Xekiv

(any info that has not been repeated in Elias' bio will be italicized)

Xekiv in relation to his village:
Xekiv is definitely very well known and well respected in their village. He's always been recognized for his talents in spearfishing, hunting, and generally just being the "handyman" of the village. He's always busy doing something to help his people, and his efforts have gained him a sort of "celebrity status" within their community. In short, everyone loves Xekiv and loves having him around.

Horns:
Horns are only grown by the males in the village, and generally start at around age 7 and end at around age 21 (ages vary, sometimes can grow earlier or later, and sometimes can fall off earlier or later.) The horns grow during the beginning of every fall, stay throughout the winter, grow heavy and brittle, then fall off during the spring. Horns throughout the years grow back bigger and stronger, sometimes growing additional colors and patterns. No two persons horns are the same. They vary incredibly from person to person.

Horns generally do not grow back after they last fall off, although are a few exceptions. The wiser elders begin to sprout their horns again (permanently) at around 60 and are well respected and looked up to as leaders of the village.

Every spring they hold a ceremony for the young men in the village, stirring the crumbled pieces of the previous horn into a tiny mixture in a vial, which is then blessed by an elder. The vial is thought to symbolize strength and power, and recommended to be worn through tough situations. Previous vials are generally kept on a shelf as they are replaced with new ones throughout the years.

Xekiv has never grown horns like the other village boys, and he never will. He's never complained about it really. A part of him has always felt excluded out of the experience and wishes desperately to have them, but another part is proud he doesn't. Regardless, his large winter coat he has has horns glued and stitched to the hood to sometimes give him a sense of inclusion, to not feel left out.

Backstory:
One day his peaceful village was struck by the sight of a single crow. Black has always been a rare color to them, and any sights of it strike as bad luck. The crow that loomed over them had the village chattering nervously in low whispers the entire day. Later on, they'd noticed the sky getting noticeably darker. One by one, they all peeked out from their houses to be bombarded by the noises of wild squawking above them and black clouds looming closer. Some kind of darkness had tried to invade them, and they were all scared to absolute death. Within the panicked chatter of villagers, Elias managed to talk to Xekiv, who was previously to him just a familiar face, and talked to him nervously about the happening. They chatted endlessly throughout the night and watched as the clouds came closer, and in those moments of conversation, they'd got this heavy sense that whatever it was, it was all on them to try to the bottom of. They'd slept maybe only a couple hours that night, and in the morning, they packed the few things they needed, said their goodbyes, and headed off. These two who were hardly a step above strangers were bound to set off on a journey that would take nearly a year to complete. 

Extra:
After the darkness began to take over their village and Elias and Xekiv set off, Elias handed down Xekiv one of his favorite vials he'd had from a previous ceremony and told him to keep it safe. Reason he did this is because Xekiv was never able to grow horns, thus not being able to have a personal vial to call his own. While going down on this dangerous journey, they both thought "something is better than nothing." These vials that they strung and wore around their necks kept them pushing through some of the tougher situations they were to face.

Also, later on within his journey with Elias, Xekiv decided to try to open up to him about his gender and his gender identity. Claiming how he's felt about himself his whole life, how he feels about the horns, and he details on the idea of "I know I've never really 100% felt like a boy like all of you. I don't know how I feel, I don't know anything." Elias takes this with an open mind to Xekiv's surprise. This moment opens up a whole new window into their friendship and their relationship.