Unfamiliar Territory
CW: Emotional angst, recovering from serious injuries, mentions of unwilling captivity, mentions of previous starvation, hunger, stomach growling, famine, mentions of food insecurity, economic inequality.
“We should stop here.”
Bix glanced up, an eyebrow raised at Tahir’s suggestion.
“Here.” He said questioningly. “In the middle of the woods on the road outta the city?”
“Where else do you propose we stop to rest? Obviously we’ll not be camping in the middle of the road either, we’ll go off the path a ways.” Tahir insisted, beginning to lead the other off the trail. Bix sighed and hobbled along after him.
“I propose we keep going.” The harpy mocked. “There ain’t no reason to stop yet, especially since the guard could be followin’ us.” He argued as Tahir glanced back at his compatriot to observe him. His lame leg, his thin frame only supported by a makeshift cane, his wings still stiff and missing patches of white feathers.
“You need rest. I hardly believe you should even be walking right now, and if the circumstances didn’t call for such then I’d see to it that you wouldn’t be.” He scouted out the surrounding forest, looking for a place they could settle that would be a safe distance away from the road. “I’ve also got a feeling that you wouldn’t ask to stop unless I brought it up.”
Bix scoffed. “Shove it. Just say your poor princely legs were getting tired.”
“We have been walking all day. I could certainly do with some rest.” Bix huffed in response. He hated when someone else was right, but even if he wanted to argue further he honestly didn’t think his body could hold out the way he wanted it to. He was only working with one leg, and even though he wouldn’t admit it, just walking was taking quite a bit out of him.
“Fine. Here is good.” He insisted suddenly, plopping down on the forest floor and crossing his arms. Tahir stopped short and nodded, sitting down with him. There was a stretch of awkward silence shared in the darkness, but it wasn’t long before it was broken by a low rumbling. Tahir flushed, grateful for the darkness hiding his embarrassment as he slid a hand over his stomach. Bix snorted.
“Not used to going hungry, huh, your highness?” He mocked.
Tahir shook his head. “I am, actually. People of the Undercommons believe that rulers have no right to their resources, especially not in times of hardship. So if the people are starving, then so are their rulers.” He explained. Bix’s smugness was all but wiped off his face.
“Oh… So uh, things have been tough down there, huh?” Answering for him, Tahir’s stomach gave another deep, empty growl. He stiffened and clenched his hand over it a bit tighter.
“I was at that meeting to negotiate a trade agreement on behalf of my father. It was the first diplomatic excursion he entrusted to me… And then I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Silverstein but I- I couldn’t have imagined that she was conducting her studies so inhumanely…” He looked over at Bix with a hint of pity, and Bix fully avoided his gaze.
“So I’m guessing there wasn’t a trade agreement considerin’ you stole me from their Grand Mage.” Tahir shook his head, and Bix finally mustered the courage to glare at him.
“You didn’t have to help me, y’know. I never asked you to. Because now you’re in deep shit with The Kingdom of Light.”
“And the Undercommons.” Tahir added. “This could very well be seen as an act of aggression and cause an international dispute.”
“Jeez, Tahir! If saving me means you start a goddamn war then you should’ve left me behind!” He snapped, but Tahir shook his head again.
“I refuse to have diplomatic relations with a kingdom that can condone such cruelty.” Tahir spat, standing up and beginning to gather twigs. His stomach was still rumbling, but he seemed intent on taking his mind off of it. “They can scarcely provide for their own people regardless. I’ve walked their streets, there are people starving in them. I would be a thief to their people, taking food from them to feed my own.”
This time Bix’s stomach grumbled, and he groaned and flopped back onto the ground. His hands came to rest on his concave middle. “Yeah well, I actually was a thief before all this, so I’ve got you beat. And quit talkin’ about food and feedin’ people. I’m starving too…”
Tahir looked over at the exhausted harpy with a frown as he set his bundle of kindling on the ground. He snapped his fingers, producing a small flame and setting it ablaze. The hungry flame quickly grew and illuminated the drow’s dark silvery skin, his smooth black horns reflecting some of the dancing light. As he sat down beside Bix again, his eyes drifted curiously down to the smaller man’s tummy.
“Is it true that harpies have faster metabolisms than landlocked folk?”
Bix glared at Tahir again. “Ain’t you the number-one fanboy of Silverstein’s research? You tell me.”
“Not anymore I’m not…” Tahir said, somewhat ashamedly. “I’m simply curious as to what it’s like from your perspective. I’d rather learn from you than from her.” He explained with a small smile. Bix sighed and looked up at the treeline, watching the leaves intently.
“Yeah, if you wanna use the fancy science term then we do. We gotta stay light so we can fly, so we’ve got small stomachs but we still digest stuff real quick so we’re never really too full to fly.” Bix explained, wincing as his stomach growled desperately. “If you ask me, I think I got screwed. I always feel hungry…”
“I can imagine.” Tahir said sympathetically, a hand still resting on his own belly. “Silverstein’s research did mention an optimal meal plan for maintaining weight, though. Six meals a day, spread out evenly.” Bix barked a laugh at that.
“Is that what she spent all that fuckin’ time studyin’ me for? I coulda told her that.” He didn’t try to hide the spite in his tone that he surely felt towards the doctor. “But eatin’ like that takes time and money that I don’t got, so I’ll have to pass.” Tahir looked him over again with those worried green eyes.
“I’m not short on coin, just so you’re aware.” Bix sat bolt upright, still glaring at the prince as his feathers ruffled in agitation.
“I’m not a fuckin’ charity case.”
“I never said you were, I just want to-“
“You want to what? Help the poor little harpy? Pamper me and make me like your little pet?” Tahir was taken aback by the sudden accusation. However, he supposed he couldn’t blame the other if he didn’t want to extend his trust just yet. They’d barely known each other for two days.
He just couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Bix while he was with Dr. Silverstein to make him think that way.
“I do want to help you, but not in the way you think I want to. I want to help you recover, and find your siblings. That’s all.” Bix stared at him, searching his expression for any hint of deceit. When he found none, he still narrowed his eyes skeptically.
“Why?”
“Why not? It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?”
Bix’s feathers slowly smoothed back out, but he still scoffed and flopped back down onto his back.
“Lame answer.”
Tahir smiled slightly and set a few more sticks in the fire before carefully lying down beside Bix.
“I told you the truth, I don’t know what more you want from me.”
Bix’s stomach rumbled, and he rubbed it irritatedly.
“Some food would be swell, actually.” He said with a pout.
“Well, if we ever get desperate we could always eat wings.” Tahir joked, looking over at the harpy. Bix gasped and smacked the other’s arm.
“Not fuckin’ funny!” He snapped, though he was smiling just a bit. Tahir chuckled and rubbed where he’d been hit.
They still had a lot to learn about each other, but for a moment, the road ahead didn’t look so bad.
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honestly lowkey surprised to see how many people reacting negatively to the trailer? ive been saying to friends that we don’t really know much of anything yet, other than this basically being a partial roster reveal and a confirmation of what we’ve all suspected since mk11 ended (fresh timeline) so that’s not really much of a surprise either. Imo the biggest thing here was a release date + preorder announcement. (Speaking of, I don’t believe Shang Tsung will end up being a preorder only bonus. Dlc? Oh yeah absolutely but I can’t see them restricting him like that. If anything it’ll just be a waiting period before the rest of us get our hands on him.) We don’t even know which Sub Zero that was lmao there’s still really not much story knowledge to be had.
We’ll definitely be getting more information the closer we get to the release date, whether via official channels or leaks, and with that I’ll form more of a solid anticipatory opinion on my expectations but right now it feels too early to go anywhere past ‘oh shit new game this year!’ because we really don’t. Have anything outside of that? Unless some of y’all have inside sources you aren’t sharing djfkfkf in which case, sharing is caring.
I’m excited to potentially see more of Edenia and I’m really curious about what Liu Kang’s version of events will look like. I’m also wondering if they end up pulling something similar to Dark Raiden with Human Raiden where it only lasts for like like half an hour and then he’s normal again, I think that’d be a bit funny. If they let me run around and explore I will be absolutely fucking Delighted. If they have some sort of create a fighter thing going on? (Liu Kang’s voiceover maybe might possibly have hinted it?? Could just be wishful thinking on my end) I would be even more thrilled if that were the case. The tag team thing from what I understand of it now does confuse me a bit, and if given the choice I’d prefer a larger roster over a tag in format, but like I said, I’ll hold off on any strong feelings about that until I see more of it.
Also I think I’m more relaxed about the announcements for this franchise because it’s not like a new timeline completely negates the old one. Normally time travel and its related tropes kill my interest on arrival, but with mk it always struck me as more exploratory than anything else. What I’m saying is you can still vibe with other timelines more than the new one and they’re all still equally canon since they exist separately. 30 years of canon would be an unholy mess to keep track of if they intended to have it all be continuous, from a storytelling perspective having multiple timelines was probably the best choice they could have made with the circumstances given.
Idk I’m just interested to see where this goes and excited to see more from this universe, and it feels like some people are just determined to find something to pick apart no matter what. There will be more than enough space for criticism once we get the final product, a two minute cinematic showing off a partial roster and what will almost definitely be some fatalities isn’t enough to go off of yet. I’ll definitely be finding something in the new game to latch onto in canon and have fun with & I’m looking forward to seeing what aspects of it end up resonating with me in the end
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