#but this is so much more angsty than i expected her background to be ASDFG

[tvrningout-a]

so i'm thinking about what helena maybe had to give up in order to gain the ability to travel beyond the borders of her forest, and i : ) wanna yell so loudly : ) so here we go with a helena lore post <3 please note that as always, i'm taking creative liberties with the mythology i mention!

so what's a dryad? a tree nymph. what's a nymph? a spirit of nature who typically cares for the flora and fauna of the area they originate from. river nymphs protect and care for the rivers, tree nymphs protect and care for the forests, etc. these nymphs have a connection to the earth, though not as strong as a god's; still, it is a connection that not only allows them to sense when threats like famine approach, but it also allows them to be connected to each other. their feelings and thoughts, on some level, are shared. when one is hurt and suffering, the others feel it; when one is happy and thinking a mile a minute, the others feel and hear an echo of that voice; when one dies, the others feel it and mourn collectively.

this connection is one of the things helena sacrifices in exchange for freedom.

dryads are born from and bound to a particular tree, and they cannot wander far from it without risking death. but helena wanted so badly to see the world, meet new people, escape her home where she was surrounded by the same scenery and the same faces every single day. so when she meets bronwyn, she asks if they can make a deal, if bronwyn can somehow free her. she doesn't realize exactly what she'll have to sacrifice for the deal to work. helena's soul is tethered to that tree, and it'll take great magic to break such a bond. it'll take great sacrifice.

the connection between helena and her sisters and mothers is an unforeseen casualty, however. she realizes she should have seen it coming -- if she broke the bond between her and her tree, then wouldn't other bonds break, too? but it never crossed her mind, and the silence she awoke to was maddening. never had her mind been so quiet, so empty of any other being. it was unsettling. it was lonely, so lonely. this is part of the reason why helena decides to travel with bronwyn and remains by her side.

helena's family believed her to be dead at first, but she returned home to say goodbye. it was not a pleasant parting as many of the dryads judged her for giving up her connection to not only them but to the earth as well. how could she do that? how could she toss away her duty to earth who birthed her?

wishing she had simply let them think her dead, helena leaves, never to return. she grows accustomed to the silence in her head, but she cannot deny she forever feels a piece of her is gone.

#screams and cries and falls down!!!! #i still haven't decided what it is that helena actually gives up in order to be separate from her tree #but this is so much more angsty than i expected her background to be ASDFG #HELP I'M SAD!!!! #and now i gotta think about helena's powers #bc i think she does have some control over nature still but it's not to the extent it once was #oh i'm gonna end up adding her at this rate #headcanons | helena