To kiss Nathaniel...ugh what a horrible thought.
Velanna's shoulders tensed even as she felt the eyes of the man on her back again, no doubt seeing if she was okay once more. Frustrating human... She nearly snorted, ignoring the little voice telling her that there was a reason for him doing so, she still felt light-headed after all. Shouldn't have cast so quickly...and these surroundings don't help. She felt cold sweat run down her back as she glanced up at the massive stones above them, moments away from crushing them...as always.
Stop thinking about it dammit!
Scowling at her own jitteriness Velanna focused on the two ahead of her. For all their differences Lynn and Sigrun were surprisingly similar at first glance. The dwarf and elf both wore dented armour of light plate, Lynn's nearly looking as if it was about to fall apart at any moment by now, and both wielded two weapons at the same time, Lynn a sword and an axe, Sigrun a pair of axes. It was more then equipment though, they both moved in the same way, stealthy...yet straightforward, as if they didn't really fear being discovered, or perhaps even looked forward to it.
And they are both so damn...frustrating! Lynn was silent, frightening in her decisiveness and uncaring attitude. Sigrun on the other hand was irritatingly chipper for someone who had sworn her life away, and even seemed to find some sort of humour in it, as if her impending death was something to embrace with a laugh. Velanna honestly didn't understand either of them...and she hated not understanding.
The ones behind her weren't much better. Two of those filthy humans, one of them whispering things to the other who stoically ignored whatever idiotic rambling it was, which at least was something in Velanna's book. Still, they were both just filthy humans, clumsy and smelly, filthy creatures that...she sighed, realising she couldn't convince herself of those things. I've been around them for two long...she rubbed her forehead, trying to ignore the constant weariness, yearning for the taint and yearning for...him.
No! This is not happening! She nearly growled and squared her shoulders, noting with a hint of relief that they were coming up to a crossroad even as the pull of darkspawn got stronger. Good, a distraction from the filthy shem...yes...very good. The crossroad opened onto three different paths, each pitch black, making Velanna squint in a vain attempt to penetrate the darkness.
A sudden gasp from Sigrun made Velanna pay more attention, making her spot the blotch of silver in the dirt at the crossroad.
The entire group drew their weapons at that, not knowing what trap the darkspawn might have laid.
All but Lynn...who slowly stepped up towards the blotch of silver, making the others follow and realise that it in fact was a suit of armour, half submerged in the dirt, as if many marching feet and pushed it down into it. It was a whole suit, still lustrous with silver, along with a lot of golden inlays that nearly looked like scales to Velanna's eyes. Even the helmet was there, the visor open, revealing a discoloured skull staring back at them, the white plume of the helmet still attached to the top and looking strangely pristine despite the dirt it was laying in.
Odd, it looks strangely familiar...Velanna frowned as Lynn slowly crouched down beside the dead warrior and the full suit of armour he still wore, her movement slow. A glance back showed that Nathaniel was watching the proceedings with interest as well, his head cocked to the side as he frowned in surprising worry.
Then there was a hiss.
Instantly Lynn was back on her feet, weapons practically flying out of their sheath's, the armour apparently forgotten. "Velanna, Nathaniel, take the centre! Anders and Sigrun take the right!" The orders were snapped, then the elf leapt to the leftmost corridor, apparently thinking herself able to hold it herself.
A moment later the first hurlock appeared from that corridor, only to have his skull opened up by the flying kick of the Commander as she hurtled into the darkness.
She's...going to fight them in the dark? Velanna blinked in surprise, only to be pulled back to the present by a rough hand clamping down on her shoulder as Nathaniel barked: "You heard the Commander! Defend yourselves!"
Velanna opened her mouth to snap a reply, only to find the man already stepping past her towards the dark entrance in the centre an arrow notched on his bow...and then ending up in the gut of a genlock suddenly coming out of it, appearing as if by magic, and dying just as quickly.
Growling Velanna raised her staff and clenched her left fist, calling her magic fourth. It shook within her, shuddered, still unwilling to surface after the strain, making her bare her teeth in anger. Magic isn't my master...I am the master of magic! Another growl and she forced the fire up from her fist, towards the point of her staff, her heated anger nearly searing her skin as the liquid coil of fire danced before her.
Good enough. She grunted and levelled her staff, shooting the ball of fire past Nathaniel and into the darkness illuminating a crudely hacked corridor...and a small army of darkspawn! Velanna blinked, then swallowed, oh...
Then the fireball struck the chest of the ogre that was batting its way through a horde of genlocks ahead of it, setting the whole corridor afire and bowling over the smaller darkspawn as the ogre, now covered in scorching fire, stumbled backward with a pained roar.
A roar coming to a quick end as Nathaniel fired an arrow straight into its open maw. There was a shattering of glass, a sudden flash of green liquid and gas in the open mouth of the ogre...before its roar came to an end as it stumbled backwards once more, hands coming to its throat as whatever acid Nathaniel had managed to shoot into its mouth travelled down its throat.
A small whimper...and the creature toppled backwards with a loud crash, crushing several of the darkspawn beneath it under its bulk.
Nathaniel's next arrow struck a hurlock in the chest at the front of the rapidly dimming corridor, setting off an explosion of grey dust that made the suddenly howling creature and several behind it stumble back as they struggled to see with the dust of steel suddenly digging into their eyes. "I need more light here!" The man cried out, taking a step back as a hurlock escaped the darkness of the corridor, pushed through his confused brethren...and charged straight at the man!
Velanna felt her heart jump, nearly throttling her, only to breathe a sigh of relief as the human calmly sidestepped the charge, kicked the creature in the knee, forcing it down on all fours...and then neatly loosed an arrow straight into its neck. "Velanna! Light!"
Shaking aside her relief like an old cloak Velanna shot the man a glare as she rushed forth, her staff still levelled as she cried out: "Here's your damn light!"
The fire poured out of her staff, a fiery cone of destruction rushing into the corridor, illuminating a dozen genlocks crawling over the dead ogre...before enveloping them, drawing shrieks of agony from them as they were set ablaze.
The dancing flames of the burning darkspawn gave the man all the light he required, and suddenly arrow after arrow was whistling past Velanna's head as she slowly backed away from the corridor, watching the burning genlocks fall off the ogre as new darkspawn took their place...only to fall over as Nathaniel's arrows found them.
Whoa...Velanna shook her head, feeling herself go light-headed as she watched the darkspawn before her die. If only I could get some proper rest...then I would destroy these creatures within moments.
As if reading her thoughts Nathaniel suddenly came to stand next to her, his face calm and concentrated as he loosed arrow after arrow at the darkspawn struggling to get over their own dead to reach them as he dully noted: "Rest, we can handle the rest."
Velanna shot him a glare, irritated with how close and...large he seemed, as if the fighting somehow had made him become more then himself.
She nodded though, reluctantly agreeing. The darkspawn in the central corridor were already retreating, unable to cross their own dead stacked high under the withering hail of arrows from Nathaniel. To her right she found the other corridor covered in frozen pieces of broken flesh as Sigrun, still covered in the light of one of Anders' healing spells, danced around yet two still frostbitten hurlocks, her axes darting out and catching them both in between their shoulder blades as they were too slow to turn and face her.
As for the leftmost corridor...
As Velanna watched Lynn came out of the darkness, her weapons already sheathed, her armour even more dented...and all covered in dark blood. Her hands, her feet, her chest, her face...the woman was black with foul darkspawn blood. Some was pooling in the great dents in her shoulder plates, ignored as the woman with impassive eyes glanced at the other corridors, calmly noting the group's victory there.
Nathaniel echoed Velanna's worry: "Are you okay Commander? Are you hurt?"
"Minor injuries." The elf shrugged in disinterest as she marched back to the suit of armour still stuck in the dirt, her eyes strangely cold as she regarded it. "I need a new suit of armour, one heavier then the one I wear now to handle these close encounters...this will do."
Velanna blinked, surprised by the length of Lynn's explanation. She had viewed it as more likely of the other elf simply to take it without a word...not to explain her actions...she shot Nathaniel a questioning look, who just shrugged as he replied: "Sounds reasonable Commander, will you change now or...?"
"There was a room further back where I could change." Lynn softly replied, startling Velanna. Since when does the Commander care about privacy! Even as she watched the woman dropped onto one knee before the armour and gently, gently of all things, pried the helmet out of the ground. "Give me a moment..."
Nathaniel and Velanna exchanged a confused look.
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Velanna grunted, tired as she walked up the slight slope leading to the room where Lynn was supposed to be changing.
Of all the foolish... Velanna shook her head in irritation. She understood the need for privacy, though all in her clan bathed together they always separated the men and the women, for obvious reasons...but Lynn hadn't struck Velanna as one who cared about such minor things, not to mention that she wore clothes under her armour...and that it was a risk to be alone when out in the Deep Roads! It was just so...unlike the Commander.
To add insult to the injury the elf had been gone for what felt like ages, though Sigrun assured them that it hadn't been that long, but surely long enough to change into a new suit of armour.
Since the Commander apparently wanted privacy all of a sudden the waiting group had only decided to send one of them. And since the men were out of the question, despite Anders rather transparent protests. And because Sigrun, despite her help so far, wasn't to be trusted too blindly with their commander...and because Velanna was an elf as well..they had decided to send her. Why is being an elf always working against me? Damn racist...
Grumbling protests she knew to be ridiculous Velanna at first didn't hear Lynn.
She only heard it when she finally entered the small chamber.
The sound of crying.
Velanna froze, stunned as her eyes darted left and right, taking the room in. There wasn't much to see, the room was small and sparse, a single square piece of stone reaching to Velanna's hip the only piece of 'furniture' in the room, some sort of memorial according to Sigrun.
Lynn was sitting on the stone, her golden armour laying in a broken pile by her feet, the 'new' armour covering her small frame shining and lustrous in the light of the runes covering the walls. The only piece she wasn't wearing was the silvery helmet, which lay in her lap, cradled in both her hands as she stared down at it with teary eyes.
Commander...? Velanna blinked, her arms dropping to her sides as she in stunned silence watched the woman...the uncaring and harsh Commander that had struck her as dead to the world...loudly sniffle as tears rapidly congealed on her eyelashes before raining over the helmet in her lap.
There was no other sound, the Deep Roads silent and dead as it waited for the woman to act. But she didn't, she only sat there, the sound of her sniffling and that of her tears landing on the helmet the only sound penetrating the silence.
Velanna finally managed to move, to lick her lips as she, suddenly nervous, shifted her weight where she stood. "C-commander?" She managed to croak the question, then she swallowed, vainly trying to steady herself.
No answer, not even a shift in the woman sitting on the stone, as if she hadn't heard.
The helmet was now covered in tears, the silver surface glittering in the light, nearly making it look like glass. And Lynn did indeed hold it as if it could shatter at any moment, as if it wasn't really a helmet but a child, her left hand holding it steady as her right again and again moved to stroke the plume of it, as if comforting it.
It was a frightening sight.
Not sure what to do Velanna took a hesitant step forward, her head slightly turned away, unable to watch the scene directly. She repeated her question, feeling like an intruder: "Commander?" No reaction. "W-we...have to go on...I...are you...what's...wrong?"
A sniffle, the elf's eyes so strangely soft...pained...a far cry from the dead uncaring they otherwise held. Velanna swallowed, watching with dread fascination as tears streamed down the woman's cheeks, tearing away at the dust and flecks of blood still covering it. This isn't the Commander...what happened?
"Commander?" Velanna repeated a third time as she stepped close enough to touch the other woman. She didn't dare do so though, afraid of what reaction it might bring. Instead she only rested a hand on the stone the other elf sat on, swallowing as she whispered: "I...can I help?"
"I-it's..." Lynn shook her head softly, more and more tears pouring out of her. Velanna wasn't sure what frightened her most, the Commander being unable to stop her crying in front of her, or the fact that she had just stuttered due to her sobbing. "...so much like his..." The right hand once more caressed the plume of the helmet, the movement tender even as the Commander's voice became tinged with bitterness.
Velanna hesitated, then sat down next to the other woman, her muscles tensing, ready to leap up, making her feel like a frightened deer. Then she spoke, keeping her voice soft and unthreatening: "What is? The...armour?"
A mute nod, Lynn biting her lower lip as she visibly shook with the strain of her sorrow. "So much...like his..." A small sob and the other elf doubled over where she sat, both hands coming down to hug the helmet tightly, as if afraid of letting it go.
"Who?" Velanna bit her lip instantly, regretting her question. I shouldn't...this is wrong...she's not...like this...this is...all is wrong.
No answer, the elf gently rocking back and forth where she sat, a choked sob exploding from somewhere deep in her throat as grief Velanna didn't know the Commander capable of tore through her.
I...this isn't...I'm not good at this... Velanna swallowed, hesitated, but finally placed a hand on the other elf's shoulder. Of course Lynn probably couldn't feel it with the armour on...but it didn't matter...it just needed to be there. "Lynn?" It felt odd to speak the other woman's name, as if it didn't really fit the Commander...but Velanna knew using the other woman's rank would be useless now.
A mere whisper, so small Velanna nearly missed it. "Alistair..."
She went cold. Of course she had heard rumours...whispers that the hero of Ferelden had been in love with the great king to be...only to tragically lose him in the final battle at Denerim. But it was just a few whispers of some romantics, an elf and a human to have a relationship was ridiculous after all, Velanna ignored the thought of Nathaniel, and that those two would be such legendary characters was just a dream of a bard...not reality.
Yet here it was...naked and pained...a revelation striking Velanna like a blow to the face.
The Commander knew love...I could never have imagined it. Velanna grimaced, surprised by the sudden sympathy tearing through her. But who couldn't feel sympathy at the sight of the wretch next to her? So torn by grief that it was a wonder she could even live?
"He...the king...human..." Velanna cursed herself, unable to express her wonder and sympathy, too shocked to truly understand.
"H-he sh-should have let m-me d-do it..." Lynn sobbed, still doubled over her helmet, holding it tightly as if it was an anchor holding her in place. "D-damn h-him...he sh-should have let me do it!" The cry tore through Velanna, making her stiffen in equal parts pain and equal parts fear.
Silence, the sobs fading.
Lynn slowly straightened, silent tears running down her cheeks as she with her left hand held the helmet, her right coming down to once more run through the white plume. She smiled, a pained and soft smile, gentle. Her voice was but a whisper: "Damn w-wonderful fool..."
Velanna swallowed, unable to answer, feeling cold and frightened, not knowing what to do, her hand slipping off Lynn's shoulder as she felt herself unable to keep it there any longer.
Then Lynn slipped to her feet, making Velanna jump in fright as she watched the elf's rigid back not knowing what would come next.
When Lynn turned back to her the woman's eyes were cold and uncaring once more, despite the tears still streaking her cheeks...and Velanna suddenly felt grief close around her heart. This...it's not right. Lynn's voice was as cold and uncaring as her eyes had become, yet the words surprised Velanna: "Thank you."
Blinking Velanna couldn't answer, she could only nod, her sympathy choking her.
A short nod and Lynn raised her hands, putting the helmet into place, covering her tear-streaked face and the cold eyes both. Through the dark slits the Commander regarded Velanna with a terrible calm, making her shudder as she realised whatever the other elf had become had taken over once more.
"Let's move on."
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Thanks to Abydos Jackson for enduring this one.