A Brother

[PoliteEquation7 187]

 

A Brother

As Adrian sat alone in the forest, leaning back against the trunk of a tree for shade, the wind whistled through the valley. His eye immediately opened. “I was trying to nap,” he groaned in complaint as he sat up a little straighter, a slight smile growing on his face.

In the years following his brother Aedric’s murder at the hands of Peter Rovare, it consumed his thoughts. Early in the morning, until late under the evening stars, Adrian would lie awake;

“I failed him, I failed him, I failed.”

His words would echo like this for hours on end, ceaselessly. For he could care for no one as much as he cared for his older brother, and his inability to save him ate away at the rugged man, cracking the foundations of the man he had built himself into.

Aedric wasn’t just any Greye, he was the Greye. When the family’s tenets revolved around strength and loyalty, none embodied them more than he did. In Adrian’s highs and lows throughout life, there was Aedric. When he felt lost at sea, his brother stood as a lighthouse able to guide him to safety. It was something he took for granted, something he’d now have to miss forever. 

 

 

Adrian’s head perked up as the wind whistled once more, swaying the fields of grass and trees that surrounded him. A slight chuckle escaped him. “I’m still taller than you.  You cannet call me ‘lil man’ forever.”

By this point in life Adrian had grown into a bear of a man, though Aedric always insisted on calling him “lil man.” Even when Adrian asked why, the response was always the same:  “Because you’ll always be my lil man.” Regardless of the questioning, Adrian knew that no matter how tall he grew, he’d always be looking up to his big brother.

“I gave Auggy that painting of us, so she’ll always be able to see her Pa whenever she wants.” His voice carried out into the wind, hoping a breeze or gust of some kind would catch the words and form them into sentences of their own. They never did, but he spoke regardless. Over the years, names and faces had faded to him, but Aedric’s could never fade for every time Adrian gazed upon Aurus, his brother’s eyes stared back.

“Lord knows whether this is a blessing or a curse...probably both.”

And no matter how many times he wished Aurus would speak, and he’d hear Aedric’s voice, he knew his brother was gone. “She’s just like you, fiery and loyal, just as you were. You’d be proud.” His gauntlets reached into his satchel to pull out a half-smoked blunt, an item Adrian would never find himself able to part with. His last remaining eye would gaze over its finer details, a solemn smile growing upon his face. But with that, a strong gust would blow against him, the wind had left the valley.

 

The silence left him alone once more. As his head fell back against the tree, he’d reaffirm to himself

“My brother was a good man”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lirinya 4021]

10 minutes ago, PoliteEquation7 said:

His voice carried out into the wind, hoping a breeze or gust of some kind would catch the words and form them into sentences of their own. They never did, but he spoke regardless.

 

A recurring theme amongst the Greye's, it seemed, since Aedric's passing. Those that missed him spoke into the mountain breeze in hopes to hear his voice, his wisdom. His love.

 

Augusta, Auggy, had done just that since the day she found out. It was the only way she knew how to properly process it.

The painting her uncle had given her, sat stored safely in her room, right besides her fathers sword. A weapon she would learn to use, eventually.

 

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While Sybille had had to grieve the loss of a sibling, too, it bore no comparison to the loss that Adrian felt for Aedric. She had knew him only slightly, but she had known him as a kind and hard working man who only wanted the best for his family and the people that relied on him most.

Though she had, equally, once put him part to blame for the collapse of Lotharia... she could hold no grudges.

 

He was dead- her partner would lament the loss for years to come if not til the day he died. Her children would not know their uncle.

And she knew that nothing she could offer, would help Adrian navigate that loss.

[truelarper 593]

Kusi enjoys his life. 

[Yeetboy0206 1574]

Maddock Tam stood at the highest point in his city. He stared out into the horizon, thinking on all that had happened. How much of it suddenly felt so meaningless now. He thinks of the Greyes and growls. He thinks of Juniper and growls. He thinks of all the people whom he's failed, and Maddock climbs down, returning to training. His fury was evident, and he would hone it into something that would ensure he never failed anyone he loved again.

 

 

Edited February 17 by Yeetboy0206

[Spellblades 749]

Aelyn had been there that night, he remembered it so vividly that it replayed in his mind constantly to the point where it gave him piercing headaches in the dead of night. His wrist still burned with pain even if there was no longer a wound, only a scar to remind him of his failure.

 

"GET OFF OF ME!"

He remembered screaming at the two soldiers attempting to kill him. It was one of the first times in recent years that the 'ker had felt genuine fear. He embarked on this journey to become a Mage to protect those he loved, but what good did these powers serve if he kept failing at it?

 

"We both did all we could, Aelyn. She made her choice. It was not your fault."

Aedric's words rang in his mind constantly after his mother's death; he had been there to support him through it more than most.

 

"But it is my fault..." Aelyn muttered to himself "I'm sorry, Uncle, but you can't convince me that it wasn't."