#lord raiden | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whysosincere · 3 days ago

Text

Chapter 4

The hour of 1900 approached, and as Y/N made her way to the main structure of Nigatsu-do, through the narrow alleys and tree-lined forest paths, soon her steps along the stone pathways tumped a cheerful muffled patter against the growing silence of the evening. Soft rustling of leaves and birds settling in for the evening slowly gave way to this silence as Y/N wended in that particular manner that ancient streets demanded.

The echo off the old walls and love-worn 1000 year old stone steps heralded her approach to the old temple. The last of the sun’s setting rays set fire to the clouds. All of this stoked a sense of impending conflict in Y/N’s heart. Positive or negative, she couldn’t be sure, it felt as if pure anticipation of her meeting with Mr. Tagawa was a coiling spring with no clear release.

The sensation was peculiar, and only served to deepen the sense of unreality that hovered about her.

The past weeks had seemed illusory, passing too quickly, and leading Y/N into a state of constant questioning that could only be countered with the cool touch of stone work beneath her hands, and the brush of leaves across her fingertips. She found herself reaching out to verify her own reality at every opportunity, and breathed a sigh of relief anew with every moment.

As the ancient hall loomed at the end of the winding pathways, she could see a dark figure standing at the edge of its veranda, waiting…

Standing on the Nigatsu-do veranda, Nara’s modest skyline twinkled in the evening air, and the gentle glow from dozens of prayer lanterns cast the surroundings in a reassuring warmth. The enigmatic “Ken Tagawa” had taken every opportunity to ensure his brazen closeness and the touch of his lips upon the back of Y/N’s hand as he looked into her eyes, would elicit the precise reactions he desired.

Y/N’s attentions were indeed fully captured, thought Shang Tsung gleefully, and the tell-tale rumble of a distant storm shored the burgeoning smile that his stoic demeanor could scarcely conceal. That insufferable god of thunder was always watching. He couldn’t help himself, it seemed! And that had become the most amusing part of this game for the sadistic soul-stealer.

"Y/N, my dear… There is something I must confess to you.”

From his hidden vantage Raiden’s jaw tightened, his eyes were locked hatefully on the false identity worn by the sorcerer he had been forced to suffer for too long. He wrestled with the weight of the options before him, cursing his ignominious lack of experience with the events that were unfolding before him.

"You see, I am not just an admirer of ancient artifacts, but a custodian of secrets,” Shang Tsung’s thumb traced the soft flesh of her hand from knuckle to wrist. As she shivered from the motion, Shang Tsung’s eyes flicked up to hers with the barest hint of a smile.

Y/N’s face was illuminated so subtly that the moon’s silver keyed against the orange of Nigatsu-do’s lanterns, giving a divine glow to Y/N’s expression in a way that intrigued even the sorcerer. He continued, holding Y/N’s gaze with his own.

“A keeper of accounts that span eons… In the study of these events, I have come to realize that a woman of your character is far more valuable than one could fathom…"

Shang Tsung leaned closer, his hand drawing up beneath Y/N’s chin, coaxing her neck to crane up in submission to his direction.

"You captivate me, Y/N..." His voice is filled with a terrifying sincerity that seemed underscored with the rumble of approaching thunder.

As the sorcerer spoke, the distant storm intensified. It’s roil echoing the tumult within Raiden's heart, powerless to act as he watched Y/N being drawn into coils of deceit. His fists clenched, knuckles white with the effort of restraint.

Genuinely spellbound by Mr. Tagawa's charm and seductive ways, Y/N can't help but lean in as he lowers his voice. To smile as he compliments her. To be enthralled as he regales her with historic tales.

Y/N’s eyes fluttered shut as she felt the subtle close of what little gap there had been between them. Shang Tsung’s lips brushed hers with the barest hum of anticipation. Time held its breath.

But even as she felt herself melt wholly into their first kiss, something tugged at the core of her being. Through the subtle influences Shang Tsung had inflicted upon her, the conviction of her soul could not be dominated, and something within her very being chimed the barest alarm to beware. A warning that was echoed by the distant roll of thunder.

Raiden’s heart pounded as he watched his love struggle with the faint warnings of her heart. He could feel that which she felt, and knew wholly that which she could only intimate. But still, the thunder deity was struck impotent by the fear of driving her away with the bludgeon of his presence, and the truth of his convictions.

Those decades prior, few mortals dared even look upon him – superstitions, invocations of powers greater than his, and a general disbelief for that which had befallen the planet all fueled a strangeness to his presence among the rank and file of Earthrealm’s denizens. None in the military outside of the select few Special Forces associated with Cassandra and the Cage and Briggs family’s had understood his significance, unless they were bearing witness to his command of lightning, or the brutality of his skill in kombat.

What would Y/N think to see him again so far removed from the emergent necessity of the times? What answers awaited his own confessions? Raiden recalled the dismissive attitude with which many mortals regarded his presence outside of the most devout of the Order of Light, and for the first time in eons, felt something akin to inadequacy.

Perhaps this crippling doubt and fear he now felt poisoning his mind was what Shang Tsung had intended from the start. But as Lord Raiden bore witness to the sorcerer’s shameless ploy, he knew that the terrifying truth may have been the only weapon he had left…

Shang Tsung’s hand slid along Y/N’s jaw to rest behind her ear as he sought to deepen the kiss and capitalize on the tenderness of the moment, but felt the beginnings of her apprehension manifest. He withdraws coolly, allowing the woman a single retreating step. Y/N is pulled back to reality as she parts from the intimate moment with a nervous gasp.

"Ken..." she gulped, "I..."

Thunder cracks and a white bolt splits the heavens. As Y/N leapt from the shock, drawing close to Mr. Tagawa once again, both she and the disguised sorcerer turned their attentions towards the West, looking past the wooden beams of the old temple where a figure illuminated by arcing bolts of electricity now stood in authoritative and commanding posture.

Lord Raiden’s glowing eyes became visible to the pair as he looked up from the stone courtyard, focusing on the man and woman beneath the veranda of Nigatsu-do. White lightning continued to surge from his person into the surrounding stone and dirt with an erratic crackling thrum.

With the retreating cacophony of thunder, and a distant thrush of falling rain, Raiden’s voice resonated clearly and without effort across the significant gap.

"Y/N,” beckoned the god of thunder with a heady timbre, "I must speak with you."

Leverage - MK11 Self Insert Fiction

Lord Raiden, god of thunder and protector of Earthrealm, has betrayed a fatal weakness; one that the nefarious sorcerer Shang Tsung seeks to capitalize upon. A self-insert fic inspired by Mortal Kombat 11 featuring Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung, and Todd Dakins/Richard Epcar as Lord Raiden.

Characters: Lord Raiden (MK11), Shang Tsung (MK11), Female OC/Self-Insert

Chapter 1: Evening in Nara

It is late afternoon in the ancient Japanese capital of Nara when the clouds begin rolling in. There's a distant rumble of thunder, and in a secluded alley, far from the ancient temples of Todai-ji and Nigatsu-do, a lone tourist walks the stone pathways. It is Y/N, and she has just completed meditation among the blooming irises of one of Nara's oldest public gardens. As the first drops of rain begin to dampen her clothes, she quickens her pace, knowing her hotel is still a decent distance away.

Unbothered by the approaching rain, she smiles briefly at the rumbling storm clouds as one might an old friend. The supple curve of her neck and tilt of her jaw from this motion do not go unnoticed. Unbeknownst to Y/N, numerous eyes had been keeping her in their sights since her arrival. She continued on her way, heedless of the danger that had begun brewing in the shadows of the city, and ignorant of the observations of an old acquaintance.

It is said that the crack and roll of thunder is caused by the beating of numerous taiko drums in the heavens; an invocation and performance by the thunder god himself. He held many names: Indra, Zeus, and Taranis were just a few from across the globe. The Japanese had bestowed the titles of Kaminari, Raijin, and during this degenerate age, many had come to know him as Raiden. In truth, this storm was not his performance, but instead the subconscious apprehension of his heart, given form and sound in the roiling clouds that swept over the mountain peaks.

The thunder deity had been watching Y/N from afar, his eyes filled with an intensity that the approaching storm could not match. His eyes flash, and his grimace intensifies as he watches the woman weave around the primitive utility poles and take advantage of the rain-blocking eaves along her path. He knew her from his brief tenure with the American military during Outworld's previous invasion attempt. While he hadn't worked directly with her, her very presence had impressed him. The unmistakable aura of valor and courage that all of his Order of Light shared, had manifested in her. Though to him, this event seemed as recent as one might consider the life of a single stick of burning incense, Raiden knew for a mortal, it must've seemed ages past. This is why he had cautioned his brother so sincerely against involvement with mortal lives – The spark of interest she had kindled had left an indelible mark on his soul, but time had slipped effortlessly away without him realizing.

When it had come to blows, Fujin had rightfully pointed out his hypocrisy – Liu Kang and Kung Lao may as well have been his children the way that he lavished them with attention. That attention stretched time for him, slowing what should have been a moment, into years of training, camaraderie, and perhaps something akin to paternal love – at least that's what Fujin had alleged through a furious gale of blades. Raiden had called him a fool. In truth, he had been fighting with himself – his brother Fujin simply caught in the conflict. For especially now, such a title rightfully belonged to him.

The sight of her brought him back to that tumultuous argument. His heart ached at the memory, and his hands of flesh and bone tightened into fists. Originally created for the purpose of participating in Mortal Kombat, he had not intended this human body of his to remain for as long as it had. This body of his was simply a tool, he had lied. One that he would discard as soon as its usefulness had expired. That is what he had told himself lifetimes ago… Now this heart of his beat faster as he observed the scene below, his eyes never leaving Y/N's graceful form as she moved through the city.

One other gaze observed these motions with equal intensity, but unlike the distracted attentions of Lord Raiden, this stalking creature was fully aware that his quarry was under careful scrutiny. If he acted without proper caution, the game would be up before it had even begun.

The sorcerer Shang Tsung was never without his contingencies. Never found lacking in ways to slip the grasps of fate. And now as he enjoyed an extended reprieve from the beckoning of his master Shao Kahn, and the incessant meddling of Earthrealm's champion Liu Kang, he had detected an amusing inflection in the humors of the skies. One that, should he apply proper leverage to, might remove the most vexing of obstacles from his plans. Lord Raiden had fallen victim to his own hubris: He was in love.

45 notes · View notes