2026-07-06, 10:46 PM - Word count:
Sleep in.
Snooze.
Get dragged out of bed by Joshua (@o1playz).
Dante Von Wolfe had travelled around plenty when he was a kid despite the hassle it always presented. He'd grown up surrounded by harsh, cold winters and heavy snowfall while being beat down by the hot summer sun. Yet Cape Town ... was different to say the least. His travels had taken him from the Athabasca Sands Dunes, Canada's very own desert ... to the Yukon, and more recently to Istanbul. Yet now south of the equator, South Africa was certainly a long way from home for the young Canadian Striker. He was starting to adapt however and was getting quite accustomed to a new routine in a new place, even if he was struggling to adapt to the weather.
Today however was a very important day and Dante understood that very well ... only because Joshua had kept reminding him about it for the past week ... yet he had still forgotten. It only made sense that today's weapon of choice was a pillow for Joshua ... at least for the warning shot. The pillow hit him directly in the face and he brushed it off before trying to go back to sleep, but Joshua's second was weapon was a slingshot with some albeit soft, yet still annoying stress-ball-esque ammo. The moment it was shot Dante reacted off pure instinct, kicking the blanket upwards which blocked the first round aimed at him. The second one he simply kicked away, gracefully spinning in his bed to do so, and the third he merely rolled out of the way ...! It was a true masterclass on dodging with your eyes closed! Untilllll Dante found himself faceplanted on the ground from rolling too far. He heard a laugh from Joshua, one that faded rapidly as Dante clearly was starting to fall asleep. Another shot was aimed at him, and he dodged it by falling forwards, ending up on his back with a loud thud!
"That hurt." He muttered to himself, listening to Joshua's snickering from the hallway.
Dante heard the footsteps moving away from his room and let out a yawn before sitting up and leaning against his bed, tilting his head to the side while leaning backwards to view his calendar which his Managers had set up for him. They seemed to have caught onto his lack of genuine interest in anything but playing on the pitch, not that they didn't know that when they drafted him ... but still! He was quite thankful for how easy they had made the process of joining the team, and he planned on thanking them by trying in the friendly matches this week.
Friendlies MD1: Kaapstad vs Inter London
Each step through the tunnel brought Dante that much closer to the pitch, towards his new beginning ... and he wasn't nearly as excited as some of the other rookies on their team. No jitters, no shouts of excitement, just cool headedness and the desire to go back to sleep after the game. This match was against Inter London and Dante was curious to see how the teams tactics would play out. But disaster struck just 10 seconds into the match as Lizard carried the ball down the wing whilst O'Neil dipped into the space between McDougal and Hunt, rushed forwards and took a shot just as he breached the box, putting some curve on it which made it fly true into the bottom right corner of the net. It had only been 10 seconds, and Inter London had already put up points ...! After that goal however Kaapstad began to wake up, creating more opportunities and earning themselves a higher XG then London had showing that they were indeed fighting back.
Just before halftime Kaapstad finally found the back of the net. The ball fell to Hunt's feet in the midfield and he deftly kicked it up to Jang, who held onto it for a moment to give his teammates time to move up the field. But Pedro had managed to create some space from his man and pushed out in the direction of the left corner, which gave Jang a target up front. With the London defence still trying to get back and organize themselves now was a golden opportunity to strike, and the one person who stayed ear the goal box? Dante Von Wolfe of course, who took an easy pass from Pedro and volleyed it in without issue. It was Dante's first goal in white and green, and he did not intend for it to be his last. After halftime though, Dante never got another clear chance in front of the net, and with London scoring another goal off of a late corner which was kicked backwards, carried into the box, then passed around until a clear shot could be taken, Kaapstad's first friendly unfortunately ended in defeat. Still Dante couldn't help but ache with primal joy at the fact that he had scored ... this was existence! Life! It felt even better then when he scored for Istanbul! But it didn't last as soon that numbness overtook him once again. He'd need to continue scoring to feel that rush.
In between friendlies the young Striker took to the field and began practicing something different from usual, although to the unobservant everything seemed the same. He'd kick shots at the net, dribble, trap, take first touches. But today he was nearly 3x sloppier then normal with everything he was doing, except shooting which Dante seemed to have a natural instinct for executing. But even that was worse then usual, because Dante ... was using his left foot for everything. Dante's development had stalled out a little and he was growing more and more annoyed with it, mostly because it felt like he could only progress so far until he needed to find a challenge and overcome that before he could grow even more explosively. But such was life for a player, although Dante understood he was only scratching the surface of his talent. He just needed time for it to fully bloom, and then even without consistent motivation he would grow into a monstrous player. Whether it was him playing with Sei or not, he'd already proven that he could score. Now they just needed to win games.
Friendlies MD2: Kaapstad vs Paris
The next match was going to be a difficult one, but at the same time it was a necessity in order for Kaapstad as a team to grow and eventually perform to their fullest capabilities. They were facing the team many thought to be the best in Division 1, AS Paris ... and for good reason given their high tpe and solid coaching. Still this was just a friendly match, so even if they did loose it wouldn't hold any real consequences ... yet. But that didn't matter to Dante, as he only cared about one thing ... scoring goals. People had caught onto that fact and were now actively using it against him, but Dante as usual was difficult to affect and just continued to do his own thing.
AS Paris showed why they were considered the strongest team heading into the season and struck first, with Tarandus carrying the ball up the right wing before tapping an accurate pass between two Kaapstad defenders to Kvekvetsia, who turned around and followed the trajectory and speed of the ball without actually touching it. He then carried it into the box and up closer to the net but was too vertical and had no shooting course. Tarandus ran into the box and acted as a decoy, and when everyone thought the ball was heading his way Jameston was the one who received the pass, scoring with an easy tap into the net. The next goal came no more then 10 minutes later, with Kovacs hitting a clean and uniform cross into the box which found fellow season 26 rookie Ignignokt (@AustinP0027). That was too confusing so Dante just dubbed him as moon boy and moved on ... and down 2 goals at halftime that was exactly the mindset a rookie needed in order to focus on winning. 51' minutes in and Paris had a toss in which Kovacs took, throwing to Suzuki who approached the touchline and began dancing up it. Given Kaapstad's youth and lack of current speed, Suzuki was able to get around both defenders close to him by taking one big touch to free up his legs to move further and faster. He swung his leg equally as fast when a small passing course opened up, striking the ball with excellent power and finessed it right by Walrusson who fell into the path too little too late, with Kvekvetsia finishing the play to bring Paris up 3 - 0. It sucked, but this was what he had to chase, the top spot, the most refined group in the league, the one's who currently looked down upon him. It was another wall to be conquered, however this one would just come with time.
Kaapstad wasn't out of it yet though, with Homme the Hommie III Limited Esquire kicking off a counterattack from midfield. He started by pushing towards the wing and quickly passing to Wolf. The winger used his speed to close the distance up the field like his hair was on fire and kicked a through pass to McDougal. Fensterhausen and Kovacs were on McDougal but gave him a bit too much space, and when the gap between the two players of differing speed opened up he saw a green jersey and placed the shot just ahead of Dante Von Wolfe. The young Striker's eyes locked onto the GK and sharpened, almost scarily so as his intensity became an overwhelming, crushing, destructive thing which just felt as if it hung in the air. His foot raised up and swung back down in one clean arc as he took a practiced, simple shot. He had gotten a little too excited being able to score a goal and put a touch too much power in his kick, but the ball still went in so he was happy to just celebrate, turning to the audience and bowing.
Not long after at the 74th minute, Walrusson kicked a bomb down the field from Kaapstad's net which was targeted at Dante. He flipped around towards the long pass and boxed out his defender, showing that the strength which he'd built up, although imperfect, was still useful even at the next level. He leapt upwards and not wanting the ball to be tackled away, he headed it downwards towards Pedro who happened to be running up the field near him and was in a good spot to take the pass. Jang cut in from the outside in front of a defender and Pedro instantly passed his way, threading between multiple defenders and giving Jang a clean shot which he converted. Kaapstad's youngsters weren't about to go down without a fight! As if to emphasize that thought, just 8 minutes later Kaapstad took a throw in positioned within Paris' half of the field. Wolf tossed it to McDougal and darted forwards into the open space, trusting McDougal to place the ball within that space for Wolf to pick up. Using his teammates as decoys and the threat of passing to a Striker in front of the net, Wolf bounced into the box and around the defenders freely before booting a goal into the back of the mesh to bring Kaapstad back to even!
Both Paris and Kaapstad had scored 3 unanswered in this match, and although it ended in a draw Dante could at least be happy these friendly matches could prove his talent once more! This was the next level which he would fight at, and he was already scoring goals ... what more could a Striker ask for? It all felt so ... pure! It was unfortunate they didn't get the win, but a draw against the heavily favoured Paris team.
Next, he'd destroy them.
![[Image: svEcjBr.png]](https://i.imgur.com/svEcjBr.png)
Snooze.
Get dragged out of bed by Joshua (@o1playz).
Dante Von Wolfe had travelled around plenty when he was a kid despite the hassle it always presented. He'd grown up surrounded by harsh, cold winters and heavy snowfall while being beat down by the hot summer sun. Yet Cape Town ... was different to say the least. His travels had taken him from the Athabasca Sands Dunes, Canada's very own desert ... to the Yukon, and more recently to Istanbul. Yet now south of the equator, South Africa was certainly a long way from home for the young Canadian Striker. He was starting to adapt however and was getting quite accustomed to a new routine in a new place, even if he was struggling to adapt to the weather.
Today however was a very important day and Dante understood that very well ... only because Joshua had kept reminding him about it for the past week ... yet he had still forgotten. It only made sense that today's weapon of choice was a pillow for Joshua ... at least for the warning shot. The pillow hit him directly in the face and he brushed it off before trying to go back to sleep, but Joshua's second was weapon was a slingshot with some albeit soft, yet still annoying stress-ball-esque ammo. The moment it was shot Dante reacted off pure instinct, kicking the blanket upwards which blocked the first round aimed at him. The second one he simply kicked away, gracefully spinning in his bed to do so, and the third he merely rolled out of the way ...! It was a true masterclass on dodging with your eyes closed! Untilllll Dante found himself faceplanted on the ground from rolling too far. He heard a laugh from Joshua, one that faded rapidly as Dante clearly was starting to fall asleep. Another shot was aimed at him, and he dodged it by falling forwards, ending up on his back with a loud thud!
"That hurt." He muttered to himself, listening to Joshua's snickering from the hallway.
Dante heard the footsteps moving away from his room and let out a yawn before sitting up and leaning against his bed, tilting his head to the side while leaning backwards to view his calendar which his Managers had set up for him. They seemed to have caught onto his lack of genuine interest in anything but playing on the pitch, not that they didn't know that when they drafted him ... but still! He was quite thankful for how easy they had made the process of joining the team, and he planned on thanking them by trying in the friendly matches this week.
Friendlies MD1: Kaapstad vs Inter London
Each step through the tunnel brought Dante that much closer to the pitch, towards his new beginning ... and he wasn't nearly as excited as some of the other rookies on their team. No jitters, no shouts of excitement, just cool headedness and the desire to go back to sleep after the game. This match was against Inter London and Dante was curious to see how the teams tactics would play out. But disaster struck just 10 seconds into the match as Lizard carried the ball down the wing whilst O'Neil dipped into the space between McDougal and Hunt, rushed forwards and took a shot just as he breached the box, putting some curve on it which made it fly true into the bottom right corner of the net. It had only been 10 seconds, and Inter London had already put up points ...! After that goal however Kaapstad began to wake up, creating more opportunities and earning themselves a higher XG then London had showing that they were indeed fighting back.
Just before halftime Kaapstad finally found the back of the net. The ball fell to Hunt's feet in the midfield and he deftly kicked it up to Jang, who held onto it for a moment to give his teammates time to move up the field. But Pedro had managed to create some space from his man and pushed out in the direction of the left corner, which gave Jang a target up front. With the London defence still trying to get back and organize themselves now was a golden opportunity to strike, and the one person who stayed ear the goal box? Dante Von Wolfe of course, who took an easy pass from Pedro and volleyed it in without issue. It was Dante's first goal in white and green, and he did not intend for it to be his last. After halftime though, Dante never got another clear chance in front of the net, and with London scoring another goal off of a late corner which was kicked backwards, carried into the box, then passed around until a clear shot could be taken, Kaapstad's first friendly unfortunately ended in defeat. Still Dante couldn't help but ache with primal joy at the fact that he had scored ... this was existence! Life! It felt even better then when he scored for Istanbul! But it didn't last as soon that numbness overtook him once again. He'd need to continue scoring to feel that rush.
In between friendlies the young Striker took to the field and began practicing something different from usual, although to the unobservant everything seemed the same. He'd kick shots at the net, dribble, trap, take first touches. But today he was nearly 3x sloppier then normal with everything he was doing, except shooting which Dante seemed to have a natural instinct for executing. But even that was worse then usual, because Dante ... was using his left foot for everything. Dante's development had stalled out a little and he was growing more and more annoyed with it, mostly because it felt like he could only progress so far until he needed to find a challenge and overcome that before he could grow even more explosively. But such was life for a player, although Dante understood he was only scratching the surface of his talent. He just needed time for it to fully bloom, and then even without consistent motivation he would grow into a monstrous player. Whether it was him playing with Sei or not, he'd already proven that he could score. Now they just needed to win games.
Friendlies MD2: Kaapstad vs Paris
The next match was going to be a difficult one, but at the same time it was a necessity in order for Kaapstad as a team to grow and eventually perform to their fullest capabilities. They were facing the team many thought to be the best in Division 1, AS Paris ... and for good reason given their high tpe and solid coaching. Still this was just a friendly match, so even if they did loose it wouldn't hold any real consequences ... yet. But that didn't matter to Dante, as he only cared about one thing ... scoring goals. People had caught onto that fact and were now actively using it against him, but Dante as usual was difficult to affect and just continued to do his own thing.
AS Paris showed why they were considered the strongest team heading into the season and struck first, with Tarandus carrying the ball up the right wing before tapping an accurate pass between two Kaapstad defenders to Kvekvetsia, who turned around and followed the trajectory and speed of the ball without actually touching it. He then carried it into the box and up closer to the net but was too vertical and had no shooting course. Tarandus ran into the box and acted as a decoy, and when everyone thought the ball was heading his way Jameston was the one who received the pass, scoring with an easy tap into the net. The next goal came no more then 10 minutes later, with Kovacs hitting a clean and uniform cross into the box which found fellow season 26 rookie Ignignokt (@AustinP0027). That was too confusing so Dante just dubbed him as moon boy and moved on ... and down 2 goals at halftime that was exactly the mindset a rookie needed in order to focus on winning. 51' minutes in and Paris had a toss in which Kovacs took, throwing to Suzuki who approached the touchline and began dancing up it. Given Kaapstad's youth and lack of current speed, Suzuki was able to get around both defenders close to him by taking one big touch to free up his legs to move further and faster. He swung his leg equally as fast when a small passing course opened up, striking the ball with excellent power and finessed it right by Walrusson who fell into the path too little too late, with Kvekvetsia finishing the play to bring Paris up 3 - 0. It sucked, but this was what he had to chase, the top spot, the most refined group in the league, the one's who currently looked down upon him. It was another wall to be conquered, however this one would just come with time.
Kaapstad wasn't out of it yet though, with Homme the Hommie III Limited Esquire kicking off a counterattack from midfield. He started by pushing towards the wing and quickly passing to Wolf. The winger used his speed to close the distance up the field like his hair was on fire and kicked a through pass to McDougal. Fensterhausen and Kovacs were on McDougal but gave him a bit too much space, and when the gap between the two players of differing speed opened up he saw a green jersey and placed the shot just ahead of Dante Von Wolfe. The young Striker's eyes locked onto the GK and sharpened, almost scarily so as his intensity became an overwhelming, crushing, destructive thing which just felt as if it hung in the air. His foot raised up and swung back down in one clean arc as he took a practiced, simple shot. He had gotten a little too excited being able to score a goal and put a touch too much power in his kick, but the ball still went in so he was happy to just celebrate, turning to the audience and bowing.
Not long after at the 74th minute, Walrusson kicked a bomb down the field from Kaapstad's net which was targeted at Dante. He flipped around towards the long pass and boxed out his defender, showing that the strength which he'd built up, although imperfect, was still useful even at the next level. He leapt upwards and not wanting the ball to be tackled away, he headed it downwards towards Pedro who happened to be running up the field near him and was in a good spot to take the pass. Jang cut in from the outside in front of a defender and Pedro instantly passed his way, threading between multiple defenders and giving Jang a clean shot which he converted. Kaapstad's youngsters weren't about to go down without a fight! As if to emphasize that thought, just 8 minutes later Kaapstad took a throw in positioned within Paris' half of the field. Wolf tossed it to McDougal and darted forwards into the open space, trusting McDougal to place the ball within that space for Wolf to pick up. Using his teammates as decoys and the threat of passing to a Striker in front of the net, Wolf bounced into the box and around the defenders freely before booting a goal into the back of the mesh to bring Kaapstad back to even!
Both Paris and Kaapstad had scored 3 unanswered in this match, and although it ended in a draw Dante could at least be happy these friendly matches could prove his talent once more! This was the next level which he would fight at, and he was already scoring goals ... what more could a Striker ask for? It all felt so ... pure! It was unfortunate they didn't get the win, but a draw against the heavily favoured Paris team.
Next, he'd destroy them.
