Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“But Mooom! I don’t wanna come back in yet!” Virgil pulled back on his mother’s hand, trying to squirm free so he could keep playing in the forest outside their kingdom. 

“Come on, my little firefly. Look at the sky. It’s starting to get light out. That means it’s time for good little elves to get ready for bed.” His mother said, her tone soft as she kept a good hold on his little hand, not letting him go. 

“I’m not tired! I still want to plaaay!” He whined, giving one more little tug before giving up and walking at her side with a pout.

“Not until the sun goes back down. You don’t want the dawn elves to catch you, do you?” 

“The dawn elves? What’s that, Momma?” 

“You don’t know about the dawn elves?” She feigned surprise. “...Okay, I'll tell you about them, but not until you’re tucked safely into bed.” 

Virgil let out another little hmph as he walked alongside her, but more or less let her help him get ready for bed. Her practiced hands quickly and expertly untied the laces on his tall boots, unsnapped the fasteners of his thick leather shirt, and unbuckled the several buckles on his matching pants before she could then help him into his much lighter night clothes. Next was letting his hair out of its long braid so it could be loose and comfortable for sleeping. She smiled as she brushed her son’s beautiful, pinstraight locks, fondly moving a few of the deep purple strands from where they fell in front of his violet eyes to back behind his long, pale gray ears. His teeth, with his slightly pointed little canines, were brushed and then she helped put on his nightly skin salve. You couldn’t go to bed without making sure your skin was taken care of, after all. 

Once he was all ready to turn in for the night, he scampered up into the bed and let his mother tuck him in, watching as she sat on the side of the bed to tell him the story. “Are you sure you want to hear the story, firefly? It’s very scary.”

“Uh-huh! I wanna know, I'm brave enough, I promise!” He declared in his tiny voice, looking up at her expectantly. 

“Alright... The dawn elves are huge, scary elves that only come out when the sun is up. They have the strength of a mountain and are just about as smart as one too.” She smiled at the soft laugh her son let out. “And they’re mean. If one ever got hold of you, they’d pull you right in half! They have blood red skin and bright yellow eyes, with big meaty hands for breaking and crushing things.” She put up her own hands for emphasis, using her long thin fingers to mimic bear paws. “And they use them! They break everything they find, either with their monster strength or the giant swords they carry on their backs. And they can swing them about like they were lighter than air! They’re big lumbering oafs that shouldn’t even be called elves! They’re more like orcs or maybe even trolls!” 

Virgil trembled a little in his bed, but he did his best to keep a brave face. “Why are they like that?” 

“No one knows, firefly. They’re just the reason why we can’t go out when it gets light, they might catch us!” 

“...Have they gotted anyone?” 

“No one’s seen one in generations, we’ve been too smart to let them near us. They’d never be able to find us in our safe cave kingdom. But we have to stay smart, it would be terrible if they ever did.”

“Did they before?” 

“Once, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. You see, way back then, our King and Queen invited their tribe’s Chief over so we could make a peace treaty. They must have thought back then that having such strong monsters around could have been useful. So our kingdom made a delicious feast for them, making sure it was perfectly welcoming and clean for their arrival. They were invited to eat first, because it’s always important to be polite. But once they started to eat, they spit all the food back out! Right in their faces! And once they’d made a huge mess and wasted all that delicious food, they pulled out their big monstrous weapons and attacked us! Out of nowhere!” 

Virgil gasped, and unbeknownst to him, so did another child back in his own home, on the other side of the forest.

“Then what happened, Gramma?”

“After those lying dusk elves tricked our King and Queen into their dark, scary lair, they laid out a big meal for them, pretending they wanted to be our friends. Their Emperor made them eat first... But as soon as they took the first bite, they tasted poison!”

Roman brought in a harsh breath, definitely scared by that.

“They did?!”

“They did! Our King, Queen, and the guards they brought along - just in case the dusk elves tried anything bad, all had to spit it out as soon as they could, thankfully they caught it in time and none of them were seriously hurt! Once they realized what was happening, they had to grab their swords to defend themselves and escape before they got too sick to get home!” 

“...They runned away?” 

“They had to, they could barely see in that dark, eerie cave, and they were weak from the poison. And when dusk elves shoot an arrow, they never miss. They could pin a fly to the wall by the wing! So the only way for them to be safe was to hold their swords up and back out of the cave, making sure they didn’t turn their backs to them. You can never show your back to a dusk elf. They always go right for the heart.” His grandmother reached out and lightly tapped the light red skin of Roman’s chest, just above his heart. 

The young elf gulped, listening to his grandmother’s story while she got him dressed for the day. “Why are they so mean, Gramma?”

She made sure the soft white fabric of the exomis he wore was folded and laid traditionally, draped only over one shoulder, leaving one half of his torso bare. “No one knows, honeybee. You just have to be extra careful and never let them find you! But it’s not so easy. They’ll always see you before you see them.”

“How?!” He was frightened, but his golden irises followed her strong, callused hands as she ensured the bottom half of his clothing came together correctly and made a complete skirt that hung down to just above his knees.

“They hide in the trees. They have big, dark eyes that can see farther than you’d ever imagine, and with their huge ears, they could hear a rabbit in a bush from ten trees over!” She playfully gave the slight point of his ear a little tug. “They're as tall as the trees and just as skinny, they can hide just about anywhere. But they’re as weak as crunchy leaves, they can barely hold up those big, arrogant heads of their’s.” She explained, finally tying his cord belt, which was the only thing holding the loose, flowing material all in place. Once she was done, she fondly ran a hand through his long, loose waves, smiling as her fingers slid through the wild, fiery strands. “...but that, my little honeybee, is why you can only play when the sun is out. Always remember - It’s only safe when it’s light.” 

Roman gave his grandmother a big smile, his teeny fangs on display. “Okay, Gramma. I will, I promise. Can I go play now?”

She glanced out the window, making sure the sun had risen before turning back to him with a nod. “Yes, honeybee. Go have fun.”

“Thanks, Gramma!” He called as he ran out the door, his bare feet smacking the cobblestones as he went. 

Chapter Text

Roman’s eyes snapped open and he immediately rolled out of bed, his bare feet silently landing on the rug. The one he’d dragged next to his sleeping place the night before specifically to dampen the sound. Thankfully his chambers were far enough away from his parents’ and grandparents’ that they really wouldn’t have heard anyway, but when you were doing something you definitely weren’t supposed to be, there was no such thing as an overabundance of caution. With quick steps he raced to his dresser to pull out one of his garments, hurriedly sliding it on and tying it. He was getting better and better at the special knots and traditional folds, though he’d had less than a year of practice, finally being allowed to do it for himself at his most recent birthday.

Once it was fully on, he made his way to his window and climbed out, scaling down the outer castle wall to the best of his ability. Thankfully the stonework had enough natural texture that his little fingers could find handholds easily enough, and he’d been strong enough to support his own weight since before he could even walk. The sun was definitely not up yet, making the area darker than his eyes were suited for and skewing his sense of the colors around him. But that wasn’t a problem, he didn’t need fine detail to get to where he was going. He raced to the edge of the courtyard and crawled up the section of wall that had the big chip in it, the slightly jagged edge it provided was more than enough for him to find the purchase necessary to hoist himself up and over the wall. 

The amount of time that passed between his eyes opening and his little feet landing outside the kingdom wall felt as short as a single heartbeat. He was really out here. He’d really done it. He’d never been outside the wall at this time. His heart was racing and he glanced around quickly, as if to be sure he had really managed it without being caught. He took off into the treeline at a sprint, riding his adrenaline, ready to find his prize. 

It had only been a couple days since he and the other kids around his age were taken by his best friend Remy to see a big purple flower he had in his room. There had been stories about them existing, growing only on the very far edge of the woods, but none of them had ever seen one. They were the frightlights, flowers that only bloomed in the dark, their glow attracting the dangerous creatures of the night. 

Remy had been boasting about his bravery, a very valued trait in their kingdom, by showing off the flower and telling them all that he had gone and gotten it all by himself. The main problem with that story was that Roman knew Remy’s mom was one of the kingdom’s traders. The traders had just come back yesterday from a mission and now, coincidentally , his best friend had a frightlight to show off. The young prince knew she must have brought it back and gave it to her son, and now Remy was using it to show off. Unfortunately, while Roman was willing to only alert Remy that he was aware of this deception via a knowing glance - not wanting to expose him in front of the other kids, he was not at all able to resist being goaded. 

“I thought you were the bravest one in the whole kingdom, Roman.” One of the other kids said, turning to him. 

“I am!” He quickly asserted, his hands landing on his hips with confidence. “I’m the prince! Princes are brave, everyone knows that!” 

“Then why haven’t you gotten a frightlight yourself? Remy did it, and he’s not a prince.” Another added. 

Roman turned to look at Remy with fire in his golden eyes, watching as Remy’s own widened. They both knew the truth, but Remy was still his best friend. While he wouldn’t make his friend out to be a coward in front of the others, he would simply never back down from a challenge.

“Just because I haven’t yet! I definitely could, it would be no problem for me.” He asserted.

“Then why don’t you go get one?”

“I will!”

And now here he was, running into the woods. He knew that the flowers didn’t grow close and it had to be picked before the sun was up, or it would close and not be nearly as impressive. That would be unacceptable.

Virgil was sniffling, looking around with concern. He’d lost track of the direction he’d been going in, and the tree he usually used as a landmark wasn’t where he thought it was supposed to be. He’d been out playing and now it was getting light out, and the lighter it got, the harder it would be for him to get home. This was bad, his mom would be so upset with him when she found out. Or maybe he’d never even make it home, maybe he’d get eaten by a monster and never get back to get in trouble in the first place. Oh that would be worse, so much worse. He took a deep breath in, trying to remember the rules they always went over about being in the forest. 

Come home before the moon mirrors start to close, if they were closing then the sun wasn’t far behind. They also grew more densely just outside the kingdom, the more he saw the closer he was. The bats were his friends, they would lead him back toward home when it got light out. They were nice and they slept when he did, also inside the kingdom’s cave system. So if he could find the bats, follow them. The better trees were closer together, and closer to home, the ones with the purple leaves. He figured he needed to focus on finding the moon mirrors, that would be his surest sign that he was going the right way.

He looked up, still hoping to find the big tree he usually used as his landmark, but as the night fled, so did his ability to really tell colors apart. Were these the purple trees? Or the greener ones? If they were greener he was only getting farther from home. He needed to... His ear twitched and he immediately pressed himself back against a tree to make himself harder to spot while he focused on listening. He could hear something rustling in the leaves. And it was getting closer. Was it the bats? No, it sounded much bigger than a bat and it was definitely on the ground, not in the sky or the trees. 

Roman emerged from between two bushes into a small clearing just before the trees started to get much closer together than before. He remembered being told that the green ones near home were green because they were further apart and got more light. So these darker ones must mean he had to be past the halfway point of the woods, getting close to his goal. He was continuing on when he heard a sniffling sound that stopped him in his tracks. He was brave and he was on a mission - but helping others was always the most important, most princely thing to do. 

“Hello? Is someone there? Don’t be scared, I promise I’m nice!” He called out, trying to peer through the darkness between the trees, squinting his eyes.

“Um.. Hello?” A small voice responded after a few moments, another little elf boy peaking around a tree to see him.

Once they caught gazes, they stared at each other for a moment. It wasn’t easy for either of them to see in this light, but they were certain they’d never seen the other before. They knew that multiple other kinds of elves existed even if they never really saw them, this boy must just be from some other kingdom. 

“Hi! My name is Roman! Are you lost? Do you need help? If you do, I can help you! I’m a prince and it’s my job to help.” He offered, still trying to make out more details of the boy that was timidly approaching. He seemed really skinny, Roman hoped he wasn’t sick, that would have been sad. He also seemed sorta gray? He subtly glanced down at his own hand, he was actually kinda gray too in this light. That explains that part, at least.

“You’re a prince? I’m.. Me too, I'm Virgil. Um.. I’m trying to get home. I’m lost.” He admitted, slowly coming closer to the other child. Virgil thought he was a little funny looking. He was kinda stocky for an elf and his ears were really short and barely seemed pointy at all, but maybe that's just what elves looked like where he was from.

“Oh no, well, I’ll make sure you get back! Umm, so, I came from that way.” Roman turned to point back to where he’d been. “And I ran in a straight line. So you probably aren’t trying to go over there. Want to walk with me that way? Maybe we’ll find your home. Oh! And we can find the frightlights together! That’ll make you feel braver.” 

“Frightlights? That sounds scary… But, um, okay. Yeah, let’s go that way.” He nodded slowly, moving to come close enough that they could begin their walk side by side.

“Yeah! They’re supposed to be really scary, but it’s okay. There’s no need to be afraid if we go together! I’ll protect you, I'm really really strong, I promise.” He asserted, a big smile on his face.

The other boy seemed very confident, enough that it actually made Virgil feel a little better. So he just nodded, staying beside the other boy as they made their way in what was hopefully the direction toward home. 

Roman wanted to tell him all he knew about the frightlights and the monsters they attracted, mostly the scary nightflyers and their sharp teeth that they used to drink your blood, but he already seemed really scared and that really felt like it would just make things even worse. So for now he just stayed near him, making sure he didn’t feel alone out there in the dark woods. 

They only had to walk for a couple minutes before they found a softly glowing flower, stopping them both in their tracks. 

“There’s one!” They both said at once, turning to the other with a smile. Virgil was glad to have finally found a sign that he was actually moving in the right direction, Roman was ecstatic to have succeeded in his quest.

“Wow… It really does glow bright. I wanted to take one home to show my friends but... It’s already closing up.” Roman said, crouching to look at it more closely, his tone a little disappointed. 

“Yeah, they don’t like the light. But you can get them to open a little bigger before you pick them if you do this.” Virgil knelt before leaning in and cupping his hands around the moon mirror, blocking any light with them as well as his body. Roman watched as the flower opened up more, the big petals spreading out. 

“Whoa.” He said softly.

“It’s better when it’s really dark, but here you go.” Virgil explained, picking the flower from the ground and holding it out to Roman. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. And thank you!” Roman carefully took the frightlight and cupped it in both hands, looking it over before looking back up at the other boy. “Are you feeling better?”

Virgil smiled, nodding. “Yeah, this is a good sign. I can make it home from here.” All he had to do was keep going that way, he knew he’d find more and then he’d be home.

Roman smiled back, he knew that finding the frightlight would make him feel braver. “I’m glad. I’m gonna take this home, but maybe we’ll see each other again! I play in the woods all the time.”

“Me too, maybe we will! Bye!”  “Bye!”

And with that, they headed off in exactly opposite directions.

Chapter Text

Virgil was nimbly moving from tree to tree, checking high up the trunks for mushrooms. The best mushrooms grew just after days that were especially wet or humid and if he was lucky he’d find some extra delicious ones he could take home. He didn’t mind when the rotation put him on gathering duty, he was finally getting near what would be his full height and his consistently growing limbs had only made climbing easier. He could maneuver from tree to tree like it was nothing, versus when he was younger and he was always a little worried he would fall to the ground when he didn’t reach the next branch. Now he didn’t even really need to jump to move to the next one, he could generally grab the next tree’s closest limb without letting go of the previous one. He’d gathered quite a few freckled pixie cups and velvet rosettes from up high and all he had left to do was to check low. The best prize of them all grew on the ground, but it was a much rarer find. 

Once he felt he had enough, he scaled down and began walking through the tall trees, checking around their bases for the delicacy he hoped to find. They were more likely to be found a bit further from home, seeing as they were quickly collected if they ever sprang up nearby. It was getting a little close to daylight, but he wasn’t a scared child anymore. He had a much better sense of direction and as he had grown his eyes had gotten much better at dealing with the light.

This was easily the worst age Roman had ever been. He was nearly fully grown, but still not quite there, so the benefits of adulthood were still out of his reach. He couldn't earn any prowess jewelry or even craft his sword until they knew how big he’d be. He was still considered too young to be a real part of ruling despite being the heir to the throne. But he was also not young enough that he could just play around and do whatever he wanted all day. He had to be mature like an adult without the recognition of being one. 

He’d done amazing in the distinguishing ceremony for his age group, a gauntlet of tasks to help the young adults of the kingdom see where their main skills lie and help them make choices on what they wanted their professions to be, but now that that had passed all he could do was wait. Since Roman was the prince and he wouldn’t really be selecting who in the kingdom he’d like to try training under, it was mostly just to show the rest of the kingdom that he had the skills to lead them. He was exceptionally strong, even for a race of people who could go toe to toe with creatures several times their size, but that didn’t matter yet. His diplomacy, tenacity, and knack for strategy didn’t matter yet. 

He’d proven that, despite the fact he would only keep getting stronger as his body continued to grow, he was already stronger than members of the guard or hunting group that had qualified for their positions with flying colors. But because he wasn’t of age yet, he was stuck doing Inbetween Tasks. Inbetween Tasks were what his age group had to do before they were old enough to do real work, but were no longer considered young enough to have no responsibilities. Today the inbetweens were helping the gatherers. Supposedly so they could get an idea for the lay of the land, to help them learn the look of the plants they could and could not eat, and some third thing he’d tuned out because he was thinking about how he wanted to get his real sword. But no, even though he was royalty, his blade couldn’t be forged until it could be made proportionate to his size. He did want a perfect weapon made just for him… But couldn’t he just use a spare one for now? All he had was a tiny knife, barely the length of his forearm, that he was supposed to use for cutting plant stems. 

He had meandered off into the woods with his basket, going further than necessary somewhat to get some space to himself, but mostly so no one would notice he’d left way too early so he could get his gathering done. The sooner he got a basket full of hydra berries and wild direstalks, the sooner he could go home and find something more fun to do. Probably sneak into the training yard and run drills with the practice swords until he was caught and told to go do something else. Again. For the fourth time this week. 

Virgil’s sharp eyes zeroed in his ultimate prize a few paces away, just a few trees past the clearing that marked the nearly half way point of the forest, a small satisfied smile growing on his face. He’d been close to turning in, prepared to count the few handfuls of gleaming gills he’d found as the crowning achievement of this trip. With his long quick steps he strode over to the ebonybells, leaning down to begin carefully removing the perfect black mushrooms from the soil, hopefully in such a way that would encourage them to grow back soon. 

“Whoa! Hey! What are you doing? Don’t touch those!” Virgil heard from over his shoulder, his head quickly turning to find the source of the unfamiliar voice.

Roman had called out to the stranger, picking up his pace once he saw them bent over a patch of gloomy black mushrooms. Everyone knew that black was not a color for food, what was this guy doing?

The slender elf turned at the sound and spotted the larger one coming toward him quickly, his nimble fingers placing the few mushrooms he’d already cut into his basket in case this became about which of them would be taking the lion’s share of his find.

The both of them stopped short when they fully saw the other, having to justify the person they saw before them. They each had a somewhat vague recollection of that time they’d met another elf child amongst the trees, but it had been years since then and the image of the boy they’d met had distorted in their memories over time. Especially seeing as it had been back before their eyes had developed fully and they could barely see in a less than optimal amount of light. 

Virgil was half convinced it was a dream, honestly. Seeing a strange little elf when he was so scared in the forest? That had probably just been his brain softening the end of a nightmare.  

Roman had just figured that his overactive childhood imagination had filled in the features of the other child in a weird way when his eyes weren’t able to provide all the details. 

They hadn’t talked to anyone else about it, neither of them wanted anyone to know they’d gotten any help that night.

Roman’s slight shock wore off first, his main concern was the fact that this guy seemed to be trying to kill himself with that toxic fungus. He zeroed in on the basket he held in his hand, it was chock full of speckled devils, reaper’s roses.. Even liar’s gold. But the worst of them was what he was picking now. “What are you doing?” He asked again.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Gathering mushrooms? What does it look like?” He responded, gesturing to the ones before him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was. 

“Those are deathcaps, you shouldn’t even be touching them.” Roman responded, completely bewildered that anyone would touch those dreadful things. Nearly all mushrooms were toxic, but deathcaps were certainly called deathcaps for a reason. At least this guy had gloves on.

“Deathcaps? These are ebonybells, I've never even heard of deathcaps.” He responded, finally moving from a crouch to fully standing, now that he knew he wasn’t going to have to defend his prize. It was very clear this stranger wasn’t going to try and fight him for them.

Roman blinked as the slender elf before him seemed to just keep getting taller and taller, his eyes traveling upward as he rose to his full height. He’d never met anyone so tall, the gray skinned elf had to be nearly a head taller than he was and he was one of the tallest in his kingdom. “Ebonybells? What are you.. Wait. Are you.. Didn’t I meet you once before? Your name was, uh.. Virgil, right?” He suddenly asked, the memory he thought he imagined suddenly making much more sense.

“...So it is you, the kid from that night. Roman. I.. I thought I’d dreamt that.” Virgil admitted, studying the young man before him. He was very short and thick for an elf, if it wasn’t for the fact Roman’s muscular arms were probably thicker than his own legs were, he’d have assumed he was much younger than himself. That and the memory of them being about the same size once. He should really focus on that bit more so than thinking too much about the musculature of the elf in front of him.

“Yeah.. Uh.. Anyway, whatever. Those are poisonous, you should leave them alone.” He reiterated, pointing at the black mushrooms. 

Virgil just raised an eyebrow, looking at his basket and then back to him. “No? They definitely aren’t, I just used the last I had to help prepare a dusk delicacy feast not three nights ago.” 

That had Roman’s eyes widening, pausing for a long moment to take in what he’d just heard. “...Did you just say.. Are you a.. You are a dusk elf?” His mind was reeling, there was no way that story was real, let alone somehow about an elf who looked like this. He’d been prepared to admit to himself that Virgil was kinda cute about a moment ago.

Virgil had no clue what this guy’s issue was. “Yes? What’s the problem?” 

Everything Roman had ever been taught was bouncing around his mind, trying to justify what he was looking at. He didn’t even almost know how to respond.

“What are you then? I’ve never seen anything like you before.” He was starting to get a little over this, apparently something was at hand here and he didn’t like that he was clearly out of the loop.

He answered without really thinking about it, his mind still somewhere else. “I'm, uh, I’m a dawn elf.” 

That had Virgil’s expression immediately matching Roman’s. A dawn elf? Right in front of him? In real life?

This guy was supposed to be the creature from their scary stories? The horrible, evil monsters who’d kill them as soon as look at them? This was.. This was just an elf. Different from himself in key ways, but still clearly an elf.

Sure, Virgil was definitely very tall and rather slim, his ears noticeably longer than any Roman had seen before. But his head was certainly a normal size. And his eyes were honestly beautiful, sparkling violet, not big black voids in his face.

Roman did have pretty big hands, but they weren’t like bear paws. While his skin was undeniably red, it was a light shade you might see in a soft sunset, not the blood red of a wound. And his shape was not familiar, but he never doubted for a moment he was easily something somewhat similar to himself, nowhere near an orc or a troll. 

They were staring at each other, trying to reconcile what they were seeing with what they’d been warned about for years. This was somehow what he’d been taught to fear, this young man who’d helped him once - for no reason beyond the fact that they’d happened to meet. 

It was the dawn elf who eventually broke the silence, golden eyes peering up into violet ones, hoping for understanding - and mercy. “...I am going to go home. I... I’m not going to tell anyone about this, I… I just want to go home and.. Be normal. Okay?”

The other slowly nodded. “I... Will also not talk about this. I’m... I’m going to go too.”

Roman took a long steading breath, not breaking eye contact for a long moment while he prepared to do one of the very specific things he’d been told to never do under any circumstance. After a long pause, he turned slowly, showing Virgil his unguarded back. If he was going to kill him, he’d have no obstacle in accomplishing that. He was showing trust and he hoped beyond hope he wasn’t a fool for doing so. 

No arrow ever flew. He just walked away, the dusk elf eventually losing sight of the dawn amongst the trees.

Chapter Text

Roman had made it back to his room fully intact and immediately started pacing. He’d been lied to. Or at the absolute minimum, been told an exaggeration of cosmic proportions. He’d heard that story so many times over his life. Their whole kingdom remained inside the walls from sunset to sunrise because of this tale. Did they all really believe it? He knew for a fact that no one went out at night. It wasn’t like there were secrets he didn’t know about, he heard about everything. He was the prince. His parents had never hid any part of ruling from him and, even though he couldn’t help with the actual decision making process yet, they still kept him up to date on everything going on so he could learn about it. They wanted him to understand the choices that they made and how conclusions were come to so he could ask questions or just otherwise be aware of all situations regarding the kingdom he would one day rule over. If they knew something, he knew it too.

No, everyone definitely actually fully believed the story. His grandma had always told it the same way. And, well… His grandma had also always been the one who kept him from doing some of the most outlandish things he’d wanted to do over the years. Ever since he was little he’d tried to fix every problem he came across. He would help someone to the best of his ability almost without fail. Maybe she had just been trying to protect him from himself? Maybe.. If there really was this falling out between them, they had deemed the dusk elves so untrustworthy that they embellished the tale? So that no one would try something and get hurt?

He found himself knocking rapidly on his grandparents' open chamber door. His grandmother normally kept up with the guard training, but she shouldn’t have left yet. She looked up at the sound of him knocking and her smile spread her warm visage upon seeing him there. “Well good morning, honeybee. Did you need me?” She asked.

“Morning, Grandma. I just wanted to talk to you about something, if you had a moment.” He said, realizing that he had run over here before really coming up with a gameplan for how to tackle this.

“Oh, of course. Come on in and get comfortable, let’s talk a bit.” She gestured into the space, wordlessly offering him the couch across from where she sat in her favorite chair, him noting that she had been about to start putting on her hand wraps. They must be sparring outside today, she’d never liked getting her hands messy.

Roman made his way in and sat, looking over his grandmother. She’d been like a second mom to him, not that he didn’t feel close to his mother, he loved her dearly as well. But grandparents tended to be the ones who taught the traditions and culture to the youth, so they’d spent a lot of time together. “I... I’ve been thinking about that story you used to tell me when I was little. About the, uh, the dusk elves.” He began, watching her expression.

Her eyebrows did raise at that, clearly growing a bit concerned at that choice of topic. “Alright? I’ve told you everything I know about them, honeybee. What did you want to talk about?”

“I was just curious, it’s been on my mind lately. …That wasn’t just a story, was it? I know you were usually trying to keep me from doing dangerous things when I was still small. I was thinking that maybe it had just been, like, a fable? To keep me from leaving during the night and getting lost?” He had smiled a little in spite of himself.

She laughed a little, shaking her head fondly. “I can see why you’d think that, you were even more energetic back then than you are now, which is hard to believe. But, no, honeybee. That’s the real story of our history with the dusk elves. My own grandfather told it to me when I was young.”

“Really? So it.. Is it really true? Not exaggerated or anything? I just…” He really should have planned this out a little more before he just jumped into it, apparently his knack for battle strategy didn’t extend to solo missions. “I guess I've just been thinking about it and it just seems so.. Far fetched. That elves like that could really exist.”

Thankfully, she seemed to fully accept this and nodded in response. “I understand, honeybee. You’ve always seen the best in everyone, I think you don’t want to believe that there are such elves, ones who could truly do such a thing. But that is the truth. They invited our rulers into their caves and poisoned us. It’s not complicated. I’m sure they were just intimidated by our strength. They can’t even lift boulders the size of a serving platter. You’ve been tossing those around since before you could talk.”

Roman just nodded, slowly thanking her for the information, wishing her a good sparring match, and heading back to his chambers. Time to get back to pacing.

Virgil was having a similar issue on his side of the forest, sitting in his mother’s office. She had been behind her desk, working on writing up some beautiful signage to place up around the kingdom, wanting to make sure everyone was aware they’d be holding a grand banquet to share in the delicious spoils of the recent rains.

“I can write and talk, firefly. What did you need?” His mother asked once he’d come into her office and sat down, watching her quill moving steadily as she wrote out the announcement in her beautiful style of calligraphy.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just have been thinking about something lately, I guess.” Virgil began. He’d been thinking about this since he arrived home with his mushrooms, having spent a substantial amount of time staring at the ceiling from his bed before coming over to his mother’s office.

“It’s no trouble, what’s on your mind?” She asked, leaning her head toward him to encourage him to speak, though her eyes remained aimed down at her task.

“Oh, it’s just, the story you used to tell me. About the dawn elves.” He was watching her face and saw how her eyes widened in subtle surprise in response to his words.

She finished the word she was on and then placed the quill in the ink pot and gave him her full attention. “Okay. What about it exactly?”

“I was just curious, is that really true? It’s.. It’s hard to imagine such creatures really existing. I was wondering if it wasn’t just a tale to keep kids from wanting to stay out too late.” He explained, watching as her eyes traced his face.

His mother nodded thoughtfully. “Ah, I see. Unfortunately, it really is the truth. I know it’s not easy to feel safe sometimes, knowing that mindless brutes exist who would attack peaceful people simply for showing them hospitality. It’s not easy to accept. I’m sorry, firefly. I wish I could tell you it wasn’t so.”

Virgil kept his face neutral, but that was exactly what he was hoping she wouldn’t say. He knew this feud ran deep, that this hatred was very much seated somewhere buried very far down in their past. But he’d hoped he’d been able to see some kind of potential for growth there. “Oh. I.. Alright. Thanks, mom. I.. That was all I wanted to ask.” He said slowly, rising from his seat and giving her a bow of his head in respect.

“Of course, firefly. I’ll be here if you need me for anything else.” She gave him a soft smile before returning his slight bow of the head and picking her quill back up as she watched him leave her office.

Virgil had considered stopping by to talk to his grandparents on his way back to his room, he’d spent basically all his time within the kingdom with them as he grew up and he considered them to be as close if not closer to him than his actual parents. Once they’d retired from ruling and their duties around the kingdom they’d been free to play with him when his parents were busy. But he’d talked himself out of stopping in on them when he originally left his room for his mother’s office and he’d decided against it now as well. They were older and growing frail, the last thing he wanted to do was stress them out by bringing this up.

Eventually, Virgil and Roman both found themselves staring at the sky from their bedroom windows. Neither had any idea what to do from here and were coming to terms with the fact that the best option they had at the moment was probably doing as they’d pledged to one another earlier. Carry on as normal, tell no one. Really, what else could be done?

Chapter Text

As soon as Roman’s golden eyes snapped open he immediately rolled out of bed and glanced out his window. The sun wasn't actually up yet, but that was intentional. Sure, he technically should wait a bit longer before setting out on his mission, but he was verifiably the strongest one in his whole kingdom. Safety was not one of his concerns. He had something important he was going to do today and getting an early start would only help.

There had been signs of a large mountain troll in the area, and what kind of to-be-king would he be if he didn’t try and do something about it? A bad one, he was sure of that. So he quietly got himself dressed, practiced hands handling his pristine white garment with nearly no input from him. After so many years it was second nature.

Much more important, at least to Roman, was his jewelry. He quickly pulled his fiery waves up into a high, cascading ponytail before putting on his intricate circlet. He was already adorned with his multiple golden bangles and several small hoop earrings, but they could only come off by cutting them open and that wouldn’t happen unless they needed to be melted down and reforged. Last, was his selection of rings and his thick necklace with its multiple shining pendants. Everything was brilliantly golden and embellished with rubies, of course. He’d earned every piece once he’d come of age. Through feats of strength, valiant deeds done, ranks earned, and duties accomplished. The only thing he hadn’t had to personally earn was his circlet, given to him when he came of age to show his status as their crown prince.

He grabbed his sword, proud that it was the largest and heaviest one in the kingdom, and snuck his way out of his window, scaling down the wall of the castle until his bare feet landed in the courtyard. From there he knew just where he could slip over the wall and start his hunt. He’d done this countless times at this point. Besides, it was twilight anyway. The sun might as well have been out.

Virgil was still up in the tree he’d stationed himself in earlier in the night. The sky was lightening but it wasn’t like the sun was actually up and he hadn’t accomplished what he’d set out for yet. There had been whispers of some sort of rock beast in their forest, destroying trees and scaring away the wildlife. It would never find their hidden kingdom, it was too deep in the earth and the entrance was well disguised. And even if it did somehow find it, the small opening that led into the deeper chambers would never fit something that large. But it still needed to be taken care of.

He wasn’t going to feel like he’d done his duty as the prince of his kingdom if he didn’t at least gather the necessary recon on what this creature was. He wasn’t stupid enough to try and take it down by himself, but no one had gotten a good look at it, so they didn’t know what kind of arrows to prepare. If it was truly some sort of living rock, they were going to have to lay intricate traps, he doubted they had much metal on hand that would actually pierce stone. He was hopeful it wasn’t exactly as had been surmised, but he wouldn’t know until he found it. His parents would surely forgive a little bit of a broken curfew if it meant he’d accomplished the first step to making their people safer. 

Roman was being as sneaky as he was capable of, but seeing as his large frame and even larger sword weren’t exactly suited for stealth, it would have been more accurate to say that he was just walking in a little bit of a crouched position as he followed the path of destruction. Trees thicker around than he was were knocked clear out of the ground, their roots exposed to the air. He’d have to ask if someone would come help him try and place them back in later. It wasn’t that he couldn’t lift one on his own, but it was one of those things that was just a bit too large to maneuver well as a single individual. A couple extra pairs of eyes to ensure it was being correctly placed back where it belonged would be very welcome. But that wasn’t pressing right now. 

He kept on his path, finding himself heading deeper and deeper into the woods. His people did hunt game out here, wolves and bears and the like, but they never really came this far in. Even though his people were probably safe, as the troll probably wouldn’t come close enough to them to cause actual harm, he couldn’t guarantee it. He was on a mission and he wouldn’t be returning until he’d succeeded in it. And it certainly wasn’t why he was doing it, but killing something as fearsome as a troll in the defense of his people would probably be worth adding another pendant to his already impressive neckpiece.

One of Virgil’s long ears picked up a sound, something was coming closer. It didn’t sound as big as he expected this beast to be, and despite being this far into the forest, it wasn’t upending the trees as it moved. So it was either small or intelligent. He doubted it was a deer he could bring home, but maybe it was something that would still count as a consolation prize if nothing else.

Roman found himself in a very small clearing, surprised that the trail he’d been following had come to an abrupt end. It was still a welcome find, slowly weaving between all these trees was slow going, and he was not at all accustomed to having to move so deliberately. He was more of a sprint in, slash and bash, emerge victorious kind of a guy. 

Virgil’s breath caught, it was that dawn elf again. He’d done his best to push the large elf and the implications he brought to the back of his mind after that second encounter those years ago. But he was certain it was the same one. Roman. He was clearly older, his strong features hadn’t been so defined when he was younger, he’d certainly have remembered that jawline being so.. Anyway, what should he do from here? If he stayed quiet, he doubted he’d be spotted. His matte black leather armor with his long sleeves tucked into gloves and long pants tucked into boots helped him stay hidden amongst the shadows. He didn’t even wear his circlet when he wasn’t home, even the thin ring of silver was an unnecessary risk when it could potentially reflect a stray beam of light. It was as though the elf below him was trying to be seen from every direction.

His grip on his bow tightened, considering. He had no desire to harm him, but he couldn’t help his instinct to clutch his weapon close for his own safety. 

He decided that there had just been too many encounters at this point, it felt weird. And one thing he wasn’t going to do was feel weird alone. “...Hey.” He called from up in his spot, not loudly, but what he felt was certainly loud enough to hear from the base of the tree.

Roman heard that voice, and despite it being much deeper than it had been last time he’d heard it, there was no doubt in his mind who it had to have belonged to. His eyes trailed up, looking for Virgil. The dusk elf moved silently, leaning just a bit closer to him, seeming to appear magically from the shadows he’d been hiding in up near the tree top. “Hey.” He responded, his eyes once again having to figure out how to justify what he was seeing. Wow, Virgil had certainly filled out since the last time he saw him. Not that he wasn’t still the thinnest elf he’d ever seen, but he looked… Uh, healthy. 

They had a staring match for several moments before Roman had to break the silence again. “What are you doing up there?” 

“Hunting.” Virgil answered simply, apparently they were just going to ignore the main thing at hand here. 

Roman raised an eyebrow. “Hunting what? Birds? Why are you all the way up there?” 

Virgil shifted slightly again, coming more into view and showing the dawn elf his bow. “Better vantage point than down there. What are you doing out here?”

The dawn elf slowly nodded, a primal part of his brain finding that the bow he hadn’t even noticed before this moment was setting him on edge. “Also hunting.” 

It was the dusk elf’s turn to be a bit confused. “You don’t even have a bow.”

Roman fluidly removed his large blade from where it rested on his back, gripping it naturally like it was what he was born to do. “Don’t need one.” 

The elf in the tree did not like the look of that sword one bit. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen the enormous thing strapped to Roman’s back, but the idea that he could move that massive piece of metal around so easily that he would use it to hunt with was horrifying. He didn’t think he’d even be able to lift it, let alone swing it.

Their staring match started back up, Roman deciding once again to be the one to break it. “Anyway... Have you seen the troll or whatever it is making all this mess out here? That’s what I'm hunting for.”

Virgil’s eyebrows immediately flew to nearly his hairline. “On your own? I’m just trying to get an idea of what it even is.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t plan to just take it out. You aren’t trying to kill it?” He was baffled by the idea that he’d just come to look at the thing. 

“Do I look like a moron? Why would I try and take something like that on alone? We need to set traps and prepare arrows.” 

“Traps? Arrows? …You’re weird.” Roman cracked a smile, the first one he’d had around this elf since they were children, meeting for the first time. 

Virgil had been prepared to take offense, but he found himself smiling in return. “And you are crazy.” 

They shared a soft laugh, Roman moving to lean against a tree as he looked up at Virgil. The quiet that settled between them was much more comfortable this time, lasting until one of the dusk elf's long ears twitched. “Wait, I hear something.” He said quietly, moving back into the shadows slightly and looking off in the direction from which he heard the sound.

Roman adjusted the grip on his sword, it having become lax as they’d been speaking. He certainly didn’t hear whatever it was Virgil did, but it only took a few moments before he could feel the slight shaking of the ground. Whatever was on its way toward them was big. Very big. 

“You should hide, it's coming this way. It probably heard you talking.” Virgil said, his own voice having been much quieter this entire time.

“Good, that’s what I’m here for.” Roman replied, then glanced upward at him again. “Cover those huge ears of yours for a second.” He added, giving the hidden elf a moment to comply before he brought his fingers to his lips and whistled, a loud and shrill sound that would be impossible to miss from anywhere remotely nearby. 

The dusk elf was glad he’d taken the advice, his ears would be ringing if he hadn’t. He opened his mouth to condemn what a stupid choice that was when an angry roar sounded from nearby and the ground began trembling as whatever it was approached much more purposely than before. It was moments before a tree at the edge of the clearing was pulled right from the ground and tossed aside, making room for the hulking form of the monster that was coming right for them. 

It was a fully grown mountain troll, a huge beast with a rough, craggy hide that would be challenging to pierce in the thicker spots - but not impossible. It stood enormously tall, taller than Virgil would have been even standing on Roman’s shoulders, despite the fact it was bent over and using its arms to aid its movement as though it were a gorilla. They’d have to use rope traps. There was no doubt that it would be able to snap normal ropes, but if they could trip it and tie it down so it couldn’t get any momentum it might be enough. Maybe if they strung thick ropes between trees just off the ground and baited it, they could catch it unaware enough to make it fall and they could strike. This was good information, he could certainly tell his parents this and it would prove greatly beneficial. 

Roman just ran straight at from his side of the clearing, swinging his enormous blade once he was close enough to make contact. The troll blocked his swing with one of its thick arms, but not without injury. The large elf used the moment it recoiled to slide into the space between the beast’s arms and deliver a swift front kick to his stomach, forcing it to fall onto its back with a roar. Roman leapt up so he could slam his sword down, but the troll’s free arm came up and smacked him out of the air, sending him flying backward.

Virgil only realized at the last possible moment that the elf flying through the air was going to strike the very tree he was hiding in. He didn’t know for sure if that was going to be a problem, but seeing as he was clearly sturdy enough to take a full contact hit from a mountain troll, he was not sure what would happen to the tree when he struck it. The tall elf leapt from the tree top where he’d been just before Roman’s back hit the trunk with a painfully solid thud. The force did knock the tree backward, the roots protesting as they were yanked from the soil. It didn't fall fully over, the roots winning out in the end, but the tree was certainly closer to laying flat than it was to standing fully upright. 

Roman let out a grunt of pain when he made contact, rolling as quickly as he could back onto his feet. He did manage to catch a glimpse of Virgil floating through the air, landing on the ground several feet from him with what could only be described as feline grace. The dawn elf quickly focused on the troll again, there being no world where he’d take that hit lying down. Nearly as soon as he’d righted himself he was running toward it once again, his sword held at the ready. The troll had managed to get itself upright as well and was clearly prepared to trade blows.

All of Virgil’s muscles were tensed, every single part of him poised to run. The lessons he’d been taught his entire life were being screamed at him in his head. Don’t be a hero, you can’t help anyone if you die. Get yourself to safety and then evaluate your next move. Mistakes mean death. Getting hit means death. Hide. Remain hidden, never be seen. Run. Always run.

Roman was dodging the troll’s massive arms and getting in sword strikes where he could. Agility wasn’t his strongest suit, but in a situation where he was fighting something more than twice his size, the fact that he could be far more nimble than it could was proving rather helpful. They were similar in strength which, while it was a fun challenge, was something Roman wasn’t used to. He hadn’t faced anything or anyone stronger than himself since he’d been far younger than he was now. Parrying the beast’s massive fists with his blade and pushing back against it was actually somewhat difficult. 

The troll did manage to knock the dawn elf off balance at one point, him struggling to right himself before the next blow came. But before it could strike him, the beast bellowed in pain and paused its attack. Roman looked up to see an arrow sticking out of the side of its neck. He spared one tiny glance behind him to see Virgil, one knee in the dirt to help anchor himself perfectly still as he was already aiming another arrow. He flashed a grateful smile and went back to his attack, but the next arrow seemed to piss it off more than anything else had so far. A voice deep in the back of his mind, that Roman was certainly not listening to at the moment, was honestly a little miffed that the several deep gashes he’d given the troll across the chest didn’t seem to make it nearly as mad as those two arrows. 

He rushed in again and was only swatted away once more, him skidding along the ground on his feet as he watched the beast yank the arrows out and then turn to pick up an enormous boulder. 

With horror, Roman realized that he was not the intended target for that rock. The beast was staring past him, gearing up to throw it at the newer source of irritation. As it winded up the shot, he pivoted and sprinted with everything he had back toward Virgil. 

The dusk elf was aiming his third arrow when he registered what was about to happen. That boulder was going to kill him. His anxiety had bypassed fight or flight and had firmly chosen freeze, his body remaining completely still as his life had begun flashing past his eyes and he began trying to make peace with the fact that he’d given his life to help a dawn elf. The next thing he knew he was shoved to the ground, one single red hand sliding him several feet away with strength he couldn’t even describe. Roman had raced to him and pushed him out of the way, spinning back toward the troll as soon as the thinner elf was out of danger. 

Virgil watched from the ground as the dawn elf faced the troll, not having time to raise his sword or even brace against the hit. The boulder struck his body with full force, a jagged edge cutting his chest deeply across the right side. That was the side not even slightly protected by the wholly pointless fabric, Virgil would never refer to his garment as armor, that he wore. He was shoved backward with the heavy stone, his feet leaving deep trails in the dirt. Once it stopped, the dusk elf fully expected the dawn to be fully buried beneath it, his life draining from him. But instead the boulder suddenly flew back toward the troll, which neither he, nor the troll, anticipated. Roman was standing, barely, his sword on the ground beside him and left hand pressed to the wound on his chest. His breathing was ragged and nearly his whole weight was braced on only one foot, Virgil realizing that he must have kicked the rock back where it came from as though it were nothing but a ball. The fact that he was now treating one foot gingerly spoke volumes on how that would prove to have been a poor choice in the long term.

The troll also took the brunt of the rock to its chest, staggering backward. Roman swiftly removed his hand from where it was applying pressure to his wound and scooped up his massive sword, winding back and then throwing it as hard as he could as though it were nothing but a throwing knife. The troll had been too distracted by the boulder, first getting hit by it and then shoving it aside, to watch what the injured elf was doing. The blade plunged deeply into the troll, the creature falling to its back with a gurgled shout before the sound tapered off and its body stilled, never to move again. 

Roman fell to his knees, his hand immediately back to trying to stem the bleeding from his chest as he tried to catch his breath. Virgil scrambled up and over to Roman, eyes huge as he tried to survey the damage. 

“Did I.. Is it.. Dead?” He wheezed, eyes clenched shut.

Virgil looked over at the creature with the massive sword sticking out of its chest. “Y-yeah, it.. What were you thinking? What is wrong with you?!” He planted himself on his knees next to Roman, his hands shaking in his gloves as he hurriedly reached into the small bag strapped to his hip and produced first aid, trying to swat the red hand away so he could try and wrap his chest and shoulder.

Roman finally looked up at him, breath still heaving. “What are you… That would have gone through you.”

“Yeah, well you could have let it! Look what happened to you!” Virgil argued, applying some of the healing salve he kept on his person to the edges of the wound. He didn’t have nearly enough to cover a gash this deep, he didn’t think there was anything that could prevent this from scarring Roman’s chest extremely noticeably. Stopping the bleeding was most important, but it was still ingrained in him to try and prevent such a blemish. Now everyone would know he messed up and gotten hit, there’s no way he could hide such an injury. 

“I’m alive.” Roman reminded him, still fighting to calm his heart rate and regulate his breathing. 

Virgil huffed, tying the bandages as tight as he could. “Yeah, that’s not a sure thing just yet. You're going to need to clean this or it’ll get even worse.”

“I’ll be fine. I.. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Why? You could have saved yourself! Why did you do something so stupid?” He finally pulled his hands back, moving to his feet so he could reach down and try to help Roman up.

He let out an exhausted sounding breath of laughter. “It’s the right thing to do. It’s.. It’s the duty of the strong to protect others.” He carefully took the hand Virgil offered him in his left hand as his right arm was numbly hanging down at his side. He made sure to mostly use his good leg to push himself upward, only taking the offered hand to try and balance himself, he had a feeling if he pulled the dusk elf at all then they’d just both be back on the ground.

Hells, this guy was heavy. How was he supposed to get him home? He’d barely be able to lift his hand, let alone any of his actual weight. He was choosing to focus on that rather than the words he’d just heard. 

Roman straggled to stand, carefully testing his weight on his injured foot. It was less than ideal, but doable. He’d make it back. “Thanks, I.. I’m going to head home. You can tell your people the troll is taken care of.” He said, letting go of Virgil’s hand and instinctively pressing it once again to his now bandaged chest. 

“Yeah, no. I’m walking you back, there’s no way I'm letting you go off into the forest alone in the state you're in.” Virgil shook his head, grabbing that red wrist and moving to drape Roman’s arm over his shoulders. Lord, just holding up the weight of his arm was like lugging a full satchel of firewood on his back. 

The dawn elf was going to argue, but he honestly just wanted to lay down and the sooner he made it back the sooner he could do so. So instead he just rolled his eyes and turned the two of them in the direction of his kingdom. He spared a glance to his sword, still buried in the troll’s chest. If Virgil wasn’t insisting on helping him back, he might have tried to bring it home with him. But he’d just have to tell someone where to come get it for him while he recovered. 

So the two of them walked off together, Virgil not wanting Roman to realize how much he was struggling to assist and Roman trying to utilize his help without placing any excess weight on him. It felt like an eternity before they could finally see the walls of the Kingdom of Dawn. Roman stopped Virgil once it was in view. “Okay. This is close enough, you should go. Thank you for the help.”

“What? You want me to just leave you here when we’re this close? The whole point was making sure you fully made it back safely.” He raised an eyebrow, looking over at him. 

“They can come get me from here. You need to head home.” He tried again but Virgil was clearly still not convinced. With a sigh he admitted what was really on his mind. “I.. I don’t want them to see you while I'm injured like this. I.. I don’t know how it’ll go over, but it will look very very bad.”

That actually made the dusk elf pause. Things were already very much not great. Maybe he had a point that the first time the bulk of one of their groups would fully see a member of the other, no one should be in a position to become a scapegoat. “...Alright. I.. Are you sure you’ll be okay?” He asked, more softly.

Roman turned to look up at him. His big violet eyes were gorgeous from this close. “Yes, thank you. I can call them from here. Now go. I’ll count to ten before I whistle, so cover those giant ears again.” 

Virgil fondly rolled his eyes, looking down at him. He was dirty, exhausted, and caked in sweat, but the tired smile on his lips was still fully sincere and completely enchanting. “Alright, alright. Just.. Be safe, okay? And.. Thank you. You were right, that was.. I wouldn’t have survived that.” He admitted softly as he slowly scooted out from under Roman’s arm and made sure he was stable on his own before moving away. 

“Anytime.” Roman responded sincerely and then used his head to gesture back the way they came. 

The dusk elf nodded in return, giving a small wave before quickly disappearing into the trees. Roman counted silently before lifting his good hand to his lips and whistling loudly in three short bursts, pausing, and then doing so again. He didn’t know Virgil had scaled a tree to watch and made sure someone came for him. But he didn’t leave until several guards hurriedly responded to Roman’s help signal and then carefully took their prince inside. To get the medical attention he sorely needed, because of him. 

Chapter Text

There were a lot of things Roman was very good at. He was exceptionally strong and brave, he was loyal and valiant almost to a fault. He’d help anyone with anything if he was capable of doing so. His swordsmanship was immaculate, his knack for battle strategy officially recognized. But there were at least two things at which he was very, very bad. Sitting still and being taken care of. He was laid up in the castle infirmary, his chest and lower leg fully bandaged. Thankfully no one asked too many questions about his story that a passing adventurer had helped bandage him up as thanks for protecting them from the beast. Roman had just insisted they get back home to safety rather than stay with him after that. It was essentially the full truth, anyway.

The kingdom sent out a small team of hunters to retrieve his sword, as well as deal with the body of the creature it was stuck in. Upon their return he was commended for his strength and skill, the hunters giving a full report on the mighty beast he’d bested. His father had personally removed Roman’s necklace from his neck, as well as his own, taking them to get one of his pendants moved to his son’s. It was an especially great honor from a king, a proud father, to his eventual successor. 

That had all been amazing. But now he was stuck laying here for the next few days under supervision - a task generally traded off by grandparents, because he could not be trusted to stay still while he healed. He couldn’t fault anyone for not thinking he’d remain in bed. He absolutely wouldn’t have if he wasn’t being watched. But it didn’t mean he had to like it. Thankfully for him, and anyone in earshot of his complaints and attempts at bargaining, their people bounced back very quickly. His leg was feeling almost 100% after only a day of rest and a full night’s sleep, and his chest only needed to remain bandaged for another few days after that. 

It would look a bit unsightly for a little while, a scab on red skin tended to look more dire than it really was, but it wouldn’t be long before he had a brand new scar. He was looking forward to that. He’d gotten a few scars over the years, but this one would be huge. Noticeable from a distance. Dawn elves admired scars, it was a permanent reminder that you’d faced something difficult and come out on top. If you lived to scar, you persevered. You were more powerful than the difficulty you faced. And a scar earned in the protection of another was the most revered of all. There was nothing you could do that was more important or more admirable than protecting someone.

He was being commended for his act, which felt amazing. But that did not get him away from his babysitter. So his feelings remained mixed. 

Virgil had gotten home late, very quickly running into his parents who he pulled into a private meeting to discuss things. They did thankfully accept his excuse for coming home after light once he explained he had located the great beast in the forest. His people tended not to give too much away but, seeing as he knew his parents’ tells very well, the slight widening of their eyes and tightening of their pupils showed they were more concerned for his safety than upset at the fact he’d broken the rules. He explained that, from his hidden post in the trees, he’d seen a team of adventurers take the creature down. He waited to confirm it had indeed died before reporting back home. 

They were thankful that their son was safe and that he had ensured their kingdom was not in danger. His father went to inform the necessary people that the beast was no longer a concern while Virgil let his mother fuss over him a bit. She had noticed a bit of a scratch on his cheek and insisted that he let her seal and bandage it for him. It probably happened when he’d been pushed to the ground, but he just told her it must have been a stray stick from a branch he’d passed by without noticing. She made sure to put salve on the spot before she covered it with a very small pale gray bandage, one that nearly perfectly blended in with his skin tone, to keep the salve in place. He couldn’t allow that to scar, she didn’t want anyone to think he was careless. 

After that she had to give him a full once over, making sure no stray sticks or leaves had gotten stuck in his armor, not wanting anything to potentially scratch him when he went to take it off for bed. He even acquiesced to letting her brush out his hair for him. She hadn’t since he’d been small and he knew it would comfort her to take a bit more care of him after he’d been so close to such a beast. Brushing his hair was also something that he didn’t love to do, as it took a very long time. His people didn’t believe it proper to purposefully alter their bodies themselves, unless there were very extenuating circumstances. Meaning, it had never once been cut and his braid very nearly reached his ankles when he didn’t wrap it up around itself into some kind of bun. 

Once she seemed satisfied that her baby boy was safe and whole, she sent him off to his room to rest. Virgil found himself laying in his bed, staring at the stone ceiling. He was still reeling from what happened that night. Roman had risked his life to save his. He’d risked himself to save someone he was actively supposed to fear and mistrust. As he thought more about it, Virgil had also done something extraordinary, just to his own degree. 

Anyone else he knew would have left the other elf to deal with the troll at the first moment of danger. It wasn’t their fault that he’d rushed in to do something stupid and imperiling, and getting anywhere near a beast like that was a nearly guaranteed grisly end. One he very much almost met. He couldn’t imagine the fuss his mother would have raised if she knew how close he’d genuinely come to tragedy. But Roman had saved him with no hesitation. He could have gotten lastingly injured in that move. Virgil wasn’t even sure that he hadn’t. His wounds were intense, his body clearly taxed from his actions. He hoped he was okay, that his people were able to nurse him back to health. He wouldn’t even ever know for sure if something terrible happened to the dawn elf. They’d only run into each other three times in their entire lives. If he never saw him again, would it just be that they didn’t happen to? Or would it be that something terrible had happened? He’d never know unless he saw him.

They both reflected on what had happened. They’d worked together, they’d helped one another. They clearly weren’t the monsters they’d been taught to fear. There had to be something to do about this, wasn’t there? It would be difficult, undoubtedly dangerous, to go against such long held beliefs. 

Virgil didn’t know if he could stomach doing something like that. 

Roman knew that facing opposition meant you stood for something.

The prince of the dawn elves lasted nearly a full two weeks before he couldn’t handle it anymore. He was no longer being supervised and he’d been freed from having to remain in the infirmary several days ago. They’d had a feast in his honor, announcing his accomplishment to the kingdom. It wasn’t an actual ceremony or anything but when things were good, why not take any opportunity to eat, drink, and be merry? 

Roman’s scab was mostly gone, his scar just as visible as he’d hoped. It wasn’t fully settled into the shade it would be for the rest of his life, but it was getting there. There was finally no reason for anyone to be keeping tabs on him anymore, at least to do with his recent injury, and he was going to take the chance to finally do something. After spending all that time stuck in bed, he’d decided he couldn’t take this anymore. 

There was no reason for this feud between the dawns and the dusks. They were clearly all elves, they had more in common than they had marking them as different. And even if Virgil’s people had done something awful all that time ago, the elf he’d met was good. At least, he was pretty sure he was. He didn’t think he had the capacity to let a bunch of elves be poisoned. Probably. So he was going to go over there and… Do something. 

Just like all the other times he’d run into his dusk elf.. Friend? Were they friends? Yeah, right? Like every time he’d run into his friend Virgil, he got up before the sun so he could slip out without anyone noticing. Roman had fully gotten himself dressed, jewelry and all, when he found himself reaching for his sword. He’d missed it, he liked the weight of it, it made him feel safer. But.. It was intimidating, he knew that. That was somewhat the point of it, honestly. So for this.. He needed to leave it. No weapons. This was going to be about good will, being unarmed felt like the first step. He still had his natural strength and in his capable hands, nearly anything he could get a hold of could be a weapon if it came down to it. Okay, he’d fully convinced himself. 

With a deep breath and long exhale, he turned from his blade and went to his window, climbing out and making his way down the castle wall like he’d done so many times before. It was no time before he was once again landing outside the kingdom, setting off at a brisk pace toward where he assumed the Kingdom of Dusk was. He could do this, it was going to go just fine. 

Roman walked with a purpose, going in a fully straight line through the woods. It wasn’t all that long before he found himself in that clearing, and soon after that he’d found a patch of frightlights, closing as the night around them slowly turned to day. This was as far as he’d ever gone, when he walked here with Virgil as children. He’d met him twice since, right around that clearing he’d just walked through. But today he was going to keep going. 

With confident steps he continued on, walking through the much more densely packed woods, seeing how it only continued to get more strange as he went. The green leaves that grew off the thick trunks of familiar trees were far behind him, these skinnier trees had foliage in shades of purple and blue. It was oddly beautiful, he hadn’t seen colors like this in nature before. It wasn’t much longer before he could see something out beyond the edge of the treeline. Had he found it? It took another few minutes to emerge from the woods, finding himself fully through to the other side. 

Behind him were trees and before him was... A really big rock face. Oh, this was going to be really embarrassing if he’d just assumed it would be straight through but it actually wasn’t. There must have been a place he was supposed to turn or something back there. He studied the rock formation, half looking at it and half deciding what to do next. He could walk along it? Or walk around it? Maybe this really was the right way and he just had to keep going. That was his best idea for now, so he picked a direction and began walking, hoping to go around the obstacle. If he made it to one side and there was no way around, he’d just climb up on top and look around, then maybe he’d see something from up there. That was a solid plan B. 

It hadn’t been that long before he took a step that had apparently been wrong, finding that something had started to close around his ankle when he did so. Roman quickly looked down to see it was a rope. Well, he’d have referred to it more as a large string, it couldn’t have been any thicker around than his belt. Was this supposed to stop him? Maybe if he were a rabbit. 

Once it fully tightened around his ankle it started tugging back toward the tree line, but seeing as he was watching the entire thing happen, he just planted his other foot down and pulled back against it. It was probably just a trip wire with a large weight or something on the other end, like a stone. He was sure it would have been enough to catch a deer, or maybe even a small elf if they weren’t paying attention. 

The Prince of Dawn was deciding what to do, it would be nothing to just snap the rope with his hands but he didn’t really want to break someone’s trap if they were only trying to get dinner, when he heard voices closing in on him. Oh, he supposed it would make a lot of sense if the trap had some sort of alarm that sounded when triggered, something his ears didn’t pick up.

“What in the hells..” “Hey! Stop right there!” “Don’t move!” “Stay where we can see you!” 

Roman stood still, watching as he was surrounded by dusk elves, them appearing from seemingly nowhere, bows drawn and aiming right at him. He just raised his hands in surrender, hoping that he didn’t get shot, realizing that this was probably the most likely outcome of the plan he didn’t fully cook before setting out. Yeah, he was much more wary of things that could turn out to be unsafe when he was making plans for people other than himself.

He kept his hands up, making no sudden movements as he thought up something to say. “I come in peace. I just want to.. Speak with the prince.” 

That seemed to surprise them, them starting to look around at each other before one lowered their bow and stepped forward, producing more of that thin rope from somewhere and coming closer to him. “We’ll take you to the king and queen and have them decide what happens to you. Put your hands behind your back.”

The finer points of just how pointless tying his hands with that glorified string seemed like things he should just keep to himself for now. Complying felt like his best bet. So he did, putting his hands behind his back like he was trying to cross his arms behind him, grasping his forearms in his hands. He tried to focus on holding them still, feeling someone tying the rope around where his wrists laid atop one another. Roman had a feeling that letting go of the hold he had on himself would break him free accidentally, which they probably would not take well.

Once they were satisfied with their knots, someone put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a light push. It took a moment for him to realize that this was to get him to walk forward, which he began to do, letting them guide him toward the Kingdom of Dusk. This was certainly going to be something. 

Chapter Text

This was going to drive Virgil crazy. It had been nearly two weeks and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Roman. Not knowing if he’d gotten himself killed or put permanently out of commission just because he decided to save his life rather than get himself to safety like a sane person. He wasn’t upset exactly, he preferred being alive to not, but.. It was complicated. He’d hoped that as time went by he’d think about the dawn elf less, but if anything it had been the opposite.

He was pacing in his bedroom, if he wanted to go see if he could find him, now would be the time. Night was about to give way to day and it was just about that perfect in between time where he and Roman had the potential to run into each other. He should be getting ready for bed, he’d managed to unbuckle his shirt but he’d stopped after that, unable to make up his mind on whether or not he should go back to the forest. It was probably the “right” thing to do, he was sure if the situation was reversed, Roman would come to make sure he was okay.

Or, he at least thought he would. He technically didn’t know him all that well, but at the same time he felt like he understood him perfectly. The dawn elf was valiant, clearly to a fault. Now that he was really thinking about it, every time they’d met he’d immediately tried to help. When he was lost, when it appeared he was doing something dangerous - even if he hadn’t been, and then literally saving his life. The last one was obviously the most monumental of them all, but it couldn’t be ignored that he’d been trying to take care of him since he was a child. 

That certainly made Virgil feel… Some kind of way. The idea to put oneself in harm’s way for another was already actively discouraged, but to do so for someone you’d barely met? It was such an unfamiliar concept that he’d barely believed it when it happened and he was still struggling with it now almost a full two weeks later. Protection and bravery were not things he witnessed. Strength had never been a valued trait. It was important to be fast, to be smart, and to be accurate. 

The memory of Roman so easily pushing him to the ground popped into his head again. He wouldn’t have used anything close to his true strength to remove him from danger. Yet he’d still done it so very easily. Like Virgil weighed nothing at all. He’d just.. Protected him. He hadn’t considered it at the time, but thinking back, it had been thrilling. And right after that, he’d had his hands on his strong, heaving body. The one that risked everything to save him. It hadn’t crossed his mind when it happened, but.. He couldn’t deny seeing a body like that was…

There was suddenly a knock on Virgil’s chamber door, snapping him out of his daydream. He rebuckled his armor swiftly as he cleared his throat. “You may enter.” He called. 

The door opened and a dusk elf in guard attire was standing there, bowing in recognition of the prince. “Please excuse the interruption, Your Highness. His and Her Majesties are requesting your presence in the grand hall.”

Virgil quirked an eyebrow, that was certainly a surprise. The grand hall was generally used for diplomatic matters. “I see, thank you. I’ll report there immediately.” He gave a slight bow of his head, dismissing the guard. He quickly placed his thin silver circlet on his head, he wasn’t sure if it was necessary, but just in case he needed to be presentable as a member of the royal family, it was best to wear it.

It didn’t take any time at all for him to reach the grand hall, his long strides bringing him there swiftly. He slipped through the doorway and immediately froze in place. Roman was here. The prince of the dawn elves was currently in his kingdom. He was flanked by guards on either side and his arms seemed to be held behind his back while his parents were looking at him from a short distance away. A third guard was untying the knot of his garment at his shoulder. It slowly fluttered down as it came undone, leaving his chest fully bare as the guards were apparently checking him for weapons. It seemed wholly unnecessary, Roman’s clothing left nearly nothing at all to the imagination, he didn’t think he’d have been able to hide anything under his exomis without it being extremely noticeable from all angles. 

His violet eyes were tracing that light red torso, he’d never seen his stomach before - though it looked as hard and muscled as all the other visible planes of his body. He also was finally seeing the aftermath of what taking a boulder to the chest did to someone. If they lived. An enormous scar, epicentered on his right pec, that stretched angrily away from the impact zone onto both his shoulder and stomach, deeply pigmented and jagged in shape. It wasn’t until Roman spoke that Virgil was pulled from his staring. 

“I mean, feel free to untie my belt if you really want to, you just need to be fully aware I will be completely naked if you do.”

Virgil’s eyes snapped to the guard who was currently reaching for the rope tied around the large elf’s waist, the only thing keeping the fabric on him. “Wait.” He called out, fully strolling into the room, alerting everyone to his presence, and moving to stand alongside his parents. “That’s not necessary, he’s not hiding anything.” He asserted. The guard paused and had to glance at the king and queen for confirmation that this new order, contradictory to the one they were enacting, was to be followed. The royals seemed surprised at their son’s declaration, but his father simply nodded to the guard and they moved away from Roman once again. Thank the heavens, Virgil did not need to deal with that right now. 

“Virgil! Hey!” Roman called, clearly happy to see him. 

“...Hey.” He said, still trying to make sense of what was happening. At least that answered the question of whether or not the dawn elf would've come to look for him. 

Roman’s day was going along a little bit oddly, but that made a lot of sense given what he was doing. He’d been led through a gap he’d had to shuffle through sideways, one he could internally admit he probably never would’ve noticed in that rock face, and into an intricate cave system. It was strangely beautiful. While his own kingdom was outdoors, the buildings and features built from stones, this one was carved into the stone itself. There were interesting natural variations, several very tall archways leading down darkened halls, and sconces built into the walls that allowed him to see where he was going. 

The main area had been grand and cavernous, him doing his best not to instinctively flinch when he noticed that they had nightflyers in here, hanging upside down from the ceiling. He’d fairly swiftly been led into this room, it was very similar to the grand hall back in his home, the only real differences were cosmetic and primarily due to their contrasting color schemes. The King and Queen of Dusk had entered the room fairly quickly, Roman had only realized who they were by the reverence with which they were being treated by all these guards, they had nearly no adornments marking them as royalty. But he caught on, so he was confident he could mostly refrain from accidental rudeness. Thankfully this seemed to be going alright. He hadn’t expected to be searched since he left his sword behind but he realized part way through the pat down that they wouldn’t have known about its existence at all, and that all of them probably had a dozen things hidden on their person in all that armor they wore.

The majority of the dusk elves he’d seen since being down here were dressed fully in leather armor from their necks to fingertips to toes, surprising him greatly that that just seemed to be their normal clothing. He’d always figured Virgil wore some sort of hunting leathers. Speaking of the Prince of Dusk, Roman had always found him… Aesthetically pleasing, to put it one way. His deep desire to protect and defend had always led him to be attracted to smaller individuals, wanting to be able to care for someone in all the ways he excelled in. So, he’d assumed that he’d essentially be walking into a kingdom full of models. But while he couldn’t deny they were all quite handsome, none of them were as beautiful to him as Virgil was. He did notice that the queen had the same gorgeous violet eyes, but beyond that, all of the Dusk Prince’s features were just so much more striking to him.

He lit up with a smile when Virgil made his presence known, also glad for the fact he didn’t have to do this naked. He didn’t exactly have a problem with it himself, but with how thoroughly dressed everyone around him was, Roman didn’t think they’d have been very comfortable if he was fully in the buff.

Virgil had turned to his parents, watching them searching his face as though they’d discover the answer plainly written there. But he spoke up before they could. “What happened?”

His father looked from him to Roman and then back. “The guards discovered him after he triggered one of the proximity traps near the kingdom’s entrance. He’s been cooperating but did ask for you. By name.” 

The tall prince looked across his parents for several long moments, trying to decide what the best way to go about this was. He hadn’t prepared for this conversation. At least he had an excuse for that though, he wasn’t the one that put this plan in motion, unlike certain other princes in that same room who also had no plan. “...This is Prince Roman, I've met him in the forest a few times.” Was what he finally settled on.

The dusk elf rulers seemed surprised, turning to look at the dawn elf in their presence. That did at least somewhat explain his garish dress, he was wearing more jewelry at this moment than the queen owned in total. Both princes watched the king and queen, as  they seemed to be reasoning out what was happening. Eventually the queen spoke. “Prince Roman, what kingdom are you the prince of? I’ve never seen any being of your sort before.” 

Roman’s golden eyes blew wide, this information was really going to change the mood in here. But the only thing he could do was provide the truth. “I.. I’m crown prince of the Kingdom of Dawn, Your Majesty.” The energy seemed to be sucked completely from the room, so he decided to reinforce what he’d said more plainly, so there was no question. “My people are the dawn elves.” 

All the guards immediately had their bows in their hands, pointing at Roman.

“Wait! Don’t shoot him. He’s.. He’s not what we think he is.” Virgil held up a hand, drawing all the attention to himself.

“How could you possibly know that? And you said you’ve met him before? You’re lucky to be alive!” Virgil’s mother had dropped her decorum, her concern for her son’s safety was once again her main priority. 

“Because he saved my life.” He said simply, moving to go and stand by Roman’s right side, the guard stationed there moving out of his way with a wave of Virgil’s hand. The taller prince pointed at the very prominent scar snaking around his torso. “He got this by taking a blow that would have killed me, no question.”

Virgil’s parents were the most shocked he’d ever seen them. “How in the world did you end up in a situation like that?”

“The mountain troll. It... Appeared in the clearing and surprised me. It hurled a boulder at me. Roman pushed me out of the way and took the hit instead.” Virgil explained, looking down at his savior beside him. 

The queen had her hands pressed over her mouth, complete astonishment across her features as she realized she could have lost her son and wouldn’t have even known. The king was also clearly in shock but he recovered a bit more quickly. “...And we’re supposed to believe he did this with no motive? How do we know he’s not here for reconnaissance?” 

Virgil wasn’t really sure how to answer that question, it wasn’t like he could prove this wasn’t a plot of some sort, though why would he bother injuring himself to such a degree just to get that bit of goodwill? But Roman beat him to the punch before he could think of something to say. “Um, I do not mean to interrupt, Your Majesty? But, I do not know what that word means. I’m sure that’s not why I’m here, though! Unless it’s a good thing. But I don’t think that it is? Based on how you used it.” 

All eyes fell back to him, the half dressed, battle scarred young man standing in their grand hall with his arms tied behind his back. His larger, more expressive features really didn’t seem to be hiding any deceit, he looked wholly sincere in his admission. The queen addressed him next. “Then why did you come here? What is it that you want?”

“Well, uh, I met Virgil and realized that he wasn’t anything like the stories we have about your people. So, I figured you probably had stories about us? And maybe if all the stories aren’t true then we could stop being afraid of each other. Maybe we could even be allies.” He offered, looking at the queen. 

The king huffed. “Sure, allies. We might have fallen for that generations ago, but we won’t let history repeat itself. You want us to just open our doors to you so you can disrespect us and then attack with no warning again?”

“...What? We.. That’s not what happened.” Roman looked absolutely dumbfounded. His grip on his forearms finally slipped in his confusion, breaking the rope as his arms fell to rest at his sides. Only the guards seemed to notice how he’d just ripped their rope like paper without even trying to.

“Are you calling me a liar? We all know the tale, we invited your kind for a banquet and you disrespected us and our good will, wasting all our food, before turning on us with those barbaric weapons of your’s.” The king shot back.

“...My people used their swords as shields so they didn’t get punctured with arrows as they retreated. They.. They spat out the food because it was poisoned.” Roman slowly responded, still wildly bewildered by this. 

“Poisoned?! You would accuse us?! We would never do such a thing! We offered only our finest delicacies as a show of respect!” The queen added, seeming personally insulted.

The dawn elf prince just stared at the king and queen before turning his gaze on Virgil who was still standing next to him as a sign of solidarity. He stared into those violet eyes, searching his mind for any explanation. How could the story have gotten so twisted? His people wouldn’t have just made up the story about being poisoned, he was sure. But why would Virgil’s make up not poisoning them? His brain suddenly snagged on how the queen had said “delicacies.” Virgil had used that word once too..

The princes stared at each other for a long moment, both of them unsure what they were going to do from here. Virgil was trying to figure out how to smooth this over, how to make this go away, how to - at the absolute minimum - get Roman out of here safely. But Roman brought him from his thoughts. 

“The deathcaps.” Roman eventually said, just above a whisper but plenty loud for all those around him to hear. 

Virgil raised an eyebrow for a moment, what was he.. The ebonybells, his mind suddenly supplied. Their people’s favorite delicacy, what they’d surely prepare if they were trying to show good will. He turned back to his parents. “Ebonybells.” Virgil said, watching as their faces went from fury to confusion. “The dawn elves can’t eat ebonybells. Roman saw me picking them and tried to stop me, he.. He said not to touch them because they’re poisonous.” He explained to his parents, the words only really hitting him as he heard them from his own mouth. 

Roman nodded. “You had a whole basket of bad things that day. Speckled devils and reaper’s roses... We can’t eat almost any of them. We avoid them all because it’s not worth finding out which ones don’t just kill you. But deathcaps are the most dangerous, as far as we know.” 

The room fell into stunned silence. It suddenly hitting everyone in attendance what that really meant. That for hundreds of years they’d feared each other, spread rumors about each other, and only ventured out of the safety of their kingdom’s boundaries at specified times… Because a group of elves who were fatally intolerant of mushrooms lived very close to a group who absolutely adored them.

Chapter Text

The princes did manage to convince the King and Queen of Dusk to accompany them to the Kingdom of Dawn, Roman feeling it only right to bring his parents in on the developments. The royal dusks were a little surprised when they arrived and found that Roman had really told them the full truth - he had informed absolutely no one about his plan to get captured by them. The shock on his family’s faces was evident, especially as the dawn elves weren’t known to try and hide how they felt. They weren’t exactly happy with what he’d done, but they were definitely much more understanding of the plan as a whole than Virgil’s would have been had the entire scenario been reversed. Not that they ever would have encouraged, or even allowed, Roman to go through with all this if they’d been aware. They just knew their valiant prince and his track record of assisting anyone he could in any way possible, so it wasn’t surprising to find out that he’d come up with this mission after his several run-ins with Virgil. 

It was also a little easier to convince the King and Queen of Dawn of their realization about what happened all those hundreds of years ago. Apparently it was much simpler to hear about your ancestors having been poisoned by accident than it was to have to consider if your ancestors had tried to poison several people on purpose. They didn’t think it was at all intentional, but it had been a very tense moment when they believed that was what they were being accused of. But by coming together and having a full discussion, things were eventually mostly smoothed over. Virgil had even thought to bring a few mushrooms from home to demonstrate that they really did eat them with no ill effect. For the dawns it was like watching someone knowingly drink poison for fun, but seeing as they continued on with their meeting as though nothing at all had happened, they were inclined to believe them. 

Several assemblies still needed to be held, the two kingdoms were not just suddenly fixed overnight. But slowly things did improve. Their first joint endeavor was making a safe, convenient road that led from one kingdom to the other. Once it was completed, the dawn elves built sconces onto their outer wall so it could be found more easily at night and the dusk elves constructed an entrance that was actually wide enough for comfortable entering and exiting. These gestures were more symbolic than anything else. But Roman and Virgil were spearheading things, the two princes the most invested in bringing the two kingdoms together. At first it was simply to have a genuine friendship with the elves that lived only a few minutes away by horse or cart, but slowly it became clear to the current rulers that their successors wanted to unite them fully. 

Over the span of years, more structures were built between the two kingdoms. A meeting space and a celebration hall, a joint school for any of the youth to be able to learn from experts of both cultures, and eventually, homes. The princes may have been the first to experience attraction across kingdoms, but they weren’t the first to want to have dwellings equidistant to both sides. Many of the trees were moved and replanted to make space for this expanding kingdom, as  they wanted to be able to support this joining people but didn’t want to cause extensive destruction or displacement of the wildlife. 

While they weren’t exactly subtle about their feelings toward one another, the attraction only having grown stronger as they worked so closely to bring about all these changes, many were still surprised to hear of the Prince of Dawn officially proposing to the Prince of Dusk. They planned a grand ceremony implementing customs of both their heritages, and while it was a little bit of a mishmash in a lot of ways - though the food in particular was very clearly kept completely separate - it felt perfect. They’d discussed potentially having two ceremonies, but while they were the first couple of both kingdoms to wed, they knew they wouldn’t be the last. So setting a precedent of unity was the way they chose to handle it. 

It was a bit strange, but they were happy to do things that were important to their partner. Joyous laughter was heard as Virgil playfully participated in a show of strength and again when Roman happily stumbled through a traditional dance. Their wedding wasn’t at midnight or high noon, but the arbor they wedded under was still decorated with glowing flowers and small mirrors. They both drank from grand cups that represented their spouse, a golden chalice adorned with rubies for Virgil and a polished goblet carved from shining onyx for Roman, though they were filled with their own culture’s celebrative drink of choice. The prospect of drinking either a distilled mushroom concoction or a glowing orange liquid that was described as tasting like fire certainly didn’t appeal to them both. They were also officially presented with a weapon of the people they were joining as a show of good will. Thankfully that had been one of the things they somewhat practiced beforehand as Virgil’s sword had to be reforged when it was far too heavy and Roman accidentally snapped two bows when he was learning how much force to use when pulling. 

The ceremony was lovely. Their grandmothers officiated it together, mixing the traditional ways with the brand new aspects of their newly forming combined culture and making things just that much more special for the princes on their beautiful day.

At the end of it all, things were perfect. Their own unique version of perfect.