I do not nor will I probably ever own the Mortal Kombat franchise or its characters.

Torr was engulfed in cold, white powder. It was a semi-soft landing that had hardly fazed him. He stood up shaking off the powder and noticed it was nighttime. He should be asleep. Instead he was standing in a white forest with a strange feeling in his skin.

He must be cold, though his strong, thick skin would only be able to notice it vaguely. Ferra, however...

Ferra!

Torr, forgetting how to speak long ago, grunted as loud as he could, digging through the white powder, "Frrah! FRRAH!"

Torr was panicking. He never felt fear unless he was separated from Ferra. The two were unstoppable together, but apart, Torr had lost the brains to his brawn.

Torr blindly slapped the piles of powder, hoping he would find Ferra buried in one and terrified she was stuck in the cold whiteness.

As he was digging near a frozen tree he heard a weak voice call to him, "Torr..."

The brute's head snapped up to see Ferra hanging from a tree branch. The little kutter was noticeably blue and she was shivering. Torr knew he wasn't the brightest, but he knew she must be cold, very cold. The girl didn't have skin like his, and on top of that, her apparel consisted of metal armor and red underclothes. Her feathered headdress also seemed to have fallen off, exposing her shaved head to the cold.

Torr quickly snatched her out of the tree and cradled her close to his body, sharing his immense body heat. Ferra stopped shivering but her color didn't change, and she was starting to fall asleep. Torr didn't know if that was a good sign or not, but he wanted her awake so her shook her until her eyes opened again.

"Tired," the little girl wimpered, "Torr... Cold..."

Torr knee first hand, how ferocious and bloodthirsty the girl he was cradling could be, but now, she looked so weak, he could only think of her as a child he had to protect.

He racked his brain as hard as he could. He was lost in a forest. Ferra was cold. He had to get her warm. That was it.

He chose a direction and ran. He figured he'd eventually run into something helpful. It was all he had.

Ferra and Torr have been through many perilous situations. They have fought Tarkatans, Earthrealmers, angry Outworld merchants, creatures of all shapes and sizes. They had wandered aimlessly through deserts, jungles, villages of terrified residents. They had faced rebel armies, Shoalins, soldiers, and angry mobs, but they were still well and alive. A bit scarred and inhumane, but alive.

This, however, was a different matter entirely. He had not been cold in decades and he doubted Ferra had ever been cold while living in the Outworld desert. To be brought into this environment so abruptly, it was startling for Torr and deadly for his little master.

After a few hours of running, Torr, panting, decided to stop for a break. Ferra had warmed up considerably being pressed to Torr's warm chest, so Torr had let her fall asleep a while ago. Torr put Ferra in a powder-free patch of grass on the ground and leaned against a tree to catch his breath. The brute held tons of endurance in his massive body, but even he had his limits.

He was struggling to keep his red eye open when he heard swift footsteps behind him.

Instantly awakened, he sprung up and darted around the tree. He saw nothing.

Torr growled low and walked back to his resting place.

There, however, he saw a big, gray, dog-like creature sniffing the sleeping Ferra. Torr roared loudly, grabbed the gray dog, and threw it far away from him and Ferra. The dog growled and limped away, but did not disturb Ferra/Torr after that.

It wasn't until a half hour later, when Torr was picking up Ferra to continue his trek out of the white woods, that he heard a number of angry growls from the shadows in the trees. Torr looked around and saw that he and Ferra were surrounded by many of the gray dogs. Torr couldn't count but he knew there were a lot

The snarling dogs seemed to have some sense of teamwork, for two of them attacked at the same time. One went for Ferra in Torr's arm and the other for Torr's leg. Torr caught the first dog by the throat with his right hand and stepped on the other one--the unfortunate animal was reduced to a bloody pile of fur. Torr took care of the dog in his fist by crushing the neck as though it were a soft fruit. He dropped it and glared at the other dogs. Many responded by barking at him, a fee howled.

Torr, not taking his eye off his attackers, placed Ferra on a branch of the tree. He then walked two paces forward, banged the white-covered ground with both fist, and roared at the dogs.

Immediately responding to his outburst, two dogs dashed toward him and jumped. Torr backhanded one out of the air, but the other sunk it's teeth into his arm. The brute grabbed the dog by the back leg and yanked it off his arm. He heard a noise behind him and spun around, just in time to swat another one of the dogs with its companion. Torr looked at the broken body hanging limply from his fist and threw it over his shoulder.

The next two tried a different approach; one came from behind and another went for his neck. The one aiming for Torr's throat was head-butted and impaled on the behemoth's spiked half-mask. The next one achieved his mission and clamped its jaw on Torr's calf. Torr growled in pain and violently shook his leg in attempt to remove the beast. However, in his distraction, the final dog, mayhaps the alpha, pounced onto Torr's back. The alpha clawed and bit the brute's thick, muscular flesh, drawing a good amount of blood. Torr was growling furiously.

Torr fell to his knees and the dogs started to feel as though they had achieved victory. But Torr was only doing so so he could reach the dog on his leg. He twisted, seized it with both hands, and wrenched it off his calf. He then held it in front of him and ripped it in half. He flattened the alpha with a simple backwards roll. Torr stood on his feet once again and looked around.

Most of the dogs seemed to be dead, and the ones that weren't were wisely fleeing. Torr banged his fists on the ground and beat his chest in victory. This would usually be the time that Ferra would pat his head and say, "Good boy," but Ferra was still dead to the world asleep on the branch. When Torr picked her up, however, she was shivering once again. Torr grunted loudly in surprise, hugged Ferra close, and dashed in the direction he was previously running in. This time he didn't stop. Nor did he notice the wounds on his back and leg. All that mattered now was Ferra.

Torr ran for hours. He was exhausted, but he didn't stop until morning, when he saw a small, wooden house in a clearing. There was smoke coming from the chimney so Torr believed there was a fire set. And fire is warm.

Torr charged to the house full of new energy, but abruptly stopped once at the entrance. The residents were more than likely going to be afraid of Torr's monstrous appearance, even when clutching a dying, little girl. But turning around back into the forest was not an option. The people in this house could be the only ones for miles. And, frankly, they needed help, now.

Torr propped Ferra in one arm and slapped the door with his hand.

Bam! Cliffhanger!

Torr vs. Wolfpack. Outcome: Torr is awesome!

Next up is Ermac, so look forward to my next chapter of "Where are the Outworlders"