About two days had passed since the last chapter, and things were still… things. Delta Kunai Ninja Housecontinued to have serious issues with food theft, bad smells, and emo rock being played way, way too loud. Shao Kahn and Raiden kept yelling at each other for no discernable reason, Kano kept watching everything go down while drinking and leaving beer bottles on his front lawn, Erron kept ignoring everyone, and Quan Chi kept provoking everyone. The biggest change was the arrival of Fujin. He had spent the past few days looking for a job, not successful in his search mind you, but was still trying. He was also trying to find a time where he could meet Grey Cloud, but hadn't had much success thus far. As he was walking back home after another interview, he heard two voices shouting at one another. As he approached his new home, he saw Shao Kahn and Raiden arguing once more into the beginning of the evening.
"…I was gone for fifteen minutes…" Fujin muttered. This fight not having begun when he was home…
"You could be gone less than a minute, they'd still be fighting." Shang Tsung remarked, looking up from his phone as he walked by the fence. "It truly makes no difference to them."
"Ray's never going to win, his arguments are stuck fifteen years in the past." Fujin said flatly, and Shang Tsung raised a brow, not having met Fujin thus far, but he seemed familiar… He seemed like Raiden, but not such an uptight prude.
"How do you know him?" The sorcerer asked.
"I'm his brother. Unfortunately." Fujin said, deflated. "You must be Shang Tsung."
"Indeed. I'm also most likely nothing like what your bother has claimed I am." He said immediately.
"True that." Fujin nodded in agreement. "You seem like the only sane person in this town."
"Unfortunately, I am." The Sorcerer nodded, thinking about his heavy burden he lived with. "Sometimes intelligence is as much a curse as it is a blessing."
"No offence, but dealing with Shao Kahn and my brother? Yeah, I can see that." Fujin nodded. Shang Tsung was surprised at how quickly Fujin seemed to be to not defend his brother. Maybe he wasn't as… mundane, as his brother. Still, it was clear he wasn't a man of refined tastes, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It just meant he wasn't on the same level as Tsung was. Fujin kept walking, casually ignoring both Shao Kahn and his brother. From the brief bits he overheard, Shao Kahn had a good point. But there wasn't a chance in the Netherrealm Raiden would see it that way.
"Hey! Liu! Lao!" He called. "One of you wanna help Uncle Fujin with something?"
There wasn't a response, and Fujin frowned, unsure where they could've gone. After a few more moments, there was a soft thudding as someone ran through the house, and Liu Kang appeared, skidding to a halt and looking up at his uncle.
"Okay!" He said excitedly.
"Great!" Fujin said, picking him up and leaving the house once more. "Hey Raijin, I'm stealing one of your kids for a bit. Bye." He said quickly as he passed by his brother again, by the time Raiden realized what was happening, Fujin had already left.
"…Fujin…" Raiden muttered, annoyed.
"So… what are we doing Uncle Fujin?" Liu Kang asked, looking up at his uncle. Fujin bit his lip and looked away, unsure of what to say, before he decided to answer honestly.
"So… I'm kind of using you so I can talk to the guy who has the goldish dog and not seem weird." Fujin admitted, and Liu Kang blinked in confusion. Seeing Liu clearly didn't understand what Fujin was getting at, he decided to cover all his bases. "Look, you help me with this, we'll get ice cream afterwards."
"Okay! …what do I do?" Liu Kang nodded, then realized he wasn't sure what his part in this was.
"Just… act casual. Y'know." Fujin shrugged, and it was clear Liu Kang didn't know what that meant. "Just… be yourself."
"Oh, okay." The little Shaolin nodded as they kept walking down the street. Fujin took note of some of the residents he hadn't formally met yet, and he began to feel awkward, even somewhat nervous. What the heck was he doing?! Why was he so nervous about talking to someone? He did this all the time! Why was this any- That was a wolf.
"Woof?" The almost gold-coloured wolf looked at them from behind the fence. Now Fujin felt like this was a really, really bad idea. This wasn't a Husky or a German Shepard, this was a wolf. Like, a legitimate wolf.
A wolf which was panting happily as Liu Kang scratched its head.
"Nice doggy." He said, laughing.
"Hello."
Fujin froze for a second as Grey- no, Nightwolf walked over. He seemed amused by something and looked to the wolf.
"Don't mind Kiva, she's friendly."
"Heh, yeah. Sorry about that… Liu saw her and wanted to pet her, you know how kids are." Fujin laughed awkwardly, trying to think of a way to start a conversation. Nightwolf seemed to buy it, even though Liu Kang had a 'What?' look on his face. That wasn't what happened… but he didn't say anything, he was too busy petting Kiva, who was panting loudly, leading into the scritches.
"I'm Gray Cloud, but my people call me Nightwolf." Nightwolf introduced himself with a nod.
"I see." Fujin replied, then coughed, realizing how awkward that sounded. "No, I mean. I- ugh… Sorry… My name's Fujin."
"You're Raiden's brother, right?" Nightwolf asked.
"Yeah, that's… that's me." Fujin nodded. The silence that followed felt like he had been cast into the sea of blood. Fujin was mentally screaming to say something, ANYTHING… "…nice day, right?"
'DANG IT!'
"Uh… yeah…" Nightwolf said slowly, unsure what Fujin was getting at. "Are you, all right?"
"I'm fine! I'm great!" Fujin laughed, his eyes darting around. By this point, both Liu Kang and Kiva were looking to him as if he had just downed Havik's Acid Glasses at the Dragon Warrior Pub.
"Woof?" Kiva let out a low bark, and Liu shrugged.
"All right." Nightwolf nodded, graciously not pushing any further. "Raiden mentioned you were the God of Wind, right?"
"Demi-God, but yeah." Fujin nodded, finally seeing a chance to talk normally. He set Liu Kang down as Kiva jumped over the fence to keep getting attention, and the adults began talking.
Nightwolf was… amused, to put it mildly. Fujin had been explained to him as 'brash, idiotic, and reckless' by his brother. But… at least Fujin seemed to know how to smile. There was also something that was making him extremely awkward currently, and that puzzled Nightwolf. Still, he'd do what he could to make things… less awkward.
"I didn't think the Maktoakn people had a settlement around here…" Fujin commented.
"They don't, neither do the Matokan." Nightwolf smirked, and Fujin sweat-dropped again, realizing his mistake.
"Wait- I, I mean- agh…" Fujin groaned rubbing his face. "Fujin, you're blowing it! And not with the wind either!"
Liu Kang scratched Kiva behind the ear, then saw something, or more correctly, someone down the street. The figure looked at him then waved, asking him to follow. Liu Kang was a bit uncertain of what to do, and looked from down the road back to his Uncle.
"Hey, Kang? If one of your friends is just down the road, you can go play with them. Just don't go too far, okay?" Fujin remarked, noticing Liu Kang's change in attention. The young boy nodded, and ran off down the sidewalk. Kiva looked to Nightwolf, who nodded, then followed after him.
Just down the road, Liu Kang stepped off the sidewalk and looked around, finally seeing who had gotten his attention.
"Hi, Kitana." He smiled.
"Hi, Liu." Kitana nodded in response, then blinked. "Uh… did you get a dog?"
Turning around, Liu Kang yelped in surprise as Kiva appeared out of nowhere, sitting a few feet away and panting happily. Kitana walked forward, curiosity taking control, and Kiva leaned down, letting out a few loud 'snuff' before deciding Kitana was a good person, and licked her hand.
"Aww! She's so cute!" Kitana said with a wide smile, scratching the dog.
"Yeah, she's Nightwolf's… wolf." Liu Kang nodded. "Her name's Kiva."
"Are you walking her or something?"
"No, my Uncle Fujin wanted to talk to Nightwolf, and he needed me to help for some reason."
"Help? Help with what?"
"I have no idea." Liu Kang shook his head.
"Huh. Well… you wanna see something cool?" Kitana asked with a mischievous smile.
"Totally!"
The two took off towards the nearby woods, Kiva following a few feet behind, acting like a guardian spirit to the two kids. As they entered the woods on the far side of Boonton, Liu Kang looked around at the rich colours and different plants that seemed to spring in from all directions.
"Wow…" Liu Kang said, looking around.
"What? Oh, that's not what I wanted to show you." Kitana shook he head, pointing down a slight hill. "C'mon! It's just down there!"
Liu Kang paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement. He'd be fine! He followed after the young Edenian, ignoring the feeling that was telling him this wasn't a good idea.
"We might get in trouble for this if we go too far into the woods." Kitana remarked as she looked around, as if trying to remember which way to go.
"We only get in trouble if we get caught." Liu Kang corrected. "And I won't say anything if you don't say anything."
"Right!" Kitana nodded. "What about Kiva?"
"…Kiva can't talk. I think."
"Woof." Kiva spoke, proving Liu's point. The two kept running through the woods, the leaves and branches crunching underneath their feet, until Kitana stopped and pointed to something.
"Look at this!" She exclaimed, excitedly. Liu Kang's eyes widened as he saw what Kitana wanted to show him. Slightly leaning to one side and sinking into the ground was an old stature of sorts, it wasn't a totem pole, but it was similar in its design. There were five blocks with different markings carved into them stacked on one another. On the blocks, there appeared to be faces and words carved into the stone. "I don't know what this is… but it looks familiar!"
Walking around it, Liu Kang looked at the marks and thought about everything he had read about. It took a minute, but the symbols seemed familiar to those in a book he had read.
"I think it's an Osh-Tekk statue." He commented, thinking it over.
"Really?"
"Yeah, the markings seem like it…" He nodded. "You think there's more nearby? Maybe there's an old temple or something!"
"Well, wanna find out?" Kitana asked, looking towards the deeper woods. Liu nodded, but was pulled back by something. Looking behind him, Kiva had grabbed his shirt, and was clearly trying not to let him go. "Really?"
Kitana looked around for a moment as Liu tried to pull himself free. A few moments later, Kitana waved a stick above her head.
"You want the stick? You want the stick?!" She asked before throwing it. "Fetch!"
At first, Kiva seemed to be in a state of 'Ha! You think a mere stick can break my concentration, mortal? I am much stronger than-' but then quickly realized 'STICK! Stickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstickstick!' and ran off after the stick. Leaving Liu Kang to follow after Kitana.
Back at Nightwolf's, Fujin and Nightwolf had been talking for the better part of half an hour. Fujin finally seemed to have found his footing, and was feeling more relaxed.
"So, I gotta ask." He remarked. "The whole 'Nightwolf' mantle, is it your Tribe Elder who determines who will become the next 'Nightwolf'?"
"No." Nightwolf shook his head. "The Great Spirit chooses who will become the next Nightwolf. It is based on one's character and spirit. Those of pure heart and strong will could be chosen to take up the mantle."
"Oh, cool." Fujin nodded. "So… what do you do for a living?"
"I work at the park nearby. I make sure the wildlife is kept safe and healthy." The Native nodded. "It's oddly calming, being alone while I work with nothing but nature, I just listen and hear what they say."
"Well… it was great meeting you! But I think I should get Liu back before Raiden gets more annoyed with me." Fujin laughed. "But hey, I wouldn't mind meeting up at some point again."
Nightwolf nodded, then looked around.
"Where is he?" He asked, and Fujin felt like an icy knife stabbed him.
"He was just down the road." Fujin said, looking down the road, only to not see his nephew. "Aw… crap…"
"Do you know where we are?" Liu Kang asked, looking around. He and Kitana had headed deeper into the woods to try and find more of the Osh carvings. A few hills, twists and turns later… and now they didn't know where they were. Kiva had followed for a time, but then seemed to retreat, as if she was going for help.
"…I think." Kitana frowned. "We need to go this way!"
Kitana headed off in another direction, Liu following behind her, deeper into the woods in the wrong direction.
"…that's not good." Nightwolf said gravely, suddenly looking up to the clouds.
"What? The weather? Raiden or I can change that, no need to-" Fujin began, slightly panicking after he wasn't able to find Liu Kang.
"A storm is coming, and this is one the Spirits asked for." Nightwolf cut him off, holding a hand up. "You or your brother cannot stop this. You need to find the young one. Now. Do you need my assistance?"
"Yes!" Fujin exclaimed, jumping on the suggestion like a Tarkatan on a corn dog. Without a second word, Nightwolf jumped over the fence and took off down the road. Fujin blinked, his mind not catching up to everything.
"Why is he running?" Fujin's mind asked lazily, then suddenly snapped to attention. "Oh. Wait. We're running!"
The two got to the end of the street, only to find nothing. Suddenly, the pair heard a loud howl, and faster than Fujin would've expected, Kiva came running towards them. The dog seemed panicked, as if something had gone wrong.
"Where did they go?" Nightwolf asked, Kiva turned and ran back to the woods, Fujin and Nightwolf following, the ominous and foreboding sound of thunder rumbling overheard, and the wind began to pick up.
"If they're on the path, then they'll end up on the other side of town, but that shouldn't be an issue to-" Fujin began rationally, only for Kiva to jump off of the path and head deeper into the woods. "Of course..."
For the next half an hour, Liu Kang and Kitana forged through the woods, looking for the path they took to enter the woods, watching the sky and growing nervous as the rain began to fall. It was slow at first, but then it seemed to grow more and more aggressive. The wind picked up, what started as a simple breeze quickly turned into a full-throated scream. The storm showed no signs of calming down, and that was causing problems for the kids. Kitana had marked a tree every now and then to make sure they didn't go in circles, but they kept seeing the same tree…
"LIU!? WHERE ARE YOU, KID!?" Fujin shouted, trying to be heard over the storm. He had been calling for ten minutes now, but there was nothing. Nightwolf was looking at the ground, inspecting something and then pointed with his war club.
"They went that way." Nightwolf spoke in a bold, commanding voice, the two heading down a slippery hill deeper into the woods while Kiva ran along the path above.
"Man, that voice is hot…" Fujin thought. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!? LIU'S OUT HERE!"
"Listen, Grey Cloud." Fujin said, getting Nightwolf's attention. "I appreciate your help, but I think I should go at this alone. If they went deeper into the woods, I don't want you getting caught up in whatever-"
"Part of why I offered to help is because you need me to navigate these woods." Nightwolf cut him off. His tone was angry, but one of sincerity. "These were not Matokan lands, but were once Osh-Tekk lands. They built temples here, many of which still stand. If the children find one of them, they may take refuge there. I can guide you to them."
The thunder cracked and ripped across the sky, and for half a moment, Fujin feared his brother was behind him. But he nodded nonetheless.
"I thought you knew the way!" Liu yelled over the stormy wind. "We've passed this place three times now!"
"The path should be right here!" Kitana shouted back, the wind and rain pelting them relentlessly. The branches were creaking and the wind was almost screaming through the trees. Kitana shielded her eyes as dirt and debris was picked up and then tried to run as fast as she could against the wind. Liu Kang was following behind her, deciding that getting indoors was the best plan, he could figure out what to do next after. The two ran down the street, and up the walkway towards the house. Liu Kang's fearlessness and curiosity now replaced with anxiety and fear. He had no idea where he was, and he was with Kitana! What would happen if his dad found out?! He didn't even know where he was! Kitana however, seemed confident as she knocked on the door.
The door opened, and standing in the doorway was an older woman in purple track shorts and a sleeveless faded pink top. Her long gray hair went to past her waist and swayed in the storm wind.
"Kitana?!" Sindel gasped, surprised.
"Hi, mama." Kitana said with a happy smile.
"Kitana, what are you doing out in the storm? Are you hurt? Did you get lost?" Sindel began bombarding her daughter with concerns and questions. Liu Kang remained quiet, trying not to make himself seen until Sindel noticed him. "Oh, hello child. Who might you be?"
"I'm… I'm Liu Kang, ma'am." Liu Kang said with a respectful nod. For half a second, Sindel seemed angered, but it was so brief that neither of the kids saw it.
"He's my friend mama." Kitana began to explain as Sindel ushered them into the warm house. "We were playing when the storm came in. We got lost and couldn't find our way back to the path. Since I knew you were nearby, I… I told him we should go here."
Sindel's mouth was a thin line as her daughter explained what happened. Leaving out the part where they went off said path they were looking for to explore the nearby forest. Liu Kang hadn't met Sindel formally before, but he had heard that she wasn't the nicest woman in town, and Raiden had advised him to stay away from her. But… she didn't look mean! She seemed really nice! Wait. Raiden. What would his father think when he didn't come home!? His father didn't like it when he talked to Kitana or her sister… what was gonna happen to him?!
Sindel noticed this, and was able to read everything just by looking at his face. Her assumption was confirmed that this was Raiden's son… but he seemed nothing like his father.
Liu Kang froze when he felt something gently wrapping around him. He squirmed in confusion, seeing something greyish wrapping around him. Blinking in confusion, he realized Sindel's hair had wrapped gently around him. There was something oddly warm about it, and he quickly felt himself drying off.
"There, there, dear." Sindel smiled down at him. "There we go… please, come in."
Liu Kang gave a timid smile, his previous courage now gone, but he felt… safe. He followed behind Kitana as the two made their way into a living room.
"You two make yourselves comfortable, I'll get you both something to eat." Sindel said with a warm smile, disappearing into the kitchen. Kitana walked over and climbed up onto a couch, while Liu Kang looked around awkwardly.
"You can sit down, y'know." Kitana commented, watching the Shaolin kid's confusion. Liu Kang slowly did, sitting on a chair and still feeling pretty uncomfortable about the whole thing.
"There you are." Sindel said softly, handing her daughter a mug before handing another to Liu Kang. "Are you two all right? Were you hurt?"
"N..no ma'am." Liu Kang slowly answered, sipping the hot coco.
"That's good." Sindel nodded. "Still, you're both a ways away from your homes." The older woman looked to them, seeing Kitana and Liu Kang clearly didn't want to explain what happened, or at least, tell the whole story, and that immediately connected all the dots. Sindel smiled gently, she couldn't be upset with her daughter, and Liu Kang (despite being Raiden's son) seemed so timid and polite that there was nothing for her to be cross about.
"That was my fault." Liu Kang suddenly spoke up, and Sindel noticed Kitana's shocked reaction. "I…I wasn't keeping track of where we were going… it was my fault."
"By the Elder Gods… he has a crush on Kitana." Sindel realized, fighting back a wide grin. "That's… honestly adorable."
"Well, the storm doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, I don't think it's safe to send you home tonight." Sindel commented, looking to the window, then back to Liu Kang. "You're welcome to spend the night here, your father can come get you in the morning… or someone, we can figure that out later."
Liu Kang nodded wordlessly, quietly drinking his coco. Sindel checked on her daughter, and returned to the kitchen. She had been planning on making soup tonight, and decided she needed to add a little more to it. Over the next hour, Liu Kang seemed to gradually warm up to where he was. He and Kitana were playing mahjong, and it turned out both of them were better than the other had expected, leading to a real fight between their skills.
"Hm… there." Kitana nodded, placing another piece down.
"Good move." Liu Kang frowned, his strategy overturned.
While that was happening, back in the woods, Nightwolf was trying to pick up the trail. But the weather had caused much of the soft earth to erode and wiped away their tracks. Kiva had led them past some old Osh-Tekk statues, then seemingly got distracted and ran off.
"This isn't good…" Nightwolf muttered. Fujin was looking around, now in a borderline panic due to the loss of Liu Kang.
"I'm pretty sure Raiden like Liu more than Lao… so I can't even spin it as a 'Hey, you've still got Liu' kinda thing…" Fujin thought, then realized how horrible that sounded. "Wait…"
"Woof!"
The pair snapped to where Kiva came running from. At first, they thought she might have found something, but then they saw she had a stick in her mouth.
"This isn't the time to play fetch!" Fujin scolded the dog as Kiva tried to push the stick in his face. "There's a missing kid out here! What is wrong with you!?" Kiva didn't give up, and now tried jumping up onto Fujin to force the stick onto him. "Fine!"
Fujin took the stick and threw it, the winds carrying it further into the woods. Kiva looked at Fujin, and the Demi-God swore the dog was judging him. Not on the strength of his throw, or even the form. What was this dog so focused on!? It was just a stic-
"SON OF A-" Fujin yelled at himself when he realized why Kiva was trying to make him take the stick. It was a few more minutes of them standing in the pouring rain, and Kiva returned with the stick, walking past Fujin with a very judgemental look on her face, and handed the stick to Nightwolf. The Matokan Native seemed to hold in a way that looked like he would snap it in two. Closing his eyes, he focused, letting nature speak through the stick, letting the spirits tell him where to go…
"I know where they went." Nightwolf said, and he and Fujin ran off once more.
Kitana yawned as Sindel pulled a blanket over her. After dinner, the two played some more games, but both were exhausted after their travel through the woods, so Sindel showed Liu Kang to the guest room where he could spend the night. She wasn't sure how to react to how… timid, he seemed by the prospect of it. But she left him to get ready for bed while she checked on her daughter.
"Good night mama." Kitana mumbled.
"Good night, precious." Sindel cooed, kissing her daughter on the forehead and closing the door behind her. As she entered the guest room, she frowned slightly as she saw Liu still turning about in the bed. "Liu Kang, are you, all right?" She asked as she approached. Sitting on the end of the bed, Liu Kang looked up to her, then looked away.
"I'm… I'm sorry." He said quietly. "Everything I've been told about you is that you're mean… but… you're not, and I feel bad for thinking that… and…" He trailed off, looking away and rubbing his arm. Sindel smiled and placed a hand on him.
"It's all right, child." She said, laughing slightly. "Some of the adults in town and I… don't always get along. But I'm glad to see that you're making your own decision on this matter."
"Thank you, Miss Sindel." Liu Kang said, smiling at the older woman. His body worn out from pushing through the storm, and he was already falling asleep. After a few more moments, he had drifted into a peaceful sleep. Sindel smirked, placing a hand on him before leaning down and kissing his forehead.
"Good night, little one." She said softly, pulling the blanket over Liu Kang and leaving him to sleep. She left the door open as she went to check on her daughter, who was already bundled up in a blanket in her room, her old stuffed rabbit held close. Kissing her daughter good night once more, Sindel smiled and sighed. "Good night, my princess." She whispered.
Sindel returned to the living room, drinking some cider as she read her book. She had a mind to give a very, VERY hash talk to both her ex-husband and her ex-boyfriend about the way they were raising their children. But she also didn't want to tell Raiden about what had happened, Liu seemed afraid of that, and she had no plans on doing anything to make those fears worse. It was another twenty minutes until she heard someone knocking at the door. Rising to her feet, Sindel scowled as she approached the door. She believed she knew who it was, or had a pretty good guess… Actually, it didn't matter which of the four she figured would have come here, she was equally mad at all of them. Opening the door, it was worse than she had expected. But also, not as bad.
"Oh Us…" Fujin groaned. Nightwolf had told him Liu Kang had taken refuge here, as the stick Kiva brought had enough spirit tracks that he could find his way to the path where the rain hit tarmac, leaving their spirit footprints relatively unscathed.
"Miss Sindel." Nightwolf nodded politely.
"What. Is wrong with you." Sindel glared at Fujin and Nightwolf. "Are you out of your damn minds?!"
"Is Liu okay?" Fujin immediately asked, ignoring her agitation.
"Yes, he and Kitana are sleeping." Sindel growled, and Nightwolf nodded in understanding.
"Okay… thank you…" Fujin sighed. "…can I-"
"No." Sindel cut him off mid-question. "He's spending the night here, with someone who won't get him lost for a few hours in the woods. Alone."
Fujin wanted to say something, but looked away awkwardly as Nightwolf nodded again. He knew this quarrel was between Sindel, and Fujin's (and Raiden's, and Shang Tsung's and Shao Kahn's…) questionable parenting choices. He felt bad for Fujin, and he couldn't say why, but he didn't like seeing him this downtrodden… but he also kind of deserved it.
"Raiden's gonna be pissed…" Fujin muttered rubbing his face. Sindel however, had figured out a way to circumvent most of the thunder dad's anger away from Liu Kang (who didn't deserve it) and towards Fujin (who most definitely deserved it)
"Okay. Here's what you tell him. Kang is friends with Cassandra Cage, correct?"
"I dunno." Fujin shrugged. Sindel scoffed in disbelief and narrowed her eyes. "What?! I'm new to town!"
"Yes, he is." Nightwolf nodded. "I've seen them playing when I was walking Kiva."
"Right. Tell your idiot of a brother that he was asked to spend the night there, and you said yes." Sindel ordered, looking back to Fujin. "Raiden will probably be cross, but would you rather try to explain how all this occurred?! Also. I won't let you put Liu Kang through that emotional turmoil."
"That's… smart." Fujin began but stopped and thought it over.
"Be quiet." Sindel grumbled.
"And what of Kitana? Do you need me to tell Shao Kahn-"
"I'm her mother." Sindel cut Nightwolf off, sounding downright offended by his suggestion. "Why should a child need a reason to spend time with their mother?"
Nightwolf nodded calmly, understanding Sindel's reasoning. He also knew why she seemed so agitated, but decided not to say anything about it.
"Very well." Nightwolf nodded, putting a hand on Fujin's shoulder. "I believe it is time we make our leave."
"Yes, it is." Sindel said dryly. Fujin seemed hesitant, then muttered something under his breath, shaking his head as he left. Sindel watched the pair (and dog) leave before closing the door.
"I'm surrounded by idiots." She muttered to herself, turning off the porch lights and returning to her evening.