Work Text:
Expectations
Ezekiel sighed as he looked down at the sight of his hands and knuckles, bruised and bleeding which began to dampen his fur.
Today was like any other day training from sunrise to sunset, eat dinner, meditate and repeat the next day. Ezekiel actually enjoyed training the thrill of fighting made him feel amazing and he noticed how his forms slowly improved, if only that was good enough...
"Did I tell you to stop?" A rough voice came from behind Ezekiel, the same voice that made training go from enjoyable to a nightmare.
"No dad.. I was-".
Smack.
The once bustling dojo was silenced instantly by the head of the clan Leon hakuto. Leon had the same look he always had when he punished his children, a smile that meant he could do whatever he wanted and no one would come to help you. "You better get your shit together I expect nothing less than excellence when the clans arrive, dismissed."
And with that Ezekiel carefully got back to his feet but a few voices caught his attention. Across the hall were 3 other white rabbits, though they all had different patterns along their fur, the eldest of the group which Ezekiel nicknamed "Grey eyes" unlike Ezekiel had a gray ring around his left eye, with 2 large black spots on his cheeks and dark black fur on his ears was the one to speak first.
"Y'know Dad's gonna kill you if you lose the tournament right?" Grey eyes chuckled. "You should just leave now that you have the chance wouldn't want you brining more shame to this clan".
Thump.
"You may be the oldest but we all know father hates you, he's just waiting for the perfect moment for you to slip up and then you'll be thrown away like the trash you are"
Thump Thump.
The 2 younger males behind grey eyes chuckled and whispered to one another as they pointed at Ezekiel.
"ENOUGH! Finish your training then get out of my dojo" Leon commanded from across the hall.
****
After training concluded Ezekiel wondered the halls avoiding any eye contact as he passed by his half siblings bedrooms. Each of them bunked with at least another sibling or two, a few eyes watched as Ezekiel walked past. There was still some time before dinner and all he wanted to do is disappear before he had to deal with his family again.
He entered his room with a heavy sigh, untied his ears and looked out to the city around him.Yokai filled the streets below as they passed by the dojo all ignorant to the dojo was a prison, a prison where day in and day out Ezekiel will train, fight, and get hurt and no one out would care to help him.
****
The sun began to set as Ezekiel finished applying the bandages on his fists. Bruises and cuts became a near daily occurrence during training especially when sparring with grey eyes. It would take a few days to heal and luckily his fur did a good job at hiding smaller injuries. Ezekiel huffed as he noticed the blue sweater hanging from his closet, it was the last thing his mom gave him before one day she was just gone.
"Wish you were here..."
Ezekiel nearly jumped at the loud banging that came from the other side of the door
"DINNERS READY", One of his younger siblings shouted
With a heavy sigh Ezekiel tied his ears together once more and made his way to the door, with one last look at the sweater he opened the door ready to continue the cycle.
The dinning room was actually one of the nicest rooms in the dojo Ezekiel had to admit, well besides his father's room. There sat a long table that was able to fit his entire family filled to the brim with fruits, vegetables and other greens were displayed. His siblings each sat in their own assigned seats already devouring thier individual meals.
Ezekiel made his way to the front end of the table where he sat next to his father.
"Your late." Leon smirked
Ezekiel internally prayed to whatever deity that might be watching over him at this moment for help.
"I was just-"
"Apologize before I slam your head on the goddamn table." With that all eyes immediately shot towards Ezekiel, once again he was the center of attention without even trying. Grey eyes who sat across from Ezekiel began to chuckle with a shit eating grin.
"I.. apologize for Being late" Ezekiel tried his hardest to not grit his teeth.
Leon huffed, "Your setting a bad example for your brothers and sisters Ezekiel"
Ezekiel just sighed and nodded along to his father's rants. As dinner concluded Ezekiel noticed the footsteps the trailed behind him as he walked towards his room.
"What do you want?" Ezekiel said making his irritation known
"I just wanna talk brother to brother" Grey eyes smirked and put his hands up in surrender
He was full of shit but Ezekiel knew if grey eyes wanted to talk it would have to away from his other siblings. The last thing he needed right now was to have a fight out in the open again if he was going to talk then it would be on his terms.
They made their way to Ezekiel's room with a few questionable glances from the few siblings they passed.
"Wow this is depressing i thought Father gave you the second best room in the whole dojo"
"Get to the point grey eyes", Ezekiel rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed his patience already thin
Grey eyes scoffed, "I only tolerate that nickname because your the eldest. Once you lose that tournament-"
"I'm not going."
The room fell into silence Ezekiel didn't care enough to look but he knew grey eyes jaw was on the floor. "I'm leaving tonight just like you wanted." Ezekiel chuckled to hide the growing pit building in his stomach
"You.. your seriously leaving? What about the tournament! Father... Our clan could-",
Ezekiel's anger boiled "These tournaments are just so the clan leaders can bet on us for money and power! That's all this is if you weren't so obsessed with impressing him you would realize that..."
The bed shook with as the weight of both rabbits fell ontop of it. "Get off!" Ezekiel struggled to speak as grey eyes arms pressed down on his throat. "Listen I hate to admit this to you of all people but we need you to win this tournament... We could lose everything! What if we lose our home huh? Don't you care about us? Were your family we are all you've got!"
Ezekiel began to choke as he began grasping for air. This was bad if he passed out then his father would lock him away and then he'd be trapped here forever.
"My family was my mom and she abandoned me in this hell!" Ezekiel spat at him. Grey eyes lifted himself slightly to wipe his eyes. Ezekiel quickly punched him in the face then kicked grey eyes across the room causing him to collide with a old desk causing it to shatter.
Using this chance Ezekiel ran to grab the blue sweater that still hung on the old hanger. The only thing that kept him comfort.
"Ezekiel!" Grey eyes shouted as he got back onto his feet blood dripping down his arm and mouth. "Please..." It was Ezekiel's turn to be shocked now. Grey eyes looked at him with genuine fear in his eye. He was just as afraid of thier father as Ezekiel was...
"I-... I'm sorry Jun’ichi"
Ezekiel walked past his brother and put one foot out the window the air of the hidden city hitting him with a wave of anxiety and doubt, he took one last look at his brother a mixture of anger and fear on his face... With a heavy sigh Ezekiel jumped out of the window landing on the ground below with a forward roll and ran into the city.
****
Ezekiel couldn't remember how long he's been running but the aching pain in his legs made it clear he needed to rest. Everywhere he looked Yokai of all different species passed by it was overwhelming. The last time he's been in the city was for demonstrations in front of the clan leaders which unfortunately was the day his father noticed his potential and became the clans punching bag...
Ezekiel wiped the thoughts from his mind and tumbled his way into an alley trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible. His feet ached and he was exhausted. Trying to drown out the creeping anxiety he turned his attention to some faded out graffiti on the wall. He couldn't make out a name but the vivid greens and pinks with a few shapes made the abstract art shine given it's age. A smile escaped his lips. Even though he lost his home now he's free to do whatever he wanted and nothing could replace that.
Ezekiel didn't know what was worse the fact that he slept in a back alley or the smell."Great...." He mumbled to himself with the most sarcasm he cared enough to muster. He couldn't tell the time but it was clear he slept all night and the increased noise coming from the Yokai outside the alley meant the morning rush started.
Ezekiel sighed and brought himself back onto his feet instantly regretting it when his body ached. After a few minutes of slightly cursing and vowing to never sleep in a alley again he made his back onto the streets. The sight was surprisingly pleasant as he saw shop keepers setting up potions for the line of customers. He was curious as to why Yokai were so interested. He never really understood magic or mystic energy due to Leon but his curiosity was peaked untill the prices underneath each of the items made his stomach turn and with a heavy sigh he kept walking.
"Hey kid" A voice called out from one of the stands
Ezekiel brought his gaze onto an older looking male canine with dark brown fur and black eyes. "I'm not a kid.." But compared to the shop keeper he might as well been.
"Ah I'm sorry about that my eye sight isn't as good as it used to be but I noticed your injury do you..-"
"No! Um.. I mean no thank you I don't need any help" Ezekiel didn't want to make a scene but he was on edge how did he know he was injured? The old dog could bearly see... His nose he must reek of dried blood and whatever else came from the alleyway
The old man sighed and shook his head slowly. "Look kid I've been here a long time, met alot of different types of Yokai I know when someone is down on their luck or is desperate" The old Yokai stepped out from behind the counter with a small brown bag with a paw symbol on the front.
Ezekiel analyzed every movement the man made as he slowly walked up to him and brought the bag to his face. "How can I trust this? I don't even know you".
The man huffed in annoyance as he pushed the bag onto Ezekiel's chest. "Just open it and see for yourself"
Once the bag opened the first thing Ezekiel noticed was how deep it seemed compared to what he was actually holding probably through the mystic energy coming off it. Second is what took him a moment to actually process the bag was filled with. "Money?"
"Just enough to get you by for a few weeks, I know what it's like to lose everything and have to start over" The old Yokai sighed returning back behind the counter leaving Ezekiel speechless
Ezekiel was lost and now more confused than he's ever been why was he being treated so kindly? "I could have been just some random drunk-"
"But you aren't and I can tell your lost, your a long way from wherever you came from so you should use that to find a place to sleep in then figure out a way to make some money. Now get out of here before your smell scares off my customers."
Ezekiel stood baffled but he knew couldn't hang around here for too long he of all people know the hidden city isn't always safe especially after dark. Pushing away any doubts he had Ezekiel gave the shop keeper a quick bow before leaving. This was Ezekiel's new beginning, however his life will end up will be completely up to him and hopefully he'll make a few friends along the way for better or worse...
The end