[PRP] A Meeting of Brothers (Anxo & Dysmas)

[Wolfs Heart]

Dysmas ran a hand through the hair on the top of his head, anxious. "Are you sure?" he asked again, but he shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't be told of missing supplies unless Aulii was sure, and it only undermined his job to question him. "I'm sorry." Dysmas quickly apologized, "It's just not the kind of news I like to hear. I'll talk to the council and see if we can get more security, hopefully it's just some kids messing around." Dysmas took a deep breath and then walked away from the supply hut, making his way towards the edges of the village. He would talk to the other sentries and see if any of them had seen anything odd.

The male headed towards the docks first, he had doubts that anything had come in from that direction, most likely due to his partiality to naiad, but perhaps he would see his daughter, Monroe, while he was over there.

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

It had been far too long, Anxo decided, since he'd paid a visit to his dear brother. Though Dysmas' life choices baffled him--who would willingly live up here?--he readily admitted that one had little choice in matters of the heart.

Up he swam, powerful legs carrying him to the surface. He peeked his head up, surveying the lakeshore for anyone else. He didn't really like for others to see him emerge from the water, since the transition was awkward at best. Luckily for him, his permanent legs meant he could simply walk out of the lake. However, the weight of his wings bowed him over for several minutes until he got used to them. He didn't notice them underwater--they couldn't be felt and could hardly be seen--but up here it was like carrying full water jugs on his shoulders, very suddenly.

Anxo walked out of the lake and sat down on the shore, toes in the water, while he stretched and twisted, trying to get used to what he thought of as his own "land form". He heard someone coming toward the water and stood up. He recognized him instantly as Dysmas, and he grinned and waved. "Dysmas!" he called.

Wolfs Heart

 

[Wolfs Heart]

Having already spoken to the sentry and finding out that there had not been anything out of the ordinary happening on the waterfront, Dysmas had continued down towards the water. He didn't come down here for a good swim as often as he'd like, his village duties had become too overwhelming. The way he stared at the water was filled with longing, how far away he had gotten from what used to be the most important thing to him. He had thought he was alone when a voice called out to him. 'Duty calls,' he thought. Though there was something about the voice... a bell ringed inside his head and a smile grew across his face, it had been too long.

His head shifted ever so slightly so that he was looking at Anxo. "Brother!" he said, relief evident in his voice, it was good to see him. Dysmas quickly closed the gap between him and put his hand on Anxo's shoulder. "Its good to see you, what brings you around to these shores?"

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

Anxo cheerfully embraced his brother with a broad smile. "Do I need an excuse to visit my favorite brother?" he quipped, clapping Dysmas on the bicep. "You've been too busy to come visit me, after all, and who's going to bring you the fresh lake gossip if not me?" The joke was meant as a lighthearted needle--Anxo knew that Dysmas was practically running a village up here.

"But in all seriousness," he continued, turning to walk beside Dysmas, "I had a conversation recently that gave me pause, and I wanted to get your take on it. That is, if you've the time. If it's easier I can help you with your duties while we talk."

Wolfs Heart

 

[Wolfs Heart]

Dysmas laughed. "No, you shouldn't need an excuse." he smiled, though he wished that he had a reason to visit his brother sooner. "My life has gotten busy lately, I'm sad that it's brought me so far away from the water." It was somewhat ironic considering his mother's village was so close to the water. "I never thought that mom would have me taking over when she started all this." He shook his head. Dysmas would never have thought himself cut out for leadership, he had always been too much of an outcast, but here he was being forged in fire.

As much as Dysmas would like to dip into the water and kick back with his brother, it was true that he had some things to get to. "I'd enjoy the company..." he pushed his fingers against his temple as he tried to reign in his thoughts, his morning had already been thrown off track with the missing supplies. "Speaking of lake gossip, how's the girls?" Dysmas asked his brother as he relaxed and motioned for him to follow him up the path.

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

Anxo chuckled. "Well then, put me to work! We'll talk while we get stuff done. But remind me not to linger too long when I visit Mom, I don't want to take over anything." He elbowed Dysmas gently in the side. But like, truly. Anxo always felt awkward around their mother, like he'd abandoned her or something by choosing the water? Which, of course, was absurd, you can't really force these things. Or something. But still, the feeling remained.

He started chatting as they walked. "Ah, the girls? They're fine. Pax is about the same as the last time we talked, but Xoana's started seeing someone, a Queensguard. They make a smart couple, although Gran's husband is feeling some type of way about it. I think it's because they're friends. I dunno, just like, adding to the complicated thing that is our family." He offered a shrug. He hadn't been crazy about Xoana dating when they first started, but Beltan was a nice guy and she was clearly head over fins for him. Plus, Xoana is her mother's daughter. There was no saying no to her, and for the most part he trusted her judgement when it came to her own heart. "How about you? How's Sweetie?"

Wolfs Heart

 

[Wolfs Heart]

Dysmas patted his brother on the shoulder again. "I don't think she would do that to you, she knows your life is in the water........ although, I suppose you could help with some of the fishing and kelp gathering from the water..." he teased. The brother raised his eyebrows about Xoana dating someone. They sure grow up fast. "That's right... Gran's husband. I was sorry to have missed the wedding, did you go?" It was strange to think of Gran being with someone new, not that she had ever really been with his grandpa, but it made him think about his mom and dad being with other pae, and that was a strange thought.

"Sweetie is well, I'm sure she's frustrated about all this since I'm not home as much anymore, but she's kept a good face about it all." It was hard to revisit all the stuff he was giving up. "It'll get better though," he reassured his brother. "I'll get the hang of delegating the responsibility."

As they reached the top of the path, Dysmas waved to one of the sentries. "I mostly solve any problems that come up, and try to check in on things." He informed his brother. He motioned at the stores building as they passed it on the way to the fields. "We're having problems with our counts, things are going missing or not being counted right... I'm not sure. But we're heading to the fields right now."

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

Anxo nodded with a little affirmative noise at the question about the wedding. "It all happened really fast. I'm not sure they planned it all that carefully? I'm not sure. Plus there were the kids." He paused here. Surely Gran had sent word about Sindri and Kadri. He coughed awkwardly. "Gran did tell you about the boys, right?"

Phew, what else had Dysmas missed since the last time Anxo had visited? "Um, and I think Dad might also be seeing someone. But I'm not positive," he ended the sentence in a rush, as if to placate Dysmas. "He's been, uh, kinda cagey about it. But he brought a girl to Gran's wedding. They might've just been friends. Coworkers? Honestly we don't chat a whole lot." Anxo made a mental note to pay their father a visit.

"I'm sure there's something I'm missing. There's always something weird going on in our family."

Wolfs Heart

 

[Wolfs Heart]

Dysmas stopped and gave Anxo a strange look. "Uh yeah... our new... uncles?... is there more to it?" And then a tiny little bomb about dad. Dysmas tried not to picture it. He wanted his parents to be happy, it was just strange to picture it, so he didn't. "Oh yeah? Good for him. I mean if he's happy..." Dysmas shook his head.

The steps up the terraced fields were steep, normally Dysmas would walk up them to give quick peek over, but it was a far more exhausting trek for him than it was for the land pae due to the heaviness of his wings. He didn't want to put Anxo, who would be less used to it, through that. Instead he stopped at the bottom and looked over the fields from below. It wasn't as thorough, but he would get the official report from one of the farmers that he waved over.

After receiving the report, he turned back to his brother. "Sorry for how boring this is. So what was it that you wanted my input on?" He asked curiously as he made his way back toward village center.

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

"Ah, said Anxo with a nod. How to sum this up? "Well, due to....honestly I don't know why. Some kind of strange magic, probably. Anyway, one of Gran's new sons, Sindri? His tail's started to shrink and he's gone and grown legs. So Gran sent him to me to like, teach him how to swim without a tail, I guess." He put a hand up to shield his face from the sun and looked out over the field.

"Anyway, but because teenagers are teenagers he wound up asking me like, a bunch of pointed questions about why I bothered to stay in the water when I appear to be more suited for the surface. Now, I'd disagree with that last part, I am not well-suited for up here, but it got me thinking." At this he turned to face Dysmas again.

"You and me, we're the same. Born of two worlds, not really perfect for either, but not unwelcome either. And yet, I chose the water, while you chose the land. But like, why?" Anxo paused here and ran a hand through his hair. "Like, how did you know what was right for you?"

Wolfs Heart

 

[Wolfs Heart]

Dysmas pulled his head back in astonishment. The kid was growing legs... but gran and her new husband were both pure naiad from his understanding. Dysmas' mind began to rabbit trail to thoughts of if there might be something wrong with his family or a curse since so many of them had chosen land pae. It was deeper than Dysmas' simple understanding of the world though so the trail didn't go very far.

Dysmas face saddened at the question though, leave it to a teenager to ask a simple, somewhat rude, question that was really so complicated. "I would have chosen water." Dysmas said, he looked in the direction of the water, visible in the distance due to the downward slope of the village. "I wanted to beg the Queen to find some way to... fix... me..." Dysmas wasn't even sure if that was possible, but being whole-y naiad had been his hearts greatest desire, up until he met Sweetie Drops. "If it wasn't for Sweetie Drops... I love her... it wasn't even as if she tried to take me away from the water. Just the more time I spent up here, the smaller water's part in my life got. It's hard though, I feel like a part of me is missing. I never felt like I was missing land before..."

Dysmas turned to his brother, "You would have chosen water before you met Mnemo? Do you feel like something is missing?"

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

"I don't claim to understand it either," said Anxo in response to his brother's puzzled expression. "I'm not one to contemplate the, er, activities of our other family members but I'm sure there was weird magic involved." There always was with surface parties.

Anxo's eyebrows went up when Dysmas started describing his feelings. He wouldn't have guessed that he'd wanted to stay in the water. Anxo had thought his brother had always gravitated toward the land, and their mother. But when he talked about wanting the Queen to fix him? How many times had Anxo himself rehearsed that same conversation, especially as a teen? Now that he was older he'd...mostly accepted his own body.

"Mm, it's always been the water," he responded, shaking his head. "I used to hope that once I went through the ceremony and got my magic that I'd get a tail or something." He shook his head with a bit of a chuckle. "But no, I've never felt anything missing. I miss Mom sometimes," he qualified, making an open-handed gesture with one hand. "I wish they could've made it work. But nah," he looked out over the field. "I don't think there's anything up here for me."

He thought of his girls, his mate and their daughters. "The heart wants what it wants," he offered. "Love is a powerful thing."

Wolfs Heart

 

[Wolfs Heart]

The conversation had taken quite the serious turn, thinking about that part of him that longed for the water stung a bit, it made him question the life that he had up here. There was so much on land that depended on him now though, the ship had seemingly sailed. He had to make a joke in order to lighten things up, for his sake. "Yeah, but knowing our family the tail probably would have grown out of our heads." He teased with a laugh.

"Love is powerful." He agreed as he motioned for Anxo to follow him as they headed down the path away from the farms. "It is weird to think of mom and dad with other pae... but I do hope they someday find the happiness that we have found."

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

The joke made Anxo laugh. "Knowing our family, you're probably right!" he agreed. He'd since come to terms with his own form. Having Mnemo helped--someone who loved him unconditionally, despite (or perhaps because of) his strange appearance.

---

Anxo spent the day with Dysmas, working alongside him, the pair alternating between companionable silence and catching up as they remembered things the other hadn't heard yet. Before leaving, Anxo had a brief "hello" with their mother, promising to visit more often.

And he would visit more often. Now that he was feeling more settled into his place in the Spring, he didn't feel that visiting the surface was as much a "betrayal" of his fledgling identity. He bade farewell to Dysmas with a hug and a clap on his shoulder, and gave him another little needle about visiting more often.

As he headed back home, he felt satisfied with the conversation he'd had with his brother. It appeared that, born between two worlds, you just sort of knew which one was for you, almost like a calling. He'd have more information, now, if that brat teenager ever asked again.

Wolfs Heart

FIN