#oreius

so the pevensie siblings return to narnia, and logically, it's been thousands of years. their closest friends, those they viewed as family, are, to their knowledge, dead, and they are completely alone now.

until peter and caspian encounter each other in the woods, and are about to get into their fight. it's the moment where peter's back is turned, and caspian has his word raised. lucy is screaming, tears in her eyes, susan and edmund are too far away to do anything, and there's a moment of chaos before caspian's strike is blocked by a larger, longer sword.

oreius, completely disgruntled and still very out of the loop, but only focusing on the fact that his king, his friend, his son, is in danger, glares daggers at caspian, not looking away for a second, even as tumnus gathers a now-relieved, sobbing lucy up in a tight hug, and edmund and susan shriek with joy upon seeing the beavers and mr. fox.

and any feeling of tension or fear immediately seeps out of peter, who drops the rock he had picked up, and stumbles to his feet and to oreius' side, being able to lean on the centaur for the first time in a year, and not have to worry about his safety or his siblings' safety. and oreius, without taking his eyes off of caspian and his followers, just puts an arm around peter.

I've been thinking a lot about feral Lucy. I've loved that idea since I first discoverer it, but it doesn't really fit with any of my current stories, so I've been trying to come up with a new one centered around this idea.

The idea I came up with actually affects all four siblings.

...

The Pevensie siblings all came into Narnia when they were very young and still growing and changing. The magic of the land seeped into them and changed their bodies so they were no longer fully human.

Lucy spends a great deal of time with the animals. Specifically the wolves and big cats. the predators. they raise her to be one of them. Her eyes turn catlike, her steps become soft and soundless, and her canines sharpen. Her knives become her claws and she uses both them and her teeth in battle. She runs with the wolves and howls at the moon. She latches onto her siblings as pack and makes them have family cuddles. She growls when she's upset, hisses when startled or scared, and develops the ability to purr when happy and content.

Edmund spends a lot of time with the birds and griffins. He becomes as silent as an owl, and develops the ability to see in the dark just as well. In times of light his eyes function similar to a falcon's or an eagle's, able to pick out details at a far distance. He loves high places and when absent could often be found in the rafters, on a high parapet, or out patrolling on griffin-back. His reflexes are sharp and quick, able to strike almost as fast as a snake. He sometimes makes little chirping noises and when he's truly furious and lets himself express it, he can let forth a terrifying screech. It's also his battle cry. He loves shiny things and unless he's in sneaking mode will often have something shiny on him. his siblings will also give him little trinkets and pretty rocks they found as random gifts. thoughts are his favorites.

The other two were a bit older and thus went through less drastic changes.

Susan spends a lot of time with the dryads and naiads and she grew to have an uncanny grace in her movements. It was very unsettling to any humans they met. That, combined with her great beauty tended to leave them speechless in her presence. She was also incredibly flexible and could bend her body in ways that few humans are capable of.

In all his years as a leader among the centaurs faithful to Aslan, he has often had to be ruthless with his trust. He's been betrayed more than once, by friends, creatures he gave second chances to. He's had to take a stand on 'trust once broken, forever broken'. (He knows that traitors die under a knife.)

Of course he's still going to do what Aslan tells him, of course he's still going to help rescue the boy. But he worries, he's got his guard up, ready for anything from this traitor-boy.

And then just outside the Witch’s camp, Edmund faints dead away, and Oreius does not hesitate to scoop the boy up in his arms, and oh.

He's too light for one thing. Yes, he's human, not colt, but still. He's got gangly arms and legs, he looks like he's growing. He feels like he should weigh more. His face is battered, and Oreius remembers how they found that dwarf with his knife at the boy's throat, and, well... he's very glad they got there when they did.

Oreius carries Edmund gently through the night, until he stirs.

He halts, lays the boy down carefully as soon as he moans, wary of him lashing out, and gestures for the others not to crowd too close.

Edmund surges to his feet, almost falls down again at once, and Oreius catches his shoulder to steady him. "Careful, young one. If you can't walk you will need to ride."

A wild-eyed glance around in the half-moonlight, and the Son of Adam looks up him, up at Oreius, and he's the same height as Oreius's sister-colt when he'd been but a week past born.

"Are you going to kill me too?" Edmund asks, and the quiet despair in his voice cuts Oreius deeper than he would have liked.

"No," Oreius says quietly. "We have come to rescue you. Aslan’s orders."

"But why would He ever want me?" Edmund wavers again, and Oreius wonders when he last ate, or drank. "Is He going to kill me? I don't think I much care if He does though, it's got to be better than her."

That's when Oreius's softening heart decides it's time to give second chances again.

"No, He waits for you," Oreius speaks soft. "His lost one. I know He seeks a way to make it right. To save you."

The Son of Adam stares at him for too long, and doesn't turn away quickly enough for Oreius to miss the tears.

He hates having to break this moment, but the Witch could come after them at any time. "We need to move, you majesty. We will not make you walk, you may ride me."

Oreius gestures to one of the fauns who lifts the Son of Adam up onto the centaur’s back. "Hold onto me," Oreius said over his shoulder, and hands grasp awkwardly at his armour. "I will not let you fall," he adds.

Oreius carries Edmund back to Aslan, and his heart is warm, when he realizes the boy is nodding sleepy against Oreius spine.

Perhaps this traitor can mend, he thinks. I will do all I can to help you, colt and king as you are.

Oreius, male, from Chronicles Of Narnia

Like you know a character and you're down bad for them but definitely not in a sexual or romantic way?

I don't simp for characters that are appropriate to date for me and I never wanted to actually fuck/date anyone I simped for.

I'm down bad for their personality. The way they show emotions. The concept of how they're a mythical creature doing things that are specifical to their species. The relationships and dinamics they have with other characters in the story. The way they act when they're tired or sick. How well they're written. I'm simping for the way they exist.