Tall Tales and True Tales

"Remus!" Romulus cried into the forest. It was getting late and Lupa would worry if they didn't return to her soon. Staring into the foreboding shadows that filled the spaces between the branches, Romulus called once more, "Remus! Where are you?!" Eyes darting about the trees for any movement, he feels terror spike in his heart and tears prick at his eyes.

He's going to have to go into the forest! Weeping quietly at the thought, Romulus made to take that first step when–

"Rawr!"

The brunet fell back with a shriek. Brown eyes having gone wide, Romulus was forced to lift his face to gaze into the wild eyes of his twin. Letting out a sob of relief, he launched himself at his brother, wrapping his arms around his thighs. He didn't have to go into the woods. Remus was safe and here with him. All would be well.

"C'mon Rom, stop crying like a girl!" Remus huffed patting his brother's head firmly. "How are we ever going to be a strong nation if you blubber like this every time I jump out like that?"

Letting his tears be absorbed by the coarse material of his twin's tunic, he said, "'M not crying 'cause you jumped out." Staring up at his brother, he argued, "I'm crying 'cause I'm relieved!"

Remus scoffed. "Relieved about what?" he asked as he twisted his fingers not quite nicely in Romulus's hair.

"That I didn't have to go into the woods," the kneeling boy whispered.

Laughing at the remark, Remus pulled away from his brother. "You and the woods! It's not scary! There's all sorts of cool things in there!" he said, waving his arms in the direction of the trees behind him.

Romulus had to disagree. "It feels funny," he mumbled unhappily.

"You feel funny!" Remus countered childishly. Grabbing his brother up by his hand, he said, "Let's go home to Lupa now!"

Romulus was quick to scramble up and follow after his twin, only casting a single frightened look back.

(He swore he saw something among the trees).

Shivering in front of the dancing flames, Rome does his best not to look away from the flickering yellow. A stick snaps and the man nearly dives into the fire at the sound.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this jumpy," Germania says as he approaches with a small stack of sticks in his hands.

Rubbing at his arms in attempt to ward off goose-pimples, Rome sends his neighboring nation a nervous smile. "I'm not used to the forest is all," he replies.

Germania grunts and begins to shove sticks into the orange embers. "It's unfortunate we got lost earlier," he remarks.

Rome has to agree. Sending an uneasy look around their clearing, he shrinks into himself further. "A real tragedy," he whispers.

The blond's gaze rests on him for a long moment. Afterwards he nods. "Yes," he says. "You are correct."

"I met this really weird thing in the woods today!" Remus confided in Romulus as they lay back in the thick grass of their land to gaze up at the night sky.

A sweat working itself up on the nape of his neck, Romulus met his twin's identical brown eyes. "Yeah?" he said.

His brother smiled. "Yeah! It was super weird lookin'!" Gesturing with his arms, he explained, "It was waaay tall and it had so many arms!" Pleased that he's obviously captivated his twin with this little information, Remus continued in a hushed, conspiratorial tone, "The strangest part, though, was it had no face!"

Romulus couldn't help the way he squeaked or how he instinctively reached out to seek comfort from his brother. "That sounds scary!" he whimpered.

His fellow brunet laughed and patted his back. "You're just jumpy, Rom! If you met it you'd think it was fascinating too!"

The boy highly doubted this, but he kept it to himself. Averting his eyes, he let his face be half-muffled by the scratchy wool of his twin's tunic and lied, "Maybe."

His wild brother-gentle for once-leaned in and kissed his hair affectionately. "Just you wait, Rom," he swore. "I'll show it to you and you'll think it's just as great I do!" Curling into the bit of comfort given, Romulus said no more and planned out his avoidance tactics for the next few days.

He wasn't going into the woods. Not ever.

Belly warmed by the alcohol Germania has supplied him with, Rome feels daring enough to let his eyes meander around the forest's edge. Shadows dance between the branches. It makes him shiver. It is easy for it to mask itself in these conditions.

Letting his eyes fall to the fire once more, he barely notices the way Germania watches him. Tossing back the rest of the flask, Rome leans forward, one arm over a knee, and lets out a whoosh of air. A gust of wind whistles through the clearing, causing the flames to flounce and in that breath, Rome can here Remus calling for him.

"C'mon Rom, come with me!"

Curling around his knees more tightly, Rome blurts, "I had a twin once."

The blond pauses mid-stretch and focuses his gaze on him. "Oh?" he half-asked, half-acknowledged.

"He's dead now," Rome whispers. Brow furrowing, he corrects himself, "Or at least I think he is."

There is a measured silence before Germania says, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be." Rome sighs. "It was better he died when he did. I might have had to kill him myself in the future otherwise."

The other man perks up. "Those stories…"

"I made them up for my people to pass down–well, not the ones about my gods. They belonged to Greece and my people adopted them, the creation of Rome though…" He sent the blond a self-deprecating smile. "I couldn't just let my brother be forgotten by everyone. He mattered!"

In rare show of solidarity, Germania puts a soothing hand on Rome's wrist. "Family always matters," he said.

Rome is deliriously grateful. Someone understands. Scooting closer, he begs, "Will you keep your eyes open? Watch for it?"

"It?" he repeats.

Adrenaline long gone, Rome realizes he is exhausted as his head droops lower and lower until he just let it fall into the Germanic man's lap. "Yeah, the thing that got Remus…" he mumbles.

It was evening again. Remus had slipped away somewhere around lunch to play in the woods as Romulus followed Pecker's directions as to where to find food for himself and his brother. Romulus didn't begrudge his brother though, he would have run off too if he could have. But someone had to be responsible and that wasn't Remus. Remus was the wild one, the daring one. Romulus just followed orders.

Picking up sticks along the wood's edge, even as he attempts to ignore its existence, the child counts them. "One," he said. Grabbing another with his barefoot, he muttered, "Two, three…" Snapping up yet another slim one, he said, "Four–"

A scream filled the evening air. Eyes snapping to the forest, Romulus knows it's Remus. Who else could scream like that? But it sounds so very scared. Knees knocking together, Romulus swallows back his fear and races into the woods–not caring about the watching shadows or the thorns catching at him as he runs.

"Remus! Remus!" the boy howled, running through and circling around the area he'd heard his brother's cry originate from. Where is his brother? Finally, as he darts into a particular clearing he sees something standing in the middle.

It is tall, mostly black, it has more arms than even a spider and in its hands–that's Remus's cloak! That's Remus's! But where is his brother? The being's head turns slightly and Romulus recoils. It has no face. Too Terrified to stay, Romulus takes a step back before spinning around and zooming out of the woods. He can't stay. What if that thing takes him too?

Once safely out of the woods, he goes to Lupa. Smelling the terror on him, she licks his cheek.

He collapses beside her and buries his face into her fur. "Remus isn't comin' back tonight. Not ever again, I think."

The she-wolf makes a mournful noise and curls around him. Giving a shaky breath, Romulus lays there and tries not to think. Lupa will keep him safe, she won't let it get him.

Romulus cries that night. And the next. His brother is gone and will never stand beside him again.

When Rome wakes in the morning's light, Germania is there to ask, "What killed your brother?"

Rome blinks. "Nothing killed my brother," he says. "He disappeared."

Stubborn, the blond counters, "You said 'it' got him."

The brunet laughs. "I'm sorry, I must have drunk more than I thought!" Forcing a smile, he lies, "Like I said, he disappeared–as all weak nations do!"

The other man huffs and turns his back on him. "Fine, whatever you say. Let's get going."

"Right behind you!" Rome smiles, relieved that they are finally getting out of these dreaded woods.

Because I had to. Slender Man is way too cool never ever to include in a fanfic. The Roman Empire just sorted worked best in the end...what do you guys think? Like it? Not like it? Let me know :)

Thank you all very much for reading and please review!

Notes:

-There's a legend Rome was created by a pair of twins-Remus and Romulus; Remus died and the how is a bit debated.

-The twins were cared for by a she-wolf and woodpecker, I named the she-wolf Lupa and the woodpecker pecker.

-Slender Man is a supernatural being created by the internet basically. Further research can be conducted through google and youtube.

EDITED: 2/3/16