A Story of Two Brothers (Armen)

Adonis rushed out of the forest, cradling a small spider. Well, for an acromantula, it was small. Just a baby, really, stranded too close to the border of the forest. He didn't know how to take care of it, but he did know of someone who should be able to.

He'd never met the gamekeeper before. In fact, he barely knew anything about him. All he knew was that the man resided in a hut near the Forbidden Forest, and had recently been married. Adonis figured it was high time he'd met him, and an injured baby spider was the perfect impetus to get him there.

Armen stood outfront of the hut, two deer carcasses tied to a scafolding as he stripped the flesh from the body while humming. Kurama was busy eatting a leg when a boy came stumbling from the forest.

A sneer came across his lips but he quickly hid it "What you go there boy"

"Acromantula," Adonis replied, staring at the creature. "It's-" His voice cut short, silenced by the simple action of looking up. His eyes met those of the grounds keeper, and he was struck by how startlingly familiar they were. He'd seen them in the mirror just that morning, as well as every day before that for his entire life.

Armen blinked a few times before he grabbed the boy roughly his skinning knife at the kid's neck "Who are you" he growled

Adonis yelped, dropping the spider. It limped away, hiding under a striped blanket lying forgotten on the floor.

The Ravenclaw was trembling uncontrollably, terrified out of his wits, even to the point where he couldn't recall his own name. "I-I-I'm..." Each noise he made was pathetic and high-pitched, ruining any calm exterior he may have been able to create. There was something about a knife being pressed to your neck by a stranger who was nearly your twin that prevented any tranquility in the mind.

"Give me your name" his temper only got worse as he got angrier, part of him guessed who the boy was he couldn't beleive it.

The boy took in a series of deep breaths, trying to calm himself enough to answer. "A-Adonis. P-please don't hurt me," he replied. He tried to lean away from the knife, but the wall prevented him from doing so. Their eyes met again as soon as Adonis thought he would be able to face them, and he searched frantically for some emotion that would give away the intentions of the grounds keeper.

"Are you an orphan" he asked simply his grip faltering.

"No. I-I mean I used to be. I-I was adopted. W-why?"

Under normal circumstances, Adonis would have been able to draw a conclusion much quicker than this, but these weren't exactly normal. He was still recovering from the initial shock.

When he felt his captor's arm relax, he wriggled out from against the wall, moving instead to stand in the middle of the room. He felt just a tad safer, but it wasn't a great improvement. He wanted to leave, but curiosity had cemented his feet to the wooden boards. His first thought was a hope that curiosity wouldn't kill the cat, and he instantly felt sick to his stomach.

With a heavy sigh he walked over to the counter and poured a brandy for himself, dropping the knife on the board. "Jesus christ"

"What?" Head tilted, he stared at the man across the room. "What's your name, by the way?" he inquired, realizing that he somehow did not have that information yet.

"Salander" he said his back to him "Armen Salander, and you were born as Adonis Salander"

"What? I... I didn't have a last name, until I was adopted." Despite how confused he was, Salander did have a recognizable ring to it, although it was very vague and distant. Armen, though, that name he identified with burning familiarity. That was his brother, the one he lost when he was a small child. "You're my brother. My older brother." Even saying it didn't feel right on his tongue, but that didn't make it any less true. It had been so long, the concept of a sibling other than Alice didn't fit properly into his head or his heart, even though this was what he'd been waiting for his whole life.

Turning he laid the brandy glass down "Yes I am...I last saw you, when you were an infant"

"I wouldn't consider two an infant," he replied indignantly, although in a joking sort of way. "What happened? No one ever told me. I didn't even know about you until I broke into the office at the orphanage."

Adonis sat on the couch, folding his legs up against his chest watching his brother intently, as though that could make up for all the years of never being able to.

Taking seat in his arm chair across from the couch Armen pinched the bridge of his nose as Kurama jumped onto the couch sniffing the boy his large head almost as big as his torso.

"I was to old to be adopted, no body wanted me so I ran away" he said slowly "they called me a demon child that i was evil and i'd hurt you so they chose to never mention me ever again...when we were together they kepy us apart accept from when i'd sneak into the day room when you'd be playing"

"What did you do that made them think that?" Adonis asked, his heart breaking slowly. How could anyone keep them apart like that, especially with that sort of excuse.

The wolf had lept up onto the couch, weighing it down so that Adonis ended up leaning towards the creature. It was gargantuan, and the boy was a little more than simply disconcerted about it being so close to him.