With a peace as fragile as this, one cannot expect issues not to arise.
And they did. Oh… by the Vita, they did.
Two weeks had passed since they had arrived at the cave.
And by the end of these two weeks, tensions were at an all-time high.
Not between the five, not in the way one might imagine.
Let us go back in time a bit.
On the sixth day of their stay, Kael and Lune began showing signs. Signs that their patience ran close to an end.
Even with training from Celine and Blanc, or foraging and fishing, they still felt confined in the small patch of forest they began calling their own.
The cave was large and had everything they could have wished to live comfortably. Or so it should have been.
Once the rush of survival fades into comfort, one begins to think, to wonder, to worry at even the slightest sign that something could have gone wrong.
And when a child worries, restlessness takes hold. They struggle to follow instructions, desperate for answers to unknown questions.
Their curiosity drives them to foolish acts, either in search of those answers or as a distraction from the thing that troubles them.
And so on the early morning of the sixth day, outside in front of the cave, Blanc had prepared a special training for the twins.
"Listen closely," Blanc began, "You two are experienced in the ways of the bow. You have managed to kill with it. But that is not enough. Not in the slightest. It never is. And when you get too complacent because you think you are better than another, that's when mistakes happen. What you need to do now is to keep practicing. To perfect it."
"But I like the sword more," Lune complained.
"Even so, during our fight with the wolves, you were afraid of death, even with the wolves at a distance. If you can defeat your enemy from a distance, why risk harm or death in close quarters? You managed to kill with the bow, now you need to practice with the bow," explained Blanc.
Kael was the next to raise his hand. "I understand, but how should we practice?"
At his question, Blanc placed a sharpened stick on the ground, twenty feet away from them.
"You will be training your aim today. Hit this," he said to them, "And who manages to splinter the wood down the middle will get a reward."
"How many arrows do we get?" Kael asked.
"As many as you need to. We will not stop until one of you manages to do it." Blanc replied.
"Can the reward be anything?" Lune questioned, already imagining a hundred different rewards.
Blanc tilted his head after sitting atop a rock, watching the two. "I had a reward in mind, but if you wish for something else, as long as it is within my power, I will do it."
"Okay," said the twins in unison, preparing to loose their arrows.
It took two whole hours for one of them to manage to splinter the wood. Their aim was improving, but it was still bad.
Such results, in a real battle, will only make them waste arrows. A vital resource, no matter what the enemy was.
And to say that by the end of it, Kael and Lune were exhausted was an understatement. They were barely able to keep the bows in their hands.
But one was more resilient than the other. The winner of this training session. Lune.
"What was your reward, brother?" Lune asked, not even able to rejoice in her victory.
Blanc looked smug at her, a prideful smile on his face. "A blanket made of rabbit pelts."
"But Lune and I sleep together," Kael pointed out.
"Exactly. I used the reward as motivation. But it's yours either way," Blanc grinned, climbing down the rock. "But what is the reward you wish, Lune?"
"We cannot go home, right?" Lune tested the waters.
"We cannot, Little Flower. I'm sorry," replied Blanc as the smile he had turned into a sad one, full of regret.
"Then, can we climb the Omu Mountain and look towards home?" Lune asked.
Blanc's sight turned upwards, towards the peak of the mountain. It was barely visible.
Omu Mountain's peak stood at ten thousand feet above ground. And only from the ground, it was clearly steep and a dangerous climb even for Blanc.
For Lune and Kael, it might have been life-threatening. Not even taking into consideration beasts or creatures that might have lived on the mountain.
Unfortunately, Blanc could not refuse. He was curious as well, and dangerously so.
Thinking about the climb ahead and the path they would need to take around the mountain toward Duldera, he foolishly agreed.
After an hour of rest and a brief explanation to Celine, they began their steady ascent, moving as quickly as possible to ensure they could return by nightfall.
But less than thirty minutes later, as they rose above most of the tree line, they realized that climbing further would be pointless.
The sight on the horizon left them speechless, frozen in place for several long, harsh minutes.
Smoke, black smoke. So much smoke that if they did not know what was going on, they would have confused the black sky with a horrible storm drawing closer.
But no, that was no storm. That was fire and war. The source of what made the black smoke rise was unknown to them. If their family was victorious or at least winning, or if they had fallen.
But an answer was not required for any of them. That sight was enough. Enough to plant the seeds of doubt and worry in their mind.
That sight, now less of a reward and more of a curse, foretold the actions Kael and Lune would take a week later.
As they had climbed down, back towards the cave, each of the three reacted differently.
Lune sobbed silently, Kael began murmuring something under his breath, and Blanc…
Blanc remained silent.
Celine asked about what had happened for them to be back this early, but an answer came only when she and Blanc were alone, later that day.
His thoughts were a mess, yet he tried to keep himself composed, as the head of this group should. And that was what he did, trying to push the thoughts and worries aside.