Oo~I never knew daylight could be so violent~oO
A revelation in the light of day
You can't choose what stays and what fades away

And I'd do anything to make you stay
No light, no light
No light
Tell me what you want me to say

Through the crowd, I was crying out
And in your place there were a thousand other faces
I was disappearing in plain sight
Oo~Heaven help me, I need to make it right~oO

'No Light, No Light' by Florence + the Machine

~oOKazimOo~

It was a calm evening sometime during the late fall. He sat down in front of his window and watched the rain hit the glass. His room had the perfect view of the castle courtyard, but nothing was really out there to look at. A storm was coming and no one had the desire to 'get struck with lightning', though so uncommon, and there was nothing really beautiful or stunning about the area. Just a lot of dirt.

Quietly, Ahamm opened the door to their room, came in, and sat down at his desk. Lightning lit up the room, illuminating it more than the lone candle on Kazim's desk.

"Kazim?" the older man whispered.

The boy hummed, tracing his finger around a group of raindrops. Ahamm watched for a moment before speaking up.

"I was sure that I was going to come back and find you reading again, maybe more than ever." he joked. Kazim smiled.

"Me too-but it started to rain." he mumbled. Rain was such a beautiful thing to behold. Water falling from various shades of gray clouds, dropping to earth for miles; it was beautiful and it usually happened a few times every year. More often in the winter and fall, but still not often enough. The snow was just as magnificent to him, but snow came every winter. There was no such thing as rain during the

summer and sometimes the fall or spring, just one or the other. One day, he wanted to go to someplace where it rained every fall and spring so that it was consistent. He'd never leave.

"Welcome back from your mission." Kazim deadpanned. "You were gone longer than you said you'd be." he mumbled, spiteful. Since two years ago, Al Mualim decided that Ahamm would be promoted to Master Assassin. Ahamm was so excited, but he'd been going on so many missions since, it was like a punishment of some sort because Kazim had to be trained by someone else and he didn't get to see his friend as often. But on the bright side, he reconnected with Fahd who agreed to train him in his friend's absence. Fahd was a Master Assassin too, but in his old age Al Mualim thought it was better to refrain from assigning him more difficult missions. Kazim had no idea that he was so old though. When he first met him, he looked so young…but he was actually 41. It was rather awkward when he found out, especially since Master Assassin's didn't usually live so long. The old man even had an age complex to boot.

Ahamm straightened and stood up from his desk, his travel pack in hand.

"I have a good reason for that later," he sighed, "but I brought you something." Kazim's head whipped away from the rain spotted window to stare blankly at his friend and roommate.

"Where did you say your mission was located at?"
"I didn't."
"Well, tell me now!" Kazim snipped, but instead of telling him, Ahaam only snicked. Kazim turned around from his current seat on the floor to face him, refusing to close his eyes.

"Ahamm," he sighed, "you know I hate games." The Master Assassin rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright, stop whining. You're no fun." Kazim sent him a weak glare.

"I went into Mongol territory over in Asia. To a city called Baghdad near the Caspian Sea. It's an interesting place." he mumbled, dangling his bag from his finger tips. "Have you heard of either of those places?" he asked.

"Of course." The younger boy scoffed.

"Know-it-all. Anyways, it took awhile to get there, but-"

"A while? It probably took days!"

"Yes, it took days, now stop interrupting!" Kazim huffed and threw a crumpled piece of paper at his head. He merely swatted it away.

"Anyways, I got there in good time and everything was different there, but you know what I did first? Even before the mission?" Kazim's eyes widened a tad. Oh-he didn't.

"I went and looked for some scrolls for you." Oh-he did.

Kazim shakily stood up, grabbing the wall for support. His face contorted with pain when his leg twisted in its cast. Fahd had tried to teach him the leap of faith, but he banged it up pretty badly when he landed in the cart of hay. It wasn't entirely broken, but it wasn't 'just a scratch' either.

Apparently, being scared out of your wits wasn't one of the steps to flying like a bird. Who wanted to be a bird, anyways? He was content on the ground, thanks. With that mistake, Fahd had rushed him to the infirmary and successfully showed to most of his peers that he had screwed up the jump entirely. At least he wasn't the only one, though. One of his friends had managed to dislocate their shoulder, relocate it, then dislocate it again before they had him in the infirmary. He couldn't imagine the pain they were going through.

Oh wait: He could.

"Kazim?" Ahamm cocked his head to the side. "What did the hell did you do to your leg?" he asked.

"You're just noticing that now?"

"It's just that...you kind of broke it." Kazim gave a resounding sigh and accepted Ahamm's arm of guidance. With his help, he got to sit on his bed.

"Ahamm," he said, "Its not broken."

"How'd you injure it then?"

"I wasn't meant to be a bird."

"You hurt yourself doing a 'Leap of Faith'?"

"Yes, now let us drop the subject." Ahamm threw his hands up in acceptance and opened his bag, pulling out four large scrolls and a giant leather bound book, handing them to his enthusiastic friend. Kazim scooped them up and laid them out on his blankets, silently appreciating the carved wooden handles and delicately bound book. Outside, the thunder was getting closer. Ahamm smiled and threw his bag back on his side.

"I noticed that whenever you're excited, your mouth twitches." He mused. Kazim wanted to roll his eyes, but, well, he was too excited to care. Out of the four scrolls he picked the largest and put everything else to the side for the time. He unrolled it and recognized it as a map immediately; the ink was used in a different kind of style, almost like the maker had used different types of quills or...brushes to make the lines vary in width. Then again, it looked like the lines were flowing across the page. It was a map of Asia.

"That's called 'calligraphy'." He said, sitting down next to him. Kazim nodded and rolled it back up and choosing another scroll. Another map, it seemed, but of China. His jaw dropped. He owned a map of China.

"This is an extremely detailed view of China...how did you get this, Ahamm?" He breathed, tracing the outlines of the Yangtze river. It was beautiful. Even the scholars didn't posses something like this about a nation so far away.

"One of my objectives was to spy on some kind of nobleman. I found this in his study and thought you'd like it." The younger boy glared up at him.

"You're not supposed to take anything from your targets or else they might notice." More thunder.

"So you have been paying attention to your instructors." Ahamm laughed.

"Of course I have," Kazim scoffed, rolling the scroll up. He would definitely study this later, "I wouldn't live a day without books." He smiled, attention drawn to the window. More lightning painted the skys, lighting up the courtyard. Down by the entrance to the castle was a small figure of a person, but in an instant it was dark again. Was someone out there? Who would be out there in this condition? He shakily stood up and looked squinted through the glass. The guards wouldn't even be out in this weather.

"Kazim, what-"

"Shh!" he needed to concentrate. They looked familiar, he just couldn't place it. To Ahamm's surprise, Kazim unhooked the window and threw it open, sticking his head out.

"Kazim!"

"Ahamm! Quiet!" Every time lightning lit up the sky he'd catch a glimpse of the figure as it got closer, but only for a second. With every flash, he pieced together the man dragging himself across the courtyard. Finally, he knew. That person was more than familiar.

"What?" He breathed, his breath coming out in a stream of fog. He leaned further out of the window, much to Ahamm's horror, and silently prayed that his eyes were betraying him.

"TAHIR?" he tried, "TAHIR!" the figure looked around wildly as the sky lit up again. Kazim found himself leaning further and further out until only his legs remained inside. The figure stopped moving. They looked up and took another step forward, towards Kazim's direction, and it brought forth a mixture of pain and relief. The sound barely reached his ears, but he was able to catch it through the roar of thunder:

…

…

…

…

…

"—zeem!"

…

…

…

…

…

Tahir had found him after all these years apart…and he was alive. Alive.

From behind him, Ahamm tried to peer over his shoulder.

Kazim didn't know whether to jump for joy or end it all and fall out the window instead. He'd spent three years away from his twin. He'd be lying if he said that they weren't the best three years of his life. Now, Tahir was back; his brother would probably join the order too…then his life would be back to the same it was.

But then there was the happiness inside of him that still cared for his little brother. How did he find him here? Why did it take him three years? What about their parents? No, he decided he didn't care about any of that…his brother was alive and that's what really mattered to him. Right?

Ahamm rushed over, bent down and peered over his friend's shoulder.

"Kazim, who is that? What's going on?"

"Help me get down there." He whispered, pushing himself up. His hip knocked against Ahamm's shoulder as he shuffled around for a candle.
"Wait, what?"
"Ahamm, help me get down there!" Kazim barked. Candle in hand, he threw himself towards the door and wrenched it open. He hobbled through and the wood splintered when it hit the wall behind him.

"Kazim, wait!"His friend yelled, running after him. Kazim struggled to get down the first half of the stairs with his injured leg. The pain was almost excruciating. He got about halfway down the hallway before Ahamm picked him up and started to jog. "You owe me. A lot." he grumbled. Kazim laughed quietly and rubbed away the tears. "Who is that, Kazim?" he asked. Kazim coughed, wiped the water out of his eyes, and grinned.

"That's my twin brother." he sniffed. Ahamm stayed deadly silent for a few minutes while they made their way down to the courtyard, but in the end, he smiled.

By the time the courtyard came into view, Tahir was still staring at the window probably wondering where his brother was. But he didn't need to worry. Ahamm set him down at the bottom of the stairs and let him hobble over to his brother who had finally taken note of him. Tahir was running through puddles and tripping up steps to get to his brother who equally wanted to do the same, but took each step one at a time. In a way, that was how the two were different. The older brother was built to be like a crippled boy and the other was built to rush. Kazim would take things slowly, but Tahir would rush without thinking. They were complete opposites, but they complimented each other, for when one was stuck, the other would happen by and get them back on their feet. Kazim grinned. He didn't know how much he missed his brother until now.

They were only a few steps away now, but Kazim could feel his leg start to collapse and the pain was almost unbearable. Almost. He slowly tipped forward, and though it looked weird and goofy, Tahir suppressed his laughter long enough to catch his brother and support his weight. He wrapped his around Kazim like boa constrictor and squeezed until he couldn't breathe, but Kazim made sure to do the same. Ahamm watched contentedly from the dry interior of the castle, smiling.

In the infirmary for the second time that month, Kazim sneezed. Their catch up had to resume there of all places. Both sick from the rain, the two brothers sat in a cocoon of blankets on separate tables.

"At least this will be one for the memories, eh?" Ahamm smirked. Next to him, Cala wrapped an arm around his shoulders and smiled. Her stomach was absolutely huge.

The day she knew she was pregnant was the day Ahamm had left for one of his missions and when she found out she almost had a heart attack. Kazim had to calm her down when she stormed into their shared room that day, screaming about being pregnant and how Ahamm was gone, how he could die today and she would never be able to tell him—it was absolutely horrible. In the end, he had to go get Fahd. What choice did he have? She was driving him crazy.

So when she hung around him every single day during her pregnancy while Ahamm was away he had to grab for every ounce of patience he had. And he had a lot ofpatience. Fahd thought it was absolutely hilarious though.

Tahir coughed into his arm and leaned against the wall, drinking the water he was provided.

"I spent months tracking you down." Tahir wheezed, looking at Kazim.

"That sounds like loyalty. Wasn't that nice of your brother, Kazim?" Ahamm asked. Oh, he was teasing him, the bastard. Kazim grumbled in response and watched the rain outside pelt the ground ruthlessly. No sooner had the two brothers reunited did the storm finally come in. It was going to lead up to winter. At least, Kazim hoped so. He silently traced groups of droplets and followed them down the glass, thinking.

"What's he doing?" Tahir whispered, squirming in his seat while Cala searched for something in the cabinets. Ahamm nervously glanced over at Kazim.

"He's watching the rain." He said in a hushed voice. Kazim's eye twitched. He was in the room, wasn't he? He liked the rain because of its beauty, and yes, he did find it fascinating, but the word fascination always sounded like some kind of word you'd associate with some kind of caged animal. It irked him because, even if they found it hard to believe, he was no animal.

"What else does he do?" Tahir mumbled, his eyes flicking from his brother to the Master Assassin. Cala spoke this time.

"He stares at the rain instead of going outside."

"Why?"

"It's his inner poet."

"Kazim, you should go out into the rain, not stare at it." said his brother. Kazim shifted in his spot and turned around, adjusting his bad leg. Now that sounded like the old brother he knew.

"And look what happened." he gestured to his brother's runny nose and his own flushed face. Tahir shook his head and jumped off the table, splashing water out of his cup and onto the floor. Cala glared at him, fuming.

"Ahamm." She hissed. Her husband sighed and stood up, reaching for a rag. "I got it." He mumbled, pecking her on the cheek. Cala smiled, content, and snatched the glass from Tahir.
"No more for you." Tahir threw his hands up and turned back to his older brother.

Ahamm's candle went out right as the window burst open from the wind, scaring Cala and Kazim. The older twin sat there, paralyzed. He didn't like the dark too much. Yes, he was an Assassin—probably a bad one too—but he was practically in the dark all the time with nothing but a candle and he was fine, but now that it was gone, fear coursed through him, brain laced with panic. Ahamm cleared his throat and started shuffling around the table with his arms spreading out trying to find the flint.

"Ahamm..." he mumbled.

"I'm trying to find it, hold on, hold on."

"What's wrong?" Tahir asked.

"Your brother 'doesn't care for the dark'. We go through seven candles a month because he 'dislikes' it so much." Ahamm said. Everyone could hear the smile in his voice.. He yelped when Kazim's boot made contact with his shin.

"Wow, Kazim, you're a handful." Tahir snickered.

In the dark, he found Kazim's shoulder and made his way over.

"Be quiet."

"Ah, there's the brother I remember."

"You two are so...ah! Found it!" There was a quick click and the flame was restored; Kazim let out a coiled breath. His head fell back against the stone wall with an audible thunk and he shut his eyes.

"Not afraid of the dark my ass." Tahir laughed, but it was short lived when Kazim stood up and asked for help back to the room. He obliged and became his left leg; Ahamm and Cala followed silently, hand in hand.

"You say it took you months to get here...where exactly and how far did you go?" he asked Tahir. Ahamm decided to walk closer at this point.

"Oh, well, I thought you'd be in Jerusalem because the economy there is great, like you told me a while ago and, well, the other villagers agreed, but let me start at the beginning," he sighed, "I was sucked into that bad fever and it took weeks for me to recover. Nothing bad really happened to me, just that I got sick for a while. When I came too, I asked where you were. Mom and dad told me that you died of the same illness...said that you contracted it too,

"He settled for mumbling by now, "And I believed them."

Kazim looked up at his brother who smiled grimly back at him. It was sort of like addressing the elephant in the room; everyone knew it was there, no one wanted to talk about it, but Tahir insisted on pressing the issue.

"My twin had died and I didn't get to see him before they 'buried you' . There was even a fake grave!" He spat. "It wasn't until four months ago I found out about your fight with mom. Mishal finally told me what happened." he whispered. "They lied to me, mother and father, and I wasn't surprised. Mother always bullied you, Kazim. Horrible. I told her to stop, but I guess that just made it worse and—"

He stopped. Someone was coming down the stairs towards them. There was a crash and Thiza came tumbling down, crashing into Kazim, sending him falling back into Ahamm, who steadied himself and Cala by pressing his arms into the walls. Kazim cried out as his leg twisted painfully, moaning when the woman stood up and readjusted herself.

"Holy—I'm so sorry!" she winced. She looked up at Ahamm and Cala in apology, but when she caught sight of Tahir she was silent.

"You have a twin, Kazim?" Tahir nodded enthusiastically for the both of them and helped Kazim stand up again. He didn't seem to notice the dark blush that covered Kazim's cheeks.

"I didn't know you had a brother." she blinked.

"This is Tahir." Kazim said, leaning on Ahamm for a change of pace. Said man pursed his lips, squished between his pregnant wife and apprentice.

"My name is Thiza." She took a small bow and the tunic she was wearing slipped down some, revealing parts of her breasts. Kazim's blush deepened and, this time, Tahir noticed.

"It was nice meeting you. I'd like to stay and chat, but I have to get going now before—" There was a loud crash from the floor above them, then a loud curse.

"HEY!" someone screeched.

"—before that. Move, move, move!" She gave them a fleeting smile before bolting downstairs in the direction of her room in the opposite tower. Kazim watched her go, her skirts whipping around the pale flesh of her ankles. Tahir took his brother's arm again and helped him dodge the man tumbling down after Thiza. He even took the chance to swiftly stick out a leg and cause the Assassin to go tumbling down, face first. Kazim glared at his brother and Ahamm only gawked.

"Quickly, quickly!" he hissed, pulling his wife ahead of them to escape. When they were free of danger, Tahir grinned.

"What?" Kazim asked.

"You didn't tell me you'd met with the lovely Thiza?" Ahamm laughed, graining everyone's attention. Kazim didn't like it when his mentor grinned. It was a baaaaad omen.

"When did you meet her?" Tahir asked, sharing the same expression. If this wasn't a match made in hell, he didn't know what was.

"I met her a few weeks ago." he grumbled. That wasn't good enough for Tahir and Ahamm, though, they needed more answers. Kazim was pelted with questions like 'how long have you known her?' or 'where did you meet?' and 'have you guys done anything yet?.

"Our room is right here." he sighed, relieved. Ahamm opened the door and led them inside; Tahir whistled lowly and observed both halves of the room.

"I think I know which one is yours, Kazim..." he mumbled, looking over the left half of the room. It was buried in stacks of books and small piles of scrolls. His clothes were strewn around his bed, his desk was swallowed in papers and quills, and hanging on the walls were detailed maps of different cities and nations like Europe. Ahamm's half was as neat as it could get, but that was only because Cala liked a clean space.

"He hasn't changed one bit." said Tahir, still gazing at the mess. Kazim gave a sad smile. No, he really hasn't. He was still being quiet, always staying in the shadows, studying like a mad man...everything he used to do even as a child. He really never did change, did he? His mother and father drilled him well, then, because now he couldn't stop. Would they be proud of him if they could see him now? Or would they still haggle him every chance they got?

But he was free! He was free to do whatever he wanted now, so his mother and father never did win. They wanted to control him. That didn't happen because now he had spoken against them. He had become his own person and he was smarter than them both. He was more agile, more accomplished: more useful to people. He was useful, wasn't he?

Wasn't he?

"Kazim?" He blinked and looked up to meet Tahir's curious gaze, "Does he do that a lot too, Ahamm?" The older man sat down and started to unbuckle his boots.

"More often than you'd think." Cala snorted, lowering herself onto their shared bed.

"I could do it less often had I less things to think about." He replied. She threw her hands up in mock innocence and started pulling off her own boots.

"It feels great to be back." he sighed, stretching. Next to him, Tahir squirmed.

"Kazim, where do I stay for tonight?" he asked. Oh, that's right, Kazim thought, sighing. He rubbed the back of his neck tiredly and pulled off his gloves.

"Sleep on the floor." Kazim deadpanned. Tahir let out an indignant shout.

"Why can't we just share your bed?"

"Because I am not a woman and it's odd!"

"Stop being a baby."

"Shut up, you two. We're going to sleep." Ahamm yawned, wrapping an arm around his wife. Tahir took this chance to start up a conversation.

"How many months are you?" He asked, gazing at her. Cala sat up again, ignoring her husband's groan of protest. Both he and Kazim groaned. It was baby time.

"Seven months." She smiled, cradling her bulging stomach. Ahamm sat up behind her and toyed with the brown locks that adorned her shoulders, twirling it around his fingers. Cala glanced up at Tahir and back down at her stomach. "If it's a girl, I want to name her Kalila."
"And if it's a boy…I don't know yet." Ahamm yawned, falling back against the pillows.

"Cala, no baby. Sleep now." He grumbled, pulling on his wife's shirt to get her next to him. Tahir rolled his eyes and went to turn towards Kazim who only stood up silently in return. The older sibling carefully stepped around a pile of scrolls and opened the chest at the end of his bed, retrieving a large wool blanket. He chucked it at his brother. Tahir caught it clumsily, but as a result, he tumbled backwards into his brother's desk. A scroll of Damascus fell off the wall and tumbled down the side, falling over the candle that sat on the floor. A few pens clattered to the floor, but Kazim could care less as he desperately tried to save the old map. It wasn't even his, it belonged to the scholars.

He lunged for the candle and whipped it off, shouting as the flames licked at the brown paper and spread towards his hands. The window was on the other side of the room and he bolted for it, but when it came time to open it, he found that both hands were needed. It would take too long and besides…the scroll was already ruined. Kazim dropped the burnt piece of knowledge and watched it burn out, lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Kazim, I'm—I'm really sorry."

"Don't. It was my fault anyways." He mumbled. Ahamm observed Kazim carefully as the younger boy feebly shut his chest and returned to his bed. Never, ever had a piece of literature been so badly treated in Kazim's care. The scholars would be furious to know what had happened, Kazim knew that too.

Things were supposed to be perfect.