Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age or any of its characters.

Note Before Reading: This is my first Fanfiction so any reviews are more than welcomed. This story is Pre- DA:I...and really all games. This world is based off of the implication that Solas gives that Elven gods/goddess were not gods but rather very powerful mages. The time frame for the beginning of the story takes place before Tevinter brought the Elves into slavery, Solas is born just before that occurs. It's his journey into becoming so familiar and comfortable in the Fade. I hope you enjoy it! :D

So much talking, everyone speaking in shouts or whispers about the Teventer Imperium closing in on the Elvish lands. Fear clung to their words, even when they were trying to be comforting with them. The Elven lands were broken up into villages, close-knit villages with just enough space between them to call them separate, so words were free flowing between them and news traveled fast. Already the villages nearest to the human lands had sent word that armies could be seen. It had put everyone ill at ease and tensions were constantly high.

The small child lie in his bed, clinging tightly to the small wooden toy in the shape of a horse. To Solas, it seemed that if he held on tight enough that no one could harm him. A whimper escaped his lips as he heard his parents whisper harshly about whether or not that should run or stand to fight. His grey eyes shut roughly, wanting to pull his pillow over his ears but he couldn't release the toy long enough to utilize his hands in that way. Sleep was approaching, the restless sort that he never welcomed but it came every night. "I'm scared..." he whispered, his voice fading away with slumber, "I want fun."

Hours passed, and when he awoke he immediately noticed that his toy was no longer in his arms. A panic set in as he snatched his hairless head up from his pillow, and he frantically looked about for it. Peering over the foot of the bed, there all his toys were. Each and every one set up as if specially prepared for him to begin to play with. The six year old raised a brow; he knew for certain that he hadn't left them in such a way, and his parents barely seemed to notice he existed most of the time since the danger had moved closer, so they weren't the culprits. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a shimmer of light, but when he turned to look at it he found that nothing was there. It must have been his eyes playing tricks on him, mistaking the morning light as something else.

His bare feet landed on the wooden floor with a soft thud, and he walked over to the set up with a soft smile. Small hands gripped the wooden figures, moving them around and acting out the peaceful scenes that he never got to see. Never did he have battles with them; battles reminded him too much about what might be coming from the Imperium. All his short life had been filled with fear from them so it became important to him that no violence leak into his play, and he even focused to not let it change him as a person. He was so young, yet he was wise.

The day passed as so many before it had, him playing alone and never really reaching out to interact with the other children. It wasn't that he had something against them, but he never felt he fit in with them. Already he showed great magical promise, and he spent his time trying to teach himself all the wonders that he was capable of. No one was frightened of his power, but a boy fascinated with matters beyond his age didn't interest them. They preferred playing house, battles and the like, and while that excluded him a great deal, he stood firm in his hopes that one day they would notice him, accept him for who he truly was and see his worth. After all, wise or not, he was still a child, searching for joy and happiness as any child would.

When night came, he climbed into bed only to look back on the day and feel as if it was a waste of time. How many times had he smiled today? Once. The only time that he's smiled was when he'd noticed the display at the foot of his bed. Outside his bedroom door he could hear his parents preparing the home for the night, picking up all the things strewn out during the day and closing all the windows with the wooden shudders. Suddenly, he remembered the morning more vividly and thought back over the surprise he'd found. Throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, he got up and grabbed the horse figure to carry back to bed. Solas held it close as had become his night time ritual. Tucked back under the blanket, he felt a sense of dread come over him. Sleep would bring a discomfort that he couldn't describe if he had to, but as he began to drift off all the stress melted away in a most unusual turn of events.

His eyes opened, and yet he had the distinct feeling that they were still shut. The world that was before him wasn't his, but yet he found it welcoming. He was sitting there completely lost in his thoughts and trying to understand what was happening. True shapes were impossible to make out, just swirls of purples, blues and every other color he could name. There were arches, bumpy as if they were made out of stone, but yet he'd never seen a stone like that. The ground beneath him was rough though not entirely unpleasant as he ran his hand over it, having to touch the purple surface.

"You can make it whatever you want it to be, the Fade that is." a girl's voice called, causing Solas to snatch his head from side to side seeking her. The Fade? He'd heard of it, heard that mages could visit there; he also knew that it was the home to spirits, demons...so much was hidden just beyond that thin barrier that separated the two worlds, The Veil as they called it. The boy looked at his hands, no toy, and then over himself to see that he was still wearing his simple brown shirt, long and made of a soft wool, and his olive green pants made of a rougher cotton. As his eyes were on the material, the voice came again, "You can change those too, if you want."

The elf looked up and called, "Where are you?" He turned his head to look left in his search, and when he looked back forward there she was; sitting cross-legged in front of him, a female child that appeared to be an elf was biting her lip before him. Her blonde hair was flowing down her back, and her large green eyes were full of curiousity as they studied him. She appeared no older than he was, but the aura around her was like nothing he had ever felt before. A smile broke out on her face after she'd spent many seconds taking in every detail of him, "I'm right here, silly."

Solas looked over her, "And I'm in the Fade? How did I get here?" His eyes wandered away, looking all around but always glancing back to her as if scared she'd disappear just as suddenly as she'd appeared. The girl gave him time to take in everything before answering, "Yes, you're in the Fade, and you're here because I brought you here...and because you wanted to come." Her voice was reassuring, but that was perhaps simply because it wasn't laced with fear as most of the ones he heard were lately. He raised a brow, his eyes showing that he was upset about being taken without his spoken permission.

"I didn't ask to be brought here!" he yelled at her, scrambling backwards to put distance between them, "You're one of those demons! You brought me here to possess me! What are you? Envy?! Wrath?!" A look of hurt came over her, but she erased it as she shook her head. Now her voice was softer as she stammered through her form of an explanation; it was hard to hear for him even with only feet of distance between them, "Y-you were scared.. In the physical world you were scared. You wanted to be happy, and you silently h-hoped every night to not be scared. You were a-already so connected to the Fade that it was easy to bring y-you in, when you were asleep it was barely a thought that let me bring you...bring you to m-me."

Her words were cryptic to him, but they comforted him all the same. He had been scared in the physical world, he had wanted an escape from his nightmarish sleep, and this place did have a sense of peace to it. "There's lot of places I can show you here. Some of them are so beautiful. Come on! We can discover so many of them together." she told him, standing up from the ground and holding out her hand for him to take. He was taken aback by how she simply seemed to forget that they'd just met, but he wasn't going to look over such an important factor and he still had many questions about being here. He held out his own hand, lowering it to show that he wanted her to take her seat once more. The look of disappointment was obvious, but she plopped back on the ground and stared at him.

"Am I really here?" he asked, watching as she looked confused. Did she not understand his question or was it that she didn't understand the answer? Green eyes went over him, then closed for a period that seemed longer than it likely was. The words didn't seem to be coming to her, but finally she looked back at him with an answer so complicated that it was clear why she had to think about it all, "Yes...No...Yes and no. Oh, nothing is certain here in the Fade. You are here. Your mind and spirit are here with me and all that happens here is real and has consequences both here and in the physical world. Your body is right where you left it, warm in your bed. So...both... You're in both, um,but mostly this one, I suppose."

Understanding his situation made him settle down even more now, and finally he was getting a chance to really look over her. So here he was, but who or what was she? "You're a spirit, aren't you?" he asked, now sounding more interested than accusing or frightened. He received a nod along with a smile that showed she was happy to finally be getting somewhere with him. There was a pause as he took in this information, giving her a chance to speak her own questions, "What's your name?"

The second he thought he had a grip on things, she gave him new information that he didn't understand. "I thought you... If you wanted to bring me to you, certainly you know my name." With a shake of her head, the spirit answered, "No, I sensed you and your feelings. I tried to help, but I never invaded your space enough to learn much about you." He's always thought spirits were free to know what they wanted, but she had a sense of respect for personal space that he didn't expect.

"My name is Solas. What is yours?" he answered, seeming very proud at the beginning and then anxious to know her name. Her name, spirits were called by their virtues after all, so this would make it very clear what sort of being he was dealing with. He waited for an answer, but simply watched as she studied her hands with a lost look on her face. He gave her several minutes, but no answer came so he repeated himself, "What is your name, spirit?" Now he only got a shrug with still a lost look. Solas tilted his head and spoke, "Everyone has a name. What's yours? You have to have one."

She sighed, "I don't know. This is new to me, I guess... No one calls anything." His eyes scanned over her and asked, "New? I thought all spirits were old ones?"

"No, some of us are very young and some very old. We are all different." she informed him, knowing this fact without a doubt. The male leaned in, scooting forward the distance that he'd moved back when he'd been frightened earlier and asked, "You said you're new to this. How old are you exactly?" She bobbed her head back and forth as she considered that and answered, "A few years. Long enough I have a few friends here and know my way around some." Now she had all his attention, and he continued, "Will you grow up? I mean, like I will, or will you always be a little girl?" He honestly wasn't sure, already the way she talked was more mature than her appearance let on; would she become even wiser and yet her words would always come from a small girl with her tender voice?

A small chuckle came from her lips and she answered, "I will grow older...and 'up' as you put it. I will reach my peak and then cease to age, much the way you will, Solas." That was always an odd thought to him, that he would grow to be a man but never into an old man and that his life would continue on and on unless something ended it. In an weird way, he was happy that she wouldn't forever be a child, that she would get to grow up and live as a woman. "So," he paused, "You've been alive for years and you have no name?" She shook her head, looking almost depressed over the matter though who wouldn't be a little disheartened to have no name to call your own.

"I'll get one some day, when I'm older and stand for something... I suppose it gives me something to strive for, yes? I want to stand for something I really believe in so I can have a name that I like..." she offered, glancing away before looking back with a look that told him she didn't want pity. Solas bit his bottom lip lightly before asking, "How long before you have a name?" He seemed so obsessed with her having a name, which made sense since he was given one at birth. "Probably years, I'll know it when I'm worthy." she whispered, then spoke once more to try to change the subject, "Do you want go see something? There's lots of things I can show you not too far from here."

Solas nodded to her to show he let the conversation go as both of them stood up and walked together in a randomly selected direction. There was a peaceful silence, one like he'd often craved in his home as they strolled. She pointed to landmarks, and he watched as the Fade became less of an abstract piece of art and started feeling more like home. He found it peculiar that this place, so new to him, felt more comfortable than his actual world, if that was the proper way of phrasing that. In their silence, only broken by short bursts of conversation about something they were looking at, they didn't see any other beings; he could only imagine that that was intentional on her part to slowly adjust him to the Fade.

It had been hours since the start of their journey, and finally he spoke one single word, "Elora." She turned to look at him with a complete lack of understanding, "I'm sorry?" Solas stopped, turning to face her and taking both of her hands into his own as he'd seen many adults do when they wanted their partner in a conversation to get a clear understanding of a statement, "Your name...I want to give you one." Her brows knitted and she asked, "Why do I need a name so badly, Solas?"

Now it was his turn to chuckle as he commented, "Because it's strange to talk to someone with no name." "I'm strange?" she grinned, "Aren't you rather the strange one? A boy with no hair?" He took back one of his hands to run it over his head in a self-conscious way and glanced away from their eyes being locked. She used her now free hand to tip his head downwards and she stood on her tip-toes to place a kiss on his head. "I like strange. Strange is good." she told him, watching as he blushed. Ah, yes, he was still a child and still so shy of any sort of affection. Her mind went back to his naming of her, and she shook her head, "It's a lovely name...but what does it mean? What did I do to be worthy of it?"

He took her hand back as he spoke with confidence rare for a child of six, "It means that when I say that name I'm talking to you, when I hear it I'll picture you, and when you hear it you'll think about this moment and me. It means that I think you're worthy of a name just for yourself."

She blinked though it was clear that she was pleased, and then added, "You know that spirits don't have names like that... We get named for our virtues. What will it mean?" Solas gave an unsure smile, and squeezed her hand as he answered, "It will mean that you saved me from nightmares... Is that enough of a meaning?"

"It's strange...I like strange..." Elora grinned happily "Strange is good." Her eyes sparkled as she released one of his hands and kept the other, and then she pulled him to continue walking. They passed by a pond, and she paused on the bank to allow him to stare into the brilliant blue water.

A look of sadness came over her as she mentioned, "You have to go back now, Solas. Night is nearly over and you'll need to wake up." Near panic came over his face at the thought of going back to that stress filled world from this calm place. "How do I do this? Go and forth?" he asked her, now not even looking at the water. She gave a gentle smile and assured him, "You wake up and you go to sleep. I'll help you get here until you get the hang of it. I promise you, Solas...Traveling to the Fade will be as easy as slumber."

"That's very strange." he commented, though he believed her fully. Elora nodded to him, knowing it would be some time until he adjusted to all of this. A large grin covered his face as he thought of this journey and added, "But I like strange...strange is good." A laugh, a genuine laugh, came from both of them as she grabbed his hands once more and enjoyed the moment. Leaning forward, she whispered into his ear softly, "Wake up, Solas."

And with that, he was torn away from the beautiful world and his new friend. Suddenly, the daytime meant nothing to him...he just wanted to fall back asleep and see all that the Fade had to offer, including spending time with Elora. Yes, it was very strange, but he was very okay with that.

I hope you enjoyed it and please review! More chapters to come very soon. I know it's starting a bit slow but I promise it will improve! :D