kenshi felt cold.

but he did not care for the sharp chill of the snow biting his skin. the frost in daylight was only trivial with his head swarming elsewhere. the deprivation of warmth felt aberrantly heavy, his feet almost felt encased, trapped beneath the white blankets of the earth. but he couldn't feel anything, nothing at all.

his ears rang, and he tried to pretend like his hands weren't shaking, like there wasn't a growing pit in his stomach. but that seemed to grow harder to ignore. the more he tried, the more volatile it became, the more his heart was spasming in his chest and his brain to swell inside his skull.

every detail was becoming blurrier as he grew hot and cold at the same time. his hands clammy still, stinging out in cold until they were numb and limp, and he couldn't feel his ashen face. he struggled to breathe. he couldn't. he thought he couldn't.

"yes, it is." liu kang's voice pierced through his skull, like a splash of water to his face that made so many emotions ran through him. he feels like a child again, shaking, terrified just after hearing those words he's been fearing to hear. that single confirmation that even cage was afraid to tell right on his face.

that the eyes he has are yours.