Hey everyone.
Welcome back and the good news for you guys is that I can now do more chapters for this story now that my other story Acceptance is finished. However it won't be the only story I'm updating since I've got plenty of other stories to do. I like writing this so I'll probably update it the most. I already have plans for a sequel when it's done. Don't worry though, this story isn't gonna be done anytime soon. Anyway, we have a couple characters appearing and returning in this chapter or the next. One of them should be obvious. Enjoy the story. :)
CHAPTER 5:MORNING AT THE PALACE
Smoke woke up in the morning to unfamiliar surroundings. Then he remembered he was staying in Edenia. Memories of the previous day flooded his mind and made him smile slightly. He wondered what time of morning it was, since he didn't have an alarm or anything to wake him up. Slowly getting out of bed, Smoke cracked his neck and stretched. He thought about asking if they had any other clothes for him to wear. As he exited the room he bumped into someone. It was one of the people who worked in the palace.
The young dark haired girl looked mildly embarrassed, "I'm sorry. The queen sent me to see if you were awake." she said bowing her head slightly.
Smoke smiled, "Thank you. Actually I was going to ask if there are any other clothes that I can wear since I've been wearing my current attire since early yesterday and spent most of the day working in it." he replied.
The girl nodded, "I'll shall see if there's anything I can do. Right now the queen wishes for you to come to her personal chambers to speak with you. By the way, my name is Alicia." she told him.
He returned the nod, "Alright Alicia and where might that be?" he asked.
Alicia smiled, "Right this way." she said motioning for him to follow.
The ninja followed silently until they reached a large elegant looking door, "This is Queen Kitana's quarters, I'll let her know your here." she said.
She entered the room and spoke a few words that Smoke couldn't hear before stepping back out and ushering him in.
Smoke uncertainly walked inside to see Kitana sitting on her bed.
She smiled gently, "Good morning Smoke. Please sit." she greeted patting the spot next to her.
He awkwardly moved to the spot as sat as he was told, "Good morning Kitana. What did you want to talk about?" he asked.
Kitana gave a small laugh, "No need to be embarrassed. I invited you here after all. The first thing is that I'm having some clothes fitted for you. Second of all is that I wanted to know if you needed to get a portal back to Earthrealm. You are welcome to stay in the palace as long as you wish." she replied.
Smoke shook his head, "No I will not be needing a portal. I'd like to explore this realm more before I return. I have my entire life to see Earthrealm, but coming here is not a usual thing. Thank you for the clothes and a place to stay here Kitana. By the way I'd forgotten to apologize about my comments during our first meeting." he responded.
The Edenian woman placed a hand on his shoulder, "It is already forgiven. We are friends now." she stated simply.
He sighed in relief, "And I sure am glad about that." he said rather comically causing her to laugh once more.
Kitana slowly stopped laughing and decided to ask him a question that had been on her mind, "So what do you think of Jade?" she asked.
Smoke went silent instantly and looked away to hide his reddening face, "Um...well...she's very nice company. As well as kind, funny, strong, beautiful, determined, and just seems to be an all around good person." he answered not realizing that he'd said beautiful out loud.
The queen smiled knowingly, "That's good to know. I was hoping you'd get along." she told him, thinking of her and Jade's conversation the previous night.
She made a mental note to "casually" mention what he said to her friend, "Alright then. That's all I needed. I'll call Alicia to show you to where you'll find your clothes." she said.
Smoke wasn't expecting he'd ever wear something like he was wearing right now. The outfit Kitana had given him was a silver robe with gold embroideries (similar to the MK1 ninja outfits) that exposed his chest and abs somewhat, a black sash around his waist, silver and black wrist braces, dark brown pants, and silver boots with gold designs that stopped just below his knees.
He sighed, "I'm not exactly accustomed to this, but it'll do." he said to himself.
Once again, he exited his room and decided to look around the palace for a short time before he started his exploration of the rest of the city he hadn't seen.
The first place he visited was the Armory, which he noted contained many Eastern style weapons. He made a note to himself to that he could visit here to make his own weapons and armor plating for his uniform if need be.
He got lost among the halls in the living quarters quite a few times. Fortunately, the workers were around to help him find his way to where he needed to be.
A lot of time was spent just admiring the architecture of the palace itself. He'd never seen anything like it. It was almost as if he'd been sent back in time to an Ancient Asian or Middle eastern country.
His last destination of the morning was the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was the smell of fresh baked bread in the air. His stomach growled loudly as he realized he hasn't eaten since yesterday. Perhaps he should have breakfast.
The dining room was absolutely stunning to say the least. At the end of a long table was Kitana. To her right was Jade and her left was Mileena. The former gave a small wave while the latter smiled before turning her face away with a sad look. Smoke felt bad that she thought he wouldn't interact with her because of her Tarkatan half.
The queen gave a polite smile, "How nice of you to join us Tomas. Please sit down breakfast will be served momentarily." she insisted.
He couldn't argue because he could feel the hunger increasing more and more, "Alright..." he replied hesitantly.
He hoped that Mileena wouldn't be offended or upset, but he was gonna sit next to Jade. He slowly moved to the chair next to her and took a seat. Mileena kept her head lowered causing guilt to come over him.
The enenra decided to speak up, "Um Mileena," he started which got her attention, "there's no need to hide your face. It's no problem for me. I don't judge people based on their looks. You've changed for the better so you're just as much of a friend as your sister, Jade, or any of my Earthrealm friends." he assured her.
The pink clad girl smiled a little, "Thank you." he heard her say quietly.
Kitana was happy to see someone treating Mileena nicely despite her appearance. Jade felt a sudden sting of jealousy hit her, but she pushed it aside when she reminded herself that he was only trying to be polite and lift the girl's spirit. The two girls locked eyes and shared a wordless conversation through barely noticeable facial gestures. When people began to bring food out, the only words spoken were 'Thank you' to the servers.
Smoke tried to be eat in a more respectful manner than he was used to. Mileena was taking small bites, but it was easy to see that her Tarkatan side just wanted to devour the food without any conscious thinking whatsoever. Jade tried to be as graceful and well-mannered in Smoke's presence. Kitana, who had been used to being this way her whole life, just ate as she always would.
After the meal, Smoke decided to go exploring only to be momentarily stopped by Kitana, "I just wanted to let you know that there's no work for you or Jade today so you're free to do as you wish." she informed him.
He nodded back in acknowledgment before continuing out.
Kitana walked back inside just in time to see Jade quickly move back behind a wall.
She shook her head and laughed, "Jade you can come out." she called to her friend.
The woman walked out with her face full of embarrassment presumably at being caught.
Jade rubbed her arm nervously, "Yes Kitana?" she asked.
Kitana smiled, "Go with him." she said.
The other girl raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" she said trying to act like her friend had no idea what was going on.
The queen moved her head slightly towards the direction Smoke had left in, "Go with him. I know you want to." she repeated.
The green clad woman sighed in defeat before leaving quickly to catch up with the ninja.
This left the queen to go about her duties with a smile on her face. She was happy that her friend finally found interest in someone that felt the same way about her.
And another chapter COMPLETED! Originally I was gonna have more to this chapter, but I decided to split it in half so I'd have more to write about in the next chapter. Hopefully it'll be longer since I pretty much know exactly what I want to do with it instead of writing the first part of a chapter and then winging it on the rest. I also hope that everyone or at least someone is enjoying this story. I have a friend of mine who likes the story but other than her I don't know of anyone else that's really mentioned liking the story. Anyway, that's all I got for this time and I'll see you guys soon or read I guess!
~Trevyler