The Forsaken Arts

Chapter 14: Legionnaires

With each step, he found himself more and more reminiscent towards his mentor. Despite his attempts to remain focused, as he made his way towards the staircase which led to the Recovery Center, the memories continued to flood in.

From his smile, corny jokes and even the stern expressions during those tough teaching moments.... they all rushed back and overwhelmed the young warrior until finally he needed to sit on the stairs to gather himself.

The pain from within became too much, one by one the tears began to escape. Being the eldest child of a single mother, Naitosai was always good at hiding his emotions.

Though his mother would never have asked such a thing, he was her rock and self assigned man  of the house. Subconsciously swearing to always be there for his mom and a younger brother, he kept his hurt to himself.

The pain of not knowing his father was the hardest of all for him to cope with, but no one could tell from his happy-go-lucky demeanor. JinX was the one who really showed him what maybe having a father would've been like. A strong and caring man that showed him how to fight,  endure pain but most importantly - how to stand up for what he believed in.

What would JinX have said watching him shed tears?

He would have kicked my ass telling me to get over it. There were more important things to cry over. He said to himself.

A faint laugh escaped as he pictured JinX's angry face. Naitosai remembered what he had said and now understood that he was right. Crying over fallen soldiers was energy wasted. Instead you honor them by keeping their memory alive, allowing it to fuel you and protecting what they gave their life to protect.

Staring at the remaining steps, he thought of Dai and Osyrus. Picking himself up, he wiped away any evidence of crying. Naitosai readjusted his expression to one that everyone was familiar with, a happy face that could always put a smile on anyone else's.

Determined to bring honor to the closet father figure he had known, he vowed to himself that day to do his best to protect his comrades and avenge his mentor's death.

The doors to the Recovery Center burst open as the young dragon knight walked in with purpose.

Dai looked over smiling, "Ah Naitosai, how's your training been going man?"

"Very well actually, thanks for asking." he replied while pulling up a seat next to Dai's bed and crossing one leg over the other, "So, I heard about JinX."

The air that surrounded them changed instantly. Away went the pleasantries which made more than enough room for uneasiness to settle in.

Dai's smile continued to fade the more he spoke, "I see... hey.." he said while gripping Naitosai's arm. "Don't allow yourself to become consumed with the natural order of things. There will come a time in all of our lives... where we'll make decisions that others won't quite comprehend."

Understanding exactly what Dai meant, he nodded. "Have you heard about the upcoming mission?"

"Yeah, Osyrus came by to pass the word along. As a matter of fact... let's get this over with." he said, snapping the covers off of himself.

Jasmine walked from the back room just in time to notice him slowly sliding himself out of bed.

"Just where do you think you're going mister?" she said sternly while standing in his path.

Naitosai grinned at what was about to become a very uncomfortable experience for Dia, or so he thought.

"I'm on my way to the Tactics Room to find out the details of our next assignment." he explained while towering over her.

Clearly not going to be able to block the path of a man who was three times her size, she dashed and sat in front of the door with her arms and legs folded.

"No, you aren't." she said glaring up at him, then over to Naitosai. "Not only have you not fully recovered, you haven't even gotten the proper amount of rest because of all your visitors."

She looked to the young Dragon Knight, "No offense Naitosai."

"None taken." he chuckled with a shrug.

Dai knew she was right but an order is an order, duty called. Still in pain and a bit dizzy, he became annoyed.

"I don't recall asking for your opinion Jasmine, now step aside. Clearly I'm not in the mood and if you really cared, you wouldn't be wasting my strength having me stand here arguing with you."

She stared at the floor in defeat. Uncrossing her legs and arms, she picked herself up and moved out of the way.

"Thank you." Dai said while making his way pass her. He paused for a moment as if to turn and offer some sort of comfort and understanding, instead he sighed and began making his way down the hall.

Jasmine sniffed while folding her arms across her chest and looking away to the side. She didn't bother trying to hide or even catch her tears - she let them be as free as they wanted to be.

Naitosai excused himself as he walked by. She was clearly unhappy, no one was at that moment in time could be. Feeling bad for her he looked back over his shoulder, "Don't worry Jasmine, I'm stronger now. I'll make sure he doesn't get hurt, okay?"

He then turned and ran to catch up with Dai who was down the hall, using the wall to hold himself up and conserve energy.

Shit man - Naitosai thought as he positioned himself to bear Dai's weight and support him so he didn't fall down the stairs.

Seeing him struggle to even get to the Tactics Room - I've got to be at the top of my game on this mission, with JinX gone and Dai this weakened - it's going to really be just me and Osyrus on this one.

At the bottom of the steps Osyrus stood waiting. He moved to aid Dai, wrapping his other arm around his neck opposite of Naitosai. Once again the Legion was united as they limped down the corridor to find out what their next assignment would be.