Hearing the muffled noise of the restaurant patrons coming from outside the wooden door, Tien leaned forward, pushing it just enough to walk into the winding hallway. He knew that taking too long would only further irritate Shen, who had hissed a brief warning under his breath about there being much to discuss before Tien had left the table in search of a bathroom close to the cafeteria.

This year's World Martial Arts Tournament preliminaries had gone smoothly so far, with him and Chiaotzu advancing as expected. Although there were plenty of skilled applicants, the three most notable ones had been on his mind ever since he had signed in. And from what it looked like, they were also part of the eight that had made the cut. Clenching his fist at his side in a temporary moment of annoyance, Tien felt his spine tense up.

It won't matter soon enough, he tried to tell the small fire of indignation that continued to burn deep within his heart. They won't be a problem much longer if all goes according to plan.

Engrossed in the thoughts swirling around his head, he sharply rounded the next corner without looking. Suddenly and without warning, something just below his chin slammed directly into his chest, throwing his balance off enough that he had to take a short step backwards in order to avoid losing his footing.

"Shit!"

The stranger's surprised exclamation shook him out of his thoughts. With a scowl already beginning to form at the edge of his mouth, he looked straight ahead at the person now standing in front of him, who was rubbing her head with one hand, and—

Wait a minute. He knew this woman.

Speak of the devil, she had been with them. He had seen her standing with them at the sign-in, arms crossed and a wary look on her face as the three Turtle students had exchanged confused but equally frosty glances with him and Chiaotzu.

"Watch where you're goin'!" she spat out. Her olive eyes were almost hidden under the bush of blonde hair that covered her forehead and spilled over her shoulders. As soon as she glanced up at him standing stock-still, her mind must have finally registered who he was, since her face instantly filled with animosity. "Oh. It's you."

"Yes," he replied coldly, keeping an even gaze with her unblinking stare. To his surprise, she didn't seem particularly intimidated by the fact she happened to be talking with the best martial artist in the entire Tournament.

The two waited silently as seconds ticked by, neither one daring to move a muscle. At first, it was out of mere curiosity, but it soon morphed into a sort of stand-off, almost as if neither wanted to be the first to bow out of the unspoken competition.

Finally jutting her chin up, she narrowed her eyes. "Seems like ya have a problem with us, huh?" she belligerently stated at full volume. Past her judgmental stare, he saw a tidal wave of anger forming just beneath the surface.

"It depends. Would a tiger fear a mere housecat?" The retort left his mouth in a silky smooth tone, almost mocking her for bothering to ask. He watched as she stuck her right foot out an inch further and leaned forward. Her dark boots were scuffed on all sides.

Making a small dismissive noise from the side of her mouth, she continued to look him dead in the eyes without flinching. "Pretty cocky for someone who hasn't won yet, dumbass."

"What else can I say? The outcome has all but been decided," he stated, shrugging nonchalantly. In a show of bravado, he copied her movement and leaned back, hands on hips. "The subpar set of fighting skills your master taught those three can't even begin to come head-to-head with the Crane School's expertise in martial arts."

"Cocky bastards like you are always the first to tap out when a real contender comes along." He could tell her temper was starting to get the better of her by the impulsive way she raised her voice at the end of every sentence. "Our boys will beat the shit out of you before you know it!"

"Seems unlikely. None of them look like very formidable warriors," he retorted icily, his mouth turned upwards in a smug grin.

"Oh yeah?" she snorted. "Like that little blank-eyed dumbass you got is any — "

Feeling the fire from earlier rush back to the forefront of his mind, he stepped forward menacingly and hissed his next words just loud enough for her alone to hear.

"You and the others had better watch your backs."

"Huh. Is that supposed to scare me?"

With one eyebrow raised, her face looked seemingly unimpressed, but at the sound of his voice she had unknowingly leaned back just enough that Tien could sense her trepidation. No longer thrown off by her words, he instantly felt a surge of confidence rush through him. Intimidation was something he was particularly skilled at; never being one to back down when the gauntlet was thrown, Shen routinely praised him for his ability to taunt fighters who opposed the Crane School. Even those who weren't skilled in martial arts sometimes proved to be trouble.

Without thinking, he clasped a hand on her shoulder in a swift gesture. Through her shirt, he could instantly feel the slight warmth from her skin on his palm.

"I…"

His body was moving faster than his mind and it caused him to panic when he realized he had nothing prepared to say. The contact between them had wiped all other words from his mouth.

Taking his hand back off as quickly as he had reached out, he caught her staring back, never once taking her gaze off him.

"Uh huh." The mischievous tone of her voice made him freeze in place.

"I like your wildness. Got a lot of spunk in ya," she continued, a smirk started to form on her face. She must be messing with him, he concluded. Seeing how far the charade would go before he put a stop to it.

Incensed at her words, he spat out, "You're not going to be making jokes when the Crane School emerges victorious in the final round."

"Oh yeah? I don't think you're that tough." Nonchalantly sauntering up to stand only a few inches away from his chest, he saw her lift up a finger and idly stick it on the circular symbol stitched on his overcoat.

His eyes fixed on her hand, Tien watched silently as she stared the unstitched edge that had come loose from one of the previous fights he had participated in, flicking it once with her pointer finger.

Is this some kind of intimidation tactic? Or — ? He couldn't even bring himself to think of what the other option could be.

In a flash, all of his senses came back. Almost like he had been startled awake, he suddenly pulled back from her touch, aware of how ridiculous he was being made to seem. Roughly brushing his overcoat off once, he caught her grinning smugly from the corner of his eye, clearly the victor in this game of chicken. Not wishing to cede any further ground, he thought fast.

"Tell the other students from your group that, come tomorrow, they'd better watch their backs."

"Will do," she called out nonchalantly as she turned to walk away, not even bothering to glance back at the sound of his words.

Shen perked up at the sound of the footsteps approaching behind him.

"There you are," the old man admonished as he turned just enough in his seat to see the figure of his prized student quickly sit down next to him.

"We can get back to business after we finish our meal. I have a few plans for what tactics we should focus on for the next match," Shen continued, obliviously scraping his fork against the cheap cafeteria tray. Besides him, he saw the young man give a short nod. Unbeknownst to even himself, Tien's face was still clouded with confusion as he started to clear away his meal.

Across the table, Chiaotzu sat silently with his hands folded on his lap. All of his food had been finished minutes ago and his gaze was aimlessly wandering around the room, only mildly interested in the current conversation happening in front of him. Most of the time when Shen and Tien talked, they weren't interested in his input anyway. Keeping quiet was always the best option, from his point of view.

After letting a few seconds tick by at the table, Tien spoke up again. "Master, what… do you know about the other members of the Turtle School? Other than the three from the preliminaries?"

"Other members?" Shen's voice echoed incredulously. "I don't believe there are any other members this time around. Unless you include Roshi's decrepit old bones," he chuckled under his breath. The chuckle soon became a cough.

"No, I mean…" Tien started to say over the man's coughing fit, but then paused a second and shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I asked, it was a useless question anyway."

"True. You should know better than to waste my time," Shen grumbled. Pushing his dirty plate towards Chiaotzu for him to carry to the trash along with his own, he started to stand up. "Now, come. We need to train in private."

"Right away, Master," Tien replied instantly. Grimacing slightly, he tried to shift his attention back to the matter at hand. Now was not the time to get distracted.

Taking the elderly man's lead, he stood with his tray in hand and followed suit. As the three dodged the patrons wandering through the crowded cafeteria, he noticed a familiar group of orange uniforms huddled around a circular table a few feet away, along with the same distinctively blonde woman as before. Glancing at them from out of the corner of his eye, he felt his grip on his lunch tray involuntarily tighten.

Almost as if on cue, the woman from earlier looked up just enough to notice his gaze. Her eyes instantly narrowed and she seemed to mouth something in his direction.

This isn't over.