The forest seemed thicker outside of the clan, or maybe that was just my mind playing tricks on me again. It did that from time to time, usually when I was lacking the usual amount of sleep for my body to function without stumbling over fallen branches and having to grab Tamlen for support – though that may or may not have really been on purpose. It just looked too green today, too overbearingly claustrophobic. Trees everywhere, and as I looked up I couldn't see the blue of the sky, just leaves and branches that seemed to get closer the more I looked. Keeper mentioned something similar about my eyes when she had met me, that my eyes were green like the iadahlen/i. They weren't, really. Alosio coveted my eyes, as well as other things, but he described my eyes as 'emeralds that he could pluck and sell' whenever he so pleased. Pale green like a new fragile bud, and they had brightened much more after my ritual.

I think Tamlen referred to my eyes when we met too. He said the color made them constantly look large, and that for a while he figured that I was always frightened over something, either that, or overtly surprised with everything I was seeing – as if I was lying about ever being Dalish before, which obviously wasn't true. Well, it wasn't obvious until they spoke with me about being a hunter. I knew how to use about bow – though I didn't like it – and I knew how to carry a creature back to camp without whining too much about the blood staining my armor. I also remember him commenting that the female elves loved my eyes, and thought that I was 'interesting'. My lack of interest in them was discovered soon after; though at first they didn't back off because they figured that this fact was simply a rumor started by some other male elves. I humored the idea at first, and called the thought cute, but eventually it grew annoying, and again, I denied that I'd find any interest in any female regardless of race or standing.

It wasn't my fault in the slightest however – referring to the clumsiness, of course, though my attraction to males wasn't either; it was actually Tamlen's, he woke me early – which you never wake Orlesian's early, ever – so that we could leave early, which I didn't want to do, of course. But here I am, in all my clumsy glory, trying my hardest to keep from looking for a comfortable looking tree and napping in it. Damn him. With a sigh, and a roll of my eyes, I stepped up closer to Tamlen, placing a slender, clawed hand to his shoulder to stop him from walking, just for a second. I heard the crack of a branch under his foot when he turned to me, and I frowned. I took the time to notice (again, actually, every time I looked at him I had to notice) that his eyelashes were rather long. I shook my head, dismissing my thoughts and not my want to speak, and then sighed.

"Why do we even bother coming out here? The humans will come regardless, non?" It was a fact. They came regardless of whether they knew we were here or not, always and without fail. Stumbling worse than I was on my lanky legs, and confused; half the time something else got to them before we had to.

"You've done this before, why are you complaining now?" Tamlen crossed his arms, and glanced at me for a moment, before finding what seemed to be interest in the foliage under his boots. It was probably because he knew I didn't like him staring at me.

"You woke me up, without a 'good morning, Lysias, I see you weren't talking in your sleep again' or a 'oh you look lovely today, iemma lath/i, any guy would jump at the chance to sweep you off your feet'. Maybe it should have been Fenarel that found me that day instead; he'd be a lot nicer." I placed a clawed finger to my chin, pretending to ponder, and I heard Tamlen chuckle then he shook his head and offered a little smile.

"I must have lost my manners." He voice seemed teasing, almost.

"I am kidding, however, you know. I'm glad you found me. Sorry you had to baby sit, or so you called it when you thought I wasn't listening." I back-pedaled to a tree, and leaned back, stretching my arms above my head until I heard a satisfying crack in my spine. I hadn't even really gotten a good stretch that morning; my poor neglected limbs.

"I called it that, because I knew you could hear me. I was hoping it'd bother you and you'd follow someone else around. You thought everything was so 'dirty' and so 'strange'. You called us bland on so many accounts, Lysias, which I didn't find true at all."

"You were bland. You've never been an Orlesian elf, Tamlen. You've never worn armor that took months to make and was adorned with the finest paints that were taken for our blood writing rituals. We do, have different tastes though, I must admit." I shrugged my shoulders and when Tamlen motioned that we should start walking again, I followed without a problem this time, standing shoulder to shoulder, though he was a bit taller.

"I can hear some running this way . . ." Tamlen whispered, pulling his bow from his place from his back, along with an arrow. I wanted to complain, say that I hated the bow because my hand-eye coordination was only good with specific things, and that I wanted to just use my blades, because they were shiny and red, but I stayed silent and did the same, because I couldn't do much else.

And sure enough, three of them, came stumbling along, stopping once they saw our bows and they staggered backwards, trying not to fall on their rears. I nearly snickered at the thought, finding the shems more clumsy than I, which was a rarity, usually. I was graceful on my legs when I needed to be, and only when I felt that I needed to be. At other times, the ground was my best friend, other than Tamlen, of course.

"W-we were just leaving!" One shouted, and I tilted my head just a little as an intoxicating scent flooded my senses. I wouldn't remember the last time that I had an intake on blood, despite the fact that it was only a few days ago. I hissed a little under my breath, and my eyes narrowed. The shem went to speak again, but noticed my gaze and silenced himself.

"Why were you running? You shouldn't be here anyway, especially looking like that." I sighed, and Tamlen glanced at me for a moment, probably questioning my wording of things. I was surprised that he hadn't gotten used to it in the two years we had known each other. I spoke like that often, and I sometimes I spoke out of my head because there was no real mental process that controlled when and what I said. That would be the end of me, Keeper said once, but I felt that getting into trouble could make things more interesting; I believe I remember Tamlen saying something similar, especially after he had gotten in trouble because of the brawl days prior. I was still bothered that he had taken the blame for me, when he hadn't nothing to do with the fact that it had started.

Never insult my appearance – I won't be flirting when I threaten to shove something up an ass. Sure, I was girly, with the hair and all, but that didn't make me any less of a male, or adult for that matter.

"Can you just let us go? We won't come back—"

"But I thought we were going to try to check the ruins again." Another one chimed in, and Tamlen aimed directly at the one that spoke.

"What ruins are you talking about?" He asked, voice threatening and harsh, like it usually was when he had to speak to shems.

"W-we'll tell you if you let us go." The first spoke again, and, despite the thirst that began to burn in my throat again, I nodded.

"In one of the caves, further in that direction," he pointed back behind himself, which wasn't really helpful in the slightest, considering that the tip of his thumb tilted lightly to the right, "it's an ancient ruin, or something of that sort, but there was this demon that drove us out, and that's why we were running. Now will you let us go?"

Tamlen seemed to take this well enough but he turned to me for the final say. I honestly figured that he would have allowed them to leave after I nodded the first time, but I was glad he didn't. I lowered by bow, putting the arrow away then I bit down on my lip, contemplating. My throat cried and I hummed to myself, placing a hand to my neck and trying to massage away the pain.

"The silent one and the impulsive one can go," and they ran off instantly without a problem, and as the talkative one looked off after them, I approached.

Tamlen must have assumed what I was going to do, and with a fairly silent shot from his arrow, the human was pinned to a nearby tree by his shoulder. The human's mouth was covered by a clawed hand before he tried to emit any noise, and I leaned into his neck, taking a moment to inhale the scent of his skin and the pulsing vein that rested at his neck. It was foul, as if the man had just drunk, and I turned my head away in disgust, knowing what such a thing would do to me.

"We're moving on, I can't take this." I hissed, backing away and placing my bow on my back, and Tamlen followed. I'd have to ignore my need to drain a being for a while longer.

"You're just going to leave me here?" I heard the human yell from behind us, and I shrugged.

"Something will come and get you." I raised my left shoulder in a half shrug and then waved my opposite hand in a dismissing manner.

We weren't exactly walking in the direction of the camp, so it was mutually and silently decided that the cave would be looked for, and at least examined. We knew the forests, and had never seen any sort of ruins, and even if we personally hadn't seen them, some other hunters hand to have and would have reported it back.

I glanced to Tamlen, for a long moment, before he met my gaze, a curious quirk on his brow. I thought for a moment, that perhaps, since I didn't like being stared at, I shouldn't stare at other people. But then again, Tamlen never seemed to mind too much unless he wasn't dressed.

"What's wrong?" He asked, and I shook my head slowly, fleeting my emerald gaze for a short moment.

"I'm . . . just curious. Have you ever thought of bonding with a male? I know Keeper prefers quite the opposite – and she doesn't expect me to be with females at this point – but what's one more elf that strays from the normality?" And I pronounced each syllable of the word 'normality' slowly, and softly, lowering my eyes to the toe of one of my boots.

Tamlen was silent for a long moment, and again, we stopped walking, and he stared up at what was visible of the sky then he emitted a sound that I could read, it was nearly a squeak as if he was going to regret what he was about to say. Maybe I just shouldn't have spoken.

"After, meeting you, I've thought about it. No one in the clan has really ever mentioned it, because of how we want the clan to continue to grow, but, you speak so openly on it, and you speak to men at times as if you're a woman yourself." Tamlen's voice was quiet, and he wasn't looking at me, once again. He made eye contact for a brief moment before he looked past me, possibly at a tree, or at the gold earring that was pierced through the cartilage of my pointed right ear.

"I speak like a woman? I want to take that as an insult, though, that could be a compliment too, I guess. You say that you've thought about it, but would you act on your thoughts?" I chuckled, at first, until I noticed the uncertainty on Tamlen's face, and I figured that I should stop asking questions because I was bothering him – again.

"Maybe, though, I would need to be convinced, I'm sure you know." He smiled at me, and though he smiled back, I felt my stomach coil and my face flush a faint red color.

"Aha, let's just keep walking, yes? We can talk more about this once we get back to camp." I liked talking to Tamlen, actually. And compared to most other elves, he was one of the most interesting. Keeper bored me most of the time; either that or she bothered me with her constant attempts at making me fit in more at the camp. It wasn't possible anymore, I had done much more that the elves in the clan, and she knew that. She even said it when we first met.

I didn't even look like the others; first of all, I was a bit smaller and more feminine than the other males. My tattoos glowed with different emotional reactions, and acted oddly at times – some called my behavior 'eccentric' and dismissed me as being childish and not knowing how to control myself; my emotions could at times be a bit unstable depending on the situations. I was plagued my demons, I talked in my sleep, and I always wanted wine with everything because that was what I was used me. When I was younger, I snuck into the city to steal wine all the time. Trying to make me fit in would take every noble from Orlais and then some.

We hadn't walked for too long, until I paused for a brief as a slow shiver ran up my spine. The air had grown thick and cold and . . . there was something else, something more grotesque that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and if I did I feared that my finger would melt at the touch. I grew tense, and my tattoos grew a faint red that caught Tamlen's attention, but he only nodded, as he felt the change in the air as well.

"We should be more cautious, Tamlen, it feels strange here." I whispered, and even readied my bow as I felt something odd approaching, but I couldn't tell what, because for what ever reason, my senses had been hazed. Something unnatural was tampering with what I was, and it wasn't a demon like it normally was, because usually the demon would have revealed itself through my thoughts by now.

Tamlen hummed in response, looking around slowly as we started walking at a lessened pace. Honestly, I wanted to turn around, and pretend that the humans said nothing on this. If it was so important, and so close to the area, than I figured that Keeper would have known of it already, so us going in and exploring was pointless and a waste of much needed energy. The more we walked, the more my stomach began to lurch and the more my thoughts began to race.

Then I heard the sound of a wolf, then another, yipping and howling at something. It wasn't until we got closer, that we realized they were making such noises because of us. I took a step back, and shook my head, again wishing that I had my blades. It was Tamlen's idea. He said that I wouldn't need them because I had to reason to get so close to humans if I had bows.

I rolled my eyes at the thought and let the first arrow fly, lodging itself in the wolf's skull. It fell lifelessly at my feet, and I shuttered as I actually noticed how close it was to biting me. Tamlen had already killed the other one, though I didn't exactly notice until he walked over because I was still trembling a bit.

"They . . . aren't usually that hostile." I mumbled as I kneeled down, placing my palm against the wolf's neck. "Tamlen . . . I don't think we should wander around here with just bows, especially if there are other creatures that could act like this."

He nodded and reached over to take my bow from me, but I shook my head. Yes, perfect idea; leave me without a weapon at all.

"Where exactly are you going to go? I'm not standing here defenseless." I mumbled, but the bow was taken away any how and he shook his head.

"You have those claws; you'll be fine. I left our other weapons in the hole of a tree just in case, I'll be right back – I promise." I frowned, and nodded as convincingly as I could, then turned as he ran off in the other direction, then I made a glance at my hands. The claws could cut through things, but they weren't as long as blades, and couldn't kill a wolf unless it was on its back or standing on its hind legs with its chest bared to me.

I decided that I would stand still until he came back, but then I noticed something. There was something white lying off to the side, and upon closer inspection as I walked closer, I saw that it was a halla, dead with a few bite marks here and there. I leaned down, brushing my fingers across the fur and I frowned at the poor creature.

"Lysias? Come on, let's keep moving." Tamlen called from somewhere behind me, and I turned and nodded slowly, walking over and taking my dual-blades from him.

I remember getting them from Orlais, before I was captured and all. The metal was black and red tinted now, from the time I used them during my escape. The end of the blades was curved at the tip – good for grabbing a person by the neck and killing them in the process. The center of both had a sharp point that jutted out just so; I tried not to travel without them, being as helpful as they were, but alas, sometimes I didn't have the option.

I walked with Tamlen at a quickened pace, until I saw the mouth of the cave, and I glanced at the other elf and chewed on my bottom lip, the feeling growing worse, and my senses woozy. I wanted to faint almost, but I had enough will power to only have to grab Tamlen for support once.

"I'm not sure I want to anymore. There's a strange air coming from the cave. It's cold and faint. There's something obviously wrong with what I'm feeling from this place." I whispered and he turned to me, shaking his head with that little reassuring smile on his face that he had when I was worried about something. For some reason . . . my heart wanted to sink at seeing it, but I didn't know why. My body knew something was horribly wrong before my mind followed suit.

"We'll be fine, and you can't say that you aren't curious at all, can you?" He asked, and though I was curious, I wanted to lie, pretend I was sick, or even honestly say that that air was taking a toll on my energies.

"Ugh, fine. Let's just go so we can leave, but if we don't see anything interesting when we walk in, we're leaving, okay." I stood still for a moment, wondering if I would regret my words, and it wasn't long after, that I realized that I did.

"Tamlen, don't go near it, I'm sensing something strange from it . . ."

"I'm only going to look; it's just a mirror, and if it's been sitting here like everything else, any harm that it was going to do it would have done already."

". . . It saw me . . . help, I can't look away!"

I didn't think I could ever forgive myself for not making convincing him to turn around and go back, but I also wonder, if he would have listened regardless.

Author's Note:

For any spelling or grammatical errors, I apologize.