Kasuki Lu: Rise of a Warrior - Part One

Also by shadowcristal

One, two. One, two.

     "Fat little boy..." some pets across the street whispered. His sensitive Chia ears detected that, and he slowed down.

     "Just a little bit more!" his mother smiled. The little pet skipped twice, and stopped just as she rushed over to hug him. "That's it, my little boy!"

     "Fat little boy," the evil children chorused across the street. The little orange Chia named Kasuki Lu looked at them for a second, before his mother turned his head away.

     "They're just jealous," she whispered in his ear. "Anyway, being fat isn't a bad thing."

     With some of the doubt in his heart erased, Kasuki started skipping again. One, two. One, two.

     "That's the spirit!" his mother cheered him on, clapping her hands.

     "Our family's fighting spirit, isn't it?" his father said, strolling over to the rest of his family after having mowed the lawn.

     "Fattie!" the children all yelled when he stopped. He turned around to look at them as his mother grabbed his hand and dragged him inside.

     "Don't mind them," she said as she closed her door. Kasuki could see traces of fear in her face for a second, as she glared at the kids. But when she turned around to him, she had that bright smile only his mother had. "You may be fat, like they say, but it isn't a bad thing. You're a wonderful person."

     "Keep up that hard work," his father said, "And you'll grow up to be a good person."

     "That's right, dear," the female Chia said, nodding. "Think of this as a gift."

     As a gift... The words echoed in the little Chia's mind as he entered the living room with his parents and snacked on watermelons after that workout. As much as he tried to repeat these cheerful and positive words to himself, he could not forget the disdainful, repulsive looks those kids had given him. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but it was the first time his parents' words could not comfort him like they usually did.

     Their harsh words continued to echo in Kasuki Lu's ears as he grew up to be a young Chia, though unfortunately he towered above nearly every other young pet his age. In fact, the abhorrent insults kept on coming as he slowly began to advance through life.

     That is, until one day, he toddled over to his parents and asked one particularly surprising question.

     "Mom? Dad? Why does everyone else call me Fat Boy, or Fatty, or stuff like that? What's wrong with me?" He stared up at the two grown-up Chias with concern.

     Kasuki Lu's father raised an eyebrow. "Oh, they are just jealous, because of your...your..."

     His father and mother met each other's eyes and traded a glance. They had never prepared themselves to answer this question, so they were quite shocked at their son.

     "Your muscles, dear," his mother finally spluttered. "Why, you are battle material, isn't that right?" She gently jabbed at the ribs of the male Chia.

     "What? Oh, yeah, definitely! In fact, we should be enrolling you in a school for fighters like you! You might be able to make good friends there instead of around these other, non-fighter pets!" He smiled sheepishly, ignoring the bead of sweat from his forehead.

     Their son, however, was more than happy. "Really? Oh, wow, that is so cool! I can't wait! I can't wait!" He hopped off to his bedroom, still extremely delighted at the prospect of meeting more friends.

     When he was out of sight, his father turned to the female Chia sitting beside him.

     "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked worriedly.

     "Of course," his mother said. "My hunny-bun will be the best in school!" She took up the newspaper and pointed at a colorful print on the front page. "What do you think about that school, dear?" She started reading out loud as his father shook his head, feeling quite doubtful.

     Looking at his mother with eyes full of innocence, the little Chia ran over and took a look at the fighting school. The thing that made him the happiest was the pictures of happy pets battling each other. Kasuki closed his eyes and imagined all the wonderful new friends he would get there.

     ***

     "Enrollment, huh?" the secretary said at the desk as she tapped her pen and looked at the Chia family.

     "Yes," his mother said, beaming at her son. "Our little Kasuki will be able to attend this school, won't he?"

     "Please fill in the necessary papers, and then I will ask the headmaster to meet you," the Zafara secretary said as she took out some forms for Kasuki's parents to fill.

     The little lucky Chia himself looked around in the lobby of the prestigious fighting school. Everything seemed so bright and sparkly, shiny and new... Awed, he took a deep breath of this new air in the place that was going to be his school.

     His total happiness did not last long. Just as his parents grasped his hands and went off to the headmaster's, he saw some pets pointing at him. He could clearly see the syllables their mouths were forming in unison, and he cringed.

     "Fatso," was what they were saying.

     Kasuki bit his lip, controlling his emotions and trying to look cool. Perhaps there were other pets who would want to be friends with him, just like his parents said. He looked up again at his mom and dad, who were busily chatting away about their son having a better life in the school.

     At last, much to the young Chia's relief, they got to a huge brass door with a plague reading, "HEADMASTER PHIL". His father knocked, and the door swung open.

     "You must be the new student. Kasuki Lu be the name, aye?" A red Skeith was lounging on his huge comfy chair, reading up some papers. "Well, welcome to the school, blah-de-blah, you will be in dormitory A-5. Thank you, your son is in good hands now. If you'll excuse me, I have a nice pizza to eat. Out, out, out."

     He pointed the door to them, and the three were out in a flash, holding a paper that contained Kasuki's room assignment, teacher and other statistics.

     After a long moment of awkward silence, Kasuki's mother started to speak. "Well dear, wasn't that quick?" She grabbed her child's hand and pointed to the paper. "Hmm... It says that you're going to be living in dormitory room number 200! Isn't that great!" She beamed.

     Kasuki's father, on the other hand, looked rather worried as he watched his child getting dragged off in the direction of the dormitory. Shaking his head, he took a last look at those children who giggled and pointed at the newcomer. The Chia tried to shake the doubt off as he caught up to the rest of his family and took his son's free, chubby hand. He had to perform his duty, no matter what he felt about that.

     The excited mother continued to take the rest of her family on a tour around the fighting school, and tried to reassure her son that he would be fine.

     "S-so..." Kasuki said, looking at his parents. "You mean I have to live here alone?" His father nodded solemnly and the little Chia spend the rest of the walk thinking, letting this new information sink into him.

     "Don't worry, you'll be fine and you'll get lots of friends," she said when they returned to the corridor where his dorm room was located. "See it as an adventure." She smiled and patted him. "I suppose we'd better leave."

     Slowly they disappeared from his sight, his mother waving to him and promising that they would visit him on the holidays.

     Exactly after his parents had left, a pack of mean, lean Lupes released an ill-timed laughter.

     "Friends! Isn't he an adventurous fattie!" one of them said loudly.

     Now that his parents were gone, the poor young Chia was left to fend for himself. Trying hard to put all their insults behind him, Kasuki Lu entered his dormitory room, hoping that it wasn't as full of insulting pets as the outside.

     But he was wrong...

     "I thought that there was a new KID around here!" howled a nearby Kacheek, falling onto his back from laughing.

     "Hey, I think you should've graduated! Look how big and fat you are!"

     Sighing, he found his bed at the far end of the dorm, far, far away from all the other aspiring battlers who poked endless fun at him. He jumped into bed and sprawled onto it, staring up at the ceiling wondering why his life had to be so hard and full of inconsiderate bullies.

     However, his thoughts were interrupted as a burly Grarrl marched up the dorm, clapping his paws so loudly that some of those teasing Kasuki awhile ago shrank back in fright.

     "Okay, okay, break it up! It's time for our first lesson of the day! Everyone, single file! I SAID SINGLE FILE, BERTRAND! You two, give me those yoyos! Stop it! WE ARE GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS! NO MORE FUN!"

     The Chia felt as if his life in the fighting school was about to get worse as his teacher led their pack out and over to the nearest battle arena. The Grarrl took out a shiny silver whistle from his pocket and blew on it, quieting all the chatterboxes down.

     "EVERYONE! Now, we have a new student to day. His name is Kasuki Lu, and he will be with us for one full term. Kasuki, where are you? Please come up to the front and introduce yourself."

     Timidly, he peeked out from where he had been lurking at the end of the line, and toddled forward, trying not to mind the malicious glares and the silly snickers all over. And as if that wasn't enough, someone stuck his paw out and tripped the Chia, making him fall flat on his face and making everyone else howl with indescribable laughter.

To be continued...