Neilan Hawke. A short one-shot showing his first meeting with his future lady love, Merrill. Song title Fallen reminds me both of falling in love as well as Merrill having fallen from grace with the whole blood magic thing.

Fallen

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Another day, another errand. Story of his Maker-cursed life, really. Fetch this, bring me that. Do this, bring this here. Which is of course how he ended up atop Sundermount, surrounded by murderous elves. Or at least he assumed they were murderous. Weren't all elves perpetually angry and broody? Or was that just his limited experience?

Blasted witch. If he wasn't worried she turn back into a dragon and eat him, the amulet would be in a trash heap by now. But he was crunchy and was sure he'd taste fantastic medium, rare, or well-done. So to the Dalish clan he went. The Keeper had told him to... what was it again? Turn left at the crooked bush or was it a right? Neilan Hawke never was any good with directions.

"Ah, there you are. The Keeper told me you'd be coming," a voice said. She had the same lilting accent in her voice as the other Dalish.

Neilan looked over and stopped in his tracks. She had short black hair that dangled down in little braids. Her tattoos were a light shade of gray but striking. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of green he'd ever seen. She was even prettier than the lass back in Lothering, Allison. She was breathtaking.

A low humming sound was coming from her pocket. "Whats that sound?" he asked.

The elven girl shifted nervously. "Nothing. I don't hear anything, do you? Probably just the wind. It sort of sings up here. I'm Merrill, by the way. Do humans greet people that way? With their name? Haven't met many humans." Her words came out quickly, all in a rush. She blushed and her pale cheeks became a pretty pink. She was adorable.

"Neilan. Neilan Hawke," he replied, causing Varric to chuckle.

The dwarf stroked his beardless chin. "Smooth, Hawke. Smooth."

Neilan scowled at the man. Grunting rudely, he made his way past the pretty elven girl and continued up the mountain. It wasn't long before they were attacked and Neilan discovered the elven girl was a mage.

"I'm sorry, the Keeper must not have told you. I'll be careful, I promise. I mean, I'll only hit targets on our side. I mean, their side. Oh, Creators, I'm making a mess of things, aren't I?" Merrill babbled.

She was, but Neilan found her rambling endearing. "Don't worry, Merrill. You can use the dwarf as free target practice!"

"Heeey!" Varric said.

Merrill's eyes widened, making her look a bit like a deer suddenly caught in a hunter's sight. "I would never do that! He seems like such a nice dwarf and..oh, you were joking, weren't you? Right. Sorry."

Neilan chuckled. He had this urge to reach out and ruffle her hair but that was probably a human thing and he didn't want to scare her off just yet, either. So he kept his urges in check and continued on, slowly making his way up the mountain.

Until he found out she wasn't just any mage. She was a blood mage. He knew Bethany wouldn't approve. Judging by their reactions, neither did Varric, Fenris, or Anders. But Neilan was convinced that Merrill wasn't evil just because she was a blood mage. Maybe she just needed someone to guide her to the right path. Someone... someone like him.

He had fallen for her.

I'm not very good at writing Merrill so I wanted to give this a shot and see if I could capture her well. Here's to less depressing stories, heh? lol