The Ursusian Sniper \/Arknights Story\/

2: Family?

"W-What? Father!? What are you saying? You can't bring back the search troops! Svetlana is still missing!" Natalya yelled as she lost her composure because of her father's decision. 

"Dear, please sympathize with your father!"  Mrs. Rostova tried to calm her daughter down, but she knew that her efforts would be in vain;  Natalya cared for him like a little brother, even though he is her biological cousin. 

"Mother!? Are you agreeing with Father's decision?" Natalya was close to tears as she tried to reason with her mom. "We can't leave Svetlana out all alone! What if he gets hurt? What if he meets bad people? What if-"

"Natalya! You can yell at me all you want but don't you dare raise your voice at your mother." Mr. Rostova roared at her daughter, silencing her right away. Tears started to flow out of Natalya's eyes, leaving both parents heartbroken.

"Yostle! Natalya didn't mean to yell at me!" Mrs. Rostova shouted at her husband as she tried to comfort her daughter, who was crying uncontrollably on the floor. "Natalya..? Dear? Please get up, I'm sure that we will be able to find Svetlana!"

"Tch, leave her alone. We have more important things to do." 

...

...

...

Mrs. Rostova blinked as she processed the words that came from her husband's mouth. She did not, no she definitely did not just hear those words coming out from his mouth.

-SLAP-

"You- You sick bastARD! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT TO YOUR DAUGHTER?" Mrs. Rostova yelled at Yostle, who didn't seem to be fazed at her wife's actions at all. "APOLOGIZE TO HER RIGHT NOW!"

Yostle stared at her wife, Ljubov for a dead second, before grabbing her arm and literally dragging her out of the room. 

"W-W- What are you doing?" Ljubov tried to escape from her husband's grasp, but it was no use. Yostle easily overpowered her in terms of strength. "L-Let go of me!" 

Ljubov's voice became quieter and quieter until a loud bang was heard, which signaled that both parents had left the room. 

"M-Mom? D-Dad?" Natalya started to call for her parents, hoping that maybe someone or something would come and comfort her and tell her that everything will be alright. But of course, the eerie silence was the only dead response that she received. 

Slowly, but painfully, Natalya brought herself back up from the ground, but her teary eyes prevented her from going any further than that. She tried to pull herself back together, but memories of her and Svetlana kept crashing into her head, ripping her already-punctured heart into thousands of more pieces.

"Svetlana... Where did you go..."

That day, was the day when Natalya Rostova's suffering began. The day, when everything she loved started to fall apart.

The day, when she lost an important piece...

of herself.

--------------------------

"Why are you doing this??" Ljubov shrieked as Yostle opened the door to his office. Her husband's grip did get lighter when they exited their daughter's room. However, she was still pissed at him because of his cruel actions in front of her daughter.

Yostle closed the door and looked at his wife, who was literally growling at him. He then glanced at his arm (that he used to drag Ljubov), which was covered with blood and scratch marks, presumably from the sharp nails from her significant other.