Title: Ghosts
Author: May Chang
Warnings: general, adventure, AU
Pairings: M!Shepard + Ashley, M!Cousland x Zevran
Disclaimers: Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect are the property of Bioware
Author's Notes: Shepard is a Paragon/Earthborn/War Hero/Infiltrator.
Ghosts
Part Three
The Orlesian Grey Warden arrived to Highever one night. Leonie Caron came to the castle, looking like hell as her companions followed her. Fergus recognized only two of the three companions: Oghren – the dwarf who had accompanied Aedan on his journeys – and Nathaniel Howe. The rogue took one look at Fergus before he averted his eyes, looking anywhere but at the teyrn. Judging by the looks of his men, it seemed that none of them had forgotten the actions Nathaniel's father had done to Highever.
Personally Fergus wasn't sure what to make of Nathaniel. On one hand he had nothing to do with the murders and destruction of Highever, and on the other hand it was Rendon Howe's son. He suppose acting neutral to the man would be enough.
"Lady Caron, welcome to Highever," Fergus greeted, giving the Warden-Commander a warm smile.
"Your Grace," she replied with a nod, her Orlesian accent thick. "Please call me Leonie. I'm sorry to come so late and unannounced but we were just returning from Orzammar."
"Of course, you are all welcome here," Fergus said, eyes flicking over to Nathaniel and watching the man flinch. "Please follow me to the guest rooms." The grateful look on Leonie's face told Fergus just how tired she was, and judging by the looks on the others, they were equally as tired. Fergus showed them to the guest quarters, made sure they were all settled in before he walked off to the library. Shepard was sitting by the fire, a stack of books by his side. He looked up when Fergus approached and got up with a nod of greetings.
"Were you able to find anything?" Fergus asked. Shepard shook his head. "Ah, perhaps the Circle would have something, though they are a bit... unfriendly."
"The way you say that makes me a bit nervous," Shepard said. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Uh, they're not going to think I'm Aedan, are they?" Fergus frowned.
"To be honest, I'm not sure," the teyrn replied. "I don't know if Aedan had anything to do with the Circle, but there were mages and templars in the battle so... oh dear, perhaps they will think you're Aedan." Fergus crossed his arms, a hand to his mouth as he thought about it before an idea crossed his mind.
"Oh, I have an idea."
Fergus was practicing with Shepard in the morning when Leonie arrived. She watched the two, tilting her head as she watched Shepard drop back away from Fergus. The commander glanced quickly in her direction, twirling his blade in his hand as he circled slowly around Fergus.
"You're getting better," Fergus said.
"Not enough," Shepard replied. "Still suck with daggers." Fergus laughed before he unleashed another flurry of attacks on Shepard. Shepard was able to dodge and parry most of the attacks, backing up and wincing from the ones he couldn't get away from.
"Ouch," Shepard said and Fergus laughed again before turning towards the Warden-Commander.
"Good morning, My Lady," he greeted. Shepard straightened and gave her a nod in greeting.
"Good morning, Your Grace," Leonie said with a smile. "You asked to see me?"
"Ah, yes, yes, I did. Leonie Caron, this is John Shepard. Shepard, Lady Leonie Caron, the Warden Commander of the Grey Wardens and arlessa of Amaranthine."
"Much to my chagrin," Leonie said with a sigh as she and Shepard shook hands. "I only expected to be leading the Grey Warden, not to take care of a city as well." Fergus chuckled at that while Shepard glanced between the two with an unsure expression.
"I'm sorry to ask such a bizarre favor of you, but would you escort Shepard to the Circle?" Fergus asked. Leonie frowned at that, looking rather puzzled as she looked at Shepard. "Ah, he's perfectly harmless unless you hand him a crossbow, and then he's a terror to anyone in his way."
"Is there a reason for this, Your Grace?" Leonie asked.
"Highever is still rebuilding and I need to be here," Fergus explained. "And, well, there's another reason why it would be best to be escorted by Grey Wardens, in particular you. I understand that His Majesty passed some of his templar-training knowledge to you."
"Yes," she replied cautiously. "What does that have to do with—"
"Aedan!" The three turned in surprise at the bellow, in time to see Oghren stumble towards them. "By the Stones, you're suppose to be dead!" Nathaniel Howe and the third companion were behind the dwarf, the former going pale while the latter looking utterly confused by the situation. From the corner of his eye Fergus could see Leonie give Shepard a sharp look and Shepard rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Oghren, he isn't Aedan," Fergus said calmly. He then looked at Leonie. "I suppose you can understand why I'm asking you." Oghren walked down towards Shepard and eyed the commander suspiciously. Nathaniel had followed slowly behind, purposely not looking at Fergus again but his eyes were trained on Shepard, a cautious expression on his face.
"I see." Leonie continued to look at Shepard for a moment before she nodded. "Fine, I can do that but I want to get back to Vigil's Keep first. We're also rebuilding Amaranthine and I want to check on the progress and let Varel know about this change in plan."
"Of course," Fergus said with a nod. He looked at the Howe who finally looked up at Fergus before he looked back at Oghren who was poking at Shepard now. The commander took it all in stride, patiently answering the dwarf's questions. "We're all still rebuilding after all."
Shepard wasn't quite sure what to expect traveling with the four Grey Wardens to Vigil's Keep. Fergus had said that he could stay at the castle until Leonie returned from whatever she had to do, but Shepard decided he wanted to see what was out there beyond Highever. He had left his sniper rifle back at the castle with Fergus keeping it in his chest, but now Shepard wished it brought it along.
Oghren had taken the news of how "it's Shepard, not Aedan" quite well, or so Shepard thought until they camped for the first night. Oghren was piss-drunk in camp and Shepard decided to give him a wide berth, and a rhetorical question of where the hell the booze came from. The other two companions were a rogue named Nathaniel Howe and a mage named Anders. The former still seemed uncomfortable in Shepard's presence. When Shepard asked Fergus about it before he left with the wardens, the teyrn gave Shepard a sad look and shook his head.
Shepard decided it had to do with Aedan. He was getting a bit tired of being compared to him.
The one saving grace was Anders. The mage was a smartass, but at least he didn't know anything about Aedan. He was an expert in escaping the Tower which made Shepard wonder about the place. When he asked about the Tower, Anders made a face and explained that he didn't like being locked up and watched over like some animal. For some reason Shepard thought about Kaidan and his background, and understood in that moment why Anders would go out of his way to keep running away.
Leonie Caron was a familiar presence to Shepard, and it's probably because of her bearing. He was a soldier and in comparison to the four, only Leonie carried herself like a soldier. She didn't say much, watching Anders, Nathaniel and Oghren banter with one another with a faint smile on her face. Shepard curiously asked the Warden-Commander about the Grey Wardens and was rewarded with a more in-depth explanation of their role.
"Do you not have some organization that is similar to ours, Shepard?" Leonie asked curiously. Shepard poked at the fire with a stick, thinking.
"No, there really isn't," Shepard said thoughtfully. "We all have to answer to some form of government, though if we did have something like the Grey Wardens..." He trailed off, suddenly thinking about the oncoming threat of the Reapers. While they didn't have the danger of darkspawn running around, there were the geth and who knows what else in the universe working for the Reapers.
"No, there isn't," he repeated more quietly. He looked at Leonie and shrugged. "At least all the governments are working together to stop whatever would try to kill us. Well, that was happening before I, uh, left."
"Hmph." Leonie nodded. "At least you have politicians who are willing to work together. Most of the ones I know are trying to kill each other." Shepard snorted.
"No, where I come from, they do that too," he replied dryly. "At least politicians are the same everywhere." It earned him a laugh from the Warden-Commander.
They made it to Amaranthine on the third day in the late afternoon and Shepard could feel curious looks coming his way. He was pretty sure it wasn't because he looked like Aedan – Fergus had assured him that the people of Amaranthine haven't seen them since they were children – so Shepard figured it had to do with the Grey Wardens. Amaranthine didn't look so good in comparison to Highever when Leonie said that the city was also rebuilding she hadn't been kidding.
A young man bumped into Leonie and muttered an apology before trying to walk off, only to be stopped by Shepard who grabbed his wrist.
"Give it back," he said firmly. Leonie stopped to look back at Shepard and the man, as did the others. The man sputtered out some denial and Shepard squeezed, causing the man to wince. "Give back her purse or I'll have the guards come for you." There was a startled exhale from Leonie as the pickpocket handed Shepard the purse he'd taken. Shepard raised an eyebrow and the man reluctantly also handed back a ring and dagger. With that Shepard let the thief go, who instantly ran off and melted into the crowed.
"You really should keep an eye on your belongings," Shepard said as he handed Leonie her property. The Warden-Commander nodded as she put them away, this time more carefully. She also gave him a thoughtful look before she turned and led the way towards their destination once again.
"I'm surprised you saw that," Nathaniel said. "You don't strike me as someone who would see these things." Shepard chuckled at that.
"When you're a kid with no parents, you have to learn to live on the streets," he said then smirked at Nathaniel. "I've pick-pocketed some people when I was younger so I have an eye for catching these sort of things." Leonie glanced back at Shepard, a look on her face before turning to look forward again. Shepard wondered what it was, unsure whether it was surprise or curiosity.
"Really." Nathaniel gave Shepard a disbelieving look.
"Yup," Shepard said and held up a ring. "Nice ring by the way." It earned him a surprised look from Nathaniel who looked down at his hand, now deprived of the gold ring and then back at Shepard. Oghren barked out a laugh while Anders snickered as Shepard handed the ring back to the rogue.
"Good one, kid," Oghren declared with a laugh. "You're going to get along just great with everybody."
Vigil's Keep was definitely in the middle of rebuilding from what Shepard could see. There were people working on the wall, cleaning up debris from some attack before and what looks like a soldier drilling young men in the art of using a blade. It was all very haphazard in comparison to Highever, and he was sure that Highever had been hit harder than Amaranthine from whatever attacked them.
He said nothing though, watching as Anders and Oghren both leave to do their own thing, and Nathaniel followed Leonie to an older man who seemed to know what was going on. Shepard just followed them, looking around and half-listening to the conversation. It sounded to him that the man was the caretaker of the Keep, making sure everything was running while Leonie was out.
That brought up the question of what Nathaniel was doing talking to the man and Leonie. Perhaps he was Leonie's second-in-command with the way he carried himself. It made Shepard think of Kaidan, how the man was always by his side when it came to politics.
"Is there a guest room free, Varel?" Leonie asked, looking back at Shepard before back at the elder man. Varel nodded and summoned a servant to lead Shepard to the room. Giving a nod in thanks, he followed the servant to his room where he dumped his stuff by the bed. The servant bustled to light the fireplace, check on the water and if the bed was to his liking before bowing and leaving the room. Shepard looked around, noting that it was rather bare in comparison to his room in Highever.
Shepard had no idea what to do now so he decided to just wander around the keep, maybe even do some combat practice. He left his room and immediately nearly bowled over a female dwarf.
"Whoa, hey! Watch yourself!" she yelped.
"I'm sorry," Shepard said, righting himself. "I didn't mean—"
"No, no, it's fine," the dwarf said cheerfully and looking up at Shepard. "It happens. You a new recruit?"
"Recruit?" Shepard frowned at that, confused as the dwarf looked up. She blinked and tilted her head.
"Guess not. Hey, has anyone told you that your eyes kind of glow?" Shepard couldn't help but rub his temple; besides the Aedan thing, he was never going to get away from the eye question either, was he?
I'm going to apologize now since I haven't played Awakenings yet. ^^;