Ling lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. If only she could open them and see that it had all been a bad dream, just a nightmare that would vanish at the blink of an eye. Memories of the tournament flashed through her mind.
Ling opened her eyes and wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks. As she sat up she winced at the pain in her mid-section.
‘I can’t take this anymore!’ she cried mentally and drew up her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Curling her self up, she rocked herself back and forth, desperately seeking peace in her mind. All this pain and hurt, just because of a stupid ambition, a silly dream that could never have been fulfilled. Why had she not seen that before? Why?!?

It had all started that day in Hong Kong. She had been on a family outing. Her mother had promised to take her to the amusement parks there. It was all she had ever wanted, to visit all theme parks worldwide. Yeah so Hong Kong wasn’t exactly world wide, but it was a start.
Ling looked around at the shops and walked over to her mother. She frowned at the ice cream in her hand, it had started to melt and she didn’t want to get it all over her favourite suit. She was wearing a beautiful silk suit her mother had bought for her. it was a brilliant red trouser and top set, with a traditional collar design in yellow. To finish, Ling wore a matching yellow sash tied in a beautiful bow around her waist.
As she went over to her mother, she licked the ice cream to stop it dripping.
“Ma, can I go to the arcades again? Huh? Please ma!” Ling pleaded her mother while eating her ice cream.
“Ling, you’ve been so many times today, can’t we go somewhere else? I heard there’s a great boat ride the last place we just went to.” Her mother replied. Ling pouted, but faltered when she saw her mother’s face, she looked so tired and tense. When she was younger her mother had been so energetic, a lot like herself. But now she was past that, she just couldn’t keep up anymore. Ling gave in.
“Alright, if you insist.” Some of the tension relaxed from her mother’s face and ling felt happier all of a sudden. “Well then, lets go! Don’t want to have to miss the ride now!” she said as she pulled her mother towards the bus.

“Hey! Doesn’t look too bad actually!” Ling said as she surveyed the boat.
“Oh Ling! We must wait for your father first, you know how he worries.”
“Yeah ma, don’t worry about it. Speaking of which, here he comes.” Ling jumped up and down waving at her father enthusiastically, as he made his way towards them through the bustling crowds. “hi dad” she said, greeting her father with a hug.
“Ling, you haven’t been bothering your mother have you?”
“Me? Would I do such a thing?” Ling said innocently, and then burst out laughing.
“ahhh! Look if we don’t hurry we won’t get tickets! Come!” Her mother said urgently.
As they made their way to the ticket booth, Ling spotted a large ship at the dock. It was a truly magnificent vessel. It had a logo on the side of the boat. Where had she seen that logo before? Master Wang had told her about it, but she just couldn’t remember! Mi… mi…misu? No that’s wasn’t right, mishu? No…Mishima!!! Yeah that was it. The logo was that of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Apparently one of the richest conglomerates in the world, run by a man called Heihachi Mishima. Funnily Ling had never heard of it till Master Wang had told her about it. A thought suddenly came to her mind, if this Heihachi was SO rich, what exactly could he afford? Maybe…. maybe if she could get onto that ship…
“Ling…. Ling!! Are you listening to me? LING!”
“wha…? What ma? Oh!! Sorry!” Ling looked at her mother sheepishly.
“Well? Are you coming or not?”
“Huh, errrr actually why don’t you and dad go ahead and I’ll catch up with you later!”
“Absolutely not! Ling you’re scheming, I know that look!”
“Ma! I am not! I just want to check out the town that’s all!”
“Ling, no. If you get lost…”
“I won’t get lost!”
“You’re staying with us and that’s final” Ling’s mother replied abruptly as she pulled Ling along towards the boat ride. Ling thought to herself, she had her essential things, money, clothes and her beloved teddy bear all packed in her back pack. If she could get away….
‘No’ she thought to herself, her parents would get worried, but then this was a chance of a lifetime! No way would she ever get this kind of opportunity again. She made her final decision. Pulling her arm away from her mother, Ling ran as fast as her legs would carry her towards the ship. She gripped her backpack, and ran ignoring her parent’s cries ordering her to return. She knew they would chase her but she was too fast. Her bright yellow sash whipping behind her as she ran, Ling ran almost gliding across the streets towards the ship. When she stopped she looked behind her, to find that she was not being followed. She must have lost them in the crowds. She shrugged the thought off and walked up toward the ship. Although guilt often tugged at her heart.
To her dismay she saw that ship was guarded. But that was no problem, Ling looked around and saw a small half wrecked little boat near the elaborate ship. She walked to it making herself look as less suspicious as possible. Climbing into the little boat she paddled the boat with a battered oar around the side of the ship. Luckily she found a rope ladder. Although it was in poor condition, it looked as if it could hold Ling’s weight. She pulled herself up to the edge of the deck and swung her body over. She landed lightly and moved cautiously to see if there were any security guards lurking around. When she saw that the coast was clear she relaxed and surveyed her surroundings.
Ling was impressed; the ship was better than any first class cruise ship she had ever seen. What would it be like to live like this? This luxury? Suddenly she was interrupted in her thoughts by a loud humming sound accompanied by voices of people boarding the ship. The voices got nearer until they were loud enough for Ling to hear clearly.
‘Oh…crap, here we go.’ She looked around for a place to hide and saw a staircase. If she could get behind it she could stay behind it. That was until she saw Heihachi Mishima himself and could have the chance to confront him. When it seemed that everyone was on board the ship began to move. The voices accompanied by their owners came nearer; ling cringed back into the tiny space she was hiding in to keep from being discovered. No one came to where Ling sat nestled in a corner beneath the stairs. Where she waited…silently.

After what seemed like hours, four of the security guards came onto the deck on which Ling was hiding. At first they didn’t notice her undone sash trailing out from behind the stairs. When she had finally noticed it, it was too late, one of the security guards had already spotted her. Deciding there was no point in hiding any longer, ling climbed out of her hiding space.
“HEY! You kid! What the hell are you doing here!?!” Ling stood up looking slightly annoyed, she didn’t fully understand what he was saying but she knew it wasn’t entirely polite. It was a good thing master Wang had taught her a little bit of Nihongo. She ignored them and started to do her sash up again. “Hey kid, didn’t you hear me??? Are you deaf? What are you doing?”
“heh, I don’t think she understands you man.” The second man said mockingly. Ling looked up at the man and smiled.
“Hey I think she LIKES you,” the third said as they all broke out into laughter.
That did it; Ling broke out into a run with a scowl pasted on her face. Catching the men off guard, she ran as fast as she could towards the guy who had made the last comment. She extended her elbow in front of her body pushing with all her might; she knocked the man to the floor. Leaving the rest of the guards speechless, she began her assault. She hopped over to the second guard kicked him squarely in the face, he staggered backward. Quickly recovering he made a grab for Ling, but she was too fast, she evaded and tumbled to his left quickly slamming two knifed palms onto his head; He fell instantly. The guard’s comrades looked at Ling horrified, but still made advances towards her.
“I want talk to Mr Mishima, I don’t have time for these games. Where is he?” she said in the little Japanese she knew.
“You aint got no business here kid, now don’t make a mess so just come here before you get hurt!” one of the guards replied nastily. Ling narrowed her eyes at him and muttered to herself.
“Fine, have it your way.”
She looked at them all then jumped onto a table nearby. She waited till they came right next to the table them launched her body into a full backward layout landing behind one of the guards with her back turned. With that she jumped towards him, still with her back turned and performed a backward kick sending the guard flailing arms and legs through the air. She wasted no time though; she faced another of the guards and struck him with her palm in his midsection with amazing strength. For a while Ling remained in her stance, the storming flower. The final guard that remained looked at Ling horrified, as she smiled viciously at him. She was about to attack when a booming voice interrupted.
“What on earth is going on here?” the voice belonged to man who looked in his seventies at the most. His hair was almost non-existent apart from two peaks at the sides of his head. He was dressed in a smart fir lined plum jacket and white trousers.
'For an old man, he’s in good shape', Ling thought absently.
“Well? Would you like to explain?” the man said while surveying the carnage distastefully. The guard was clearly shocked at what had just happened and frightened of this man.
“ Mi…Mishima-sama, this girl, we found her hiding in the ship, and she insisted that she see you. And then she…”
“That’s enough! You’re pathetic. You allow yourself to be beaten by a child!!!” Ling looked at the man, shocked. This was Heihachi Mishima? Well it wouldn’t be too hard to beat him then. He looked at Ling in a slightly amused manner and asked.
“So child, what is it that you so desperately seek from me that has caused you to make this mess.” Ling hesitated at first, trying desperately to figure out how to speak to him without looking like a fool. Finally she replied.
“First of all I’m NOT a child! And what I want is your help. I’m not asking, I’m telling you!” Realising her difficulty to speak in Japanese, Heihachi laughed and spoke in fluent Cantonese.
“heh heh. Child what possibly makes you think that you can force me into whatever it is that you want? Eh?” Ling gave a mental sigh, being able to understand she spoke this time with full confidence.
“Well if you want to end up like all your so called security guards here, then I’d be glad to do that” Heihachi looked at Ling, and grinned viciously. She had a lot of guts carrying out this mindless plan; he liked it and decided to listen to her further.
“heh, heh well what is it that you wish me to aid you in child?”
“Have you been to Bei-Jing Mr Mishima? or any other part of China besides Hong Kong? Well if you had then you'd know that are almost no entertaining places to go, and those there are...are limited. what i would like is for you to build me my own amusement park. And STOP calling me CHILD!!” Heihachi, looked at Ling gob smacked. This girl was well and truly out of her mind. But then he noticed the unconscious guards on the floor. She had taken out the best of his guards in a matter of minutes without breaking a sweat. For a girl of her age that was remarkable. Could she? Maybe… she looked like a worthy participant for the Iron Fist tournament.
Ling was beginning grow restless.
“I will build you your park….” Ling looked confused; she had not expected to get what she wanted so easily.
“You will?” she asked awkwardly.
“On one condition” he continued. Ling’s spirits fell, she knew there had to be a catch. “I will build you your park, on the condition that you must participate in the Iron Fist Tournament that I am holding… AND come out victorious, then the park is yours.” Ling's mind raced and then she finally paused...'Iron Fist???'
“Ah wait, what’s an Iron Fist tournament?” Ling had vague memory of an Iron Fist tournament. Something master Wang had participated in.
“It is a martial art competition, as you seem more than able to fight, I think this is the perfect opportunity to prove how much this park means to you.” How hard could that be? Ling had entered many tournaments, and emerged victorious. This would be a piece of cake. “Well? Do you accept?”
Ling straightened herself out and replied, “Done, I win then I get the park!” Ling said to herself enthusiastically.
“As you are obviously a minor, I will take you under my care. I assume that your parents don’t know about this, I will have to have them informed.” He spoke absently. Ling looked at Heihachi, shocked, but then convinced herself that it was not such a bad idea. He motioned for her to follow him and she walked behind him, tripping over the still unconscious guards. She snickered at the chaos she had caused and followed Heihachi into the luxurious ship holding her head up in pride.

It had been three days since Ling had crept on board the Mishima Zaibatsu vessel, and even though they had not stopped sailing for three days straight Ling never tired of the ship. Heihachi was surprisingly nice to her even though she had been rather rude at their introduction. He had provided her with her own room in the ship, spare clothes, nice ones too! And every thing else that she needed. Ling was sitting on her bed when she heard a knock on the door.
“Come in” Ling said in response to the knock. Heihachi entered the room.
“You will need to gather all your belongings, we will be leaving shortly. I have arranged for us to be flown to Japan as soon as we stop. That will give you at least a month to prepare for the Tournament and to get settled into school there.”
“School???” ling gasped.
“Yes Ling-chan, you must continue your education, it is for your best interest.” Heihachi replied calmly. Ling pouted.
“But I don’t know anyone there!!! Not to mention my Nihongo is awful!!!” Ling complained
“You will be able to get to know my grandson Jin. I’m sure you will get along with him fine. As for your speech, you can by practice and I’ll have a tutor assigned to teach you” Heihachi said coolly and exited her room.
The flight was comfy, yet Ling was beginning to get restless with all the travelling and longed for a good long nights sleep. They arrived in Tokyo at 3.00pm. Heihachi took note of Ling’s tired mood and decided that they should return to the Mishima residence immediately. When they finally arrived at the Mishima mansion, Ling was really tired and it had gotten very late. By now she was used to seeing expensive and elaborate things, so the sight of the mansion did not excite her, as it would have in the past.
Ling was lead to a room and left to settle in. She looked at her room and instantly went to the bed and lay down. It felt good having a soft comfortable bed to lay down on. In a matter of minutes she was out cold.

Ling woke up late the next morning, feeling revived and refreshed. She took a bath and put on some new clean clothes and went to explore that mansion. Ling made her way downstairs and went to see if she could find Heihachi. She was starved. She had not eaten since the flight into Japan. While exploring the mansion, she made her way through a maze of corridors to find the dining room. Heihachi was sat a dining table in the centre of the room. When Ling entered, he looked up and motioned for her to come and sit down. Ling went and sat down opposite to Heihachi. When she sat down she noticed a large bear at Heihachi’s feet. He was huge! Even as big as… as big as panda. Oh how she missed panda.
There was a buffet laid on the table, Ling filled her plate and ate her breakfast in silence, deep in thought, what would she do without panda?. When she had finished, she looked down at her plate then up at Heihachi, who was reading a paper. He looked up from his paper at Ling.
“You look rather disturbed Ling, is anything the matter?”
“Hmm? No, I was just thinking. I miss my pet. Your own bear reminded me of her”
“Kuma? How does my bear remind you of your pet?” Heihachi asked, amused.
“My pet is a Panda. I take care of her for my school, she really is amazing.” Ling said happily. She rested her chin on her palms and sighed. No matter how much she thought about her, panda wasn’t with her now...
“If you want Ling, I could have your panda brought here, since you will be here for long time.” Ling stared at Heihachi speechless.
“ye..yes! That would be wonderful! Oh thank you Mr Mishima! Thank you very much!” Ling finally replied. She was really happy now. Maybe it might not be so bad if she had panda with her. Although, she did wonder why Heihachi was so nice.
“Now, since you don’t have anything planned, why don’t you go make yourself more familiar with grounds.”
Ling smiled politely to Heihachi and left the room. She sighed as she closed the door. Ling wasn’t used to all the serious attitude and luxurious lifestyle. She decided that she would explore the grounds.
Ling made her way around the mansion, when finally she found herself outside the mansion. Ling heard some noise from a smaller building next to the mansion. Without thinking she started towards it. She pulled open the door to find that the building was a Dojo. The noise was coming from the room further in. She peeked into the room to see a young man. He seemed rather preoccupied in his training. Ling stared at him in awe. His techniques, flexibility and strength, they were just amazing. He looked only a few years older than Ling, dressed in only a pair of black Gi with a flame design on one leg, Ling could see his muscular torso. She went on staring, for a guy that young, he was well built not to mention well trained.
After some time the boy finally noticed Ling watching quietly from the doorway. He looked at her and began to walk towards her, snatching a towel off of the floor as he did. Ling stood rooted to the floor as he finally stood, almost towering over her. She froze unable to speak when he offered his hand. She took it, almost fearfully.
“Ohayo, my name is Jin Kazama, you must be Ling”
“ahhh, hai, hajime mashite kazama-san…I thought u were a Mishima?” she said finally shaking herself back to the moment. Thankfully she knew enough to hold a short conversation.
“erm no, I take my mother’s name, long story.”
“Ah right… gotcha. Well nice to meet you Jin.” She said with a confident smile. “Hope I won’t be too much of a trouble around here.” She said awkwardly as she looked around her.
“No not at all, it’d be nice to have someone around my age in this place. It can get surprisingly boring around here.”
“No way! There seems like so much to do!”
“Not really. You’re fighting in the tournament right?”
“Uh yeah, why?”
“What do you say to a quick match? I haven’t sparred with anyone for a while.”
“I could use the practice!” Ling replied with a grin. “Don’t be fooled by my size, and don’t go easy, I’m tougher than I look.”
“We’ll see.” He said with a grin.
“Prepare yourself Kazama, you’re gonna get you’re ass kicked.”

One month had passed since Ling had arrived in Tokyo, one month since she left home. Two weeks and one day till the Tournament, the tournament and Jin’s birthday. Ling had been enrolled into Mishima High. She could speak fluent Japanese now and She had even been allowed to take panda with her to school. Panda was being trained to fight, just like Kuma was trained to act as a body guard. Mishima-sama had insisted that Panda be trained properly and act as a bodyguard for Ling. She didn’t really think it was a bad idea so she had agreed. As for Jin, they had gotten on well as soon as they'd met.

She was having a bad day. Then again that was no surprise. Tuesdays were always bad days. Two maths lessons in one day, that was too much for any teenager to take. Ling walked out of the building with Panda dragging her feet slowly at her side. She sighed, relieved that the day was done. As she was about to turn the corner of the building she heard a voice shout her name. Miharu ran from the building running to catch up with her.

“Ling! Hey Ling! Wait up!” Miharu said and ran breathlessly towards her, clutching a stack of books to her chest.
“Oh hey Miharu, sorry. I thought you’d gone on ahead” she replied
“No, I got held up, had to give in my assignment to Ikeda-san”
“Ok.” Ling did not say anymore more to her, but kept on walking, looking down at her plaid school skirt as she did. After seeing Jin and Heihachi training, she didn’t know if she could participate in the Tournament. Their skill was beyond her own.

“What’s wrong? You look down” Miharu questioned. Ling was never this quiet.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about the tournament. It’s gonna be tough.”
“Stop worrying about it, you’ll do fine. I’ll tell you what, after you get home and you've cleaned up gimme a call and we can go into town. You wanted to go right?” Ling looked at her and smiled. It was a great idea that way she could find out what Jin might like for his birthday and she could relax a little more. For some reason she felt obliged to get him something.
“Yeah, why not, that’s a great idea.” She replied with a satisfied smile. Her day had been brightened up and she felt suddenly happier.

When she had first enrolled at the school she had found it hard to make friends due to the lack of communication. But Miharu had befriended her despite that. Over the month they had grown closer and closer. Miharu was the closest to a best friend Ling had ever had. Funnily, Miharu supported Ling's idea of fighting for the theme park. That was good to know, it comforted her.

The next day was hectic. The participants of the tournament were to arrive. Jin and Ling had been asked to greet the participants and escort them from the airport. Ling didn’t know why Heihachi wasn’t going personally but she was quite excited. She was really looking forward to seeing all the contestants. They went to the airport by limousine along with a few guards. Five more limousines were also taken with them to escort the participants.
“Wow, this isn’t this exciting?!” Ling exclaimed. Jin looked at her and smiled.
“Yeah but don’t get too excited, you’re going to fight some of these people.”
“So. I get to see what I’m up against, right?”
“Yeah, guess so.” He replied absently.
When they got there they sat and waited at the arrivals department waiting patiently for the participants. One of the guards stood holding a board with ‘Iron fist’ written on it. Ling lounged on one of the chairs with panda slumped at her feet. After only 10 minutes a Chinese man approached them, he looked slightly aged but very healthy. His hair was so long it reaches the small of his back; he wore it tied back into a ponytail. Ling looked at him in wonder. She recognised him from her martial arts school. Lei Wulong was a well-known cop in China, he had been nicknamed ‘super-cop’ it was almost impossible to miss him.
“Mr Wulong?” Ling said to him as he approached. He looked at her and frowned. “Hi! I’m sorry you may not remember me, but you went to the same martial arts school as me! I’m Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu-Ling.” he looked at Ling and his eyes suddenly brightened.
“Ling? Little Ling? Well! Look at you; you’re all grown up! The last time I saw you, you were this high!” he said and held a hand just above his knee. “So tell me how have your parents been?”
Jin looked at the pair rather surprised but smiled and waited patiently as they caught up on old times.
The next half hour was hectic, most of the remaining participants arrived.

A famous wrestler that went by the name of ‘King’ arrived with a crowd of reporters surrounding him. He was obviously given more publicity due to his reputation by the surrounding media who were covering the arrival of the participants of the Iron Fist Tournament. Paul Phoenix, who had apparently participated in the last tournament, arrived. The man was strange looking; his hair gold in colour was gelled up straight and his face was covered in rough looking stubble. Ling didn’t like him, he kept eyeing Panda distastefully and his manner was very self absorbed. With him was another fighter, despite his Oriental features, when he spoke, he did so with a strong American accent. Unlike his friend, he seemed a little shy but very friendly. Another was a Brazilian man, by the name of Eddy Gordo, so far he seemed to be the most unsociable character that had arrived, ignoring any attention from the media and refraining from saying more than two words to anyone. Julia Chang, a young attractive Native American girl; she looked like a student. Julia looked a few years older than Ling, she was a nice and polite girl. Though it took time for Julia to understand Ling’s accented English. Then there was Nina Williams, a cold woman despite the warm tones of her golden hair. Ling didn’t even bother to speak to her instead she deliberately ignored her cold icy glare.

It was nearing noon and all the participants were supposed to have arrived.
“Just one left now and we’re home free.” Jin said tiredly as he leaned back onto a chair.
“Who?” Ling asked as she yawned. Jin called a guard over whom in response flicked through a clipboard and showed Jin the remaining contestant to arrive.
“Some guy named, Hwoarang…sounds familiar….” Jin said with a thoughtful expression, “I just can’t seem to place it though, oh well, guess we’ll find out soon enough” he said.
“There aren’t many participants are there?” Ling said as she leaned over to look at the clipboard. Jin leaned in and whispered in her ear.
“Not all of them are here right now I don’t think. I’m sure there are a few more to come but we’re not picking them up here…the remaining participants are unofficial.” He said and leant back again. Ling raised her eyebrows and looked over to him thoughtfully.

Twenty more minutes passed and finally the last contestant arrived. Ling looked at him as he strolled over to the group. In mid step he froze and narrowed his eyes at something…someone…Jin. He put his foot down and ling saw his hand clenching on the duffel back he held. A scowl spread across his face and he snarled.
“You!” Jin looked up at him and rolled his eyes upward. Ling stared at the new comer; he was good looking to say the least. His hair fell down to his neck in a soft coppery fall. He was built muscularly, as were most of the other fighters, though like Jin, he didn’t look that much older than ling herself. The two men stood and stared at each other in silent fury until Jin broke away ignoring him. He called to a few of the guards and instructed them to lead their ‘guests’ to the limousines as he did so he called to ling and walked to one of the limousines. As they climbed in ling looked around and asked. The new comer walked over to the rest of the participants with the scowl plastered to his face.
“What the hell happened there??? You could have cut the tension with a knife!! I’m quite sure I saw blue sparks in the air!!!!” she exclaimed
“THAT was Hwoarang, a street fighter I came across in Korea. He’s here because he wants to ‘kick my ass’ was the term he used I think.”
“Err, why?” she asked, a little puzzled.
“Because I drew him to a fight, and he’s never lost before. So I think I may have done some major damage to his pride so to speak”
“Right…you guys are weird…” Ling concluded.
“What’s so weird about me?” Jin asked defensively.
“Not you personally…. just guys in general…” Ling grinned.
“Thanks…” Jin he replied dryly.

Most of the participants that had arrived had gone straight to their ‘temporary homes’ for the next two months or so. Each person had a room in the finest suites of the Mishima Grand hotel, which was right next to the arena in which the fights were to take place. Ling had opted to stay there also so that she might get a chance to meet and get to know her opponents. That was what she had told Heihachi-sama… and it had been a bare lie. She wanted to see what she was up against, not to mention she didn’t really want the special treatment. He had agreed but only if Jin went, deciding that it wasn’t a bad deal she had gone with it.

The fights were going to start within two weeks. But match schedules had not yet been circulated and Ling was eager to know whom she was fighting. Mishima-sama had organised a welcome party in honour of the competitors. Ling had dressed in a smart sleeveless green dress, with a square neck and thick straps. It was of no particular elegance; Ling just didn’t want to look too out of place. When she had entered the main hall of the hotel, Ling noticed that the room was actually rather crowded considering there hadn’t been very many people that had arrived at the airport the day before. Most of them as it turned out were actually reporters and special guests invited to judge a lot of the matches. Ling spent most of the party cowering behind Jin, though he didn’t seem all too comfortable himself with the glares and confusing comments from the majority of the crowd. Ling didn’t understand what was going on nor did she think it appropriate to ask him. Deciding that she was definitely bored she went to meet some of the participants. The first person she ran into was the copper headed Korean. She looked up at him and smiled nervously. She didn’t really think he was the sociable type but she threw caution to the wind and held out her hand. He raised a quizzical eyebrow and took it awkwardly.
“I’m Ling Xiaoyu.” She said confidently in Japanese trying to hide her hesitation hoping he would understand. He frowned trying to place what she had just said. Ling grimaced; talking to some of these people was going to be pretty hard as most of them spoke different languages. He looked thoughtfully at her for a second.
“Do you speak English?” he asked in fluent speech. Ling nodded and repeated her name in English. “Hwoarang” he said coldly despite the warm look in his eyes. He was evidently bored and desperately needed to talk to someone. “So what’s a little girl like you doing in a tournament like this then?” he asked as if he only just noticed her size and apparent age.
“Little girl???” Ling fumed. Hwoarang raised his hands in his defence and smiled obviously enjoying her discomfort.
“My mistake, young lady.” He said in an exaggerated politeness. “So anyway, what’s in this for you? You in for the money?” he asked as he sat down in a booth. Ling slumped down opposite him and sighed. There wasn’t a chance she was going to tell him her real motives for entering; he’d have laughed in her face.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She replied. Ling watched him as he opened his mouth to reply, but was distracted as the hall went suddenly quite. All the attention was diverted to a small elaborately decorated stage located at the back of the hall. Ling looked up at the stage and watched intently as Heihachi walked up towards the mic stand. He stood there a moment and looked over the crowd critically before leaning forward to speak.

“I welcome you all to this special event. As I understand it, all of you were fortunate enough to make it through the preliminary fights. That was the first stage, and even though you were able to emerge victorious within those fights, this is the true test. Here we shall see who is the best fighter.” He paused a minute. Ling’s eyes had wondered around the room during the speech. The reaction of the competitors were varied, Julia Chang had looked on at Heihachi in disgust and turned away. Ling held her breath just waiting for her to get up and leave. Her eyes flickered over to Lei Wulong, who was staring at the stage with a cold stony gaze. On the other hand when she looked over to another table situated to the left of the stage she watched intently at the yellow-headed American. Paul Phoenix’s eyes had glittered notably as he had listened to Heihachi talk on stage. A smirk had spread across his face as he had continued to listen. Ling turned away to look at Hwoarang; he was watching the stage with a bored expression on his face. He honestly didn’t look like he could be bothered to listen nor did he look as if he cared for what the old man said. Ling turned her attention back to the stage as Heihachi continued to drone on for another fifteen minutes. She couldn’t seem to take in the words he spoke until his voice raised slightly indicating the climax of his speech.
“…this tournament you will be able to realise your true strengths and your true weaknesses. Here you shall discover your Tekken!” he concluded. His final sentence was followed by a loud applause, which Ling noticed hadn’t come from the participants but from the special guests that had been invited. Hwoarang snorted as the speech.
“What a load of bullshit.” He said to her. “where does he get that crap from?” Ling stared at him slightly amused.
“Old age, they think they get wiser. Not quite sure what the hell he’s going on about but he’s putting up for me so I aint complaining.” She retaliated.
“You’re staying with the old man?” he asked the look in his eyes implying the impossible” Ling gave him a cold stare and stuck her tongue out.
“He a guardian, I’m not old enough to stay by my self here, so he’s acting as my guardian. It’s not so bad to be honest.” She explained.
“Hell I agree, the guy’s probably the richest man in the world, no doubt it’d be good living with him.” They sat and talked idly about nothing in particular for a couple of hours till most of the guests had turned in for the night and the party had practically ended. Ling got up and said goodbye briefly before walking towards the stage where Heihachi and Jin were sat with a small crowd of reporters. Ling had been careful not to mention Jin to Hwoarang when they had talked. Despite the Korean’s cold off handed nature he was quite friendly at times. Ling wouldn’t be able to get by, by just talking to Jin all the time. Besides, the Korean sometimes brought up some rather interesting arguments. Ling liked a good argument every now and then and Jin seemed just too civilised to argue with her.
“You should get back to your room, you look tired.” He suggested. “I’ll walk you back.” He offered.
“It’s ok, I’ll be alright. I’ll see you tomorrow” Ling said absently and started to walk towards the entrance of the hall.

* knock knock *
Ling grumbled in response to the knock on her door. She yawned as she rose and walked muttering to herself as she walked lazily to the door almost tripping over panda who was cosily curled on the floor. * knock *.
“Hold on!!!” she said as she unlocked the door and pulled it open. At her door was stood a young man. He looked as if he was in his early twenties. He looked at Ling with a slightly amused look on his face. Ling blushed as she looked down. She was dressed only in a vest and shorts. She shuffled nervously and looked up at him quizzically. He cleared his throat and tore his attention away from the scantily clad girl in front of him.
“Xiaoyu?” he asked. Ling looked at him and nodded. He rummaged through a backpack and pulled out an envelope. “That’s your fight schedule in there and other details about the tournament. Enjoy the rest of your day.” He teased and winked at her. Ling scowled and slammed the door on his face. Ling threw herself on the bed and ripped open the envelope. Pulling free the folded paper inside the envelope, Ling opened it out and scanned the sheet for her name. The other matches didn’t matter to her. She just wanted to know who she was fighting. When she spotted her name she stared at the name written beside hers trying to place the person. Eddy Gordo… he was the Brazilian Capoeira fighter. Ling bit her lip and thought. He was very good and she didn’t know if she could fight someone as advanced as him. She cursed herself mentally. ‘You knew what you had to face here, this is no time to be getting cold feet’. She would just have to practice a lot more and do the best she could. Curiosity got the better of her and Ling was soon scanning the page over again to find Jin’s and Hwoarang’s names. King, Jin was fighting the World Wrestling Champion. When Ling located Hwoarang’s name she frowned. She didn’t recognise the name of his opponent. Gun Jack was all that was written and there hadn’t been anyone with that name that had arrived at the airport or at the party. She shrugged the thought off and put the paper aside on the coffee table.

Ling walked over to her small suitcase and rummaged through it. Finally she pulled out a pair of black shorts and a short blue dress. She looked at it a while and stuffed it back into her suitcase. She wanted to save that particular outfit for another occasion; maybe her first fight or something. Instead she pulled out a pair of baggy black pants and white T-shirt. She needed to be comfortable. Most of the participants were going to take part in a short demo that day, friendly matches and the like. Ling showered and pulled on the clothes she had taken out. She combed back her hair and tied it into two neat bunches.

Ling walked casually down the stairs. The demos weren’t until noon and she was hungry. Breakfast was still being served downstairs. She walked into the dining hall and started towards the buffet. She filled her plate and sat down at a table. She sat and ate her breakfast quietly. There was a clatter as someone put down their plate next to hers on the table. She looked up to see the copper headed Korean.
“Hey” he said as he sat down next to her. Ling nodded her head in response. He began to eat his meal without another word. It seemed her presence was enough company in itself. She watched him a while and narrowed her eyes. His hair was a light coppery colour… there was no way that could be his natural colour no matter how well it suited him. Ling smiled and turned back to her plate. “What’s so funny?” he inquired ignoring the fact that his mouth was full. Ling shook her head and continued to eat. Hwoarang simply rolled his eyes and dismissed her odd behaviour. “So, Who’re you fighting?” he asked attempting to make conversation.
“Err you know that Brazilian guy? Eddy Gordo?” she asked. He frowned.
“Nope.” Ling looked around the room for him and located him at a table. He was sat with his face buried in a book.
“Him, over there. In the dark shirt, sitting by himself.” She said and motioned towards Eddy.
“Damn, You think you can take the guy?” he teased. Ling just waved him off.
“I’m better than you might think alright? At least I’ve seen who I’m fighting.” She retaliated.
“What makes you think I haven’t seen him?” he said.
“Have you?” she asked dryly.
“No…”
“Well then” she smirked. The argument continued throughout the rest of breakfast. Ling was just glad Jin hadn’t come to breakfast. The rivalry between the two boys would inevitably ruin her relationship with both of them. Considering that they were her only two friends at the tournament she couldn’t risk that.