The day he lost his other half was a day like any other. Filled with clan proceedings and endless meetings, training afterwards and spending afternoons lounging in the sun. It was simple, quiet.

Nearly every waking minute was spent together, inseparable from the moment they were born. They were identical, indistinguishable. A dragon and his shadow. A shadow and his dragon.

It happened one fateful day with a flick of a switch, a change of their places. Nothing more than a simple mistake that held true and fast. And then suddenly, there was one.

No longer was it the two of them. No longer two places at the dinner table, two places on the training grounds. Just one. Him, and him alone to wander the halls, feeling so bereft and so wholly alone.

Poor thing, they whispered as he passed, doing his best to pretend he couldn’t hear a single word. Such a tragedy, they said with a shake of their heads, but always, At least it wasn’t the better one.

The smarter one, the stronger one, the superior one.

Time passed, and HawkFrost grew by leaps and bounds. Never quite the same after the loss, a blip in his long list of triumphs. He was quieter, fiercer, but no less brilliant. He led with all the confidence and grace he always had, all the ambition and pride his parents had. And beneath his leadership, the clan grew and changed. Prospered and developed beneath his guiding hand.

And through it all, they flourished.

“Is something on your mind?” his partner asked him one night, fireworks cracking and popping outside their window as the festivities wound down. It was celebration of the new era, a new year under his reign. Or for him, a celebration of his loss.

For a moment, HawkFrost envisioned his name on her lips, imagined what she would say if she knew the truth.

“No,” he said with a faint shrug, looking away. “Just one of those days.”

Just the anniversary of his death. The day he lost his half. A swap of their roles, a foolhardy request. He wondered what his brother would have had to say had be still been there now, seen what he’d done, seen how he’d changed and grown.

You want to pretend to be me? his brother had asked, incredulous and bemused. It’s not that different. We spend all our time together anyways.

Just for one day, he’d begged, just the once. And his brother assented.

One day. One lifetime. Same outcome.

“HawkFrost,” Reanna said, and even after a decade of responding, still it took him a moment to remember who he was now. Her eyes were soft, brows furrowed. “You can always tell me if something is bothering you.”

“I know,” he said. “Thank you.”

HawkFrost, the better half, the brighter twin. The one everyone remembered while his shadow lay buried beneath the elm trees. Nothing more than a passing thought, a lingering whisper.

Oh dear. It was such a tragedy, wasn’t it? But at least the better twin lived.
Credit to Rosoidela