Asha would be scared, but her brother is there. Feynriel pulls her close and whispers into her ear, "Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you."
She stills in his embrace and leans into him. The Fade uncoils around her as he starts a simple exercise he created to calm her. Tension drains from her surroundings. She stretches out her hands to join in. Feynriel does not need gestures to help him, but she is still learning and needs that extra action to fully connect with the Fade.
Together they smooth out the twisted, bruised sky and sooth the cracked earth into serenity. Her garden blooms around her. Asha slips from her brother's fingers and touches a budding flower. All around her, petals drift open and release shimmering night-scented dust into the air. Feynriel's pride and approval saturate the soil, and she takes deep breaths.
Feynriel takes her hand and pulls a finger across her palm. Normally, her heart would flutter and pound at the spider-webbed crack running through it, but her brother is there and she is safe.
He pulls her close. "Be brave for me, Asha. I'm going to send a friend of mine to help keep you safe, okay? Her name is Kitty." He steps away from her. "I won't be able to visit you as often. Just for a bit."
"But why? Please don't leave me."
"I'm not going anywhere." He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'll always be here for you. A lot has happened in the last three days, Asha. The veil is hurt somehow and it's hurting the spirits. Cracks have opened up, and the spirits are getting sucked out of the Fade."
She shuffles her feet. "Oh. That sounds bad."
He kneels down to eye level and smiles. "It is, but I'm doing my best to keep the spirits away from the cracks." Asha feels more than sees his smile falter. "But we're both going to be strong. Can you be strong for me, Asha?"
She nods and flings her arms around his neck. "I love you, Feynriel."
"I love you too," he whispers. "It's time to wake up now."
Her eyes cracked open. Her palm burned and burned. She whimpered and squirmed deeper into the blankets.
"Be still, child." A slender hand touched her forehead. "How are you feeling?"
A bald elf stood over her. A dwarf with an alarming amount of chest hair offered her a glass of water. Asha snatched it and got as much in her mouth as on the bed. The elf muttered something and lifted her out of the sodden blankets.
"I'm not a child, I'm twelve, and I can stand just fine," she said.
The elf's brow twitched slightly, but he set her down. The dwarf looped his arm around her waist. "Well I need help standing, so you can help me."
His eyes twinkled at her, and she didn't have the heart to push him away. It would be like kicking a wisp.
The elf knelt to eye level. "I am Solas," he said. "And this is Varric."
"Okay."
He nodded and waited. For her name probably. She smiled at him, but offered nothing. She would be strong for Feynriel.
"She's a spitfire," Varric said and he gave her a squeeze.
"I'm a human," she said helpfully. The elf's brow twitched again and Varric burst into laughter.
Her palm flared and she bit back a scream. Pain and wrongness lanced through her and she would have collapsed if not for the dwarf holding her. She clenched her hand shut when Solas moved towards her. His mouth became a thin line and he forced her fingers apart.
Acidic green energy sparked from her hand. Asha forced herself to look at it, though it would have been easier to chew her arm off. The air thrummed around them and the elf snapped out something in another language.
Varric untangled himself and nearly ripped a crossbow off his back. "Hide." The two charged out the door. She caught a flash of the same acidic green in the air before it slammed shut.
Asha did her best not to huddle on the floor at the sounds of combat. She didn't like fighting. She never had. It brought back memories of her mother. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. Goosebumps prickled her fingertips.
:Don't worry,: a voice said in her head. :I'll protect you.: A striped, orange tabby butted her head against Asha's arm. The cat looked up at her, and that was all it needed to do for Asha to know that it was not really a cat.
"Are you Kitty?"
The cat purred and nestled against her. :Yes. Your brother is a good friend of mine. I'm hoping we can be friends too.:
She stroked the cat's fur. "I like cats."
:Me too.:
Asha could feel her heartbeat slowing down. It was good to have a spirit with her. She picked up Kitty and cracked open the door. The wound in reality pulsed. Mad spirits swarmed around Solas, Varric and an armoured woman. A lithe archer sent arrows flying into the spirits. Kitty squirmed out of her arms and stared intently at the battle. She hissed and pressed herself against Asha's ankles.
Solas' head snapped towards her. The elf leapt at her and snatcher her hand. Solas pulled her towards the wound and slammed her hand into the crack in reality.
Asha cried out at the pressure that set her palm afire. The wound in reality snapped shut. She wrenched herself away from Solas. The armoured woman stormed towards her. "What did you do?"
Asha stared up at her, heart in her throat. The woman's eyes flashed and she towered over her. Blood dripped of the tip of her sword. This woman couldn't be real. She was thunder incarnate. She had to be. The woman's hands trembled and her voice spiraled up an octave. "What did you do?"
:Pretend to cry,: Kitty said. :Trust me.:
That was all the encouragement Asha needed. She burst into tears and collapsed.
"Cassandra, look at her. She's a child." The archer cradled her and stroked her hair. "She didn't do anything." The archer picked her up and held her delicately, as though she were liable to break apart at any moment. "Come on, let's get you something to eat."
Asha peered over the archer's shoulder and saw Kitty sitting by a copse of trees. The cat switched her tail back and forth and winked. :I told you I'd keep you safe.: