Rain poured down outside the windows of a poorly persevered wreck of a home.

    It has been raining all night—-now, it seemed to be the somewhat serene rainstorm and evolved into a monstrous thunderstorm.

    The Kryvichyns essentially lived in the forest—-away from towns… away from the settlements… and away from the people.

    Still, even though the Kryvichyns basically lived off the grid, they were still governed by the Romanov dynasty—-they had to abide by their rules.

     Anyechka Kryvichyn sat by the window, watching the rain trickle down. She drummed her fingers upon the window sill, thinking about the idea of the thunderstorm shifting into a blizzard; she knew it was very likely it would.

     Crack!

    Lightning lit up the sky as thunder tore through the air.

    The thunder and lightning combination seemed to create a whimper from behind Anyechka's chair.

    Anyechka exhaled, smiling a little to herself. She knew exactly what was behind the chair…. Or, rather, who was. "Amvrosiy…" She called out to her child.

    Bear—-five years old at the time—-poked her head out from behind the chair at her mother who was looking backward.

    "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Anyechka asked her daughter.

     Anyechka and Bear lived alone in the small shack in the woods.

    On occasion, Anyechka's boyfriend—-Boris Artyomov—-came to visit.

     Bear had never met her biological father.

     Boris didn't like Bear. He believed Anyechka should only care about him—-he thought her love for her child hindered her love for him.

     So, Boris took his anger out on the child—-in punches, in slaps, in hits…and on the rare occasion, a push down the stairs or a warning shot at Bear with his rifle.

     Boris tried to hide the evidence that he ever hurt Bear from Anyechka; and every single time, without fail, when Boris hurt Bear, he would insist Bear shouldn't tell her mother.

     Then poor Bear was met with more threats of violence if she ever did decide to tell her mother about the living hell that Boris put her through.

     Boris knew he would be kicked to the curb if Anyechka ever found out what he did.

     Anyechka would always chose her child over him.

     "The storm… It kept me up, Mamochka…" Bear began to explain as she stood.

      The light from the candles on the nearby table illuminated Bear's bleach blonde hair.

      Anyechka wagged her finger, beckoning Bear closer.

     So, that's just what Bear did—-she moved closer to her mother, coming to stop right in front of her.

     Anyechka reached out, grabbing one of Bear's hands.

    "The thunder is too loud," Bear said.

    "Are you sure that's all?" Anyechka asked her daughter.

     Bear had some sort of sorrowful look in her eyes. She exhaled, sadly.

    "Come." Anyechka patted her lap. "Sit with me, detka."

    Young Bear hesitated before worming her way into her mother's lap and nuzzling against her.

     "Now, what's wrong, Amvrosiy?" Anyechka asked.

     Bear swallowed. "The other boys… They were teasing me again. They talked about how they didn't understand why everything is so loud to me… Why everything is too bright… Why everything I touch feels like too much. Why it's so hard for me understand things…"

    Every other day, Bear was sent off to play with the neighbor boys—-Anyechka thought the socializing would be good for her child.

     "They called me names…" Bear sniffled. "They called me weird. They called me flawed… They called me other not so nice words…" She sniffled again. "Maybe they're right."

    "No, no, no." Anyechka pulled Bear closer. "They're wrong. You're not weird. You're not any of those horrible things… Your brain… It just works different than other people's… You're unique."

     Bear faintly smiled at her mother.

    Anyechka ran her fingers down the side of Bear's face. "And I'll love you no matter what, detka."

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

  "My hand in marriage?" Aedona's voice raised in volume as she questioned Bear. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

     Bear moved a little closer to Aedona. "During the Russo-Turkish war, I saved your father's life… countless times." Bear fidgeted with her hands as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "He insisted on repaying me… I told him it wasn't necessary… No payment needed whatsoever." She rubbed her hands together, awkwardly. She moved a little closer to Donnie.

     Aedona moved back a foot or two.

     Bear continued on with her explanation, sounding and looking somewhat hurt. "Finally, after his relentless mentioning of repaying his non-existent debt to me, I gave in. I told him that he could repay me if he really so wished… If it really meant that much to him." The Warmonger sucked in a breath. "Finally, he came up to me and told me he had something in mind to repay me…" Bear exhaled heavily. "He told me that he'd give me his first born daughter's hand in marriage."

     Aedona shifted her weight onto the other leg, taking in the information. She inhaled. "So…" She took another breath. "He gave you my hand in marriage before I was born? Before I was even a thought?" Donnie began to question Bear, hostilely. "Before my brother was even a thought?"

    "That's what-" Bear stopped. She swallowed, a saddened look in her eye. "Y-yes. That's what he did."

    "Did you only save me because of that?" Aedona questioned.

     Bear froze. She could feel herself mentally fighting off an impending panic attack. "W-what?" She stammered.

     Aedona crossed her arms, her eyebrows furrowing. She raised her voice even more. "Did you only save me because you were supposed to marry me? Is that why you didn't save anyone else?"

     Bear fought back tears.

     Whenever someone rose their voice at Bear, it caused her to cry and have a panic attack.

     "N-Nyet!" Bear responded, upset. "That's not why! I-" Suddenly, speaking felt too much for Bear. She wanted to curl up into a ball and die. Dammit! I'm such an asshole!, Bear's mind mentally cursed.

     Roman weaseled his way into the conversation after clearing his through. "Uh-"

    Both Bear and Aedona looked over in Roman's direction.

    "What's the little boy's name?" Roman asked Donnie, to which she responded with Valeryan's name.

     Roman took in the information. "Well," he began. "I thought I'd let you know that Valeryan's waking up."