Path of the Warrior Ch. 9
By Shadow Ryu

Ryu was the first to wake up the next morning. In fact, he had not slept much at all due to the excitement of his first tournament, which was now only mere hours away. He spent most of the night visualizing himself in the fight; he went over his techniques in his mind and put them through their applications. To him, mental preparations were just as important as physical ones.

Narin was the second one to awaken and was obviously excited about the day ahead of him from the moment he stepped out of bed. His youthful enthusiasm was impossible to miss. Rose and Thuy weren't up until at least an hour after. Rose was quite calm and composed as she got herself prepared for the day. She put on an exquisite silver grey dress that made it seem as though she was preparing to attend a ball instead of a martial arts competition. Thuy, however, was clearly uncomfortable. She still did not feel too content with Ryu risking injury for her sake. She remained quiet for the most part as the others prepared to leave for the tournament.

"We'd better hurry!" Narin said. He was so anxious that he couldn't stay in one spot for any length of time. "The competition starts in less than two hours!"

"All set?" Rose asked Ryu.

"Yes," Ryu answered simply.

Rose turned to Thuy. "Are you sure you don't want to come? I wouldn't be too worried. Ryu will do just fine."

"No, no," Thuy told her. "I don't want to go. I don't want to see any fighting."

"If you insist," Rose said.

Thuy turned to Ryu and grabbed his shoulder softly. "Take care of yourself, Ryu," she told him. "Don't get yourself hurt badly for my cause."

"No need to worry," Ryu assured her. "I'll be fine."

Thuy sighed. "I hope so. Just remember that losing doesn't mean the end of the world. I'd rather you come back unhurt than if you came back with the prize money and a broken back."

"Okay," Ryu acknowledged. "I'll remember."

*****

On the ride to the arena, Ryu spent the time meditating, trying hard not to think too much on what to expect. He managed to even maintain his concentration even though Narin was repeatedly trying to get his attention. The taxi ride tested Narin's patience to the utmost. He could not sit still at all. Rose, meanwhile, sat comfortably, watching Ryu and admiring his discipline.

When they finally arrived, Narin rushed out of the car as quickly as he could. Rose paid off the taxi as Ryu and Narin approached the arena. There were at least a few hundred people outside the complex. A lot of them were excited about the tournament and talking loudly about the events that were to take place and about the fighters that were to take part. As the trio walked through the crowds and stepped into the arena, Ryu began to take notice of the deafening cheers coming from the inside. A nervous feeling overcame him as the cheers grew louder with each step he took. As Narin ran as fast as he could to get a glimpse inside the main room, Ryu took his time, eventually stopping for a moment to take a deep breath. Rose, who had taken a minute to pay the entrance fee for spectators, noticed his discomfort and stopped with him, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking into his face.

"You've never performed in front of a lot of people before, have you?" she asked. Rose hadn't stopped observing his behavior ever since she first met him.

Ryu looked into her eyes and shook his head. "Never."

"There's nothing to worry about," she assured him. "Once you get up there to fight, everything will be alright."

"I'm not worried," Ryu lied. "The fight is what will matter. No problems." It was impossible to ignore the anxiety in his voice.

Ryu walked on ahead of her. As he did, a small look of concern crossed Rose's face as she followed him. In an instant, she went from being positive about the future to feeling unsure of herself and her predictions. The Tarot reading she conducted last night told her clearly that Ryu would win this tournament. There was, of course, a chance that she had made a mistake in her reading; it was entirely possible for even the best Tarot reader to make a faulty prediction. She had never been wrong before, though, at least as far as she knew. She had often used these readings as her own tool to choose how she led her life, what she would do, where she would go and whom she would meet. A reading in particular was actually what led her on this escapade to Thailand, where she consequently met Ryu, a meeting that she knew would happen. Despite her track record though, there was an overpowering feeling deep inside her that she was gravely wrong about something. This was causing Rose quite a sudden bit of worry as well.

"The fights are about to start!" Narin yelled at the top of his lungs so he could be heard. "We'd better hurry!"

"Calm down, Narin," Rose responded, setting her concerns on the side for the time being. "There's still time."

"I'd better get warmed up a bit," Ryu said, still looking pale and nervous.

"Can I warm up with you?" Narin asked.

Ryu looked at him and smiled, despite being edgy. "Sure," he told him.

"Alright!" Narin said. "Let's go then!" Not looking back to see if Ryu was behind him, Narin walked into the door, even though Rose had not given him his ticket to enter yet, and looked around for enough space where they could perform some exercises. When Ryu got to the door behind the boy to look inside, an ugly feeling invaded his stomach. Looking around, he saw that the facility was jammed with people, both in the seats that surrounded the four rings and around the fighting area itself. It was quite a difference from the empty setting that he experienced yesterday when he came to register and it made him feel very uncomfortable. Not only had Ryu never fought in front of so many people before, he had never been in front of this many people before, period, at least, not in such a confined area. Ryu asked himself how it was possible for him to fight in front of so many people.

"Come on, Ryu!" Narin called to him. "I've found a spot over here!"

"No, it's . . . it's okay, Narin," he said nervously. "There's too many people around. Let's wait and see if it quiets down a little first."

"Oh," Narin responded, disappointed. "Okay."

"Narin, you forgot your ticket," Rose said to him, handing the piece of paper to him. "You need to calm down, boy."

"Sorry," Narin said, taking the paper. "Thank you."

After he had taken the ticket, Rose turned her attention to Ryu and massaged his shoulders. "You need to relax," she told him. She was not letting any of her sudden doubts get in the way. "Everything will work out. I'm sure."

The problem was Ryu, at this current moment, wasn't sure at all.

*****

The tournament's opening ceremonies seemed to last forever. While the traditional Thai ceremonies to mark the start of the competition went on, Ryu found himself biting his lip, wondering how much longer they'd take. When the fights finally did start, Ryu managed to take his mind off of all of the people in attendance and concentrate on some of the action that was taking place. Most of the first fights were full of action, although some of them did not take long. Those fights featured some mismatches with stronger fighters overpowering their much weaker opponents. As the fights carried on, he found himself feeling much more comfortable with the audience; instead of worrying about performing in front of so many people, he found himself spending more time studying his opponents and trying to put a game plan together for when he had to fight.

Several fights later, although he did not realize it at first, Izzy had already begun fighting in one of the four rings. Interested in seeing his fight, he walked over as far as he could to get a better look. When he was able to get a clear view, he found out that Izzy was faring very well against the Thai kickboxer he was fighting. He was using a dazzling array of jumping and striking, while using a constant rhythm of movement. He simply never stood still. His style, though it was obviously karate, almost had a hint of the capoeira art he had seen once before. His style was catching his Muay Thai opponent off guard, as he seemed to have him guessing what was coming next, unsure of what to do.

As Ryu looked on, Izzy's opponent rushed in with a swinging kick inward, aimed at his ribs. In an impressive act of athleticism, Izzy did a front somersault, leaping over the attack completely, then countered with a side kick to the face. The move received a roar of approval from the crowd. With his opponent stunned, Izzy leaped forward into the air and threw two kicks into his opponent's chest almost as if he was riding a bicycle, before using his momentum to leap higher, seemingly breaking the law of gravity, into the air with a spinning crescent kick that connected the head. The Thai fighter crashed to the ground, face first.

"Yeah!!!" Izzy yelled out loud as the crowd roared its approval of his performance.

He spent several seconds afterward twirling his finger in the air to try to get the crowd to cheer him even more. As he showboated to them though, his opponent stirred and managed to get himself off of the floor. Turning around, Izzy saw this and with a look of shock, took notice of his antagonist's resilience.

"Jesus," Izzy said to himself in disbelief, as he saw his opponent once again work his way back to his feet. Without further delay, he stepped forward and hit his opponent again with a spinning roundhouse to the head. The fighter finally crashed to the ground, this time hard enough to no longer put up a fight. He stood over his enemy for a few more seconds to make sure he stayed down. Finally satisfied that the referee announced the fight was over, Izzy continued where he left off, playing to the crowd, celebrating his first round victory.

"He's very good," Rose said to Ryu. "Kind of flashy, but very good."

Ryu nodded in agreement. Izzy's style slightly reminded himself of Ken, although Ken wasn't necessarily as acrobatic. As Izzy left his ring, happy that he had gotten enough attention from the crowd, Ryu caught up with him and congratulated him.

"Good work," he said simply.

"Man," Izzy said to Ryu as he tried to catch his breath. "I kept hitting that guy and he wouldn't stay down. Jesus!"

"You performed well," Ryu said him.

"Thanks, man. Wish I could have gotten it done faster, but hey, I got the job done at least."

"I look forward to seeing you fight again."

"Hope I get a bit of rest before that," Izzy said laughing. "Best of luck to ya, by the way. Can't wait to see you fight either. Do your best man and who knows, maybe you and me in the final? How ‘bout it?"

"I'll try my best," Ryu nodded.

"Don't try, man. Just get it done," Izzy told him, giving him a handshake and a smile before leaving to prepare for his next fight.

"Ryu!" Narin yelled from behind him. "Didn't you hear? Your name was called."

"Oh," Ryu responded. He had not been paying attention.

"This way, Ryu," Rose added. "You're in ring number three."

*****

As Ryu approached the ring, he noticed that the ring itself was slightly raised off the ground by about two inches. The ring was large enough for him to move around though, so he knew that he wouldn't have to worry too much about falling out of bounds. Standing outside the ring, he started to feel the nervous feeling in his stomach reemerge as he heard the crowd cheering a fight in another ring. He also felt a sharp pain in his head. As he got closer to the platform, he took one final look around, stopped at Narin, who gave him an enthusiastic cheer, then at Rose, who gave him a smile, then at Izzy, who put up his fist in an act of support. Ryu, then stepped slowly onto the platform.

He walked into the ring and stood where the referee pointed him. Then, he looked toward his opponent and bowed in the traditional manner even though it was unnecessary at this tournament, and stared down his opponent, trying his best to focus. As the referee gave the signal to start the fight, the crowd roared loudly which Ryu could not ignore. As his opponent stepped forward, Ryu stumbled when he attempted a counter and almost tripped. This act of nervousness gave his opponent the perfect opportunity as Ryu took a stiff kick into the ribs. Groaning in pain, the karate fighter stumbled backward and threw a wild front kick that did not come close to hitting its target. The Thai fighter rushed in once the kick completed and grabbed Ryu, immediately throwing continuous knees into his midsection relentlessly. In an act of desperation, Ryu threw two unfocused punches in close range that did minimal damage. It provided enough movement, however, to get himself out of his opponent's grip and retreat far enough away so he did not have to take any more knees. As he backed away, he uncharacteristically did not form any clear fighting stance. His hands, in particular, were down by his sides, not anywhere near high enough to form a competent defense.

Ryu was definitely not his usual fighting self. He could not concentrate at all on the task at hand; the general atmosphere in the building and the noise the people were generating distracted him greatly. When he finally managed to realize to get his arms up to defend as his opponent advanced, his opponent threw a kick into his side as his hands ascended, making him drop his guard long enough to leave his face open. Two fists later, Ryu found himself on the floor, not realizing what had hit him.

"RYU!!!" Narin yelled when he fell, although he was drowned out by the frenzied noise the crowd was making in response to the fight.

"Don't let your fears get to you," Rose said, even though she knew there was no way he could hear her advice. Concern completely covered her face.

Ryu pulled himself up with his hands, but was met abruptly by his opponent's foot as it landed on his throat. Pushed against the floor of the ring, Ryu felt the pressure of the impact and started finding it hard to breathe . . .