BioWare own everything! I'm just playing in their dragon and darkspawn-filled sandbox.
Chapter 3 - Templars and jesting elves
His thoughts seemed to chase each other around his skull while he walked alongside the Hawke siblings. They were on their way to buy some fresh fruit from one of the travelling dealers that always came set up their little stalls on the Imperial Highway on Sundays.
Why did I feel such an overwhelming urge to protect Carver (and his mother) when the Templar's threats had reached my ears? – Carver had once gone out of his way to save my life years ago and Leandra had helped nurse me back to health.
They are the closest thing to family I have ever known, and family protect each other.
I will forever be in the Hawkes debt for getting me away from Danarius. I will give my life before I let harm come to them. It was a silent promise to himself, he'd kept it so far. Carver is strong, clever and great with a sword for his age; he knows how to disarm an enemy (he has even spent many hours teaching me how to do so)
Traders and dealers of all sorts started to land just outside the South entrance to the village of Lothering on the same day and set up along each side of the Highway. Over the years it hard turned into a small market. There seemed to be some silent agreement of sorts to repeat this get-together weekly or maybe it was just chance that they all continued to arrive in the city on the same day.
So why didn't he disarm that Templar and drive the brute's own weapon through that fancy armour? An easy kill, potentially problematic if the body was found…
The whole town usually flocked there as soon as they woke to get their hands on the best and the cheapest the traders had to offer. It was always so loud with all the merchants' voices competing with each other to attract customers and the children screaming they wanted this or that.
Why had I stepped so willingly in front of that Templar blade to (somehow) prove Hawkes staff was just a branch that held no magic power at all? – Mages have been nothing but a creature that brings suffering to me all my life. They all crave power, they rely on mind-control, demons and blood magic to gain whatever they want.
I never thought it possible there could be "good" mages out there and yet here is Hawke, a mage that has shown me nothing but kindness since day one. She tries relentlessly to include me in card games, conversations and to tag along with her when she goes about one of her 'missions' to help solve petty problems the villagers seem to create amongst themselves. I do not understand why she insists on the company of a slave...ex-slave, surely I am boring, I am an elf of few words. She had called me 'cute' once… – he rolled his eyes, scoffing. – That's hardly a reason to put your throat to a blade, idiot. I am no love-sick hound!
The small scoff he made at his thoughts had Hawke's golden eyes land on him, a brow raised in silent question. He just shook his head, quickly dropping his gaze to the ground hoping the tint of pink his ear tip had turned had escaped her notice.
He let his stride slow so he was walking in time with Carver instead of with the sisters. Hawke could easily be classified as a 'pretty' human. If she wasn't spoilt by… magic.
He raised his head to look at the back of Hawke's head when he heard a string of appealing noises coming from her. She was laughing at something her sister had said.
How could such a sweet sound come from a creature that attracts demons?
Maybe Demons are attracted to the sound as I am….
The elf raised his hand to slap himself hard in the forehead.
"Ignore them," Carver chuckled, clearly hearing his sisters' hushed words and thinking that was the reason for Leto hitting himself. "Girls like to think they can win any guys heart just by looking at them, batting their eyelashes and swaying their hips. There's a lot more to it than just physical attraction." He hummed, surprised by his unknown wisdom on the topic. "How shallow do they think us boys are?"
"How different is that from you parading around without a shirt in the summer?" Leto's words came falling out of his mouth before he could stop them, "Clearly you are trying to attract a mate" he turned his head to see the raven-haired boys reaction and braced himself for a punch to the face – which never came.
"...W-What?" He stuttered, the elf had never seen the humans face take on such a shade of red before. "How…How do you know I do that? Do you… spy on me at night?"
"I do not sleep much. I have nightmares of… before" Leto admitted quietly, sighing. Carver put a comforting hand to the elf's shoulder "Walking under the stars helps me think, and animals make me feel relaxed, so I always end up sitting in one of the paddocks with them. Sometimes I see you walking or running laps.."
"I'm always here if you ever want to talk about it" He offered, giving the shoulder under his hand a squeeze. Leto's eyes flickered from the humans' hand, smile, then to the eyes. A string of emotions the Tevinter had never seen aimed at him before; sadness, understanding, worry, hope all seemed to be taking turns on the pale blue of Carver's iris'.
Green orbs kept their gaze locked for a few strides trying to make sense of why anyone would freely want to listen to his sad tales. Carver cleared his throat, blinking away from curious elven eyes and speaking again, "Or we could just walk, run, and have sparring matches together on those nights. We don't even need to talk. Company can sometimes help." He smiled. "You are not alone, Leto, never forget that."
Leto didn't get the chance to respond as Bethany's voice reminded them of her presence, "What are you two love-birds whispering about back there?" She called over her shoulder jokingly at them, smiling mischievously. The Tevinter cocked his head to the side making a confused hum in the back of his throat.
Birds can not whisper, they tweet.
Carver removed his hand and took a step to the side realizing how close the two of them had been standing. "Battle strategies" his lie sounded convincing enough.
Bethany and Hawke rolled their eyes and muttered to themselves about boys being so one-dimensional.
A soft warming sensation crept across his palms as if trying to pull the comforting hand of the raven-haired boy back to him. Strange... His thoughts began to wonder again. Why had the silvery-blue liquid from Malcolm Hawkes staff soaked into my hands? I heard some Dwarfs talking about how their people are the only ones that can handle pure lyrium, and how it sends humans, elves and mages insane. Why have I not gone mad from contact with such pure lyrium?
Why do the scars sometimes feel like it's on fire when the Hawke mages are nearby? Why does do they still glow so brightly after all this time? I can see it shining right through the cracks of my worn leather gloves.
Magic .
He growled internally, his mood suddenly darkening. The one thing he hated above all else and it was in his skin. Surely it was in his blood and slowly corrupting him from the inside out.
A human mage and his son had saved him from slavers, the Hawke's gave him a roof over his head, food for his belly and asked nothing in return. Nothing. There has to be something they want in return. They must be bidding their time.. he thought angrily, he hissed at the pain stirring in his hands, winning my trust before they start to torture me.
What has magic touched that it doesn't spoil?
With that thought he wondered why he hadn't given up looking for a staff for Hawke they had looked in every merchant's stall that passed through. But now the task had become seemingly an impossible to complete with the pair of Templars that now patrolled the entrance to Lothering.
They halted each and every traveller and merchant wagon. Went through all their belongings and if the Templars had found magic related supplies the stuff was either destroyed or the merchants were ordered to continue up the Imperial Highway to Redcliffe Village.
On this day the Highway was eerily quiet. Only two stands were set up, the sellers both slumped against their wagons with arms crossed glaring at the pacing red-haired Templar, Ser Cullen.
"What do you mean there are no other merchants coming to town today?" Carver practically growled at the red-haired Templar.
"Mother will not be pleased" Bethany sighed, "She really wanted to make that special apple pie for Hawke's birthday in a few days"
"Their goods were tainted. The Maker does not approve of their type of wares being sold to our peaceful village" The Templar answered in a robotic tone that sounded almost like a Tranquil.
"'Tainted goods'?" Hawke laughed. "What are they all selling Darkspawn balls?"
Leto and Carver snorted, Bethany giggled and Ser Cullen muttered to himself about children and their fowl mouths these days.
"Don't be ridiculous!" The Templar snapped. "The Revered Mother has ordered me to keep everyone carrying the forbidden with them from entering the village"
The twins could see Hawke gave up looking for a staff after hearing that. There was no chance she would get what she needed while those Templar brutes controlled the Highway.
"So…. You think a town will last long by eating only the armour that Dwarf is selling or the cloth and shoes that woman offers?" Bethany asked, her stomach seemed to be growling at the red heads stupidity too. "Our family farm can not supply The Grey Wardens at Ostagar and pick up the slack from your stupidity for long if you brutes are stopping food from entering the village"
Who sends away food from a village that needs it?
The Templar regarded her for a long moment before saying unsurely, "There… There is enough in storage to last until some more food merchants arrive" he said, his shoulders dropping as he sighed. "I was just… doing what I was told"
"This guy" Hawke drawled, waving her hand towards Ser Cullen, "Brightest tool in the Makers shed"
"Looks like we go into the forest to hunt for breakfast then?" Leto suggested to Carver, the Hawke siblings all nodded in agreement walking past the shocked-and-confused looking Templar and started to climb one by one over the cracked edges of the Highway that lined the Korcari Wilds' edge.
"Maker watch over you, children" Ser Cullen called out to them but his voice fell on deaf ears.
It took just over an hour to find and kill a couple of rabbits with excellent elven hearing and a combination of Carver and the Leto's skill at throwing daggers. After a short while of wondering through the forest they had also found some wild fruits and berries to bring back to mother hoping she could make something tasty out of them.
Hawke watched her sister start the fire to cook the rabbits on with two small fire balls jumping out of her palms into the pile of logs they collected.
The elf growled, shooting a glare at Bethany. It felt like the fire was sent in to his hands not at the firewood.
Hawke wished she could train her magic to come out her hands like Bethany could. A skill like that took years to master but her sister was making it look way to easy.
The Tevinter was very observant; he caught that sad, distant look her eyes every time when Bethany would use her magic with (or without) her staff. The way she'd reach for where her father's staff usually sat on her back only to find the space empty.
The elf saw the look and found himself asking, "Are you okay, mage?"
Why has the elf become distant; he only ever calls me 'mage' never by my name anymore. Hawke thought. Did he still feel guilty for breaking my father's staff? But his actions had let Carver and mother keep their lives and kept Bethany and herself out of chains of The Circle of Magi.
She had forgiven him because of this: A staff is replaceable, but a family you can never replace.
She insisted to the elf she was fine, she didn't need a staff to cast spells, 'it just made the aim better'.
But Leto knew she was growing increasingly frustrated as the months passed with not having a staff of her own. His lyrium scar could feel her magic stirring under her skin impatiently, dying to get out. She was not able to use Bethany's because it was made for the use of only Primal and Elemental magic whenever Hawke touched it – it electrocuted her.
He could tell she missed it, knew that she felt defenceless without it, even though she had never voiced those exact words to any of them.
"How did you kill that rabbit so easily?" Hawke asked the elf as he was cleaning the blood of his blade on the grass beside him "The rabbit was pretty damn fast."
"Survival; if you don't strike first, you die" he stated simply, like the humans should already know this.
"But we were hunting rabbits…" Bethany trailed off
"Well spotted sister," The male twin rolled his eyes "I think he means you will die of starvation in the end, y'know if you aren't quick enough to catch it first"
"They could have smothered us to death with their cuteness" He said offhandedly, cleaning the other side of the dagger.
It took the Hawke siblings a moment to notice the tone of humour in the elf's voice.
Carvers brows shot up, the elf had been listening to him when he was muttering nonsense to himself while he waited for the rabbit to re-appear. He smiled and found himself watching the elf, he saw how his lips curled slowly into a smile then snap into a teeth-baring snarl. He wondered what was going through Leto's head to make his expression change like that.
Bethany was in a fit of giggles. Hawke howled with laughter "Did… the elf just… tell a joke?" she gasped out between breaths