#khosaan

Meet Khosaan, adopted son of Erevoss. He’s getting a little bit of rewriting. He’s no longer a nymph, but rather a young preteen, between 11 and 12 years old. He can’t talk, due to some sort of crossed wire in his brain. Words do not manage to get from the language center in his brain to his mouth. When he tries, it comes out in garbled sounds and stuttering. Erevoss taught him how to read and write, however, and he uses a paper and a home made ink brush to communicate by writing. He’s enchanted the paper so he can make the writing disappear after it’s been read. He is an absolute prodigy when it comes to magic. He has the unique ability to see the flow of magic, detecting its patterns and what various patterns, called Sigils, mean. As such, he can learn spells by seeing them a few times and is surprisingly powerful for one so young. These unique abilities add more to the mystery of his biological parents, because Erevoss is starting to think his son may have divine blood in him. He is a Lepidian/Vhessen hybrid. Half butterfly, he’s got all the prettiness, daintiness and vanity to be expected of a butterfly. He absolutely hates getting his fuzz dirty. He’s fuzzy all over, though it’s short and thick. It’s thick enough to hide his separate plates, but he does still have separate plates on him, Khosa is askable!

Two Warbred are adopted by the Shadowed King, a manipulative tyrant named Zarkhan, to serve as his princes. Everything starts nice, but a Golden Child Abuse situation causes tension between them and they end up pitted against each other on two sides of a war they should have never had to take part in. The brothers blame eachother for what happened. Will they ever come back together, reconcile, and take down the true villain of their story? ================== Got a story started that I am posting on AO3! I’d love some support and comments and encouragement to keep my motivation coming! I am passionate about the characters and story. It’s just a prologue at the moment, but I have a lot of plans for these brothers and most of an outline written and am hoping to get new chapters out fairly regularly.

Going to gather more luminous moss was not unusual for Erevoss. He’d found a couple more glass jars in the old ruins, though the Great Tree and the remains of the once-great kingdom it covered stretched further than he had managed to explore so far.  The tree hollow he lived in was one of many. Just one part of a massive tree, resembling a Banyan tree. Only much, much bigger. The tree could live for thousands and thousands of years, and spread out and out, aerial roots becoming thick, tough trunks. This would allow the tree to grow more branches, and eventually more roots and more trunks. Time was the only limit these trees had in how far they could spread. Over time, huge hollows would form within the tree, and vast networks of forest floor surrounded by natural walls. This particular tree was easily the size of several city blocks.  Inside the hollows lived numerous creatures as well as a unique glowing moss. The moss protected the inside of the tree from fungi and rot, absorbing the excess moisture and thriving on the droppings of whatever dwelt alongside it inside the great tree.  It was the glowing property of the moss Erevoss was after. He made his way through the lush undergrowth until he reached a new hollow he hadn’t explored yet. The tree had grown around what had once been a great, stately statue now covered in lichen and broken. Beside it was the remains of a door. Judging by some of the finery, Erevoss assumed it had once been a palace.  Pausing to inspect the area with his antennae flicking, he picked Khosaan up and placed him on his shoulder so they wouldn’t be separated before he ventured inside. It seemed pretty normal for overgrown ruins, though it was more and more clear that this had once been a great and beautiful palace. It was nothing but crumbling ruins covered by a massive tree now, with roots breaking through the ceiling in several places. He noticed a new scent as he explored deeper, something unfamiliar. Something... warm. He didn’t think much of it; perhaps it was some new animal he hadn’t encountered yet. A new animal meant food, so he wasn’t concerned. Soon enough, the familiar blue glow could be seen ahead. It took some careful climbing to get into the hollow it was coming from, but he was greeted by that beautiful, comforting light as soon as he got in. That unfamiliar, warm almost smoky smell caught his attention once again, distracting him from gathering the moss into his pack. His antennae flicked and lifted as he saw what appeared to be some sort of creature hanging from the tree, surrounded by its growth, but not touched by it. It seemed the sounds he had made had awakened the creature, because it moved. The warm, red glow of its eyes opening made Erevoss take a step back, ready to reach for his nail should he need it. Despite the glowing red eyes, something about this creature’s presence was... soothing. Calming. Nice. Erevoss remained guarded but curious as he stared at what could only be a Dreameater. A creature so rare that they were thought to be extinct! Its wings spread wider, before hitting the side of the hollow it was within. Its wide yawn was cut off as its jaw clacked shut with a surprised grunt, eyes snapping open fully. It blinked slowly, groggily. “How.. lll...llong wwwas... I assssleep...” The voice was smooth and pleasant, though incredibly groggy and slurred, almost so slurred Erevoss could hardly understand what the Dreameater had said.  “I... uh....” Erevoss spoke gruffly, not used to socialization. At least.. not with one who could reply back. He talked to Khosa sometimes, but Khosa was too young to say anything back. “I don’t... know?” The Dreameater, who hadn’t even noticed Erevoss until he spoke, turned his focus to him as his wings hooked onto the bits of root above him, allowing him to pivot and land smoothly on his feet. He stumbled right after, though, leaning groggily on the tree to keep himself upright with his eyes half closed. His wings settled to fold around his shoulders, turning into a long and elegant cloak with a flicker of crimson flame. He yawned and shook himself again. Whoever this Dreameater was, Erevoss realized, he’d have to wait before learning much else. He was incredibly groggy, very out of it. This wasn’t just normal waking up; the Dreameater seemed as if he’d been in far far deeper than any normal sleep. Even so, questions continued to churn in the Warbred’s mind as he reached out his good hand, offering the strange bug some support and some help out of the ancient ruins he’d woken up in.

Anshiga didn’t make it to the door. He hunched over beside the wall, claws digging into the wood a bit, midsection heaving as he threw up. The smell of burning wood came next. Fortunately, the tree was living and healthy; the wood too wet to properly catch fire.  Erevoss was concerned, though admittedly annoyed. He shook off the irritation quickly enough, though; it wasn’t like Anshiga had thrown up on the wall and floor on purpose. When one was sick, they were sick. The smell of burning and the brief flickers of flame before the fire went out made Erevoss realize why Anshiga had turned down his offer. If he was so sick that that mad dash for the door had failed, he hated to think what that would have done to his bed. Vomit was nasty enough to clean up. Vomit that caught things on fire was even worse! “Are you… alright?” He asked, finally.  Anshiga was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, he sounded as miserable as he looked. “I will be.” He said, quietly. “I was… I hibernated longer than I meant. I didn’t… awaken. I consumed all of the flame that had once been in that fallen kingdom, and… I guess I ended up consuming some of my own.” His speech was slow and slurred, but seemed clearer now. Erevoss looked confused. Anshiga still stayed hunched over, head low and posture speaking of pure nauseous misery.  “Consuming one’s own flame is… can be, deadly. For a Dreameater. It is… a side effect. Of something that prevents us from just… causing fear and feeding from it. So.. so we do our job, cleansing. Not.. making it worse. It is… lucky you woke me up.. w-when you did…” He was going to say more, but the waves of nausea came to cut him off. Erevoss tilted his head back with antennae tucking back as Anshiga threw up again. The poor thing looked absolutely miserable, head resting against the wood for a moment as he took a few breaths to try to calm himself. “What was…” “You were saying that it was lucky I woke you up.” Erevoss said, trying not to sound annoyed.  “I’m really… sorry about this.” Anshiga apologized miserably. “If you hadn’t… come along when you did, I’d likely have been d-dead soon… It’s why I am s-so sick. B-but I think I’ll be… alright.” he kept pausing, clearly trying to hold back more surges of nausea. Erevoss went and got an unused clay pot, setting it beside Anshiga.  “Please try to contain it this time.” Erevoss said. “Clay won’t catch fire.” Anshiga took the clay pot, finally moving away from the mess on the floor and natural wall, surrounded by blackened burn marks. Erevoss dumped some water on the spot to put out the embers before they could cause any more problems. “Won’t the problem just… continue?” Erevoss continued. “Mnnn… no. You have Flame about you. It’s enough… for a single Dreameater. I’m able to feed.” Anshiga answered slowly. “Flame…” Erevoss asked, looking confused. “Negative energy. Caused by….. many things. Nightmares, regrets… tragedy, emotional turmoil… pain.” Anshiga answered.  “Is that why I’ve felt… calmer?” Erevoss asked.  “Yes. It is.” Anshiga said.  Maybe having this Dreameater around wouldn’t be a bad thing, Erevoss thought to himself. Even if his tree home now had a scorched spot.  “When you’re feeling a little better, you are welcome to join me.” Erevoss said. “It’s more comfortable than the floor.” “I… may take you up on that.” Anshiga finally said. “… But, once I don’t feel like I’m going to throw up again. I don’t want to set your bed ablaze.” “Much appreciated.” Erevoss said, tiredly. “We can talk more when you feel better, because I have a lot of questions for you.” He excused himself to go back to bed, hoping his strange guest would feel better by morning. 

Meet Erevoss and Khosaan! Erevoss is a broken old Vhessen, the brother of Vherra. He is very underweight, thin, hungry most of the time because he has trouble hunting but is too afraid to come out of hiding after he failed everybody he cared about, at least; that’s his thoughts. He is in the middle of nowhere, with the sibling of the baby adopted by Zote, abandoned by the same individual. Erevoss is askable!

Once the nymph is finished with their meal, there’s not much left and the old Vhessen goes hungry once again. The ache of hunger, though, is something he’s very used to.  “My name is Erevoss.  The little one is Khosaan, I found them abandoned, nearly starved to death. They had hatched alone, absorbed the yolk. They had been there for days, no parents in sight. We are in the middle of nowhere and I had intended to find a settlement, find them a new home with a more capable parent, but... I don’t know where any others live, and I grew attached.

Erevoss: Whoever it was abandoned them as eggs, because Khosa hatched entirely on his own. They are very attached to me, and get very upset if left alone. I think they remember being alone and nearly starved.