Edit: 3/28/12 - Ha! I'm back. Doing more revisions now and what not. :)
AN: Sooo basically, this is my playthrough character, Keira Cousland, and her journey through the events in DAO. However, I became curious... I wondered, "What if there was another Cousland child? Possibly, a twin?" So there it was. I just had it stuck in my head and I felt the need to make a story around it. So with Keira Cousland comes her twin, Gavin Cousland, and they go through the events that take place in DAO.
Now, read :D
Oh, and also, anything Dragon Age related belongs to Bioware, of course. I own nothing :(
Chapter 1. Life at Castle Cousland
"KEIRAAA!"
All I heard was yelling, followed by pounding on my door. Another typical day in the life of Keira Cousland.
Great.
Tuning out the yelling, I rolled out of bed and got dressed. Even though Mother wanted me to dress nicely for today's guests, that new leather armor was calling my name. Honestly, I thought armor was much more practical than a silk dress, right?
I took in the smell of my new studded leather armor, very pleased with the scent. It has that certain odor that I loved so very much. I quickly found a pair of boots to match.
While on the way out, I caught my reflection in the mirror and stopped for a moment. I tried to tame the loose espresso waves that fell around my face. It seemed to get in the way at times, though Mother adored it, as it reminded herself of her past youth.
She was pleased with the features I had gotten from her; Prodigious jade eyes, heart shaped face, full pink lips.
"All the features a suitor desired!" She would always say.
By suitor, she meant an arrogant asshole that flaunted his money in everyone's face. To her, a good social status meant a good husband. To me, that was not the case.
Finding my brother and I suitors was one of the first things on her mind. My eldest brother Fergus was already married and had a child, and my mother thought it to be fit to get us married off as well. The thought of marriage didn't even cross my brother's mind, "If I'm up and kickin', I'm not pickin'" says the bachelor. As for me, I will not spend every waking minute trying to find a husband, unlike the other many daughters of noble families.
I sighed quietly to myself.
I expected the day to be drawn out and uneventful, to say the least.
Being a member of the Cousland household, my life was filled with duties, responsibilites, morals, and a reputation to maintain for my family. The Couslands, being only second to royalty, always had to act well and presentable in public. Anything done wrong would risk embarrassment to my family. No pressure, right? It wasn't any better knowing if all eyes weren't directed toward my parents, they were always on the children. Those children being my brother, Fergus, my twin, Gavin, and me. I should be used to the attention by now, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I want to think that everyone paid more attention to Fergus, for being the oldest and most likely to become Teryn after my father. However, twins weren't exactly common around here and gathered a fair amount of attention. In fact, Gavin and I are the only Cousland twins we have on record. Having no family history of twins, our birth was a surprise to everyone. Our parents were ecstatic to when we were born, to say the least. I couldn't say the same for Nan, though. Maker bless her! Nan is our castle cook now, but she had to put up with Gavin and I for so many years, and I cannot say that is an easy task.
She always told me of how it was difficult when caring for us even when we were just little babes. The main reason being she couldn't tell us apart at a moment's notice. When we were that age, we both had bright green eyes, and dark brown hair. However, as we grew older, she could tell us apart much better, due to obvious reasons. Though as we grew older, we became more "naughty", as she would say. Always getting into trouble, she thought.
"Keira! Open up already!" I sighed.
I opened my door only to find Gavin. Was I shocked? Not one bit.
"Keira! Come on! Mother's been asking for you all morning. I told her I'd fetch you, and do you know how mad she would've been if I didn't get you soon? Why I bet she'd-"
I sighed and listened to my brother's babble. He's quite the character, always being dramatic, sarcastic, and his story telling! He's worse than me when it comes to exaggerating a story. Though I would never really admit it, I loved my brother. Sometimes, that is. After a couple more minutes he was done with his long tale about his dramatic search to find me.
"And finally, I figured you were in your room! And sure enough, you were!" He had a grin from ear to ear on his accomplishment. I laughed and gave him an applause. He quickly began to bow, saying "Thank you" over and over.
After that was done, we made our way toward the atrium. I saw Mother standing there talking to one of the guards. The guard nodded and dismissed by the time we got over there.
"Oh good," she said, "You were able to find Keira. Thank you, Gavin."
I smiled sheepishly, "I was still sleeping, Mother."
"Well, I'm glad you were able to awaken by now, Lady Landra and her son will arrive shortly, and I need you two to be on your best behavior." She glanced over at me and raised a brow, "And what is that, my dear? I had a nice silk dress from Orlais for you to wear today."
"Um.." Crap. Looking for an excuse, I quickly looked over to Gavin with wide eyes.
"Erm, She was going to spar with me today, Mother." Gavin answered.
I joined in, "Yes, that's right. Sorry Mother, I forgot about the dress."
She sighed and shook her head, "Well nevermind the dress then. I must be off to greet Lady Landra." We nodded and she was off to the main gate.
I turned to my brother with a big grin on my face, "So, did you really want to spar?"
He smirked, "You know me too well."
We went to one of the training rooms that's usually used by the guards. They never mind when we use it. When it came to fighting, my brother and I had very different strategies. My brother used more of his strength in his attacks, while I used more finesse and quick movements. Also, he tends to use a sword and shield, like Fergus. I, on the other hand, like to use two daggers, or a sword and dagger. When growing up, I always had trouble balancing a shield while using a sword. When some of the knights noticed this, they suggested I tried using a bow, like my mother used back in her day. If I had just practiced more with that, I probably would have gotten better. Eventually, I started training with two daggers, one in each hand. After that, everything just seemed to click. My moves just kind of flowed together. Some of the guards commented on how I fought gracefully. Ever since then, I have always fought with two blades in close combat.
After a couple rounds of sparring, we both decided to take a break. Gavin made his leave, saying he wanted to give Nan a visit.
I myself headed to the main hall, wanting to speak with Father. I wanted to speak with him about the upcoming battle...
Alright, well next chapter will be longer, and will take place at the time you start playing in the actual game. I just kind of wanted to introduce Keira and Gavin in this chapter first, how their general appearance is, how they were dealt with as twins, and stuff like that I suppose. Next chapter should be up soon :) Reviews are welcome! Also, if there are any typos I missed, anything you like, dislike, and such, feel free to point them out! Please and thank you :)
-Kat
