The streets of Galken aren't exactly the kind of place that you'd want to
walk through during the day, let alone at night. Nevertheless, here I was,
walking through the darkest most damp and most disgusting place on Gaea; I
felt I was walking in some other world, in the middle of the night.
How'd I get here you might ask? Well that's a good question; I don't even know myself. You see, I lived here for the majority of my childhood but now it felt as if I was floating in some sort of ethereal nightmare. Lost in the very world I once called home. It disgusted me.
I had belonged here, only ten years ago I had been walking these streets with my hands shoved deep in my pockets, feeling completely lost in the world, but at least then I felt at ease. Now, as I walked in a similar position I found myself feeling like the most awkwardly placed person on the face of the planet.
I had been a street rat, scrounging the gutters for my next meal, picking pockets to give money to my mother. My mother, she was vision, the most beautiful woman I ever have known, unfortunately there was always Cal, that man still made me burn with hatred. He wasn't my father, the truth was that mother never really knew who my father was. Probably another one of the men she 'entertained' to keep herself alive.
I laughed sarcastically; strangely enough, the same man who had driven my mother to give m over to another pair of hands had managed to actually allow me to have a decent life. Although, I'm sure, he would have rather had me drowned in the Galken River than see me become the decorated and polished soldier I am.
"Boy, would he be surprised." I muttered to myself and gained some rather biting looks from the crippled men sitting in the gutters.
Back to my story, as I continue to look for some way back to the academy. Mother had been a good woman, but also a desperate woman, she had been thrown on the streets after her father had gone bankrupt and killed himself and his wife, forgetting about his poor thirteen-year-old daughter.
The debt collectors had come and taken the house away only moments after the bloodied bodies of her parents had been taken to the cemetery. She had nearly died in these very streets but had managed to live, off of her own body. The only thing she knew to do well was look pretty, and she did it very well, soon learning the trade that came along with her looks.
That's when I came around. A sixteen-year-old whore, pregnant for the first time gave birth in a small shack in the slums of the most disgusting city ever created, no mid wife, no doctor, only a warm tub of water and fairly clean towel. Strangely enough she lived through it and managed to raise me. I loved my mother; I would never have done anything to make her life harder. Instead, I made life easier for her. By the time I was three I was snatching food from venders and running off with it. By four I was picking pockets and ripping off merchants. Then Cal came. He'd spent the night with my mother and then offered her something I didn't quiet hear. But I knew it wasn't good because the next day she cleaned me up and was humming happily, but her eyes seemed dark and troubled.
Something was up. I didn't know whether I wanted to cry or laugh as she looked into my face.
"Now you be good Gatti, you're such a good boy, promise me you'll stay that way." She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Come on, let's go for a walk. We walked into the heart of the city, where the men wore polished shoes and pressed suits and uniforms, military uniforms. The women all wore brightly colored dresses, with lace and jewels while they carried beautiful parasols.
We stopped in front of a large gated complex and mother rang the bell. She straightened my clothes and handed me a note I couldn't read.
"Now, you be good, Gatti. Now don'cha cry, and don'cha worry about me, I'll be just fine. Be nice to your elders and do as you're told, don't let anyone take advantage of you, and shine like the little star you are."
"Momma? I don't understand. What's happening?"
"Shh, I have to go now, stay here, I'll see you again my child, God willing. Good bye dear Gatti."
The door opened and mother ran down the street, tears streaming down her cheeks after she turned away and somehow I knew I would never see her again. I wanted to cry out but I wanted to obey her, I wanted to run after her but instead I stayed.
A man came out and looked down at me in curiosity as he opened the gate. I could feel my lip trembling as he knelt down in front of me so his eyes were level with mine.
"What do you have there son?"
I didn't answer; he looked too much like the men that visited Momma, with his military uniform and cleanly shaven face. He seemed like all the other military men that would come and leave. In the morning, there had been money for food, which Momma would hand me with tears in her eyes. He was like the men that made Momma cry. He stirred to many thoughts and I just looked at my feet and handed him the note.
"Hmm." He opened it and read it. "Well, it seems like you'll be staying here for while Gatti. Your mother says she loves you. I think she must if she's willing to let you stay here, and I think you'll be grateful for it when you can understand." I felt a bit more at ease, maybe he wasn't so much like those other men…
"Yes sir." I mumbled and quickly wiped away the tear that fell over my cheek.
"Now I'll have now of that, come on. I'll find you a room and then you can go to dinner and meet the other boys, all right?"
The thought of other children my age was a new concept that I soon came to like as I met my companions.
Now, ten years later I had gotten lost and somehow stumbled into my old neighborhood. I cursed silently as yet another prostitute offered me her 'favors.' I refused and then handed her a small coin.
"Take it, I don't want anything for it." I sighed and attempted to get around her.
"Wait justa mina mista' ain't de som'tin I can do foor ya?" She asked, and I knew where that statement came from, it wasn't far from my own thoughts. 'Nothing in life is free.'
"Well, I suppose you could tell me how to get to the military complex." I offered, trying to put her at ease about getting something from me. Moments latter I had found my way back to the academy.
I sighed in relief as I threw myself into the comfort of my bunk. I groaned after looking at the clock. I had exactly two hours before I'd have to be up again, and my mind wouldn't let me sleep. An hour I cursed and gave up, deciding to just stay wake and read for the remaining hour. I grabbed my book off my nightstand and left my sleeping, not to mention hung over, roommate to his snoring. I wandered down to the study hall and flipped on a light switch near my favorite reading chair. I cracked open my book and in the process two letters fell out, one old and worn from being read many times over and the other crisp and new with a crimson seal, recently broken, on it. I read both again, the first was the letter my mother gave me and the second was my commission. I was leaving in an hour to become one of the most elite soldiers in Zaibach, a Dragon Slayer.
Disclaimer:
I don't own it, don't sue me I don't have anything you'd want anyway.
A/N:
Hi all! So what do you think? If I don't get certain amount of reviews… which I won't tell you… I won't continue this. It's probably going to end up being a DS, Dilandau, and Folken fic, so input is very good. The idea is to trace Gatti from this moment to the final battle with Escaflowne, but will include Dilly and Folken and the rest of the DS so let me know what you'd like to see okay? *points to the little button* REVIEW!
How'd I get here you might ask? Well that's a good question; I don't even know myself. You see, I lived here for the majority of my childhood but now it felt as if I was floating in some sort of ethereal nightmare. Lost in the very world I once called home. It disgusted me.
I had belonged here, only ten years ago I had been walking these streets with my hands shoved deep in my pockets, feeling completely lost in the world, but at least then I felt at ease. Now, as I walked in a similar position I found myself feeling like the most awkwardly placed person on the face of the planet.
I had been a street rat, scrounging the gutters for my next meal, picking pockets to give money to my mother. My mother, she was vision, the most beautiful woman I ever have known, unfortunately there was always Cal, that man still made me burn with hatred. He wasn't my father, the truth was that mother never really knew who my father was. Probably another one of the men she 'entertained' to keep herself alive.
I laughed sarcastically; strangely enough, the same man who had driven my mother to give m over to another pair of hands had managed to actually allow me to have a decent life. Although, I'm sure, he would have rather had me drowned in the Galken River than see me become the decorated and polished soldier I am.
"Boy, would he be surprised." I muttered to myself and gained some rather biting looks from the crippled men sitting in the gutters.
Back to my story, as I continue to look for some way back to the academy. Mother had been a good woman, but also a desperate woman, she had been thrown on the streets after her father had gone bankrupt and killed himself and his wife, forgetting about his poor thirteen-year-old daughter.
The debt collectors had come and taken the house away only moments after the bloodied bodies of her parents had been taken to the cemetery. She had nearly died in these very streets but had managed to live, off of her own body. The only thing she knew to do well was look pretty, and she did it very well, soon learning the trade that came along with her looks.
That's when I came around. A sixteen-year-old whore, pregnant for the first time gave birth in a small shack in the slums of the most disgusting city ever created, no mid wife, no doctor, only a warm tub of water and fairly clean towel. Strangely enough she lived through it and managed to raise me. I loved my mother; I would never have done anything to make her life harder. Instead, I made life easier for her. By the time I was three I was snatching food from venders and running off with it. By four I was picking pockets and ripping off merchants. Then Cal came. He'd spent the night with my mother and then offered her something I didn't quiet hear. But I knew it wasn't good because the next day she cleaned me up and was humming happily, but her eyes seemed dark and troubled.
Something was up. I didn't know whether I wanted to cry or laugh as she looked into my face.
"Now you be good Gatti, you're such a good boy, promise me you'll stay that way." She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Come on, let's go for a walk. We walked into the heart of the city, where the men wore polished shoes and pressed suits and uniforms, military uniforms. The women all wore brightly colored dresses, with lace and jewels while they carried beautiful parasols.
We stopped in front of a large gated complex and mother rang the bell. She straightened my clothes and handed me a note I couldn't read.
"Now, you be good, Gatti. Now don'cha cry, and don'cha worry about me, I'll be just fine. Be nice to your elders and do as you're told, don't let anyone take advantage of you, and shine like the little star you are."
"Momma? I don't understand. What's happening?"
"Shh, I have to go now, stay here, I'll see you again my child, God willing. Good bye dear Gatti."
The door opened and mother ran down the street, tears streaming down her cheeks after she turned away and somehow I knew I would never see her again. I wanted to cry out but I wanted to obey her, I wanted to run after her but instead I stayed.
A man came out and looked down at me in curiosity as he opened the gate. I could feel my lip trembling as he knelt down in front of me so his eyes were level with mine.
"What do you have there son?"
I didn't answer; he looked too much like the men that visited Momma, with his military uniform and cleanly shaven face. He seemed like all the other military men that would come and leave. In the morning, there had been money for food, which Momma would hand me with tears in her eyes. He was like the men that made Momma cry. He stirred to many thoughts and I just looked at my feet and handed him the note.
"Hmm." He opened it and read it. "Well, it seems like you'll be staying here for while Gatti. Your mother says she loves you. I think she must if she's willing to let you stay here, and I think you'll be grateful for it when you can understand." I felt a bit more at ease, maybe he wasn't so much like those other men…
"Yes sir." I mumbled and quickly wiped away the tear that fell over my cheek.
"Now I'll have now of that, come on. I'll find you a room and then you can go to dinner and meet the other boys, all right?"
The thought of other children my age was a new concept that I soon came to like as I met my companions.
Now, ten years later I had gotten lost and somehow stumbled into my old neighborhood. I cursed silently as yet another prostitute offered me her 'favors.' I refused and then handed her a small coin.
"Take it, I don't want anything for it." I sighed and attempted to get around her.
"Wait justa mina mista' ain't de som'tin I can do foor ya?" She asked, and I knew where that statement came from, it wasn't far from my own thoughts. 'Nothing in life is free.'
"Well, I suppose you could tell me how to get to the military complex." I offered, trying to put her at ease about getting something from me. Moments latter I had found my way back to the academy.
I sighed in relief as I threw myself into the comfort of my bunk. I groaned after looking at the clock. I had exactly two hours before I'd have to be up again, and my mind wouldn't let me sleep. An hour I cursed and gave up, deciding to just stay wake and read for the remaining hour. I grabbed my book off my nightstand and left my sleeping, not to mention hung over, roommate to his snoring. I wandered down to the study hall and flipped on a light switch near my favorite reading chair. I cracked open my book and in the process two letters fell out, one old and worn from being read many times over and the other crisp and new with a crimson seal, recently broken, on it. I read both again, the first was the letter my mother gave me and the second was my commission. I was leaving in an hour to become one of the most elite soldiers in Zaibach, a Dragon Slayer.
Disclaimer:
I don't own it, don't sue me I don't have anything you'd want anyway.
A/N:
Hi all! So what do you think? If I don't get certain amount of reviews… which I won't tell you… I won't continue this. It's probably going to end up being a DS, Dilandau, and Folken fic, so input is very good. The idea is to trace Gatti from this moment to the final battle with Escaflowne, but will include Dilly and Folken and the rest of the DS so let me know what you'd like to see okay? *points to the little button* REVIEW!