The Path of the True Warrior Ch. 19
By Ryu-san

The creatures search through the tent for the remains. They look at each other, all of them wondering where their prey went.

"Hadoken!" Ryu says as his shakunetsu burns one of the creatures to the ground. He jumps and kicks two creatures on opposite sides of him simultaneously. As he lands, he does a complete sweep, tripping three of the others. Ryu then punches one of the creatures and follows up with an elbow strike leading into a headbutt. The creatures run away, carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades, and they disappear into the mountains.

"I wonder who were they?" Ryu thinks to himself.

*Clap, clap, clap…*

"Bravo…not bad…for an amateur…"

Ryu turns around and looks for the voice. He turns around and around but still to no avail.

"Who are you!" Ryu asks. "What do you want with me?!"

"Right here…"

Ryu turns around.

"Where?"

"Down here! Are you stupid or something?"

Ryu looks down to see a diminutive old lady, with an oversized kimono. Her gray hair and miniature form makes her appear to be a midget.

"Ah, forgive me…I just ran into some creatures and I assumed you were a monster…" Ryu explains.

*BAM!*

"Who are you calling a monster!" the ancient one says as she hits Ryu on the head with her fist.

"Gomen, gomen! I did not mean to imply that you were a monster…Um, where am I and who are you and…" Ryu begins asking.

"Calm yourself, boy. I will explain all things in their own time…just follow me," the old lady tells Ryu. She quickly runs up into the mountains and Ryu hurries after her.

"Matte-kudasai (please wait)!" Ryu yells.

"You can't keep up with this old lady? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" she asks.

"Something's wrong…" Ryu says. He aims a punch at her and the old lady grabs Ryu's hand with her own and abruptly throw Ryu on the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?! I thought you would have some respect…" the old lady grumbles.

"Zetta ni dame da (No way!)! Ah, gomen nasai, demo, nani kore zo (Um, I'm very sorry, but, what was that!?" Ryu asks, incredulous.

"Ha ha…follow me and you'll find out," the old woman says as she jumps away from Ryu. Ryu runs after her as quickly as possible but the old woman is always just a few steps ahead. They eventually reach a village but Ryu loses sight of the old lady.

"Hoi! Where did you go!?" Ryu shouts.

"Excuse me, who are you and why are you in this village?"

Ryu turns around to see a short girl staring at him.

"Ah, ano de gozaru na…demo… (Um, excuse me, but…)" Ryu begins.

"Excuse me? What are you saying?" the girl asks.

"Oh, sorry. Have you seen an old lady come in here?" Ryu asks her.

"No, you are the first visitor to this abandoned village for ten years…"

"TEN YEARS!? How did you survive? What happened here?" Ryu asks.

"Well…ten years ago, this village was thriving on the mountain, with plenty of food, water, everything we needed to survive we had. But…then…they came…"

"They? Who are they?" Ryu asked.

"This mountain was not always devoid of life but when they came, they began sucking up all the resources and when they ran out then…they enslaved the village," the girl finished.

"They!? You mean the monsters that I easily defeated?" Ryu asks.

"No sir, the true danger holds much greater power…"

"What is it? I vow to destroy it and return the village to normal…" Ryu tells her.

"Why?"

"It is the duty of a martial artist," Ryu tells her.

*SPIT!*

"You're one of them, aren't you!?" the girl as she quickly backs away from Ryu.

"One of them…?" Ryu asks. The girl says nothing as she runs away straight into the chest of a huge fat man. He stands at 7'2" and he walks around with a large club in his hand. Another man stands behind him but this one is very diminutive and he has a belt full of knives. Another man stands to the left of the first and this one is about 6'4" and his body is pure muscle with two nunchakus at his side. The last man is the man at the right of the first and he seems to be another martial artist.

"Oh, another foreigner sticking his nose where he don't belong!" the first man says. The girl screams and tries to run but the man grabs her to prevent her from running.

"Looks like we missed one, eh boys? Well, that's the last of 'em!"

"Excuse me…Would you mind doing me a favor?" Ryu asks.

"What the…you a favor? HA ha ha! Who does this guy think he is? What're your 'favors'?" the same man asks.

"Only a few things. First, let go of the girl and her people. Second, don't bother any more people again!" Ryu yells.

"Ha ha ha! What're you going to do?" the large man says. "Go get him!"

The men standing to the right and left of the large man rush at Ryu and charging straight for him pull out their weapons. Ryu jumps and kicks the nunchaku man's hand. He rushes forward and wrenches the weapons from him, throwing them aside. However, the other man sneaks up from behind and kicks Ryu straight into a hut. Ryu climbs out and both men attack again. Ryu is forced to block the blows as both men attack Ryu. Ryu realizes that his arms can't block forever so he sweeps both men. He then jumps away and gather his chi in his hands.

"Shinkuu…" Ryu says.

Both men charge toward Ryu.

"Hadoken!" Ryu yells as he thrusts his projection of blue chi.

The fireball of chi misses.

"Nan da kore wa!?" Ryu stares at the result of his fireball.

Ryu looks to see that the fireball went through both of them. *What on earth? I wonder…*

Ryu runs past the two men and he heads straight for the large man, attacking with a hadoken. The ball of energy passes through him as well. Ryu tries once more with the smaller man and it too passes.

"What's going on here!?" Ryu wonders. "Wait a minute…"

Ryu runs forward and kicks straight for the young girl.

"AAAHHH!! What are you doing!?" she says.

"Karae, oni! (Take this, demon!)" Ryu yells.

The girl blocks his foot and throws Ryu across the ground. The four men disappear. The figure of the girl shrinks until it turns into the figure of the old woman.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Ryu asks.

"Congratulations," she says as she claps her hands. "You've passed the first test!"

"Test!? What test!?" Ryu asks.

"!!! You didn't know before coming onto this mountain?" the old woman asks.

"Didn't know what?" Ryu asks her.

"This mountain is for increasing one's skill, to make them a true warrior!"

"What! I'm here because I must find a rare herb only found on the top of this mountain!" Ryu tells her.

"Oh, of course. Everybody wants that. Tell you what, you defeat me in combat and I'll give it to you," the old woman tells him.

"Very well…"

Ryu runs at throws a few quick jabs and then prepares himself.

"Shinkuu…Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!"

"Oh, ho ho ho! Let me show you how it's done!"

The old lady grabs Ryu's foot as he turns in midair and hurls him higher into the air. She then runs around very quickly, causing a vortex of rocks and sticks, as Ryu falls down. Ryu drops straight into the eye of the mini tornado and he braces himself for the impact. He is thrashed senseless by the various stones and drops to the floor as the small cyclone dissipates.

"What's the matter, boy? Is that all? You don't seem to want this!" the old lady says as she pulls out an herb from insider her kimono. Ryu redoubles his efforts and launches into a furious combo. He charges into her with his elbow but the old lady grabs him by his elbow, runs in and charges with her own elbow strike.

"Ugh…Cough!" Ryu spews forth blood from his mouth.

"You're boring me…" she says as she yawns. She attacks Ryu with one hand and sends him flying. Ryu jumps off a tree and kicks but she ducks and grabbing Ryu by his gi, sends him crashing to the floor.

"Must…get…herb…" Ryu mumbles as he crawls toward her. He uses his last ounce of energy to jump in the air and gather his chi into a large projection.

"Shinkuu…" the old lady merely turns her back and walks away.

"Hadoken…" Ryu says as he falls to the earth, exhausted. The old lady turns around and punches the ball of chi, swatting it away like a fly.

The old woman walks over to Ryu's fallen body.

"It looks like he really tried…I can't believe that he would do that for a complete stranger," the old woman says as she begins to grow. She grows taller and younger until she changes into the original woman that sent Ryu to retrieve the plant.

"Very well…maybe I can trust this man…"