Obligatory Chapter Heading:
Chapter 9:
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
"Uhm. Who... who are you?" A man asked, voice low.
"Aaaah!" A familiar, very familiar, girl's voice squealed.
I groaned and rolled over, facing the intruders. My small tent could only hold so much, and that only included me, myself, and I.
"What?" I snapped as I sat up, glaring at the two of them, "What could you possibly want? The sun hasn't even risen yet!"
Dark blue eyes stared back at me, sparkling. Inches from my face.
It was my turn to shriek.
"Aaaah!" I flailed wildly, my arms windmilling, and I fell backward. Felt a rock hit between my shoulder blades. That was going to leave a mark.
A sigh came from outside, beyond Calilian. Beyond Anders. It sounded like Nathaniel.
"What's going on over there?" the dark-haired man drew closer.
"Get out." I hissed at them, sitting up and waving my hands until they complied. "Jesus Christ, you guys. The sun ISN'T EVEN UP YET!"
I could hear the others whispering, not too far off, and it killed what little chance I had at falling back asleep. Finally having dragged myself from my bed roll, I'd gotten dressed as quickly as I could. The gravity of the situation had sunk it. Calilian didn't show up, unless something was wrong. A trap. A warning. Something.
"Nathaniel, you're on breakfast duty. Anders, you take on for watch."
"Commander?" Confusion clouded the rogue's features. No doubt, he was wondering about the other little girl and where in Thedas she had come from.
I held up a hand, "We'll discuss this later. For now, all you need to know is that she can come and go as she pleases. And you can talk to her about anything."
"Anything?" Curiosity killed the cat, Anders. "The Joining? The Darkspawn? Deep, dark secrets? Things we'd never share with anyone else?"
Nodding, I turned to her, "C'mon. We can talk over there."
"Why were you so cranky?" she blurted before we were out of earshot of the others.
Holding my breath, I counted to three silently. Willed my frustration to melt away. It didn't work, so I bit the inside of my cheek. That didn't work, either.
"The stars are still visible. The sun is not up. I had watch until probably about an hour or so ago. I was up for hours. Surely you understand that? I mean, no one likes getting woken up after just getting to sleep." I explained as patiently as I could.
Her head cocked to the side, she regarded me with an expression I couldn't place. It seemed... cautious and ominous.
"I don't understand. I don't sleep."
My mouth opened and closed. I was momentarily at a loss for words. "You... don't sleep?"
"I never get tired, so I never sleep."
"Ever?"
She shook her head.
I frowned at her, "Isn't that a little weird?"
"We've both traveled through time." A raised eyebrow.
Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I blew out a huff of air, "Fair point. So. What brings you out to the middle of the 'possessed' forest?"
"P-possessed?! As in ghosts!?" Her eyes darted this way and that, frantically searching our surroundings. As if she expected to find the bogeyman lurking in the shadow of a tree or something.
I snapped my fingers loudly, grabbing her attention, "Calilian. Focus. What's going on?"
She blinked slowly at me, "I..." Trailing off, she fell deep in thought, her eyes slowly drifting shut.
Just as I was starting to worry about her behavior, her eyes opened wide. Arm swung up. A handful of seeds held in her grasp.
"I wanted to make sure you got these. You'll need them. Don't let them get crushed."
Gently taking the small things from her, I inspected them. "What... what are they?"
She shrugged, "I can't remember the name of them. I just know you'll need them. They're for that gardener lady."
I stilled, raising my gaze to her, "Ines? How do you... Never mind. It's not important. I appreciate this, Cali. Really. And I'm sorry I bit your head off earlier. It's not pretty when I'm suffering a lack of sleep."
Waving her hand with nervous energy, she dismissed my apology, "It's okay. It's no problem."
"Do you want to join us for a little while? We're mainly searching around for the cause of several attacks on merchant caravans." I offered.
"No, no, no. I'm fine. I should get back. Before I mess something up. Bye!"
"What? Wait." I grabbed her arm, bringing her to a halt as she attempted to flee. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I just... I have a tendency to mess things up." Another shrug of her shoulders. Like it was no big thing.
"I know how that feels. Well, you haven't done it yet, and honestly, I can't see how you even would. If anything, it would probably be my fault. What with my fuse being so short."
"Like a quackum bomb."
I stared. A... what?
She blushed, her whole face turning a bright shade of pink, and began stuttering, "I-I mean... Wh-wha? Where am I? Who am I? Who are y-you? It w-was fun, but now I have TO GO!"
Giving me a shove, she tore off away from me. Ran deeper in to the forest. I glanced back toward camp, knowing how much trouble I'd be-Wait. I was Commander of the Grey. I could just pull rank.
I sprinted after her, following the trail of broken branches and snapped twigs. I found her, sitting with her back against a tree. Something gave off sparks, surprising me, and I crept closer for a better look.
A... duck thing?... was sitting patiently on the ground in front of her. Made completely of metal. She was holding that strange clock machine I'd seen all of one time before.
"Ugh. Please work! I need to see what's going on!" She smacked it a few times. The action did not give the desired effect.
"Maybe I could help?" I stepped from the shadows, revealing my presence.
She jumped a foot in the air, pressing a hand to her chest. At least she didn't scream. That was a move in the right direction. We didn't need my companions coming to our rescue, weapons at the ready.
I held out my hand wordlessly. The object was heavy, the metal cool against my skin. I turned it to and fro, watching how it reacted. Touched a couple of the buttons. Saw the plume of smoke that puffed out. This thing, whatever it was, was toast. But I felt like I could fix it. Something tugged almost violently within my diaphragm, trying to reach out toward the device. Narrowing my eyes, I allowed a thin stream of energy-it wasn't magic, not the same feeling at all-to connect to the broken... communicator. It was some kind of communication device.
Wordlessly, I handed it back to her.
Her eyes were wide as she fiddled with it, her voice reverent, "How did you do that? It's like new."
I shifted my weight uncomfortably, shrugging, "I don't know. It just kind of happened." Trying to change the subject, I gestured toward the duck, "What is that?"
"Oh. It's a quackum."
I hoped the look on my face was enough. It was.
"It's a... robot." she hedged.
"I mean, obviously." I frowned, wondering why she wasn't really answering me. "Why is it a duck? What can it do?"
Her eyes sparkled as she opened her mouth, "What CAN'T my quackums do, is more like it! They can send out waves of electricity! Breathe fire! Spit bombs! There's also the tower quackums, these aren't the only kind." A wave of her hand toward the tiny thing that was ambling around aimlessly, "The Chainsaw Quackum throws, well, chainsaws at people! It's so cool to watch! The Gatling Quacker fires bullets almost nonstop! The Cannon Quackum launches cannonballs! The damage they can cause... It's so awesome! There's also the Frost Quacker! They give off a chilly air and freeze everything in their proximity. The Gigaton Quack hovers over enemies and explodes! Kablooey!"
"That sounds... amazing." I sighed, wistful. "I miss technology."
Wise eyes scrutinized me, "I know what you mean. We're both trapped in the past, I guess."
"Gotta save the future." I wrinkled my nose.
A shiver went down my spine, and I turned away from the other girl.
"What's wrong?" A loud crashing sound made us both jump, "Wh-what was that?!"
I took a step in the direction of the noise, but the trees around us... came to life, startling me. What.
"Cali, can your quackums burn them?"
She nodded resolutely, a calm settling over her. Tossing out a small, black ball, she shouted, "Go, quackum! Go!"
Like it was a Pokemon or something.
The two ducks circled us, facing the trees. Shooting fire from their beaks. It was a sight to behold. Fire-breathing ducks. What was next?
"I have to go, the others could be in trouble." I hugged Calilian tightly, "Don't be a stranger, okay?"
Without waiting for a response, I called the shadows to me and snuck through the forest, following the pull of the taint. Either I found the other Wardens, or I stumbled in to darkspawn. Thankfully, for my companions, it happened to be them. Oghren was caged by one of the tree's rooted hands, and his axe was doing nothing against it. Nathaniel, who was surrounded, his arrows weren't doing much, barely scratching the protective bark. Anders' attacks were more effective, but not by much. His fireballs were glancing off them, only faint singe marks blemishing the trees.
These weren't normal trees, not in the slightest. They reminded me of the Grand Oak, but he was in the Brecilian Forest. Then again, this was a land of magic, after all. They were sentient, always had been I guessed, but magic had drawn them from their deep slumber. Frowning, I inspected the closest one. It was an ancient nature-based magic. Dalish? Were the Dalish here? Was that why everyone was convinced the Wending Wood was possessed?
I wondered if they would have heard of me, if they would allow us passage and perhaps a moment to talk. Persuade them to stop.
"Anders, can you break through the spell that's controlling them?" I shouted.
He looked over at me, eyes wide in surprise. Whether at my appearance n the fray or the question, I wasn't certain. But he nodded and pressed his mouth in to a thin line, focusing.
After only a few more seconds of the struggle, the fighting stopped. Dead stop. The trees seemed to look around, taking in their surroundings, before slowly withdrawing. Oghren raised his weapon, but I held up a hand. His gaze shot to me, and he looked confused, but he stood down.
When it was only the four of us left standing in the now clearing, the others approached me.
"That was weird."
I looked down at the... corpses?... of the ones they had managed to take down before it got out of hand, "The Dalish are here."
"What?"
"Did you see them?"
Shaking my head, I gestured around us, "No, but that was nature magic. I've only seen it once, and it was a Dalish elf."
"They brought trees to life and attacked you?" Nathaniel sounded doubtful.
"No." I blinked. "The old Keeper of the clan that was in the Brecilian Forest, he had to undo a curse." I explained, leaving out the part where he had been responsible, "The magic he used was similar enough that I'm sure it's the same kind."
"So... we have to be on the look out for savage elves?" the mage's eyes flitted every which way.
"They're not savages." my voice whipped out harshly. Reflex. The two human's raised their eyebrows, but the dwarf just belched. Unaffected in the slightest. "We have to find them. They might trying to scare the merchants off for a reason."
