laminae | Tangled AU

Tangled AU

Fern's first memories are painful ones. The first thing he feels is like he's dying, which might sound like a contradiction but makes sense within the context of his creation. Rapunzel's voice echoes throughout the Great Tree, the Decaying Incantation killing the once great being, and in a last ditch attempt to avoid death, either by the Tree itself or Zhan Tiri's influence, the slowly fading embers of its life force are pumped into whatever plant life it can reach. Of course, the Incantation still hits most of it, and every single one of those plants wither away into nothingness all the same.

Everything, that is, except for a small patch of grass. It fades like the rest, but one last spark of life enters as the Incantation is abruptly cut off by the impulsive actions of one Handmaiden, and it remains. As the group moves on towards the Dark Kingdom, and Adira drags Hector off to bandage his injuries, that patch of grass comes to life.

It's painful, suddenly wrenched into sentient consciousness thanks to a spell designed to kill. Like an explosion of death and decay all around him, threatening to smother him the very second he started existing. With no eyes and ears he can't tell what's going on around him, and with no mouth and lungs he can't cry out, so he can do nothing but fight back and push through the agony until it subsides into a dull ache.

He's weak at first, and the remains of the Tree overhead block out any sunlight he could have used to grow stronger. Still, the grass twitches and curls and gradually bundles itself together into a ball, and then after more time something more person-shaped. It's a rough approximation of the body the Great Tree had possessed shortly before its death, and since those memories are strongest in his mind that's what he goes with: two arms, two legs, a head, a body, two eyes and two ears, a nose, a mouth. Something vaguely human and at the same time distinctly not, something that allows him to more freely move around, find a patch of sunlight, and regain some strength. Human senses follow, again based on vague memories that aren't really his, and over the next few months he finds his footing in the complete and total disaster that is Being Alive. He doesn't start living, though, until the man the Tree had possessed finally returns to his long-destroyed home.

~

Beyond the Tree a whirlwind of events happen, not limited to the near total destruction of a kingdom, the rise of an ancient demon, and the reuniting of two cosmic powers. To say a lot has happened is a total understatement, and frankly, Hector is just glad to get out of there, away from people. He always did better with animals, and he has some literal and metaphorical wounds to lick. Turns out getting mind controlled twice is a horrifying experience, who knew.

He is, technically, back at the site of the Tree per Edmund's orders. Before he and Edmund and Adira had left Corona there was talk of building up a proper road of some sort to better connect the two kingdoms, and that would obviously involve clearing out the Tree's remains to make the area more amenable to horses and wagons. Unlike the rest of them, though, he doesn't particularly care about any of that. This was his home for many, many years, and he isn't so eager to raze what's left of it in the name of friendship and progress. So he goes, but he goes because being around the epitome of sunshine is a lot to deal with, and he needs to get away from all of that. All of those people. He needs a metaphorical dark hole where he can be alone with his rhino and his binturongs and all he has to worry about is survival of the fittest.

So it's a big downer to find someone else has taken up residence in his home. It goes without saying that as soon as his binturongs catch the scent that something is off Hector is on the hunt, and then it's only a matter of time before he's ambushing one residual plant monster he assumes is being controlled by Zhan Tiri. Or is Zhan Tiri, whichever. He doesn't care, he's just happy to get a good fight in. The creature is bizarre and learns quickly, mimicking him in the span of only a few minutes and creating a hardened blade out of vine, similar to his own retractable gauntlet sword. The thing fights fiercely, but mimicry isn't a replacement for actual skill and experience, and it isn't long before Hector gets the upper hand. And once he does, the creature starts falling apart, fighting more and more like a cornered animal. As it tires out he gradually finds himself comparing the creature more to his animals than the cunning and deliberate Zhan Tiri. Still, he doesn't hesitate in chopping its head off, ending the battle.

.... Except that doesn't take at all, and while the creature finally backs off it doesn't actually die. It regrows and reattaches its head, then scrambles up some old vines out of his reach to hiss at him. Sort of like an upset cat that's been dunked in a river instead of some demonic monster. It's hardly the most threatening thing... in fact, it's actually a little funny.

Thus began the strange, feral relationship between Hector and a small grass creature. A few more fights occur, though nothing quite as serious as the first one, and each time the creature retreats before he can chop another body part off. It becomes increasingly clear that this thing, while obviously magical, doesn't seem to be an agent of Zhan Tiri. He even learns the damn thing can talk and eat food, after one unfortunate night when he let his guard down while cooking a rabbit he had caught. It was roasting on a spit over a fire, and he had dozed off for all of two minutes, and the creature had snuck past the animals to steal it. He had gone after it, cursing up a storm, and it had responded with some equally vociferous curses. After that night, it had apparently decided that speaking to him was safe enough, and it started doing so.

Though they were less conversations, and more it demanding to know what Hector was doing on any given day. The demands start out simple enough, wanting to know more about eating (makes sense, it's obviously a plant), but grow more complicated over time - how did you build that trap for dinner, what's that thing on your arm, why is it called a sword, how did you get the sword.

There are a lot of sword questions, and one day the creature reappears holding Demanitus's enchanted spear. Hector had thought that thing had gotten buried in the rubble of the Great Tree when it collapsed, but apparently this thing had been doing some digging.

It's gradual, but Hector even starts answering some of them. Mostly the questions about weaponry, and when he does his answers are usually bitingly sharp or mocking, but they're still answers, and the creature accepts them with the kind of curiosity you normally only see in kids. It's a tenuous foundation, but it's there and over time it becomes more solid, to the point where Hector finds he doesn't even mind having the grass.... kid.... thing around. He stays out of his way when he's in a bad mood, and he's aggressive and won't hesitate to fight, and the kid is clearly growing more attached to him (though, that might be because there isn't anyone else around). It's still strange, but it isn't the worst thing ever, and it's certainly preferable to being surrounded by actual people.

When the weather starts to cool down Hector leaves him some proper clothes (patched together, with more animal furs than necessary), and at some point their occasional fights shift from impulsive bursts of violence to actual training and sparring. Hector can't even remember when he started giving the kid a nickname, but he did at some point, if only because he needed something short when telling him off, and 'grass monster' was too much of a mouthful.

~

It doesn't last.

Hector had been keeping in contact with Edmund and Adira via letters sent and received by Hamuel during his time at the Tree. He hadn't mentioned Fern - there didn't seem to be much of a point, if he wasn't connected to Zhan Tiri - though he did offhandedly say the spear had been recovered. Unfortunately, he one day receives word from a very tired Hamuel that Edmund is ordering him back to the Dark Kingdom proper to assist with rebuilding efforts, and to leave the spear in Corona with Quirin's son, apparently some kind of genius alchemist similar to Demanitus himself. He has absolutely no desire to take the kid with him, though efforts to simply leave don't come so easily when Fern starts following him, so he does the first thing that comes to mind.

He tries to ditch him. Several times. But it turns out it isn't so easy to ditch a kid made out of grass in forests, so as soon as he meets up with Adira he tries to pawn him off onto her. That doesn't go so well, either. That leaves him with two options: take him to the Dark Kingdom, or dump him with Quirin.

He chooses the latter, and does it in the most spectacularly low effort way possible. Taking Fern with him, he makes a rapid trip to Old Corona, showing up late one night on Quirin's doorstep with absolutely no notice. He tells Fern a few simple lies to make him stay put long enough to get away, then knocks on Quirin's door. Quirin is, understandably, not thrilled with this arrangement, but Hector doesn't give him any options. After a very quick (and lacking) explanation of what's going on the guy books it out of there on his rhino, leaving Fern standing there on his doorstep, spear in hand. As exasperated as Quirin is, he can't very leave just leave... whatever this thing is... like Hector just did, so he sends word to Varian that the spear is currently in his possession and lets Fern stay. It takes Fern a few days to feel comfortable enough to even go inside the house, and while that isn't the best situation (his presence has a tendency to terrify the Old Corona citizens), Quirin figures he can get this sorted out before Varian arrives.

He's being far too optimistic, though in the meantime he does manage to persuade Fern indoors during a particularly heavy and cold rain, even letting him use Varian's bed for the moment. Just until he can get ahold of literally anyone else in the Brotherhood.

So that's where Fern is tonight. He isn't used to sleeping on a bed but it's a lot softer and more comfortable than the ground, so he doesn't mind. The faint aroma of chemicals bothers him more, honestly, and he tries to ignore it as he burrows further until the blankets.

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"Wha-no?" Varian looks at the wall, then back at Fern. "Why would I want to do that? What would I even gain from it?"

Seems like an awful lot of effort to...what? Say you climbed a giant wall? No thanks.

There is absolutely nothing to gain by climbing the wall, but Varian's lack of desire only cements Fern's desire to get him to do it. So he shrugs casually, unimpressed. "Look, if you're too scared to do it you can just say so. Being a coward isn't something to be ashamed of."

Varian really should be able to tell he's being baited into doing something stupid. He really should. But all his friends are either adults or ten. He hasn't experienced other teens to really pick up on when he's being nudged into doing something reckless.

"Excuse you, I am not a coward! It's got nothing to do with being afraid of climbing the wall! Because I'm not afraid."

Fern isn't exactly used to baiting fellow teenagers, but he's dealt with more than enough sass in his short life from Hector and Adira to at least know a few good taunts.

"Suuuure it doesn't," he replies, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I totally believe you, Goggles."

The nickname is enough to get a rise out of him. That's one Eugene gives him, he's earned it. This grassy weirdo has not. Varian makes a frustrated, garbled noise.

"Um!! Excuse you? That's the truth! What could I possibly have to gain from climbing the stupid border wall?"

He's inwardly thrilled to see that he's getting a rise out of Varian. This is fun, maybe he should just spend the rest of the day taunting him. That sounds kind of fun.

"Well, you'd be proving you aren't a coward," he starts. "And you'd be showing me I'm wrong. And that you can do someone the other humans aren't here can't. I bet that'd be really impressive to them."

Varian would deeply disagree on the level of fun taunting him is. Mostly because he's the subject of all the taunting. He raises his arms in the air, clearly very flustered by all of this.

"I don't need to prove that I'm not a coward!" he kind of does, though. "And I definitely don't need to impress anyone here. In case you haven't noticed, people don't like me here a whole lot."

...He bets he can science his way up the wall. Perhaps a pulley system... hmmm. NO. No no, he's letting Fern get under his skin.

Look, he's just happy he's not the one being taunted. That happened a lot with Hector, more than he'd care to admit, so this is his chance to be on the other end of it. And it's fun, so he doesn't let up.

"Oh yeah, they don't. It's obvious." No it isn't, he hadn't noticed that woman booking it out of here, and he's only ever noticed the Old Coronians thinking he's a weirdo. "I bet if you climbed the wall they'd probably think, 'hey, maybe that goggles kid is alright.' Or at least think you're strong, and not just a noodle-y weirdo."

Varian would not be surprised to learn that Hector was all about the taunting. What little he knows of his uncle, it's that he's kind of an abrasive asshole.

"I don't care if they like me or not. I'm pretty sure that ship sailed a long time ago," they never gave him any support after what happened to Quirin- why would he care about their opinions now? "And I'm not a noodle-y weirdo. I just happen to focus on more productive things than climbing walls."

Abrasive asshole is putting it lightly, and unfortunately for Fern Hector was the main source of human interaction he had for a long time. So for him, abrasive asshole is normal.

He scowls a little at his dig not working, though he's never exactly been good at manipulation. He steps over to Varian, grabbing his wrist so he can lift his arm. He might be pinching a little. "Okay, and if you're not a noodle, what do you call your arm?"

That is a noodle arm, Varian. Just admit it.

This is exactly why Hector shouldn't be around for anyone's formative experiences. Varian should be pretty glad Hector wasn't around when he was a baby. He'd be so much more screwed up than he already is. And Varian sure doesn't need that in his life, thanks.

The arm grabbing (and PINCHING!!) is really rude, and Varian lets out a startled yelp, trying to tug his arm free. But it is, indeed, a noodle arm and he's not going anywhere.

"An ARM? It doesn't have to be- be buff or anything? It's still an ARM. Will you let go?"

It's a very good thing he had the most reasonable of the Brotherhood, Quirin, there to raise him. The rest are varying degrees of gremlin.

Fern won't let go right away, thinking absolutely nothing of it. The yelp gets a raised eyebrow from him, because he's pretty sure he's barely doing anything (downsides to having super strength). Thankfully, he'll release Varian as he snorts. "A noodle arm. Attached to a noodle body. Just admit it. You're a noodle and a weirdo and scared."

They truly are. Varian might have had an emotionally stunted childhood but it was better than the alternative.

Varian pulls his arm back to himself as soon as it's released. He doesn't know what he did to deserve this, but he's sure not liking any of it. Stupid, stubborn anger flashes in his eyes.

"Excuse you where did the weirdo part come from? And I'm not scared! Or a noodle!!"

Well, Fern at least recognize stubbornness when it's staring him in the face. He's intimately familiar with it, after all.

He jabs a finger in Varian's face. "I'm not wrong about the weirdo part, am I?" If he was, surely the other boy would have denied it like he's denying being scared or a noodle. "I'm right about that like I'm right about the rest of you."

Oh, oh, the finger jabbing is definitely not welcome!! Rude!! Varian's anger is growing and that never means he's got good decisions on the way - his already lackluster common sense gets clouded. He's probably about to do something really stupid.

"Yes?? Why am I a weirdo? Why do you think I'm weird? And you're NOT right. You're the most wrong anyone can ever be and I will prove it."

Oh, that first question has an easy answer in Fern's opinion! "Someone who can't even fend off an easy ambush is a weirdo," he says, as if it's completely obvious. It isn't, of course it isn't, why would it be?

He regardless looks a bit smug here. "Oh yeah? What're you gonna do?"

"Tha-that's not a definition of a weirdo! That's just not expecting an actual weirdo to jump out and ambush you out of nowhere!"

Looks like the weirdo shoe is on the other foot now!!!

"I'm gonna use my head," he taps the side of his skull for good measure. "To get me over the stupid wall to shut you up."

Fern snorts at this claim. It's so ridiculous, so completely ridiculous. "Hey! I'm not a weirdo, I'm prepared, unlike you."

It's a tough world out there, and he's ready for it!!

He also doesn't look too impressed, but he's at least happy to see he's actually gotten under Varian's skin. "This I gotta see."

"That's not being prepared, jumping out at people for no reason is super weird."

Obviously, Fern is the weird one here. Obviously. Varian snorts, turning on his heel and storming back into the house, down to his lab, muttering under his breath about wrong plant people who are wrong. If Fern follows him, he'll find Varian in the depth of his lab, grabbing pieces of metal and rope- banging them about the place.

"I'll show him."

Fern just grumbles under his (nonexistent) breath. It totally isn't for no reason, testing reflexes is a totally valid reason, and more importantly, it means he isn't weird.

Regardless, Fern is totally following Varian back into the house. He has no idea what the other boy is doing but he wants to see, so he follows him down the steps to his lab. This isn't something he's ever actually seem before, honestly, so he's kind of fascinated. His attention is momentarily pulled away from Varian to his surroundings as he looks around, dumbfounded.

Of course, his response is to immediately start poking around. "Wow," he says, starting to wander in. "What's with all this?"

Varian can hear the muttering and has to bite back a childish retort that it does too mean he's weird. But instead, he focuses on his work, starting to hammer some pieces together as he does so. He's going to make a great pulley system and be up that wall in five seconds flat and science will win out against brawn AGAIN. He glances up as he realises he's being addressed.

"My lab," as if that explains eveverything. "Don't touch anything."

That explanation explains absolutely nothing and the first thing Fern is going to do is pick some scales that are - were probably calibrated just so. He's good at this, he's good at listening to directions.

"Uh huh," he replies sarcastically. "What's a lab?"

Varian watches his scales get lifted and puts down what he's working on to stride over to try and wrench them out of Fern's hands.

"I literally just told you not to touch anything!" he protests- he had got them celebrated exactly right, this is rude. "And it's a laboratory. For science? Do you know what science is?"

He scowls when the scales are snatched away, but Varian did tell him not to touch anything, so he's kind of right to snap. "What do you think?" He asks, pouting just a tiny bit.

No, he does not.

He was told. Varian mutters under his breath as he tries to get his scales calibrated right again after they were so rudely disrupted. He doesn't look up from his work as he starts talking.

"Right, 'course. Science is the study of the world around us by experimentation and obvsersation. It's in everything and it's really important."

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