Chapter Five
Dave Strider
It's been two days since you came to this place and you haven't left. You decided you want to do this. After getting some more explanation from Hodge you decided this was what you were supposed to do. You were born to do this. But your brother had kept you from it before.
No one needed to ask, they knew you were angry at him. He knew it too. He let you have your space. But he was starting to get fed up with it you knew. So when he walked into your room without knocking you glared at him.
He just glared back. "Look kid. I know your angry. That's fine bu-" You interrupt him "But you don't care." You stand up. "You never cared what I thought. You never thought that I would want to know about this. You kept everything from be because you didn't care. What if this is what I wanted to do? You kept this...this...huge fucking piece of information from me my whole life! Did you not think I would want to know about dad?! Or mom?! You just decided I didn't need to know?! Who are you to do that?!" By the end you're yelling and you try to keep going but Dirk grabs your shoulders and slams you against the wall, making you wince.
"You listen to me you ungrateful brat." He sneers at you and you stare at him, he's never talked to you like that before. "I did all this to protect you. All of it. So that you didn't have to go through a life of demons. So that you could be normal. I don't give two shits if that's not what you wanted cause this is what mom and dad wanted. And if you want to stay and do this then fine. Do it. But don't you /dare/ yell at me. I was doing what was best for you and I will not sit here and take shit from you." He lets you go and walks out of the room, leaving you to stare after him.
You've never made him that angry before. You feel...kinda bad now... You were about to go find him and apologize but when you open the door you find Sollux standing there, hand in a knocking position. He raises an eyebrow.
"Are you ready?" It was your turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Ready for what?" He rolls his eyes.
"Your training dumbass." Theres that annoying lisp again. That's when you notice he was wearing his gear.
"Uh..I guess so.." You mumble and he grabs your arm, dragging you from your room and down the hall
"Good." You struggle against his grip and he lets you go and you just walk with him silently. You two end up in a large room with a matted floor. There are large beams up towards the ceiling, what looks like harnesses attached to them.
Before you know it he tosses a sword at you. You catch it easily.
"I heard you were good with swords so we'll start with that. I want to see how good you can move." You nod and he grabs another sword, standing across the room from you. You watch him, study the way he stands, the way he moves.
Soon he lunges, his sword expertly aimed for your throat but you block it with your own. But your movement was jerky, cause you to stumble a bit. That gave him all he needed. He lifts his foot and kicks you square in the chest, causing you to slam against the wall and before you know it his sword is driven into the wall right next to your head. Fuck.
He crosses his arms. "You are good with a sword. I know you are. But your movements are too stiff. Not graceful enough. You'll never get around like that." You just roll your eyes
"You know it's really hard to take you seriously with that lisp." He glares at you before pulling his sword from the wall. "Fine. Lets go again." You nod and pick your sword up from the ground where it had fallen and stand up straight.
You guys go again and again and again but he always kicks your ass. The last time he ends up siting on your stomach, his sword at your neck and yours half way across the room. Fuck he's good at this. "Are you ready to listen to me pretty boy or do you want to keep going?"
You just shove him off of you but even him falling over was graceful. How the fuck does he do it? You stand but you don't retrieve the sword. He gets it and puts his own sword away. He looks back to you.
"Do a cartwheel." You look at him weirdly and he crosses his arms
"What?"
"You heard me. Do a cartwheel."
You sigh and take a step back before doing as he says. When he stand back up straight he looks perplexed.
"What?" You snap after him staring at you for a moment.
"You're graceful with that but not with your sword. Here. Do this." He takes a step back and elegantly flips himself into a handstand, holding himself there, his legs up straight.
You don't know if you can do that but you'll try. Once he lands back on his feet you do the same but it's more sloppy than his. You're more off balance and when you land back on your feet you stumble. He sighs
"You have no control over your own movements. Do it again." You do as he says but this time you feel his hands moving your legs, making them straight. After what seems like hours you finally manage to do it gracefully, landing on your feet soundlessly when you come back down.
"Good. Fucking finally." He sighs. "Now" He lifts he leg before you realize whats happening and tries to kick your head but you quickly duck. "Dodge." You stand back up as he continues to try and hit and kick you but you always avoid them. This goes on for a few minutes before he stops, both of you breathing hard.
"See. Graceful. Apply that when you use your sword. When you defend yourself. Be graceful like that." You hadn't even noticed but when you ducked or spun to avoid him it was graceful. It wasn't jerky or stiff. You just acted you didn't think.
When you grab your sword he comes at you again and you block him. You do this for a few minutes before managing to get the upper hand and pinning him against the wall, your sword at his neck.
You two stay like that for a moment, breathing heavily before you pull away. He picks up his sword and takes yours also.
"We're done for today. Be here tomorrow at eight." With that he disappears into the room connected to this one and you go back to the hallway.
You manage to find your room again then figure you should probably apologize to your brother so you wonder around some more, looking for him.