Post by |The SHAKINATOR| on Jan 11, 2015 15:55:51 GMT -5
His father stood in the hallway of the Xiao-Lan family dojo. The little boy watched the silver-haired man in fear as he nursed a bruise he had earned just below his eye. To be fair, the boy was much older and better skilled than him so a bruise was the least to be expected, but he knew no excuses were good enough for his father.
The head of the Xiao-Lan family was dressed in a sharp black three-piece suit. He was a striking man with a charming personality to the world but to the little boy, he was the most terrifying being he had ever met. The ever present smile on the man’s face was non-existent at this moment. The brows on his head were furrowed so deeply you’d think they might force his eyes to disappear but those eyes could never disappear. They were always there. They never changed; that look of disapproval when they met the boys eyes.
“I warned you before didn’t I? I warned you that a single strike can mean death. I told you to protect yourself but you failed. You can’t even protect your own face from the hands of a child. How do you expect to protect your family from its enemies?
How are you going to carry the name that I have so enduringly earned? Are you going to fail me Dante? Tell me you son-of-a-bitch… SPEAK! ARE YOU A FAILURE?
Don’t you have the balls to speak-up? Do you not hear me Dante? Don’t you understand what I am saying? Can you hear me Dante? Can you hear me?”
The man shook him by the shoulders aggressively, forcing tears down his cheeks and his bladder to fall weak. It didn’t stop his father from continuing his torment. The shaking continued as did the question, over and over again…* * *
“Can you hear me Dante?”
It was Ayumi’s voice.
Dante suddenly awoke with a jolt, startling the cheery girl who had her hands on her cousin’s shoulders. She was in the middle of trying to awaken him and had struggled in her efforts so far.
“Damn Dante, you scared me.”
She gasped as she clutched her heart before the distraught look on her face turned into a smile and then casually into a fit of laughter.
“I can’t believe I got so scared. You had such a sad face on you. I haven’t seen that look on your face since…”
Dante put his hand up abruptly telling her not to speak any further. He knew what she was going to say. They had both been through a similar ordeal when they were younger. They both had learnt to control their feeling in different ways. Ayumi chose to hide herself in naivety whereas Dante had learnt to hide behind a mask of discipline.
It was one of the recurring dreams that Dante suffered from occasionally. The proud marine had noticed a pattern. It was during times of stress and suffering that his mind fell back to his childhood memories. As if they were any better.
It had been a couple of days since they had arrived at the Port West Base. A lot of chaos had recently gone down here apparently and Dante was suddenly regretting the decision to come here. They were clearly out of there depth with the situation. Not only had the base been heavily damaged by a crew known as the Hoshi Pirates. A couple of pirates had managed to sneak in even more recently and break out another.
They had been so busy with trying to get things in order; nobody had even bothered asking him about the happenings at Mount Shivre or the Dastard scenario out at sea. Kabul he hadn’t seen since the day they arrived her and the only use this place had been so far was their medical aid. The hospitality had been worse than a hotel in the slums. It was despicable.
Unfortunately he had no influence as the son of a noble in these lands otherwise there would have been hell to pay. There were always some advantages to being his father’s son. It was the only reason why he hadn’t disowned him and remained under the thumb of Lord Lee Dante.
Despite Dante despising his father's teaching methods, he had become just like him for there was also the fact he idolised his father for his hard-work and skill. The only difference between them was that Lee cared more for the noble title he had earned and Remus only cared for his own glory. He was hell-bent on rising far above his father in the social ladder and becoming a force so powerful, even his father would have to acknowledge him as the greater of the two.
“Has Rae recovered yet? I would like to see her now if she has. Tell her to meet me in the courtyard at 2 past noon. I’m going to go and see if I can get through to see Kabul and find out what is taking so long to address the situation. Bring Yuri with you as well, if she’s willing to come.”
Dante spoke as assertively as ever before leaving the comfort of his bed still in his underwear. He headed out to the showers, taking his marine uniform with him as Ayumi stood there; her cheeks flushing a bright pink.