Rama

Rama was the most focused trainee at the lakeside training grounds. While others polished steel blades and learned complex forms, Rama spent hours with a simple apple stick, smooth from use and smelling faintly of fruit. The other trainees saw the intense eyes behind Rama's thief-wrap and scoffed at the humble weapon; they saw ambition without the proper tools. During the winter trials, Rama faced an opponent with two gleaming katanas. The fight was a blur of steel against wood, but Rama never tried to break the blades. They used the stick to redirect, to unbalance, to find the gaps in the attack. With a final, swift tap to the wrist, one katana fell into the snow. The apple stick’s tip then rested gently on the opponent's collar. Rama didn't win the fight with power, but with perfect understanding.