[Vatanui AKA Pride]

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Sparring with Sage


News~ A rare occur, a new chapter on Sunday!


Vatas quickly pulled off the blanket covering him, and got on his toes. He then lifted his pillow, revealing a long katana attached with a steel sickle beneath. Efficiently, he grasped it, and set into an offensive stance, ready. Sage remained where he were, continuing to grip his coffee, as he took a sip.
"Ready?" he asked, betraying no emotion.

"Yes," Vatas answered and charged.


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Seven Years Ago~
A haggard boy sat on the dirty floor. His bottom was wet, due to the water flowing on the crusty ground. He was in a alley, along with a couple of other children. One child was next to him, on the verge of dying from starvation. The other children were in no better shape. The boy was at least eleven years old. His clothes were rags, knitted poorly together. His stomach was growling from hunger; his face spoke of no future and of death soon approaching. The other children were in no better condition, some of them in even worse.
Many people strolled by them, dressed in comfy clothes, their stomachs full, their faces alive. They paid no attention to the children on the alley, as if they didn't even exist. Some of the people even carried food along with them, not even noticing the starving children who would have even kill to gain the food. It was a rotten world.
As the small boy glanced in sorrow at the by-passers, he saw a person with a piece of fruit, an apple. The boy hated stealing, he despised it, for it was clearly wrong. However, in his condition, he was tempting to commit the sin. The boy then slowly stood up, first getting onto his knees. Then using the wall as support, he managed to stand up properly. Mustering all his remaining strength, the boy charged. As the crowd noticed him, a cry of surprise came out. Before anyone could react, the boy sped through the crowd of people, and out, carrying the piece of fruit in his hands. As he ran, the boy could hear a yell of anger from the crowd. He glanced back in terror as he saw the man whom he had stolen the fruit from ran out, swearing at him. As the middle-aged man continued to pursuit him, the boy escaped into a nearby alley. As he ran, the boy noticed numerous children on the ground, all haggard from starvation. He then quickly took a look at the piece of fruit, a half-eaten apple. The apple seemed stain with dirt; yet the boy did not care. Food was food. However, that act distracted him. The man had gotten up to him. Relentless, the man grasped the boy's black hair in a dark fury. He spun the boy around and gripped his neck in fiery. "Why you damn kid.." the man snarled as tears came out of the boy's eyes, dripping to the ground. Yet the man did not care, for his grip on the boy's neck continued to tighten bit by bit.

"Hey!" the shout came from behind. Immediately, the boy's eyes flashed opened by surprise, for he had thought he would have been surely dead by now. The man released his grip on the boy's scrawny neck, as the boy fell to his knees. From loss of strength, he collapsed onto the crusty floor, as the man glanced in anger at the source who had spoken. Quickly, he located it. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, snarling.
The person who had spoken was no less than a child. He was at least eight years old. The small child was at least four feet, three inches, and wore a black cloak, accompanied with a black hood that was put on. Underneath the cloak was a red robe, with black flames at the bottom and on the sleeves. A sword hung on his back, kept on by a strapped, and had a long steel chain that led to a silver object. "I'm an agent of the Tsuyoryuusei Masurao," the boy answered coldly.
Upon answer, the man's eyes widened in terror. Quickly, he ran, not even stopping to reach his fruit nor the sprawled boy. The cloaked figure then took a step forward. He speedily reached the collapsed boy, and helped him up. "Who are you?" the boy asked, the marks of stained tears on his face, and his voice cracking up. The cloaked boy offered no answer, instead handing the boy the half-eaten apple. He then quickly reached inside his cloak, and pulled out a loaf of fresh bread. The cloaked figure then handed the loaf to the haggard orphan as well, to the orphan's astonishment. "You're giving me..." he mumbled as the cloaked boy then stood up. "What's your name?" he then asked to the orphan. "My name?"

"You don't have one?"

"No, it's just that no one had ever asked me that."

"So what is it?"

"It's....."

"Sage." the orphan answered. The cloaked figure made no movement. He then stood up, and turned on the opposite direction. "And what is yours?" the orphan known as Sage questioned. "It's Vatas," the cloaked boy answered simply. "Vatas Shadow Pridus."


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Heavily breathing, Vatas was on the grassy ground, tired. Sage stood before him, gripping his cup of coffee. The two were outside of Vatas's hospital room; an explosion had occurred in the midst of the fight, creating a gapping hole to the outside grass plains, leading up to the fighting happening at that location. Numerous kunai and shuriken punctured the grass, several craters were throughout the area. Vatas's katana was stabbed into the earth, twenty meters south of Vatas and Sage.
Vatas toke in the realization: he had lost. Not even one single drop of Sage's coffee had been spilled throughout the whole fight. "You should get some exercise," Sage said, breaking the silence as he took a sip from his now lukewarm cup. "Due to the fact that none of your attacks had managed to work against me."
"Oh, shut up," Vatas said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "I was just warming up." "Well then, you want to go again?" Sage asked, as he took another sip from his cup. Vatas said,"Yes--"
"Oh, shut the damn hell up!" that voice came abruptly, interrupting Vatas's answered. The voice was familiar to the two. Before anyone could properly react, a figure had skittered out of the hole in Vatas's hospital room. With amazing speed, the figure appeared before Vatas and Sage. Grasping a hospital sandal, she struck it right at Vatas's face. The figure then turned to Sage and did the same to him, as Sage, being smacked by a sandal, accidentally dropped his cup of coffee. It landed on the ground with a dull thud, as coffee spilled out.
"Humph!" Toshi said and spun around. Both Vatas and Sage seemed surprised to see her. "Be quiet, I'm trying to get some rest!" she shouted as she head back to her room, as a group of nurses chuckled at Sage's and Vatas's misfortune.


To be Continued.