Cutting Deep (Open)

It had been quite a long time since Ramen had last visited the Tenka'ichi Budokai. The historic grounds were always a sight to see: as plain as they were on the outside, every martial artist worth her salt knew that this place had a storied past. Some of the greatest fights every waged on Earth had taken place on these very grounds. Though the rings themselves were mostly new, having been replaced or repaired countless times over the years due to the destructive power of some fighters, the lineage remained. She had arrived today looking mostly for an opportunity to hone her skills, but the site seemed to be hosting some sort of weapons-based competition.

Kayen always fought with a sword, and to her knowledge, so had a couple other of the warriors Ramen had encountered in her trials. But she herself had always indicated that weapons were unnecessary: an excess, something that could come to be relied on but that did not reflect the true skill of the warrior wielding it. But for the sake of the day's contests, and in the interest of trying to keep an open mind, she swallowed those criticisms and proceeded onward.

"I don't have a weapon of my own," she told one of the event's organizers. "But if I can, I would like to... rent one. I have a little training with some weapons -- I don't know if you've heard of some of the smaller schools, but..." she trailed off mid-explanation, turning to catch a glimpse of a Konatsian. Not just a Konatsian, but Typha. She stared blankly, unable to even process whatever the organizer had decided to say in response. He could have been holding a sword out for her to take and she probably would have missed it.

"Typha?" she blurted out, incredulously. "You're a long way from home!"

---

Ramen glanced to Yudi, giving him a brief look over. Given his power relative to Typha, she had to assume he was some sort of assistant or student. Perhaps not unlike that Saiyan that always followed Kayen around. She gave the ogre a short nod, before returning her gaze to Typha himself. "I actually wound up on Konats, not that long ago. It was by accident, and I didn't stay long, but it was nice to see... uh, people." 

She had never known Typha to be one for boasting. Dramatics, maybe -- but not when it came to his own achievements. That made it all the more surprising when he claimed to have been trained by the greatest martial arts teacher in the universe. The idea was absolutely absurd, of course. But given who it was coming from, something about it had to ring true. She gave him a long, studious look. His power had certainly grown since last they met. But that was only one aspect of it: aliens who had never lifted a finger in training sometimes still managed to exude power. No, it would be his skill in combat that really tested the truth of his claim.

She made a note of it for later.

"Weapons aren't really my thing," she pressed forward, shaking off his earlier comment for the time being. "But in order to stay in good fighting order, I need to at least understand these sorts of styles. I -- admittedly came here looking for something else. But since this is what's going on, I figured... you know, why not take a look?"

Her eyes flicked between the various weapons-masters in the courtyard. Swords were popular, but surely there was more variety than that here. "If I decided to try something out, what would you recommend?"

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