Prompt: Write a 5 plus 1 fic
Word Count: 1003
Whoo I had a lot of fun with this! It took me forever tho lol,, I've never written these types of fics
Five Times Kylen Went By 'Kyle' and One Time He Didn't
1.
Emma already hated him, despite him being there for .2 seconds. It was like she had an innate sense that he was up to no good (which he was). Now she made it her mission to just be a general nuisance.
"What even is your name?" demanded Emma, hands on her hips. Kylen had been attempting to ignore her in favor of eating his dinner peacefully.
"Uh…" Kylen's brain froze for a few seconds, him racing to try and get one of the cover names Naylen and he threw around. "Kyle."
Emma narrowed her eyes, suspicious at his hesitation. "Okay, Kyle," she said. "Where are you from?"
Oh, this he knew. He wasn't going to let the hours spent on Natalian geography go to waste. "Blackstone."
Emma wasn't satisfied with that answer, but she was already being dragged away by one of her friends. Kyle waved goodbye to her, a smirk on his face. Well, it was his job as an older brother to perpetually annoy people.
(Even if they were Natalian.)
2.
"Kyle, Kyle, Kyle," Emma groaned, head in her hands. "What'd you do this time?"
Kylen crossed his arms indignantly. "I didn't do anything. Tyla tricked me into drinking the wine. It's not my fault you Na–you guys have drinking laws."
"Everyone has drinking laws," Emma muttered, completely missing his slipup. His heart rate eased a little when she didn't question it. "Were you raised under a rock?"
"No."
Okay, to be fair to Kylen, he was of legal age in Terrelain. It wasn't his fault no one informed him that he was too young to drink! He could already imagine Naylen teasing him about this…argh…
Emma sighed, like a disappointed parent, and patted Kylen's shoulder. "Good luck."
"With what?!"
Emma did not dignify a response, a smug smile on her face. She patted Kylen's shoulder again, gave him an expression of intense, sarcastic sympathy, and began walking off.
Kylen groaned as Emma waved goodbye to him and made her way down the hallway.
3.
Kylen had picked up a 'calling' as a weaver. His mother had been a weaver, and she had not been lax on her teachings to her two sons.
"Kyle, is it?" the head weaver asked, tilting his head.
"Uh-huh," Kylen nodded. "That would be me." Over time, he had gotten used to the new name, but it still felt a little painful to hear it. At least he hadn't gone with Jupiter, as per Naylen's first suggestion (his mother had shot that one down very quickly).
"Do you have any previous skill with the loom?"
"My mother taught me all she knew," Kylen said truthfully, smiling lopsidedly.
The weaver nodded. "We'll have a trial and error phase first, to see how well you do. If you struggle a little, we'll give you more time to keep practicing. If not, you can be initiated."
4.
Kylen already hated the stained glass windows of Lighthall.
Oh, look at me, he internally mocked the glass Jupiter. I stole my brother's birthright. He rolled his eyes.
The Lighthall Ceremony was awful, to say the least. Kylen only listened to half of it, eyes wandering through the room to see if he could find anything familiar - but when he began hearing about the Green Ember, he perked up.
"So Jupiter has a hidden heir?" he coughed, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible.
"Yes."
"Does anyone know where he is?" Kylen squinted at the lord, trying to figure out if he was the type to give out information with enough convincing. Probably not - he seemed to have a will of iron.
"Answers will come in time, Kyle."
(Except I don't have time.)
5.
Kylen was tired.
After spending nights at a time discussing the final parts of his plan with Garlackson and Ambassador Longtreader, now he had to lure Smalls away and get Picket and the others distracted. Because of course the Ambassador's relatives would get all up in his business.
Well, they had been distracted, only for them to appear in Smalls' room, right when he was rooting through the important papers and stuff.
He sighed internally. Did nothing go his way? Not only was the Green Ember not here…did Smalls take it to Jupiter's Crossing?!
Heather was angry. So angry. She screamed at him, screamed HOW COULD YOU, KYLE?! and he almost wanted to scream back, telling her that this was all part of some stupid elaborate scheme and she should just play along.
But he didn't.
And when he awoke from Heather's sound hit, it was silent outside. He figured that Heather would be sending guards to get him, so he hurriedly pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his sword in the corner. Deadly mistake, he thought grimly. Perhaps they had been too terrified to take the sword away.
He ran. He had a notebook full of small bits of information, marking planned movements of the soldiers, the weaknesses of the citadels, specific details that he knew his father would be pleased about - however, he felt an innate sense of dread.
and 1.
Naylen was waiting at the gates when Kylen arrived.
It had been a long arduous walk, with occasional stops at the less suspicious citadels, but he finally arrived back in Terrelain. When the castle finally appeared in his line of vision, Kylen let a smile break across his grim face.
He was home.
The market was bustling, kids racing around with little streamers and toys. Ah, right, it was nearly time for the Midsummer Festival. No doubt, the castle was already decked out in flowers and wreaths, preparing for the annual feast.
He saw Naylen under a tree first.
His little brother was peacefully whittling away at a stick he must've found, surrounded by discarded scraps of wood.
"Naylen!" he called.
His brother's head whipped up, and a grin broke out on his face. "Kylen!"
Kylen. Not Kyle, he thought gratefully, the nickname like bile in his mouth.
He was home.
