Description: After months of leaving Quon be Sagat has once again appeared to find the young man defeated and a shell of the the fighter he saved over a year ago. Determined not to let this man's life go to waste he attempts to start a fire under him to take his life back instead of living in fear.
The weather had been easing up a bit and the fallen Chongquan prodigy was feeling couped up at the homeless shelter since the only times he left were to buy food and beat on tomato cans in underground fighting venues. Being able to sleep out in the fresh air was a welcome change of pace for him.
The young Chinese fighter glanced around for a moment before rolling out his sleeping bag. He could see that no one was around. Less risk of endangering people by close proximity. Probably for best.
After a few moments he just sits down a takes out a book and starts reading using the lamp post as his light to read by. While he has it unrolled, he's not exactly ready to go to sleep just yet.
It had been a long while since Sagat had even checked up on the status of Quon. Once he was out of Shadaloo his contacts and ability to gather info hasn't been nearly as good. That and he wanted to give the man time to think things over before finally deciding on if he truely wanted training or not. He never expected to find out that the fighter had ended up homeless over the time he had been 'dead' and has been living in shelters. This also made it a bit harder to track which is probably what Quon was hoping for.
Luck would have it that Sagat managed to find someone that said they saw a young man fit the description that the Muay Thai warrior gave and mentioned something about the park in Southtown. Being the best bet on where to look he made his way there and began to search. He wasn't having too much luck there until after some time he spotted a sleeping bag as well as Quon reading a book. The former emporer furrows his brow slightly and he stalks forward. It isn't long until his stride leaves him standing not far from Quon. He takes a moment to ponder what to say then finally speaks. "Good book?" Someone is not good with idle conversation.
As the shadow of the much larger man falls over both the book and the Chinese fighter himself there a sigh. Memories of everything he's gone through since he had confronted the guards of Shadaloo's shipment. Bitterness wells up inside of him but he doesn't bother to look up at the Tiger of Muay Thai. "What? You guys aren't finished ruining my life yet? I'm pretty sure there's not much left you guys can do to me short of killing me at this point."
After that he's quiet for a bit as he absently as he lick his finger tip and then uses moist finger tip to turn the page. "I mean after all, you've guys have taken my job, my home, and any attempt at chasing the one dream I had, I'm pretty sure only lead to painting a bullseye on my chest with a huge neon sign above me saying, 'Easy Target.'"
All this time he was making a point not to look at Sagat as if he would just go away if he didn't look at him. After his ranting, he finally comes to the conclusion that Sagat probably won't be going away anytime soon so he finally looks up. "So what does the Muay Thai Jesus want with me?" Making the obvious reference to the fact that Sagat has apparently come back from the dead.
He stays silent the entire time as he listens to Quon. Though as each time he continues to talk the elder fighter just looks more annoyed. He saved Quon back then because he thought the young man had promise. Now he is starting to wonder if he made the right decision in saving him. He gives a shake of his head and a large hand reaches down to grab Quon by the shift and yank him up to his feet. "I want you to stop your self loathing and do something about it. You don't like things then take your life back." His tone is surprisingly calm when he speaks, but the look on his face shows he is annoyed.
He does let go of Quon at least after a moment as he folds his arms over his broad chest. "Think jumping from shelter to shelter is really going to make your life better? Don't be such a fool. If Vega truely wanted you dead you would not be here. He doesn't care as much as you think." He does look a bit frustrated. Of course he can't really see things from the same perspective that Quon has, but after the events he has lived through he knows there are better ways than moping. "I am no longer with them. I plan to no longer be with them."
The motion is so quick that Quon doesn't even have a chance to resist the lift to his feet even if he wanted to. And through Sagat's response, the Chongquan fighter keeps silent. But as bitter and angry as he is, he can tell that it's not coming from a place of someone who wants him to be in this state. Which is confusing to him since as far as he knew, other than Cammy, everyone else in Shadaoo wanted to break him down and completely demoralize him and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
"The only reason I'm alive is Cammy refused to kill me and the next person hasn't showed up yet." He takes a breath and keeps quiet until he's certain he can say what's next calmly. "How do you propose I take my life back?"
Well at least he is listening a bit now. The large fighter just grins slightly at the question. "By force if we have to." Yes, he did say we. He knows on his own Quon would just get killed if he tried to go at things alone, but Sagat also knows better. He has met people that do seem to care for the young fighter. "Shadaloo is busy with other plans at the moment. I don't know what Vega is up to in China fully these days, but that has him preoccupied." he explains and he turns about to look around the the park while considering things.
"Have you still been training?" he asks after a few moments thought. "Increase the time given to it. Get a place to stay. If you must stay with a friend." He could just ask Rust to help out for a bit, but he has already asked quite a bit from that old fighter. He is a good man, but he isn't sure dragging him into things further is a good thing in the long run. "I saved you because I saw potential. It is time to see if I was a good judge of character that night." He then turns back around as he unfolds his arms and cracks his knuckles. "And if Cammy comes around.....I will make sure she gets a message to stay away for good."
The fact that Sagat mentioned China shakes the Chongquan fighter up a bit. It reminds him that he still has family in danger and that Shadaloo still has ways of hurting him even more. That thought brings a frown to his face. "Great... Thanks for reminding me." He's not bothering to elaborate. If no one else is thinking about his parents, the better it is for him
"Yes I have. Not as hard as I did when I ended up in jail because of Vega but I have been training."
He's quiet for a moment before he starts speaking again. "You know why I got into martial arts in the first place?" He lets out a slight laugh that while amused still holds tinges of bitterness. "It was because I looked up to the actors in the movies. Bruce Lee, Fei Long, Mr. Jones. I wanted to learn martial arts so I could star in movies like them. As it stands now, I can't. By becoming famous, I would endanger my fellow actors as long as Vega is alive and I wouldn't be able to deal with innocents dying because they were connected to me. That career path is longer an option." His voice takes on a combination of resolve and bitterness, "The time has come for me to put away the toys and dreams of childhood and become a man."
When he saved the young man Sagat seriously didn't expect things to turn out this way at all. He never anticipated Cammy for some reason growing attached to Quon like she did and sending his life straight to hell in a handbasket. "I met Jones the other day." he says as if trying to lighten things up. He isn't good at that, but he does his best to try and ease the mood. "He is pretty tough for such an odd man. I think you should test your skills against him."
Sagat considers for a few more moments and he rests a hand on his chin while idly rubbing at it. "It is okay to still dream even if you are a man, but I like to hear you say that it is time to become one." he admits. "I never exactly planned things to turn out as they did either. I plan on making amends from my mistakes. I was partially to blame for what has happened to you so now I will help you." He lowers his hand and grins as he looks down. "And I get to be a pain in Shadaloo's side. I am liking this better by the moment."
"But part of being a man is knowing when your dream won't come true and not clinging onto it to the point of self destructiveness." He nods. "I'm sacrificing my happy ending so someone else can have theirs. Either way, I have some training to do. If I'm not going to have my happy ending I'm making sure Vega doesn't have his either."
Quon puts away the book in that large backpack of his. "I'll take that advice to test myself against Jones under advisement. But for now I'm going to enjoy the fact that I don't have to stay in the shelter this evening."
Sagat's expression does seem a bit less annoyed given how things have gone. Overall it went alot better than he had planned. He just wasn't sure the full state of mind the young man would be in and if he could even break through to him and have him listen. He only nods at what is said to him and seems rather pleased overall at this point. "It is a good night to sleep under the stars. Things will get better. You don't have to believe it, but you will eventually see it. It just will be a rocky road for awhile."
It all depends on how much determination is in the young man of course. Sagat just hopes he is doing the right thing in this case. It will be rough, but at least this time he won't make the same mistakes he did with Adon. He won't allow that to happen ever again. "I'll give you a few weeks to get things in order. Find yourself income and a place to stay. Then we will begin the real training." he turns about and starts to stalk off. Not another word is said. He has given Quon plenty to think on right now. No reason to try and given him a restless night with even more thoughts on what may or may not happen.
Log created on 08:58:57 11/26/2011 by Sagat, and last modified on 11:09:32 11/26/2011.