliste rose her brow in concern and peculiarity.
"Where is Empress Mileena?" Kollector exclaims. Two of women scoffed. They seemed entirely sardonic.
"Don't worry, you'll join your Empress soon." An immediate rush of movement overcame Kollector and Kalliste as they both stumbled and dodged their rising kicks coming at them. The fight is on, the two girls fought strong and intensely, almost all of their throws seemed impossible to escape from. Something inside them made them entirely powerful.
Kalliste and Kollector struggled as they were beginning to get pounded in by their hardening fists of blood.
As one girl pinned Kalliste, Kal threw a fist towards her neck. Coughing a bit from that stagger. But she quickly recovered as something fuelled her energy. Kalliste tried to look over on Kollector's situation. He seemed to struggle hard, they both did.
They were beaten, choked, slashed, and pulled. No mortal girls could fight this rough and yet they did.
"What is this?" A sudden husky voice of iniquity overcame their senses, the blood running women stopped their beatings but still seized the two. Kalliste looked over to a man that stood from above, his face was truly ghastly. It was not Reiko... someone else much more profound.
He had no lips, no mouth, his eyes hollow as pearls. And his attire completely covered with blood.
"We just wanted to have fun with these intruders, Lord Havik." One of them said. Havik? Kalliste was completely unaware of this Havik guy. He seemed even more intimidating than Reiko. The man stepped down and gained a closer look at Kollector and Kalliste. He seemed to smile even with the lack of muscle in his muzzle.
"A Nakadan and ... an Outworlder?" He rose a brow and looked even closer. "Who's your master, pests?" He said.
"They said they've come for their Empress, Mileena." Says one of the girls. Havik makes a faint noise in response.
"Should they join the blood code...?" He says. Kalliste felt herself under tension. What exactly is this blood code they keep talking about? Are they considering turning both of them into possessed blood running abnormalities? Havik suddenly looked into the distance where another large sailing ship came into view. It was heading towards the island as it seems. He gestures his hand at the girls.
"Detain them, we'll turn them into the blood code. More visitors come." The two girls roughly pulled and dragged Kollector and Kalliste onto an unknown place.
A bright but grim place was in their view, but what was even more interesting was that 5 bodies laid on all 5 resting beds where they were all resting. A long tube connecting them all led to a fountain of blood. It was Mileena, Ermac, Kotal, and two other earthrealmers that laid unconscious. Now, this particular situation gave worry to Kalliste greatly. Kalliste looked all over the room and spotted a large mass of viscera. It seemed to be a body that just had recently crumbled into bones and gore.
Kollector managed to break free but with that act, he was inflicted with a heavy blow to his skull, knocking him completely unconscious.
"No!" Kalliste yelled in anguish, her eyes beginning to fall deep. Considering that he was out, one of the girls unnervingly grinned at Kalliste who exclaimed at Kollector's knockout.
"Don't tell me that this little bitch cares for the freak." The girl with the dreads mocked Kalliste as her anger grew. Still, grasped by the other blonde girl, the other one glared deeply into Kalliste with their burning red eyes. It was an obvious rage that made her struggle from their clutches.
"I'll give you a taste of your own medicine." And all she could feel and taste was blood, running down her brain as Kalliste found herself to be put into unconsciousness.
Beyond blacked out.