♕ 𝕯𝖊𝖚𝖈𝖊 𝖋𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖌𝖑𝖎𝖆 — prompts archive

[kyum-]

𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖈𝖙 - RAON

raon doesn't take disrespect to either himself or his brother or any other member with a status very well. in fact, he can barely tolerate it, even under the watchful eyes of his own brother, the one who keeps him grounded. it baffles him whenever a member, or a lowly associate, dares speak out and disobey or insult those of a higher rank, and it gives rise to the question for their presence in their mob. after all, disrespecting their superiors was clearly an indication of a distaste for being part of the crew they were in - or at least, in raon's opinion anyway.

it was either suck it up, and be a part of the larger picture, or pack up and leave. well, not necessarily - it wasn't as easy as that to escape the life of the underworld, anyway.

raon deals with disrespect on his own - cael often shrugs it off (a story for another time) - so raon takes it upon himself to educate those without the manners to show for. his go-to methods are usually of intimidation and threats, occasionally some other more... callous ways, but the outcomes are usually the same: a newfound obedience, and reverence for the famiglia's superiors.


203 words. (traits excepted)

[kyum-]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖞 - CAEL, RAON, YURIEL

cael sighed as he sank into the ripped couch in the dank hole they called a 'hideout'. it wasn't the best, not by far, but it was a home - their first since leaving the monster's abode - and it was decent enough.

the brothers didn't have reason to rent a home for a while - living on the streets was so much easier, and so much cheaper too. they could move as they liked, not needing to return somewhere and risk getting caught by officers. the last thing they wanted was to be sent back to the demon, preceded only marginally by the notion of getting cuffed and separated. somewhere along the line, a deal had been struck with the police department - and now, they had little to fear.

cael rolled his neck, head turning on its swivel as he exhaled. raon came around to massage at the older's tired shoulders, grinning at his older brother who hummed gratefully as the knots in his muscles came undone.

they'd just returned home from a hunt - an expedition of sorts. a few pockets picked here, and a number of extortion there. a break-in, a dine-and-dash or two, getting away with ease after years of practice. seven years had passed since they'd left home, after all - it was only natural for them to ease into the life of crime. they would've already been long captured and thrown back into their demon's clutches had they not accustomed themselves to it.

thud.

the brothers turned immediately, cael shooting up from his seat, and raon grabbing the closest weapon he could reach - a crowbar they'd just brought back home, after their little excursion. raon had his fangs bared, a growl growing in his throat, but cael remained calm, staring in the direction of the sound with his ears perked up, although his hackles were raised. they waited for a beat, then two, waiting for something - anything - to happen. but nothing did.

"whoever you are," raon began, warning, "show yourself now, and we may let you leave in peace. we know you're there."

the reply was in a form of a frightened whimper, and the tension in raon's form was lost. cael, on the other hand, felt his fur stand on end at the sound, certain of one thing: their intruder was a cub, perhaps no younger than raon was when they'd run away.

cael felt his fingers curl, claws digging into his palms as he remembered their past, and wondered if the same could have happened to this poor cub. there was red in his vision for all of a moment, before focused on what truly mattered, and began to approach the terrified child. he spoke in the quietest tone that had come naturally to him, the gentlest timbre to soothe the child.

"we won't come any closer to you, and we won't hurt you either. so come out whenever you're ready."

there was silence on the other end, as he'd expected of the cub. turning away, he faced raon before shaking his head, taking the crowbar from his brother who was still puzzled with shock, and placing it back down on a surface beside them. then cael turned on his heel, walking a short distance across their tiny space to where they kept their stash of imperishable snacks, taking a couple and returning to lay them in front of where the cub was likely to be hiding. he paused when the child gasped, scrambling (from what he could tell with the scratching and banging) to push himself further into his hidey hole.

"i'm leaving something here for you to eat. take them if you're hungry."

there was another bout of silence before a little head peeked out from behind the corner of a forgotten box, and in the dark, the brothers could barely make out the twinkle of the child's eyes. the cub's eyes met with cael's for all of a second, before they were gasping again - but even fear of the teen lion couldn't stop the child from snatching the snacks he'd just briefly seen.

cael allowed himself a triumphant smile, hiding a soft chuckle behind a hand. raon eyed his brother for a moment, but shrugged, deciding his brother deserved his moment of victory.

they stood there for several moments, listening to the sounds of the cub crunching away at the food he'd just procured, cael watching the box with a fondness that would be strange had raon not known there was a child behind it. they stood, waiting, even as the munching came to a stop, and as a sob drifted through the air towards them, quickly morphing cael's gaze into worry.

"are you o-"

cael barely had time to kneel before the cub had already left the space behind the box and raced towards him with the speed of a cheetah, colliding into him with the force of an elephant, knocking the air out of his lungs. the cub was in his arms, crying loudly into his shoulder, and cael let himself relax into the embrace with a bitter smile on his lips. he let the child wet his clothes with their tears.

"you're okay now," he whispered. "you're safe."


867 words.
nts; raon left home at age 9.

[kyum-]

𝕮𝖚𝖇 𝖊𝖝𝖕𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘

cubs picked up by the famiglia and cael himself aren't expected to do anything but live their lives. however, there is a silent expectation from the members for cubs to grow quickly and familiarise themselves with the gang's workings and make themselves useful to their group. cubs are often expected by the members to eventually join their ranks, either as an associate or an official member once they are of age - and sometimes, even before then.

cael and raon discourage children from getting involved in the underworld - but even then, they are unable to refute the usefulness of children in their trade, as they evoke emotions in adults and those around them that no grown lion could ever attempt to.

nonetheless, the children who get involved with the famiglia are always given a choice: will you work for the famiglia, or will you leave? the choice is yours, but if you leave the underworld behind, then leave us behind. tell no one about us, and never speak of us. the famiglia will no longer be involved with you, for both our safety and your own.


185 words.

[kyum-]

𝕭𝖆𝖈𝖐𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖔 𝖆 𝖈𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖊𝖗

the pride of the deuce famiglia decrees that they stand their ground and fight, no matter the threat, whenever they are backed into a corner. this applies not only to the gang as a whole, but the individuals themselves. from the day they become associated with the famiglia, they are expected to always put up a fight. the last thing anyone wanted was to be a pushover and tarnish the brand that was 'deuce famiglia'.

even when all hope is lost, the famiglia doesn't retreat - it's like it doesn't exist in their vocabulary, erased from their minds the moment they're named a part of the famiglia. of course, there were those who would run in a heartbeat - they were those who barely ever broke through the barrier to be part of the gang. but overall, the members of the famiglia would stand guard against their enemies, and likely throw their lives on the line for the sake of their don, their 'father'.


162 words.

[kyum-]

𝕹𝖊𝖜 𝖆𝖘𝖘𝖔𝖈𝖎𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘

new associates are often scrutinised by the members of the famiglia. they're treated warily by the senior members, who try to break them in - usually to test their affinity with the trade, and to understand the limits of their capabilities. whether they're worthy of a position of trust, or if they were likely to break in the hands of the enemy. the findings are then reported back to raon, who determines their worth (raon is often the recruiter - not to be confused with for a scouter - for the group, rather than cael).

on the other hand, there's cael who's more than likely to bring home a couple new strays every time he leaves the house. the famiglia puts up with it, as another of cael's strange quirks they had grown to adore. these runaways are treated with affection rather than scrutiny, and are usually uninvolved with the darker side of things. these guys are welcomed by the community, and treat the children the same way they would any other child. it's likely due to the fact that only senior members who have been given expressed permission by cael are allowed to frequent the manor, though, and so those who visit the manor are likelier to treat the children kindly than not, as they were those cael had grown to trust over time.


222 words.

[kyum-]

𝕬 𝖕𝖎𝖊𝖈𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖊 - CAEL, RAON

waves crashed against the shore, the caws of seagulls in the distance. raon leaned against the hood of the car, watching his brother's back as the older stood a metre in front, arms crossed, silent. he heard cael take in a deep breath, letting loose a heavy sigh after, shoulders dropping with the weight of it.

the sun was setting in the distance, the sky a purple-pink. the ocean hid half the ball of fire, its surface reflecting the last slivers of light left. briefly, raon compared the sun to his brother - the light they both brought to his sea of followers.

yes, he thought, cael is the sun.

then his sun turned around, and the man's smile shone, rivalling the setting sun behind him.

"you always did want to go to the beach," cael said, loud in contrast to their surroundings. "how is it?"

raon grinned, pushing himself from where he rested and taking the steps to stand by his brother. "you remembered."

cael laughed. "i remember everything about you."

the younger of the siblings raised an eyebrow in challenge, but said nothing more. instead, he decided to lose a sigh of his own, watching the horizon before them with a nostalgic gaze. it wasn't the first time raon had come to the beach - in fact, he'd been to the one by zikar's coast multiple times for jobs and back when they were street rats. but this - the shore of this place was something else.

sands crystal white, and an emerald ocean - or at least, it had been before the sun had set. the shoreline was littered with shells instead of plastic, and no bits of rubbish piled like mountains along the dip to the coastline. it was the sight he'd always dreamed of, back when dreams were too far to reach - back when he had dreams.

now, all he wanted was to keep cael safe.

"it's wonderful."

he didn't have to turn his head to know his brother was grinning widely, nodding in agreement.

yes. they were alive. they were safe. they were here now.

they survived.


349 words.

[kyum-]

𝕻𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖞 - SKYE

positive; cunning, resourceful, grounded.
negative; pessimistic, emotionally inept, apathetic.

after years of sharing a roof with their scheming parents, skye naturally became cunning herself, learning from the best - or at least, their parents always called themselves. they lied their way through life, to benefit the monsters that were their parents, and they quickly good at it from the consequences that would arise every time she made a mistake. they became quick on their feet, making use of their environment and every bit of knowledge they had come across to profit best, becoming almost valuable to their parents. almost.

in the life they lived, it was dark and filled with horrors and pain. they did all kinds of wrongs knowing they were wrong, despite what their parents said. and when things got so far, when they became far too good at being bad, their hopes tumbled down as they realised there was no turning back. they lost their dreams, and instead took things at its face value - they weighed their problems out, calculating the possibilities when placed into a real world situation. it's not a trait they dislike as an outcome of their festered pessimism, but they consider it a somewhat bitter result.

as their life was a life formed by lies and a life without love, skye grew up distant from the concept of 'emotions', using it as a tool for their job. emotions were frowned upon by their parents - too whiny, too annoying - and thus they had become so good at walling off their emotions, they barely felt anything left, much less express them out. while they could feel the nagging in their minds when something was immoral, skye knew it wasn't because of emotion; it was because of their own ethics, and nothing more.


287 words. (traits excepted)

[kyum-]

𝕹𝖊𝖜 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖓

the way the gang reacts depends on what this new and foreign thing actually is. their reactions would be different when facing, say, a rising rival gang to a new gadget, like a newly released phone. in one case, they would be wary and guarded, keeping tabs on their every word and action, always prepared to strike at the slightest chance of an attack. on the other, they face it with excitement and amazement, discussing it to one another cheerfully. they're quick to want for the latest luxury goods, boasting about it amongst themselves, just as any other person would. generally, the famiglia will react in these ways towards the respective introductions, although there are, certainly, variations among the individual.

when facing new enemies - using the members currently known of the deuce famiglia:
cael reacts to rising rival gangs with amusement as well as intrigue. after the intrigue passes, he moves into a phase in which he tries to figure out the motives of these gangs and their values in order to gauge their strength and alignment. once their goals are made certain, cael acts accordingly to either bring them down to their knees or allows them to do as they like - as long as they remain controlled and watched.

raon, on the other hand, acts swiftly. he immediately faces the new threat with caution and digs up as much as he can about the crew to take them out - hopefully before cael catches wind of them, otherwise he would be unable to neutralise them so they would never be able to stand up against the famiglia again.

skye takes rival gangs very seriously. while not actually an espionage member, they often go on stakeouts and spy on rising gangs. as they know cael's somewhat soft heart, they always report to raon rather than cael about these problems so that the subjects can be eliminated swiftly.


316 words.

[kyum-]

𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 - RAON

raon was inspired to form a gang as cael began to adopt more runaways as they had come. at first, they were just a nameless group of runaways who had collectively come together, with cael sheltering them willingly under his arms. cael had always been the more empathetic of the two, never turning away any who had sought him, whether accidental or intentional. while insecure over having to share his brother with his new 'siblings' (his new nephews and nieces?), he could see how much his brother cared for the other children, and how proud his brother seemed as he raised them to survive as the brothers had.

he could also see how cael and he had benefited from their increased manpower.

so he brought it up to cael about starting their own crew, but with cael at the top. while cael had been very averse to the idea of starting a gang with the children - much less running the thing as its leader, he was convinced with much difficulty when raon appealed to cael's empathy and how cael could change so many more lives if they could make a name for themselves as an official gang, rather than a bunch of lowlives without a name.

raon never once thought of himself to be the leader, despite his more violent and cruel nature, however. as his sun, it was always going to be cael - it had to be. he wanted to stand by his brother and have people come to know and wish to protect the man like he had always. turning cael into the boss of the deuce famiglia was, after all, despite how dangerous it was, always about cael. it was a way to protect his brother, even when he wasn't by the older's side.


297 words.

[kyum-]

𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝖆𝖌𝖊

when children under cael's care reach the age of thirteen (birthday, not calender), a celebration is thrown for the child with every official member of the famiglia invited to attend. associates are not often allowed due to security, but with an appeal, associates may be considered to be present. once the party is over, they are informed of their two choices by cael and raon in preparation for the future - work your way from the bottom so you can live here again, or leave the famiglia behind forever, never to turn back, and never to remember your time here.

whilst unethical, the children are forced to make their life-changing decision at age thirteen. depending on their choice, their futures vary. if they choose not to continue with the family, they are sent to the orphanage run by yuriel, and are, by a pact, forbidden from talking about deuce famiglia, its people, and their time there. otherwise, they remain in the main house, and are bound to the life of crime. depending on their choice, their education changes as well - either a lawful education or one that prepared them for their life as a potential new member of the family. at age eighteen, they leave their residences to become their own people.

children who chose the criminal's life, they were sent out into the world to prove themselves worthy of a position with the family. for them, the books are always open: they can be accepted into deuce famiglia at any time, as long as they managed to prove themselves to be an asset. this also means that they are prioritised over any other associate even when books are open, and will almost certainly be granted a place in the famiglia. the famiglia often refers to them as the 'pledged'.

for those who wished to have normal lives, they led their own lives, paving new roads for themselves. if they turned back, even if they pleaded with yuriel, and even if they remembered how to get to the main house, they are turned away, often threatened if they do not back off. there are some who are given a chance to come back, given they display the right skill sets (and when they pull cael's heartstrings, although it hurts him more to take them back), but they are treated as the family would treat ordinary associates.


395 words.