20 minutes ago--
Immediately escaping the fortress she called home, she hid behind one of the massive pillars that framed the entrance to the building.
She was safe, relatively--until she could get past the massive gatehouse and away from the guards.
Kitana peeked out from the pillars, seeing Tarkatan and even some Shokan guards patrolling in groups of at least two to as much as three. While the large space in front of the fortress was occupied by a marketplace-- and therefore a sizable crowd of people, she would be spotted too easily amongst the commoners. Her uniform stood out too much and consisted of expensive fabrics.
It seemed the security detail around the fortress had suddenly doubled since her arrest of Shang Tsung.
But now Jade was in danger! If Shao Kahn were to punish her...Kitana did not pursue the line of thinking. Instead, she focused on her immediate goal.
"Where would Raiden be right now? And Liu Kang?" she asked herself, racking her mind. Once she'd secured their help, she would find Jade.
Last she'd seen the Earthrealmers together was at one of the fortress' many courtyards. Specifically, the one closest to the South of the massive stronghold, near the docks. Her only chance of getting past would be to trek through the same forest that she'd traveled through to reach the Flesh Pits.
She shuddered at the thought of that clone again.
"Where I'm going is the total opposite direction of the sorcerer's lair," she told herself, staying out of sight by traveling behind the pillars. She used the shadows cast by the structures to stealthily move past the Tarkatan guards.
Close to the treeline were a duo of Shokan soldiers conversing with each other. From where they stood, one of them would easily spot her if she were to make a dash for it. Impatiently looking around, she searched the ground, spotting some nicely sized rocks. She took aim, concentrating some of the innate air magic that she had, and threw.
The rocks beamed past the two Shokan, creating a loud noise, louder than what some thrown rocks should. The two guards instantly turned their heads in the direction of the sound and moved to investigate.
The moment they turned away, Kitana sprinted towards the treeline, completely obscured by the foliage.
Now she just needed to get to the courtyard as soon as possible. Without wasting any more time, she trekked through the forest, and unsheathed one of her fans at some point, using its still furled frame as a makeshift machete. Cutting through stubborn bushes and branches that blocked the way, she finally could spot the courtyard in the distance.
It was still quite a ways away, down the hill from the forest, and past the tree line. From where she stood, she couldn't see any people, but the large courtyard was illuminated by torches lined along walls that framed several doorways. These would lead to private quarters that were usually reserved for tournament kombatants. She only needed to break through this new treeline and she would finally get answers.
She focused her chi, preparing to leap from the crest of the hill to save time.
It unintentionally saved her.
With her awareness more sensitive from her gathering her air magic, she felt a disturbance in the wind coming straight towards her.
She let her legs give way, and she fell to the ground almost gracelessly. Only a fraction of a second later, a muted thunk was heard above her head.
She glanced upward at the tree she had been standing just ahead of.
A triple pronged dagger, with the center blade being longer than the other two, was wedged into the tree bark. It was embedded so deep, that the center blade was almost invisible. A Sai.
"What in the-," Kitana cut herself off, realizing that she must have been followed. Slowly, she stood up from the ground, keeping her posture low, and unsheathed her second fan.
If she kept quiet, perhaps they haven't spotted her y-
She felt her breath knocked out of her lungs, as something distinctly human-sized tackled her from the side. With a grunt, she felt herself rolling on the ground, and whatever had slammed into her was not letting go.
Slamming her elbow into the mysterious attacker, she kept the momentum going, not wanting to give the advantage to her opponent. Finally, they both slammed into a nearby tree, and she and her attacker slowly got to their feet simultaneously.
Kitana's eyes widened. "You!"
The woman across from her looked identical to her, even down to the tunic and mouthguard that she was wearing. The only difference was that her opponent's clothing was dark purple or violet where Kitana's would have dark tones of blue or cyan.
Her eyes also seemed to glow in the dim light of the forest like a cat.
Or a Tarkatan.
"You were so rude, sister," Mileena greeted. Kitana frowned whilst she an involuntary step backwards. She didn't have the sing-song voice from earlier in the Flesh Pits. It was completely identical to her own.
"How could you be so hostile to your own blood?" she continued, slowly stalking toward Kitana. She pulled a single Sai from her sash, lazily twirling in her right hand. It answered the unspoken obvious question of the owner of the weapon.
"You are no sister of mine," Kitana declared strongly. She slowly walked backwards, maintaining distance while pointing her still closed fan at her. To her surprise, the clone's brows lowered in such a way that she almost looked...hurt by her comment.
But that couldn't be...right? An angry growl emanated from her reflections throat, reminding Kitana of the Tarkatan warriors and their war cries. Suddenly she straightened up, taking a deep breath. She pointed her Sai at Kitana, mirroring her posture. Kitana couldn't be sure if it was intentional or not.
"Before you had so rudely attacked me," Mileena's voice took on that somewhat gravelly tone Kitana remembered. "Allow me to introduce myself," her eyes narrowed as if she were smiling. "Mileena. Princess of Outworld!"
Kitana didn't have time for this! Every second wasted was Jade in further danger.
"Begone, Mileena! I won't repeat myself!"
"Aww," Mileena retorted, her sarcastically saccharine. "You'd banish your own sister?"
"No," Kitana answered. She should have killed her when she had the chance. "I'll finish you."
Mileena suddenly sprinted forward, intent on skewering Kitana on her Sai. Kitana braced herself, only for Mileena to suddenly vanish! Violet mist was all that hinted at her having even been there.
"Ugh!" Kitana was launched forward by a force hitting her upper back, and she hit the ground roughly. She slid on the ground, grass and dirt and mud catching on her uniform.
"She can teleport?!" Kitana muttered to herself in disbelief. She looked behind her to see her clone was indeed a distance behind her, her leg still outstreched from when she'd kicked her.
She also realized that Mileena seemed to share in the strength of a Tarkatan as well. That one kick had sent her flying, and she made it look almost effortless.
With an almost feral roar, Mileena sprinted at her again, intent on tackling her this time. Kitana was ready, kicking at Mileena's shoulder just before she was able to grab her. Using the momentum, she managed to roll back to her feet.
Not letting up, Mileena swung her weapon arm towards Kitana, who quickly stepped to the side and moving her head, missing the Sai by inches. Kitana backed up to a tree, hoping it would make Mileena second guess her attacks, lest she hurt herself.
To her surprise, she punched forward with her free hand, nearly hitting Kitana at point blank. She hadn't bothered to hold back, the tree bark near where her head had been splintering and giving way to her increased strength. Kitana only had time to glance at the damaged tree and Mileena before dodging out of the way of another assault.
Using her air magic, Kitana called her fan to her hand. She'd dropped it when Mileena kicked her. Raising it in front of her face, she parried another Sai thrust by unfurling the weapon as Mileena swung at her.
Mileena scoffed as her swing went wide. She pivoted her hip, swinging her leg in a roundhouse kick with the intent of driving her foot into Kitana's temple. Kitana made to block, but she thought better of it and quickly ducked. Just like with the Sai and the punch from earlier, Mileena's kick served to splinter the tree bark rather than actually hurt Mileena in any discernible way.
Shuffling forward from her successful dodge, she kicked backwards, slamming Mileena into the tree. Her clone grunted in pain, shaking the stars out of her head.
"Why don't you just surrender, sister?" Mileena asked, turning to face Kitana. Her mouthguard had come slightly loose, revealing a peek at her inhuman fangs. Kitana's gaze seemed to be drawn to this, and Mileena noticed it. She snarled, quickly adjusting her mouthguard.
Kitana gave her reply by swinging her right arm and throwing her closed fan at Mileena, who leaned to the side, narrowly dodging the brunt of it.
With air magic, it reversed course, grazing Mileena left shoulder. Both women lunged at each other, attempting to catch the other off guard with a chop, a punch, or the occasional kick.
Mileena attempted another stab with her remaining Sai, but Kitana anticipated it, and unfurling one of her fans, swiped into Mileena's wrist. She was forced to drop the blade, lest Kitana's fan sever her hand.
Mileena briefly nursed her wrist, glaring at Kitana all the while. She stalked forward again, and Kitana unfurled her second fan.
She needed to end this quickly. Kitana swiped at Mileena, aiming for the neck. Using the guarded parts of her gauntlet, Mileena blocked it, before suddenly headbutting her.
Kitana cried out, raising her arms to block the next attack, but Mileena instead teleported behind her, and kicked her legs out from under her.
As her back hit the ground, Mileena already landed atop of her and wrapped both of her hands around her neck.
Sputtering, Kitana grabbed the offending wrist, but Mileena seemed to have an iron grip.
"Don't worry, dear sister," Mileena drawled, her voice again identical to her twin. It didn't escape Kitana's notice that she said the word as if it were a curse.
"I will make sure Jade is...taken care of." With Mileena's grip on her neck, Kitana struggled to get a word out.
"Leave...her," Kitana coughed and sputtered, "A-alone!"
The last thing Kitana saw was her own reflections fist swinging toward her face.
And then blackness.