Quillen and the Bandana of Bravery: The Bandana of Bravery

"Quillen." A voice echoed out into the darkness, reaching deep within to prod at the young creature. "Quillen." the voice repeated moments later. It was familiar, gentle but nasally, warm but stern; it was a safe voice, one that could be trusted wholeheartedly without question. The dark became silent again... still safe, still warm... But then another sound rang out in the void, a sound that rattled in his ears; movement, And just like that, two claws shot out at Quillen, grabbing him by the shoulders quicker than he could back away. He yelped as those powerful arms dragged the trembling creature out from under the bed.
"Quillen, you have been hiding away for days now." the black figure loomed tall over the crouching quilled doppler. "You truly are the poster child of what a Quilled is supposed to be, both you and Quillanathel." the taller one sighed, shaking his head. He'd been trying to convince those two to come out of their shell, overcome their instinct of fear and be the better of their subspecies, be more like him.
Quillen gazed up at his mentor, still trembling despite knowing he was in no danger.

"I-I'm sorry Apotheosis..." he said as he cast his magenta gaze to the floor of the abandoned house. "I am trying... I'm just not that good at it... You're big, strong and know a lot about magic and how to use it. Me?" his magenta orbs flicked back up towards the older Doppler. "I'm... I'm small, I'm scared of my own shadow- I don't get how you do it. How are you not scared and on edge all the time?"

Apotheosis stared down at the younger doppler and, with a sigh, shook his head. He had been trying for nearly 50 years to teach some self-worth and courage into his charges, but it was starting to feel like it was in vain. The only decent thing about it was that Quillen actually seemed to want to break free of his timid nature, at least that was something to take note of. He crouched down to get onto eye-level with his charge.

"Quillen, I've been raising you your entire life and I can tell you that you will never be like me..." he gently said, "So don't worry about that. I want you to become something more than what a quilled doppler is, not to become me. I can see you have been trying, but I think that you're holding yourself back with that expectation." he then rose to his feet, towering over the smaller doppler. His spined tail swayed back and forth while he brought a hand to his maw in thought. He turned and walked away from Quillen, causing the younger doppler to follow at his heel.

Quillen could tell that his mentor was lost in thought. He could tell from the way he scratched his chin, and how his tail swayed in a mesmerizing way, hovering just inches above the floorboards. He continued to follow as the tall bipedal fey-lizard strode through the door to the next room, the "library" as he called it. Though, unbeknownst to the younger one, it was less of a library and more of a study, or an office space that the older one used to perform research and tests. He cocked his head to the side while he watched his mentor rummage through some drawers, cabinets and boxes, listening to the mutterings of the doppler. What was he looking for? 

It was then only moments later that Apotheosis straightened and turned around to face Quillen with *something* in his hands. Upon inspection, it looked to be some sort of… cloth? It was, or used to be, red, but time and weathering had washed out and faded the colour.

“W-what is that?” asked Quillen, cautious but intrigued.

“This,” replied Apotheosis, “Is knowledge, Quillen. Every fiber of this item is woven with the experience and insight of its previous owner. It has been outside, across the continent and seas, observing the lives of those around it. Warriors, bards, healers, thieves; this little piece of cloth has come across all sorts of folk *and* contains what they’ve felt at the time.” he moved around the young doppler, facing his spiny back, and reached out to tie the fabric around his neck. “This will help you, Quillen. Think of it as being *infused* with the adventuring spirit of its previous wearers, infused with their valor and daring, traits that can be passed onto you.” he paused only for a moment, “...a Bandana of Bravery.”

And just like that, it was as if his words wove magic into the faded piece of cloth. Quillen looked down at the fabric and touched it with one of his powerful claws. Just seeing this thing on him did in fact fill him with… something. He felt as if his anxiety and fears were slowly washing away...