.*. *. ҉ .*.*.
Well, the Storm Coast certainly lived up to its name. Cold, biting winds whistled through the air, whipping up their hair and lashing at their cheeks. The air was cold but humid, the drizzle of rain so light that the water almost appeared to be floating down from the sky, rather than falling. When it wasn't raining, a fine mist hung in the air, clinging to their skin and seeping into their clothes. The trees were sparse here, trunks bleached white from salt and sun, with more branches than leaves, which clattered against each other in the tempestuous winds. The sun was a rare sight in this region, the clouds hanging so lowly overhead that she was sure they skimmed the tops of the mountains, perhaps even the trees. The ground was rocky, the soil sparse, making the roads slick under their horses hooves – as if the weather was not enough of a hindrance.
For this outing, Nydha had decided to invite the latest companions to join the Inquisition: Vivienne and Sera. The two fought like cats and dogs the entire trip, which meant that there was no lack of entertainment for Nydha and Cassandra. After several hours of navigating the coastline, Nydha and her companions finally reached the Inquisition's outpost. She was amused and rather unsurprised to see Scout Harding waiting at the edge of the camp to greet her, her reddish-chestnut hair shining like a beacon despite the lack of sunlight.
"Your Worship!" The dwarf greeted her, ignoring the way Nydha wrinkled her nose at her title. "For what it's worth, welcome to the Storm Coast. I would have sent word sooner, but our efforts have been… delayed."
"Delayed?" The elf responded with raised eyebrows.
"There's a group of bandits operating in the area." Harding explained with obvious distaste. "They know the terrain, and our small party has had trouble going up against them. Some of our soldiers went to speak with their leader – haven't heard back though."
Nydha cast a dark glance back at Cassandra, whose expression was equally gloomy. And from the tone of Harding's voice, they were not the only ones who doubted that those soldiers would be coming back alive.
"Time to call in the pest control…" Nydha hummed.
Cassandra furrowed her brows. "Pest control? For what, rats?"
"… Yes, Cassandra. Rats." Nydha sighed. "Big, smelly rats. With swords."
"With swor – oh."
Oh Cassie. Nydha shook her head while Sera's snickering could be heard at the back of their group. Warriors were not known for their wit, poor things.
"Thank you, Your Worship." Harding responded, dipping her head.
"Please, just call me Lavellan." She insisted, not even bothering to remember how many times she had already told the dwarf to drop the unbearable title.
And like every time before, Harding just gave her a small smile and promised nothing. "Well good luck, and enjoy the sea air. I hear it's good for the soul."
The dwarf saluted, and then walked away. Nydha turned around to look over her companions, only to find Cassandra angrily glaring at a sniggering Sera, who was hiding behind Vivienne, who was rolling her eyes.
"Now, now, Cassandra," Vivienne drawled. "We all understand that Common is your second language. No need to hit the ugly elf. Even if the little elf deserves a good whack or two."
"Shut up, mage!" Cassandra growled.
"Oi!" Sera whined from behind Vivienne's robes. "Wha's that for? Who's side ya on?"
"My own." The mage retorted as she tweaked her wrist and her staff whacked Sera on her head, making the elf yelp. "That was for attempting to untie my robes just now. And for the record, they are also magicked shut."
Sera leapt out of smacking range of both Cassandra and Vivienne, rubbing her head with a mulish expression. "Ya both got sticks up ya arses!"
"Alright ladies!" Nydha walked into the middle of their standoff. "Go find a tent to dry off, and cool off those attitudes while you're at it. We're scouting the area in an hour, so don't relax too much."
Immediately Vivienne was scouring the camp for a hot cup of tea, while Cassandra and Sera sat next to the fire in an attempt to dry their clothing (Vivienne had, of course, found a way to ward her robes against the damp and cold). Sera took off all three layers of socks and hung them over the fire pit, massaging her aching feet. Cassandra checked and double checked their supplies as she huddled by the fire. Nydha found an outcrop of rock behind one of the tents which overlooked the coast, and so stood staring out across the landscape with narrowed eyes.
Her ears twitched at the sound of footsteps, turning to see Vivienne approaching her with two steaming mugs of what she assumed was tea (as Vivienne would drink nothing else). Wordlessly accepting the beverage, Nydha cupped its warmth in her hands and sipped slowly.
"Didn't we come to ally with the bandits?" The enchanter asked in reference to their earlier talk with Scout Harding.
"We came to negotiate with a band of mercenaries." Nydha corrected her. "The bandits are a different group altogether."
The mage sniffed. "They are the same thing, no?"
"No." Nydha disagreed. "Banditry and mercenaries may be similar, but they are nevertheless different. Bandits have no honor."
"And mercenaries do?" The mage scoffed. "They are all untrained mongrels waving their swords around to intimidate the little people."
"Mercenaries are anything but untrained." Nydha pointed out.
"It does not excuse the fact that they make money by killing." Vivienne argued.
Nydha shrugged. "Sometimes one's skill with a sword is their only livelihood."
"Surely not!" Vivienne scoffed again.
"Mine is." Nydha turned her head to lock eyes with the mage. "We do what we must in order to survive. Not everyone is willing to live in poverty for the sake of adhering to morals."
The enchantress regarded her with critical eyes, lips pursed disapprovingly. Nydha returned to her tea with a shameless shrug, dipping her tongue into the liquid to test the temperature before taking a sip. Finally Vivienne huffed, and Nydha did not bother to glance her way as she heard the woman stomp away.
.*.*. ҉, .*.*.
Not long after her chat with the mage, Nydha was ordering the women to suit up and head out. They scoured the crags and hills, avoiding the roving groups of bandits but noting their movements on the map to triangulate where their headquarters might be located. This caused no small amount of frustration for Cassandra, who would have rather pick a fight with every bandit until one of them gave up the information. Meanwhile, Sera complained about her sore feet, Vivienne complained about the rainy weather, and Cassandra griped at them both to shut up.
Dammit. Nydha thought to herself. Next time I'm bringing the guys. At least they are less talkative.
Eventually the loud yammering of her three companions drew the attention of one of the bandit groups. Men in shoddy armor and painted faces jumped out from behind tree trunks and dropped down from their branches, surrounding them.
"'Bout time we see some action, yeah!" Sera jeered with a grin, notching an arrow and taking aim, flexing her fingers and making the leather wraps on her hands creak in response.
"Ah, good," Vivienne hummed, "I needed to let off some steam."
"Finally…" Cassandra muttered as she unsheathed her sword.
Nydha shook her head at them, faintly amused. The battle was over quickly, the bandits soon outclassed by a hail of Sera's arrows, the brunt of Cassandra's anger management, and one of the most powerful mages in all of Thedas (which Vivienne took care to remind them every hour or so). Nydha almost felt unneeded as they took care of the majority of the bandits without her – apparently their internal arguing was good fuel for their battle rage.
The secret weapon of the Inquisition, Nydha thought idly as she shanked a bandit that came too close. A good cat fight.
Beheading another unfortunate sod, she glanced up, waiting for the next man to strike, only to meet the eerie stillness that always signaled the aftermath of a battle. To her left, Cassandra was cleaning her blade, and to her right Vivienne was pretending to brush off dirt from her robes (as Nydha was well aware that the mage had also warded her clothes against dirt and blood as well). Sera was going around the bodies and checking their pockets as she retrieved her arrows.
"Sera, dear, must you really?" Vivienne cringed as the elf picked up a severed head in order to pick the man's earrings. The mage turned around to complain to their fearless leader, except –
"Lavellan! What the blazes are you doing?!" She nearly screeched.
The other elven companion glanced up with an innocent face, large dark green eyes blinking in confusion.
"What?" Nydha glanced down at the finger she was half-way finished cutting off. "Oh this? The ring won't come off – and it has a sapphire in it!"
Sera snickered on the other side of the mage.
"Robbing the dead is the lowest form of thievery!" Vivienne protested, looking faint. The enchantress turned to give an imploring look to their warrior companion, but Cassandra just shrugged, although her expression showed her clear distaste for the actions of the two rogues.
"I've already argued with the Herald – "
"Lavellan!"
" –over the subject before." Cassandra told the mage dryly. "As you can see, I was not victorious."
Sera snickered louder at that, pocketing the earrings of the head she had been pawing at. Vivienne cringed as Nydha's knife scraped the finger bone, and she quickly snapped the bone and continued to cut through the other side. With the finger now unattached, our lovely heroine was able to slip off the sapphire ring and gave an approving glance at the quality of the stone.
"Hey nice catch! Look what I got!" Sera praised as she walked over, and then held up her gold hoop earrings.
Nydha smirked in response.
"Despicable." Vivienne shook her head.
"Aw, don't be like that Miss Fancy-Pants!" Sera chuckled as she suddenly appeared next to Vivienne, chin on the woman's shoulder, holding her prize in front of the mage's face.
Vivienne reeled back and shoved Sera away from her. "Why are you touching me?! You were manhandling a severed head not a second ago!"
" 'S just a head…" Sera whined like a child.
Now it was Cassandra and Nydha snickering at the two.
When the afternoon rolled around, they decided to start heading back to camp, knowing that the light would fade faster with the clouds covering the sky. The group followed the coastline, as opposed to the mountain trails they had explored earlier in the day.
The coast was just as miserable as the bluffs. The beach was made of sharp rocky pebbles instead of sand, just as grey as grey and unwelcoming as the sky above. The wind was worse without the hills to block it, forceful gales skimming off the surface of the ocean and slamming into their bodies, spraying salty water and screeching in their ears. As if the winds did not drench them enough, the ocean also took part, waves crashing against the shoreline with abandon, breaking on the rocks and splashing the company with globs of murky water.
They soon approached the hill which led towards their camp, and Nydha was about to let out a sigh of relief, when once again, fate intervened. The sounds of conflict reached her sensitive elven ears, the clash of blades and yelling voices only barely discernible over the howl of the wind. She paused and glanced over to Sera, whose ears were also perked, and the two elves shared a meaningful glance.
"Oi." Sera said loudly, earning the attention of their human comrades. Cassandra and Vivienne turned around, having walked ahead as they were unaware of the elves pausing.
"There's trouble." Nydha told them, jerking her chin in the direction of the noises. "Fighting; not much farther down the beach."
"And too close to the camp for comfort." Cassandra agreed, unsheathing her sword and lifting her shield.
They continued down the beach for another minute before the mist lifted to reveal the battle they had been searching for.
A ship was wrecked upon the beach, fresh from the looks of it. Men in two different uniforms were fighting: The first group were obviously Tevinter, judging from their uniforms and those god-awful helmets that made them look like fucked up unicorns. The other group was a trained force of some kind, with well-made armor bearing matching sigils and fighting with the skilled teamwork of a well-trained unit. Among them, towering over all the other players on the field, was a qunari swinging around a battle axe that was probably larger than Nydha's whole body.
Ho-ly fuck. Nydha couldn't help but take a moment to stare. They get even bigger?! I have never seen a qunari that big before!
Whatever god was out there, please don't let him be an enemy!
Cassandra let out a war cry as she rushed past, interrupting Nydha's thoughts. The rogue shook her head and pulled out her daggers, falling in step behind Cassandra, slashing the necks of all those who were knocked down by the warrior's attacks.
She glimpsed the ridiculous helmets worn by Tevinter knights, and Nydha couldn't help but grin. Killing Tevinters always brightened her day. An ice spell shot past her, and Nydha followed it towards its target, shattering the recipient of Vivienne's attack not a moment after he had frozen.
"Bees!"
At Sera's cry, they immediately backed off, watching as a deceptively jolly green colored jar sailed overhead and crashed into the rocky ground next to a group of Tevinter warriors. Buzzing filled the air as the glass shattered, and the Tevinters screamed in panic and confusion at the unusual weapon. Nydha glanced beside her as Sera came to stand next to her, the two elves watching her handiwork with wicked smirks.
"Gotta hand it to you," Nydha told her, "That's a very effective weapon."
"Effective's one way ta put it." Sera grinned darkly. "Heh, look at the buggers run! Ha, get it? Buggers?"
Nydha rolled her eyes. "You're hilarious." She drawled as she jumped back into the fray.
"Oi! That better not be sarcasm!" Sera yelled after her as she went back to raining arrows.
The battle did not rage on much longer than that. It only took a few minutes for them to realize that the men in uniform were not attacking them, only the bandits were, so the Inquisition company let them be. As the battle dwindled, Nydha withdrew from the fight, studying the uniformed men while they were still preoccupied with the remaining Tevinters.
Why do those uniforms seem familiar? She thought with narrowed eyes. Ugh, she had come across so many mercenary companies in her time that they tended to blur together. Hold on… Mercenaries plus the Storm Coast… Oh! The Iron Cow!
Or something like that.
"Chargers!" The giant qunari yelled as the last enemy fell to his axe. "Stand down!"
Instantly the uniformed men relaxed their stances and put away their weapons, immediately accounting their wounds and tending to them.
"Krem!" The qunari continued, obviously the leader of this company. "How'd we do?"
"Five or six wounded, chief. No dead." A familiar androgynous voice indicated the soldier that Nydha had spoken with in Haven.
"That's what I like to hear. Let the throatcutters finish up, then break out the casks."
They're drinking here? Now? Nydha was astonished but found herself amused. The qunari finally glanced over towards her and her companions, eyeing them as he walked over to speak with her.
.*. *. ҉ .*.*.
THE Iron Bull POV
"So, you're with the Inquisition, huh?" Iron bull asked the group which stood awkwardly off to the side of the impromptu battlefield, waiting to identify their leader by whomever spoke up first. He had been expecting the tall woman wielding the sword and shield combo to step forward, but instead one of the elves stepped forward, much to his surprise.
"Yup." She drawled, popping the 'p'.
"Glad you could make it." He nodded to her, hiding his surprise. "Come on, have a seat. Drinks are coming."
She turned to glance at her companions, the elven archer already gladly accepting the alcohol, while the mage and the shieldmaiden turned up their noses with the prickly air of nobility. With a chuckle, he led her to a few of the surviving containers which managed to stay intact despite the rocky landing of the boat. The qunari sat down on one of the boxes, accepting a pint from one of his soldiers before hunching over to rest his elbows on his knees as he looked up at her.
"The Iron Cow, I presume." The tanned elf drawled as she remained standing.
He choked on the ale, pounding on his chest to clear his throat. When he had regained some of his composure, he looked up at her with one wide eye, staring at her as if he couldn't decide if she was joking or just completely daft.
Please tell me she's joking. Iron Bull thought, idly wondering if this elf was the so-called 'Herald', and if so, the world was truly doomed.
She stared up at him with those big elven eyes, shining like pair of emeralds and an innocent smile. He still couldn't decide if she was kidding or not.
"It's 'The Iron Bull.' " He finally corrected her. There was no change in her expression, so he still could not tell whether she had been joking.
"Oh, my apologies." She murmured in a demure voice, but her eyes told him that she was smirking on the inside.
Elves. Iron Bull thought ruefully. Cheeky little fuckers.
"I am Nydha Lavellan." The rogue turned as his lieutenant approached them, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the ale mug in his hand. "Oh! How lovely!"
She accepted the pint as daintily as a noble lady accepted a bouquet of flowers, as strange as the comparison was.
Why do I always have to deal with the crazy ones? The qunari lamented.
"I assume you remember Cremisius Aclassi, my lieutenant." He motioned towards the young man (Woman? Ugh, the gender-issue shit is so confusing. Er, the gender-neutral character. The woman who identifies as a man. Not that it matters because it what's on the inside that – y'know what, fuck it).
Her green eyes glimmered like dark emeralds above the rim of the mug as she carefully sipped the alcohol. "Oh, but you can just call me Lavellan." She remarked off-handedly.
"The one known as the 'Herald of Andraste', correct?" Iron Bull asked her.
For some reason, Krem choked on his ale when she nodded.
"What?!" He glared and pointed at the elleth accusingly. "You pretended to be a normal soldier!"
Iron Bull raised his brows at this, amused at Krem's reaction and wondering what exactly the story behind that one was. The woman snickered into her mug.
"Oh, did I?" She asked airily, staring up at Krem with those big gem-like eyes that Iron Bull was sure had misled many a man into doing her bidding. "I don't remember anyone asking for my rank."
"But you-! I mean-! Why you-!" Krem spluttered, before managing to get a hold of his tongue. "What happened to 'Haven is distrusting, we will not show you to our leaders' and 'I will relay this to my superiors'?!"
Lavellan smirked. "Oh that? That was just me making sure you were not an assassin."
"A what?!" Krem exclaimed. "Do you really expect an assassin to walk right up to you and start chitchat?!"
The elf shrugged. "Or it could be that I just like fucking with people. Take your pick, honey." She gave them a devilish smirk.
She's definitely crazy.
"Krem, what's the report?" Iron Bull interrupted them before the situation could escalate.
His voice interrupted Krem's building ire, the lieutenant whirling around to face his captain and snapping into a salute. "Throatcutters are done, sir."
"Already?" Iron Bull frowned. "Have 'em check again. I don't want any of those Tevinter bastards getting away – no offense, Krem."
"Wait."
They both froze as Lavellan interrupted them. Her eyes were scanning the bodies around them, before zeroing in on one of them. She lifted her hand and pointed to it.
"He's alive." She told them, gesturing to one of the Tevinter bodies. "But barely. Don't kill him."
"What? Why?" Krem asked, still glaring at her.
"Have someone stitch him up and we'll take him back to Haven." She ordered them as she took another sip of ale. "I have some questions for him."
"Tevinters don't talk, lady." Krem warned her even as he waved Stitches over.
Lavellan once again smiled innocently, which did not sit well with the cold aura that she was emanating. "Then I'll just ask nicely."
Iron Bull and Krem shared equally confused and dubious looks as she called over the shieldmaiden and murmured in her ear. The gruff-looking woman nodded at whatever order the elleth gave her, turning to follow Krem and Stitches towards the apparently semi-living Tevinter.
"So, you've seen us fight." Iron Bull spoke as Lavellan returned her attention to their conversation. "We're expensive, but we're worth it. And I'm sure the Inquisition can afford it."
"You know, I really hate that word. Expensive." The elleth sighed as she leaned on one leg and put a hand on her hip. "I always hear that every time I go shopping and it really puts a damper on my mood."
"It wouldn't cost you a cent, personally." He informed her. "Your ambassador – what's her name? – Josephine. We'd go through her and get the payments set up. Gold will take care of itself, don't worry about that. All that matters is that we're worth it."
Lavellan hummed as she tapped her chin. He didn't understand why she had to think it over so long – surely she could just allow her ambassador to worry about finances? After a couple minutes, she began to slowly nod.
"Alright, Iron Bull." She responded. "I'll let Josephine handle this. Just pray that she keeps me away from the receipt – I am notoriously cheap, and if I see too many zeros I might cry." She pouted for effect.
The qunari chuckled. "Don't worry. You can be sure you're getting bang for your buck." He stood up to his full height, unashamedly flexing his impressive physique. "You're not just getting the boys. You're getting me. You need a frontline bodyguard, I'm your man. Whatever it is – demons, dragons – the bigger, the better."
Lavellan smirked at that, her eyes shamelessly ogling his muscles, all shiny in the wet mist. "Bang for my buck huh?" She licked her lips and smirked.
Iron Bull chuckled at that. "Now that is still up for negotiation."
She sighed dramatically. "It's too bad I have a rule about not associating with men under my command." Lavellan chuckled. "Although the eye-candy will be well appreciated, I assure you."
"I can respect that." Iron Bull nodded.
Lavellan was about to rejoin her companions when he called out to her again.
"There's one other thing." He spoke in a warning tone. "Might be useful." He shrugged. "Might piss you off."
She turned to him with a vaguely curious expression.
"Ever heard of the Ben-Hassrath?" He asked her.
The elf was still for a moment, blinking once, twice, before she gave him a quizzical look. "What's that?"
"It's a Qunari order. They handle information, loyalty, security, all of it." Iron Bull replied, glossing over the details. "Spies, basically. Or, well, we're spies." As he expected, her eyes widened in surprise. "The Ben-Hassrath are concerned about the Breach. Magic out of control like that could cause trouble everywhere. I've been ordered to join the Inquisition, get close to the people in charge, and send reports on what's happening."
"You better be shitting me." She growled, and the qunari had a feeling it wasn't a question, and so kept quiet until she spoke again. "What kind of spy just exposes themselves like that?"
Not surprisingly, the elf was starting to look at his distrustfully, so Iron Bull went to sweeten the deal. "But I also get reports from Ben-Hassrath agents all over Orlais. You sign me on, I'll share them with your people."
Her expression stared at him coldly, dark green eyes studying him face for any tells. He had to admit, her poker face was pretty good, and he idly wondered how good she was at Wicked Grace.
"I don't like it." She finally spoke, her stance easing somewhat as she crossed her arms. "But I have the Inquisition to think about. And the benefits of hiring your company far outweigh your questionable allegiance."
"Questionable?" He furrowed his brows.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You are playing the double-agent here, Mister Iron Bull."
He opened his mouth to protest, but the look on her face made him pause.
"Fine." She sighed and shook her head ruefully, before locking eyes and giving him a severe look. "But I want all your reports to go through Leliana first. If I find out that you attempted to circumvent this, you and your men will be executed. Do you understand?"
Iron Bull was caught by surprise at her words. Scary as Tamassran, that one, with as many faces as an Orlesian noble. But he still nodded in accordance to her demands.
"Krem!" He yelled over his shoulder. "Tell the men to finish drinking on the road. The Chargers just got hired!"
"What about the casks, chief?" Krem asked and failing to mask the whining tone. "We just opened them up. With axes."
"Oh dear." Iron bull heard the elleth comment behind him.
"Find some way to seal 'em. You're Tevinter, right? Try blood magic." He drawled as he began walking towards his men. Turning to glance back at Lavellan he said, "We'll meet you back at Haven."
"Make sure you properly ask for whoever's in charge, hm?" She snickered under her breath.
Women are crazy. Iron Bull thought to himself as he watched her join the rest of her companions, the warrior hauling an unconscious Tevinter on her shoulder. The other elf girl was currently giggling as she drew all over the Tevinter's face. And elf women are the craziest.
Okay everyone! That's the last chapter for the re-edit. From here on out it will be new material! Yay!