Yeah, I saw that there was no DnD and mass effect cross-over and thought. "Why not!" *Shrug* So I slapped in my level 11 changling Bard in the world of mass effect and here we are.

Hope you enjoy and please review so I may improve my writing!

"You want to Fight Twinkle-toes?!" The drunk man screamed at me as I finished my love song and accidentally glanced over at his date. It was an innocent glance, one she responded to. Being the head-strong and dare I say... Dashing, bard that I am, I immediately replied.

"Hell yes! You drunk!" I put my hand-held harp down gently and hopped off the table I was using as a stage in the tavern. I have some pent up aggression after a night of slow music. Being battle-hardened doesn't do the body good if you can't raise all kinds of mayhem.

The drunk man unleashed a battle cry and charges at me with fists raised. Timing it, I step into his guard and headbutt him in the nose. As he recoils from the strike, I sweep his legs from under him and finally, I deliver a vicious kick to his head while he's on the floor. Knocking his drunk ass to dreamland.

I give his unconscious body a graceful bow and go pick up my harp. I hop back onto the stage and continue playing as the tavern keep has his guards toss out the drunk that I just beat the hell out of.

The rest of the night goes without a hitch. Using my bardic magics, I was able to subtlety weave in the want to give me money for my performance.

I don't always do this, but at the moment, I don't have enough to even rent a room and I need to buy a sword as well. So I end up doing this to make them give a little more than what they would if they did. Not like I'm making them give over all their money! Just a slightly bigger tip.

This is not all I weave into my music. What kind of bard would I be if my sounds don't inspire emotion, so I add a little magic to make the lyrics and notes have more of an impact on people's' emotions. If the song is upbeat, it will make them want to dance, but if it's sad, then they WILL feel sad.

As I put the coins in my pouch and my harp in the case, there is a loud crash at the door of the building. Everyone looks over and sees the drunk with three men in plates flanking him. He looks around the room and when his eyes land on me, I see a sadistic smirk appear on his face. The former-drunk raises his arm and points at me, "That's him! That's the magic user!"

The room immediately falls silent. Magic users. In this day and age, being a user of the arcane arts is the equivalent of a death sentence by the Templars. An order that rose up when the new kingdom was created. Most people of the empire, Viana, can't use magic. It is just not in them to be capable to learn the art. Another thing that is a death sentence is being a magical being. Fairy, Elves, tiefling, drow, and what I am, a changling is an automatic head chop.

The inability to use magic led to jealousy of the ones who could and this soon led to hate and violence. The king decided that all magic users and magical beings are an affront to the gods and for this, they will all be put to death. None sense when a lot of the energy used by priests, Rangers, and other common warriors are gifts of the gods. The Elves are loved by the gods and they are killed in droves! This led to the Arcane Purge which killed eight percent of the empire's population. When said empire rules the north hemisphere of the world, that is saying something.

Back to the present, I immediately react at the right time and with no hesitation. "That is a lie! I am but a simple bard. If you search my person, you will find no ratty robes, or what are they?... Spell... thingies... Wands! That's it, you won't find any wands on my person either! All I have are some clothes, and my trusty harp," I finish patting on my harp.

The Templars draw their blades and advance. Thinking they will just search my stuff, I don't back away. This did not hold true as they grabbed me by the throat and tied up my hands. I start shouting, "What the fuck! Get your fucking hands off me, you..." I then sprout the most profane and vulgar set of insults that caused a few men to faint and women to blush like mad. Many involved a form of castration and/or the bludgeoning of the nether regions.

As I was about to get my second wind, a Templar snaps my harp in front of me. I instantly stop. Starring at the remains of my instrument. This causes all the Templars and the drunk to laugh. Seeing me stop struggling, the laughing Templars let me go. The bastard tosses my broken harp at my feet.

I crouch down and slowly pick up the harp that I have been using for five years. A gift from my teacher when he finish teaching me the basics of being a bard when I was thirteen. Holding both pieces, a strange feeling starts to burn in my back. Unknown to me, the back of my shirt blows off as I stare at my harp. Elaborate Celtic knots start spreading across my back and down my arms. Slowly they form a picture of wings within the knots.

As soon as the design is done. It let me know by burning into my body. Branding me forever with the pattern. After the burning dulls, I focus back on the present. Looking around my back, I see a mass of black feathers. Confused, I shake my back and they move with me. I also feel like there is a new limb on my back, so I try moving that outward and see that the wings move accordingly.

As my master would say to me when my magic did something strange, "Accept it and move on,"

Somehow, I know if I focus on getting rid of the wings, they will go back into my back, so I do. They quickly flash back in the new black branding. Sort of feels like changing, but normally I can't grow another fucking limb. I look up to see the Templars staring at me. "I'll be honest with you... I have no fucking idea what that was. Any of you got a guess because I'm drawing a blank here?"

The Templars snap out of their stupor at my voice. They all charge at me shouting demon. I dodge their strikes and back pedal. "WAIT! I'm still tied up! Stop attacking an unarmed man!" I shout waving my bound hands at them. "I surrender! Just don't kill me!" During my pleading, a bar patron stalked up behind me and broke a stool over my back.

I fall to my knees and receive a heavy kick in the temple from the armoured men. As I pitch back, my world goes black. The pounding of metal on flesh is what woke me up a few seconds later. As I lay there numb, I realize that the armoured men are alternating between kicking my downed form and punching it.

The leader of these Templars raises his bloody hand and calls, "Stop! We need him alive to help root out his heathen friends." Fat lot that will do them. Me being a TRAVELING bard and all. The men lift my limp form by the legs and drag me out of the tavern and down the cobblestone streets. I absently thought, 'You never know how uneven a place is unless you are dragged down it.' as my head bounces off the street over and over again.

I soon black out as the pain from the beating takes hold in my mind. When I awaken, I find that I have been put in a jail cell and tied to a very lumpy and cold bed. Looking around, I see that I am in a one man cell and that it is very... VERY dark in here. I can barely make out the bars of the cell thanks to a little bit of light from a torch outside of the tiny area.

I pull at the restraints and find them tight and with very little slack. I am to hurt to change to a smaller form. Sighing, I flop my head back to the bed and soon drift off to sleep. This is swiftly interrupted as the guards came in and beat the shit out of me for really no reason. Thankfully, they beat me into oblivion and I get to not experience their varying abuse.

I again wake up to the sound of guards shouting and the feel of cobblestone on my torso down. Seems that my hands are tied to a rope, which is dragging me with the back part of the wagon and making me face towards the street. Why do I keep getting knocked the fuck out and dragged?! Slowly, I open my eyes and find myself once again being dragged but this time, I am hooked to a prison cart... Come on! I see people in there! Couldn't have tossed me in?! No! Let's tie the broken bard to the back of a goddamn wagon and slowly drag him down the fucking street... AGAIN!

I shout up to a random prisoner, whose feet I see. "Umm... Hello there, I have sooooo many questions right now and I need answers! Can you help me?!"

I hear a voice answer, "Where are you? I don't see you in the wagon?"

"No... I am the bard that is being dragged behind the wagon... Do you know where we are going?"

I see some feet shift and assume they are looking at me. "We are heading to the execution block. I know why I'm going to die, but what did you do?"

"I don't fucking know?! One minute I am putting away my shit and the next Templars burst in and break my instrument! Next thing I know, I have fucking wings and then got the shit kicked out of me and woke up here."

"Damn... At least I killed someone to get here."

Sighing, I stop talking and will my legs under me and start to jog with the cart. Seems they let my legs alone and focused on my head and chest, so I pick up the pace and grab the bars of the wagon. Using the little strength I have, I jump up onto the side and hang off the side.

All the while muttering to myself about revenge and the indignity. I get a look at the person I was talking to and he looks like the meanest motherfucker on the planet. The squarest jaw with scars up and down his face and a thick brow that is in a permanent downward angle to look like he is scowling.

I wave energetically at him and hook my legs around the bar. I lower myself down using flexibility only brought by being a changling. At level with the rope, I untie it from the hitch and as it falls, I flip back up. Unchanging my teeth, I gnaw the ropes off using my naturally sharp teeth. The gods seem to want us to be meat eaters, so we all have sharp teeth for some reason.

Once the ropes fall, I wave at the stunned man inside the cage again and wait for an alley to pass. Seeing one up ahead, I roll off the cart and charge at the alleyway, knocking people out of the way... Only to see a big ass wall in my way.

I increase my pace and kick off the side wall upward to the lip of the roof. I just grasp it with my fingers when I feel something piece through my chest. As I fall, I see an arrowhead sticking out where my heart is. As I fall, my vision fades.

I hit the ground hard and roll to my feet... Wait what. Looking around, I see a large white plain. I hesitate for a second until it hits me. I am FUCKING DEAD! I look up into the sky and shout, "PISS!"

I feel a tap on my shoulder. I quickly turn around and see a figure in a large dark robe wielding a scythe. He waves heartily at me and I see his hands are covered in dark gloves, "Greetings young one! I am Death and I will be leading you to yo-" It pauses for a second and looks to the side. "What... What! Really?! Finally something interesting!" He looks back to me or I think he does, for some reason I can't see into his hood.

"Looks like it is your lucky day kid! The boss is bored and wants to do something interesting. Well if you agree that is. Big B wants to send you to another universe and see what happens. You will be healed. When you come out, you will be alive and as strong as ever, just... You know, in another universe."

I stare at the cloaked figure for a bit, "Why me?"

"I dunno, the boss gets bored very easily. It kind of sucks being a god. I should know, I gave being the god of travel a go for a bit when he was on vacation. Worst century EVER! All those whinny people begging for help, or forgiveness, or gods forbid money. Never shutting the hell up!"

"Does that mean I don't die?"

"No no no. You are still dead, but we can give you a new body and toss that into another universe."

"Umm... Okay, will I still be a changling and have my magic?"

"Sure, sure. You'll be the same as you left your world with," it said with a dismissive wave.

"'Kay, let's do this."

"What really?! Finally! You have no idea how many people actually turn down this offer, the last one to do this was like forty years ago! Let's get you caught up on the basics of the world you will be tossed in. First, it has something called guns." It conjured up a chunk of metal.

It passes the metal to me by the handle. "Now, point that over there," It says, pointing over to the side. I hesitantly do as told. "Put your finger in the guard," it tells me poking the hole in the "gun"

I slide it in and the little sliver of metal moves a little when I press it. "Now squeeze the trigger." I slowly squeeze the sliver of metal which I assume is this trigger. It suddenly barks and a bit of fire spits out of the end. It also kicks back, but using my strength gotten from surviving in the wild for years with my master, I easily handle it with one hand.

"You have just fired a gun. There are many like it, but this is referred to as a 'pistol'. There are assault rifles," it conjures up a long piece of metal which I see some of the components of the pistol in. "Snipers," another longer gun, "These are used for range combat far more than your bow and arrows. They are much faster too, so if someone points these at you, get out-of-the-way."

Another gun conjures and it is slightly shorter than the others, but bulkier. It hands it to me. It showed me how to hold it and when I fired it, it had a lot harder kick, but I still handle it well. For what is the next twenty hours, Death runs down the basics of the new universe I am going into. How to use their tools, how to shoot their guns acceptable, what videos were and what kind of technology that is to be expected. When questioned why it was doing this for me, it just laughed and said it was still an immortal being and I quote, "Shit gets boring when you can clone yourself to do your job."

"Well okay, you are good enough at their tools and weapons." A light appears behind Death. "Looks like it's time to go young 'un!" He disappears and appears behind me. Picks me up by my pants and scruff of my neck, "Don't worry! I gave you a heavy-duty dagger to use!" It tells me as it flings me through the portal.

I hit something that seems to be in armour. As we tumble to the ground, I roll over and quickly jump back and draw my new dagger. I see that I am in the futuristic alleyway and there are two people in... BANG!... one person in it. A female with a line of make-up on her lip and a cowl over her face who is now pointing a gun at me face.

I quickly raise my hands and rapidly say, "I'm not your enemy!" While infusing it with calming magic. Shit that could have helped if I used that at the tavern on the guards. She tilts her head to the side and speaks a language I have never heard. I feel like smacking myself. New universe, New language.

An orange light pops up on her wrist and she types something on it. She holds it out and it can read it! It says, "Why are you speaking ancient English?"

"Can you understand me?" She nods. "Cool! Um... Well I just died in my time and Death and his boss were bored so they gave me a rundown of this universe and as you saw, literally tossed me into it."

The woman just stares at me, "Umm... Other then the language, I do have some proof... Maybe... Do you all have changlings here?" She shakes her head no. I look at my hand and see that I am at my base form and only have my boots and pants on. Whoops. I Immediately change into her and back to my human form which is me with a more pronounced nose and more human coloring. I chose to keep my eyes a pale green like I was born with, just in human shape. Longish reddish black hair in a ponytail that thanks to my naturally puffy hair, flairs out from the tie and a goatee. I glance at my arm and see that the brand is still there. I will it away, but it won't disappear. That's going to put a damper in my disguises.

I was drawn from my thoughts when I got hit by a chunk of metal which I caught before it falls. I recognize it and slip it on and put the ear piece in. I hear the woman talk, "Much better, I didn't feel like typing everything I know. Now... How the hell did you do that?!" She asks me with a voice full of excitement.

Chuckling at the reaction to my birth power that isn't fear, I tell her, "It's a changling power, something you have to be born with like I was. If they aren't known then they have gotten better at hiding or I am the last of my kind... Thank the gods I don't have any care about my brethren or that would suck."

"Next question! Are you above stealing things?!" She quickly asks me bouncing on her toes in childlike glee. I chuckle some more and shake my head no.

"If I get something out of it, I don't care at all. As long as it's not my stuff getting stolen."

Hearing this, she says, "Can you help me get something back from a Jakkasu that killed my friend?!"

"Sure, I need some money anyways." I reach out my hand for a handshake, "Ciaran,"

She takes my hand and answers back, "Kasumi,"