Path of the Warrior Ch. 6
By Shadow Ryu

Thuy's restaurant had turned into a crime scene, with many policemen surrounding the area. Many people were also crowding the street around where the area had been blocked off, curious to see what was happening. Due to this, it was particularly noisy which annoyed Ryu as he sat next to Narin on the front steps of the restaurant. He couldn't help but blame himself for the incident. It was his defense of the restaurant the previous night that had provoked this violent retaliation and he felt as if Thuy would have been better off if he had not gotten involved at all. There was just no way he could escape the feeling that he had failed. Making things worse, Ryu was also scolded repeatedly by a number of the Thai police on the scene to avoid causing any more fights. They told him that he did not know whom he was getting involved with and that fighting with them could put himself, as well as the general public, in mortal danger. The last policeman he talked to told him that if he was caught in a fight on the street with anyone else that he would be arrested immediately.

As Ryu contemplated the situation, Narin sat beside him, looking at the ground. Since the shooting, he had not uttered a single word. As both of them waited on the steps for Thuy to finish giving the police her statement, Ryu noticed that Narin also had a solemn frown on his face as he stared continuously at one spot on the cement steps. It was the first time he had seen him like that. Ryu now understood what Thuy meant when she told him how he was a very sad boy.

After a few long minutes of waiting, a friend of Thuy's who owned a restaurant down the street invited them to stay over for the time being, at least until Thuy could get the whole matter resolved. When they arrived in the restaurant, Narin, who still remained quiet, immediately walked over and sat near a window and stared outside with the same look of sadness widely visible upon his face. Ryu was about to go over and talk to the boy before Thuy put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"He's still quiet?" she asked him.

"Yes," Ryu replied.

Thuy sighed. "He gets like this a lot," she said. "I'll go try to cheer him up."

Thuy slowly walked over to where Narin sat as Ryu stood by the doorway and leaned against the wall. When Thuy finally made her way over to the boy, she did not hesitate to give him a hug, much like a mother would give to his son, to console him. After spending a few minutes trying her best to comfort Narin, who seemed to be in slightly better spirits, she left the young boy to continue staring out the window and sat down at a nearby table. After being alone for a few minutes, she put her hands to her face and wept silently. Noticing this, Ryu walked over and sat down across the table from her.

"What are you going to do?" Ryu asked her bluntly.

She looked up, her face soaked with tears. She wiped off her face and tried to regain her composure.

"I . . . I don't know," she said. "It will cost a lot to fix up the restaurant again. I'm afraid I don't have much money. The restaurant has been doing well, but to tell the truth, I have not made much profit. That's why I took a loan from Mr. Black. It's unfortunate I didn't realize who I was dealing with at the time. I wasn't able to get a loan from the bank though, so I didn't know where else to get the money."

"There's no other way to get any more money? Relatives?"

"No, I'm afraid not," she said, sniffing. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Ryu didn't have a clue what to do either. Considering he had all his money stolen, which would not have been anywhere near enough money to pay off her debt anyway, there was nothing he could do financially. He couldn't just fight off these people at all or he'd be arrested for not obeying the warning given to him by the police. If there was one thing that was certain, though, it was that Ryu was not going to give up on them. He had to do something to help. The hard part was going to be figuring out how.

"I have to tell you, Ryu," Thuy said. "I appreciate the fact you helped me."

"I'm sorry," Ryu interrupted. "Perhaps by helping you last night, I only made your situation worse."

Thuy glared at him, laughing in spite of the tears. "Don't make me hit you again. For such a strong, well-mannered boy like yourself, it would help if you grew some brains. You did everything you could. You may have big muscles and a lot of strength, but I can't ask you to fight bullets, Ryu. You're not invincible. I think maybe I just have to face the fact that I can't win."

Ryu looked down at the table. Just can't win? Sensei Gouken had always told him never to give up. There was always a way to prevail.

"You are a remarkable young boy. You should be out living life and enjoying yourself, not risking your neck for an old woman you don't even know."

"I'll still try to help you," Ryu told her boldly. "Somehow."

"I'm not sure what you can do to help anymore," she told him. "You've gotten into enough trouble already."

As Ryu was about to respond, he looked over at the entrance of the restaurant to see Rose, the woman that approached him the night before, had come inside, wearing a blue dress similar to the odd attire she had worn last night, including the yellow scarf. She saw where he was sitting and promptly gave him a lady-like wave before making her way over to the table where they were sitting. Ryu's heart started beating a little bit faster with every step she took toward the table.

"Hello," Rose said. "Is this seat taken?"

Thuy looked at her and recognized her. "Oh, no, no. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," Rose responded. "I heard about what happened to your place down the street. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about." Thuy responded.

Rose sat at the table right next to Ryu, looking into the fighter's eyes and giving him a warm smile. Ryu returned a small grin that made the fighter look somewhat goofy.

"I have an offer to make all of you," she said. As Ryu looked at her face to listen, he found it hard not to resist focusing deeply on her lips as she talked. It wasn't something he really noticed the first time they met, but her lips had a very delicate appearance. They were fine, soft and the colour, enhanced by lipstick that made them as red as a cherry, was very attractive. Ryu could not recall ever seeing lips as beautiful as hers.

"So, is that all right with you, Ryu?" Rose asked him suddenly interrupting his fascination with her mouth.

"All right?" Ryu said looking up suddenly into her eyes. He suddenly realized he had been paying too much attention to her lips and none at all to what she was saying. "About what?"

Thuy laughed as Rose gazed into his eyes with a look of amusement. "Rose here has generously offered us to stay in a room in the hotel she's staying," Thuy told him before turning back to Rose. "It might be a good idea to be honest. I'm sure that it would be dangerous to go back into my restaurant and I don't want to stay here." She turned to Rose. "Are you sure we won't be intruding?"

"Oh, quite sure in fact," Rose told her while she continued grinning in Ryu's direction. Ryu was trying to hide his embarrassment the best he could and was failing miserably.

"Thank you. I will make sure it will only be for a day or so until I can find some other place to stay. I would hate to be a bother."

"Oh, it is no bother at all. You can stay as long as you want, or at least as long as I am able to stay here in Thailand at least."

*****

Later that night, after they all had dinner together, Narin and Thuy went to bed early, exhausted from the day's events. As Ryu looked into the room where Narin was sleeping, it looked as if even a herd of stomping elephants would not wake him. He was sprawled across his bed, taking up as much space as he could. It appeared as if he had fallen asleep as soon as he lay down. Back in the main room, Rose was moving some of her luggage around as Ryu stood around observing the hotel room. It had to be a very expensive room as it had its own bathroom, two seperate bedrooms with very comfortable looking beds, and a extravagant chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

"I'll sleep on the floor." Ryu stated.

"Why?" Rose asked him. "There are plenty of beds here for all of us."

"I'd prefer sleeping on the floor," Ryu responded as he carefully looked over one of the soft beds. As he put his hand on the bed, he found that it bounced up and down a bit. The mattress was full of water for some reason Ryu could not understand.

"Well, suit yourself."

Ryu walked away from the waterbed and turned his attention to Rose. "I didn't get an answer from you yesterday," he said. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh," Rose responded. "You'd think I was weird if I told you that." She grinned. To be honest, Ryu already thought she was a little eccentric already.

"Have we met before?" he asked her.

"No," she told him. "At least not in this life at least."

"What?" A look of confusion overtook Ryu's face.

"Oh, never mind. Just a thought," she grinned.

"Oh. Okay."

"So, I understand you want to do something to help her and the boy, don't you?"

Ryu scratched his head. "Yes. I don't know how to help them though. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do."

"There is something you can do. Didn't you hear about the tournament being held here?"

"Yes. Narin mentioned it yesterday," he said. "What about it?"

"Did you know that the prize money for winning the tournament is a hundred thousand dollars?"

Ryu looked at her in disbelief. He found it hard to believe that it was possible to win that much money from winning a few fights. He had made some money along the way by participating in fights in other southeast asian countries, but it was generally only enough to buy him what was necessary.

"I'm not joking," she continued. "This is a very important tournament held in Thailand every year. It is very competitive, with hundreds of martial artists from around the world entering. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments held in the world."

Ryu scratched his head again. "I've never really been in an actual tournament before. Do you think I could win?"

"Judging from your performance last night, I must say your chances are excellent. You are extremely talented. Handsome too, I might add."

Ryu tried not to let the last remark register. "It would be against my sensei's wishes. He told me that it would be best to avoid events like this."

"Well, it is up to you," she told him. "Although a hundred thousand dollars would help your friends pay off their debt and help get the restaurant back in shape again. And you do want to help them, don't you?"

"Yes." Ryu admitted.

"Then what's stopping you from entering?"

Ryu nodded, although he did think to himself briefly about what would happen if sensei found out he was going against his better wishes. Still, this way, he could fight, win the money to help Thuy pay off the money she owed and keep her restaurant, and even keep some left over for himself to make up for the money he lost. Also, since it was a tournament, he could fight and not get into trouble with the police doing so. If he won, all of the problems, so far as he could tell, would be solved. Without letting any negative thoughts prevent him from making his decision, such as the fact that winning the tournament was far from certain, Ryu looked at Rose with a look of determination.

"I'll do it."