Title: Shok Adaar
Summery: A one shot a day for my Inquisitor until November eighteenth- no spoilers other then origins for the Qunari origin.
Originally on Tumblr, I decided to post here as well- all italics are my comments. THIS CHAPTER HAS A POSSIBLE TRIGGER! It contains bullying and mentioned child death- I bolded the beginning, so if you want to skip it, you can.
"Mommy?" asked a soft voice, with a slight lisp. The tall imposing Qunari woman looked down at her daughter, who was sucking on her thumb, dragging her soft toy with her. "What was wife wike under da Que?"
"Qun, Shok." Saar said, smiling at her. Her hand ghosted over her lips, the long torn out stitches having left deep wounds. "Well, it was hard, that was for sure." She sat down on a chair, pulling her daughter into her lap, and beginning to braid the white hair that hung between her daughter's horns. "I was being trained to be a Tamassran until I was thirteen, when I discovered I was a Saarebas." Saar felt her hands clench slightly. "My life was good until then, then it crumbled into ash." Shok didn't make much noise.
"Arvaarad, at least mine, was a good man. He questioned the Qun in silence, and I… well I began to as well. I had followed along with the words of the Tamassrans but I felt less contentment and more pain being Saarebas rather then Tamassran. He taught me it was okay to wonder, and wonder I did. When he died- Tevinter Magister attack on a ship of ours- and I was free… I took the chance and ran. And thus, I became Tal Vashoth." She kissed her daughter's head as she finished the braid.
"Who is my daddy?" Saar froze, but then her shoulders slumped. She should have known.
"Shok, do you truly wish to know?" The little girl nodded, and Saar sighed once more.
"I found other Tal Vashoth- even an ex-Arvaarad, and I hoped to find freedom, but they still followed the belief that mages where to dangerous to be let free. I was chained once more, and I felt anger and hate, but I could not fight. I was their prisoner, to do with what they wished." She held Shok tight. "I… became pregnant with you a few months after I joined them, I knew it in my heart, and knew what I had to do. When they unchained me to fight for them, I destroyed them and ran away- far away. I broke my chains and I made sure you were born free." She kissed Shok's head. "You are named for in honor of my struggle to make sure you were born free." Saar stood, and let Shok down. "Now, shoo, go play and let me finish the dishes." Shok toddled off and Saar watched after her, before she closed her eyes.
Her baby would never be Qun- she would burn the world down before that happened.
-0-
Shok ran into the house, crying. "Mommy!" Saar stood, the knitting she'd been doing dropping to the ground.
"Shok! What is wrong?" she asked, dropping to her knees, as Shok sobbed she threw herself at her mother.
"The other kids! They called me ugly horn head! And they threw things at me!" Saar noticed then the blood under Shok's eye- luckily missing it completely. Saar bit her lip, and her hand glowed as she tried to heal the wound- but couldn't. She had never been trained and was better at battle then healing. She dragged her daughter to the sink, the girl sobbing as she grabbed her toy that had been resting by the sink- drying off from Saar's wash earlier that morning. Shok hugged the toy as her mother washed her face.
She was pretty sure it would scar, the cut. It was fairly deep and looked bad. She kissed her daughter's head and held her tight.
"Why do they hate me mommy?" Saar held her daughter tighter.
"People hate what they do not understand Shok- they fear us because we are different than them."
"It isn't right!"
"No, it is not, but… it is basic nature for humans, elves, dwarves… even us." Saar felt the scars around her lips and hugged her daughter tighter. They didn't move for a long time, before Shok whispered.
"I don't wanna take lessons from Mother Anna anymore." Saar nodded, she'd only sent the girl to the Chantry to try and make friends, she could have taught the girl all she knew anyway.
"Well, what do you want to do Shok?" The girl didn't answer until she asked, softly,
"Can you teach me to knit?" Saar smiled, and pulled away, nodding.
"Of course I can."
I picture grown up Shok having a scar right under her eye, that's faded some. Kids are cruel as children, especially to people they don't understand, so Shok was often tormented as a kid, so she has a lot of scars on her body.
Because the Qunari don't train their mages, Saar relies on instinct and luck to use her magic. She doesn't have the fine tuned healing skills to heal her daughter's scars.
I headcanon that while most common folk in Thedas don't bother learning to read, lessons are offered. Some kids go out of boredom and to meet other kids. Since a Chantry is in every town, it's offered there. Saar sent Shok there despite knowing how to read and write so she could make friends, which backfired.
And as I mentioned before, Shok knows how to knit, and is often seen doing so.
-0-
Shok watched as the man drew a picture, looking up from time to time at the sky. She was hiding a bit- hiding from Lawrence and Clara. They were the worst of her bullies and they were rich so no one said anything.
The man was wearing silver and blue with a griffin on his armour, so Shok knew he was a Grey Warden. The other kids had been talking about him to- he was there to see if Ser Micheal was a good Templar, but Shok had seen him looking at Alistair, along with his companion.
Shok liked Alistair, he wasn't mean to her or her mother, though he was awkward around them a bit.
"You can come out of the shadows." The man said, not pausing in his work. Shok jumped and blushed, realizing he ment her. She hesitantly came out from behind the tree.
"Hi." She said, fiddiling with the hat that hid her horns. The man looked taken aback, before smiling.
"You're Shok, the Vashoth we heard about." He said, putting down his pencils. Shok scowled at him. She was Vashoth but she hated being called it. It sounded like she would join the stupid Qun. "I am Travis, a Grey Warden recruit."
"You're wearing the armour." Shok said, confused. Templar recruits didn't get to wear the armour until they were Templars. Travis nodded, grinning a bit.
"Well, an apostate doesn't have much in the way of armour. Shok jerked back, eyes wide.
"You're an apostate?" she asked, feeling curious. Her mother was the only apostate she knew… though she wasn't sure if it was the same thing. Travis nodded, looking happy she wasn't running away screaming.
"Yep!" he began putting away his stuff, but Shok asked,
"What were you drawing?" Travis smiled and turned the picture around to shok that he had been drawing the mountain range. Shok stared- it was so beautiful.
"Wow." She whispered in shock. "It looks just like the mountains!" Travis grinned.
"Thanks- I use to sketch and paint for money before they found out I was an apostate, and then Duncan claimed right of conscription when he learned I was a healer. I nevr liked painting people- they argue and bitch… uh… complain to much fabout how I paint them, because I don't make them skinny enough or something. I love landscapes." Shok smiled, and would have asked more, hadn't she heard the familiar call of her mother:
"Shok! Come home, it is time for lessons!" Shok sighed and then smiled at Travis.
"It was nice meeting you sir!"
"Nice meeting you to." Shok ran home and sat through her math and writing lessons, before she went out side and found a stick. Paper was expensive, but dirt wasn't!
Since DA:2 took over place over ten years, and the Blight took only a year, I figured Shok would have been young around this time. This also takes place after a time jump compared to my previous two, but I mentioned once that Shok is a landscape artist in her spare time, and I wanted to show how she became one, since my previous shot was of her learning to knit. Shok was about… three- five there, here she is about nine or ten.
Shok did know Alistair, who was sent to her town because he was in his final years as a recruit, and they wanted him to have some experience as a guard for the Chantry- he had spent a few years in the Tower learning how to be a Tower Templar previously- and because it was small and far off, so sending a royal bastard there was prefect. Does this mean that he will remember her? Not really- he remember the Vashoth in the town, because it wasn't something you see every day, but other than that, no. And Shok will only go 'Huh, where did I hear that name?' About him. She remembers Travis, but he was the one who died in Alistair's Joining, so he won't show up. This did take place over a decade before Inquisition, so it is reasonable.
-0-
Shok walked down the street, holding her soft toy as she tried to get home. Why did she agree to go to the stupid lesson again? Mommy had asked her to because she wasn't feeling well, but still, she hated how the kids were.
"Hey, Shok?" asked a voice. She looked up to see Jared, a boy who was one of the worst offenders. "I was… I was wondering if I could apologize." Shok stared at the shorter child as he rambled on about how he was sorry and would never do it again, and could she please forgive him. A blinding smile overtook her face and she nodded.
"Of course!" she said, excited, as Jared smiled.
"Hey, some of us were going to play by the old shed, wanna come? I heard there was a cool stash of toys on one of the shelves!" Shok nodded, and ran after the boy. There was a group of kids waiting.
"None of us are tall enough." Complained Jared's twin, Jacob. Shok blinked, and smiled. She could help, she was taller then anyone else!
"I can!" She ran in, smiling, looking for the fabled toys, when the shed door closed. She turned around, hearing laughing.
"Ugly horn-head! Did you really buy it?"
"You're such an idiot!"
"Ugly moron!"
"Ugly!" a sharp bang echoed through the shed, and Shok took a step back, eyes wide, as she realized they were throwing things at the shed.
"Ugly horn-head!"
"Ugly horn-head!"
"Ugly horn-head!" Shok sat down, shaking at the bangs continued and the name calling did as well, feeling her body begin to crumble as it didn't let up. She held onto her toy tight and felt herself begin to sob.
"Ah, ugly's crying! Did she realize what a freak she is?"
"Ugly horn-head is a crybaby!" It joined the taunts, and Shok just listened, not moving, until…
"What the hell are you… Shok?! Sweetie!"
"Shit, it's the bi- ahhhh!"
"She's a mage!" Screams and the smell of burning flesh, as well as screamed curses in Qunlat filled the air, until the door opened, and her mother stood there, her eyes wide.
"Shok…" Shok just cried harder as her mother dropped to her knees.
"Oh, sweetie, oh…" she stopped though, and looked up to see a large group of the village men, staring at her. "You did this!" she screamed at them. "You're the ones that let this happen to my baby!" Scream Saar as she stood, fire circling her. "Katara, bas!"
Fire and more screams filled the air.
Yeah… after this, they left the village and moved far away. Shok was never the same after that, wearing a kerchief over her horns, and avoiding all children. Saar never ever sent her daughter to the Chantry again.
It didn't fully work- Shok was still taunted and Saar did have to deal with Mothers and Sisters who came to them to preach, but they avoided almost everyone. Shok also became obsessed with her appearance and started using make-up early, which her mother didn't stop. She knew her daughter needed to heal.
Katara, bas- die thing in Qunlat. Saar doesn't speak it much, but she did lose her temper and went nuts on them.
-0-
Shok knelt beside her mother and gently patted her forehead with the cloth. The village they were currently living in had a large sickness run through it. It was bad enough that her mother had caught it, despite being a Qunari and more resistant. Shok so far hadn't caught it, and they didn't think she would, being so young and healthy.
"So, this is wer' she is." Spoke a voice. Shok looked up to see a man dressed in mercenary gear in the doorway.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"Was wonderin' wher' yur ma was, and her' she is." Said the man, leaning against the doorway.
"It's just the bout of sickness going around, she'll be fine." Snapped Shok, as she patted her mother's head again. Saar began to ramble, her voice heaving.
"Shok ebasit hissra. Meraad astaarit, meraad itwasit, aban aqun. Maraas shokra. Anaan esaam Qun." Shok shook her head, her mother was lock in a hallucination, believing she was reciting a Prayer for the Dead.
"Well, so that' tha garbag' ya horn-heads speak." Said the man. Shok snorted.
"Another language isn't garbage, it's just different." Shok sighed, turning once more to face him. "What do you want?"
"With yur ma sick, ain't much payin' us ta keep quiet." Shok froze. Templars paid a pretty penny for Apostates. Saar had been discovered by accident. Saar had been annoyed by being unable to find the matches and lit a fire with magic when the mercenary captain had come in, hoping to have a Tal-Vashoth join them.
They did, but they didn't pay her. Shok had taken up a job as a washer woman as her mother was forced to work for the mercenaries to not be thrown in a circle.
"She'll get better, you just wait!" she said, jumping up, terrified. He shrugged.
"Waitin' 'll not make us rich." Shok blurted out, terrified.
"I can wield a maul, I'll cover for her!" The man smirked, and she realized that was what he wanted.
"Deal."
And that is how Shok started in the Mercenary business. She didn't stay with these guys, no she went back to being a washer woman when her mother was better, but she did become one again later, when she grew up and left the house. It was one of the few jobs she could have,
And I have decided: Shok is a warrior! I debated for a looooooong time, but I think this is perfect for her. Magic is fun, but Shok strikes me as a warrior.
-0-
Shok stood on the cliff, looking over her old town- the town her mother nearly burned to the ground in her rage. Shok looked over the town, seeing that it had come back to life- but no one lived near the old shed. She chuckled a little, and looked at the urn in her scarred hands.
"Hard to believe it's been over a decade, huh?" she asked her mother's ashes. She gave a snort, smiling a little at the few fond memories she had- learning to knit, baking. Getting her soft toy for the first time.
Her mother had settled here first, the first place she had been truly free. Shok smiled sadly as she opened the urn and dumped the ashes, the wind carrying them.
"Live free mama."
Short, but I had no idea what to write… but, yes, this is after Saar's death, wich occurred when Shok was twenty-two. She died from being knifed in the stomach, bled out since she couldn't heal herself. Shok insisted the body be burned, and she took the ashes to the one place her mother had been truly free.
So... any prompts? Ideas? Cause I'm out.
Warning: I only know the barest of spoilers- such as origins for the Inquisitor. So... please don't blab? I don't even know all the romances, I want it to be a surprise.