The small
boy shivered in the cold, hard rain. His faded blue jeans were full of holes,
which exposed scabs and cuts on his legs. His plain white shirt was ragged and
dirty with long tears on each sleeve. He had innocent, light blue eyes that
were filled with silent tears ready to be shed. His hair was sticking up
everywhere, making it obvious that he had not had a shower in quite some time.
He looked up from the dark pavement streets to see an old man walk by the alley
he occupied. He had long hair that was white as snow, which stood up in a
single, tall spike. The man had a long beard of the same shade of white. He had
on a multi-colored Asian robe with the bottom just barely hovering above the
streets.
The child
was very curious and lonely, so he decided to follow him. He stood up and
dashed after him. The aged man hesitated for a moment, sensing something behind
him. He briefly glanced behind to see the miniscule boy, chasing him with wide
eyes full of wonder that only a small child possessed. He turned away coldly
and continued to walk, ignoring him.
The kid was used to this sort of rejection, and still followed closely with
great interest. The old man turned a corner and the kid ran around after him.
He stopped suddenly when he didn't see the man. He looked around desperately,
but saw no trace of him. Disappointed, the child lowered his head and began to
walk away. However, as he was leaving, he detected the sound of footsteps
nearby. He turned around speedily and saw the man's shadow briefly in the
distance and then it disappeared. He was determined to go wherever he went, and
pursued him again.
The old man groaned silently in disappointment once he heard the child's eager
footsteps on his trail once more. He became angry with himself for being so
careless and underestimating him. He knew that it was a mistake, and it should
not have happened due to his extensive training.
The elderly
man continued in an attempt to escape until he reached a river. It flowed furiously
and he was aware that it was impossible to swim across in that condition. He
heard the boy drawing closer to him. He looked around for something to help him
cross the brook. Then his eyes spotted a medium-sized tree. The strange man
decided its size was adequate enough to form a bridge of sorts. Without
hesitation, he struck the tree with his bare fist with blinding speed, knocking
it over. The top of it barely landed on the other side, but it had worked out
the way he intended; he could get across. He looked back once again to see the
small child gazing at him, marveling at the feat he had just seen. With a brief
sigh, he relented with sympathy for the kid and strolled over to him. "Why
do you follow me?" he asked.
"Will I ever be... as strong as you?" the child asked, still a little
shocked.
"That is up to you," the strange, old man vaguely replied, beginning
to walk away again.
"Hey, will you teach me?"
He turned around once more to face him. "It is my policy not to take any
disciples. It is late... Go home." Then he turned away again.
As he started to leave, he heard the kid sobbing. "I... don't have a
home..." he said, beginning to cry.
The old man felt even worse for the small child now. He pondered the situation
briefly before spinning back around toward him. "Come with me," he
invited.
The tears quickly vanished from the child's blue eyes and they brightened once more. He nodded excitedly and followed him. As they walked, the tiny boy asked him many curious questions.
"What's your name? I'm Sion Barzahd," the youth, full of energy said.
"Me? My name is Wong…Wong Leung," he simply introduced.
"Where are we going?"
"You will see soon enough."
"You gonna take me to your house?"
"You'll
find out in due time," the martial arts expert answered ambiguously, retaining
his patience with the persistent inquiries.
Eventually, they arrived at the foothill of a small mountain. Sion looked up
partially in amazement and partially with fear. "We're goin' up there?" he
asked in a frightened tone of voice.
"We'll be taking a path that does not present any danger, but I can carry you there if you'd like," Wong offered.
He willingly accepted, and the old man bent down, allowing him to hop onto his back. They followed a linear path that led to the top of the rugged mountain, but it was devoid of climbing. The only threat to their lives was the possibility of a landslide, which was insignificant.
At the end
of the trail, Sion saw a quaint log cabin. It was small and simple in design
with no extravagances. "Is this where you live?" the child asked
curiously.
"No, but this is where I come whenever I wish to train, and this is where
you will train your mind, body, and soul," Wong explained.
"So when do we get to start training?" Sion impatiently asked.
Wong smirked under his full white beard. "How about now? Hit me," he
ordered.
"Huh? Hit you? You sure?" he questioned.
"One thing you must learn quickly is to never question what your master says. Anything I tell you to do, you do it without hesitation. So…hit me, Sion!"
The young boy scurried up to him and threw a punch, which was aimed at his leg due to the height difference. However, it never reached its target, as Wong moved quickly aside. He was several feet away before Sion could even blink. "Whoa! How'd you do that?!"
His master chuckled quietly at his surprise. "Perhaps you'll learn in time, but not now. Come…Let's clean you up and we can try again tomorrow."
The master woke up his pupil before the sun rose, and the youth was reluctant to get out of bed. Wong dragged him out of bed, and he lazily walked outside, rubbing his eyes as he went. "What now?" Sion asked with a yawn.
"I will teach you some basic things today," he answered.
He taught his student some simple techniques: different types of punches, kicks, and defenses. The day went by quickly as Sion thoroughly enjoyed learning about it. At sunset, they ate dinner and went to sleep.
Two years
passed, and Sion had endured intense training. He still had a long way to go,
but was slowly getting stronger. He was beginning to build muscle and learn
impressive skills that would help him to be able to defend himself. His
appearance had changed considerably. His hair was no longer dirty, but was a
clean shock of light brown hair. He had been given some new clothes: a bright
red hooded jacket, a pair of baggy blue jean shorts, and a white shirt. Wong
was able to afford all this and more because he was a personal guard to the
head of a major multi-million dollar company known as Mikado. He was a devout,
loyal follower and was rewarded richly for his services. Whenever he was not
present at the cabin training Sion, he was by the Mikado CEO's side. He was
gone often, but the pupil became used to his frequent absence.
As the eight year old trained, the sun was setting on the mountain. The sky was
filled with brilliant colors of purple, yellow, and pink. Sion, however, had no
time to pay attention to it because he was working hard. He slowed down and
came to a stop for a moment. He was breathing heavily.
"Giving up already?" Wong asked.
"N-no..! I'm just hungry! Can't fight on an empty stomach!" he said,
placing a hand on his stomach.
"Hmph... you are persistent... I'll give you that," he said.
"Wh-what
do I do next?" Sion asked, eager to continue his training, much to the dismay
of his stomach.
"Jump off this cliff," Wong said, pointing to the steep ledge about
100 feet away.
"A-All right," he said, uneasily starting to make his way toward the
edge of the cliff. His master quickly placed his hand on his shoulder to stop him
from plummeting to his death.
"Whoa whoa... I'm kidding! Come... It is time for dinner."
Sion breathed a sigh of relief and turned away from the cliff. Wong smiled at the pupil's willingness to do anything to become the best. "Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought." He stroked his beard as he pondered quietly what was to become of this youth with unlimited potential.
