A police officer with a magical connection to the animal kingdom.

[ P O W E R S ]

fairy tale : what came of picking flowers

character : the boy

- Rank 3 - Alliance with the King : can communicate with an animal after he befriends them.

[ P E R S O N A L I T Y ]

Doesn’t have any self-confidence, and thinks that other people can always do a better job than he can. Does his best anyways. Holds his friends in high regard. Kind/Empathetic. Very gullible, more reserved, a bit oblivious.

[ H I S T O R Y ]

Artie and Gus were left at an orphanage located at the edge of the state of New York. Gus was 4 years old at the time, while Artie was barely a few months. The orphanage wasn’t given a reason for why the siblings were being left there, only that the mother wasn’t coming back. The father was nowhere to be seen.

The brothers grew up in the orphanage together with relatively no problems. They attended school with the other orphans. While Gus was Artie’s brother first and foremost, he also often times acted as his guardian, making sure he was being taken care of and looking out for him.

When Artie was six, he found an injured bird and convinced the orphanage to let him take care of it. He named it Omelette, because that’s what he had eaten for breakfast, and because he wanted someone else to have a food name like his brother and he had. Omelette, for some reason, did not fly away after healing, and seemed to grow attached to Artie.

The brothers and Omelette lived a fairly happy, care-free life, in the small orphanage a little on the edge of civilization, until it closed down due to a lack of funds. The orphans were shifted around to larger orphanages, or were adopted by distant relatives who were contacted out of desperation. Artie and Gus were not part of the latter, and so were moved to an orphanage in New York City that was willing to take in a few extra children. The brothers took with them the clothes on their backs and Omelette, and quickly settled into their new home, expecting to live similarly to how they had at their previous home.

It came as a great surprise when the bird started talking to Artie.

Although nobody really knew what to do about it, the adults had heard rumors of Tales (sketchy, wildly inaccurate rumors), and became immediately wary of what else Artie might be able to do. Would he turn into a bird? Call upon an army of birds? Control the wind? Breathe fire? The adults of the orphanage— and, gradually, the other children too— became more and more distant from the siblings, looking at them with a mix of prejudice and fear. Gus picked up on the adults’ attitudes and did his best to shield Artie from whatever hurtful words they might say, effectively secluding himself and Artie from everyone else.

When Artie was 14, Gus moved out of the orphanage, and took Artie with him. They moved into an apartment of their own, next to the university Gus had been accepted to. Artie changed schools to one closer to their new home, and brought Omelette with him. At Artie’s new school, he met an older Tale who had taken up teaching. Upon learning of each other’s abilities, the two became quick friends, the older Tale taking Artie under their wing almost immediately. The older Tale ended up becoming an unofficial parental figure to both Artie and Gus, which Gus was grateful for and Artie was happy about. The older Tale told Artie about Tales (actual facts, rather than the rumors from their orphanage), and helped Artie explore his powers. They found a fish trapped away from the main river, and Artie befriended it and named it Hashbrown. (The older Tale chose not to question his edible name choices.)

Upon graduating high school, Artie chose to go into the police force, wanting to protect his older brother and new-found parent. Although his powers weren’t obvious, it was telling that he was talking to birds and fish and everyone's pets, and his coworkers seemed constantly wary about his status as a Tale. Eventually, they asked him to transfer to the police branch in the Woods, telling him that he might be able to use his powers more usefully in there.

I guess Christmas was the only time they could transfer him...