Chapter Text
when Twig was very young, he went to see a play with his parents. he couldn't remember very much of the play, being that he was so tiny, barely even two years of age, but one memory stuck, crisper than the freshly fallen snow. the main character's best friend, who had barely even appeared in the show prior, was trying to convince her friends to fight up against the oppressing class who had imprisoned them.
"they think they can dictate our fates," she was saying, the actress' voice wavering perfectly to capture and express the pure emotion in her speech. "those who chain us believe that is our fate, but i refuse that! only i can decide my fate, and only you can decide yours, and i decide that my fate will not be to stay wrapped in chain for eternity!"
those words became etched into the very fabric of Twig's being, and they kept him going even throughout the many hardships that his life would take.
even now, as he dances on a stage, collar heavy at his throat and shackles jangling with his every movement, he remembers those words. only he can decide his fate, and he decides that it will not be to stay wrapped in chain forever. so, he schemes, every night while the other dancers and slaves sleep fitfully. Twig plans a million different ways to escape, and gets tortured in a million different ways when his planning gets discovered. the beatings warp his mind, and take all of his vigour and fighting spirit away from him.
so on that dusty summer's day, when a bright blue tiefling destroys the slave pen, Twig doesn't immediately run, or even move an inch. his mind is dulled, his personality complacent, and he doesn't recognise that his dream has come true.
"ain't ya runnin'?" the tiefling asks him, and Twig realises that the other dancers have all evacuated. "it's not yer fate ta be locked up down here, righ'?" that word, fate, it sparks something in Twig, and in that split second, he takes a step forward, his hand reaching out to the blue one being offered to him, and his entire life uproots itself once again.