Setting #1: The Lake
Timeline: Year 3 of Ken's Training – Summer.
Ryu looked away to shield his face from splashing water as Ken dived in. The hot weather as of late had really taken a toll on the two after a long day of hiking and training; but now they finally had some time to relax in the lake near their temple. Ken's hair was flowing in the air no longer restrained by his red hair band, and too was Ryu in a rare moment in which he was not wearing his head band, leaving both bands with their Gis on the shore.
The sky was clear, and the mid afternoon sun was starting to show its effects on Ken's Caucasian tanned skin; but nonetheless he continued to swim with his close friend, while Ryu who's naturally tanned skin provided him with more than adequate protection against the radiation. In fact only twice in the three years that the two had known each other had Ken ever seen Ryu get sun burnt.
The two playfully raced to the center of the lake with Ken in the lead as always. In their rivalry, Ryu always kept a level head and while he never lacked effort at the competition with his friend, he only ever pushed himself when they were in a serious situation such as a match. And so Ken reached the center of the lake with a cheerful smile on his face as he came to a stop.
"Looks like I win again Ryu." He said followed by a quick but loud laugh and Ryu arrived a moment later.
"What's the hurry, afraid you'll get a burn?" Ryu smiled with his retort. The two boys looked each other in the eyes, both thinking the same thing. Ken held up his hand with three fingers extended, and began a silent countdown. Both of them took a deep breath, and then at the count of zero, dived into the water heading all the way to the bottom of the lake; easily 35 or more feet deep.
In the water of the lake, everything was clear and the two could see each other in perfect clarity, their focus this time was reach the bottom and grab a hold of something. They both reach the bottom at about the same time, and then using their feet, managed to snag something that would keep them from floating up. The two boys stared at each other while holding their breath, a smile across both of their faces as bubbles slowly escaped from their mouths.
The stayed like that for a moment, and slowly time passed as they stared at each other occasionally looking at other surroundings and even the other as they have both taken on a somewhat awkward position. Thirty seconds had past, and both boys felt the burning in their lungs and they realized they both needed to get another breath; but that wasn't how their game worked. Ryu occasionally looked up towards the surface, but each time he did Ken just smiled more and shrugged his shoulders; Ken was never one to let other seem him worry, and that had gotten him into lots of trouble at the temple during their practice sessions and chores.
After a little more than a minute, both boys were reaching the limits of their endurance, and Ryu then physically pointed up towards the surface. Ken was obviously at this point feeling the effects of holding his breath for so long, but smile and then slowly kicked at Ryu. Ken's leg connected with Ryu's thigh and succeeded in knocking his foot loose. Ryu rolled his eyes for a moment as he saw some bubbles escape from Ken's mouth during the maneuver, and then started swimming towards the surface. Ken let go also and began swimming towards the top right behind Ryu.
A few moments later Ryu broke the surface of the water and immediately took a deep breath as he fell floating on his back. He spread out his arms and legs as he floated there breathing heavily while waiting for Ken to coming up and boast about winning. He wondered what Ken would gloat about first; getting to the bottom or Ryu leaving first? Ryu smiled as he though about the over competitive nature of Ken, and couldn't help but wonder if that was part of his American upbringing.
A moment later Ken still had not come up, and while Ryu was still pulling in breath, and then he suddenly realized what had happened. Almost instantly he turned over and dived back in search of his friend who he thought was only right behind him. One look told him different; he saw Ken's unconscious body slowly falling down towards the bottom. Ryu's eyes widened as he saw this and immediately picked up the slack as he swam as fast as he could. He reached the body; Ken's eyes rolled up barely visible, and not a sign of breath in him. Ryu reached around Ken getting his arm securely around his friend's abdomen, and pulled his body up as fast as he could swim. Ryu succeeded in getting Ken's bare body to shore, but Ken was not breathing.
"Stupid fool" Ryu said as he started to do what he could to resuscitate Ken and make him breathe. Ryu never had proper training in any type of CPR, but he had once himself almost drowned and remembered his master over his chest with his hands over Ryu's solar plexus. From that example, Ryu did what he could and applied sudden and strong pressure to Ken's chest hoping to pump out as much water as he could.
Ken was lucky that day, for had Ryu been just a few moments late with his rescue, or not put enough strength into those pushes, Ken might not have made it. The pain of the bruised ribs he had the following weeks served as a constant reminder that the two of them had a bond that went beyond friendship, one that either of them would do anything to keep.