Mortal Kombat: The Phoenix Verison

Chapter 20: After Rain Comes A Rainbow

Kung Jin took Ember, limp in his arms, toward Takeda away from the fighting. Takeda watched as Kung Jin carefully put her down on the sand, her head lolling to the side. His dark eyes flickered to his master fighting Rain intensely, then they flickered back to his leg and winced.

"This is going great, I'd say." Kung Jin snarked, sitting down beside them.

While Jin watched the fight and kept an eye out for any Tarkata, Takeda's eyes wandered back to Ember.

He paled.

"Jin," Takeda started. "Jin, I don't think she's breathing!" There was urgency in his voice that instantly caught Jin's attention.

He looked over his shoulder quickly, noticing that Ember's chest did not rise and fall as it should. "Fuck..." he muttered before scrambling over to her side.

Immediately he started to preform CPR, or what he remembered of it. It was a little difficult with the armor she was wearing.

Takeda uttered something under his breath, hoping that their new ally wouldn't die. She had been a pain in the ass in the beginning, but once she had been released from Quan Chi's control he had noticed a change in her demeanor.

Hanzo didn't like speaking about his time as an undead slave to hatred but Takeda knew it took a toll on someone. He figured the same went for someone as newly revived as Ember.

Two minutes or so later, Ember started breathing again and Takeda felt himself release a breath he hadn't known he was holding in.

Then she woke up and rolled over to her side to cough out the water stuck in her lungs. Gasping for air, her hands grasped at the sand desperately.

Jin tried his best to help her cough up the water before carefully sitting her up with Takeda's assistance.

Once the coughing subsided, Ember looked at them both with red and puffy eyes. "Thank you." She croaked through a raspy voice.

"No need, ma'am." Jin replied. Takeda smiled, watching her gaze fall from them to the ground. Her breathing became uneven once more, but to Takeda's surprise it sounded more like she was about to cry. The two young men exchanged concerned glances but neither said anything.

Footsteps trudged through the sand, stopping to kneel down in front of Ember.

"Are you alright?" Hanzo asked.

Shaking, she lifted her head to meet his eyes. She knew her face was red and tears were trying their hardest not to fall down her cheeks, but she couldn't care at the moment. An unsteady breath escaped her as she nodded.

"I'm fine." Ember answered.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so."

Hanzo offered his arm to her, watching her hesitantly reach out and place her hand in his.

Ember still wasn't sure if she could trust him fully, he had saved her life but there was a part of her that believed he strongly disliked her as she had him. Her current vulnerability would be the perfect opportunity for him to kill her.