Running On Empty: Uptown
Note: You ever try to Beta-read your own work at 2AM, see an error but you're on mobile so you can't change it, then wake up hours later and can't find it again? Yeah, I'm there.
I didn't know how to act around The Iron Bull. My skin itched despite the rain and I couldn't feel normal. The usual banter I had with my group had come from trial and error. It was built on months of mistakes and toe-stepping and offending one another, and a majority of my party then knew my predicament. Cassandra and Solas were well aware that a lot of my awkwardness stemmed from my sudden arrival into this world.
In the end, I suppose that meant that I was to treat him as I first did Varric. New friendships were hard enough, but this was made harder still by knowing that this big beast of a sentient creature could kill me in a single swing (I did not miss that his maul was larger than mine) or that he was a spy. We took the path that drove us inland, wanting to cover the coast from up high instead of running into whatever had delayed my soldiers.
A thunderous roar echoed overhead and I froze, my eyes glued to the ground.
"Breathe, sweetheart." Varric immediately soothed, coming up beside me once he shouldered past Bull. His gloved hand touched at my elbow to anchor me. "Shit, I forgot you've never seen a dragon before. Where did it go, Chuckles?"
"Over yonder, past the coast." Solas replied thoughtfully, gazing through the fog. "There might be an island just beyond the fog, a nest, perhaps?"
"Ah, hell." I looked up toward the clouds, but there was nothing but fog and rain. My shaky fingers rubbed at my forehead and my gaze dropped to Varric beside me. "Demons, devils, Chantry Mothers, and now dragons. Who the fuck signed me up for this?"
Varric laughed. "I d-don't think one of those is like the others, sweetheart."
"The fuck it isn't," I snapped in amusement, picking my pace back up again. I truly was not surprised anymore by the shit that existed in this world, "You were there, that Mother damn near took my head if she wasn't frail."
"Jaime," Solas' reprimand was lost in his chuckle.
"Is that your name, then?" Bull interjected quietly. The three of us paused, having relapsed into our normal banter. I cleared my throat and nodded with a quick glance over my shoulder to Bull. There was a certainty that he had already known my name, my "past," and my inner workings with the Inquisition; only the opening I had presented was neutral enough for him to take and join in with us.
"I hope you don't mind fast-paced introductions," I replied and continued my march through the wet plant life and mud. "Normally we'd sit around Varric's fire and have a drink of whatever the hell he's hidden from Cassandra, but I've got missing men to look for, and bandits to smack." Solas and Varric shared a look behind my back, Varric the only one grinning when they looked away.
"Someone's on fire today." Varric teased from the peanut gallery.
"Look, man." I groused. "I took a lightning bolt to my ass today, it's warranted." My gaze stayed forward in front of me. I would have to learn to work with Bull eventually, but it was easier to talk at him than to him at the moment. The horns were still unnerving and his height added to the dilemma. I could play it away as my concern over my soldiers (though, don't get me wrong, I was worried about them).
I gave a short whistle, Varric and Solas' ears perking up. "If you boys don't mind changing the formation a bit?" Silently, Varric dropped to the back of our train and Solas shifted to my left side, leaving my dominate right side open for Bull. Without prompting or taking the hint from the vacant space, Bull moved toward my right. Like Solas, the Iron Bull was silent of foot once he came up to pace with me and I noticed he had to adjust his trot to not overtake my own.
I wondered what we looked like to Iron Bull? This was the first time I had an outsider in my circle of defense and it clinked like a bad piece of armor. We would have to get used to a new fighting formation, too, as now we had two maul wielders and no shield. Cassandra usually defended my flank and I doubt Bull would leave me open to abuse, but how would he know when to step up?
Time would tell, I figured.
"So, wild guess," I started gracelessly, my ankle tripped over a rock and I swayed into Solas, "Pretty sure you know my name. Jaime Welton. Orphan, Herald, Your Worship if you're so inclined - that was a joke - and asshat."
"You've seem to have caught her on one of her better days." Varric joked from the back. "She's normally not this talkative." The Bull's eye swiveled down to me, and once more I felt like I was treading over a field of landmines. What was I suppose to say to a spy that wasn't too much? I didn't want to alienate him, but damn it could have been better if I didn't know about it.
"Behind me, my traitorous storyteller, archer, and lay-a-bout, Varric Tethras." I continued, unperturbed by the commentary. Said dwarf rewarded me with a snort. My hand came up to Solas' shoulder, the elf turned a disinterested sideways gaze to me. The twitch of his ears and the flash of amusement I spied in his eyes told me otherwise. "Next to me, my apostate extraordinaire, Fade expert, and mightier-than-thou Solas."
"Pleasure," Solas said up to Bull with a nod of his head. With that, a thread snapped and released my lungs as I laughed. Of course Solas would have seen my discomfort and knew my method of coping was to either ignore it or smother it in humor. We couldn't ignore Bull, not when I had dragged him along with me, so humor was the next best thing.
I grinned up at Bull, relieved to have Solas with me. "Ta-da!"
"Well," Bull snorted, "You're an interesting bunch, to be sure. Not what the rumors say about you."
"Uh oh." Varric and I shared the reply. I laughed again at Bull's downward stare. "What are they saying now?"
"What people say, or what the reports say?" He answered with a bit of cheek, catching on to our game. A flush flashed up to my ears and I sputtered, making him chuckle. Solas peered around me, interested in the bit of news. "Ben-Hassrath reports have already come through with you in it. Most of them are studies that the Herald is usually distant, quiet, and lets her company handle the work when they're on the field."
Is that what I am? A distant head of state that no one knows? I huffed, it was a good thing, all around, because that meant that no one had gotten close enough. It was startling, as well, as that meant that there were already spies among us. A glance of mine flickered up to his face, my mind wondered if he had told me that in such a way to make me think on it.
Oh, god. This is going to hurt my head.
Ultimately, I realized as we wandered along the coast, it would be better if I took him at face value. Solas and Leliana were better at the intrigues, and at least with Solas I could trust he could keep me safe. My foot betrayed me, slipping through a slick pair of rocks and both Bull and Solas caught my arms, almost lifting me off my feet. I did dangle in the air for a good second or so, my flush stronger across my face.
Varric was howling with laughter. "Oh, this is just going to be the best thing ever."
"Sorry about that," Bull muttered, but he too was fighting a smile. "Didn't realize you were that light."
"Blame the Commander for that one," I grumped, rolling my shoulders to adjust my hiked up leather. My maul managed to keep most of it in place at the very least. "He's got this idea in his head that I'm actually a soldier and know how to fight."
"He does try." Solas teased, voice level from my left side. "You, on the other hand, are the obstacle."
"I am perfectly peachy." My nose twitched into the air. "Besides, he knew what he was getting into when I told him my knowledge on weapons stopped at about the six uses of a shank."
"... why a shank?" Bull asked with genuine curiosity. They proceeded to follow me up a hard slope to where I had spotted the tips of a cabin's roof. Hopefully there I would find my missing soldiers, or at least a camp that they would return to before it got too dark. The rain was being amicable as well, and didn't come down as hard on our heads.
"So there was this one time," I started, hauling my ass up the jagged path. I could see there were grooves in the hillside that lead straight up and would get us up there faster, but I was not about to tempt fate with a rock slide. "Back when I was ten - twelve? I dunno, I was small. And so, shit," my feet had lost my footing once more, but I was too far for anyone to catch me, and I corrected myself in short order.
There was a hilarious image of falling back and impaling myself on a horn, and wasn't that just a pleasant idea all around?
"I had gotten bored, found a stick and a broken, metal spoon, and proceeded to file the spoon down into a point." I continued. Varric's snort was ignored along with Solas' ever long-suffering sigh. Bastards, if they wanted me to be more open, they were going to have to deal with my stupid shit. "I wrapped some twine around the stick end and spoon, to hold them together afterwards, and thus, I had a shank."
"Did you use it on anyone?" Bull was torn between amusement and concern.
"No," I immediately replied with a look behind me as I came up to the level of the hilltop. My lungs puffed for a moment. "Well. Yes, but it was an accident."
"I do not believe that for a second." Varric was beside me and making his way toward the cabin. It was shabby and dilapidated, the wooden boards were rotting and slumping off the frame like mulch. My nose and lips scrunched at Varric's back childishly before I followed. Solas had gone a few steps behind Varric, both men knowing the routine of scouting ahead for me (because like my Charisma score was negative, my Perception checks were nightmarishly bad).
Bull stayed at my side and didn't walk forward until I did.
"So what was the accident?" Bull prompted after we reached the cabin and began to inspect it.
"Huh? Oh." My foot had caught on the door and tested it, then I gave up and moved toward the broken side of the cabin to peer inside. "Jordan followed me out to the field one day and snuck up on me. I caught her in the shoulder. It got infected, because duh, rusty spoon." I slipped into the cabin easy enough. The others were still wandering around outside, but Bull lowered his head and followed me inside as well. My throat tightened for a moment as fear took me by surprise.
Stop fucking acting like he's going to kill you. He can probably smell fear, shithead.
The inside of the dripping cabin was bare as bones, picked clean by whoever had been here before us. I was no tracker and couldn't tell one foot from another, but I still attempted to discern the foot prints that I found all along the ground. My eyes followed them down and around, through another room and then back again before they pattered off further on the hillside.
"Sweetheart." Varric breathed, warning laced the endearment. Solas and I stilled, waiting. Bull's eye narrowed and he took cover in the shadow of one of the broken walls. There was a beat, I couldn't see anything from where I was within the cabin and Solas was by the doorway. My gaze flickered to Varric who had taken refuge by a tree closest to the entrance.
"Four." Bull murmured to me. "Or five. I think I spotted two archers further past the second cabin. The other three are swordsmen, boss." My brain stuttered for a moment at the title of boss, expecting him to have called me anything else other than that. My head turned to cast him a sideways glance and then I waved him out.
"Distract the swords," I murmured as he grinned with a heavy step past me. I turned to Solas and nodded my head, "Treat him as you would Cassandra. Stay on his flank. I'll stay with Varric." My companion nodded and slithered past me to plant himself in Bull's looming shadow. Time to test how well we could work together. I bounced over to Varric and withdrew my maul. Bianca hummed quietly as she was released and Varric hefted her into his arms with a tight nod.
Ready, steady, go.
My feet led the charge as Bull didn't start his own attack until he had caught me pick up speed. His maul came away from his back fleetly and surprised one of the swordsmen's by landing it on his head. The one that I had gunned for heard the cry of pain and turned, just in time to have my maul meet his face. The third one had hastily retreated to come away from the reach of Bull's weapon and sped towards me.
Varric fired on him over my head, the arrows landing inches from the swordsman's ankles. The bandit was swift and tumbled away, rolling over his shoulder and back up onto his feet, his sword hissing as it clashed with Solas' staff. Solas used his fade step to put some distance between them, preparing for the swordsman to follow, but the bandit turned his attention to Bull.
I circled the fighting pair to find the archers. Bull's lack of upper body armor ruffled my anxiety and I wanted to down the archers as quickly as possible to keep him from being hit. The only issue was that I still had the same problem with Varric as I did on the coast; I had gotten faster. An arrow sailed past me, wide to my left and startled one of the archers into popping out of her cover.
My maul came up over my shoulder, ready for a blow, and then I found myself dancing with teeth. A hound, armored, huge and bulky snarled out from the cover of the crates nearby and snapped his jaws over the handle of my maul, yanking me down with all the force of a train wreck. My yelp of surprise brought my companions' attention to me, but they were too far to do anything about it.
I had lost the battle of strength against the hound as the archer nailed me with an arrow that panged against my shoulder. The leather armor I wore lost a few stitches as I ducked and I nearly lost my hand as the hound took that opportunity to smack his jaws higher on the handle of my maul.
"Nope!" My maul was released and I dove to one side, avoiding the hound's lunge. My hand fumbled for the little knife that I had on my belt as doubt flirted with my mind; don't think it's going to get through the armor the dog's wearing. The hound turned back on me and there was a scream off to my new left, a stray arrow twanged into a nearby tree.
The hound turned on me for another lunge and panic gripped my stomach with a vicious twist. The armor was metal and strapped tight over the dog's body. I wouldn't get through it, I would have to get under it. My limbs shook as the idea razed every thought I had in my mind and shot through my arms as the hound lunged a second time.
"Jaime!" Varric's voice was distant. I had to get better at this fighting thing, otherwise my friends were going to have aneurysms every time an enemy managed to land a blow on me. The hound's gnashing teeth snapped over my guarded wrists and tore through the strap, a few teeth managed to catch skin. My blade was faster, though, as my nerves jerked my free arm up into the animal's ribcage and slammed into its lungs.
Of course, I failed to account for the animal's dead weight when it dropped on me.
"F-fuck." My diaphragm protested the weight and I lifted with both arms. Surprisingly, the animal's body lifted away without any trouble; that was, sadly, due to the fact that Bull had arrived and grabbed it by the scruff to yank it off me. Hastily I drew breath and coughed, relief making my stomach tremble and my throat dry.
"Hi," I said weakly, rolling onto my side as Bull dropped the dog. Solas and Varric jogged up to us, a bit worse for wear. There was a mark of red across Solas' cheek and Varric looked uncomfortably disheveled. My shoulders were shook out and my grab for Bull's helping hand was instinctive. His palm was ablaze with heat and had he not gripped my hand in return, I would have snatched my fingers back with a jerk of surprise.
"You alright?" Bull asked, glancing me over. I gave him a nod, my voice lost in a cough and pointed a weak finger to my lost forearm brace. Varric picked it up and handed it to me. My hand shook as I took it, the Bull's eye watched as I used teeth and shivering fingers to tighten the torn leather back to my trembling body part.
"Th-those must have been the bandits." My voice choked on another cough. "Search the area, there's gotta be something of our m-men here." Solas and Varric spared me a careful glance and only with an impatient wave of my hand did they relent and started for the second cabin. Bull stayed at my side until I began to walk along after them.
"That's not the cold." He murmured down to me. I refused to look up at him and shrugged, annoyed at myself. "That's a bit odd that you ran head first into the Vints but the dog startled you."
"I got the drop on the Tevinters." A twitch of my nose and it scrunched over my mouth. Vints? What a name. "The dog surprised me. I don't do surprises."
"Hmm." His hum rumbled next to my ear as my head was equal to his chest. The back of my jaw stiffened and my molars were gripped tight. I was all for the privacy of ones thoughts (hell with my secrets, it was a lifesaver), but the way Bull acted made me apprehensive. I wanted to know what he thought of us. I had grown so accustomed to Cassandra, Solas, and Varric that I could tell on a sixty-to-forty scale of accuracy what they were thinking.
The Iron Bull, as much as I hated the cliché troupe, was an enigma.
The second cabin was in a better state than the first one we had found. The walls were a touch more solid aside from the far right wall that had a gaping hole of splattered and splintered wood. Solas checked the door as Varric went around the side to root out any unwanted guests. My feet took me inside the cabin and I was spared from the gentle mist of rain by a sturdy roof. It was starting to get funny, watching the Iron Bull duck and turn his head sideways to walk through a door. My eyes scanned around and then narrowed on a fallen body nigh invisible by the planks of broken wood.
"No," My breath hissed through my teeth as I made a skittered dash to the fallen soldier. I yanked the planks off and tossed them to one side, Varric appearing from the corner of my vision, Solas frowned and continued to search the cabin. Once the planks had been removed, my heart shuddered under my ribs. She was incredibly young, feasibly younger than I was, pale faced and freckled.
"Damn." Varric sighed, his jaw tight. His gaze turned away and he shuffled over to Solas who seemed intent on inspecting something he had found in the rubble. With my knees against her side, I gently rifled through her pockets and armor, looking for anything that could identify her. She had nothing and a coal burned under my tongue to think she may have been looted by the bandits.
"She's got nothing, poor thing." My sigh was heavy and I placed a hand on my knee to stand with an awkward push. "I'm sorry." With another scan of the place I spotted a note that was nailed to a table near me. Frowning, I walked toward it, mindful of the body that laid before me. A gentle tug had the note free of the nail and my frown deepened as I attempted to read it. I was about halfway through with Bull watching and waiting before frustration got the best of me.
Growling faintly, I cast about for my companions. "Solas," the elf looked up from a book he had found and spied the note in my hand. He wandered over and I held it out to him, muttering, "I tried to read it. I got some of it, but it sounds like a riddle - or a warning?"
"She can read," Varric had noticed Bull's surprised huff at my lack of understanding, "But handwriting is hard for her. That, or some of the longer words."
"Orphan," I murmured, listening to Solas mumble the words. I had been partially right, it had sounded like a riddle because of the choice of words, but the actual message itself was a warning. My cheeks puffed as Solas and I straightened with a look to each other.
"I've heard of this crest, it was in the book I found." Solas pointed off to where he had been nosing around. "Serpentstone and deepstalker hide. It's a quick thing to make, and it would allow you to challenge their leader."
"Does she want to, is the question." Varric pinned me with a look, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "It would save us the trouble of fighting through all of them, if they have more of our men."
I shook my head, my hand on my chin and the other across my stomach. "It doesn't sound like it. This isn't..." My lips pursed together and paused to allow me a moment to think. Bull's horns tilted out of the corner of my eye and the sensation of being assessed rippled up my spine. Am I being tested?
"Sweetheart?" Varric pressed when the silence went on for a beat longer.
"Well." My fingers curled and scratched at my chin. "Considering the terrain, as much as I would like to hope they did, I doubt these guys dragged Inquisition soldiers all the way back to their base. It would be too much of a hassle." My eyes drifted down to the girl at our feet. "Best deduction? They left her here so we would search and stumble on the message and killed the rest, stashing their bodies elsewhere."
"Still leaves the question of if we want to fight them." Bull added gently. My eyes swerved over to his giant form and saw only an neutral expression rest on his face. He wasn't offering information, nor was he trying to lead me into a decision, I don't think. He might have just used the opportunity to teach me, leaning on the idea that my orphan upbringing lacked certain skills.
"I don't want to, personally." My arms dropped to my side. "Ignoring vengeance or revenge or what have you, we just can't afford to do something that hasty." The heels of my palms came up and rubbed into my eyes and forehead, pushing some of my hair back. "And these bandits... they know the coast better than we do. If they can be reasoned with... I could use them to maintain the coast."
"That liberates much of the work from the Inquistion." Solas nodded, following along. "This is a desolate and nearly uninhabitable area. There's no trade, no settlers, and a dragon."
My shoulders shrugged, "Exactly. It'd be a win, because they can stay here and not be hostile or in anyone's way, and we still get reports coming out of the area. And no one gets exposed to the dragon."
"I hate to be the demon's advocate here, but this is all banking on the fact that they'll actually honor that crest." Varric reasoned, his chin jutting toward the book. "Say we go through all that trouble to make it and get there, and they decide to attack us anyway?"
"That's what he's for," I pointed innocently to Bull, "to fuck shit up."
It was the first real laugh I got out of the hulking giant, and I was glad.
