Chapter 1: Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely
Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or any of its characters.
A crimson sun rose upon the training grounds, the solid sheets of sunlight slowly climbing up the main dojo, but for Hwoarang it might have well been night. Days and nights just melded together now, there was no way of separating them. The misery he carried around in his heart weighed down his entire body.
It had been a year since the sixth King of the Iron Fist Tournament, but its conclusion still haunted Hwoarang like it happened yesterday. He had lost his beloved… He'd never forget the day when Nina came to tell him that his lover had died. Of course, he had known what would happen before, but still…
"Hwoarang?" The tall figure of Baek Doo San entered the room and saw his student gazing out the window, lost in his own thoughts. Baek had been worried for his student ever since that Williams woman showed up sometime last year at the dojo. She had asked to talk to the copper-haired man privately. A tense Hwoarang went into the dojo's meeting room, and a steely, almost cold one came out. However, Baek had seen the emotion in his student's eyes. Where once they had caught the light of the summer sun, they now transformed into two pools of utter anguish.
"Good morning sensei", Hwoarang said with a half-hearted smile. "Is it time for training already?"
"Actually Hwoarang, I want you to leave the dojo."
Silence. Cherry blossoms cascaded from the trees to the grounds as Hwoarang's shock started to build.
"Sensei… but why? This is the only life I know!"
"I am aware of that dear disciple, but to continue training without heart and passion as you have been… It is like living without breathing."
"But I have passion! I pour my heart and soul into training everyday!"
"We both know that's a lie. You stopped feeling the day that woman came here. There is a disconnection in your heart."
"I…"
Baek smiled at Hwoarang's loss of words. This was certainly a first.
"You do not have to tell me what aches you so. But promise me one thing. Find yourself again. I miss the old Hwaorang; the boy who used to burst into laughter for no reason; the teenager who would purposely provoke every man in town just to start a fight and the young man who lived each and every day to the fullest extent."
Hwoarang smiled as his teacher recounted the various stages of his life. Yes, he had lost himself. He had lost the ability to wake up each day and greet the rising sun with a determined and mischievous smile. He had lost his will to feel any sort of emotion. All because of him. Yes, perhaps leaving training for now might help.
The red sun bled the sky a deep crimson as it sunk below the horizon. Down, on the dojo grounds Hwoarang readied himself to leave the dojo and swung himself on his motorbike. "When must I return?" Hwoarang asked Baek as he put on his helmet. "You may return when you have found your reason to live again. Until then, I bid you farewell my student."
Hwoarang revved up his bike, and with a final nod to the man who had supported him his entire life, left the place he called home. Baek watched him disappear in to the distance. "Goodbye my Blood Talon. I hope that you find yourself again."
Stars dotted across the sky as Hwoarang travelled to the city. This was the start of a new journey. One of that must be taken alone. He had never felt so alone. It would hurt more if Baek had abandoned him, but to ask him to find his reason to live – this boiled down to one person. Him. This was an opportunity to start over. A life without him. As the pure white moon rose against the velvet darkness of the dark sky, a single tear trickled its way from one of the eyes that knew what it was like to have everything you desired at one moment, and have nothing the next. "Jin… please help me forget you…"
Thank You for reading! Please review. All thoughts and suggestions welcome