Precious Possession (OC x Kollector) - MK11

chapter 25 - lust for life

           Kalliste laid restless against the wet grass, her body was positioned uncomfortably as she heard a distant faint sound of harsh force. Grunting and panting of excessive force was being heard as she softly awoke; extremely groggy and sore. She tried getting up from the forest floor but she had almost forgotten that she was slightly paralyzed at the moment - even the slightest weight put on her leg was extremely painful, the feeling of her tendon snaring even more.

Kalliste dropped onto the ground, wincing mutely. Finally, as she fully awoke, she could hear a distant fight..? - The sound of a blade hitting flesh as a huge thud occurred. Kalliste sought an old wooden cabin; decorated in taxidermy and speckled with chimes. Suddenly a body was thrown right in front of her, sliced and dead; bleeding from its throat and stomach. It seemed to be an Outworlder man, yet she was completely unsure why she was here.

From the inside of the wooden house was Kollector, he unequipped his sickle as he noticed at the now awaken Kalliste.

"Where are we?" Kalliste questioned as Kollector approached her - carrying her into the house.

"I have found shelter for us. We will rest here until Outworld has a new Kahn." Kollector carries her inside as he laid her against a cold sofa. The inside of the place was dark and moist, a cold swarm overpowering the air.

"Who was that... man?"

"Does not matter, he is dead as this place holds value." He grinned at the sight of possible treasures. Kollector begins searching through the rooms, loud scattering was all she could hear; rolling her eyes. Kalliste then concentrates on her leg, moving her position where her legs could be open - removing her pants completely so she may look at the injury.

It just seemed that her knee joint was crushed further then it should ever be, bloodied and bruised. Touching it made her wince, yet she was trying to understand how she could heal it. Raising her hand, she began to lift the excess blood from her knee; drawing it into her palm to absorb it. But that did not entirely do much considering that her knee was quite crushed.

Kalliste sighed, Kollector walked in as he noticed her exhaustion. Her eyes furrowed in tension as she clenched her hands together pressing her fingers into her knee; the pain soaring into her body as her mouth screams - no sound comes out. The agony overwhelming her eyes as seeping tears fall. Biting her lip as she stumbles off the seating.

Kollector walked over to her collapsed body; stinging from the pain. He crouched down and laid his hands hesitantly over her knee.

"Do you know what you're doing?!" She glared at him. His silence was his reply as he hovered both of his hands over her reddened knee. A burst of blue flames appear underneath his palms, pressing them onto her knee with force; tightening the grip.

The feeling of hardening flames pierced ever bone and ever aching muscle inside her flesh - she widens her eyes in agony as she viciously pounds her fist on his arm.

"I am mending it, fool!" He spat, annoyed. Kollector concentrates once more on her knee as her skin reddens, soon turning darker than it should be. Finally, he is finished. Kalliste clenches her face in bitterness as she glares at the patch her had left on her.

"What did you do?"  Her fingers curl as the pain still lingers, itching and stinging from inside.

"You will see, perhaps it will take time to heal." He replies. Kalliste huffs as she tries to take breathe, she attempts to stand up and stumbles back onto the lounge. Kollector looks down as he reaches for her pants, handing it over to her.

"Your pantaloons." He says. Kalliste snatches it from him as she slowly tries to slip it on. He then looks at her feet.

"...Your foot is odd-looking." Kalliste eyes him in bitter confusion. Then she proceeds to look at his feet.

"Yours is even more strange, considering your lack of footwear." She shrugs him off continuing to slip in those trousers. "Even so, you hardly ever wear anything that protects your skin."

"I do not acquire such things. Nothing will cut my skin."

"How can you be so arrogant about that? Didn't I braze you a couple of times?" 

"All but my hands can always evade getting -- wounded." Kalliste sighed as she stayed silent for the rest of the conversation.

"Thank you. -- I'm going to rest now."She turns her back to him and lays her body against the torn sofa. The night became pitch black as time went on, yet Kollector did not sleep until he was fulfilled with the needs of his greed as he did his usual collecting.

He had wondered just outside the small house. All recent events had become profoundly difficult for Kollector specifically. All his work, all his progress he had made all those years for Shao Kahn had been beyond intense and difficult. Now he is dead, there is no telling what the next leader could be or do. Yet, Kollector did not want to linger in this place for too long as the rotting corpse he had killed before - was beginning to stink.

Now mildly frustrated, he comes back inside to which his attempted silent demeanor still managed to awaken Kalliste.

He snarls to himself in annoyance.

"You are still awake?" He asks. Kalliste sighs harshly as she sloppily raises from her seat.

"I am physically tired but not emotionally. I cannot sleep after recent events..." She slopes over as her eyes ponder over to him. "What were you doing outside?"

Suddenly he came rushing over.

"We must find our next Kahn. I cannot waste away in some poor, blacken house. — I require more profit."

"Shao Kahn had only just died, who knows when the next emperor will arise. — besides, why so keen on serving?" Kalliste rubs her eyes.

"Because without servitude - There is no value in existence!" Kalliste stared at him blankly. Her face switching to many emotions as she chooses melancholy.

"You think you only exist just to serve?"Kalliste scoffs as she leans against the sofa. "I know that your kind were slaves to the Kahn. Yet, still, you let yourself get oppressed, you submit with no thought of being free. This is your opportunity." Kalliste clenched her hands onto his shoulders, shaking him in annoyance.

He quickly shoved her off with a grueling face.

"I do not need your pity!" He spat. "We will leave as soon as you as you are well." Kollector walked away in vexation as he slammed a door on his way inside a room.

——————————————————-
(Short, Sorry!)