Grey, there was only grey. It seemed that there was only ever grey upon the land, sky or sea. Grey land, grey sky, grey sea. Thunder rolled in lapping toxic waves of grayscale, darting in and out of its rank shelter to spit and hiss before sinking back into angry clouds, muffled. It rumbled angrily at seemingly nothing but the world and all that inhabited it, snarling loudly, the bark with no bite however. The lighting cackled, crackling, condescendingly with blind hate; it shot forth many a time to jab at the dusty wet earth like a brooding gnat. Dangerously infected with electricity, it burnt the terrain with a blackened touch. The desert land, once hot and arid was whetted upon by an odd spell of storm clouds. Rain bombarded down, landing with a solid splatter and then springing upwards several feet from the immense velocity, like kamikaze pilots. Cacti lathered themselves in the rain, roots moist, sucking up as much as possible before the unusual turn of events left them dry boned.
A road, a simple road. The markings long since worn out with no one to care for them they had been rubbed off torturously slowly with many rubber cars, feet and the natural wildlife. Time. Even to the naked eye no one would think that there used to be a town if not for the lone cobbled building that stood strong. It was but a small town church of grey brick and mortar, no one would think that it would stand tall even now, yet it was the only building in a three hundred mile radius. Ruins had fallen around it, old shops with panel Windows, houses from the forgotten era and there seemed to be an old police department, the only sign of it once existing was a rusted old car that once held power over the criminals of this town.
Everything was forgotten from this time.
'One would have once thought that humanity would have fallen from natural means or supernatural means as the old cinemas would have one know. Humanity was anything but natural, and thus, they fell upon unnatural weapons too evil for war. Let us pray for what we lost thirty five years ago to this day.'
The crackle of the radio brought some life to the area as a rusted old pick up truck rolled along the asphalt road. Worn and battered it came upon the road, past the church and police department it continued. The rain brought no shelter to the decaying metal and the humidity of the air stuck under layers of grime and rust, itching away at scabs.
'- thank you for your silence, survivors. And now, today on the twenty first of April 2081 We present and newly found track from the forgotten era! We hope you-' the click of the radio switching off stopped all noise. There was silence in the night, only insects and rain sang their blues. The thunder and lightning still rolled in the sky like dragons upon the old fantasies.
There hadn't been April showers for thirty six years, only dead bone deserts. Only the deserts came out unscathed, sand filling holes where bombs and humans had fell, moving in the joints of rusty tanks, enveloping all innocent beings in golden coins worth nothing. The storm, unnatural; was unnerving, yet one could not afford to worry about the weather when survival was the main concern.
At least there was not going to be any issue finding water this night. The nights usually were bone chilling and lacking in any life other than the sand storms and bone sharks of many long extinct animals, people. The desert usually was dry and with no rain, even the cacti shrivelled up and the sand never cooled with a hot hiss of steam, forever bubbling away in day heat. Life, usually was hard, with no respite from weather, barely any ruin sheltering enough or safe enough to stay in for over a day, or hour, or minute and food lacking, only the abundance of rusty vehicles seemed to provide some ease.
The metal structures of the last five generations still stood, broadcasting poles and the cabins within still stood to broadcast some human life, a normality that only gave respite, that there were humans out there other than thugs or bandits or clans. There was no rain for metal to rust, it had all been swept up and hidden under a bomb decorated rug for the past three and a half decades, only heat. Reading old magazines from seventy years ago would have them believe that things would be mutated in the apocalypse, cows with two heads, zombies with bees etc. But no, no zombies, no mutations; only nothing. The act of nuclear nullification prevented all countries from the use of nuclear weaponry, nuclear energy, Anything nuclear after the meltdown of Brazil's largest power plant collapsed during a nuclear attack against the black cat terrorist group. That was the last time nuclear had been used, when Brazil had fallen, the fog finally cleared and there was only death. And then there were only bombs left to burn, and burn they did.
The red truck finally rolled to a halt outside of the city, the brakes squeaking under the wait and the corroded metal groaning in sympathy for them. And there was silence. The thunder rolled through the silence and the familiar static of the wind licked against the vehicle like a wave. The clicking of asphalt chips gathering around the wheels as a bolt of lightning shot against some unknown land behind the rocky cliffs in front. The figure in the truck seemed to freeze for a moment, their hands gripped the once shiny wheel of the vehicle and they sat straight against the seat. Their eyes showed only the glint of the moon reflecting in them and the only sign that they were living was the flickering as their eyes subconsciously moved around like the ancient televisions that when they were turned on only showed raining static. Condensation gathered upon the windows as they let out a steady breath.
The door of the truck opened with the horrid squeaking of metal upon rust, two feet stood out covered in dust, muck and blood, the door slammed behind them leaving the pickup truck to rock from side to side. Battered pleather boots, the right having been cut down the side for a crudely made splint to keep the heavily damaged foot attached to the rest of the body, slowly turning infected yet the dying parlour of the skin could have passed it off as much much worse to anyone which was not medically inclined; which in this world, was the majority as most of the doctors and nurses had died out, saving instead of teaching.
Along with the feet came a makeshift crutch in the form of a bow and with a shaky breath the figure, now clearly a woman took a step forwards, the sharp intake of breath could be audibly heard as the bow creaked under the weight that the woman was putting on it. She limped over to the back of the truck to open the door on the back. Reaching, she pulled a small tent, a sleeping bag and a heavy box containing an old portable grill from the years lost. Along with it she hauled out by the hooves a recently deceased goat, there was no fish in the desert but the goats weren't so bad even if they took a stupidly long time to strip all useful materials from their body.
With a careless thud she dropped the grill onto the dusty floor and occupied herself with the set up of the tent. She hobbled around and although skilled she still took a unneeded amount of time to set the black and mustard yellow tent up and to chuck the sleeping bag inside. Taking out a lighter she grabbed a piece of old newspaper from her pocket, lit it and simply dropped it into the oil filled grill and watched it light within seconds. She stood for a second, staring into the only harmless light around. With a groan she slowly sat down and hauled the small carcass of the goat to her lap and uncaring of the blood soon had the main organs out of the body. She must have lost more blood than she thought because her breath had quickened to deep gasps, or maybe it was the after affects of being shot with a barbed metal arrow from one of the locals manual turrets; She didn't know. Cutting the tubes from the liver she carelessly threw the meat onto the grill and let it erupt with a roaring sizzle. Gasping for breath she rested her head against the red metal of the truck, listening to it's old engine tick and shudder.
The woman lifted herself up to take a square object out of her back pocket, she looked down at the small device and brushed the top of the case gently with her thumb. She pressed one of the buttons on top with a click, rested her head against her vehicle again and closed her eyes-
'Hello Alex, it's your soon to be grandma' a voice wavered out of the machine, the crackle of the machine made the voice of the person speaking sound even older but the smile was ever present.
'All these new people today, they forget moments like these. New life, new shoes, new games to play…they forget. I remember when times were simpler, but then again so does any old person. Your mother would scoff now, she'd say 'mother, since when have you ever been old!?' And so on. But. I am old, I'm seventy six now and since my man left, and I'm old now.'
The crackle was all that remained for a moment, leaving the final part of the sun to set, the brilliant hues all but left the tormented land.
'But that's not important, age is not important. It shouldn't be. And I know by the time you receive this your old grandma won't be here, I'll be wherever, doing whatever, being whoever. Times, they're changing, faster than ever. Just last week a successful cure was found for that horrible plague in India going about. There was the first ever electrical car that could drive as far as those abandoned diesel cars. Oh but everything is an antique, in time.'
Silence.
'There is always something I can't forget, no matter how old I get. The oldest memory I have, but a dream. A mountain, bigger than my Everest, and your Everest. The top, barren except for a small cabin, nothing that one would heed. But through the door and out the other, a city of flowers and light, a heaven not of this earth. I had that same dream again last night, maybe it means that my time here has drawn to a close, maybe…maybe I'll be there, with my William. Oh I just know it Alex, you'll be my little star one day, just like your brother, just like your mother. Death, death is not a scary thing when you've seen the things I've seen. Death is just a door you haven't opened in the house of life. It's like the attic of a house, as a child you are enraptured with it and still afraid because no one bothered to put a light in it. As an adult you are irritated and afraid when you have to interact with it. When you get to my age, it's just an attic that you haven't really been in yet.'
Water dripped softly onto the device, the tent taking most of the barrage from the rain.
'Oh but I'm rambling, silly me, I do that. I have too many words to say but not enough time to plan when. Oh my little Alexandra, aren't you beautiful.'
The warmth of the voice and the natural crackle of the voice's age died away softly, slowly.
She sniffed, her eyes wet with tears. She knew that the arrow had been poisoned but hadn't the time to check. No one ever seemed to have time to check.
"Grandma…I think…I think I'm going into the now." And with that she lost herself to the darkness. The thunder still rumbled ahead.
Alex woke up with a gasp, the light far too bright for her eyes. Shocked for a second before a searing pain took ahold of her where her foot was. Looking down, she realised that the searing pain was coming from where her foot should have been. She gagged for a second, shocked and nauseous as the sight of her own blood that had seeped through a bandage wrap. A wooden splint was attached on either side of her calf, notably much better than her old splint which lay on the side rotten and covered with her own blood. She sat up, her hands moving to where her foot had been when a firm hand pushed her back into the bed she was on.
"Don't move, you're still recovering from your injuries. Move again and I'll have you strapped to the bed." A firm mans voice intruded on her foggy mind, his threat borderline truth.
Looking up and trying to ignore the glare of the bright sunlight she was met with an ageing man with balding brown hair. His brow creased and the crinkles of his eyes glared down at her judgingly , daring her. The sudden threat of another human being and how she wasn't where she had last been jolted her survival instincts and she hurriedly backed up against the wall the bed was against.
"Get away!" She managed to babble out but the words her vocal cords produced seemed foreign and hoarse. In fact, they were foreign, the words she was saying were completely different than what she was trying to say. That terrified her even further and ignoring the searing pain of her stub she still managed to stick herself to the wooden walls even more. Her breath borderline hyperventilating and her eyes darted back and forth between the room and the man, desperately searching for the nearest exit. She thought the worse, a raider had found her in the night and had taken her for his own pleasure, taking him to his family's nearest medic to check her out. Or worse, the clans had found her in their territory and they were having parts of her body removed piece by piece.
"Calm down girl! I'm not going to touch a damn thing!" The man spluttered exasperatedly shaking his palms in front of him to prove that he was no harm. She relaxed slightly, peeling herself off of the wooden walls slightly, if just a shade of a centimetre. Words were many things and there were many words, just as there were many meanings in those words.
"It's not like you can do anything anyways now with that leg of yours. When we found you the wound had completely killed off part of your foot, we had to have it removed or your entire leg would have had to have been amputated-
"That was dead skin! Not nerves!" She cried out tears forming in her eyes as the pain and the subject at hand finally got to her. Oh god how was she meant to survive now, an amputee in the world of the devil was like walking into heaven with a burning bible. She would probably die here anyways, a slave to perverts and monsters. Either that or they would kick her out for their own humour, see how far she got before the land grasped her and dragged her down. Feeling light headed and her mind foggy she felt two firm hands shake her and the visage of the man and his brown pools can into her flickering vision.
"My name is Adan, I'm a…healer. If you continue like this I will really have to knock you out before you send the rest of the injured here into a panic." He growled, brow furrowing. She nodded with a high pitched whine as a particular part of her leg was bumped by the fabric on the bed.
He seemed to relax and the brown depths seemed to soften, if that were possible for the man, seemingly called Adan, he still looked harsh and angry "Good, now, what's your name. I can't just call you girl forever can I?"
"Y-yeah. My name…my.." She struggled for breath, the panic still not gone from her system stopping the breath on her tongue from forming any sound.
"Speak it girl, or are you brain damaged as well!?" He grimaced, or smiled, she wasn't sure.
"Alex, my name is Alex!" She stammered out eventually eyes widening.
"Alex? What an odd name for a a lady. How old are you? No, not because of that, I need to record your information in the injury book for the supposed 'new healer'. Just, calm down, just simple things like your name, your age, height, weight and your injury."
"I'm twenty-three and I'm five foot four. Or something near that I…I haven't checked in thirteen years but I haven't grown much more, if a…any." She thought she saw him close his eyes and mutter something before his normal, grumpy expression returned to his face.
He nodded before giving her his hand, she stared back at the limb wide eyed before looking back.
He sighed "look, I'm just going to get your weight. Then you can get back down, the sleeping salves still haven't worn off on you yet."
She nodded before taking his hand and with an unknown strength she was hauled up with her arm over his shoulder to what seemed like a very, very old weighing scale.
"Hmm, you're too underweight, borderline what a beggar would be. Clearly not a hunter from the woods then, they can check that off of their list. I have more people to tend to but I'll have the next person to come in take you to the tavern for some good, warm food. Don't eat too fast or you'll find yourself throwing it back up again. And then I'll have you clean it up!"
"Checklist…what-" the question and her frown was interrupted as the bang of a heavy door, wooden probably, opening and closing broke their conversation. Two women walked into the building, once unsettlingly dangerous looking and the other slender, smaller.
"Ah, she's awake, good. Leliana and I have some questions for her" she dangerous looking woman replied curtly to an unspoken question. Alex could see now that this woman was clearly half bear, black short cut hair and black, strong, defiant eyes gave her a wild look and the scar among her face cut even more into her chiselled jawline. Her shoulders stood square in a stance that just demanded respect, authority, fear and inspired defiance at its highest peak. She was clad in iron like armour, speckles of darker grey gave her a rustic, battle hardened look and the giant eye chiselled into her chest plate stared back at her almost as accusingly as its wearer.
Scared stiff she lost what little footing she had and slipped from Adan's grasp getting her head against a table behind her. As she fell her stump knocked and ground against the rough textured wooden floor causing her to cry out and grasp the splint as a wave of pain washed through her making her feel sick to the stomach and for bright lights to enter her vision along with a high pitched, deafening buzz.
A soft hand grasped her shoulder and warm green eyes entered her vision, along with a. Face, of course. The face though was what made her reel back even more in shock. The other woman had rushed to try and stop her fall, her face was long but no sharp or gaunt angles took to the shape. Brown messy hair that seemed as wild as the owner covered her face apart from the left side which had been pulled away behind pointed ears. Her nose was sharp but refused to stick out more than it needed to, just like everything else, all noticeable parts of the woman's face stuck out defiantly but only so far as if they became humble half way through. The face though, the ears, the eyes were not what took her by surprise however-
"…grandma…?" She murmured and her eyes squinted in confusion, just like the woman's in front seemed to do the same thing.
"…did…did she just call you grandmother, Herald…?" The angry woman piped up, suddenly taken aback and the angry face was replaced with confusion.
"I…I believe so. Uh, I don't think that's possible little one, not to mention that we're not even the same race, but I've yet to have any offspring to even start to have grandchildren. That and you're almost my age…" the lilted voice of the woman looked to me, a small glimmer of amusement caught her eye making the green light up more.
"...Alex. An...and sorry...ears…the ears?" Alex spoke, and her face flushed. Obviously this was not her grandmother, for many valid reasons. She must have been more drugged than she thought she had been.
"Yes, I'm an elf." She replied and a tone in her voice caused her to realise that the poor woman had probably had the same question directed at her at a completely meaning."
"But…what's an elf?" Alex felt stupid asking but it was better than anything the woman had obviously been expecting.
She seemed taken back, shocked even "you, don't know what an elf is?"
"No…should I? I…I'm not for around here, I think." Alex replied.
Adan spoke up suddenly obviously tired of the many questions
"This is all very nice and all but I have important work to do, so could all please leave and take Alex here to get some plain food, she is severely underweight; and I do not have time to look after her."
The elf perked up at that "Oh, sorry Adan I know your very busy" she turned red and the tips of her ears turned bright red in embarrassment, she then turned to Alex
"So your name is Alex then? My name is Cameron and this is Cassandra. We found you three days ago in the morning outside Havens gates with unknown objects. Your wounds were very serious and I'm incredibly sorry but your foot was lost, you have a broken rib and you have fractured your leg from the metal projectile in your leg. We're not here to harm you, we just need to ask questions about where you came from. You see, we are currently in a hostile situation, we need to make sure you aren't a threat to us. But first, let's get you some food like Adan asked."
The sudden thought of food overpowered her mistrust of the two women, mostly the woman behind Cameron, Cassandra, who had not removed her hand from the hilt of her nasty looking blade the whole time, that and she hadn't let her eyes look anywhere else but at her. She still looked like she was about to run her through in seconds, and Alex knew that asleep could defend herself about just as far as she could throw the warrior.
"That…that would be nice. I…do you have anything I can…use to, get around?" The part where she couldn't walk anymore was still bizarre and fresh in her mind and she still hadn't quite grasped the feeling, the ghost of her foot still brushed against her leg and she almost believed it was still there for a moment if only just that ; fifteen years of surviving on her own had sharpened her sharpened her senses and ability to know vital changes in her body, exterior, mainly. There had been a time when she would walk through the streets not realising she was bleeding everywhere. That time was long gone now. She still couldn't exactly walk however, unless she was expected to live the rest of her probably short life being carried here and there.
Cameron's eyes widened a bit and she glanced around sympathetically "Adan? Do you have a crutch anywhere around here that we could borrow, please?" She called to the apothecary who had gone around a corner to deal with a man who had experienced a bad encounter with some form of horned beast.
"I'm an apothecary, not a healer…yes, yes Josephine had a batch delivered, they're underneath the table next to Cassandra. The elf turned around to see the warrior bear woman already reaching down to trap a crutch. She stepped over to Alex and reached out to give the crutch to her by the foot. She still looked like she wanted to run her through with her sharp sword, she hesitated.
Cassandra sighed exasperatedly "I'm not going to kill you. Take the crutch and get up." Alex rooked to the handle of the crutch and sheepishly took it from her hand. Taking a breath to gain the strength she hauled herself up my her other leg by pressing herself against the wall once balancing she had another crutch handed to her by the elf woman which she took. Now properly standing she had the time to inspect her clothes. She war the same mud brown top and the leather jacket she had found while scouring across a richer part of the world but her trousers had been taken of, presumably covered in a similar bacteria which could just make it worse, either that or they just looked awful. She knew they had been covered in blood, sand, mud and much, much worse things and bodily fluids. Mostly animals that she had found in a. Surge of luck. She now wore some thick overalls which was odd considering she was meant to be in a Desert with a temperature higher than e own internal temperature.
"You wear some odd clothes Alex. When we found you your breeches looked like they belonged to a peasant but your top and…other top looks like it's from a noble family, very well made. We are sorry but your equipment and tools had to be removed, we can't have anymore spies wandering around." Cameron spoke up with a soft smile, observing her own self inspection.
"Wh…where is the food" her stomach growled, regardless of their motives, Alex had never had anything close to a full meal, surviving on mainly fish, wild berries and any food found from the farmers crops that had reclaimed the land. Call her a scavenger but when surviving the night was your only goal in life, opinions meant nothing.
Cameron chuckled slightly a warm sound lighting up her eyes again and Cassandra huffed in subtle humour.
"Come on, this way." She replied and gestured with her hand to a wooden door not quite fitted as light spread through the gaps of the door. Alex followed as the door opened to her and she froze. White. Everything was white and cold with small little specks of dust…or other stuff? She didn't know, she'd never seen this before in all the places she had been and gone to.
The two sensed her hesitation and turned around "Hey you okay? You never seen snow before?" The elf asked, eyes squinting in humour and confusion.
"What's snow?" Alex asked, she felt dumb asking but her curiosity took over her. This stuff was white, pristine and constantly appearing in front of her.
"Wait, you've really never seen snow before?" Cassandra perked up looking genuinely surprised.
"Uh, no. The only weather I've been in is storms and desert weather. It's not cold where I am from." Tentatively she stepped into the cold tundra and looked around. Snow covered all of the quaint buildings and spiked wooden poles separated parts of the area. People wandered around in clothes finer than she had ever seen but from an era way past her time. Maybe they were a friendlier clan that had become obsessed with medieval times, there had been worse any ways. People turned to her and seemed to analyse her rough look, some clearly whispered either sympathetic or mocking remarks of her bedraggled look. An arm grasped her out of her observation, she looked to the owner of the hand, Cameron smiled slightly and tugged slightly hinting to follow her. Alex complied, she wasn't awake enough for this anyway.
Hobbling along behind they made their way down a path and over to a nearby building. It was of a similar design to Adan's place but smoke raised from a small chimney and the smell of freshly cooked meats, bread and other delicacies ticketed her food starved nose. The strong tangy smell of that liquid that she had seen many of the raiders drink also hung around he air with the noise of many people talking and laughing. Alarming questions and anxiety bubbled up in the pit of her stomach and she felt the unyielding desire to run away. She didn't know these people and she didn't know their intentions. Suddenly the waft of food made its way to her and her stomach clenched desperately. She must have been more hungry than she thought she was because suddenly she was nearly passing Cassandra to get to the door.
Cameron chuckled slightly from the side of her mouth stepped sideways those the door for her. Walking in she was hit with the smell of heaven. People sat smiling and laughing and the bard on the side lit up the warm area. There was a warmth in the small building that she had never experienced before in any area she had been in.
"Flissa! An ale for our guest and a healthy dinner and Cassandra and I will have our usual drinks!" The small elf seemed to project her voice suddenly in a way she didn't think was capable from the woman. She smiled brightly at the woman in question as she walked in and sat down in a chair that seemed way too homey for just a tavern. Cassandra followed behind, passing her with a glare. Alex gulped and followed behind slowly sitting down at the table with a jerky movement.
A waitress walked by with a plate and handed them all their drinks. Cassandra had a richer coloured drink than to hers but it was still held in the same gigantic glass jug. Cameron however had a smaller deep red drink. Alex didn't know what any of them were and looked down to hers almost intimidated. Carefully she wrapped her hand around the drink and put it to her lips. She was shocked to find a sweet and sharp taste of the drink, she hadn't tasted anything with this much taste before and suddenly took a larger gulp.
"Calm down there, you drink like you've never drank anything before." Cassandra smirked, the joke not quite reaching her eyes. Cameron didn't seem bothered by it and continued to laugh.
"I've never tasted anything so sweet! I've seen the raiders drinking stuff like this but I never thought it was safe! This is delicious!" Alex stammered out smiling brightly.
They both frowned slightly "I'm sorry, raiders?"
"You know the raiders, they scavenge all the decimated buildings, kill and slaughter any other lone survivors, you never met them?" She spoke slowly, confused.
"Alex, where are you from?" Cassandra spoke up this time.
"Uh well I'm from Earth. There aren't really countries anymore since the total decimation of civilisation so I just from Earth. You know, or is it really isolated up here?" She nervously murmured looking between the two, the pit in her stomach getting deeper.
"Total decima…what? No, you're in Thedas. Orlais? Ferelden? No?" Cameron spoke up getting closer to the table, her eyes somehow went wider than they already were and the worried look did not fit the kind woman's face.
"Thedas? That was never a place on earth, it's not possible. I have to be on earth, oh can't just leave a planet." Her breath became quicker, a sinking feeling took hold where her heart was and dragged it downwards.
"Alex what happened to your home? There hasn't been any war like that described in the books." Halfway through Cameron looked to Cassandra who then glanced back to Alex.
"Thirty something years ago the world burned. Terror attacks all around the world had turned countries on themselves, then the use of nuclear was banned after Brazil had a nuclear meltdown that irradiated half of the country from a chain reaction making the continent incapable of retaining human life. Then the terror attacks turned to nuclear attacks and soon all the countries turned their weapons to each other an fired. Three quarters of the human population was wiped out from the bombs, global warming, environmental danger and all the food was destroyed during the bombings." It was the history anyone bothered to remember anymore now, knowing who was the last president wasn't needed, knowing what happened on November didn't matter, only when humanity died.
All Alex got in return was horrified silence.
"Yes, I'm certain that we haven't had that. Very certain." Was the quiet voice of Cameron. The horrified silence was broken by a waitress wandering by and plopping a plate of food in front of her. Alex's voracious appetite hadn't left and she still wasn't sure why the two were so shocked, it was common knowledge any ways. She started eating and almost spat it out in shock, the food was hot and tasted of food. There was fluffy yellow mush that tasted very much like a potato and so more vegetables than she knew existed. And God, the meat was from a cattle, not just a goat with no meat on its bones. She'd never tasted this much before and it was overload for her tongue.
"What are these green things? They're delicious. You're so lucky you have nearby crops of so many vegetables and how did you get your hands on a cow? What do they look like.!?" She was practically jumping in her seat now not even realising the other two women's expressions. She knew her curiosity would catch her one day but at this point she didn't care. Eventually she settled down when she finished off the plate. Looking up at them she slowed down at the looks of their faces.
"Are you okay, you look like you've seen a ghost. Are their fumes around? Sometimes they can cause hallucinations." She frowned at them. They seemed hospitable enough.
Cameron gave her a weak smile "uh no, no fumes here. We…we just didn't know you were that hungry. If we knew we would have woke you up to feed you sooner. That's…all. Yes." The final part seemed more for herself than for Alex.
"Well then, welcome to Thedas, Alex." Cassandra welcomed, her name on the scary woman's lips still sounded strange, even to Alex herself.
"We will take you to our meeting room where you can say hello to all of my associates and we will explain what's going on as well. Okay?" Cameron continued. Alex nodded in reply and they prepared to leave. Getting down was easy, up, not so much. The floor was slippy and the medicine they must have given her made her feel lethargic now that she had food and drink in her stomach. Speaking of which there must have been something in the drink because she felt very light headed.
"If you've never had alcohol before you'll feel that way. After a while you'll drink ale like it were water"Cassandra commented clasping her shoulder too roughly to be friendly. Cameron passed her the crutches while dropping some golden coins onto the table, most likely for Flissa. Soon they were out the door and slowly making their way up to a large giant stone church. It reminded her strongly of the church she had seen when she was driving her truck. The truck didn't mean much to her, she simply broke into it and fiddled with the open wires before it came…sort of, to life. If she ever decided to move herself from these unknown lands that somehow hadn't been affected by the war. She didn't care though, it had food and kind people. Somehow, she felt at home more than she had been in her entire life.
They made their way up the the giant wooden doors and into the church, great stone pillars covered in humble architectural designs and delicately made stained glass that radiated with a humble hand of the creator decorated the church. All etch and curve beautiful and full of love. The entire building felt like it had been built by poor love. There was no exquisite beauty of a commercial hand but a kind touch of that of someone who believed in their religion whole heartedly and adored their job. Alex was not religious, only clans seemed to be, but she still admired the care the church cradled in every nook and cranny.
She was lead through the opposite door and into a smaller room with a huge wooden table with a large map of the continent they were on. Well it sort of looked like a continent but there seemed to be a lot of water around. A large group of people occupied the room and she suddenly felt cornered in the room of heavily armed people. Cameron and Cassandra didn't see to notice or just expected it any ways.
"Inquisition, this is our unexpected guest, Alex. Alex, this is the inquisition, we are a well…inquisition. We're trying to fix the world currently. Someone opened a breach to the fade which caused a tear in the sky and the conclave, a place that was being used to stop the Mage and Templars from killing each other and anyone else around them, well, it caused an explosion that killed many including the chantry's divine." The explanation had Alex's head reeling, Templars, mages, a chantry? It made no sense.
"Wait, what? Mages? The chantry? I'm sorry but none of that makes sense. There hasn't been any religious standing in years and the only magic that ever existed is in the little books that burn really easily." She stopped the elf halfway through waving her hand in front of her in confusion.
A rather snide voice piped up from a darker skinned woman with cheekbones as perfected as a swan is to water. Beautiful but offensive, very offensive.
"I'm sorry herald but I think your little guest seems to be more than just physically disabled and lacking any sense of style, but also rather addled. No magic? Preposterous! I have never heard such a ridiculous thing in my entire-
"Vivienne! Be nice, Alex isn't…from around Thedas, she's far from home of which is, troubled. Maybe magic hasn't been practiced in a long time and has been forgotten." The elf reprimanded the other woman sharply, and although she had put it lightly, she was obviously trying to be subtle whether for her sake or the others.
"And any ways, we will explain further tomorrow when we all aren't exhausted from the travel to Orlais." Cassandra perked up, accent harsher in contrast to the two other women's rather English accents.
"Well if we are to do introductions, we might as well start." Perked up another darker tanned woman from behind a rather gruff looking man. She was wearing a rather…eccentric type of clothing that made her look more like food and less like a person surviving, obviously here had enough peace to look…odd.
Said woman stepped forwards "My name is Josephine Montiliyet I am the ambassador and diplomat for the inquisition I must apologise herald but four of us are currently away, Sera, Solas, Iron bull and Varric are currently preoccupied with a mission, whether it is important is another question with only Solas to watch them. God knows what Sera has gotten them into now." She turned to the herald half way through her introduction, so there were obviously more. Great...
"This is Cullen he is our war advisor and previously a Templar, Leliana who is our spymaster and Blackwall, our only warden. Obviously you have already…met, Vivienne and Cassandra." She continued writing down something on that odd board she held.
"Your clothes are rather…battered. I'll have someone make you some new clothes and we will have a room arranged for your, predicament." She finished trying hard to look at the bandage as a part of it came undone. And fell to the floor.
"Oh, uh, sorry?" She shied away her face turning slightly red.
"Yes, it was rather unfortunate your injuries. What exactly did you do to it." A rather eloquent accent rang out from what she had previously thought had been just a stand with how far away in the dark the woman had been. Obviously the spymaster that the oddly dressed woman was talking about. Something in the way the woman spoke reminded Alex of the snakes in the desert that would entice people into safety before snapping them up with their venom. She didn't trust Alex as far as Alex could run now.
"I wandered too close to some people and they shot me with a barbed arrow from one of their turrets. They then started to chase me which was why my splint was so badly made. But last I checked the wound hadn't been that bad…" She replied struggling not to step back.
"Yes that does seem true with the large projectile we found. The only reason why you thought it wasn't so bad was because you hadn't taken out the barbed part. We didn't know that it was…barbed at the time. Apologies about that." A rather well spoken man spoke up even though his appearance seemed gruff at most.
" Obviously you should have adhered to their request for space darling. My herald I must implore but this girl seems less educated than a wild nug! Are you sure she shouldn't still be in Adan's care?" Vivienne spoke up, obviously not a fan. Alex didn't quite know how to react because the large staff she was sporting on her back looked incredibly dangerous for one without her bow or knives.
"Vivienne please be nice, you may not like our current situation but we cannot just leave an injured woman when we stand to aid innocents." A blonde haired man, most likely Cullen, his voice was rather pleasing to hear, especially since he hadn't given her a stink eye yet like almost all of them had. Alex decided that she liked the war counsellor more than the others. He seemed less likely to kill her first should she 'not adhere' to the inquisitions rules.
She huffed and walked past her, a breeze of floral perfume following her exit.
"Well Vivienne may not like you but we know that Sera does." The spymaster said after a brief moment of silence while watching her leave.
"Why?" Alex asked and Leliana smirked in return.
"As she put it, 'she may be missing a foot but she still has a nice bow and two big long blades' or some form of that." Alex let out a nervous chuckle.
" we will have a room set out for you, I think we are done here until everyone else comes back." Cameron stated and with that turned to leave as with everyone else.
On the way to exiting a rough hand grasped her by the arm almost causing her to lose her balance with her crutches. It was Cassandra who looked at her menacingly.
"I do not trust you, you suddenly appear with unknown objects and no proof to back you up. The only reason you aren't in a cell is because you're now incapable of defending yourself. You may think you're alright now but once the salves wear off, you'll quickly realise that we aren't just going to pamper you." And with that she walked off briskly with her hand on her swords hilt. Alex just stared wide eyed.
AN: greetings, I am Hypnotunez. I don't like to put AN at the first chapter because I feel it breaks the immersion, I like to drop people into the story so they can just start reading. But in the next chapters I will be writing the authors notes at the start. I must warn you that I am not as educated on dragon age lore as I would like and I have dyspraxia so my memory and typing is not as good as an average person because I have difficulty with perception. If I forget anything or mix something up don't hesitate to tell me because I much prefer my stories to make sap ensue rather than make me look ignorant. I must also warn you that I have a habit of going into high detail when I am perhaps writing a scary scene because first and foremost I am an artist, or a gore artist specifically. I will always put a warning on the first like of the authors note whenever there is a scene with gore.
I'm not some writing prodigy so please notify me if there is a spelling mistake. I love to know what you think because it shows me what I need to improve and what people think of it. Don't be afraid to give constructive criticism to me or suggestions of where you want the character to go, do or interact. Because this is heavily inspired by choice in the game I want to know whether you want the character to be a part of certain scenes or not and no, the story won't just sympathise towards her view, things like the herald and character relationships will be dealt upon.
I hope you enjoy the first chapter, this is the most I have ever written for the opening and I hope I give the games credit. Also note that I am unable to buy dragon age 2 or the dragon age inquisition dlc's one because I'm broke and two because ea won't let me buy them because I am only sixteen via origin. And yes, I did call my inquisitor Cameron. But she was the first character I completed the game with.
Toodles!