Dream: *walks into room*Look who's back!
Volt: Don't be so over dramatic.
Yumeí: *Hugs Volt* You're home!
Mylene: Where's Shadow?
Dream: Passed out on the floor downstairs.
All but Volt: ?
Dream: I'll explain later. Lets just keep going with Volt's story and eat pizza.
"Absolutely not."
Volt could hear the Head of the House-a boy barely older than him named Tenik-from his kneeling position in front of Isha's house. Marret, the child with dark blue hair from earlier, sat opposite him and drew patterns on the ground.
"He could help us..." Isha's defense of him trailed off. Volt shifted his position, a little anxiously. Tenik's voice floated out of the open doorway again.
"Isha, he's dead weight. You know that. He'd be a waste of food, space and water."
"But he saved me," Isha repeated.
Deru-a lanky amber-haired fourteen-year-old-came out of the doorway and looked at Volt, shaking his head.
"You got his Alpha-Male instincts up and running," he laughed. Volt would say the same thing; Tenik was an inch shorter than him, but radiated such a powerful presence that Volt hated him at first sight. Those suspicious yellow eyes made him want to throw something, preferably something sharp or heavy. And at Tenik's head.
"Shesh. You're not going to give up?" Tenik asked. Isha must have nodded because Tenik walked out and signalled for Volt to follow him. Hating him for it, Volt obeyed.
"Isha wants you to stay with us," Tenik was saying. Volt already knew this, so he concentrated on Tenik's lime colored hair. He wondered how hard he'd have to pull before it would come off the scalp.
"I'm not buying it. Prove to me that you have any form of worth."
That was it. Volt clenched his fist and swung it at Tenik's head as hard as he could.
He was caught by surprise when Tenik ducked, and found himself off balance. Tenik struck quickly, landing a solid blow on Volt's ribs; being malnourished and weakened as he was, the impact did more damage than it should have. The hit throbbed, but worse was the injury to Volt's pride.
Enraged, Volt seized Tenik by the shirt collar and threw him twelve feet-and into a wall. He didn't give the surprised boy time to recover and pinned him to the ground.
"Do you know where I've been?!" Volt hollered. "Do you know what I've gone through?! Do you know how I was trained?!"
As he said it, Volt could feel hot tears sliding down his cheeks. Tenik looked honestly surprised. Volt growled and puched the ground next to Tenik's head; he felt the impact with the concrete break the bones in his hand. He didn't care.
They stayed there for a long time, neither one moving, just waiting for something to happen. Slowly, Volt released his hold on Tenik's shirt and stood up. He started to walk away, but Tenik's voice halted him.
"Welcome to the fold I guess."
He turned and saw Tenik off his hand, determinedly looking away. Volt grasped it briefly, wincing as the broken knuckles in his other hand shifted slightly. They released their grip after a moment and the other boy shoved his hands into his pockets.
"I don't like you very much," Tenik said, still not looking Volt in the eye. "but Isha's right. We could use you."
"What do you want me to do?" Volt asked numbly. Tenik turned away, as if embarrassed.
"When we started living here, the Slums were farther away. They've grown, and we're not safe here anymore. What you saw this morning was just one of the several incidents that've happened recently."
"You need a protector."
Volt knew he was being used, but it didn't matter. If he was going to be the last survivor of the Luster Clan, he needed to live up the Code of Honor. Through him, the legacy would live on.
Dream: Family 2 has been met!
Lync: *mouth full of pizza. says something unintelligable*
Yumeí: Can we know now why Shadow was late?
Dream: Volt intercepted the Pizza Guy and delivered our dinner. Shadz was so shocked he fell over.
Mylene: Let me guess: the tile is hard.
Volt: *shakes head* Sometimes I wonder why I still try to live here.