Fan Fiction - The Lin Kuei Chronicles (Part One)
Chapter One - The Mythology

mythology (mi - thol e - je) noun
plural mythologies
1. A body or collection of myths belonging to a people and addressing their history, deities, ancestors, and heroes.
2. A story or fable relating to gods and or supernatural events.

“Sub-Zero. A name heard often in the halls of the Society. But do you know the truth? Where he has come from. What he has really done? Sometimes fact...” I close my eyes and sigh. “Can turn in to fiction. What began as a tale of a hero can become twisted into a story about fairies and talking lions. You laugh, but it is true. And in this realm, where extraordinary things happen every day, it is a common thing to enhance it into a myth.
“That is why you have come to me, if I am not mistaken. To seek the truth. Well, children,” I raise my head, and a few locks of my silvery white hair fall onto my brow. I sit in an old chair, and lay my walking stick beside me. A child sits down too, and then another and another. I wait until they have become comfortable, then I continue. “That is why you have come to me.

The blue ninja ran through the woods, deftly moving side to side to avoid the trees. The battle raged behind him, cries of Oni floated on the air like autumn leaves. He hoped Scorpion could take care of himself against the dragon-man. The ninja could not die twice, but he could be sent back to Hell. O worse, the dragon could maim him and trap him between the two realms. So close the Outworld-Earthrealm border, anything was possible.

Sub-Zero reached the spot where he had left Frost, the female ice maiden. The place was empty, except for a frozen patch of grass where he had laid her. The ninja slammed his fist against a tree in frustration. Ice cracked from his knuckles and spread up the trunk, causing it to freeze instantly. He removed his hand apologetically. Sometimes he forgot about his own strength.
How would he find the girl now? She could have gone in any direction. Scanning the ground, he saw two sets of footprints. His own and someone else’s, the girl’s. But they were both going in a circle, around the small open area. He tried to look straight down and follow the footprints, but only succeeded in getting himself dizzy.
Sub-Zero was suddenly overcome with a wave of tiredness. He dropped to the ground, the earth still spinning. He thought he saw someone in the bushes, but it was too late. He closed his eyes and was instantly asleep.

Sub-Zero awoke form his dream with a start. The image of Scorpion’s death, so real in his mind, was gone. He wiped his brow. It was drenched in sweat. The ninja stood, looking ‘round him. No one was there. But this time he saw another set of footprints, small ones. The girl’s. He straightened out his clothes and cracked his neck in anticipation. The chase was on.
And with that final thought, he bounded into the deeper part of the woods.

“He searched for three days until he found the girl known as Frost. She was asleep, hiding in a cave to avoid a sudden rain. Sub-Zero walked in, sat down across from her, and put more wood on the fire. He stared at her for four hours until she awoke.” I stop talking, look at my listeners, and smile. “That is all for today.”
Collective groans all around. I hold up my hand. “More tomorrow, I promise.”

I am pouring over the history books. It is later that evening, and all the children have left. It is just me and Sub-Zero, him being the literary one. I flip the pages on one book, but do not find what I am looking for. I slam the book closed.

Sub-Zero’s dream had been a short one, but it had worried him. Who was the voice that was talking to him? His own? Shinnok’s? The ghost of Scorpion?
“Hello? Is there anybody in there?”

I do not know who the voice had been. I stand and walk over to the fire torch on the wall. Pulling it, I stand back and wait for the stairway to open. It does, and I walk down.

By C. J. "Wingman" Zepplin

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