Char: Male x Male (Pairings are Surprise). Female x Male (Pairings are surprise)

Ch sum: delves slightly in the past of Sara, Saeya, and Noah Lavellan.

Children of The Veil

Ribbons

It'd been a couple hours since their escape from the fortress, if the coloring of the sky was any indication. Noah led them with the artifact held in his hands. Sara walked closely behind him with Saeya bringing up the rear, his hands folded behind his head.

They were heading back to their somewhat-permanent-temporary camp. It was in the ruins of an old abandoned Quarry. It was said to be haunted by angry elven spirits – which was a plus. It meant no shemlens would ever go near it. Of course, it was empty with no spirits in sight.

That could have been either because there never was anything there or the ancient stories revolving around the artifacts they gathered were true.

Da'Saeya brought his gaze skyward. It was said that the artifacts strengthen the veil in the area it was activated in. This lessened the likelihood of a demon or spirit encounter.

That or, again, there was never anything there and it was another story the Dalish had gotten wrong. Da'Saeya snorted.

Dalish.

"What's on your mind?" Da'Saeya brought his gaze down to see Noah looking at him over his shoulder. Da'Saeya shook his head. With a simple nod, Noah turned his gaze back forward and Da'Saeya turned his gaze back skyward.

The Dalish thought they were preserving their long forgotten past. Passing down from lip to ear, the stories of their past – what they thought were their past. They'd gotten stories wrong, changed stories around, made it benefit them. They were construed in such a way, it always made the elven kind into victims and shems their terrorizers. They victimized themselves instead of learning from past mistakes. Of course, the elves can't entirely blame their path of destruction on themselves, nor can they put the blame entirely on shems. It was a sort of mix between the two to blame for the downfall of the elven kingdom.

He was no scholar – he lacked the patience to sit down to stare at text for hours on end and he lacked the concentration needed to study the fade – but he was pretty sure they'd gotten most of their stories wrong.

"There are bandits ahead….2 of them are mages…." Sara's soft voice cut through his thoughts.

Good.

He was itching to kill something. Creators knew Sara wouldn't allow him to take out his pent up aggression on a tree….he'd rather the tree but a bunch of shemlen bandits would also do….it'd also make Noah less grumpy. He seemed to be at his happiest when he was thrusting that giant ass sword of his through the flesh of anything human.

The thought scared Saeya and he was pretty sure it terrified Noah himself.

Saeya unclipped his daggers from his side, curling his fists around the thick brass of the handle. He brought the hooped blade up, staring at his reflection in the blade. Why were the shems so close to their camp, though, Saeya had to wonder. Their camp was supposedly haunted so no one should have any purpose or interest in coming near.

"Strange…" Saeya brought his attention to Sara and Noah. Noah had handed the artifact to Sara. He needed both his hands to swing around his great sword, whereas Sara could manage and cast deadly spells with just one hand – she actually didn't even need her hands but she said it was easier to aim and concentrate magic when she used her hands or a staff as a conduit. "They are gone."

"Maybe the stories about angry elven spirits was right?" Saeya asked with a shrug. He didn't put his weapon away; however. Noah shrugged.

"Or….maybe our friend is as fond of humans as we are," a devilish smirk graced Noah's usually stoic face. Saeya and Sara exchanged looks.

Yeah, they distrusted humans – they didn't like them but they didn't hate them.

Noah was a different story. He loathed them with such a fiery passion, he most likely burnt from it. Whenever there was even a slightest bit of hints of Saeya or Sara giving them praise – no matter if it were just sarcastically spoken – he would become angry. He would glare at them, scold them, and then lecture them both on 'the whys' and 'the hows' that the humans were terrible creatures best to be killed or avoided.

He sounded like their former keeper... He almost sounded like the humans when they gave their speeches on why the elven kind should be eradicated.

When he was done yelling at them for a good hour, they both would respond with 'Yes hahren. Sorry hahren' which usually knocked him down a few angry pegs. He would still be glaring, but there would be a calm sadness about him afterwards. He'd turn away and say nothing farther.

"Only one way to find out, huh?" Saeya asked, twirling one of his daggers around.

"Stay behind me, but not too far." Noah still had his blade out. It's a wonder how he wields it so easily and it was damn near the same height as him. Saeya and Sara gave him understanding nods as the older elf led the way.

Noah had been one of those charged with the protection of the clan. He rarely did scout work, but he was a guardian. Their clan had grown restless as the amount of mages within their ranks increased. When Sara's magic had come to the fro, they were going to send her off on her own. Noah had been disgusted and angry with their decision to cast a bunch of kids to the wind because they were afraid of some shemlen group of warriors. Granted, their fear was understandable. They'd already had a run in with the shemlen group. They'd managed to come to an agreed terms – one that brought a sick feeling to Saeya.

The Templar group had told them they would allow them 3 mages. Saeya's brother hadn't been one of those fortunate enough to keep their magic. Those not fortunate along with him became tranquil. Saeya shivered as he felt the familiar warm and fuzzy feeling he got when a barrier slithered over his person. He looked up to see Sara glancing sideways at him with a small smile. "You did that," She mumbled. Had he? It didn't hurt like it usually does. Her smile became sad. She hadn't been around when it happened – when his brother became tranquil and he was left with his magic. She was around but she was too young to understand at that time.

She'd once asked him why he never practiced his magic. It was a sore topic for obvious reasons. Noah had had to explain to her why and to never bring it up around him.

Practicing magic wasn't only physically painful, but emotionally too. It brought back the memory of witnessing his mother dying in flame magic, his father tortured with storm magic, and his brother painfully stripped from his spirit magic.

Saeya had a lot of reasons to hate the shems, though, he found that he couldn't hate all of them. Maybe it was just not in his nature to hate things without having met or seen them. Maybe if he had the experiences Noah undoubtedly had, he would loath the shems like he did. Whatever those experiences were… Noah never liked to talk about his experiences. He'd brush off questions and tell them to trust him on his word. He never questioned Noah's words, but sometimes his judgments were a bit questionable.

They came up on the ruins of the quarry to see bodies littered everywhere. The bodies were charred to nearly no recognizable forms. "Damnable humans." A snort brought there gazes up to the one who spoke, sitting atop one of the high broken walls surrounding the wooden stairs down the quarry. The woman sitting there wore nothing but ribbons to hide her nude form. The simple yellow ribbon weaved around her body leaving little to the imagination. She had long crimson hair that reached to her middle back. Her bangs hung low on her face, covering her eyes and just brushing the tip of her nose. Two pale horns peaked from her mop of red hair, though one of them was broken. She was smirking.

Ira.

She was some sort of spirit or creature – she never revealed what she was – that had been helping them locate the artifacts. She'd even given them the crystal to help them in their endeavors.

"I do believe it's about time we find a…safer place to store our wares." She chuckled. She had thick Orlesian accent.

"Ira, how did they find out about this place?" Sara asked with a frown. Ira laughed.

"They did not simply find out, my dear. They simply happened upon us by chance – unlucky as the fate was, of course." She was giggling as she jumped down from the wall. "It is about time we head off to that place I had been showing you." Both Saeya and Noah frowned in confusion. They looked to Sara who smiled and nodded. She turned to them.

"Ira has been leading me through the forest in my dreams. We found a place abandoned by the humans. It is a quiet little place – however it is in the middle of Fereldan." Saeya and Noah slowly exchanged looks. They weren't exactly sure how that would work out. "Some catastrophic happened there…but it was strange…Ya-Ya." She regarded Saeya with a confused look. "I saw…someone who looked exactly like you…I believe it was your brother." Saeya tensed.

"Really?" Noah stepped closer.

"Maybe if we go there you can probably see where he went next? Maybe we can find him! Maybe he's alright!" Saeya's eyes lit up with hope.

"Doll, that place has been abandoned for years. I'm doubtful-" Ira stopped at the stricken look that crossed Saeya's face and the angry look on Noah's face. Noah placed a firm hand on Saeya's shoulder.

"Don't worry." Noah simply said. Saeya looked up at the slightly taller elf. He nodded weakly before they all turned their attention to Ira. "What do we do now, Lady Ira?"

"None of that, my dear." She chortled. "Ira is just fine. I did happen to find something deeper in the quarry; however." She motioned for them to follow her. They followed her down to the first landing below the ground. They didn't ordinarily stay on landing because it was too close to the opening and they were too open for attack there. They'd go to the third landing where they could prepare for an attack. There was a pile of clothing on the table and weapons. "The charcoal you saw up there wasn't the first wave of freeloaders." She smirked.

"These…are you sure they'll fit?" Saeya asked as he picked up a dark green tunic.

"I didn't say the first few waves were all human, did I?" They all looked at her in alarm, causing her to laugh. "Worry not, my darlings. I did not kill them – rather I traded with them. I knew you three would need better armor then you have now. I enchanted them so they'll be more useful to you then the rags you have on now."

"This is generous of you," Sara smiled. Ira grinned.

"I have to take care of my children, don't I?" She laughed loudly, the melodious echo bouncing around the stone walls.

…

..

.

Saeya wrapped the leather band around the long cord of his hair one last time before letting go. He smoothed down the tunic, letting his hands run across the eloquent, gold embroidery of the tunic. He played with the silver claps that ran across his chest and under the black scarf he wore. Letting his hands trail down again, he tightened the belt around the tunic before allowing his hands to trail farther down to the black trousers he wore. They were puffed out slightly at the thighs then became tight right under his thighs. Sara had giggled a bit at them but Saeya liked them.

Sara's outfit was a simple blue robe. The trim of her robes was chrome blue while the rest a shade between light and sky blue. The upper part of her robes were a dark shade then the lower part. The color of her detached sleeves were the same color as the upper robes.

Noah's armor seemed to look the same, though heavier. He had a chest plate now too.

"You all look dashing!" Ira squealed as she floated around them. This was why it was so hard to tell what she was. At some points, she looked like a horned elf but when she floated like that, it made her seem like she was some sort of elf spirit or demon. "Oh, yes! Before I forget! Da'Saeya, my dear," Saeya looked up from fiddling with his throwing knives. "May I see that crystal?" Saeya nodded and handed over the crystal they'd been using as a detector. She allowed the crystal to levitate between her hands. The crystal glowed briefly before it slowly split and became balls of energy. "I'd been thinking a bit on this. This'll help if the off-chance you are split up." She flicked her fingers and both orbs suddenly flew and smacked Noah and Saeya in the forehead. They both gasped, smacking a hand to their heads.

"Ow!" Saeya whined. "What did you do that for?" Ira smirked.

"Now you don't need the crystal! You are the crystal, in a sense." She giggled. She took the artifact from Sara, making it glow. The form of the artifact became completely white before it disappeared completely. A shudder went notably through her as she sighed. "I do dislike doing that." She mumbled. She suddenly clapped. "Now, off we go!"

"What about Sara?" Saeya asked, still rubbing his forehead. He didn't like the tingly feeling it left. It almost felt like fire…

"She can already feel the magical pulses the artifacts give off!" She chuckled. "If you would have just allowed me to mentor you with your magic-"

"No!" It came out harsher than he intended it to. Ira pursed her lips but said nothing.

"So…" Noah cleared his throat, cutting through the tense silence they had suddenly been thrust into. "Which direction are we heading in?"

"South." Sara said with a warm smile.

"Keep on towards the place." Ira's voice was suddenly serious. They all looked at her with a frown. "No matter what happens. If you get separated, keep towards South. That will be your rendezvous point."

"What is this place?"

"The humans called the place Haven."

"Haven?" Ira smiled. She held her hand out, handing Sara a necklace.

"Keep this with you, darling." She said quietly before she faded away.