A/N I originally meant for this to actually be in Tainted Blood but felt the chapter it was going to be in had gotten too long so I ended it early and cut this scene and several others out. Since it's been bouncing around in my head and I mentioned it to LadyMimzy in a PM I figured that I would write it down, so here you go.
Shianni was drunk.
This in itself was not unusual; Shianni got drunk whenever she could get away with it. What was unusual was that she was getting drunk to forget something instead of getting drunk just for the heck of it.
The other unusual part was that she was getting drunk with a mabari that belonged to a grey warden.
She patted the top of the dog's head "You're a nice doggy, even if you are a guy" she slurred "I bet you're nice to all the lady doggies aren't you? Even the ones that aren't mabaris and people think you're better then, you treat them with respect even through everyone thinks they're lesser than you don't you?" the dog woofed an affirmative "that's what makes people good leaders you know. You hear the doggie? You would be a good leader! You could be a King! The king of doggies!" In that moment the life seemed to drain out of her, she leaned on to the mabari, who adjusted himself so that she would be more comfortable, whining softly.
She began to cry "I can still feel that bastard's hands on me" she sobbed "the feel of cloth tearing against my back as her tore off my dress and…" she broke off sobbing uncontrollably into the fur of the mabari. "Why do people do things like that?" She asked "How could it possibly feel good to do something like that?" she looked at that mabari, begging, pleading for an answer.
The dog whined sadly and shook his head.
Shianni laughed brokenly "Of course you wouldn't know" she said "you mabari are too smart to engage in such barbaric practices. Clever enough to talk, smart enough not to." Reaching for the bottle she left on the floor she took another swig, draining the last of it. She looked around, trying to see if there was any more around and realized she was in the middle of Kallian's bedroom. Brave magnificent Kallian who had freed herself from the guards and saved her Kallian would never find herself in such a helpless situation; Kallian would hunt down everyone who hurt her and make them pay.
And she'd done just that, Shianni realized, more so she'd done it for Shianni as well.
Shianni heard a door opening and footsteps. She looked up to see Kallian standing over her. Kallian raised an eyebrow "does that stuff make this mess any better?"
"It did but now it's all gone" Shianni angrily slammed the empty bottle onto the floor, accidentally shattering it. "Oh shit" she said, then remembered she'd said the exact same thing just when she'd started this mess and broke down in tears "How can they do this?" she cried "how come no one ever wants to help us elves?"
Kallian put her arms around her and said "I don't know but I'm going to do something about it"
"How?" Shianni asked
"I came to tell you that I've been recruited into the grey wardens" Kallian said "I can make a name for myself there, then I can come back and help make the Alienage better"
"You'll make it better?" Shianni asked, her voice sounding like that of a small child
"Yes Shianni, I'll make it all better"
A/N for anyone who's wondering how the dog got there, as I mentioned earlier this story is set in the Tainted Blood universe, where Duncan brought Cousland (well, one of) to the Alienage with him and so the dog came along. If you want to read the main story it's here s/8656540/1/Tainted-Blood.