Disclaimer: Yeah, the usual "I don't own Soul Calibur, its characters or its scenario's…" Blah blah blah". Folks at Namco, you lucky devils you…

A/N: Wow….this fic has seriously gathered some dust. Heheh…erm…sorry to those who avidly were reading this fic. I tend to get sidetracked a lot, but I'll try to keep this one going. It's just that I'm doubting the 'integrity' of it. Meh, oh well. I'm gonna try to just down on the Tak/Xiang for a bit and work on getting people to know the other characters better. I recently got some new inspiration from the new sword I've just recently added to my collection…but I digress. Anyways, here it is!

Chapter 12: Snap

"No I didn't Xianghua!"

"Yes you did!"

"Did not"

"Did to!"

"Not!"

"TO!"

Xianghua and Takaishi continued screaming at each other much to the amusement to passers-by. The two had been arguing for a good half hour about whose turn it was to pick where the next stop was. They both seemed like brother and sister, literally at each-other's throats, eyes full of the sibling rivalry gleam.

"Yes you did Takaishi and that's final! It's my turn, MINE! MMMMIIIIINNNNNEEEE!" Xianghua screamed into Takaishi's ear, making him stumble backwards a bit.

"..okay fine, you pick…..I don't see why it's so important..." Takaishi responded in a feeble, defeated voice.

"Humph, finally see it my way huh?" She half-cheered to herself and winked to Takaishi. He just merely glared at her from behind his bangs, but Xianghua paid no heed.

"We go left!" She said, enthusiastically pointing in the direction she wanted to go, Takaishi forced to follow here, grumbling to himself. He had to admit though, it was fun arguing with Xiang on certain occasions, but the key point was CERTAIN occasions, and today was not one of those days.

"Hey Takaishi?" Xianghua stopped abruptly and spun around on her heel to face her friend.

". . .Yeah, what?" he mumbled unenthusiastically.

"How much money do we have left? I was thinking if we didn't have enough that we might have to find some way to make more." She tapped her chin in thought, then spun around again and continued walking. Takaishi pulled out a small coin bag that hung from his right hip and counted the coins inside. As Xianghua thought, their funds where getting smaller.

"Maybe we could hunt down demons terrorizing local villages? Or we could guard travelers from bandits and monsters? How about hunting for treasures, or blazing new trails or. . ." Takaishi tuned out as Xianghua continued to spout out ideas. This earned him a light smack to the back of the head by Xianghua.

"Takaishi, I'm serious, we won't be able to buy supplies if we don't have any money." She said, glaring daggers at him. Takaishi cringed slightly but retorted.

"Oh, so now you're serious?...OW!" Takaishi rubbed the newly forming bruise on his head. He spun around to see a fuming Xianghua. He slowly started backing away from his companion, keeping his hands in front of him as a futile way to keep her at bay. Xianghua lunged at him and grabbed his bangs that hid his eyes and yanked them hard.

"YOW! HEY, LEGGO!" Takaishi screamed and squirmed, trying to get away from Xianghua.

"Takaishi Shigame!" Her voice frightened him to no end, "I'm serious, I'm not going out there," She flung a finger, pointing outside the village walls, "Without food and clean water, now YOU can go out there by yourself without supplies and TRY to hunt food and find CLEAN water while I stay here and find some way to make money so I can AT LEAST have food to eat on the road! Now are going to help or NOT?" When Xianghua finished her tirade, her finger was practically jabbing Takaishi in the nose. He merely nodded shakily. Mentally, he reminded himself not to get Xianghua angry again.

"Okay, now that that's settled, let's go find some work!" She clapped her hands together merrily and smiled brightly, throwing Takaishi way off his guard. He brushed his bangs back over his eyes and sighed while scratching his head.

"She's going to be the death of me one of these days." He flung his arms behind his head, interlaced his fingers, and rested his head back while he walked.

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Siegfried helped Sophitia stand up. She had recovered significantly, but her back was still very delicate. They had been stuck in the same cave for several days. Siegfried had hauled firewood back and forth to the cave while Cassandra took care of her sister's bandages. When Sophitia was well enough to move, they all decided it was time to move and find a new town, and hopefully re-stock on equipment, most of the things they had left were falling apart.

"Thanks" Sophitia murmured while walking to their weapon stash with the help of a cavern wall. Siegfried rooted around the pile while Cassandra hovered around her sister, ready to assist at a moment's notice.

"Everything's so. . .broken." She thought out-loud, looking at their worn out equipment. She sighed as she picked up her gladius and watched the now-dulled blade fall out of the hilt and clank onto the cavern's floor.

"We're going to have to find some new weapons, Faust is still in prime condition, but yours and Cassandra's weapons didn't last through the last fight." Siegfried noted out-loud. Cass gave him a rather obvious look, but he was oblivious.

"What's this?" Sophitia picked up the shield that Siegfried had found deep in the cave. It was a small, sleek black and red round shield with a rather large spike protruding from its center. She examined it closely, judging the weight and the durability before putting her arm through the arm holds.

"We should get going soon. This place is getting creepier, if you ask me." Cass said with a slight whining tone in her voice. Siegfried merely rolled his eyes while continuing to put things back into is travel pack. Cassandra huffed and crossed her arms impatiently while Sophitia stretched out her very sore muscles.

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"YOU DID WHAT?" Takaishi found himself backing away from Xianghua yet again. Her eyes litteraly burned with rage.

"I err. . . bet you." He said feebly with a weak smile. The girl gave him a flat look.

"You. Bet. Me."

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"A scrawny punk like him? Hah, this is gonna be the easiest hundred pieces I've ever made! Plus I'll get a pretty girl too…" The burly brawler cracked his knuckles and loomed over Takaishi menacingly. The man towered over Takaishi, whom in comparison seemed like a child. Takaishi held his ground in his tradition combat stance. He had to admit, it felt weird without swords, but he trained a little in martial arts for the occasions that he might be disarmed. It was after a few hours of wandering around town that Takaishi and Xianghua had stumbled into a bar that just happened to hold brawling matches for patrons to bet on. One thing had led to another, and Takaishi soon found himself in a match against one of the largest competitors.

"Ready skinny boy?" The man questioned, smirking to himself. In the background, spectators slapped down bets on the table. Not many were betting on Takaishi as far as Xianghua could see.

"As ever." The man circled along with Takaishi, both facing each-other constantly while weaving a circle along the floor. The brawler made the first move, throwing a right hook to Takaishi's jaw. Instead, he was greeted by a heel to the chin. Takaishi retracted from his high kick and continued with a roundhouse across the face. The brawler hit the ground hard, but got up a few seconds later.

"Not bad, skinny boy, not bad." He spit some blood and a loose tooth from his mouth. The circling began again, only Takaishi made the first move, coming at the man's gut with a quick punch, which was caught. Takaishi soon found himself on the ground, pinned with his right arm behind his back in an arm lock and his left pinned under him.

"Bah, looks like you can only do defense little boy. Not aggressive enough. Sign of a weakling." The man added smugly, "Submit, don't want me breaking your arm do you?" Takaishi grunted as more pressure was applied to his arm, "C'mon kid, just submit. Cut your losses, you could always find a new girl." Soon the whole crowd was up and yelling for him to surrender.

"…Don't call me weak..." Takaishi said stiffly, sucking up the pain in his arm by digging his nails into his hand with his free arm.

"Face it, you're still just a little pup. You talk tough, but you got nothing to back it. You lack aggression behind those blows, you still have a lot to learn."

Something in Takaishi snapped that moment. Years of self control, of meditation, of thinking happy thoughts, all down the drain in an instant. The man stopped applying pressure to Takaishi's arm. The crowd "Oooed" in amazement as Takaishi started strangling the man behind him with his free hand that he had managed to slip out from being pinned under his and his competitor's combined weight.

"Pups still bite." Takaishi said bitterly as he broke the arm lock and thrust his elbow backward into the man's gut, causing him to stagger, gasping from the previous stranglehold. Before he could recover, he found a fist in his stomach, then two more, then three. Takaishi pummeled him in the stomach and finished off the strike with a hard, lashing kick to the kidney. The brawler tapped the ground in submission, but Takaishi picked the man up by the collar and head-butted him back to the floor.

"Still not aggressive enough for you? You want more aggression? DO YOU?" The brawler was clearly knocked out, but that didn't stop Takaishi's vicious assault. After several brutal kicks, Takaishi planted his foot onto the poor man's throat. He looked ready to kill him with a simple stomping of his foot.

"TAKAISHI!" His head snapped in the direction from where the yell came. It was a familiar, warm voice. Slowly everything came flooding back.

"Xiang..hua?" Takaishi moved his foot off the man's throat. Takaishi watched as the poor brawler was quickly dragged away by his friend. There was a swift, stinging pain in his cheek all of a sudden. He stood stunned for a few moments, then realized that Xianghua had slapped him, very hard too.

"What'd you do that for?" He yelped, puzzled.

"You almost killed that guy, even after he surrendered!" she screamed at him, "You could have been arrested if you killed him idiot! IDIOT!"

"I…almost killed someone?" Takaishi looked even more puzzled. This caused Xianghua to fume even more at her compatriot's sudden lack of short term memory. Something dawned on Xianghua just then. She had a slight hunch, and chose to pursue it.

"You…really don't remember?"

"Well, all I can remember is challenging that guy to fight for money, and I had to wager you because we didn't have enough to bet…and that's about it…"

"You're serious aren't you?" She stared at him in amazement. Around them, the crowd had dispersed, obviously bored now that the excitement was over. An hour later, Xianghua sat glaring at Takaishi in an inn's room.

"So. . .what you're saying is that you have. . . rage issues?" She asked in an interested tone.

"Guess you could say that, in a nutshell at the least." Takaishi ran a hand across his brow, trying to wipe away some unseen perspiration.

"But why now? That's the first time I've ever seen you actually angry, err. . . well, enraged is more the word. . .but why? I've heard tons of people call you scrawny and weak before, you always just shrugged them off." She crossed her legs and rested her head in her hands while facing Takaishi.

"I. . .don't really know. Maybe it was because I was fighting, maybe it was the pressure, I don't know." Takaishi continued to stare at the wood floor. Xianghua tried to look at his eyes, but his hair was in the way. He was hiding something

"Takaishi . . . tell me, come on. We're friends." Xianghua scooted closer in concern.

"I'm not sure." He mumbled.

"Come on, tell me!" She poked his side, but he didn't budge. A few more minutes of painful silence passed.

"Xianghua, how much do you know about me." He asked out of the blue.

"Um. . .well actually not much. . .I only know that you are Japanese and were living in China, for some weird reason or another." She said half-heartedly, "But I want to know more. . .if you'd tell me." She looked at him, but no sign of emotion.

"Thought so." He mumbled.

"Well I'd know more if you'd TELL me." She sounded aggravated.

"And what if you don't like it?" He said grimly. To be honest, Xianghua was a little worried, but she prodded some more.

"I wouldn't care, you're still my friend. Friends shouldn't hold things against each other, no matter what." Another painful silence of contemplation washed over them. Takaishi sighed and looked up, his eyes grim and bloodshot.

"Okay, fine I'll tell you."

-End Chapter -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DUN DUN DUN not really

A/N: I got plans for the next chapter for once! Wheee! Expect to see Taki again since we havn't for a while…and perhaps she'll meet someone along the way (I do like pairings, I do I do I do). Anywhoo, R&R and give me ideas! Ideas good. Tossing me a bone is a great way to keep this running along smoothly, and hey, I might even credit you in one of these author's notes!