Fire Red & Auburn
A/N: Just a warning as with the other short story before it this is unbetaed. Please feel free to point out any errors I may have missed. I decided to post this now despite my mixed feelings about it as I'm taking so terribly wrong to update the larger fic. So, yeah... I hope you enjoy it, and please, do review. Thanks.
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It was a long time before Mita understood why Dad was always so protective over her father. She knew he was different, but that wasn't why. They had grown up together and had grown accustomed to the way the others looked at them. It didn't bother father, so the rest of the family didn't let it bother them, either. She sometimes heard whispers. People would say things that didn't quite make sense, like the women that had remarked how her older brother looked 'handsome, just like his father' which was odd because out of all of them he looked least like him. Salen ended up getting angry one day and shouting at a man who'd asked her if dad hated such a dark reminder, touching a lock of her hair. Her Dad had gone very silent when he heard of it and hugged her and told her how much he loved his beautiful little girl. He never punished Salen for shouting. Then one day, just after little Keya had been brought into the world, Salen came home and he knew. He didn't seem too sad though, only thoughtful.
The next morning was when he told her the story.
When they were little, Father and Dad, then just Koschei and his best friend Theta used to go exploring together. This of course went against the wishes of Koschei's father especially as his son was already seen as lesser for his fractured mind. Koschei couldn't care less about that anyway, nor did he care about Theta being of a lower caste.
Theta would follow Koschei home after already seeing him throughout the day during studies. They would lie in the field sometimes as day turned into night, laughing and joking and making wistful plans to see those shining lights up closer.
Sometimes they would sneak off to their own little hidden clearing where no one could over hear or interrupt. Koschei's father was especially suspicious of these times. It simply wasn't proper or wise. He would rather the exploring instead. It was safer for them to be open and predictable, he had thought. Oh, how he was wrong.
On one warm sunny afternoon, when the sky was a clear, vibrant orange with not a cloud in sight. Theta, now thirteen, looked up through the red leaves of their favorite little hideaway, his dark eyes shining. It was time to explore. Koschei took advantage of his friend's distraction and snatched his notebook, running ahead laughing mischievously.
"Koschei! Hey wait up!" Theta yelled hurrying after him with a grin of his own. His blonde curls bouncing as he ran after the taller, raven-haired boy. They ran through the forest, chasing and laughing and taunting each other until they reached the small lake that some of the older boys liked to take their lady-friends to on warm nights. They also liked to flip stones into it.
Theta tackled Koschei to the ground, trying to snatch his notebook but Koschei kept it just out of his reach. they wrestled half seriously for a moment until Theta was sitting on Koschei's chest with Koschei stretched out on the sand, holding the notebook as far to the left as he could. Theta leaned over to grab it but Koschei tossed it to his right hand at the last minute.
"You're so immature!" Theta accused, leaning the other way.
"That's just your perspective."
"You're almost fifteen." The book was once again tossed over Theta to land in Koschei's other hand.
"And you're older than your own father. As I said: It's your perspective." Theta paused and they stared into eachother's eyes for a moment before Theta grabbed Koschei's face with one hand and grabbed the notebook with the other.
"Agf!" Koschei exclaimed, then as Theta got up off of him looking quite pleased with himself, he added."I believe I have misspoken."
"I thought so." Theta replied smoothly.
"Yes. You're clearly a child." Koschei continued as he pushed himself up off the ground.
"I am not."
"A brat."
"Nope, that's you."
"You're proving my point, Theta."
"Yes, but you still love me." Theta replied, batting his big doe's eyes up at his friend. Koschei smiled.
"Of course."
"Well look who it is!" Called an unfortunately familiar voice. "The baby and the freak!"
"Leave us alone Lammil. We aren't causing you any trouble." Theta urged, Koschei was already moving in front of the younger boy, in a protective stance.
"You are the trouble." Lammil growled moving toward them. He had two years and twenty pounds of muscle over Koschei. That didn't stop Koschei from glaring up at him with frosty-eyed determination.
"Yes, I can understand your embarassment. I'm mad and Theta's just a child compared to you and yet, everyone knows we're far more clever than you." Koschei mocked, his bright blue eyes burning into those of the bully.
"Kos, stop it. Come on, let's just go." Theta begged, tugging at the sleeve of Koschei's robe. The two older boys stared each other down until Lammil finally blinked. Koschei's lip curved into a faint smile.
"You're right. Let's go." He agreed taking Theta's hand in his and pushing past Lammil. When they began climbing back up the incline, back the way they'd come Lammil darted up behind Theta and snatched his notebook.
"Hey that's mine!" Theta exclaimed.
"Is it? Let's have a look." Lammil taunted, pushing Theta and flipping through it.
"No! Stop it!" Theta protested, pushing back.
"Wow! You really are a freak! Looks like he's one too!"
"That's his journal just give it back." Koschei ordered coldly moving to face the bully. Lammil looked from them to the notebook and then threw it in the lake.
"Don't!" Theta yelled. Koschei lunged forward and tackled Lammil, who grabbed him by the front of his robes and punched him in the face. They rolled around on the sand, hitting each other for a while with Theat darting around them shouting for them to stop. He finally lost patience and tried to physically separate them. Lammil elbowed him in the face, breaking his nose. He fell onto the sand grabbing his bloody face. For a moment everything seemed to stop. Then Koschei, still staring at his best friend's bloodied face went completely limp.
"Oh no." Theta muttered, realizing what was about to occur.
Wild blue eyes snapped open and a feral growl broke the tense silence. The two boys both lashed out at eachother once again. The bully was punching and kicking and slapping as he desperatetly tried to extricate himself. Theta's friend had become a wild animal in his grip slashing and clawing and biting and anything else it could do to cause this new threat it was facing pain. Sajyuol lashed out at Lammil's faceleaving bloody streaks straight across it. He screamed grabbing Sajyuol by the throat and holding him under the water. He thrashed and struggled while Theta screamed. Then he went still. Lammil let go and stumbled back away from the limp lifeless form floating in the water as he realized what he'd just done.
"Koschei?" Theta whispered shaking his head in disbelief. "Koschei!"
He got up and began to move forward but Lammil grabbed him by the arm as he caught sight of a flicker of golden energy in the water.
"Don't touch me!" Theta yelled yanking his arm away. The golden glow began to spread until Koschei's entire body was enveloped in bright firey light. First he began to shake and then he began to cough. His jet-black hair was now a brilliant auburn-red. His blue eyes had darkened to a dark golden-green.
"Theta?" Koschei asked, then frowned at the unfamiliar sound of his own voice. Theta ran to him wrapping his arms tightly around him relieved to see him alive and well once again.
It was a strange realization for Mita she had always stood out just a little bit from the others with her dark eyes and her long auburn hair. She never minded though. Not really. Because whether or not he had changed to become this way or not. After all he had aparently looked far more like her older brother Salen in his youth. She loved her dark eyes and auburn hair just like her father's. She would always prefer this incarnation no matter how many times she regenerated. Because that was the first face that she had seen when she came into this world. Someday they would both change and have new faces maybe they wouldn't look alike at all, but she hoped that someday would be a long way away.