Blood of my Blood

...

The afternoon sun, though high in the sky and beating down on her back, made Sanorah's hair bristle on the back of her neck. No. It wasn't the sun. It was the sudden feeling of being watched that had her bristling.

"You puff up like a domesticated kitten when you're scared, cub." Sanorah narrowed her eyes, turning to glare at the voice.

She'd been asked to come here. To this strangely deserted place. To finally find something out about her family. The one's who'd left her on the drop off in the Farahr. The one's who'd disappeared without a trace, leaving her in the care of the Legions, to whom she'd had no familial connection, and to whom she was loyal. The one's who'd left her nothing, but her own two paws and a scrap of nodescript cloth with nothing to lead her to her home.

At first, she'd been hesitant. Unable to think of a good reason why she should even care about it to begin with, she had at first, crumpled up the hastily scrawled letter, delivered by a strange hawk she'd never seen before. Once her curiosity overwhelmed her however, she dug the offensive paper out, rereading it several times and trying to wrap her head around why they wanted to see her now. Of all times. After 25 years. It had made her blood boil and her rage increase. She'd thrown away the paper several times after that.

But in the end, the draw to end the mystery, to finally know the parents that she'd never had, that no one had known or been able to identify. It was too much to say no to.

So here she was. And they were mocking her.

She focused her eyes carefully, observing the two creatures that stood in her path. The one who'd spoken, a tall brawny male, Had nearly her exact coloring. A dark reddish brown, almost maroon, with white splotches, unevenly patterned across his mane, which was hacked short as unevely as his pattern. He had what looked to be a flash burn running from his left eye to his bottom jaw, the hair long since singed off. One of his horns, menacing and dark ebony, was broken at the peak and jagged, while the other was missing entirely. His leathers were well worn and seemed tanned by something... almost scorched.

The female, who stood slightly off to the side, looking worse for the wear, was a different story altogether. Her coat would have been a lustrous white color, but it looked as if she hadn't seen water in months, so dingy was the color. Her eyes were swollen, but glistened a jewel-like blue color beneath the crossed lids. Her armor was familiar, though that wasn't what had entirely caught her attention.

It was her front clawed paws. Wrapped over and over with rope, blood caked on the edges, and the way they were curled... definitely broken. Sanorah bristled even further.

"What is this?" She spat out, taking a defensive stance, her hands already on the hilt of her greatsword.

"This." The male emphasized, pushing the female Charr roughly until she was on her knees. "Is the pathetic creature that birthed you, cub."

"No." Sanorah replied, her eyes shifting between the two carefully. "How dare you summon me here, imparting upon me your lies about wisdom in legacy, to brutalize a fellow Charr." She could feel her muscles twitching in anticipation. The male Charr smiled, and she noticed his teeth were yellowed, a couple missing on the sides.

"Oh, I have no lies to give, child." He told her, barely even glancing down at the female Charr he'd dragged along. "I did tell you in that letter that I had information on your parents. Well, you're looking at them." Sanorah took an involuntary step backwards as she processed that. She shook her head slowly.

"Who are you?" She meant for her voice to come out strong, but it hardly passed a whisper.

"I just said it cub, pay attention." The male Charr snapped, his expression devious. "Your parents. I sired you with her-" He spat in her direction. "And she ran off with you in tow, gaining something of a concience all those years ago."

"A concience... what?" She was unsure of how to proceed. If she kept the conversation up like she was, it was unlikely that she'd be able to fight off the male Charr, whom she had a bad feeling was a part of the Flame Legion, just a guess, based off of his general appearance, and save the female who he claimed was her mother. Her mind planned, and she noted that the male Charr, still unnamed, was staring, waiting for a reaction.

"Oh come now... can't you tell just by her armor?" He kicked her again, and the female Charr seethed, but didn't scream, her body shuddering in a strange way. Sanorah growled. "She's a filthy Vigil Soldier now. After all those years the Flame Legion took care of her. Fed her. Clothed her. Trained her." He snarled. The female Charr growled and spat at him, earning a bone chilling laugh in reply.

"I think you're mistaken." Sanorah said, carefully shifting her weight onto her other foot. The male charr mirrored her, a smile still on his teeth. "She's better now than she ever was as Flame Legion." The Flame Legionnaire growled and reached at his side to pull out a torch and sword, his expression murderous.

"You know, cub." The Charr said as he circled her, mirroring her movements as she mirrored his. "I was wondering... all this time... There had to have been a reason she disappeared. A reason she left us all behind. Not to go goody two shoes, although Im sure that had something to do with it too." He thrusted the torch at Sanorah but she dodged it quickly, using her sword to pull an edge to her stance.

"It had to be that she knew you were going to be born, and took you to the Farahr in the Plains of Ashford before I had a chance to stake a claim." Sanorah felt her rage grow.

"Stake a claim?" She snarled, swinging her greatsword around, just barely missing him by an inch. "You think, after a quarter of a century, you could just walk into my life, and stake a claim!?" He laughed, swinging his torch at her again, the heat singing the top of her fur.

"Oh not walk in. You see, in Flame Legion, our cubs aren't sent to Farahrs. Aren't left alone to rot while their sires run afoul. I would have trained you. Would have given you a true home." It sounded surreal. Sanorah couldn't afford to hesitate. She couldn't afford to pause, he would take advantage of that hesitation. She knew, she knew.

And yet, she still did it.

His strike was swift, and it hurt, but she could almost say her pride was hurt more than her body. He seemed to be just toying with her now, but the strike meant he had no issue taking her down if she left her guard down. This was no ordinary fighter. And his talk was alluring. Distracting.

"Yes... I knew you existed shortly after Kara disappeared." He drawled, circling in dance with her again, his torch held aloft. "She would only have so many reasons for needing to leave when she did. There was a battle to be had. A great assault on one of the Iron Legion outposts. We had our Centurian's scout the area, and plans were made. Goals set." He swiped at her again, but this time she was quick, and avoided the strike. He grinned, his teeth gnashing together.

"But to disappear... Now... that took some guts, I'll admit." He feinted another step, and slashed his sword against her arm, leaving a long gash bleeding across her. She seethed, taking a few steps back, nearly hissing in anger. "But... luckily enough for me, I'm a patient Charr. Even luckier for me, your patterns, your coloring... You inherited it from me." He struck again, but Sanorah forced a sidestep, sending him back a few steps so she could recover.

"Finding you in that Farahr... You might think me cruel, but it did me no good to try to steal you from their when you were young." He continued. "They guard their young well, and Flame Legion are easy to spot." He sighed. "So instead, I searched for Kara. It took me years... too long, truly. As you so eloquently put, a quarter of a century was nearly wasted, tracking her down to exact justice. Lo and behold, she'd joined the Vigil. Unusually well guarded too."

Sanorah heaved her weight into her step to try to force him to sidestep, using her blade as an anchor. Her leg connected, and he skidded across the grassy plain, looking mildly impressed.

"I'll make you an offer you can't refuse." He said, holding his torch and sword at his side, almost giving up his defense. "The Flame Legion could use a warrior like you. And... in exchange, I'll set her free." Sanorah was so startled that she lowered her guard, though only slightly. She took a quick glance at the Vigil soldier, whose despondant gaze became alarmed as soon as he'd said the words.

"I am...I am Blood Legion." She said, her voice gaining momentum and strength. "I will never associate with the cowards of the Flame Legion!"

Sanorah growled and pounced at her sire, her anger leading her to swing her claymore faster, harder. Striking at him as he moved, feeling her patience slowly wearing thin. And then she realized... she was tiring. But he was not.

He was just playing with her.

The moment the realization hit her was the same moment he realized she had caught on, and the smirk was ever present on his features.

"Ah, caught on, have you cub?" He leered, circling her like a hawk to a corpse. Sanorah panted, now concerned. She shouldn't have come alone. She shouldn't have come at all.

"Sanorah!" The charr in question whipped her head around, startled by the call of her name from afar. It was Fen. And Rorrik. And Teak. They were here. Her warband was here. She turned to face her sire again, a smirk upon her features as she closed in on him.

"You're cowardice has gone on long enough." She said, her eyes narrowing into near slits, her adrehnaline spiking. "Any last words, Flame Legion scum?"

"How quaint." The charr chuckled, his smirk still upon his face. "But this isn't another tale where the heroes swoop in to save the day..." Sanorah could hear the padding of their footsteps as they came ever closer to her and her sire. But he was already backing up, back towards her mother, who was panting and seething on her knees, not having moved at all since their battle had begun. Sanorah figured he would try to escape, but was not expecting what he did next.

Fen watched as Sanorah suddenly staggered, slipping in her rush to intercept the male charr with her exact coloring as he edged back to the dingy white charr in Vigil armor. He wasn't sure what was going on, but based off the low snarling trailing from her mouth, she was not friendly with the male charr, and was trying to save the vigil soldier.

But he knew it was going to be too late when he watched a wicked smile light upon the male charr's face. Sanorah was too far, not fast enough to stop his blade as it drew cleanly across the white female's neck, a spout of blood pouring from her neck. Sanorah roared, her muscles tensing as she howled, scratching, tearing, swinging her sword. But. It was too late. The vigil soldier slumped to the ground face first, unmoving.

The male charr swung out a kick that flung the blood legionnaire back, straight into Fen, who used the brunt of his weight to steady her. She was still howling, her eyes slits and her mouth in a permanant snarl. The male charr laughed, his eyes wide with mirth.

"You'll remember me now, cub." He said, spitting at the corpse as he backed away slowly. "Umaren Flametrench. Come find me when you aren't so weak."

His parting laugh was chilling.

Sanorah's yowling cut off abruptly, and she shifted away from Fen, moving to the bled-out corpse of her mother. She brushed the hair out of her face, pressing a claw to her neck, feeling for a pulse she knew wasn't there.

"That coward." She spat, her eyes watering. Strange. She hadn't even known this charr. "He will pay for this dishonor. No one should ever die like this." Fen placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning down.

"She died a Vigil soldier." He said. "That's how she'll be remembered. Blood and Honor. She may not have been a Blood Legionnaire, but we'll make sure she's put to rest honorably all the same." Sanorah nodded, standing up and leaning into Fen slightly.

"Thanks..." She said lowly. Ignoring the looks from Teak and Rorrik. "I may have never known her but... she's still my blood." Fen nodded, turning her to face him.

"She'll always be the blood of your blood." He told her wisely. "But remember this... We, your warband... we are blood too." Sanorah nodded, smiling weakly. She knew this well. It didn't change what had just happened, but she knew, the next time she confronted Umaren. She wouldn't be alone.

...

A lot less fluff in this one, a little more sadness too. Sanorah and Fen are two charr that I haven't actually created, but I intend to add them into my story soon. I hope you've enjoyed a look into their life, even though it was a sad look :(