DISCLAIMER: I do not own DA:O. No matter how much it pains me.
The sickness thrummed in his blood, flowing through his limbs. Each movement was a struggle, every step bringing him a little nearer to the brink of consciousness. He could hear the cacophony of thousands of voices, their chatter an incessant buzzing in his ears which gathered to pound inside his skull.
"I am Elvhenan! I shall not... submit..." He ground out and forced himself to move from the support of a roughly barked tree.
Finally he saw the tall wooden gate, barely registering the hostile faces of the guards until they moved to restrain him.
"NO!" He roared and lashed out wildly with his bare hands. He could feel ripped skin under his nails and the warm wet of blood. He saw a blow coming but was to sluggish to block the mailed fist from stealing the breath from his lungs.
Not bothering to regain his breath, he stuck out again, and was rewarded with the crunch of bone under his knuckles and a bellow of pain from where he'd kicked.
Then it all went dark, and all that was left was the sweet, sweet song.
The Day Before
Natia Brosca was not happy. The ceaseless blue loomed over her, ever taunting You'll never amount to anything, you can't even withstand the mere sight of the sky, pathetic casteless.
Maybe if she had been informed that joining the illustrious Grey Wardens entailed so much walking under the thrice damned sky she would have just remained in Orzammar under that beautiful stone and been executed. Maybe if Duncan had taken her straight to Ostagar instead traveling all of friggin' Thedas she wouldn't be so irritable but he'd insisted it was 'vital that he collect as many potential Wardens as he could before he performed the Joining ritual.' And he wouldn't even tell her anything about the ritual! That man...
So they'd stopped at seemingly every insignificant village, watching human after worthless human for some sign of something. Whatever Duncan was looking for they hadn't found until they'd traveled to the Circle Tower. (Though Duncan almost decided to conscript an unskilled cut purse of all things! At least she was a proper thief.)
Natia glanced at her fellow recruit. Alim was an elf and it was very clear that he'd lived in the Tower most of his life from the way his emerald eyes jumped all around their campsite, every new sight making his pink lips slide into a grin a childish excitement. Long black hair whipping back and forth as he tried to see anything and everything.
She was even newer to the surface and you didn't see her acting like a child. They shared that same sun deprived pale skin but that was all that was common between them.
In the tower, after they'd been shown to their rooms, Duncan mentioned how the very air around Alim crackled with magical energy, how his own skin had tingled just from standing near the slight mage.
She hadn't believed him until they'd been set upon by bandits a few hours from the Tower. The grinning elf had burnt them to ash with barely a twitch of his staffless hands. Since then she'd decided to allow his eccentricities because, though she was dwarva, no one the was that magic resistant.
Sighing and running a tired hand through her red locks, Natia settled into her bedroll to catch a few hours before her shift...
She woke with the suddenness every dwarf born in Dust Town knew, hand immediately reaching under her pillow for her dagger only to find it missing. Quietly, she sat up and peered into the darkness for what had woken her and carefully patting the earth in search of her weapon.
There was a dark figure a few feet from her bedroll and a shuffling sound as it went through the small party's supplies. With a silent snarl Natia bent and felt for the stone that had been digging into her back all night. It was roughly the size of her hand and she could feel sharp edges along one side.
Creeping towards the intruder on careful feet she was surprised when the figure abruptly leapt up and quicker than her eyes could follow was at the edge of the forests depths. Then she was surprised once again when Duncan appeared out of nowhere and just as fast, grasped its arm.
"Let me go, shem! Let me GO!" The girl shrieked as he dragged her closer to the fire. The light revealed a incredibly scrawny elf, with a cascade of limp golden hair hanging around her pale, dirty face. She wore the remnants of a white dress, torn so it reached only her knees.
Duncan made a placating gesture with his free hand, "Be calm, young one. I mean you on harm."
She laughed bitterly, "You shems always mean harm."
Duncan looked like he had one of his typically diplomatic responses prepared for that but Natia interrupted "What do you mean you mean her no harm? She was trying to steal from us! We should cut off one of her fingers!" That's what happened to plenty of dusters and it was very effective, they were usually never caught again.
The elf shrieked. Then Alim glided through the brush, coming belatedly to their aid, "What's wrong?" He looked around wildly before his eyes landed on the elf girl. "Oh! Hello! Who're you?" His head cocked in curiosity.
Th girls brown eyes were round with shock, "Y-you're an elf!"
Alim laughed, "Of course! How else could I be so staggeringly good looking?" He walked up to the fire and gently removed Duncan's hand from her arm, pulling her towards the log set up by the fire pit. Distrust was written in her every movement but she slowly sat.
A thought occurred to Natia, "What the hell, Alim? It was your watch, where were you?"
He flushed, "That's not important right now!" He very deliberately turned away from her and towards the elf girl with a charming smile, blush gone, "I'm Alim Surana, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"K-Kallian Tabris," she seemed strangely shy and docile now, all the fight gone clean out of her.
Duncan took this opportunity to include himself in the conversation, "My name is Duncan and that is Natia."
A hint of hostility crept back into the girls eyes, "Just let me leave and I swear you won't see me again. You can just go on your way and forget you ever saw me."
Alim frowned in almost offended manner, "But we're going to be great friends! You can't just leave!" Natia had a feeling she wasn't going to get as lucky with this one as she was with the cut purse.
...*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*...
After each chapter I'm gonna put a bit of a bio on each character I introduced. Here it is!
Origin: DALISH ELF
Name:Theron Mahariel
Age:22
Sex:Male
Class:Warrior
Specialization:Ranger (Grew up in the woods and always had an understanding of animals despite not being a rogue)
Weapon(s):Longbow and second set consisting of a longsword and shield
Armor:Medium
Fight Style:Ranged if possible; efficient and accurate, carefully calculated
Personality: Strong and silent, intentionally standoffish. He has a disdain for humans and for his city cousins, but doesn't hate them.
Hair:Shoulder length platinum blonde hair with top half pulled tightly back with no braids
Skin: Very tan
Eyes: Ice blue
Body:Average height for an elven male, lean muscles and wide shoulders for an elf
Origin:DWARF COMMONOR
Name: Natia Brosca
Age: 19
Sex: Female
Class: Rogue
Specialization: Legionnaire Scout
Weapon(s): A mace and a dagger
Armor: Medium
Fight Style: Very solid, fights each opponent till they're undoubtably out of the fight
Personality:Abrasive, but pleasant in her own way, a little haughty
Hair: Short vibrant red with braids throughout
Skin:Pale
Eyes:Light green with specks of blue
Body: Tall for dwarven woman, very curvacious
Origin:MAGE ELF
Name: Alim Surana
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Class: Mage
Specialization: None yet but eventually Arcane Warrior
Weapon(s): None for now
Armor: Robes with the littlest bit of armor on his chest
Fight Style: Defies expectation, out of control, wild with a short attention span and undependable
Personality: Enthusiastic, optimistic, impulsive and self-centered
Hair: Long black hair in low pony tail with long, wild bangs
Skin:Pale
Eyes:Emerald green
Body: Very slight, toned but really no muscle
Origin:CITY ELF
Name: Kallian Tabris
Age: 16
Sex:Female
Class: Rogue
Specialization: Duelist
Weapon(s): Shortsword and dagger
Armor: Light
Fight Style:Ridiculously quick, and very stealthy, if not the most technically skilled
Personality:Very cheerful and happy when comfortable but has a deep rooted hatred for humans and is very sensitive to discrimination of any sort, be it for her race, sex, or anything else.
Hair: Honey blonde waves that reach the mid of her back that she twists into a bun
Skin:Pale
Eyes:Chocolate brown
Body: Extremely petite, almost childlike