Chapter 15
"Stay here. I want to surprise you." Xiaoyu gestured for Julia to stop. They were outside the main compound where part of the indigenous forest had not been cleared.
It's beautiful, Julia thought. She stepped to the side and ran a hand down one of the trees. Its bark was ridged and craggy, and yet it was somehow soothing to feel something not cut and planed by machines, to feel something pristine and untouched by human intervention. Off to the side, a brook babbled and filled in a small pool of water. All the rocks were verdant from the moss and lichen. Never had she been in an area so green and full of life - the forest was all browns and greens ranging from dark olive to sour apple with only the sunlight as a focus point. It was a painting of a dream. It was what Arizona could become if she could rejuvenate the forest that had once been.
"Pan pan," Xiaoyu called. She picked up a stalk of bamboo from the ground and swished it a few times before tapping it lightly on the ground. A large black paw adorned with a pink bracelet emerged from the cave, followed by a round black and white face that resembled a raccoon who had eaten too much and grown nearly six times the average weight of its kind. The panda bear approached like an obedient pet and swiped at the bamboo, but Xiaoyu jerked the stalk away and backed up. "Come on, Panda."
Panda stepped fully outside the cave and Xiaoyu played a brief game of tug-of-war with Panda. The bear almost seemed to be smiling as it bit into one end of the stalk and began to pull Xiaoyu towards the cave. Xiaoyu laughed and let go.
"Come, Panda. I want you to meet my good friend, Julia."
'Good friend,' Julia thought. Xiaoyu was quick to trust others if in less than a week Julia had already been categorized as a good friend. In another week, she'd probably be upgraded to "best friend" status. Still though, it was nice to not have to watch her back around all the contestants. Xiaoyu seemed incapable of a single bad thought and was never without a smile for Julia. Of all the contestants, Xiaoyu was probably the only one she could safely trust. She wasn't completely sure about Jin, but maybe Xiaoyu would know more about him.
Julia approached the panda bear who chewed contently on the bamboo and ran a hand gently through its long, coarse hair. The fur was thick and oily, probably waterproof. Panda turned to face Julia and bleated like a lamb before going back to its bamboo.
"I knew Panda would like you. She's an excellent judge of character." Xiaoyu threw her hands around Panda's thick neck.
"Is she? How about you? Who do you trust here?"
Xiaoyu put a finger to her lips and looked up. "Hmm, well besides you and Panda ... I would have to say Lei Wulong. He's a Hong Kong supercop, you know. He has to be good. Paul and Forest seem all right too. They're funny together."
"How about Heihachi?"
"Well, of course, Heihachi. If I didn't trust him why would I participate in the tournament? He was the one who gave me Panda for a bodyguard, you know."
"Why would you need a bodyguard?"
Xiaoyu shrugged. "Maybe because I spend time with Jin at school, he wanted to make sure nobody got to Jin through me. Why?"
"Forget it," Julia replied. "It's nothing." The fur prickled her hand.
"You don't have to tell me everything, Julia, but it'd be nice to be told something. I'd like to help you if I can."
Julia pulled on the chain that held the pendant. There were limits to what she could accomplish on her own. As more of the contestants were eliminated from the competition, there would be an increasing number of people who could rifle through her belongings when she was away from them. At the very least, she would need at least two allies in case she had to fight one of them in the tournament. Heihachi seemed to have no qualms about breaking up friends to satisfy his megalomania during the tournament. Julia pulled the pendant from beneath her shirt.
"Oh, wow. That's beautiful. Where'd you get it?" Xiaoyu cupped the pendant and stroked the turquoise.
"It's a family heirloom giving to me by my mother. It's said that it has the power to control spirits. Heihachi wants it. And I've brought it to him."
"Why? If you don't trust him, why would you come here?"
"I think he has my mother. That's why I need to know if I can believe Jin. He says my mother isn't here."
Xiaoyu frowned in thought. "I'm sure if Jin said it's true, it's true. What do you think, Panda?"
Panda stopped chewing on bamboo as if to contemplate the question. She rolled herself to her feet and looked towards the complex as a messenger approached. He moved like a gazelle in quick, bold bounds down the rocky path, his hat bouncing comically and yet somehow never completely flying off his head.
"Ms. Ling, Master Mishima wishes to speak to you. He's waiting for you in the office."
Xiaoyu looked ready to rebuff the request, but apparently changed her mind. "Right, come on, Panda. I'll talk to you later, Jules."
Julia watched as Xiaoyu and Panda walked back towards the buildings, Xiaoyu's hand massaging the fur on the Panda's nape. A flash of light caught Julia's attention. It came from the highest window in the compound which was closing. Squinting, she could see the two tufts of hair that identified Heihachi. Was this another plot to disrupt her efforts? Had he been watching Xiaoyu talking to her and, in Xiaoyu's words, thought that Julia was trying to get to Jin through Xiaoyu? Or was Xiaoyu a spy for Heihachi? She seemed to look up to him as though he was her grandfather. Julia pinched the bridge of her nose; fighting was easy compared to politics.
"Ms. Chang," the messenger said after Xiaoyu was out of earshot. "Master Kazama has requested your presense. He is waiting in the rock garden. Through the side gate there, just follow the path through the forest to the left."
"Thank you."
The messenger bowed and continued back to the complex.
'Subtle,' thought Julia. Jin had waited until Xiaoyu had been summoned by Heihachi before meeting with her so they could speak alone. 'Hang on, mother. I'll get to the bottom of this soon.' Julia stepped into the shadows of the forest.