"Riku! Riiiikkuuuu! Brother, where are you?" A young boy walked through the marsh near his house, yelling between his grunts of effort to unstick his feet from the mud that reached his ankles. An older boy huddled on a dry spot next to a tree stump, hidden behind the tall grass. He scowled as he heard his brother, Azul, yell again for him. All he wanted was to be left alone, but no, his parents had saddled him with babysitting his younger brother again. That meant constant whining and pleading from the four year old to play games, go swim in the river and go on 'adventures'. Riku wanted none of it. He knew that if Azul took a few more steps past him he'd fall into the spill way and probably get stuck for a good while. Long enough for his brother to run off and go play with his own friends.

"RIKU!" the shrill yell made the boy cringe. Azul sounded more like a girl when he yelled than any kid—or girl—that Riku knew. Azul was just in front of him now, unable to see past the thick grass that grew from the marsh. "Brother! Please come out, I'm hungry. Momma and Daddy—Riku!"

The unmistakable sound of mud sucking in feet and the splat that the brown gunk gave as Azul fell caused the older boy to grin. It shouldn't take Azul too long to get himself out of the mud. He got up, dodging the wetter spots of the marsh as he headed into the village to find his friends. What didn't pass through Riku's mind were the recent rains that had covered the village lately. The spill way wasn't just mud right then.

"Your brother! Your baby brother!" Kairu wailed, red faced and gasping for air on the couch. Riku sat across from her, hands folded in his lap as he looked up.

"I didn't do anything, Mother. He wandered off and-"

A slap echoed through the house, leaving an uneasy silence in its wake. Lukis glared down at the child he now regrettably called his son.

"He wandered off? He wandered off!" He growled, "Many people saw you lead him into the marsh, you wretched child! You killed my son!"

I'm your son to, Riku thought angrily as the door swung open. He looked up, meeting the eyes of his uncle. "Kairu… tell me it's not true. Azul.. he isn't…" His eyes darted from his sister, to his nephew and then to his brother-in-law. Kairu, in response, got up and ran from the room crying.

Drama queen, Riku thought bitterly. They all cared about poor little Azul, the same boy who'd set half of the wheat field on fire last year and burned their family's share of the crops. The same boy who'd gotten Riku's dog, Minx, killed because he'd growled at the child. If anything, Riku felt he'd done a service to the community.

"Are you listening to me," Lukis howled angrily, causing Riku to blink and look up at his father. "Yes," He replied, keeping his tone level. His cheek hurt but he wouldn't let on, nor to the fact that he could taste blood in his mouth. He'd deal with it later. He zoned back out just as his uncle joined the yelling match.