Title: Ghosts
Author: May Chang
Warnings: general, adventure, AU
Pairings: M!Shepard + Ashley, M!Cousland x Zevran
Disclaimers: Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect are the property of BioWare.
Author's Note: Shepard is a Paragon/Earthborn/War Hero/Infiltrator.
Ghosts
Part One
He was sleeping in the guest room. Fergus Cousland could only sit by him and stare. He was smaller than Fergus remembered, and the tattoo that was under his right eye and cheek were gone. The teyrn lifted a hand to touch the man's face and paused before dropping it back to his side. He could only stare at the patient for a while before he got up and left the room.
The man had been found badly burned but still alive. He was wearing the strangest clothing and helmet, and strapped on his back were strange objects, three of them probably broken from whatever happened to him. The healers had done their best, keeping watch as the fever burned through the man for almost a week before the fever finally broke. The man fell into a sound sleep and the healers told Fergus that now he would be all right.
Fergus stepped out onto the balcony, looking over the town. The rebuilding was taking some time, but the money that was returned from Arl Howe's former residence and the extra from His Majesty helped. The town was already bustling with life and money was already filling the coffers in the castle. It was a different story for the castle, the debris cleared up from the attack. The place was just empty to Fergus, no cheerful banter from his father, no happy conversation between his wife and his mother, no childish laughter from Oren.
And in the end, Aedan had killed the archdemon and thus ended his own life. Alistair never forgave the man and in a way neither did Fergus.
So the appearance of the man in the guest room, a man who looked so much like his little brother that Fergus couldn't help but think it was Aedan, made him wonder if perhaps the Maker was giving him a second chance. He had considered sending a message to Alistair, to let him know about the man's appearance but decided against it. Alistair still had much to learn and do.
"My Lord?" Fergus turned to see one of the newer maids at the doorway. "He's awake."
"Thank you," Fergus replied with a nod, dismissing the maid. He took a deep breath and walked back into the castle. His heart pounded as he nervously wondered what to say to the man. He stopped before the door, knocked and entered. The man looked up with piercing blue eyes, almost eerie-like, and he winced as he shifted on the bed, getting into a comfortable seating position.
"Um, hi," the man said and winced again, this time at the sound of his voice. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Where am I?"
"This is Castle Cousland," Fergus replied. "I am Fergus Cousland, the Teyrn of Highever. Tell me, what is your name and where are you from?"
"Commander John Shepard," the man introduced himself, looking around the room. "And I'm totally not from around here."
It took a couple days before Shepard was able to get out of bed and move without feeling like he was going keel over and die. He wondered if he did die at that moment when the Normandy blew. The burns on his body were a testament that he had been caught in the explosion, but how he got here and how he was still alive were a complete mystery.
The place was primitive but very cozy. Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, seriously considering his room on the Normandy and his place on Earth and the Citadel. None of them were cozy like the room he was currently occupying.
He was able to put on the clothes that Fergus had provided and was rather surprised at how well they fit, albeit a bit loosely on his frame. Even the boots that were given to him fit his feet as though it was made just for him. Shepard puzzled over the clothes and boots before slowly standing up from his bed and towards the door.
There were two guards outside, fully armored with shields and swords strapped on their back. He gave them a nod in greetings before looking both ways and taking a right. The guards followed after him, their armor clinking. Shepard ignored them, puzzling over the fact that the castle looked like it was recovering from some battle. There weren't many people in the castle, a stark contrast between the warmth of the room he was in. What also caught his attention were the servants running about; they all looked human except some of them were smaller and had pointy ears.
All of them had an accent, sounding like people from The European Union back on Earth. Now that he thought about it, the castle made Shepard think of the pictures he'd seen on the TV screens of castles in England and Scotland.
Ah, perhaps this is this world's version of the United Kingdoms, Shepard thought.
"John." The commander turned as Fergus approached him and he gave the man a nod in greetings. "Should you even be up? How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Shepard replied. "Please call me Shepard, I'm use to being called that. I'm moving a little slower than usual but it's fine. I just wanted to take a look around here."
"Ah, of course. Laying in bed can get pretty boring," Fergus said with a nod. "I have some of your stuff in my study. You should have them back." The teyrn turned and Shepard followed him, still hearing the clinking of armor as the two guards followed after them. He entered the study with Fergus, glancing back to see the guards take their positions outside before looked back at the teryn. Fergus opened up a chest and pulled out Shepard's sniper rifle and what looked like his pistol. He also pulled out a leather bag and placed it on his desk.
Shepard picked up the pistol and after checking it thoroughly he shook his head, knowing the gun was totally broken. The sniper rifle was fine, and when he looked through the leather bag, found four bullet clips.
"Thank you," he said, putting away the sniper rifle then eyed the pistol. "I must have been pretty badly hurt, this is destroyed." Fergus nodded as he closed and locked the chest and took his seat behind the desk. He gestured at the seat before him and Shepard sat down, suddenly grateful to be off his feet.
"You were," Fergus said, leaning back. Shepard got the feeling that the teyrn was studying him and he looked back at him. "Thank the Maker that you were found so quickly. The healers say that you'll still have the scars though."
"It's a small price to pay," Shepard said with a shrug and winced. "Out of curiosity, is something wrong? It feels like you want to ask me something." Fergus blinked then sighed, a pained expression crossing his face.
"I apologize," the teyrn said. "It's just that… that you look exactly like my little brother. He died a few months ago, saving the land. I wonder if the Maker is telling me something when you arrived."
"Probably," the commander said. He leaned forward, his blue eyes darkening. "It's probably something about second chances. I'm suppose to be dead."
It was about a week later when Shepard finally left the castle for the first time. Fergus took the time to accompany the man into town, showing him what was going on. Shepard curiously asked Fergus what had happened, and Fergus took a deep breath before explaining. Shepard's blue eyes darkened before laughing children running by distracted them. Fergus smiled as the children ran up to him, greeting him cheerfully before rushing off, playing.
After a while Fergus began to notice that the people were starting to give him looks, expressions that contained confusion, surprise and maybe a little bit of fear. It took a moment to realize that those looks weren't directed at him. He looked back to see Shepard walking behind him, looking rather uncomfortable and Fergus suddenly knew why. It wasn't the burned stranger walking with Fergus, it was Aedan who was walking behind his older brother. Fergus cleared his throat and paused in his steps so that Shepard would catch up to him.
"This is… weird," Shepard muttered. "This is like what happened after the Blitz."
"The Blitz?" Fergus asked curiously. Shepard glanced around, still looking rather uncomfortable.
"From my world, I was considered a hero," the commander admitted. "I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to save a settlement from slavers. Got the civilians to pick up arms and held them off just long enough until reinforcement arrived."
"A hero, huh?" Fergus mused. "Just like Aedan, in a way." Neither of them said anything else after that, taking time to see some of the places before they returned to the castle.
Shepard would never be Aedan and the differences were starting to become more and more obvious. It had taken almost a month for the burns to heal, but in that timeframe Shepard had been able to charm his way into the hearts of the people of Highever. Aedan was never good at talking, being a man of action, but Shepard was more than willing to talk before answering with violence. At one point when Fergus and Shepard were at The Golden Wreath, two men were about to fight and Shepard had walked over to them. Moments later he was sharing a tankard with the two, all of them laughing and getting along like old friends.
He was a runner - Fergus had gone to the courtyard for some sword practice and saw the commander running laps there. The scars were still there, a mass of white scores criss-crossing his body, and Shepard still tired easily but he pushed on. That was probably one thing he had in common with Aedan, the need to run and to continue on even if he was hurting.
It took another month for Shepard to start with combat practice. Shepard didn't use a longsword or a greatsword, preferring daggers as they were the most familiar to him. He wasn't an expert in using the bladed weapons though as when he was given a crossbow and shown how to use it, he proved to be an expert marksman. Shepard had nonchalantly shrugged when the boys were crowing with praises at him, telling them that he was trained to shoot this well.
The strangest thing though had to be Shepard's eyes. Aedan had inherited their father's blue eyes but it had a tinge of green in them, inherited from their mother. When he was happy they would be a warm blue-green and when he was angry it would turn ice blue. Shepard's eyes were very… blue. Once in a while it felt like they were glowing to Fergus, and when he voiced that to Shepard the commander looked startled.
"Ah," he said, sounding embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture that Fergus understood as nervousness or embarrassment. "It's something my people have. I'd explain it, but I'm pretty sure it'd be a little too… complicated to understand." Fergus watched as Shepard's eyes darkened and his expression turned uneasy, and he guessed that it was due to homesickness.
He doesn't ask any more after that.
Leliana was the first of Aedan's former companions to meet Shepard. She had been looking into the matter of the darkspawn on behalf of Alistair and had arrived to rest for a few days. Fergus hadn't been there to greet her when she arrived but when he entered the main hall, he found the bard on the ground in tears and Shepard was kneeling before her. He looked up with a worried expression at Fergus and looked back at the bard.
"Leliana, are you alright?" Fergus asked as he hurried over to her. He knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling out a handkerchief with the other to give to her. She shook her head as she took the handkerchief from Fergus.
"He isn't Aedan," she sobbed. "I know he isn't Aedan, but Maker! He looks exactly like him." Shepard looked away and stood up.
"I'll, uh, I'll be in my room," he said, sounding a bit awkward. In that one moment he sounded exactly like Aedan and even Fergus swallowed hard, reminding himself that this was Shepard, not Aedan. He silently nodded and the commander left the room as Fergus coaxed Leliana to stand up. He pulled her into a hug and she clung to him as she cried into his chest. After a while Leliana wiped her eyes, looking embarrassed at crying all over his shirt.
"It's okay," Fergus said with a shaky smile. "He makes me think of Aedan too. It's late, I can give you a proper introduction tomorrow morning."
Shepard looked relieved that Leliana didn't didn't burst into tears when they met in the morning for breakfast. She still looked a bit shaken up at the sight of him, and Fergus suppose that it was due to the fact that he looked exactly like Aedan. It took awhile for the townspeople to get use to the fact that Shepard was not Aedan but merely a stranger who just looked like him. Fergus hoped that she would be able to accept that as well by the end of breakfast
"Shepard, this is Leliana," Fergus introduced. "Leliana, this is John Shepard."
"You do not call yourself John?" she inquired curiously.
"It's a soldier thing, I suppose," Shepard admitted. "People always called me Shepard." Fergus made a gesture for them to go to the dining room and the two nodded and followed the teyrn. He pulled out a chair for Leliana who took it with a smile before taking a seat next to her. Shepard took the seat across from the two.
"How goes your investigation?" Fergus asked as the servants brought a basket of fresh-made bread with strawberry preserve. Tea was also brought out and poured for them as Leliana picked up a piece of bread and slathered on the preserve.
"It's strange," she said before taking a bite. "I was at Vigil's Keep before coming here. There's a darkspawn who can talk."
"I'm sorry?" Fergus gave her a startled look, pausing in the middle of putting preserve onto his piece of bread. "I don't think I heard that correctly, my lady. Most darkspawns don't talk."
"I think there are a few that can," Leliana said seriously. "The new Warden-Commander met one when she arrived at Vigil's Keep. I haven't met any of the speaking ones yet but there has been rumors of some unexplained darkspawn activity on the outskirt of Amaranthanine." The servants entered the room again, carrying plates with eggs, sausages and other breakfast items, placing the food before them.
"If you don't mind me asking," Shepard asked, "but what's a darkspawn?" One of the servants nearly dropped a plate and Shepard nimbly saved the plate. The servant stammered out an apology before she hurried out of the room. Shepard looked puzzled by that as he looked back at both Leliana and Fergus.
"Darkspawn are monsters," Fergus said. "They're usually found in the Deep Roads, but when there's an archdemon around, they come to the surface and kill everything in their way."
"Your brother was fighting these darkspawns, wasn't he?" Shepard asked. Fergus nodded as he speared a couple sausages.
"I fought alongside Aedan against the darkspawn," Leliana said. "I can explain more about the darkspawn after breakfast. Perhaps you can tell me a little more about yourself, especially about your eyes."
"My eyes?" Shepard looked startled and his eyes brightened in surprise. "Um, what about them?"
"Well, they do glow a bit." Fergus started laughing at that.
[ EDIT: ] Reuploaded on 10/27/2010 with more text.
Still don't know what I'm doing. ^^;