[center][h2]Children of Mortality[/h2][/center] [i]”Pop?[/i] “No, that’s stupid,” Chagatai scrunched his particularly dirty face at Poppler. The young boy sat in a leafy push, his woolen pants pulled up to his knees and torn silly from the poking branches. He had foregone his loose shirt hours ago, leaving his naked torso scratched up and muddy. In his hand he held a slightly curved stick, or what he had called ‘the perfect stick’ when he had found it. Poppler whizzed close and crackled quietly, and Chagatai nodded, “Good idea, he won--” A twig snapped outside the bush and Chagatai’s face turned into a wicked smile, just as wide and cheshire like as his mother’s. With a screeching battlecry he jumped from his hiding spot, stick swinging wildly. [i]THWACK[/i] The stick cracked across the back of a younger sibling, Li. The white haired child instantly broke into a loud wail and Chagatai cringed, “LI! Where’s Wenbo?” “H-He... “ There was a sniffle, “We-went back in-insiiiide!” Li broke out into tears again, a blush of swollen red appearing around his collar. Chagatai scrunched his shoulders with guilt, “Oh come on Li, it’s not even that bad. I was just playing.” Li just looked up at Chagatai with angry eyes, reddened with tears. He had eyes the color of heliopolis and freckles of gold glittered across his shallow set nose. He looked a lot like Momma Xiaoli. Chagatai sighed. “You know Altansarnai plays this game just fine, she’s only three years older than you,” Chagatai defended. Li frowned deeply, “Momma says I’m too little! Don’t hit the too little ones, Chaggie!” “Fine, be that way,” Chagatai threw his stick on the ground, “I was just playing is all.” The two stared at each other for a while. “Want to come help me ambush Wenbo?” Li nodded. Poppler crackled. [hr] “Temüjin! I told you not to play with it!” Wenbo sat with an angry frown on his face next to the toddler Temüjin, who was still whacking his balled fists at what was once a small mud wall, and a pile of planks and building blocks. “Now my city is in ruins!” “Waaah!” roared the little Temüjin as it flattened a mud barracks. “I’m telling mom!” Wenbo shouted. The toddler, arguably more frightened at the shout than the threat itself, gave him a quivering look and began to whimper. Wenbo groaned curtly and picked up his little brother. “... Yeah, you wouldn’t understand that, huh… Ai, could you come over here?” Three small girls looked over at Wenbo, one of them standing up. She looked to be only a little younger than Wenbo himself, dressed in a blue woolen robe. She brushed her alabaster hair behind her ear and gave Wenbo a groan. “Do I have to?” she muttered. “Please?” Wenbo held the squirming toddler out towards his sister. “He’s ruining my city.” “You and your dumb cities…” she said with a roll of the eyes and came over, took the toddler and went into the largely expanded family house. Wenbo put his hands on his hips and frowned down at the wastes of mud, stone and wood that had once been his magnificent work. He looked over to his other two sisters who seemingly were making small pots and bowls out of clay. The youngest, Bayarmaa, seemed to struggle with the proper placement of the straws in the pot’s skeleton. His week’s masterpiece having been levelled regardless, he went over and reached out to the girl. “Hey, let me help you,” he said with a smile. Bayarmaa gave him a wide-eyed stare before carefully offering him the pot-to-be. With a few deft pulls and tugs, Wenbo had properly aligned the skeleton and left it for her to complete. He offered it back to her again. “Here. Follow that seem as you braid the straws, and it won’t happen again.” “Th-thank you, Wenbo,” Bayarmaa said with a smile. Wenbo nodded first at her, then at the elder sister, Laia, before walking off. “LOOOOOOOK!” Altansarnai came storming through the gates of the estate. Her trousers were coated with red and dried blood covered her hands and arms as she held up a freshly killed quoll. Hermes walked behind her, a proud smile on her face and a basket of fresh kills. The blue-haired girl presented the defeated quoll over her brother and sisters, “I am the master of the wilderness.” “AH HA!” Chagatai suddenly pounced from behind a pile of drying straw. Altansarnai flinched and dropped her quoll, her fist coming up as she closed her eyes. [i]WHAM[/i] Chagatai coughed as her balled fist rammed into his gut and he croaked, “Good... one.” Li peeked out from behind the straw, a wondered look on his tiny face as Chagatai fell to one knee. Hermes rolled her eyes, “You two, always at it.” She scooped up the quoll and plopped it into her basket. She rested the burden on her hip as she surveyed her children. Chagatai looked up at her with a wince of pain but a small smile, Altansarnai standing proud. Hermes’ eyes fell on the mess of mud and wooden debris, “Oh Wenbo, what happened?” Poppler whizzed by Hermes and circled Wenbo with a crackle. Hermes rolled her eyes, “I can only imagine what he is saying.” “Nothing bad, momma,” Chagatai folded his hands after dusting himself off. “Temüjin ruined it,” Wenbo said sourly and crossed his arms over his chest. “Mom, why are babies always so…” He clenched his fists. “Why--” “Temüjin?” Hermes looked around, “Where is he?” “He is in the house, momma,” Bayarmaa hummed as she plotted clumps of clay onto her pot. Hermes looked back at Wenbo, “I’m sorry, my little honeypot. Maybe Temüjin can play with Li for a little… but baby, don’t forget that you were the little one who used to whack me on the head with a spoon. Give him time to grow up.” Hermes cocked a brow and let her basket of quolls fall onto her butchering table, “Anyone want to help?” Chagatai ran over eagerly, scooping up a ceramic knife. Altansarnai jostled for her own on the other side of the table. As the two got to work, Hermes pressed her back against the table to look over at Wenbo, she folded her arms inside her cloak. “How is my little baby anyways?” “Mooom! I’m--...” He stopped himself and sneered. “... I’m fine. It’s just that, ugh, now I gotta start from the bottom again and--” He pocketed his hands in his robe and wriggled his nose at some bypassing dust on the wind. He looked over at the butchering table and raised a brow at Altansarnai’s attempt to bite the skin off her quoll. “You’re doing it wrong, by the way…” he said with a sigh and went over. “I know!” Altansarnai frowned and stopped. She stared daggers and Chagatai gave Wenbo a knowing look from behind Altansarnai’s back. As his sister stared on, Chagatai started to make funny faces at Wenbo. Wenbo’s serious demeanor began to gradually crack apart, snorts of laughter escaping as his mouth contorted into strained, flat smile - one that his eyes could do little to hide. “W-what?” Altansarnai growled and looked behind her. Chagatai sucked in his lips and made a straight face. Altansarnai groaned and punched Chagatai’s side. The little warrior smiled wide, “For the twins!” He cried as he shoved into Altansarnai. The two fell to the ground, kicking up a small bit of dirt. “Hey!” Hermes shouted over the wrestling match and the two froze. Chagatai rolled away from the scuffle and sat up. “But mom,” He defended. “Chaggie.” Hermes tilted her head. “For the twins…” Chagatai sighed and stood up defeated. Then, in a flash of movement, Wenbo snatched the quoll that Hermes had been careless enough to look away from and set off into a sprint towards the dining hall. “The twins will never surrender!” he shouted as he waved the bloody quoll about, spilling all over his sleeve, Poppler crackling madly beside him. He managed to ascend the tiny stone up to the main door to the house, when it was pushed open in a gust of wind by a frowning Xiaoli. Behind her sat Zhongcheng and Ansong, a brother and a sister both frozen in the middle of making dumplings, staring at the bleeding quoll carcass in Wenbo’s hand. “Wenbo!” she shouted. Wenbo gulped with a quiet ‘uh-oh’. “Oh, you’re in for it now,” Altansarnai mocked from over by the table. Hermes hushed her, a scared Li clinging to her hand. Wenbo rose a defensive finger, but Xiaoli held out a stern hand, her brow furrowed to the point where it almost covered her eyes. “Give it here,” she said sharply. Wenbo obeyed mechanically and Xiaoli held the carcass a distance from her body. She grimaced at it and looked back down at her son. “Wenbo, look what you did to your clothes…” she muttered and shook her head. “It’s my fault,” Chagatai blurted in Wenbo’s defense. The shirtless warrior shuffled over, “Wenbo was just building his cities.” Hermes crossed her arms and looked up at Xiaoli. Wenbo looked over his shoulder at Chagatai with a concerned frown, wagging his flat hand over his throat. Xiaoli’s eyes blinked over at Chagatai, then at the part of the garden where the ruins of Wenbo’s civilisation laid. She sighed and walked over to the butchering bench. Wenbo followed along with a hanging head. Meanwhile, Zhongcheng and Ansong shrugged at one another and went back to wrapping dumplings. “I killed that one, momma,” Altansarnai said as Xiaoli got closer, “Real quick too.” Xiaoli cocked her head to the side and smiled. “Our little Alta’s getting so fast, isn’t she?” she giggled and knelt down to nuzzle the cheerful girl. “At this rate, you’ll be as fast as your mother soon.” She rose back up and deposited the quoll on the table again. She gave Hermes a weary look. “Well, killing them isn’t everything,” Chagatai muttered and crossed his arms jealously. Hermes gave Xiaoli a tiny frown and put a hand on her son’s shoulder, “Don’t worry Chaggie, you have your own skills.” “I could do it,” Chagatai shrunk, “But Altansarnai doesn’t have to listen to them before they--” He frowned. and Hermes patted his back. Altansarnai rolled her eyes. “I know,” Hermes straightened out, “Anyways-- Xiaoli?” She looked over at Xiaoli. “Yeah?” Xiaoli said. “I’m thinking we should send Wenbo and Chagatai out to the gardens and then to do some shearing. Make up for what they ruined, maybe a little work will ease their abundant energy today,” She eyed the two. “Mom! We were just playing!” Chagatai defended. Wenbo stuck a protesting finger into the air. “We haven’t ruined anything! Others have ruined our--” “Mhm!” Hermes looked at the half wrangled quoll, “I suppose Temüjin wrestled my quoll from the butcher table. You boys know that there is no rough play around the knives.” “Altansarnai hit me first!” Chagatai whined, “You were there!” Hermes looked over at Altansarnai then back at Xiaoli. At this point, Li was hiding behind Hermes leg. “Hap-hap!” Xiaoli snapped at Chagatai. “You know what, I think that’s a stellar idea, sweetgrass,” Xiaoli let out and smiled warmly at Hermes. “But mom--!” Wenbo began, trying to wriggle out of Xiaoli’s grip. Xiaoli sucked a sharp breath in through her nose, knelt switfly down before Wenbo and glared into his eyes. “Garden. Now.” “Yes, mom,” Wenbo eventually groaned and shuffled towards the gate, nodding Chagatai along. “Ahhh, snapfruit,” Chagatai groaned and sulked off with Wenbo, Poppler following along. Li peeked out from behind Hermes’ legs. “Do I have to go too?” Xiaoli looked down at Li and cocked her head to the side. “Do you want to?” Li nodded his speckled face. Xiaoli sighed. “Alright, but take Ai along with you. Someone has to keep you three in check.” Li ran as fast as his little legs would go, quickly snatching Ai’s hands in both of his and tugging her along, her groaning all the way. [hr] Whereas the garden had started as a humble patch in front of the gates to the mansion, it had since been moved to the nearby grasslands. A few tree-eaters that Chagatai and Wenbo had convinced to stay were lethargically chewing on chopped-up pieces of lumber stacked into small piles. The vegetables were arranged in neat, satisfying rows ontop of tilled earth. Wenbo pouted his lips and kicked a rock. “You didn’t have to back me up like that, Chaggie,” Wenbo mutter, albeit in a voice that seemed much more grateful than his words. “You know I always have your back, right or wrong. We are [i]The[/i] twins.” Chagatai smiled wide, “I have you, brother.” “Me!” There was a huff, “too!” Li panted as he ran up to the others, Ai strolling behind. “Oh yeah? From behind Mom’s back?” Chagatai teased, the joke going over Li’s tiny head. “Yep!” Wenbo snickered. “Li, you gotta be more brave than that! Challenge a bit, you know!” “Like you did with Mother?” Ai said and rolled her eyes. “Yeah…” Chagatai picked up a hoe and rubbed the back of his neck, “Wen, I don’t think grabbing that quoll was the best idea. You know how quick mom is-- I’m surprised we are just gardening.” “W-well--!” Wenbo gave Chagatai a look of betrayal. “I thought we were gonna do something big, you know! I didn’t know Mother was in the dining hall. I thought she was up taking care of Temüjin!” Chagatai shrugged and struck the earth. “No, I was!” Ai snapped and put her hands on her hips. “Now are we going to shear or what?” “Just don’t shear Old Tenchu,” Chagatai broke up a root, “He doesn’t like it. He says he is too old for it now.” Poppler crackled. “Yeah, yeah, we know,” Ai muttered and took a stone sickle from the neatly arranged tools placed inside a tiny shed next to them. Wenbo winced and shrugged at Chagatai, mouthing something about the morning, peeing and fruit juice. “Ai!” Li clung to his sister, “I can’t shear, I’m too little!” “You always say that,” Chagatai stood up straight, “Go get a basket or something and try and find berries, you remember the ones?” “Blue!” Li ran off to find a basket. Chagatai shook his head and jutted his chin at Wenbo. “Do you want to go exploring tomorrow?” Wenbo smiled wryly. “You bet. Need some new rocks for my new city anyway. Preferably red ones - the palace shall be made out of the finest clay and jewels!” “Oh!” Chagatai pinched his chin, “You know… I know exactly where to get the best red rocks.” Wenbo snapped his fingers. “Then that is where we’re going! Wait, where is it?” Chagatai rubbed his arm over his mouth as he spoke, “errr… moving mountains.” “No! You can’t go there,” shouted Ai and pointed a stern finger at the two of them, the tree-eater next to her nearly jumping with fright. Wenbo groaned. “Ai, it’ll be fine! We’ve been there before.” “And you almost got killed!” Ai snapped back. “Not ‘spose to go there,” Li waddled up with a half full basket, “Momma said.” “We didn’t almost get killed,” Chagatai whined, “At best we got a scraped knee or two from a tumble. You make it sound like the Warden in all his might descended upon us.” He nudged Wenbo, “Right?” “Yeah!” Wenbo agreed. “A twisted ankle and bruised elbows. No biggie!” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, it’s just for some rocks. It’ll be just like a stroll in the woods, if anything.” “I’m going to tell mom and mother if you go,” Ai said strictly. “You wouldn’t dare,” Wenbo said and squinted his eyes menacingly. “She can’t,” Chagatai smiled smugly and nudged Wenbo, “Remember when she was butterfly watching… aaaaannnd someone saw her go too deep into the woods? The sparkles were in the air and everything.” “Sparkles and everything,” Li repeated for little reason as he mushed a berry between his fingers. Ai’s face turned near-completely red, her lips pressed together as her black eyes flamed with embarrassment. Wenbo snickered. “Oh yeeeaaah, I think I remember something like that… So, we got a deal, Ai? We won’t snitch if you don’t.” Ai cast her gaze down. After a moment, she let out a sharp “fine” and turned back to the tree-eater she was shearing. Wenbo grinned widely at Chagatai and winked. “So tomorrow after morning chores,” Chagatai nodded. “Can I come?” Li sparkled. “No,” Chagatai shook his head, “You’re too little.” Li frowned and went back to his berries. Chagatai looked back at Wenbo, “If we do it quick, we can come back before dinner and everything.” “Then it’s settled. Let’s finish this up and pretend like nothing happened - maybe they’ll ease up tomorrow’s chores if we’re good now?” “Maybe,” Chagatai thought about it, “Mother made sweetgrass pudding for tonight, you know.” “O-ho-ho-ho,” Wenbo voiced with a blissful smile. “You bet I could smell that all the way into the courtyard. We’re eating dumplings, too!” A quiet rumble revealed just how hungry he actually was. “Alright, let’s do this fast and properly - I am starving.” “No dessert for the twins,” Li pouted, “You got in trouble.” “Bah,” Chagatai waved a hand, “Mom will forget about that, and mother seemed to be in a good mood. Let’s do this.” [i]”POP!”[/i] [hider=Prestigio] Starting at 47. -6 to teach Shengshese reading and writing to the dreamers -6 to teach clay and clay working to the dreamers -6 to teach the basics of fire and cooking to the dreamers -6 to teach clothing and wool making to the dreamers -6 to teach gardening to the dreamers +1 for minor role +1 for collaboration ending 19. [/hider] [hider=Child Count:10] Chagatai - 12 Wenbo - 12 Li - 5 Altansarnai - 8 Temüjin - 2 Ai - 11 Bayarmaa - 6 Zhongcheng - 9 Ansong - 7 Laia - 10 [/hider] [hider=summary] Chagatai is out hunting his brother Wenbo with the aid of Poppler when he accidentally hits his younger brother Li instead. The two make up and decide to go find Wenbo. Wenbo is pissed because Temujin, their youngest brother, is wrecking his mud city. He whines and gets his sister Ai to take him. He then shows his other sis how to make pottery better. Hermes arrives with Altansurnai, who had just killed her first Quoll. Chagatai ambushes Altansurnai but gets a gut punch in respose. The two then go butcher. Wenbo sees that Altan is doing it wrong and corrects her. She is mad about it and Chagatai mocks her behind her back with Wenbo. She catches on and punches Chaggie. Chaggie tackles her FOR TWIN HONOR. They get in trouble with Hermes, then Wenbo takes it too far and steals Hermes quoll but ggets caught by Xiaoli. Punishment is dished out and the twins are sent to the garden to work. Ai and Li tag along. Chagatai reveals a plan to get red rocks from the forbidden mountains. Ai argues against it but Wenbo is ready. Chagatai reminds Ai that he has dirt on her for going to a forbidden zone and she drops it. Chaggie and Wen wen discuss the plan [/hider]