Disclaimer: This is just a conglomeration of a bunch of drabbles I did based off of a F!Templar and Anders with prompts. Most of them are unrelated and some even unfinished. Enjoy : )
Legal Stuff: I don't own :D Valera and Sanya are my own OC's.
~You Again?
"Cake it on there good." Valera commanded the templars that were currently smearing mud and grime on her once clean skin. She was currently dressed in commoners rags. Her hair was unclean and dirty, her bangs twisted and tied to the top of her head. Her violet eye was carefully covered with a dirty rag, tied around her head.
"I have too look like I came from Darktown, not that I fell into a mud puddle."
The plan was for Valera to go into Darktown, as a simple commoner, injured in a fight. Feigning injury she would convince other residents of Darktown to tell her to location of the clinic that seemed to have been well hidden enough to evade the templars for so long. Supposedly there was an apostate hidden there, healing the common folk. And as much help as he was to the commoners, no apostates were to go free in her city.
Satisfied with her wrangled appearance, she took a dagger out a small sheath hidden under her rags and created small, superficial wounds on her arms, legs, and neck. Biting her lip she gripped the dagger and created a rather deep wound on the palm of her right hand. Using the dripping blood, she smeared it on her clothing, giving her the look of someone who was just beaten and possibly mugged.
"Wait here for awhile." Val commanded the templars who saluted her. They were all dressed in civilian clothing, light armor and weapons hidden beneath, planning to follow their commander in stealth. "Ill call for backup if its needed."
Taking a deep breath, Valera ran from the alley and purposely stumbled along screaming at the top of her lungs. "HELP SOMEONE HELP!" She screeched, frantically looking over her shoulder as if for an unknown foe.
People who normally stood around Darktown began to look at her. Stumbling again over her own feet, Valera flew to the ground. "Help someone please!" Sobbing loudly, she stood and swayed. She clutched her injured hand, the blood oozing down from the large wound. "Please! Someone mugged me in that alley back there, I need healing please, someone!"
A common looking woman approached her, carefully taking Valera by the shoulders to steady her swaying gait. "You poor thing! You look terrible! Hurry along now, I'll take you somewhere where you can be helped!"
Holding back a smirk at her success, Valera instead looked as grateful as she could manage. She heavily leaned on the woman who began to escort her through the winding undercity. "Yes please! Oh thank you! Thank you!"
Only moments later they approached two simple planks of wood that looked vaguely like two doors. They were well hidden from someone who wouldn't be looking for them. Just perhaps some wood leaning casually against the earthy walls of the undercity, a very common sight. Thought, Val noticed, there was a small lantern hanging on the earthy wall, its little flame brightly lit.
Clever clever. Valera thought, a small smile of satisfaction on her face. She gave these commoners credit, when they wanted to hide something they did a pretty damn good job.
The woman escorting her rapped twice on the planks and a small child opened the plank, which turned out to be a door. Valera suddenly leaned on the woman more, seeming exhausted.
"Please inform the healer that we have a woman here with many minor injuries. She will need to see him as soon as possible." The woman told the child, as she escorted Val into the clinic.
The child ran over to a man, whose back was turned to the women. He was bent over a table, the light green pulse of magic seen at his palms running over the body of a small boy. Another woman, possibly his mother was nearby, watching with tearful eyes.
"Have a seat dear." The woman told Val, helping her to a simple wooden chair.
Val tilted her head down, appearing to anyone watching her that she was merely looking at the floor but observed the clinic with stealthy eyes. It was a simple hole in the wall. There were many tables strewn about, simply built, covered in clean and dirty sheets. There seemed to be a pantry of some sort, half open and filled with jars of herbs and salves. The only exit was the doors Val had entered in.
Mentally, she mapped out the small space. It would come in handy later when they raided the clinic for the apostate. She looked carefully for any spaces, or strange areas that could be a possible hiding place or escape route. Apostates always had a getaway.
"Is this the one you were telling me about Zackary?" The apostate asked, his black boots came into her view along with the small child's bare feet.
That voice…
Val bit back a gasp as her single sky blue eye met with a very familiar pair of golden hazel eyes. She had to stop her mouth from falling open. Of all the apostates…
Anderfel…
He appeared almost the same as he had, all those years ago. Time had done little to age his body, though she could see worry lines in the corners of his eyes and a loss of that boyish glint in those hazel depths. His face had matured, his jaw more defined with a slight bit of stubble that looked like it belonged there.
"Seems you were in quite the toss up." Anders said, taking her chin in his hand, tilting her head this way and that to look at her mud streaked face.
Valera purposely looked away from his golden gaze, in slight fear that he may recognize her. If he did, her whole mission was blown. But at the same time… somewhere in the back of her heart, she hoped that perhaps, he would remember her…
"Please come this way." Anders motioned for her to come over and lay on one of the examining tables.
She did so, keeping her eye averted. Running now was not an option and would make him suspicious. Anders was a dangerous apostate, and Valera didn't want to risk the chance of him realizing he was being watched.
Taking her palm, he observed the deep gash. Placing his own hand over hers, a warm green light shown. She could feel the flesh on her palm knitting back together slowly. Curiously she watched, she had seen him heal others and once herself, but it never ceased to fascinate her.
He removed his hand once the gash was now a thin red line. Slowly he emitted the same cool green from his palms and ran them along both her arms and legs, hovering only inches from her actual skin. The little cuts instantly closed.
Once he was done, with a confident and professional tone he told her, "I need you to remove your shirt. I want to make sure you don't have any serious bruising, it may alert me to internal injuries."
Val blanched, there were more then wounds on her skin that would give her away. "I assure you there's no major wounds." She told him, her hands gripping the hem of her raggedy shirt.
He gave her that old roguish smile, perhaps to attempt to make her more comfortable with him. If she was any less of a woman, Valera knew she would melt to that smile like many women before her.
"I understand." Anders nodding, giving up the argument a lot easier then he would have back in the day. "In that case, please at least allow me to give you some clean clothing. They're not much, but better then blood covered rags."
Val merely nodded, not wishing to speak or do anything that may cause him to recognize her. She sat up while he rummaged through a small chest of robes. He pulled out a simple white slip of a robe.
Handing her the robe he said, "here you are, sorry there aren't any private places to change. I have more patients to take care of, so I promise I wont peek." He gave her that roguish smile again.
Taking the robe Valera eyed it. This would be the faster change of her life… Anders, like he had said, had already gone over to collect the next patient. Turning her back to him, Val faced the earthy wall of the clinic.
According to her calculations it would at least take him a few moments to introduce himself to the patient and do an initial assessment. Those few moments would allow her to throw off the shirt and put on the robe without him seeing something undesirable.
Quickly as she could manage she threw off the raggedy shirt, and laced her arms through the armholes of the robe. Her back fully exposed…
"You!" Anders resounding boom echoed through the clinic. Valera flinched, busted. She tilted her head back to look at him, he marched up to her, staff magically appearing in his hand. His once pale skin was lined in what looked like glowing lyrium lines.
"What are you doing here!?" His voice continued, slightly distorted and booming out of proportion.
"I have as much right as any to receive healing do I not?" Valera answered smoothly, surprising herself. She continued to dress and slid the robe over her head fully and down her back, covering the mark that she knew had given her away. She turned to face the irate mage.
He was instantly in her space, his finger accusingly pointed at her. "You said you would no longer hunt me!" The voice accused, his normally hazel eyes, now a lyrium filled blue.
"And I kept my promise!" Valera snapped back, offended that he thought she only meant to capture him. Though it was originally the plan. Things change… She took a deep breath through her nose and took on a façade of calm. "Please, Anderfel. Just calm down and let me explain."
The blue lines on his skin seemed to ebb, and his eyes turned once again to that warm hazel she very much enjoyed. "Explain." He said, shaking his head, the distortion in his voice gone.
Valera casually crossed her arms. "As you know, I am yet still a templar. I live and work in Kirkwall. I was sent on a mission to find a clinic that supposedly held an apostate. But Anders," she used the shorten version of his name to calm him further, "I wasn't aware the apostate was you, I swear."
"So your wounds…?" He asked softly.
"Self inflicted." She responded promptly.
"Good." Sighing heavily, Anders leaned on his staff as if he needed help standing.
Good? What did he mean by that? She openly watched him now, his boyish face all grown and serious. He seemed, withered, from what his old, joyous and kind self had been. Valera missed that boy, the apostate that had made her sister laugh while he was in chains, being dragged back to The Circle.
Shaking her head, she banished the memory.
"Anders please." Reaching out and touching his hand with her own, she forced his gaze to her own. "I will not give away your location to the templars. As far as I'm concerned, the rumor was false and an old herbalist lives here."
"What about your wounds, how will you explain their miraculous healing?"
Pulling out the same dagger from before, Valera took the blade to all the wounds again and reopened them all. Biting her lip, she once again cut the pink flesh on her right hand. "There… Now give me a salve of some kind and send me on my way. Your customers are watching."
"Val." He took her heavily bleeding hand, and she could of sworn her heart skipped a beat. "At least let me wrap this."
Simply nodding she allowed him to lead her by the hand to the cabinet, where he quickly and professionally put a salve over the wound and wrapped her hand.
Letting her hand go, Anders quickly admitted. "It was kind of nice to see you again. I always say it, but you get more beautiful each time I see you." He purposely avoided her gaze, running a nervous hand through his bound hair.
Valera felt her cheeks go pink and thanked the mud covering her face. Gathering her old raggedy shirt, she turned and faced her once long time enemy. "Maker only knows how we always get thrown back together. I should of figured I would see you again too soon."
That smile was back on his face, his eyes crinkling shut.
BREAK
~Exam Alternative
"Relax please." He lay his hand over her tightly clenched ones. "I wont have you removed it completely, please just sit up and pull it up enough for me to check your abdomen, I would at least like to check to make sure there's no bruising. I need to check for internal bleeding."
Valera gulped silently. It was a simple medical observation and if she denied him it would seem fishy. Yet… if he noticed…
Very slowly she lifted the dirty, stained shirt, exposing her lean, toned abdomen. Leaning over her, Anders softly touched the skin of her stomach. It tingled slightly as he ran his fingers over the skin of her stomach. Perhaps he was using magic to check her insides.
"This scar…" His fingers paused on the faded star shaped scar next to her navel, his golden eyes widened expediently
.
Valera paled, fumbling over a lie. "Y-y-yes, I got it in an accident."
This was bad! How could she of know that Anders would be the apostate, the one apostate that knew all her scars, having caused many of them himself. The very scar on her stomach was the one he had healed to save her life, so many years ago.
His fingers trembled slightly, the touch barely recognized on her skin. She was afraid to look him in the eye, and see the recognition there.
"Valera…?" Anders whispered, her name falling from his lips.
Sighing heavily, Valera threw an arm over her eye.
"Yes Anderfel, it is I." She whispered back, her voice slightly muffled by her arm.
Keeping it low, as not to alert anyone, Anders continued on in a low tone, his fingers curling lightly over her navel "Where you sent to return me to The Circle?" He asked bluntly.
Valera could feel his eyes boring into her own covered ones. She moved her arm and looked at him with her one blue eye. "No Anderfel, I live and work in Kirkwall. it's a mere coincidence that I ran into you. Maker knows this was planned by the fates. Considering we can never seem to get away from each other for too long, before we're thrown back together."
Anders seemed slightly stunned by her small confession.
~End