"She's pretty...I'll give ya that much. She ain't elfy though, right?"
"No. She is no elf. She's a harpy."
"She got some nice ditties."
"Buttercup!"
"Wot? S'not like they cover her up much."
"You've only got one thing on your mind. Now come on. Did you want to meet her or not?"
Sera huffed and crossed her arms standing next to Varric as they watch the harpy in her cage from afar.
The harpy perched on a tree, preening her flight feathers. In the faint shade of the tree foliage, the sun gave her a soft halo. The sight of the mystic creature high above the ground, tail feathers draping elegantly from where she sat. The light glint against the two prominent tail feathers revealing a mirage of colors that can't be seen in other lighting.
Sera was in awe, nudged by the smirking dwarf who guided her closer to the cage.
"Birdy! Come on down here, someone's here to meet you properly." Varric called out.
Sera watched the silhouette of ears peeking up, and without a second of hesitation the silhouette swooped down the tree landing a few steps by the bars of the cage. A soft chirp was heard as she stepped closer, smiling at Varric and then turning to the wide eyed city elf.
"Woof." Sera muttered as she grinned at the harpy a glint in her eyes.
The harpy tilted her head in confusion, "You are Varry's friend?"
"Birdy, this is Sera. Sera this is the harpy of the Inquisition. Birdy!" Varric introduced.
The harpy stepped closer eyeing the elf up and down. She had heard of the other members of the Inquisition. Some were more open to interacting with the harpy, others were less than kind or hesitant.
She smiled at the city elf and Sera smiled back a bit awkwardly, "Good to finally meet cha, right? So, uh...how goes it?" Sera started cautiously.
"How goes what?" The harpy tilts her head.
Varric chuckles, "She means, how are you?"
"Oh! I am well. How goes it for you, friend Sera?" The harpy asked with a toothy grin.
From then on it was Sera asking the harpy many questions, some appropriate but most weren't. This was new to the harpy. She was used to questions from Solas. Very hard questions about her people and culture. Sera asked about herself. What she was like and how she did things. Sera asked about her person and not her people. She found this very refreshing. Of course she enjoyed her time with Solas. He was the only one she trusted with the knowledge of her People, but she wouldn't talk about herself often.
Varric and Sera had left for the tavern once the sun began to set. Once again alone in her cage the harpy let out a soft sigh. She looked around the residence of Skyhold began to leave for their respective rooms and tents. Merchants closing up their stalls, the guards changing shifts on the battlements, and the horse master bidding each stead goodnight.
The harpy shuffled to the tree and stretched out her body. She looked about her cage with a sense of emptiness. She didn't have much here and she was beginning to miss her home and her People. She settled into her makeshift nest and began to close her eyes, perhaps dreaming of home will help her.
Her mind drifted slowly into her small oasis, everything was in place here, she felt safe but still a bit empty.
Her mind began to conjure the large Batele tree that her People called home. Large trees with wide hollow trunks that they used for shelters the leaves would drape down like curtains, providing a shield from cool winds and the sun's light.
She could remember her home tree so vividly in her dreamscape. Reaching out with her hand, she closed her eyes and began to feel the rough texture of the trunk, her nose twitched with the scent of fresh morning dew on the leaves, she could hear all types of neighboring animals fluttering and flying about from branch to branch. She opened her eyes and admired her home. She smiled softly and began to climb up the branches and trunk to the shelter built into it. She drew back a curtain made of leaves and beads, entering the small and cozy shelter.
Curling up into her own nest as she remembered its soft lumps and warmth and began to realize this wasn't her real home.
Then it started. The wave of comfort and peace that usually washed over her being when she settled into her spot never came. She realized it was because she wasn't home. She sat up from her nest, the usual warm pile of pelts and leaves began to wilt and wither away. She looked up as the walls of the tree began to rot the curtains of leaves falling until she was sitting alone on cold stone. She sighed softly curling into herself.
Her mind was blank for a moment, her dreamscape reflecting that. The harpy curled up in an empty abyss that her mind has created. She remained still for moments finding nothing interesting. Dull red eyes staring half lidded at the ground.
'You are making your own path…'
'...no one else's.'
Her ears twitched and she began to look up at her abyss as it sparked with a faint green light. She stared at it, her pupils dilating as it adjusted to the light. It began to grow closer a soft emerald glow began to crawl towards her as it was creating a walkway.
"Making my own path." She repeated, standing up to her full height. She spread her wings stretching out her feathers and stated at the lighted path. She took one step and then hesitated.
"Make...my own…" she pondered her Patre's words. He was a clever man each word held many meanings. She turned away from the glowing path and entered the dark part of her abyss. Slowly flapping her wings as she began to take flight and as she did she glanced down watch as she left behind a soft faint glow of her own. Her own path.
"They questioned her patre...it's only a matter of time before these people come to hunt us. We must do something. Gather people strong enough to defend ourselves-!" a young harpy ruffled his feathers as he paced back and forth.
His elder watched from his seated position, "You want to build an army." He simplified.
"If we must! We should have an army, patre! We must fight for our lives or we will be wiped out." the man hal th ed turning to his elder, his eyes wide and teeth bared, anxious to move.
The patre held up a clawed hand and almost instantly the young man's body relaxed "You are quick to jump to action, ankan… we will wait for the world's reaction. The Mother will surely guide us in our time of need."
The younger man sighed crossing his arm, "The humans had nearly wiped the dragons out of existence, what did the Mother do then?" he argued.
"Hid them till they were strong enough to survive on their own." he answered.