Path of the Warrior Ch. 8
By Shadow Ryu

After another day of training, Ryu went with Narin and Rose to the arena where the tournament was to take place. There was only one day before the tournament began, so it was time to get the formalities of registration out of the way. In addition, Ryu also thought it would help to get a good look at the arena before the fighting started, if only to get a feel for the surroundings. It was part of his obsession with fighting to be properly prepared in every way he possibly could.

When they walked through the doors leading to the main complex where the fighting was to take place, the first thing Ryu noticed was the size of the arena. The place was much bigger than he anticipated. It looked as though there was enough seating to hold a few thousand people at least. The place was almost empty, except for a few tournament officials setting up and three Muay Thai fighters practicing off in a far corner away from the four fighting rings. With so few people around, it made the arena seem that much larger. After looking around every corner of the facility, he scratched his head nervously.

"Something wrong?" Rose asked noticing the slight discomfort on his face.

"I didn't expect this place to be so big."

"You didn't? Well, this is a big tournament you know. The only other tournament in Thailand that's bigger than this one is the King of Muay Thai competition."

"Will there be a lot of people watching?" he asked.

"Definitely. This place will probably be filled with people this time tomorrow. People here are very enthusiastic about these competitions."

"Oh."

"Nervous?"

"No," Ryu told her, biting his lip briefly. "I've just never had to fight in front of this many people before."

"A first, then?"

"This entire trip into Thailand has been filled with a lot of firsts," Ryu stated.

Rose giggled and put her hand on his shoulder, making Ryu stiffen up slightly. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"I'm not worried," he said, trying his best to sound sure of himself. "Just couldn't help notice all of the seats."

"Over here!" Narin said from a few steps away. He had been talking to one of the tournament organizers, who was scribbling on a clipboard. "You register over here, Ryu!"

"Okay, Narin," Rose answered. "Well, I suppose we'd better get you entered."

Ryu nodded and walked with her over to the table. As he walked closer, he realized he was being watched by someone standing in the east doorway. When he got a good look at him, he realized it was the man with the mohawk hair style he saw in Thuy's restaurant a couple of days ago. He remembered hearing him mock him that night, calling him "karate kid" or something to that effect. He just stood there in the doorway looking at Ryu with his arms crossed. After observing him for a couple of minutes, the man left through the doorway, shaking his head in amusement. It was clear that he did not think much of Ryu. As he walked off, Ryu did not give this man another thought and simply returned his attention to Narin, who was waiting for him at the registration table.

"The competition runs over two days," Narin told him. "The first day has the elimination rounds and the second day is the finals. If you lose once, you're eliminated."

"Judging from the looks of some of the competitors here, you'll definitely be fighting a lot of Muay Thai fighters," Rose added. "So, you're going to have to fight patiently and try to keep them at a distance, like we discussed. Otherwise, you might get knocked out early."

Ryu nodded in agreement, as he looked at the group of Muay Thai boxers that were practicing in the corner. One of them was holding targets while another was punching them. The power and accuracy of each strike he made impressed Ryu greatly. Especially considering he had not seen much of the Thai kickboxing style before.

"Here, fill this out," Narin said, shoving a pen and paper suddenly into his face, not allowing him to study the kickboxers any longer.

"Ryu," Rose whispered into his ear. "Where it says put down your age, put down eighteen. That's the minimum age you have to be to enter." After telling him that, she hoped that he didn't need any sort of ID for proof. She felt like she was trying to sneak him into a bar, underage.

"Thank you," Ryu said, grabbing the paper and putting it down on the table. He quickly ran through all the questions, telling where he was from, what discipline he trained and, after taking Rose's advice to lie about it, how old he was. The one question he found odd was about what blood type he had, but he just shook it off and put down O. After completing it, he handed the form to the organizer at the table. After looking Ryu over a bit, which gave Rose some concern, he filed it with a bunch of other papers and nodded toward him and wished him luck. Happy that they had gotten the paperwork out of the way, they all walked away from the table and toward the exit.

"I can't wait until tomorrow," Narin said. "I know you're going to win!"

"Now, now," Rose told the boy. "Don't be putting so much pressure on him, Narin. I'm sure he'll do well tomorrow though, especially if you cheer him on."

"I will!" Narin said. "Don't worry about that."

As they made their way to the exit, Narin began to throw kicks and punches playfully. As they got close to the door, a black man in a red gi walked up and stopped in front of them. His head was shaved clean and he was carrying a large black gym bag over his shoulder.

"Hey there," the man said to him offering a handshake. He was a little smaller than Ryu with a very athletic physique, like that of a gymnast. "You entering this tournament too?"

Ryu nodded as he shook his hand. Looking on the front of his jacket, there was the word "Attitude" written in fancy lettering on the right side of the chest.

"Hey great! A good change from all these Thai boxers hanging around here. Good to see at least one karate brother here. What's your name, bro?"

"Ryu."

"Cool. I'm Isiah. Most people call me Izzy though. I'm from the States. You're Japanese I guess?"

Ryu nodded again. "You're from America?" he asked.

"Yep. Land of the brave, home of the free!" he said proudly.

"Have you ever met Ken Masters in America?"

Izzy groaned at the mention of Ken's name. "Yeah. I know that arrogant son of a b*tch. If it wasn't for him, I'd be number one in North America. Haven't been able to beat him yet. What, you know him or somethin'?"

"I used to train with him. Back in Japan."

"Really?" he said. "No s***, eh? Small world, ain't it? You must be pretty good yourself then, cause I have to admit, Ken has some killer moves. Don't like him one bit, but I can't deny the skills he's got. You able to do some of the funky s--- he does?"

"We did have the same teacher," Ryu told him. "But I'm not really like Ken."

"No? Well, I can't wait to see ya in action though anyways. I gotta tell ya though, these Muay Thai guys are ripped. Seen some of these guys the last couple of days and I'm telling ya, it's gonna be a tough as h*ll fight to get through some of these guys."

Ryu nodded in agreement. "I'm going to do my best though."

"Hey, that's the spirit, man," Izzy said to him slapping him on the shoulder as he did. "Hey, tell ya what, I'll cheer ya on if you do the same for me, okay?"

Ryu gave him a single nod. "Alright."

"Cool, man. Although if we end up facing each other, well, you're on your own," he said, flashing him a wide grin. "Best of luck, man. See ya tomorrow."

"Okay." Ryu replied, accepting another handshake.

"Hmm. He's very friendly," Rose commented, watching Izzy walk away.

"Yes," he replied.

"Ken Masters?" Rose asked. "You trained with him?"

"Yes," Ryu replied. After a split second, a look of confusion crossed his face. "Wouldn't you know that about me already? You seem to know a lot of other things about me somehow."

"Ah," she said, giving him a wry look. "I don't know everything. Just some things."

"Oh," Ryu replied, a little annoyed at how mysterious Rose seemed to him with everything she said.

"Ken is doing very well for himself in America. He has won a lot of tournaments and is becoming quite rich and famous indeed."

"I'm happy for him," Ryu said. "I hope he isn't letting it get to his head." Ryu laughed to himself briefly. Knowing Ken, the first thing he'd do is let success get to his head.

"Hopefully he isn't," Rose suggested. "But no matter, you've got more important things to worry about right now than old friends. Tomorrow is going to be a big day."

"Can you teach me some more, tonight?" Narin interrupted, grabbing Ryu's gi to get his attention.

"Maybe you should let Ryu rest up tonight for the fights tomorrow. It'd be a shame if you wore him out before his big day tomorrow."

"No," Ryu objected. "It's alright. There's still plenty of time left today. I'll teach him a little."

"Are you sure?" Rose questioned. "You'll need to be well rested for tomorrow."

"It's no problem. I want to help him."

Rose gave him a sharp look questioning him once more, but then shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Well, if you say so."

*****

"Am I doing it right?" Narin asked later that night as he continued to try to successfully execute the front kick Ryu taught him before.

Ryu nodded his head. "You're improving," he told him. "You have to keep practicing it to get it even better though." Ryu was sitting on the lawn behind the hotel, resting after a final pre-tournament workout. He was trying his best to wipe off the sweat from his forehead as his body still had not been able to adjust to the hot weather. The sun was setting in the background, though, a sight which Ryu really enjoyed watching.

"If I keep practicing really hard, will I be good like you?" Narin asked enthusiastically, throwing the kicks continuously with his right leg.

"Maybe. Make sure you switch legs every now and then," Ryu suggested to him as he watched. While he offered the instruction, he saw Rose walking toward him from the rear door of the hotel. "It helps to be able to kick with either leg effectively when you have to."

Rose promptly sat beside him and observed Narin's practice. Although he struggled to keep his balance when kicking with his left leg, Narin didn't show any signs of frustration or despair.

"You're being a good teacher, I see," Rose said to Ryu.

"No, not really," Ryu shrugged. "He's trying hard. I'm not a very good teacher." Not like Sensei Gouken at least, he thought to himself.

"Still, it's very good of you to try at least."

Ryu turned his head away in order to hide a small smile that came to him in response to her compliment. After taking a second to compose himself, he turned back to her. "I feel I have a lot in common with him," he told her.

"Really? How so?"

"He's an orphan like me," Ryu said. "He doesn't know where he came from or who his parents are. If he has any family. I know exactly how that feels like. I know how bad he must feel."

"Oh. That's terrible."

Ryu fell silent, deciding to avoid telling her any more details about his past. Rose, perhaps for the first time since meeting him, stumbled on her words, not knowing what to say to him.

"You're a very good man to be doing this for him," she said, finally. "I'm sure he appreciates your efforts. Thuy, as well."

"I hope I can win tomorrow. I really want to help them out."

"I'm confident that you will do well," Rose said boldly. "You've got a lot of talent."

Ryu scratched his head slightly. "Why are you so interested in helping me, anyways?" Ryu asked.

Rose laughed at the question. She couldn't help wondering why he hadn't asked the question much earlier. "I believe you would think I'm crazy if I told you the real reason. Let's just say I live my life by different means. I follow my destiny and it has led me to you. It has been fated that we would meet, I suppose."

Ryu sneered at the response. He wondered if he'd ever get a clear answer from her. Still, he did appreciate her presence, especially after she offered use of her hotel room to them. The situation would have been more severe if she had not been around to offer such assistance.

"It's probably best for you to relax for the rest of the evening. You have trained hard enough the last couple of days, I'm sure you're ready for tomorrow."

"Yes, true," Ryu said. "Narin, let's go for now. You can practice more another time."

"Okay!"

Rose put her hand gently on Ryu's shoulder and kissed him on the cheek. "Have a good sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay," Ryu said, blushing at the fact she had kissed him for a second time, in front of Narin again, no less. "Guh, Good night."

Narin giggled in amusement before walking past him. "Are you coming, Ryu?" he asked when he noticed Ryu did not seem to be in any hurry to stand up.

"I'll be up in a few minutes. Get some sleep. It'll be a big day tomorrow."

"Okay!" Narin beamed. Ryu smiled at him, a gesture he didn't normally express to very many people. "You'd better not stay out too late though! Remember, you've got to be ready for tomorrow."

Ryu laughed. "Okay."

After the boy disappeared into the hotel, Ryu was content to calmly sit down in a meditating stance, with his legs crossed and hands lying gently over his knees. He watched the remainder of the sunset, thinking about some of the things that had happened to him over the past few days and what could possibly happen to him over the next few days. One thing was certain, it was more interesting here traveling the world than it was back at the old training grounds. Ryu, at this point, didn't miss Japan at all.