After watching the snakes more closely for a minute, Ryu began to notice some distinctions about the patterns on their scales and shapes of their heads. They weren't venomous, nor were they dangerous having very calm color patterns all over their skin and had round heads instead of the typical diamond shaped heads; they were garter snakes. Ryu gave a deep sigh of relief in discovering this important detail and almost felt stupid for jumping to the conclusion that any snake he saw would be some venomous creature ready to jump out and attack without warning. Gripping his hands on the ledge of the fountain, Ryu straightened himself out after having his fill of clean cool water before suddenly catching the sound of a footstep.

With a quick turning glance of his head, Ryu listened in on the footsteps behind him that came closer and closer with a cautious pace in-between the rhythm. Was it a predatory animal slowly easing in on its prey or maybe was it the wishful hope he had been searching for many years after living a solitary existence; another human being? The sensation of seeing another human being brought a smile to Ryu's face and built up a nervous feeling inside him, a feeling of excitement to finally find another living soul that had not been taken by the wars or diseases.

He slowly began to turn around until he heard the high-pitched ring of something made of metal drop to the ground. Ryu's head quirked around to see another man reaching down for a knife he just dropped and immediately that nervous sensation became a fearful look of danger as he knew he had to think quickly about what was happening.

Ryu's eyes darted to the right as he remembered the snakes in the fountain and quickly reached in the fountain pool aiming to grab one of them. Luck seemed to be on his side as Ryu felt the skinny body of the snake find its way in-between his fingers, instantly pulling back to swing the snake around along with his body and then letting it fly off in the stranger's direction as a distraction since he doubted the man knew if it was venomous or not. Using the momentum of his body’s spin, Ryu then quickly lifted his right leg to perform a roundhouse kick to strike at the newcomer's hand so that it'll be thrown out of his clasp.

Upon finishing his offense, Ryu would drop back away from the fountain so that he wouldn't be cornered; lifting both arms up so that his right arm would be at a straight 90 degree angle and sideways from his face while his left would be tucked in next to his ribs with the fist upside-down. His legs would be slightly bent with the right knee towards his opponent and foot straight but flat and the left leg would sit at a 75 degree angle outwards with the foot positioned with the heel lifted and most of the weight on the front ball.

"Who are you? Are you a cannibal?" Ryu asked almost as if he was ordering the man to answer.