Stone upon stone.

High walls.

Muck under feet.

The stench of garbage and unwashed bodies.

High walls...

It was safe to say that Velanna did not like the city. There were too many people, a permanent odour surrounding the place, filth everywhere, humans everywhere, humans that for some unfathomable reason stared... Never seen a free elf have you? Swine... She snorted as she followed the others through the filthy maze they were in, trying not to think about...it.

High walls...close...leaning closer...ready to fall...crushing... She scoffed and squared her shoulders, forcing herself to look straight ahead, to ignore the suffocating prison she was in. Animals fear, and animals are wise, but I am elven, and I am wiser, I control my fear.

Hissing in anger at a man suddenly bumping into her shoulder Velanna sent the fool skittering off. Her mood was rapidly deteriorating as she shot a glare at half a dozen men and women shems staring at her from behind some sort of stand covered with greyish lumps of vegetables that they seemed to think were still edible a glare, her glare made the shems look away.

But glaring at them meant seeing the stones behind them, the walls, the things of dead rock so close...ready to-

No.

She looked away, gaze going to the back of thei-her Commander. Can't believe I'm to be commanded around like some shemlen sheep...I was supposed to be a Keeper! A preserver of our lore and leader of... She grimaced, far too fresh memories digging into her, shaming her. Always so stubborn...my sister is right...I shouldn't have...no, don't think about it. She watched her Commander take a left, heading down a set of those stairs the humans seemed so fond of. At least I don't simply follow like the two shemlen with us.

The thought was some comfort. While the fool mage, who so far had been nothing but an annoyance, and the hunter who had been...vexing...but at least...bearable...had silently followed their Commander Velanna had had the good sense to ask some questions. Despite the glances the other elf had shot her Velanna had persisted, she was not afraid of the Commander. Not of those dead eyes boring into her, seeing her soul, naked and vuln...she shook her head with an irritated snort. I'm not afraid of her.

So they were set on finding a pair of hunters, though what kind of self-respecting hunter resided in this cesspit the shemlen called a city was beyond Velanna's understanding. They had apparently found some hive full of darkspawn...and that knowledge eased some of Velanna's unease about the prison around her. The knowledge that she would soon get to kill some of those beasts who had taken her sister from her, who had compounded her mistake...the idea of vengeance is sweet indeed.

After a few questions it was clear the hunters, or whatever they believed they were, had gone to the tavern. Velanna grimaced at that. As far as Anders short but vivid description had told her it was apparently a place for already idiot shems to inebriate themselves into loosing what little brain-matter they had...and apparently they crowded to do so. A crowd of drunken shemlen pressing all around... Velanna shuddered, old nightmares from when she had been younger and less sure of herself making her heart thump with fear. I'll just fry the first one to touch me...the thought eased her heart-rate, but didn't stop the shuddering. All around...close...

Her gaze wandered to the back of Nathaniel. The hunter was...calming. For all his...vexing remarks and...shemleness...he had struck her as trustworthy. Part of it was of course the familiar occupation and way of movement...she had to admit that he moved like the finest of Dalish hunters. But there was also the fact that he didn't glower at her like that shemlen dressed in steel, nor smirk at her like that fool mage, or stare like the other shems that seemed to be everywhere... He just looked at her...and to be measured by who she was, and not by what she was...felt liberating, however little she might deserve it.

So she had taken to observing him as they walked, trusting his hunter instincts to tell her if anything was afoot, to warn her of danger. She was sure Lynn would be equally able to tell if there was danger...but Velanna did not trust the other elf. Velanna recognised a sick animal when she saw one...and Lynn reeked of danger, telling Velanna that the woman would abandon any of them in a heartbeat if that was what it took to complete her mission. Nathaniel would not however, his movement spoke of stealth, harshness too...but not deception, neither dishonour, despite his race. He would not leave her to suffer if he could help it.

To think I'm picking a shemlen over an elf as the one to trust... Velanna held back scoff. Change is part of life I suppose...

As if sensing her scrutiny, which she knew Dalish hunters had a habit of doing, the man turned his head to glance over at her, dark grey eyes taking in her stance and face in one look, reading her like a book, making her feel uncomfortable. At least there's no judgement in those eyes... "Are you well?"

A short question, to the point, she had expected no less. She offered a short nod, stiffening her upper lip. "Yes."

"Good." A short nod...and he returned to follow their Commander.

Good...Velanna desired no coddling...and Nathaniel would not give it. Still...perhaps I had spoken too soon? She eyed the walls of the city, seemingly inching closer, making the soggy ground beneath her feet become a mire, slowing her down even as the walls bore down upon her...closing the distance, ready to...

Shuddering Velanna hesitated. I can't admit weakness...not to some shem. Then again he is my ally...but-

"Na-Nathaniel?" The voice broke through Velanna's thoughts, through the buzz of sounds that seemed to permeate the entire city. It was strangely warm and friendly for such a filthy place...and sounded oddly baffled as well.

The group stopped and turned towards the voice, all but Nathaniel who had frozen mid-stride, as if paralysed by some spell.

As such Velanna saw the woman before the hunter did. She was Velanna's height, as such an inch shorter then Nathaniel, the dress covering her slender form a simple one, which at least wasn't as dirty as the ones Velanna had spotted in the city so far. Her black hair was neatly cut to just beneath her ears, her face pleasantly oval in shape, sporting large grey eyes sparkling with...something. And her hands, pale things seemingly lacking any strength, were clutched to her chest as she wrung them in emotion. "N-nathaniel?" She repeated, voice small, actual tears in her eyes all of a sudden.

The man slowly turned his head, as if the rest of his body couldn't heed his commands. His calm and confident voice oddly hoarse, actually cracking. "D-Delilah?"

The shem woman mutedly nodded, biting her lower lip as she with shaking shoulders stared at the hunter, as if unable to believe her eyes.

Then Nathaniel moved. One moment he was just standing there, the next he had his arms around the other human in a tight hug, a hug the woman was answering in kind, her mouth a wide smile even as her closed eyes were sheding tears of joy. What the...? Velanna wasn't sure what to make of it, Nathaniel hadn't struck her as the emotional type...but now he was holding onto the woman before him as if he was afraid she'd evaporate at any moment.

"Delilah..." His voice nothing but a hoarse whisper, thick with emotion. Ah. Velanna grimaced in disgust. Had hoped to avoid seeing any human mating... "I...I t-thought you d-died with the others...?"

"I left long before that..." The woman whispered, eyes still closed, hands running over Nathaniel's back, as if trying prove his existence. "...before all the...wrongs."

Nathaniel finally pulled back, but only just enough to hold the woman's face as he leaned his forehead against hers, letting Velanna see that he too had his eyes closed, the corners of them wet. Huh...Velanna cocked her head to the side, surprised at seeing such an emotional response from the stoic man. "Sister..." Ah. Velanna felt a shiver run down her spine at the whisper., watching as Nathaniel's mouth moved, whispering the word, as if it was a prayer. "Sister..." Only then did the word properly register to Velanna, striking her like a hammer-blow. Ah...Swallowing Velanna looked away, a mix of envy and sadness welling up within her.

His sister...why couldn't it have been a lover? Velanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the memory of her own sister all too vividly reaching her mind's eye. The blighted flesh, the milky eyes, the fanged smile... "I've lived here a long time now...the queen came to see me after father's and the archdemon's death...but she saw I was no threat and left me to live my life here. I've been safe brother, safe...and worried for you."

The words hurt, but she listened, unable to walk away, unwilling to walk away.

"B-but...here? I...sister you're a-"

A small laugh, fitful and kind. "A Howe? A noble? Brother...you know I never cared for that." A sigh, the shifting of leather against cloth, the pair still unwilling to part. "I've found a good man...a nice life...away from the...politics." Simple words, echoing with old pains, uttered for the sake of another, the woman's brother...her family. Velanna winced.

"F-father...he...let you...leave?" Nathaniel's voice was thick with emotion, a frown in it. Velanna didn't have the strength to look and check though, her eyes remaining closed. "I thought he wanted..."

"I..." Hesitation, caring, a want not to hurt. Not spoken by a shem, but by family...Velanna winced. "...stopped caring about his wishes long ago."

Silence, hesitation, a question on his lips.

"I...I know you loved him, idolized him...but..." More hesitation, pain, more caring. Velanna bit her lower lip, head bowed as she felt her shoulders shake. Sister... "Brother...he was always...and after you left..."

"W-what..." Nathaniel clearing his throat, voice thick, worried, emotional...he had suspected, he had perhaps even known...she could hear it. "I...you...he was just..."

"We...should talk...come."

Opening her eyes Velanna felt her shoulders slump as she watched Nathaniel, one hand in that of his sister, looking back at Lynn with a questioning look in his tearful eyes.

The other elf was looking away, her lips a thin line, but otherwise the same uncaring creature Velanna knew of. "Go with her, but meet us by the gatehouse later."

The hunter bowed, shoulders visibly sagging in relief, voice coloured by the same thing. "Thank you Commander."

Then the man moved to follow her, his sister, an eagerness in his walk, despite whatever fear he had of what his sister might tell him. Because she was his sister, because he trusted her, because he loved her... Velanna shuddered, a lone tear struggling out from the corner of her eye.

Damn it...

888

Thanks to Abydos Jackson and her diligent work.