Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, before the world was as we know it now, there were four brothers. Each of these brothers were very powerful, each differed in their powers greatly. Winter was the eldest, tall and gaunt, he looked like ice given life. He was stern and unforgiving, turning everything he touched white with frost. Autumn was next eldest, calm and soothing compared to his elder brother. Where his power fell, the world slept in peace and safety. Summer burned hot, and he was fierce, much fiercer than any warrior. Where he touched, the world burned and blistered beneath his anger. The youngest of the four was Spring and he was the happiest of them all. His power was love and life and joy. The brothers each wanted to rule our world, but sadly there was only the one world and four of them. They fought and fought until Autumn suggested they each take a turn of one rotation around the sun, giving the ruling brother one year and the others three to rest. They agreed to this, but then the question was raised of who would go first? Winter was the obvious choice, being the eldest, but he declined and the honor of being first passed to Autumn, the second eldest.
His rule was soft and easy, the world turning to reds and golds. Peace was in the very air and no one fought. Plants were ready for a rest, giving the last of their fruits that could be stored and eaten later. Autumn was pleased with himself and his first year as the world's ruler. When his time was up, he gladly stepped aside for his elder brother.
Winter's reign began slowly, with frost crawling over the trees. Plants and leaves died, their flowers withering under the cold. Soon, the world was covered in Winter's frost. The animals buried themself beneath the surface in an attempt to escape death. With no food to eat and no water to drink, the animals went into a deep sleep for the rest of Winter's Rule.
Spring was eager to end his brother's rule and he quickly melted the snow and frost, enticing the animals out of their sleep by bringing plants back to life to give of their fruit. He melted the waters but left them cool to drink. When the animals emerged into the warmth, they were once again happy and they celebrated the coming of Spring and loved him and his rule the best.
This angered Summer and when his turn came, he burned through the world, leaving everything dry and hot to the touch. The world took on the appearance of fire, red and orange and yellow, hot and burning brightly. Summer cared nothing for the plants and animals, and would have cooked them all had he not been stopped by Autumn.
The brothers worked thus for years until they all became impatient and began to argue again about who should rule and when, for how long. This argument raged between them, nearly causing a war to break out among the four of them. It was then that the MotherFather knew to intervene.
The MotherFather had been watching these brothers and was not pleased at the way they had handled themselves. The MotherFather eased the world from the pain of Summer's reign and decreed that each brother would have one quarter of a year to rule. To punish the brothers, the MotherFather declared that they could no longer keep a mortal form. Instead they must be invisible to the creatures that would one day walk the world.
The brothers were ashamed of themselves and their behavior, even Summer who had been the loudest and fiercest voice.
And thus the seasons were created, this peace between the brothers lasting for ages and ages.
