there's a devil in my brain with a pitchfork and a flame

[Nashua]

NASHUA

It’s a different thing than he has been taught. Nashua has been taught that there is always balance - where something is given, something else has to be taken. It’s been explained to him that it is one of the oldest, most sacred laws of their world. It’s a law that has to be abided even by Magic.

So the fact that Elio just gives him something, that it’s just given with nothing expected.. Well, the boy blinks.

It’s a new revelation for him but it makes him warm to Elio more. He might not have anything to give now but when he finds something - perhaps a smooth pebble from the beach - Nashua knows he will share it with the gold-and-red stallion. As his smile broadens, he thinks that it’d be nice to do the same thing for him - to give something just for the sake of giving.

While he leads, he follows Elio’s example and hangs his own head low, lengthens his steps so they might be quieter. It’s an adventure and Nashua’s mind is already creating the obstacles they have face - a bear cowers behind a tree, a coyote who breathes fire leaps from behind a log, bugs who come the sky and swallow stars - and when they’ve all been conquered, Nashua looks back over his shoulder to see that Elio is still there.

That his new friend is following and he grins, ”You're very brave.”

The games are all made-up, the villains imaginary. Nashua knows this but Elio has stayed with him through this whole adventure.

Somewhere between their foes and their destination, the golden stallion tells him about Loess. Tells him about how he has a sister too who hunts. It’s something in common that they have and it makes him wonder, ”Do you have brothers? I have a twin. Yanhua.”

”And yea, we live in Taiga. We sometimes go to Nerine but we’ve been here for…,” Nashua pauses to think. A long time. "Ever." He likes the idea of @[elio] living here though - it builds a warmth in his chest that they share this, just like they are sharing travels today. Curious he asks, ”When did you leave?”

And then his (short) attention is redirected to the point of this adventure. The Fort. Nashua lowers his voice, ”It’s old. It’s covered with moss and leaves but Yan and I like to go there.”

(Nashua can’t know that his Fort - the one that belongs to him and his brother - belonged to his Mother, once upon a time. A place that Lilliana had scoured the Redwoods for, a place to trade secrets and stories with Elaina.)

Nashua tilts his head, ”What was your fort like?”

and for every king that died
they would crown another

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