The Angel and The Shadow
Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football or anything afflicted with Galactik Football. However, I do own my OC character.
Chapter 4: Unlikely Friends
Sinedd's supporters kept cheering for Sinedd as they carried him out of the Netherball arena like some sort of king. Admittedly, Sinedd rather liked being treated like a champion but he still wanted to be alone. "You can let me go now." said Sinedd as he jumped off his supporters. "We should celebrate your victory, man!" suggested a supporter. "No, you can go now. I've got better things to do." said Sinedd. His supporters grumbled and left in different directions. "Nothing beats being alone….especially when you've been alone your whole live…." thought Sinedd. The grim Sinedd was never much of a party person and he was used to that loneliness. As much as he hated it, Sinedd couldn't let go of this 'habit' of being a lone wolf or a one-man army. This 'shield' Sinedd uses to push everyone away was so that he wouldn't get close to anyone or get hurt.
The supporters were now all gone and apart from Sinedd, the district he was in was empty like it always was at a time as late as this, not counting the cleaning droids. With his hands in his pockets, Sinedd started walking with his head down. He was going to walk to his place where he could think about anything without interruptions. Sinedd always pondered about many things. Life, his parents, what is the meaning of his life and so on.
For the past while, Tia kept running like the devil was after her. She didn't know what district of Genesis she was in and she didn't care. All she wanted to do was find a place to cry on her own. She didn't want to go back to the hotel so any private place would do. Suddenly, an idea appeared in her mind and she started running in a set direction rather then in random directions.
"You guys, I'm worried about Tia." said Mei as she placed her head on D'Jok's chest. "We've been wandering around the districts for a while now and we still haven't seen her." said Thran. "I hope she's ok….." said Yuki worryingly. "Rocket…..how could you….." muttered D'Jok through gritted teeth. "We should go back to the hotel. Maybe she's there?" suggested Micro-Ice. "Maybe. What are we going to tell Aarch?" asked Thran. "Maybe he's asleep and won't notice?" replied Micro-Ice with his signature grin. "Now is not the time for jokes, Micro-Ice!" scolded Mei as she shot a glare at Micro-Ice. "Alright, alright I'm sorry." muttered the joker as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Micro-Ice was always a bit afraid of being at the wrong end of Mei's glares. "I agree with Micro-Ice. About us going back to the hotel. She's probably in her room and if she's not then there's nothing else we can do." sighed D'Jok and they turned back in the direction to their hotel. Mark was racked with guilt. He couldn't help but feel that he was the one to blame. Yuki had seen the midfielders face so full of ruefulness. Knowing why he felt like that, she thought she should comfort him. "Mark, it isn't your fault. Rocket is the one at fault." said Yuki in an attempt to console him. "I know but I can't stop feeling like it's partly my fault too. I mean maybe I should've told everyone sooner." sighed Mark. Though Yuki wanted to talk to him more about it, she could see that he wasn't in the mood like everyone else.
After a short walk, Sinedd was finally at his area, his place where he could relax alone, a place he could call his own. Sinedd could feel the wind blowing lightly against his dark hair and the soft texture of the grass against his fingertips. The stars that were light-years away were shining like a skyline. Near Sinedd was a huge pond that reflected this beautiful scene like a mirror. Even the fishes swimming in the pond seemed to be magnificent. For once in his life, Sinedd could relax and forget about his life which he deemed worthless, even if only for a moment.
Tia was now at a forest or huge garden of some kind where her and Rocket spent their last date together before he was banned from the GFC. Sitting down beside a tree, she finally let her tears out. Before, she was just holding some of them in. Right now, she felt like dying. Without Rocket, she felt like half of her was lost and dead. Tia's crystal tears fell down her rosy cheeks and she felt lonelier then ever. Even before she fell in love with Rocket, at least she had her governess, Stella. But now, she's lost Rocket, her parents were far away on a diplomatic mission and Stella was at her home far away. "Please wake up…..I hope this is a n-nightmare……This hurts so much…. " whispered Tia through her sobs. Eventually, she calmed down a bit and walked around to find herself next to a huge pond. In the distance, she could see a figure sitting down. It was too dark to see who the person was but for some reason, seemed vaguely familiar. Curiosity got the better of her so she decided to get closer.
"Sinedd? Sinedd, over here."
Sinedd turned to see a vision of his mother and father again. "No….not again….." said Sinedd as he clutched his head.
"Sinedd, it's your parents. What's the matter?" asked the vision of his father.
"Get away from me! Leave me alone! Stop messing with my head!" shouted Sinedd as he kept backing away like he was being hunted.
"Sinedd, it's us! We're your parents and you're our baby! Come closer, I want to touch your soft, black hair…." said the vision of his mother.
"My parents died a long time ago! Leave me alone and stop messing with my head!" shouted Sinedd as tears of sorrow and anger crept down his face. The visions screamed in pain and died ruthlessly in front of Sinedd.
"Sinedd!! My son!!" screamed the visions before they faded.
"Argh!! No!! Please stop!!" screamed Sinedd as his mind felt surges of pain twice as painful as before. Sinedd fell to the ground and kept screaming from the top of his lungs. The smog surrounded him and Sinedd could hear a screech coming from the smog which sounded like his parent's screams.
Tia soon saw Sinedd on the ground and in immense pain. Her instincts made her run to him and try to help. "Sinedd?! Sinedd?!" asked Tia as she placed her arms around him and kept shaking him. A tear had crept down her face and landed on Sinedd without either of them noticing. The smog had stopped quickly and disappeared. The surges of pain retracted and Sinedd's screams had stopped for now. Sinedd's eyes slowly opened and saw Tia's green eyes as she saw his violet eyes. "An angel?" was Sinedd's first thoughts. He then realised that it was Tia. "Tia?" asked Sinedd. Though she helped him, Tia still couldn't let go of the fact that Sinedd was the one who wounded Rocket. She let go of Sinedd immediately and sat down next to Sinedd but averted her eyes. "Why did you help me?" asked Sinedd as he sat up. "You were in pain. I just…had to help. I still don't forgive you for earlier." replied Tia. "I don't expect you to forgive me for that. Why don't you just go back to your friends and leave me alone!" snapped Sinedd. "Fine I will! Why are you being like this?" asked Tia. "Why? Why? It's because I'm a lone wolf. For the whole of my life, I've always been alone and I've always been let down by people. I push people away so that no-one can hurt me. I don't have parents, I don't have friends and I sure as hell don't have anyone to love!" replied Sinedd. At that moment, Tia realised that Sinedd was like Tia. Never did she realise that the dark haired striker whom she and her teammates hated was a lot like her. She realised that Sinedd was a bully because he feared getting close to someone then losing them like his parents. Tia's opinion of Sinedd changed completely within a few hours.
"I'll be your friend." whispered Tia. "Really? But why?" asked a surprised Sinedd. "Because…I realised that you are a lot like me. I used to be lonely too. My parents were away so much that I was practically raised by people my parents hired, before the Snow Kids, I didn't have many friends and before Rocket, I never loved someone before. Now, I feel lonely again because my parents are far away and I've lost the one I love so I know how you feel but you shouldn't push everyone away because it isn't good to be lonely." advised Tia. "It's because of my parents. I still haven't gotten over their deaths. Sometimes, I wish I died with them. At least then I won't be alone in this life." lamented Sinedd. "It'll take time to get over your parents deaths. Sometimes, people never get over it but you don't have to. You just need to know that it isn't your fault and stop letting it take over your life. With good friends, it'll make things easier. If you want, I'll be your first friend." said Tia with a genuine smile. "Sure. That'll be great." said Sinedd and for the first time in years, he had a smile that wasn't cynical. "I bet your friends won't be so pleased though." commented Sinedd. "If you stop being such a bully or a pessimist and show them the true you then they'll like you." said Tia and she gave him a friendly hug. The pessimistic Sinedd couldn't help but blush slightly. "Maybe he can help me get over Rocket…maybe…" thought Tia as he hugged Sinedd.
"Well?" asked D'Jok. "Aarch is sound asleep. Like Ahito here" said Thran as he nudged Ahito and both him and Micro-Ice grinned. Just then, Mei had got back to the group. "Tia's not in our room." said Mei. "There's nothing we can do now. We'll just have to get to sleep and hope that she'll be back tomorrow." said D'Jok and they all walked back to their rooms.
"It's getting late, I should be heading back." said Tia after their long conversation. "Same. Maybe we could go out sometime and do whatever? As friends." asked Sinedd. "Yeah, that'd be great. How about sometime tommorrow? We'll meet somewhere in the Northern District, around nighttime." yawned Tia and before Sinedd knew it, she had collapsed because of tiredness, exhaustion and stress. "Tia? Tia?" asked Sinedd as he shook her. No answer. All he could hear from her was Tia's soft breathing. Sinedd carried Tia in his arms and was going to take her back to her hotel. As he carried her, Sinedd kept glancing at her pure, innocent face. They were now friends but Sinedd's feelings for her were growing already. Maybe Tia felt the same way. Maybe. Hopefully. Sinedd was already outside the hotel by the time he detracted from his thoughts. Entering the grand hotel, he asked the receptionist what floor the Snow Kids were staying on. Sinedd walked into the elevator and pressed a button. As the door closed, Sinedd took another look at Tia. Still sound asleep. Elevator music was playing and Sinedd just smirked. No matter what elevator he was in, the music playing in the elevator always seemed to be cheesy. The doors slid open after a quick few seconds and Sinedd walked out to find several doors. The Snow Kids had this floor to themselves so it made it easier to find Tia's room though only slightly.
Sinedd reached into Tia's pocket for a key card or something that would give Sinedd an idea to what her hotel room number was. He found a key card that had the room number clearly shown. Careful as to not wake up anyone, Sinedd crept to Tia's room and put the key card into a small device next to the door. The door opened silently and Sinedd looked in. On one side of the room was Tia's bed; on the other side was Mei who seemed to be snoozing. Sinedd quietly but hurriedly placed Tia onto her bed and tucked her blanket over her and left as quickly as he came in. "Sinedd? What was he doing with Tia?" thought Mei who was in actual fact, not asleep. "He's clearly up to no good…why was Tia with a guy like him?" mused Mei. Deciding to question Tia about it tomorrow, Mei adjusted her pillow and dozed off.
The next day……
Sinedd's alarm had rung and woke up the dozing striker. Unexpectedly, Sinedd woke up with a slight smile on his face. After getting dressed, Sinedd glanced at his clock to see that training for the upcoming Shadows vs. Lightnings match was in an hour. The striker had left his room and was starting to make his way down to breakfast but was halted as a hand was on his shoulder. Sinedd turned to see one of his teammates. "What?" asked Sinedd. The Shadows teammate replied by pointing down the corridor to Artegor's office before leaving him to it. "What does he want with me?" thought Sinedd. He couldn't see any reason why Artegor would want to talk to him right now. Their relationship was nothing more then a player to coach relationship in Sinedd's opinion. As long as Sinedd scored goals, Artegor didn't care much about his wellbeing and Sinedd wasn't too fond of the former player. The word 'antipathetic' would probably describe their relationship.
Walking casually to Artegor's office, he knocked and awaited a reply. "Come in." said a voice and Sinedd opened the door. Sinedd could see Artegor, swaying lightly in his chair while he could someone else standing next to Artegor. A complete stranger. "What do you want?" glared Sinedd as he walked in. He then remembered what Tia said to him and retracted his glare to a casual gaze. "Sinedd. I want you to meet our new striker and your new teammate, Nemanja." introduced Artegor and Sinedd immediately studied him. Nemanja looked like he was Sinedd's age; he had very dark brown hair of medium length with a fringe that almost reached his eyes. His eyes were like a pair of hazel-blue ice. Behind those eyes, Sinedd could see many things. He could see depression, anger, hate and sorrow but at the same time, Sinedd could see calmness. Nemanja seemed like the kind of person who had a few scars from his past, mentally and physically. Nemanja had an athletic build which meant he obviously took care of himself. In a way, Nemanja was similar to Sinedd. Both of them extended their arms and shook each others hand. "Nemanja was the business associate I was meeting yesterday. His skills are excellent and I believe you two will get along fine on and off the pitch. Both of you better get along." said Artegor. No matter what he was saying, there was always bound to be some cynicalness in his words.
"Anything else?" asked Sinedd. "Yes…there is one last thing which is related to my first point." answered Artegor as he placed a box on his desk. "Part of the reason why Nemanja is now on our team is because one of our players, Nilla left. She had to leave because of a…private matter. As you know, that means I've had to choose our new captain. And I chose you." said Artegor and Sinedd was overwhelmed. Sinedd and Artegor never seemed to be fond of each other ever since Sinedd's defection to the Shadows and Artegor was giving him the role of the Shadows captain. "Thanks. But why?" asked Sinedd as he couldn't help but wonder why. "You deserve it. Make me proud and lead the team to victory." replied Artegor with a seemingly genuine slight smile. As he said those words, his eyes were shining behind his sunglasses. "Maybe there's an ulterior motive...but maybe there isn't…" mused Sinedd and was slightly cautious about this. Sinedd opened the box and took out a Shadows kit which looked exactly like his old one but instead of black and green, it was black and red with the number 11 shown on the right in red. It clearly signified that Sinedd was the captain and he just smiled. Nemanja took out another kit from the box which had the number 10 on it. "Both of you can get out now. I'm extremely busy." said Artegor, dismissing them and they both left in a hurry. "I think we'll get along just fine." said Nemanja and Sinedd nodded in agreement. Sinedd had a good feeling about Nemanja and he suddenly got happier. He now had two friends and Sinedd's outlook on life was on the verge of changing. "My life seems to be getting better…I'm still going to be cautious though…" thought Sinedd. At the back of his mind, Sinedd's fear of getting close to someone then losing them was still there. The two strikers left for breakfast. "My life is starting to change….because of her…" thought Sinedd. It seemed like Tia was the reason his life was starting to become different. He couldn't help but thank her. The angel. His Angel.
Artegor turned his chair to the huge window with a view of Genesis. His 'genuine' smile turned into an evil grin. "Everything is going to plan so far…." thought Artegor.
Mei's alarm had rung and as she woke up, she was introduced to a cold breeze of wind. The glamorous defender turned to see Tia already awake on the balcony. She was rather surprised to see Tia awake before her as Mei usually woke up before Tia to get ready for the day early. "Now's a good time to ask Tia about Sinedd." thought Mei as she lifted the blanket off her. "Hi Tia." said Mei. She didn't answer. "Tia?" repeated Mei and Tia turned around. "Oh, sorry…I was daydreaming. Anyway, what is it?" asked Tia. "Tia…what were you doing with Sinedd yesterday?" asked Mei, getting straight to the point. "How did you know about that?" asked Tia as she narrowed her eyes. "I saw Sinedd carrying you into our room. Tia, why are you associating with a guy like him? You know he's nothing but trouble!" exclaimed Mei. "He's changed, Mei! Yesterday, I ran off somewhere and I saw him. Sinedd was being hurt badly by the Smog and I couldn't just leave him!" pleaded Tia. "I wish you had…." muttered Mei. "Sinedd has changed. Me and him, we're friends. The real Sinedd isn't a bully or mean. He's just misunderstood and his life isn't a good one." said Tia, ignoring Mei's last comment. "Did you forget what Sinedd did yesterday? He injured Rocket badly and insulted us, your friends!" commented Mei. "For the last time, Sinedd has changed. Deep down, he's a…sweet person. Please believe me, we're best friends. If you won't take my word for it, you can go and see for yourself. Please." pleaded Tia. "Alright, I'll see if he really has changed." sighed Mei. "But I don't think everyone else will believe you. Especially D'Jok." added Mei. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." replied Tia and they both went back inside.
Sinedd and Nemanja returned to the training room after breakfast for training. It seemed as though they were rather early as no-one was there yet. "Hey Nemanja." began Sinedd. "Yeah?" he replied. "Have you played for a team in the GFC?" asked Sinedd. "No. My planet used to have a team before the Civil War a few years ago. I was too young to be considered for the Canderonion team at the time and just before I was able to try-out for the team, the Civil War happened. Some political debate got out of hand and before I knew it, regions of Canderon were at war. Men and woman of all ages were drafted into the war. That war opened my eyes to what life truly was. I saw people get killed everyday. Soldiers, civilians, it never mattered. The Civil War took anyone. Many of my friends died near the end of the war." said Nemanja. "Your friends died?" said Sinedd. "Yeah. Our squad were among many to attack the enemy base. The mission meant that had we succeeded, we were certain to win the war and restore stability to Canderon. We did succeed, barely. My friends, my comrades, they died as the last wave of enemies remained. Ever since that mission, I was never quite the same. I still bore scars from my past….If only politics wasn't so imperfect, the war would never have happened." lamented Nemanja. Sinedd just stood there, stunned. He just learned that Nemanja was even more like him. He too carried scars; he too lost someone in a war. Before they could say anything more, Artegor arrived into the room along with the Shadows. "Time to start training. All of you, warm up first. Then, we'll go over formations we will use against the Lightnings." said Artegor. As Nemanja lifted a barbell, he realised just how much Artegor Nexus resembled his old general. "Strict, to the point and doesn't settle for second-best. Just like the general…" reminisced Nemanja. Though the war was a bad memory for him, there were a few good things that Nemanja took from that war.
Tia and Mei wandered around and saw that most of the Snow Kids were still asleep. Apart from one person. They entered the training room to find D'Jok punching a punch bag as hard as he could and was sweating heavily. He still had that angry look from yesterday but this time, it wasn't just Rocket he was angry about. "Sinedd….he'll pay for what he said….." muttered D'Jok. "Still think D'Jok will forgive this 'new' Sinedd?" whispered Mei. Mei and Tia just left the room. They knew D'Jok long enough to know that it was never a good idea to speak to him when his eyes were burning full of hatred like that. "I said I'd meet Sinedd later tonight. That's when you'll see how he's changed." said Tia and Mei just sighed but nodded. She didn't want to argue with her best friend, especially at a time as early as this. Plus, it'd be interesting if he really did change.
How will react Mei react to the true Sinedd? What's next for Sinedd and Tia? Is there really an ulterior motive to Artegor giving Sinedd the role of Captain? Can Sinedd really trust Nemanja? Will the Shadows be ready for the Lightnings? Finally, how long will it be until the Snow Kids find out about Sinedd and Tia's friendship? Find out in Chapter 5, coming soon!
I really like this chapter. It is probably my favorite chapter at the moment because Sinedd always had a hard life. He doesn't deserve this pain in his life. I always like Sinedd x Tia because they are very similar to each other. I would compare this to be similar to Sasuke x Sakura from Naruto. About my new story that I mentioned in the last chapter, I've got two ideas. One would be about a young man who joins the Pirates and would be about the Pirates Adventures as he travels with Sonny Blackbones' crew. He would also be involved in the events that happened to the Pirates like when Sonny was captured by Bleylock or when the Pirates rescued Tia's parents. I think it's a great idea as most of the Pirates are relatively minor characters. Another idea of mine would be about Nemanja in the Canderon Civil War. It would give off some background information about him and the war. It would involve Technoid and the Pirates too. I'm unsure about which one to write or if I should write both of them. If I write both of them, which one would I write first? Another possible idea would focus on Nemanja as he joins the Shadows during the events of Season 2 and he would be involved in the events like the All-Stars match, Netherball and so on. Please help me decide which story idea I should go through with and also, please tell me what you think about this chapter and my OC character.