𝖂𝖍𝖞 𝕬𝖗𝖊 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝕾𝖔 𝕱𝖚𝖑𝖑 𝕺𝖋 𝕽𝖆𝖌𝖊?

v

Twenty Years Ago

Crowds cheered as they gathered around in the dusty almost collapsed shed in the middle of nowhere, the cold wind blasting through the small holes and cracks, but the cold didn't bother the crowd, there was a battle, a cage fight, one that the local Triads were looking forward to for ages.

Twenty-year-old Nicolay Sokolov, The Russian Shark, The Knifeman, a young man who was found wandering the snowy border of China and Russia, and had been taken in by the Chinese Triads, versus an opponent twice his size, Zhang Wei, who was part of another Triad.

Nicolay sat in a room by himself, more like an extra a cage to keep him contained, his chest bare to the cold and frigid wind which made the sweat that clung to his body freeze, causing him to shiver slightly, but it didn't affect his already warm pulsing blood.

A fight was about to begin, he could smell the sweat and the blood, even the fear of his previous predecessors of the ring, it almost gave him an adrenaline rush.

But he took a deep breath, getting excited would not help, and closed his eyes as he laid his head back against the bars, he could hear the giggles of his little sister now buried under the Russian snows, and his mind went back to that memory that seemed too long ago.

Four Years Ago

The snow was freshly fallen, Arisha Sokolov had run out, looking over the frozen wonderland of the Russian mountains, the snow-covered trees almost bowed under the weight.

Arisha turned to look back, her brother, Nicolay was slowly following her out.
The girl, with a cheeky smile on her face, had bent down and started gathering a hand full of snow when her suspecting brother's broad back had turned to her, listening to their mother calling a warning to watch out for drifts and not to spend to much time out in the snow.

Arisha giggled ever so softly, and she tossed her snowball right into her brother's back.

The man turned and raised an eyebrow, before with a playful bellow ran at his sister who squealed, turning tail and running across the snow, laughing.

Nicolay laughed as he ran after sister, who soon screamed as she collapsed into a deep drift, her claustrophobia hitting deep.

"Nico!" She cried out, trying to scrabble out.
"I'm here," he murmured and pulled her out, pulling her into his arms, the girl clinging to him tightly, hiding her face into his neck, shaking slightly.
"Nico," she whispered.
"Shh," he stroked her hair gently. "I'm here."

Arisha nodded shakily, hiding in his chest whispering. "I thought I'd be trapped forever..."
"Come now, I was here," he murmured comfortingly.
"I know," she mumbled. "But what if I was stuck forever under the snow?"
"You will never be stuck forever, Arisha," he told her softly. "I'll always be here to pull you out."

Arisha smiled softly, feeling the warmth and protection of his words, answering ever so softly. "I love you, Nico."
"I love you too," he murmured lovingly.

Arisha went to talk again, but Nicolay hushed her, an ominous rumbling filling the air and looking up he gasped.
"Avalanche!" The cry had ripped from his sister.

"Inside now!" He yelled at his sister, pushing her towards the house, a part of him knew, they wouldn't make it, but he had to try, he just had to.
The two rushing towards their hut up, protected by a rocky outcrop, their parents rushing out to help their children.

The mountain of snow was racing towards them, and before they could reach the hut, they were covered.

Nicolay woke with a gasp, pulling himself out of the snow, breathing heavily, looking around, covered in the white powder.

"Ma?! Da?! Arisha?" He yelled out across the snowy plain, there was no answer, the young man's heart racing, as he stumbled across the snow. "Ma! Da!" When he stopped, his sister, impaled on a young tree stump.

He went pale and whispered. "No... oh no..." tears in his eyes as he rushed over. "Arisha! No!"
There was no response from the girl, who lay lifeless half-buried by the snow; the young Russian looked at his sister in distress and whispered. "I'm so sorry..." he then looked up, where were his parents? Surely they would be okay.

He continued stumbling through the deep snow, but what he didn't see as he continued forward, was the lifeless bodies of his parents, hidden under the snow, leaving their troubled son to wander into the hands of the Chinese Triads.

Four Years Later

Soon the cage door was opened, his "owner" gave him a hunting knife, his prefered weapon, and he watched the door open out into the ring, the screams and cries of all who came to watch echoing, he was Ikan, the Акула, and he knew, soon, very soon he would break free, and they would all pay, they all would.