Post by Jie Shan Lan Dian on Feb 25, 2016 9:58:06 GMT -5
(Thread PL: 40,234)
Jie Shan hummed to himself as he worked his way through his morning routine. It was more for relaxation than for any training at this point, but that suited him just fine. As he pumped his body up and down in the darkness of his room, his hands beginning to sweat in the thick, plush carpet that he hated, he felt a certain joy. This was like meditation. Just him, his thoughts, and his muscles, working in sync like they were having a conversation. He was even going without his armor for today. Some people, like his father or Cornel, might scowl and waggle their fingers in disapproval at the mere notion of him going without for a day, but Jie Shan had one thing to say to that line of thought: screw it. Jie Shan was training to become a Super Saiyan. He deserved a little break once in a little while. Especially with what Rudieri had in mind.
Jie Shan sighed as he remembered Rudieri, and by extension, her orders. She wanted him to take vitamin supplements to augment his diet, in the form of pills. Wise, he thought, but how he hated pills. They were alien, hard to swallow, and all around unpleasant. But even still, he wanted to grow stronger.
Jie Shan rose from the carpet and made his way towards the little desk in which he kept many of his possessions. In it and on top of it, it was strewn about with various nicknacks of sorts, trinkets he’d acquired in his like. Like the knife he’d taken off a captured Brenchian during his mercenary days with his mother. Or the half-faded pamphlet of strange religious, propaganda a crazed alien preacher had given him on the corner of a city in Planet Trade Organization space.
But that is not what he was looking for. No, he found what he sought: a tiny, unmarked plastic container, which contained tiny, white, nondescript pills. He raised the bottle to his hand and shook it until a trio of the tiny pills had gathered in the palm of his hand. Jie Shan squinted at them through the darkness. They made him almost nervous just by looking at them. They could contain anything in the universe. Poison, powdered disease, or nothing at all. Of course, he knew very well what they contained, but that nervous thought still picked slightly at the back side of his brain where he kept all the other bad things that haunted his thoughts. And usually, they stayed locked up. But once in a blue moon, they slipped out from under the cold bars of his mental prison and reared their ugly heads when he least expected them. Pills were just one of those dark thoughts. Among the rest of the phantoms of his mind were a few other things. The image of a man’s head exploding after it had been overloaded with energy, the feeling of cold steel cutting flesh, the face of anger his father had sometimes donned in the days of Jie Shan’s childhood… Jie Shan shivered. Dark thoughts indeed. He had not had the most innocent of childhoods. He laughed with himself, trying to restore his nerves. And he blinked.
Quickly, his hand flew to his mouth and popped the pills in. With a harsh swallow, Jie Shan forced the pills down dry. He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, hands shaking slightly as his side. Why pills, he thought, why did pills make him so nervous? He could not figure out a reason for the life of him. He shook his head, trying to steel his heart.
Enough wasting time, he told himself as he retreated back to the carpet where he would continue his routine workout. His hands were already beading with sweat as he placed them in that hated carpet. He hated the color and the texture of it so much. A dull green like peas, and a pattern that reminded him of vomit, all made out of some scratchy offworld wool-like. His father called it exotic. Jie Shan called it tacky.
But either way, it was good enough to exercise on. So he made use of it, and for quite a while. He continued absentmindedly as he waited for his frayed nerves to soothe. And in time, they did. Jie Shan was left nearly as normal as he had begun.
There was a sharp knock at his door. Jie Shan sighed and ignored it, continuing his exercises instead. But the knock came again, yet Jie Shan continued to ignore it. And on the third knock Jie Shan finally relented and barked a short command. “Come in!”
The door to his room slid open and in stepped one of his father’s men, a tall and bulky Saiyan man whose name Jie Shan had forgotten. “Your father wishes to speak with you in his chambers,” stated the soldier, his voice loud and gruff.
Jie Shan looked at the man for a hard moment and frowned. His father again. Could he not have a moment of peace? “What about?” Demanded Jie Shan.
The Saiyan soldier shrugged and shook his head. “He did not say, except for you to hurry,” explained the soldier. Of course his father wanted him to hurry.
“Alright. I'll go to him. Thank you,” said Jie Shan, waving a hand to dismiss his father's man. The soldier nodded once and stepped backwards out of the room, leaving Jie Shan in the dark by himself. Grumbling, Jie Shan hurried to get his things in order, rushing to meet his father. In mere moments, he was out the door, rushing through the halls. Normally, he would take his time heading to his father’s quarters, but the last time his father had told him to hurry, they had gotten a new Overseer. He’d not want to miss the excitement of something else of that caliber unfolding.
Finally, he reached his father’s quarters. The door slid open as he approached, as if they had been expecting him. Jie Shan smirked to himself. Knowing his father, they probably had been. Jie Shan suspected that the walls of his father’s compound had eyes. And it was moments like these that really made him wonder.
Jie Shan entered the room in a huff, only to see his father calmly sitting at his fancy, imported table. Jie Shan shot him a look of urgency, then one of annoyance. “You asked for me,” said Jie Shan flatly.
“I did,” confirmed his father with a nod, “Now take a seat. We have things to discuss.”
Jie Shan slowly made his way to the seat across from his father, his sense of urgency now dulled. The sound of the seat scraping against the floor filled the awkward silence that hung between them. Jie Shan sat there quietly, waiting for his father to break the silence.
“So,” said his father suddenly, “I notice you are not wearing your weighted armor . You know you should be. It is for your own benefit.”
Jie Shan shrugged, his shoulders noticeably free from the weight of his armor. “I decided to take a break from the weighted armor for a day,” he explained.
“But why? I told you why you should wear it. It will make you stronger, Jie Shan. And you need that,” scolded his father, “Do not make me order you to wear them.”
Jie Shan scowled and sighed. He felt an anger rising in him. “Father,” he growled, using that barely used word, “Might I remind you that I am twenty years old. I am also one of the most powerful fighters on Planet Natto. And a captain to boot. I outrank you now. I can wear whatever I damn well please.”
His father's eyes widened in anger and a shiver worked its way down Jie Shan’s spine. The back of his mind itched.
“You,” whispered his father, his voice bristling with anger, “Will watch your tongue when you are speaking to me Jie Shan. I am still your father and I know what is best for you. I do not care if you are now a captain. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from- I blame your mother-, but they will end. I have worked too long and too hard for our legacy for it to be ruined because you're a little upstart. You will listen to me, despite your power, and you will be better off for it. Do not make me regret that I ever sired you, son.”
His father ended his speech by slamming his fist on the table, and Jie Shan could feel it shake. He could feel it shaking it in his bones. And in that moment, Jie Shan felt very, very small again, like he was a child again. The memories in the back of his mind came flooding back to him, childhood fears at the forefront of his mind. The two sat in stunned silence, staring at each other.
“Now, my halfblood son,” hissed his father, “Tell me, how does your Super Saiyan training go?”
Jie Shan swallowed, trying to find the words. “It goes well,” he began slowly, “Rudieri has given me the go ahead to start with what her training regimen. She has me taking vitamins.”
His father raised an eyebrow. “Vitamins? Why? Is something wrong with you?” He demanded, his voice rough.
“No,” stammered Jie Shan, “They’re just supplemental pills, to augment my diet.”
“Pills?” Asked his father with a short bark of laughter, “I remember when you were just a boy, I tried to make you take them. You screamed and cried about it, but I got you to down them eventually. Glad to hear someone else knows what they’re doing.”
Jie Shan trembled again. His childhood… How much did he remember? How much had he forgotten? There was that cherished time he had spent with his mother, and the twisted memories of his father, but… He shook his head, trying to chase the gathering clouds from it. There was a twisting in his stomach.
“Father,” Jie Shan suddenly croaked, “I’m not feeling well. May I be dismissed?”
His father stared at him, a hardness in his eyes. For a moment, it looked as if the man was about to shake his head, but eventually he spoke, his voice grudging, “You may. Go lie down and see Rudieri in a few hours if it does not pass. She her anyway, actually. I’ll not have you falling ill when there is so much work to be done.”
Jie Shan nodded and rose, shaking from his seat. He said nothing else to his father as he walked slowly from the room, images of his childhood still ripe in his head. What pills had his father forced on him? Jie Shan could not remember for the life of him. The blurry image of a younger version of his father gripping a large, white bottle was all he could remember of it. It was from a time in his life when memories were indistinct, twisted. Even some of the memories he had with his mother had begun to fade as he found himself growing older and further apart from those treasured moments in time.
Jie Shan had finally made it back to his room. The door slid open to allow him in and carefully he crept through it, making right for his bed. He carefully laid himself on it, groaning as he did. He had a headache. The memories barred away in the back of his head were running free. As he closed his eyes and kept his head close to his pillow, Jie Shan hoped sleep would put them back in their place.
Jie Shan did not dream that sleep, but perhaps he was better off for it.
(I'll take zeni for this one, please! Thank you!)
Jie Shan hummed to himself as he worked his way through his morning routine. It was more for relaxation than for any training at this point, but that suited him just fine. As he pumped his body up and down in the darkness of his room, his hands beginning to sweat in the thick, plush carpet that he hated, he felt a certain joy. This was like meditation. Just him, his thoughts, and his muscles, working in sync like they were having a conversation. He was even going without his armor for today. Some people, like his father or Cornel, might scowl and waggle their fingers in disapproval at the mere notion of him going without for a day, but Jie Shan had one thing to say to that line of thought: screw it. Jie Shan was training to become a Super Saiyan. He deserved a little break once in a little while. Especially with what Rudieri had in mind.
Jie Shan sighed as he remembered Rudieri, and by extension, her orders. She wanted him to take vitamin supplements to augment his diet, in the form of pills. Wise, he thought, but how he hated pills. They were alien, hard to swallow, and all around unpleasant. But even still, he wanted to grow stronger.
Jie Shan rose from the carpet and made his way towards the little desk in which he kept many of his possessions. In it and on top of it, it was strewn about with various nicknacks of sorts, trinkets he’d acquired in his like. Like the knife he’d taken off a captured Brenchian during his mercenary days with his mother. Or the half-faded pamphlet of strange religious, propaganda a crazed alien preacher had given him on the corner of a city in Planet Trade Organization space.
But that is not what he was looking for. No, he found what he sought: a tiny, unmarked plastic container, which contained tiny, white, nondescript pills. He raised the bottle to his hand and shook it until a trio of the tiny pills had gathered in the palm of his hand. Jie Shan squinted at them through the darkness. They made him almost nervous just by looking at them. They could contain anything in the universe. Poison, powdered disease, or nothing at all. Of course, he knew very well what they contained, but that nervous thought still picked slightly at the back side of his brain where he kept all the other bad things that haunted his thoughts. And usually, they stayed locked up. But once in a blue moon, they slipped out from under the cold bars of his mental prison and reared their ugly heads when he least expected them. Pills were just one of those dark thoughts. Among the rest of the phantoms of his mind were a few other things. The image of a man’s head exploding after it had been overloaded with energy, the feeling of cold steel cutting flesh, the face of anger his father had sometimes donned in the days of Jie Shan’s childhood… Jie Shan shivered. Dark thoughts indeed. He had not had the most innocent of childhoods. He laughed with himself, trying to restore his nerves. And he blinked.
Quickly, his hand flew to his mouth and popped the pills in. With a harsh swallow, Jie Shan forced the pills down dry. He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, hands shaking slightly as his side. Why pills, he thought, why did pills make him so nervous? He could not figure out a reason for the life of him. He shook his head, trying to steel his heart.
Enough wasting time, he told himself as he retreated back to the carpet where he would continue his routine workout. His hands were already beading with sweat as he placed them in that hated carpet. He hated the color and the texture of it so much. A dull green like peas, and a pattern that reminded him of vomit, all made out of some scratchy offworld wool-like. His father called it exotic. Jie Shan called it tacky.
But either way, it was good enough to exercise on. So he made use of it, and for quite a while. He continued absentmindedly as he waited for his frayed nerves to soothe. And in time, they did. Jie Shan was left nearly as normal as he had begun.
There was a sharp knock at his door. Jie Shan sighed and ignored it, continuing his exercises instead. But the knock came again, yet Jie Shan continued to ignore it. And on the third knock Jie Shan finally relented and barked a short command. “Come in!”
The door to his room slid open and in stepped one of his father’s men, a tall and bulky Saiyan man whose name Jie Shan had forgotten. “Your father wishes to speak with you in his chambers,” stated the soldier, his voice loud and gruff.
Jie Shan looked at the man for a hard moment and frowned. His father again. Could he not have a moment of peace? “What about?” Demanded Jie Shan.
The Saiyan soldier shrugged and shook his head. “He did not say, except for you to hurry,” explained the soldier. Of course his father wanted him to hurry.
“Alright. I'll go to him. Thank you,” said Jie Shan, waving a hand to dismiss his father's man. The soldier nodded once and stepped backwards out of the room, leaving Jie Shan in the dark by himself. Grumbling, Jie Shan hurried to get his things in order, rushing to meet his father. In mere moments, he was out the door, rushing through the halls. Normally, he would take his time heading to his father’s quarters, but the last time his father had told him to hurry, they had gotten a new Overseer. He’d not want to miss the excitement of something else of that caliber unfolding.
Finally, he reached his father’s quarters. The door slid open as he approached, as if they had been expecting him. Jie Shan smirked to himself. Knowing his father, they probably had been. Jie Shan suspected that the walls of his father’s compound had eyes. And it was moments like these that really made him wonder.
Jie Shan entered the room in a huff, only to see his father calmly sitting at his fancy, imported table. Jie Shan shot him a look of urgency, then one of annoyance. “You asked for me,” said Jie Shan flatly.
“I did,” confirmed his father with a nod, “Now take a seat. We have things to discuss.”
Jie Shan slowly made his way to the seat across from his father, his sense of urgency now dulled. The sound of the seat scraping against the floor filled the awkward silence that hung between them. Jie Shan sat there quietly, waiting for his father to break the silence.
“So,” said his father suddenly, “I notice you are not wearing your weighted armor . You know you should be. It is for your own benefit.”
Jie Shan shrugged, his shoulders noticeably free from the weight of his armor. “I decided to take a break from the weighted armor for a day,” he explained.
“But why? I told you why you should wear it. It will make you stronger, Jie Shan. And you need that,” scolded his father, “Do not make me order you to wear them.”
Jie Shan scowled and sighed. He felt an anger rising in him. “Father,” he growled, using that barely used word, “Might I remind you that I am twenty years old. I am also one of the most powerful fighters on Planet Natto. And a captain to boot. I outrank you now. I can wear whatever I damn well please.”
His father's eyes widened in anger and a shiver worked its way down Jie Shan’s spine. The back of his mind itched.
“You,” whispered his father, his voice bristling with anger, “Will watch your tongue when you are speaking to me Jie Shan. I am still your father and I know what is best for you. I do not care if you are now a captain. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from- I blame your mother-, but they will end. I have worked too long and too hard for our legacy for it to be ruined because you're a little upstart. You will listen to me, despite your power, and you will be better off for it. Do not make me regret that I ever sired you, son.”
His father ended his speech by slamming his fist on the table, and Jie Shan could feel it shake. He could feel it shaking it in his bones. And in that moment, Jie Shan felt very, very small again, like he was a child again. The memories in the back of his mind came flooding back to him, childhood fears at the forefront of his mind. The two sat in stunned silence, staring at each other.
“Now, my halfblood son,” hissed his father, “Tell me, how does your Super Saiyan training go?”
Jie Shan swallowed, trying to find the words. “It goes well,” he began slowly, “Rudieri has given me the go ahead to start with what her training regimen. She has me taking vitamins.”
His father raised an eyebrow. “Vitamins? Why? Is something wrong with you?” He demanded, his voice rough.
“No,” stammered Jie Shan, “They’re just supplemental pills, to augment my diet.”
“Pills?” Asked his father with a short bark of laughter, “I remember when you were just a boy, I tried to make you take them. You screamed and cried about it, but I got you to down them eventually. Glad to hear someone else knows what they’re doing.”
Jie Shan trembled again. His childhood… How much did he remember? How much had he forgotten? There was that cherished time he had spent with his mother, and the twisted memories of his father, but… He shook his head, trying to chase the gathering clouds from it. There was a twisting in his stomach.
“Father,” Jie Shan suddenly croaked, “I’m not feeling well. May I be dismissed?”
His father stared at him, a hardness in his eyes. For a moment, it looked as if the man was about to shake his head, but eventually he spoke, his voice grudging, “You may. Go lie down and see Rudieri in a few hours if it does not pass. She her anyway, actually. I’ll not have you falling ill when there is so much work to be done.”
Jie Shan nodded and rose, shaking from his seat. He said nothing else to his father as he walked slowly from the room, images of his childhood still ripe in his head. What pills had his father forced on him? Jie Shan could not remember for the life of him. The blurry image of a younger version of his father gripping a large, white bottle was all he could remember of it. It was from a time in his life when memories were indistinct, twisted. Even some of the memories he had with his mother had begun to fade as he found himself growing older and further apart from those treasured moments in time.
Jie Shan had finally made it back to his room. The door slid open to allow him in and carefully he crept through it, making right for his bed. He carefully laid himself on it, groaning as he did. He had a headache. The memories barred away in the back of his head were running free. As he closed his eyes and kept his head close to his pillow, Jie Shan hoped sleep would put them back in their place.
Jie Shan did not dream that sleep, but perhaps he was better off for it.
(I'll take zeni for this one, please! Thank you!)