Velanna is epic. I enjoy the initial meeting between her and the Dalish Warden~

I don't own anything Dragon Age related.

"-It is just as cold in here than out there."

"I agree," Velanna turned her head to find the Warden, Theron, in her presence. She had simply been muttering to herself, not something one normally hears, let alone responds to, "During the Blight we lived in painfully cramped tents. It was often better to sleep outside, by fire."

"A life you are no doubt used to." She spoke not with obviousness but, instead, comfort.

He smiles. "As are you." For a moment, the two stand together in silence.

"You know," She began, her gaze circling her feet for a moment before meeting his again, "In this troubled time, with clan and kin so far away, it is good to see a familiar face." She said, knowing all too well that before this they never really knew each other. It wasn't as if they had spoken. Casual glances in a room full of Clanmates.

"Where is your clan?"

"Where's yours?" She defended.

He wouldn't bite. "I remember that day- the last Gathering. Ilshe had to take you by the hand and lead you in the right direction." He said bluntly. And, in taking the comment the wrong way, she felt the annoyance boil within her.

"You wouldn't know. Keeper Ilshe had said that Marethari was too distracted keeping an eye on you to pay real attention! The trouble of her clan." She shot back. He turned the corner of his lip in a smirk.

"I was no trouble that day."

"Something does seem different about you." Velanna said at the revelation. Even the look on his face, he had grown considerably since that Gathering. "Matured in the short time, did you? You do command the Grey, now."

His eyes grew cold. "That was no choice of mine."

"Where's the lack of choice? No." She illustrated the way to refuse in a single word with such a bitter expression. He urged himself to meet her arrogance with blunt force again.

"The taint took hold of me before I was given a chance." His words had sparked curiosity within her. She was sure all Grey Wardens were given their choice; to join or not to join. Of course, she knew little of the order other than what she had heard.

"What happened?" Velanna did her best to sound concerned. It was not a colour that suited her well.

"What's done is done." His thoughts drift to Tamlen quickly, but it's suppressed, "I am here now."

"How you got here would surely be an interesting story. A Dalish rising up from Clan to command the Wardens against the Darkspawn." She said, her arms folding across her chest.

"It was hardly that glorious." He spat the word, thinking of Cailan and his foolish pursuit of it.

"So I've heard." Now she truly had his attention. He was sure word of his triumph had spread throughout Ferelden, most likely to his own clan and the magnitude of that knowledge didn't surprise him. Slaying the Arch Demon, and living to tell the tale. Those that believed the story stood in awe across the land. "You'd disappeared afterwards, though. Your story doesn't end as lightly as one would hope."

"You've heard the darker shadows?" He asked. Not ashamed, per se. More curious as to what the world knew.

"You went off to pillage bodies of murdered innocence. Threaten, interrogate, and kill in cold blood." She had heard stories. Word reached far back into the clans of his ruthless behaviour.

"And you'd rather kill the innocence in your own reckless pursuit of what you wanted. Don't turn your nose at me. We aren't so different, you and I." He argued. And for a second or two she simply stared at him. But as anger rose within him, so did it in her.

"I don't expect you to understand any of it!" Her elevated voice echoed throughout the silent hall. People had turned, staring at the two of them dabble on like children about a topic so dangerous.

"What isn't to understand?" He shrugged, "You were foolish, and lost control of your power!"

"What would you know? How went that search you embarked on after the Arch Demon? Did you find what you were after?" She was sure she knew the answer to her own question.

"I-" He stopped, averting his defeated gaze from her soon to be triumphant one. She had cornered him. "No." His voice was quiet, numbing down the feel of the conversation. Her voice followed his.

"All that murder, for nothing then. We are different."

He could argue that her finishing words were incredibly foolish. There was little difference between them in how they acted in pursuit of their goals. But she was as stubborn as he, if a little less understanding. The conversation would get nowhere; she may very well kill him before the Darkspawn arrive. He turned sharply and took himself out of the room, away from others. Velanna exhaled a sigh of relief. She hardly wanted to irritate the Commander so much. It was difficult at times to grasp and hold down her emotions. From the corner of the room, she heard an overly ambitious grunt from Oghren. It was at that point she felt every pair of eyes casting a disapproving gaze at her. Not one to stay in such pressure, Velanna turned and headed for the stairs. Oghren caught her arm.

"What?"

He let go like she were on fire. "Nothin'. I just think a little, uhh, perspective would do you some good." Even he sounded a little annoyed. Velanna detested the judgement.

"I haven't got time for drunken tales!" She snapped and fled. Oghren simply shrugged her off.

There will be more. Reviews are welcome.