Jade used her thoughts to try and preoccupy herself.
To pull herself away from the reality around her.
But even then, she couldn't conjure up much of a thought that would take her away from this place.
She couldn't think of anything that would block the memory of how one minute she was fighting the resurrected Queen Sindel herself.
And the next, she was sliding across the wooden deck as the ship capsized underneath them.
As giant red waves swallowed it whole.
Even now, it was still a flood of loose memories, of panic-induced adrenaline, of being submerged in warm blood that got darker the deeper she was dragged down into it.
Jade had always fancied herself a strong swimmer.
But there was no swimming against the pressure, against the force that had snagged her by the legs, and made promise to drag her down with the ship- to crush her body against the bottomless seabed that awaited her.
She felt a cold shiver run up her body as the memory lingered in the heaviness of her uniform, still damp and soaked in blood; the deep-green now stained almost black by the undead sea. The taste of copper still plagued her mouth; it haunted her no matter how much she tried to spit it out. She kept running the back of her hand across her lips, still expecting to see blood on them- still convinced that it was her own.
The sound of quiet coughing coming from underneath her was enough to pull her from her thoughts, from her memories- and yet, she had hoped to distract herself from that noise instead. Jade had hoped to block out the struggled wheezing that was subtly provoked by the firm dragging of her knuckles up and down his back; an attempt made to keep his body responsive, to keep his lungs responsive.
In any other situation, she would've told Kung Lao to man up and get his shit together.
That there was plenty more for all of them to do, and that it was too late in the endgame of things to stop and rest now.
But given this particular situation, he had every reason to be completely exhausted.
After all, she had a feeling that if he could move, he would.
Kung Lao wouldn't abandon Liu Kang right at the end, not willingly- and not like this.
Sighing, Jade moved her hand to his shoulder, before she gently ran her fingers through his hair, still damp and completely loose from when she had pulled it free from its ponytail. He looked odd with his hair down, and even odder without his hat or his bold tunic; he hardly looked recognizable outside of his usual refined uniform.
Not that she could say much for herself.
The difference was that she knew she looked awful.
And he was too busy trying to keep breathing to realize how pathetic they both must've looked in the moment.
Once battle-ready kombatants now looking as though they were castaways on a deserted island.
[But Gods above, they were both still alive.]
She slicked the wet strands back and out of his face- and ignored the red stains left behind on her palm now. Pressing the back of her hand to his cheek, she felt how Kung Lao pulled away from her- not very far, and not very well, but enough for her to get the hint.
"You know, at this point in my life, I was convinced that I had seen everything this world had to offer," Jade started, as she moved her hand underneath his arm and pressed it against his chest.
She could feel his staggered breathing.
The occasional deep breath Kung Lao could take between the sputtered coughing, which then came out as a wheeze.
"But then you came along- and the type of stupidity that you brought with you really just blew my mind," Jade continued. "And I thought that was the worst of it. But then you proved me wrong by showing your total commitment to it."
She felt his chest heave with another cough and watched the blood that came out with it.
And heard the smaller coughs that followed, before she realized there was a rhythm to them.
Before she realized that he was laughing- or at least, trying to.
"And you said... Earthrealm men were boring," Kung Lao replied.
His voice was low; a little on the rough side.
A side-effect of swallowing and choking up blood.
"That was not a compliment," Jade reiterated, as she moved her hand to the ground beneath them, settling so that she had one arm over him. "What you did was borderline vile."
"You're alive, aren't you?" he retorted. "Everyone is alive, aren't they? Even Kitana?"
"Do not make me appreciate your actions."
"A little thank you would be nice," Kung Lao continued. "And it wouldn't kill you- unlike some things."
Jade snorted softly, but tried not to let him see the mused expression on her face.
Shifting her weight onto the arm in front of him, she moved her other hand to run through his hair once more- gently guiding her fingers through the shoulder-length black strands. "It was stupid- and completely reckless," she noted. "And it might've been the only thing that saved our lives, as well as our future."
That much was technically unknown for the time being.
But things had been bleak leading up to this.
And while being stranded on the beaches of the Sea of Blood, trapped between realms, wasn't exactly the most ideal of places to be, she had a twisted feeling in her stomach that they could've been worse off- much worse.
"I'm still not happy about it," Jade finished.
"Shame, perhaps you should've died mad about it then."
She quietly laughed as her mock illusion broke, but stopped when she heard him start coughing again.
It was light at first, but quickly got heavier and heavier.
Enough so that Kung Lao eventually pushed himself up onto one arm to keep from choking on the blood that was still coming out from his lungs, that was still coming out from between his lips.
He had been thrown into the Blood Sea like he was cargo, like he was just another corpse falling from the deck.
But unlike the others, he didn't just drown in the heavy waves around them.
One minute, they were fighting.
The next, the sea opened like a mouth underneath them and swallowed the boat, and everyone on board, whole.
Jade could still feel the tight grip of the hand that had grabbed her, that had dragged her back to the surface- and then held her up once it had been broken so that she could breathe. And she had never breathed air that felt so fresh in that moment.
Her body still ached from how badly the waves had beaten her, how they had threatened to toss her back into the depths, as she and her companion made a desperate bid for the barely visible shoreline. She had gotten thrashed around, pulled under the surface and dragged away, which made every little inch of progress feel hopeful, yet useless.
By the time she had finally reached the shore, she had been on the verge of exhaustion.
Her mind had cut itself from her body in order to try and sustain her own sanity.
It had been one of Sheeva's warriors who had managed to grab her before she had sunk too deep- and it had been a lucky grab at that. Considering how much the two of them had struggled to get to land, Jade knew she never would've had a chance of making the swim herself if it hadn't been for the extra four arms that had dragged her along.
Despite the situation, what little bit of hope there had been to it came in the light of Jade panicking about Kitana, about the same time the woman herself had come running across the beach to her. Kitana had managed to use her fans to propel herself out of the rushing waters, managing to escape just seconds before the mouth of the sea had closed around the ship.
Thankfully, she had managed to find and take Liu Kang with her as well.
In the silent aftermath of the wreckage, the few who had managed to make it to the beach on their own were mostly Tarkatan and Shokan.
It wasn't an easy realization to see just how much of their army had been wiped out- both by Shao Kahn's ambush, as well as the sudden wreckage. Which meant that the battle ahead of them would be much harder for their allies, given just how altered their numbers were.
There had been some relief to be taken though.
Those of Shao Kahn's army had yet to resurface, more than likely dragged down into the blood by their heavy armor.
There were no signs of either Shao Kahn or Sindel amongst the survivors either.
Jade didn't have her hopes pegged that either of them were gone.
But now that the Outworld army was here, now that they had made it to the gates of Kronika's keep, they had more important things to worry about now.
Moving a hand to rub at his back, Jade listened as Kung Lao eventually freed himself from the coughing fit. She could hear him wheezing between gasps for air again, before he eventually got that under control as well- for now at least.
There were a few more sputtered coughs before he eventually laid back down and attempted to get comfortable again.
Which probably wasn't the easiest thing for him to do.
And that wasn't even taking account of the ripped sail she had placed underneath him to keep him separated from the sand.
He seemed to give up on the endeavor and rolled over onto his back instead- going against her earlier advice of avoiding it.
"I feel like shit," Kung Lao started, sounding more hoarse than he did before now, "- but I still don't regret it."
"You? Regret anything?" Jade poised, as she moved her hand to his chest now- gently rubbing at it once more.
She could still feel the pounding of his heart, which seemed to be struggling to keep up with his lungs.
"I regret a few things, just not this."
Out of everyone who eventually resurfaced from the Sea of Blood, Kung Lao had stayed under the longest.
Those who had made it to the shore first, and on their own, had been quick to return to the shallows to help the few others who had just started to resurface. Jade had never imagined herself having to run into knee-deep blood to help pull a Tarkatan to his feet- and yet, that was what she had found herself doing. She ran back and forth when her energy willed it, with the hope to recover what lives she could, and help recover what numbers their army still had left.
She could still recall looking away from the Shokan she had assisted out of the blood, and watching as two Tarkatans dragged his body to the shore.
A fate Jade was certain that Kung Lao would've been upset with had he known in the moment- or known about even now.
And it hadn't been till then that she realized he had even been missing.
Unlike the others that had been dragged ashore, he wasn't breathing- and what pulse they could find was too faint to keep track of. At that point, given how long he had been under the surface, the odds of him breathing again were slim; the odds of him regaining consciousness, let alone proper function, were slim.
Jade had very limited experience being around Liu Kang, but given how stoic and collected he was, even in the face of Shao Kahn, she couldn't imagine the man being anything other than that. And yet, even now, Jade wasn't certain she had ever seen a man look as distraught as Liu Kang did the moment he realized who had been brought ashore.
She could barely stand the sight of seeing Kung Lao in the state that he was, blood-soaked, partly blackened from deep-tissue bruising, skin torn in patches, and with lungs that were swollen with blood.
But their group would be useless if two of them were mourning.
It wasn't her place to get involved.
Which, in the end, had been for the best.
Liu Kang had been adamant about doing whatever he could to save Kung Lao; an act seemingly done out of desperation.
An effort almost wasted- until the man started to breathe again.
The relief had been almost agonizing, and almost short-lived as Kung Lao immediately began to puke up blood. It had been difficult to tell if he was trying to clear his lungs, or trying to clear his stomach; if it was from temporary drowning, or from a far more severe injury.
Jade had settled on it being the first option.
And whether that decision had been made simply to comfort herself wasn't important now.
"I take it the ship went down?" Kung Lao questioned- spearing the words the moment he had regained his airways enough to speak.
"Yes- but how could you know that?" Liu Kang replied.
"You think it just sank on its own?"
And that was how they found out what had happened.
How they found out how the ship had gone under so quickly, with no warning to it.
How a mouth had opened up underneath the blood.
A cyclone, a whirlpool.
Despite his initial hesitation, Liu Kang went ahead with Kitana to join the rest of the armies, to join Lord Raiden and Lord Fujin; the two of them took what few Outworld fighters were still able to provide support.
Jade had opted to stay back, to keep Kung Lao safe, and ease Liu Kang's mind.
She doubted anything else would be coming from here, especially since they were the last ones to arrive, but she couldn't be certain of it either. And given the harrowing feat Kung Lao had just pulled off, not to mention the poor condition he was in now, she didn't want to risk leaving him on his own- leaving him defenseless against anything that might pass by.
By now, there was no telling how much time had passed since Kitana and Liu Kang's departure.
Then again, they were dealing with a Time Titan.
It was very possible that no time had passed at all.
"So what are you doing after this?"
Jade chuckled at the absurdity of his question.
"Possibly getting reverted through a timeline against my will- again," she answered.
"It's already getting pretty annoying, isn't it? And we've only done it once," Kung Lao remarked.
Once that they knew of anyways.
There was no telling just how many times they had been in this position before.
Or how many times they would be fated to repeat it.
"Well hey, wherever we end up when this is all over with, give me ten minutes of your time next time."
She laughed once more at the less-than-concealed flirt he passed her way.
"Ten minutes might be a little too much time," Jade mused, as she moved her knuckles to knock gently at his chin. "You sank a ship and two entire armies in that amount of time. How am I suppose to resist that? You very well may convince me to wed and bed you in ten minutes."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Kung Lao teased.
"Perhaps it could be," she teased in return. "Perhaps for Earthrealm, perhaps for Outworld."
"After everything we've gone through, the realms are the least of my concerns," he replied.
Jade moved her hand to cup his face now, tucking aside a few strands of hair beforehand. "You say that now, but once time resets, I imagine you'll go back to being all about Earthrealm, and I'll stay with Outworld."
"We could meet in the middle somewhere."
No one could say that he wasn't persistent- even on a theoretical deathbed.
"We could," Jade offered, allowing herself to humor the thought. "Except the only place in the middle would be Shang Tsung's island- and I have a feeling neither of us want to go there. And I hate to say it, but you're hardly the Outworld type."
"I'll take that as a compliment actually," Kung Lao remarked.
Given every experience he had had in Outworld so far, she could see why.
"What about me? Do you think I would fit in in Earthrealm?" she poised.
"Yeah- I mean, I think you would still stick out, but for good reasons," he answered. "You think Earthrealm would be a good place to start over?"
"I'm just thinking that I'd like a change in scenery, is all," Jade replied. "I've never been to Earthrealm before- and seeing how every Earthrealmer I've come across acts, I'm curious about where the behavior comes from.
"You might not want to use me as an example of Earthrealm behavior."
And yet, he was one of the bigger reasons she was so curious about the realm.
"You could show me around, we could make a little date out of it if you so wish," she teased. "And then we can go from there and see what happens next."
Kung Lao chuckled softly. "You've got this planned out better than I did."
"Is that so? What did you have in mind?"
"Nothing. I didn't really think I'd get this far to be honest."
Jade started to laugh at his blank honesty, but quickly tried to make herself stop when she heard him join her. "Don't laugh- you shouldn't laugh," she spoke, even though she struggled to get herself back under control. "I don't want you to choke again."
"That's gonna happen whether I'm laughing or not," Kung Lao replied.
And if he meant the words to be of any comfort, they weren't.
Jade moved her hand back to circle over his chest.
She wasn't certain if the motion was even helping him, but it was almost a comfort to her now.
So at the very least, one of them was enjoying it.
"You want to know the worst thing about this whole situation?"
It was a rather broad question with plenty of answers to go with it.
It would be hard to pick just one.
"I find it hard to believe that there's even a silver lining in regards to this whole situation," Jade remarked. "But if I had to give you an answer, and knowing what I do about you, is it that you lost your hat?"
She wondered if he even realized it was missing.
More than likely he did, given how much he talked about it.
But also given the whole almost dying and then getting resuscitated thing, there was still a good chance that he hadn't noticed yet.
"No- but don't get me wrong, that still hurts," Kung Lao spoke. "But something definitely touched my leg while I was down there and I don't think it was a body."
Given the theory that the Sea of Blood was bottomless, and that it ran out from the Netherrealm, Jade wouldn't be surprised if the whole sea was infested with aquatic demons of some kind. Not that anything like this was even touched on during her studies. What little was recorded about the Sea of Blood couldn't even prove if the entire thing was real or not.
And admittedly, Jade almost did believe this whole place to be a myth.
Not so much now, of course.
But she wondered if the impact of its existence now would be carried over into the new timeline.
Would she remember this place even without experiencing it?
"I wouldn't doubt it," Jade offered. "This sea runs out of the Netherrealm, there could be anything under the surface. What might've touched you could've been anything; it even could've been the same as that giant Leviathan that was on the beach before."
There was a pocket of silence that followed her remark.
"What Leviathan?"
She offered what comforting smile she could give as she patted his chest. "You know what, don't worry about it."
"Wait, what do you know?"
"It doesn't matter now," Jade assured, waving the topic off. "We're not-"
She got cut off by the sudden howl of the wind and felt how the air began to shift and pull around them, drawing a dry breeze across her skin and bringing attention to how uncomfortable her uniform was again.
Jade felt how the atmosphere went from being dead still to moving now.
And in the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the wind circulating into a funnel, before it materialized into a shape.
Before it materialized into a person.
A breath of relief escaped her as she took note of Lord Fujin now standing in place.
Just a few short yards from them, and it seemed like all she could see was the aftermath of fights on his skin. In any other setting, she might've questioned who or what could exactly hurt a God. But in this particular one, it was Gods against Gods, Gods against Titans; it felt more like a miracle just to see the Wind God alive- and mostly well, for what it was worth.
Jade watched as Fujin briefly looked around at the destruction that surrounded them, looking at the marks of battle that had taken place before their disastrous arrival. Perhaps finding questions in seeing the splintered remains of what was left of the Outworld ship just now washing ashore.
It didn't take the God long before he set his eyes upon them though.
"Thank the Heavens- here you are," Fujin spoke, as he moved towards them, disregarding their environment for the time being.
It was easy to see that his attention was set on Kung Lao as the Wind God knelt next to the man. Jade leaned away and watched as Fujin brushed a hand across the monk's face, mimicking a similar stroke she too had done, before the God gently cupped his face with both hands.
"Why are you thanking the Heavens? What have they even done?" Kung Lao questioned.
"Well, now I know you're okay- and I didn't even have to ask," Fujin chuckled, before he turned his attention to her. "Are you alright, Lady Jade?"
"I've been better," she offered, "but I've also been worse, so I'm somewhere in the middle right now."
"You're alive, and that qualifies for a lot right now."
She had no doubt that it did.
"I take it that things are over then?" Jade asked, perhaps a little desperate for an answer, for some news as to what had happened out of sight. "Hopefully in our favor?"
Fujin gave a heavy sigh but nodded with her question. "Thankfully. Shang Tsung betrayed us, as we figured he would, and stole Kronika's crown. But we managed to stay afloat long enough for a 'friend' from the first timeline to take his cue to show up. For what it is worth, things should be better from here on; they are in much better hands."
It felt like a weight was off of her shoulders now.
There was still the unknown of what the future was going to bring them, but at least whatever happened would be better than this.
The cycle of this timeline was broken.
And now, complete uncertainty awaited them.
It should've been a frightening thought, but it brought her comfort.
"Kitana Kahn told me about Sindel," Fujin spoke. "I should've seen how Shang Tsung was using her; he seemed far too eager to bring her back- but his reasoning strong, and we wouldn't be here without her defeating Cetrion. Still, I should've known not to trust either of them. I shouldn't have let Sindel out of my sight. If she had been there with Shang Tsung at the end, I do not believe I would be here giving you good news."
"I don't know what Kitana was able to tell you," Jade started, "but none of us would be here if Sindel was still here. We were ambushed by her and Shao Kahn, and their newfound army. We never would've made it to shore if the ship hadn't gone under."
"What happened?"
Given that Fujin would ask, Jade had her answer of whether Kitana or Liu Kang had managed to get a word in about what had happened.
At best, Kitana might've had enough time to answer the questions about Sindel, to answer the questions about her and Kung Lao's absences- which might've provoked Fujin to rush out here before getting the full story.
"Would you like to answer this one, Lao?" Jade questioned, as she turned her attention to the unusually quiet monk. "Would you like to tell Lord Fujin what you did? About how you fought Sindel herself and got thrown overboard, so you decided to then create a whirlpool in the Sea of Blood and sink the entire Outworld ship, as well as the two armies that were on it?"
A brief glance to the Wind God revealed a look of surprise that was almost indescribable.
"I did do that, yes," Kung Lao replied. "But I also lost my hat in the process- and something touched my leg when I was under all that blood."
"I can only assume that that maneuver came from your teaching," she continued, directing her remark towards the Wind God now.
"I will take responsibility for the skill- but not for anything outside of its intended purpose," Fujin remarked; a quiet chuckle in his voice as he spoke. He turned his attention back to Kung Lao, looking as though he was going to speak for a moment, before he stopped. Instead, he moved his arms underneath Kung Lao before he pulled the man in against him, holding him against his chest. "Raiden would be upset with this information, but I'm impressed by the tenacity- by the quick thinking."
Jade felt as though she could understand now why Kung Lao was the way that he was.
It was easy to act as he did, to do the things that he did, when there was someone encouraging his actions.
Hopefully not always, and not to the fullest extent, but Lord Fujin showed little hesitation in being open about Kung Lao's dangerous feat.
Then again, as the Wind God had mentioned before, had Sindel and Shao Kahn managed to join Shang Tsung as they were meant to, things would be much different now than they were before.
"So what happens now?" Jade asked.
"I don't know, that much is out of my hands, but-"
"This is the part where he says we'll have to wait and see- and have trust that things will work as they should," Kung Lao interjected, having to tilt his head back to free himself from Fujin's shoulder.
And given the face that Fujin made, Jade had a feeling that he had been correctly predicted.
"It's almost as though I've heard this before," Kung Lao continued, chuckling now as he loosely patted at the back of the man's arm.
"It's quite possible that you have," Fujin quipped.
In a lingering burst of white light, Jade watched as the Wind God offered what healing powers he could manage, given his own poor condition. But it was enough to heal the split flesh and bruises. It was enough to get Kung Lao back on his feet again, with only a few more coughs to give before his lungs finally seemed empty.
There was no telling just how much time they still had.
But every little minute outside of pain was worth it, even if it didn't seem like it.
And it was almost odd to see him up and walking again, if not a little stiff-legged as he moved.
Fujin departed soon after, stating that he needed to check in on someone- although he wouldn't give details as to who.
He offered to take them with him, but Kung Lao wanted to walk to the keep, to get the blood back into his legs.
Despite Fujin's objection to the idea, the God eventually relented, but not before stating that he would bring the others to at least meet with them halfway, as a subtle compromise.
It was a bit of a risky play, considering there was still a good chance that neither of them would be able to make it that far on their own.
But it bought them some more time together, which she was certain was Kung Lao's end goal.
"You should consider growing your hair out," Jade offered, as she tugged on the ends of his hair as they walked; the black strands were still loose and brushed against his shoulders. "I think you might look good with long hair."
Kung Lao ran a hand through his hair, pulling it back away from his face again. "Yeah? Should I grow it into a braid like yours as well then?"
"Maybe- or perhaps a braid like Fujin's," she replied.
"I would need three lifetimes to get my hair as long as his," he chuckled. "And I'm already down one- and it's not much of a start."
By now, she supposed most of them were down a lifetime.
With hope though, they still had countless more ahead of them.
Jade felt the touch of his hand at her hip, the slip of his arm around her waist.
"You think you'll remember me when this thing starts over again?"
"You? I don't think a new timeline will let me forget."