Malik Al-Sayf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notambidextrous) wrote2012-08-31 01:36 am
notambidextrous) wrote2012-08-31 01:36 am
brothers will be brothers
“You’ll be the Templar, I’ll be the Assassin.”
“Why can’t I be a ‘sassin, too? I don’t wanna be a dumb Templar.”
Kadar pouts and crosses his arms over his chest, waiting for a response from his older brother. He’s always the Templar, it isn’t fair! He wanted to be the good guy for once. Malik rolls his eyes and shakes his head. To him, the idea of Kadar being the Assassin was ridiculous. He shoves the smaller of the two wooden swords towards Kadar and gets into his best fighting stance (which really isn’t very good, but hey, he’s six, you can’t expect much more from a six year old).
“Because I’m older, that’s why! And besides, you can’t even say Assassin right!”
Kadar pouts some more and throws the makeshift sword to the ground, an attempt at making it clear to Malik that he doesn’t want to play if he can’t be on the winning side. Malik, however, chooses to ignore this and runs after Kadar, waving the sword around in front of him to try and hit his target. Kadar is hit the first time and it hurts and he almost starts to cry, but just as the tears start falling he has to start running because Malik is coming after him again and the last thing he wants is to be hit again.
“See? This is why you have to be the Templar! You are too much of a coward to be an Assassin!”
Kadar is thankful for the moment their house comes into view. If he can just make it in he’ll be safe. Their mother would never let Malik keep hitting Kadar like this. Malik gets in one more hit that manages to send Kadar into a fit of sobs and tears and their mother gives Malik a disapproving glance before turning her attention to Kadar. Malik doesn’t stay in the room to watch. He doesn’t like that his brother has to be treated like such a baby all the time. Why can’t he act more mature? Does he really think he’ll ever be able to become an Assassin if he has to be taken care of all the time? Malik is so lost in his thoughts he doesn’t notice his father coming up behind him and he’s surprised when he finds himself being lifted up.
“What is this I hear about you and Kadar fighting?”
“We were playing, Father! I was an Assassin and he was a Templar! It isn’t my fault if he isn’t good at the game!”
Malik pouts and crosses his arms over his chest, refusing to wrap his arms around his father’s neck as most people might do when they’re being held like this. That’s a move a child would make and at six years old, Malik is not a child any more. He is a mature adult.
“You can’t keep fighting with him like this. You are brothers. Brothers should protect each other no matter what, not hurt each other for fun.”
“But--!”
“No. I don’t want to hear about you hitting him like that again. If you must play that game, you should both be Assassins. Now find your brother and apologize. I believe he went out to play with some other boys from the village.”
The look on his father’s face is stern and Malik knows that there will be no arguing with him and so Malik doesn’t waste any time once he’s let down. It takes him a little while to find Kadar and by the time he does, Kadar is crying about something else and some of the boys he’s with are making fun of him, calling him a cry baby, and imitating everything he does. He doesn’t know what happened to make Kadar cry, but that doesn’t really matter much. What matters is Malik’s growing anger as he watches the scene. They can’t make his little brother cry! And the definitely can’t make fun of him for crying! Malik throws a rock at the one who appears to be the leader. It hits the side of his head hard, hard enough to draw blood.
Most everyone else backs away now, but Malik, Kadar, and the one Malik hit with the rock stay where they are until the rock guy makes a move to tackle Malik. He moves out of the way easily enough, but the kid comes at him again and this time he gets his target. Malik tries to fight back, biting and kicking and punching wildly without any real aim. It isn’t very effective and the boy gets a few good punches on Malik before Kadar takes the wooden sword Malik had still been carrying around and hits the boy with it repeatedly.
If Kadar had been planning to use that to get the boy to run away, it works and Kadar looks happy and smug that he was able to save his brother. He helps Malik up and Malik keeps his hold on Kadar’s hand as they walk home.
“I’m sorry for hitting you earlier, Kadar.”
“’s okay, Brother. You had to do it. I was the Templar, ‘member?”
Malik shrugs and lets the topic drop from there. It’s silent for a few moments and Malik is thankful that Kadar is not talking his ear off as he usually would. But the silence only lasts for so long before Kadar breaks it again.
“Brother?”
Kadar pulls on Malik’s sleeve to get his attention and points to someone further up the street wearing armor with a big red cross on it.
“Is that a Templar?”
Malik stares at the man for a few moments, and when those few moments are up he glares at him although the likelihood of him actually seeing Malik’s glare is slim to none. Malik pulls Kadar along a little faster, wanting to get away from the Templar as quickly as possible. He’s seen one before, once when his father took him up to the rooftops to show him what an Assassin’s view of the city would usually look like. It wasn’t a particularly exciting experience. The guard hadn’t seen them and there was no fight, but that one sighting was enough to burn that red cross into his mind as the symbol of the men who threatened the Assassins.
“Yeah, it is. Let’s get away from him as quickly as possible.”
Kadar doesn’t protest, only picks up his pace to keep up with Malik and holds onto his brother’s hand a little tighter. For all that he’d like to appear brave in front of Malik, doing so is hard when you’re this close to someone like that.
“Brother?”
“What is it, Kadar?”
“Can I be a ‘sassin next time we play?”
“We can both be Assassins next time and every time after that.”
The answer is good enough for Kadar. He doesn’t question who they’d be fighting if they’re both Assassins or why Malik suddenly decided to let him be an Assassin, just holds his brother’s hand and follows him home.
“Why can’t I be a ‘sassin, too? I don’t wanna be a dumb Templar.”
Kadar pouts and crosses his arms over his chest, waiting for a response from his older brother. He’s always the Templar, it isn’t fair! He wanted to be the good guy for once. Malik rolls his eyes and shakes his head. To him, the idea of Kadar being the Assassin was ridiculous. He shoves the smaller of the two wooden swords towards Kadar and gets into his best fighting stance (which really isn’t very good, but hey, he’s six, you can’t expect much more from a six year old).
“Because I’m older, that’s why! And besides, you can’t even say Assassin right!”
Kadar pouts some more and throws the makeshift sword to the ground, an attempt at making it clear to Malik that he doesn’t want to play if he can’t be on the winning side. Malik, however, chooses to ignore this and runs after Kadar, waving the sword around in front of him to try and hit his target. Kadar is hit the first time and it hurts and he almost starts to cry, but just as the tears start falling he has to start running because Malik is coming after him again and the last thing he wants is to be hit again.
“See? This is why you have to be the Templar! You are too much of a coward to be an Assassin!”
Kadar is thankful for the moment their house comes into view. If he can just make it in he’ll be safe. Their mother would never let Malik keep hitting Kadar like this. Malik gets in one more hit that manages to send Kadar into a fit of sobs and tears and their mother gives Malik a disapproving glance before turning her attention to Kadar. Malik doesn’t stay in the room to watch. He doesn’t like that his brother has to be treated like such a baby all the time. Why can’t he act more mature? Does he really think he’ll ever be able to become an Assassin if he has to be taken care of all the time? Malik is so lost in his thoughts he doesn’t notice his father coming up behind him and he’s surprised when he finds himself being lifted up.
“What is this I hear about you and Kadar fighting?”
“We were playing, Father! I was an Assassin and he was a Templar! It isn’t my fault if he isn’t good at the game!”
Malik pouts and crosses his arms over his chest, refusing to wrap his arms around his father’s neck as most people might do when they’re being held like this. That’s a move a child would make and at six years old, Malik is not a child any more. He is a mature adult.
“You can’t keep fighting with him like this. You are brothers. Brothers should protect each other no matter what, not hurt each other for fun.”
“But--!”
“No. I don’t want to hear about you hitting him like that again. If you must play that game, you should both be Assassins. Now find your brother and apologize. I believe he went out to play with some other boys from the village.”
The look on his father’s face is stern and Malik knows that there will be no arguing with him and so Malik doesn’t waste any time once he’s let down. It takes him a little while to find Kadar and by the time he does, Kadar is crying about something else and some of the boys he’s with are making fun of him, calling him a cry baby, and imitating everything he does. He doesn’t know what happened to make Kadar cry, but that doesn’t really matter much. What matters is Malik’s growing anger as he watches the scene. They can’t make his little brother cry! And the definitely can’t make fun of him for crying! Malik throws a rock at the one who appears to be the leader. It hits the side of his head hard, hard enough to draw blood.
Most everyone else backs away now, but Malik, Kadar, and the one Malik hit with the rock stay where they are until the rock guy makes a move to tackle Malik. He moves out of the way easily enough, but the kid comes at him again and this time he gets his target. Malik tries to fight back, biting and kicking and punching wildly without any real aim. It isn’t very effective and the boy gets a few good punches on Malik before Kadar takes the wooden sword Malik had still been carrying around and hits the boy with it repeatedly.
If Kadar had been planning to use that to get the boy to run away, it works and Kadar looks happy and smug that he was able to save his brother. He helps Malik up and Malik keeps his hold on Kadar’s hand as they walk home.
“I’m sorry for hitting you earlier, Kadar.”
“’s okay, Brother. You had to do it. I was the Templar, ‘member?”
Malik shrugs and lets the topic drop from there. It’s silent for a few moments and Malik is thankful that Kadar is not talking his ear off as he usually would. But the silence only lasts for so long before Kadar breaks it again.
“Brother?”
Kadar pulls on Malik’s sleeve to get his attention and points to someone further up the street wearing armor with a big red cross on it.
“Is that a Templar?”
Malik stares at the man for a few moments, and when those few moments are up he glares at him although the likelihood of him actually seeing Malik’s glare is slim to none. Malik pulls Kadar along a little faster, wanting to get away from the Templar as quickly as possible. He’s seen one before, once when his father took him up to the rooftops to show him what an Assassin’s view of the city would usually look like. It wasn’t a particularly exciting experience. The guard hadn’t seen them and there was no fight, but that one sighting was enough to burn that red cross into his mind as the symbol of the men who threatened the Assassins.
“Yeah, it is. Let’s get away from him as quickly as possible.”
Kadar doesn’t protest, only picks up his pace to keep up with Malik and holds onto his brother’s hand a little tighter. For all that he’d like to appear brave in front of Malik, doing so is hard when you’re this close to someone like that.
“Brother?”
“What is it, Kadar?”
“Can I be a ‘sassin next time we play?”
“We can both be Assassins next time and every time after that.”
The answer is good enough for Kadar. He doesn’t question who they’d be fighting if they’re both Assassins or why Malik suddenly decided to let him be an Assassin, just holds his brother’s hand and follows him home.