The tavern was warm and loud, just the way Bull liked them. There was even a red-headed serving girl that didn't seem too spooked by Qunari. He took a deep breath as he walked in with his men close behind.
Bull threw the money on their table. Good haul, today. Even with another member to share with, the pay was still more than fine. Which meant the whole group was in a great mood already.
"Drinks are on me!" he shouted as he sat down and his men cheered. Bull thought he even saw Grim smile. Rocky grinned and jumped around like a child on sugar-high. Or a dwarf on Lyrium, as it were. He made a mental note to check their supplies later. Skinner relaxed and started sharpening her daggers. They sat around in their now familiar formation.
The new girl seemed lost as she stood there, not knowing what to do. A stark contrast to how she acted when she first came to him. Or how she fought. 'Come now, little one, sure you won't be scared of a few rowdy mercs, wil you?' Here he thought lady had guts. Hmm, perfectly confident amongst enemies, but no idea what to do when no one attacks her. That said a few things about her life - none of them good.
But then, they came in all sizes, he guessed. Dalish wasn't too different when she first arrived. Nor were most of them, if he was honest with himself. Before he could formulate a strategy to put her more at ease, she… shook herself. A flawless mask of friendliness fell on her face. Confident without a hint of arrogance, friendly without unearned familiarity. Bull's appreciation rose once again. Too bad it was a mask… but his men will get her to open up soon, of that he had no doubt.
She pulled a chair from a table nearby to sit amongst them, near the elves. Dalish smiled at her welcomingly while Skinner growled under her breath. Downright friendly of that one. Didn't even try to point her daggers at the 'filthy shem'. He'll have to do something nice for her later.
Krem pulled a wine bottle to his lips, took a healthy gulp, then fixed the new girl with an intense stare, "So, how exactly did you get out of the fight so clean?"
Her shoulders tensed, but she gave a polite, restrained smile, "My barrier spell kept the blood splatters away."
"Oh, you're a mage then?" Dalish all but squealed. At the girls nod, her face lit up with a smile. "That's great! How do you do it? Maybe you could share some tips… I mean, my people know a lot about magic, so…"
Krem rolled his eyes. "She's a Charger now, Dalish. You don't have to hide your magic here."
Dalish just smiled, "Oh no, ser, I'm not a mage. I'm just a dalish elf that knows a few things. Clan history and the like, you see." The rest of the group groaned.
Bull smiled fondly, but interrupted them, "Hey! Before you start, we need to make this official." He turned to the girl, who watched him with curious eyes again. "Now that you've proven yourself, you get to have a Charger name."
"A Charger name?" she repeated curiously.
Skinner snorted into her beer, briefly setting aside her daggers, "You don't honestly believe my parents named me 'Skinner', do you?"
The girl inclined her head gracefully, "So I get a nickname, then?"
"No, not just a nickname. It's your name." Bull corrected her. "You see, it's a Qunari thing. We get names that are more than just a couple of pretty sounds. We have names that mean something. Titles, you could say. Now you'll get to have one, too."
"What is your name?"
The question threw him for a moment. Not that she asked, but the way… As if she knew that he was still Qunari and not a Tal-Vashoth. He had to stop his eyes from narrowing. She seemed to know, or at least notice, more than he gave her credit for. Dangerous. He'll have to remember that.
"Hissrad."
Her eyebrows lifted and Bull saw even some of his own men startle at that. Probably hadn't realized that he had a name aside from The Iron Bull. But then, it was not necessary for them to know while they were fighting or drinking. Which is what they did most of the time.
"Right. So, your name will be…" he paused to consider her. There were many things that jumped to mind when he thought of her, but only one really stuck with him. Her odd fighting style. The way this little mage rushed towards giant spiders with nothing but cheap daggers was glorious. "…Rush."
Her eyes widened, then she… blushed? What a strange reaction. Even stranger was the fact he could not figure out the cause, while usually he had everyone pegged five minutes into their first meeting. Bull suddenly foresaw many hours spent with his head in hands, trying to figure her out.
"I… yes." She looked at him and he was shocked to see the maelstrom of emotions in her eyes. Too many for him to fully grasp and categorize, even with all his training. Then she looked down and added in a whisper, "Thank you."
Before things could get too awkward, Krem took another gulp of his wine and grinned, "Nice. Can't wait to see you deal with some bandits."
"Not before she teaches me some sp… some more about magic!" Dalish squeaked indignantly.
Bull laughed, "Sure! One not-mage to another. I can't wait to see you two trying to train inside the city."
"Careful there… Chief. We might surprise you and do just that," Rush smiled at him.
'Chief, huh?' Bull had to stop his eyes from narrowing once again. This was all going a bit too fast. It was just yesterday that he met her for the first time. And here she sat amongst his people, his inner circle so to speak, joking around, calling him the same name they did. Which would not be a problem, if it was sincere, but Bull could clearly see the stiff way she still held herself. Definitely still careful and nervous around them.
"So long as you don't get caught and dragged away into some dark dungeon, those are the kinds of surprises I like."
She nodded to him and that was that. Before she could relax though, Krem leaned in and Bull was surprised to see Rush tense up so much even the rest of the Chargers noticed.
Krem paused before he could say what he intended, then continued a bit more kindly, instead of using his usual snark. "Now that you're one of us, I want to know more about you." Krem waited for her acknowledging nod, before he casually asked the one thing they could not really figure out from their reports. "Why exactly are you on the run?"
Bull fully expected Rush to flinch or tense up even more, or at least defend herself and question how much they knew about her, but to his surprise yet again, she actually relaxed slightly.
She gave his lieutenant a cold smirk, "I burned a Templar's head."
"Really? You don't seem the type," Rocky lifted an eyebrow at her from under his ever-present hood. Looked like she just gained his respect, now that she admitted she could play with fire, too. "Why just head? Why not his face?"
Her cold smirk only grew wider. "The head I burned didn't have a face."
The men collectively winced. Bull personally thought this explained a lot about their new member. If what he suspected was right, flinching away from Krem certainly made more sense now. His lieutenant was a bit too… manly at times. Skinner stopped sharpening her blades and fixed Rush with an appreciative look. Looked like the newcomer managed to win her over, too. Bull only hoped their newfound friendship won't result in too many casualties. They needed some people left to be their clients, too.
"Not bad, shem," Skinner all but purred. "Tell me more about it."
Rush relaxed back in her chair and casually steepled her long, slender fingers. "Templar, only known as Rylan. A young upstart who joined the Order to 'make sure the mages serve men properly'. Which meant he liked to beat up young apprentices and harass senior Enchanters during their research. He was mostly just an annoyance, not much worse than the rest of the Order," she shrugged her shoulders, as if such behavior was perfectly normal.
Bull felt a twinge of pity for anyone who accepted beatings and harassment as a 'normal' part of their life.
"I caught his attention when I submitted a proposal to study the Tranquil. Mages whose connection to the Fade has been disrupted, making them emotionally dead. Little better than walking corpses, really," she added when she saw several uncomprehending faces. "I didn't believe the Rite was permanent, you see. The Rite is based on a Lyrium brand, and there is not much known about the mineral itself in the first place. Even less is known about the Rite which we have been using for centuries, but never truly studied. I believed that the Rite of Tranquility could be changed, or maybe we could develop a new one altogether; one that wouldn't be so damaging. Take away the magic, sure, but don't kill their hearts in the process. Connect to the Fade without the ability to cast spells, make sure they dream but can't manipulate, and mages are no more dangerous than any other person." Her eyes got several shades darker.
"I bet they didn't like that," Dalish whispered, her eyes huge with fear at the mere thought of Templars. And here Bull thought being part of the Chargers gave her more confidence. Hmm, he'll have to make her feel safe here. Official sanction? Gain the right to recruit mages into his company, maybe? Many nobles preferred to trade in favors instead of money - he could use that.
Rush continued, a bit surprised at the other mage's reaction, "No, the proposal was actually quite a popular one. Had I found a way to do this, half the Isolationists and most Loyalists would jump at the chance to have it done to themselves. The only problem the Chantry had was the fact that a mage would study the Rite and learn to modify it."
She leaned back with a heavy sigh. "I… almost had it. Two years of steady politicking and gaining favors left and right and the Chantry was almost ready to accept my proposal. But, a new Rite would also have some not so pleasant consequences." She smiled bitterly. "Should many mages suddenly become 'harmless', there would be no need for the Chantry to employ so many Templars. Which means the weaker ones, the useless ones, would be let go. Like Rylan."
Light of understanding entered the eyes of most Chargers and Rush chuckled darkly, "So, he had to get rid of me, somehow. And what better way to do that than to accuse me of being possessed?"
"Wait, possessed?" Krem narrowed his eyes at her, "Didn't you say you burned his…"
"Yes, I did. But you see, that's the beauty of it. There are Demons, really powerful ones, who can take you over but keep wearing your appearance like a set of clothes. Or so I heard; I'm starting to have my doubts about validity of such claims. Anyway, the only proper way to deal with an abomination, or suspected abomination, is death. Immediate execution. It would be a simple matter to claim I was possessed by a Desire demon and the 'good Templar' had just 'barely escaped my horrible trap', killing me in the process." Her fingers closed into a fist, "He'd probably get a promotion over it, too. Raping me would be just a bonus."
There was a moment of silence as the group processed this. Bull was once again in the strange state of not knowing what to think. His instincts and his training both told him she was telling the truth. But if demons could truly possess people and look like them then… No. He will not let his fears rule him and cloud his judgment. It would be so like the rotten assholes of this country to claim possession like that was possible even if it wasn't; to use common people's fears of magic to make them accept murder without question.
Grim was surprisingly the one who got over his shock first. Or maybe he didn't, because he actually spoke, "That is…" then he paused, uncertain how to continue.
"That is Circle life for you," Rush smiled at him bitterly and reached for the closest tankard. It was a testament to Skinner's growing respect for the girl that she didn't even protest having her drink taken by a shem, much less reach for her daggers. Rush emptied the tankard, completely shattering her image of a noble lady, slammed it back down on the table and continued her sorry tale, "My only consolation is that a burned penis and an escaped mage are much harder to explain than a rotting corpse. Still, Rylan got official sanction to hunt me down, which makes me think that it was some other Templar, much higher up in the Order, that put him up to this." She sighed, "So, I guess I wasn't anywhere near close to getting approval for my research after all."
Stitches gave her an incredulous look and could no longer keep quiet about this, "Wait, you worry about your research, when the bastards tried to have you raped and murdered?" The incredulity in his voice and the agreeing looks of the rest of the Chargers made the woman blush.
"Of course I worry about that, too! But you see, rape and murder are… well… that's what the Circle was like, ever since a Loyalist became First Enchanter. But my research would influence much more than just my life. It could have saved hundreds of Tranquil all over Thedas and made life worth living for more mages than you can imagine. Compared to that, yes, this whole debacle is a minor glitch in the greater scheme of things." She waver her hand as if to dismiss her entire fate as inconsequential.
Bull was honestly surprised. Once again. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was Qunari. She certainly thought like them. The individual life was not important - what mattered was the whole, and if it helped her people, the right thing to do was to sacrifice everything she had to achieve it, even if it killed her in the process. Where did values and opinions like that come from, he wondered. Certainly not from examples, if what she said of the Circle was true.
Rush sighed heavily and bowed her head, "So, here I am. Hunted by a Templar bent on revenge, with someone very powerful behind him determined to get rid of me. I sure know how to pick my enemies…" She looked straight at Bull with such pained acceptance in her eyes that he felt a twinge of answering pain himself. Her next question didn't surprise him at all. In fact, he almost expected it.
"Do you want me to leave?"
Bull didn't even have to think about his answer. The right thing was clear, as few things in his life were anymore. "No. I will not reject you because some asshole is trying to have you killed."
Her eyes closed with relief. The shaking breath she took told him much, mainly that he had just managed to gain her loyalty. Still, she felt the need to feebly protest, even though he saw that it was mostly for show and to make sure he really did mean what he said. "I have powerful enemies…"
"So?" he asked her insolently and they both understood that he knew just how much trouble he and his men could get into over this, over her.
She stayed quiet for a heartbeat, then she smiled at him. "Thank you."
Before things could get too bloody awkward, Krem jumped in with a smirk, "Good. You can join fully by completing an old Charger's tradition, new-blood."
"And what tradition is that?" Rush asked with a small smile, still uncertain around the lieutenant.
"Fetch us drinks!" Krem grinned and the rest of the Chargers roared with approval.
Rush laughed and did as he asked. Bull saw her shoulders relax as she turned to walk to the bar, and understood that she let herself truly become one of them.