Chapter Text
It’s the middle of the night when he hears people running in the halls.
Bi-Han had fallen asleep early for once, as he usually goes to bed late since he spends his time before bed either meditating, training, or with his younger brother. He turns his head as he listens to footsteps running down the hallway, and when there is a lull in activity, he rises.
He looks out his window down to the courtyard of the Lin Kuei temple to see if it is a possible invasion, but no. Instead, he sees warriors from his own clan. He can recognize most of the warriors down below as a group that was sent out close to four months ago to another clan that the Lin Kuei is allied with.
The Sāriqī Alqubūri, a clan somewhere southwest of the Lin Kuei, was a strange ally to have. Their name translated summoned feelings of fear in the listener, and when faced in battle, many would rather surrender and pray to the gods as they were faced with the clan's multitude of magic users, necromancers, and their raised dead.
Liu Kang and one of Bi-Han’s own ancestors allied with them in an attempt to gather other clans in the defense of Earthrealm. The sole condition that was asked of the clan was that they avoid the use of necromancy at all cost. Some members back then were angered at the demand being made of them, but the Sāriqī Alqubūri Grandmaster agreed, seeing the loss of one magic acceptable when they had so many other magic users in its ranks.
While many were originally fearful of them, the clan began to prove themselves to any doubters. They worked alongside the Lin Kuei, capturing any outsiders who dared to step into Earthrealm. Liu Kang even invited one of their warriors to participate in Mortal Kombat, and they were quick to bring Earthrealm victory. While they had a threatening name, the Grave Thieves earned themselves a reputation as a dependable ally and worthy foe.
That was, until recent years.
Bi-Han had begun to sit with his father over a year ago at clan meetings, learning more of his future role as well as all the comings and goings that the Lin Kuei saw over. During these meetings, he was able to hear the recent troubles that the clan was facing. Two years ago, the clan gained a new Grandmaster.
Grandmaster Cyrus was his name, and with his rising star came the collapse of the Grave Thieves.
Due to the distance of the two clans, the Lin Kuei had trouble keeping up with its ally outside of any official correspondence the two sent each other. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that when the Sāriqī Alqubūri clan sent out a call of aid to its Chinese counterparts, the Lin Kuei were very much in the dark about the state of their ally, as well as what situation they may be walking into.
The call for help sent by Grandmaster Cyrus said that one of his advisors, General Heydari, was plotting his assassination and was planning a coup. He called for the Lin Kuei to send warriors to give aid, as Heydari was one of the most skilled children of the clan, and would wipe out all that stood in his way. Cyrus also made sure to hint that Heydari would turn his sights on total domination once he gained control as Grandmaster.
Bi-Han’s father made the decision to send a war band led by Hydro, his right command, out to help their southern allies. Even though by the time they reached the Sāriqī Alqubūri territory, it might’ve been too late.
Before leaving through the Lin Kuei’s gates, Hydro’s Grandmaster gave him an order.
If any harm had come to Cyrus, to put down General Heydari at all cost.
That was four months ago, and now they had finally returned.
From what the young boy could see, it appeared that many warriors down below had injuries, ranging from the not-so-serious to where some he couldn’t tell if the still bodies were alive or dead.
He finally spotted Hydro by his turquoise colored robes, and the man seemed to be non-injured as he walked past everyone with something black thrown over his shoulder. Bi-Han watched with curiosity as the thing began to move when Hydro tried to gently move his cargo to a more comfortable position.
Little legs began to kick at the man, but did very little damage. As Hydro walked under Bi-Han’s window, he got the brief glimpse of arms swinging wildly around, trying to hurt anything around them. He hears yelling, but he cannot make out what is being said from his height above the courtyard.
The eleven year old heir to the Lin Kuei rushes to dress himself. He fell asleep wearing only pants, and he only bothers to pull a robe around himself before he is rushing out of his room. Before leaving, Bi-Han risks a brief glimpse inside of Kuai Liang’s room to see the nine year old sleeping undisturbed by the noise outside. He slides the door closed and then runs on silent steps to his father’s throne room.
His father greets him as he stands in the doorway, and everyone else ranging from elders to other warriors bows to the heir. His father waves a hand, and Bi-Han moves to stand at his side.
“I was about to send for you.” Is all his father says. “Hydro has returned from the Sāriqī Alqubūri clan, and was about to begin his report.” The Grandmaster continues as father and son watch as said man steps through the wide doorways.
Hydro was a man of average height, but his broad shoulders and muscular build would make anyone think twice before challenging the hydromancer. He also noticeably had no one slung over his large shoulder as he did outside, but Bi-Han looks past the man and sees two other warrior’s dragging what appears to be a child between them.
Hydro finally comes to a stopping point in front of his Grandmaster and eldest scion, and so do the two men behind him. He brings his arms in front of him and bows before Bi-Han’s father. He holds for a brief moment before standing and bringing his arms behind him.
“I apologize for the loud return, Grandmaster.” Hydro’s low voice booms out. “I have many injured with me, and we were desperate to return before anymore lives were lost.”
“You are forgiven.” the Grandmaster’s own voice calls out. “Before you start your report, begin with who you have brought along with you. Is that a child?” Bi-Han and everyone else focus on the small figure held between the two Lin Kuei.
From what is visible, the child appears to have brown skin like golden sand, and atop their head was long black hair, matted from not having been brushed recently. They were dressed in all black, and wore some type of robe that kept their whole body covered. All over the robe were stains, ranging from sand and dirt to what appeared to be blood. Not to mention the numerous tears, rips, and burn marks.
The child must’ve sensed they were being looked at, and they finally looked up.
Bi-han studied the girl. He took in light brown eyes that were red, showing she was crying not long ago. She kept clenching her jaw, as if trying to fight back tears or shouts. There was dried blood on the left side of her head, coming from somewhere in her hair, and dirt was all over her face.
“Yes, my Grandmaster. This is Nadia Heydari, daughter of General Kamran Heydari. We took her with us after we found her hiding in her bedroom along with her dead siblings.” Hydro turned to look back at Nadia, and the girl met his gaze with a scowl.
“As far as I am aware, she does not speak our language. Only Arabic and Farsi.” He said as he turned away from the girl, but Nadia continued to glare at the back of his head.
“Alright. I assume you will state why you have brought lady Nadia with you when you give your report?” Bi-Han’s father states. He too has noticed the young girl’s appearance and the look of hatred she gave towards Hydro. He felt pity and concern over the young girl, even if she was the daughter of his enemy.
“Of course, Grandmaster. We reached the Sāriqī Alqubūri’s clan grounds as expected. Unfortunately, we arrived too late. Grandmaster Cyrus had been ousted and murdered by Heydari, and he had made himself Grandmaster and replaced the old leadership with his family and followers. Heydari and the remains of his clan were weak from fighting against Cyrus’ forces, and were still recovering and rebuilding when we arrived.”
Bi-Han kept his eyes on Nadia as Hydro spoke. He noticed every little tick on her face, from her biting her bottom lip to her non stop heavy breathing. He even spotted the little mole on the upper left side of her lip that moved every time she bit the inside of her mouth. She kept her sight on the turquoise warrior in front of her, allowing him to roam his eyes over her.
“Heydari asked to meet with us to discuss a possible truce, and tried to tell us his reasoning for overthrowing Cyrus. While speaking with him, my lookouts spotted people trying to sneak into our own camp. We began to battle with the remaining Grave Thieves. While they were still hurting from Heydari’s previous revolt, they still put up a struggle against us, and we lost 12 lives and many more were injured. While we were all fighting, an unknown person started a fire and we were forced to retreat. During the retreat, I ran through what was presumably Heydari’s home, and found two children, Nadia’s younger sisters, already dead from smoke inhalation. I found Nadia when I saw her hiding underneath some blankets in her room, and took her out of the burning building.”
Hydro took pause in his report to look back at Nadia.
Nadia looked at Hydro, and seemingly, the dam burst inside the girl’s tiny body.
The two men holding her up quickly had to hold on to her as she tried to dash towards the man. They tried to hold the girl up off the floor, but quickly put her down when she began to swing her feet at them. They were forced to lower her to the ground as they tried to restrain her. All the while she yelled and screamed.
Only the Grandmaster and two elders in the room were fluent in both her languages, and a handful more knew at least some of them to pick out what she might have been saying. All of their eyes widened at what flew from the little girl’s mouth. How lucky for Hydro that he didn’t speak Farsi and little Arabic, or he would’ve been forced to listen in detail as the little girl yelled about how every woman Hydro ever slept with deserved a holiday in her name, as an honor for having to spend a single night with him.
“Enough!” Bi-Han’s father finally spoke, stopping everyone in the room’s murmuring and the girl shut her mouth at the Grandmaster’s glare.
“Do you understand what Hydro is saying, Nadia?” The Grandmaster spoke gently to the girl, a change from his previous tone.
Bi-Han finally made eye contact with Nadia as she avoided his father’s stare and seemed to finally notice the other kid in the room.
She kept staring at him as she said “A little.”
Her voice was raspy, but he could hear her strange accent as clear as day.
((“Then I’ll speak to you in your language.”)) The wise man spoke Arabic. ((“I am the Grandmaster, and you are now in the Lin Kuei’s possession. I’ll have my servants take you to a room in my private wing to be cleaned and laid for bed. I’ll speak to you more in the morning”.)) The Grandmaster continued to speak to the obviously scared child in a gentle voice, but the girl refused to look at the man sitting on the throne above her.
Nadia just kept looking at Bi-Han.
The men holding her down finally brought her up off the floor, and held her less roughly as they guided her to the hallway, a pair of servants manifested and walked behind the three of them as they left the throne room.
“Now then. Hydro, continue with your report.” The Grandmaster returned to speaking with a commanding tone now with Nadia gone.
“Yes. After I escaped the building with Nadia, I regrouped with the rest of my squad. While escaping the burning village, we found Heydari barely alive, and brought him with us. His last words were that Cyrus was a cruel man who wished to wash the earth in darkness and bring about an event called ‘Armageddon” and he killed him for the good of Earthrealm. His final breath before dying was a plea to not kill his daughter, and to bring her under our protection. I honored the man’s last wish, and brought her with us before you. Before leaving the clan grounds, I waited for the fire to end and went through the ruins to try and find what Heydari meant by Cyrus wishing to bring about Armageddon, and all we found that might have been connected was this.” He ended his report as he reached down to his side, and pulled out a scroll. The Grandmaster held out his hand, and Hydro stepped forward and gave him the scroll, and then stepped back.
The Grandmaster unrolled the scroll, and drawn out was what appeared to be some type of gold amulet with a green gem in the middle. The writing around the amulet was unable to be made out, but he could make out some words, like “God”, “Underwater”, and “Pool”.
Bi-Han tried to read the scroll over his father’s shoulder, but his father soon shut it and passed it off to the elder at his side.
“If what Heydari said is true, then the Lin Kuei is responsible for the murder of its own ally clan.” He said aloud as he lowered his head in his hands.
“Possibly. I came back to bring the girl to you as well as the scroll, and now Grandmaster, I must make two requests of you.”
“Go ahead, Hydro.”
“First, I ask if I may go back to the Sāriqī Alqubūri clan grounds to search for more evidence of Cyrus’ betrayal of Earthrealm. When I was first speaking with Heydari before our fight, he said that he had collected most of Cyrus’ things in a cave close to the clan and was planning on going through them before our arrival.”
“Granted, and your second?”
“I ask that you give guardianship of Nadia Heydari to me. The death of her clan falls to me, if I had been less quick to react, I would’ve seen the assassins who were supposedly sneaking into our camp were just curious clan members that thought we had already made peace with their clan. Not just the Lin Kuei’s, but my own honor depends on it.”
The room fell silent
“...Alright. I grant this request, Hydro. But be warned, the girl is clearly traumatized, and we’ll need to keep a close eye on her as she ages. If we are not careful, she may grow resentful, and try to take revenge for her clan’s destruction.” The Grandmaster said, and everyone nodded at his decision. There were some murmurs of disagreement, with some saying things that would disgust anyone if they found out they were talking about a little girl, but the Grandmaster forced them into silence with a glare.
Bi-Han was not sure how to feel. The girl will not be dying anytime soon, nor will she be chased away from the Lin Kuei to live on the streets. She might just be down the hall from him when he goes back to his room.
His father’s last sentence is what sticks with him. His clan destroyed hers, and now here she is, under his roof, angry and rageful.
He questions both his father’s and Hydro’s sanity.
“If that is all for the night, let us retire now. Hydro, begin to prepare for your travels in the morning, and while you are gone, Nadia will be staying with my family and will be given back to you upon your return.”
“Yes, my Grandmaster. I will check upon Nadia in the morning.” He gives one final bow, and then he and everyone else begins to leave the room.
“I’ve a question for you, Hydro”. Bi-Han finally speaks. Many elders, including his father, turn to stare at him, as if they had forgotten he was there.
“Yes, Bi-Han?” Hydro turns back around to ask.
“Why is the girl so dirty? You’ve brought her before us covered in filth and wearing torn rags.”
“Nadia was…not the most cooperative since we began our journey. She would fight back every time someone tried to touch her, making it a struggle to try and change her clothing and clean her. We would try whenever she fell asleep, but she would wake up and become combative. I eventually came to the decision to let the girl be until we reached home, as she was clearly struggling with lack of sleep, and I did not wish her more distress. She would also eat and drink the smallest amounts of food and water, I am frankly surprised she is still able to be as energetic as she is now.”
“And how was she injured?”
“She received minor burns on her feet while escaping the fire. She also hit her head while trying to run away from us. For a brief moment, we were able to look at the wound while she slept, and it seemed to be more of a flesh wound than anything serious.”
“Understood. I am finished, father.”
Bi-Han looked at his father, and he noticed the look in his eyes. His father was curious.
“Thank you, Bi-Han. We’re done for the night. Everyone dismissed.” He commanded, and everyone began to leave.
Bi-Han takes his first deep breath since the meeting started, and he falls into step with his father as he makes his way to their families private wing.
“Watch out for the girl as well, my son. While I don’t think she may be a threat at the moment, she is a stranger in a strange land. Someone her age might be helpful. She is also a daughter of an extremely powerful clan, it would do us well to keep her near.” His father instructs him.
“Yes, father.” Is all Bi-Han says.
They finally return to the hallway with their bedrooms, and when walking past one of the rooms, they both can hear yelling behind the sliding door and can see light sneaking through the crack at the bottom.
His father makes a concerned face, and Bi-Han almost thinks he’s about to go inside, but backs out at the last second.
“Leave her be. The first night in a new place is always stressful.” His father turns away, and Bi-Han automatically follows him while keeping his head turned to the door where he assumes Nadia is.
“Sleep well, Bi-Han. I will see you in the morning. We have a lot to share with your mother and brother in the morning”. The grandmaster says as he slides his bedroom door behind him.
“Goodnight father.” Is all the boy says, but his father closes the door before Bi-Han can get the rest of his sentence out.
He is left alone, standing still in the hallway.