(ಥ﹏ಥ) I'm building on that little fic I narrated about Rohan and Angus growing up and how Angus was managing it.

Mostly I'm picturing that moment from when they first met (in my head canon), because it's crystal clear to me that Rohan was just lying unconscious in the middle of a forest, and Angus was hovering over him when he finally opened his eyes.

How'd Rohan get there? (ಥ﹏ಥ) I changed it. I've got this other post I'm debating posting, but it has to do with the bits of Irish folklore I researched saying that demons are their own race, not just another type of fairy. It wasn't a ton of research, and I do want to share it, but right now, it's just to rethink the context in Angus and Rohan meeting.

If demons are essentially their own thing, and if Maeve was willing to sell herself as a slave to Midar for power, who's to say she didn't have Rohan for the sole purpose of selling him to demons to buy power too? She says he was stolen from her, but with her creative way of interpreting most events, that could easily mean she thinks she got ripped off, and that Rohan was sold for less than what she thought she'd been promised. Maybe that's Lugad's 'fault': he was a half-demon, not a whole demon like she thought she'd get.

I haven't figured out how Rohan would get out of being sold to demons, since it has all the same problems with being stolen by fairies (how does he get back to Ireland?) without the easy "Oh, Angus takes him back to Kells" option. Idk, I'll figure it out later. (spoiler: yay i did! he never left)

It also means I'm back to figuring out how Angus is so confident in his ability to do better magic than Cathbad, but without the "he can sometimes do magic but doesn't quite remember how it works" reason. But I'm willing to handwave it for now as saying Angus paid about as much attention to learning how to do magic as he did in 'class' when Rohan was trying to learn the rules to the ancient druid duel. Maybe he's a crappy student, or maybe he's got magic but he's too self-centered to make it work along the "no direct benefitting" rule, or maybe all fairies need to 'recharge' and he's never been back to wherever he's really from, so he lost it. (spoiler: i'm sticking to 'bad student' who doesn't know how to tap into his magic. it fits the show the best.)

Anyway: there's Angus. He's seven years old, and he's a young fairy kicking around a forest. (Is he actually seven, with the different ways of aging fairies have? Probably, or else the exact equivalence of what being seven is to humans.)

This is probably a forest he's been to a lot. It's probably 'his' forest - his family's - and why he's wandering through it. We do know Angus gets in trouble when he's left alone for too long, and the idea of this place being isolated from humans helps explain why he's so comfortable walking around on his own, despite being so jumpy at the first sign of danger throughout the show: he's safe.

The way actual Irish folklore puts it, the fairies live in a sort of parallel world on top of ours - like a spirit version of it, where they walk through and among the humans completely invisibly. I'm still learning how they'd crossover to screw with humans, but for now, let's say Angus is invisible. Let's also say that with so many legends of fairies being caught and forced to give humans a wish, he also knows that humans can be dangerous if he isn't careful and clever. But he hasn't met a human yet. He's only heard about them from other fairies.

In the middle of this forest, in a clearing he's crossed through a hundred times, Angus sees a figure lying on the forest ground. I've always imagined this was in the fall, where everything is yellow and red as far as the eye can see. Coincidentally, it lines up with those being Rohan's (and Kells') colours too. :) But right now, this figure sticks out like a dark, mud and even soot-coloured lump.

Angus is deciding if he should go see what it is. It could be a log that blew in, or a really... weirdly shaped animal of some kind. Occasionally, I imagine someone calling out to check that he isn't wandering too far, and Angus calling back to say that he isn't (lying). That's the last little thrill he needs to push him towards investigating.

Aideen doesn't realize that humans eat for energy, so there are probably some parts of what humans are that Angus doesn't know either. But - still invisible - he's able to go over and decide that this is not an animal. And even though it's the same size as him, it doesn't look like a fairy either. There's no threat in stopping to puzzle it out, since Rohan's unconscious and no one else is around, so Angus gets to check what this thing is and eventually guess that it's a human.

Whoever was calling out to Angus eventually wanders over to where he is. Angus - unbothered if that other fairy (I assume) was annoyed at having to look for him - says he found a human. This other fairy has Angus step aside to see, and Angus - who's probably intrigued by how much smaller humans are than he thought - is saying they can't be that dangerous if they just lie here in the middle of forests.

That other fairy (I'm thinking it's like a nanny of some kind; I'm not getting a "Angus' parent" vibe from it) is checking this human out, explaining that it's probably gotten lost from the nearby village. There've been more human villages popping up lately. Their type of fairy is lucky they can hide in this invisible, fairy world, because this is a young human - hardly grown at all, but still a problem if it grabs them. The fairy stands up again, idly telling Angus to leave it here. The other humans will be searching for it, surely, so it's best to let its own kind take it home.

Angus says he's going to stay to watch those other humans. The other fairy obviously says no, but since this is Angus (there's no way he doesn't already have a reputation for not listening), scoffs and simply warns him to stay out of sight. There are some particularly perceptive humans that exist, and sometimes they can catch glimpses of the fairy world - so Angus would do well to hide behind a tree and watch from afar. But other than that, the fairy leaves to tend to whatever else it was out here to do, partly assuming Angus would get bored and leave again.

Angus stays. And well into the night, too. Rohan hasn't woken up yet, which certainly fits with being injured, but there aren't any other humans around or even in the distance. But he is getting bored, and the only thing that keeps him from going to the village himself is the distant sound of voices just beyond the nearby trees. He goes to those instead, seeing much larger humans out there, walking back with a cluster of dead ducks tied up.

If Angus (still fully magical) doesn't eat and doesn't quite understand hunting for meat, that'll probably snaps a new threat into the mix. Why did they kill so many ducks, and where are they taking the bodies? But the bigger question that'll probably come out of that everlasting boredom is 'where are they going', because the human lump is in the opposite direction of where they're headed. There's no way he's going to keep waiting for these creatures to come over here, so he picks up a rock and throws it over.

The hunters look around but don't move. Angus throws another rock, and another, but before he can throw one again, the humans scream about spirits haunting the forest and run away, dropping the ducks that they swear are the reason the spirits are after them. So now Angus is really bored, and also really confident that humans are so easy to trick. He wasn't even trying and he spooked them out of the forest. Real spirits are obviously a lot more scary, and if there were any here, Angus wouldn't be.

He takes the ducks. He might not understand what exactly eating is (he's going to absolutely understand soon and hate being hungry), but he knows how it looks for someone to be gathering something. He spreads them into a trail leading over to Rohan's clearing, and goes back to wait - after piling up enough moss for a comfortable seat.

Another fairy comes by the next day, truly shocked that he's out here on his own. Angus says he's been hidden this whole time, but he's waiting for some humans to come take the little injured human away. There were some, but they were frightened off, and now he doesn't think any are going to come by again. They left all their ducks.

This fairy titters, because it's always fun to spook the humans, but goes to see what little human that Angus is talking about. It finds Rohan in that clearing. The boy's half-buried in the leaves, and no one's actually touched him to see what these injuries are. It's strange for a human to be so still for so long, yet still be alive, so there might be more at play than merely being hurt.

The fairy uses a bit of magic to whisk away the leaves...

... and stops.

And stands.

And goes over to Angus quickly, telling him to leave.

The fairy says Angus he's not to go anywhere near that human. It's dangerous. It's marked. On its arm, where the leaves had it covered, is a symbol that the fairy won't explain except to say it's an omen left by demons. Yes, humans may be easy to trick, but not by fairies alone, and the tricks that demons play bring nothing but harm and misfortune everyone. Angus needs to leave before the curse spreads to him too. If it does, they'll have no choice but to leave him to his fate.

And then it hurries away, desperate to escape the very thought.

Angus does panic at that.

He leaves, too.

Two more days go by before Angus decides to chance a peek at the clearing again, just to see if the human was still there. The other fairy had gone back to the others, Angus following closely behind, and told everyone about the mark on Rohan's arm. There was concern that the curse may have caught Angus too, but Angus never touched Rohan, and the fairy had used wind to move the leaves. Everyone is nervous, but they accept that they'll be extra careful about their luck. Hopefully nothing has happened, and the other humans will take it away.

But Rohan's still there.

Angus leaves again.

Two more days pass before Angus is sure the humans have come by again. They haven't. And Angus is starting to panic harder. Maybe he scared off the only humans that'll come here. The ducks are gone; did someone take them but leave Rohan there? Maybe he's just too hidden behind the trees to be found by any humans - they seemed a little slow, and if tricking them is easy, then maybe this is part of the problem.

But he can't live with a cursed human in his forest. That's too much for him.

Angus tries to find anyone else in the forest that he can lure in. He's still invisible, but he can affect things. Bird calls, noises, rocks - he doesn't see anyone for ages, and the two he finds are scared off from the forest as well. Apparently, this forest is known to be haunted by spirits. He asks the other fairies about that. It isn't, but they certainly help the humans think it is, since that keeps them out of these woods. Bad news for Angus, who needs humans to come.

He decides to drag the little human out of here. Being so careful not to touch it, Angus loops some vines around Rohan's ankles and starts to drag him. But the vines snap. Rohan didn't budge at all. It's almost like Rohan's stuck to the forest, and it's why he hasn't moved the whole time Angus has seen him here.

It must be a spell of some kind. He isn't sure what, but that's the only thing it can be: magic. And even if he doesn't know how to cast magic all too well, there's certainly one thing he's always had a talent for: breaking things.

With some effort to muster up the courage, Angus starts to find a way to get through whatever it is that has Rohan enchanted. Some sleep spell, it seems. Yelling doesn't break it. Neither do rocks. He finds water and dumps it on Rohan's head. Doesn't work. He finds a stick, trying to poke the boy awake. Doesn't work either. Then he remembers that humans can't see him like this, and thinks that has something to do with it. With greater effort, Angus shifts out of the fairy world and fully into the human one.

Then he tries all of his methods again.

This goes on until he's suddenly grabbed.

The steely grip around his neck is as cold as the metal below his chin. A human came here all right, but Angus is violently aware that it's here for him. The human - the largest he's seen yet, covered in armour - says he knew these woods weren't haunted. But they are protected by fairies, and with so many fleeing from this place lately, that was a sign that the fairies may have let down their guard. This human isn't going to kill Angus, and the metal that's winding its way around his neck isn't sharp, but it has him under some effect that's stopping him from shifting back. What's worse, the human drags him off his feet, dangling him in the air.

This is bad.

Angus is frantic, instantly kicking and flailing, but the human says he'd better cooperate if he doesn't want to be hanged from the nearest tree. Angus doesn't, so he stops. And then the human begins to explain a long, complicated, and very boring wish. Angus doesn't even realize he's supposed to be paying attention to it until the man shakes him into listening, and with a renewed horror, realizes the human actually wants him to grant all of this.

It's very bad.

But distracting enough for another fairy to strike.

And sure, let's do it: now it's Angus' parent. Being a larger type of fairy, being physical is just as much of an option as speech or magic, but the strike that deals its lethal blow is beauty.

We're gonna borrow a bit from actual Irish myth and say it's his mother. Why? Because there's a lovely little story about beautiful female fairies (and some male fairies) who take on human lovers (ooh la la) that mysterious die very soon after. They're called leannán sídhe, and they're kind of like a succubus and a vampire put together. Apparently they're so beautiful, mortals immediately devote themselves to that fairy and either waste away or go completely insane.

Following the logic that the show takes with what they cherrypick, I have no problem thinking the show would say, "Sure, fairies are sometimes vampire-succubuses who can Beauty Stun a mortal into hyponosis with one look, and then have them kill themselves or whatever that fairy's looking to have them do." And that's because there's another fairy - just male this time - called the gancanagh, which apparently seduces young women and leaves them to wither and die after a kiss. The combination of "North American kids know what vampires are!" and "Hey, this one's actually a fairy!" and "If they both act as a kind of succubus thing, let's just merge the two ideas for simplicity's sake. Bam - new single type of fairy!" and "Please don't put actual succubus-vampires into our show. Just say they're hypnotists and don't let anyone see what happens to the people they hypnotize."

(the leannán sídhe also seem to hate kids, but we're gonna expand a little to anyone who enters their territory. again, cherrypicking, don't read the original story of conchobar and deirdre 🫠 do read it, but brace yourself)

I'm not totally trying to fawn over Angus here by saying "hey make him one of the hot fairies when he grows up." I promise. This is just to give these other fairies something different from the Tir Na Nog fairies, who seem to like riddles and quests and puzzles as a channel for their powers, and who fight by recruiting humans to do the fighting for them. These ones can be more direct in how they attack: you look at me, you like me, you do what I say, then you die. Swap the "look at me" with "look at the prizes you could win on my quests," and it's back to Tir Na Nog's style. It's not that different! Honest! And it's also not my fault that Ireland decided these particular fairies had to be hot. 😝

So little Angus is saved, the human hunter is dealt with, and Mama Angus is very, very displeased.

(idk i'm imagining her as the villain from MIB 2. she has the perfect look of Evil Fairy Mother.)

This is exactly the sort of misfortune Angus had been warned about. The humans are dangerous, she explains, and now they think they're brave. So there are going to be more humans on the way, because what human would ever turn down the chance to catch a fairy? That, of course, will lead to more trouble. Angus was told to leave Rohan alone, but he didn't, and all of them will have to pay the price of that choice.

What's going to happen to them? Well, that's up to Angus. The curse has clearly spread, and this little human's misfortune has become his. Break the curse, and all should be right again. How? That's also up to Angus. With that, his mother leaves. It's clear to every living thing in this forest that he isn't allowed to follow her home until this is done.

He has no idea how to do this.

He can't even move Rohan off the ground.

I'd think Maeve's deal with the demons would involve a ritual in the woods. (These woods. On Kells' side. She wouldn't do this and risk Temra.) Fancy deals like that call for something elaborate, like how she was trying to summon the ghost on Balin (Balen?). Six-year-old Rohan was purposely brought and left there to be taken by the demons as a trade for a stronger son. She gets her half-demon baby instead, cries foul, goes back to get a refund by taking Rohan back, only to find that Rohan already disappeared from the ritual grounds. She'll be furious and swear this is some type of theft, blaming the demons that she made the trade to.

Although this sadly loses the literal changeling angle (the spirit of it is still there, though!), what I love is that it sets Maeve up to have her own antagonist to deal with later. I'm convinced that in the second season, Maeve would've joined Kells to take down Nemain, and then turned on everyone to start the war back up. But you don't just want the first season rehashed. Having Maeve need to find a way to pay down a debt to the demons (which might be Balor, Lugad's actual father) would be fantastic. She thinks she only got half a demon for her first-born? From the demons' point of view, they didn't get any first-borns, and Maeve got a half-demon son out of it for free. They both think the other tricked them, and while it'd be nice to leave Maeve to deal with that by herself, the involvement of demons is super bad news and Fin Varra would insist the Mystic Knights help defeat Balor.

... but the hilarious part is that the reason Rohan wasn't at the ritual grounds to be taken by the demons is 'cause a random fairy stole him first uwu

Sure, you can see by now that Angus wasn't trying to steal Rohan, but he definitely got involved and threw a wrench into the whole thing.

As for how Angus got Rohan away...

Maeve is a whole-ass sorcereress. If she tried the thing with the demons, it would've been before she joined up with Midar and before she got her runestone. Whatever ritual she cast, it wouldn't be as strong as she could probably cast it now (or try to re-cast in a hypothetical season three? 👀).

Angus is a pickpocket and a lockpick. Those both work by having a single goal achieved by targeting a single point, and then finding the best, most exploitable weakness that gets him the access he needs. If Rohan's locked to the ground, Angus is gonna unlock it.

I imagine this would take quite a while. I imagine there'd be a few other humans appearing too, and Angus - hyper-alert now - would have to deal with them too, using all his non-magic tricks (because they're easier) to scare everyone off again. Maybe this is actually a good thing, as far as his mother's concerned, because this kid was not tapping into his own magic. This might force it to happen. If not, then unfortunately they can't afford to take Angus back, and the humans might be satisfied with just catching the one fairy. The realization that Angus can't grant any wishes should be enough to damper the humans' expectations. It's sad, but it must be done to protect the other fairies.

Give it another few days of endless frustration. Angus is losing his mind trying to make anything work to wake Rohan up. That's his plan: get Rohan up, get him out, and then the curse will at least be away. He'll go home after that. Easy-peasy.

It is neither easy nor peasy. But! He does eventually do it.

Like the stiffest, rustiest lock Angus will ever pick, to the point where the magic is finally just to get Rohan out of here more than to let Angus leave, there's a sudden shimmer around Rohan - like a shell of magic, revealing the shape of what has him trapped. Getting to see it lets Angus finally see where it's thin enough to pierce. In one last push, Angus hones in on that weak point, shattering it like glass after all this time.

He's exhausted and panting, because he's a kid who just broke through the ritual of a sorceress, but he's delighted with himself for having gotten through. He knows that from the shape of that shell, no wonder it took so long to break. It probably wasn't even supposed to break! Angus is just that good. 😊

But yes, exhausted. And he leans over to see if there's any sort of change in Rohan, who still hasn't moved. He's about to throw another rock or get a stick, but he finally sees some movement under Rohan's eyelids.

So Angus, just like that, becomes the first thing Rohan sees: tired, grinning, and pleased with himself.

And just like that, Rohan trusts him.

He lets Angus slowly sit him up. He lets Angus slowly help him to his feet. He lets Angus slowly help him stand on his own.

Rohan's mind is fuzzy. Angus asks him his name and he gives it, and suddenly that's all Rohan can remember. Everything was being wiped away as Angus had asked, and now everything else is gone. It might have been part of the ritual, or maybe from how Angus broke through, but that's the last - and only - word he's able to speak. He can't even repeat it. He can't really understand what Angus is saying either. The most he can do is repeat after him as Angus says both their names, trying to press it onto them, and at least picks that up after a moment.

There was a sword laid under him, since the show says Rohan always had it. Maybe to double down, it has Rohan's name etched into the blade too. But it feels familiar to him either way, and he's able to hold it properly. He's not able to understand Angus pointing him towards the human village, or Angus backing away to start heading to his own home. Instead, he matches Angus step for step: he backs up, Rohan steps forward, and on and on until Angus turns him around to face the 'right' direction.

Rohan stands there, silently looking around. Angus nudges him forward a little, and Rohan turns back around to face him and step towards him again.

... So... Angus tries leading him through the trees a little. Rohan doesn't mind that; he follows pleasantly. They walk quite a while until Rohan's stomach rumbles. And Angus is really left standing there as Rohan stops walking and 🥺's at him, completely unable to explain that he's hungry as hell right now.

I figure Angus catches him a duck. They have an equal amount of understanding for what to do with it.

They let the duck go.

Rohan sniffs something on the breeze and starts walking towards it. Angus is happy to let him go, but the second Angus starts leaving, Rohan's right behind him again going 🥺. Angus decides to take him to whatever the smell is (which smells... honestly fantastic - he's never been around cooked food before), and they walk until they come across a campfire, surrounded by three other humans. Rohan doesn't hesitate walking towards them, but damn his little baby hands, because he's got a grip on Angus' arm and brings them both over to the fire.

Very luckily, these are some friendly folks from Kells, who are happy to share their meal with two lost boys. Angus learns that this must've been what happened with the ducks, and sees everyone eating. Which is... new. But they offer it to him too, even though he says he's not lost.

They ask him where he's from.

He immediately decides to agree that he's, uh, lost. And doesn't know where he's from. But he'll find his way back, surely. Oh, are these woods haunted? Ohhhh. Well. Yeah, he'll go a different way later, but the main thing is making sure Rohan goes back to his home.

Rohan has no idea what anyone is saying. He's just eating his food. :)

These folks realize the boys must be orphans. Brothers? No, they just met. Friends at least, because every time Angus tries to get up to leave, Rohan 🥺's again and tugs him back down to sit. So Angus agrees that yep, they're friends, that's why they have to get Rohan somewhere safe, and then Angus can go his own way and visit later. (Food is great, by the way. Humans always do this? Fantastic.)

(i know we see Fin Varra eating pudding, so the sense I get is that fairies can eat, but they don't have to eat. And I think Angus comes from fairies who just don't bother with it at all.)

Everyone makes a deal: these folks are on their way to Kells, but there's a village just nearby. They'll take the boys there, and maybe they can find a place to stay. That sounds good to Angus, and obviously Rohan doesn't mind, so that's exactly what they do.

I'd like to think Angus is fully intending on sneaking out on after finding some other human kids and pushing Rohan into them. And he does this, expecting it to work instantly. Instead, one of the other boys starts getting annoyed at this intruder, even taking Rohan's sword away. These aren't the nicest kids, unfortunately. They were just the first ones Angus saw.

There's a real moment here where he isn't sure if he should do something, or if he should use the distraction to escape. He's pinned between both decisions until Rohan makes it for him:

Rohan, six-years-old, no memories, can't speak, but who's apparently "felled wild boars since he was knee-high"...

... fells this wild boar by beating the absolute shit out of that eight-year-old bully.

... and keeps going - oh my God, Rohan, he's down, stop it already, take your sword back.

Rohan seems very pleased with himself. Angus is pleased with him too, because it was objectively very funny. To them. Two violent, dangerous boys aren't welcome here. Go to the other village in the north.

Angus finds this a lot less funny, and a lot farther away from his forest.

🤣 I'll stop it there 'cause omg, I'd just keep going, and because at that point, it folds back into everything Angus described in the story he told Rohan. They kept moving, eventually they were caught up in an attack by the Temrans, and moved closer and closer to Kells until they made it there at last.

Part of me thinks Angus fully knows where his forest is, but even when he stomps off, he isn't going back. It's that loyalty to Rohan, the knowledge that Rohan gets into trouble if he's left alone at all, and the idea that there's a curse to be broken and he really doesn't know if he's broken it or not. Unlike Maeve, Angus' mother loves him. Like Maeve, she doesn't tolerate failure too well, so even though she'd hug him instantly if she ever saw him again, she would also - like... for sure cut his head off if he tried returning without finishing the job. And since he didn't exactly ask her any questions, he either did the job years ago and could've already gone back, or 'breaking the curse' means 'kill this kid' and Angus isn't going to ever get to return. (Which becomes that whole "Wtf Fin Varra, did you rope my son into your stupid Tir Na Nog war?! DOUBLE WAR.")

And if he doesn't know where that forest is, you know who'll find it? Ivar. Because Ivar is amazing and I do not give him the credit that man deserves.