Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Tekken or Soul Calibur I'm just borrowing them for a bit. I do own copies of the games though...too bad that doesn't count for anything. ;-)
A/N: This is my first Fighting Game fic and I hope you like it. It's a Tekken - Soul Calibur crossing and as the title shows you can probably guess who the mysterious guest in the Mishima estate is :-)
Hon-Maru - Mishima Estate
A gentle breeze caressed her face as she lifted it to the sky. Eyes closed, the young girl smiled at the first rays of the sun as it touched her skin. She hummed softly to herself as she walked the gardens of Hon-Maru; Heihachi's private retreat.
A beautiful temple was nestled deep within the lush forest of the Heihachi's estate along with stables for riding, a private dojo, a large garden with beautiful fountains and a massive Japanese manse.
Above her hovered a large raven that squawked its greeting and landed upon her out stretched arm. She was small and slight in build with ebon shoulder length hair, large brown eyes and skin bronzed by the sun. On this morning she wore a white kimono decorated with pale pink peony flowers and a light blue obi around her thin waist.
She was not Japanese by any stretch of the word but Heihachi insisted on culturing her in all things Japanese and like the little bird that she was she mimicked everything without question. There was something about her complacency to his grandfather that irked Jin.
From his vantage point his dark eyes watched her and studied her movements. She had the elegance and balance of a dancer as she walked the narrow ledge of the fountain's edge with ease, and sat gracefully with the bird on her arm.
The young girl stroked the beast lovingly and spoke soothingly to it as she sat at the fountain's edge. Why has his grandfather taken such an interest in her? What was so special about this girl?
"Well you're certainly up early." the jovial high pitched voice of his friend woke him from his reverie.
"Hey Xiao." Jin greeted in his normal detached tone.
"What's so interesting?" Xiaoyu asked curiously as she peered around Jin's shoulder.
"Obsessing about her again?" she teased lightheartedly.
"I'm not obsessing." He stated flatly, his eyes still on the girl below.
"Whatever." Xiaoyu answered standing next to her friend, and looked down to follow his gaze. "I don't see what the big deal is."
Jin turned his head at Xiaoyu and arched a brow in question. "You don't approve of her?"
Xiaoyu shrugged casually and moved to the balcony's ledge and leaned against it. "Except for her weird fashion sense, I've got nothing against her. I mean who wears a kimono now days?" Xiaoyu smiled her normal jovial way. "It's so circa 1600s Shogunate."
His thin lips broke out into a rare smile at Xiaoyu's comment, and her heart warmed. She lived to make him smile.
"That kimono was a gift from Heihachi. Talk to him if you have issues with her wardrobe. Now, have you learned anything?" he asked her.
"Well for one that kimono she's wearing is insanely expensive and apparently made of this rare silk that's made from-"
"I could careless as to how he clothes her." Jin interjected. "Do you know something substantial?"
"Mmhm." She nodded then propped herself up onto the ledge of the balcony and sat facing Jin. Xiaoyu smiled craftily as she used her legs to pull Jin closer to her.
"Well what have you learned?" Jin said as he placed his hands down on the balcony's ledge on either side of Xiaoyu. It made him nervous when she sat at the edge, so he had positioned his hands on either side of her.
Xiaoyu placed her hands on Jin's supporting arms and smiled; she also lived for his touch. "Afraid I'd fall Kazama?"
"I do recall a certain Chinese girl falling from a particular ledge once and breaking her leg."
"I was standing on the ledge then and it was raining. I'm sitting now and the ledge is dry."
"Your clumsiness knows no bounds." Jin commented matter-of-factly.
"You're a real comedian." Xiaoyu retorted sarcastically.
Jin ignored the comment. He wasn't in the mood. "Do you know something about her or not?"
Xiaoyu rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "God Jin, can't we have one conversation that does not involve her for once?"
"So you don't really know anything." Jin answered in his typical withdrawn voice. He retracted his arms and pulled away from Xiaoyu as he moved to leave.
Xiaoyu anchored her legs tighter around Jin as he began to retreat and forced him back to her. "Don't be like that Jin. Of course I know something." She beamed at him. "Have I ever let you down?"
Curious as to what Xiaoyu had learned, Jin moved back into place arms settled at either side of the Chinese girl once more.
"So what have you discovered?" Jin asked his eyes dark and intense.
Xiaoyu smiled craftily. "She's from some Southeast Asian island I can't remember the name of. Your grandfather and the Tekken Force went to investigate a disturbance there and they found a village in ruins."
"A disturbance?"
"Yeah, it's pretty vague, but Jubei said that her village was destroyed and her people massacred."
"She was the lone survivor?"
"Yeah, she's been here at the manse for about three months now. The servants say she's nice enough; humble and shy. She helps with chores, cheerful to the hired help and get this, she prays to the winds."
"She prays to the wind?"
"Yup. Apparently her people are a little on the backward side. They had limited technology lived off the land and prayed to the elements. This place is so high up and close to the mountains and the sea, your grandfather probably thought she'd feel more at ease here than in Tokyo."
"Heihachi's had her hidden away up here on Hon-Maru all this time." Jin mused.
"Well that explains his darting back and forth from Tokyo to Hom-Maru the whole time."
"I wonder what's so special about her that he'd want her hidden." Jin mused.
"Hidden?" Xiaoyu exclaimed doubtfully, "Jin, he probably didn't want to freak the girl out is all. Can you imagine growing up in a village with no electricity or technology to speak of, living off the land, then having everything destroyed, taken from you and then thrust into a strange world of crowds of people, bright lights, loud sirens, skyscrapers, automobiles and trains? It would have been sensory overload for her. I think the old man was breaking her in slow by keeping her here on Hon-Maru."
"He's not a philanthropist by nature." Jin said unconvinced of his grandfather's intentions. "You give my grandfather way too much credit Xiao."
"He's a good man Jin." Xiao countered. "Hey he took me in and I'm nobody."
Jin smirked incredulously and looked off into the distance. There was something up.
"Stop looking for things that aren't there Jin." Xiaoyu said.
She noticed Jin's gaze fall on the girl below and Xiaoyu turned to watch as the strange girl stood and moved gracefully to meet Heihachi as he approached. The girl bowed elegantly as her bird took flight. Heihachi extended his arm which she accepted with a small smile and without hesitation, allowed him to lead her towards the forest.
"Anything else about her?" Jin said changing the subject. When it came to Heihachi, Xiaoyu and he never saw eye to eye.
"Not really. Just-" Xiaoyu paused for a moment unsure of how to phrase the next part.
"Just what?"
"According to Jubei, when they found her, she was searching frantically for her grandmother's heart. Tekken Force found the old woman at the centre of the village splayed lifeless, decapitated and with a gaping chest wound, like her heart was ripped out of her."
Jin's eyes widened in shock and he looked down at Xiaoyu. A bout of recollection hit him at the mention of the old woman's body and the burned village. His mother's head was severed by the Toshin and her heart was missing from her corpse as well; a warrior's heart.
Xiaoyu halted her tale understanding full well the shift in Jin's features. She had not wanted to bring up old wounds.
"Go on." Jin coaxed and offered a reassuring smile.
Xiaoyu nodded and continued. "She refused to leave until she found the organ. She wanted to bury her grandmother whole. They tried to get her out of the village, but she fought back."
"According to Jubei, she took out 8 members of Tekken Force before she was subdued. He claimed she called upon the wind as she fought to bolster her attacks. I think he was making excuses for his team who had their butts served to them by a 90 pound girl."
Jin smiled a rare smile of agreement at Xiaoyu. "I doubt the girl can control the winds."
"Yeah, tell that to Jubei and the TF." Xiao smirked.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yeah, there's more. Rumor has it that your grandfather knew her grandmother real well, if you catch my drift."
Jin smirked at the assumption and glanced at his grandfather's receding form. "I do not hold sway to idle gossip. Do you have a point with this Xiaoyu?"
Xiaoyu's lips twisted into a crooked smile, "You may not think there's anything to the relationship between Heihachi and that girl's grandmother, but it was important enough for Heihachi to take himself and the Tekken Force to that island and important enough for him to take in the girl and raise her here at Hon-Maru."
"He could have ignored it all." Xiao continued. "But he didn't. He even helped the girl bury her grandmother. So there was something between your grandfather and her grandmother, romantic or not she was important enough to your grandfather to take the girl in."
Jin conceded a nod to Xiao's logic now was not the time to be arguing about his grandfather's intentions.
"Where'd they bury the old woman?"
"They never took the body to Japan if that's what you mean. She insisted on her grandmother remaining with her people." Xiaoyu continued somberly. "Jubei said that she never shed a tear that day as she buried her family. Girl loses everything and she doesn't even bat a watery eyelash…weird don't you think."
"There are some levels of despair that are beyond tears." Jin whispered knowingly; he understood the girl's pain.
Xiaoyu nodded. "Still it sort of freezes your blood to think about it."
"Do they know what did this to her village?"
"No, but the way Jubei was talking it sounded like it was one thing, but I doubt it. One man could not be capable of such destruction."
"No, not a man." Jin muttered.
"Huh?" Xiaoyu looked up at Jin curiously.
"Nothing." Jin shook his head and the memories from his mind. "So she can fight too." He said changing the subject once more.
"Apparently."
"What style?" Jin asked.
Xiaoyu shrugged. "I don't know. Why, do you think Heihachi is training her for the tournament?"
"I don't know, but they are headed to the dojo." Jin's dark eyes looked off into the distance as a shade of pink entered the dojo.
Xiaoyu turned and squinted seeing a blob of colour enter the distant building. "Damn, you can see that far? I need new contacts."
"Let's go." Jin said lifting Xiaoyu from the ledge she sat on and placed her onto her feet.
"Let me guess." She said with lackluster enthusiasm. "We're training?"
"Yup, so go get dressed."
Xiaoyu rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "Damn it Kazama its summer break and we just got here. We're supposed to be having fun, relaxing, playing not training!"
He ignored her plight and moved to leave the balcony that overlooked the entire Mishima estate. "Be down in ten. I won't wait."
"Do you ever?"
Jin glanced back with a serious look at his Chinese friend.
"Yeah, Yeah." Xiaoyu rolled her eyes and started to move down the hallway towards her bedroom to change. "Some summer vacation this turned out to be. I should've stayed in Tokyo with Miharu." Xiao grumbled.