Have you heard, have you heard,
Have you heard the whispers?
Of the blindfolded stoat
With a smirk under his whiskers?
He spirited our men away in the park,
Hidden under the cover of dark!
That blindfolded stoat did it
With a smirk under his whiskers.
--- Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tamberland Tom" volume 6, an illustrated collection of children's fairy tales.

Don't stay too far from the path. Don't go into the woods at night. Don't eat mushrooms without identifying them properly first. Simple, simple, simple rules... and yet it was astonishing just how many people chose not to heed them despite ample warning. Some fey spirits saw it as their duty to help guide the lost back home, warn them away from danger, and offer them a second chance when they made a mistake. But there was a duality to the order of the natural world. If nature were nothing but generous and bountiful all the time, then people would just take, take, take away... until nothing at all was left. As was their own nature. No, the frightening and ruthless aspect of the ancient forests existed out of necessity...

It served to remind people that there was a price to be paid for foolishness.

For his part, Felfrond had reveled in being an agent of that simple truth. It delighted him to stalk wanderers who ventured too far from the shelter and protection of civilization. Playing tricks on them, misleading them, ultimately terrifying them into turning back so that they would leave the places in the world that remained unspoiled alone. Born of Autumn, rot and darkness were his birthright; leaves withered and turned orange at his approach, mushrooms sprouted in the damp and dimness of his shadow. Everywhere he went decay and silence were his constant companions. In those days, the only times he had anyone else for company were when his efforts proved unable to turn away a particularly stubborn traveller... so he had no recourse but to make them disappear. Felfrond had certain ways to make use of those who fell into his clutches, and it would be many years before he would ever release anyone unfortunate enough to become his captive.

But then, a complication had arisen. His father had decided that their family was to grow.

He had always had a brother- a polar opposite to him in so many ways. But now suddenly he was informed that he had two more brothers by way of adoption. One of them a boorish badger so dense that most insults simply went straight over his head, and the other a sullen selkie who wasn't even born a proper fey to begin with! He and Rosewater had always been Autumn and Spring, decay and growth, darkness and light. A functioning duality where each balanced the other. Although he understood his father's reasoning for wanting to add representatives of Summer and Winter to the family, he chafed at the expectation that he was supposed to accept these two newcomers as though they were his own flesh and blood. Their inclusion forcing him out of what had been a comfortable arrangement for him back when he only had one relatively benign brother to worry about.

It felt unecessary to him... foolish, even. To fix what hadn't been broken in the first place. But his father would not listen. The balance of the four seasons together was viewed as more important than Felfrond's personal concerns. Though he tried to give his new brothers a chance, the fact that their relationship began under an artificial and forced circumstance left a sour taste in the stoat's mouth. Rosewater didn't seem to have such problems. He'd always been the more gregarious one, better able to forgive and adapt to new social situations. Seeing him start to get along with their new siblings only made Felfrond feel worse. As though the whole family was moving forward and he was being left behind unable to keep up with the changing times.

*****

A quiet shadow is often overlooked.

The final of four fey brothers I've been comissioning from the always fantastic Madness_demon !