Tomas Vrbada could see why the other Lin Kuei saw him as the most irresponsible.

It wasn't his fault! He just had a face that spoke mischief: sparkling eyes, eyebrows that betrayed his motives, and a voice that wavered when he was confronted about something that he had done. For these reasons, Tomas was labelled as the "jester" of the Lin Kuei.

But... no one knew the mastermind.

And while Tomas had come up with some of the pranks that they had done, it was not him who was the one mainly responsible for the antics.

No, it was Tundra. Kuai Liang, who was seen as the over-enthusiastic younger brother of the brutal Sub-Zero. The others had seen him as a young boy who still took his training seriously, hoping to be as good as his older brother. When he was caught beside Tomas, they all assumed that Tomas had been the one to drag Kuai into his schemes. And why would they think otherwise? Kuai had that stoic face that didn't betray his emotions, with a steady voice.

Yet, they had all been deceived.

Only Tomas knew of the face that Kuai had hidden from the others. That smart-ass grin that drove him crazy, with manic-glinted eyes that screamed trouble. Tomas had made friends with the cryomancer quickly, becoming thicker than thieves when Kuai had revealed this side to him.

But, as his secretive traits suggested, Kuai was a devil.

He was just so damn persuasive. His voice lured you into the illusion that nothing wrong could happen. This was how Tomas had been tricked into undergoing these "missions" with him, often suffering punishments together. This, combined with Tomas's penchant to pull pranks, created a recipe for disaster.

One memorable example of this had taken place during the day celebrating the appearance of a blue moon at the Lin Kuei...

Years Ago...

"Kuai, look outside!" A young Tomas with rosy cheeks and shining eyes stared out of the window. He had made sure to close and lock the door so that no one would intrude on them. His nose was pressed against the glass, breath fogging the view. "It's snowing!"

The enenra's roommate snorted. "It always snows here, dummy. Bring me over when we see sunlight, for once." Kuai sat at the small desk, a pencil in hand, writing on a large sheet of paper. He was enveloped in his task, tongue slightly sticking out in concentration.

Tomas huffed. They were both extremely young to be training to kill; Tomas was ten years old while Kuai was nine, on the verge of turning ten. Tomas walked away from the window to Kuai; "What are you doing, anyway?" he asked grumpily, upset at being dismissed.

Kuai didn't say anything but eventually, he put down his pencil and held up the paper in the lamplight. "This," he said with a smirk, "is my New Year's Resolution."

Tomas studied the drawing closely, eyes widening in a sense of dread when he realized what it was. "Kuai, no!" he hissed. "If we're caught, they'll flay us alive!" The cryomancer huffed, turning around in his seat abruptly to give Tomas a look of disappointment. "Fine, then don't help me. I'll do it by myself, and get all the credit."

The enenra resisted the urge to hit his own forehead. "Kuai, no one is going to know who did this if you don't get caught. And that's a hopeful 'if'!" Kuai rolled his eyes, grinning smugly. "You will, though. And you'll regret not doing it with me."

Tomas groaned. His words were already taking hold on him... "I always knew you were a chicken," Kuai said, rolling up the paper.

That did the trick. Tomas frowned at the younger boy. "Fine, I'll do it, you psycho. Let me see the map."

Kuai went to make sure that their room door was locked, then the two boys lay the map open on the ground, studying it as Kuai explained the plan.

Tomas shook his head. "Holy shit, Kuai. This might just work!"

Kuai grinned. "Right? And there'll be a scapegoat for this. It is foolproof, Tomas. We can't go wrong." He crossed his arms in triumph.

Tomas nodded, more encouraged. "Okay. We need to do this at night when no one else is awake. We'll have to dodge the hall monitors and then get here. We'll 'fix' everything, and then double back around to avoid the monitors. No one will see us."

Kuai smirked. "And then in the morning, we'll watch the entire thing unfold."

Tomas got up. "We should wear our night gear. I'm going to get ready."

Night fell quickly after that. The two hurried to prepare for their task, staying as quiet as they could while they dressed, opening the door slowly.

"Ready?" Tomas whispered.

"Psh. I was born ready," Kuai replied.

The two tiptoed through the dark halls, stopping occasionally to avoid being seen by the hall monitors with their torches. Eventually, they made their way to their planned destination.

The kitchen.

"Right," Kuai said, determined. "This is a quick in-and-out. I go in to replace the flour with the itching powder. You go in and replace the turkey with the rubber one. Meet back here when you're done."

Tomas nodded quickly, heading over to the refrigerator. He opened it slowly, taking the already-cooked turkey off of its plate and pulling the fake one from his backpack. He placed the real turkey in his back, zipping it up.

Meanwhile, Kuai headed to the flour cabinet. He knew that... certain... people came here in the mornings to use the powder to prevent chaffing. Gross. He made a face as he threw the flour down the sink, filling up the bag with the itching powder.

With their tasks done, the two met up at the doors of the kitchen, making their way back to their room.

Tomas shut their bedroom door behind them, and the two took off their masks. "That was insane!" Tomas whispered.

"What was?"

Both boys spun around, the color draining from their faces. Their teacher, Hydro, sat in the study chair where Kuai had sat in to make the map. The man looked up with a blank look. Tomas stuttered. "Um, nothing, Master Hydro."

"We both went to the kitchen. Tomas replaced the turkey with a rubber one, and I replaced the flour with itching powder," Kuai shrugged.

Tomas stared at Kuai. "Ku - Tundra!"

Kuai and Hydro shared a look before they both grinned at Tomas. "Where do you think I got this from?" Kuai asked, shaking the empty bottle of itching powder.

The enenra gaped at his teacher. "You... You're involved in this?!"

Hydro got up, heading to the bedroom door. "You two aren't the first troublemakers in the Lin Kuei. I just didn't have the ability to do something this big before, so Tundra let me in on his plan. Have a good night, boys. It's going to be a better morning."

And the morning did come.

Tomas had gotten out of bed, feeling that his life at that moment was surreal. He felt like he was in a dream, putting on his clothing and making his way to the dining hall where the other Lin Kuei students were starting to assemble. Kuai soon joined him.

"Ready?" Kuai mouthed.

Tomas shook his head. I must be dreaming. There's no other way to explain this.

Then, the horrible burning smell.

Murmurs broke the students as they picked up on the bad scent. Tomas and Kuai shared a knowing look. They're burning rubber, not turkey.

Then, the Grandmaster stormed into the dining hall. He sat in his seat at the front, and the students quickly fell silent. Curiously, his face was red.

Tomas nudged Kuai gently, and the young cryomancer nodded slowly.

Eventually, the Grandmaster couldn't take it; he got up and exited the room, a hand clutching his behind.

"Look at Sektor!" Kuai hissed.

Tomas swivelled his head to look at the Grandmaster's son; their bully. His face had turned an even brighter red, and he seemed ready to burst. He too soon departed.

The rest of the day progressed normally, save for the free day that Kuai and Tomas got with Master Hydro. The teacher had brought the two students to the nearby town, where the two were able to see outside the Lin Kuei boundaries for the first time in their lives.

However, the day had come to an end, and the two best friends found themselves back in their room. Tomas sighed as he lay on his bed. He looked to the side where Kuai was sitting on the windowsill. He was now the one staring up at the night sky.

"Master Hydro was right. The blue moon is really big."

Tomas studied his friend. "Kuai, can I ask you a question?"

Kuai didn't turn. "Depends on the question," he replied. His voice didn't have a teasing tone in it.

Tomas shifted. "Why do you continue to disobey the Lin Kuei? I saw Bi-Han pull you to the side after the breakfast. He looked really mad."

The cryomancer didn't say anything. Tomas sighed softly, turning around to go to sleep.

"It's because of him."

Tomas turned back around. Kuai continued to speak, staring up at the moon. "He just doesn't talk to me anymore; every time I try to talk to him, he just ignores me or walks away. By doing these little pranks, I capture a little bit of his attention every time."

Tomas felt something shift in his chest. He had wondered what Kuai was thinking about as he stared up at the bright full moon, but he liked to think that Kuai had imagined himself flying up to touch the moon, free from all of this.

Kuai's posture deflated. "I miss the old Bi-Han," he whispered, still looking up at the sky.

Tomas felt useless. He didn't know what to do to help his friend; this issue delved into matters beyond his knowledge.

"Happy Birthday, Kuai," Tomas finally said, turning to sleep.

Kuai had stayed there for the rest of the night, looking up at the moon with a hopeful expression on his face.