Daggers: Disguised as a Boy

Daggers - Chapter 1

Here's the first chpater!! I would love some feedback!!!

*-* starryeyed

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Chapter One: Hair is Falling

Thump! Thump! Thump! I open my eyes. Pure darkness. A blinding light, and the silhouette of my father, shouting.

“Get up! NOW!” My father shouted.

I got yanked out of bed, and carried to my father’s bathroom.

“We have to cut your hair now! Hold still.”

I blinked twice. “NO!” I shouted, as I scrambled away from my father, who was now holding the object I dreaded the most. The object that would shred my charcoal waist-length hair to pieces.

“They’re coming for you! We need to cut your hair and dress you up as a boy!”

They?

My father grabbed hold me, and took my hair into a pony tail. Snip, snip, snip. My head…it felt lighter. I look up, my hair, messy, hugging my ears, flicking out this way and that…uneven. Snip, snip. Bangs, covering half of my eyes, blinding me to half of the world.

“Here, put these on.” My mother calmly stated, so opposite to my father’s nervousness and brashness. She handed me my brother’s clothes, my dead--may he rest in peace-- brother’s old clothes, and went into the closet to change, to confused and shocked to question my parents. Clothes off, shirt on, pants on, coat on, I came outside. My dad puts a hat on my head.

“There, now you’re my son instead of my daughter.”

I still didn’t understand what was happening. I went to my room, sleepy. I looked in….completely clean as if no one used the room. I looked in at my brother’s room across the hall, the door was normally closed and now it stood ajar, and was astonished to see that it looked as if someone was using it. Was this what my mother was doing while my father cut my hair?

“Now, Anna remember if they ask for your whole name it’s Takeo Janice.’

“My brother’s name?”

“Yes.” My mother stated.

My brother was named after my grandfather, just as my father was named after his grandfather, so my son will be named after my father. My brother’s name Takeo means protector, it suited him. He went off to join the military and never came back.

“Anna, Anna, ANNA!” my father shouted.

“Yes?”

“What are you, never mind, go in your brother’s room and--”

KNOCK! KNOCK!

“They’re here” My mother whispered.

My father went downstairs to open the door.

“Welcome! I’m sorry we don’t have a daughter…she died, but you’re welcome to see my son!”

It sounded like rambling to me, probably to ‘them’ too, whoever ‘they’ are.

“Come in! Come in!”

I heard footsteps coming up through the stairwell, and soon enough five tall, bulky men were towering over me, making an introverted half-circle.

“So this is you’re son,” said the man in the middle and in the front, he had a crew cut, a strong jaw, and stood with his extreme biceps crossed over his chest, a focused gaze on his face. Although he wasn’t the tallest in the bunch, he seemed to extrude authority. “How old is he?”

“8, he’s 8.” My father replied.

“What’s your name son?” The first man on the right, I guessed as the second in command, said as he crouched down on one knee, his big brown boots looking extremely worn out.

“Ann--Takeo Janice.”

“Protector huh? Hehe, maybe you’ll want to join the army.” He replied, standing up from his crouch and facing the other four men, who were chuckling with him. Normally, there are no volunteers for the army, a man is just drafted into the academy, where he is expected to follow orders, and die for his country, without regards for a family left behind.

“Well we see you have no daughter but…you, wife, how old are you?”

“36, sir.”

“36...four more children by the time your 42, got it? We need girls though. You know that unknown virus going around killing women….Be careful, and make sure you don’t die!”

They left, and right then I knew what was happening. I went back up the stairs to the second story, and gazed down at the troop of men and horses that were left outside of my home from the window of brother’s room. The men outside went to their leader, a boy who didn’t look much older than me, who sat atop a rust colored stallion. The boy had dirty dark blond hair, that was cut short and formed a natural small fohawk at the top of his head; he was wearing what looked to be expensive clothing, it resembled a less armor version of a knight’s suit, complete with a dagger at his left side. The boy took up the report with a bored look on his face, scanned it, then put it back down.

“Takeo Janice?!? He’s alive!!!” he said enthusiastically.

The boy got off of his horse, and stormed through our door, hurrying up the steps.

“Takeo…”

His men followed him, and looked from his disappointed face to my astonished one.

“You’re not him!” He accused, pointing his finger at me. My mom and dad, who followed him up the steps along with the group of five men, moved in my direction, their expressions anxious.

“Uh, he’s uh, Takeo Jr. technically! In our family we have never had more than one boy so, we named him Takeo Jr. because every son in our family is named after their grandfather.” More rambling from my father.

“Well, since Takeo was such a good soldier, maybe his little brother will be too.’ Said the little boy with a smirk upon his face, taking a step closer in my direction, clearly enjoying his power and authority over full grown adults.

“WHAT!!!” The boy’s men said, looking at me, the scrawny little kid to their seemingly young leader.

“You heard me, we’re recruiting him. Let’s go.” He grabbed my arm and started pulling me away toward the steps.

“NO! I mean, please no!” My mother screamed desperately, stopping the boy’s movement.

“Humph, why?” The little boy said, his hold still on my upper arm, looking back towards my mother.

“Who do you think you are? Taking away my last child before s--he’s even of age!”

“Me? I’m--” The tall man, the one who spoke first with the crew cut, cut him off, taking a step in my mother’s direction, his arms out wide with an incredulous expression.

“He’s the young prince, heir to the throne, you should pay him some respect.”

“I, no matter, I will NOT allow you to take my child away from me, at least while he is clearly not of age to enter the academy.” Her tone was firm, and her hazel eyes showed a mother’s will to protect her young.

“Fine, but know this, I WILL be back in a few years, so be ready.” He looked at me as he said this last part, as a warning, but to what?

“Yes sir.”

The young prince and his group of soldiers left to wreak havoc on another town, but after these events my life was never the same. I was now in hiding from my own gender, my own identity, disguised to the world. For if I was discovered, it would mean the death of me. And my family. From that day on, I was Takeo “Jr.” Janice.