Ryu vs Scorpion
Ryu was early. Either that or his opponent was late. How long had he been sitting there, waiting?
No matter. The serene forest his opponent chose seemed an almost perfect setting for Ryu. Sitting in standard Dhyana pose, Ryu let in the cool, crisp air of the forest, and took in the smell of sweet pine mixed with a thick humidity. It must have rained recently. The ground beneath him was soft and moist, a worthy notation to remember for his upcoming battle.
A deathly whisper broke his eyes open, his head immediately on a swivel. He couldn’t make out the words, and it didn’t sound close. Nonetheless, he stood up, his bare feet sinking into the moist dirt littered with dried leaves from the upcoming fall season. He took in another deep breath and scanned the forest again, trying to look past the thick evergreen trees that surrounded Ryu like a dense and foreboding crowd, waiting to attack him at any moment. To the highly skilled and experienced fighter, it seemed like a strange fear to have before a battle, but he had never fought an opponent like the one he was waiting for before.
The whisper again…this time louder and closer. He stood in guard position now, bending his knees slightly and anticipating a sneak attack.
“Only cowards use the forest as a hiding point. I am right here, let us begin,” Ryu said into the thick humid air, positive and professional as usual. His breathing began to escalate, and his heart began to beat rapidly as his adrenaline began to boil. Even his fingers began to burn, ready to unleash the fire from within had he the need for it.
He looked behind him, and returned his gaze forward to see him standing there, already in fight formation. Ryu, startled at first, breathed a sigh of relief at the yellow ninja, Scorpion, standing before him.
At least now it will be a fair fight, he thought to himself as the silent ninja stared into his eyes. They were dark, cold, and lifeless with almost no color or hue at all. His olive skin seemed to crawl and creep over his musculature as if something was moving around underneath his skin. The air grew thicker, and hotter, and the ground beneath Ryu’s bare feet seemed to almost catch fire. Where was this fighter from?
Before he began to further ponder that question, what looked like a spear attached to a chain shot its way toward Ryu’s head. Where did it come from, his hand!?
“Get over here!!” his opponent screamed as the chain reached its full length past Ryu’s head. Expertly dodging the quick attack, he dashed forward to engage in combat with his mysterious opponent. The spear seemed to almost disappear into thin air as Scorpion blocked the first cross punch Ryu delivered.
The flowing leaves in the wind seemed to suffer the most damage from the furious punches and kicks each opponent exchanged with each other. With his adrenaline steadily pumping (something his master Sheng Long taught him to control in combat) he lands his first hit across Scorpion’s face, a jab that sends him stumbling backwards.
His arms wail in the air as Scorpion tries to maintain his balance, but Ryu was quick to take advantage of the yellow ninja’s misfortune with his roundhouse spin kick maneuver. The kicks landed successfully, sending Scorpion flying backwards in the air. Ryu, letting his guard down for a brief moment, wasn’t able to react to the spear shooting toward him, lodging itself into his left shoulder. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted all across his chest, forcing his arms to flail backward.
He didn’t have a chance to scream until Scorpion followed up with a pull from the chain, sending him into a flying kick, straight to Ryu's chest. Ryu hit the soft ground hard, sending the dried, dead leaves flying into the air like feathers from a pillow. The spear was yanked hard from his shoulder, sending trails of Ryu’s blood flying into the air.
