Navrik was laughing at something Lucinda had said in retort to Sal, all the kids in their back and forth. It was a normal night for them, pleasant and standard but Navrik wouldn’t have had it any other way. He was wiping down the kitchen counters with a wet wipe, cleaning was his stronger skill to cooking. He didn’t always live this way, his old life was full of brutality and violence from the minute he was born. Ripping through his mother in a similar fashion to that of his brother in law, though Navrik would never think of him that way. But Navrik too had lived a life where he hurt people, killed even, a lot actually. It evolved from a birthright, born upon the pedestal bestowed on him and his sister, cut from the cloth of the diety their people celebrated. Later, it was purely at the behest of his sister and her own cruel intentions. Their people washed away and only them remaining because of their divine biology. Natas maintained their right and lifestyle to kill and conquer, while it wore on Navrik and his mind. Later he would finally escape Natas, only because she allowed him to. But free still, the only killing he did at first was in the participation of wars; drafted through the years before finally getting to live a life that was purely his.
In this life his kids celebrated his burnt pancakes and giggled about the eggshells in their eggs. He could sit on the porch of the house he built with his wife and admire the majesty of a life that was finally his own and the peace that came with it.
It wasn’t a peace the Navares twins had ever know. Remus panted hard, running a few paces behind his brother. His heart thudded hard against his chest, violently fluttering in anticipation of his little sister ripping him apart if she caught them.
Romulus glanced back to search for his brother, but quickly found error in that as he wasn't able to see their path giving way to a steep hill that he promptly tumbled down gracelessly. He bit back a panicked yelp, but was unable to hold in the painful grunts of impact as he rolled down the hill, his body striking rocks and hard earth. Though his body ached, as soon as he finished tumbling, he quickly lurched to his feet and, without thought, spun again to search for his brother and help him up if he too had fallen. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Like his brother before him, Remus rolled down the hill without grace; groaning as he rolled at Romulus’s feet. He tried to hurry to his feet with the assistance of his brother, preparing to run yet again as he heard the hard pad falls of their approaching sister.
Remus and Romulus weren’t infallible in their skills and performance as fighters but they were experienced at least. Their moves calculated, force applied appropriately where needed. But Fauna wasn’t; fueled purely by her own fury, she paid little attention to her footing or surroundings. Her brothers scent still carried on the wind and she could hear their hearts beating in her ears, her bloodlust drove her forward as her sense tunneled on the twins but not the steep drop off the hill. A surprised and pained yelp escaped her as she tumbled down the hill after her siblings.
Romulus didn't wait to watch Fauna roll all the way down the hill, tumbling as he and his brother did, instead he reached out and grabbed Remus's arm, despite a dull throb in his hand where he must have cut himself, and yanked him along as he began running again, hoping to put as much distance as possible yet again.
Out of all of the Navares children, only the youngest sibling, Amulius, was able to use magic like their mother, however, much like their father, Romulus could at least use small teleportation magic with the help of sigils. So as soon as he was sure they were far enough away he pulled his hand from his brother and haphazardly raised his cut palm to a tree and smeared a circle and several shapes that he hoped were right though he could not see them through the darkness.
When he was finished, he listened carefully for his sister, but it was hard to hear anything beyond the blood rushing through his ears. The tree where he'd drawn the sigil became illuminated with a dull light, perhaps not as luminous as it would have been if Amulius had performed this feat, and he promptly shot his hand back out to grab Remus's arm, pulling them both close together as he rushed them towards the light. He screwed his eyes shut as they rushed towards the tree and tried to think of the safest place he could think of, to someone who knew how to best protect them from their parents.
To the only person he could think of who had ever escaped a life like theirs.
Navrik.
Romulus had only ever seen his uncle once or twice in his life, only ever at a distance at the behest of his parents, but he could remember his face. The slant of his eyes, the inky shade of his hair, even the flat planes of his face. That's all he needed to think of, just Navrik, and hopefully, if it all went right, wherever their uncle was was where they'd end up. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Remus held onto his brother as the portal drawn in the tree opened. Remus didn’t have the gift for magic like his mother or little brother, he couldn’t even manage basic sigils. But he was thankful he could lean into his brother and disappear in an embrace of light. Like Romulus, Remus had only seen Navrik once maybe, but his face was familiar enough to him in the way he looked like their mother. Inky black hair and almond eyes that resembled dark pools. He let out an exhale and hoped that by going to Navrik, they were going somewhere where they would be safe.
Though he had traveled via magic plenty of times in his life, Romulus was sure he would never be used to how fast and disorienting it was. Almost as soon as he and Remus were swallowed by the light, they were being spat out on porch somewhere. Romulus landed flat on his back with a harsh thud that knocked the wind right out of him. He landed with so much force that he could hear the slats of wood beneath him groan and creak as if they were prepared to snap at the impact. His first instinct told him to shake it off and run, adrenaline still thrumming from Fauna's chase, but instead all he could muster was some belabored wheezing as he tried to roll over to right himself.
Meanwhile, in the house, Owen was walking from the kitchen to the living room with a bowl of caramel popcorn Havania had whipped up before starting lunches. They planned to sit down and watch a movie all together, which was fairly normal for the family. He nearly dropped the popcorn however as a bright flash of light followed by two loud thuds came from just outside.
Havania had seen the light and heard the thumps from where she was finishing up and she rushed over to where Owen hovered by a window looking out towards the front porch. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder and reeled him back.
"Navrik?" She called out for her husband.
Though they had lived a normal, quiet life for the majority of their kids' upbringing, Havania didn't forget the threats both she and Navrik had encountered in their lives. She couldn't forget how her own life had been disrupted not once, but twice by the werewolf who had turned her and then of course there was the matter of Navrik's own sister who was more than a dangerous threat. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Before Romulus could regain his footing, Remus fell on top of him coming out of the portal. Colliding into his twin with a grunt and a moan, before rolling off onto the porch. Navrik was no stranger to that sort of light, and he could already smell it was his nephews. Navrik had wondered about those boys and what their fate would be, but he couldn’t know what the intention was behind their sudden arrival.
“Kids, hole up in the room with your mom!” Navrik called over his shoulder as he rushed to the doorway. He didn’t want to assume the worst of them, but the sons of the two most vile people in the world, he couldn’t be sure. He flung open the screen door and stepped onto the porch.
“What’s going on, boys?” Navrik sort of yelled as he approached, not at a run but a lengthy stride to reach them.
Romulus looked up to see Navrik approaching he and his twin. Though they crash landed, at least they had turned up where they had intended.
"W-we need...help." He managed to gasp.
Havania had gathered all their children and flocked them to the mudroom where she tucked them inside, but instead of joining them, she went to shut them inside. Sal quickly grabbed her arm, brows furrowed fretfully.
"Dad said for you to stay too." He said to her.
"I'll be right back, I promise." She assured, taking her arm back. "Don't any of you come out unless me or Dad come get you, okay?" Before anyone could protest, she went ahead and shut the door and hurried to check in on her husband. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Navrik slowed his pace from an urgent stride to careful steps, any fear or defensiveness washing away. He observed the boys, both looked to be badly injured.
“What happened?”
Remus struggled to get to his feet, tugging at Romulus to help him do the same. But he was still catching his breath though the adrenaline was beginning to wear off as pain seeped in.
“We left. Or we’re trying to, can you please please help?” Remus pleaded through labored breaths.
Romulus allowed himself to be hauled up to his feet, but heavily leaned against his brother for support as he did so.
"Our father told us to leave...our sister chased us." Romulus explained, his breath coming back to him at last. He looked up, pleadingly, to his uncle. "I thought since you left, you could help us. We didn't know where else to go."
Havania hurried to the door, pausing when she saw first her husband and then the two boys standing pitifully before him. They were young, perhaps even younger than Sal and Neran, they were also hurt, but that wasn't what Havania first noted. What she first took in was the fact that these two boys were the spitting image of Navik's sister's mate.
"Navik?" She called out questioningly, wondering if she needed to engage or not. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Navrik felt his reservations wash away quickly as he heard their plea. He observed they were in rough shape, they appeared defeated and Navrik couldn’t refrain from sympathizing. He couldn’t help but wonder how different his life could’ve been, if someone helped him when they saw he needed it.
“They need help,” Navrik answered over his shoulder to his wife.
He closed the gap between them and offered out a hand to steady them and help them up properly. “We’ll take care of you, you will be safe here.” He assured them with kind eyes, he meant it. While there wasn’t a physical reason that Natas and Armand couldn’t walk in and massacre them, he purely believed in the sanctuary of the home he built.
Romulus looked passed his uncle to the short woman who'd called his name. It wasn't often that Natas or Armand spoke of Navrik or his going ons, but the few times he had been spoken about, at least once or twice his wife was mentioned. Armand had called her a small, ugly thing, but looking at her now, Romulus wondered if they were the same person at all. The woman was indeed small, dwarfed by Uncle Navrik, but she was beautiful with warm brown skin and pouted rose lips. Where there was only cold in his mother's face, her features were warm and open.
Havania wanted to rush towards the boys, her maternal instincts grabbing hold of her, but she refrained. She didn't want to scare them if they were as easily rattled as Navrik sometimes was still. Instead, she approached slowly and reached out for Romulus's hand, which she noticed was bleeding.
Romulus felt himself jolt a little, but was able to keep his hand in Havania's.
"Can I wrap this up for you? Are you hungry?" She asked. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“She’s not gonna hurt you.” Navrik assured as he led the boys inside. Navrik knew what it was like, coming away from Natas and relearning what physical touch can mean. After so long of only receiving physical abuse at the hands of his sister, it was hard to not flinch when someone got too close. But the first time he held Havania, and every time since, it was like his soul was finally free. He hoped that with their help, maybe the boys could know that peace too.
He nudged open the door and held it open for his wife and nephews.
“Do you want to get them sat down in the kitchen?” Navrik asked his wife.
Before Havania could respond, another voice spoke up.
“Who’re they?” Sal asked as he stood in the entry of the mudroom with Neran flanking him closely. Owen was standing on his tiptoes to try and peer around his brothers. They all appeared to be actively NOT listening to what their parents had said before.
Romulus jumped at the sudden appearance of the others. He knew their uncle was married but didn’t know that he had children, several of them even from the looks of it. And they clearly were his and Havania’s children with his almond shaped eyes and her warm brown skin. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“These...Are your cousins.” Navrik answered slowly, only because he didn’t know another way to answer. “They’re hurt and need some help, can you give them some space while we take care of them?” Navrik asked.
Lucinda hadn’t followed her brothers into the mud room, but had her head poked out from behind the doorway. She’d overheard what was said and already padded into the downstairs bathroom and emerged with the first aid kit.
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