2026-07-29, 01:33 PM - Word count:
The Shotless Arc.
At the secondary practice field near F.C. Kaapstads facilities over 50 soccer balls had been strewn across the turf. Rain came down and make odd sounds as they crashed against the surface of the soccer balls as if the rain was breaking apart upon impact. Mixed into the sound of falling rain was another sound ... a BANG! Or BOOM! Sometimes a THUD! One might have though it was the occasional booming of thunder far off in the distance that only a faint echo reached one's ears. Maybe a tree hitting the ground after being toppled by the insidious weather. But if one were to follow to the sound to it's origin they would find Dante Von Wolfe at the same practice field, absolutely blasting shots across the field and into the net. The rain battered down upon him as well, drenching his hair causing it to hang down lower then usual. In Kaapstads first game Dante had no passes in front of the net in which he could take a shot, and he wasn't someone so irrational as to take a shot when there was absolutely no chance of it going in. if he did that, then he'd miss more shots and eventually he'd be benched. Hence why Dante was getting in extra practice, the rain providing another obstacle for him to overcome. He figured out that the trick to shooting in the rain was to focus more on the center of the ball and to reduce the power you put into shots so it doesn't go flying all over the place. It was interesting practicing control like this ... but at the end of the day, Dante's thoughts kept coming back to the first matchday. Did he need to trust his teammates more? How could he show them he was worthy? The thoughts continued to haunt him all throughout the week until the next matchday was eventually upon him.
![[Image: 3ZnIpkY.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/3ZnIpkY.jpeg)
No one knows how a match will go before it's actually played as speculation is just that. Mere speculation ... so in many ways it was a good thing that Dante paid absolutely no attention to the media most days. But with his phone blowing up with notifications it wasn't hard to see what was going on. Kaapstad had been hot and cold, and when the articles online should have been about how they can push forward and clean themselves up now heading into the 4th matchday and beyond. Instead the media was focused on Dante Von Wolfe and the fact that despite being Kaapstad's starting Striker for the entire season thus far, he hadn't even been able to take a shot on net. Instead Dante had delivered a few assists, and had excellent passing and tackling ratio's. Pundits were speculating about the possibility of Dante even moving to CAM or CM given that his stats more aligned with those roles. Fans were happy that Kaapstad was staying competitive in what was supposed to be a down year as well, and the locker room full of Rookies that was supposed to be weathering a brutal season instead were all showing flashes of their potential which caused Kaapstad to draft them in the first place. Everyone but Dante Von Wolfe.
After the 2-1 victory against Krung Threp reporters asked him how he felt about his limited involvement in the game, but he remained coolheaded and uncaring like usual. "It sucks. But we got the win and I know coach is happy about that. He already told me that it'd be a work in progress, and given that I'm now facing veterans and young rising stars older then myself it makes sense that it'd take time to catch up." That may have been Dante's answer when he was thrust in front of the reporters, but after the friendlies and his consistent scoring Dante was of course understandably disappointed in himself.
The Cup Qualifier game which Dante had nabbed his first assist in had also resulted in a 2 - 5 loss to AC Romana was a much different conversation however as reporters barraged him with multiple questions considering he was able to make a play happen offensively, yet still hadn't ended up taking a single shot on goal. "Yeah, I'm frustrated. I passed and he scored, when it should have been me scoring. On top of that, we didn't even win. Doesn't matter if Romana is far and away a better team as opposed to Kaapstad, it doesn't matter if one is a Majors Division 2 team or not. I just want to win and score."
After three weeks of going without a single shot in a matchday against Minors Division 1 Bottom Feeders Inter London, Dante was absolutely fuming. Not only did his teammates struggle to capitalize on half his passes, but they were barely bothering to pass the ball back to him ...! He hadn't scored yet ... he hadn't managed a shot on goal ... he was going fucking insane wondering exactly why. Every time he was about to start completely abandoning the pass Dante looked at his teammates and calmed himself down, the friends he'd made in Istanbul and now here ... if he didn't at least pass, then they would never be able to move the ball up the pitch and then he really would be unable to score as they'd easily focus in on him. Not only that, but his teammates which practically barely passed to him already, would probably stop doing so altogether ...! The reporters didn't help either as they had become aware of his frustration, how despite his typically calm and uncaring outwards appearance he did have a human side to him when it came to the sport he loved.
The breaking point was when a reporter shoved their microphone in his face as he was walking, clearly intent on ignoring everyone there to ask questions. "Wolfe! Wolfe! Does it hurt failing to live up to the expectations of the great Kaapstad and Hollywood Striker Predecessors?" Came the words which tipped him over the edge. Dante snatched the microphone faster then anyone would have ever expected, turning around absolutely WHIPPING it at the wall. It exploded on contact against the hard surface. Dante was breathing heavily, realizing he had gotten worked up over nothing. He ran a hand through his still sweaty hair and brushed it back, staring at the reporter. "No. It just hurts listening to your damn voice every after every match." He said before turning away and ignoring the continued flurry of voices echoing within the tunnel leading to the locker room. When he entered he ignored the looks his teammates gave him, most of them filled with some mix of confusion or concern, and hung a towel over his head while staring straight ahead with eyes as cold as ice. He had never felt this way before. This emptiness. Like the world was looking to swallow him whole. Or maybe he had and he'd just been able to ignore it since he didn't know just how good life could feel. He'd felt this way for awhile ... and it wasn't something he could just look towards his friends and teammates to fix for him. Dante understood that had to do it himself ...
But just how long would it be until this feeling finally went away?
At the secondary practice field near F.C. Kaapstads facilities over 50 soccer balls had been strewn across the turf. Rain came down and make odd sounds as they crashed against the surface of the soccer balls as if the rain was breaking apart upon impact. Mixed into the sound of falling rain was another sound ... a BANG! Or BOOM! Sometimes a THUD! One might have though it was the occasional booming of thunder far off in the distance that only a faint echo reached one's ears. Maybe a tree hitting the ground after being toppled by the insidious weather. But if one were to follow to the sound to it's origin they would find Dante Von Wolfe at the same practice field, absolutely blasting shots across the field and into the net. The rain battered down upon him as well, drenching his hair causing it to hang down lower then usual. In Kaapstads first game Dante had no passes in front of the net in which he could take a shot, and he wasn't someone so irrational as to take a shot when there was absolutely no chance of it going in. if he did that, then he'd miss more shots and eventually he'd be benched. Hence why Dante was getting in extra practice, the rain providing another obstacle for him to overcome. He figured out that the trick to shooting in the rain was to focus more on the center of the ball and to reduce the power you put into shots so it doesn't go flying all over the place. It was interesting practicing control like this ... but at the end of the day, Dante's thoughts kept coming back to the first matchday. Did he need to trust his teammates more? How could he show them he was worthy? The thoughts continued to haunt him all throughout the week until the next matchday was eventually upon him.
No one knows how a match will go before it's actually played as speculation is just that. Mere speculation ... so in many ways it was a good thing that Dante paid absolutely no attention to the media most days. But with his phone blowing up with notifications it wasn't hard to see what was going on. Kaapstad had been hot and cold, and when the articles online should have been about how they can push forward and clean themselves up now heading into the 4th matchday and beyond. Instead the media was focused on Dante Von Wolfe and the fact that despite being Kaapstad's starting Striker for the entire season thus far, he hadn't even been able to take a shot on net. Instead Dante had delivered a few assists, and had excellent passing and tackling ratio's. Pundits were speculating about the possibility of Dante even moving to CAM or CM given that his stats more aligned with those roles. Fans were happy that Kaapstad was staying competitive in what was supposed to be a down year as well, and the locker room full of Rookies that was supposed to be weathering a brutal season instead were all showing flashes of their potential which caused Kaapstad to draft them in the first place. Everyone but Dante Von Wolfe.
After the 2-1 victory against Krung Threp reporters asked him how he felt about his limited involvement in the game, but he remained coolheaded and uncaring like usual. "It sucks. But we got the win and I know coach is happy about that. He already told me that it'd be a work in progress, and given that I'm now facing veterans and young rising stars older then myself it makes sense that it'd take time to catch up." That may have been Dante's answer when he was thrust in front of the reporters, but after the friendlies and his consistent scoring Dante was of course understandably disappointed in himself.
The Cup Qualifier game which Dante had nabbed his first assist in had also resulted in a 2 - 5 loss to AC Romana was a much different conversation however as reporters barraged him with multiple questions considering he was able to make a play happen offensively, yet still hadn't ended up taking a single shot on goal. "Yeah, I'm frustrated. I passed and he scored, when it should have been me scoring. On top of that, we didn't even win. Doesn't matter if Romana is far and away a better team as opposed to Kaapstad, it doesn't matter if one is a Majors Division 2 team or not. I just want to win and score."
After three weeks of going without a single shot in a matchday against Minors Division 1 Bottom Feeders Inter London, Dante was absolutely fuming. Not only did his teammates struggle to capitalize on half his passes, but they were barely bothering to pass the ball back to him ...! He hadn't scored yet ... he hadn't managed a shot on goal ... he was going fucking insane wondering exactly why. Every time he was about to start completely abandoning the pass Dante looked at his teammates and calmed himself down, the friends he'd made in Istanbul and now here ... if he didn't at least pass, then they would never be able to move the ball up the pitch and then he really would be unable to score as they'd easily focus in on him. Not only that, but his teammates which practically barely passed to him already, would probably stop doing so altogether ...! The reporters didn't help either as they had become aware of his frustration, how despite his typically calm and uncaring outwards appearance he did have a human side to him when it came to the sport he loved.
The breaking point was when a reporter shoved their microphone in his face as he was walking, clearly intent on ignoring everyone there to ask questions. "Wolfe! Wolfe! Does it hurt failing to live up to the expectations of the great Kaapstad and Hollywood Striker Predecessors?" Came the words which tipped him over the edge. Dante snatched the microphone faster then anyone would have ever expected, turning around absolutely WHIPPING it at the wall. It exploded on contact against the hard surface. Dante was breathing heavily, realizing he had gotten worked up over nothing. He ran a hand through his still sweaty hair and brushed it back, staring at the reporter. "No. It just hurts listening to your damn voice every after every match." He said before turning away and ignoring the continued flurry of voices echoing within the tunnel leading to the locker room. When he entered he ignored the looks his teammates gave him, most of them filled with some mix of confusion or concern, and hung a towel over his head while staring straight ahead with eyes as cold as ice. He had never felt this way before. This emptiness. Like the world was looking to swallow him whole. Or maybe he had and he'd just been able to ignore it since he didn't know just how good life could feel. He'd felt this way for awhile ... and it wasn't something he could just look towards his friends and teammates to fix for him. Dante understood that had to do it himself ...
But just how long would it be until this feeling finally went away?
