The Tail of Sir Ru
This is the full backstory of my sona Ru told from the perspective of a historian.
Sir Kyle Rhulain the Fourth, of Green Isle, Knight of the Crown, and Ambassador to Salamandastron was born in the Year of the Rotten Waters within the hospice within Shellhound Keep to King Ruthlo and Queen Tiria the V. He was the 5th son and the 13th child the royal family had produced. Because of his position as the last child the couple had Kyle could not be given any land on Green Isle or even in the Rhulain holdings to the east on the main land, but being royalty his parents could not simply give him to a peasant family to raise and made him a Knight under the care of his oldest brother Prince Jerik at the princes holdings in the north of the Green Isle. The Crown Prince kept his brother well cared for by his own servants, who within a few week of Kyle's birth determined that the pup was completely blind.
The jade green eyes he had at birth slowly started to mist over until by three seasons old Kyle's eyes looked like frozen pond water in the spring slightly melted with his pupils barely visible. This ailment was completely incurable; no healer on the Isle able to think of anything that may repair the cub's broken eyes. As such Prince Jerik, being his brother's care taker set it up for Kyle to live in his palace and be cared for the rest of his life figuring his poor brother would never be able to care for himself. Fortunately for Kyle, far back in his blood line thanks to a few indiscretions by one of his ancestors Kyle had but a single drop of bat in his veins. None of his siblings, or his parents, or any of their immanently relations had gotten any of traits from the bat blood. But fortunately for Kyle that single drop manifested in larger than normal ears for his species, and a bat's echolocation.
By 8 season's old Kyle had started refusing to respond to his real name preferring to be called Ru, an extreme contraction of his last name which Ru found to sound perfectly cute, a trait that the young otter wished to possess. The young blind knight certainly possessed a great amount of cuteness, the servants of his brother's palace treating him like a loved nephew especially when he fell or stumbled on a flag stone. In truth that was a mere act. His echolocation enabled him to see perfectly in any direction even with just the sound of a breeze over the grass, his phenomenal powers of 'vision' the result of it being his only sense, the portions of his brain normally dedicated to sight being used for his echolocation.
In his 48th season, that is to say his 12th year of life the Green Isle came under attack by a small fleet of corsairs. Three ships loads of vermin sailed up the isle's river and maid a raid on Shellhound Keep
itself. Thanks to the raid occurring on a feast day Ru was present at the Keep with all his brothers and sisters. The Corsairs managed to breach the Keep's walls, slaughter a large number of the Royal guard and took the Crown Princess Lilly hostage. With the majority of the guard dead or escorting the Kind and Queen to safety it was left to Prince Jirek and a few soldiers to try and retrieve the Crown Princess. Ru, liking his sister tagged along despite his brother ordering him to stay behind.
Ru made it to the corsairs ships a few minutes after his brother and the soldgiers did, his sister ahd already been loaded on the ship, and a small knot of corsairs were holding back the prince and his men. Spying Ru coming into the battle area, and shouted, "Ye bloody idiot Ru! Get your blind tail away from this 'ere scrap for one o' tese vermin slits yer gizzard!" To which Ru replied, "There be 'mayhaps 23 of them on 'e ship, yer fighting six. Lilly is being held by 'e big hatted one by 'e central mast of 'e left most ship maybe 90 meters away. I think he be 'e one in charge o' this lot. There be a cross bow nxt ta this dead weasel, an there is a light wind just in front o' the ship," where upon Ru scooped the crossbow up, took aim and fired the bolt splitting the corsair captain's scull nearly dead center. Disheartened by the death of their captain the two ships which could left for the high seas, while a shocked prince and squad of soldiers managed to slay the corsairs aboard the third and capture the ship as well as retrieve the Crown Princess.
Later when questioned as to how long he had been able to see Ru explained that he wasn't, and after trying to force him to describe sketches they made on the fly. However since bats were so rare in the Rhulain's holdings as to actually not exist they had no idea what echolocation was and merely assumed that he could hear insanely well. Ru however, knew differently. It had happened at first in dreams, then later when he drifted off in the afternoon sunlight; every so often Ru was visited by the spirit of his Chiropteran ancestor, a male bat named Dawnfur only describable as the original trap with a dash of shota assassin. Much like the spirit of Martian the Warrior Dawnfur had decided to stay in the mortal world to continue to protect the good people of the world. The only problem was that Dawn was not bound to a weapon, armor, or other token a warrior could wield. So he had decided to train his distant grandson in the ways of the warrior, since Ru could 'see' as he did and well "Ohhh! You like boys too?".
Kyle knew no one would ever believe him that he was being taught by a ghost so he asked to be trained to fight in case he needed to again. Fortunately for his life wants the palace servants understood that he thought they wouldn't like him if they knew he could get around ok and their relationship didn't change. Except for his relationship with his brother's guard Captain, Sir Faber Wildlough. Sir
Faber became Ru's combat instructor, teaching Ru to use the battle staff. However Ru couldn't actually fight Sir Faber, because the loincloth clad athletic otter was simply too hot for him to hit. So instead they would merely playfight, Ru finding a way to end up in ahnd to hand and pinned under his teacher every time. This continued on for some time, Sir Faber believing it was his student's disability until one day after Ru had been pinned the now 18 year old otter made a sound of pure aroused happiness accidently, and blushed. "Sir Kyle... der ye be fancyin men now lad?" "...Er..well... aye..."
"An are ye loosin' all e bloody time just so ye wind up under me?"
"Well... er... aye matey."
After a facepaw, Sir Faber wrote up a letter to the Prince informing his brother that he could not teach Ru anymore, and why he could not, namely that Ru would not learn anything since his apparent crush had him wanting to just bend over and take a pounding. The Prince, after a good laugh decided it would be best for Ru to learn from some seasoned warriors who he wouldn't have any attachment too. Because of this Ru was named the Green Isle's official Ambassador to Salamandastron, the Fortress of the Badger Lords and the Hares of the Long Patroll.
The ship took a full season to make its way across the sea to the southern coast where the mountain of Salamandastron lay, but once it arrived Ru got off and was officially inducted as an Ambassador and trainee under a few different Long Patroll Sergeants, depending on who was in the field at the time and who was home in the fortress. After a few years of service and training at the mountain Ru was falling into severe depression for the sad reason that not a single male in the entire mountain shared his sexuality. He felt doomed to be alone forever. The only solstice he had was the occasional visits from his Ancestor Dawn, which stopped one day when an important event occurred for both Dawn and Ru. On the evening of Ru's 22nd midsummer, on a blood moon, at exactly midnight a star fell from the heavens, exploding over Salamandastron. The Hares gathered what fragments they could and presented them to Lady Iceclaw the ruling Badger Lord before dawn, just as the mystic recipe for the Badger's Star Weapons demanded. With the pieces of the Star melting into a bar in her forge Lady Iceclaw decided that of all the warriors in her care only one deserved the weapon, the otter Ru, who owed her no allegiance by birth and yet had been a prefect soldier and even a friend to her over the duration of her stay.
So it was that the badger took up her hammer and laid the star metal upon her anvil. She hammered the steal flat, and speaking the names of every great warrior she had knowledge of by name or deed she spread diamond dust over the flattened bar before folding the steal, chanting all the while. The fires of Salamandastron glowed hot that night, by the time the sun began to rise and shine through the forge room's window the weapon's 20 fold shad been finished, a coating of clay added to the outside under a wrap of bark cloth, and the staff at last quenched in a brine of saltwater and mead. But one component was missing, the soul of a great warrior to inhabit the weapon and guide the paws of the warrior wielding it. However Lady Iceclaw did not know this, she had forged the staff to the exactness of the recipe and assumed it done. This is when Dawn seized his chance.
Knowing the rules for a guardian spirit the bat warrior possessed the weapon, finishing the magic's laid upon the star metal staff. It would never rust, never break, strike unerringly when wielded by a good person for honorable reasons, and bring death to those who used it for evil. Ru on the other hand woke up rather afraid, he sensed that Dawn had left him and felt even more alone and afraid then he normally was. The otter spend half the day running about the mountain looking for his ghostly friend and ancestor but to no avail. But around tea time Lady Iceclaw found him on the beach, crying at what he thought was a permanent loss and lead him to the forge where the staff lay ready for him, surprising him with the fabled weapon. The second Ru touched the staff he felt Dawn's presence again and smiled "There you are Dawn! You got your wish I see... I think I'll get mine too some day."
Ever since that day Ru had weighted, defending the mountain with the Long Patroll, and hoping one day a nice boy would home along with whom they could mutually sweep each other off their feet and thus fall madly in love.