E is for Encounter

"Morrigan, child, where are you?" Flemeth's voice echoed across the cottage. Morrigan looked up from the book of spells she was reading.

"Yes, mother?" She called out. She waited, listening to Flemeth's footsteps on the creaky floorboards coming closer. Her mother poked her head around the open doorframe.

"Ah, there you are. I need you to do something for me." She pushed her way into Morrigan's room, and sat down on the bed next to her. Morrigan folded over the corner of the page she was on and shut the book, giving Flemeth her full attention.

"What is it, mother?"

"I'm meeting a Dalish Keeper today and her apprentice, and I need you to make yourself scarce."

"Why can't I meet them?" Morrigan had not seen a Dalish in person; and the information about them in the cottage was woefully inadequate

"Please, girl, don't be stupid. Knowledge is power, and they can't know about you." Flemeth shoved her daughter's feet off the bed, forcing her to sit upright.

"But you trust them enough to invite them here." She pleaded. She really wanted to meet the Dalish.

"Don't argue with me, Morrigan. You won't win."

"I'm in the middle of something." That was partially true. She had been studying spells, yes, but Morrigan was fairly certain that her mother wouldn't approve of them.

"Get back to it later." Flemeth sighed. "If you can't find something else with which to occupy yourself, then perhaps there is something you can do. The Keeper is traveling with her clan, but she and her First are supposed to leave them behind. I don't trust the rest of the clan not to follow her. Watch her trail – make sure that no one else comes near here. If they do, warn me. You can practice your shapeshifting if you like." Morrigan almost squealed with glee at getting permission to shapeshift. She leapt off the bed and started towards the door.

"Farewell, mother!"

"Hold it." Morrigan stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Flemeth. "What form are you going to use?" She asked accusingly. Morrigan thought for a moment.

"Wolf."

"Better a bird. Small, unnoticable, fast and can fly. The Dalish hunt wolves for their pelts. Birds have excellent eyes." Flemeth was testing her, she knew it. Her mother was under the impression she chose the form because she liked it. Her mother was wrong.

"You said you didn't want me to get close; I'll stay far enough away from their bows. I can't tell Dalish apart by sight alone, but I can tell them by odor. And I can howl from a great distance to signal you if any approach. Bird calls may not carry far enough." Morrigan said with a triumphant grin. Her logic was impeccable. Flemeth hrumphed in reply and dismissed her with a wave of her hand. Morrigan dashed off, thrilled that she had passed the test.

She transformed the second she was outside of the cottage. She reveled in the sensation of being a wolf. Her vision changed, growing worse, but her sense of smell more than made up for it. The world seemed richer and more alive through her nose; trees, plants, animals; everything had a distinctive scent. Who needed to see colors when she could smell them? She could smell a pack of wolves nearby; the same pack who helped her learn this form. A part of her wanted to follow their scent; to find them and run with them. But she had a task, and would not be deterred from it. She lifted her snout to the wind, not entirely sure what she was searching for.

All of a sudden, there it was, a waft of scent so strong, and coming closer. It smelled almost human, but not entirely. There was a strong tang of forest and especially of ironwood. There was the smell of age, and of something that almost, but not entirely, resembled deer. She could smell females and magic. The Keeper. Good, they were almost here.

But the Keeper was not her concern; only the trail that was left behind. Morrigan padded off into the forest, not directly towards the source of the scent, but on a path parallel to it. It would not do for her to be seen. It wasn't long before the scent was behind her, instead of front. She changed course, instead of moving parallel, she headed in a direction that would intersect with their trail. She'd never encountered the Dalish directly, only studied them in books; perhaps she could learn more from their tracks.

One thing was for sure; the elves, or at least the Keepers, were not expecting to be followed. Their footprints were as clear as day, and the smell was as strong as anything. She squinted at two sets, walking side-by-side. One set clearly belonged to an adult, which must be the Keeper, but the other set was tiny; smaller than even her feet in human form. So the apprentice was young, possibly even younger than her. It was hard to tell. That was a surprise; she didn't know why, but she expected it to be someone older, possibly even a full grown adult. She noticed something else too; the prints were of bare feet. So clearly the Dalish didn't use footwear. That was something never mentioned in her history books.

Suddenly, she caught a whiff of something. Another Dalish, this time very close by. She had been so intent on her examination that she almost didn't notice. She certainly didn't hear anything. Morrigan looked around frantically; the scent was almost on top of her. She spotted bushes on the side of the path, and leapt into it the thick of it, then circled around to watch the path.

Not a moment too soon; an elf came up the path, clearly following the trail that the others had left behind. Morrigan was startled to see that it was another youngling; this clearly very close to her own age, and female. The elf girl was slowly and carefully following the tracks, and she seemed to be making a concerted effort to stay completely silent. Morrigan looked on with admiration. Not even the Chasind could move so quietly; but then again, the Chasind wore shoes. This was interesting; she'd never seen a Dalish before, and she'd never seen another person so young.

The girl stopped, and stared at one of the footprints on the ground. That was odd; Morrigan leaned slightly out of the bushes to see why, and almost yelped when she saw what the Dalish was looking at. A pawprint. One of hers. How could she have been so stupid? She sat back on her haunches, and a branch snapped underneath her. Morrigan and the girl froze for a split second. The girl looked into the bushes and straight at her, for a long moment. She couldn't run; not with the girl staring at her. She stepped forward, out of the bush and into the light.

The girl's eyes widened in surprise, and a big smile spread across her face. She started to make a clicking sound with her tongue. Morrigan cocked her head slightly. What was this Dalish trying to do? Call her? She noticed that the child was not carrying weapons, so maybe she wouldn't try and kill her. So what did the elf want?

"Hello little one. Are you lost? Where's your mother?" the girl asked softly. At home, Morrigan thought, her eyes narrowing at the little girl. The girl reached out a hand, apparently to let Morrigan sniff it. As if she couldn't smell the girl well enough from where she was. She made no move to come closer. "Do you want to be my friend? We could hunt together."

Morrigan could help herself. She laughed; it came out as almost a snort. Friend? She wanted a friend? A tamed pet. A servant to fetch and hunt. She studied the elf child, and the girl studied her back. It certainly was a fearless, if somewhat foolish creature. A friend. No, if this elf knew what she was, she probably would not make such an offer. The mumble of voices interrupted her contemplation and they both looked toward the source of the noise. A quick sniff told her that it was more Dalish, and males this time. They would not want to be her friend, that much was certain. One last glance at the girl showed that she was still looking towards the direction of the voices. Good. As silently as she could manage, she slipped away, as far away from the elves as she could manage.

She was still within hearing distance, though, and she could hear the sound of children arguing. So the males were younglings as well. So not warriors after Flemeth, just curious brats. She opened her throat, about to howl, and stopped. Perhaps it would be more interesting to see just how far they would get.

Morrigan followed them from a distance, always keeping their scent in her nose, and their voices in their ear. One of the males was especially loud, and it made her task easier. They got almost to the tree line, and stopped. So at least one of them wasn't entirely stupid; the path to her mother's cottage held very little cover. It gave her time to get in a position where she could see them, but they couldn't see her. This was much more fun than studying. She heard the three of them arguing, and then the girl took the lead. It didn't surprise her that it was the female who figured out a way. Morrigan watched as they crawled on their bellies towards the cottage, and then she remembered that there was a reason she was following them. Letting them get this far was all fine and well, but her mother would not be happy if they managed to get inside. She howled, hopefully her mother would understand. They got almost to the open window, and she howled again.

Suddenly, the three children tore off, sprinting as fast as they could back to the safety of the trees. Clearly something had frightened them. Good, that meant Flemeth got the message. She watched the boys trudge crestfallen down the path, back towards wherever it was they came from. The girl fell back behind them, and turned back to the cottage. From this distance, Morrigan could almost smell the determination on her. Not an elf who was easily thwarted. An unusual thought popped into her head; she hoped this clan would come back. She didn't like people, any of them, but a part of her wanted to meet this girl again. One day. Another wolf howled – the pack was still close by. She had time; Morrigan loped off to join the other wolves for a hunt.

A/N: If you've read one of my other stories Shadow In The Forest, this particular chapter might seem a bit familiar - Chapter 8 tells pretty much the same story from a different perspective. Actually, the chance to tell Morrigan's side of this encounter is a big part of why I chose to do the alphabet challenge with her. If you haven't read it, it's not necessary, but I recommend it, mostly because I like it when people read my stuff ;D. Shadow In the Forest is very much a work-in-progress, there's about 11 or 12 chapters up at the moment. Also, I would very much like to hear what people think so; good, bad, or ugly; I'd very much appreciate a review, on anything of mine you happen to read. I will pretty much always send a message back. Thanks!