We shall begin with Cullen's POV.
You -can- make your inquisitor have glorious eyes. Also, all hairstyles sucked. Sorry.
I wish I owned some of this. But I don't. ;-;
She had closed the Breach. For now. The Inquisition had been formed, with him as the Commander of the Forces. He did what he knew how to do; he trained the troops, drilled them all day, they had to be ready for whatever was going to happen next. Yet what was going to happen in the next twenty minutes…was going to show him what was going to happen in the next several weeks, possibly months to come.
Cassandra entered the room with the Herald. He remembered her from their brief meeting at the Temple. Natural golden-yellow and copper highlights filtered through the dark brown hair; her side swept bangs barely covering her intense green eyes, melted with the longest eye lashes he had ever seen. The sides of her bangs outlined her face, the rest of her hair pulled into a ponytail at the back of her head, her hair easily reaching midway down her spine. Her gaze held his as she entered the room; a frail looking woman, yet undoubtedly strong. Her sharp ears protruded beneath her hair, only adding to her sharp, intense beauty that usually would not catch him off guard. She wore light armor, new daggers from the forge strapped to her back, but the markings of her people, the Dalish, curled on her cheekbones, almost the same intense green as her eyes. He had fought beside many rogues in battle, but he remembered how fluidly she had moved, the flashing of her daggers as she fought beside him before they easily shifted into a comfortable stance, one that was familiar to anyone who had fought with someone with different skill sets. He faintly heard Cassandra remind the Herald of who he was, Commander of the Inquisition Forces.
"Such as they are." His eyes flitted from the war table back to the young elven woman across the way. "We lost many in the battle at the temple. I fear we will lose many more before this is over." Her bright eyes darkened at the thought; she didn't like it any better than he did. He watched her as Cassandra introduced Josephine and Leliana. She was a skilled fighter, no doubt about that. She moved with such an ease as only an elf could do, and if she thought she didn't notice that he noticed her shooting glances his way, she was sorely mistaken.
"We need to find a way to close the Breach, for good." Cassandra's voice brought him back to the war table.
-.-.-.-.
"Which means we need to approach the rebel mages for help." Leliana's voice shattered my focus; did she just suggest-
"I still disagree." The Commander's voice turned my attention back to him. "The Templars could do just as well." Cassandra made a disgusted noise. Obviously they'd all fought about this before.
"We need more power for the mark." Came the rebuttal. "The mages can pour magic into it, we need the same amount of power in the Herald's mark as that which created the Breach in the first place. That much magic-"
"Could just as easily destroy us all. The Templars could suppress the Breach, weaken it so-"
"Pure speculation." Leliana cut the commander off, and I shot a confused look at her. He seemed to have a point-
"I was a Templar. I know what they're capable of." His voice got low, and I found myself curious.
"Unfortunately, we do not have enough influence to speak to either group yet. The chantry has denounced the inquisition. You, specifically." Josephine gestured towards me, turning everyone's attention towards myself.
"That was fast." It came out before I had even thought about it, but I earned a slight smirk from the commander for it. The scar on his lip made him look particularly rugged and handsome for some reason.
"Shouldn't they be busy arguing over who's going to be the next Divine?" he asked, almost glowering at Josephine as if it was her fault. Josephine ignored him.
"Some are calling you the 'Herald of Andraste', and that frightens the Chantry." I snorted; of course it did. "The remaining clerics have deemed it blasphemy, and we heretics for harboring you."
"Chancellor Roderick's doing, no doubt." Cassandra chimed in.
"You mean the glorified clerk we yelled at before?" I asked innocently, but Josephine continued.
"It limits our options. Approaching either the mages or Templars is currently out of the question." A somewhat uncomfortable silence filled the room. I decided to break it, since they all seemed to be looking at me anyway.
"So people think I'm the Herald of Andraste? A Dalish elf, sent to spy on the Conclave? That's rich." I snorted, trying to lighten the mood a bit. I failed, miserably.
"People saw what you did to control the Breach, how you made it stable. And the people have heard about the woman who was behind you when you stepped out of the Fade when we found you. They believe that was Andraste herself." Cassandra chimed in, and I glanced at the green mark on my hand, which sputtered in reply.
"Even if we tried to stop people from talking about it-" Leliana started.
"But we haven't." Cassandra said, and Leliana shot her a look that said "I'M telling the story".
"People everywhere are talking about you, and they believe it."
"The Herald of Andraste…" the commander spoke with an air I'm sure he usually didn't have unless making a joke about something. I met his gaze. "Quite a title. How do you feel about it?"
"Creators bless me, I think it's ridiculous." I replied, perhaps too quickly.
"The chantry has decided an opinion for you, regardless of how you might feel." He scoffed, and I narrowed my eyes slightly. This man was curious. In a regaling, rugged, handsome sort of way.
"People are desperate for a sign of hope." Leliana said, bringing my attention back to her. "For some, you are that sign."
"And to others, a symbol of everything that has gone wrong." Joesphine said.
"Oh right, because the giant friggin' hole in the sky pouring demons out of it isn't a concern." I snapped, probably more agitated then I should have been.
"They realize it's a threat. They just don't think we can stop it." And the voice of reason speaks again.
"The chantry is telling everyone you'll make it worse." Josephine said, and I sighed, exasperated.
"Of course they are." I muttered, but no one seemed to pay my remark any mind as Leliana continued.
"There is something you can do. A chantry cleric by the name of Mother Giselle has asked to speak with you. She knows those involved, and her assistance could be invaluable."
"Fine, I'll see what she has to say." I muttered, running a hand through my bangs, definitely aggravated by the politics of the shemlen and their ridiculous chantry.
"You'll find Mother Giselle at the crossroads in the Hinterlands, not far from here-"
"Then I better get a move on, huh?" I said, turning on my heel and striding out the door, unable to contain myself any longer.
-.-.-.-.-.
Solas, Cassandra, Varric, and myself had spent about a month in the Hinterlands before we returned to Haven. Between closing Fade rifts, acquiring horses, a horse master, destroying the strongholds of both the Templars and the apostate's, running around putting out fires and saving refugees, the like taking up most of my time. When we finally did arrive back in Haven, I rode in on a horse Master Dennet had given me, and I was followed by my fine companions, whom I had learned a great deal about in the last four weeks.
"Blighted ass, I hate the cold." I muttered, slipping from my mount's saddle, my wrapped feet melting into the snow. I hated the cold with a fierce vengeance. As fond as I had grown of my three traveling companions, I decided a brisk walk back to…wherever I was needed, would be good for me.
I hadn't really thought about much since I had left. Well, much being the problems we all still faced. I had grown used to being called "knife-ear" and "Herald" all in the same sentence, and it turned out if you simply laughed at them calling you knife-ear, driving a dagger through their throat was that much easier. Was it so hard to notice the glowing green thing on my hand that could-
"That's a shield in your hand, block with it! If this was a real fight, you'd be dead." I was jolted from my thoughts as I found myself standing about six feet from the commander. He was surrounded by young recruits fighting with swords and shields, seemingly intent on beating each other up. Despite myself, I inched closer, and the commander folded his arms across his armored chest as he looked at me. May the Creator's preserve me, I had forgotten how incredibly handsome he was. "We've received a number of recruits from Haven and some pilgrims. Although…" he tilted his head slightly. "None made quite the entrance you did." I laughed lightly.
"What can I say, I like to stand out." I said, smiling like a love struck fool. I was graced with a smile from him.
"That you did." He gestured for me to follow him as he strode between the tents, and I did so, almost too eagerly. "I was recruited into the Inquisition in Kirkwall, myself. I was there during the Mage uprising. I saw firsthand the devastation it caused." I tilted my head in question.
"Were you really? I remember seeing the smoke from the city for weeks." I replied, and the commander looked at me in surprise.
"You were near Kirkwall when it happened?"
"Well, sort of. My clan was passing through the area. It was hard not to see the fires or hear the fighting from the slopes of Sundermount." I looked at him with a newfound respect. "And you were there during all of it."
"Ser!" a scout ran up to the commander, handing him a report that he swiftly looked over.
"Cassandra had a solution. When she offered me a position, I left the Templars to join her cause." He absentmindedly signed off on the report and handed it off to another scout, who promptly scuttled off.
"Despite everything….I know I can help." I found myself spilling a bit more of myself then I would have liked to the commander. "This mark on my hand, whatever it is, it closes the rifts, and I'll do what I can to help make things right." A slight smile tugged at the commander's lips as his honey brown eyes met my stark green ones.
"The chantry lost control of both the Templars and the mages, and now they're bickering over who the new divine will be while the Breach remains. The Inquisition could act where the Chantry could not, our followers would be a part of that." His fervor almost caught me off guard…almost. "There so much-"he stopped himself, and I raised an eyebrow at him. He laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, you just returned, you probably didn't stop by for a lecture."
"No, but if you have one prepared, I'd love to hear it." I said shyly, and he laughed, casting a look away from me before steadily returning my gaze, the look on his face making my stomach flutter.
"Another time, perhaps." His voice sent chills down my spine, and I smiled shyly at him. What was going on with me?
"I ah…" he cleared his throat, and suddenly I noticed we had moved closer together after he had handed off his report. I could smell the gentle scent of burnt wood mixed with something else, I couldn't put my finger on it but it made the man in front of me even more attractive then he already was. "There's still more work ahead." His voice made me blink back to reality. The faint scar on his lip stood out amongst the bare stubble growing on his face. He truly was handsome though, and it seemed he had a gentle soul despite his prowess on the battlefield. Before I could say anything to him that would probably have made the moment even more awkward, a scout ran up to us, with another report. "As I was saying." He gave me a half smile, gesturing to the report as he took it in his hands and walked away, leaving me alone in the midst of the training soldiers.
"He is a gentle man. Try to remember that." Cassandra's voice behind me made me jump, and I spun around to face her, feeling my face and ears burn. She had her arms crossed, looking almost…smug.
"I don't know what you're-"
"Herald." She took a few steps forward. "Just be kind to him." And she left me alone with my swirling thoughts.