Chapter Four
This was originally going to be part of the pervious chapter, but that didn't really work out. Enjoy it now, instead!
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"There! That's the Grey Warden camp!" Alistair yelled, pointing to a massive set of ruins.
Leliana put her foot to the chest of the Glenlock Emissary she'd just killed, using it as leverage to rip her dagger out of it's chest. She pulled a vial from her pack and let the blood from her dagger drip into the vial. She then caught up to Alistair, who was searching through a broken chest.
"They're not here! Where could they be?" He asked exasperatedly to no one in particular.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" A voice drifted from slightly above them to their ears.
Leliana turned, and was met with a sight as beautiful as Andraste herself.
It was a woman, wearing a rather revealing choice of clothing. She had robes that only covered her breasts, leaving a large gap in the middle, sides, and back, revealing smooth, porcelain skin. She wore a black leather skirt and boots, and had her hair up, save for her bangs, that brushed into her eyes ever so slightly.
Her eyes...
...Eyes, yellow and catlike, standing out from the darkness...
Leliana gasped inaudibly.
The mysterious woman walked down the staircase she started on.
"Are you a scavenger, I wonder? A vulture, picking at a corpse who's bones have long since been picked clean?"
She walked closer to Leliana, locking eyes with her. The bard shivered under her gaze.
"Or an intruder, come into these darkspawn-filled Wilds of mine in search of easy prey?"
She stopped, a few feet away from Leliana.
"What say you, hmm? Scavenger or intruder?"
Leliana opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Xavier.
"Stay back, witch! We want nothing to do with you!" He snarled, pushing Leliana out of the way.
She stumbled to the ground, and the woman's eyes followed her, before turning to glare at the elf.
"I don't recall asking you, elf. I remember asking the more intelligent looking member of your group."
Xavier blushed in embarrassment, and stepped back. Leliana got up to her feet, and looked at the woman once more, dusting herself off.
"We are neither. We are Grey Wardens. This tower belonged to us, and we've come to find something of importance." Leliana said as evenly as she could.
The woman's mouth formed a smirk.
"'Tis a tower no longer, my dear. This desiccated corpse has been claimed back by the Wilds ages ago." She walked away from the group, still speaking.
"I have watched your progress for some time. 'Why are they here?' I wondered. 'What do they seek?'" She turned once more to the Wardens.
"And now, you disturb ashes none have touched for so long. Why is that?" She once again looked at Leliana.
Alistair brought Leliana back to him with a hand to her shoulder.
"Don't listen to her. She looks Chasind, and that means there are others nearby-"
"You fear barbarians swooping down upon you?" The woman asked, throwing her hands up in the air exaggeratedly.
Alistair looked at her suspiciously.
"Yes. Swooping is bad."
Daveth looked at him
"She's the Witch of the Wilds, she is. She'll turn us into toads!" He was clearly panicking.
The woman laughed.
"Witch of the Wilds? Such idle fantasies. Have you no minds of your own?"
She spoke directly to Leliana.
"You there. You do not look like the rest of these frightened little boys. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine." She all but commanded.
Leliana summoned all of her courage.
"My name is Leliana, Madame. It is a pleasure to meet you." Leliana said politely, bowing slightly.
"Now that is a proper civil greeting, even here in the Wilds. The pleasure is mine, Leliana. You may call me Morrigan." The woman, Morrigan, gave a small now in return.
She addressed the group.
"Shall I guess your purpose? You were searching that chest for something of importance? Something that is here no longer?" She asked knowingly.
"Here no longer? You stole them, didn't you? You're some kind of...sneaky...witch-thief!" Alistair accused.
Morrigan chuckled.
"How very eloquent. How does one steal from dead men?" She asked him.
"Quite easily, it seems. Those documents are Grey Warden property, and I suggest you return them." Alistair threatened.
Morrigan's patience appeared to be wearing thin.
"I will not. 'Twas not I who took them. Invoke a name that means nothing here, if you wish. I am not threatened."
Xavier started up again.
"Then who removed them, woman?" He spat.
Morrigan wasn't fazed.
"'Twas my mother, in fact."
Xavier seemed to deflate.
"Your mother?"
"Yes, my mother. Did you assume I spawned from a log?" She asked, pacing.
"A thieving, weird talking log, perhaps." Alistair jabbed.
"Not all that grows in the Wilds is bad. Flowers grow, as well as toads." She looked into the Wilds wistfully, before turning once again to Leliana.
"I will take you to my mother, if you wish. 'Tis not far from here, and you may ask her for your papers, if you wish."
Alistair looked at the bard.
"We should get those papers. We need them. But I dislike the sudden appearance of this, Morrigan, character."
Leliana turned to Morrigan once more. She seemed to be slightly irritated that they were talking about her like she wasn't there.
"I. I think I trust her. If she wished us harm, I have no doubt that she would've struck us down by now. She seems more than capable of such."
Morrigan smiled approvingly.
"Come along, then. 'Tis this way."
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To the guest who left me the review regarding Leliana and her disapproval towards violence, to be honest, I didn't really notice, since I never really chose the violent options. But the way I tried to write it is like, she had that background as a murderer, so she's still trying to fight off intrusive violent thoughts and to be a straight laced chantry sister.
Loved it? Hated it? Let me know! See ya next chapter!