Day 1
Mambari, Halla, and Harts, oh my!
Cullen always felt awful about being the reason Alya never went back to her clan. Especially when it was so hard for her to fit in, what with her being an elf not living in an alienage, who also happened to be an apostate, who also happened to be Inquisitor that one time, who also happens to be missing an arm. She never showed how bereft she was though. "Do not worry, Cullen," She would say in her thick Elven accent and broken Common, "It is... pala how you would say it...? 'All right'?" she would enunciate her joke by waving the stump of her left arm around. This was a joke she made all the time that Cullen never found all that funny.
He knew she was homesick. He knew it by the way she would sing elven songs in the morning. He knew it by how long she spent sewing and smelting in her shop (The Dalish Craft: Dalsih made, Dalish sold). He knew it now, while he assisted her as they walked through the town square. She'd had her first pregnancy craving that morning, and had been so excited she'd insisted on going out with him to the grocers. They'd gotten onto the topic of childhood pets, and she was now describing in detail what Halla are, and their importance to her people. Cullen did his best to listen, but he got sidetracked now and then, as he kept an eye out for any dangers that may be a threat to her and their soon-to-be child. "Ronnin and I used to play out in the fields with the Halla. One time, we spent the whole day feeding and playing with a young one, and it followed us home. We named her Deerdri, and we tried to keep her a secret as long as possible. After three months, the Keeper found out and was so mad." She laughed. A good hearty laugh, and then sighed. "I miss that halla." It was then that Cullen decided he would find her a halla.
Six months later, Collin (or Cullen junior as Mia affectionately referred to him) was born. A beautiful baby boy with his father's hair and complextion, and his mother's eyes and pointed ears. Alya was so happy. She never thought she could be happier. She'd been wrong.
Cullen arrived home early one morning after leaving for some 'business' the day before. He'd been taking a lot of trips like that lately, and if she didn't know her falon'saota so well, she'd assume he had a mistress somewhere. However, that day was different. Their mambari, Shep, got up from the floor and ran up to his owner excitedly, barking the whole way. "Shep, calm down it is simply Cullen. You know him stop…" the reason, Shep was barking, she soon realized, was because Cullen had walked in leading a beautiful white Halla. "how did you even… The ones in the wild are too afraid of people, and the Dalish hold them sacred they wouldn't just give one to a human." Cullen rubbed the back of his neck. "It wasn't easy, I'll give you that. I had to call in a favor from some… friends… in Kirkwall. Hawke is alive, by the way. I don't know how, but that crazy woman found her way out of the fade." "Of course she did, that does not surprise me. What surprises me is my human husband walking in with a halla."
Cullen began to rehash his tale of hunting around asking local clans, and when that never panned out, giving up and contacting Merrill, a Dalish woman he'd known In Kirkwall. "I.. do you like it?" he finally asked after his tale. "Oh, I love it, vhenan, but why?" she'd gotten up and started to pet the Halla by this point, and it happily leaned into her touch. "because you're homesick. I can tell. And I'm the reason you can't go back to your clan, so I figured I should do whatever I could to make you feel more at home." Tears welled up in the dalish woman's eyes. Overwhelmed with emotion, she threw herself at Cullen. Wrapping her arm around his neck as she sobbed "Ar lath ma vhenan. Ma ane undefined on'ala rahn in ma' sal'shiral."