Mortal Kombat: Mileena's Recollection

Chapter Fifteen: Recollections

200 YEARS AGO, THE WU SHI ACADEMY

Smoke silently peers at Mileena's grave in solitude at the Wu Shi Memorial. Such a peaceful place for her to be put to rest in. Other tomb stones accompany hers in rows, and sakura trees blow light on the wind, delivering their petals across each burial. On her tombstone lies her name and a small phrase underneath; the emperor's daughter and appointed heir of Outworld who bravely pledged herself to Earth Realm. She shall greatly be missed. Smoke sighs in sadness and places his head downward, breathing lightly on the wind as he closes his eyes.

"Smoke...you should not visit here so frequently. Earth Realm has just been granted years to come of peace. Why spend it regretting so heavily?" Li Mei states as she now stands next to him.

Smoke opens his eyes once more.

"I just expected her to still be present once we defeated Outworld's threat..." he trails off. "I promised her so much...swore I would never let anyone lay a harmful hand on her, but..." he pauses.

Li Mei places a hand on his shoulder.

"I know...I know. I also mourn her...but Jade and Kitana shall pay for their horrid deeds eventually," her voice is laced with hope.

Smoke's posture hardens.

"Yes...they shall," his silver, lengthy hair blows gently on the wind. "I shall make such certain."

He shifts his body to face Li Mei.

"I will not let them escape my wrath. I must go now."

"Go where? To pursue them?" Li Mei questions.

"To pursue? No, much more than that. I must leave Earth Realm with Sub-Zero and accomplish each of my goals as well as avoid the Lin Kuei. The longer I stay here, the more uneasy I grow. I must leave and never return," he concludes.

Li Mei's face lights up in shock.

"No, Smoke, do not!" she protests.

He places a hand upon her shoulder just as she did for him earlier.

"For what it is worth Li Mei, in this time I have known you, you have also acted as a sister in my eyes. I shall never cease to remember that."

Li Mei's tear glands slightly swell, almost releasing themselves as he removes his hands from her figure. He then vanishes in a puff of Smoke before her very eyes, leaving her in the company of the memory of both he and Mileena.

CURRENTLY, IN OUTWORLD

Smoke finally reaches the bottom of the mountain, though his teleportation did play a big part in his speed. The Wastelands looks exactly as he imagined; lands filled with dead bodies, animals, and plant life with the emperor's fortress visibly in the distance. The only thing more troubling than the lingering bodies is the silence. No sounds, no traces of life, only the light from the moon and the light sound of waves crashing from a small body of water near him seem to be the only thing pleasant in this area. He begins to walk forward slowly on the sandy terrain, keeping his guard up as he attempts to recall the direction in which Nitara flew more vividly.

"Perhaps east?" he considers in his head.

He pauses as he raids his mind for answers. His memories venture back to when he watched them take flight toward the Wasteland. Perhaps she did retreat back to the fortress after all. Besides, there is nothing here for her, or anyone. Just...death. A small noise hits Smoke's ears from behind. The sound of sand lifting from the ground may have fell deaf on others ears, though not his own. He shifts his body around in a one-eighty motion, with nothing in his sight. He peers on the ground to see his footprints, as well as foreign footprints following that do not match his own. Heeled footprints.