Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in a far-off land. They were known as the Flower kingdom, as their lands were filled with beautiful wildflowers that covered the mountains and hillsides in colors during the spring and summer. The king and queen were well-loved, and known as fair and just. They had a surprisingly large territory, but it was large enough for them and their people. They had grown their kingdom from various packs joining together to become one, a conglomerate of all with a common goal. In this endeavor, they had gained just as many enemies. Across the mountains and within the river valley was the Commune. They were those who found the Flower kingdom harsh, ugly, and annoying. It was their will, their desire, to destroy it from the inside out, and their chance came when there was an announcement that the Queen had given birth to three children. The children were to be protected, and so, they held a tournament for the most capable warriors to be appointed to knights, and this was where the Commune's plan fell into step one, though the groundwork had been laid long ago.
Long before the children of the Queen were born, at the outskirts of the kingdom, there was a wanderer who stumbled into the borders. She was from Rionnach. Her family had disliked her choice of mate, and left her to suffer the consequences. S She brought with her two children--unnamed boys.he had birthed her children in the Mainland....then ran. Almost immediately upon arriving, the mother collapsed--exhausted and near death, but managed to petition a passerby for help for her children with her last breaths. That passerby was Passiflora, a deeply angry woman who scorned both the Flower kingdom and Rionnach and patrolled their borders for cracks in their defenses. But she could not deny the pleads of a dying mother, and alas, she was but one woman and so could carry only one pup. Of the two, she picked the stronger one-- a pale boy, blushed with hints of bronze and vivid eyes, who retained some fight, and clutching him in her jaws, she made a silent promise to raise him, for her. But she left behind his darker brother, who seemed near death. She could not save him, so she thought. Upon her departure, the young boy was left alone, using only the corpse of his mother as a tether to this world, until a kindly hunter happened upon them as he passed by, gathering his hunters boon. He showed no hesitation, snatching the boy up to bring him deeper into the kingdom-- Into the Flowers-- to heal him and raise him as his own. Passiflora's son was raised with deep love and affection, but her biased hatred and disgust was poured into him. He grew, knowing that it was his job to infiltrate, to become one of those in Flower Kingdom--to get close, to get in, and then to rot it, decay it from the inside. Meanwhile, the Huntsman raised his own in much the same-- he was raised with deep love and great care, and he grew, knowing it was his job--his destiny-- to become a guardian. To serve, to protect. And the birth of the children opened the doorway for both of these.
Four were chosen to be knights. Each knight, chosen for their valor, strength, skill and will.
The Bronze knight was a newcomer-- a stranger from a far-off land, who had proven himself in battle, but had yet to prove himself in trust. Ecclesias claimed the Silver knight, having known he was destined for the role. The Golden knight and the Copper knight too, were trusted and loved. The children grew in safety beneath the watch of those four cornerstone knights, each flourishing into their own person. The Red Prince, hotheaded but adventurous, full of equal parts passion and stubborn-ness. The Yellow Princess, intelligent but shy. She often found herself struggling to keep up with her larger brother, but she managed, as for all of her shyness, she was determined and was unrivaled in her sheer resolve to prove herself. And lastly, the Snowy Prince. Innocent and naive, he was sickly compared to his siblings. He was often forced to stay behind on journeys and tasks, and as a result, developed a vivid imagination. As they grew, they grew more trusting of the knights put in place to protect them, and this was planned. The Bronze Knight, Passiflora's trained child, waited for his opening. He had taken to sneaking out the Snowy Prince late at night, leading him from the den and into the rest of the territory to discover, explore, and learn. Again and again, it was soon a nightly ritual, and it was this innate attention to patience that would begin the unraveling. One evening, he took the young prince to a cave. The cave was full of life, vivid and beautiful. But the bats within were dangerous, and he knew it. Rabid. Upon being bitten, the young prince grew frightened, and asked to be brought back home, to which the Bronze knight agreed to easily. And he let the rabies fester within him overnight.
The next evening, the sickly boy demanded to be taken out again, and so, the bronze knight again, agreed. But this time, to a gathering. A social group that met late nights and told tall tales about magic, gods, and demons. The boy listened with rapt intensity, and found himself socializing more than he ever had! And for a while, he knew great joy and friendship. But he spread the infection as it laid within him, incubating. It was nearly a full week that passed until signs began to show. The young prince began to grow irritable and angry, biting and snapping at anybody and everybody. His ability to focus waned and faltered, and a high fever attacked his already weakened body. Within the community, too, symptoms began to appear to sufferers, and things began to get harsh. Most of the wolves within the kingdom were healthy and happy, and so, they did not know the signs of this disease. But Ecclesias knew. He knew from his hunts with the huntsman, and knew that at this point, there could be no saving them except by trying to dull their pain and to save them before they could truly fathom what it was that awaited them. But this was something he kept to himself. It was late when he managed to lure the now-aggressive prince out of his den, out of the safety of his home. He had gathered them--those that still had the sense to know who they were and could understand that they were going to die had met with great resolve, helping to gather the others they could. They made themselves comfortable in a thicket, highly flammable. They knew. The fires had already climbed high into the sky by the time the rest of the kingdom had become alerted. The other knights raced towards the flames, noting that not only was the frail prince missing, but so was Ecclesias. He was still trying to cut off the flames from the rest-- it was a quarantine, a cull. Those of them that knew what awaited them had accepted it with honor and he treated them as such, but how would anybody else know?
The Bronze knight was furious. How? How had this lunk-headed IDIOT managed to cleave through the plan so sharply? But his fury could hold a purpose now, and he immediately placed the blame onto him. 'Look', he'd cried,'Look at what he's done! He burned them all, mothers and their children!' But Ecclesias, honest as he was, would not deny it, for he had. Immediately, it became clear that his attempt to explain WHY would be met only with outrage. The king and queen were devastated, for the young prince was among those put to the pyre. Disgraced, Ecclesias was given leniency only because of his previous faithful service--he could keep his life. But he was exiled, stripped. He could never return, and this was a fate he had no choice but to accept. And so, there were three knights remaining, and the Bronze knight no longer had to worry about a lack of trust-- for if it was anybody to not be trusted, it was Ecclesias, right? Good riddance, right? However, the red prince and yellow princess were not so easily swayed, for they saw the changes that occurred in their pitiful brother over the time he spent with the bronze knight, and upon the departure of Ecclesias, the red prince went after him. He didn't care if it was against the wishes of others-- he was certain he knew the truth, that Ecclesias was the only one there they could trust, and he would prove it.
The Princess, unfettered by the same social stigmas of her remaining brother, had grown shrewd and wise in her young years, and feverish discussions into the late night with Gold had led to the both of them coming to the conclusion that Bronze had some role to play, both in the death of her brother and in the framing of their guardian. But she was not as rash as Red, and instead asked to leave upon a personal journey of self-discovery to prepare for the crown, with Gold as her guardian.
Copper,however, believed none of this, having always had her reservations and suspicions about the fool of a Huntsman Child whom had risen to such prominence within the ranks, and her duty to protect the remaining children remained--even if that meant following the both of them to ends of the earth to return them home...whether they wanted to or not.
In his exile, Ecclesias returned to the land of his birth; Rionnach. Only to find it in political turmoil. With his heart wounded and his soul soured, the tarnished former knight had had his fair share of royalty, and instead departed into the commonfolk.
parents
Na x Na
siblings
Bronze (adoptable)
lover
NA
children
NA