Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. 42

"To grasp the light, sometimes one must face the darkness..."

"Ryu-sensei...?"

Ryu was snapped out of his thoughts by the call of Sean, who was standing beside him in stance. The two immortals were traveling on a small ferry boat towards Pirgos, Greece. Deciding to work on his ki training, the two moved toward the rear of the boat to practice. But Ryu's mind didn't seem to be on the training at the moment, something that Sean had never seen in his secondary teacher.

"Sorry." Ryu apologized. His thoughts had continued to drift on his previous fight with the mysterious Rose a week ago, but he had to focus on the training here. He could dwell on the words of the enigmatic immortal another time.

"Okay. Concentrate on your core. You already know how to bring the energy forth. Just work on holding it longer."

With a nod, Sean closed his eyes and began to focus. As Ryu had mentioned, he already knew how to do this. But it was his weak point, as he could not seem to use it as readily as his instructors in use of projectiles. Hell, even Sakura could do it. But in retrospect, Sakura was several years his senor (how much exactly, she would never tell him) and had trained for far longer. Shaking his head and pushing those thoughts aside, Sean began to concentrate, slowly feeling the flow of ki flow from his stomach and directly into his arms. Ryu sensed this and spoke.

"You have to have it flow through your entire body. Not just into your arms."

Sean's brows tightened, trying to do as Ryu told him to guide his ki throughout his body. It was a hard process for him. Ken had told him that it wasn't so much a lack of effort, but that different people can only express their ki in different ways. Some are unable to bring forth their energy in this manner at all. But given the fact that he had been working on it for the past 100 and so years, it didn't help that he only had a limited control on it.

"Put your doubts aside." Ryu said softly, sensing his stress. "We all have our strengths as well as weakness. What we have to learn is how to turn those weaknesses into strength. This can be applied to all aspects of life, not just fighting."

Though that proved to be a greater task, Sean complied, allowing the energy to slow go through his body with every calming breath. Automatically, his hands lifted to the side in a cup-like fashion and his palms began to radiate. Ryu simply watched on as the energy soon formulated into a small sphere, pulsing lightly in his hands as it began to grow.

"That's it. Don't fight it." Ryu said gently. "And don't force it. Just relax. Breathe and let it flow through you."

In a small bookstore not too far away, a young man with long, green sat at the desk, reading away in silence as a few buyers wondered about in search for material. Some of them, young women, seemed more interested in looking at him that at book. Something that the next visitor that came in was quick to notice and address…

"Still eye-candy for the ladies I see."

The young man stopped reading and smiled at his visitor. "Well, well. Dan Hibiki."

"Remy. How've you been?"

The two shook hands, with each slightly exposing the tattooed mark of the Watcher guild on their wrists. Like Dan, Remy was a part of the Watcher organization but was currently between assignments, so he was on stand-by for the time being

"Ah, so, so. It's been quiet lately, but I'm not complaining." To prove it, he tilted over to look at a few of the girls and smiled, eliciting a few giggles from them in response. Returning his attention back to Dan, he continued. "How about you? How the wandering life?"

Dan frowned. "Not funny. I like the assignment, but Ryu... just doesn't sit still. Honestly, I think he does it on purpose just to irk me."

The younger Watcher laughed. "So what brings you by here?"

"Oh nothing." Dan replied, moving around the desk and behind Remy to search the bookshelf behind him. "Just stopping by to say hello, and to pick up some material before I move on."

Remy watched him, knowing that Dan was actually searching for some of the older journals of the guild. Shaking his head, Remy remarked. "Still working on that pet project of yours, I see."

"Hey. This is a legitimate case."

"Really?" His voice lowered, just enough so that only Dan could hear him. "An elusive, all-powerful immortal that even we don't know about? Come on."

"It's not impossible." Dan countered. "I've collected a few reports here and there, a few leads."

"...But nothing conclusive."

Now Dan's voice lowered. "You forget these guys make it their life's business to live in the shadows of history. It may be the Gathering, but there are still some 'black holes' out there." Pulling out the books he wanted, he pointed. "And I intend to find this one."

"Well, good luck to ya."

Dan nodded. "I'll need it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go before my subject 'ditches' me again."

Another round of laughter was his answer...

'Man, I'm beat...'

Landing on the shores of Pirgos, the two had long left the boat and were now simply walking around to take in the sights. At least Sean tried to, between his repeated moments where he had to take a breath or relax a bit, all the while telling Ryu that he was alright when in truth his body felt like jelly.

Training with ki was more strenuous than his usual physical training. Usually, ki flows through him when he trains, but it wasn't something he focused solely on. That takes more effort and concentration than what he was used to. The fact that Ryu made him do it for almost an hour took a bit of a toll on him, but at least he was getting better at ki manipulation.

Looking over at Ryu, he found his secondary teacher was distracted once again. He figured it had something to do with what happened in Italy and their confrontation with Rose a week ago. Since then, Ryu's mind had been elsewhere; his thoughts distressed by the looks of it. Sean sighed mentally. Ken always said that Ryu took things too seriously. He had to find a way to get him to relax a bit, but he didn't know how to do that. Usually, when Sean wanted to relax he...

And that when a brilliant idea popped into his mind...

"Ryu-sensei." Sean started. "I've been thinking about what you said on the boat. About how our strengths and weaknesses can be applied to all aspects in life."

"Yes." Ryu said, almost in monotone.

"Does that include sports?"

"Huh?" This took Ryu out of his revere and caused him to turn to the younger immortal. "I...I guess it should."

'So far, so good...' "So a guy like you could learn a sport even though you may be new to it, as long as they put their strength to it."

"I...suppose..." Ryu stammered, not sure where he was going with this.

Sean's face now lit up with a grin. "Good. Then in thanks for helping me with my ki, I would like to teach you the art of...basketball!"

"Wha... But I don't..."

"That doesn't matter, right?" Sean stated, grabbing his arm and heading toward basketball courts in the park. "All you have to do is learn the basic rules and put your strength into it, right?"

"Uh, well..."

"Great." Reaching the court, Sean lowered his duffel bag and dug out a red-and-white basketball from within; his earlier fatigue long forgotten. "It's simple. You just have to get the ball into the hoop more times than me." Sean gave a short dribble and then shot the ball in, sinking it in perfectly. Picking up the ball, Sean then tossed it to Ryu. "I'll explain the rest as we go along, but here. Give it a try."

Ryu continued to give Sean a confused look, not entirely sure as to how he ended up in this situation. Not that he didn't know anything about basketball, he'd seen it a couple of times. But it was an activity he didn't give too much notice of because he honestly didn't think it'd be an issue for him. Shaking his head in mild disbelief, Ryu mimicked Sean's movements, dribbling first and then taking the shot. But he had put too much into it and the ball slammed hard against the backboard.

"You put too much into in." Sean admonished, catching the ball as it came down. "It's about control and distance." He tossed the ball back to Ryu. "Depending on where you are, you have to put just the right amount of energy and force into it."

Ryu shook his head and chuckled lightly. This was starting to sound like on of his old training exercises under Master Gouken. And since that seemed to be the case, Ryu would have to take it as such, just in a different way. Dribbling the ball once again, Ryu took a more careful aim and launched it. The ball hit the back again, but not as hard, allowing the ball to rotate around the hoop and eventually fall in.

"Not bad. Not perfect, but it works." Grabbing the ball, Sean dribbled once more, grinning all the while. "Now let's work on dribbling while moving."

Ryu returned the smile, completely forgetting that he never really agreed to this in the first place...

Closing the shop, Remy waved a goodbye to the last of the customers that left (young ladies of course) early in the evening. He was being truthful when he told Dan that things were quiet. But that made it all the better for him to do his work; quietly and without notice. Just then, the cell phone rang in his pocket. Checking the call ID number, he moved away to a quiet area and answered.

"No problems to report ... A possible intrusion, but nothing I can't handle ... Yes ... Understood ... It will be done, Sire."

"So you're heading to India."

Sean and Ryu were standing by the bus stop in wait for the transportation to arrive. After their game yesterday, Sean decided to head off to Brazil in order to further his training. Ryu understood his reasoning; normally a person felt better in familiar land and training would improve a good deal there. So the two immortals would part ways once again, as Ryu told his friend that he was heading to India.

"Yes. There is someone I need to see. An old friend."

"I understand." In truth, Sean was expecting this, sort of. For the reason of returning to his homeland, training was only part of it. The other part was to give Ryu his solitude back. Whatever Rose meant by her words in their duel, it had obviously affected Ryu a good deal. Whatever Ryu was dealing with, Sean sensed that the elder immortal wanted, or had to, face it alone. So Sean did the one thing he could, he let him be. Seeing the bus approach from the distance, Sean stood straight and bowed to Ryu.

"Thank you for all your help, Ryu-sensei."

Ryu returned the gesture. "Thank you as well, Sean." He then smiled, remembering yesterday's game. "It's been a while since I... Since I've had so much fun.

"You're welcome."

The bus soon neared them and Sean grabbed hold of his duffel bag in preparation. Ryu nodded mentally at this, a little sad that Sean was leaving. He was honest when he said he had fun. Basketball was something that he had gotten in to, once he got the hang of it. But they had their ways, their own paths to follow.

"When we meet again, I hope you will have improved in your control of ki."

"Yes." He then grinned, as the bus rolled up beside them. "And I hope you will have improved your control of jump shots."

Ryu chuckled. "Heh, of course. Well then... until fate brings us together again."

"Until then...Ryu-sensei..."

With that, Sean boarded the bus and the vehicle soon drove away, leaving Ryu to himself. Standing there for a moment, Ryu soon lifted his own duffel bag and walked on in the opposite direction. Now was the time to find some answers, the time to learn more about himself.

"Fight with your soul, Ryu and you will be able to change destiny."

Now was the time...for his journey to continue...