A Brother's Bond (II)

The child wakes up in a large, comfortable blanket next to his brother. He examines his surroundings and notices he's inside a room. "So this is what they look like on the inside."

The room has a relaxing atmosphere that seems to be capable of comforting you in the most stressful times. A multitude of different candles and incense fill the room, the smells mixing to create a scent that relaxes his shoulders. Crimson red crystals dangle from the ceiling, their clattering making pleasant clinking sounds. The windows are slightly open, inviting in the breeze from outside. The breeze aids the sound of the crystals, while also adding fresh air that fuses with the cozy blankets, creating a feeling of pure bliss.

As he searches around, his eyes become heavy. He scoots over to his brother, snuggling into his arms, allowing the aura of the room to take him back into the blissful land of dreams.

He wakes up again. It felt as if he'd been asleep for hours, but to his side, his brother hadn't moved at all. He pokes his brother's face, but there was no response. The child's eyes widen. "Is he dead?" He shakes his brother wildly, "Grisha! Grisha! DON'T DIE!"

Grisha's entire body tenses, his eyes opening. A piercing glare stabs at the child. The sudden change from the gentle smile of slumber to a stare that seems to call upon death itself causes the child to fall off the bed.

The glare was only momentary, thankfully, as the comfort of the room brought Grisha back into a state of peace. Grisha yawns, sitting up to stretch. "What time is it?"

The child responds, "Wake up time!" He jumps back on his feet and thrusts his arms into the air.

"That's disappointing," Grisha mumbles, sliding off the bed and falling onto the floor. Crawling to his wardrobe he asks, "why were you on the floor?"

"It looked like you were going to kill me,"

"Oh, sorry." Grisha lets out a laugh. "Don't wake me up again, alright?" He picks himself up to the second drawer, climbing the handles.

"Are you okay?" The shade-ling asks.

"I've been asking myself that for years," The older brother responds, finally getting to his feet.

Grisha looks through his clothes, picking out a few and throwing them on the bed. He puts them on sluggishly. From the looks of it, he picked out some of his fancier clothing. A white dress shirt, his nicest pair of black pants, along with long red gloves and black boots.

"Ooo, you look nice," The child says, laying upside down on the side of the bed.

"Thanks... though, I'd prefer not to," Grisha responds, whispering the last part as he adjusts his collar.

"Why's that?" The confusion was noticeable on the younger brother's face. "Looking nice is good, right?"

Grisha tightens his sleeves and looks back to the young shade. "Well, yeah... but what most people consider looking nice, I consider uncomfortable."

The child continues the questions. "Why do you think it's uncomfortable?"

"They limit movement and get dirty easily."

"Why do you wear it then?"

Grisha closes his drawers and heads towards the door. "Mom wants me to. Can you please stop asking questions? I am not awake enough for this."

The child flops onto the floor. "Fiiiine."

Grisha stops, spinning back to his brother. "Actually, mom mentioned making sure you got dressed up too."

Looking down at his pajamas, which he just realizes he's wearing, the child responds, "What wrong with this?"

"I agree, but no." Grisha pushes his younger brother back into the room. He grabs a box from the closet and places it on the bed. "Choose something from here. Mom picked these clothes out when we were waiting for you to appear."

The child took out a red and white dress shirt and black poofy pants. The shade-ling looks in the mirror, his eyes sparkling. "I'm beautiful."

Covering his smile with his hand, Grisha says, "you got humility in spades, little guy."

They left the room and were walking through the halls of the castle when the child's ears perk up. "Wait, how did mom mention making sure I got dressed up to you? Weren't we both asleep?"

Grisha puts his hands in his pockets. "Well, I woke up before you, actually. Had to talk to Mother about the attack and everything."

"That's right... Those guys were scary..." The child lowers his head, staring at the ground in contemplation. He looks back up. "Are your cuts okay?"

Grisha gives a thumbs up, half smiling, "Yep, I can heal up real quick."

His words seem like an understatement. Grisha's skin shows no sign of previous harm.

Going straight back to the last point the child asks, "Why was I asleep so long if you woke up so quickly?"

Grisha scratches his head. "Well, the way most of our kind process growing is... kinda strange. A couple of hours after we're born, we usually have what our people call the great slumber. We sleep for a week straight, then our bodies age rapidly, reaching fifteen years of other creatures in a matter of months. After that most of us stop needing sleep, and at that point, you can still sleep, but the only use I could think of for it is if you really need a new hobby."

"Do you do it as a hobby then?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"You seem to like to do it a lot."

Grisha puts his hand on his chin. "Well, I'm a unique case with our people. They call my type a generator, I take all the energy from my siblings' great slumber and make more of it. I then give back all the energy, plus the additional energy I got from sleeping, allowing them to keep doing tasks without the need for sleep."

The shade-ling stares blankly at his brother, who continues the explanation.

"There is a large drawback, though. Since I'm the sole generator I have to sleep for all my siblings, and having to sleep for 6 other people gets tiring real quick." Grisha pauses when he sees the child's face. "Sorry... That was a lot to tell you at once. Did you get any of that?"

After thinking for a second, the shade-ling smiles widely at his brother. "Nope!"

The enthusiasm of the response causes Grisha to break into laughter. "You're great, little guy."

Something about what Grisha said causes the child to frown. "Grisha... Why don't I have a name?"

Grisha waves to a group of shadows carrying dishes as he responds, "that's actually what we were going to do right now. Mom didn't have much of a chance to name you before you fell asleep, because of what happened, so we planned to do it when you woke up."

The child tries to copy his brother, waving rapidly at the shadows. "Okay, But I need a name until we get there."

The shadows nod respectfully to the brothers as they pass by.

"We're almost there, though," Grisha says.

"But I'm talking to you now, and little guy isn't good enough." The child's footsteps turn into stomps.

Grisha sighs, "I don't think I'm the best person to give you a name. I'm not good with names..."

The shade-ling pats his brother's back. "I can give you a name first, and then maybe that will help you choose mine."

"I guess that could work."

"Your name is going to be Slicer," the child says, brimming with confidence.

"That was quick, why's that?" Grisha asks, grabbing an apple from a bowl on a nearby table.

The child explains, "When you were fighting the other day, you were slicing all over the place."

Grisha nods his head. "Makes sense."

The child stares impatiently at his brother as he eats his apple. "Soooo… What's mine?"

Swallowing, Grisha answers, "Well... I guess the only name that would really go with Slicer is Stabby."

The child pauses. "Stabby..." His brow wrinkles.

Grisha turns to his brother. "Don't like it?"

Stabby thrusts his arm forward, his eyes widening. "It's perfect! We'll be a deadly trio!"

"Duo."

"Yeah! Duo!"

Grisha moves to pet Stabby's head, but right before touching it, he jerks his hand back, letting out a sigh of relief.

Grisha stops. He stares at Stabby, who skips down the halls. "Wait... how did you know I was slicing all over the place?"

Stabby glances away. "Uh... Look at that, I think we're here." He shambles into a dark doorway.

Narrowing his eyes, Grisha follows him into the room.