Chapter Text
Kuai Li - no, Tundra. Tundra was his codename; the names given to the Lin Kuei at birth were disregarded entirely. Now, he had to restart his line of thinking.
Tundra had felt sadness many times in his life.
He had felt sorrow when his teacher (who had been understanding and kinder than the others) had passed. He had felt upset when he had been assigned a new "assignment" from the Grandmaster; they always involved killing, and he hated it. Hated the way that the victim felt fear and pleaded for mercy. Hated the way that they died. Hated the blood on his hands, his face. Hated that Bi-Han loved it. Tundra had felt hatred, indignation, and even sorrow.
(The Lin Kuei do not feel EMOTION.)
He had been called to stand before the Grandmaster for what he feared would be his next "assignment", but instead was greeted with solemn looks. The Grandmaster looked down from his high seat, explaining what had happened. His brother's mission. The appearance of Scorpion. His brother's death. Tundra took it all with great stride. Usually, when given distressing news, he would have to tell himself to not show emotion. That was the most important thing, Bi-Han had enunciated.
(The Lin Kuei do not show EMOTION.)
But now, Tundra found that he didn't feel upset at all.
He had left the room without shedding a tear, without a break in his facial expression. Wordlessly, he made his way to his room, sitting straight on the side of his bed.
It occurred to him then that he had not felt remorse for his brother.
Tundra didn't feel regret, nor grief for his death. Had he already been cyberized? (A quick pinch on the arm revoked his previous thought)
A creak in the floorboards within the room sounded. Tundra was easily able to identify the noise. He was, after all, trained to do such tasks. He had locked the door behind him, but the intruder did not need to open doors to enter rooms. Sporting grey wear instead of Tundra's blue apparel, the slightly older assassin known as Smoke stood in the middle of the room. He frowned; now that they were behind closed doors, they were able to express their emotions as they pleased.
"Kuai? I heard the news. I'm very sorry for what happened to you, my friend."
K̶u̶a̶i̶ ̶L̶i̶a̶n̶g̶Tundra looked down at his hands to avoid further discussion of the topic. Surprisingly, he found that he now held a polished wooden cylinder with engravings on it. When had he grabbed it? Bi-Han had given it to him when they were children and had spent their first days in the Lin Kuei complex. It was the last memory that Tundra had of him acting as an older brother, comforting him. The next day, Bi-Han had gone into private counsel with the Grandmaster. When he emerged from the doors, he had been a man changed.
Tundra rolled the cylinder, counting the number of rotations precisely as he came to the same familiar character in his head. 1. 2. 3. In this duration of time passed, Tomas had carefully sat down next to Tundra on the bed, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "Kuai? Are you alright?"
The buzzing in his ears had subsided drastically with the physical touch of his f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶ (The Lin Kuei don't have friends, idiot). Tundra looked up to the concerned eyes of his colleague. "I am fine, Tomas," he recited as if he had said this line repeatedly to keep his voice at a monotone.
"I call bullshit," the grey assassin openly declared. Tundra shook his head. "No, Tomas. I am fine. I don't feel upset at all."
Tomas blinked, leaning back as he pondered the words of his friend. "It's okay to not feel anything, Kuai. You weren't exactly close to him, you know?"
Tundra did not say anything, but he still gave a nod to confirm the statement. Still, he rolled the cylinder. 24. 25. 26. "The cyberization initiation will begin tomorrow at sunrise," he finally said. Tomas's expression fell. "I know. I wish you had a happy memory before the event." Tundra stood up. "No. The cyberization process is tomorrow. We still have time, Tomas. If we pack right now and leave at night, it will take hours before anyone notices that we are gone."
Tomas's mouth gaped open before he closed it quickly. "Kuai, please don't tell me you're actually serious about this." Tundra whipped around. "NO!" He shouted loudly, emotion bleeding through the cracks for the first time today. "No," he whispered, "I have to do this. Bi-Han was the only reason I stayed here. Some part of me thought I could eventually convince him to leave with us, but he's never doing to change. I can't stay here and die like this, Tomas. I can't."
Tomas stared at his friend, nodding slowly. Eventually, he sighed heavily, shoulders slumping. "We'll be on the run for a while. You know how the Lin Kuei treats traitors and deserters." Tundra K̶u̶a̶i̶ ̶L̶i̶a̶n̶g̶ breathed out, his wound up stature relaxing for the first time. "Yes. I'm prepared to take the risks. I'd rather die a free man than live my life as a servant."
The grey-clad assassin nodded again, a small smile gracing his face. "Well, we did have a reputation as the pests of the clan. Might as well add something more to our record." He got up, stretching lazily. "I'll go and pack," he whispered to Tundra, "and I'll meet you in your room tonight. Leave it unlocked, alright? We'll climb out through your window." Tundra nodded in confirmation, opening the door to permit Tomas to leave.
He walked over to his window, leaning on the windowsill. He stared up at the sky. One more night. One more night, and we will be gone.
He held up his hand, a blue luminescent light glowing from his palm. The temperature dropped, and a sphere of ice materialized from the air. I will be what my brother could never be. I will take up his codename, Sub-Zero, but only so that I will rectify and undo his mistakes. I will show mercy. I will show compassion. I will undo all of the Lin Kuei's teachings. T̶u̶n̶d̶r̶a̶ closed his fist; the ice shattered.
My enemies will know me as Sub-Zero.
My name is Kuai Liang.
That night, the full moon hung in the sky without the stars to accompany it.
Under the light of the lonely moon, two young men ran through the snow on the ground of the terrain.
Tomas Vrbada and T̶u̶n̶d̶r̶a̶ Kuai Liang were finally free.