Chapter 12: Nosy by nature and all that
A/N: Er… I wonder about how confused everyone is with the romancing— but I'll do my best with the characters! And plot. Mustn't forget plot. xD Please continue to support and review; you guys are awesome!
Sten
We left for the Elvish encampment with the indisposed elven hunter. These people appeared to be mentally weak—no doubt cowed by the casualties sustained in the last ambush by the creatures they spoke of—werewolves. In Seheron these would be overrun by the Qun in mere hours, given the self-pity in which they wallow.
"Sten." The Orlesian mage wanted to talk. How surprising.
"What is it?"
"Were you ever near… Lake Calenhad?"
"Yes… My brethren and I were ambushed by darkspawn in that region. They fell, and I was the only one found alive by some Fereldan farmers."
"Oh." She fell silent at length, and we walked on in silence, but not for long. "Hmm…"
"What is it?" These people clearly enjoyed making me repeat my words.
"Ah… It's…" Her eyes flicked briefly to mine.
"If you have something to say, then say it."
"I did come upon some darkspawn rising out of a cave near Lake Calenhad, and I killed them."
"You? But it was more than a month ago." I had spent more than twenty days in that cage in Lothering.
"Yes. I started about two weeks ago from the far west of Ferelden, and moved my way southeast towards Ostagar, and came upon Lake Calenhad and the small army of darkspawn. All too late. I only understood when I came upon the large bones, as well as having found what appeared to be qunari weapons among the darkspawn corpses."
"Hmm." I considered this. She had no reason to lie. But the fact remained that she was female, or claimed to be. She simply could not have fought the darkspawn and won, where we had failed.
"I did the best that I could for your fallen brethren… burying what was left of them. I am sorry."
"It was not your fault. We were… caught offguard."
We had reached the camp, and left the elf in the hands of his people. We continued back into the forest, following the trail that would lead us back to the others.
"And… yet you still look so… upset." How perceptive of her. I had no idea it was obvious.
"I am… grieving for the loss of my blade. It was… made for my own two hands."
"Ah. I heard you talking to Loki that night—Asala, was it—the name of your blade?
"…You were listening in?" It was a little disconcerting.
"Force of habit. Being a woman and all. Nosy by nature. I'm sure you've heard."
"…That I agree with."
"Hey." The mage laughed. "But still—"
"Do not concern yourself." Pashaara. I would have greatly preferred the company of the hound. It, at least, was silent.
"We could stop in the area on the way back to Redcliffe. You know, just in case it is still there?"
"That would be unlikely." After more than a month—it would be gone.
"But still—'trying' never hurt anyone."
"Except when you fail. Badly." I paused. "But yes, I know what you mean. I appreciate your concern."
"I mean it. We'll look for it."
"The Blight is of priority."
"And I'm sure the archdemon can stand to wait a few more days while we search for your blade."
"…Perhaps." It was an argument in which that I foresaw no victory.
xOxOx
Leliana
When Kiera left with Loki and Sten, all three men fell silent—before Alistair and Zevran burst into unabashed laughter.
"She would rather pick a mongrel. We are scaring her off." Zevran mused, shaking his head.
"Loki's a fine mabari hound— but yes, I suppose I agree with that. She's distancing herself from our ridiculous nonsense." Alistair nodded. It was all so bizarre—this sudden camaraderie.
Daylen only surveyed the two, before remarking quietly "So what? Suddenly you two are willing to share?" He frowned meaningly at them, before spinning on his heel and stalking away, deeper into the forest. We followed his angry movements, before finding ourselves attacked by still more possessed trees, although the three mages we had along made short work of these with well-aimed fireballs.
Alistair and Zevran still kept a wary distance from the other, understanding Daylen perfectly. Poor Kiera. She was going to have to choose one soon, and break the other's heart.
"All's fair in love and war, Alistair. No hard feelings, yes?" Zevran called out to the warrior as he followed Daylen's lead.
"It's not up to us." Came the curt reply.
xOxOx
Daylen
Kiera and Sten caught up to us as we entered a deeper part of the forest, but I could tell that some of the ice that was between the two had melted; privately I wondered if Kiera had made yet another suitor out of the tall, silent, and deadly qunari. Her ability to collect men was getting on my nerves.
"Hey Daylen. Could we like, stop by Lake Calenhad before we go back to Redcliffe?"
"I suppose. Why?"
"There's something in the region that I want to look for."
"Which is?"
"My sword, Asala." I jumped, not expecting the qunari to speak.
"Ah… Okay. Lake Calenhad is on the way."
She slipped closer to Leliana, who whispered something to her—and I spied that Kiera's face was now a little paler than before. The latter fidgeted a little restlessly as we answered (and asked) the strange hermit's questions, preferring to stand off to a side with Loki while we bargained with the old man. It was then Loki decided to stick its head into the stump where the hermit kept his things, sparking him to attack us with a wild cry. Sometimes I wonder if the dog was really too smart for his own good.
xOxOx
Daylen
"So um… a Talking Tree, you say?" Kiera was amused, as we trudged back to the spot where we found the Oak.
"It doesn't talk. It rhymes." I replied as I looked at the huge acorn she carried. It seemed quite… odd for a tree to be so attached to its… seed. Ugh. Even thinking about the way the Tree kept referring to it gave me the chills.
"Riiight. Rhyming is sooo different. So it'll give us a branch that will guide us through the forest if we return this thing?" She waved the giant acorn around, tossing it to Leliana who then giggled and chucked it at Alistair. He in turn was going to pass it to Sten, but seeing the severe expression in those violet eyes, caught the acorn before it left his hands, and handed soberly it to me. Wynne was even smiling a little at that—whereas Morrigan and Zevran appeared uninterested.
"Yeah, I think so." I looked at it, and was glad that I had my gloves on—up close, it looked… well… a tad unsavoury.
We returned to that same tree, and got the magic branch—before finding that spot in the woods that had previously led us astray. Night fell before we could even proceed deeper into that mist, and I admitted it—I hated tramping around in the forest, but I hated making camp in the forest even more.
xOxOx
Leliana
Dusk came on quickly when you're surrounded by tall trees, and we made camp by the gently trickling stream—avoiding that 'perfect spot' we had found previously. Kiera had abruptly set fire to the thing, bedrolls and all— unheeding Daylen's protests – we heard an inhuman howl erupt from the blaze. Through the flames, we discerned figures of whatever it was that had tried to tempt us—dying amidst the trap that it had set. She gave no explanation for her actions, merely shaking her head as she led us away to another spot to camp for the night. Sometimes I wished that she would talk more; accounting for her actions, before certain people had the opportunity to jump in and accuse her of callousness or something worse.
Kiera made dinner, and handed it out with a little help from Wynne (frankly, I'm surprised that she would render her assistance to the young mage) — a stew that wasn't too sticky or quite so grey, made with some herbs and some kind of barley. It was quite savoury—much better than any Fereldan cooking that I had tasted since my arrival here. Alistair had contrived to sit next to her, and as I had taken her other side, Zevran had no choice but to sit away from them, and he ate in silence. Meanwhile, I eavesdropped on her conversation with Alistair while serving everyone seconds. And thirds. They were quite hungry.
"So… You can cook. If only we'd met sooner—we wouldn't have messed up quite so many birds or rabbits. I think I can still taste the singed flesh. Ugh."
Kiera chuckled, the firelight glinting off her smiling eyes. "Well I'm glad I didn't meet you people then—it sounds like a perfectly dreadful existence, to be surviving on charcoal."
Alistair took a mouthful of the stew and added. "Not to mention that we would have had a most beautiful chef. Mmm. This is really good. We don't even need cheese in this."
Kiera choked on her food, and gasped up at Alistair, who eyed her curiously. "You… think I'm beautiful?"
"You know you are. You're ravishing, resourceful and all those other things you'd probably hurt me for not saying. Of course, you do have a little piece of something on the side of your mouth—but that is pretty suggestive as well…" Her continued silence and wide-eyed expression made his words trail off. "Did I say something wrong? It's a compliment, you know."
Kiera wiped the offending particle from her face and set the bowl on the grass, still very quiet. "Alistair, I—" She seemed unable to continue her sentence. It was then the both of them realised that the entire party (save Daylen) had fallen silent, hushed by the awkward conversation the two engaged in. "What's going on?" Daylen wondered aloud. Kiera blushed and got up, motioning for him to follow her— and I was quite peeved at how I wouldn't be able to hear the rest of it. Spoilsport.
OxOxO
P.S.: I'm sorry! Have to keep y'all in suspense a little while longer xD (grr doesn't the thing seem longer when typed as a word document? Stupid misleading margins.)