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"Dad.. should we really be hunting game right now? Everyone already has enough to eat.." A small boy asked his father. His twin walking silently with them.
"Nonsense Roman, we're not looking for food! We're hunting a legend. There's said to be a monster in these woods. A fae." The father turned at his sons.
"We're going to find it, and we're going to bring it home! That would give our family glory for ages!" Their uncle called. His gun raised to the air as he boasted.
"But why?" Remus whispered into Roman's ear, Roman repeated the question louder for their father.
"What do you mean, 'But why? Roman, the glory!" Roman's father clapped down on Roman's shoulder. He winced and rubbed his shoulder lightly.
"But has the monster done anything?"
"Well no.. but it's best to stop it before it could start." The father pat Roman's shoulder. More gently this time.
Roman went as silent as his twin as they continued on through the forest. He grasped for his brother’s hand, afraid of losing him as they continued on. Careful not to step on any twigs or leaves as to not alert anything they were there.
Eventually, the men sat down for the night to make a fire. Rest their old bones and give the twins a break to sleep. Poor boys were falling asleep on their feet.
Something rustled in a bush by their father. One of the other men pulled their gun and shot at the bush. Only for a small, helpless squirrel to fall.
Roman jerked awake at the noise, looking for something large to fall dead. Remus leaned against him, hiding in his shirt as his ears continued to ring.
"Heh. Sorry, guess I'm just trigger happy!" The man laughed as he went to pick up the squirrel. The squirrel simply turned to a mound of dirt before the man could even touch it. "What the-?"
A large branch snapped behind them. It fell into the path they had come from. Another fell in front of the group.
"Trigger happy, you say?" A voice called through the forest. "I think you just wanted to kill something. Be it a monster," A large shadow broke another tree sending it barely a foot in front of Roman and Remus's feet. The boys scrambled backwards, away from it.
"Or a helpless animal." The voice was walking around their camp fire. Roman held tightly onto his brother. Unable to stop shaking in his fear.
"I could kill you. I should." Remus whimpered at the forever echoing voice. Tears started to spring from Roman’s eyes. "I won't though. You have children with you. They do not deserve to see the horrors of the world yet." This voice was different from the other voice. More kind.
"HOWEVER!" The first voice rang out clear and proudly. "I will tear you limb from limb if you ever dare to enter my forest again." The voice from the tree boomed. The entire forest shaking.
"Who's there?!" Roman’s father demanded. His gun slung at the ready. Aimed into the forest. Always moving. Never staying in one spot for long. He seemed to be trying to track the voice.
"Someone you should fear." The second voice whispered into his father's ear.
"Burn motherfuckers!" The men shouted, holding touches from their campfire.
"We are the children of the witches of which you failed to burn." The voices blended, sounding ethereal and terrifying in the darkly lit forest. “What makes you think you can burn us now?”
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
"We are your nightmares." A bush rustled behind the group of trespassers. Roman could see a figure of a human. But they had horns on their head, and their ribs were exposed.
Were those eyes behind that tree or was that an animal? "The things you fear in the dead of night." Roman noticed a flash of gold behind the trees. He nudged Remus to look at it too. Remus nodded slightly, then turned back into Roman's shirt.
"The things your mothers warned you about." A large branch broke behind them. The group of men jumped, sprinting away from the scene of their crime.
Only the shaking children were left behind. The father too afraid to even remember he had brought his sons with him.
"Please.." The younger twin whimpered. "Please don't hurt us." His green eyes watered as he stared at Roman’s coat in terror.
The shadows swirled as they solidified into a figure. A regal looking Fae stepped from the trees. "How despicable. Humans really leave their young just like that?" The fae asked Roman. “Is he alright?” They asked, pointing to Remus.
"I.. I don't know." He whispered. Terrified as the Fae came ever closer. He didn't want to answer for Remus, so he just answered their first question. "I didn't think our father would leave us so easily."
The Fae was directly in front of the boys now, kneeling. Roman stared down at the ground, tears slowly starting to drip down his cheeks. His arms shielded Remus from the Fae’s eyesight.
"Why are you crying?" The Fae wiped a tear from the little boy's cheek. Careful of their claws. Roman felt a shaky exhale escape him as he felt the power in their hands.
"I'm scared." He sat stock still in their hands. He squeezed Remus tightly against his chest.
"Why are you scared?" The Fae moved on to musing and soothing Roman's hair.
The boys didn't want to lie. Stories told him that the Fae didn't like liars. "You could hurt me."
The Fae looked confused, "Why would I want to hurt you?" They looked almost.. concerned for the boys. “You’re children. There is nothing you could have done to make me want to hurt you.”
"Our father was hunting when we didn't need it." He whispered. "We're told to never get close to a Fae, that they'll trick us into a deal we always lose."
The Fae nodded, "That's all very real advice for a Fae. However," The Fae blooped Roman’s nose. "I'm not like them. I don't make deals." Remus slowly turned his head to look at them.
"Why?" Roman’s eyes focus on the Fae for the first time. Only now taking in how pretty they were. They had a light dusting of golden freckles over their face. Their eyes swirled like molten gold, oranges and yellows shimmering in the fire blazing behind Roman.
Their hair was full of curls. Roman could see how some of the threads were actual gold, yet others were brown, and some still echoing in different shades of reds and yellows. His hands itched to play with and braid their hair. Just to see all the layered pretty colors.
The Fae looked pleased at being able to make him focus. "I don't like taking control of someone's free will. I'm not that kind of deity."
Roman watched as they played with his hair, barely able to keep his questions from being blurted out.
"Are you going to keep us? Father wouldn't care and Mother has to take care of the two girls at home. The town's folk would question if we got out of here on our own. They might think we're changelings and the punishment for that is death." Remus blurted out without thinking. Roman squeezed his shaking hand.
The Fae sat down in front of him. Going back to messing with his hair. "You could stay with me. I'd need your name though. And you-"
"Roman Knight the third." Roman didn't even hesitate. He never wanted to go back to that awful town.
“Remus Knight.” Remus murmured, now that he wasn’t bursting at the seams to ask his questions.
The Fae looked surprised. "Well then. That was easy. You may call me Morality." He stood up and offered a hand to Roman and Remus.
Remus looked between Morality and his hand. Unsure of himself, he slowly reached for him. Morality clasped him and pulled him up into his arms. He reached out for Roman next, pulling him up with little struggle as well.
"Tell me if I make you uncomfortable, I don't want you walking where we're going." Morality gently patted the boy’s backs.
"They left the children?" Another fae appeared from the trees. They had scales covering half their face.
"Yep. We're gonna head home, would you care to join us?" Morality asked. He bounced Remus and Roman to hold onto them better.
"Do you need help?" The new fae asked, "I can take one of them for you?"
"Can I touch your scales?" Remus blurted out. He slapped a hand over his mouth as his ears turned crimson with embarrassment. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
"That's quite alright, little one." The next fae came to stand in front of Morality, "You may call me Deceit. My pronouns are Xy/Xr/Xym."
"I'm Remus."
Deceit held out a hand to Morality for Remus, "Mind if I carry him? It couldn't be comfortable to let him lean across you like this." Xy was gentle as xy took Remus into xr arms.
"Your scales are pretty," Remus muttered. "They feel like water. Do you put stuff on them? To keep them soft? Mama does that with her hands. Did you know calliciouses can crack and bleed everywhere? And it can get infected. That's gross."
"It's gross when there's an infection. If you don't overwork your skin, there should be no worry about breaking a callous." Deceit entertained Remus as xy walked. "And no, I don't put stuff on my scales. They're naturally smooth. I just have to eat the right nutrients."
"Nu-rements?" Remus asked, "What's that?"
"Nu-tree-uhnts," Deceit corrected, "They're the stuff in food that makes you strong. Like the simple sugars in carbs. That's fast energy. Like a rabbit! You want to eat starches and proteins to stay healthy. Oils and fats are for long term energy. Like if you don't have food for a while, your body eats the fat storages. Those could be snails."
"Could they be called snakes instead? Snakes move really slowly until they strike." Remus was still feeling the scales on Decite's neck.
"I suppose you're correct." Deceit grinned at Morality. "My, my, you did pick a couple smart children, hm?"
"Yep!" Morality bounced Roman in his grip. "Do you have any questions, little one?"
Roman glanced at Remus. He was still enjoying feeling Deceit's scales, "Can I braid your hair?" He squeaked out. "I just, your hair is really pretty, and I wanna play with it-" Roman rushed to explain.
"Breathe, little one." Morality soothed. "Yes, you can play with my hair. No, I don't mind. It's okay to do things that don't seem quote-unquote feminine or masculine in nature."
"Is it really?"
"Of course." Deceit waved a hand and xy was in a skirt. "That's simply a silly social construct by silly humans. You don't have to follow it. You're not with them anymore." Xy waved xr hand again and xy were back in the trousers and waistcoat.
"That's so cool," Remus murmured in awe. "Can you do that with anything? Could you do that with us? Was that a spell?"
"Yes, yes and no." Deceit wiggled xr fingers and Remus's shirt was yellow. "I can do it to anything I want, it's an illusion, and it isn't enough magic to count as a spell. I can't actually change something without needing an actual spell. I can change how it looks though, or mold the fabric into something new."
Xy snapped xr fingers and Remus's shirt was layered leaves. "Can't take away, and can't add. But that's about it." Xy flicked xr hand, returning Remus's shirt to normal.
"Left here, Dee!" Morality called as Deceit turned to leave them.
"Ah, yes, you're right." Deceit snickered as xy jogged to get back in step with Morality. "Any more questions, little ones?"
"Are you gonna kill us? Stretch out our organs across the walls, or boil us alive?" Remus asked. "Ooo are you one of the ones that skin people alive? Or make them dance to death?"
"It's a waste to kill such young children, death surely doesn't want your soul yet. Organs smell when they dry, and boiling takes too long. Dancing to death is horrifying, and skinning people doesn't do anything for me." Deceit stuck xr tongue out at Remus. "There's nothing that makes me want to get rid of such bright minds."
Remus giggled. Roman looked slightly nauseous. Morality patted his back, "I'm sorry little one, xy can be quite.. gruesome." He bounced Roman further up his hip again. "Ohh we're halfway there!"
Deceit sputtered on a laugh before bumping Morality's hip with xry's. "What a way to change a topic."
"What on earth-?" Roman squeaked. "What?"
"We're halfway to my circle!" Morality cheered. "That was a rather long journey, but I needed to expand my territory anyway." He shrugged. Then waved a hand at the ground below them. As he stepped, mushrooms and flowers burst up from the ground.
"I thought we were going to split it." Deceit pouted at Morality.
"What if we just combined them?" Morality asked. "All that's mine would be yours, and then we wouldn't have to worry about splitting the twins."
Deceit choked on a laugh, "Careful now, dear, its almost like you're proposing. For the 17th time this week."
Morality shrugged. "I'll do it in a more fancy way then. Just you wait Dee, I'll be your husband eventually."
"Do keep trying." Xy bumped xr hip against Morality's again. "I quite enjoy it."