"Isabela, fancy seeing you here," a man remarked as Isabela waved the letter in the air.
"Next time tell your men to burn the letters." She crumpled it up and tossed it to the floor at his feet. He sighed, shaking his head as he looked up at Isabela and then turned her attention to Lisa.
"I see you brought yourself some backup. Smart girl. But does your muscle for hire know really why she's here?"
"It doesn't matter. I want you to tell Castillion to leave me alone."
"Not until you make up for your mistake."
"They were a ship full of people! I refuse to be part of Castillion's next scheme to make money. And your relic is lost."
"Ah…that's no good," the man remarked as Lisa tensed, watching his hand move around his belt. "I was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to this."
"Too late," Isabela announced, pulling a blade from her back and flinging it towards the young woman next to him. It plunged through her throat and she collapsed onto the floor as Lisa whipped her bow out, quickly dealing with the archers surrounding the room. It wasn't as easy as the fight in the streets, but soon enough the pair stood victorious and panting.
Lisa winced as she broke the arrow in her shoulder, allowing her to pull the rest out from the other side. "Balls…you didn't even need a shot of liquor," Isabela remarked as Lisa sat herself on a stair, pulling off part of her shirt to inspect the damages. She tugged out a bottle of water and a bandage and started doing her best at fixing it with one hand only for Isabela to come over and help.
"My brother and I had to work to keep up with my sister's and father's healing powers. I know it sounds silly but when we got older we hated how out father and sister would so easily fix our wounds. So we would ignore them and tend to them ourselves and after enough stab wounds and bruises we gained a sort of tolerance over pain." She winced again as Isabela tightened the knot on her bandage before slipping the shirt back over.
"Well…thank you, Lisa. You definitely didn't have to go this far for a pick up line," she teased as Lisa smirked.
"I'm known for being persistent," the pair chuckled as Lisa stood, stretching her back and recollecting her arrows before glancing at Isabela over her shoulder. "What was he talking about, anyway?" The woman sighed, leaning against a wall as she waited.
"When I had my ship his boss asked me to escort a ship to Orlais. Only something about it didn't feel right. When I checked what cargo I was protecting I found it was a ship full of slaves; men, women, children, both elves and humans willing to sell their services to him just to get away from the Blight. So…I let them go. And ever since then Castillion has been nagging at me to make up for my 'mistake.'"
"The relic?"
"Yes…unfortunately, since my arrival in Kirkwall, I've lost it. That's what I was asking about when you found Lucky and me in the bar. I need to get it back…"
"To give to Castillion?" Lisa asked as she slipped the last arrow into her quiver and made her way over to Isabela, walking with the woman towards the door as she shook her head and smirked.
"Hardly. That loot is mine and I worked hard to get it. So the next time I get my fingers on it I'm sure as hell not going to let go."
From that day on Isabela chose to tag along with the group. Lisa wasn't sure if it was because the pirate enjoyed her company or if she was hoping that Lisa would lead her to her lost relic. In the end Lisa didn't care, the more help the better.
And that's when the witch's necklace seemed to start burning in her pocket again. There was something strange, though, whenever she considered bringing the necklace to it's final resting place; she felt like once she did everything that was going on in her life would be gone. It was dumb but she felt as if the moment she handed the necklace over she'd find herself staring up at the sky and watching as the Darkspawn over ran them on the mountains outside Lothering. It was a morbid thought, and one she kept to herself. But even Bethany wasn't in much of a rush to get rid of it.
Lisa had settled herself on the step outside her uncle's house, turning the amulet over in her fingers as she tried to read the strange inscription. It looked like a simple design, but when she looked closer it seemed to resemble words. Although they weren't any words she recognized.
"Hawke!" Came a small shout, making Lisa jump from her thoughts as she looked up and smiled at Isabela. "I don't think I've ever seen you simply doing nothing," she teased, taking a seat next to Lisa and the woman scooted over to make room. "What's that?"
"A necklace," Isabela made a surprised noise before sticking her tongue out at Lisa.
"Well no shit, slick, why are you so interested in it?" She clarified as Lisa smirked, holding it up to look at it in the sun.
"When my family and I were escaping Lothering we were saved by 'the Witch of the Wilds' and she made me promise to bring this to a Dalish camp outside the city once I'd gotten settled in. But…I haven't been able to bring myself to give it up."
"I wouldn't, it's her loss for giving it to you," she said nonchalantly as Lisa smirked and shook her head.
"Truthfully I don't really want it…too many bad memories with it, but at the same time since I've had it things have sort of being going right. We were able to make it to Kirkwall, get into the city, start making a name for ourselves. Hell, even meeting you was a nice little treat," she chuckled only to frown as Isabela gave her a serious look, reaching over and pushing Lisa's hand closed around the necklace.
"What's happened to you and your family is your doing, no one else's. It's your hard work that made people look to you for help. Not a silly necklace that some crazy lady gave you." Lisa continued to stare at her like she was looking at a completely different person, which was apparently enough to make Isabela uncomfortable. She cleared her throat nervously and stood, trotting down the stairs to turn and face Lisa. "Anyway…figured you should know that. Someone like you deserves to," she commented before making her way down the road.
Lisa hesitated, glancing at her closed fist before quickly standing and running after the pirate. "Isabela," she called, causing the tanned woman to stop and look over her shoulder. "Would you come with me? I'd be nice to have someone other than family there when I return it," she added as Isabela smirked and nodded.