Rain: A Manifesto

The Art of Death

Although I had gotten at least six hours of sleep, the morning came all too quickly. The pains in my chest and jaw had lessened but were still very pronounced. Most of the other students in the room were also waking up. The first thing they each did was grab sets of all black garments from the small closet on the wall. I took a hint and did the same; thrilled to be rid of the rags that I had been wearing for far too long. The garments were very fit, but allowed plenty of flexibility. As I exited the student sleeping quarters, I noticed that none of the students were wearing masks, nor did they have colored stripes on their robes like the other members of the Iga-Koga did. Perhaps masks and stripes were only given to higher ranking members?

As I walked the halls of the building once more, I couldn't help but notice that the fortress had a different atmosphere by day. The few windows that the building had were allowing in a small amount of morning sunlight, which gave the halls vibrant feel compared to the grimness that they bared by night.

After asking another student for directions, I found the Eastern Training room. It was located on the third floor of the fortress and was guarded by only a sliding wooden door. I moved the door to the side and entered the training room. It was empty, there were no other students present, nor any sign of Chameleon. I moved to the middle of the room and decided to sit on the stone floor and wait. The room was quite plain, featuring only stone texture with four pillars at each corner. There were no windows, but the room was well lit by two large lantern fixtures on the ceiling. After about a half an hour of waiting, I grew impatient and decided to go look for Chameleon. I began to walk towards the exit of the training room, not quite able to fathom that he was the one that was late after giving me that lecture the night before about…

Before I could finish my anxious thought, a shoulder slid into my chest at full speed; knocking me on my back. I groaned, and rolled back and forth with my arms wrapped around my stomach. "Let this be your first lesson: you must be prepared for anything." Chameleon said to me as he returned to a visible state while leaning over my pain ridden body. "Let me guess." I barely managed to let out as I was panting. "You were here… the whole time."

"I've been here since twenty minutes before you arrived as a matter of fact."

"How many times do you plan on nearly killing me while you are invisible?" I asked sarcastically.

It was hard to tell through his mask, but I could have sworn Chameleon smiled briefly. "For your sake, let's hope many more." He said as he extended his hand to me. I accepted and he rose me to my feet while I was still hyperventilating. "One of these times I may not just be nearly killing you."

The way Chameleon hissed those words sent chills down my spine. It did not seem like he was just making a symbolic statement, it was a genuine threat. Chameleon took several steps back and turned to face me. "I am going to attack you with only basic maneuvers." Chameleon stated as he raised one fist above his head and one at level with the center of his chest. "You will block, defend against, or avoid these maneuvers. However, you will neither counter these maneuvers nor attack me in anyway."

I was somewhat confused by Chameleon's instructions. Why could I not attack? "Wait…"

"Do not attack in any way!" Chameleon repeated with a strict and loud volume.

Chameleon walked toward me slowly, before standing still less than a meter in front of me. He suddenly released a short jab aimed at my chest that I was barely able to avoid. He kept throwing what he considered soft punches my way, most of which I was able to block or avoid. A few were hitting me, but not enough to hurt me significantly. Eventually, Chameleon introduced a kick to his attack pattern. My protective instincts must have taken over, because I attempted to grab Chameleon's leg as it was rising towards me. Chameleon quickly grabbed my arm, twisted it behind my back and kicked me down to the floor. "Oh, how could I forget?" Chameleon asked sarcastically. "If you do try to attack me, I hurt you… substantially." Chameleon circled around me laughing as I squirmed on the floor.

I rose to my feet and raised my arms. "Remember, defense only." He insisted once more.

This defensive exercise went on for what seemed like half the day. I made it a clear point not to attack Chameleon for the rest of the training session. I still to this day have met few who can release quick jabs as hard as he could. Even though he was clearly holding back, I could feel the power in his punches as they hit me. Every few hours, Chameleon would bring in a different attack for me to defend against. The rhythm began to become very confusing as he would change the formula so consistently.

At one point, Chameleon simply put two fingers on my neck. I heard a strange sound and felt what seemed like a small electrical shock. A few minutes later, Chameleon backed off from me. There was no way I could not have been prepared for what he released from the palms of his hand: a water orb, which seemed no different from the orbs I could create. It hit me in the chest and flung me back into one of the pillars. I fell to my knees and began breathing heavily both out of surprise and exhaustion.

Chameleon stepped forward and stood above me, creating droplets in his hand.

"You can mimic the magic of other warriors?" I asked, still breathing heavily.

Chameleon began to speak as he allowed the water to disappear. "Yes, but only if I directly touch the original beholder of the magic. And I usually can only use the magic I mimic at about a tenth of the power of the original beholder. I also can only hold the power of seven different warriors at one time." Chameleon again started to experiment with the water creation form of my powers. "I think I'll hold on to yours.

I rose to my feet, somewhat angry that Chameleon had stolen my abilities. "That's all for today," Chameleon said as he crossed his arms. Take the rest of the day to do as you please. If I were you I would go to the study chamber and research different fighting styles. Your form is asinine." I began to walk towards the sliding wooden door, before stopping in my tracks to ask Chameleon a question. But when I turned around, he had yet again disappeared. He meant it when he said he wanted nothing to do with me outside the realm of training.

I decided to take my trainer's advice and spend some of the evening in the study chamber. The chamber was filled with other students and so quiet that one could hear every breath being taken throughout the room. I found some scrolls on basic fighting styles and researched hundreds of them. At first I was very interested in the Crane as I noticed that many of Chameleon's moves seemed to be based on the style. But upon doing further research, I noticed that the Crane was far too based on balance and patience. I was young, and not interested in outwaiting my opponent. I wanted an offensive style. This led me to almost pick Pao Chui. But again, I realized that this style was not for me once I looked deeper into it. It was far too concerned with speed. And speed was not one of my greater strengths, at least not at the time. I finally stumbled onto a scroll that seemed like it had hardly been opened. At the top it read "Zi Ran Men." The style instantly intrigued me. It was based very heavily on hard hitting and grabbing. The scroll claimed that once mastered, many of the moves could kill an opponent with one well-placed strike. That was enough to have me sold. I rolled the scroll back up and placed it in the inner pocket of my garments.

As I left the study chamber, a strong sense of hunger began to hit me. I was so occupied with training all day that I had forgotten to eat. I found the student mess hall. It was dirty and disorganized, but that did not matter to me in the slightest. I just needed to something to eat. I stood in line to get my serving of mashed meat and porage.

"That will be 2 koins," the server said as he stared at me blankly.

"There is a charge for food here?" I asked somewhat surprised, as there was no charge for a great deal of other services.

"Did I not make myself clear? The charge for a night meal is 2 koins."

I reached in my pocket and quickly realized that they had never given my koins back to me when they put me in the cell the day before. "I'm sorry sir; I do not have any koins."

"Get lost then," he quickly replied as he began to stir the porage. But before I could turn around and walk away, I heard two koins hit the counter. I looked to my left, and saw a figure I did not think I would see in this fortress. It was the figure of a woman.

"Don't worry, Xavien. This one's on me," she proclaimed with confidence and a charming smile. Even the server seemed to have his mood brightened by her presence and passed me a serving of meat and porage.

The woman looked my way and gave me the same smile. "Care to join me?" she asked as she grabbed a serving of her own. I paused for a moment, not adapted to this kind of friendliness coming from anyone I had come across in the Iga-Koga society. "Yes," was all I could mutter as I felt somewhat intimidated by the presence of this woman. Not because she was particularly attractive. She looked just as worn down and unglamorous as the male students, but because she had a strong aura that I was not familiar with. An aura of confidence and elegance that was truly overwhelming.

We sat down at one of the small tables and began to dig into our meals. As this woman swallowed a bite of meat and chased it down with water, she looked up towards me and flipped back her long black hair. "So, you are obviously new around here. How did you get into the Iga-Koga Society without me noticing? I notice everything that goes on in these halls," she said giggling.

I swallowed a large bite of foot and responded, "It's a very long story."

"I'm in no rush," she answered.

I put my fork down. "Ok then. I was in a swamp. I fought three men in black. Managed to kill one of them. Then an invisible one busted my ribs and knocked me out. I woke up in a prison cell and was brought to the Grandmaster. He was interested in my elemental abilities and invited me to become a student here. I accepted, and now I am being trained by the invisible person who attacked me. Ribs are still busted by the way."

The woman's face turned to shock as she rested her chin on her hands. "So you are the one who killed Baidon," she asserted as she stared into my eyes with deep analysis.

"Yes."

She smiled again. "Good work my friend. Great assassin. Terrible being." The shock disappeared and she let out another laugh. She was obviously much more desensitized to death than I was. "And now you are being trained by Chameleon."

"That is correct."

She leaned back in her chair. "That is an amazing set of events there my friend. Not only are you lucky to be alive, you get to help overthrow Shao Khan."

I took another bite of meat and nodded.

"You do know that is one of the things we are trying to do right?" she asked with an innocent look on her face.

I just stared at her blankly and shrugged. "The Grandmaster gave me a brief description."

She tapped her fingers on the table and pursed her lips before speaking. "You are being trained by the Iga-Koga society's best assassin, killed our second best and have met the Grandmaster. Most students do not meet the Grandmaster for years. Yet you do not even know some of the most basic fundamentals of our order? How are you getting by here?"

"One day at a time. And it has worked for a day so far."

The woman began laughing again. It was unbelievably refreshing to be in the presence of someone who was so charming and energetic. This was the only conversation I had truly enjoyed having since I was with Secayda.

She flipped her hair back again and started to play with it with one of her fingers while smiling and presenting me with a short lecture on Iga-Koga politics. "So from a very limited point of view that I can provide, we are fighting to end Shao Kahn's reign of neglect and tyranny. We shall no longer allow this dictatorship to continue. We will take control of Outworld, one assassination and battle at a time and instill an aristocracy of Iga-Koga Council members. Everything in Outworld will be strictly controlled and revamped to utopia."

She smiled at me confidently and I thought for a brief moment about her description of the platform before coming to a conclusion of my own and speaking abruptly. "Strict government, individual control, uncompromising doctrines. So the Iga-Koga basically believe in the same system as Shao Kahn, but with many rulers rather than just one?"

I must have spoken more loudly than I intended, because a few heads turned my way as I finished my statement.

The woman showed her teeth and raised her eyebrows. "Be very careful with what you say about that around here. Many of us have joined the Iga-Koga for the sole purpose of stopping Kahn," she whispered.

"Understood," I responded slightly embarrassed.

This woman was making my heart pound and stomach feel light. I had gained an attraction to her during our conversation at some point that I was not familiar with. I had been attracted to different women before, but not like this. Everything she did, from the way she smiled, laughed and flipped her hair back made me feel an inner warmth that is not truly describable unless you have felt it before. I had absolutely no idea what I was feeling. But it was wonderful. Upon seeing her more closely, I realized that underneath the plain garments and her visible lack of attention to her appearance, she was beautiful. Or perhaps it was because I was becoming attracted to her personality. But I was absorbed in the sight of her black hair, dark eyes and dark skin. That was when it hit me. I had hardly ever seen an Outworlder with dark skin. She also did not speak like an Outworlder.

For a few moments, we just stared at eachother and it seemed she was analyzing me in a similar way that I was analyzing her. "What is your name anyway?" she asked me.

"Rain," I responded.

Her face turned completely neutral for the first time in our conversation. "Rain," she restated as she sighed. "Are you Edenian by any chance?"

I was astounded to hear that question. I almost never heard anyone mention my homeland. It was a distant memory to me.

"Yes." I was barely able to answer.

The woman smiled and shook her head. "That is unbelievable. So am I."

My eyes widened and we laughed together in amazement.

She took her last bite of food and pushed her dishes aside. "I never thought I would meet another Edenian here. But you really look like one. I could tell right away, and I could just see it more and more as we sat here."

I smiled, still in disbelief. "I felt some kind of connection to you that I cannot really explain. It makes a little more sense now I suppose."

She smiled back and leaned on the table while crossing her hands. "Listen, I have to go. I have a mission in the morning and need to get some rest. But Rain, I have truly enjoyed talking to you. I have not had this nice of a conversation and laugh in a long time. So if you want to talk some time; about Iga-Koga doctrine, Edenia, just to chat or anything of those sorts, you can find me in the Locus room. If I'm not there, you can always leave me a message with one of the other students in the barracks."

I looked at her and smirked with a bit of found confidence of my own. "I just might do that. That sounds very pleasant."

The woman looked up at me with those deep, dark eyes and smirked back as she slid her hand across mine before standing up. "Goodbye Rain. I hope to see you soon."

As she began to walk away, I realized I had forgotten to ask for a very important thing. I just did not realize it would be one of the most important things in my life. "Wait!" I called to her. "I forgot to ask for your name."

She swiftly turned around and let me see her magnetizing smile one last time before answering back to me. "Tanya."