Chapter Text
Spring had fallen upon The Great Forest of Esempi, and such the spring court of the woods awoke.
The warm embrace of Spring himself rubbed Tommy’s eyes clear of sleep, directing a warm beam of sun to gently wake him from his year long slumber.
The warm breeze of spring filled the air as he traipsed the forest, leaving nary a footprint on the mossy ground. This was his forest, protected for years by his troup. He cared not for the humans, simply for what entertainment they could provide. Sure, spring had truly started a few months ago, but the troup could not bear to see the world without color. So they slept until the buds on the trees turned to leaves.
Tommy had taken up residence in the corner of the forest next to the humble town of L’Manburg, spending his days stealing fresh pastries from the baker and slathering them with butter and jam. By fairy law, he was still too young to have his biscuits with honey.
Years ago, long before the residents of the town knew of the whimsical mysteries living in their forest, they would let their children roam free and worried not for them being led to the heart of the feywild. After a young boy went missing, the villagers began to blame the forest and its inhabitants. Claiming it to be cursed, the citizens of L’Manburg built walls around their town. Tall stone walls that had once protected the city from the believed evils outside of their town.
Tommy never took that boy. He didn’t remember the time before the boy went missing, but that was ok. He had his troup to look out for him, and he looked out for his troup. That’s all he cared about.
Unfortunately, Tommy was a trickster. And due to the drought in people to trick, he grew apart from the rest of his troup. Deemed useless, and when the rest of his troup left one warm spring evening, he stayed behind.
And so he shouldered the care of the forest all by himself, growing distant and angry at those who built the walls. He knew that the current citizens had nothing to do with their ancestors. So Tommy didn’t know who he was mad at. So he took it out on any poor soul who dared forsake the story written in the walls that were there to protect them.
Or, at least that’s what he wanted the people of the village to believe.
For if Tommy would annoy the adults of the village to no end, stealing their shoes and tying their festival decorations together in the middle of the night, he would not take any children who wandered into his forest. They had no ill intention. Hell, half the time he would be the same age as them, if he were born from a human family and not the will of the seasons.
So with a flick of his hand, he would turn the path from the heart of the feywild back around, leading them to their home. Occasionally these children would return home, speaking of a kid their age appearing out of the underbrush, leading them through the maze of bushes and trees till they returned home. He never entered the town, though.
The heart of his feywild wasn’t much to look at, either. The throne reserved for the leader of his troup had grown over, moss covering the seat and vines dangling off the arm rests. In the past it was a controlled sort of overgrown, but now if one had never known it’s glory in the past, they would just see a crumbling ruin. The houses that had once housed his family and friends were empty, lights off and doors closed shut. There had once been tinkling laughter coming from those houses, the sound of revelry and merriment as the spring court enjoyed it’s daily festivals.
Tommy missed the festivals. He would throw small bashes on the occasion, from the day spring awoke to its final moments under the sun. He would spend the day baking cakes and clearing the meadow for dancing. He would wait by the circles of mushrooms, to see if anyone came back to remember him. And every year, he would end up eating the cake by himself.
He was a pretty good baker.
It was on one of these solitary celebrations that the traveler came to his forest. Immediately Tommy felt a presence that wasn’t supposed to be there, boot-clad feet trampling the wildflowers along the side of the path. He didn’t seem to be a child, so Tommy twisted the path he was walking to the valley where a party was set up for thousands.
Before setting out the food for the festival, Tommy made sure to say a quick prayer to Mother Death and Sister Chaos, the patrons of the spring court. Technically he was supposed to say grace to all the pantheon, but he crunched them into his two favorites. The rest could get a footnote, and maybe a cup of mead set out for them at the heads of the table.
The food was still piping hot and resting on the table when the green clad traveler arrived. For the most part, Tommy prided himself on his disguising skills. Instead of appearing as a wild nature spirit, he appeared as a blonde-haired teenager dressed in simple green clothes. There was still something off about the way he looked, if you could focus. Maybe it was the fact that the smile on his lips was too big, or his too-sharp nails. Either way, he was just excited to finally have someone to trick again. Maybe if he successfully charmed an adult, his troup would come back! Steeling his nerves, Tommy called out to the traveler:
“Hello there! Would you care for some food? It is the Equinox, after all!” He waved, calling the green clad man over to his table. There were no forks or knives made of metal, simply whittled from wood given graciously from the trees of the forest.
“I appreciate the offer, but I cannot accept at this time,” The man smiled, though he took a seat at the table next to Tommy. He was wearing a green cloak similar to Tommy’s, though his was longer and didn’t cover the front as well.
“Well then, suit yourself!” Tommy grumbled, upset that this wasn’t going to be an easy charming. Obviously, since the traveler had followed the easy “Don’t say thank you” and “Don’t eat the fae’s food” rules, they would be hard to beat. While he was thinking, Tommy picked up a golden bun and spread some butter on it.
“So...what’s a kid like you doing in the forest?” The traveler asked, watching as Tommy devoured the bun. “Don’t you know about the dangers?”
“Excuse you! I am not a child!” Tommy huffed, taking the last bite of his bun. “I’ve been exploring this forest for ages, long before you existed you prick!” He wasn’t lying, as Tommy couldn’t lie by nature. It was still hard to believe, he could see the confusion radiating off of the traveler’s face.
“Sure…” The stranger rolled his eyes. Obviously, he didn’t believe Tommy one bit. That was ok. He didn’t need to. “Do you live in the town nearby? L’Manburg always has beautiful Equinox festivals,” he nodded at the decorations hanging from the trees, green and gold glinting in the rays of the warm sun.
“No, I live just beyond the border,” He shrugged, grabbing a sweet cake from a different platter. He drizzled a bit of honey on this one- if his troup was no longer claiming him as their own, he could do whatever he wanted. Even if he was a bit too young to eat honey.
“I didn’t know they had Equinox festivals...only Solstice.”
“Ah! They do!” The stranger smiled. It was kind, something Tommy hadn’t seen in a while. Such a shame he wouldn’t be around much longer.
“So...do you have a name I can call you? Or will I have to resort to green-bitch?” Tommy laughed, looking over at the stranger. There was a sort of hunger in his sky blue eyes, waiting for the pure joy of tricking someone and leaving them helpless in the chaotic wasteland of the feywild. He grinned, waiting for the name drop. The key to this poor traveler’s soul would be his, and his to keep forever. Quite a wonderful ending to his Equinox celebration.
If his troup was here, they would be so proud of him. He hoped.
“Mmm..unfortunately, I can’t tell you that. You have to keep your wits about you here. You may call me Dream, however,” The traveler explained, giving a moniker to Tommy instead of his real name.
There was a flash of annoyance in Tommy’s eyes when Dream gave him a moniker instead. This was useless! It didn’t have the properties of a name, other than it being a word to name a person.
“Dream? Pssht, that’s a lame name,” Tommy joked, reaching for another bun with honey. He was feeling a bit lightheaded, but he just shook it off and continued his conversation with Dream.
“Oh, really? Then what’s yours?” Dream asked, wheeling his side bag around to the front and digging around in it. Eventually, a slightly crumpled package came out of it. Out of the package came a slightly stale pack of biscuits, and some margarine.
“Don’t think I’ll tell you, big man! Gotta keep some mystery around, y’know,” Tommy explained, taking a bite out of the bun. The honey tasted even sweeter when mixed with the sweet roll and butter, making the forest seem lighter.
Maybe he shouldn’t have had this much honey...even so, Tommy quickly finished up the roll and reached for another. It was a party! And he finally had someone to party with. Even if that someone was a dumb stupid human that he was going to trick later.
The valley dimmed, clouds rolling overhead. The sun hiding behind the clouds gave the forest a sleepy effect, soft and comfortable in Tommy’s eyes. He savored this bun more, sitting and thinking about what he was going to do next. Dream seemed like a pretty agile person, maybe he would be good at hunting? Tommy needed someone to do hunting for him. As well as a lot of things.
“So, where’d you get that nickname? “Dream”... sounds pretentious as all hell,” Tommy scoffed, bits of bun flicking out of his mouth and onto the grassy floor. “My name is super cool, cause it comes from Greek mythology.”
“I got it from a friend,” Dream explained, wiping his hands on the package of biscuits. “Haven’t seen him in a while. You said your name comes from a myth?” There was knowledge behind his ever-constant smile, something that Tommy ignored.
“Of course! Names have big meanings, and my name means a bunch!” Tommy smiled, hiccuping a bit. He was trying not to laugh, which went completely against his nature. Unfortunately, his laugh sounded like wind chimes in the distance, playing a soft melody. So he didn’t laugh. That would give him away immediately.
“I knew some people named after mythological heroes,” Dream nodded. “I knew an Achilles once...and a Theseus.”
“Hey, that’s my name!”
If Tommy knew how to take back words from people’s memories, he would have done that on the spot. He would have herded his sentence back into his mouth, like he herded his cows to the soft pasture in the middle of the forest.
There was a look of triumph in Dream’s smile, like he had known something longer than Tommy had. He began digging in his bag again, looking for something.
“Is your true name Theseus?”
Tommy couldn’t lie. He couldn’t play some mind trick and wrangle his way out of this one. He had messed up, and messed up big time. If this human had figured out his name, he would be taken away from his forest and his cows and his troup’s home and what if his troup came back? What if they came back when he was gone and thought he had left too?
“Yes. My true name is Theseus.”
Suddenly, Dream’s smile didn’t look as friendly as it did before.
“So, Theseus, answer me this: are there more of...your kind...out here in this forest? Or was it just you all alone?” Dream asked, pulling something out of his bag. They looked like bracelets, silver glinting in the dull sunlight.
“It-it’s just me out here,” Tommy mumbled, looking down at his feet. The food no longer looked appetizing. Of course this man avoided all his tactics! He was a hunter. He was a hunter and Tommy was his prized bounty.
“I see. Thank you for your information,” Dream smiled down at Tommy, watching as anger grew in his eyes. He knew that it was rude to say thank you to a fae. It was fun to watch them grow angry at simple words.
“HEY!” Tommy shouted, raising his hands from his lap to scratch Dream across the face. Unfortunately, Dream was faster than he was.
There was a sharp click as the bracelets were latched around Tommy’s wrists, the cold iron resting on his skin.
Tommy instinctively dropped his hands, trying to force the bracelets off his wrists. There was a sweet second of cold metal against his skin, before the sheer pain set in. Tommy hadn’t felt this much pain since he had stolen that fork from the baker in L’Manburg. Touching the fork sent waves of fire down his fingers, burning the tips and causing him to screech in pain.
But he could let go of the fork. This? This he couldn’t let go of.
He tried everything he could to get the bracelets off his skin. He tried biting and scratching at them, but that only brought more pain. They seared his skin, like pressing a hot iron to your fingertip. The cold iron was horrible. He wanted it to stop. But he couldn’t. That Dream bastard had the key, and his name. Even with the iron, he couldn’t charm Dream into letting him go. The name was just an insult to injury.
And so instead, he prayed. He prayed to Father Spring and Mother Death, to Sister Chaos and Cousin Time. He mumbled wishes of safety through a tear-choked voice, only stopping when Dream scoffed loudly at his show of waterworks.
“We don’t have much time. If you want to get out of those bracelets, you’ll come with me, Theseus.” Tommy looked back at his home, through a curtain of tears. As he reluctantly followed in the footsteps of Dream, he thought he heard the laughter from his troup. He blinked, and it was gone.
And so was he.