//------------------------------// // Potential // Story: The Wandering Warrior // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "Well done Ryu, a really impressive showing!" Filthy Rich laughed with a large smile to Ryu, who sat with his wrists on his knees. Ryu did not answer, choosing to focus on meditating before the next match. "That changeling didn't even know what hit him! If you keep this up, then this tournament will be a clean sweep!" "Yes dear, but you forget that one of the most renowned trainers and fighters is here," Spoiled reminded her husband, handing him a pair of very fancy binoculars so he could look across the arena. "She is an unstoppable force in Ponyville. Even the champion has trouble against her." "That may be true dear, but you forget that Ryu is my prized fighter!" Filthy laughed, blowing off the concerns of his wife. "Do you need anything, Ryu? Something to eat or drink? Your own house?" "Thank you. I am fine," Ryu replied. Filthy nodded and walked off with his wife to their carriage, leaving Ryu alone with his thoughts. 'A force that can match the champion of this world? Finally there may be a foe that can give me the battle I seek. And if my instincts are correct, I know exactly who it-' "Lift your arm." Ryu opened his eyes and glanced down to his side to see Diamond Tiara sitting down beside him, opening a first aid kit and pulling out numerous items. "Pardon?" "Lift your arm," she repeated, her face setting like stone when Ryu simply lifted an eyebrow at her. "I saw what happened during you match. You tried to block a fireball spell and instead you got burned. Now lift your arm and let me take care of you." Ryu didn't reply, but upon seeing the look she gave him he lifted his left arm slightly. Tiara winced inwardly as she saw the horrible magic burn that covered a good portion of Ryu's forearm, but she managed to keep her face calm as she started to tend to his wound. "So what the heck happened out there?" she asked while applying a potion that would sooth the burns. "You showed me during your last fight that you're more than fast enough to dodge fast attacks, yet this time you had the bright idea to try and block magic with your arm. And now you're wounded." "I was not trying to block it. I wanted...to do something else," Ryu muttered, gaining him a look from Tiara. "It is a new technique of mine, one that I have not perfected, but I wished to try it out in an actual fight. I figured that earlier in a tournament would be better than later." "Well, I guess you got burned for trying that. Get it? Burned?" Tiara asked with a slight laugh as she looked up at Ryu. He gave her a kind smile in reply, even though he had no idea what she was trying to say. Tiara then pulled out a potion of a green liquid and glanced up at Ryu. "This will hurt like hell. Might want to brace yourself." "I'm ready," Ryu replied. Tiara popped open the potion and poured some of the green liquid onto Ryu's burn. Despite the potion making a sizzling sound and making Tiara gag, Ryu's face did not change from it's normal, stoic demeanor. "Didn't that hurt?" Tiara asked as the burned skin began to heal itself. "I've endured far worse than that," Ryu answered as he rubbed his hand along his repaired skin. "Really? How bad?" "A foe of mine once punched a hole through my chest with his fist." Tiara gazed up at Ryu with a look of absolute horror, before letting out a nervous giggle. "And here I thought you couldn't tell jokes. That was a good one, you almost got me." Ryu then looked down at Tiara with a gaze that erased all humor from her eyes. "I was not joking," he replied. Tiara then stole a glance at Ryu's chest beneath his gi and discovered the faint outline of a hole shaped scar on his chest. "Thank you for healing me, though. I am grateful, but you did not have to do it. I would have healed fine eventually." "Of course I have to do it!" Diamond Tiara replied with a bit of indignation. "You're our fighter, so we have to take care of you. As long as you fight under our name, I promise that you won't want for anything! We'll take care of you...besides, dad and mom are a little uneasy about you, so I'm the one who got tasked with taking care of you." "For such a haughty demeanor, you have a kind soul," Ryu said knowingly after a moment, getting Tiara's eyes to widen with surprise. "You are much different than your father and hardly anything like your mother. They look at me and see money. You look at me and see a person." "Oh...um..." Tiara stammered out before the sound of a horn filled the air. Ryu's head snapped towards the sound and he was on his feet a moment later. "It is time for the next battle." Moments later Ryu was in the arena once more, but this time instead of one opponent there were five others foes in the arena with him. Ryu glanced to each of his adversaries, hardly impressed by any of them expect for the zebra that stood across from him. Their eyes met for a moment, both of them sizing the other up. Then the zebra smiled and bowed slightly to Ryu. Ryu returned the bow, before glancing up with the others at a pegasi that had flown over them. "Alrighty, folks. For this last battle it's going to be an everypony for themselves competition!" the announcer called down to them, causing the six combatants to look back and forth between each other. "The only rules are private shots, no killing and no using levitation magic on your foes. Other than that, it's anything goes! Are you all ready? Then...BEGIN!" Ryu brought up his fist and began to decide who would be the first to fight him, but to his surprise he found that two of his foes turned towards him, while another two went to face the zebra. One of them was a large pony, but the other seemed to be a medium sized dragon. "Two against one, huh?" he asked them as he tightened up his stance. "We've seen what you and that zebra can do," the pony replied with narrowed eyes. "The only way any of us have a chance of winning is if we take the two of you out first." The dragon snorted with agreement and crouched down low, stretching his claws while the pony pawed the ground. Not wanting to give them the chance to make the first move, Ryu rushed forward and was upon the dragon in a moment. Despite the creature being a full head taller than him, Ryu placed his fist into the dragon's gut with enough force to send the lizard staggering back. Ryu's eyes then flashed towards the pony and he raised his arm in time to block the round house the pony threw at him. Pain flashed through his arm as the pony struck the burned area, but with a grunt he forced the pain back down before retaliating with a heavy right to the pony's jaw. "Bastard!" the dragon bellowed as he re-entered the fight in time to see the pony drop. With the pony out, Ryu turned his full attention to the dragon. The dragon slashed at Ryu's chest, forcing Ryu to back away to avoid being sliced. With his concentration completely on the claws of the dragon, Ryu didn't see his foe whip his tail towards Ryu's head until it was almost in his face. 'No choice,' Ryu decided, before tucking his right arm in his side and closing his eyes. Then his fist exploded upward, slamming into the spot right under the dragon's chin while the tail failed to even faze Ryu. Ryu then pushed up with his legs while driving his fist upward, propelling the both of them nearly ten feet off of the ground while he yelled, "SHORYUKEN!" The crowd around the arena was left with slack jaws as the dragon was launched clear to the other side of the arena, falling to his back without making another sound. Ryu landed in a kneeling position, taking a moment to gather himself before rising and turning back to face the rest of his foes. "That blow was quite the sight. Surely this will be a fun fight." Both of the other foes that had teamed up lay defeated at the hooves of the zebra, both of them twitching in a way that told Ryu that their movements had been sealed. Ryu lifted his eyes from them to the zebra, who swayed with the wind in a style that was unfamiliar to him. He slowly raised his arms to his chest and slid his foot back, narrowing his eyes while waiting to see what the zebra would do. She was on him in an instant. With his honed reflexes, only Ryu was able to see what none of the spectators could and lifted his arm in time to block the zebra's first strike. Yet the moment her hoof tip drove itself into his skin, he felt his forearm go completely numb. Ryu swung his leg up and caught the zebra in the chest, sending her flying backwards. She spun in the air and landed on a single hoof with such grace, that even Ryu was impressed by what he saw. 'She is far different than the other fighters here,' Ryu deduced as he slammed his fist into his forearm, shaking it out afterwards as feeling began to return to it. 'She attacks the nerves and pressure points. If she strikes me even once this battle will turn in her favor. I should focus on keeping her out until she's tired. Then I will strike her down.' "Come on Ryu! It's only Zecora! You can beat her!" Tiara cried down from the crowd, her words causing Zecora to smile up at the filly. "Glad to see you as well. Now somepony ring the bell." Neither of the fighters waited for the bell to be rung. The moment Zecora turned her eyes back towards the fight she once again lunged towards Ryu. But this time the warrior was ready. He sliced at Zecora with the edge of his foot and forced her to jump over his attack. To counter her jump he crouched down and swung a single fist straight up. Yet even though his angle was perfect, Zecora tapped on the tip of his fist with one of her hooves and flipped over him, landing on the ground with grace. 'She's good. Better than most that I've fought,' Ryu noticed as he spun to face her, while also taking in the fact that his fist was also slightly numb. 'And she managed to inflict a small blow on me despite her playing into my hands. perhaps defense isn't an option. I need to push her. Make her be the first to mess up.' Ryu started his offense by lunging forward and throwing out a heavy punch aimed at Zecora's chest. Zecora flipped over the attack and struck a hoof towards Ryu's neck. Ryu ducked under the strike and swept Zecora's hooves out from beneath her the moment she landed. All four legs went sideways and Zecora landed flat on her side. She rolled and got back to her hooves a moment later, but Ryu was already upon her. "You're done," he told her right before throwing out a hard straight punch right for her head. He expected her to dodge his blow once again, but this time she lashed out with a strike of her own. The crowd winced as Ryu cracked Zecora right in the muzzle with his fist, right as her hoof tip struck him in the shoulder. Zecora was sent sprawling backwards with blood running down her muzzle and the crowd cheered for what they thought was a certain victory. Then Ryu fell to one knee with his right arm dangling uselessly, his teeth gritted. 'Damn it. So that's why she decided to take my hit,' Ryu pieced together as Zecora got back up, wiping the blood off of her face with a smile beneath. Ryu drove his remaining fist into his right arm, but aside from a tingling sensation he felt nothing. 'She took a hard hit, but in exchange my arm is now useless. This is not looking good.' "Your skills and defense are the best I have fought. It's clear to me that you've been very well taught," Zecora informed Ryu as she started to sway in the wind again, a smile of victory upon her face. "But these moves and techniques are not your own. You were taught and then these moves you've honed. Whatever your master taught you, you took to heart. But then never created anything to set you apart." "You are wise and skilled, that much I can clearly see," Ryu said as he pushed himself back up, eyes set like flint as he glared at the zebra. "But you are wrong in saying that I've learned everything from my master. There are a few techniques that he did not teach me." 'I have to use the metsu techniques,' Ryu decided as he brought his left fist down beside him, feeling the power of the dark hado starting to flow through him. 'I cannot use the hadouken, so the shoryuken will have to suffice. But I will end this. I will not lose here!' Zecora narrowed her eyes at Ryu's stance before glancing into his eyes, eyes that she noticed were not the same as the ones she had previously seen. Ryu then took a step forward to begin his attack, but before he could Zecora raised a hoof into the air. "I withdraw from this contest. In this battle, I have been best," she called up to the ref. Ryu and the rest of the crowd gazed at her with surprise, before Zecora turned and walked over to Ryu. He lowered his fist as she gazed up at him, neither of them sure what to make of the other. Ryu felt the dark power course through him once more, forcing him to close his eyes and force that power back down. When he opened his eyes and looked down at Zecora, her eyes narrowed in response. "Seek me out before you leave. There is something I want you to see," she said to Ryu before walking past him and heading up the ramps to where the spectators were. Ryu watched her go as the crowd burst out into cheers, not even noticing the bags of gold that Filthy was waving at Ryu. "Mares and gentlecolts, the winner of the Waterfall Basin tournament is the Wandering Warrior!" the announcer cried over the roar of the crowd, but Ryu never heard his words. His eyes were locked on the zebra that walked away from him. 'She could have beaten me.' It wasn't an assumption. Ryu knew that Zecora could have beaten him if she had continued the fight. 'But she chose to give up instead. Why? What made her suddenly do that?' Ryu walked up the ramp after the zebra, ignoring the crowd. Even if she hadn't told him to find her, he would have gone after her. He needed to know why she had stopped the fight. Why she had denied him his battle.