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(Warrick)

I can't fucking believe this. After all my years of service to the High Legions, this is my reward. "I'm being discharged?"

Maybe Smodur grabbed the wrong papers. That had to be it. They wouldn't kick me out of the legions for something I had no control over. I would never ask for what happened.

"Yes." It was said so simply and left no room for debate. Everything I worked hard for, was being taken from me. If that's how they're going to be then fine. I ripped my tags off and slammed them on Smodur's desk.

The asshole didn't even blink. He just reached over and picked up my tags. They were once my pride and joy as a blood legion soldier. But now I'm glad that they are being taken away. "You have until the end of the day to leave the Black Citadel."

I needed to leave before I did something stupid. So I gave Smodur a stiff salute and turned to leave. "One more thing Warrick." Smodur was testing the limits of my restraint.

Instead of turning around or even looking back at him. I just stopped before leaving his office. The less I had to look at the iron legions imperator the better.

"Due to what happened to you," Smodur's voice had an annoyed undertone to it that brought a smile to my face. "You are seen as a threat to the High Legions." A threat? I'm being seen as a fucking threat? A growl ripped its way out of my throat as I turned around and stomped back to the desk.

There was a dangerous glint in the imperator's eye. He was doing this on purpose. If I attack him like I want to, I'll be killed. Well, I won't give him the satisfaction of my death. "So I'm being punished for getting captured, tortured, and experimented on by Flame Legion?" Silence was my answer.

It was kind of funny really. Not even two months after taking control of the warband away from my asshole of a legionnaire, I get kicked out of the High Legions. The universe must love to see me suffer.

"Well if that's how it's going to be sir," Sarcasm wasn't something I use often, It just gets you hurt. But I felt it was needed this time. "Go fuck yourself with an unexploded mortar shell." I ignored Smodur's indignant shouting as I stormed out of his office.

(Dominick)

The ruins of the old human city of Rin have long been a not-so-secret, secret meeting place for Ash Legion. So no one questioned it when Maverick and myself hid inside of one of the ruined buildings. "Any bets Warrick got promoted to centurion?"

The joking tone of my eldest brother's voice didn't quite hide his anxiety. Our nerves have been shot ever since we heard Warrick was called into Imperator Smodur's office. "Are you sure he'll come here?"

Maverick snorted. "His brewery is here." That's true I guess, but we're not supposed to know about this place. Sure we make sure that no one else knows about it, But this is where Warrick could escape from the world. A place where he could indulge his hobby, whiskey making.

Out of the corner of my eye, something red caught my attention. An old charr warrior was walking towards us. Blood flowed out of the many wounds that littered his body. Most noticeable was the gaping hole where his heart should be.

It was a disturbing sight to be sure, and that's coming from a necromancer. I went to go help the poor warrior, but Maverick stopped me. "Look again." Was all he said, not even once looking in my direction.

So I did. There was no wounded charr in sight, just my second oldest brother storming his way towards where we were. The reality of what I saw first hit me hard. I fought harder against my older brother's grip. "Let go, he needs us."

Maverick held firm, his usual joy-filled purple eyes were hard as diamonds. "I may not be able to see people's souls like you can, " Even his voice held a sharp edge to it. "But I don't need to, to see something bad happened and now Warrick is close to breaking."

Close to breaking? He may as well be dead now with how much he's hurting. "Whatever happened, tore his heart out." Maverick may be a mesmer, and as such has a good understanding of the mind. But this affected his soul, whatever he has planned won't work.

"I understand, but he wouldn't be this upset unless Smodur either demoted him or court-martialed him" Great Maverick's gone into his 'I'm smart and you're not' mode. "Warrick needs something in his life to stay the same, so he has a solid foundation to heal from."

It made sense in a way, but being in different legions made it hard to meet up. We were lucky if we saw each other twice a month. So how can we help when we're barely there?

"And of course both of you would be here as if my day couldn't get better." Was that sarcasm coming from Warrick? Not a good sign. He hasn't used sarcasm since... no best not think about that. Right now my brother needs me.

I broke free from Maverick's hold and rushed to hug Warrick. But the glare he shot me stopped me before I could reach him. "Forgot you don't like to be touched." I wish he would tell us why he no longer likes physical affection. Warrick was so clingy when we were Cubs.

"So how's the promotion feel?" If Warrick doesn't kill Maverick, I will. Judging by the glare from Warrick, he's thinking about it. I have to admit that the unnaturally blue ring around his pupils makes his glares even more menacing.

The ring that was never there when we were cubs. That now stands as a permanent reminder of what flame legion did to him. Of how we failed our brother.

A door slamming brought me back to reality. "He caught you staring." Maverick said as he followed Warrick down a hidden passage. Fuck. He needs love and compassion not to be stared at like a circus attraction.

Thankfully it didn't take long to catch up to them. But when I did Warrick was already downing a tankard of whiskey. And Maverick was sitting on one of the many barrels that littered the room, staring at a piece of paper with an intense rage. "They can't do this to you."

I've never seen Maverick so angry before. "I'll fucking kill that mouse." I'm almost afraid to find out what's on that paper. But I need to if only to keep them both from doing something stupid.

"Killing someone will only cause problems for Warrick." Maverick shoved the papers under my nose. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. But there in black and white, clear as the horns on my head. Was Smodur the Unflinching's signature on discharge papers.

It would be so easy. Maverick could distract the guards so I could slip in and slit the Imperator's throat. If we play our cards right we might even be able to blame Flame legion. Keep it simple, simple plans are easier to adjust.

NO!

That line of thinking will only backfire on us. "No matter how tempting it is," I said through gritted teeth. "Killing an Imperator will just get us all killed."

Warrick snorted into his tankard. "That would please the bastard." He sniffed his tankard before jotting something down on a pad of paper. Good Warrick's distracting himself. "He tried to get me to attack him by saying I'm a threat to the high legions."

It took all of my Ash legion training to keep my shock hidden. If an Imperator says that you're a threat to the legions, you are immediately killed. The only thing that could save you was another Imperator. So why is Warrick only being exiled? While I love my brother, what Flame legion did to him does make him an unpredictable risk. If that chain on his right wrist comes off, everyone around him would die.

"Well let's look on the bright side," Oh you better be careful Maverick or no amount of work would distract Warrick from beating you. "You can now turn your hobby into a business." Warrick looked at the results of his years of brewing whiskey and smiled ever so slightly. "And calling it Fifth Legion Whiskey would get under Smodur's fur."

Laughter is good, even if it comes from pure pettiness. "And you can choose where your drinks are sold," I had to put my two coppers in. It's been years since I truly heard my brother laugh.

"I'll need to get enough money to start up, " Warrick said, looking around at all the barrels of whiskey. He would need a big place just to store all the barrels he's accumulated over the years. And that would be costly.

Thankfully there is a reason legion stereotypes exist. "There are arenas' you could fight in," Warrick hummed thoughtfully. Time to up the ante. "Or you can do mercenary work." No blood legion soldier could pass up the chance of violence.

"You should also go to the Durmand Priory to see if they can help you." And of course Maverick had to ruin the moment. Unfortunately, he is right, again.

Growls echoed across the room. "At best I'd be nothing more than a weapon to them, to be used and discarded on a whim," Warrick said, his voice was colder than the heart of Jormag. The tankard in his hand started to creak under the pressure of Warrick's grip. "At worst they'd turn me into an experiment to torture." Maverick visibly flinched under the murderous glare he was shot. Where did this hostility come from? Time to diffuse this situation before someone dies.

"What color are your shoes?" Silence answered me as both my brothers stared at me in bewilderment. Asking weird questions is a good tactic to stop arguments in their tracks.

Maverick recovered first, he most likely understood what I was doing, and lifted one of his legs showing me his boots. "Why in the mists would you ask that?" Typical blood legion soldier, easily confused. But at least it worked.

Maybe I can have better luck than Maverick. "You need to be calm to hear this," Warrick tensed but otherwise remained calm. "I made that chain in a rush, it won't last more than four months and..." I let that hang in the air. Warrick scratched at the scar over his heart. "Please just think about it, it was terrifying seeing you like that." I hated having to guilt him like that, but it was needed.

"All you need to do is last until we can get to you." That was something I never expected to hear from Maverick. And neither did Warrick apparently if his wide-eyed and slack-jawed expression is anything to go off of.

"You would leave the legions for me?"

Do you not trust us that you would have to even ask that? How badly have we failed as your brothers? "Why wouldn't we?" We're brothers, triplets even, there isn't anything we wouldn't do for each other.

"Thank you," It was said so softly I almost didn't hear it. "But don't throw your careers away for me." The legions did that for us when they exiled you.

The room got quiet after that. I want to hug Warrick and tell him that it'll all be fine. Maybe patting his shoulder would be okay. "We're brothers of cour..." Before I could finish strong arms wrapped around me. A hug? From Maverick? Why? The hug didn't last long and it was a little on this stiff side. But a hug is a hug.

I was fully prepared to see Maverick's gray and white striped face. But when Warrick's tiger-esque face entered my sight I clung onto him tighter. "I should get going before it gets too late." No, don't go just yet. Please.

"We'll keep your brewery safe until you have a place for them." That's a generous offer Maverick, but you could barely keep out of Warrick's whiskey. And by the skeptical look Warrick is shooting you, he doesn't trust you much either.

After a bit, he pointed to some barrels in a far corner. "Just stay away from those, they're not ready yet." Does he know that we were stealing a little of his whiskey? It was good alcohol. I really want to try some from the few darker barrels he has hidden.

"I'll keep Dominick out of your black label barrels as well." That traitorous bastard. Maverick shot me a smug look behind Warrick's back as he left.

(Maverick)

Watching my ex-blood legion brother leave was painful. What the legions did to him is unforgivable. "How much trouble would we be in if we followed Warrick tonight?"

Oh Dominick, ever the dreamer. "We're Ash legion, we know things that could destroy the Black Citadel if they were to get out," I really shouldn't have to say this. "They would hunt us down and kill anyone we talked to." One of the best ways to keep a secret is to kill all those that know it.

"In order to keep Warrick safe, we need to do this by the book." It'll take longer, but it is the safer option. We may even have to burn through most of the favors we both accumulated. "I don't like it but Warrick will just have to survive on his own."

A tankard was shoved into my hand. "You know he'll just suppress everything right?" Ah yes, one of the many banes of my existence when it comes to Warrick. "Maybe he'd open up to us if you didn't purposefully get under his fur."

I have a perfectly valid reason for doing so. "He can't lie when he's angry," Just like most Blood Legion soldiers. "If we push his buttons and ask the right questions he'll tell us what happened to him after he joined blood." We know Warrick was mistreated, we just don't know how bad it was. Being in Ash legion we could've easily spied on Warrick to find out, but that would break any trust he has with us.

There were plenty of signs pointing towards it being really bad. Like Warrick's aversion to touch. And if I'm not mistaken, he dislikes being an Elementalist. Or the fact he spent his first night in the Black Citadel unconscious. But being the stubborn Blood Legion soldier he is, our brother refused to say anything about it.

"He needs compassion and understanding." This old argument again. Compassion will not get through Warrick's walls. He needs to be forced to confront his trauma.

I've explained this to him many times before, but he still doesn't get it. "He's Blood Legion, they don't do soft." It's common knowledge how much Blood Legion hates any emotion other than rage. "So we need to do things the roundabout way, or he'll just repress everything even more."

Thankfully Dominick waved his hands in surrender, rather sarcastically but he still surrendered. At least for now. One day he will see I was right all along.

"What are we going to tell sire?" Fuck, almost forgot about him. Gavius Shieldguard, our father, has been worried about our brother ever since he got stationed at the Black Citadel. He almost went AWOL when he found out Warrick was hospitalized. So telling him that his only blood legion son was captured by flame legion then exiled would cause Gavius to go ballistic.

As much as I would love sire's help with Warrick I think it's best if he stayed away. "We would tell him that we're taking Warrick away for a bit to heal after what Flame did to him." Dominick pondered my words for a bit before nodding his head in agreement. "Sire might give us some tips on dealing with our stubborn brother."

But that will have to be done later. Now we prepare for the mess that Warrick will be in when we get to him. Even the strongest charr doesn't handle being alone very well.

(Warrick)

"All packed, better leave before it gets too dark." The sooner I leave the better. I hate walking through the black citadel around dusk. Too many magic haters used darkness to assault magic users.

My limbs started to ache with a phantom pain, reminding me of my own experiences. "At least I won't have to constantly look over my shoulder anymore." my humorless laughter echoed throughout my empty lodgings. Knowing my luck, I'd still have to watch my back because of something stupid.

I took one look around the room I was given when I took the rank of legionnaire, just to make sure I didn't forget anything. It's almost funny, I've had this room for less than six months. I've barely added any personal touches to it. And yet I'm going to miss it. But I have no time to dawdle, it's almost sunset. As much as I would love to disobey Smodur, I like living a little more

Thankfully the walk through the Black Citadel to the Asuran gate was uneventful. But the swirling purple energy of the gate was rather intimidating. Once I step through that gate I'll have nothing.

"I know it's impressive to simple minds but don't just stare at it bookah." I let out a growl, scaring the diminutive Asura. Usually I would just ignore it when people try to insult me, I've been called worse, but today has been so very long. And I'm tired of everything.

The urge to look back was strong. This place has been my home for the past ten years. It wasn't the best home, but it was a far sight better than Grothmar Valley. I took a deep strengthening breath and marched through the Asuran gate into Lion's Arch.