Chapter 10: Strange Visit

Two weeks and every single day, new people arrive at Skyhold from all corners of Thedas. The place reminded Dar'Thedar of the time he visited Winterhold prisons, except it's outside and smells of bird crap. Dar'Thedar picked up a huge stone and walked over to the wall, placing the stone on top before retrieving another. The Khajiit wanted to help rebuild the place before doing anything, Removing his shirt was not one of them but it was HOT today. For him at least.

He put his main job on pause to help fix up the castle, rebuilding the main wall was the first thing on the Khajiit's list. He needed this job to get his mind off of what happened, no one saw him but his beastly form scared him. The thought of how he thirst for blood so badly, the memory of seeing those who were trapped. It sent shivers up his spine so cold that he could actually feel ice forming...

wait a minute...?

Dar'Thedar turned his head in time to catch children throwing snowballs at him, the small patch of snow was created by Dorian who acted like he did nothing. The Khajiit laughed at the children who ran, Dar'Thedar abandoned his job for a moment to chase the kids. Mentally thanking them for pulling him away from his dark thoughts, he needed a better distraction.

Dorian watched the Inquisitor play with the little ones, the Tevinter mage lightly gripped his sleeve at the thought stroking that furry head. He shook his head with a grin and walked back into the castle, Cassandra scowled at the sight before muttering something under her breath.


Solas roamed the castle after hearing what had happened, the Elf mage looked for Dorian but that mage was long hiding from him. So he thought of looking for the Inquisitor, which was not hard of a search considering Cullen reported the man retreating to his quarters. Solas walked up the stairs to the room, hearing faint rumbling and another voice. Most likely Iron Bull.

It could not hurt to eavesdrop a little, could it? Solas thought, quieting his steps as he took each step up the stairs.

...

Sounds of foot steps could be heard, indicating two people are in the room.

...

"Solas, do you know where-"

"Ssshh!" Solas hushed both Varric and Vivienne, pointing at the room and tapped his left ear. Both the Dwarf and mage woman glanced at each other, before listening in on what is happening.

...

"Harder!" Dar'Thedar's voice hitched, a hissing sound could be heard.

"...What?" Iron Bull said, a little confused.

"I said HARDER!" The Khajiit demanded with a low growl.

...

The eavesdroppers looked among each other for questions, Solas thought something violently unsettling.

Vivienne thought the two up stairs were working out, keeping it to herself though with a small hint of a grin on her lips.

Varric had a pretty good idea on what was going on, remembering he once walked in on Hawke and Fenris. Accidentally, of course.

"What are you three doing?" Cassandra walked in, furrowing her eyebrows and crossing her arms.

"Quiet! they will hear you, Seeker." Varric whispered, looking back up at the stairs. Cassandra scuffed and shook her head, though before she could go farther up.

CRACK!

...

"Whoa!? Boss, you alright?" Iron Bull questioned, hearing that sounded like a bone broke.

Dar'Thedar panted heavily, dropping to his knees and holding his side.

"When I said "Ride The Bull", I did not expect this at all." Iron Bull had to admit, the Inquisitor is strong for someone half his size.

..

"Riding the Bull?" Cassandra whispered questioningly, looking over just in time to see Varric leave the room fast.

Solas tilted his head a little before sneaking up just enough to peak in, Vivienne followed to see what was happening.

.

Dar'Thedar forced himself back on his feet, blood dripping from his mouth when he looked to Iron Bull. His ears flatten against his head when he bared his teeth, taking another swing at him but poorly missed. Bull dodged and slammed his elbow right into the Khajiit's right shoulder, earning another loud crack before he hit the floor.

"You know, Boss. Attacking me in blind rage won't help, you have to strike faster even if you are in pain." Bull lectured, moving to help the the Khajiit back up.

"Pain does not exist in this body..." Dar'Thedar breathed out, wrapping his good arm around Iron Bull's neck. "Not while my father still exists in this world..." He winced at the sharp pain in his chest, having Bull walk him over to the bed and sat him down carefully.

"Strong words but, can you back them up?" Iron Bull questioned, grabbing elfroot potion and uncorking it so his boss can drink it.

"Oh shut up, you saw my display." Dar'Thedar chuckled weakly, wincing again before having Bull tilt the bottle near his lips. The Khajiit drank it like water but grimaced, wishing Iron Bull had not broken his healing arm earlier.

"So" Cassandra popped out from hiding, acting casual while the others flee the room before they were caught. "From what I was told and heard from, "Riding the Bull" involved more intimacy and less... violence."

"I thought that's what the boss wanted, given how he spoke and use of language." Iron Bull chuckled, popping the Khajiit's shoulder back into place. Dar'Thedar growled through gritted teeth and hissed, now REALLY wishing he could heal himself.

"If I were to ever get intimate with anyone, it won't be any of you two." Dar'Thedar huffed and slipped off his bloody shirt, using it to wipe away the blood from his mouth. Iron Bull grinned and ruffled the man's furry head before standing up, placing the half empty bottle on the night stand.

Cassandra rolled her eyes and walked back down stairs, She didn't want any part of what those two were doing. Iron Bull sat next to Dar'Thedar to give the guy some company, knowing the man was probably going to be sore later.

"So... this "Sabriz" guy, he's your father?" Iron Bull asked, trying to start a conversation to end the awkward silence.

"As one might expect, though he is nothing to me..." Dar'Thedar itched his chin "My uncle Cicero acted more like a father, given that he taught me everything I know.. except the Thu'um, that part came from my mentors." He chuckled softly, glancing over at the open window as he felt cool breeze blowing in.

"So you hate him for abandoning you?" The Qunari looked at the Khajiit, wondering if that rage is from such petty hatred.

"No.. I hate him for something more but I... cannot place it, I know it is there, it's just..." Dar'Thedar struggled to think it through, unsure of the Why when his body knew.

Iron Bull sat there without a word, pressing the matter seemed to only deepen the Inquisitor's thoughts. So the Qunari stood up and patted his boss on the head, ending it here would be better for both parties. Dar'Thedar was done trying to stop people from touching his head, including Solas which was rare and only caught the elf when the Khajiit was a sleep.


When morning arrived, Dar'Thedar dropped from the high wooden beams without making a sound. He smirked at his unsuspecting victim but before he could even grab those big horns, Dorian appeared from who-knows-where and used his powers to freeze the Khajiit. Iron Bull felt the chill when he looked to Dorian and then up, the Inquisitor looked just as dumbfounded as the Qunari.

"I must say, does all your leaders back home act like this?" Dorian questioned, walking over with his hand still in the air to keep Dar'Thedar up. "Because here, I am certain that the nobilities would not like this one bit."

"So you want to change him?" Solas walked over, looking at both party members. "From what I can understand, I highly doubt you can make a change."

"Solas is right, even Vivienne couldn't get the boss to change outfits." Iron Bull pointed out, though it was a small detail.

"Yes but strutting about like an idiot in tight clothes, won't change anything!" Dorian protested, forgetting Dar'Thedar for the moment.

"Dorian is right, not even Cullen could train the Inquisitor to sit still." Vivienne joined the group, enjoying a bit of gossip. Even if that said 'Gossip' was within earshot.

"What do you expect from Furball? You can't force him into something he doesn't understand." Varric walked over and tapped Dorian's shoulder, pointing at the still frozen Khajiit. Dorian waved Iron Bull to move away, letting the furball drop to his feet.

"What we need is something to distract him, like a ball or going out finding rifts?" Solas said while thinking of a perfect idea, not wanting the people to think they are following a madman.

"The boss has more energy then any of us, he got the children so tired that they fell asleep." Iron Bull chuckled, pointing over at a kid sleeping on Varric's chair.

"Not to mention he fights like an angry drag-" Verric was interrupted by a loud roar, alerting everyone to turn their heads to the doorway.

"By the Maker, What is THAT!"

Dar'Thedar walked in with a small infant dragon in his arms, he purred and cooed at the creature with a smile. "While you all were busy gossiping, I forgot to mention I found this little one. She would make an excellent distraction." His shirt already torn from the dragonling's claws, cuddling her and chuckling.

The gossip party ended the moment Iron Bull muttered, "This shit keeps getting weirder and weirder." Before walking off, everyone but Varric left to either get away or work. The dwarf studdied the Inquisitor's sudden mood change, the Kajiit was once very active and now he stood there calm. Well, whatever makes him happy and stay out of trouble. Varric thought and smiled, walking away and not wanting to question on WHERE the boss found the creature.


During the day, Dar'Thedar spent most of his time tending to Meetings and discussing battle tactics. Cullen still had a hard time figuring out where the Inquisitor found the dragon, Josephine just kept her distance and remained calm. Even when the dragonling hopped on the table, sniffing the maps and knocking over small towers.

Leliana was the opposite from the rest, she enjoyed seeing a small change in the once broody, stuck-up Inquisitor. Cassandra was just about ready to kill the thing, if the dragon decided to attack them all. Dar'Thedar reached over to pick up his pet and sat her tiny form on his head, wondering if the dragonling was the runt and late hatcher.

"My apologies, I could not leave her alone in my quarters." Dar'Thedar apologized, fixing up the two maps and all the things knocked over.

"No, of course not." Cassandra grumbled, glaring at both the dragon and Khajiit.

The Khajiit ignored the woman and went back to work, explaining his battle strategy and how his group could circle the group of Red Templars. One distracts the group while the others, they could pick off the enemy one by one. Though that plan was shrugged off by Cassandra's own idea, pointing out that the enemy might end up spreading out.

Cullen sighed as he looked the two strategies over, wondering if both could work better. Josephine came up with the idea of having the nobilities pitch in, Leliana suggested they use her scouts instead.

Meanwhile the dragonling watched from her perch on her new parent's head, curious as to why the creatures are pointing at the flat tree. She yawned and huffed, moving to jump off so she could walk around. Making her way to the door when an armor human walked in, allowing her to walk out the open door and down the hall.

Dar'Thedar saw her leave but said nothing, allowing the dragonling to go cause a bit of trouble. Hopefully enough trouble to make him leave the Meeting, he couldn't take Cassandra's brooding.

"My lord Inquisitor, there are some elves here who wish to speak with you." The soldier anounced. "Very well, I will meet with them." Dar'Thedar replied before dismissing the soldier, He looked to his advisors and bowed his head. "I shall return." He turned away and made his leave, thanking Akatosh that he could get away from that bunch.

The Inquisitor walked down the hallways, walking past Josephine's office where his pet decided to nap. He grinned at her sight as he kept walking, the Khajiit knew nobles never heard of the word "Wait a moment". So if he stopped for a second to breath, they would start barging in and start demanding his presences. "Am I to believe that You, of ALL creatures. Are the "Hero" of this land?"

Dar'Thedar pulled his eyes away from his pet to glare at the one insulting him, but before he could even think of arguing. His narrowed eyes changed to one of shock, standing before him was a High Elf. Not just any high elf but a Thalmor, the Khajiit rubbed his eyes for a moment to get a second take. I'm not imagining it!

"It is good that we found you, Ambassador. The Thalmor and I have been dreading the idea of losing you to this..." The high elf motioned his hand to the castle, his face showing a bit of disgust "this place." He smiled kindly, walking over and using his powers to fix up the Khajiit's shirt.

The other members of the Thalmor immediately started roaming the place, already making plans for redecorating the castle. Dar'Thedar raised an eyebrow before looking to the high elf, crossing his arms and stood up straight.

"I allow me to introduce myself, I am Ondolemar. Your second in command, My Lord."

"What!?" Cullen stood by the throne in shock, looking at the Inquisitor and the oddly tall elf.


Well, I hope you all like this chapter. I had fun writing it though a bit of a struggle at the start, well let me know what you think and i hope to see you all on chapter 11