"Isa?" Something else was said, though she did not understand.
Her stomach churned. How dare they use that name? It was only for the lady.
"Isa? Are you awake?"
Isa? Why did that sound familiar? She understood their words now. One world faded as the other came into focus. Who was Isa? Was that her? It sounded… Incomplete. That couldn't be it.
"Isa?"
A different voice, weathered with age, gentler. There was a soft touch on her shoulder. The other world was gone, lost to her. Yes, she was Isa. That made sense. Nothing else did, but that much made sense. She opened her eyes, gazing up at a warm, wrinkled face with faded green designs burned into the flesh. The design was vaguely familiar. So was the face.
"What?" Her own voice cracked, as if she hadn't used it in a long time. She choked on it, coughing. The old elven man held a water skin to her lips. "Drink, da'len." The cool liquid soothed her throat. Water had never tasted so good. The first voice reached her ears, "she's awake!" Too loud, she winced. "Hush," the older man turned his head, "go and get Devessa."
"Where am I?" Isa sat up fully, swaying a bit, the world spinning. "What happened? What… who…" She was seized by panic. "I remember nothing." Her chest felt tight. Everything was blank. The old elf took one of her hands in his. Her hand was dwarfed. "Calm down, da'len, you are safe here. Do you remember nothing of the ruins?" She looked up at him. He had kind brown eyes, and streaks of gold in his gray hair. She shook her head.
He handed her a piece of bread. "Eat slowly, Isa." She took a bite, and he began to speak. "It was very strange, where we found you. We roamed much farther south than we usually do, passing through Ferelden towards the Kocari wilds." These names meant nothing to Isa, but she listened. "I do not know why, but we were all overcome with the desire to travel that way. When we approached the wilds, we turned East and made our way to the sea, through the Brecilian forest. Something about it seemed very out of place. We came across some caves in the cliffs. We made camp there. Geris, the young man who was just in here, and myself went into the caves. I would have taken more hunters, but the passages were narrow, and should something have happened, I did not want to lose any more people than necessary."
"We made our way through the caves, and it was very strange, because we both remember the fact that there were many carvings on the walls, though neither of us can recall what they were. As we got further in, they were less like caves and more like ruins. Finally, we reached what appeared to be a tomb. We stepped foot in the chamber, and the braziers lit up with veilfire." "What's veilfire?" Isa asked. The old man replied, "a memory of fire that occurs when the veil is thin." Isa tilted her head, "the veil?" The old man seemed surprised. "You have much to learn, da'len. First, let me finish the story." Isa smiled slightly and nodded.
The old man leaned back a bit in his seat. "In the middle of the chamber was a sarcophagus. We approached, and a strange feeling washed over me. I felt as if I were in the presence of some great power. I told Geris to stay back, just in case, and I reached out and touched the stone. For a moment, it was warm, glowing with what appeared to be some form of lyrium, though I'm not certain. Then it split in two. The stone fell to either side. I expected to find a long rotted corpse inside, imagine my surprise when a child sat up and looked at me." He smiled, almost laughing. "You gave me quite a fright, da'len." Isa was only more confused. "Then what?" He continued, "I tried to ask you your name, but you didn't understand me. You spoke an ancient language, I'm not even sure if it was elvish. So I pointed at myself, and I said my name, 'Atrith,' and I pointed to Geris and said his, then I pointed to you. You seemed to understand, but you didn't seem to be able to remember. All you could come up with was 'Isa,' so that is what we have been calling you. You stood and guided us out of the cave. You were wrapped in rags, though it must have once been quite some finery, judging by what's left. Once we left the cave, you fainted, and the cave collapsed behind us. You've been asleep for two weeks now."
That only left Isa with more questions, but she doubted he could answer them. "At least I can understand you now. But what am I supposed to do? I don't know who I am." She was terribly frightened. She was, after all, a child, appearing no older than 10.
"Well," a new voice, a woman's, reached her ears as the tent flap was pushed aside. Her smile was very welcoming. "Doesn't matter what you are, dear. You look like an elf, and you can learn like one. You can stay with us, clan Lavellan." Isa liked this woman. Atrith bowed his head in greeting, "Devessa, this is Isa. Isa, this is Devessa, our clan's healer." "A pleasure, Miss." Isa smiled warmly. "Such manners!" Devessa knelt in front of her and began examining her arm, "you're all skin and bones, dear, has Keeper Atrith not fed you yet? Shame on him, we'll have to fix that." Isa giggled a bit, feeling much better.
The old Keeper huffed, "feed her slowly, we can't have her getting sick. First things first, once she's healthy-" Davessa cut him off, "other than being a little thin, she's fit as a bird." Atrith nodded, "then we'll start with her education. She doesn't know anything. We also need to find out if she has any magical talent." Davessa nodded, "there's probably something, since she was in those ruins for who knows how long, but it may not have come from her. Might be a curse. But enough of that. For now, we need to fatten you up, dear." Isa took the fruit offered to her, delighting in the juice that ran down her chin when she bit into it. "Thank you," she mumbled around a mouthful." "You're welcome dear. Welcome to the family."