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“You are changed, brother.”
Thalion frowned as he turned to face his younger brother, Elenion. He observed as the younger elf stepped closer to him, an uncertain look in his eyes.
“Whatever do you mean?” Thalion queried with a tilt of his head as his younger brother came to a halt in front of him.
“Ever since that day, I have come to realise that your character appears to be… much more mellow than what it once was.” Elenion explained, to which Thalion couldn’t help but scoff at. It is true that he was quite the stand-offish, stern type when he was younger, but he no longer felt that same pent up rage as time had passed.
Since that day.
“I still think about it,” Elenion whispered, extracting the older elf from his thoughts, “The sacrifice you made for me… it practically cost you your life.” As the younger spoke, his gaze ventured down, glancing at Thalion’s clothed leg that remained in a bent, relaxed position as he leant against the railing of the balcony. Elenion allowed himself a temporary moment of distraction, looking past his brother and down at the world below. It was a warm evening in the woods, elves mingling beneath the trees, dancing and singing into the night. He smiled softly, reminiscing the times when he himself would be down there with his family, his friends, spending time with each other and forgetting about all their worries.
But, they had all moved on, leading their own lives… travelling… finding better company. Elenion understood – he had little time for his friends now, choosing to devote his time to his brother. After all, it was the least he could do; it was because of him that Thalion was in the position he was in today, unable to walk without some sort of support. Ever since he was an elfling, Thalion always envisioned being a warrior, a leader just like their father – always defending their lands and their people in battle. Elenion knew how determined his brother was, how hard he worked to become what he aspired to be – and that time had finally come, only to be cruelly snatched away just as quickly as it appeared.
To this day, Elenion still feels the guilt, the bile rising in his throat as he watches his elder kin on bad days, observing as he gazes longingly at the nearly-new sword that hung above the mantelpiece, the perfect companion for Thalion, only to never to be used again.
It was a shame. It was a waste.
His brother was such a skillful warrior, and it was not fair that he could no longer walk well, making him unable to serve in battle and fulfil his dreams.
That day.
That day.
If only he’d been a little faster.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A huff of frustration escaped Thalion’s lips as his pace increased in speed, his heavy boots making a rhythmic thump thump thump thump on the path as he ventured through the forest, the gentle breeze tousling his long, white hair. It was not uncommon for his father (who happened to be the Captain of the army and border control) to assign duties to him, such as patrolling the borders of their homeland and removing any threat that he may discover; what was uncommon, however, was that his father had ordered him to take his younger brother, Elenion, with him.
His left hand rested on the hilt of his sheathed sword, his fingers squeezing the handle in order to control his frustration. You see, he could not entirely understand exactly why his father had ordered this stipulation, as everyone was aware that Elenion was no fighter – no, the blond-haired elf was a lover of the arts, preferring to dedicate his time to the theatre and anything creative he could get his hands on. If he were to hold a weapon, he wouldn’t know what to do.
Thalion smirked amusedly at the thought – his artsy little brother, flailing helplessly in a moment of battle, his sword making clumsy, unpracticed motions in the air, desperate to slice something. To Thalion, someone who had spent much of his life practicing in the art of fighting, it was an amusing scene to imagine.
The amused smirk that painted his face was swiftly washed away when he heard Elenion chirp up from behind him - “So… border patrol.” he said, clearly attempting to make conversation. Thalion simply nodded with a grunt, confirming that he had heard his younger brother. There was a brief moment of silence before Elenion spoke once more. “What exactly does this entail, may I ask?”
“Patrolling the border.” Thalion replied as if he were stating the obvious. The younger rolled his eyes at this, before a grin morphed onto his face as he moved to skip alongside his brother. “Well, of course, that was a rather silly answer. I meant what exactly do you do? Just stand around and wait for something to happen?”
“Yes,” said Thalion rather exasperatedly as he brushed some of his long, white hair from his face.
“Silence yourself and keep moving.”
Once more, the two brothers fell into a silence, the only sound to be heard being Thalion’s occasional huff attempting to blow his long hair away from his eyes. Elenion quietly observed for a while, not wanting to make any noise and further frustrate his brother, until he had the idea to pluck a dry twig from the ground and carefully twirl Thalion’s hair around it. “There,” Elenion said with a smile, “Now your hair won’t fall in your eyes!”
Thalion scoffed. “So you think it smart to put a dirty twig into my hair? My white hair? Really, Elenion, you shall dirty it!”
“The twig is dry and free from any dirt, that I made sure of, brother. And now, again, your hair shall no longer fall in your eyes!” Elenion argued back, watching as his elder picked up his pace once again. Quickly hurrying up beside him, Elenion spoke once more. “I do not understand your irritable attitude, Thalion – in fact, I never have. I only wish to help you, and yet you talk to me as if I am but an elfling.”
“If you cannot manage to silence yourself, I shall tie you up to a tree and leave you here.” Thalion spat back, glaring at the other.
“I do not think mother and father would appreciate that, Thalion.”
“Then, for both of our sakes, be quiet. Your incessant yapping shall drive me to an early grave!”
At that, Thalion spared a moment to look his brother up and down before letting out a final scoff as he turned, continuing to walk, leaving Elenion to momentarily stare at his brother’s retreating form in shock.
“Whatever is the matter with you?!” he suddenly exclaimed, noting how Thalion did not turn around, or even flinch, “You always behave this way! Why must you treat me as if I am a stranger to you? Father ordered you to bring me along with you! Shouldn’t we use this time to spend together instead of fight?”
Thalion stopped. His pointed ears began to twitch, a sign of his rising distress and anger. He had no time to engage with his brother and answer his irritatingly rubbish questions – or, what Thalion deemed to be rubbish. Usually, Thalion would lash out at his little brother at this point, throwing the two of them into a fight – however, Thalion valued his duty above anything else, and so he miraculously managed to suppress his negative feelings for once before starting to pick up his pace once again.
“We still have a way to go. Collect yourself and let us continue.”
Elenion glared at Thalion’s back, watching as it got further and further away. “That’s all you care about, isn’t it? You only care about yourself and how father sees you – all you care about is impressing him. This is why you are pushing me away now.” Elenion scoffed, wildly throwing his arms up in the air. “I get it now. I truly see it. You do not care for me. You do not care for mother, or the rest of our family. You do not even care for our homelands, although you convince yourself that you do. All you care about is our father’s opinion of you, not father himself.”
Thalion stopped walking once again, His ears twitched and his brow furrowed. He shakily inhaled, tuning out his brother as he focused on the air around him; he noticed that the gentle breeze that previously surrounded them and shook the leaves from the trees had disappeared; the forest was eerily silent. An unsettling feeling began to rise in Thalion’s stomach as he dared to slowly glance around. He noticed a gap in the trees, showing a large cave, and it became apparent that he would be unable to see far into it, lest he risked stepping closer - this was not something he particularly wanted to do. Thalion suspected a bear or a beast inhabited the cave, and that would spell danger if it awoke.
As he started to come back to his senses, he heard his brother continue to hurl negative comments, his voice raising in pitch. When Thalion moved to turn around to warn him of the potential danger, a gasp almost escaped him when he saw movement between the trees.
“…selfish! You are selfish, Thalion, you do not--!”
“Quiet.”
“No! You must listen to me! I am sick and tired—”
In a flash, Thalion was in front of his brother, clamping a hand to his mouth. He leaned dangerously closer, glaring at Elenion, “Shut up.” he quietly hissed before glancing back around at the surrounding environment. Elenion noticed how his brother’s ears kept twitching, his eyes darting rapidly from one place to another. Something must be wrong. As he watched the older elf continue to frantically look around, Elenion became increasingly aware of himself and his own noises; everything else started to dissipate and all he was left with was the sound of his own breath against Thalion’s hand, the drumming of his heartbeat marching in his eardrums. He looked up at his brother, desperately, before letting out a quiet squeak as if to enquire what was happening. Thalion slowly shook his head, hushing his brother once more, before whispering in his ear “We are to move very slowly. Stay close; I do not wish to alarm you, but I fear your yelling awoke whatever creature resides in the cave just a few steps North of my position.”
As the white haired elf spoke, Elenion noticed a shadow approaching from behind Thalion. As it drew closer, the shadow grew alarmingly bigger, until it stopped just behind Thalion. The younger’s eyes grew impossibly wide upon seeing that the creature that stood behind his brother was a bear, saliva dripping from its mouth and onto its ragged brown fur - Thalion frowned at his brother’s change in emotion, slowly turning to see what had Elenion so frightened, only to end up mirroring his younger brother’s expression. Automatically, Thalion stood protectively in front of his brother, staring up at the bear as he quickly withdrew his sword with his right hand. He could not afford to show fear now; he had to protect his brother and put his training to use; however, he had only ever fought men, orcs, creatures of a reasonable size - he had never experienced fighting anything as large as a bear, and he racked his brain as he attempted to come up with a solution.
His time was limited, however, as the bear somehow stood taller, towering over the two elves, and lifted its paw to swipe at them. Without much thought, Thalion tightened his grip on his sword before slashing across the bear’s chest, frowning in disappointment when he realised that did next to nothing, other than chopping off a line of fur, the messy ends floating to the ground - at least it had distracted the bear, allowing the two brothers a few extra moments to hurry back and create distance between them and the beast.
Still being protected behind his brother, Elenion grasped onto Thalion’s shoulders, whispering frantically “What do we do? What do we do?”. The elder shook his head, nervously swallowing - to be honest, he was unsure as to what he could do. Instead, he used his free hand to push Elenion away, “Quickly, climb one of these trees, high up and out of the bear’s reach,” he instructed, not taking his gaze off of the beast that slowly began to edge towards him once again. Elenion’s movements were too frantic, however, as the bear seemed to zone its attention entirely on him, and in seconds, the creature was charging towards the blonde haired elf as he attempted to scramble up the tree.
Thalion watched as the bear’s attention seemed to leave him and land on his brother instead, and as the bear diverted his aim for Elenion clumsily clambering up the tree, all Thalion saw was red. Usually, Thalion was a fighter who had tactics and well-structured plans - but he had no time for that right now, if he did not act soon, his brother could be killed.
And it would be all his fault.
A horrific roar erupted from the bear’s throat as it picked up its pace, its paws making heavier, louder noises as they hit the forest path. Quickly approaching the tree, the beast began to stand on its hind legs, lifting its paw once more to swipe at Elenion as the elf continued climbing. Without thinking, Thalion rushed ahead, towards the tree his brother was climbing, and began waving his sword at the beast, yelling at it - he wasn’t entirely sure what that would do, but he prayed it would at least bring the bear’s attention back to him. He was successful in that; the bear snarled at him and, just as Thalion moved to stab the creature, it roughly swiped at his legs, easily knocking him to the floor. The abrupt impact of falling to the floor made Thalion temporarily lose focus, his grip on his sword faltering, and soon his sword was tumbling away from him. Eyes widening, he quickly began to crawl towards his sword, only to be stopped by a sudden weight on his leg, multiple sharp pains shooting into his leg, making Thalion let out a horrified scream. Turning around, he came face to face with the beast, its claws digging into his leg as it dragged him further away from his sword; the pain became unbearable, the claws digging deeper and drawing more blood from the wounds, and Thalion cried out louder - this was much worse than being stabbed by a sword.
In the tree branches, Elenion watched helplessly, panic and dread soaring through his veins as he saw the bear dig its claws into Thalion’s leg, his heart wrenching at the sound that escaped his brother. He tossed his head from side to side, desperately trying to search for something, anything that could help him - until he saw the bear start to pull Thalion closer. Without thinking, Elenion threw himself from the tree with a yell, aiming to land on the bear’s back; however, he narrowly missed and ended up rolling forward and over the bear. “The sword!” Thalion yelled, his voice hoarse from pain, “Pass me my sword!” He hoped that the younger would toss the sword in his direction so he could finally finish the beast off, however what happened next shocked him. Elenion looked at Thalion when he heard the elder shout, but instead of doing as he was asked, he grabbed hold of the sword, his grip tight as he rushed forward and stabbed through the bear’s back with all his might, a loud scream ripping from his throat.
In a frenzy, the bear let out a terrifying roar, moving to stand on its hind legs once more in order to shake Elenion and the sword away - however, the sword remained lodged in its back, Elenion hanging off of the handle. Thalion remained laying on the ground, watching with anticipation as the bear stumbled around almost drunkenly before suddenly falling with a loud thump!
Letting out a shaky sigh, Thalion rolled onto his side, the pain in his leg worsening. He tried to not let out a scream as he continued to move in an attempt to stand. He continued to struggle, until he saw his sword, coated in blood and fur, be thrown down in front of him and a sudden presence beside him. “Don’t,” said Elenion, resting a hand on Thalion’s shoulder “Don’t move - you will only irritate the wound.”.
For once, Thalion listened to his younger brother, remaining still as he heard his brother jostle around in his pockets, obviously searching for something. After a few moments, the blonde haired elf had found what he was looking for and then carefully moved to drag Thalion to rest against a nearby tree. Propping the injured leg up and bending it at the knee, Elenion rolled up his brother’s trouser leg to examine the wound, taking occasional glances at his brother’s face. It was quite obvious that his brother was trying his hardest to not show how much pain he truly was in.
Elenion winced as he saw the wounds on his brother’s leg - the sight itself was almost enough to make him cry. The usually smooth, creamy skin was mangled and surrounded in ripped flesh and dyed with his own blood - it was actually difficult to tell what was outer skin or inside flesh that had been pulled out. Elenion’s eyes began to well with tears as he shook his head, whispering “I’m sorry, this is all my fault,” over and over. Thalion could see the distress on his brother’s face and he moved to reach out his hand, cupping his brother’s cheek. “Calm yourself, brother. All will be well. I am certain of it.”
I almost lost you, Thalion thought, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if anything happened to you.
“This wound is deep, Thalion. I am unsure how well I shall be able to tend to it… even with all the skills our grandmother has taught me…” Elenion opened up a pocket-sized box as he spoke, revealing a few medical supplies as well as a needle and thread, suitable for stitching skin. With shaky hands, the younger began to disinfect the wounds as much as he could, cleaning up the excess blood that dripped out until it ceased. He spared a glance at Thalion, observing how he had his eyes closed tight shut, as if to think of anything but the stinging from the disinfectant and general pain from the wounds.
Sucking in a breath, Elenion began to prepare a needle and thread, intending to stitch up as much as he could before trying to take Thalion to a healer - he worried that, if he tried to take Thalion now, his leg would give up completely and cause more complications. If he at least attempted to stitch up as much as possible, it could help them get back to a healer just in time.
Swallowing nervously, the blonde elf looked at his older brother once more, noticing how the older had now opened his eyes and was looking back at him with an unreadable expression. “I am going to try and stitch up your wound now.” Elenion said softly, attempting to smooth his brother in whatever way he could. He then ripped off a section of fabric from his own tunic, offering it to Thalion. “Please put this in your mouth. I do not have anything that can numb the area and this can get painful–”
“I do not require such trivial things, Elenion. I train with weapons and fight in battles - dear me, I just took on a bear! Do you think I need this cloth? Really, a needle in my skin shall be nothing more than a simple prick!”
Elenion swallowed nervously once again. “If you’re sure…” he put the fabric down next to the pocket medical box before retrieving the needle, wasting no time in plunging the needle into Thalion’s skin, beginning to stitch up the wound.
Thalion let out a distressed squeak, his teeth biting into his lip.
If they were in any other situation, Elenion would be fighting back a grin and the urge to laugh; however, he simply ceased all movements and looked at his brother with a sincere expression. “Would you like the piece of fabric, Thalion?”
“...I think, perhaps, I may benefit from the fabric…”
“I think so, too,” and with that, Elenion handed the fabric to Thalion, watching as the other clamped down on it almost immediately, his eyes squeezing shut. The two elves fell into a period of silence as Elenion stitched and Thalion winced; after what seemed like an eternity, Elenion tied off the thread and cleaned the needle before tucking it back into the box. He carefully wrapped the half-stitched half-opened wound in bandages before moving to pry the fabric from his brother’s mouth. “Thalion?” he asked, softly, “Can you stand?”
The elder’s eyes slowly opened and he gazed up, looking at his younger brother with glassy eyes. However, seconds later, his face forcefully morphed into a cocky expression, his usual smirk on his lips. “Of course I can,” he paused as he slowly began to pull himself up, supporting himself on the tree trunk, “...however, I feel I… may need assistance.” Thalion turned away, not looking at the younger as he said this, appearing rather nonchalant. Nonetheless, Elenion grinned and immediately reached out to wrap an arm around his brother's waist, allowing the older to lean on him for support as they walked.
“Let us hurry back - you know that our grandmother is an excellent healer… she will fix your leg as best as she can.”
“No - she will fix my leg.” Thalion said, a determined grin on his face.
But, he knew, even if the best healer in the world came to see him, his leg would not be saved.
Deep down, they both knew that.
But they wanted to stay strong for the other.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I know you think about that day. I often find myself thinking about it too,” Thalion said, knowing the exact reason for Elenion’s prolonged silence and unfocused gaze - the blond elf had not realised he had allowed himself to drift away, his mind recalling that very day.
“It has been almost three years,” he whispered, looking at his older brother with glassy eyes, “Three years, and everyday I am riddled with that same guilt.”
Thalion frowned. “Whatever do you mean?”
“If it weren’t for me, your life would be very different. You would still be living everyday as a warrior, moving around just as you once had.”
“That may be true, but what makes you think that I am unhappy with the way my life is now?”
Elenion froze. He had not expected his brother to say that.
“Are you happy?” Elenion queried.
“Yes,” Thalion confirmed without an ounce of hesitance, “I am happy.” as he spoke, his right hand took hold of his walking stick - the same hand that he once held his sword in, Elenion noted - allowing himself to venture back inside with the support of his walking stick. “Do I often think about the life I used to have and what my life could have been had that day ended differently? I would be lying if I denied it.” Thalion made his way back inside from the balcony, moving to sit in his armchair by the fireplace which, Elenion noted, was dimly lit and needed another log if they wished for the fire to not die out. Elenion moved to do just that as he listened to his brother talk.
“I may think of the past and what could have happened, but that does not mean I am unhappy with my life right now, Elenion.” Thalion paused, his gaze turning to the fire as the flames began to dance once more, having been refuelled with a new log, “I know that if that day had not happened, we would most likely never be together.”
“Wouldn’t you have preferred that?”
“Heavens, no. You are my brother, Elenion.”
Elenion nodded silently as he pulled up the foot stool for Thalion to rest his leg on before moving to seat himself on the armchair beside his brother.
“So you do not regret risking your life for mine?” he couldn’t help but ask. Thalion turned to look at him with a sincere expression. “Of course not.”
“But why?” Elenion asked, frowning, “We may get along better now, but back then it was rare to see us getting along. I thought you hated me, Thalion.”
For what seemed like many minutes, Thalion remained completely silent, his gaze returning back to look at the dancing flames in the fireplace once more. If they were any younger, Elenion would have pushed his brother for answers, constantly trying to get an answer; however, this time, he remained just as silent as the other elf, instead choosing to look down at his own hands, absentmindedly playing with his fingers.
“I never hated you.” Thalion began, extracting the younger from his thoughts, making him look up at his older brother. Thalion did not take his eyes off of the fire. “You were– and still are– very different to me. I never understood different. I never understood your personality, your interest in things such as theatre… it was an alien concept to me. I never made the effort to try to understand either. I didn’t deem it important – what was important was that we are family. It doesn’t matter what you like, what you don’t like, and what I like and don’t like - what matters is that we are there for each other, caring for each other.” he grew silent once more, taking a moment before looking at Elenion. “I do not regret risking my life for you, Elenion. In fact, I threw myself into that situation with the expectation of not coming out alive.”
“But why?”
Thalion rolled his eyes, but not in the same harsh way he would have done when he was younger - instead, a chuckle came alongside it, a gentle smile on his face by the end. “Because you are my little brother, Elenion. It is my job to look out for you. Despite everything I have ever done or said to you in the past, you mean the world to me; I wouldn’t be able to continue living if you were no longer by my side.”
Thalion rested his hand on top of Elenion’s, tracing gentle patterns across the palm, “I shall always be here to protect you, Elenion. I shall remain by your side as long as I am on this Earth.”
Elenion could not prevent the tears from falling down his cheeks as he gave Thalion’s hand a squeeze.
“You mean the world to me, too, Thalion. You are my best friend.”
“And you, mine,”
“Thalion, I am your only friend because you are that antisocial!”
“I thought we were having a heartfelt family moment, why would you ruin it, El?!”
Elenion couldn’t help but laugh at their own antics, Thalion falling to laughter soon after.
The bond they shared was truly something special, and neither would give it up for the world.
I am glad that it was my ability to walk that I lost, and not you.