I haven’t picked a specific number just yet, but he was pretty young! Only 20 or 21. Bowman was just a wee sprout at the time.
By that point, he would have only been a knight for a couple years. Scar showed a lot of dedication and skill in his training, and he quickly earned his spot among the ranks. He was always determined to fight to protect the other wood sprites of Wellwood; indeed, his temperament is exceedingly rare among a pacifist people.
Wolves aren’t super common in Wellwood, at least not year-round, but just one can be a serious problem if it wanders too close. This is the case in Scar’s fabled story. A wolf, separate from a pack, had intruded well into the region of the woods that the sprites called home. One patrolsprite was killed and another injured badly.
The knights prepared themselves to take the fight to one of the largest enemies they’d have to deal with. They were well aware that some of them might not make it back, but if they could do just enough damage to drive the wolf away, they’d have succeeded.
Cerul fretted a lot for Scar, but he knew there would have been no convincing them not to go. He simply promised that he’d be waiting to offer healing to them all when they returned.
Despite the odds and the wolf’s viciousness, Scar managed to find an opening during the fight and landed right on its snout. Before it could rear back to snap him up, he put his sword through both of its eyes. Driving it away was easy after that.
He earned his name that day, and years later when it came time for a new High Knight, he was the obvious choice.
Scar is actually his birth name! He has a very prominent birthmark that extends all the way from his leg up to his back, and his parents couldn’t get the name out of their heads after seeing that.
Scar’s name originally came about to me as a writer as part of a theme with two other characters. Cerul, Scar, and a third (not as well known) sprite character of mine Cadmi. I think @creatorofuniverses and maybe @nightmares06 are the only ones to have picked up on the pattern for their names before, but the pattern suits each character’s personality and role in my canon story.
I actually had to go digging around for these notes from about a year ago XD I have put thought into this several times before.
((Don’t worry! Castiel is still in Brothers Apart and will run into the brothers soon, so none of this is saying she replaces him!))
Directly from notes:
Of the fairy realms, there are three:
Aeternum of the gods,
Avalon of the Seelie,
Pandemonium of the Unseelie.
Avalon, for the fae, is their realm of heaven. Here dwells the Summer Court and the good fairies. Beware making deals even with the good fairies, they will ensnare the unwary in their webs and bring them to their home to service the king.
Aeternum of the gods is the purgatory of the fae. The guardian sprites live within, closer to the human realm than the others. They will attend a summons for help, keeping the balance of nature as commanded by their creators.
Pandemonium is where the Unseelie live and where the Winter Court dwells. The fairy version of hell and where their devil reigns. The fae that live within are wicked and quick to anger, often declared outright evil, though much like demons there are shades of grey within this truth.
(All of this is true in the Brothers Apart verses, not necessarily the Supernatural show. I took their lore and expanded it)
All this being said, the elemental sprites are some of the strongest of the fae, and because of that they were sequestered to the purgatory of their people, where the world remains unchanging and they can tend to their separate elements and bind any dangers to the other realms to guard over. The Midas amulet being only one of those dangers.
They are close to the leviathans, but without the innate evil and desire to consume the world.
Most aeternum sprites chose to ignore the rest of the worlds and keep to themselves until summoned by their gods to attend to their given tasks.
Nixie is an exception, but thankfully not the only one. We’ll have another sprite like her showing up in the BA verse to help make atonement for what the fire sprites have wrought.
Aww, I’m so touched to hear you love my writing so much! ❤
XD You have the most guesses in for this, but not quite there. Dean will be itching for some bacon for sure before the crazy gets started in this story, so hand it over!
There are going to be a ton of big problems going, someone may be betrayed and it all serves a bigger purpose in the second season end of Brothers Apart!
When Oscar could walk again without too much pain to his back, the human that tended to his bandages didn’t visit as often. He had others to attend to, so he said. Oscar couldn’t help but wonder how many others like him waited in cages, nursing their own burns. How many had come before him and left already?
The smooth-talking human that sent him to be branded on his first day in the new city would come by instead. He wandered the room, peering into cages and talking to the prisoners within.
When the man came to Oscar’s cage one day, Oscar lingered in the farthest corner he could. He couldn’t press his back against the metal without sending a jolt of pain over his healing burn, but he did his best to keep the distance between them.
The human had a glint in his eye that Oscar didn’t like. “Ah. So skittish. It’s time you got over that, little one. Most customers don’t want something too frightened, not from us.”
The man’s impatient face blocked everything else out. Oscar stared silently out at him and tried not to let his tears escape.
He didn’t know how not to be frightened in such a terrifying place.
The human rolled his eyes. “You’re one of Noriko’s dolls, I’d have thought you’d be more socialized.”
The mention of the first human to keep him trapped, to treat him like an object, sent a shudder down Oscar’s spine. He closed his eyes and ducked his head. The man was right. He should be used to humans staring in at him by now, and a part of him was. The rest wouldn’t let go of that fear.
The human scoffed. Oscar wasn’t looking, so he didn’t notice the man moving until he heard the metallic clang of his cage front opening. He looked up in time for that hand to dive in after him.
He tried to push himself back, only to flinch forward when the action hurt his burn. The front of his shirt provided the human a handhold on him, just like the first time he’d ever met him. He dragged Oscar out of his cage in that pinch grip, no matter how his tiny shoes pushed against the floor.
Oscar found himself dangling over the floor in front of the man’s dispassionate eyes. “Christ,” the salesman muttered. “Here I thought you’d be more ready to go.” Oscar squeezed his eyes shut and tried to curl himself into a ball. Every movement stretched and strained his back, and the skin might as well be on fire again. His cheeks glistened with tears.
The human wasn’t moved, but he did let Oscar drop with a pained yelp to his other palm. “Alright, conditioning for you, then,” he spat, though it felt more like he was talking to the air than to Oscar. His fingers curled closed over his palm until the much smaller man was immobile in his fist.
“No one bothers to tell me these things,” the human complained to himself. “Could’ve been working on this one this whole time and had him ready for turnover. Louts.”
Oscar squirmed in the human’s grasp, but not for escape. The thick skin folded around him, ensuring he’d never be able to get out. Instead, he tried to find an angle that didn’t strain his back. The curve of the human’s palm pinched at him and he had tears in his eyes from the pain.
Footsteps jarred him, but Oscar didn’t care about where he would go. He’d been taken to other rooms before, never knowing the direction. They always made sure he wouldn’t be able to find his way around, if he ever found himself free of a cage.
Another metal door opened, and Oscar paused in sheer surprise. The human spoke to someone inside another cage. “Alright, you get some conditioning for today, too. Come here, titch.”
Oscar’s heart pattered. He was going to see someone else his size. It would be the first time in months.
Even though they were both captives of humans that wanted to sell them away, it was something.
Oscar waited with a confusing mix of emotions twisting up in his chest. One part of him was relieved, another part eager. Another part was sad to think of finally seeing someone else sharing his fate. The last part of him, a tiny voice in the back of his head, was afraid of what he’d see.
He knew they had arrived when the hand around him swung forward and abruptly opened. Oscar slid down the tilted palm and landed on a table. An overhead light filled the cramped room with its yellowish hue, but Oscar didn’t pay any attention to the walls or other furniture. He pushed himself up on his hands and knees in time to see the other captive dumped on the table only a few inches away.
The human didn’t sit right away. As he turned towards a cabinet in one corner, the other small person picked himself up and looked over at Oscar, mirroring his surprise to see him.
The guy was younger than Oscar, but he couldn’t be sure by much. He was tall. Easily almost four inches even, if not more. He rushed over to help Oscar to his feet.
He must have been burned, too. Underneath the bedraggled hem of his hooded jacket, Oscar saw the pristine white of bandages like his own. This person didn’t have doll clothes like Oscar did yet.
“Hey, buddy,” the kid greeted in a soft voice. “You okay?” He got a stunned nod from Oscar and smiled with relief. “That’s good. Man, it’s been forever since they’ve let me see anyone else…”
Oscar, his head tilted back, remembered to answer. “Y-yeah. Me too.”
The stranger’s eyebrows went up. He noticed, just as Oscar had, that they both shared an accent, very unlike the humans they’d met so far. “Damn. Sounds like you came a long way just like me,” the stranger whispered. “What’s your name?”
Oscar couldn’t help but think back to the last time someone had asked for his name. Mina, the human that sent him on a plane so far away from home, and she hadn’t even written down the right name. “I’m Oscar,” he replied, whispering just like his fellow prisoner.
The stranger nodded. “Nice to meet you, Oscar. I’m–”
Dean growled. “Sam’s not facing them without me,” he said darkly, unconsciously putting his hand back down next to Sam and Walt. Almost protectively, despite his disagreement with Sam. Nothing had changed between them. “Where he goes, I go.”
Rufus smiled. “Then I think we have a plan.” He clapped his hands together and leaned forward. “Now refresh my memory. Where’s the grub in this place?”
Wood sprites do bury their fallen, usually right at the bases of trees near their village. A grave is not specifically marked, but the general area is. Most communities will try to grow some specific kind/color of flower in the area to make note of what it’s used for. Some communities also have a hall prayed into the nearby tree(s) where they can ink the names of the ones buried there.
Wellwood has a maple tree and a cluster of yarrow plants for its graveyard. It’s a peaceful area and sometimes those who have lost someone will pay respects by tending the yarrow. It’s not quite the same as “visiting” a specific sprite.
Bowman tends the area sometimes. Usually in winter, when the yarrow is dormant and in need of pruning or an extra prayer, he will take it upon himself.
As for what happened to his mother, I’ll try to explain without going on and on!
Eyara Songbird was gifted with the Voice of the Spirit, and she trained alongside Cerul to fulfill their responsibilities that came with the gift. She was actually so ecstatic to find out she was with child that her joy radiated out from her and brightened the moods around her a small amount. She was so ready to have a little sprout of her own.
Her health declined as the due date approached (and the fact that it would be a winter birth didn’t help her). When Bowman was born, Eyara used a lot of her energy to Pray over the baby and make sure he would be okay. No one thought to caution her against it, as they didn’t know exactly how much she needed that energy for herself. She didn’t last very long after the birth, and her midwives had to bring the baby to his father without his mother.
Brothers Apart 