Running On Empty: Cheaters Never Prosper
Note: Holy hell, I finally got a job! Woo! Also, thanks to all who point out Jaime's little weird quirks with snorting and hiccuping. In reality, my friend does exactly that and I find it hilarious now to realize it. Is that what we call a tick? Anyway, I also took note of all the suggestions for snippets from other characters. Those will be written up and probably posted before the next arc is. Hold on to your patience, we're almost there!
PS: I cannot love you all enough for all the support, thank you for continuously returning!
"I'm sorry it took so long to get the crest, Herald." Requisitions Officer Jenal was drenched from head to foot from the sudden storm that had broken out over our heads as my group and I arrived back on the Storm Coast. The leather of her vest was muddy and her trousers were hiked up with extra belts to combat the weight of the rain water. The tents looked years older since the last time I had been here and I made a mental note to make sure they were resupplied with new ones. Weather was never anyone's friend.
My attention focused on Jenal's face, her mouth tired and wary. "It's alright, we can make amends now. Do you have the crest?"
She handed it to me with a shaking hand, the cold of the storm probably seeped into her bones. The afternoon sun was all but gone as the thunderclouds growled overhead. It was a simple crest, the green serpentstone was centered in polished copper and the necklace threaded with deepstalker hide under the metal. The stone looked cracked along the edges from the jeweler's careful attempt to stamp the word 'Mercy' along the width of the stone.
"It'll do, Officer Jenal. Thank you for holding onto it for us." Solas bowed his head lightly and the woman's shoulders slumped with relief. Subtly chastised for my oversight in manners, I also rewarded her with a small nod and smile. Tentatively, I brought the necklace over my head and secured it at the front of my leathers.
"Think that's safe?" Varric asked as we started our trek over the slippery slope of the coast.
"It's the best place for it," I answered with a shrug, "maybe this way the Blades won't attack on sight, and besides, the necklace is long enough that they can't really choke me with it."
"They would have to get pretty damn close to try." Bull rumbled warningly behind me.
He gave me such a strange sense of peace, even with all the turbulence between us. We continued, my haggard group of companions keeping a perimeter around me as we trudged through the muddy rocks and slick slopes along the cliffs' edges. These three in particular had volunteered to come and I hadn't the heart to turn them away. It was an odd understanding that had settled over us, now that every party member knew my backstory. It was liberating, one could say.
"So boss," Bull started.
Liberating for their line of questioning, too.
"Yessir." I answered. Solas was attempting to help me over a rocky patch of ground and up to the lip of a low-hanging cliff (me and my fucking shortcuts), his hands held out to help me reach the edge. His attempt was a poor one, mostly because Varric was no help, pushing me from behind to keep going.
"In your other world, what's it like?" Bull posed the question with an open-ended tilt. Solas and Varric shared a look, one that they quickly shot my way with curiosity. My hands gripped a root and with it I hauled myself up onto the ledge and watched as my boys easily scaled the slanted slope as if it were dry. Fucking assholes.
"That's a bit of a broad question, eh? Narrow it down, what do you want to know, specifically?" My gaze narrowed on The Bull as he secured his feet on new land and shadowed me for a bit as we walked. The ground flattened out to a slim road and the party was quick to steer me towards it lest I lead them further into any more dangerous off-roading.
"Language." Bull narrowed his question. "You were able to tell the difference between the enunciation of a similar word and compare it. How?" Solas' head nearly swiveled clear off his neck at Bull's question, either surprised by the wording of the question itself, or the fact that I had shared such information with an outsider.
"It was mostly Varric's fault." I replied, ignoring the dwarf's snort. The path dipped down for a moment and then heaved back up, surrounded on either side by broken blocks of stone and a few posts. We were close to where we had originally found the book and note about the Blades of Hessarian and I passed by it with a surveying glance. Empty and abandoned. Hopefully.
Bull gave me a side-eye at my short answer.
"Varric used to read to me, way back when." I elaborated with only a little squeak. "Like I told you before, I could understand someone when they spoke to me, but I couldn't read. Their symbols look like scribbles or weird sharp lines to me, nothing comprehensive." Varric's attention focused on me, I could practically see his ear perk at the new information. Solas continued to lead, seemingly already aware of my condition.
"Being read to allowed you to deduce what a word was, because you read along?" Bull prodded lightly, his curiosity innocent.
"Well, in a way. So it's a bit like code, or... shit." I rubbed at my opposite shoulder, realizing now that I was going to delve into territory not quite common in Thedas. "You have something like it here, I'm sure. You translate words into numbers or something, make equations, and thus new words. I was able to have Varric give me a simple word like dog, have him pronounce each symbol, and then I matched it with letters I knew."
"Reading comprehension." Solas nodded. "Same as you would teach a child, it is only as someone grows older, a new language is harder to learn."
"Well, she only struggled for a little bit, but now it makes sense." Varric added with a stroke of his chin. "I used to watch her scribble away on paper and draw lines between our letters and her scratch-marks." Heat flooded my face at his two-cents added to the conversation. I hadn't guessed what the perspective might have seemed like while I was attempting to learn.
"It was how I could learn," I pouted, embarrassed. "Once I stopped thinking about the symbols as letters and assumed they were numbers, it was easier to understand them."
"That actually sounds a lot more complicated than it should have been." Bull chuckled overhead. I turned my pout to him and he shrugged, unrepentant. "Honest, Boss. Converting letters, to numbers, back into letters? Why not just match a word to a word you understood?"
I shook my head, "No, see, it doesn't work that way, though. Say like, when I spell the word dog in your tongue, it's D-G-O, it's spelled differently than my wording, which spells it D-O-G. I knew what the word meant, but I couldn't read it because it didn't make sense in my head. The pronunciation sounds the same, the pattern is not." Solas paused in front of us and then turned on a heel to look at me with a critical eye. My feet brought me to a stop next to him, our companions slowed and glanced between us.
"What?" I asked, confused at his impromptu hyper focus.
"It's - nothing. A thought occurred to me, but, the idea seems impossible the more I think on it." Solas replied, perturbed at his own graceless answer.
"Can't be too impossible," Bull chuckled, "as long as she exists, I say there's a lot that's possible."
"Indeed." Solas snapped out of his distant thought and picked up his heels to keep the lead. "I merely pondered the idea that perhaps during her brief stint in the Fade as she was transported to us, something may have afflicted her mind."
"I'm not crazy." I immediately retorted. Solas' ears twitched at my words and his staff slipped a bit from the ground as he walked.
"That's not what I meant, forgive me. I only mean to say, as your world functions on a different language and grammatical system than ours, the Mark may have muddled the final transition." Solas murmured, more to himself than to those of us who followed him. Varric's gaze shot sharply to the elf and Bull's head lowered, face blank.
It took me a moment to catch up, "... you mean, how I can hear spirits and demons, because of my connection with the Mark... you think... something is using it to hinder me?"
"Holy shit, we don't need that. Are you serious?" Varric directed the last of his question to Solas. The elf hesitated, his ears gave another twitch as the thoughts whirled in his head. He glanced back at me and the entirety of my soul plummeted to my feet, bringing me to another full stop at the center of our group. Solas and Varric paused to give a turn and look at me, Bull took a full step and was nearly pressed up to my back.
"That little theory we had, about the Mark being a small rift... That's what you mean, right? About something trying to mess me up?" My gaze honed on his face and the elf had the smallest of moments to himself, thoughtful. He tilted his head as he considered me and the question I posed.
"It's... a theory. The Mark is... a form of magic unknown to us, and we must consider all ramifications." Solas stated softly, both hands on his staff with his weight gently pressed against it. "I had considered that you are acting as a beacon and that is why you can see and hear the demons as they come through... as well as the reason why the rifts are more frequent in their eruptions while you are around."
"She's the trigger." Bull grumbled from behind me. My shoulders hunched instinctively and I took a step sideways to catch Bull in my line of sight.
"Some form of a trigger, yes." Solas nodded with a frown. "I would allegorize her more as a net being dragged. She doesn't trigger the rifts into opening as one would lock or unlock a door, but the Mark may be an accumulating enough power near weaker parts of the Veil to tear them open as she passes."
I blinked. "I'm a black hole?"
"A what?" All three men glanced at me, confused.
Varric coughed. "Not sure how a pit equates to a fishing net, sweetheart."
"No, not - not like that." I huffed, my hand a sharp wave to cut the line of conversation. "Black holes are a section of space, outer space, that right up there, that has a gravitational field forceful enough to drag all matter and energy into its center. Nothing escapes, so when you look at it, it looks like a black hole in between the stars."
All three stared at me wide-eyed and it was seconds before Varric broke into laughter. Heat flushed my face and flooded my ears. My explanation had felt adequate enough to give them a rough understanding of what it was, and how it compared to Solas' explanation. Bull rubbed the back of his neck and together with Solas; they shared a look up at the sky.
"How curious." Solas murmured to the heavens above us.
"Maker, if the dwarves back home ever hear about that, they'll never come up to the surface again." Varric wheezed, his laughter subsiding. My embarrassment slowly fluttered away and left my stomach in peace. My feet scuffed a rock lightly as I waited for them to refocus.
"I suppose that is a good analogy. A black hole, as you say, with enough force to pull everything inward. Yes, I would say that is very much what I believe the Mark to be." Solas glanced at my hand before his gaze came back up to my face. His staff clicked on the stones below it and he turned back around to continue our march toward the Blades' stronghold.
"Well, hold up." Varric followed as Bull and I quietly came up from the rear. "Does that mean that Mark is going to eventually pull her in, too?" The fingers of my left hand clenched tightly and I ignored Bull's curious sideways glance in my direction. Solas was quiet for a good number of paces before his voice floated back to me softly.
"I don't know."
-0-
Calm I was not and I had taken to keeping my place in the bushes for far longer than was necessary.
"The book said that with the Mercy Crest, she could just walk in there, and they wouldn't attack, right?" Varric groused from my right shoulder. He stood on the boulder I had taken for seating and peered over my head at the large and wooden gate that barred us from the Blades of Hessarian stronghold. Solas and Bull stood side by side a little further off and wore matching frowns of critical assessment. From what we could see, there were only two guards at the front gate, and not much commotion inside to give a hint as to their numbers behind the walls.
"It did say as much, but would we trust them to hold their word when they've already attacked our people?" Solas murmured and spared a glance at Bull.
The Qunari's nose flared. "It had a passage in there that there could only be one challenger at a time, and I don't like that wording at all."
"Fuck no," Varric huffed, "because that means she's fighting their leader alone, and that's not the plan."
"What if it's our only plan?" I interrupted the discussion over my head. "We don't even know what their leader looks like, maybe he can be reasoned with?" The three sharp looks of 'seriously' promptly informed me that no, such a thing was not to be expected. I stood from my seat and brushed at my leather and breeches.
"Let's see if they'll let us follow her in." Bull relented upon noticing my movement. I spared him a shrug. There was nothing we could do aside from retreat or move forward, and I wasn't going to retreat; that meant I would allow these bandits to do as they pleased along the coast. Not happening, not anymore. The Iron Bull sighed heavily and adjusted his maul across his back to loosen it for a fight without actually removing it from its holster.
Solas and Varric steadied themselves and allowed me to walk before them toward the gate.
A swallow worked a hard path down my throat as I approached. Nervously, my hand came up and adjusted the crest to allow a glint of sunlight to flash off the surface. I held a small hope that the crest would grant me a bit more in the way of negotiations and it wouldn't have to come down to a fight. The guards at the gate spied me upon my slow descent toward their stronghold and took up arms. One of them spotted the crest and immediately her weapon arm went limp.
"A challenger?" The male murmured once I was within earshot.
"All the others are dead." The woman on my other side replied. She glanced me over, gaze curious but her mouth silent. She and her companion moved to the wooden door and knocked hard. A latch unhooked from the other side and a shake started down my spine as the massive door was hauled open. I couldn't lose my nerve now and kept my eyes forward to avoid catching a glimpse of my worried companions. Bull's steps hit the ground with more weight than usual, announcing his presence in a way I couldn't announce mine.
We were surrounded on either side, handfuls of armored fellows that stared as I made my way along the planks of wood to the center piece of the stronghold. A tall man, blond and with a scarred and smirking face. Marbari snarled on either side of his makeshift throne, caged in massive ironwork that reached nearly to the top of the stronghold wood pillar fence. Slowly my spine unfurled and it took everything in me to take steady, measured steps. The man before me took a moment to eye my figure and his smirk widened.
"Here to challenge me, are you?" He snarled with a laugh. It was on the tip of my tongue, we don't have to fight, but the look of his face and the hand on his sword, I knew those words would win me nothing. This was a man who took wholesale slaughter against innocent people and stole from my men, drowned them, forced them into needless danger. My spine petrified and the stone forced me to stand taller, my shoulders lowered, the Mark flared briefly by my left hip.
I didn't miss the small, startled glance at my hand from the Hessarian leader.
"I represent the Inquisition." I commanded with more confidence than I truthfully harbored. "You slaughtered my men and stole from their dead bodies."
A grin flashed under the man's beard. "You want justice? Come and claim it!"
The bastard was fast. With only a half of a second to spare, the majority of my maul was freed from its holster, the full handle before the head shielded me as the sword came down viciously in a one-handed swing that he brought down over his head. It clanged off my weapon. My braced foot kept me upright as the man stepped forward and brought down another swing. Unfortunately I failed to notice the dagger in his other hand and caught it in the leather of my hip. No damage, but he pissed me right the fuck off.
He smacked away my maul with his sword arm but I was gunning for something much different. My weapon arm was feeble without the support of my other hand, but that was let loose and the maul's head hit the ground as my freed hand took a fist to slam right up into his nose. I could hear Bull's laughter boom behind me and it spurred me into taking a few swifts steps to the man's left side where his blade hung and I brought my maul up from the ground with an unsteady arm swing.
The leader was still faster than I was, despite the stunning fist to his face. He glanced his blade off the maul head and whirled it over his head (still with one fucking hand that goddamn monster) and brought it down again. My maul was not made as a defensive weapon, so I took a healthy leap back and allowed the momentum to swing the maul over my head for a gravitational blow right back down the front. He glanced it off his sword, sweat started to cover both our foreheads. He grinned at me and took a few hasty steps back before he reached behind him on his wooden throne and yanked on a chain.
One of the Mabari hounds yowled excitedly and bolted from the cage. Behind me, Varric and Bull hollered in protest to the addition of the dogs. I moved further away with a few steps and turned a full circle on a heel to catch one of the hounds as it charged at me. The Hessarian leader laughed and followed the charge of his animal toward me, the second Mabari hot on his heels. Him alone I could handle, but batting away the dogs from my heels was not an ordeal I wanted. Varric, my savior, solved that issue.
With the addition of the dogs, the rules of engagement had been changed. It was no longer single challengers and my dwarf had no qualms in breaking ranks. An arrow whistled from Bianca and caught the thick flank of the closest Mabari. The dog howled in pain and bared its teeth at Varric. Bull's shadow shot past me toward the second animal, the leader had cleared the path upon realization that he had a three-hundred pound Qunari bolting toward him. Another arrow sang past me and the Mabari that interrupted me went down with a shattered skull. Enraged at the fucking cheating tactic (this was probably why the other challengers had lost), I sprinted with two strong pushes of my heels and used my maul like a battering ram, right into his gut.
The leader doubled over and with a hurried heave, I brought my maul up swiftly to clip him under the chin. The shattered jaw rattled through my weapon into my grip, the leader's head whipped back with a snap and with an exhale, I leaned back on a leg and took a sweep of my other foot to trip him back. He tumbled to the ground, he gasped with a bloodied nose and mouth, half his teeth missing, eyes wide as he pleaded breathlessly.
My maul came down into his chest, his breath shuddered out and the body went limp under the head of my maul.
The world went silent around my ears. Blood rushed through my eardrums and my skin felt scorched, sweat beading down my neck. Finally, my lungs exhaled, my spine shaking as my exertion caught up with me, the adrenaline flushing itself from my body. Bull's shadow came up beside me and his hand with missing fingers reached for the handle of my maul and together (more his strength than mine) my maul was drawn out from the concave chest of my opponent. There was a sickening sucking sound as the skin slipped away and bones dropped slightly with the absence of support. I dropped the head of my maul to the ground and leaned against the pommel of it, my forehead pressed on the hand that held it upright.
"What do you want?" Bull rumbled threateningly to something behind me, he took a step to cover my back. I had taken no physical blow during the fight, but Solas' hand still touched between my shoulder blades as he came up beside me and a rejuvenation spell kissed my nerves and steadied my body. A sigh of relief escaped me and once strengthened, I stood with a straight back and turned to look at whoever had been stupid enough to approach my mildly displeased Qunari. It was one of the bandits, or a Blade, and he waited patiently just out of arm's reach of Bull, his gaze focused calmly on me.
"... I take it this means I've won, or are we going to have an issue?" I asked tentatively. The dogs had not been planned for, and I could understand now the anxiousness that slithered just under the surface for my companions; if the Blades decided to attack because we broke the rules of the fight, they were going to have three extremely disgruntled men on their hands.
The Blade shook his head, arms crossed. "No, Your Worship. The Blades of Hessarian are at your service. If you want eyes on the coast, here we are." My companions were still bristling with unease and wariness. Drawn up to my full height and my shoulders pulled back, I took a step around Bull and gently waved to dismiss him. The Qunari shot me a glance and snorted before taking only half a pace step back. It would have to do.
"I haven't heard of the Blades of Hessarian," I murmured, taking came to leave my maul beside me in case of an attack.
"Our work is often misunderstood," the Blade sighed, head dipped slightly, "but we serve Andraste - and whoever proves worth of wielding us."
My eyes narrowed. "So, you and your Blades are loyal to the Inquisition? Just like that?"
"Well." A faint smirk touched his mouth. "We're loyal to you. I suppose that's the same thing, Your Worship."
"Uh huh." Something about this agreement felt off, but I did not have Cassandra, Josephine, or Leliana to strip it bare. Asking any one of my companions behind me for opinions would potentially lessen any 'worthiness' I had gained from killing their former boss. Fuck, I wish I had a cheat-sheet. "So... no ill-will over what happened to your former leader?"
"The man was a bastard." The Blade hardly spared the splattered remains a look. "You're not the first to stand up to him. You're just the first to win, and we're happy with that." Bull snorted again behind me, but he shifted onto his good foot and from my peripheral I could see one of his shoulders relax. It was good enough of an assessment for me; we were safe.
"Besides," the Blade brought his gaze back to my face, seconds after, "I would rather swear my life to the Herald of Andraste." There was a beat of silence between us, the bandits that had surrounded us before had lessened, their demeanor mildly assuaged by the change of leadership. I would have to be careful, bandits only ever served that which benefitted them.
"Let's start fixing things up, then." I brought my maul over my shoulder and snapped it into its holster. "I need those eyes on the coast, reports need to be sent to my scouts. Any and all hostilities are to cease and desist. In return, we can offer you supplies and safety. You won't have to resort to banditry from here on."
The Blade assessed me with a tilted head, mouth ticked to one side. "Agreed. I'll have word sent out that the Inquisition soldiers and camps are to be left alone, and any reports we will send along as they are written, Your Worship."
"Good," I sighed, "is there anything I need to be concerned with now? Rifts, demons, or some such?" At my words, a gentle softness of relief passed over his face before he offered me a nod. The Blade relaxed in my presence and that allowed for my companions to step off their own pins and needles.
"Yes, Your Worship. There is have been sightings of demons directly along the Coast, just southwest of here. One of my patrols also reported a handful of them out by an abandoned dock, northwest of here and across a shallow peninsula of land." He ticked off quietly. The soldiers close to us ducked their heads and turned away. I wondered how many they had lost, attempting to take back their land.
"Right, I'll investigate. From now on, if there are any demons in the area, just report it to us, it could be the cause of a rift and those are best dealt with by me." I raised my left hand and the Mark flashed, briefly illuminating the Blade's pale face. He gave me a firm, swift nod and with that, I saluted him lazily and waved my companions to follow.
Once we were outside the gate, Varric glanced up at me. "You doing alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good." We shared a glance. "Why? Did I take a hit somewhere that I don't feel?"
"No." Solas answered from behind, his pace even with Bull's as they followed. "You did... very well. It was impressive how much you have grown." Elation shot through my stomach hard enough that I nearly gagged on it. As quick as I could, I smothered my reflex to vomit with a choked laugh and grinned over my shoulder at him.
"I suppose it was bound to happen." I turned my grin to Varric. "You think Cassandra is gonna be mad?"
"Devastated," the dwarf shook his head mournfully, "she'll be on the practice field with those dumbs for hours, now that you don't need to hold her hand."
"She still can't read." Bull teased from the back.
"Look here," I snapped playfully at him over my shoulder, "I pay you to stand around and look pretty, not throw out slander." It managed to snag a laugh from Varric and a soft, amused snort from Solas. The Qunari flashed me a sharp-toothed grin and any bravado I had was sapped straight from my gut.
"Right." I cleared my throat. "Let's see about cleaning up this mess."
