So uh this was originally posted on AO3 but I'm breaking my own rule here by posting it here. Fuck it, if people like it, that's only good.
This is gonna be very gay and smutty with capital letters so be warned.
Anyway, as always, thank you for reading.
The smell of blood lingered heavily in the fresh, sharp mountain air, disturbing its serene atmosphere. Red, hot liquid dripped from his nose and Adon found himself kneeling in front of this hulking force that was his opponent. His zeal, or stubbornness as some would call it, had kept this battle from ending quickly.
Or maybe not as he was unable to do much besides kneeling, his body frozen in pain. Residue adrenaline kept him conscious but slowly detached from his sense of being. The ground around him was covered in blood, leaking from cuts and wounds across his body and he felt his head spin from the memory of drops splattered across the cold rock when he was punched directly in the face.
His opponent, a mysterious tan-skinned entity, surrounded by a powerful aura that spoke of his raw strength, stood over him with fists bruised and stained in red. His face was a deep snarl that was only calmed by the inevitable victory.
"Fool. Your eagerness for validation hampers your abilities. Ending your life will be no joy. You will never be able to defeat the power of the Hado so you can die by your foolishness."
The man, known as Akuma, backed away and walked off into the distance, leaving a broken man behind. Once he had disappeared behind some nearby rocks, Adon's legs gave out under him and he fell to the ground, his consciousness slipping as blackness crawled from the corner of his eyes.
Pride had been Adon't greatest asset and his biggest flaw, taking the familiar shape of arrogance. But he was never without his aspirations; living in a world with people better than him, painful as that admission was. To surpass his former teacher and become the God of Muay Thai. To become someone worth admiring.
And now, his end was near. Had he retained more energy, he would have laughed out loud. Laugh to hide his regrets. Laugh over how absurdly fleeting life was. Laugh in the face of death as it was coming for him.
Fading from life felt like floating, being carried away to the great unknown. He couldn't laugh any longer, only mustering up a bitter smile before the void took over.
When Adon awoke, the first thing he took note of was his senses returning to him. He found himself staring at the ceiling of an unfamiliar room. The pain had been replaced by a dull aching behind neatly wrapped bandages. Outside, there were faint voices and distant noises of a village; close yet far away.
The comforts of the bed were enticing but his apprehension begged him to get up and see where he was. A task that proved more difficult than initially thought. While Adon's wounds had been cared for, he was far from healed. His body screamed for him to stop moving but persistence won as he staggered out of the bed, nearly falling over himself.
Through sheer stubbornness, Adon limped towards the door and leaned against the doorframe. Noises from outside the room alerted him and a fight or flight sensation emerged within him. But without the strength to do much than breathe, he simply stood there, stripped of his jaguar spirit and exposed like a deer in headlights when the door opened. Adon twitched at the towering figure now standing in front of him; he could feel his mood souring, and he wanted to back away and jump out the nearest window so badly. Instead, this intense hatred took the shape of a weak stumble backward.
Sagat had changed very little from their last meeting. It would seem that the man was completely unable to age beyond a certain point. As comical as that idea was, Adon was not in the mood to entertain it.
"Y-you…!" he hissed through clenched teeth. His heart raced so fast behind his chest, that it almost hurt. More so, it felt as if it was close to tearing itself out of his ribcage. For a moment, Adon wondered if the boiling hatred and intense heartbeat amplified the pain aching through his body.
"So you brought me here. To ridicule me? I-I won't let you! I will defeat you and become the King of-of…" Adon spat, his pain and anger blending together to a knot in his chest, that made him want to vomit. Instead, it kept him fully unable to formulate proper sentences.
"You are as fussy as ever. I have no interest in humiliating or fighting you" Sagat said with no emotion whatsoever.
"Then why am I here?"
Sagat's expression subtly shifted. "How about you stop throwing conspiracies at me to validate your temper"
"Pity then. I don't need your stupid pity!"
The old tiger said nothing as Adon raced past him, as fast as his body allowed. A few steps out in the hallway and his knees buckled, the pain not allowing him to go further. Whatever his opponent had done to Adon, it had hampered his health to such a degree, he had never experienced. Bruises, cuts, broken bones, and dislocated limbs, were nothing compared to this level of discomfort. For a second, he wondered if he'd rather die than be under the same roof as his enemy.
"You will never recover if you throw temper tantrums like these. You are free to leave if you want but as long as you are here, you are under my care" There was an icy seriousness in Sagat's voice, and yet, such actions were not like him. It masked a thin layer of something else, not entirely clear for Adon, who remained quiet as his former teacher left the room soon after.
No, Adon didn't need pity, certainly not from someone like Sagat. He may be in little condition to do anything but he could leave and that was exactly what he planned to do. As soon as his wounds were healed, he'd be out of here. That mysterious stranger had taught him that he was not nearly as strong as he thought – or wished to be and that meant, he was in no position to fight Sagat, let alone defeat him.
But if he could heal, and walk, he could try. Otherwise, that meant staying here and doing nothing; a thought that drove him up the wall.
The afternoon came rather uneventfully as Adon lay in bed, letting his broken body rest. There had been no trace of Sagat since their initial meeting, a fact that Adon didn't mind at all. He didn't to even begin bothering himself with the activities of a declawed tiger; for now, he needed to get better and leave.
Tapping on the window caught his attention he rose from the bed with a struggle and looked around, spotting a young girl, no older than ten with a bowl between her hands. Her face held an expression of childlike innocence that reminded Adon of times long past. Her eyes lit up when she saw him from the window and she offered the bowl.
"Here. Hope you get better soon!" The little girl smiled, struggling to reach the bottom of the window so Adon reached out his hand and took the bowl from her. It was a simple soup that warmed his inside. It tasted of little but flavored hot water, but it did what it was supposed to do and Adon believed he owed that girl his thanks. She stood, looking at him with anticipation.
"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked instead, not bothering with a pedagogical approach. The girl fiddled with a stray lock of brown hair as she spoke. "I saw you fight that monster. You were hurt really bad, so we brought you here."
"We?"
"Sagat and I!"
That softened Adon up somewhat. Of course, the old tiger would never have cared for him of his own volition. Though he could not ignore the embarrassing suggestion of Sagat dragging him around the village. But this little girl had cared enough, a thought that endeared him somewhat.
"So I guess you saved my life, huh?" he shrugged.
"Yes!" she nodded happily. "Are your bandages all right?"
"They're good."
The girl sighed in relief, musing to herself as Adon lay down again. He figured he'd thank her someday. Perhaps give her a lesson in self-defense or take her in as an apprentice. Though he doubted the possibility of the latter if she had witnessed him being beaten to the brink of death.
"Remember to rest!" Her voice said from the outside and he replied with a drowsy "Sure…"
Evening came soon after but by then, Adon was already half-asleep. He lay flatly on the bed, letting the pain ache with the occasional sharp jab forcing a hiss through his teeth when he moved a little too quickly. He had taken notice of the faint smell coming from the bandages, like some sort of ointment. They looked relatively clean despite the hours, they had been wrapped around him.
When the life in the village quieted down at the first signs of nightfall, Adon was already fast asleep. Though he was hardly conscious, he could suddenly feel a presence loom over him, watching him. But it was almost like a shadow and it made him wonder if it had been a dream.
