"You're not taking him!" the bespectacled teen protested, a fire in his eyes that his old man had never seen before. Not that he was paying too much attention to his son.
It was just past midnight when he went to check on Rook in his stall and caught his father trying to get the lock off without much luck. The man was panting and smelled horribly of beer, vomit, and blood. It was dimly lit but he could see that he looked worse for wear, and it made him curious at first glance. When the bearded man told him that he was taking Rook to the pits the teen nearly tackled his father to the floor. Luckily he managed to control himself and simply pulled the man away from the stall and Rook, who had just slipped back into the waking world at the sound of Jamie's voice. Clearly he had no idea what was going on, and Jamie hoped that it would stay that way and the young fighter would just go back to sleep.
"Shu'up you useless piece o' trash," his father replied, speech slurred as he struggled to straighten himself out. It wasn't really working, and Jamie simply glared at him with defiant eyes. "I need'im, y'know.. in the pits an' fightin' to win me some money!"
The two exchanged glares for a what seemed like hours, and all the while his father was slinking his way back toward the stall. "Jamie," he coaxed, arms wide and seemingly welcoming. "Jamie, ol' boy, I need just a bit o' help from you and Rook there. I need some money, y'understand don't you?" He smiled a yellow-toothed smile, sly and near disgusting.
"No," was all Jamie said, still glaring at his father. He and Rook were just starting to bond, and he was just starting to get used to the idea of fighting; he couldn't afford to lose all that because his father needed a few extra pieces of gold. This was something he simply wouldn't budge on, and the older man read that in his posture.
"Now Jamie," he said, trying to will some sobriety into his voice. "I wouldn't wanna get in my way. You remember the whole thing with your brother, don't you?" There was a hint of a threat in there somewhere, which sent a shiver down Jamie's spine.
His father and Ian had gotten into it a few days back concerning his older brother's mokai fighting in the illegal pits. Ian wasn't having any of it, not wanting to risk serious injury to his prized mokai. They argued for practically the whole day, and it even leaked into the next day when Ian came back to get a few of the things he'd forgotten to get the day before. In the end, his father had gone behind Ian's back and hauled his best fighters to the illegal pits not to fight them, but to sell them for a nice chunk of change. Jamie raced to his brother's home as fast as he could, but when they got back the man who bought his mokai was gone and their father had basically lost all the money he just made doubling up on a bet. Ian was devastated and broke off all ties with his father, calling him a "disgusting, worthless piece of meat" as well as a number of other profanities, before storming out of the pits. Jamie hadn't seen his brother since.
"Now don't be stupid son," he heard his father go on, watching as he took another step closer. "I just want 'im to fight, unless you'd rather I sell 'im off to the highest bidder like I did your brother's, hm? D'you want that?"
"I don't..." the teen started, wall of defiance slowly starting to crumble. It was times like these he wished Ian was around to fend off his father, but Ian was gone and he was on his own now. Jamie knew better than to go against his father, especially when it came to making money, but something in him refused to just let his father do as he wanted with Rook. He had to choose though - help his father make money and have Rook fight in the illegal pits like his father wants, or have him get sold off to some stranger and never seeing him again. The choice was simple, and the bespectacled teen simply said, "Alright, just promise you won't sell him..."
"Good, then let me take 'im. You can come if you want," the man said, his smile widening. "Give 'im some reassurance or somethin', yeah?" He chuckled at that, now standing right in front of his son. He was a towering figure to the bespectacled teen, and with a shove Jamie was sent a few stumbling steps to his side. "C'mon Rook," he said, catching the silvery-splotched mokai's attention. Rook's ears perked up at the fellow, recognizing him as the one who had caught him when he was a pup and glowering.
"Aw, don't be like that now," Jamie heard his father say before regarding him again. "Hey! Jamie, unlock this damn stall already, c'mon. Hop to it, let's go."
Jamie slowly did as he was told and opened the gate to the stall, immediately kneeling so his eyes were parallel with his mokai's. "Sorry Rook," he said quickly and with a sigh before attaching a lead. Rook looked up at his master with a confused sort of expression, but the teen didn't look back. Instead, his eyes were focused on the ground as he led Rook out of his stall. The mokai followed obediently, his gaze shifting from Jamie to his father, and back again. He was half asleep during their whole conversation and basically missed the gist of it, so he hoped that Jamie would explain on the way. Where they were going, what they were going to do, and why he apologized for doing absolutely nothing.
"That's my boy!" Jamie heard his father say with an excited laugh. "Let's go make some money then, huh?"
Word Count: 1,003
