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Chapter 5 - Comings and Goings
Where I've been, well it's all a blur.
What I was looking for, I'm not sure.
Too late and didn't see it coming.
Somehow, I couldn't stop myself.
I just wanted to know how it felt.
Too strong, I couldn't hold on.
Now I'm just tryin' to make some sense
Out of how and why this happened.
Where we're heading, there's just no knowing.
Daughtry - Crashed
.
.
As soon as Alistair had stopped talking, and the rest of them had wandered off, Anders approached him and cleared his throat.
"Just a minute, Anders," Alistair said and he turned back to Chantalle. "You can use her tent for now, maybe you want to get a bigger one, I don't know. As soon as we arrive at a village, we can shop for another tent."
"We are going to visit a shemlen village?" She frowned.
"Well, maybe," he said, taking in her stance which at the moment had turned into a wary, guarded one.
He kept looking at the tattoo on her forehead, which resembled a huge oak, its branches reaching up to her hairline. It wasn't a very dark tattoo, but it contrasted with the rest of her skin which was pale and white, almost translucent.
Realizing that she felt confused and vulnerable he added hastily, "I won't let them hurt you, I promise."
She glanced up and seemed to relax considerably but she did reply haughtily to what he had said.
"I can take care of myself."
One of his eyebrows shot up as he saw for the first time a certain stubbornness and strength he had not seen before.
"Oh, I wasn't- I mean I didn't mean you can't. I'm sure you can, it's just that-"
Anders interrupted again, much to his dismay and annoyance. "Commander, I really have to talk to you. This is important."
"What, Anders?" He snapped, his voice loud.
Chantalle moved two steps back then. His reaction had clearly startled her. Without saying a word to either one of them, she walked towards what had been Velanna's tent.
Alistair watched her leave resignedly, his shoulders drooping slightly.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you," he turned back to Anders who smiled weakly.
"No, I've got bad timing. Sorry about that. But you really should know something about her, before you...er...scare her off or something. It's serious this time."
He nodded after deciding that he indeed was serious and motioned him to follow him to the fire, sitting down on a log and waiting for him to sit beside him.
"It's Chantalle. I scanned her before healing her when we helped her down there. I discovered what had happened to her, and why she was so bruised. It was kind of difficult to spot because she was completely covered in blood, but magical scans don't lie. She's been raped, Alistair.
His eyes widened with shock.
"Maker's breath!"
"I'm guessing it was the darkspawn that did it. The wounds were fresh, so to speak, and the internal bruising was bad. I think they had spared her life because they wanted to turn her into a-"
Alistair raised his hand, while swallowing hard, keeping the bile that raised in his throat down.
"Please, no need to continue. I know all about it. I remember my encounter with Hespith very clearly, down in the Deep Roads." He grimaced.
"I don't know what happened to her clan either. But judging by her silence and her desire to be alone, not to mention the grief that you can see in her eyes, I'm guessing it must have been bad and the memories that haunt her must be terrible. Maybe the darkspawn attacked her clan and dragged her off? Of course this is all just speculation on our part. It is possible that her clan is all right, and she was kidnapped while in the woods, you know." Anders sounded hopeful.
But Alistair knew that what he had just said was highly improbable. He didn't know much about Dalish elves, but he knew enough to know that they did not wander off into the forest alone, without at least some company. Still, Anders was right and they were speculating. They would never know what happened until she decided to open up and tell them. Judging by her demeanor, that would not be happening soon.
"Thank you for telling me this, Anders. I'll be especially careful around her now." He said, as he walked towards the tent she now occupied.
"Where are you going?"
He turned back to Anders briefly before resuming his walk. "Why to apologize for my outburst to you, of course! She needs to be shown kindness. A lot of it, in fact."
And Anders smiled back at him, instantly realizing that Alistair was just the right kind of person to bestow kindness to others.
...
"Chantalle? I wanted to check and see if you were all right. I- I know I yelled at Anders back there. I kind of lost my temper. I'm sorry if it frightened you."
No reply. Not one sound. He shuffled nervously. "Well," he said. "I'll be going now. We can talk about your training and other Grey Warden things tomorrow after breakfast. I hope you have a good night."
He turned and was about to walk away, when she again surprised him and did the same thing she had done earlier. Her muffled voice came through the canvas.
"Ma seranas...thank you. Good night."
Smiling, Alistair left for his own tent. He was too excited to fall asleep immediately, so he merely sat and tried to write, but he found himself just thinking about her and it was impossible to focus.
Sighing resignedly, he put his journal away, and took his armor off, then slipped underneath the blanket and drifted off to sleep.
...
The following morning they all had breakfast together. Chantalle ate hungrily, her blue eyes darting around, resting on each of them as she studied their mannerisms, and listened to what they were saying.
Oghren sat and burped mostly. He still hadn't said a word to her and she preferred it that way. She didn't like him much.
Her eyes fell on Marcus and his benign smile. He seemed a good person, but she still didn't trust shemlens completely, so she refrained from even smiling at him.
Now, Fernan...he was a completely different story. He stood out from the rest, but Chantalle recognized another rogue immediately, as she herself was one. She suddenly remembered she had no weapons and decided to talk to the Warden Commander about it. She smiled slightly. Warden Commander. If she was already calling him this, then it meant she was starting to accept them all as her new clan.
As soon as breakfast was over, she offered to wash the dishes, and Fernan pointed her to the direction of the creek ahead. She really wanted to bathe so she asked if anyone had some soap.
Alistair quickly told her that he did, and ran off to his tent to get some, then came back with a bar and a towel. She smiled and a dimple appeared suddenly right under her right cheek.
He stared at it mesmerized until she turned and strode off to the creek leaving him standing there and he gave himself a shake, pulling out his map from the pack he was carrying. They were not far from Montsimmard. He realized that the tunnels had helped them cross a lot of terrain and they had come up very near the small city.
He had never been there, but he knew that most of the reports he had received before embarking on this journey said that the darkspawn were attacking all around it, so he also knew that their present position put them into this danger as well. He suddenly wondered if it had been wise to let Chantalle wander to the creek on her own, and secretly wished there was another woman in the party, if only to accompany her at all times to keep her safe.
His hand flew automatically to the nape of his neck and his fingers entwined into his longish hair, pulling at it as he thought about this.
They would have to be on their guard for there was no telling when the darkspawn would attack again.
...
He was busy packing when she returned, looking fresh, her long blond hair was damp and looked darker.
"Chantalle, may I speak to you?" He asked as he intercepted her on her way back to the tent.
"Yes, of course. But you are busy packing and I must pack too, no?" She said softly.
"I just wanted to know if you have been trained to use weapons. We are in darkspawn infested territory. They've been attacking this area regularly, so I think it best that you should have some weapons."
"I've been trained to wield twin blades. It does not matter if one of them is a sword. I prefer a sword and dagger myself," she said.
"Oh we do have some spare weapons, I'll go look for them right away."
She nodded at this, and started to put down her tent, folding the canvas carefully and methodically.
Alistair soon returned to her, carrying a longsword and dagger, both made of grey iron. She took them and felt them, swiping them around, pivoting on the spot as she did so.
Her movements took his breath away for a moment. They were very graceful but deadly at the same time.
She smiled and thanked him, and he gave her some leather straps for her to strap them onto her back.
Chantalle then turned back to look at him. She obviously wanted to say something to him.
"Warden Commander," she said, and Alistair started. Well, that was what he was, but deep down inside he wished she had called him by his name.
"Yes, what do you need?" He smiled.
"What do I do with her things?" She waved her hand at them.
"I'll keep them. My pack is large enough to carry them all. Don't worry. I'll just finish up packing my things and come back here."
She nodded and stood there, obviously done with her packing.
"I can help you with your things, yes?"
"You want to help me?" He asked, echoing her words.
"Is that so difficult to understand?" She was frowning.
"No, no, no! I don't mean it that way at all!" He mumbled, looking for the right words to say. "I mean, you should maybe rest quietly while I finish up."
"Oh," she said, her eyes darkening. "I wanted to feel useful. But I understand if you want to be alone."
"Oh! It's not like that at all!" He protested, then sighed. "Maker! I do babble like an idiot. I apologize. Maybe you can walk with me, and I'll tell you some things about the order. I'm sure you have some questions? Did you have any nightmares last night?"
"Nightmares? You mean bad dreams, yes? No. No, I didn't," she frowned.
"The reason why I'm asking is because all wardens have nightmares. It's because we tap into their minds. The darkspawn's minds, that is."
"I understand," she said simply. "I did not have any dreams because I did not sleep."
He didn't know what to say to that, but his eyes showed concern, and it made her feel awkward which in turn made her feel annoyed at herself.
"Is there anything else you want to say?" She asked, not unkindly, but there was a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"No, it's fine. We can talk later." He said blushing slightly. He was obviously very observant of what went on regarding her, and she didn't know whether to welcome this, or avoid it altogether.
However, she didn't say anything else and nodded, finally walking towards the log in front of the dying fire, pulling her hair at the back of her head into a make-shift pony tail after she sat down where she waited patiently for them to continue with the journey.
...
Leonie Caron picked up her pace. She had sensed something up ahead, and she tensed, feeling a familiar tingling which could only mean one thing.
There were either darkspawn or wardens nearby.
She furrowed her brow. "Ici, là-bas," she said to the warden near her, as she stared pointedly into the forest.
They advanced warily, their weapons drawn just in case. The tingling sensation was getting stronger. She broke into a run, now certain that there were wardens nearby and that they could possibly be in danger.
And ran straight into Alistair, knocking him off his feet.
He muttered a very loud "Ow!" while he fell on his behind, and sat there rubbing his forehead where hers had collided previously.
"Pardonez-moi!" She exclaimed, bending down to help him up.
He shook his head and scrambled up quickly on his own, but regarded her with interest, before he saw her clearly and then his lips parted in surprise.
The woman before him was a warden. Of that he had no doubt - the tingling was there and unmistakable - and she obviously was Orlesian. Other than that, he saw that she was beautiful and her beauty simply took his breath away. Her tanned face held a pair of lovely twinkling honey brown eyes, her long dark eyelashes highlighting their honey color, and her hair was so dark, it looked black, even in the sun. Her nose, while slightly aquiline, was small, and her strong jaw and perfect lips...his gaze fastened on her lips.
Maker, what is wrong with me? Everyone who knows me is going to think I'm some sort of lecher!
Leonie blinked and broke into a smile, and he felt himself go weak. He groaned inwardly and struggled to get a grip on himself.
"Ah! You must be Alistair," She said in a deep Orlesian accent. She rolled the 'r' when she said his name, stressing the last syllable strongly. His name had never felt so deliciously sexy to him before.
She was holding her hand out to him, and he jumped slightly, blushed and took it gently, his eyes warm as they stared into her laughing ones.
"My name is Leonie Caron," she dimpled at him, smiling graciously. "I am the Warden Commander in Orlais."
A/N: Well, you all didn't see that coming did you? Our innocent Chantry boy attracted to two women at the same time? There must be some mistake, right? Right? *snickers*