Tabbi
{A/N: a lot of this is ripped straight from Scorpion's chapter in MKX}
A couple hours had passed by gradually, but Kuai and I did notice eventually, Scorpion making his way up the path to the temple.
Kuai walked out of the temple first, me following in suit, close behind.
Scorpion glared at Kuai as he walked closer to the temple. Kuai glared back, before remembering his manners, and what we were supposed to be doing today.
"Master Hasashi," Kuai said before stopping to bow. Scorpion looked over at me, and I did the same. "I am grateful you have come,"
"Speak your mind," Scorpion replied, scowling. "I do not wish to linger here,"
Kuai motioned to the table in front of us, which had 3 cups on it, and tea that was steaming hot. Scorpion hesitantly looked at the table, not taking his seat. He had every reason to not sit down, do I don't blame him for not wanting to.
"You re-establish the Shirai Ryu, as I reform the Lin Kuei," Kuai noted, as he took his seat.
I didn't have much to say, so I took my seat and kept quiet.
"We both seek to shed our clans' dark paths. Dedicate them to protecting Earthrealm," Kuai continued. "Our common purposes gives us a chance to end old rivalries. To start anew," He eplained as he got the cups ready to pour the tea in.
"You'll confess what you've long denied?" Scorpion asked. "That your clan's hands are soaked in Shirai Ryu blood? In the blood of my family?"
I opened my mouth to say something, but Kuai held up a hand, silencing me.
"Our honor is indeed stained," Kuai said, sadly. "Please, sit," He motioned, again to the seat across from us.
Scorpion sat down, and Kuai picked up the pot of tea, pouring it into the cups as he spoke. "after you, Tabbi, and I were freed from Quan Chi, we began to rebuild our clan. We had hoped Sektor and the Cyber Lin Kuei were finished," Kuai, glanced at me, then back to Scorpion.
He was telling me it was my turn to speak. "We made it our duty to kill Sektor and the other Cybers," I started, "and to restore the Lin Kuei's honor,"
"I am not interested in Lin Kuei politics, Sub Zero,"
Kuai continued on, anyway, sliding over one of the cups to me. "After we finally killed Sektor, we discovered the Lin Kuei had not sacrificed its honor with the Cyber Initiative. We had abandoned it long before," Kuai offered the cup of tea to Scorpion, but not before an ice blast was sent our way, causing the table to explode. The three of us dodged out of the way in time to not be hit.
It was exactly who I figured it was, when she spoke.
"There will be no peace, Scorpion!" Frost shouted.
"Frost!" Scorpion exclaimed. "The Lin Kuei are still without honor!" The two ended up in a scuffle, but Scorpion knocked Frost to the ground with ease.
Scorpion turned back around, his focus now on Kuai.
"Master Hasashi, wait!" Kuai called.
"For what?" Scorpion asked, "more treachery?! I will have your head!"
Scorpion charged at Kuai, and the two fought, Scorpion taking the lead. There wasn't much I could do to stop it, as my attention was on Frost. Scorpion ended up winning the fight.
"Our story ends here, Sub Zero," Scorpion declared, as he reached behind his back to pull out one of his swords.
He had just raised it up when Frost came out of nowhere, causing him to stop. Kuai sent an ice blast at Frost, her freezing in mid air.
I crawled out from behind the tree, where I'd ended up, and walked out, slowly.
"Are you alright?" Kuai asked, as he glanced over to me.
"I'm fine," I nodded. I hadn't even noticed that Frost's blast from before caused the wound on my stomach to reopen. That would have to be dealt with later.
"What is this?!" Scorpion asked, visibly confused.
"I did not bring you here for treachery," Kuai explained. "Frost is strong, but lacks judgement. She does not see the wisdom of peace. Tabitha and I will deal with her,"
Scorpion hesitantly followed us back into the temple, where Sektor's head was being kept. It still made me a little sick to look at.
"You spoke of the Lin Kuei's lost honor," Scorpion said as we walked.
"For years, we thought you had unfairly blamed the Lin Kuei for the deaths of your family and clan. But, Sektor's memories revealed the truth," Kuai touched Sektor's eye, and the hologram appeared again.
Scorpion folded his arm as he watched Quan Chi and Sektor speak. His face contorted with anger. It was painful to watch. I couldn't even begin to imagine what he'd been thinking.
"Harumi... Satoshi..." Scorpion trailed off, as he looked down.
"Had I known of our clan's complicity in the Shirai Ryu's extinction, our history would be different,"
"I killed your brother because I thought he..."
It honestly tore my heart into pieces. I couldn't help but feel horrible for him, and what he had gone through. My eyes welled with tears.
"Quan Chi is responsible for Bi-Han's death," Kuai replied.
Scorpion shook his head. "Sektor was wrong. There is a debt to be paid. And Quan Chi will pay it,"
The two Grandmasters bowed to each other. Kuai turned to me. "Tabbi, if you would be so kind as to walk Master Hasashi out. I will deal with Frost,"
I nodded. This was going to be weird for me. I had never been alone with Scorpion before.
There was an awkward silence, the only sound being our feet against the ground.
Until I decided to break it.
"Master Hasashi, I wanted to apologize," I started.
"Please, call me Hanzo," Scorpion offered.
I nodded. "I'm sorry. For years I hated you. But, I really can't imagine what it must have been like, to lose everything. I'm truly sorry you had to go through something that awful,"
"Thank you, Tabitha. I am grateful our clans have made peace," I had never seen Scorpion smile before. Ever. It was weird to see.
"Of course," I smiled back at him. Eventually, the snow turned into regular ground, which meant we were just about as far away from the temple as you could get.
"I wish you well, Tabitha," he bowed, slightly which through me off guard.
"You don't have to be formal for me," I shifted awkwardly, my face turning a bit red. "I'm not a Grandmaster,"
"You and Sub-Zero do not run the Lin Kuei together?" Scorpion asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Oh, no. No. We-we don't," I shook my head. "I mean, I help. But no, I'm not in an official position or anything. Nothing that would warrant formality. Trust me, I don't deserve it,"
"Hmm," Scorpion shrugged. "I have a feeling that will not last forever. I know a strong warrior when I see one. Good luck,"
Before I could say anything else, Scorpion teleported away.
"What's with you guys and teleporting away?" I mumbled to myself as I made my way back to the temple.
I walked inside, to see a very upset Frost walking away from Kuai's quarters very fast. She had no doubt been yelled at.
I went past Kuai's door and headed back to the infermary.
I got myself patched up and went to my room. I had been getting ready to fall asleep when there was a knock at my door.
"Yeah?" I asked, sitting up.
"May I come in?" Kuai questioned.
"Sure," I nodded. "what's up?"
Kuai took a deep breath. "We need to talk,"
"That doesn't sound too good,"
"It isn't. Well, part of it, anyway," Kuai stepped in, and sat down on the edge of my bed. "We must do something about Frost. It has become quite clear to me that she is becoming a liability,"
"Yeah. She's had a few outbursts recently," I nodded. "and by a few, I mean, a lot,"
"I know," Kuai folded his arms. "I'm not sure what we must do, but we must do something. We cannot keep letting her do what happened today,"
"It was embarrassing," I agreed. "I can't believe she just did that,"
"Anyway," Kuai continued, "do you have any idea what we could do?"
"I mean..." I trailed off, "there is one thing we could do,"
"That is what I was afraid of. It may be the only way to teach her a lesson. She is too brash,"
"I know,"
"If you think that is what we must do..."
"At this point I don't know," I shrugged. "I'm not sure anyone deserves banishment. Have we even had to do that before?"
"No," Kuai shook his head. "you may be right. But I know it is the only thing we can do to truly punish her,"
"You're the Grandmaster. Not me," I shrugged again. "you have to make the final decision,"
"I value your opinion, Tabbi. That is the only reason I asked,"
I sighed. "Kuai, did you have something else you wanted to talk about?"
Kuai opened his mouth, but hesitated. "Has Smoke come?"
"He did last night. Trust me, nothing interesting happened. We just talked about books. Well, more accurately, he talked about books,"
"That sounds like him. And you," Kuai chuckled.
"He also told me that Sareena is almost done making him human again. As far as I know, he'll never really be the same. Enenra will still be lurking inside him for the rest of his life," I sighed.
"But he will be nonetheless alive?" Kuai asked.
"Yes,"
"Good. I'm sure the two of you will be happy when he is human again,"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Wait, what do you mean the two of us?"
"You and Smoke," Kuai said, as if it was something I was supposed to already know.
"What? You say that like..." I couldn't stop myself from laughing here. "You say that like Smoke and I are like...a "thing"" I laughed, using finger quotes.
"You expect me to believe the two of you were not?" Kuai asked, though it sounded like there was a hint of jealousy behind it.
"Uh, yeah?" I sad as more of a question.
This time, Kuai laughed. "Tabbi, you really must be as blind as Kenshi,"
"What in the world are you talking about?"
"Tabbi," Kuai started. "Smoke...um...he liked you, Tabbi. As a lot more than a friend,"
"What?" My face flushed red.
"I have a really hard time believing you could not see it," Kuai crossed his arms. "We could all see it. I mean of course it was just speculation until Cyrax and I forced the truth out of him,"
"He...He told you? But not me?" I felt a little hurt.
"Well," Kuai shrugged. "I believe the poetry he wrote for you was his way of finally telling you,"
".......oh,"
"How you did not pick up on that after reading it is really beyond me,"
I let out a long sigh.
"That is probably something that he would rather have told you himself. So I apologize for...blowing his secret. Have a good night, Tabbi," Kuai nodded at me as he walked out of my room.
It was really quite unsettling to fall asleep with something that huge over my head, but thankfully I did end up finally going to sleep.
{A/N: and once again we have me being super indecisive about whether I should continue this as a Sub Zero fic or change the direction again and make it a Smoke fic. I'm not sure tho. I could use some feedback lmao}