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Fan Fiction
| Legends of the Lin Kuei |
| Chapter 26: Calling on the storm |
By: Shaun Penney |
Night held a shape only the moon could shine through. It swam and crept through every crevice, every soul the living nature had and wrapped its tendrils of blackness onto the fabric of reality. But even the night felt fear, the fear that the end of existence was slowly becoming the only truth left.
Subzero breathed heavy easy breaths as he picked his speed up. His eyes cornered on the dark slender figure running away from him. Whoever was eluding him was fast, able to gain with every moment that Subzero let get away from him. If it were not for Subzero’s highly trained skills to see into the night, he surely would have lost this person or worse yet, never have noticed this person in the first place. Night Wolf tracked hard and tried to keep up, but he knew he could not keep his speed for long. Night Wolf knew he had the endurance, but if there was going to be a fight, he needed to make sure he was at top form. Night Wolf in his mind called out to his wolf companions ahead of Subzero to track and make sure he could be found. With that in mind Night Wolf veered off to the right and went back on the normal trail they were on hoping to cut them off if they went in the right path. He was impressed to say the least he never even saw it coming whoever it was spying on them. If this person was working for Quan Chi and found his way back to him, then they would no longer have the element of surprise. Night Wolf hoped Subzero could stop this person, for both their sakes.
Subzero jumped over a large fallen tree trunk lodged in the ground for years and ducked under another slant tree branch weighing heavily against an awkward growth. He felt he was being led somewhere either away from his present course or quite possibly in the very heart of it. Either way Subzero was not going to let this person out of his sight. Judging by the shape of the body dressed in tight black, he figured this was indeed a woman he was chasing after. How grand. Was she another form of Khameleon’s? Perhaps. This only angered the Lin Kuei, which caused him to pressure his running into a long paced sprint. Further down into the realm of night they continued. Her constant rise in speed was amazing, it took everything Subzero had just to keep up. He had to do something soon or he would lose her. He scanned up ahead with the cold view of his eyes and aimed his right hand palm out towards the woman. He held his breath for a second and released a shining ice spike almost wide like the edge of a white blade. It flew right past the woman and struck a tree right in half blasting it’s trunk out and falling almost right on top of the woman. Almost anticipating the diversion, the woman closed both feet together and leaped into the air bouncing off the falling trunk and flipping into the air over the falling tree. Subzero, amazed threw his last burst of running energy and jumped twice as high flipping forward as well. The two landed just outside the forest almost parallel with each other. Subzero reached out to grab the woman’s shoulder. A hand grabbed his first before he even had the chance to touch her and held tightly. Her grip felt like a tiger’s jaw as Subzero was thrown over her shoulder and down to the ground.
Subzero sprung back to his feet and immediately jumped with his right leg whipping up. The woman pushed out with her feet and threw her own body sideways into the air grabbing Subzero’s leg, twising her body towards his and slamming her hand into Subzero’s stomach. He went back down to the ground as her body rolled sideways in the air one more time and her feet then stuck out and landed with her slender body flying like a feather. Subzero swung the same leg out scraping across the ground. The woman turned her body and bounced backwards leaping into a back handspring over Subzero’s leg with ease. Subzero brought his leg back around twisting his body back up into his Lin Kuei fighting stance. Again he attacked first with a lightening fast right fist towards her face. She flew an elbow up blocking a right attack then a left then with both hand pressed out she slapped Subzero’s chest knocking him back a little. She maintained her force and shot a straight sidekick into his gut. With her leg still out she hopped forward and lashed her leg around Sub’s head as he ducked quickly. Her leg did a little full circle and smacked Sub right in the face. Sub, clearly annoyed now grabbed her leg and thrusted her body towards him. Her arms grabbed his and the two danced a fury of elbow smacking close range. She dove an arm through, locked his arm up and her back leg came out striking right across Sub’s chin. The same leg flew cutting right through the air and put Sub back to the ground knocking his legs out from under him.
Night Wolf heard the howling of a nearby wolf in the dark. He looked up and followed the sound and scent towards where Sub and the woman were battling. He picked up his speed then and raced to help his mortal friend.
Sub felt quite impressed him self at this point. This woman knew moves that not even the Lin Kuei masters taught him. Clearly she was trained in an art not indigenous to his own surroundings. But he had had enough of her abilities and wanted to put a quick end to this intolerable fight. Sub bounced back to his feet again and the two made perfect synchronized dives towards each other. His leg came out over as her arched her back under and stuck her own foot out. Both attacks whipped right by without collision. Sub and the woman landed respectively right next to one another. She let her fingers loose and every punch Subzero threw, she cupped with the back of her hand twisting her own body like a snake around Subzero. If it was a soft style of mobility she was leaning towards in her fight then that was exactly was Sub was going to give her. Subzero switched stances and lifted one foot an inch into the air as his hands arched out like a crane. If he couldn’t get past her attacks, she wasn’t going to get past his. The woman wasted no time and began making her own moves fly before him. Her arms struck out like rolling sledgehammers with the weight of the air aiming at Sub’s vital areas. Sub blocked encircling her arms with every attack only defending at this point. He wanted to get to the heart of her ability. He knew she was holding back. And in truth, so was he.
The two played on each other’s instincts and attacked with the flow of students training with masters and vice versa. As the fight persisted, they own moves proved an undefined quiet respect between the two. Subzero had not faced anyone this good since his brother years ago. But the mistake of too much quiet respect can always be a downfall in the way honor is used against one’s own enemy. Sub had to finish this one way or the other. He switched stances again and this time threw his legs out back in effect spinning around her and him both. Sub charged a fist up as a long ice spike grew timidly out from his right hand locking onto it as if it was part of him. He threw one last round house over the woman and then took one large swing at her chest aiming specifically for her heart. Simultaneously, she was aiming a very similar ice like spike at his chest from the opposite direction. The two ice creations struck hard and broke like planes of glass striking in a fragile state. Their weapons broke in front of them and fell to the ground frozen in time cold and without purpose. The woman and Subzero just stood then and stared at each other both with hidden astonishment passing through their eyes. Though Subzero’s face was clearly visible since his mask was gone, hers was confined in a tight black mask. Her eyes though were visible enough. Subzero’s mouth opened as he noticed hers matched his in every detail, cold and blue as ice.
“Oh my god” he said without realizing it. It wasn’t the fact that seeing a woman perform the same amazing ice skills as him made him speak, but just looking into a pair of mirrored eyes almost peering through his own was what made him lose himself in the moment. If it was the moment the woman needed, she took advantage of it. With her other hand she brought it out palm facing up. She blew out with a cold puff of air and a handful of ice crystals flew into Sub’s face. The snow dust clouded around Sub’s face as he held his eyes for a moment then brushed it all away. But when his eyes opened again, she was gone. He turned several times but he could not trace her this time. His mind flooded with questions again. Before he time to think about them, Night Wolf came out from the darkness and jogged over to where Subzero was standing. He seemed a little out of breath but looked around as well.
“Did you find who it was?” he asked. Subzero almost didn’t even acknowledge Night Wolf’s presence. The young woman’s eyes were still embedded in his head. Such blue eyes and they didn’t belong to him or his brother. And the ice. The ice reacted out of her just as it did him. Even if it were a trick, no mortal could accomplish such skills unless…
Subzero looked at the ground and watched the broken clumps of ice begin to melt already joining together as it fed the ground a fresh supply of water. He was not sure what to think. But he couldn’t just ramble on to Night Wolf about it. They had a job to do.
“No. Whoever it was got away. Too elusive” Sub answered. Night Wolf looked confused.
“Even for you? I’m surprised. Do you think it was a spy of Quan Chi’s?” said Night Wolf. Sub looked past the trees and then onto where he thought might be the direction of Quan Chi’s invisible city.
“I don’t know. But I think she was heading towards his palace. I think were almost there” he said and began walking towards where his senses were pulling him. Night Wolf followed.
“She? Too elusive for you and you know that our spy’s a she?” he said suspiciously. Sub stared forward.
“Yes.” He said. That was good enough for Night Wolf. Ahead of them they could see light just past the horizon of the rancid forest Sub had past through only days ago. The city was still there, and still visible. The two found themselves over looking the same large palace most likely the ground where all of the Centaurs came and left from and where Quan Chi would most likely still be, including Subzero’s brother.
“What is this place?” said Night Wolf amazed at such an amazing creation in such a horrible environment.
“It’s Quan Chi’s evil sorcery. Whatever this place is, it’s only real because of him. But that is where he is. And that is where we will stop him.” Said Subzero now focusing himself away from his recent duel with a woman who could very well be the answer he had been searching for all this time. They looked on studying the layout from a distance this large structured illusion. Night Wolf sighed and then looked at Sub.
“And if we find your brother still helping this sorcerer…what then?” he said. Subzero didn’t need to think anymore, he knew everything that had to be done.
“Then he will die,” he answered coldly…
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