Quick author's note: This is a CullenxInquisitor fic that explores the idea of the Inquisitor coming from a different background than the ones provided in game. (I apologize in advance for my awful spelling and grammar mistakes.)
The clanking of metal armor set them all on edge. The keeper had expected this but that didn't help ease the ice in her veins. She looked across the clan's hunters who surrounded the camp. She clenched her jaw in an attempt to keep tears from over the edges of her eyes. Whatever happened to them, to her clan, was her fault; she had brought this upon them. She watched the soldiers approached as she listened to the clanking and scraping off the metal they wore.
A small hand wrapped around her cold fingers. "It will be alright," a small voice chimed. She looked down at her second. She balled the fingers of her free hand into a fist; she let one tear slip down her cheek. He was so young; he couldn't understand the threat these shemlin posed.
The sound of metal colliding stopped and the keeper ripped her gaze from her second. She stared up at a man who stood at the head of the mass of soldiers. He wore a large metal helmet that was shaped like a lion. As he removed his helmet one of the hunters lifted an arrow to his throat.
"We wish to speak peacefully," the shem said calmly. He looked past the hunter and met eyes with the keeper. "No blood need be shed here."
"There are many times no blood need be shed but your people are always willing to shed it anyway," the keeper hissed. "But we will speak. Lower your bow, da'len."
A voice came from the middle of the soldiers. "Wait a minute!" The next few moments were filled with frustrated grunts from the shemlin soldiers as they moved aside to make room from the men- whom the keeper could not see. "Daisy?" the voice continued as its owner broke through the line of soldiers. "Is that really you?"
The keeper fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around the neck of the dwarf. "Varric!" she yelped as she hugged him tightly.
"So you're a keeper now, huh?" he chuckled. "You're moving up in the world."
She looked back at her clan and turned back to smile at her old friend. It seemed like ages since she'd stood at the champion's side in Kirkwall even though, in reality, it had been less than a year. They continued talking until the lion loudly clearing his throat interrupted their conversation.
"An elf was seen fleeing the scene after the conclave exploded," the lion headed shemlin explained. "We have reason to believe she came to seek refuge with this clan."
"Keeper," her second whispered.
"She said we should waste no lives protecting her," Merrill sighed bringing herself to her feet. "Please go get our guests."
Her second nodded reluctantly and walked off. He returned a few minutes later, alone. "They are gone," her second said cheerfully. "So is Amairen."
"What? Why would she leave?" Merrill paced for a few moments before her head shot up. "The baby!" she yelped. "She thought we would send her away because of the baby!" She stumbled forward and grabbed her staff. "Follow me."
"Cassandra," the lion shouted, "take a small group and follow the keeper."
Before he could be told to stay Varric was chasing close behind Merrill. The clanking of armor and the sound of Cassandra yelling orders followed close behind them. The Dalish woman, Amairen, stumbled through the forest before coming to an awkward stop; she turned to face her pursuers.
"I'm sorry keeper," she sniffled. "I can't stay. I can't be your first. She's my daughter, she needs me." She looked down at the baby in her arms then back up.
"No," Merrill replied. "She needs her clan."
"But she is hu-"
"No," Merrill repeated. "She is Dalish."
The woman turned and smiled at a group that stood on the edge of the scene. The group consisted of an elven woman, a dwarven woman, and a qunari woman. The elven woman nodded lightly at Merrill and gave a warm smile. The smile did not last long; once she noticed Cassandra she turned and began running.
"Stop!" Cassandra shouted.
Another woman and a scout moved forward swiftly. "If you do not stop," the woman called, "the dwarf and qunari die."
The elven woman turned and walked back calmly. "Fine," she sighed. "I'm listening." She stood and listened boredly as Cassandra spoke. A loud gasp slipped from the seeker's mouth as the elf raised her hand to her face to sweep a tangle of black hair from her eye. When the gasp slipped from Cassandra's mouth the elven woman quickly buried her hand into her robes.
"Leliana," Cassandra whispered.
"I saw it," she answered. The spymaster removed her blade from the dwarf's throat. "The Inquisition needs you."
"The Inquisition's even managed to drag the Nightingale into this shit?" the elf laughed. "I suppose we'll see what it's about then."
They began heading back to the camp. The elf and her group walked in the front with an Inquisition scout on either side of them. They were only about half way to camp before the elf turned and punched the left scout followed by the qunari punching the one on the right. "Move, move, move!" she shouted and each member of the group took off in a different direction.
She laughed with satisfaction as she listened to the confusion behind her. Suddenly her face hit the ground and she was spiting grass from her mouth. "We have to help them," a small voice chirped. It was then that she realized what had caused her fall, a small set of arms wrapped around her leg.
"No we don't!" she hissed.
"She's over here," the owner of the, impossibly strong, arms shouted.
"Little Bird," the elf spat, "you traitor!"
"I'm helping," the little girl argued. She used her leg and kicked the elf's hand, "It's killing you."
"You'll be killing me if you don't let go," she argued leaning to try to pry the girl from her legs. The sound of clanking armor drew closer as she struggled against the girl wrapped around her legs.
"Please tie her up," Little Bird said looking up at Cassandra, "or she'll try to run again."
The elf looked at the qunari and dwarf who shrugged when she raised an eyebrow at them. She put up no fight as they bound her hands. The rest of the trip back to camp was filled with only the sound of clanking armor and an occasional angry grunt from one of the three "prisoners". Little Bird rode on Cassandra's shoulders, braiding her messy hair into a sort of circle crown on the head.
When they reached the camp the soldiers regained their ranks and Cassandra moved the remaining group forward. Merrill and Amairen moved into the camp and the other lined up in front of the lion. They all kept their heads bowed, refusing to acknowledge the man in front of them.
"We will bring them to Haven for questioning," he stated. "Thank you for your cooperation, keeper."
Merrill nodded sadly and the group moved out. The elf tried to orchestrate three escapes on the way to Haven. When they arrived they were all separated. The qunari and dwarf were kept in cells as they brought the elven woman out to the center of the room. Cassandra began questioning her but got nothing between shouts from the qunari and dwarf, and the shear hard headedness' of the elf.
"Don't tell 'em anything, Isaura!" the dwarf yelled.
Cassandra made a loud frustrated noise and moved the elf, who was apparently named Isaura, outside. She pointed at the people scattered all over the small village. "Everyone is affected by the breach," she sighed. "We believe you can close it; they need your help."
Isaura looked over the people. Sad. Sick. Hopeless. She looked at Cassandra. "If I can help, I will."
Cassandra nodded thankfully began leading the way. She explained what had happened at the conclave and told of the people that had gathered at Haven. They reached the edge of the village and Cassandra cut the binds from Isaura's hands.
They didn't speak until Isaura's hand pulsed a deep green and she collapsed. Cassandra kneeled by her side. "The pulses are coming faster now and it is killing you," she stated.
"It's worse when you're closer," Isaura grunted coming to her feet.
They continued down the road until they reached another bridge. Isaura listened to Cassandra talk about people watching her flee the conclave, a beam of magic poured down from the breach and they tumbled down as the bridge fell apart.
Cassandra screamed at Isaura to stay back and charged towards a demon. Isaura stumbled to her feet and picked up a set of daggers that had scattered to the ground. She ran swiftly into the fight and began attacking the demons. Once all their enemies had fallen Isaura gave a laughing sigh and prepared to make a joke but when she looked up Cassandra's sword was pointed at her throat.
"Put your weapons down," she demanded.
"Alright," Isaura sighed. "I'll disarm."
Cassandra watched as she leaned to put the weapons onto the frozen lake; before Isaura could actually let the weapons go Cassandra sighed loudly. "Wait. You will need them. I should remember you did not try to run."
Isaura smiled lightly and turned to search for back sheaths to keep her weapons in. Most of them had been destroyed when the bridge had but she managed with a pair that were only slightly ripped. She used her foot to scrape snow away from the ice so she could see herself; Cassandra gave a disgusted grunt and continued on.
"Wait up!" Isaura laughed chasing after her. She started telling a story about how she met her qunari friend, who was named Malika. "And I just looked her straight in the eye and said 'Qunari, huh? Ya feelin' horny?"
"Please stop," Cassandra groaned. She paused and narrowed her eyes. "We've almost reached the forward camp. You can hear the fighting."
"Fighting? Who's fighting?"
"You'll see soon enough?" Cassandra continued. "We have to help them."
"Isaura Kintelon forced to help people for free," she grumbled to herself. "The world really is ending."
They met up with a group of soldiers fighting demons beneath a green hole in the air. Isaura and Cassandra quickly joined in on the fighting. The soldiers had already killed most of the demons so the fight didn't last long.
Once all the demons had fallen a bald elven man grabbed Isaura's hand. "Quickly! Before more come through!" He yelled forcing her arm into the air. Magic spanned from her hand and the hole collapsed onto itself and disappeared.
The elven man smiled victoriously for a moment, still holding Isaura's hand in the air. His victory was short lived because after a few moments Isaura's free hand collided with his face. "Keep your bloody hands off me," she hissed. The elven man stared up in her at shock. "What? Have you never been hit before?"
"Hit, yes. Punched, no," he replied cautiously standing back up.
Isaura looked at his eye where the skin was red and puffy. "That's gonna bruise," she chuckled. "You just got your first black eye, Shiny."
"Shiny?" Cassandra interrupted.
"Yeah, look at his head," Isaura laughed. "It's shiny."
"I would prefer to be called Solas."
"Sure thing, Shiny," she giggled. She turned to the dwarven man beside Solas. "Varric Tethras I presume."
"The one and only. You're the one Hawke had me send those letters to back in Kirkwall, right?"
"Yeah. I owe you two a lot," she smiled. "You helped me save a lot of lives."
"We need to keep moving," Cassandra cut in.
Isaura sighed and started walking. Cassandra, Varric, and Solas followed behind her; Solas stayed silent while Varric and Cassandra argued. "By the way," Isaura stated. "I have no idea where I'm going."
Cassandra pushed to the front of the group and started leading. Varric jogged to catch up with Isaura. "What was Kirkwall like when you left?" He asked.
"I'm sure you already know that Sebastian invaded," she sighed. "He layed waste to Darktown in an attempt to weed Anders out but, when he couldn't find him he tore apart all the places Hawke's companions used to stay. What few templars remained joined the citizens in fighting Sebastian's soldiers. I've received constant letters from my contacts there; I hear they've almost completely regained control of the city. They'll elect a new viscount and begin rebuilding Darktown once the Sebastian issue is resolved."
"What about the breach?"
"As far as I know, it hasn't caused any problems for the people there." They continued talking about Kirkwall and how the people were recovering after the incident with Anders. They'd been so caught up in their own conversation that they hadn't noticed they'd reached yet another bridge.
Isaura raised her eyes from the dwarf and focused them on Leliana who stood at a table with a man from the chantry. They both looked overwhelmingly angry. As Isaura and her companions approached the chantry man began screaming for guards to arrest her. Cassandra demanded they disregard the order and Leliana began discussing which way they should take to reach the breach.
"The soldiers," Isaura interrupted. "We should charge with the soldiers. We lose less lives that way and we can search for the scouts after we close the breach." Cassandra stared at her dumbfounded. She hadn't thought Isaura would be the type to take charge.
"But the scouts-" Leliana began.
"The scouts are resourceful," Isaura replied. "They'll find ways to survive. The soldiers are fighting for their lives; they're less likely to survive."
Leliana stared at her for a few moments before nodding. Isaura began walking to the other end of the bridge followed by her silent companions.
"You are no Herald of Andraste," chancellor Roderick called after her. "You are not even a Herald to your own people."
She turned and walked backwards as she spoke, "I know," she smiled. Varric walked behind her kicking debris out of the way to make sure she didn't trip. "I'm no Herald. Andraste didn't chose me for anything." She raised her hand into the air and it shone a toxic green. "But I'm your only hope for closing the breach." She turned back around and looked at Varric. "Please tell me I looked as cool as I think I did."
He chuckled lightly and nodded. She did a small victory jump and Cassandra made a disgusted noise.
"Don't celebrate yet," Solas sighed. "The sky is still torn."