transmutation // river + rain

[lance]

r i v e r .

"you are weak
but not foolish
you have learned
how to die."

He'd never gone a day in his life not knowing just what was laying in front of him from beginning to end.

See, that was the benefit of being born into wealth and privilege. Sure, he heard the rumors, figured out the dirty shit that was being talked behind his back, how rich boys are all the same in their arrogance and stuck-up attitudes, but what was he supposed to do? Pretend he was a shy meek little thing who was ashamed of their life and everything that had transpired since his birth? Nah. That wasn't how he operated.

For River, life was a tale of fun and thrills. The former was found easily enough in the form of tests of martial skill in the Career arenas and whatever dumb game he had thought up for that given day, while the latter came from the side arrangement that he and Rain had signed onto a while back. Entertainment at its finest, with not a care in the world to be found - that was his style. That was his way.

It was ironically one of the days that he had nothing to do with his secret double-life that the world all went down to shit. He had no idea it was coming. The ocean still glittered the same blue. The sun still shown down and warmed his skin and smile alike. The mood was upbeat, the gait was light - what was there to worry about? The day was winding down, his energy had been spent but in a good way, and there was a fresh new day tomorrow to look forward to, one full of fun and adventure with his brother.

He'd never seen it coming. Why would he have? He wasn't the thinker of the family. So when the front door of the family estate was ajar when he arrived, he'd thought nothing of it. When he'd pushed past the entrance and had his usual shout of greeting responded to with nothing but silence, the warning bells hadn't rang.

Even when he found the bodies, it took more than a few seconds for the pieces to click together. River Killesa was known for his impulsiveness, not his deduction skills.

But just because he wasn't a genius didn't mean he wasn't stupid. And when it hit him - when the gravity of the situation really, truly, hit him - it was like an eclipse had blotted out the sun.

"Rain?" he spoke aloud to his brother, in a tone so full of confusion and fear he never would have guessed it came from his lungs.

In retrospect, it shouldn't have been surprising. That was the moment it all changed forever.

[gamemaker kelsier]

r a i n .

"Some nights I get into the car and drive
No one really could keep me satisfied
I leave it to the road to be honey in my teeth
Let my teeth get rotten"

Water dripped slow from the kitchen sink. Rain watched it fall with a steady, loud thump to the basin below and thought about how many times his father had talked about getting it fixed.

Thing was, it was easy to talk about doing something, harder to actually do it. He'd probably mentioned it at least once a week for the past two months. It had been that and training scores for weeks. River's grades had made it into the conversation too but it's always been about their scores with their parents.

Rain lit a cigarette.

River and him weren't apart very often but he'd started feeling off around one. He'd gotten up too early or maybe just hadn't slept at all. Last night's party had driven him home though to the safety of his bed. That had been hours ago.

Alice Killesa lay on the kitchen tile in front of the sink with her throat slit, bright yellow dishwashing gloves still on. Benjamin Killesa's body was right in front of the doorway. There were multiple stab wounds on his body. Rain guessed that he'd walked in on the killer after they'd already killed his mother. Both had been trained careers, not that it had done either of them much good.

There was blood on Rain's shirt, his hands too. He'd touched both bodies, forgotten that he wasn't supposed to and cupped his mother's empty face in his hands. He'd gotten blood on his knees from the pool of blood surrounding her. Her blood marked the kitchen window and afternoon light painted the room in tones of red.

River was late.

The television was on in the living room and Rain had now heard the same Sardonyx interview three times on loop. She was talking to past victors. Rain had thought about how he'd answer her questions if he ever made it to the Capitol. He couldn't think of anything good.

The cigarette burned to ash between his fingers so he dropped it at his feet.

Sometime later, Rain finally heard his brother get home. River called out in greeting but Rain couldn't find his voice to warn him. He'd been still for so long that it was too much effort. So he stayed sitting with his back against the wall, where he'd landed after he'd finally understood that his parents were dead.

They'd still been warm when he'd gotten home. How much time had he missed the killer by?

It was River's voice, so full of fear and confusion that roused him finally. It wasn't like Rain was River's protector or anything but he was the one with the ideas, the half of the duo that bothered to think critically.

"We should find some sheets," he said, voice calm "Cover them until..." Until when?

"This was our fault," he said after another long moment, "We did this, it's a message."