A Woman Behind These Clothes
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Tekken Okay?
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CHAPTER 1: Beginning
~6 Years Ago, Northwest Arizona~
~Haneul's Memory~
The sky was dark and starts rumbling, everything was so quiet. A while ago guns blazing as if firing something or someone and soon it became quiet, too quiet. At the cliff there are two figures one was lying on the ground bleeding, while the other was sitting few feet away from the dying body, not far are bodies of henchmen that was sent after them…a Young woman 16 of age stirred from where she was sitting, not knowing what was going on, as rain continued to pour…her body is weak and could barely move.
When had it started to rain?
She'd been sitting there for years. Or was it only a few seconds? She didn't know.
She didn't know anything, How she got there, where the other was, where she was, who she was.
But he wasn't there. And she had to find him.
Struggling to make her lead limbs move. Scraping her skin against sharp rocks and not noticing.
There she was. Laying in crimson and soaked with rain. She slowly dragged herself to a sitting position. "Zackary…" she breathed, barely able to get his eyes to focus on her.
The black-haired man was having trouble breathing. She didn't understand why. "For the… both of us…" he managed to say.
She had to repeat the words to herself, just to know what they meant. "Both… of us…?"
"That's right… You're gonna…" What was the red on his face?
It was so hard to understand what was going on. "You're gonna…"
Suddenly she was falling forward. Why was she-What was going on-there was something warm on her face. "Live." She didn't move. What was going on? "You'll be… My living legacy…" A pressure receded from the back of her head and she found herself sitting up again. The warm was still on her face, and she fought to comprehend what it was. It was crimson, like the puddle surrounding them. Why was it raining?
She heard something dragging along the ground, and she watched it, unmoving. "My honour… my dreams…" The sword stopped in front of her. What? What was this? She was starting to feel sad. "They're yours now." He was speaking slowly, knowing that she couldn't understand well.
She reached out slowly and took the hilt of the sword. Why was it so heavy? Oh. It was a big sword. He pushed it against her to make sure she took it. Slowly, slowly, she started to understand what was going on. "I'm… your living… legacy…"
He closed his eyes, a smile on his face. And lay still.
She looked up at the rainy sky, her heart breaking into 1000 pieces. A painful scream tore out of her throat. She emptied her lungs, unable to sob like she truly wanted to. Like she deserved him to. Why wasn't her body working right? She couldn't even mourn him the way she should.
Zackary? Zackary? She wanted to shake him awake. To open his eyes. She wanted him to be okay. Be okay.
We're friends, right?
I won't leave you alone. I'd never do that.
Zackary! Why… Why not me? I should've… Couldn't… Why?
The next thing she knew, the sun was shining. Her legs finally worked and she stumbled upward. Not knowing what to say, not wanting to admit to the awful truth of it, she whispered, "Goodnight, Dear…Zackary." She couldn't bring herself to say goodbye.
She was all alone now, why is it that she always lost everything she holds dear? First her son, nor…her husband, her husband is dead, he gave up his life to save the one that had no hopes of living yet here she was walking away dragging the sword that her husband cherished the most, the man she loved gave up his life just to protect a nobody.
Zackary should have survived instead of this weakling, the man had offered his life to death, he gave up his life so this helpless soul couldn't kill herself, but life without the man she had shared her life with is worse than death.
She nearly lost Zackary before…she remembers that incident when she was 'Blood Hawk'.
[-Flashback-]
She was running in the hallways of the burning building in search for her idiotic partner who ran back inside to check if someone is still trapped, until a debris is about to crush her, but then she felt herself being pushed out of the way in the last second the debris fell, getting back her balance Blood Hawk looked at the debris and there Zackary, the Young Blood Hawk's partner was impaled by a pipe and dying slowly.
"Zack! Hang in there!" The Young Blood Hawk shouted desperately as she ran beside her fallen partner.
Zackary was stabbed in the stomach with a pipe. Blood trickled from his mouth, eyes glazed from the excruciating pain.
The young Blood Hawk knew she should not remove the pipe from the wound, but her time was running out. She wouldn't be able to lift both the man and the heavy pipe to escape the burning building without hurting the man, so the best bet was to quickly escape the building.
"I'm sorry for this, Dear," She said, warning, the Young Blood Hawk before pulling the pole as quickly as she could. Her heart wrenched when she heard the howl of pain from her partner. She quickly gave a simple treatment to the wound before moving him.
The whole way down the street, she kept calling his name, to keep him conscious. They were at the third street and 20 meters away from the Medical Tent when Zackary asked her to stop.
"No, it's just a little bit more," The Young Blood Hawk refused as she continued to trudge down the street. But Zackary suddenly collapsed, dragging Blood Hawk with him. The Young Blood Hawk tried to lift him again but Zackary stopped her.
"Hawk … look at… me…" Zackary said between gasps, calling The Young Blood Hawk with the nickname she gave. The Young Blood Hawk looked at him, and it became harder to hold back her tears.
Zackary sighed as he drank the sight of his Partner with glazed eyes. He reached with a bloodied hand to touch and stroke her cheek.
"It's painful…" he whispered.
"I know. Please hang in there," The Young Blood Hawk said as she grasped the hand on her cheek tightly.
Zackary continued, as if he hadn't heard her. "It's painful…to not being able to… protect you… I cannot even stop you from facing dangers…"
"You idiot. Is that why you came here? I won't be hurt much with my power and suit, but you…you—!" The Young Blood Hawk was so angry and sad that she couldn't finish her sentence.
"I know…but I can't stop trying…" Zackary said with a chuckle that made him cough blood.
"Zackary, stop talking now," The Young Blood Hawk ordered.
Zackary didn't obey it. He began to stroke the young Blood Hawk's cheek once again as he talked, "Blood Hawk, my… beloved Blood Hawk … So beautiful…so fierce but…gentle… please… please don't put yourself into the danger anymore…"
The Young Blood Hawk could no longer hold her tears. "Zackary…no…stop talking like that…stop talking like you're going to die!"
"Promise me," Zackary said as he grasped the Young Blood Hawk's hand with an unlikely strength for a dying man. His expression was determined, just like the day he asked her to be his Partner and soon his wife. The young Blood Hawk once again found herself not being able to say no to those eyes.
"I promise," The Young Blood Hawk said with a voice steadier than her heart.
Zackary smiled and whispered "I love you" before closing his eyes, the man's breathing was shallow and weak. Help came just in time and the medics carted her partner to safety as she follows.
[-End Flashback-]
But now that Zackary is gone, she The Blood Hawk was unable to give her answer to her partner, now that the man is dead, she failed to show her love and was unable to express what she felt for so long aside from being a partner and just a wife. It hurt her so much, she cried and cried no consoling can ease the pain in her heart as he cried her heart out, he cried at the cruelty of the fate that befalls on looked back in her memories before she left the battle field…were those Mishima Armies? Did Zackary fight all those advanced soldiers to keep her safe? If so…the Mishimas are the one to blame for her loss, she had to go back to South Korea where her old master is and her son…for 15 years she hadn't seen her son, she just wrote letters and send pictures of her and her Husband.
"Zackary…I'll find them! I swear…" She murmured and continued her venture.
It will take a while to get back home, she's too far away and she'll need another more month to recover, she'll ask a friend in Salt Lake City for help. As she stumbled through the rocky side of the road, she tried to think of a place to go. She didn't trust anyone now - her experience with her "pursuers" being the cause. That was when an idea popped into Tenma's mind. He knew one person he could trust. Smiling to herself, she headed to the outskirts of Salt Lake City. A couple of hours later, she found the correct street and house. Seung ring the doorbell and waited.
A raven-haired man answered the door. At first, he smiled at Seung, however upon noticing his friend's tattered and dirt-streaked uniform, coupled with bruises all over her body, his crimson eyes widened in shock.
"Seung, what the hell happened to you?"
Frowning, Seung began to explain what had occurred in the past couple of hours to her old friend, who listened intently to her story. As the older man went over every detail, feelings of agony and pain surged through her mind. The memories, the visions of when she and her husband was being attacked - they were so vivid, the voices so clear. After finishing her explanation, Seung paused for a while to let her friend make sense of what had happened to her.
"Anyway, I need to ask you a favor. Seeing as my persuers all think I really died in the wilderness, I had to go back home, as then I could finally see and be with my family. That, or, I could tell them I was nearly murdered in cold blood. So, I need a place to stay for now."
Her friend merely smile. "Sure, I understand. I'll clear out a room for you, Seung."
"Thank you, Vincent."
"Anytime."
Vincent was one of Seung's good friends from the time when he was living in Seoul. However, Vincent moved away when his parents were transferred to a different city. They remained in contact, and years later, Seung too moved, this time to Los Angeles for Military Training. She knew that Vincent would be there too, even though he wasn't enrolled in Military. Seung regularly dropped by to visit her friend, however, it never had been under these circumstances.
As Seung lay on her bed resting, she couldn't help but think of her son and her old master.
Hwoarang had been down lately, a letter was sent by the Military Facility in Los Angeles that his Mom and Dad are gone missing, no one could find them. They had gone missing during the mission and could not be found no matter what, whoever had the two promising soldiers might have been holding them hostage and it had been 4 years since they've gone missing, he hadn't seen his Ma and Pa for 15 years and his depression only deepens when the Military Base in Los Angeles had stopped the fruitless search.
"This sucks." He muttered to himself and continued to sulk in the corner, the letter is still in his hand.
The other warriors who acquainted the redhead was quite worried and don't know what to do, Steve Fox a well acquaintance of the redhead stepped up and sat beside the sulking redhead.
"Mate, you okay?" He asked putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
The redhead didn't respond for a moment and just shrugged.
"What did the letter said?" Steve pressed lightly.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" The redhead said handing over the letter.
The Blond Boxer took the letter and read, it didn't take long before Steve understood the letter his eyes widened and directed to the sulking redhead.
"My Ma and Pa are gone, no one can find them. The search went for four years but unsuccessful, I can't blame them, I know they tried but…My Ma and Pa." The redhead sulked even further.
Not noticing the gentle touches of his Master Baek and a gentle pat on his shoulder by Steve.
"15 long years, I hadn't seen them…not once, the last time I saw them is I was 8 before they left home…I don't even know what they look like now." Hwoarang said hollowly.
Jin felt sorry for his rival, he knows what it felt like losing someone you cherished the most.
Seung's eyes slowly opened. She had to recover from her near-death experience, which took a lot of resting time. She glanced at the alarm clock sitting beside her. 12:07. She had missed out on breakfast.
As she got up, she groaned in pain. Turned out, her body hadn't recovered fully yet. Walking downstairs, she was greeted by a cheerful Vincent.
"You missed breakfast. Didn't want to wake you up just in case."
It didn't matter to Seung. "It's fine. I'm not so hungry anyway." With that, she headed outside.
In the yard, Seung found training dummies. Visions of her traitors flashed through her mind again. Seung felt anger burning up inside her again. It was then that she swore that she would get even better. She would become the best - and surpass all the traitors in her team. She would show it to them that they were the useless ones.
Seung ran with determination around some dummies setup in a seemingly impossible position. She was training as hard as she could, nearly twice as hard as before. However, over the course of just half an hour, she had improved so much that she was able to dodge past all of the twenty dummies she had laid out, despite her injuries. It was then that she head a door swing open. Looking back, she saw Vincent coming towards her.
"Hard training this early? You just woke up. You haven't even had anything to eat yet. You're just recovering, don't push yourself too hard. Come on, Seung. Training can wait. You may find it hard to control your determination, but just wait it out. Come in. You need to eat something."
Seung groaned, but decided to comply as she felt her stomach growling.
As soon as she had finished her meal, Seung was all too eager to go back out to train. Continuing her exercises from before, Seung went at it until she head the door opening again.
"You won't give up, will you? In that case, might as well..."
Vincent ran towards her and proceeded to throw a kick towards her. "I'll help you train. You can't just train your dodging and punching by the way. Gotta train kicking too." With that, he retrieved a kicking post from his shed, before setting it up.
"Thanks. For letting me stay here, and for helping with my training."
"No problem. That's what friends are for, right?"
Seung smiled at her friend. However, inside, she was less than happy. She was still determined to improve.
"Not good enough! You have to do better than that!" Seung frowned in reply, beads of sweat falling off her blazing red hair. Vincent had stopped the kick for the thirteenth time in a row from her. She knew his friend was good at fighting, but she didn't know he was this good!
Mustering up her energy, Seung shouted out as she unleashed her force against Vincent. However, it wasn't her ordinary strength. It had a much darker presence. A purple-black aura surrounded her, and it looked more evil and hellish than before.
Vincent smiled. "That's the spirit." As Seung aimed the kick at him, he knew he didn't stand a chance he dodged. The kicking post flew into the ground at high speed, with enough power to make a large hole in the ground where it landed.
"Good thing that didn't hit me! It wouldn't have been pleasant had I not missed that shot. Good work."
Seung was smiling after having finally broken through Vincent's defenses. She was getting stronger; she knew that in no time she would be able to take on just about anyone.
By the end of the Month, Seung was drop-dead tired, however she was satisfied. She had improved tremendously - and she felt great, as though she wasn't hurt in any way anymore. After a quick shower and a meal, Seung went to bed, content with her achievements for the past day.
A week more and he'll be home, Vincent had already prepared the ticket bound to Seoul South Korea. She missed home and she can't wait to see her son, Lucia Vincent's wife is coming home after her board meeting in Hawaii came to a close, she doesn't want to intrude with the two and had to leave by tomorrow. Vincent had gone all the way to the inner city to buy her Plane Ticket bound to her Homeland. She was happy that she's finally free, the Military thought she was dead so now she is branded as KIA and now she's free to go back home and settle down.
"Hwoarang…Master Baek…I'm coming home." She said to herself and gone to sleep.
It had been two days since Hwoarang went out with Steve, Baek Doo San was in his and his student's room, Hwoarang had been too depressed and he had to kick him out of the room until he had cheered up, the depression is too contagious, the boy's Mother had been his very best student, and Hwoarang had inherited that attribute as well the boy was a dedicated learner like his Mom, the boy knew their tradition and had understood why his Mom dresses as a man, he sauntered around their hotel room and found a small portrait of Hwoarang's Mom in the Table. his eyes meet the portrait of his student's Mom, he had a striking resemblance to his Mother, the woman in the portrait has a spiky yet flowing red hair brushed back and calm Brown eyes but it didn't take away her good looks, in the portrait the woman had a very sweet and warm smile and her eyes was filled with something very warm, Baek could never word the feelings he would get when looking at the person's eyes, however the woman in the portrait must have been kind, the woman was wearing a Crimson and Black leather vest zipped down just below the collar with a buckle at her collar, Necklace with a skull and star pendant, Orange-Gemmed Tiara on her forehead, Crimson leather fingerless gloves, Belted Black jeans with a big silver buckle, Crimson leather chaps with orange designs, and Black leather boots with a metal toe cap and spurs. That matched her Clothes, upon her shoulder was a Kimono that acted as a cape to hide her true Gender, the Kimono consists of Crimson Hawk Patterns and on the cape hung golden medals and Crimson Hawk ornaments that held closed by the fastenings, the portrait was framed by the same rustic gold, he knew this portrait and the woman was of high importance.
Hwoarang, up to this day had loved his Mother no matter what, even if she had to pose as a man, he honored and revered her even if they are far apart Hwoarang's loyalty didn't fazed even a little. There was a light knock on the door, Baek frowned at that, Hwoarang never knock maybe it's one of Hwoarang's friends. He went and answered the door to tell the mysterious person in the door that Hwoarang went out.
As he opened the door and before he could even open his mouth to answer, the Mysterious Stranger beat him to it.
"Hello Master Baek, it's been a while."
To Be Continued
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This is My First Time so Be Gentle.