Motley Folk headcanons thread (add ideas!)

- the Motley folk helps Roxane dealing with Brianna and Rosanna when she’s alone because Dustfinger has left to go god only knows where. here, when Roxane falls asleep, the Black Prince braids Brianna’s hair and teaches her how to braid his hair, so that when her mother wakes up she shows the messy hair of the black prince claiming she did a super great job and the two adults tenderly smiling at each other

- when she was still alive, toddler Rosanna would spend a lot of time with the herborists hand in hand with her mother and she would get all curious about the plants and the flowers

fred-erick-frankenstein

After the night Rosanne dies from the fewer Roxane stops speaking to anyone. She knows she has to care for Brianne and she wants to, but her heart is still where Rosanne lies, ice cold and white, and it still feels so raw, she wonders if she'll ever be happy again. So the Black Prince, the Strong Man and Baptista begin to care for Brianne, helping her when she's in trouble or just lonely, hold and sooth her when she cries because she misses her little sister, her mum and sometimes Dustfinger too (even tho she's still angry that he left her and Roxane behind - again). They also look after Roxane, of course, because they know that she wants to care for her other child but she can't right now, not yet. So instead the Black Prince will sit with her at the fire, just holding her in his arms, not saying anything, while Baptista will sing, very quietly, about good times, about loss, about Dustfinger (but only sometimes and the arms of the Black Prince around Roxane's arms will be a bit tighter when he does), about hope, about love. And the strong man will try to make her laugh every day with telling her stories about the Wayless Wood (some she does know, some she doesn't), about the birds that live up there (where the sun shines and worries seem so far away, Roxane thinks, and sometimes wish she could grow wings and fly away with them, maybe to the far away land where Dustfinger's gone) or with talking to the birds and asking them to sing something for her. And then, after many weeks that seemed so dark, so full of tears, Roxane leaves her tent to see Baptista and Brianne arguing with the bear whether or not it's a good idea to steal honey from the fire-elves, it might taste good but is it really a good idea when they can burn your fur, have you thought about that bear? What, yes, it is very sweet but really, I don't think it's your best idea... while the Black Prince watches them, his arms wrapped around his waist, crying with silent laughter, and she will feel happiness, bubbling in her belly and escaping through her mouth and the other will turn around to see her laughing. Really laughing, her dark eyes shining so bright and they will know, there will still be times dark as ink when all the sadness and the loss will be almost too much to bear but there is hope and better times are coming.
Baptista sometimes sings quietly to himself while working on a new mask and after some time some of the Motley Folk will stop by and listen to his clear voice because the songs he sings are often so full if good things, happiness and love, love for the world in which they live, love for the life (even tho it's hard and hunger is a constant companion) and love for all the small and big creatures around them and sometimes they listen to people like the Snapper who think the world is dark and mean and people are bad but sometimes it's nice to hear about the good things in life too. And Baptista of course knows that they're listening, he can hear them getting quieter, not that he stops (he knows why they're listening, he knows the ache for good things, for hope and for friendship) and a small smile dances at the corner of his lips when he continues sewing.
Roxane won't admit it, not even to herself and certainly not to Dustfinger if he ever comes back, but there are times when she misses life with the Motley Folk. Don't get her wrong, living in a real house with a roof that protects you from rain and strong walls that keep the cold out is nothing she would trade easily but sometimes...sometimes she thinks of the time when she was around all these different people, hearing their laughter and cries, their arguing and singing, day and night. And then longing and homesickness will make her heart ache and make her feel as if the walls are suffocating her. And when it gets too bad she will get out and sit there, her back at the walls of her house, warm from the day, and she will look at the stars, thinking of the smell of fire and wine and the fur of the bear of the Black Prince and a sad smile will appear on her face.
Dustfinger and the Black Prince were cold and emaciated, all skin and bones, when the Motley Folk found them, all those long summers ago. Their hair hung wet from their faces from days and days, and worse many dark nights, spent in the Wayless Wood, no shelter from the endless rain that poured down the trunks of the trees. They had each other but they were lonely nonetheless, being still children but having no one except each other to care for them. The Motley Folk picked the two up and gave them hot soup and bread and some blankets and more importantly adults that looked out for them, cared for them and protected them from the world around them that can be very harsh. They hold each other, shivering and watching everything with big, wondering eyes. A healer named Barn Owl tended their wounds with the help of some of the women and slowly, very slowly both Dustfinger and the Black Prince started to trust these unknown people. They wandered around the tents, watched the tightrope-walkers practice with ropes high up in the trees, the knife-throwers fling their knifes and daggers at targets as small as mice and the fire-dancers who swung up to four torches. And they watcedh them with eyes full of wonder and hearts that beat fast, so very fast, like the wings of the blue elves, wondering if they ever get to be as good as the older jugglers and fire breathers and knife throwers.
They met when they were still so small that they couldn't imagine a world where the other didn't exist. So small that being an adult seemed a strange concept and that the other was the whole world to them. Dustfinger, who once had different name when he had a family that he can't rember anymore, was playing at the edge of the Wayless Wood when suddenly, he met eyes with an even smaller girl with curly hair as dark as her eyes and skin. Without fear she looked at the strange boy with his hair as red as autumn leaves. Dustfinger blinked in surprise, made a step back and fell on his butt. Her laughter made a boy appear, as old as Dustfinger, with hair and skin as dark as the night-mares in the Wayless Wood or the sky in a starless night. He grabbed his little sisters hand and looked at Dustfinger with suspicion in his eyes. "Who are you?" he asked. And Dustfinger answered, eager to get to know him. They met again the other day, and the day after that, the little black boy always with one of his sisters. He had two, Dustfinger learned. And he loved them with all his heart. They became best friends and swore to never leave each others side, defended each other...and one day stood in the pillory next to each other. They stole a loaf of bread for the sisters of the Black Prince. It was a dark day. Both still so small that they barely reached shackles that were around their little necks and full of fear until their eyes met and they knew, nothing could happen to the other while they were around. This is still true. It was also true the day Dustfinger saved the Black Prince and his loyal bear from his execution at the Castle of Night. The Adderhead’s men had captured the bear and the Prince wouldn’t leave his side, trying to save him and so it happened - outnumbered - they didn’t stood a chance. Dustfinger heard of it and rode day and night to get there in time. It was his best show, he says later, distracting even the attentive eyes of the Adderhead while Gwin stole the keys and gave them to the Prince who freed his bear. Dustfinger created a wall of fire to stop the soldiers from following them. The Adderhead couldn’t sleep for a week afterwards. But his anger didn’t stop the kingdom from laughing at him, telling stories that the Fire-breather had freed the Black Prince, that the bear scared the soldiers and the Adderhead so much that he and his master could flee, that the Black Prince is a shadow no one can hold not even the silver shackles of the Adderhead...