Post by Arcana on May 2, 2021 14:20:48 GMT -5
They had stolen her new shoes. A lone tear trickles down her grubby cheek as she angrily dashes it away. She didn’t know why they were always so mean to her, the other girls. She had tried to be their friend but they were so into their own clique. She had once stood up for herself, and they had pounced upon her, giving her a beating that brought her back to... that night. A soft moan leaves her lips as she buries her face into her arms.
Now? Now she just let them have whatever they wanted with a minimum of fuss. Sometimes she was lucky, and he would be around to scare them off. They didn’t bother her so much when he was around. As soon as they spied him, the hair twirling and giggling would begin, and they would pretend they were just joking. They were just having some fun with the younger girl.
She thought he could see right through them... maybe that’s why he was her friend. Maybe he really did feel sorry for her, just like they always told her. She was a pity case. She didn’t want to believe that though. He was her friend. He always told her so.
“Kaiya? Kaiya, where are you?”
She sniffles, lifting her head just enough for her eyes to clear her arms, seeing a figure walking her way through the blurriness of her tears.
“Kaiya?”
She curls up into herself more, hating how she always seemed to be crying when he found her. Her shoe scrapes along the bark of the thick branch she was perched on, capturing his attention. He looks up, shading his eyes from the glare of the sun.
“What are you doing up there?” Damien asks her. A small sniff is his reply. He easily clambers up, making her scoot over a little so he could join her on the branch, luckily strong enough to hold them both. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine.” her voice sounded small and shaky to even her own ears. He raises a brow, and looks her over as they sit, their legs swinging in the empty space below them. He takes note of the half attached sole of her left shoe. “What happened to your new ones? You were so excited.”
“They didn’t fit.” she fibs. He stares at her for a long time, as she bites her lip and studies her shoe as if it had become the most interesting thing in the world. “They took them from you again, didn’t they?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, shaking his head. “Let's go get them back.”
“NO!”
The word explodes out, making him stare at her wide eyed. “No. I'm sorry Damien, but thank you. You don’t have to do that for me.”
“I know I don’t Kaiya, but I want to. I’m your friend. Until you feel strong enough to do it on your own, I will help you. You will one day, you know. The moment you stand up for yourself, they won't be able to do anything to you. They will be too scared. You just need to learn to be confident in yourself.”
“I can't.”
“You can, and one day, you will. You won't need me anymore Kaiya. But right now, let's go get your shoes.”
He slides down, hitting the ground with a thud, extending a hand to help her down as they walk back to the orphanage hand in hand.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
“Winning has never been important to me. Is it nice? Sure, it is. But for me, winning isn't always the measure of a person. To me, what matters is what happens between the bells. The amount of fight and heart a competitor has. What matters is how they handle themselves both in and out of the ring. And for me, most importantly, how they handle a loss.
So many throw little temper tantrums, try to come up with some sort of excuse of how someone could have possibly gotten one over on them. Their egos so fragile, that to actually lose to somebody, shakes them to their very core.
Not I. I simply keep looking forward. Dust off and it is on to the next opponent, keeping my focus steady.
However, I would like to note, that this upcoming match offers me a chance to right a wrong, a loss that was not truly a loss. Jessie Lee. Using a syringe to squirt Jin’s blood on myself and Sora. How deceitful. I had expected better. Guess that makes me the fool. But it also makes you a fool... it shows that you did not think you could win fairly. It shows that you were running scared. Tsk tsk my girl... You just painted a target on your back. I don’t care how long it takes, you and I will meet and no amount of underhanded tactics will save you from the repercussions.
But first, I meet Jason Ryan –again- and Casey Holidaty with Jalen Prince by my side.
Listen Jason, you lost. Even if you underestimated me, that’s not just a loss to yourself and not to me. That’s a loss in BOTH arenas.
Your problem is not only your ego, it’s the fact that you are living in the past. You had legendary title runs. You carried another fed. None of those matter in the here and now, no matter how much you keep bringing it up. You are here now, in Revo and you need to focus on what you can accomplish here. You walked in, and lost to a girl who had never wrestled in a match before. The past didn’t help you.
Your partner can't help you. Get your head out of your ass and get it into the game.
When we walk into that ring, there will be nothing but the four of us, each chasing a dream. The words before doesn’t matter, the previous matches don’t matter. It is only the here and now.”