genres: (fake historical) drama • low fantasy • pain • general edgelord stuff •
a bad case of sequelitis • no one's straight (it runs in the family)

@Earinor

And there it was - the seemingly endless white landscape that called itself Silesse. Yujin didn't mind his home, or the things that - in fact - could be his, if all of his siblings decided to drop dead one day, just for the fun of it. Until then, however, he wasn't supposed to rule at least this part of Thria, nor did the queen of this land itself even think about inviting anyone that weren't her children to partake in a fight for the rightful throne. Wasn't it weird, the way that their country had gone from nothing to something like this in a little over thirty years? Some things took time, but most of the nomads had settled and were trying to become a civilization worthy of bragging about, even if they were way behind the Adrestians, why should he complain? He had the title of prince particularly placed into his lap, he enjoyed the gross amount of power it gave him and all in all, his brother could deal with the responsibilities of being a crown prince, he didn't care, he didn't even want that title, or the throne - Yujin of Silesse wanted to have fun and spend his life the way it was supposed to be, lived to his fullest, which also meant that he'd have to adhere to a few simple rules, no?

Whatever it was that plagued both of his fathers, he couldn't quite pinpoint - it had been a few weeks since a quiet sour, roughed up-looking man had shown up and hastily explained something that he couldn't really catch. After that, he figured out, both Muhan and Shuren had kept to themselves and weren't as jovial and outgoing, rather, it seemed they were conspiring to something, but to Yujins own dismay, whoever he asked, nobody knew a damn thing and no one had seen the two strangers. This was less than optimal, but alas, he was the one that wanted to figure all of this out, so he kept eavesdropping - and at last, he'd figured out who one of them was, which begged even more questions. Nayantai, the former crown prince of Thria, that had forfeited his title to his sister to do ... what exactly? Stay in Adrestia and act as a token of peace after being, quite literally, one of the faces of war? None of this made sense to him, but try as one might, that was all he was able to discern. Maybe that had also been why he'd immediately agreed to meet the man himself when his fathers had proposed to pay him a visit, even though all of his other siblings had opted out for their own reasons.

What begged even more questions, though, was the blonde figure that he had dragged with him and Yujin, who'd never seen a sheep up close, felt as if Silesse was suddenly being swamped with interesting things that he had to find out about, even though they had no business being here, as harsh as it sounded. The closer they got to the hut, the weirder he felt, maybe because there had been too much excitement building up within him or even because there was nothing that he could do except wait and watch, let the adults lead the way, show him one of the huts that had been situated a few minutes outside of what his parents would consider the town itself, but ... that was about it. There was nothing mysterious about a hero of war, not now that Yujin got up close and actually saw the man himself, but the sheep that he wanted to desperately meet was completely out of sight. Instead, his parents and he himself sat down at the wooden table with the stranger and suddenly, the three of them started talking like old friends, in all sorts of weird dialects, about people that Yujin had never once heard about in the past 18 years and now he felt even more left out than before, but nonetheless, he watched and listened almost eagerly, prodding his head up on his arm - how long could three old men blabber about their past and not the present while eating their dinner?

Yujin didn't know, didn't even want to figure it out, not when he heard the wooden door creak and immediately peered up at it - there he was! So he wasn't imagining things, this wasn't some sort of mirage that he'd never seen again, this thing was real, had two legs, blonde hair on his head and he looked about as overjoyed as a child that had been denied playtime. "What the fuck is a sheep doing in Silesse?", was all that he managed to blurt out, garnering the attention of all three men at the table and a hit over the back of his head - with Shurens stupid fan. "Who the hell raised you?", his old man asked him and Yujin, who had just blurted out what he'd thought about felt maybe embarrassed, maybe a bit ashamed and just shot the blonde an awkward glance. "I, uh, that sounded way worse than I meant it", he explained to his father, all the while Muhan and Nayantai seemingly ignored the two of them - and thankfully, his father stopped. Instead, the rugged man spoke once more, but not to his father and all that Yujin could really make out was something along the lines of "if you want to, you can sit with us and eat something", but nothing more than that. "Wait, who even is he?", Yujin blurted out again and he felt as if Shuren was, again, trying his utmost to not hit him over the head. "I don't know, why don't you use your manners and introduce yourself?"

Whoever the blondie was, he was in a bad mood - much like Shuren after he had just carelessly raised his voice at either of them. Instead, his parents and the stranger at the table exchanged glances, as if they were discussing if it was okay to tell him something or as if he wasn't going to understand if someone dished out some halfbaked truths. In the end, what did it matter? Yujin wasn't going to just run over to this thing, this rugged up, pissed off sheep and then act like they had been friends for years - instead, he just wanted to know whatever he could before he tried to pry him open, no idea how he'd manage that, but he'd figure something out, no? The only downside was that he couldn't, not with his parents around and not with whoever Nayantai was to him around. So, what was going on here? Suddenly, the silence dissipated and Nayantai glanced over to the blonde, at least Yujin thought he did, before something spilled out of his mouth that he didn't even know how to decipher - was that sheep tongue? "Whoever you want, it's not like these two don't already know. As for him, that's up to you", nothing of that made sense to the youngest at the table, but who was he to butt in? Instead, his father had quiet awkwardly proclaimed he'd introduce himself, no.

The one thing that he couldn't figure out, however, was what those two were talking - it sounded like sheep speak, but all of those years that he'd spend listening to some of it, even just in passing, didn't help with learning it, not that he ever was supposed to. Yujin wasn't supposed to be king and he never wanted to be, therefore there was no need for him to negotiate with the people of Adrestia or even understand them, which, in turn, meant that he didn't have to speak their language or understand what it meant. "I'm Yujin, nice to meet you!", he just said to the blonde and for once, his parents didn't have anything to offer, no word of advice, or even something that was supposed to keep him in check, show him that not everything was okay to say and that not all of it was supposed to be yelled at everyone, as he liked to do. In the end, he was the one stuck at this table, barely touching his food and just fidgeting around, trying to contain his childlike excitement, now that he was one step closer to getting to know a sheep, something that he'd never seen, just like no one had ever seen a wolf with blue eyes, wasn't it that? So, in theory, both of them were strangers in Silesse, no? His parents had started talking about something, this time in a more eastern accent, as if switching between regional dialects was going to help them find an agreement, but all that he could pick out of that was, well ... "What's wrong?", Muhan asked, after he shot the adults a scrutinizing glare. "Why are you talking like that?" "Nosy kids don't need to know everything." "And what about him?" "Pipe it down, Yujin."

What was he supposed to do? Talking to his parents or Nayantai seemed out of question, now that they were catching up on whatever they were trying to bar him from understanding and the sheep, that he didn't know one bit, didn't even want to introduce himself. Something was fishy here, but Yujin was not really aware what it was, not with the puzzle pieces that he had, he could barely assemble those and none of it made any sense, now that he thought about it like that. Actually, what was it even worth to think about, now that he was stuck here with food on his plate and growing curiousity in his mind? Whatever, really, he didn't have to think about all of it at once, no? It was alright to just keep to himself and hope for an opportunity to present itself, to leave the table and chase after something more interesting than this conversation - and the opportunity presented itself soon enough, especially when the blonde shot him a glance. What was that supposed to mean? At least his eyes looked akin to those of the wolves and that was something that threw Yujin out of loop, but alas, he was the one that looked like a wolf and had bright blue eyes that earned him a few disapproving glances and even the confused looks of his own mother who had no idea who's eyes those were. Was it a bad omen, a sign for him to decipher or was all of it just fine the way it was?

Yujin got up once he thought that the three of them were occupied, left his emptied plate where it was and then he thought about a good excuse for barging into the room that had been forced shut just seconds ago. Actually, what was he going to do? What excuse did he have? Not a single one, but he waltzed there regardless and while he could feel one pair of eyes digging itself into his back, he didn't care, he couldn't even pinpoint who's they were from here - instead he knocked on the door, flung it open and disappeared behind it, closing it as silently as he could. What even was this? A desperate attempt at escaping his parents and their harsh words or just an attempt to get his hands on someone that was different and didn't fit in here, just like him? "I didn't quite catch your name?", Yujin almost awkwardly implored the blonde, who was probably busy with his food and not sparing him and his stupid ideas a thought. Whoever the two of them were, did it really matter? All he wanted was to know who sat before him, who he was to Nayantai and what it meant for him to be around here now, Yujin wasn't asking for more than that, even though he hadn't even divulged half of that information. Asking the guy out there, occupied with both of his fathers and talking about old times and things that happened recently, well, it all sounded nice and well, but Yujin didn't have a lick of an idea what they were going on about. "Oh, I'm sorry for bursting in here, but I really don't want to listen to three old men blabbering."

Upon closer inspection, all of this looked quite thrown together - and Yujin understood, somewhat. They had been here for maybe a few weeks, not much longer and the gist of all of this was that, in the end, whoever the blondie was, he was running from somewhere, from something and therefore was stuck here until further notice, wasn't it that? Why else would he be so sour about something that he barely had a grasp on yet? Well, instead, his eyes wandered to the plate, to the food and to the way the chopsticks were handled - so, definitely a sheep with no idea how to handle thrian table manners, especially after he just stabbed the meat. Yujin felt almost sorry, but then again, he let his mouth run once more. "Do you need help?", he asked, albeit a bit shy about it - whatever pissed the blonde of wasn't something that seemingly went away anytime soon and as soon as adrestian words hit his ears once more, he jolted a bit. Why was that language so harsh, so uneven and more importantly, who even was the fellow speaking it, stomaching thrian food like it was nothing, enduring silessian cold like he didn't have a care in the world and yet couldn't speak a lick of wolf tongue? "Look, I don't have any idea what you're saying, but I'm not here to invade your privacy or threaten you", he calmly and slowly explained, as if that was going to help the other with understanding him, but ... that wouldn't lead to anything now, would it?

Yujin granted himself the privilege of sitting down next to Richard and watched him for a while, not that it mattered or that he would gain any form of new information like this, but it ... felt better than just standing over there, staring at him and trying to figure out what the fuck was going on with him, wasn't it that? "All I want is your name and, well ...", he eyed the meat that had been skewered on the chopsticks, then Richard himself and then the meat again. "Whatever you're doing with your chopsticks, you shouldn't hold them like this or you're bound to fail." Yujin had heard many tales of the adrestians, of their country and the way they lived and all in all, he couldn't imagine that for himself, couldn't grasp why some thrians wanted to live there out of their own volition, but then again, especially Silesse was barren and relied on all of its people to work together, on Shuren to make the right decisions and on the rest of the court to not contest them. That, in turn, meant that his older brother would be the same soon enough and it sounded weird to begin with, but Yujin wouldn't want that kind of burden for himself. "Does the spicy food not bother you?", he suddenly asked, but then again, the food didn't taste like he was used to either - what the fuck was even going on here? None of this made sense, it never had and suddenly, it all felt even weirder.

If anything, Yujin was able to discern that Richard could, in fact, speak his tongue but didn't seem to have any of the regional dialects incooperated in his little speech. All of that wasn't too surprising, considering the fact that he didn't seem to be a wolf, not at first glance and by the way that he handled himself, lacked the manners to introduce himself to at least his parents and try his best to fit in, he was more of a stranger to all of these things, seemingly not bothered by the fact that he was making a fool of himself. Therefore, the only plausible explanation - at least for Yujin - almost seemed to be that, whoever this stranger was, he knew a tad bit about the wolves, their culture and the world surrounding them, but his knowledge stopped there and if he had to guess, any effort that he had put into learning their language was confined to the basics. Not knowing his ancestors dialect wasn't a carnal sin, but it was considered as somewhat of a taboo - who would know enough about themselves and their heritage if they couldn't even speak like their parents did? Of course, Yujin knew nothing much about his mother, but she was just that - his mother, rightfully so, even though their conversations were shallow and shortlived, but whoever the stranger might be, he seemed even more lost than he himself. Wasn't it sad, now that he thought about it? Did he even understand Nayantai? Or did they just make do in the sheeps tongue?

"I'm not going to push myself onto you", Yujin calmly explained to the blonde, as if it was going to change anything. "I'm just saying that you could use some help and I'd be willing to give it to you", maybe bringing one of those soup spoons would help? But he doubted that he could just leave this room, rummage through the kitchen, then ask for the non-existing spoon and not be scolded for overstepping private boundaries. Well, he wasn't the second prince of Silesse for nothing and while he prided himself with his title, he had no grounds to just ambush the blondie before him, grab his hands and help him hold those chopsticks - not without permission, that was. "So you do have a sheep name! And I mean, if you want me to leave, I could? But it's so damn boring with those three out there. Please don't make me leave!", he begged, almost giggling over it immediately after - this was just a joke on his part, but alas, he wasn't here to show off the brains that he inherited from his father, or rather, the knowledge he almost found himself being forced to take up, but he could be stupid - just a tad bit too stupid, no? Yujins eyes fixated themselves on the blonde and, without further ado, he seemed to stare him right into those stupid eyes of his, something that wasn't exactly what he wanted, what he'd asked for or that he had bargained on - wow, this was embarrassing. "My mother? Don't know, doesn't look like one. I think I'm just fucked up, if you mean the eyes. What about you? You have blonde hair like a sheep and eyes of a wolf - is your mother a sheep?" Talking like this was annoying, but alas, neither of his parents had bothered with chastising him for not speaking formally, as was considered the written language of the wolves, so why should he know?

The two of them weren't mixing well together, were they now? Richard, or well, that was what the blondie called himself anyway, didn't seem to be convinced if he wanted to talk to him or not, but alas, that was nothing that wasn't fixable, though, Yujin had to figure out the inner workings of this guy first, if he was frank. Anything that could potentially upset him was a step in the wrong direction, one to drive the two of them apart and yet, they didn't even know a fucking thing about each other, did they? Not that it mattered, not that he gave a fuck, but all in all, he was trying to be liked, trying to make friends with those who seemingly couldn't give less of a fuck about him, be it because of the things he did or because of the way he looked, he just wanted to understand what it was that upset this stranger to such a wild degree that he neither exchanged words with anyone present at the table, nor with him, when the two of them were alone. Maybe kindness was the key, even though blondie seemed to be having none of it and Yujin wasn't sure how to react, knowing fully well that a lovable act probably wasn't going to fix anything. But there was nothing out here, not in Silesse, not anywhere else in Thria and the fact that all of it had names now ... wasn't that just a tad bit confusing? "Well, I'm assuming Nayantai is your father - why would he give you an ... oh."

Suddenly, it clicked, at least for a second - why wouldn't a man that had lived in Adrestia give his very much adrestian son a name that fit with the standards of the country he was in, rather than remind him of his eventual origin that amounted to nothing in the eyes of most sheep? So, that meant, if Nayantai was, in fact, Richards father, his mother had to be a sheep - wasn't it that, was he on the right track here? If he knew, he'd probably punch himself in the face for being stupid, but for now, he wholly believed that he figured the circumstances of Richards existence out - he didn't even think about the fact that maybe, just maybe, his father wasn't his biological one and that his mother was the one that gave him the eyes and the cold-resistance that he, quiet obviously, seemed to have. "I'm not going anywhere ... and you don't know if you don't need friends.", he explained. Wasn't this guy going to get bored of all the vast white snow, the frigid flows and the fact that he had nothing but anger, as it seemed right now? Yujin seemed almost positive that he needed to cheer the blonde up, no matter what. "You really hate the food or the chopsticks, I can't tell which one it is, but you don't really seem pleased with anything happening right now. I'm not saying that you should tell me something, but, uh, you need any help there?" What the hell was he even going on about? And why wasn't the blondes names ringing any bells, or rather, why were they just slightly going of in the back of his head? If he'd paid attention to what he had been taught about history, or rather politics, maybe he knew, but Yujin didn't care about the past if there were things to fuck up in the present.

Yujin was, for the lack of a better word, good at playing coy, good at pretending to be shy and reserved, but right now, right here, fortune favored the bold and neither of them were able to back down, not as it stood right now and especially not while there was still some unspoken animosty between the two of them. Frankly, he could consider giving up, but alas, why would he and even more importantly, where would that even get him? Now that he had struck up an actual conversation, it seemed to be almost foolish to think about all the things surrounding them, about the world that hadn't favored them and still, he was the one keeping his chin up, so that wouldn't be too hard for someone that was like him, or at least eerily similar to him, no? Naturally, he was interpreting too much into the situation, couldn't actually tell how Richard was like, if they resembled one another or not, but all that mattered to him was the situation right now, even though the only thing that had been spoken sounded ... weird. He was dead? But, this blonde sheep was very much alive, why would he be dead? Well, the way he spoke about it though, he didn't seem happy to state it, nor did he even consider his own feelings, that turned into simple pain, right as the colors and the expression of his face shifted - at least it looked like that and the pale young man became even more pale, wasn't that a nice expression?

"Wait, so you aren't even his son?", Yujin asked, wanted to know, but he knew that it was better to not ask these things, not here, not when someone was looking as upset as the blonde was, but what was he supposed to do? Right now, he couldn't do anything but offere condolences, that he didn't offer for the simple reason that, well, wouldn't it seem pretentious on his part? "I'm sorry for prying." It hadn't been his intention, but he already got handed the bill for his actions and that was being called odd - nothing new, if he was honest. When wasn't he considered odd and even better, when wasn't he told that he didn't fit with the rest of them, yet managed to surround himself with people that actually mattered? "Won't you get lonely? There's nothing here." That was true, despite Silesse having a name, people and even somewhat of a prospering culture, there was nothing that anyone could gain from its existence, his father himself had said that - it simply was a safe haven for those who could reach it and it, more or less, was nothing that could be considered anything but that. "Wait, where are you ... why ... you're pretty stubborn, you know that?", Yujin yelled after Richard, only to follow him - he hadn't even properly undressed since he'd entered this crummy hut - and just left through the window, as the blonde did. And then, he caught up to him as fast as he could. "You're going to get lost", after all, the sun was setting and Richard didn't seem like he knew where he even wanted to go.

"Then why do you stick with him?", Yujin asked immediately after. Adding two and two together was, at least in this case, not a strength of his - or maybe he just wanted to hear it out of the strangers own mouth? Whatever it was, he seemed to pester him for all it was worth and he didn't get a single satisfying answer for it. Naturally, he was the one that stuck with Richard, trailed after him and followed him to where he was headed - almost like a dog without a master, following anyone that came by and offered as much as a single word of sympathy to him. Surely, he didn't have to accept all of this for what it was worth, he didn't have to comply and he could have just headed back inside, fled the scene and trusted himself to make better judgements, but right now, he didn't - all he could hear and feel was his own warm breath, escaping his lips and the partially frozen snow creaking under his heavy boots, giving way to him and signaling that the seasons were, for what it was worth, about to change. In Silesse, there wasn't much to think about - the mere attempt of growing anything that wasn't herbs and roots was futile, cattle - unless of a special breed - didn't survive in the cold and all in all, life could be described as miserable, if they didn't know a way around it. No wonder that Richard wasn't in a good mood, but for Yujins liking, he was dressed way too light and in all the wrong fabrics - he'd catch a nasty cold, no matter who his parents were, especially if he hadn't been living here for a long time. Yujin had heard tales about people coming here and either dying from whatever their body could catch or suffering miserably for months on end, just because they were convinced that they could take the frigid cold of his homeland.

"And what are you going to do out here, all on your own?", he wanted to know, even though the answer was almost obvious. Enjoy being alone, what else? In the end, he did that too, only sometimes, but he did - and for all it was worth, he was interrupting Richard right now, just because he was nosy and couldn't keep to himself. That was all there was, no? "I just don't want you to get lost or hurt, that's all", Yujin explained, still trailing after the blonde, even though he should have turned around by now, told one of the adults about this, but he didn't - he wasn't some little kid that needed a hand to guide him, a helping hand to show him around and he, very much, didn't need to run after someone like blondie, just because he was in a bad mood. But, in the end, he was the one that felt responsible for him and wanted to know more about him and the reason for his sour mood, so why not? "I doubt that you coop yourself up in your room, but still, do you really want to go out here?" Even Yujin wasn't stupid, they moved further away from the town and the hut and the tossing waves could be heard, crashing into endless ice that had been there for millenia, that never melted, no matter what happened - and thus, there never had been any concern about it, even if everyone knew that it could and would break off at some point, but that wasn't what he was bothered by. Instead, he watched where Richard went, wanted to yell at him for trying something stupid, but he didn't - he just sat down there and watched, minding his own business. Wasn't that weird? "So you just come here to ... sit?", he asked, approaching him from behind - actually, the scenery was nice, maybe even one of the few things worth watching. "Won't you get cold?"

"Then you'd be lying into my face and not feel any better about yourself." The truth was harsh and rough, like broken shards of glass, able to cut through almost anything that it came in contact with, but that was about it. In reality, the two of them were young, supposed to live their life, but whoever Richard really was, he seemingly didn't want to. His own mind strung his body along, all the way out here, freeing himself from whatever was keeping him chained up in the hut - or was it, really? "No, but it's not like a I give a damn about who I'm related to and who just raised me, you know? They aren't much different from one another, they are both my parents." Was Richard the same as him? Did Adrestians even allow this kind of thing? Everything that had to add up didn't, for now at least, but he wasn't asking any baseless questions and he sure as hell wouldn't bother the blonde as long as he was wallowing in selfpity, or not able to form his own thoughts into coherent words. For now, though, it sufficed to ask questions and get answers out of him, somehow, at least he was trying his utmost, no? "Oh, so you're telling me that Nayantai raised you and theoretically is your father, but you're not blood-related to him in the slightest sense? I think I get it", Yujin exclaimed - sometimes, he was narrowminded and tried to see the obvious in things that weren't all that obvious - his own shortcomings were odd, weren't they? So, that meant, whoever Nayantai had been with was his actual father? The gears in his head were, in fact, turning but if anything was happening, well, Yujin didn't even know that himself.

"I'm trying to understand you and why you're ... well, you." Yujin didn't know the Richard from before, a person that he never met and the fact that it was like this, while it didn't bother him all that much, it felt weird knowing someone that didn't even know himself and didn't have a single idea what to with his anger. In theory, a few things could have led to that, but for now, he wasn't going to attempt and pry it out of those cold hands, instead, he'd be told what it was if he kept asking - or at least begging - nicely, no? "I beg to differ - I'm sure there's at least one person that would care, if he didn't, he wouldn't have dragged you out here, right? He could have just left you behind, wherever you were before and seek his own salvation, but ... in the end, I know nothing about you or the person you came here with, so I'm just saying, there has to be someone that cares." What did he know, really? To Richard, he probably was an annoying and somewhat confused stranger that kept talking and never shut his mouth, something that he openly voiced, but Yujin saw it as an invitation to sit down by him and just watch what he was seeing, let his legs swing over the edge and wonder when all of this ice would come crashing down. "No", he simply replied, he never shut up to begin with, lest he was studying and taking the entire library apart, but that didn't happen a lot, at least not nowadays - and it wouldn't happen more often than it needed to. "If that changes, I have some clothes to offer." Yujin was, in fact, bundled up and while that was normal in Thria, especially Silesse, the fabric and material used was different from the ones that the Adrestians used - obviously, they didn't need as much as them and it showed. "That would make sense why you can stand the cold as well, but you're still not used to it. Ever met her?"