(Long time no update! And for that, I am terribly sorry. I've just been busy with school and whatnot. Same old, same old. Anyway! Thank you all who reviewed/read the last chapter, it was much appreciated. Oh, and I hate doing this, it's like I'm calling someone out but I'm not! About the quick-fix rib thing and the doctor, I actually just wanted a quick fix…lol I didn't feel like going through the entire healing process – guess I didn't have to, I could've done a short time skip or something…)

(Oh, whoa, that was getting a little too long! lol I tend to do "quick-fixes" on occasion, so bear with me! I'll shy away from them from now on, though. :) And this chapter was helped created by Embolden Rose's latest chapter to her story, Eyes Of The Beholder. I simply loved one part in it and I hope she doesn't mind if I kinda..borrow it? ;D)

I don't own a thing.

It was almost hard to leave Kenshi. He had been there for two days after Ashrah – that damned woman – had left. Ermac found that he couldn't say the words that he had repeated in his head all morning. He had never had such a hard time saying anything. Honestly, he had always been rather blunt, something, or rather another thing, Kenshi teased him about.

You're either completely silent or telling me what I'm doing wrong!

Ermac wasn't the best pep-talker…so naturally he didn't give open praise. To anyone. Even, or, especially Kenshi. The blind man didn't need it, for he would make some sort of joke about it, and Ermac didn't want to hear any more jokes about himself. As good a man as Kenshi was, Ermac didn't like being laughed at by him…

"Ermac?" Kenshi's voice was rather startling, so Ermac tried to keep his reaction to a few rapid blinks instead of the flinch his body wanted. He looked over at the blind man, who was working on building a fire in the small pit in the center of the room.

There was a short pause, and Ermac realized his friend wanted a response. Steeling himself, he began saying the words he had recited four times now.

"We are grateful for your – "

Kenshi waved his hand dismissively, closing Ermac's mouth. "You can leave whenever you feel like." He stood, stretching his back and shoulders. "We know each other well enough to not worry about such things, don't you think?"

Ermac rolled that around in his head for a moment. Kenshi was right, of course. They had trained and lived together for quite a while. Or, long enough for two people to become friends with each other. Suddenly feeling slightly foolish, he searched for a suitable answer.

"You are right. We just feel as if you have done too much for us."

Kenshi paused what he was doing, was silent for a moment, and then sighed. "Ermac, you know I don't mind. So don't even start with that."

Ermac didn't know how to respond to that. So, he stood and waited on Kenshi to say something else.

It took him a moment, but he finally did. "It was no problem, really. You'd have done the same for me. And on top of that, you've done plenty for me anyway." He paused, clearly sensing Ermac's unease and changed direction. "Come by and see me again, sometime soon – but next time, no injuries, ok?"

Ermac smiled underneath his mask, nodding his head even if his friend couldn't see it. It was hard to remember Kenshi was blind sometimes. "We will."

The start of the journey was alright…

…until it starting raining.

Ermac had never seen rain come down so hard. Anywhere. Did Earthrealm always have torrential downpours or was this just a particularly bad storm? It wasn't even cloudy when he left Kenshi's hut!

He felt his clothing stick to his skin. Not just his top, not just his boots, all of his clothing was soaked. The mud, he decided, wasn't helping either. The further he walked the higher up his pants it dirtied. There was even one moment where he had to bodily resist the urge to throw a fit. Ermac, at that point, realized he needed some way to calm himself.

Ermac looked around, seeing nothing but dark trees and a lot of other foliage. He could meditate to calm himself down – not a long session, just enough to sort out his fraying nerves.

He didn't feel like searching for something to shelter himself in, he decided. So, he sat where he was standing – it didn't matter if his back side got muddy or not, it practically already was, and the rain would probably wash it all soon enough anyway – crossed his legs, and shut his eyes.

At first it was hard to concentrate with the thunderous rain hitting the ground. After a few moments, however, he began to use the sound to his advantage. The sound of the water helped him focus his mind on something other than how frustrated, and wet, he was. Funny how that worked out…

It felt wonderful to just sit and meditate after the last few days events. He let his mind clear, his body relax; meditating gave him so much more than sleep could. While asleep he had no control over anything. When meditating, he could control everything and not worry about…things. Things he had to worry about while unconscious.

Ermac didn't know where those thoughts came from, but they were bothering him and he wanted them to stop. He tried to clear his head again, but was finding it increasingly difficult.

Then, out of nowhere, a certain disturbing thought made itself present.

What did Ashrah hear when we were delirious? Ermac's eyes shot open, his heart began to race and he had to control his breathing. It took him a moment to wrap his head around the question. What if she saw or heard something? Did it matter? Why was he reacting this way?

We need to calm down, Ermac thought as he took a deep breath. So what if she had heard something? It didn't matter; he probably was never going to see her again. Hopefully never see her again…

Ermac shifted uncomfortably, suddenly feeling exposed. He had always had trouble actually sleeping – for obvious reasons. It became even worse after he was free of Shao Kahn. So meditation was a close replacement. Sure he slept sometimes, but not every night like normal beings…

Normal, a word he had been having trouble with for some time now. What did it matter? What was normal anyway? He used to think it was normal to murder innocent people. Normal to take souls. Fear was normal.

Then, after he was free –or, free from Kahn anyway – he had begun to ponder what the word really meant. Maybe it just depended on one's current situation. Now normal for him was wandering around with no real place to go. Sure, he would visit Kenshi every now and again, but it wasn't like having a place to belong. Kenshi had his own plans, goals. Ermac didn't want to interfere.

So having someone – especially a stranger –actually witness his abnormality – like he was abnormal enough by appearance – left him feeling…bare. He had made sure to never let Kenshi see him while he was asleep. It would probably make Kenshi question his friend's sanity.

How sane can one be in our current…state? Ermac was getting angrier by the second. He needed to stop thinking about this. He needed to clear his head.

And all of sudden, he felt cold. He couldn't think of anything except how cold his body was. He couldn't even feel the rain anymore. He saw it, but couldn't feel it. There was a moment of pure aggravation as Ermac pressed his palms into the mud to push himself up. He was glad when he found himself standing, even if he could barely feel it through the numbing cold.

"Dammit," he said louder than he intended. A lot louder than he intended. He had yelled it. The telekinetic warrior let his head hang, his arms going slack. Ermac didn't see anything for a good minute.

He was losing it. Who wouldn't, having so many souls in one vessel? It was getting harder and harder to keep himself together.

But really, who was he? Himself? "He" was a conglomeration of many – so by no means was he an individual. But he had his own thoughts – even if they were filled with other voices. He had his own beliefs – even if the voices helped make his decisions.

Ermac didn't even care about the cold anymore. He suddenly didn't care about anything. He just stood there, letting the rain soak his already soaked form.

"No, no, no!" A woman's – a familiar woman's –frantic voice shattered the relative silence of the rain, and Ermac jerked his head in the direction of the shouting – no, screaming. The sound was almost unsettling, coming from her…Shaking that thought out of his head, he looked up a large hill, a rather steep hill, realizing he hadn't…well, noticed it before. He took a moment to let his eyes search for the expected white figure.

It only took moments for the said white figure to make herself seen. Ermac stood there, staring blankly. He still felt too drained from his recent realization to notice how fast Ashrah was coming down the hill.

But he would.

Ashrah had been walking for a good two days and had found herself lost. She had never been to Earthrealm, so she had no idea what to expect. Of course, there wasn't much. A few small animals ran across her path, but nothing that could harm her.

She hadn't expected to get lost, though. Not that she knew how she was going to get out of Earthrealm…

She had been wandering around, hoping to find someone to help her. When no one was found, she just walked, zombie-like in the forest. An upside was that food was in abundance. The small fury animals were tough as leather, but it was meat, and she needed the energy.

Then the rain came. Ashrah was, for lack of a better word, pissed. It was the hardest rain she had ever experienced. Actually, it was rather ridiculous.

Her clothes were soaked. She was shivering, and her hair had fallen out of its bun. To make it worse, the band she had kept her hair up with had fallen off at some point and now her hair was sticking to her face and neck. Luckily it wasn't too long – just above her shoulders – but it was long enough to get on her already raw nerves.

"This is just great," she hissed as she shoved a bush out of her way. She glanced down at herself, cursing loudly. White was not the ideal color to wear while it was raining…for, of course, obvious reasons.

Ashrah didn't care though. No one was around anyway! She could go around naked if she wanted –

She yelped as her foot slipped in a puddle of mud. She would have fallen, if it weren't for the tree she had grabbed onto. She looked ahead, or, down. A steep hill lay ahead of her. Ashrah stared at it for a good minute before making a decision. She hadn't been that way before, and what could it hurt? She was already hopelessly lost…

With all of her training, one would think a hill, even while steep, would be no problem.

But it was muddy, and wet, and getting wetter. Ashrah had to practically grab from tree to tree to keep from slipping down the hill.

What if there's a cliff down there? Or a river? She stopped, realizing how foolish her decision was. She looked up the hill where she had just come from.

She could make it back up, she was sure.

Just as she grabbed for the closest tree going up, her hand slipped and she felt panic pull at her – or was that gravity?

"No, no, no!" She shouted – no, screamed. She hated the feeling of falling, and no one could hear her scream anyway, so it wasn't so embarrassing.

She realized a little too late that she was not holding onto anything and she did her best to turn herself around and begin running down the hill. Surely she could run down a hill without falling…

Her feet slipped from under her and she felt her butt hit the ground, hard. Then she felt herself slipping forward.

Ashrah screamed bloody murder, her pitch getting higher as she gained speed.

I'm gonna die! There's gonna be a cliff, or a ravine, or a river or a big something with its mouth wide open and I'm gonna die! Oh, by the Elder gods! Ashrah squeezed her eyes shut as these thoughts and more raced through her mind.

Suddenly, she felt her body stop.

Cautiously, she opened one eye.

She was shocked to see a pair of familiar bright green eyes through the grey, heavy rain. They seemed…distant? Blank? She saved those thoughts for later as she realized she was floating in the air. Ashrah panicked.

"Put me down," she yelled, not meaning to. She couldn't help it, though, for some reason. Ermac did as he was told, his outstretched hand slowly falling to his side, his eyes staying flat. Ashrah felt her bottom hit the ground and she was glad. She stood, with some difficultly, and stared at the red-garbed warrior in front of her.

At first she was going to get angry, saying how he was following her, but then she looked at his face again and thought better of it. The accusation would be lost on deaf ears. She knew that look. She didn't know from where, but she had seen it enough to know that it wasn't something to ignore. So, she settled on saying something else.

"Thank you…" It was awkward, but it was meant. Ashrah watched for a reaction. She only got a nod. Should she just walk off? Yes. She should, because Ermac pissed her off and she did the same to him.

Then why did he help you? She felt her eyebrows furrow on that one. That was a good question. He had saved her before, too. Even if he was the one who had put her in danger, he had saved her all the same. So, could she just leave him while he was looking that way?

Sure ya can. As much as that sounded like a good idea, Ashrah knew better.

She would stay – but, only long enough to get to where she was going.

"So, where are you headed?"

(And so they're back together. lmao! Yeah, sorry for the long wait. :) I hope to get back into this, and my other MK story. I've been thinkin' a whole lot about it lately…So there might be more soon. I hope so, anyway.

Yeah, this chapter was really fun to write. The beginning's kinda rocky, I think, but when I got to Ermac by himself it started to go along better. I've always thought it would absolutely suck to have to share a body with others. :( It's kinda sad, so I ran along with that idea for a little bit. Ermac, as I see him, is strong, but he's been dealing with this for so long, it starts to run him down. Who can blame him?

And then there's Ashrah… lol She is so fun to write this way. I can see her getting mad about a lot of things. ;D Hot headed, if you will. She is so confused…ha ha, but that's a good thing! 'Specially for Ermac! Well, maybe, if they can learn to see each other as good guys! 'Cuz they are, at this point anyway. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and tell me what ya think!)

Sorry for the long A/N!

Red