A/N: This is a quick little look at Kielle Tabris' departure from the Alienage. Kielle is from "Why the Hero of Ferelden Owes Me Lunch," but there's no need to have read that for this to make sense!

I'd been planning to do a background one-shot for her like I'd done for Tanya and Landon, but I've worked on three different versions and literally tweaked them for months without being satisfied, so instead I chose the moment she leaves the Alienage. Hopefully, this will also give a bit of insight into her character as well; I'm afraid she comes off as 100% cold and bitchy, but there's a lot more to her and a lot of good reasons for that bitterness.

Reviews and suggestions loved and welcome!

When Kielle made it back to the Alienage, they tried to call her a hero.

But she didn't have time for that. Her arms were beginning to ache from carrying Shianni - who, to be fair, was heavier than she looked - and Soris was a mumbling, nervous wreck who probably needed to lay down.

Between the sword on her back and the threats she snarled out, Kielle didn't have much trouble pushing through the crowd, heading straight for Cyrion's house. Hoping no one was directly on the other side, she kicked the door open and made a mental note to leave the money she'd picked up at the arl's estate; if she was going to break her uncle's house, she might as well do what she could to help with repairs.

Shianni tightened her grip, and Kielle held her closer and promised she'd be alright. Planting a kiss on her forehead, she carefully set Shianni down on the bottom bunk. There wasn't much more Kielle could do; as far as comfort, she was surprised she'd managed as much as she had. As she turned to leave, she nearly slammed into Soris. "Watch over her," she instructed. "You and Cyrion." After a moment, Kielle added quietly, "Please."

"Me and Cyrion?" he confirmed. "What about you?"

Already digging in the chest along the back wall, Kielle called over her shoulder, "I'm going after Fiah. Or-" She paused as she tugged her mother's old armor out. "Maybe I'll become a mercenary or something. I don't think anyone would hire an elf for a guard."

"W-what? Kielle, no."

"What else am I supposed to do, Soris?" she snapped. "You saw what happened today. How many women were taken? How many came after us? If even one elf is taken, the whole damn Alienage should be storming the arl's estate. Things wouldn't be so bad if we didn't let them get so bad." Once she'd finished putting on all the armor - which didn't fit exactly right, but it was better than nothing - Kielle grabbed the broadsword she'd picked up at the estate and made her way to the half-open front door. "If you see Cyrion, tell him-tell him I'm sorry."

Without waiting for Soris, or anyone else, for that matter, to try and stop her, Kielle made her way out of the Alienage. She was nearly at the entrance when a group of guards stopped her.

"That's her!"

"That's the one that killed Vaughan!"

"That's right!" Kielle readied her sword, shooting the soldiers a hard glare of challenge. "I'm the one that took out half his guard. You're either going to walk away and remember this face, or it's going to be the last thing you see before I kill you."

One of the guards laughed. "Look at the little knife-eared bitch making threats," he spat.

Heated rage flared through Kielle, and it took all of her restraint not to charge at them with her sword. Things were already going to be bad at the Alienage, and she didn't want to make it any worse.

But the guard leading the group hesitated. "Look, we'll just get her arrested for possession of a weapon. Come on, boys."

Kielle could've laughed; for all that the humans liked to push the elves around, they weren't so confident once the elves began pushing back. Of course, the situation would always end in favor of the humans, since elves tended not to push very hard.

So Kielle was going to go out and push hard enough for all of them. Maybe she'd join the army. Become a well-known noble's bodyguard. She'd heard the Grey Wardens were recruiting; maybe she'd go fight darkspawn. It didn't matter, really, what she did, as long as she got out there and did it. She knew that, ultimately, she couldn't do much for the elves, but the most important part was changing minds. All she had to do was change one person's mind, and then one more, and one more.

And if she couldn't? Well, she always had her sword.