"General Blade."
Sonya glanced away from the pouring coffee pot in hand at the call- sparing a quick glimpse over her shoulder before she turned her attention back to her rapidly-filling coffee cup.
The last thing she needed was a nice liquid burn all over her fingers to start the morning off with.
"You only call me that when you need something," Sonya started, as she set the coffee pot back onto the hot plate, and picked up her now steaming cup.
She turned to face her approaching guest- and watched as Kenshi surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, managed to navigate the tables and chairs of the mess hall well enough on his own. Well enough to approach her with ease. Which was only surprising in the fact that Kenshi didn't often show up in the mess hall to begin with- mostly because he never really had a reason to.
If Kenshi was on-base, he was with her for a majority of the time.
And she spent a majority of her time in her office.
And when it came to late-night dinners, they usually had those delivered there as well.
It was a surprise that he even knew where the mess hall was to begin with- let alone how he knew to find her here.
Kenshi had spent the morning with Fujin at the Jinsei, doing whatever it was that the Wind God needed him for.
Sonya suspected it had something to do with the former Revenant who were staying at the temple, but she had made the decision not to press the subject. Fujin wanted to be the one to take care of the situation, and she had enough on her hands to deal with.
If anything, she got off easy considering that all Fujin had asked of her so far was for Kenshi's assistance with something.
"I thought you were heading out this hour?" Sonya queried.
At most, all she knew right now was that Kenshi was scheduled to take care of something in Outworld on Fujin's behalf.
Or perhaps on the former Revenants' behalf.
"Or did you decide to delay it to come pester me instead?"
Kenshi shot her a bemused look. "I think highly of you, Sonya- but not that highly," he replied. "Raiden caught me on the way out. He said you were heading out to Edenia later this evening and he wanted you to take something to Queen Sindel for him."
"I'm not his courier," she retorted.
"He seems to think you are," he remarked.
She rolled her eyes and watched as Kenshi slipped a hand into his front pocket- and preemptively switched her coffee cup to her left hand.
There was almost little to no way of knowing just what exactly he was going to give her.
And Sonya certainly didn't expect the small velvet-covered box that he placed in her hand. She instinctively rolled it around in her fingers, getting a feel for it, although it hardly required the extra attention. Given the amount of artifacts, and prototypes that were passed to her for final approval, she had gotten a little too used to immediately scoping out anything and everything that passed her hands.
Even a little ring box like this one.
The realization struck as soon as the identifying thought crossed her mind.
"... What is this? And why did Raiden give this to you?" Sonya pressed.
"It's Sindel's old wedding ring," Kenshi answered. "Raiden said that she gave it to him just after the fall of Edenia- somewhere between being forced to marry Shao Kahn and being resurrected under Shang Tsung's magic. Sindel was afraid that Shao Kahn would destroy it, and by that point, this was the only thing she had left from King Jerrod. And now, after everything that's happened, with Edenia up and running again, Raiden wanted to give it back to her."
It was hard to believe that something as small as this box, that something as small as a wedding ring could be the only reminder that someone like King Jerrod had even existed in the first place.
That asides from memories, from fading recollections, a little piece of jewelry was the only memorabilia that Sindel had of her first husband.
Well, there was Kitana as well.
A product of happier times in Edenia's previous life.
"Why doesn't Raiden just give this back to her himself?" Sonya questioned.
"Apparently he's afraid that it might give Sindel the wrong idea."
Sonya chuckled at the response before she set her coffee cup back down. "And here I was thinking that this was the weakest proposal he could've done," she mused, as she popped the small box open.
Holding the box out, she looked at the ring tucked inside of it.
Without touching it, or pulling it out, it looked to be a gold band adorned with three large gems sitting on top of it, with the middle gem the largest of the three. It was difficult to tell if they were diamonds; the look and cut of them weren't exactly the standard style, which lead to the possibility of them being some kind of Edenian gemstone instead.
There were smaller gems that ran down along the sides of the ring, almost encompassing the band entirely. They looked dull though, and lacked what could've been a defining luster. Sonya briefly wondered why Raiden wouldn't want to clean the ring first, but figured he wanted to return it in the same shape it had been given- and leave the decision up to Sindel instead.
It wasn't as extravagant as Sonya thought it would've been, especially considering it had been passed between royalty.
She was almost certain her own wedding ring had been more extravagant.
[Not that the design had been one of her own decision- or functionality.]
But given the few times she had met with the former Edenian Queen, Sindel seemed fairly grounded and down to Earth.
A ring like this seemed befitting of her.
"I can't believe Raiden kept this after all these years," Sonya remarked.
Decades, centuries- millenniums even.
"He seemed just as surprised when I brought it up," Kenshi spoke. "He really must've cared about keeping this for her."
Sonya wouldn't be surprised if Raiden had been holding onto this ring for all these years with the hopeful thinking of this moment, with the hopeful thinking that one day he could return it to her. The Thunder God never did go into details about his relationship with Sindel; he would always change the subject if he felt the questions were getting too personal.
Which, given the timeline of events, it seemed to steer towards the idea that he was in love with Sindel even while she was married to Jerrod- which of course, Raiden would never accept, nor condone that line of thinking. And he would be upset at the idea that someone thought he would be capable of such a thing.
And yet, now, after all those years spent waiting, the God wasn't going to return the ring himself?
That was hardly Raiden's M.O.
If anything, Sonya usually had to fight him to not do something himself.
"You thinking of trying it on?"
A blind guess on what she was thinking, without actually reading what she was thinking.
"What? No- no, that's bad energy to wear another person's wedding ring," Sonya replied, before she snapped the box closed and pushed it back into his hand. "I'm not taking this. If Raiden's held on to this ring for this long, he can give it to Sindel himself- he deserves to."
She couldn't imagine what it was that was making the Thunder God resistant to the idea.
So what if Sindel took it the wrong way?
Was Raiden afraid of correcting her?
Or was he afraid that he would follow through with the commitment?
"Besides, if he's afraid this will give her the wrong idea, what does he expect will happen if I give it to her?" Sonya continued.
"An iron-clad Earthrealm-Edenian alliance?"
"Fuck off."
Kenshi chuckled at her vulgar retort. "Alright, I'll let Raiden know you rejected his offer."
"For good reasons," she reiterated.
"He may be unwilling to accept them as such."
Perhaps, but that was hardly her problem.
"Just a heads up, the next time you come at me with a ring box-" Sonya started.
"Yo! Mama Blade, you in?"
"For the last time, Jin, she's not your mom!"
Sonya sighed at the interruption and closed her eyes at the arguing voices that were already echoing inside of the mess hall- giving away the position of her sudden and unexpected visitors.
It was always one thing into another around here.
"Well, there goes my peaceful morning," she remarked, before she looked over just as Cassie and the rest of her team stormed inside.
Hopefully, the four of them were coming in to inform her that they were departing in ten minutes- as the schedule had them written down. They had signed on for a quick exploratory excursion to Outworld, now that matters regarding the Civil War had died off for the most part. Just a quick check on an odd hot spot interrealm satellites had been recording for three days now, somewhere along a mountain ridge just out past the Kuatan Jungle.
It shouldn't be anything the four of them couldn't handle- hopefully.
At the very least, the team already looked packed up and ready to go, which was a good sign.
"You guys taking off?" Sonya pressed.
"Right on time, General," Cassie nodded. "I just thought we'd drop by and give you the official notice of leave."
"Very professional of you, Lieutenant," she remarked- and caught the roll of the eyes Cassie gave her in response. "Now, are the four of you caught up on all the details? Did you read through the dossier I gave you? Thoroughly?"
"Yeah, don't worry- front to back, General."
Sonya glanced over to Jacqui, who flashed her a familiar-looking black folder.
"I brought my copy with me so we can review it on the ride over," Jacqui assured. "And given the six-hour transport ahead of us, we'll have plenty of time to look the reports over and make sure that we know what we're looking for when we get there. And hopefully not get lost."
There wasn't a day that went by where Sonya wasn't glad that Jacqui was on the team.
She was the most grounded of the four, which was very reminiscing of Jax back in the day- whether he liked to admit it or not.
Jax had been the most level-headed of the Earthrealm group that went to Outworld. And that was him working under the stress of trying to balance both Raiden and herself, as well as heading a full investigation into the Tournament.
Of all the traits that Jax had passed on to Jacqui, she managed to get all of his best ones- and managed to re-purpose them for herself.
And it showed.
"With the new gear I ordered you, and all the recent satellite updates, you shouldn't have to worry about getting lost," Sonya assured, before she shifted her attention to her previous counterpart. "Unlike someone I know."
"I'm not technically lost if I know where I am," Kenshi retorted with a chuckle.
"Sure, tell that to the all the GPS trackers I've lost."
"You knew the consequences."
Sonya rolled her eyes before she picked up her cup of coffee again. "Alright, this is the official notice of leave for the five of you. Now I have work I need to get through before I leave for Edenia tonight, so if you guys could retain your own schedules, it would help me keep mine."
"Alright, alright, we can take a hint," Cassie remarked, as she mockingly put her hands up and started to leave. "Let's head out, guys- before the General has us escorted off the base."
Once more, Sonya was reminded of how Cassie had inherited her father's knack for theatrics.
"Wait, five? Are you heading somewhere, dad?" Takeda queried, stopping their departure.
"Just a quick in and out thing for Fujin, shouldn't be too long," Kenshi answered. "I stopped by to drop something off before I headed out."
"Oh yeah? What you got there?" Cassie asked, easily suckered back into the conversation.
Nosy, also just like her father.
"It's just an old wedding ring-" Kenshi started.
"Can I see it?" Jacqui interrupted.
And Sonya wasn't the least bit surprised by the interjection.
Ever since Takeda had popped the question, both he and Jacqui had been ring hunting- quite extensively, between working shifts.
Jax still thought the proposal was a little quick, and admittedly, Sonya did as well- but it wasn't like they were getting married right now. It was just a placeholder for the time being, and the two deserved to enjoy the engagement for as long as they wanted to; even if it was at the expense of Cassie and Kung Jin. Just as well, neither Takeda nor Jacqui knew exactly what they wanted, or how they were going to make things work around the Shirai Ryu- or if the clan would play a part in their engagement at all.
So there was plenty of time for everyone to come around to the idea.
In the meantime, the two were just enjoying the hunt.
Sonya watched as Kenshi popped the ring box open for Jacqui to see- and she watched as the woman's eyes lit up at it.
"Wow, who were you dropping this off to?" Jacqui questioned.
"I was just giving it to the General."
"Really? Damn, Ms. B, what did you say?" Kung Jin interjected.
Sonya was midway through her first sip of coffee when the question hit- and immediately heard the dead silence that fell over the entire mess hall. She didn't let her eyes break away from Kenshi, more so because she didn't want to see what everyone else's reactions were; even with the blindfold on, she could tell he had equally been caught off-guard by the remark.
It didn't occur to her till it was too late that their compounded silence didn't work in their favor.
But immediate denial didn't seem like the right choice either.
"Whoa- what?!"
Cassie was the first to break the silence- unsurprisingly.
"Oh come on, Cassie, are you really surprised?" Kung Jin questioned, once more proving that antagonizing seemed to be a family trait. "Did she say no, Kenshi?"
"What? No, she-" Kenshi started, and then instantly looked as though he regretted it.
"Are you serious?! There is no way- Mom, you're joking!" Cassie started, spitting the words out a little too quickly, and then catching herself on them. Her expression went from abstract shock to disbelief. "You never joke, but this can't be real- you can't be serious. You said- oh my God, this cannot be happening-"
"Is this real? Did you really ask General Blade to marry you?" Takeda pressed, after what seemed to be a moment of instilled shock- and perhaps influenced by Cassie's own outburst. He seemed about as equally in disbelief, although more stunned than anything.
Jacqui almost seemed as though she just wanted to disappear.
She kept passing looks from Kenshi to her and then back again.
"It's from Raiden-" Sonya started, hoping to calm the fire before it got out of hand.
Only to realize that that response also wasn't the correct answer.
"Raiden?!"
And again, give it to Cassie to have inherited her father's ability to overreact before getting the full story.
While also preventing her from telling the full story.
"It's for Sindel," Sonya continued.
And for a second time, it looked like the wind had been knocked out of the whole team.
Which, thankfully gave her some time to figure out how to get this whole situation back under control- and to keep this large misunderstanding from leaving this building and spreading.
"It's Sindel's wedding ring from King Jerrod," Kenshi stepped in, perhaps picking up on her need to control the narrative here. "Raiden kept it after Edenia disappeared, and now with Sindel well again, he wanted to return it to her. Raiden gave me this ring to pass on to the General since she was heading to Edenia this evening, so that she could then pass it on to Sindel. We're both just the middle man in this situation."
Despite the explanation, there was still a tense silence that remained.
But at least the yelling had subsided.
For now.
"I wasn't proposing to the General," he quipped.
And Sonya wished Kenshi had kept his mouth shut instead.
"But why would Lord Raiden have Queen Sindel's wedding ring in the first place?" Jacqui questioned.
"It's pretty obvious," Kung Jin answered instead. "He's been wanting to fuck her ever since she got her head on straight."
"Jin!"
Sonya wasn't surprised that Jacqui snapped the Shaolin's name at the same time she did.
And she also wasn't surprised that Kung Jin didn't so much as flinch at it.
"Prove me wrong," he retorted.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Sonya took one deep breath to calm herself before she dropped her hand- and admittedly, everyone seemed to be on edge as to what she was going to say now. "It's just a ring- and it's just cargo," she reiterated. "I'll be taking it to Edenia and giving it back to Sindel this evening. There's no reason for all of you to get worked up over it."
Obviously, there was- given the heavy misunderstanding.
And given the sort of corner Cassie and Takeda had been backed into because of it.
But she wasn't going to play into the fear mongering right now.
If she had to be blunt and dismissive to everyone's reactions, then so be it.
"I'm not... completely convinced," Cassie replied, and given how her arms were firmly crossed in front of her, she looked about a notch below still pissed. "It seems rather convenient that we just happened to walk in on you two exchanging a ring out of nowhere."
"Well, you're just going to have to trust me," Sonya remarked. "I mean, it's very cute that you think I would want to get married again after dealing with your father for twenty years."
"Alright, alright, I have a plane to catch."
An equally dismissive response.
Sonya watched as the four of them finally departed.
Although, retreated would be a better term to use.
She knew that that six-hour transport was going to be completely tense, if not complete Hell for at least three hours of it. And she highly doubted there was going to be much reviewing going on during it either, which might be setting up this whole excursion for failure. Then again, some unsupervised time in Outworld might do them some good; it'll help them release some steam without breaking an on-base protocol.
This wasn't exactly how she wanted to defuse this whole situation, but it was defused nonetheless- despite her non-lethal attempts at doing so before.
"Just my luck," Sonya murmured, as she rubbed at her temple now.
"I'll admit, that might've been a fault of mine," Kenshi started, as he slipped the ring box back into his pocket. "I also take it that whole thing about you taking this ring to Edenia with you was untrue."
"I never want to see that ring again," she retorted. "Just take the damn thing back to Raiden and tell him to grow a backbone- and to stop getting me in trouble because of his current lack of one."
"I'm sure he'll appreciate the words," he chuckled. "Hypothetically-"
"I'm not playing hypothetical with you," Sonya interrupted.
"What would you have said?"
"Get out of here," she deflected, waving him off.
Kenshi chuckled again at her response as he turned to leave. "Sounds like a yes to me, General."
"Sounds like a firing squad to me."