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Chapter Text

The night air is cold as the Czech family of three gathers around the bonfire, and Tomas breaths hot air against his hands to warm them up faster. The tips of his fingers are pink from the cold, and so he tries to warm them. His mother is skinning the animal they had hunted, and Hana is setting up the tent. This life had been a constant in the last seven years— going from place to place, hunting animals for food. But not just food, as their mother always made sure to use every last bit of the animal, often turning their hides into clothes for her children to wear. Tomas watches his mother carefully, she was tough as nails, the kind of woman who took no nonsense. But she was also kind and protective of her children. In his mind, no one else was better than his mother. 

"Mama?" Tomas asks quietly. She hummed softly without looking up. "What is it Tomášek?" His mother asks. Tomas thinks of his question carefully, struggling to word it before he finally goes for it. "Why did we leave home, I liked it there. I miss my friends," he mumbles quietly. His mother inhaled sharply– and Tomas remembers vaguely how she'd sold a lot of their things to afford her karmabit knife that she used these days in their nomadic life. But due to their nomadic life, he also knew a lot of languages that they picked up on their travels. They'd been all around Europe and a lot of Asia! So maybe it wasn't all bad, or at least that was what Tomas had thought. 

"There were... bad people in Prague, Tomášek. People that would've put you and Hana in danger had we stayed." Her eyes never look up, and the smell of blood no longer sickens him. After so long, the boy is used to it by now. Hana soon comes to join them. "What kind of bad people, Mama?" Tomas is a curious child, and Hana looks at their mother curiously, as if begging to be brought into the conversation. "A cult, Tomas." Sarka mumbled quietly as she sighed. As she finishes skinning the animal, she cuts it up into three separate portions that they know they will eat and puts it over the fire. "A very dangerous cult that would have hurt you two had I not left." She frowned very slowly, shaking her head. It was clear she hadn't wanted to discuss it further, and so neither Tomas nor Hana pressed. They never did when their mother got like this, guilt in her expression. Tomas couldn't remember their father very well, but he did remember a man with long and curly gray hair pushing them out of harms way before men in cloaks killed him. 

That was the last time they saw him. And his mother had refused anyone else– sometimes when they were in towns, traveling where the roads took them, men would approach Sarka Vrbada with gifts. Something about two young children needed a man to look up to. Their mother always refused their gifts, and if they didn't take the hint, she'd punch them in the chest. Something about knocking the wind out of them so they could get away. Their mother had always been loyal to their father, even after his death.

Tomas had decided that he wanted a love like that one day. 

It is a week later that they are hunting somewhere colder– there's nothing but snow for miles around them. It's so boring here, and it is cold. Hana and Tomas wander from their mother's side to have a snowball fight. "Loser has to help mama skin tonight's catch!" Hana brazenly announced, then threw a snowball. Tomas dropped to the ground and rolled, gathering some snow and throwing it at her. "Oh, you're so on!"

The quiet environment was filled with their laughter, the two twelve year old's laughing as they hit each other with snowballs.

They are there for a while before he hears it. "Hana! Tomas!" Sarka shrieks, it's somewhat distant, but they can still hear their mother screaming for them. Tomas tenses, uncomfortable knots building in his stomach as he looks to his twin sister. Hana gulped before she grabbed his hand– and they ran towards the sound of their mother's voice. They haven't heard her scream like that since... Well, not since— They find her fighting off men wearing black and masks. They are screaming at her in Chinese, but speaking too quickly that Tomas can't pick up what exactly they are saying. He can make out the words for 'territory', but that is about it. Their mother pushes those strange people away before she turns to him. Tomas counts three of them. "Tomas! Hana." She breathed out quickly. Tomas flinches as he sees just how battered their mother is, her legs shaking as if they will give out any second now. She takes her karmabit and puts it in her son's palm. His fingers curl around it. "Take your sister and run Tomas. Hide, fight, do whatever you must to protect her. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Mama," he nods his head before he grips Hana's wrist and takes off running through the snow. He hears a thud and knows it in his heart that their mother is gone. It is just them. He finds a tall tree and climbs, tucking his sister's head under his arm. Trembling as the men from before found the general area where they were. Then he notices it, their footprints led them right to them. Tomas stills his breathing, the way his mother taught them so that they don't startle their prey. He hides Hana against him, feeling the way she's trembling and biting back her sounds. 

"How long before the Grandmaster shows up?" He can hear one of them talk, before another one shakes their head. "Soon. We better find those damn brats soon, don't want those intruders to cause a ruckus for Jiaoyue. The Grandmaster goes through enough with his twins and his wife." A third is shaking their head. "Don't let Tundra know you said that. She'll be damned if she lets a man bring her down. Tough as nails that one." The first one from before scoffed. "What about the dead woman? What do we do with her body? It'll cause a hassle if Tundra and Sub-Zero have to deal with an intruders dead body." They say, but the second one rolled their eyes. "I say we let the wildlife take care of her. Serves her right for intruding on our territory."

Tomas' fingers are shaking, but he reaches and runs his fingers through his sister's hair to try and calm her down. But Hana had always been more hotheaded than him. So when she hears what they've said about their mother— she jumps down and tackles one of them. Her fists slam into his face over and over again "Hana!" The scream rips from his throat as he jumps down, to try to save his sister. But he is not quick enough– one of them uses some kind of knife and it cuts the left side of his face. It hurts, and will likely leave a scar through his brow and just above his eye. 

But nothing prepares him for what happens next.

Hana is stabbed, with a long sword— and then tossed to the side like she is nothing but garbage. Tomas holds onto his mother's karmabit as he runs to his sister's side, stumbling all the while. "Hana!" He screamed, sobbing. I'm sorry Mama, I'm so sorry. I failed. I couldn't keep her safe— I was supposed to protect her! The thoughts run wild as he pumped her stomach to try and keep her alive. "I'm sorry... I did it again, didn't I?" Hana rasps quietly. "Don't talk. Don't– stay. Don't leave me alone Hana!" His voice is raw, burning his throat even as her eyes roll back as she takes her last breaths. Tomas stopped pumping, and holds his twin close. He does not care for the men gathering around, his thoughts are on his sister. His mother. His broken promise, the guilt of not being able to protect Hana. He didn't do whatever it took to protect her.

"What is going on?" There are footsteps, before a man with a tight high bun approaches them. The three bow, deeply, sputtering out excuses, and such. The man's amber eyes glance over to him, at the sight of the boy hugging his dead sister so tightly it might bring her back. It does not. "I find a dead woman, and then an injured boy and a dead girl." His voice borders on angry, but the anger is not directed towards him, but to the architects of his suffering. "I want a good explanation here— Chaoyang, Yuxue, Yifan, else there will be consequences."

Somehow, Tomas knows his suffering has been eased. 

Chapter Text

The man that had come to his rescue had introduced himself as the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei— a large clan that was in charge of the realm's defense. Tomas frowned, as the man brought him to a large room. The Grandmaster walked to stand by a woman dressed in a blue different than the Grandmaster's and two teenaged boys. They seemed about either fifteen or sixteen— they were both dressed in black, the same height. The first one looked like the woman in blue, down to the shape of his nose and the way his bangs framed his face. The second boy looked like a much younger version of the Grandmaster— his brows more bushy, his face sharp while his arms were crossed over his chest. Regardless, you could certainly tell that the two were the Grandmaster's sons. 

Twin brothers, maybe? 

The second boy was certainly handsome, and it made his heart feel weird. His eyes met his, warm amber meeting misty gray. The older boy's brows furrowed, not unkindly, but it seemed that he refused to talk when the situation had not been explained. But Tomas couldn't help but want his eyes on him all the time. He was so handsome. What was this feeling? Tomas gulped, but the boy had looked away the minute his father began to speak. 

"Chaoyang, Yuxue, and Yifan acted on their own judgement– and took the life of a woman who had accidentally wandered along our territory." The Grandmaster began, his brows furrowed. "And then, they went and killed a little girl who could not fight back against three grown adults." His eyes briefly went to Tomas' injury, and Tomas shifted uncomfortably as the handsome boy from earlier looked over the injury with concern. The Grandmaster bowed his head, swallowing as he considered his words.

"Rest assured, we don't hurt children here." The Grandmaster's brows furrowed as he speaks, his tone not unkind. Tomas bit his tongue, but it still came out anyway. "Everywhere in the world, people hurt children." The woman next to him— her lips tightened, but the man didn't seem to be discouraged. Wasn't it naturally for a child that just lost his sister and mother to be so hostile to the clan responsible? "To make up for my warriors' dishonor, I would like to take you in and raise you alongside my sons, Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. What is your name, child?" He wondered. The woman turned to the man. "Jiaoyue, you cannot be serious." She says. And one of the boys by her side– the one that looked like her, seemed to have the same reaction. But he didn't cry out like his mother had, keeping silent like his brother. 

The man, the Grandmaster, shook his head, and turned to Tomas. He bit his tongue. "... Well?" He asked, softly. Tomas tensed up. "... Tomas Vrbada, sir." He forces himself to mumble. But before the man can officially go forward with his plan to adopt the boy, there are footsteps that approach. Jiaoyue turns, blinking in surprise. "Ah, Master Armorer, you've arrived." Tomas turns his head, glancing over to the man that had approached. He's perhaps in his late thirties, and nods his head to the Grandmaster. "Forgive me for the interruption. But Hong told me the news of some warriors orphaning a young boy, and I couldn't let the opportunity pass through my fingers. With all due respect, it took you awhile to handle twin boys running around the palace." So they were twin brothers. The master armorer rubs his chin. "I'm sure you remember that I have six daughters."

"Yes, I remember, Oniro. Hong and Yuyan get along especially well with Bi-Han. It is hard not to remember them." The Grandmaster responds. Oniro nods solemnly. "I hope you don't mind, but my daughters have always wanted a little brother. So I'd like to take him in instead." The Grandmaster's eyes widen in slight surprise, but then he turns to his wife. The Lin Kuei's second nods, her lips drawn into a thin line. 

She reminds me of Mama, the thought goes through his head before he can stop it. But thankfully, no one is none the wiser. 

"Very well, Oniro. Far be it for me to deny you a son." The Grandmaster bowed his head quietly. He took him by his side as he walked, to a different part of this odd palace. Tomas stumbled along. "It will take some time to get used to it— perhaps not accept it, but Jiaoyue is right. The Lin Kuei committed a grave wrong, one we will most likely never be able to correct." He brought him to this compound– perhaps there were many compounds inside the Lin Kuei palace. There is a girl tinkering with some metals, and another girl that watches her closely. They look around the same age as the two boys before. 

"Boy! It's a boy!!" A little girl shrieks, and runs over. The girl trips, and Tomas— despite everything this "Lin Kuei" clan had done, runs to grab her shoulders so the girl doesn't fall. She is younger than him, he can tell. "Careful, Yingying." Oniro says quietly, nodding his head in confirmation. The girls from before, as well as three others approach. The other three look closer to his age, but he's not sure. "This is Tomas, he was recently orphaned and so he will be joining the family as your brother." He had mentioned that his daughter Hong had already known this, so maybe he was just reiterating it for the girls that didn't know. 

"Tomas— I would like you to meet your new sisters. This is my eldest Hong, and the heir to my legacy of the mantle of Sektor." Oniro motions to the eldest girl, and she bowed her head to him. She seems almost... excited? *My daughters have always wanted a brother...* Oniro's words from earlier ring gently in his head. Then, Oniro motions to the girl that had been watching the eldest girl. "My second eldest, Yuyan. Her hydromancy is unmatched." She smiles at him, her light brown eyes twinkling. Whereas Hong keeps her hair short, Yuyan wears it long— and for a moment, Tomas is sure they could pass as twins. Oniro then moves to a girl with dark hair kept in twin braids. "Then, my third eldest— this is Zhuyue," and then he points two girls that look almost exactly alike. Both wear their hair long, but the girl on the left is wearing white, whereas the girl on the right is wearing a teal blue, with lotuses stitched into the sides of her clothes. "These are my second youngest daughters— Xueqin and Xuelian. They're about your age." It was clear they were identical twins, and only their clothes separated them. 

He moved onto the last girl. "And this is Yingying, my youngest daughter." He paused. "I cannot replace the people you have lost. Do not think that is what I am trying to do." He says quietly. "Now... I have to get back to work, but—" He turned to Yuyan. "Yuyan, will you take care of the injury?" He asked. She'd nod, and sit him down— apparently his workshop wasn't that far away. Water appears in her hands, and she gently touches the injury he'd sustained– but surprisingly it did not hurt. Water healed it away, leaving only a scar. Hong peered over her shoulder at the boy, tilting her head. "Huh. You can barely tell it was there." 

Hong paused. "Come on. We were just about to have lunch, you should join us. Hungry?" Tomas didn't trust it, and his nose scrunched up slightly. "Is it poisoned?" He asked cautiously. Because what if it was poisoned, and they were just trying to finish what those other adults started? Zhuyue, dressed in a gentle green, blinked rapidly at that question. "We'll test your food for you, so that you know it's safe."

Hong leads the way, and he trails slightly behind Xueqin— while Yuyan holds Yingying in her arms as she walks by Hong's side. When they sit at the table with lunch, Hong is the first one to take a bite of his food, and then she passes it to Zhuyue and Yuyan who both do the same thing before passing his bowl back to him. Tomas eats lunch with no quarrels— and learns quickly that Hong is sixteen, while Yuyan is fifteen. Zhuyue is thirteen, while the twins are twelve. And Yingying of course, is eight years of age. 

It feels weird. Having six new sisters after his twin died in his arms, but... It is something he will have to get used to. There is no escaping this new life, as much as he would rather be with his mother and Hana right now. 

At least... He was not forced to become family with the boy he found irresistibly handsome. 

Chapter Text

It takes a few weeks before he's really used to this. His room is bigger than his family's tent had been, it's gigantic. 

One morning, they have a visitor to the Linghu compound part of the palace— it's the handsome boy from before. Tomas' eyes go as wide as saucers the minute he sees him when he first comes out of his room. Although he is talking to Hong, so the boy doesn't seem to see him at first. "Don't even think about trying to steal my little brother, Kuai Liang." Kuai Liang? That's his name? Tomas leans against the wall, his eyes big and wide as he looks at the teenager like a puppy. Something warm flutters in his chest, but different– when he hears how Hong refers to him as her brother. It would seem that she's fiercely protective of the family that she feels has not "abandoned" her, and he is happy to be a part of it. 

Apparently, her mother left when Yingying was born, and now runs a restaurant in Fengjian. He wondered if that was the reason his new sisters had always wanted a brother. Tomas doesn't think he ever wants to be apart of that family that Hong feels has abandoned her. He shudders at the thought, Hong sure can be scary when she wants to be. 

"Why would I steal him? Geez, Hong. I just want to hang out and get to know him..." Kuai Liang rubbed the back of his neck, but then Hong's eyes narrow sharply at him. "So, what's the punishment for Chaoyang, Yuxue, and Yifan? Are they being executed or exiled?" Tomas briefly recognizes those as the names of the Lin Kuei that had killed his mother and his twin sister, but then Kuai Liang looks down. He almost looks ashamed. "Kuai Liang..." Hong trails off, her tone sharp. "What is their punishment?" She asked again. Kuai Liang shakes his head. "Father is putting them on restrictive duties." He sighed softly. "But they aren't getting exiled or executed, Hong." He tells her. Tomas feels his heart drop, and it feels heavy in his chest as tears sting his eyes.. They're getting away with it...?

He rubs his eyes repeatedly, and feels as though he cannot breathe. Mama, Hana— His mother, his sister! His sister that died in his arms! Tomas feels absolutely sick to his stomach. 

But Hong– her own brown eyes darken, and she lets out a cold laugh without any mirth once so ever. "Your father is a spineless coward who doesn't know when he must punish his warriors."

"He is still your Grandmaster, Hong—" Kuai Liang frowned. Perhaps Tomas doesn't blame him. Jiaoyue seems to be a good man, just not a very effective ruler. Regardless, Hong cuts him off. "Grandmaster or not, the fact remains there is a boy Xueqin and Xuelian's age, orphaned and alone. His sister dead. His mother dead. And your father, our beloved Grandmaster, has decided they only get a slap on the wrist, for the child he'd rescued? No. No, that will not do." Her eyes narrow at him. "Is Bi-Han free at the moment?" Kuai Liang slowly nodded his head, and a smile curls onto her lips. "Good. Then, I'm going to enlist his help in making sure that my new brother's mother and sister are properly avenged." She frowned. "... Don't tell him any of this. We've already had a difficult time getting him to settle in. I have something planned for him, but it's taking some time to set up."

She walks off after that— Tomas does not understand that she means she is planning on returning the trio's "warm" hospitality of his mother and sister tenfold with the help of the Lin Kuei's heir. He also doesn't understand what she means by having something planned for him, and wonders if it's anything bad. He waits until the door slides before he makes his way over. "Hi," his voice is softer than he means it to be, but Kuai Liang looks over, and straightens out his shoulders. He smiles warmly at Tomas. "Hey," he greets back, rubbing the back of his neck. Tomas walks a little closer to the older boy, but thankfully, he doesn't mind. "I'm... Long Kuai Liang." The boy introduces himself, bowing his head. He practically towers over him. "Long?" He asks, unsure of how surnames work in this land. Kuai Liang sits, patting next to him— and Tomas sits down next to him. "In our culture, our last names come first. My family name is Long, which means dragon."

Tomas' jaw drops, his gray eyes widening as he looks at Kuai Liang as if he'd hung the sun. "Dragon?! That's such a cool last name," he gawks, his previous distress forgotten as the boy talks. He presses himself close as he just listens to Kuai Liang talk his ear off. He's fifteen, his favorite fruit is mango (Tomas thinks it is the one gross thing that the boy likes), his favorite color is yellow, and he's supposed to take over his mother's mantle of Tundra. Supposedly, once his brother becomes the Grandmaster, Kuai Liang will be Bi-Han's second in command. 

Tomas doesn't quite understand the importance of roles in their clan, but he is happy enough to listen to Kuai Liang talk. 

He's not sure when it happens, but he leans his head against Kuai Liang's shoulder. It becomes harder to keep his eyes open, so the boy does not try, instead slumbering against the older boy. Tomas dreams of his mother and sister, of their last moments. He's nudged awake, and he frowns as he peers up at Kuai Liang. "Ah... You were crying in your sleep, so I... wanted to wake you up, to make sure you were okay." He's very kind and warm. Tomas likes that a lot about him.

How does someone end up so warm and gentle in a place like this?

"I'm okay," Tomas mumbles as he curls up against him. He doesn't really want to talk about it, and it seems Kuai Liang respects that. "Just an intense dream..." He mumbles, and Kuai Liang nods along to his words. They stay like that for a long time, before Zhuyue barges into the room– Xueqin, Xuelian, and Yingying hot on her heals. "Tomassss!!" He sits up, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?" He mumbles, slightly out of it. He's still pretty groggy, and Kuai Liang seems to push him against his side protectively. "What's going on?" Protectiveness seems to be Kuai Liang's second nature at this point, but none of his new sisters pay it any mind. "We need to steal Tomas for a second!" Is all Zhuyue tells him before she grabs him by his arm and drags him to a room. From his knowledge; Xueqin, Xuelian, and Yingying all share a room, while Zhuyue, Hong, and Yuyan also share a room. Tomas is the only one who gets to have his own room, because he's a boy. 

"Put this on!" Yingying tells him, holding up a gray dress of some sort. Tomas blinked, looking down at it. "Uh... What is this," he asks, unsure. "It's called a hanfu, silly!" Xuelian gently nudges him towards the changing screen. Tomas thinks it's convenient, but given that he has no choice, he changes into the dress. It's a bit long on him, but otherwise, it fits. When he comes out, both the twins and Zhuyue clap their hands together in applause. "Beautiful!" Zhuyue tugs him down, taking out some makeup. Oh no.

So he's forced to sit still as his makeup is done. "Come on! Come on, let's go show Kuai Liang!" He tries to protest, but they still drag him back out. When Kuai Liang sees him, he bites his tongue, blinking quietly as he stares. "You look..." He trailed off, but he's unable to finish, since the door swings open. Hong looks rather unimpressed, raising her brows at the sight in front of her. "At least my closet door isn't covered in my lipstick again. Let's go get you cleaned up..." Zhuyue, the twins, and Yingying all pout, but Kuai Liang jumps up to volunteer. Eager to prove that this was not his idea once soever. She has some red on her dark outfit, and Tomas frowns. "What's that?" He asks her. Hong blinked, pausing for a moment. She shares a glance with Kuai Liang, before she shakes her head. "It's just ketchup, Tomas."

Tomas is none the wiser to what it actually is.

Chapter Text

It's been more or less around a month or two since he was adopted into the Linghu family. Oniro has decided that Hong will be his mentor and teach him all she knows about the clan. "Come," Hong grabs him one morning, and he stumbles along slightly. He doesn't know where she's taking him, not really, but they end up in a quiet room with some sort of books. She sits on her knees, inhaling deeply. Tomas frowns but sits across from her.

"Loyalty is an important part of the Lin Kuei, our clan," Hong furrowed her brows. He listens to her drone on about the importance of loyalty in the Lin Kuei and its subclans. He frowned– staring off from her lesson. Thankfully, it's not a physical lesson, and she is just giving him a lecture. But Tomas admittedly isn't all that interested in "loyalty" to a clan responsible for his family's demise. So he blows a piece of his hair out of his face, noting how long the gray strands are getting, and huffs. If Hong is frustrated with his actions, she does not let it show on her face. Her dark brows furrowed, making her nose scrunch, and it makes her look older than she actually is. "Alright..." Hong says as she puts an elbow on her knee. "Let's do this more easily— you can pick one person to be loyal to, and as long as they are in the Lin Kuei, that loyalty is all that matters." She tells him. Tomas thinks about this long and hard.

A singular person in the Lin Kuei that he could give his loyalty to? Who would even fill that role? Despite being adopted by a senior Lin Kuei, anger simmered on how heat in his being most days. But he realizes he wants to live and so he doesn't snap at those who stare at him too long. Like he doesn't belong. If it weren't for them, he wouldn't be in this situation! He'd much prefer to be traveling with his mother and sister, but that is no longer a possibility. 

Their deaths still sting, even if the world insists on moving on without them.

But then Tomas thinks about Kuai Liang– the older boy's worry for his injury when he first arrived. His disappointment when his father did not seriously punish those who had hurt his family. How Kuai Liang actively visited him and hung out with him, even weeks after their first hangout session. He supposed she had a point, and well— Tomas can certainly give his loyalty to Kuai Liang. "Okay." He nods his head, nodding along with her words. 

Hong never specified that the obedience should be blind, after all.

The training continues on, and he takes in every word that she says. Eventually, however, it does end— and Hong guides him back to the part of the compound where the Linghu family lives. It will take some time getting used to; Tomas isn't sure he will ever get used to it, not really. The first two he sees are the twins– playing a board game that he does not recognize. Hopelessly, he glances over to Hong for some help in the matter. She bites her lip, a hand going to her waist. "They're playing Xiangqi." Hong says, crossing her arms over her chess. As if she's trying to seem tough. "Ah, but people also call it Chinese Chess." She admits. Xueqin and Xuelian look at each other, their eyes lighting up. "Tomas! Do you want to learn to play?" It is hard telling them *no* when they are the same age as he was. They are not responsible– and had she lived, Hana would no doubt get along with Xueqin and Xuelian like a house on fire. 

"... No. I have something to show him," Hong interrupts her younger sisters, her brows furrowed. She does not seem to have the same issue he does, and she plainly and outright says no to the twins in his stead. Xueqin and Xuelian looked at each other, their matching eyes equally wide. "But dajie!" Xuelian pouted, and Xueqin seemed to purposely make tears appear in her eyes. Hong scoffed. "Those won't work on me, you know that! If he wants to learn, you can show him later." She huffed, then grabs his hand, leading him away.

Hong takes him back to his room. But he notices something very different in the room— two tablets of stone. His brows furrowed as he inched closer, gray eyes widening as he reads his mother and sister's names engraved in the stone. They are placed on an altar, decorated appropriately. Tomas can see some of the sweets Hana used to love by hers— and by his mother's, he can see the flowers she used to love when they were still in Prague. There were also calendula, dandelions, and camomiles... Flowers that were often incorporated into Czech folk art and their traditions. They were there on the altar. Tomas falls to his knees. 

"We call these mourning tablets. In Chinese culture, we use them to honor our loved ones." Hong murmured as she glanced over to him before looking straight at the mourning tablets. Apparently, she ordered someone to make them while she was teaching him today. Is that what she meant? When she said she had a surprise for him after training. Tomas allows himself to cry as he breaks down in tears. "It's a lovely tradition," he finds himself weeping out. Hong sits down next to him, kneeling but not touching him out of respect. They stay like that for a long time. Eventually, it is Hong who breaks the silence, announcing her departure. 

"I'll leave you to your own devices. So you may have some... privacy," Hong slowly rises. He hears the door opening, then shutting before Tomas is left alone with his mother and his sister's mourning tablets. His knees press further into the floor, and he bows his head quietly. 

("There were... bad people in Prague, Tomášek. People that would've put you and Hana in danger had we stayed." Her eyes never look up, and the smell of blood no longer sickens him. After so long, the boy is used to it by now. Hana soon comes to join them. "What kind of bad people, Mama?" Tomas is a curious child, and Hana looks at their mother curiously, as if begging to be brought into the conversation. "A cult, Tomas." Sarka mumbled quietly as she sighed. As she finishes skinning the animal, she cuts it up into three separate portions that they know they will eat and puts it over the fire. "A very dangerous cult that would have hurt you two had I not left.")

The memory causes his shoulders to shake, and he swallows thickly. Tears prick at his eyes, but he does not let them fall. It felt like so long ago, he was sitting by the fire with his mother and his sister. "Was it worth leaving Prague, Mama?" Tomas wonders quietly, his voice quiet and shaky. He grips the lower part of the training uniform he wears, and Tomas dares not raise his voice any higher. As though he may break if he does. 

("Hana!" The scream rips from his throat as he jumps down, to try to save his sister. But he is not quick enough– one of them uses some kind of knife and it cuts the left side of his face. It hurts, and will likely leave a scar through his brow and just above his eye.)

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Mama. I couldn't protect Hana." He weeps in front of his mother's mourning tablet, and this time– at the memory of how he failed, the tears fall despite how he does not want them to. His fingers tighten their grip around the fabric, a silent sob ripping from his throat. "I failed." He's an utter failure— he couldn't do the one thing she asked him to do. Protect his sister! And what did he do? He wasn't fast enough. He could only hold his twin as she took her final breaths. 

For a moment, he could swear he felt something warm on his fingers. Small, like Hana had been when she passed. But when he looks over, tears running down his face– nothing is there. He doesn't think it's his imagination, but Tomas also doesn't want to think too much about it. 

There's a knock on the door, before it slides open. He wipes his eyes quickly, then looks over his shoulder. Zhuyue leans against the doorframe, her twin braids so long that they reach her waist. Her princess bangs frame her face, a beauty mark right under her right eye. She has changed out of her Lin Kuei uniform for the day– dressed in a green hanfu that fades into white at the bottom half. It has a noticeable green bamboo leaf print. Zhuyue has a softer look to her, not quite as firm as Hong, but not as carefree as Xueqin and Xuelian. Somewhere in the middle. 

"We're about to eat, will you wash up?" Zhuyue would pause. She notices his face, but she does not comment on it. "Even if you aren't hungry, your company will be greatly appreciated." She tells him. Tomas slowly stands up, wiping his eyes, and then nods his head. "Okay."

She leaves, and he follows– departing to the bathroom to wash up, before he joins his new family for dinner.