As he had expected, it wasn't hard to find the encampment. Atsushi had waited until the sun had set and the campfire smoke floated up like a beacon in the sky. With determined steps he set off.

There was no real plan; he'd exhausted his tact and manners this afternoon.

Ultimatums and requests had fallen on deaf ears, and Atsushi wasn't foolish enough to resort to violence knowing he'd be outnumbered. This was a reminder, or mayhap a warning, there would be no place to hide. Just because Ryou had retreated into his sanctuary did not mean the situation was laid to rest.

When Atsushi set foot inside the encampment a whole slew of eyes watched his progress, making note of the newest arrival. Perhaps it was the face he sported that saved him from being ganged up on instantly.

He’d never know since at that moment a grubby hand latched onto his.

”Ryou! Ryou! You promised to take us swimming after your bath. Have you finished? And your momma is going to be so mad, you cut your hair. She’s not going to like it. Nope. Nope. She’s not.” This particular little cherub had raven hair that hung to her knees in thick braids wound one about the other and tied off with a simple ribbon of blue.

She stopped in her tracks and tugged on Atsushi’s arm. “Did you finish, huh? Huh? Cause all the others are waiting, too. And Day said we couldn’t go unless one of the ‘dults were with us cause it’s dangerous and no one has the time. They’re all busy.” Talking at a mile a minute it seemed she didn’t plan on shutting up any time soon.

Atsushi looked around for a moment, making certain he hadn't garnered any negative attention. Satisfied there was no imminent danger, Atsushi sank down to his haunches, carefully holding the girl's hand. "I'm almost done," he said, trying to sound sincere enough to pass the test of hopeful eyes. "I just forgot something so I need to run back and get it real quick, okay?"

So it was a bath was it? All the better. After all, metal and water didn't particularly suit each other. It was a pity for Ryou.

She frowned and nibbled at her bottom lip. The child mulled over the words as well as the promise behind them. “Okay. But only if you promise and your momma said if I saw you to remind you that she needs help feeding Sheba. Oh and you’re supposed to stop by your wagon and get her list. Cause supplies are low and the herbs need to be gathered and if you don’t do it now you might forget and then when someone gets sick we won’t have them. She said so."

Like most children this one spent an awful lot of time curiously listening to and exploring everything around her. “And you’re supposed to stay away from the village. I heard her tell Granny some evil man could be there and it wouldn’t be good if he saw you cause it’s supposed to be only one but there’s two.” She bowed her head and scuffed the toes of a bare dirty foot over the ground. “So you have to promise not to go back cause we don’t want some evil gadjo hurting you. If he did she’d be sad and so would we cause no one plays with us like you do and we all love you. So promise, ‘kay?

It took him a moment before he realized he was staring. The words were swimming as if darting about daring Atsushi to decipher meaning but failing each time. The terminology the names were nothing more than confusion no matter how he tried to make sense of it.

Atsushi blinked and then realized she was waiting for a response.

He smiled, realizing she wasn't about to leave until she heard what she wanted. "I promise. On all accounts." On an impulsive urge, he winked at her. "Now go and be a good girl and tell the others that I'll be right over, okay?"

“Okay. But hurry. It’ll be too dark soon.” And with that she was darting off toward the small gaggle of children waiting outside a wagon from which a slow melody floated.

Atsushi watched her leave and then stood. Now freed, he began to make his way towards the water. Purposely he strode by the other members of the camp towards the slopped hill. Pausing for a moment, he watched the ground as he started his descent, taking care to keep his footsteps light as he weaved between the trees.

By the time Atsushi reached the small clearing hidden away inside the trees, Ryou was just settling the softness of doeskin trousers upon his body, waist band left to cling to him while busy hands worked at tying their binds. The raven-haired gypsy was totally at ease with his surroundings; the soft babbling of water as it shifted and flowed played a splendid melody with the awakening sounds of nocturnal creatures starting to emerge from their havens and soothed the constant feeling of disquiet he’d been dealing with since his adventure in the village.

Once his fingers grew still, binds finally tied securely, Ryou started reaching for his shirt. The shifting of his body allowed the moon to play over the roughly hewn talisman swinging from a chain about his neck. Soft gentle light flowed, slithering over him almost as if playing a game of tag with the droplets of water clinging to pale skin and ebony locks alike.

 It was fascinating really, and Atsushi couldn't help but stare. Even with the pale night-light, the similarities were unmistakable. It would be a lie if Atsushi said he wasn't curious. Clearly they were related; the only question was how?

He stepped forward and cleared his throat. There was no threat at the moment, not with the other boy unarmed and half dressed. "Your family seems nice."

Ryou, so sure he was alone as he most often was unless one of the brats was clinging to his coattail or his mother was nagging at him, (Lovingly of course) jumped a foot or two in the air, a screech of surprise slipping free before he could stop it. Gasping for breath, he sought to still the rapid tat-a-tat of his heartbeat as he turned to face his uninvited guest.

"Do you," His mouth was his only weapon at the moment and since he wasn't exactly sure why Atsushi was there, he used it. "Have some kinky tendencies I should know about? Like fetishes for watching boys bathe?" Not like it wasn't obvious why his doppelganger was there after Ryou had charged thousands of dollars worth of stuff to his bill all over the village

His family?

Instantly, Ryou's guard went up, slamming into high gear with nothing more than the mention of his kumpania. "Did you do anything to them?" He could pay for his own sins and didn't care to have his mother or other relatives dragged into his little battle with this Englishman.

'Oh?' Atsushi almost quirked an eyebrow; so there was something the scamp cared about. He jumped down the short distance to where Ryou was standing and fixed him with a steady stare. By all rights he had the advantage, sword in its scabbard ready to be drawn should he sense any hostility.

"Regrettably, I didn't get a chance to meet your mother."

Ryou’s hand lowered to his side in search of the dagger that was missing, a fact he was reminded of when his hand met nothing but the soft tan hide covering his legs. He was at a disadvantage and he was suddenly very aware of that fact. The same hand rose to fidget with the broken bit of silver nestled just beneath his heart. The nervous habit was one he’d never broken and probably never would.

”I wasn’t aware you cared to meet her. I did give you the chance to and you turned the invitation down.” Ryou reminded his twin as he took a step back. Damnit! He liked his personal space and hated having it invaded without his express permission.

Atsushi moved forward not willing to give Ryou enough room to flee. If the other boy was uncomfortable, that suited him all the same. "Not so nice is it? Someone coming into where you live uninvited unannounced?"

Ryou’s hand fell away from the pendant, once again reaching toward his hip out of instinct alone. He felt threatened and hemmed in with the creek (if one could call it that) at his back and Atsushi blocking his way. “What did you come here for?” Another step back and another until his bare feet came precariously close to the waters edge.

Atsushi moved again, eyes firmly set upon Ryou watching for any sign that he would flee. Confrontation was one thing; dealing with an irate camp wasn't what he had planned for. He'd come for his belongings but at the moment he had to admit he was intrigued.

Someone that looked so similar but acted so different; he was making a concerted effort to remind himself that these were not civil people. That's what he had always been taught. The little slip of a girl should have done nothing to change his mind but...

The overhead clouds shifted again and the moonlight fell upon the twins once more. Atsushi paused, then spoke his tone a soft wonder. "You look... this is too strange."

Ryou froze when the note of wonder haunting softly spoken words touched his ears. No, he still didn't feel any safer without his blade. Not when Atsushi stood there with a sword hanging off his side and especially not after what he'd done earlier. But there was something there that drew him; made him want to reach out and brush his fingers over the planes of that face. To see if it was honestly real and not some figment of a mind going insane.

"We," Ryou still felt like a deer caught in a hunter's trap but nothing short of death could have stopped him from tentatively reaching out. "Really do," Hesitant fingers stopped midair, almost as if he were asking for permission to indulge his curiosity. "Look alike."

"It doesn't make sense." Atsushi shook his head. He balked, taking half a step back, denying Ryou that tactic permission. His words were firm, as if suddenly trying to dismiss the entire circumstance by means of logic. "I know both my parents."

Ryou had spent his life being denied by one person or another. Whether gypsy or gadjo, there were always those who held his mixed blood against him. He was used to this, the terrible feeling of being alone and on the outside looking in. Always longing to be a part of the crowd but never allowed within. So why did this boy’s rejection hurt worse than any of the others?

”A trick of the fates.” He forced a note of levity into his words, pushed the pain deep down inside and started around Atsushi. “Just blame it on the ladies’ need to wreak havoc in human lives.”

The words held a wryness that Atsushi hadn't expected to hear. He merely watched as Ryou crossed over to his things, barely having the presence of mind to remember what he had come to do. Somehow it all seemed... trivial in the midst of this.

"Is that who you believe in? Fae and magic?" The words were not meant as an insult but rather a curiosity. Was this all a divine working, if so, what possible purpose could it hold?

Ryou knelt, gathering up his shirt and a jacket he often wore during performances. "I believe in many things." His mouth turned at the corners arrogance forced into his words. "I believe in the Fae, witches and magic. I believe in Lady Luck, the fates and many more deities a gadjo like you would look on with disgust." He clutched the bundle to him as a shield to ward off whatever trickery the fates had in store for him.

“Why are you here? If it’s about those dresses and the jewelry, you’ll be the one to take them back from her. Not I.” But it wouldn’t do Atsushi any good, as Ryou would merely relieve him of their burden again someday soon while the moon lay hidden behind the clouds and the stars slept a peaceful slumber that’d leave the world blanketed in darkness.

Atsushi balked at the taboo words spoken so easily and without remorse or seemingly conscious. He'd probably owe his priest a few 'Hail Mary's just for discussing such a thing. Yet that was not the topic of concern. As if snapping out of his daze, Atsushi moved to follow Ryou.

Ryou had had a point earlier. The baubles and dresses would do him no use and weren't worth the effort. Even so, not all things were replaceable, nor easily forgiven or forgotten. "I came for my sword."

“And if I don’t have it?” Ryou asked as he led the way from clearing to woods. He slipped easily into the bracken and bramble, nimbly heading toward the camp beyond without fear of being caught by the limbs that struggled to block his path.

Atsushi followed, one arm up to dissuade the brush from scratching at his face. His pace quickened wanting to reach Ryou before he got to the encampment, and thus his movements could be heard quite well.

"Let go!" Ryou ordered when a restraining hand fell onto his shoulder. He skidded to a stop, fighting the urge to baulk away from the touch like a frightened animal.

Using his momentum, Atsushi pulled forward intent on making Ryou turn to face him. He was growing weary with the cat and mouse tones of it all and it showed in his voice, the congenial manner gone. "If you don't have it, then you know where it is, and I suggest that you find it."

Ryou stumbled and turned, forced around in a swirl of raven hair that whipped about him on the air. Unprepared for the sudden momentum thrown his way, he squeaked out a totally undignified mewl of distress when he tripped and fell toward Atsushi. Clutching at the first thing he could find to steady him, Ryou perked a brow when his footing was once again true, stared straight into eyes that matched his own and simply drawled. "A leprechaun stole it and took it to the Emerald Isles."

Atsushi twitched, his patience tried, and decorum fading fast. Things seemed so much simpler this morning. Customs and manners and ways of the world, none of which Ryou seemed to have any concept of. "That's unfortunate given the circumstances."

"Oh?" Ryou wasn't giving up that sword. Not unless something drastically changed between them. Which, he mused as he jerked away from the hand on his shoulder. Wasn't going to happen. This boy was no different than the rest of them and that automatically threw Atsushi into the category of people Ryou was willing to do just about anything to annoy or anger.

Which, he was doing quite well, for the moment. "Look," Atsushi started, vying to keep a state of calm, "Just give me back my sword and I'll forgive you your other transgressions. If not, I'm sure the village won't look fondly upon a pack of thieves and liars perched on our doorstep."

Violence, wild and untamed ran like quick silver through Ryou’s veins, pushing him to lash out at his twin with more than words. He could overlook anything thrown his way but threats toward his familia were never overlooked. “I,” His eyes darkened as they swung toward the camp, spying the children as they slipped from wagons and makeshift tents and the occasional adult that tagged along behind, keeping close to them. “Fine!”

Atsushi had made a big mistake in lashing out and using Ryou’s family as a weapon against him. A cold knot of rage burned brightly within the gypsy as he turned and headed out of the woods on a course set straight for a lone ragged structure on wheels.

As they walked towards the camp Atsushi followed at Ryou's heels. The tension growing between the two of them was almost palatable in the air. Violence would bring an end to it all, but that was something Atsushi preferred to avoid.

Although; he had his misgivings about Ryou giving in this quickly. His hand fell back to his hilt. The gypsy had cheated once, it would only fit for it to happen again

Ryou stopped on the first step leading to the door of his home, glared over his shoulder and wasted no time at all in ordering. “Stay here. I don’t want your kind,” he spat the reference to any and all Englishmen out contemptuously. “Around my mother.” The whole lot of them were self-righteous, arrogant and holier than thou Asses.

”Day has already been tainted by people like you enough.” Hatred shown in blazing eyes before Ryou tore them away from his twin. He took a moment to compose his features and disappeared inside.

”Momma, I’m back.” Muffled and quiet slipped free, greeting the woman who pushed away from her seat to rise and meet the figure of her son as he came close.

Atsushi frowned as he disappeared. The enclosure.. house.. home? He wasn't sure how to describe it... was far from large. He circled it once, checking for exits and finding on small windows before he idled at the bottom of the stairs. Given Ryou's protective attitude, Atsushi doubted he'd slip away to leave him in his camp.

Snippets of conversation flowed on the air, disjointed as voices rose and fell. One feminine and the other male.

"She said you cut it."

"No. I'd never," A brief pause while Ryou shifted his belongings around, shoving various items to his left or right.

"But she saw.."

He grunted when his hand met the shrouded sword. "Day," A teasing grin and a brief kiss to a beloved cheek preludes his promise of "I'll never cut it. Not ever."

With that and a brief. "I'll be back soon." He started edging for his freedom. When his mother started to protest his leaving again so soon, Ryou tacked on a hasty "I promise." And beat it, slipping out the door.

The light from inside momentarily illuminated the darkness, causing Atsushi to turn his attention back towards the small structure that he'd decided to term as quaint. It was as if he could feel everyone in the camp watching him, looking at him with curious eyes. The sooner he left, the better it would be.

Ryou was quick to unravel the cloth shielding the broadsword he’d been given in Atsushi’s place. A flutter of cloth later the weapon freed and brandished effortlessly before him while a wicked light grew to brighten the deadly glare he leveled on his twin. “This sword? It’s the one you’ve been braying like a jackass over, isn’t it?”

Atsushi took a step back, unsheathing his sword as he did so. The feeling of being watched grew in leaps and bounds but he resisted the urge to look around. Ryou was his opponent. He couldn't let himself be distracted. "I was told this was the only language you understand, and I'll make you regret that it came to this."

“You are welcome to try.” Ryou instantly went into attack, the sword sweeping into a deadly move outward for his opponent. He’d long since grown accustom to the various looks his familia gave him, from ones of disgust to pitying ones—none of them fazed him anymore. Not enough to take his mind off the fact that he truly intended to send Atsushi home by the pieces.

Atsushi fell back a pace, going on the defensive. This match would not be a repeat of his afternoon. He parried to start, making sure to block Ryou's movements and watch his attack style, looking for an opening. Although tried, his patience was not yet completely worn.

It happened sooner than he thought. Ryou swung wide on a slash, and Atsushi dodged instead of meeting it. He dropped low, twisting his wrist to bring up the butt of his sword to Ryou's stomach.

About the time an unrelenting hilt met the tender planes of Ryou's stomach, a punishing hand closed over the length of his hair and pulled him back. "Ryou Kisarazu!” The scolding voice shattered the air, feminine outrage tainting every word that fell from the mouth of the frail looking woman behind him.

She stood regally despite the ragged and worn state of her body-- her way of life had left its toll in more ways than one, leaving Ryou’s mother looking older than she truly was. A sharp “What do you,” Ended as abruptly as it began when eyes the exact color of her son’s landed on the other boy illuminated by the light shining just inside the door of her wagon.

She froze, eyes widening in disbelief while varying emotions flashed across her face. From sadness so great crystalline tears welled to a love she couldn’t hide and hadn’t been able to lavish on the child she’d held only once. She might have been well on her way to being past her prime but their mother wasn’t a fool nor was she going to stand for any of her children fighting amongst themselves even if they didn’t know they were related.

Another sharp tug on inky locks wrung a whimpered cry of pain. She leveled a look of censor on Atsushi and finally released the hair that matched her own in coloring.

”Brothers,” Her voice rang clear throughout the camp as it had fallen silent with the very first signs of a fight breaking out. “Shouldn’t fight like two dogs over a bone.” And because she didn’t want--No she couldn’t handle seeing the hatred that she was sure would meet her, she turned on her heel and disappeared into the raggedy wagon, door firmly closed behind her.

Atsushi stared after her, sword lolling in his hand despite his instincts of self-preservation. He watched as she went, trying not to believe her words. Part of him wanted to storm back in the wagon and demand some answers but for the moment nothing made sense. "Insane.." he muttered, "...everyone here is insane."

Atsushi might have thought their mother was insane but Ryou knew one thing he did not-- The kumpania never lied to each other. They might steal, cheat and con every living being under the sun outside the kumpania but they didn't do such things within the family unit. It was a close-knit group that thrived because of that simple unspoken law.

And she hadn’t ever lied to him. In all of his sixteen years of life, his questions of ‘Who is my father?’ had been met with a “Someday.” And not once had she ever mentioned a brother.

Stunned from the blow to his stomach as well as the abuse to his hair, Ryou dropped to the ground. The worst blow of all being the words he’d just heard..

Brothers.

Probably twins. It was all starting to make sense. He grappled with the knowledge that he wasn’t alone anymore and felt just a bit lighter inside where he hid his pain away from the watchful eyes of his mother. Just like that, a never before known about sibling was accepted with an open heart despite the fact that Ryou had been trying to kill him just moments prior.

”She’s not!” He found himself denying the accusation against his mother and his tribe. “She’s not insane. And she doesn’t lie.” But oh how it hurt knowing his brother wasn’t going to accept the truth as easily as he had.

"We can't..." Atsushi trailed off, shaking his head and looking at Ryou. His frame was tense and his eyes cut towards the door where that woman, just some crazy old gypsy woman, had disappeared.

The sword lay on the ground all but forgotten. Atsushi took a step back, suddenly tense as his eyes darted around. It wasn't possible, couldn't be possible. He knew his station in life, one that wouldn't be possible if what flowed through is blood wasn't on high descent but that of a band of gypsies.

"We're not..." he insisted again.

“If she says we are, we are.” Ryou’s voice was but of a ghost of what it usually was. Something about watching his brother deny him all but killed his soul. Those words, hated and hurtful in ways no other foul curse could be, cut him deeply.

Atsushi shook his head. It wasn't that simple for him, and much easier to dismiss it all. The caravan would be leaving in a few weeks; surely things could be kept in a state of sanity until then. No one would have to know. It wasn't true, but even if it was-- no one would have to know. He should leave, that would be for the best.

Ryou once again found his hand playing over the chain around his neck, nervously tugging and smoothing over the pendant dangling against his chest. “You.. Your father. Maybe you should ask him.”

Father.

Atsushi’s father, was the same man his?


Did he want to know?

Ryou rose, latching onto Atsushi’s wrist. “Think I’m ready to go now. Still need to be punished for my crimes, right?”

"I'm not asking him!" Atsushi insisted looking at Ryou as if he had gone mad. Of course, Ryou would want to go. He had everything to gain from this, while Atsushi had everything to loose. No longer did he want to know why they looked alike. "I'm not going to tell him anything, not about you, not about here. This is just another one of your little lies, some coincidence and you've got another thing coming if you think you're going to milk this for all its worth."

“You’re a fuckin’ idiot.” Ryou growled, truly angry for the first time due to his brother’s idiocy. “Go home! Get the hell out and go home to your precious English family!”

He stalked away from Atsushi, stopping only long enough to scoop up the sword that had caused it all. “And don’t forget this.” Ryou carelessly tossed the weapon through the air, praying all the while that it’d strike some vital and important part of his twin’s body. “Wouldn’t want you to have a reason to come back and soil your perfect personage now would we?”

Why was it that no one, not even his brother could see his worth beyond the heritage that he represented?

Atsushi gasped lightly as he caught the sword, the blade cutting his upper arm lightly. He stared at Ryou, not understanding his reaction and the confusion splaying across his face. Why would his twin be so upset? Unless, Atsushi was loath to admit, if this wasn't some part of an elaborate scheme...

There should have been no reason to take this personally. 'Just go,' Atsushi conscious told him. He could walk away and go home and hopefully that would be the end of it. If he did that he could forget about the stranger with his name and face, yet he couldn't seem to move.

Ryou was beyond caring if Atsushi stayed or went. The ache that drove him through the door of his home was so intense that he did the one thing he always did when confronted with hatred so unreasonable-- Diving toward the woman sitting at a makeshift table of boards thrown together, a block of wood used as a seat, he slumped to the floor and buried his face in her lap.

In his haste he forgot to close the door, leaving it open in favor of wasting the precious time it would take to feel gentle hands bury into his hair and sooth his silent hurting with unspoken love that flowed from mother to child.

In that moment he wished he'd never been told. It was easier just to think that it a fluke. A twist of fate that gave a matching face to a stranger that wasn't related to him.

The light seemed to call to him as if he were indeed a moth to a flame. Atsushi moved slowly, still dazed, until he lingered on the bottom step looking into the small space. He couldn't help but stare at the vulnerability of his double. Swallowing, he looked at the dark hair that covered Ryou's face and without thought his own hand drifted back to feel the ends of his own locks.

Atsushi blinked finally getting enough sense to look beyond Ryou to the woman that held him in her arms. Her dark hair seemed much more convincing than the light brown of his mother's. He'd always assumed he'd gotten it from his father.

"I," Ryou whispered against the spun cotton of his mother's skirt. "He's not. Not my brother." Neither gypsy seemed aware of the boy just outside, one focused on trying to find a way to block the pain afflicting his heart and the other trying to right a wrong done sixteen years before.

A delicate hand ghosted along Ryou's head, slithered around to tilt his head up while the other found the chain that rested where it always stayed no matter what the circumstances. "You're both," A nudge of her hand, body shifting to force Ryou to peer at his pendant. "Two halves of the same whole. Twins. And you as the eldest have to always look after your little brother. Even if," she paused as if the words she spoke pained her. "Even if he always hates us. It's not your fault and it's not his. It just is and you have to accept it."

It was easier said than done.

Yet the words seemed more convincing more earnest coming from this woman, and then Atsushi realized why. This was a private moment he was intruding on; there would be no call for performances or the quick of tongue.

He looked at the small bit of metal she held between her fingers, squinting at it as if to make it out, and invariably taking another step forward, ascending another step to see.

For a moment, Ryou couldn't grasp the significance of why she was showing him the pendant he'd had for so long. But when he did and the shape of it registered.

"I couldn't give him anything else. So I broke it in half, one for you and one for him. Hoping someday when we were both gone, he and I." A whimsical smile touched her lips as she tucked the bit of silver into Ryou's hand, light allowed to play over it for a second before it disappeared inside his palm. "That you'd find each other. I just didn't expect it to be this soon." No, she had thought back then that she'd be dead and gone from this world, verily had even prayed that their father would be to so her sons would have a chance to get to know each other without being pressured.

"I've seen that..." a quiet voice broke into her explanation. Atsushi climbed the last step and hovered just outside the doorway. "It's a broken rose..." he stated with confidence, as if knowing rather than guessing. "My father keeps it in his desk drawer..."

Ryou flinched away from the intrusion of that voice; one used moments earlier to ridicule him with the very foundations of an accusation he hadn’t deserved in any shape or form.

If he hoped to get away from Atsushi, he was doomed as his mother had other plans. She lifted her hand in a silent invitation to the boy just outside her door. In this she treated her son much as she would have any of the wild animals she cared for, giving him the choice of whether to accept them or not.

”It is. It was my mother’s and before her, her mother’s. It’s been passed down from one to the other for generations.”

Atsushi took a tentative step forward. For the first time, he looked around at the small space, eyes looking over the belongings some looking more worn than others. Carefully he avoided Ryou's eyes, not wanting to know what they held at the moment. Instead, he looked back at her, seeing the warmth in her eyes but not having any idea what to say.

Sensing the tension between the two, she carefully slid free of Ryou's hold. Her dress was smoothed until it fell in a gentle cascade over her legs as she stood. "Welcome," she stopped on her way to the door, ignoring her oldest son's cries of ' Where are you going?' to whisper to Atsushi. "Home, Atsushi." And before he could bolt, she enveloped him in a brief but firm hug.

He would probably never see her humble home as being his but it would always be open to him. After making this known with her words, she hurried out the door and left the two alone.