Daniel sat ramrod straight as he watched Connor competing in the Nationals. He was in the semi finals now, and the whole Dojo was there to watch him compete. Connor was sporting a nice black eye and had taken some healthy kicks to the legs but he was still going strong. He had really grown in his time at the dojo. From the arrogant football player to the diligent student. Connor had decided to grow out his hair like master Tim and although it wasn't as long yet, he sported his little brown man bun with pride.
Daniel watched with rapt attention as Connor delivered a high kick then a leg sweep, same as he had done to the kid so long ago. Once the other boy was down Connor lightly tapped the kid in the ribs with his foot to signal a strike. The ref didn't call it though and the boy on the ground kicked up and into Connors face.
"Point!" The ref called.
Daniel snarled silently and clenched his fists. Connor took a deep breath like he had been taught and brought up his guard.
"Begin!"
Connor wound up for a high kick before changing it into a straight kick, hitting the kid in the chest and blasting him back onto the mat a few feet. The kid seemed pretty dazed but uninjured.
"Point! Four Beasts Dojo advances to the finals." Connor grinned and offered a hand to the opponent, helping him up and walking with him to his school. Daniel and the other students walked down to congratulate Connor.
"I did it!" He grinned. "Those extra lessons really helped! Thank you Daniel! Sorry. Head Disciple!" He bowed at the waist, to which Daniel returned the bow.
'Glad to help. This is a result of your hard work.' Daniel signed.
"Excuse me, Mr. Dennt?" Connor turned at the mention of his surname.
"Can I help you?" He asked the man in the suit who'd shown up.
"I'm here to extend an offer for a role in our next movie. I was sent here because our director has seen you in competitions and we feel like you're the perfect fit for our lead." The man gave a million watt smile.
'Your offer is very generous but please wait to discuss it until the competition is over and you can talk over it with him and his parents. While not technically a minor, big decisions like this should be given thought.' Daniel interjected, placing his tablet between the two.
Connor read it then nodded. The man wasn't impressed. "And you are?"
'I'm the head disciple of the dojo and his trainer.' Daniel wrote.
"How….quaint. alright, I will wait until after the competition, here is my card and you can give me a call." The man handed connor a business card and walked away.
"I'm not sure I want to, senior. It's weird to think of myself acting." Connor said, scratching the back of his head.
'Get cleaned up, you stink.' Daniel signed then pinched his nose, waving away a laughing Connor. He smiled and put his tablet back into the small backpack he carried and hiked it back onto his back. Daniel was cooking for the masters today and decided to grill kebabs for the gluttonous quad. After leaving the competition venue, he began walking down the sidewalk towards the dojo and grocery store on the way.
Taking in a deep breath, he smiled at how fortunate he was for his life now. Suddenly he felt hands grab his bag and pull him into an alleyway and throw him to the ground. As his back hit the ground, he rolled to his feet and took a ready stance.
"Look at this nerd, you think watching the karate kids in there means you know how to fight? Give us what you got on you and we'll only kick your ass." Three men stood at the mouth of the alleyway, one had a small pocket knife and the other two had no weapons. They all wore baggy shirts and baggy Jeans that sagged low. 'I never understood the appeal of those.' Daniel thought to himself. He shook his head no and raised his fists.
They advanced in a straight line, thinking him an easy target. The first one, a blonde with dreadlocks, took a sloppy swing at Daniel that he avoided and punched him in the diaphragm, bicep and then throat to keep him down. The man dropped to his knees coughing and choking. "Mother fucker!" The one with a knife screamed and the other two charged. The one with a knife held his knife in an ice pick grip and stabbed downward while the other circled around to punch Daniel in the ribs. He backed away and diverted the knife to stab the other in the arm before kicking the knife guy in the face with a high kick. The one that got stabbed, screamed for a few seconds before a quick punch to the temple put him to sleep.
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The knife guy, now disarmed, began backing away, before attempting to run. He didn't get far before Daniel threw a broken board to trip him up. As the man tried to get up, he was quickly held in a sleeper hold, causing him to lose consciousness. Daniel sighed at the blood and mud on his clothes and quickly videoed Sensei Lee on his now cracked tablet. ' I just beat three attempted muggers and cannot call the authorities obviously. Could you call them and have one of you come over to explain? My tablet got cracked when they threw me.' The disheveled Lee's eyes got wider as Daniel explained, before groaning.
"Ughhh why do I get dad duty this week? How do you get attacked so often, kid?"
'It must be my shining personality and stellar character traits, master.' Daniel signed with a deadpan expression.
"Alright alright, smartass. I'll call them and be on my way, you have rope this time?" He asked, to which Daniel nodded and held up a coil of black rope that he kept in his backpack.
Around twenty minutes later, sirens approached and four officers walked into the alley, hands on their weapons. "We received a call about an attempted mugging. Do you know anything about it……" his voice trailed off as he saw the three men struggling in a pile, all three were hogtied and the wounded one had a torn shirt with cloth around his stab wound. Daniel was kneeling in seiza behind them. He slowly stood up with his hands out to his sides. He pointed to his throat then shook his head, slowly signing he asked. 'Do any of you know sign language?' The officers all looked confused and he sighed, his messed up throat making it sound like a whistle.
Daniel motioned to the officers then mimed texting on a phone. One got what he was trying to convey and handed him a smartphone. He opened up their note app and wrote. 'Hello, I'm sorry for the trouble. I'm mute and can't speak. These three tried to mug me and obviously failed, one is injured and may need medical attention. ' he pointed to the one with blood running down his arm.
"Okay son, we're going to need you to come down to the station with us so we can verify and get your testimony, Alright?" The man spoke slowly, his hand still on his gun.
'Ah, I just beat up three men without a scratch, I forgot that most people can't do that.' Daniel nodded and kept his hands in view while following the officer. The other three each grabbed one of the muggers and hauled them to their feet. Daniel walked back and untied their feet so they could walk.
A couple hours later, he walked out of the police department smiling alongside a disgruntled master Shae. "I don't know how Lee convinced me to look after you." She grinned and put an arm around Daniel's shoulder. "Guess you might be growing on me." He gave her an incredulous look. 'Might be?' He signed.
"Just a little." She held her fingers barely apart. He just snorted and ducked out of her arm. "Alright, it's time for us to get home. You've got to cook for us still." He nodded at her and began walking again until a scream rang out and they saw a group of four men chasing after a young woman. Daniel looked back in astonishment at the police station just behind them, then rushed to catch up to his master who had already turned the corner after them.
He silently cursed to himself and tried to catch up. When he got close, Daniel heard sounds of flesh hitting flesh. He turned the corner and saw his master brutally beating the men down with fury on her face. He was deciding on whether or not to help when he saw one of the men on the ground pull a gun. Running over, he stomped on the man's wrist and punched him in the jaw to get him to drop it. He saw another moving up behind his master and grabbed the gun, racking back the slide to get his attention. His master looked behind her to see the man sneaking up on her and began to walk over to him, dropping her already bloody victim onto the ground. She saw Daniel with the gun and grinned, making eye contact with the man and nodding towards Daniel. The man looked and his eyes grew wide. He raised his hands out and began kneeling on the asphalt.
"Hey now no need for that. I didn't even want to be here, they forced me yeah so put that down. I won't never bother-
"FREEZE!" they all turned to see an officer with his weapon out pointed towards Daniel. He began setting the gun down before the man behind him shouted.
"Gun!" The officer flinched and his weapon fired.
Daniel felt an impact on his chest and he looked down to see his sweatshirt with a growing red splotch in his chest. 'He hit my heart. Ah, son of a bitch.' He thought with an odd sense of detachment. Before he hit the ground, he felt arms catch him and he looked up into master Shae's amber eyes that were filled with tears.
'Please don't cry.' He signed with some difficulty. 'These last few years have been the greatest I could have asked for.' He turned his head and coughed, the bright red blood signaling his lungs were filling with blood. 'I didn't get to finish them but in my room, I have a gift for all of you. You were the best parents a scrawny kid could ask for.' Daniel tried to get his hands to work to say more but he couldn't. He began shaking as he suddenly felt cold. He raised a hand to gently hug his mentor one last time before the light left him and he slumped.
"We love you too, kid." She whispered quietly.
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It had been a week since Daniel's funeral. Everyone at the dojo attended as well as the officer who had fired the shot. Connor almost struck the man before he saw the bags under his eyes and unkempt appearance.
Now the masters finally gathered in his room, finally working up the courage to see the gift. They searched the immaculately clean room until Master Tim found a wooden box under the desk. He opened it as they all gathered to see carefully carved figurines of each of them. Master Lee was shown throwing a punch. Master Shae was shown executing a hip toss. Master Jet was balanced on a foot with a staff poised to strike from above. and Master Tim was shown crouched with a shuriken poised to throw. They all took their respective statuettes and brought them to the head of the dojo where a small shrine to Daniel showed a picture of him grinning with his black belt held over his head.
"Alright, back to work!" Master Lee shouted. Everyone silently began practicing and not a soul mentioned the red eyes or hitch in his voice.
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The man awoke with a start in a black void. He grabbed his chest in a panic but he wasn't hurt. Sighing, he laid back before a growling sound made him shoot to his feet. Across from him stood a wolf that was snarling at him. He brought up his fists before he noticed that it hadn't attacked him yet. He took a deep breath and lowered his arms. Maintaining eye contact, the man sat cross legged and took deep breaths. The wolf snarled and barked and yet the man didn't blink or flinch. His lip curled and he snarled back, the clear loud sound startling them both.
A laugh bubbled out of his chest and he smiled. The man fell to his back and cackled with mirth until his breath came in short gasps. "Ayyee Cann Shpeeak!" He frowned for a moment before exuberance took over again and he grinned again. At the sound of shuffling, he sprung into a ready stance one more and focused on the slowly approaching beast.
"Why do you celebrate, child of man? Is this not a natural ability of yours? To speak?" A clear voice rang out, neither masculine nor feminine. Daniel looked around in confusion before cocking his head at the wolf. He shook his head and signed "No, I lost my voice at a young age." He jumped because his voice had just said what he signed.
"I/we can translate all languages nearby. The only requirement is intent. You have passed my/our test in the most unusual of ways, young one. A warrior who does not jump at violence and yet it was not cowardice that drove you to peace. Most interesting. "
"Who are you?" Daniel signed/said.
"I/we am/are he who rules the wild things, I/we am/are she who bears the life of the wild. I/we am/are they who wears the guise of many beasts. I/we am/are the nameless mother/father of all wild things." The wolf's voice overlaid with another and another image of a giant creature with elk antlers, wolf skull head, and great cat body overlapped for a moment before disappearing. Showing only a wolf sitting on its haunches, tongue lolling in amusement. "Make me/us proud."
Daniel felt the void overtake him once more.