Knighty Knight - Side Story

Crack went Megumi's joints, as she twisted her body from side to side. As great shape as she kept herself in, and as gorgeous as she still looked, of course, she was still getting older, and that mean daily maintenance on her body was key. Most people who met her and Kenji assumed she was his mother. Heck, she was technically old enough if she had him young. It wasn't very often people came across siblings that were 18 years apart, either, but her parents had her very young, far before considering having a second kid, and while Megumi might as well have been Kenji's mother considering she raised him since he was two, she was still his sister, a fact she had to keep reminding almost every new person they met.

Megumi cringed at the thoughts, shaking herself loose so she could begin her early morning training. Best to keep her head clear or she would get distracted. With a deep breath, she hoisted herself up onto her hands, balancing upright with her legs sticking straight into the air, and promptly began doing standing handstand push-ups.

Raphael made his way towards a training grounds that he enjoyed. It was one with a lot of training dummies and open spaces, perfect places for him to practice any variety of kenjutsu he needed. He had frequented others, but the one he was heading to happened to be a favorite of his. As he approached he was met with a sight that he hadn't expected. Someone had actually beaten him here today, and had already begun their training. It amazed Raphael to see shinobi at work, and the one he was seeing now was no different. Push-ups like this were no mean feat, even to someone with great strength it required a certain amount of balance and control.

Raphael turned to leave but stopped as he saw a large zanbato. As a lover of weapon he couldn't help but stop and admire the blade, looking at the nature which it was crafted and forged. "Amazing" Raphael said louder than he had intended to. He had planned to leave the woman in peace, but with her sharp senses she had likely heard the stranger.

"Huh?" Megumi lifted her head when she heard the voice, looking around to see a strange man in armor standing at the edge of the field she had never seen before. She squinted at him, tilting a little to the side so she wasn't looking at him upside down. "Who the heck are you? And why are you dressed in a tin can? You some kind of samurai?" She had never actually seen a samurai, but she thought she heard about them wearing way too much armor than could be comfortable. Certainly too much to swiftly move around in.

Raphael glanced up as he heard someone calling out to him. Apparently he hadn't been as quiet as he meant to be. He pulled his hand away from the sword, knowing that to a warrior their weapon was like a comrade. "Forgive me, I was just admiring the craftsmanship of the blade. The metal is of fine quality, Kiri make if I had to guess?" Raphael said as he walked towards the woman.

At the remark about his armor he glanced down and saw the resemblance before glancing back up. "No, I have trained with samurai but I wouldn't call myself one of them. I am a Knight from the East, Sir Raphael, an honor to meet you" the knight said before taking a small bow towards Megumi.

"A night?" Megumi narrowed her eyes. "So like...the opposite of a day?"

To say that she had never heard of any lands beyond the great shinobi nations would be a large understatement. Megumi had spent so much time running throughout her life, between all the different nations, she had no time to learn of anything else. For all she knew, other lands might as well not even exist. In the end, such things were unimportant to her life anyway.

"Whatever you are, I doubt you can do this while dressed in your metal pajamas." Megumi lifted some of her fingers so she was holding herself up by only two on each hand. She pressed herself low into another push up, and on the way back up she flipped herself upright into the air, landing all the way next to her sword. She grinned as she grabbed it and flipped it up onto her shoulder with a single motion. "This is Keshisaru. Got her in Ame, actually."

With one swing, she slammed the blade onto the ground and released a small amount of chakra from the blade. The earth promptly cratered beneath it, while releasing a physical wave that turned the wooden training dummies on the other side of the field into a pile of splinters, as well as the bushes behind them. "She's one of my favorite toys."

"Not...exactly" Raphael said. He understood the confusion on Megumi's part. Raphael had spent many years in the land of shinobi, so while he had learned most of their terminology and customs, very few people had learned about Raphael and his land. This was something he'd have to address later, for now his skills were being questioned.

Raphael watched the raw display of power that Megumi showed. HE liked it, it was a style of fighting he was more familiar with. "Impressive," he added as he watched the sheer display. "Your weapon is one of quality and clearly meant for a warrior of skill, I can see in this brief time that you are worthy of the weapon. Very few of your kind favor such large blades, I have frequently seen their thin swords and I wonder how they get anything done" Raphael said before performing a summoning jutsu and gripping his long claymore in his hand. "This is Ehre, my blade. And you'd be surprised what my skills are, this armor has saved my life on numerous occasions, it's stronger than it looks I assure you"

Megumi sucked on the inside of her cheeks for a moment, eyeing the man with a curious stare. "Anyone ever tell you you're really polite? Like, obnoxiously so? If you're trying to impress me, then let me be the first to tell you I am as crude as it fucking gets. So by all means, no need to butter me up with flowery praise. As true as it is."

Leaning against her sword, she watched as the man summoned a large sword to his side. Interesting, she thought, that a man from a foreign land could utilize the summoning technique the same as a shinobi. She did appreciate massive and destructive swords, though, and fought to hide her grin. "Not bad. I'd ask if you were compensating for something, but then I'm not really one to talk. I don't even something to compensate for. Not that I couldn't give myself one if I wanted."

"I don't aim to impress anyone, in my land you treat women with respect no matter the circumstance" Raphael said as he rested the blade against his shoulder. "Forgive me if I am off-putting, I've been told by many that I don't quite fit in to this land. Yet my quest requires my presence here"

Raphael just smiled, finding the women's sincerity to be a breath of fresh air. The world of shinobi seemed so secretive and manipulative, it was always nice to meet someone who would so openly speak their mind. "Forgive me, I don't believe I caught your name" Raphael said as he wanted to know who he was speaking to, or at least have a name to associate with the face.

"Mmhm, well there's a difference between treating someone with respect and being kind of creepy." Megumi leaned in a little closer and held a hand to the side of her mouth as though she were about to whisper a secret. "So maybe tone it down a notch, kay? Just treat me like another dude."

After backing up again, she swung her sword off her shoulder and set it up against the tree again. "Name's Megumi. I'd tell you not to forget it, but then no one who meets me ever forgets me. Sometimes not for the best reasons."

Raphael nodded. "As you wish" he said in terms to how she wanted to be treated. Far be it from him to make things uncomfortable when they didn't need to be. These culture changes were always the hardest thing for Raphael to learn. Since he didn't really participate on missions or interact with others, it was hard for him to really tell where the line needed to be drawn.

"At any rate, I didn't mean to interrupt your training. This was just where I usually do my own. Since you're using the area I can leave and find a different area though"

Megumi raised an eyebrow. "Why find a different place to train? These fields were meant to be used by more than one person at a time, you know. That would just be inefficient otherwise. Although, I did just kind of obliterate half the training dummies..."

She gave a sheepsih look over to the pile of wood splinters. "Man, Setsuna is probably going to give me another earful for that one..."

"That's...true on both accounts" Raphael remarked as he looked over at the damage that Megumi had unleashed upon the training dummies. Other than being used as firewood it certainly wasn't going to help anyone right now. Thankfully training dummies seemed to be a dime a dozen.

Raphael looked over towards Megumi. She wanted to be treated just like anyone else. "Would you spar with me?" Raphael asked. "I need to get stronger but most shinobi don't take me very seriously. You seem like someone that could help me test my abilities though, and perhaps I could learn a thing or two from you"

"Well...I mean I suppose we could," Megumi said, giving her cheek an idle scratch. It would be nice to be able to fight without having to hold back the way she did with Kenji, and when she wasn't getting shown up by Setsuna. Still, she was a little hesitant. "Worth mentioning though, the last guy I sparred with I put in the hospital for two weeks, and then got chewed out by the Honekage because of it. So... it might not be the absolute best idea in the world? I can be a bit...destructive, when I spar."

"Well, if it makes you feel better I don't think the Honekage would care much if I was injured. That being said, I think you'll find that I'm tougher than I look" Raphael said before making another summoning hand sign. He was covered in smoke for a moment before his armor had changed to thicker plate mail, it was black with golden trimmings on the side. On his back he now had a torn red cape, and was now carrying his claymore along with an intricately curved dagger, one that resembled almost more of a hook. Raphael mainly used it to parry, but if it landed in the right spot he could easily tear his enemy open.

"Come on, try me" Raphael said as he lowered the visor on his helmet to keep his face safe, his eyes barely visible now.

Megumi half laughed, half coughed when she saw Raphael summon an entirely new set of armor over his original set. "Man, I really hate to break such pretty craftsmanship, but if you insist..."

She didn't know whether this guy was really that confident, or just full of overhyped bravado, but either way she wasn't going to pass up a chance to pummel something. If there was anything she specialized in, it was smashing open big, heavy targets, and this guy definitely qualified as a big, heavy target. She half wondered how well he could move in that tin can, but she supposed she would find out.

She kicked up the end of her sword away fro mthe tree and caught the handle, swingig it up overhead. Might as well start it off easy. Bringing the blade down into the ground, she released another blasting wave of chakra that split the ground apart and expelled forward at her opponent.

Raphael smiled as Megumi seemed to already consider herself the victor. Perhaps her confidence would be her undoing. A man with a strong enough desire would face any challenge to see his goal accomplished. He watched as Megumi utilized her chakra once again, launching a blast towards Raphael. The knight bend his knees and leaped upwards, probably higher than Megumi expected.

After performing his leap over the attack, Raphael brought down the weight of his blade to strike down at Megumi, utilizing his strength and gravity to create a powerful attack.

Megumi raised an eyebrow as the guy jumped clean over her attack. She would admit, she hadn't expected him to be able to move like that in that armor. Still, his attack was pretty straightforward and easy to deal with. As Raphael came down with his swing, she turned the flat side of her blade towards him, effectively placing a giant slab of metal between herself and the opposing sword. When you had a sword as big as hers, you didn't need a shield.

As the sword clanged together, Megumi dropped her sword towards herself in an attempt to force his momentum forward off balance, while at the same time spinning herself out from behind her sword with a kick at his armored head.

The metal rang as their blades clashed. Raphael smiled beneath his helmet. His attack had been straightforward but it was still a powerful blow for her to block. She responded to knock his balance off before kicking at his head. Seeing the kick coming Raphael quickly twisted his body. The kick still hit, but he moved his body to allow the kick to increase his momentum as he swung his arm out, the hooked dagger moving towards Megumi's side in an attempt to catch her.

Hook. Hook. Hook! Was about all that got through Megumi's mind before the chain wrapped around her leg and tugged her off balance. Praise her flexibility she was able to turn it into a forward split as she sunk straight to the ground with a huff of air. The moment her groin smacked into the grass, she popped herself straight upright again and coiled the chain around her foot, while she held onto the handle of her sword as an anchor and tugged with every ounce of her strength. If she could yank this stupid thing out of his grip, she could eliminate one annoying hazard and keep this fight to swords.

Well...that was unexpected. Raphael just watched as Megumi suddenly sank to the ground before gripping and attempting to yank the hook out of his hand. Raphael held strong, but Megumi's grip was strong as well. He held for a short while before suddenly letting go, hoping that it would catch Megumi off guard. His hand moved back and with two hands he performed a low cutting sweep in front of him, hoping that Megumi wouldn't have time to get back up and dodge. Even if she blocked with her sword, he'd keep swinging to put her on the defensive.

The act did catch Megumi a bit off guard, but due to the way her momentum was going as she tugged in the other direction, she stumbled backwards when he released the chain, away from his attack. Still, she tumbled back into a roll, taking the hook and chain with her as she slid next to her sword. Repositioning herself behind the massive blade, she lifted it and took another swing, releasing a second blast of chakra at him. She had to admit, this guy was moving pretty well for a walking oil can.

"Damn" Raphael said before Megumi's attack struck. The force of the chakra forced Raphael back a great distance. Raphael felt the pain, but he wasn't downed from the attack as his armor protected him from the majority of the damage.

"Time for a new strategy" Raphael said as he made the summon sign again. A large shield appeared in his left hand while a spiked morning star appeared in his right hand. Raphael smacked his weapon against his shield as he looked at Megumi. "Come on now, aren't done already are you?"

Megumi raised a puzzled eyebrow as her opponent changed his weapons, from a sword to a giant shield and...whatever the heck that spiky ball on a stick was. "Okay...that's new," she said, as she raised her sword again. With another swing, she released a more intense blast of chakra this time. She wondered how well that shield would hold up against a greater impact.

"This again" Raphael remarked before raising his shield in front of him and taking the blast once again. His feet held their ground, but the force of the blow caused him to slide back several feet. Amazingly enough though, he was still standing when the attack was over. "That was stronger than the last one" Raphael muttered as he lowered his shield once the attack was over. "Even with my shield just holding it up made my arm hurt like hell now" he admitted with a smile (not that Megumi could see that).

Raphael charged forward again, a bit faster due to losing the weight of the large claymore. He started to swing the morning star ferociously at Megumi. He expected her to block it, but this weapon packed more of a punch than it appeared. He was hoping he could wear her down before moving in for a kick when she blocked one of the attacks.

Megumi lifted a brow in genuine surprise as all her attack did was push the man back a few feet. "What the hell is that stuff made out of?" Considering the trees behind him had cracked in half and fallen over, the fact that Raphael was still standing, let alone his armor undamaged, was fairly astounding.

As he came in to attack again, she readied her blade as a shield again to intercept the spiky ball of his weapon. The impact, though, was more powerful than she expected. Her entire blade rattled, causing her arms to shake and go numb for a brief moment. That single moment was enough to catch her off guard, as her opponent's boot slammed into the center of her gut and pushed her away from her sword.

"Oof..." she muttered, spitting out a the little glob of bile that had climbed into her throat. "Good one. I guess I should probably stop using that sword. Never was all that skilled with it."