Username: Nia The Elf
Partner username: nano.
Link to partner form:
nano.Name: Oberon
Pronouns: He/They
Fable:
They were brothers. Not by blood or genetics, but they were. Oberon enjoyed having a sibling to talk to and play with, Satyr initially finding his big brother a fun playmate for his scraps racing.
As they grew older, Oberon began to show an interest and spoke more and more about his beliefs; he found nature astounding and liked to sit outside where the birds could sing to him.
Satyr grew up with a love of running and hunting; he was swift and agile, able to catch any rabbit easier than the other keldines.
Satyr didn’t understand his brother. “Who would want to sit around all day and watch the grass grow?” He would ask himself in agitation, “We were born to run and hunt, it’s what Keldines do!”
He simply could not fathom what made them so, so different.
Sometimes, Oberon would pad over to him with a dopey smile on his face and ask if they could play together; their usual antics of Tag or pretend. Satyr turned away. Oberon was soft and lazy, more preoccupied with the lives of the bugs than his own life. "I think the birds want to play that sickly music to you brother, I am too busy to play with you."
Oberon's smile drooped, but he did not look too upset. "That's alright, I'll come ask again when you're free," he suggested, before heading back to his favourite spot in the open to listen and watch the world go by.
It only took a few more attempts spread over a few more days, before Oberon stopped approaching Satyr altogether. Satyr had held his breath all day, and when there was no attempt of contact made by the time the moon rose high in the sky, Satyr felt pleased. He was free to continue his hunts, his practising and his racing, and his brother was free to lay in the dust and talk to the skeleton leaves that fell.
It was soon after, when Satyr had challenged a Hawk that flew overhead to the chase of it's life, that he stumbled across a small group of younger Keldines - like him - crowded in a jumble and laughing amongst themselves. "Do you see him over there? That kid's chasing a hawk!" they shouted and watched.
"Hey kid! You like to hunt?" One called to him and Satyr skidded to a halt. The group welcomed him and he had never felt so normal and accepted in his life.
That was... Until he got to see what the group was really like. These young Kelds ran around, sure, hunting big game and showing off their skills. But they also messed around; staying out late, running far far from home, leaping from the tallest cliffs Satyr had seen and diving into the choppy waters below without a care for what awaited them.
He tried to enjoy it, he really did. These activities were what he liked to do, what he was /meant/ to do. He just couldn't find it in himself to feel comfortable, he missed the childish games he used to play with his brother, he missed sitting with him discussing the absurd idea of talking to the trees and them talking back. These friends, this
group was overbearing, and Satyr no longer enjoyed the company.
He cut it off finally, as a young adult it was time for him to make his own decisions and do what he wanted rather than what was "normal". Satyr left the group of rowdy Keldines and went looking for his brother.
There he was. In the spot he always was. Just enjoying the wind ruffle his fur and the lyrical chirps from the birds around him.
"Do you want to play with me?" he asked, anxiously stepping from paw to paw.
"Why would I want to? Why would
you want to? You have other friends, Satyr, I'm sure they want to play your games." Oberon growled out, "I'm busy with my dumb insects and dead trees." And at that, he rose to his feet and walked away, the darkness of the deeper forest swallowing him.
Oberon stormed through the trees, navigating the gorse and thick shrubbery like he had a map on the back of his paws. What cheek his younger brother had, to come back after all this time of ignorance, to expect them to be as they were before? He had his friends and did the things "normal" Keldines were meant to do. He had left Oberon and his "weed watching" behind in the dirt.
"He is your brother." a whisper in his head, his own thought or the wind's - he did not know. "He is your brother and you love him," it insisted.
"We lost years together, he didn't want to know me then so why would he now? I was too weird for him, now he expects me to forget that and not be angry?" Oberon snarled, digging at the ground with his claws as he prowled.
"You are not angry, you are hurt."
Raising his head, he glared at the closest tree to him. The voice was right, it always was. That was the nature of nature. Anger stemmed from hurt, but he had not even told Satyr of how he felt. "I have listened to the trees and the wind for so long, it would be wrong of me to not listen now," he affirmed.
Oberon made his way back from the sanctuary of the woods, finding his way back home. His gaze landing on the smaller horned Keldine he had once called his brother.
"What you did, did not make me feel good." He began quickly, the sudden voice turning Satyr's head, "I tried to connect with you and you turned me away or ignored me. I understand that you understand what I do and why I do it, I understand that you think I'm weird and that reflects on you, but that hurt me."
Satyr took a moment to consider what his brother had said, throat bobbing and he swallowed dryly. "I know that now. At the time, I thought it was in my best interest to be like everyone else, they were cool and I wasn't because you were different. But when I was with them, I didn't find their activities fun, I didn't fit in there either. I didn't apologise, I've never been any good at that, but I asked to play with you again because I missed you." His voice, though starting strong, slowly lowered to a whisper as he let his emotions free.
"I am sorry."
"I am too," Oberon smiled softly, "I didn't let you explain yourself, I just turned away out of spite. We have quite a few years to catch up on, so perhaps we should start on that now?" He offered. Satyr smiled a genuine smile, the first he had done in a long time, and they walked to the tree line together, bumping shoulders as they went.
What did they learn from it?:
Satyr learnt to accept his brother and those who are non-conforming. Friends are one thing, but there is nothing quite like family. Oberon learnt to accept his brother's "flaws". It takes time for people to learn who they are, and it takes even longer for some to understand someone who is different to them.
