The Path of the True Warrior Ch. 24
By Ryu-san
Ryu: All is black…what's going on?
'Ryu': Does it matter? All is for nothing. Life itself is meaningless.
Humans walk around the Earth, trying to survive for a few precious moments only
to die all the same. What is life? To live is to die, for all things come to an
end. Look at the flowers, so many alike, so many useless.
Lub
Ryu: Where am I?
'Ryu': Equally useless question. You are where you are. Are you even there
or are you in some laboratory on drugs, made to believe you are there? Where
you are is merely where you believe you are. Are you on another planet? Are you
even in the same time? You don't know and it doesn't matter.
Dub
Ryu: How did I get here?
'Ryu': Always with the stupid questions. You are here because you chose to
be here. Where is here? Here could be there for all you know. Am I here? If I
am, how do you know? Here is nowhere and nowhere is here.
Lub dub
Ryu: Who am I?
'Ryu': You are you. You are what others perceive you are. If everybody
believes you are evil, then you are evil. If everybody believes you are nice, then
you are nice. Do you think that you can change that which cannot change? You
are who you are, can you be who you are not?
Lub dub
Ryu: Chun-li! Where is she?
'Ryu': Oh, the woman? Why do you care? She is merely living a life of
revenge for her father and eventually she, like all things, will die. Loving
her will only end in causing your own misery. Why waste time on a thing as
ephemeral as women?
Lub dub
Ryu: Who said anything about love!? I didn't! But…is she alive?
'Ryu': Ha ha…
Lub dub
Ryu: Who are you anyway?
'Ryu': I am you. You are me. Look, are you satisfied with these answers?
Obviously not because you always ask me more questions, right? Are you happy?
Ryu: ……
'Ryu': That's what I thought. What have you been living your life for? Are
you content to live in your own comfortable little reality? Just replaying the
best parts of your life, trying to convince yourself that you are content to
follow this path?
Ryu: This is the path of the true warrior…
'Ryu': Iie. That is what you believe is the path of the true warrior. You
must fight with your soul, not with your strength. To become a true martial
artist is to understand that.
Ryu: That is what Rose said…
'Ryu': I would expect no less, after all, it is the truth. However, forget
about the girl, she is distracting you.
Ryu: I told you! Nothing is happening between us!
'Ryu': Sigh, you annoy me now, go back to your little world instead of
bugging me. I've put up with you for long enough now.
Lub dub lub dub
Ryu: AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
Lub dub lub dub lub dub lub dub LUB DUB LUB DUB LUB DUB
"AAAAAHHH!!…ah? Where am I now?" Ryu wonders to himself. "Was
that a dream?"
He looks around to see that he is in the middle of a forest, sleeping on
various branches and twigs, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature.
Feeling a bit sore, he brushes off the various debris that has covered him and
he yawns. He begins running through the forest and finds a lake in the middle
of the forest. He takes a good look at himself for the first time in seven years.
*Seven years…has it really been that long since Gouken-sensei had died…?*
Ryu silently wonders to himself.
Ryu gasps as he notices the blood stained gi and his own blood stained
hands.
"What happened…?" Ryu asks himself dully. *What have I done?*
IVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVI
Ken heaves a heavy sigh of misery as he rides in his private jet on the way
to his mansion. He looks straight ahead and sees Rose, meditating in the seat
in front of him with Chun-li by her side. Chun-li still hasn't awakened and her
body lay limp next to Rose, seemingly lifeless. Cammy and E. Honda both look
down at their feet, lost in their own separate thoughts of doubts and
hesitation. He turns his head to see Dan in an equally sober mood, obviously
not his usual self. But then, who could be? Could anybody be in good humor when
on a mission to kill their best friend?
"This is your captain speaking, we are now preparing to land. Please
buckle your seat belts as we descend in altitude and be warned, there may be
some turbulence," the captain announces.
"Hey Ken…are we really going to do this?" Dan asks him.
"I don't know, Dan, I don't know," Ken says, shaking his head in
frustration.
"I know just what you mean, man. I mean, what if we kill him but he
changed? How can you ask anybody to kill his own friend? Is that right?"
Dan contemplates.
"Well," Ken says as he fastens his seatbelt, "we need to
decide. Soon. If Ryu DID change, who knows how many lives he can take and if
there's one thing I will do, I will make sure Ryu is remembered as a true
warrior and not a cold-blooded murderer."
A moment of uncomfortable silence passes between the two as the prospect of
killing a friend begins to become reality.
"Well," Dan begins, "regardless, we have to find Ryu, right?
Any ideas?"
"None at all…I doubt he's in Japan and with that teleportation of his,
he could be anywhere right now…" Ken replies with a bit of irritation in
his voice.
________________________________________________________________________
"I'd like to buy the fastest ticket to California," Ryu tells the
registration attendant. *Ken…*
________________________________________________________________________
Wisps of dirt flew in the air as an ominous wind blew in the dark. A
portentous power is there; so tangible that the very earth begins to tremble
under its might. Soon, the wind turns into a gale, uplifting trees and
scattering dust while a lone silhouette appears in the midst of this chaos. The
gale soon becomes a furious storm, with lightning bolts scorching the dry
grass, instantly causing a blazing firestorm. The rain falls but the fire rages
and increases faster than the rain can calm it. The figure laughs maniacally as
he stands amidst nature's fury and he disappears with the wind, leaving only
destruction in his wake…