Soft CharrDad™ Orthius and his adopted furless son Eli (who belongs to the lovely @hubedihubbe ) are ready to kick some ass, and take some names, and Eli’s probably also ready to dish out some Top Quality Banter™
Ebonhawke is my home, too, whether these mice like it or not. And most of them don’t. But that... doesn’t matter. I owe a good man a debt, and until that is repaid in full, I’m not leaving.
Royce: Look, it’s a stray lock, not a sodding fwip.
Orthius: It looks like a fwip.
Eli: Sounds like something someone with a fwip would say.
In which Royce gets thoroughly roasted by a Charr and a young lord. Royce played by my buddy Ouroh, Eli by the lovely hubedihubbe, and Orthius by myself of course.
The portal hummed, as all Asuran portals did. It’s soft glow left the surrounding stone gate faintly bathed in a purple light.
Really, it was almost soothing.
Orthius stared at it for a long moment, taking in what peace he could. The noises of Divinity Reach seemed far away; the laughter of children and jovial chatting of humans as they went about their lives was distant. The smell of the city, however... that was an intoxicating thing.
“Orthius?”
That was a deep voice. A hint of a natural growl. Orthius’ ears perked slightly, and the Charr turned to his left to come face to face with yet another Charr. The other was just as large and as muscular as Orthius himself, clearly a warrior, and clad in jet black and fiery orange armour.
“Onyx, is that you? My friend, your armour looks newer than I remember.”
The other Charr - Onyx - laughed. It was as much of a growly sound as his voice was, and just as deep. It was as pleasing to hear as the air of Divinity’s Reach was to smell, really. Fresh. Different.
“Might be cause I got a new set of it not all too long ago. But ah, never mind that.” A small pause. Orthius tilted his head slightly, and Onyx looked to the portal. “... Back to the old fight again?” A single nod was the only answer that Orthius gave, and in response, Onyx frowned. “I don’t know why. I can’t step foot in Ebonhawke without being given dirty looks that make my spine shiver. You live there.”
The brown of the two nodded again, and shrugged in edition. It was a practiced motion, no doubt due to the fact his spaulders were decorated in particularly thick, large spikes; Orthius knew from experience that careless shrugging could be dangerous. “I don’t need to repeat myself to you.”
It was Onyx’s turn to shrug, the black Charr’s tail lashing behind him as he did so. “How’d you do it, though? Don’t it get to you?”
“Oh, always,” Orthius laughed, folding his arms with the same care he had shrugged his shoulders. Small teeth were put on display as he grinned, a rare expression on the big guardian, and a warmth in his eyes even with the sour topic. “But I always find ways to remind myself of why I stay, too. Only a couple of days ago I met this human cub, right? Down in Kessex, he was, not a scrawny lad but certainly not a big warrior type. Apparently he has a Sylvari acting as his guardian. And you know what?”
Orthius paused to assess his friend, and was pleased to see how curious Onyx looked. The other Charr motioned with a paw and gave an impatient snort. “Don’t keep me waiting. What? What?”
“It reminded me that there are humans in this world that work together with other races. That cub just... yeah. It’s humans like him that remind me what I do is right. It’s for human cubs like him that I walk back through this portal into Ebonhawke and fight alongside the Vanguard against Separatists and Renegades alike.” The end of his monologue came with a firm nod and a grunt of approval from Orthius himself, chin tilted upwards as he took a clearly proud stance.
Onyx smiled in response. “Citadel doesn’t agree,” he intoned back in a softer tone, less of an argument and more of a faintly amused statement.
“Citadel can go shove skritt up their arses for all I care.”
Both Charr laughed this time, and Orthius let his paws fall back to his side as he resumed a more comfortable stance.
“Well, then. Back to that fight you go, hm? You should stop by more often though. Ain’t see you for, what? Goin’ on almost one year straight now, Orthius. That’s too damn long for you to not get in touch; you’re one of the only other Charr I know brave enough to stomp around all these people in full clad armour,” Onyx told him, and Orthius watched the other’s paws instead of his face as Onyx talked with them just as much. A flick of a claw, a wave, a circular motion; Onyx was a very physical sort of talker.
“I’ll be sure to. Besides, promised that human I’d find some armour for him to bring back. Apparently, he likes it,” was the agreeable response, and Orthius internally reminded himself not to break that promise. He was only as good as his word, after all, and Orthius had no intention of starting to break promises now so late in his life. “I’ll be seeing you, Onyx. You take care of yourself, too. Stop by if you ever wind up in Ebonhawke, won’t you?”
Onyx grinned. “Like I’ll let my dumb furry ass get sent into Ebonhawke any time soon. I’d sooner shoot my own foot.”
Orthius chuckled and gave a wave, turning after and striding into the portal in easy, confident strides. As he did so, he took one last gulp of fresh, clean city air.
And then, just like that, it was gone. The joy of some citizens, the happy shouting of children, the talk of adults. The faint smell of a bakery, and the clear skies overhead. All of it gone, replaced with the smell of smoke and the sound of distant mortar fire, and the hushed mutterings of people.
“You always keep coming back, and I always find myself a little surprised,” one of the Ebon Vanguard posted at the gate told Orthius as the Charr continued his stride into the city.
“Like a bad smell, I guess,” Orthius replied, his tone more clipped and dull. Not all of the people in Ebonhawke were bad, and some actually quite friendly, but Orthius had long since learned the city was more intolerant of him than not. Most days, he avoided whoever he could, and for good reasons.
As he walked deeper into the city, following a path he knew so well he hardly had to think of it at all, the Charr let himself think back to the human he had told Onyx of. The human cub who liked armour, who had looked at him like he expected Orthius to eat him, and yet who had warmed up quickly enough to almost befriend him. Eli, wasn’t it? His name was Eli. The thought was enough to make Orthius smile and brush off his reservations about returning to Ebonhawke and continuing to fight the rebels.
For kids like Eli, it was definitely worth trying, at least.
