Unspoken
"Mm" he didn't want to do this
Even though Yuven said he would help find the Paragon he was a bit wary of going back into the deep roads
He stared at the entrance for ages, his eyes still as wide when he first approached and the reason behind it was very simple
Spiders
Spiders with their eight longish legs and big bug eyes made the hairs on the back of his neck stand.
Even made his skin crawl
"Come on Warden, the sooner we find Branka the sooner we can get this over with" Oghren mumbled
Yuven still didn't move for a while, his thoughts still plaguing his mind until a hand on his shoulder was able to bring him back. Yuven jumped and looked to see Zevran staring at him with worried almond eyes.
"Is something wrong my friend?"
Yuven shock his head, he was trying his best to laugh so that his fears are driven away, and he never told anyone his fears.
As the leader of the group he had to lock up his fears, so that he couldn't shift it to his companions also he had to protect everyone.
So in order for him to lead he had to be this way…
"Uh, n-no nothing, s-should we head on in?"
Yuven asked, gripping his fist behind his back, he didn't want to go back in there but he must.
As the young elf Mage walked off after Alistair and Oghren, Zevran stared at him, he knew something was up, Zevran just knew that something bothered Yuven greatly.
He's noticed ever since Redcliffe and when they ran into Jowan.
The Crow knew that ever since Redcliffe, that they were the ones that would share their problems and pass them onto Yuven because he was someone they could trust but he was still a child, still a babe in his eyes.
They load off all their past memories, their experiences almost everything to him and then Yuven has to bare the responsibility to keep them and to talk to them through it yet no one did it for him.
Yuven is nineteen there were some things that he needed to get off his chest.
Once in the deep roads they slowly made their way to Caridin's Cross where they got attacked by some Dwarvian warriors, they were easy to defeat ad send them packing on their way.
After that they slowly went down each tunnel
Zevran noticed how jumpy Yuven was; Yuven would always look up at the ceiling and look round nervously
"Does something trouble you my Grey Warden?"
He asks to which the young Mage jumps, clutching his bow tightly in his hands as he vigorously shock his head
"N-No of course not" Yuven replied shakily "I-I'm just making sure we don't get jumped by Dark spawn"
Oghren chuffed as he stroked his long red beard "It's not just the Dark Spawn we have to worry about Warden" he spoke as he shifted his weight from one foot to another "We also have to worry about spiders as well"
Zevran noticed that Yuven flinched at that note, So it has something to do with Spiders does it? That was easy for the assassin to conclude.
"And not just your house spiders, their the size of a bear, poisonous too"
"A-Ah, bit like the ones at the tower then…" Yuven mumbled
Alistair cocked an eyebrow at his fellow warden "There were spiders in the tower?"
Yuven nodded as he shock, memories of cleaning that storeroom still plaguing his mind and getting rid of those horrid spiders just scared him.
"Yeah, one of the enchanters got an infestation in the storerooms"
"That sounds bad" Alistair said as Yuven darted his green eyes over to him
"It was bad!" Yuven screamed making everyone jump; Zevran grabbed his fellow elf by hooking an arm round Yuven's neck and slapped his hand onto the young elf's mouth to keep his quiet.
"Shh" he shushed "Do you want to draw the Dark spawn to our location?"
Yuven shock his head "Good" Zevran chuckled as he released Yuven from his hold.
"Well lets go then" Alistair interrupted, giving his muscles a stretch as he began to make his way through Caridin's Cross along with Oghren as Yuven fixed up his robes and still held a tight grip on his bow.
I-I have to be strong Yuven thought to himself; he needed to maintain himself at all times. I have to stay strong, no time to be scared especially in a place like this, even if I'm scared, I have to stay strong
"Yuven!" Alistair yelled as he and the others marched on "If you don't hurry up we're going to leave you behind!"
"Branka waits for no man!" Oghren hollered
Zevran looked at the red haired dwarf as he smirked "And you know this by experience Oghren?"
Yuven could hear Oghren growling before he snapped "Silence elf or I'll hit you with this hammer on my back"
"You're welcome to try my dear dwarf"
And they go on about me being loud? A horde could hear them…
They all made their way until they reached Ortan Thaig, when they got there, there were many dark spawn that awaited them, it was tricky but they managed to come out victorious.
Yuven was resting his back up against a stone caved wall, taking in as many deep breaths as he could, still clutching onto his bow tightly like it was a lifeline. He felt very tired and low on energy but Yuven didn't care he just wanted this done and over with.
If I can just get through this without ever seeing one of them then I'll be okay he thought, Yuven closed his eyes and took in another gulp of air.
It was so dark in here; the only light they could get was the campfires that the Dark Spawn placed as if those creatures could even know how to make a campfire. He could feel the heat of it touching his skin and the blood of the Dark spawn drying on his clothes.
It was awful trying to get the blood out of robes, it was easy on armour because it could be scrubbed off but when it's on something like his robes for example then it could be a nightmare to get off.
"Right should we get moving then?" Alistair asked as he re-sheathed his sword
"No" Zevran said firmly which shocked Alistair and Oghren in the group "We should rest a bit more"
"No" Yuven interjected, pushing himself off the wall "We should keep moving the sooner we find Branka then the faster we get out of here" he wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
"Darn right" Oghren agreed, naturally because he was a worried husband
"My Grey Warden I am thinking of you" Zevran began, walking towards Yuven and placed his hands onto Yuven's shoulders. "Your exhausted and tense, you should rest a little while longer"
"I thank you for your concern but I'm alright really"
Zevran narrowed his almond eyes; the elf knew that the young one was pushing himself to hard again.
"Yuven, Zevran" Alistair could sense something bad was going to come of this "Maybe we should all take a small break-" but the two ignored him as they stared at each other.
Alistair and Oghren could feel an intense aura come off the both of them, so much that they took a few steps back.
"Yuven" Zevran began with a hiss "I am really thinking of your wellbeing"
Yuven narrowed his eyes, even though his glare wasn't as threatening as Zevran, he still had the same effect "And I'm really grateful Zevran" Yuven returned the hiss "But I'm really alright"
The two stared off at each other for more than five minutes before Zevran gave up
"Ah! I can't handle that gaze!"
Yuven smiled lightly as he chuckled "So should we head on?"
He's the real demon here Alistair and Oghren thought in unison
So the four continued their journey through Ortan Thaig and from Zevran's observation he could see that the young Grey Warden was still looking around anxiously and still clutching his bow with uneasiness.
From all his travels he had with the Grey Warden he noticed when Yuven clutched unto the handle of his bow tightly that he was either frightened or worried about a certain matter.
The first time he noticed this little habit of Yuven's was when they were at Redcliffe, when they entered the Arl's castle and when meeting Jowan, Yuven clutched onto his bow this also happened when they were about to begin a fight with Dark spawn.
Yuven was defiantly a puzzle worth solving
The nineteen year old Mage, one of Elvin blood, snatched by the Chantry as a child and then raised within 'The Circle of Magi's' walls and under the intensive gaze of the Templars.
A boy that left from such a sheltered life, knowing nothing of the openness of the outside world.
When Zevran first said to him that he was 'Handsome', Yuven's cheeks went bright red as he replied softly 'Handsome?'
It was just a cute sight to see
Yuven was just as pretty as any girl he's lain with…
The Elf had long red hair, with a small plat at the side of his head, the right side to be precise, he had birthmarks on his face that looked like Elvin tattoos, and he even had some on his back and other places at the time that Yuven didn't know that Zevran was watching.
Zevran had to be honest, he really liked the boy, not just because of his looks but also with his personality.
The way he was so open and honest and always told the other members what he thought, if someone bad mouthed them then Yuven stands up to the perpetrator and give them a mouthful, a punch across the face if they really deserved it.
Although when he's being naïve about certain things, like a month ago he asked and Zevran had to quote 'Where do babies come from?' they were all truly baffled but that was also part of Yuven's sweet charm.
Yuven was just a child coming out of a sheltered life style…
But even through all that, they still know nothing of his past, they don't hear anything about his life from when he was in the tower or what it was like for him to pass through the Harrowing.
Everything about Yuven was a mystery and especially intriguing about someone who's so open about his emotions and ideals.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Yuven stopping in his tracks, he didn't move for a while as his attention seemed to have been directed down word to the cave floor.
"Oh by Maker's breath" Alistair spoke as he came forward.
"Darn, we need more Ale" Oghren spoke
Zevran ran up to the others and saw a horrific sight…
There were bloodied corpses of Dark Spawn all over the area, some of them rotting by what seemed for months others looked slightly new and fresh.
"W-What could've done this?" Yuven was shaking now and his bow was clutched in both hands now as he brought it close to his chest.
"Well whatever did might be ahead" Alistair said
I got to be strong, I got to be strong Yuven thought to himself over and over again so he wouldn't be afraid but now he felt his resolve falling apart. Yuven took in a few more deep breaths to calm himself down, he can't be afraid, he can't be afraid.
Being afraid isn't going to help him; he just couldn't look scared…
Yuven can't be scared.
"Yuven what should we do?"
Yuven shock his head and looked up to Alistair who was waiting for his command there were times that Yuven thought that Alistair would be a better leader than him because he was a Grey Warden that was more experienced in these type of situations than he was.
"W-We should, k-keep moving" Yuven shock his head so that he would shake his fear off him, so that he can say that with confidence "We should keep moving, we shouldn't be too far from leaving Ortan Thaig and we might be getting closer to Branka's where a bouts"
"Right" Alistair agreed
"That's the spirit Warden" the Dwarf bellowed cheerfully
Yuven stood there as the others walked on, except Zevran stayed behind, his arms folded and his face painted in amusement.
"I have to say Warden" Zevran began as he unfolded his arms "You are very good at leading" Zevran shrugged his shoulders as he turned that almond gaze to the dreary cold ceiling "Even when you're scared at what could be lurking in the shadows…"
"W-What do you mean?" Yuven asked his emerald eyes shone confusion as he placed his bow back onto his back.
"Well my little adorable warden" Zevran began with a light smile on his face until it slowly faded "It would seem that your hiding something, a fear probably, one revolving around spiders perhaps?"
Yuven flinched, his eyes wide open as he gasped "H-How did you?"
"I have to say Yuven, holding that bow is a bad habit of yours, it always shows that your uncomfortable, you should be careful instead the enemy sees that as a weakness"
Zevran pointed out, Yuven looked down at his leather rough boots "Really?"
"Yuven" there was silence between the two "You always talk to us about our problems but there's no one here to talk to you about yours"
"I'm okay with it though" Yuven said softly cradling his right arm, his bowing arm. "I'm alright with it, back at the Tower when Jowan had a problem he talked to me and I bared it for him even when…" Yuven jumped when he realised what he was going to say, his lips trembled and he shot his eyes tight.
"N-Never mind"
Yuven shock his head "There's no point in bringing up the past at a time like this" the red head snapped as he shock his head
"Yuven," before even hearing what the older elf had to say Yuven walked off to catch up with Alistair and Oghren.
They continued through Ortan Thaig, coming into contact with a few more Dark spawn on their way, still Yuven was wary until they came to a clearing.
It was dark and dank, echoes of water dripping from above and small shadows could be seen, yet there seemed to be remains of a camp if not for the fact that there were webs surrounding the area.
It was scary…
Very scary…
And creepy too…
"Careful" Zevran warned "I can sense something in this place"
They all brought their weapons at the ready so that they can be prepared for anything
Right Yuven thought to himself as he stepped forward, his eyes scanned the whole area, there didn't seem to be anything…
But then how many times did he think that and they got attacked?
"Keep your guard up" Yuven ordered walking deeper into the area as he was followed by Zevran.
Oghren and Alistair went a different route; both went off in pairs so that none of them are alone.
Yuven continued to make his way until he made his way to the small camp, noticing a book settled on a rock laid open and bare for all to see. The words in the book were slightly faded but it was still readable.
"I found something" Yuven whispered, not noticing that a large shadow loomed behind him.
Yuven froze as he heard a hissing sound behind him, the elf was shaking, he dared not to look behind him but he felt he must.
The Mage slowly turned round to see millions of bug like eyes staring at him and drool falling off it's incisor like teeth.
Eight long legs, its skin was purple and it screamed.
"Yuven!" Zevran screamed, in doing so the creature screeched as it lunged at Yuven forcing the Mage to fall to the ground however before the spider could jump on him, Yuven screamed and rolled out of the way.
"Yuven!" Alistair called out to which more of the spiders appeared
A gasp could be heard from Oghren as he shouted "Their Curse Spiders! They must be responsible for the Dark Spawn corpses!"
"Great" Alistair yelled in sarcasm "Dark spawn eating spiders that's all we need, do they at humans by any chance?"
Oghren fell silent as he hit a cursed spider in the head with its hammer, crushing it as it fell to the ground.
"That's what I thought"
Yuven was having trouble and Zevran could tell, Yuven was panicking beyond belief, he pulled out his bow, arrow drawn but his hands were shaking as three cursed spiders surrounded him.
His mind was blank; he had no idea what to do at this situation.
Must fight, must fight, must fight! That was all that plagued his mind.
They charged at him and that's when he fired, he fired one shot after another, the two arrows connected to their targets but the last one didn't. Yuven jumped, he didn't know what he was doing.
His heart was thumping so fast that he felt it was in his head
Yuven felt everything was going into slow motion, he couldn't move, he couldn't breath, his heart felt as if it would explode.
"Yuven!"
Zevran jumped in front of Yuven and slashed his blades through the cursed spider, chopping it in half as its blood sprayed onto both him and Yuven as it made a chilling scream as it fell silent.
Zevran turned round to Yuven and saw the shock in the young one's eyes, the fear, the horror, Zevran gasped as he saw Yuven drop down to his knees and grabbed him in his arms as he knelt beside him.
Cradling Yuven in his arms as tears came down Yuven's face
"Are you alright?" the assassin panted, he could feel Yuven trembling in his arms "Yuven?"
Yuven screams as he buried his head into Zevran's chest "S-Sorry" he sniffled
"What for Grey Warden?" Zevran asked resting his chin on top of Yuven's head, patting the boy on the back.
"I-I froze, I-I shouldn't have froze, I should've done something!"
"Yuven my dear noble and brave Grey Warden" Zevran soothed as he kissed Yuven at the top of his forehead sweetly "Your only mortal like the rest of us, it's natural to have fears"
The both of them sat there, unaware of the horrors that circle them until Alistair growled as he snapped
"Um I hate to interrupt such a beautiful moment but we have a bit of a situation here that needs to be taken care off now!"
Zevran turned round to see Alistair on the ground and holding the open jaw of another cursed spider
"Alright my dear future king of Fereldin I will be there to assist to you now" Zevran teased as he rose to his feet and patted Yuven on the head.
"Zevran!" Alistair yelled
"Right, right my precious Alistair I will be there in great haste, just let me find my other dagger that seems to have vanished during my little rescue mission"
Yuven narrowed his eyes at Zevran until he noticed another spider just above him.
It seemed to be a bit more bigger than the others was ready to come down and attack the other elf, as the spider began to descend.
There was no time for Yuven to think, all he did was stand up with great speed, pushing Zevran out of the way, threw both his hands up and began to chant a spell.
"Fire Blast!"
It was the only spell that appeared into his head that he thought could help him, as fire erupted in his hands; he shot the fire towards the spider
It was still trying to come down towards him and he knew that the mana he was using to keep this spell up was costing him.
I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid "I'm not afraid!" the blast got stronger and the spider squealed as it tried to get to Yuven, slashed him on his chest before it disintegrated onto the cave floor.
Yuven panted as he held onto his wound that was defiantly a close call.
One of the closet calls he ever had in his life…
Sadly the fight was still raging on even if he had saved Zevran, he was still in danger especially since in that earlier skirmish his bow was smacked to the other side of the area. Yuven placed a hand on to his head, he wondered if he was hit with some kind of poison when that Spider slashed him.
Yuven was shaking his head, Yuven felt himself getting hit, like he was hit by a hammer of a Hurlock Dark spawn.
When the young Warden opens his eyes, he saw that he was stuck in a web at the cave wall.
"Great" he squeaked, looking around to see if there were any more spiders but to only see Zevran, Alistair and Oghren staring at him on the wall, covered in blood with bewildered faces.
"Um" Yuven sounded very nervous as he smiled lightly, waving a free hand through the webbing "A little help?"
"Yuven Surana" Alistair began, his cheeks tinged in a bright pink "When were you going to tell us about your, you know phobia of spiders" Yuven knew that Alistair didn't mean it to sound like a little tease but it did hurt.
Yuven made a little kicked puppy face as he looked down to the ground
"Alistair please" Zevran interrupted "How could the leader of a group say something like that, he had us in mind really"
"Still he should've told us" Alistair whined
"Not good to keep it to yourself boy" Oghren spoke as if he knew from experience
"Well I knew" Zevran said in confidence, giving Yuven a wink.
Yuven frowned, he wondered if they were going to get him down anytime soon?
"Oh really?" Alistair asked
"Yes my precious Alistair" Zevran chuckled teasingly "When you watch his mannerisms like I have you pick up on some things"
"Um, guys…"
"Um, no I rather not keep watching someone who's like my younger brother with such indecent intentions" Alistair said in disgust
"Um, can I-"
"Oh? What makes you think I have indecent intentions?" Zevran asked as he cocked an eyebrow "I only have but the best intentions"
"Yeah, keep your pants on Elf, you Antivans aren't the most decent when it comes to the best intentions"
Yuven thinks the wound he got earlier was affecting his mind, he felt kind of dizzy
"Um I think you guys need to get me down" Yuven moaned as he felt his vision was becoming blurry
All three of them looked at him and noticed that Yuven looked very pale
"Oh Maker" Alistair gasped
Zevran rushed to Yuven's side and tore off a few pieces of the webbing to find the wound that Yuven got earlier
"Alistair! Cut him down, he's been poisoned!"
And after that Yuven blanked out
"Yuven, Yuven"
There was this really weird taste in his mouth; it wasn't nice, not at all
"Mm" Yuven slowly opened his green eyes and almond eyes staring back down on him with a honey blond curtain of hair tickling his cheeks.
"Ah, I see that you've come too Warden" Zevran said cheerfully "He's awake!" Zevran called as he rose off the young Warden, Alistair could be seen in Yuven's line of sight, his cheeks were bright red as he looked away before turning them back.
"Yuven how are you feeling?"
Yuven slowly sat himself up, shaking his head as he replied "Alright, I feel a bit better" Yuven replied
"And so you should be" Zevran said with a glistening smile on his lips "We had to undress you to get at the wound although you did a bit of thrashing so Alistair had to hold you while I implied the antidote through some lip service and then place some ointment unto your wound"
Striping? Yuven's eyes went wide open
Lip service? He felt his jaw began to drop, he wondered if that was why Alistair and Oghren were so red for?
How was he supposed to react?
"In future I suggest armour no?" Zevran asked with a grin, Yuven went bright red only realising that he was only wearing his underwear.
"M-My robes?" he asked, trying to make it sound like a question
Oghren coughed, stroking his beard "They were ruined with all the Dark spawn and spider blood so we had to toss them away" Yuven's jaw dropped, that means he had nothing to wear!
"Don't worry though; we still have spare Splintmail armour"
So after getting dressed in his new attire, retrieving his bow and finding some arrows nearby, they were all set.
Yuven managed to tell the others about a book he found before he was attacked so they all headed over to it.
"Um, Zevran…" Zevran halted as he felt a little tug at his hand, the blond elf turned round to see Yuven looking down, and his red hair drenched over his eyes so that Zevran couldn't see but still the assassin could see the bright tinges of red on his face.
"Yes my Grey Warden" Zevran asked
"C-Can I, tell you something?" Yuven wondered, slightly squeezing his comrade's hand
"As long as I get to look at you alluringly" those words only made the blush on Yuven's face darken which was rather adorable.
"If we ever get back to the others, I want to talk to you about my time in the Tower…I-If that's alright?"
Zevran seemed somewhat surprised before he smiled lightly, for once in a long time; their leader was feeling comfortable into sharing his past with him, something that might reveal the puzzles that Zevran had longingly wanted to complete and to find out some of the mysterious about Yuven that no one else would know.
"Of course it would be" Zevran replied
"Thank you" Yuven said as they both walked off towards Alistair and Oghren, hopefully to know where else they will go and where they could find Branka.
The sooner they find 'The Paragon of her Kind' then the sooner Zevran would know about the Mage that left the Circle of Magi and became the Grey Warden he knew today…
The one with the name Yuven Surana…
End
Authors Note:
Hello all, Youkai of Hearts here, this took three days to write! I had no idea what to do for a couple of days, months even until I thought
What if the Grey Warden was afraid of Spiders?
This was a hard fic for me to write because like some people in the world and like Yuven I have Arachnophobia, which to this day still haunts me, even if I catch a glimpse of a spider it freaks me out but I don't like to hurt them, I just want them out of my room.
So when it came to me writing about spiders, I felt Goosebumps crawling up my skin and awful chills, I have it that bad you see and my big brother makes fun of me for it, I even have a fear of bugs except Butterflies because their cute but it's just spiders I have the worse reaction too.
Even when I played with Dragon Age, when they come out of no where scared the shit out of me and I scream my head off, I know silly but it was really frightening, just remind me if I ever do the Mage Origin story again not to do the quest of cleaning the storerooms, when she said small infestation she didn't mention giant spiders!
I begged my brother to be there for emotional support…
I feel as if I made the fights too quick and some of the characters out of character so to speak, this is my first time writing about Oghren.
At the moment, I'm stuck with the Broodmother in the Dead Trenches, it's really hard, I've been at it for two weeks now, I have two options and two saves, use ice or use tempest and then when I barely make it through the Dark spawn the Shrieks appear, it's really frustrating especially since I have Oghren, Zevran and the Dog in my team.
I'm at wits end so to speak, any advice is helpful
Anyway till next time, later!