Hi, there! I'm N.Q. Wilder. If you're a reader of my All Things Pass series from Mass Effect, then welcome friends! Hopefully you're part of that cross-section of people who have played both ME and DA and will enjoy this new story. If you haven't played DA, particularly DA: Inquisition, then I apologize; this story may not be for you. If you're new and don't know me from a hole in the ground, then greetings! I never really thought that I would ever write something for another fandom, even if they are closely related, but, well, here we are. Anyway, this requires me to do a little bit of explaining, I think. To the new people: I typically include an author's note before each chapter to take care of housekeeping matters and share some of my thoughts on the story. I'm one of those weird people that actually likes forewords in books, and I know some of my past readers have been of a similar mind. If this does not interest you in any way, please feel free to skip down to the story. Don't worry; I won't be quizzing you on it later or anything.
Ok, so first thing's first. Why did I write this story? Well, I played Dragon Age: Inquisition and much to my chagrin (due to my bitterness towards Bioware) I fell in love with the game. This came as a great surprise to me, especially because I didn't take my first play through very seriously (my character was a man-whore and my basic goal was to see how many romances I could rack up). But it was impossible not to fall in love with the characters in the game and to find the gameplay addicting. Before finishing my first play through I already knew I wanted to start a second one. A big driving force behind this desire was that I had discovered that Sera was absolutely hilarious and I was sorely disappointed that my man-whore Inquisitor couldn't romance her. I absolutely had to see what happened if you romanced Sera. So, I created a new female Inquisitor and took this second play through much more seriously. I discovered that not only is the Sera romance probably one of the best written romances in the game, but that Sera was actually a much more complex character than I originally gave her credit for. Plus I grew attached to this second Inquisitor (no offense to my dear man-whore, Franky). I got so attached to Sera's character that I was super curious to see what people had written about her. I was shocked to find that the fandom for Sera is incredibly small. It was frustrating because I think her character has so much depth and is so much fun. Anyway, that's why this story exists. I wanted to add my two cents about this wonderful character and add a little more to her fandom. Plus I really wanted to try writing as Sera; she's a fascinating character. Hopefully it all works out.
Ok, now on to some technical points. I'm posting the first two chapters back to back because this first one is just a prologue. This prologue is from Sera's point of view, but I'll be going back and forth between her and the Inquisitor. I definitely wanted to take a stab at writing from Sera's point of view because she has an incredibly unique voice, but I acknowledge that Sera can be hard to follow. I hoped to hit a nice balance between immediate and rambling but also understandable. I'll talk more about Sera's characterization later, but I hope you guys can follow her chapters just fine. Please feel free to tell me if I screwed up and she's still too hard to follow. Or even not hard enough. I've given a lot of thought on how to write as Sera so I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts.
Also, many thanks to my dear friend, Beast of Burton, for all of her help. She has written excellent stories on these characters as well and I greatly appreciate her help. Like a saint, she tolerated and engaged in many nerdy discussions with me about how to write from Sera's point of view, and also edited some of the chapters including this one.
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Prologue: The Tiger
It is a formal and deserted garden with many flowers and winding paths. She feels like a tiger, crouching in the shadows. Waiting. Watching.
He looks like a tiger too, sometimes, pacing the courtyard back and forth. She imagines his tail lashing back and forth with fury and impatience. But he isn't a tiger. He's a puffed up, overconfident rooster, strutting about in his colorful feathers. He can't imagine for even one second that this isn't about him. That it was never about him. That he's just a pebble dropped in a pond. Nothing more.
And tigers eat roosters.
But she waits. She wants to see who else will come. She sent the invitation, dropped the rooster in the trap, and now she wants to see if anyone takes the bait.
And then suddenly, there she is. She doesn't look like Andraste. She doesn't look like a rooster either. She doesn't even look like a tiger. She looks like something else. Something unexpected.
The tiger slinks silently to a new position in the shadows, moving closer to the action and in for a better look.
Her hair isn't red; it's black. Long and straight and draped over one shoulder with the opposite side shaved between the ear and temple. It's beautiful hair, the kind the tiger would like to run her hands through. Her skin isn't pale; it's dusky. She doesn't look like those statues outside every chantry. Her dark skin is flushed with life and her vibrant, violet eyes are lively and cutting. She's young, but not girlish. Her movements graceful, predatory. She's both angry and confused at the moment, watching the rooster strut about with absolute contempt.
She isn't Andraste.
The tiger feels just a little disappointed. A part of her wanted the fairy tales to be true. It would be easier to believe if the beautiful painted fairy stories came to life and pranced before her eyes. But this woman is just a person. Someone she might like to kiss or play with. Not someone married to the Maker himself.
The tiger's attention returns to the rooster. He isn't shutting up and she's getting sick of his posturing. He's standing with his feet forming a T shape, thinking it makes him look elegant and refined, but it makes him look like he has to pee. The tiger decides that it's time to strike.
She slides out of the shadows, creeping down the stairs and jabbing a knife between the armored plates of the guard at the bottom. His gurgled death moan draws the attention of the rooster and the tiger yanks her arm back into a full draw.
"Just say 'What!'" she shouts.
"What is the –"
The arrow pierces through his open mouth with a squelching noise, the tip poking out the back of his head. The rooster stands frozen for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground. The tiger's lip twists up in disgust as she comes forward. "Ugh! Squishy one, but you heard me, right? 'Just say what.' Rich tits always try for more than they deserve." She reaches down and yanks the arrow from his face, pleased to see it is still intact. No point wasting a good arrow on that over-puffed bird. "Blah, blah, blah!" she mocks, "Obey me! Arrow in my face!" Then turning back to the woman who is not Andraste, she says, "So, you followed the notes well enough. Glad to see you're… well, kind of plain really. All that talk and then you're just… a person." She realizes that she's letting her disappointment show and that it's not entirely fair when this woman didn't know that she was supposed to look different. So she adds, "I mean, it's all good, innit? The important thing is you glow? You're the Herald thingy."
The Herald looks suddenly weary and shrugs. The tiger gets the impression that the last few days have felt like a year to her. "Sure, why not? I glow. What's going on?" Her voice sounds like it's supposed to at least. It's clear, crisp, and proper. Not the muddy accent of the tiger.
"No idea. I don't know this idiot from manners. My people just said the Inquisition should look at him." She takes a look at the Herald's companions for the first time. There's a tall human lady with a hairy eyeball painted on her chest plate. One of those elfy-elf types with a long stick, probably magic – she decides to keep her distance from him. And a male dwarf with a crossbow. It's a weird collection of people and she wonders whether she even has the right group in front of her.
The Herald raises an eyebrow and asks, "Your people? Elves?"
The tiger scoffs at that. "No. People people." Suddenly she hears the sound of heavy boots on pavement in the distance and she recalls the rooster's other guards. She's still not sure what to make of this not-Andraste – she seems so incredibly human – but there will be plenty of time to figure out the truth later. "Name's Sera." She points to a stack of crates and adds, "This is cover. Get 'round it. For the reinforcements. Don't worry though. Someone tipped me their equipment shed. They've got no breeches."
The Herald looks completely bewildered, but draws two daggers and moves behind the crates. At least she's willing to play. The tiger thinks that this is going to be a really fun game.