( milo / / tryout )

[apprentice_]

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not a kingdom of silver,
but a kingdom of gold.
a land so strong, so proud,
yet it fell to the ground.

the rulers beheaded,
towns up in flames,
in a haste, the prince fled,
never to be seen again.

xx[ 40 ]
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[apprentice_]

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for every one second, the knife must have hit the cutting board three times. milo fed the bits of potato into the stew he’d been preparing for some hours. a classic meal that he figured everyone would like ( or they’d better, with all the work that’d gone into making it ). with little left to do but wait, he turned to the everyone he was cooking for. two, three... five kalons? all his age or older, and he wondered why he was the only one cooking. the adults told each other stories and spoke about the kids, and said kids joked and pushed each other around.

how was it again that milo found himself in this situation? not just as the single chef for six kals ( including himself ), but as a teenage boy in the company of what he considered family. his gaze glided over farien, and her own mismatched eyes met with his pink ones. she smiled, and he turned away.

he recalled, in nightmarish detail, the first time they’d met. it was dark. and it smelled like stale water.


● ● ●

the prince was mentored in thievery and lies since a young age after his kingdom fell. he’d been instructed to sneak into the castle of a different kingdom and retrieve gold and jewels. milo had been given a plan. a route to follow, the exact time when it’d be safest. and then, in the blink of an eye, milo was sitting in a dungeon cell, and he couldn’t remember the exact details of how he’d gotten there.

the first and only face he ever saw while he resided there was farien’s. the first time her footsteps sounded in the hall outside the bars of his cell, milo felt his bones turn to ice. when she stopped in front of him, his breathing hitched. when she spoke her first words to him, he felt his fear falter.


“i brought you something, so it isn’t so dark anymore.”
she took her leave shortly after, deterred by milo’s persistence in ignoring her or otherwise telling her off. she left with him an illuminous plant that scared away the shadows. he hadn’t thanked her. that night, he fell asleep easier than usual.

farien visited everyday from that point on. she wanted to help the misguided kid, wrongly rotting in his cell. he didn’t want her help. but with time, he couldn’t much gather the energy to tell her to leave. with time, he grew to look forward to her stories. with time, he counted the minutes until she’d show. once, she was absent for a week without warning, and when she finally reappeared, milo’s voice cracked as he claimed he wasn’t crying.

that day, farien awkwardly extended an offer. she had permission to release him, but she wished for milo to stay with her. a moment of hesitance, but he accepted.




● ● ●

and now here he was, what felt like decades since then. knocked to the ground by two other boys (much more rambunctious than milo himself), students of farien. their parents called for them to not be so rough, and milo heard farien give a gentle laugh. “he’ll be fine, he’s tougher than he looks.” the boys helped milo back to his feet, and he assured them he was fine.

sometimes, farien acted like she was his mom. “be careful, don’t get hurt.” more often, she acted like a sister. “what, are you afraid? c’mon, you can do better.” at first, milo didn’t know what to make of it. he’d shy away, wishing to avoid conversation, confrontation. later, he’d pull out harsh comebacks, rude or joking they were meant to be, it was hard to tell.

the transition from strangers to family was slow, but in milo’s memory it was sudden; he forgot there was ever a time when they didn’t get along. their relationship as it was now felt like it’d always been. time passed and farien learned that milo’s attitude was but a defence mechanism; he was really more nervous and shy than she’d ever expected. time passed and milo learned of farien’s fear of being alone- part of the reason why she requested for him to stay with her. getting to know each other, they became increasingly comfortable around the other, and nowadays their relationship is a flurry of bad jokes and laughing and late night adventures into the woods ( and occasional sibling rivalry just for a hint of spice ).

sometimes farien would leave the house for a while, working her job at the castle or mentoring other children in magic. milo kept the house all in one piece until she returned, and then, despite farien’s exhaustion, she’d insist on teaching milo something. something about magic, something about distant lands. and milo listened to every word, and studied the crafts he was taught.

one thing she hadn’t taught him was how to cook. that, he’d taught her.
thinking this, milo chuckled, and this time when his eyes met farien’s, he smiled back. he pulled his gaze away and turned to the stew. “food’s ready,” he spoke to himself, and he hoped more than anyone else that farien would like it.

( spoilers: she did. )
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[ 862 ]

[apprentice_]

( ● )

[apprentice_]

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n o t e s
● runs a shop where he crafts dreams and gives them to people ( or takes recurring nightmares ). it’s a pick-me-up sort of thing. anyone can do it but bc it’s a lost art + hard to manage so he’s rlly the only dream..mancer around
● carries 345086 journals and many bandaids
● naturally talented at most things, too humble to admit it
● wants to meet a fairy ( wants to be a fairy )
● has vast knowledge of poisonous substances (,,, why )
● animals follow him bc he carries food
● ( he just thinks he’s the animal whisperer )

[ 90 ]


( ● )


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[apprentice_]

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!!
nekoma , my good good blessed friend, who i swear did half this form
● did art 1 ( “farien saves the angst boi” ) & 2 ( “lima’s an idiot” )** ( i didn't even ask fern for art sHE JUST DID IT )
● diD LoTS of hcs with me,, half the stuff didn’t even fit in the word limit ( helped me develop milo tho so ye s ty fren )
● ( nOT TO MENTION let me use farien in this B^)
● read over my form n gave feedback that resulted in me deleting some stuff, adding other stuff ? - ? it’s better now trust
● rELENTLESSY REMINDED ME OF THE DEADLINE. “there’s a week left u should work on ur form” “there are fIVE DAYS woRKKK” “THERE ARE 2 DAYS WORK ON UR FORM UR GONNA BE COMPLAINING WHEN U GOTTA FINISH EVERYTHING LAST SECOND” || FERN UR NOT MY MOM LEAVE ME AL O NE

● yea and then u know. me. i wrote everything yea and did art 3 ( milo's a frilly fairy now thanks farien ). also ??? ?? ?? ? coded but i mea n. "coded." it's like /list /color gray /size 85


** the two other kals in that piece are eldwin and lima [ ● ] || there were some hcs w/ them but since this form has limited words,, i only wrote about the closest relationship so lmao rip
yea yea that's all !!
( i didnt count this last part against my word count |'D i hope that's ok oops )
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[bite sized kuiper]