Isa didn't know Blackwall all that well yet, but the silence they walked in was comfortable, broken only by Varric muttering about how those damned long legs needed to slow down. Finally Isa suggested, "you could ride on our warden's shoulders." Blackwall let out a short laugh, "I will not be ridden into battle, thank you."
Varric huffed. "Why couldn't I have gone with the Herald? They headed for the Storm Coast first, something about a mercenary band, and they were smart enough to bring horses." Isa rolled her eyes, "We've been over this, Varric. We had to leave the horses because if the carta attacks we need to be on our feet, and we don't need horses around red lyrium, now do we?" Varric scratched his chin, "can we at least stop for a break? We've been walking for a while now." Isa nodded, sitting on the side of the road on a rock.
She had finished her bow before they left. It was truly a thing of beauty, wonderfully carved bone with perfect balance, sharp blades and points on the ends, a good grip wrapped in halla leather, and it sang to her softly. She was in love with it, and so far it had served her well.
They had already destroyed the red lyrium in the old fortress on the west road with explosives. Its song was very unsettling to Isa, different from normal lyrium. It made her very uncomfortable. She was glad to see it destroyed, as was Varric. Now, they were on their way to some waterfall in the hills where there was supposedly a carta hideout.
Blackwall leaned against a nearby tree, gazing down the road, keeping an eye out for trouble, though the Hinterlands were relatively safe at that point. Varric took a moment to get a pebble out of his boot. He seemed irritated. "Is something bothering you, Varric?" Isa asked softly. Varric let out a deep sigh. "The red lyrium. I thought I had seen the last of the stuff, and now it's everywhere." Isa put a hand on his shoulder, "that's what explosives are for." Varric laughed a bit, "I'm always down for blowing shit up, kid."
"We should keep moving," Blackwall commented, running his gloved fingers through his hair. "We're burning daylight." Isa shrugged, "yeah, but we're in no rush. Don't worry, we'll get the bad guys." She stood, stretching her arms above her head. Her feet were sore as well, and they still had to look for the circle tome before meeting the others at Redcliffe.
They kept moving, eventually reaching the waterfall mentioned in the note they had found on a carta member's body. Inside was an old dwarven outpost, and it was crawling with carta. However, with two skilled archers and a bear of a warrior leading the way, it was little effort to clear them out and take their treasure. What they weren't expecting was the darkspawn. They were coming up from below, not a whole lot of them, but enough to worry Isa. "Blackwall, how many are we facing?" "It's hard to tell," he called out as he drove his sword through another. "Come on, we've got to find the hole they're crawling out of and seal it! Keep your mouths closed, you don't want to ingest any of their blood!"
So they fought their way down, lips tightly sealed, until they finally reached the source, a hole in the rocky walls where a darkspawn emissary was waiting for them. "Shit," Varric grumbled and shot at it. "There's no way we can build a barrier and fight darkspawn at the same time!" Isa gulped, "I've gotta try magic! Can you two keep it busy?" "We can," Blackwall charged the thing, bashing into it with his shield.
Isa stepped over the pile of rubble, trying to recall Solas's lessons. Nothing. Of course they didn't have any lyrium. Isa closed her eyes and tried to focus, but the sounds of the others fighting the darkspawn made it difficult.
"Isa," Varric called out, just as she felt a knarled claw sink into her shoulder. "Just command the rocks!" "Like that's going to help, Varric," Blackwall grunted, "now get the damn darkspawn off of her!" Isa's eyes flashed and the rocks around her began to rumble, sliding up and into place, sealing the hole and crushing the darkspawn trying to crawl out of it.
Once the euphoria faded, she let out a cry of pain. There was, after all, a darkspawn claw in her shoulder, and a darkspawn still attached to it. Blackwall quickly beheaded the thing, "Isa!" He guided her to sit down, looking extremely worried. "Just relax, let me take a look. Varric, keep a look out, there may be more lingering."
Blackwall pulled off his gloves. He didn't warn her as he jerked the claw out of her shoulder. She let out a screech and brought her other hand up to her face, biting her sleeve. "Son of a whore, Blackwall, you could have warned me!" "Apologies, but you would have tensed up if I had. Now hold still, I need to make sure there wasn't any darkspawn blood on the claw." Varric chimed in, "that was the emissary; it should be fine." Blackwall looked slightly relieved, "still, better safe than sorry. The blight is no joke." He took a flask out of his pocket and poured a little alcohol on the wound. She bit harder on her sleeve, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Varric started talking, probably to distract her as Blackwall patched up the wound. "You know, I think I've come up with a good nickname for you. What do you think of Bones?" "Bones?" Isa let her arm fall to her side. "Why Bones?" He flashed a smile at her, "you've got a spine of iron, you literally shoot arrows with a bone, and you could stand to eat a few more desserts. Plus, they found you in a tomb, didn't they?" Isa let a small smile dance across her face. "Alright."
Blackwall finished patching the wound. He reached up to her face, wiping the tears from her cheeks in a moment of surprising tenderness. He only succeeded in smearing her own blood on her face, but she appreciated the gesture and only laughed, "war paint it is." Blackwall laughed, "sorry. Here, I think I've got a cloth here somewhere." Varric cut in, "probably drenched in sweat and darkspawn blood, I think you should pass, Bones." Blackwall pulled his gloves back on, "Come on, we've still got to find that circle tome." He offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet.
Varric looked thoughtful. "I know it's a weird thing to say, but the blood on the face works for you. Reminds me of Hawke." Isa laughed a bit, "well next time I'll try to make sure it's not my own blood." Blackwall looked embarrassed and led the way out of the outpost.
They made their way down through the crossroads, got a bite to eat, and headed up the East road where the tome had last been seen. Isa's intuition kicked in as they passed under a crumbling road arch. The ladder to the tower had long since fell apart, so it looked like she was climbing up.
"What are you doing?" Blackwall asked as she began setting her bow and quiver down on the side of the road. "Rock climbing," she replied, rubbing her gloved hands together. Fortunately, the crumbling meant there were plenty of grips. It also meant she had no way of knowing which ones were sturdy and which wouldn't support her. "You're crazy, Bones. Why?" "I think the tome is up here. Call it a hunch."
Isa made her way carefully up the side of the tower, taking care not to put too much strain on her injured shoulder, though it seemed to be doing fine after the walk. She reached the top. Sure enough, there was a large red book in decent condition. "Alright, it's coming down!" She dropped it over the edge. Blackwall caught it and put it down next to her stuff. "Be careful coming down. This thing looks like it could collapse at any minute."
Isa swung her leg over the side, finding foothold, and slowly picking her way back down the tower. She made it about halfway down when she slipped, letting out a shriek, "SOD IT ALL!" She plummeted down. It's true what they say, a fall feels so much longer than it is.
She never hit the ground. Instead, she hit Blackwall, who caught her in his arms. They tumbled to the ground, shaken but unharmed. Isa sat up, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of her. Blackwall huffed, his mustache puffing with indignation, "stop hurting yourself!" He still had his arms around her firmly, and she was practically in his lap.
Isa grinned, "hey, at least I've got you watching out for me."
They reached Redcliffe just as the sun was setting. They met Vhera, Solas, Cassandra, and Vivienne, who were on their way to the inn. "How did it go?" Varric asked. Vhera's lips were in a taunt line, "we've got some⦠developments. I'll tell you about it over supper." Vivienne cut in, "did you find the time?" Isa nodded as Blackwall produced the book from his pack. Vivienne looked delighted, "oh thank you darling, I hope it wasn't too much trouble!" Varric laughed, and Isa shot a playful glare in his direction. "And the carta?" Vhera asked. "Taken care of," Isa replied, "as well as a hole to the deep roads. We had a run in with dark spawn." Vhera's eyes widened, "were any of you hurt? Isa, there's blood on your face!" "Warpaint!" Isa exclaimed with delight, grinning. Blackwall let out a short laugh.
"Bones here certainly had an interesting time. Chuckles, you'd be proud, she got some magic going for a moment there. Probably gonna have a hell of a scar," Varric reached up, patting Isa's back. "It's not that big of a deal," Isa said, "just a little injury, clean, no taint. But I did manage some magic!" Solas seemed pleased, "you'll have to tell me about it, see if we can figure out what caused it."
"Yes, well, we can discuss this with full bellies," Blackwall patted his gut and started moving towards the inn. The rest followed, eager to hear about what went on with Fiona.
