70Summary: Three boxers, two conflicts, one wish in this new-original fiction, which presents a mix of humor and drama. Now, the time has come to reveal a deep dark secret, a story that is to be called...
The Unwavering Desire
(Note: This is not a songfic. Those lyrics are mine. They don't have to be sung, just understand their meaning, okay?)
Prologue
The dragon-human stood inside his house, watching through rain- stricken windows. For a moment, light illuminated the empty room with the exception of the bookshelves and some misplaced chairs. He blinked and lowered his head to cast a glance at what his rugged right hand held. It was an electric guitar key chain. He tenderly clasped the gift, only to feel a melodic vibration from it. The notes poured out like a fountain of nostalgia.
I long to see
The everlasting hope that lies within me
No matter how short it is
Each and every time you try, there can only be one truth
I could only be myself that time
The time when it all began
He gripped the key chain as he looked out the window with troubled eyes. He whispered sourly, "Was this meant to be?"
Chapter 1: The Afterthought
In the far future, humans had the power of genetic alteration. At first, its only purpose was for adaptation to the ever-changing planet that was once called 'Earth'. Now, new sub-breeds have been exploiting its unlimited potential, using it for manipulation and greed until nearly every human has been altered or, simply put, mutated, for better or worse. Fortunately, this kind of mutation has truly benefited the inexhaustible population to become the ideal society every individual has ever dreamed of. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see a demi-human such as those of present creatures like lions, bulls, canaries, dolphins and even those that became extinct and mythical like quetzacoatls and dinosaurs. However, in the course of time, an economic crisis struck the core of their culture, causing war and poverty everywhere. There were some who survived through the chaotic era, but still many were rebuilding their desperate lives. The tale of four unwoven individuals living in post-war days has begun.
"I don't regret because I lived like this. I regret because I took it for granted."
Hyo, a leopard-human, was waiting for his turn in a newly built boxing gym. "It has been a while since I entered this," he thought, sitting on a furnished bench with crossed arms and legs. There were many other hybrids seeking their chances at jobs like this but his thoughts were more focused on his past, or what's left of it, a painful memory he had to deal with. A haggard voice caught his attention, indicating that it was his turn. He rose up, carried his resume with him, and marched into the manager's office.
Entering a modern, air-conditioned room was something he doesn't get used to. He cast a glance at the black leather sofa, tempting him to be laid back and relax. The light-shaded wallpaper gave him a serene and enticing feeling but he wasn't in the mood to be distracted by extravagant structures. To his right, at the far end of the room, he saw the manager's varnished desk, shining in the reflection of the sunlight from a nearby windowpane. However, he saw someone stood out in the pampered place, clashing with the outset of the background but beautifully rendered on its own and it wasn't the manager.
A human girl leaned on the desk and turned to face the surprised Hyo. She had hair like pink cherry, skin like carnelian, eyes like golden tulips and a dress of a flimsy white rose, resembling the living flower of Eden, paradise of eternity. Her expression, at first, was that of a lost child. But when she saw the hybrid walked up to her and her eyes met with his forest-green eyes, she quickly smiled and let out a quiet chuckle.
The manager, a fierce-looking weretiger (tiger version of werewolf), noticed this and distracted the new hybrid from the lone child. "Ahem, Mr. Hyo, I presume?"
Hyo turned to face the manager, scratching his short brown hair in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry about that." He gave the resume to the manager, on account of his politeness and courtesy.
"I wouldn't be too surprised if I were you," said the weretiger, examining Hyo's papers with a practiced flick, "Many children like her have been roaming around this town for some time."
Hyo gave an innocent look. "You mean orphans?"
"Something like that," he quickly remarked, still reading the leopard's application. "But hers is a different case," the manager continued, referring to the flower girl who was staring immensely at Hyo alone.
Hyo curiously turned to face the flower girl again who was examining his foreign attire. The slick caress of his ocher polo (w/ collar and buttons) shirt struck her with wondrous awe, stroking with her nimble hands across his chest, then to his well-built abdomen and down to his hips and thighs which were embodied by unsoiled, khaki (light-brown) pants. She looked down where she saw instead of the usual footwear fad that most demi-humans wear was a pair of lemon furry feet, accompanied by ten wriggling toes.
She looked forward, facing the part between his groins. Instinctively, without a moment's hesitation, she reached out with her dainty fingers towards it. Upon seeing this, Hyo firmly grabbed the child's forearm, telling her like a teacher to his student, "That's enough searching for one time. Maybe you should do something else, okay?"
She looked up, face to face, and raced her hand across the leopard's cheek. Despite Hyo's ferocious appearance, she perceived a gentle, caring spirit. The girl fiddled her hand away and grinned like any other adorable girl would. "Okay, daddy!" she said, emphasizing on her last word.
Both the manager and Hyo had dropped sweats on their heads, particularly because of the previous comment. The weretiger, however, continued reviewing Hyo's application while the leopard tried to prevent any more embarrassing moments by explaining to the rose-haired girl the fundamental rights of calling someone as if she's actually related to that someone by blood.
".There," Hyo finally said after what seems like a tiring, lengthy speech, "now do you understand?"
The girl gave him her simple smile and replied somewhat thoughtfully, "Yes, Daddy."
Hyo was flabbergasted. "What did I just say?" he muttered under his breath. The manager refrained from making any wisecracks but only let out a quiet chuckle.
Unfortunately, the girl heard Hyo's remark and thought he meant it so she retold Hyo's speech, word by word, in one breathless rhythm and smiled triumphantly as she saw him sigh in defeat. To add insult to injury, she endearingly hugged and taunted him, ".daddy."
"Well, Hyo, your application is acceptable but test results show you passed with flying colors even at the point of inexperience. How do you explain that?" The manager tapped his fingers momentously, waiting for an answer.
"I guess it runs in my blood, sir." He gave a weak smile.
"That clears things up. May I ask you a favor?"
"What would that be, sir?"
"Since you seem to bond well with her, I'll let you baby-sit her for a while," the weretiger suggested, "until I can find someone who wants to adopt her."
Hyo looked surprised. "What?" He looked back at the girl, clinging on him like a favorite toy. He didn't mind this.a lot. "I guess I can take care of her but do you mind if I stay here for a while?"
The gray manager gave an inquisitive face. "Really? I thought you were in a hurry. Maybe you better" He paused when he noticed Hyo gesturing towards the blissful girl. The girl soon hugged the leopard harder than usual, causing Hyo to be strained helplessly against her. "Oh, I see. Very well then, you may do as you wish, Hyo."
" ." Hyo croaked, dragging the girl to the nearest sofa and finally convincing her to release his twisted body.
"Oh, one more thing. The results from the Council won't be here until three days, just in case you want to know," the weretiger said.
Hyo nodded respectfully and turned to some art materials laid on a glass table before him.
"Some kids came here earlier and left those. You can take them if you want," the manager answered as if he knew what Hyo was thinking about.
Hyo nodded again and took the said materials into his right pocket. He sat contentedly as the girl peered at him.
The manager sighed, remarking silently to himself, "It's a good thing I lived to see this." He checked the next applicant in line, Kazo Kinoru. Then he noticed that the previous applicant (which was Hyo) had no surname. "Maybe he forgot to write down. Hmm, Kazo. He sounds rather familiar."
***
"He he, these newcomers won't stand a chance against me." Kazo, a raptor- human, was next in line and walked proudly as he was called in. He opened the door, his long jet hair swayed with his red bandana when he entered the office. "They don't have the skill to handle this kind of job."
The raptor's eyes took notice of the leopard and the girl. "Wonder what he's doing here?" he thought. Ignoring the newbie for a while, he strode to the hybrid behind the desk.
"Hello, Mr. Warren. I came here for the application you requested." He handed his resume to the manager. "I can guarantee you won't regret this," he added.
"Flattery won't work here," Warren said, noting Kazo's ego. He flipped through the papers and remained cool.
"Hey, sir. Who's the newcomer here? He looks too scrawny for work like this."
"Don't judge a book by its cover. He's Hyo, an A-class Fighter like you," Warren said without pausing.
"What?" Kazo snatched Hyo's resume and scanned for results in Hyo's test. Then he saw Hyo had the same grade as his. "No way," he thought as he turned to the leopard that seemed to enjoy conversing with the fair-skinned girl, "Well, guess that makes him my rival then." He returned the paper like it was trivial to him.
"Your application is excellent. It may take a while before the Council makes its decision."
Kazo's scaly face beamed. "Thanks, Warren! You can count on me to deliver my best," he let out, quickly forgetting his manners.
"Just keep your enthusiasm under control. Nowadays, it's hard to find someone with great spirits like yours," the weretiger pointed out.
"Oh, right," he said, embarrassed. "You know sir, I think I have what it takes to have to handle this job. Don't you agree?"
Warren sighed. "Frankly, I haven't considered that."
"Well, why not." The opening of the creaking door cut him off, and then in a whip of his tail, Kazo glared at the armored blue dragon-human standing behind him. "Haven't you heard of knocking? The chief and I were going along well till you came here."
***
The dragon simply remarked, "Hmph, I'd watch that mouth of yours if I were you."
"Why you!"
Warren held Kazo's right shoulder as he looked sternly at both the raptor and the dragon. "Stop it, you two. If you're going to fight, take it outside."
The girl began to feel uneasy within the tense aura of the room, hugging onto Hyo. "Daddy, make them stop," the girl pleaded.
Hyo eyed the situation and calmly said, "Stay here. I'll see what I can do."
"Be careful, daddy."
The leopard trod over dangerous lines as the two fighters stood ready to fight.
"You're not going to get away with this," said Kazo.
"A challenge?" The dragon frowned. "Don't waste my time."
Instinctively, Kazo attacked without warning, launching his right fist for the dragon's unprotected face. Then, from the right, Hyo quickly halted the enraged dinosaur by grabbing Kazo's right forearm, stopping Kazo in his unprecedented attack.
"That's enough," Hyo said in a serious tone. "You heard the manager. No infighting."
"Is that even a word, Daddy?" the girl asked, walking towards him.
Hyo sweat dropped again. "If it isn't, it is now."
Kazo managed to calm himself down as he glanced at the girl, his breathing becoming less tense. "Fine, you win." He escaped Hyo's grip and waved his forearm to make it relax. "Quite a strong grip you have."
The dragon made a little smirk. "Not bad for an A-class fighter, Hyo."
Hyo turned to the dragon from behind, pointing to himself. "You know me?"
"I make it my business to know." He turned to Kazo in a cool manner. "I'd take you're Kazo Kinoru, one of the apprentices of the Great Masters."
"The one and only. I can see my reputation finally precedes me." He made a smug grin.
"Really," the dragon said, unimpressed, "you still have a lot to learn, grasshopper."
Kazo looked fumed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll know soon enough." The dragon conjured a dismissing gesture and, just like Kazo, took notice of the flower girl standing beside Hyo. Crouching down to her level, he studied her before finally asking, "And who is this girl?"
The girl simply smiled and touched the dragon's snout, sensing warmness with her pale-skinned hand. "You're warm, just like Daddy."
'Daddy?' the dragon thought, as he understood she was talking about the oblivious Hyo. "I see," the dragon said, standing up. "She's a nice girl. But does she have a name?"
"A name?" Hyo looked embarrassed again, seeing he didn't know the girl's name. He fumbled his words, saying, "Um, you see, uh." He felt awkward, not knowing what to say. Then an idea struck him. "Why don't you tell us your name first?" Hyo suggested, hoping to stall some time for himself.
The dragon looked misunderstood and confused at the same time. "What?"
"That's right, you haven't told us who you are, even though you already Hyo and me, hmm?" Kazo added.
"Fine." The dragon crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, acting as if he was expecting this. "I am Granar Giezhen." He rested his ocean eyes for a few seconds. He opened them, feeling the unnatural silence among them. He arched his eyebrows when he saw they were baffled over him. "What is it?"
"I didn't get that last name of yours. Was it Greyshen?" asked Hyo.
A small, comical drop of sweat appeared over Granar's head.
"You've definitely heard it all wrong. It was Jiezhin," said Kazo.
Another drop of sweat appeared next to the first drop.
"Green shins!" the girl shouted, raising her right index finger. Hyo and Kazo face vaulted in unison.
Granar covered his face in shame as a giant drop of sweat hung on him. "Why do I even bother telling them?"
Warren watched the four in amusement. "Granar, maybe you should use your first name only," he suggested.
"Whatever." Then Granar smoothly threw an enveloped paper at the manager, who snatched quite as easily.
"What's this?" He opened the contents and instantly recognized it. "A resume? But I didn't-"
"Save it for later, Warren." Granar interrupted, turning again to Hyo. "Are you ready to tell us the girl's name?"
Hyo looked ill stricken and felt his throat twisted and braided into a rope. Slowly, he gulped and watched Kazo plopped himself to a comfy chair, his eyes pacing around like tennis balls. Granar waited in patient anticipation. He'd hoped he didn't do to resort to this but.
"Yes, I am." He wiped his nervousness away, feeling only the coldness of the room. "Her ." He stopped, trying to catch up with his non- existent breath. "It's." Somehow the words never came to him.
***
Am I becoming deaf? Or does it take that long to pronounce someone's name? "I'm waiting." Kazo was getting impatient with this until he finally heard someone speak.
"Hana."
Hyo sighed in relief.
"Hana." Kazo exasperated, "it's about time you spoke up for the mute guy."
Granar felt relieved too, until he noticed the quizzical expression on the girl's face.
"Hana?" Her lips spoke as if it were the first time. Her golden eyes twinkled and turned their innocent gaze to the leopard. "Daddy, who's Hana?"
Everyone except her had face vaulted on the floor.
"Stop joking! Didn't you say your name is Hana?" Kazo shouted.
She swung her hair slightly. "Really? I don't remember saying that."
Kazo clinched his fists furiously. He can't stand others acting like they don't know anything. "Grr, are you making fun of me?" Then he was pushed aside by Granar.
"Let me handle this," commanded the dragon, "it would be unwise to lose your temper now."
"Really? Who died and made you king?"
"Let him do as he says, Kazo. It might help Hana remember," said Hyo.
"You believe her? Man, how gullible can you get?" But he was quickly silenced by Granar's piercing stare and watched him crouch to Hana's level again. She better not expect me to crouch like that in every conversation, he thought.
Granar looked straight in the girl's eyes, catching her attention and asked clearly, "Tell me, what can you remember a few moments ago?"
Hana closed her eyes, pondering about the question. After a few seconds, she smiled while glancing at Hyo. "Well, I remember your name Green Shins."
"Heh, Green Shins." Kazo said, snickering. He wisely stopped snickering when he received a glare from Granar who looked back at Hana.
"Just call me Granar."
"Okay, .Gra."
"Granar." That was from Kazo.
"I was gonna say that, 'Kazo'." Hana pouted at the raptor-hybrid.
He grinned proudly. She isn't so bad, at least she remembered my name, he thought. "Of course you were."
"Kazo, I need no interruptions," demanded Granar, "Now continue."
The girl swayed her doll-like body as she resumed talking. "Um, I remember Daddy acting funny and 'Kazo'," she paused, making funny faces at him, "shouting at me." She paused again, looking at Granar this time. "Granar, you don't have to be as tall as me. I like looking up to you better."
"Forgive me for that," he said, standing up again, "I was only showing respect by talking at your level."
"Respect?" Kazo looked disbelieved. "That's for people in authority, not someone like her."
"Everyone deserves respect, even children." Granar looked back at Hyo, who seemed to be in thought. "Is something the matter, Hyo?"
Hyo was somehow startled by Granar's words, but still looked thoughtful. ".I didn't know that."
Kazo crossed his arms. "Neither did I, but do you see me thinking about it?" he remarked rudely.
Granar ignored Kazo's comment and motioned the girl to continue.
"Then I remember seeing-" Hana stopped in surprise. She blinked once, then twice and regretfully looked at Granar. "That's funny, that's all I can remember. Was I helpful?"
The dragon looked at her sincere eyes. "Yes, thank you for telling us," he said, sighing.
"So she honestly doesn't remember her name?" Hyo said, asking Granar.
"It seems that way."
"Great. A kid, with the world's shortest memory bank." Kazo leaned back and took notice of Hyo's somber expression. "Hey, what's the matter Hyo? You disappointed by Hana?" Kazo said without thinking.
Hyo looked up at Kazo, not concealing his cheerless face. "In a way, yes." He nodded soberly, acting as if he was depressed.
Kazo grimaced unexpectedly. "Sheesh, you don't have to rub in. I can take a hint."
Warren raised an eyebrow. 'What was that about?' he thought.
Hyo looked back at the manager grimly. "Thanks for letting me stay, Warren. I feel a little better now. Let's go Hana." He said, walking out quietly.
The girl, who didn't understand the previous conversation, obeyed the command. "Okay, Daddy," she said, following him as she walked merrily.
"I'll be going as well. Until then," Granar said as he too walked out. Only Kazo remained.
The dinosaur glanced at Warren, perturbed. "I still say I can do this job, even without the help of the hotshot and the mute." He stood again, swaying his right ankle.
"Is that why you snapped back at Hyo?"
He clenched his fist. "I don't understand why he's wasting his time on children. He should be training, not babysitting," Kazo argued, not noticing the smile on Warren's ferocious face.
"You can't change people, Kazo. And neither can you change the circumstances around them."
"Don't get all preachy on me. Besides," he said, adding a smirk, "I have a feeling I'll be seeing you more often. Well, see ya!" Kazo did a two-finger salute and went his way, forgetting to close the door behind him.
Warren smiled again. "Those four, I wonder what the future has in store for them. Hopefully not something bleak." Then he sighed, realizing he still had a long day ahead of him. He sat back at his desk and called out the next applicant.
* * *
Hey, it's the end of chapter 1. Tell me if I should continue it and if you like it. Also please tell me your opinions and advices. I would really appreciate it.
Author's note: Hey, if you're reading this Nickel City, I want you to do me a favor. Please let me make a sequel for Dragon Warz after you finish it. Thanks in advance!
Spell ya later!