The sun shone through the trees, as the wind rustled the tree leaves. A mysterious figure rushed through the wilds and was nothing but a mere shadow among the trees. This figure was Gigi, a thirteen year old girl, who arrived at Ostagar with her brother to help the grey wardens fight the darkspawn threat. Over the past years she learned to defend herself and should not be underestimated. She goes out every day to hunt in the Korcari Wilds, but only when she's not running errands for Duncan or doing some tasks around the encampment in Ostagar.
As the girl ran through the wilds at high speed, she dodged the several bushes and rocks that were in her way. The trees quickly zoomed past her as she ran. All of a sudden her foot was caught by a rope and Gigi was flung into the air and was now hanging up-side down. 'Damn it' she swore in her mind as she looked at the rope around her foot. No doubt that the Chasing that live in the wilds set the trap. She tried looking for a way to cut the rope down, or at least another way of escape, but the girl found nothing. She started to hear twigs snapping in the distance and also faint footsteps approaching towards her location. Gigi started to panic, what if it was the chasind that were nearby and were alerted by the noise of the trap, what if it was another unknown threat… nevertheless Gigi knew she was in trouble. As the footsteps neared, the girl tried desperately to free herself, but it was no use, the rope was tightly tied to her ankle. She took her axe that hung from her hip as a mean of defense, although she knew that it would be useless if the enemies were equipped with bows. As the bushes nearby rattled, Gigi immediately reacted and threw her axe towards the bush, in hoped that it will scare away whoever was hiding behind it. Unfortunately the axe flew right past the target and flew deeper into the woods, although not too far away from its master.
"Whoa, you almost killed me with that!" A familiar voice shouted, as the figures started to slowly emerge from behind the bushes.
"Alistair! You don't even know how glad I am it was you!" Gigi said as she swung back and forwards. The blond Templar stared at his sibling as the other person that was with Alistair emerged from the bushes. It was a young woman, around the same age as Alistair and she looked like she could handle herself well, with a sword and shield on her back, she was clearly a warrior.
"You know, that's the first time you've actually said that to me… this is such a precious moment" Alistair said and faked some tears. Gigi rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, okay, can you just get me down from here" The girl ordered as the Templar and the woman chuckled. Alistair approached his sibling and cut the rope that was trapping her and Gigi started to fall towards the ground, but Alistair caught her just before she could make contact with the dirt. "Thanks, now then were did my axe go…" Gigi said and walked in the direction her axe flew in.
"Really? Not even a 'hello, Alistair, how have you been doing'?" The Templar said sarcastically as his sister didn't even pay attention. He let out a sigh as his comrade chuckled.
"So she's your sister?" The woman questioned and looked at the girl, who wandered aimlessly in search for her weapon.
"And I thought it wasn't that obvious" Alistair spoke.
"Ahh, there it is!" Gigi yelled and took her axe from the ground. "A bit dirty, but it's still good". She put it back in the sheath on her hip and joined the others.
"You remind me of myself, when I was your age" The woman said and chuckled. "You're going to grow up well, that you can be certain of".
Gigi chuckled and began to speak once more "If he didn't mention this, but my name's Georgine, but please call me Gigi".
"And I'm Elissa, a pleasure to meet Alistair's famous sister" Elissa spoke and looked at the Templar.
"Me? Famous? Why would you say that?" The girl questioned and turned her head towards the warrior.
"Well, everyone at Ostagar seemed to know who you are and what you're capable of" Elissa explained as Gigi's expression changed to happiness.
"Well, what can I say… I'm sociable, and a bit awkward, like my dear brother here" the girl said and pointed at her sibling.
"I'm awkward? Hmm… well I never" He said sarcastically. Gigi and Elissa chuckled.
"Alright then, now that we've found you, we should get back to Ostagar, Duncan is probably awaiting our return" The warrior said and beckoned the other two to follow. The two siblings joined Elissa and the group started to walk back to the ruins of Ostagar.
As the wind got stronger and the sun was hidden by the clouds, it got quite dark and cold in the wilds, more than usual. The group didn't pay attention to this too much and only made small talk between themselves.
"So you seem to know a great deal, how to defend yourself" Elissa started as she looked at Gigi. The girl raised her head and nodded, but stayed silent for a moment before speaking
"Most of it is self-thought… but some things are… there from birth…" she finished and looked down. Elissa's eyes narrowed as she stared at the girl. "I don't even know how to fully control it" Gigi continued. Alistair walked up besides the two females and put his hand on his sister's shoulder. "But… I think I've said too much, you don't have to worry about me" she said and smiled at Elissa. The warrior was surprised how the mood of the girl suddenly changed, but didn't want to bother asking anymore questions about it.
"So you two seem to be very close" Elissa spoke and looked in the distance.
"Of course we are, we're family" Alistair said and looked at Gigi, who nodded to Elissa.
"Yes, yes, but you two seem to have a different bond from the sibling that I've ever seen, and I personally think so, since I have a brother, who's an ass" The warrior explained. "When we were younger, he use to cut lumps of my hair when I was sleeping… walked around the castle like a scare crow" Elissa chuckled and continued "I still love him no matter what".
"Oh believe me, that always happens with me and Alistair… he puts bugs under my pillow" Gigi said and pointed at her brother.
"Hey! Don't act like you're the victim here… you once put melted cheese in my hair!" Alistair whined. "Did you know how hard it was to get it all out?" He questioned and felt his hair "I had a little bald spot after that.
The girl laughed, whilst Elissa tried to hold in her laughter. "But you said you liked cheese!" Gigi said "And wait, you also love your hair, so I combined the two… you can thank me now!" she said and crossed her arms while smiling. Elissa chuckled at the girl response.
"Well, when you look at it in that way, I guess it is quite good… but I still had a hard time after it" Alistair said. There was a moment of silence before everyone started to laugh…
All of a sudden all three of them started to hear noises nearby. They all drew their weapons and got ready for anything. The bushes nearby rattled as a horrible growl was heard. After a moment several darkspawn appeared behind the group and several emerged from the bushes.
"This is not an even match!" Gigi screamed as she made the first blow to one of the darkspawn that were behind, with her axe.
"I don't think they care!" Elissa answered as she blocked one of the darkspawn's attacks. Alistair helped his sister take on the ones behind, since there was a bigger number of them. As the current group was defeated, even more appeared after them.
"Are you kidding me!?" Gigi said in an angry tone as she drew her bow and shot one of them. Alistair and Elissa both charged at the group of darkspawn and delivered several killing blows to the darkspawn. As they continued to fight one of the darkspawn cleverly moved around the warriors and behind Gigi. It took the girl by the throat and put a knife against it. Gigi didn't scream or anything she only concentrated as she felt an unknown power stirring inside her as her hands started to emit a slight light. With an instant, she put her hands on the darkspawn's rotting arm and it was shocked by lightning and fell dead on the ground. Gigi fell on her knees in pain from the usage of this powers, as her breathing was a bit faster than usual. As the remaining darkspawn were killed, Alistair quickly rushed to his sister's side and put his hand on her shoulder.
"No, no, I'm fine… just haven't done that in a while, that's all" Gigi said as she got up and looked at her hands, which were slightly smoking from the electricity.
"So is this what you were talking about, when you said 'some things are there from birth'?" Elissa questioned as she sheathed her sword and approached the two. Gigi looked in her direction and nodded. "So you're a mage?" she asked once again.
"Yes, but… the abilities I have are not that of a normal mage… I mean no other mage that I've ever met can do what I can do… although only a few know of my power, since you know if any Templars would know about this, they would probably lock me up somewhere" Gigi explained as her hand fell to her sides. Elissa let out a 'hmm' sound and smiled.
"Well, you can be sure that I will keep it a secret" she said. Gigi smiled at this.
"Well, it's only until I learn how to properly use it, then I can defend myself from those bastards… no offence, Alistair, you're not a bastard… uhhh, yeah… yeah" the girl finished with in and awkward way. Elissa didn't pay much attention to this and nodded. Alistair looked at his sister and didn't say anything, as Gigi only stared down at the ground with a worried look…
The three continued to walk in silence towards Ostagar as the birds sang their song further in the forest. The tower Ishal was now clearly visible, as it reached towards the sky. The group approached the entrance to the camp. As the gate guards saw the three, they immediately opened the gates for the group. They stepped inside and the guards closed the gates after them.
"Alright, now we need to find Duncan… Where would he be?" Elissa questioned the two siblings.
"Well, he should be next to the bonfire to the east of here, but if he's not than he's at the king's tent" Alistair answered and pointed to each location. Elissa nodded…
"Let's go!" the warrior called and started walking to the bonfire. As expected, Duncan was there. "Duncan, we found Gigi…" Elissa said as they approached the grey warden. Duncan turned around and glanced at Gigi, who was distracted by a bird in the sky.
"Hm, very well… Have you spoken to the other recruits?" He questioned Elissa, as she nodded."
"Yes, just before we left" she explained. Gigi heard this and immediately looked at the warrior.
"So you're saying that you didn't even rush to find me? Well I feel loved…" She said sarcastically and crossed her arms. Duncan and Elissa chuckled, while Alistair put arm around Gigi's shoulder.
"Don't worry, you'll get there someday" He said and messed up the girl hair.
"You're unbelievable…" She said in a sad tone. After a moment she began to laugh as well. "Anyway, what do we need to do next, Duncan?" she questioned.
"I need you to get the other recruits and venture into the wilds again… you will need to collect a vial of darkspawn for every recruit. And Alistair will also be accompanying you" Duncan said to Elissa. Gigi looked at the warden with a confused look.
"What about me?" She asked and stepped forwards. "I'm not going with them?"
"I need you to stay here and help the other soldiers prepare for tonight" Duncan explained, as the girl looked back at Elissa.
"But… I want to go with them" she said in a sad tone. Gigi looked down at the ground and pouted.
"You will be safer here" Alistair spoke from behind his sister. Gigi looked at him with a disappointed look.
"I'm not a weakling, Alistair, I can take care of myself… but I'm surprised that you, of all people, underestimated me…" Gigi said and let out a long sigh. "But I guess I will only get in the way… so just go" she said and walked off without saying another word. Elissa looked at Alistair, who stared at his sister walking off, with a sad look.
As Gigi got further and further from them, she started to pick up her pace and after a moment she started to run towards the tower of Ishal. As she ran across the bridge, the frown that she had was replaced with a mischievous smile. She behind the tower, where a small entrance to a large cave was. She crawled inside and took a torch that was attached to one of the walls of the cave. As Gigi walked down one of the tunnels of the cave with the torch, she heard screeching not far away. Suddenly some bats flew right past the girl, but she didn't falter, she was use to this. As she made it to the end of the tunnel, she entered a medium sized room, which was furnished with armor stands, chests, desks and other things. She extinguished the torch, since the room was already lit up with a few light sources, like candles and glowing mushrooms. This room once server as a cellar for the tower, but when the fortress was abandoned, they sealed the entrance to it and the only way you could get to it was from a secret tunnel, that Gigi went through. But the girl uses this room as a little place to be alone, away from anyone. She approached one of the chests on the further right of the room and opened it. Inside laid several throwing knifes, arrows and other sharp objects that were neatly organized. She took out a few shivs and attached them to her belt, for later use. If you're wondering where these weapons came from, well when the soldiers abandoned the tower, they left a few pieces of rusted armor and a lot of weapons that were still good to use…
After Gigi was done preparing, she walked up to a desk, took a satchel and attached it to her belt as well. Inside the little bag, was a book, about the size of the girl's hand. As Gigi was done getting prepared she stopped right before the tunnel back to the outside. She took a deep breath and said in her mind 'Alright, now I need to catch up to the others'…
