[A/N:] BioWare crushed my hopes of having a same-sex relationship with Cassandra… and this is my means of coping with it. Because, y'know, I somehow gotta let it go, let it gooo, can't hold it back anymoreeee!
Ehem. But enough of that. This'll be a collection of snapshots (hence the name, huh huh) picturing my not-so-canon-anymore DA:I OTP Qunari!Femquisitor x Cassandra Pentaghast. This is for y'all heartbroken folks out there who crossed their fingers really, really hard… and, sadly, in vain!
Disclaimer: If I owned Dragon Age… You know the story.
She was tall — all sharp features and rough edges — and the Seeker couldn't stop staring at the crest of horns adorning her head. When she turned and bored those breathtakingly violet eyes into her skull, she positively recoiled, even if just a bit.
Maker, was this qunari even real? Cassandra had never seen a female qunari warrior before and — judging from the looks the others gave her — neither had them. She was clad in the dark, cotton-styled armor all qunari wore and carried a giant broadsword on her back.
She stood there, impassively, as the secretary went to fetch Laric. A guard — according to the plate he wore on his sleeve, a lieutenant — took a step forward. He glared up at the incredibly tall woman, probably feeling dwarfed, and not just by her commanding posture.
"Don't get any funny ideas, just because the seneschal will hear you out, qunari. Your kin brings nothing but trouble with them." He all but spat the words to her feet, a hand resting on the pommel of his sword in silent threat. Cassandra eyed the woman; she didn't even flinch.
"I am not a qunari." He glanced at her from below, "What?" Her eyes darted to his as she repeated herself, her tone still completely devoid of emotion, "I am not a qunari. The word you're looking for is kossith." She tilted her head downward and Cassandra couldn't help but smirk at how obvious it made their height difference.
"But I shouldn't be surprised a meek, uneducated human foot soldier wouldn't know the difference." His face went beet red at this insult and his hands twitched. When he spoke it came out as an indignant yell, "What do you think me for, insolent outlander?! You waltz in here like you own this place and pretend to be a warrior?! As a woman, nonetheless!"
He shoved his face up to hers, and Cassandra thought his spirits must have left him as he so clearly picked a fight with the woman. "It's time someone put you horned demons back into your place!" In the instant his hand slipped to grab his sword, the qunari already had hers around his throat in a crushing death grip. Her fist flared in bilious green light, magic perhaps?
A strangled yelp was what followed as he dropped his weapon in shock, his feet kicking helplessly at the air. The woman lifted him up easily, a stoic but certainly displeased look in her smoldering eyes and she brought him near her. A collective rattle echoed through the hall as the other guards all drew their swords, uneasy at what to do.
Cassandra looked on impressed as the qunari spoke to him in a dangerous timbre, "As a karasten, you should always show discipline before your men, but you…" Her testing gaze seized his squirming form before she dropped him to the ground, his armor clanking. "You are not basalit-an, not even of death through my hand."
The man stared at her, wide-eyed, and held his aching throat. The guards around them were glancing from and to one another, not daring to intervene and end up causing a bloodshed in the seneschal's offices — especially if it involved a dead female qunari ambassador.
The woman righted herself, once again crossing her arms before her chest, and reverted back to staring up the stairs. The guard lieutenant scrambled back to his feet, not making a sound because his throat was probably bruised, and glared at her one last time before turning and leaving.
The seeker narrowed her eyes, the smallest of smirks tugging up her lips, and she kept watching with bemused interest when Laric's secretary came back and led her up the stairs into his office. She towered over the poor man and though he was a professional, his discomfort was obvious. Cassandra swore she saw the qunari throw her another glance before she disappeared behind closed doors.
Right, it's called kossith, not qunari.
She had heard the differentiation a few times by now, but to her all of those bronze-skinned giants were qunari. According to the news of the dilemma in Kirkwall a few years ago, there had been elves who had left the Free Marches and went to Rivain, where they converted to the qun. Apparently, those were also called qunari.
She pursed her lips; maybe the distinction was necessary after all. Cassandra crossed her legs under the table and reopened the book in her lap. What an interesting encounter, she thought. But if that woman didn't count herself to the qunari, then what exactly was she?
[A/N:] Since I'm writing all this long before DA:I will be released, I ask you not to send me word vomit on how OOC the characters are and whatnot. Because, frankly, I don't care :-P
This is how I see them for the time being and what I could imagine they would act like. Plus, this setup is apparently complete bullshit, so please keep that in mind. The OCs are minor pawns in my grand scheme and I won't bother with them too much.
Anyhow, I can't tell you how much I will be uploading, when it will happen, or if all of these oneshots will eventually end up as a lengthy story in Swiss cheese style because there are plot holes or the like. I guess we'll figure that out as we go :-P
