Zhu claims Volterra is (as I've always known) a nobody— that he has nothing to offer, nothing to give, his kingdom is but desperation and weeds (if anything at all). He is no glorious warlord whose name has spread through these lands like a tremendous wildfire, whose very presence makes others bow in respect at the greatness he has achieved. He is a giant fool with no worth, a man of little value— a faux king. My lips twitch, eyes sweeping over the bulky black body as he preaches how clever he is to use Volterra until he has nothing left to give him.

"But who's to say he won't gain something? Who's to say he will always be a no one, that one day he won't just be a peasant among kings? What will you do then? Will you try to mend a relationship you abandoned to get his favour, or will you continue on in your struggle to achieve greatness?" I stare at Zhu, brows gently narrowed as I continue. "I take what I can get, I don't waste time trying to prove my masculinity by dominating everyone else in the game. But you do you," I shrug half-heartedly at him, eyes wandering away momentarily from him.

I intended full well to use Volterra, to gain all the had to offer— to be his most prized child, to earn the adoration no other would receive. I would take all that he would earn, pull it out from under him and profit. This world wasn't going to wait for me to claw my way through the shit life throws at me, it was going to let me dirty my hands for nothing but recognition from a handful of others (maybe two). Zhu wanted to prove his strength, wanted to show the world that he was built from the ground up on nothing but motivation, that his power was earned through hard work and determination. But I, I wasn't about to waste half my life trying to become some self made man— I was going to get there other ways.

I turn to face him when he demands that I halt. My hooves work against the snow beneath us, leaving deep impressions as a result of my inability to stay so perfectly still for even just a moment. My eyes catch the tangled branch among white and black, watching as it's ripped away, taking with it unkempt locks of hair. Ew. I observe the condition of Zhu's tail (it's so long), taking note of the quality of the uncared for hair. Unlike mine, there are knots and tangled masses, rather than flowing smoothly and cleanly it is a disaster (does he know that he should at least try to make it look nice?).

"Teach me the language." This is no possibility, no hesitant question— this is a demand, something that has been welling up from the moment I heard Zhu and Volterra exchange foreign words (before me). I seek the secrets hidden behind different tongues, hungry (ha) for the language passed down through Volterra's family. I'm desperate to learn what I can get away with when there's Hungarian pouring from my lips.

I don't respond, don't open my mouth to defend my opinion or myself— I let the silence stale between us, flourishing from my inability to formulate anything (there's no words). He had an adoring mother, one who say to his every needs, whose greatest masterpiece was him— Mother thought I was her greatest mistake, that Sabre should have been the only one (now look who it is) born, that I should have remained a hopeless useless egg in her ovary. Somewhere along the way, I convinced myself that her beatings would make me stronger, that the pain of her love would be the thing that kept me going. Perhaps I am the one with the advantage, that I can withstand such pain, emotionally, physically, mentally— that even at such a young age I'm already falling numb to the world around me, that all those bruises that flowered against my sides have helped me understand the pain of living.

Uncomfortable (for once) with the topic lingering on my abuse, I turn to Zhu and ask of his mother, rather than let the conversation remain where it is now. "Does she have healing magic?" I'd only come into contact with such once, when the cerulean horned unicorn kissed away the pain of open flesh, who held me close like a mother should (the way Mother doesn't).

"Talk."

kid

run my reputation.