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Frigid air whips through near-identical heads of raven hair as two figures trek up the mountain. The Demon has no patience for those who cannot reach the League's home base unassisted, and the two boys not yet fully into manhood are no exception. Glacier blue eyes rake over the form beside him, nearly identical in build if not in coloration, equally cold emeralds doing precisely the same. The latter is darker of skin than the former, though his face is more rounded yet.
They reach the base silently, moving in tandem only because they must report to the same place. "The Demon Twins have returned," the whispers start. "Such an uncanny resemblance. A perfect pair!" Both boys mentally sneer but say nothing. Addressing the whispering doesn't stop them, and often serves only to fuel them.
Silent feet carry them to the imposing figure of Ra's al Ghul waiting in his usual place before his throne. They approach and bow in perfect sync, raised by the same values and bearing the same expectations. Cold eyes take them both in, studying stances and searching for imperfections or weakness.
Whether he finds them, neither boy can guess. "Both missions were a resounding success, I am told," Ra's finally informs. "You have done well and are ready for a steeper challenge. I will summon you when I am ready. Dismissed." Another synchronous bow, and the boys leave.
The walk to quarters is silent, barring the continued whispers from those who really should know better. They'll be dealt with in due time. "I will not sacrifice my place, Daniel," the emerald eyed boy says as they reach their doors, across from one another in yet one more mirror. Neither likes it, and neither has the freedom to say so.
Daniel, far from being threatened, merely snorts. "Then surpass me and take it, Damian," he sneers before swinging the door closed behind him with a snap.
"Tt," comes Damian's irate scoff before he steps into his own room and secures the door behind him.
Three days later, both boys are summoned as promised. Daniel holds his face in check, letting none of his thoughts show. He despises that they're always summoned as a pair. Always trained as a pair. He hates the constant presence at his left with a fury he hadn't known himself capable of before his return to Nanda Parbat. But he can let none of it be known, lest he be considered inferior for his lack of discipline and put down. He knows the rules. He's learned the game.
"Good morning, my promising grandsons," Grandfather says, sounding almost warm in his greeting. Daniel is immediately on edge. "You are being sent out today for a much more complicated mission than you've been given thus far. Typically, your mother handles this sort of errand, but it will serve as a valuable test of your loyalty."
The boys bow their heads in deference. Ra's explains that three of the League's assassins have betrayed them and cost the League dearly. Talia will handle the ringleader as she usually does. The other two will be the test. The boys both know well what this means. They are given a file each. A target each. But neither is stupid enough to assume this will be simple.
Instructions are given for how to approach and what methods are expected. These are not merely deaths, but a message to those who know how to read them and the kill itself will not be the only thing graded this time. The return to their rooms to read their files and pack as the papers burn is silent. Weighted. A target, but never singular. They must wait and watch. Eliminate not only the target given but anyone around who is working against the League. It takes initiative. Investigation. A loyalty few can match, as even a child can be a threat with the right knowledge.
Daniel bows his head in the privacy of his rooms, giving himself two minutes to lament his fate before shaking himself of such thoughts. He learned early on that it achieves nothing and gets him beat. There is no mercy here. He was not raised within this prison, and hoards his memories of a soft bed and neighborhood play jealously. They can take his morals, but they cannot take his memories. One day, he will be free again.
Damian had been birthed within these halls. Promised that he is the rightful heir to the demon before he was old enough to truly understand the words. He'd been a year into his training when another five-year old boy of similar build and appearance had been brought to base. He'd been called in to meet this stranger, this Daniel. A twin with whom he'd shared the womb, taken while he still dripped with amniotic fluid and sent off to live outside as Mother's punishment for an error she had made some weeks before their birth. Daniel had been permitted to live so long as he was taught to be loyal to the League and to Grandfather's ideals. When Grandfather had changed his mind and decided he'd wanted both of his grandsons trained under his eye to ensure loyalty, Daniel had been retrieved and returned to the League.
As another grandson of the Demon, Daniel is being trained right alongside Damian. They have the same instructors and the same lessons. Damian assumes their missions are the same given that they have nearly identical kill counts, as well. They are being measured, and Damian has no doubts that only one of them will live to adulthood. Only one can be Heir, and Damian will have his birthright. One way or another.