SF: A Warrior's Path Ch. 15 - Challenges
By Gouki

The Bushin Ninja remained in his stance almost unmoving, his bangs occasionally flowing freely with the short breezes that passed by. His patience would serve to his advantage, as from his past encounter with the “samurai” he knew Sodom’s slight impatience would cause him to attack first, but as he seemed to be consumed with hatred for him, then his fighting ability would be hindered slightly. In Guy’s case, this would tip the fight in his favour. Or so he assumed.

As expected, with a cry of attack, Sodom lunged towards Guy who remained in the same posture as if he couldn’t move. Sodom grinned with arrogance as he swung one of his jittes in a wide arc, racing to meet the side of Guy’s head in his “Jigoku Scrape” attack. It was then that Guy sprung into motion.

Leaving the ground with such quickness that it seemed that he blurred into the atmosphere, Guy brought his legs towards him as he trailed over Sodom’s attack curled up in a ball. As he passed over Sodom’s head, Guy’s hands reached out behind him until they grabbed the sides of Sodom’s abdomen. Keeping a firm grip, Guy unravelled himself from his curled up position and brought him over his head to which he then slammed Sodom’s back into the gravel just as he landed on his knees to add more force into the attack. He released his grip in unison to Sodom’s connection with the pavement and Sodom rose up from the impact only to fall back down. He rolled with the second impact and into his stance, looking at Guy with an intense, hateful gaze but inside cursing himself for allowing himself to become vulnerable during that attack.

“Same attack he started off with in our first battle,” Guy thought. “Only that time, he caught me by surprise and connected with it. It would seem that he might be as predictable as before…” The Bushin warrior embraced the defensive posture, awaiting any other attacks Sodom would use.

Again Sodom ran towards Guy, who instead of remaining in his still position sped in almost inhuman speed to Sodom. Sodom swung his jitte, to which Guy abruptly ceased his running and ducked under the attack. Now that he was in close, Guy quickly crouched before he threw himself at Sodom.

Sodom wore a shocked expression as a yell escaped Guy’s lips and his feet left the ground and into the Bushin Hurricane Kick. Two swift strikes met his chest and a third, final one struck him to the side of his head and it jerked off to the side, taking his body with it. Guy landed from his aerial assault, but when he turned to the side he blinked in surprise as Sodom as quickly closing in on him, somehow recovering from the attack to launch a surprise attack of his own. Immediately, Guy leapt upward almost on instinct or reflex but it seemed that Sodom was expecting this and one swift motion, caught Guy between his jittes at the initial stage of his leap. Before Guy could react, Sodom slammed him into the ground but Guy knew he wasn’t finished for he felt the effects of this attack before, and was about to feel it once again.

Pinning Guy’s body in a foetal position on the ground, Sodom sped across the battlefield and in doing so used the force of friction to his advantage as Guy’s body was rubbed across the rough gravel. After a while the air around Guy’s body ignited in spiritual flames and the force of the blast tore him from Sodom’s grip and Sodom hopped back onto his feet while Guy lay still, before he leapt to his feet. The Daikyou Burning was the same as ever, Guy noted. He made a mental note to himself to try and avoid the attack the next time Sodom used it whilst he did a few calculations in his head on the offensive strategies he could use against him. It seemed that Sodom was more of an offensive fighter, so now he would see just how skilled he was on the defensive field. The offensive strategies Guy was open to using remained in his head as he dashed toward the Kabuki master and released what he had.

**********

“So, do you know where Sagat is? Or must I show you the power of Saikyo again?” The two warriors had decided to call a truce after the results of their match, though Dan wouldn’t let his victory over Adon go quietly, being proved in that recently said phrase. Adon gave a silent sigh, being the fourth time Dan spoke of their match and his victory in some way. He assumed that it must have been his first victory, and the fact it was against him of all fighters would make any warrior act the way Dan was acting. Though they had come to a mutual agreement, the two warriors kept their distance, not trusting each other entirely. Adon noted how Dan’s attitude was almost like his, which could explain why he let Dan’s comments on his victory sail through him. “Well, do I?” Dan questioned, interrupting Adon’s thoughts another time.

Adon wondered just what made him agree to this and why he was actually talking to him, of all things. It seemed Dan’s arrogance was greater than his skill and when he wasn’t thinking about gaining revenge, he would be either mentioning his victory, or how good his “Saikyo Style” as he called it, was. Though they called a truce, it didn’t mean that Adon wouldn’t kill him up if the urge would make him carry it out, such as right now. Dan surprisingly didn’t go into one of his favoured taunts, but Adon had already had enough of being in Dan’s presence.

“Just make up some location of Sagat, and he’ll leave” his mind spoke with such simplicity that Adon wondered why he hadn’t done it sooner.

“After all, I am th-”

“Alright, shut up!” Adon said, not exactly yelling, but more of a way to get his attention and shut him up from another egotistic comment that would come from his mouth. Dan’s face looked crestfallen upon that outburst for a few seconds, but he then understood Adon’s meaning behind it and allowed him to continue.

“Last I heard, Sagat was somewhere around…” he paused as he tried to think of a location. “Bangkok.” Adon finished.

“Bangkok?” Dan replied with a slightly confused tone. “Where’s…”

“That direction” Adon answered bluntly, pointing his hand towards the East. “Here’s some advice for you kid: Sagat’s power since that tournament has grown greatly. I’d be careful if I were you.” “He’ll need to be if he hopes to survive, let alone stand a chance…” thought the former disciple of Sagat.

“Thanks for the advice” Dan said, and he turned towards the direction Adon pointed. “Yeah right, like I’m gonna take advice from some guy in boxer shorts. I’ve got all I need right here. My Saikyo power will be what will defeat Sagat!” he clenched his hand into a fist tightly for emphasis before setting out towards the location of “Bangkok”

“Hmph! His ‘Saikyo’ technique will be his downfall…” thought the Muay Thai warrior as he watched the pink-clad fighter leave the village.

**********

It had taken numerous treks, sleeping in villages, towns or out on the road but Ryu had arrived in Japan’s capital city: Tokyo. The fighters he fought along the way had shown potential but not enough to achieve victory over him, each one giving him more and more experience needed to defeat Akuma. However with it, also came the haunting visions that Ryu as much as he tried couldn’t rid himself of. It was as if they were telling him something. Something that would only be revealed when he encountered the warrior who was once known as Gouki.

“But what?!” Ryu yelled in thought, as he strolled down the street and between the wave of people that walked in the opposite or the same direction as he did. His gi had been worn thoroughly at the edge of his trousers from his quest, adding to his completely weathered hands and feet and the ripped pieces of the material where the sleeves had been torn of during his time under Gouken.

He wondered if he could live within this civilisation, being one who spent all of his childhood secluded in a dojo and taught all there was to know about Shotokan Karate. He had grown too accustomed to its way of life, and had no other path to follow other than the path of fighting. Ken had come from the world below and lived the life Ryu lived, but he also had the choice of an ordinary life to experience when his training was complete. Sure enough, Ryu enjoyed fighting but he wondered if he would’ve chose this path if he had a choice of an ordinary life like Ken had. He knew no other life other than the ways of the warrior.

He never knew his parents, and wondered what his life would be like if he did. Would he still have trained under Gouken? Would he chosen an ordinary life like these people had, or the life he now knew he couldn’t escape? Was this what Fate had prepared for him? Ryu could help but feel like he didn’t have a choice anymore. He had no parents and no family; the only thing he had was his fighting ability. It was as if he had to take this path and discover its revelations.

“Is there more to finding Akuma than just revenge?” he questioned himself. The last vision had brought the most questions from the Shotokan warrior; just what was it he was supposed to understand? What were the meanings behind these images? And the one final thing he asked himself was “Do I want to find out?”

Turning into a couple of side streets, Ryu soon found himself on an almost deserted area. There were buildings along this street, namely a Supermarket and a few houses, or so Ryu assumed. Feeling a bit hungry, he walked up to the store but just as the electronically driven doors slid to the sides, which would allow him access into the building, he suddenly and spun his head to the left, but there wasn’t anyone to be found. Still Ryu kept his gaze at the mystery source, his eyes slightly narrowed and a look of preparation decorating his face.

A few sparks of violet energy suddenly appeared at the same area Ryu had looked in, picking any loose dust that lay on the asphalt. Accompanying them was a vortex of spiritual chi, which swirled around the atmosphere, as if surrounding an invisible object or form. The mystical fighting wind soon stopped, and it went on to form a silhouette that was radiating a purple aura. The first things Ryu noticed were its eyes, which were purple. A sudden flash of violet energy erupted onto the scene, forcing Ryu to close his eyes in reflex. When he opened them, in front of him stood the figure.

Making up part of a radiant face were a pair of jewel-like, violet eyes that gazed deeply into Ryu’s. Covering most of her body was a long, pink-purple dress that from a distance almost looked like a trench coat, perhaps because of the buttons that travelled along the front of it and the three or so more that were adorned on its sleeves. Buckled around her abdomen was a violet coloured belt, and swathed around her neck, shoulders and draping off her arms was a long yellow shawl. Her hair, matching her mystical eyes was flowing freely, though no wind was present and completing this unusual outfit were a pair of high heel shoes. Its colour shared a conjunction with her hair; her eyes, her belt and the attire that she wore under the button decorated dress. Her facial expression looked serious but at the same time there was something almost mysterious about this woman, something Ryu couldn’t comprehend. Who was this woman? What did she want? And what did it have to do with him?

“Ryu…” Rose began, her clothes continuing to ruffle lightly with the exception of her shawl, which was flapping violently to the breeze her power was creating. “You must stray from this quest. It will only lead to your destruction.”

“Who are you…?” asked a slightly bewildered Ryu. “…And what do you mean by my destruction?”

“You are not ready for him, nor yourself.” Rose stated in her calm, mild voice and she suddenly entered a fighting stance. “Fight and try and defeat me, if you can…”