CHAPTER VII: REFLECTION & REMEMBRANCE
There was finally snow on the ground and Xydane knew he was within Ishgardian borders. As a greave crunched down into the soft snow, Xydane paused momentarily and stared into the sky. Though the clouds did not yet blot out the sun, what remaining light shined upon the land. Xydane squinted as he stared up and as always, he wasn't able to feel the sun's warmth.
Exhaling deeply, Xydane continued onward until something off to his left stole his attention - gleaming brilliantly and calling to the knight like a moth to the flame. The sunlight was reflecting off the side of a mountain, covered in pure ice which dazzled and seemed to dance with such marvelous shine. Xydane inched closer and staring right back at him was a perfect reflection of himself...
... though it was not himself. A suit of armor forged by darkness and a helm which displayed malice. For a short pause, Xydane continued to look at his reflection until he finally removed his helm, letting loose his hair to be caressed by the gentle breeze and steel colored eyes that showed fatigue. Deep down inside, Xydane wanted to laugh a little but in his mind, he knew he couldn't bring up the emotion to. As he blinked, another reflection appeared to his right - smaller in stature and much happier.
It was the reflection of a 10 year old Xydane.
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In a distant land, far away.
In what was a lifetime ago.
In what was a lifetime ago.
It was another normal midday afternoon when little Rosette led Xydane, both 10 years of age, down the alleyway in town. Sprinting as fast as she could, Rosette was literally dragging Xydane by his wrist as the poor boy struggled to keep up.
"Hurry, Xydane! They're right here! They're going to hurt him!"
"Alright, already! Just quit pulling my wrist!"
Coming to a sudden halt, Rosette pointed at the three older kids who had surrounded a much younger lad with tears flowing down his cheeks. One of the bullies turned and tried his best to daunt the two newcomers.
"Unless you want to get beat up too, you both better leave!"
The second bully, holding the poor boy by the collar of his shirt, started to aggressively shake him. "Yeah, this is none of your business! Bug off!"
With both hands on her hips, Rosette stepped forward and pointed at the biggest bully. "You let him go or else you all will be in big trouble!"
"Trouble, eh?" responded the biggest bully who reached down to grab a pebble. "How about this for trouble!?" The bully hurled the stone which impacted with Rosette's forehead and the group of oppressors laughed as she fell onto her behind and started to cry. Xydane, coming to a full sprint, charged at the largest ruffian and threw him a well aimed punch at his face. As the bully leader was knocked onto his back, Xydane launched himself onto the bully and began connecting his punches to the kid's face.
The other ruffians, releasing their hold onto the bullied kid, turned their attention towards Xydane and dragged him off their downed leader. Trying his best to fight back against the other two bullies, Xydane was pinned down and forced to take the oncoming punches and kicks. Bloodied and bruised, Xydane spat onto the face of one of the assailants and before he could punch Xydane once more, a voice called out from the alleyway entrance.
Marcus, 11 years of age, charged at the two that held his brother onto the ground and proceeded to connect his own strikes.
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Later that day, Rosette stood in front of the Vale household where she knocked loudly on the door. "Mrs. Vale? Mrs. Valeeeeeee? Mistah Vale?" Loudly, she continued to knock until a women of mid age, with brown hair tied into a ponytail, and a smile that was gentle, answered. As quickly as she opened the door, Amelia Vale's smile disappeared as her face grew into an expression of worry and shock.
Standing in front of the house and behind Rosette were Marcus and Xydane, both bruised and bloodied. Amelia frowned and finally noticed Rosette's bruised forehead from the flying pebble. "What happened? Did you two get into a fight again?" Rosette, tugging onto Amelia's apron, pointed back at the brothers and said "There was a kid getting bullied and we went to go help him!"
Amelia sighed, gesturing for the children to enter the house. A moment later, Rosette was humming and kicking her legs to and fro as Kraven Vale patched her forehead. "Rosette, after this, Mrs. Vale will walk you home and tell your parents what happened. You can hang out with Xydane and Marcus tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay!" responded Rosette, expressing not a care in the world except for the big smile she always showed. The well muscular man turned his attention towards Xydane and Marcus, whom Amelia was currently placing bandages and ointment. Kraven frowned and shook his head with disapproval. "Alright, who threw the first punch?"
"They threw a rock at Rose and was beating up the little kid so I went in and punched them!" said Xydane, still missing a few of his front teeth from the fight. Marcus turned to his father and proceeded to continue his little brother's story. "I came late and Xydane was getting beat up. I had to help him so I beat up the rest of the bullies!"
Kraven raised his brow skeptically and looked to Amelia who shook her head and slightly laughed. "Kraven, you know it's always bullies when these two get into fights. Surely you can see their reason? They just wanted to be heroes." Kraven crossed his arms and frowned at his sons. "Marcus. Xydane. I'm not angry but the both of you have to understand that sometimes, you can't fight against all the bullies in the world."
Marcus frowned and looked at Xydane who shrugged. "How come, Pa?"
"Well sometimes, there's just too many bullies out there and... there's only two of you. Though what you did was morally right and I am proud of you two for standing up for that kid, you just can't expect to go running around everywhere and fighting every bully you meet. There will always be bullies and we're actually quite powerless to stop that."
Marcus and Xydane, with a hint of confusion on their faces, quickly looked to their mother before returning their attention back to their father. Throwing an acknowledging nod to his sibling, Marcus stood up and raised a fist into the air.
"Then when we grow up, we will travel the world and be powerful enough to stop all bullies!"
Kraven blinked in astonishment at Marcus's motivation and he couldn't help but smile at the words.
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Opening his eyes, Xydane realized that he had drifted into daydream and returned to reality. The reflection of his younger self was gone and Xydane felt sadness surged inside him from the memory.
"How did I forget?"
"You never did."
On the ice reflection, standing to Xydane's right, was a horrendous black and crimson knight.
