why can't I

Chapter 15: Life Lessons

Night drew on and she grew hungry. She saw nothing but forest for miles and she wondered if she had gotten lost. "So hungry…" She was about to call it quits for the night when she heard the distant call of an angry mob

The sound of heavy steps ricocheted in her ears and she followed the frantic sound. She finally reached the mob as they cornered the beast against a large boulder. Two men approached Inoshikacho without fear and with firm smirks on their faces. "Who are those guys?"

One of the villagers whispered to her. "They are martial artists the village chief hired to destroy the monster."

"Wow martial artists…" She watched them in action as the two pummeled the beast quickly with swift movements and precise aiming of their attacks. Inoshikacho didn't have a chance. The beast fell and the villagers cheered. Oh well, Rikku thought, so much for fighting the monster herself. She would have to find some other means of training.

Before leaving the group she got a good look at the fighters. The little one was pale faced and resembled a clown. He wore a gi with the sign of the crane on it and wore a black hate atop his head. His taller counterpart was long and beefy with a confident smirk and three eyes. They didn't look much like humans only in body but not in face. "I wonder if I will see them in the tournament."

The night grew on and Rikku's stomach rumbled. There were no fruit trees from what she could see so her only option was to fish. However nothing bit and it seemed like she would be going without a meal. "Man I'm starving…" she pauses sniffing the air and drooling. "Ooh something smells good!" She runs in the direction of the smell saliva pooling in her mouth. When she reached the source she found something unexpected. "Inoshikacho… and those men from before." She walked closer to hear them speak.

"That last battle was well executed Inoshikacho. Your best performance yet."

"Yes, I say we hit a couple more villages and lay low for awhile."

"Hello!"

All three heads turn to look at the young girl. Tien, the tallest of the bunch looked at the strange girl. What was she doing out here all by herself?

"Smells great. You must have made friends with them after your fight." Rikku said walking to Inoshikacho and rubbing his belly. "You don't seem very angry."

"Hands off!" Tien moved knocking Rikku back.

"Hey what was that for?"

"Now that you know our secret I can't allow you to live rodent!"

Rikku became surrounded but looked confused wondering why they were acting so defensive.

"Secret? What secret? I don't understand."

"Allow me to handle her." The tallest of the two men approached her. "I need the exercise after the meal."

Rikku was barely conscious hearing nothing but the smoldering fire and the smell of the grilling corn. It was all too appetizing. So when a shout of attack rung in her ears she dodged last minute moving with swift speed to avoid the three eyed man's attack.

The clown like kid watched in awe. "She moves like a fighter."

"Stupid little punk," Rikku's assailant growled. "Who are you? What's your name?"

"My name's Rikku and I'm starving. I really would like some food."

"Rikku," the little one murmured keeping his eyes on the girl. "I've heard that name before."

His counterpart didn't much care who Rikku was he was bound determined to leave her laying on the ground dead. He shot forward both his legs going for her head which she easily ducked away from. His feet instead took a chunk out of a tree causing it to fall right on top of her.

"That takes care of that. However, she was quite skillful for a kid. We better move on. We don't want anyone else o sneak up on us."

Rikku barely remembered a thing after hitting the ground sandwiched between that and the large tree. However she would remember the faces of her assailants. She awoke to a warm bed and a smiling face of Taman a young girl whose village had been cheated by Inoshikacho and his "assailants." She wouldn't let them get away. She later on found them in another village ready to take them for their money and quickly interfered. However the tables were turned when the two fighters lit a fire underneath Inoshikacho and left him to burn. Unable to watch his suffering Rikku saved the poor creature and fled to Taman's village. The angry mob followed but were quickly persuaded by Taman and her village chief.

She made a friend in Inoshikacho and left him with Taman to help fix crops and such. Taman had told her about the world martial arts tournament and how the two bad men had been talking about entering. It left Rikku with a sense of excitement. With two fighters with… what she guessed… incredible power she had something more to look forward to. She would confront them head on at the tournament and beat them fair and square.

The plane ride to Papaya Island was a little more than what Krillen could take. He had trained for three long years for the moment. It was a chance for him to redeem himself on his loss and get a chance at the title. He even looked forward to having a rematch against Jackie Chun just to test his skills from last time.

Once they landed the group immediately drove to the arena to sign up. Krillen had hoped Rikku would already be there but it had been wishful thinking since she seemed to be nowhere in sight. "Where's Rikku? She's going to miss the signup if she doesn't get here soon."

"She'll show up at the last minute just wait." Oolong assured Krillen keeping his eyes on the sky. He hoped to hear the whir of the Nimbus cloud but could hear nothing but the buzz of the crowd and the murmured voices of his group.

"Hello again," a deep raspy voice breaks the suspense amongst the group and all heads turn to see three men. Two of them no one would recognize the three eyed man tall and beefy with a smirk as smug as his teacher. The shortest of them with his clown like face and the eldest with a crane hate perched upon his head staring at Roshi with a smile that mixed in laughter and disgust. "Good to see you've come out of your shell."

"Hermit Crane what a surprise. After all these years you're still alive." Roshi's sarcasm leaked with bitterness and just a touch of sadness.

"The lines on your face run just as deep you old fossil." Hermit Crane rubbed the stub of his moustache examining the group and rating them all pitiful. "Relax I didn't come here to start trouble. In fact I heard your pupils did quite well last tournament. I'm quite impressed but I guess anything can happen."

"Shut yer pie hole Crane!"

"You may have gotten lucky what with my absence last year however this year my boys will swoop through the tournament no problem. Your boys don't stand a chance."

"You're still full of hot air! I guess nothing has changed."

"You better stay out of my way!"

"We're not turning tail for you or anyone."

Crane and Roshi bumped heads the tension between them so thick you had to cut it with an axe to pry it apart. When Crane finally took his leave Roshi got a good look at the boys as his pupils. Yamcha approached him curious about the new rivals.

"Master Roshi who was that guy?"

"His name is Master shen and unfortunately I had once called him friend."

"There's no time to be thinking about the old days! There's only a few minutes left and Rikku still isn't here!"

"Hey relax Oolong look." Launch blonde and fiesty pointed down the street where Rikku sprinted full force towards them. Her clothes having been destroyed she managed to makeshift a dress made from tiger fur. She waved her hand laughing and smiling and skidded to a stop her mass of hair falling forward and lifting up. "Hey guys!" RIkku grinned wide. "What's up?