#sindel’s daughter and the zaterran shapeshifter!? outrageous !

[khaosrealms]

could you write a request for syzoth x princess!reader, who is mileena and kitana's younger sister?

LACERTA’S GEM. / SYZOTH X PRINCESS! READER.

a/n: of course! thank you so much for the request 💚 nothing better than to start a blog off with everyone’s favorite reptiloid.

- Your affection is a harshly-earned one, child of the empress you are. Living in outworld comes with its well of suitors who flaunt and throw themselves for your adoration; what greater prize than to win the love of a princess, after all? Not that anyone had succeeded, not any of members of Sindel’s court, not any of Shao’s soldiers, none yet to earn the reward of a princess’ heart. But a Zatteran?

- Whispers of gossip among Sindel’s court were as common as the act of breathing, and while you often kept your thoughts elsewhere, keeping your ears open was a whole different story. A sideshow act? A shapeshifter? Under the heat of Mileena’s recent… escapade, you knew better than to go elsewhere unaccompanied— but your curiosities got the better of you. The cover of night a perfect tool to aid in your disguise as you ventured into Outworld’s entertainment district. Finding the source of the whispers with a crowd large enough to nestle yourself within. A man— or, at the very least, what you believed was a man at first.

“Come and see! Offer coin and perhaps you will receive a glimpse of something greater than anything you’ve ever witnessed here on Outworld!” The typical sideshow fare; a disgust filling your jaw at the sight of the merchant’s grinning visage as he passes you. Offering a box to be filled with coin and trinkets for the opportunity at the sight of his performer. Verdant eyes, tattoos etched across his features, his arms. For a moment, you lock eyes, and his pupils dilate. Recognition. Verdant green eyes that are almost too soft, too kind, too tired. Still so exhausted, even as he transforms, scaled, tooth and claw. A show for a princess, he seems to say, tail heavy on the floor beneath him. You stay not a moment later. Fading into the crowd, where his eyes do not follow.

- When you return to the district where Syzoth performed not a week later with company, he’s nowhere to be seen. Not the sight of him, not even so much as a whisper, the suspicious nature of it following you as you returned to your duties. Where did he go? This gossip of the high courts who caught such an eye, where did he go? Your lack of concentration earns you Kitana’s scolding. A nip at your ear, pinched between her fingers. But still, the distraction remains, following to the days leading up to the tournament. Even the fireworks of celebration as you stood on stage, waving towards the partying citizens of Outworld with your sisters, couldn’t distract from the thought.

- It took practically every ounce of power and demand you could manage to pull away from the festivities. Turning away your umgadi guard with some sort of dismissive lie, preening to your sisters that you would return before the people would so much as notice you missing— of course, Kitana and Mileena are hardly fooled, and when you dive into the crowds, between alleys and fragrant carts, they know what exactly it is that festers at your mind. The Zaterran. The shapeshifter with tired eyes and scaled flesh. The one who stands before you, as you duck into a quiet alley, as caught off-guard as you are of him.

“Princess.” There’s a tenseness in his jaw that follows through to his voice. Ready to leap away, as if found doing something he’d hardly been meant to do. His fists tensing by his sides. He’d looked exhausted before, yes, but now— he’d looked almost drained. A small spark of hope twinkling in his eyes. Whatever it is he’d been through, you’re certain it’s something he’s refusing to return back to. When you step back, you can see with your own eyes how his muscles loosen in relief.

“I thought Zaterran’s stayed beneath ground.” Your interest catches him, and for a moment he stutters, before opening his mouth to speak once more. “Most do, Princess. You have seen yourself that I am not most, however.” So he did recognize you that day. In the same way that you yourself recognize that you both are surely not where you are meant to be. “A good reason, I hope?” “In the name of truth. A reason no better.” “Then above ground you’ll stay, if that is such.”

- You never forget the appreciation in his eyes at that moment. A relief so deep it falls into his shoulders and neck, relaxing, time of tension wasted away. By the time you blink, the man has already continued his climb onto the buildings above; but not before you catch his attention once more, one hand cupped by your mouth to echo your words towards him. “What is your name, Zaterran!” Stopping him in his tracks, those verdant eyes locking onto your’s once more.

“My name is Syzoth, Princess!” Syzoth. What an odd name for such an intriguing man. “I would ask for your’s, but I’m afraid it’s difficult not to know of it!” His words form a bubble in your chest, a chuckle spilling out from between your lips that cause a smile to crack on his weary features. That glimmer of hope shining in his eye. He’s gone by the time another firework cracks across the sky above you, but a small warmth of the meeting remains. Nestled there in your cheek. Syzoth. What luck to meet him again.