Chapter 1: The Legacy of a Fallen Hero (3/3)
The Night was dark and chilly but it didn't matter to Jaden. All he wanted was to find Kung Jin and get the amulet back, but that was proving to be a difficult task. He had no idea where Kung Jin was or how he could find him. All he knew was that he was angry and confuse. He really wanted to complete this task.
But he didn't know how. All that he could do was walk aimlessly looking for him, at least that's what Jaden thought until he saw something.
A strange flash of light appears in front of Jaden.
"Greetings, Jaden Kang!" A voice came out of this light.
"Who... What are you?" Jaden asked.
"Do not be afraid. I am Damashi. I am an emissary of the elder gods." The voice answered.
"Did Lord Raiden sent you?" Jaden asked.
"No, But who sent me is not important. I can help you find Kung Jin." Damashi said.
"Seriously!? Can you tell me where he is?" Jaden asked.
"Yes, but my help comes with a price. I'll won't ask for repayment today but one day you'll need to return the favor to me." Damashi said.
"Alright Alright, I don't care, just tell me where is he?" Jaden stubbornly asked.
"If you accept. Where were the three locations that Bo' Rai Cho asked you to check?" Damashi answered Jaden.
"Ummm... The Martial arts school, The Docks and ..." Jaden quickly grabbed the map and saw the last spot. "What?! You telling me he was there the whole-" Jaden turned his head back to Damashi but he noticed that he was gone.
He looked back at the map and started to walk to the marked spot.
Arriving at the location was easy. It was a house outside of the village, the drawing in the map is pretty bad but Jaden blames the fact that Bo' Rai Cho probably drew this map himself. Jaden was angry and really wanted to hurt Kung Jin but he was completely focused on retrieving the warrior's amulet and giving it back to Bo' Rai Cho. But if he decided to make the task harder than it needed to be, than it was on him.
The house was unremarkable but it was a very poor quality.
Jaden had no doubt that he could take Kung Jin in close combat but his bow would be a problem.
Right now Jaden was hiding on the bushes outside of the house checking his surroundings. He was looking for traps or anything that could be used against him. But as Jaden observed, he heard footsteps.
"Are you sure he's here?" Jaden hears a voice.
"Yes, he lives in this house since his father died." He hears another man's voice.
"Don't you mean since you killed him." A man with glasses said.
"That bastard borrow money from me and only the gods know how many others and lost everything by gambling. He killed himself." The other man said.
Jaden just stood there watching the two get closer to the door. When the man with glasses opens it, an arrow pierces the man's neck. Jaden kept watching as the other man put his hand on the neck trying to contain the bleeding but while he did it, another arrow is shot but this time it hits the other man in the chest. Kung Jin then came out of a tree and got close to him.
"I told you not to come back here." Kung Jin said to the dying man. "I don't care about my father's debts, they're not mine."
Jaden stayed still and listened to their conversation. Apparently Kung Jin's father was a gambler and he kept borrowing money from people, then he made a debt with a lot of them and didn't pay up. So they killed him. Tragic story but if that was his excuse to being a thief, Jaden thought it was pathetic.
While he's distracted Jaden decided to make his move. He comes out of the bushes and walks slowly behind him.
"You good for nothing piece of trash." The man with the arrow on the chest said as he struggles to breathe.
Kung jin then shoots another arrow, this time it pierces the man's forehead. But while he did, Jaden got close.
Before he could turn around completely. Jaden grabs Kung jin's bow and pulls it while using the momentum to also toss him with a hip throw. Kung Jin quickly tries to stand up but Jaden throws a push kick on his chest which makes him fall back a bit into the ground. Before he can stand up, Jaden breaks his bow over his knee.
"You again?" Kung Jin said as he stood up.
"You didn't really thought I was going to let go, did you?" Jaden said in return. "Now, show me what you can do." Jaden gets on his fighting stance.
Jaden didn't like using traditional martial arts. He was trying to create his own fighting style which is slightly based on his father's but with some additions.
Kung Jin made a very sloppy fighting stance that looked like a pathetic attempt at the Shaolin Kung Fu stance.
Then he charged at Jaden who just stood still waiting for him. Kung Jin tried to attack him with his fists but Jaden easily parried the punches before doing a Back Sweep Kick that makes him fall into the floor.
"Not so tough without your bow?" Jaden mocks him a bit.
"Screw you." Kung Jin grabs and tosses a rock into Jaden's head but he simply moves his head to the side in order to evade it. But when he did, Kung Jin tackled him into the floor which Jaden only pushed him off with his right leg before standing up.
"Throwing a rock? is that the best you can do?" Kung Jin in rage stood back up and charged at him again. He tried to punch him with a very sloppy punch that Jaden just moved his head back to evade before hitting him with a right uppercut,a left hook to the stomach and then finally finishing him with a right hook to the jaw.
Jaden starts to search the now knockout Kung Jin to find the warrior's amulet. But then he hears a noise from the same bushes that he was hiding in it. "Who's there?" He kept hearing the noise and waiting for whoever it was to show themselves. When it finally did, it was just his Master.
"Master Bo' Rai Cho?" Jaden asked as his drunken master was getting out of the bushes. But then he came to a conclusion. "You were watching me the whole time weren't you?"
"As a matter of fact I did." Bo' Rai Cho said before gulping more alcohol. Then he reached his pocket and showed Jaden the Warrior's amulet.
"What!? You already retrieved?" Jaden complained in a deep frustration. "I thought you were testing me?"
"It was a test. But you weren't the one being tested." Bo' Rai Cho said.
Jaden then looked down to the still knocked out on the floor Kung Jin."Him?"
"Yes."
"But why?" Jaden asked in curiosity.
"I'll explain to you back home, but now we need to take him there." Bo' Rai Cho said while pointing at Kung Jin.
Jaden didn't ask any question and started to walk.
"We need to take him too."
"If you're waiting for me me to carry him, you going to rot in the spot." Jaden said.
Bo' Rai Cho just sighted and picked Kung Jin off the floor and the two made their way to Bo' Rai Cho's home.
After a considerable walk. Jaden and Bo' Rai Cho who was carrying a unconscious Kung Jin finally arrived at the house, only for Jaden to be surprised to see Raiden waiting at the front.
"I assume that this was not what you were planning?" Raiden said to Bo' Rai Cho
"It was part of the plan, though I wasn't expecting to have been so effective." Bo' Rai Cho answered.
"What are you two talking about?" Jaden asked in a small frustration.
Bo' Rai Cho looked at Raiden before taking Kung Jin inside.
"You see Jaden." Raiden started to explain "Kung Jin is the nephew of Kung Lao, who was one of my previous pupils alongside your father."
"I know who Kung Lao is. He was a descendant of the great Kung Lao." Jaden said. "But I have to say, from legend to a thief. That shows how low things can get."
"Don't judge him. There's always a chance for a brighter future." Raiden assured Jaden.
"So what's the plan. You gonna try to convince him to join the Wu Shi Academy?" Jaden asked.
"Yes but not right now." Raiden said. "For now, I'll like him him to remain her and train under Bo' Rai Cho like you."
"Are you telling me that he's going to live here?" Jaden asked in frustration.
"Yes" That was all that Raiden said.
"Oh man." Jaden whined a bit.
"I'll return tomorrow to talk to him." Raiden said before teleporting away.
"Wait!" Jaden called before Raiden disappeared in a flash of lighting. Jaden forgot to ask him about his father's death that he saw it on that vision. He's going to have to wait until tomorrow for a explanation.
The sun was already rising and he was very hungry. So he entered the house to see if Bo' Rai Cho brought anything that wasn't alcohol.