A/N: thank you guys for supporting the first chapter so well! Sorry it took so long to put a new chapter up, but life gets in the way. This is part 1 of 2 right now, because otherwise it would be double the length. From here on in, this story starts diverging from the main storyline of DA:I and more considerably in pt 2.
Thank you for reading~
2 :: Manifesting Memories: Pt 1
As they exited the dungeon, Penny was greeted by the harsh and harrowing midday winter sun. The surroundings, made stark and somber by the packed snow and cracked ice, reflected and fractured the light, giving more fuel to her migraine's already fierce fire. After a few moments, her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked around at the small and tightly built encampment.
The buildings, though old, showed little signs of wear beyond the weather-worn and sun bleached exteriors. Most were made of rough hewn stone and hardwood, held together by large, handmade nails. Woven between each of them were rugged and well trodden paths, lined with containers of varying size and shapes with old stones foot-worn and weathered down, generally marking the way.
On the clear areas near them and the large, impressive keep, were the people who inhabited this place. Half were dressed as varying types of soldiers, and the rest wore clothes of their various jobs. All wore expressions of hatred and fury, directed entirely at Penny.
She leaned back a little, the tension and general anger pressing in on her like a gravity well. "S-sal-u-u…." Her voice died down almost as soon as it began when the people started murmuring and spitting various accusations towards her.
"These people have already decided your fate." Cassandra's voice came from beside her, the stern woman's gaze following Penny's own. "To them you are only the sole survivor at the breach. The one closest to the Divine. And in a moment when they all look for someone to take fault, you are the one they see."
Penny looked at Cassandra, who was pointedly avoiding her gaze. "Do…you still believe I did all this?" She asked, her voice small, tears forming at the edges of her words and choking back her air. Guilt washed over her. Guilt, not for having done it all, but for not having answers to give these people, who she so desperately wanted to help. To protect.
She almost started back at that thought. To protect? She was suddenly so sure of it. She was a protector. That was her purpose, her calling. She was meant to do so. Trained for it. Maybe… I was a soldier?
After a few long moments of silence, her unwilling companion spoke, "I do not know what to believe. You are clearly connected to the rift. If the Divine was killed by your hand, by your strange magic, we shall soon find out. For now, you are our only hope against fighting the breach. Perhaps… you are the key to stopping it."
Penny looked at her, feelings of confusion and failure washing through her. When Cassandra finally met her gaze, it was with the same stern and steadfast expression she always seemed to have, but there was something powerful, and softer behind it now. Hope. Penny made up her mind. "I will do what I can to help and protect people from the breach."
After another few moments of silent deliberation, Cassandra moved nearly faster than Penny could blink, and the ropes binding her hands were cut. Cassandra produced a thin and extremely worn hide vest, holes torn through some parts and worn so much under the arms she could nearly see through it. "Wear this. I can't have you dying before we reach the rifts. You will be of no use then."
Penny rubbed her wrists for a moment before donning the vest. It took her a moment to fasten the ties without ripping it further, but once she had it on, it kept a good deal of the cold from bothering her. Once she stopped shivering, Cassandra turned and strode off, not really waiting for her to follow.
Penny blinked in confusion, but quickly followed when she heard the whispers and murmurs increase in volume, and swords being drawn behind her. "Where are you taking me?" She asked as she did her best to keep up without falling on the packed ice and snow, a comical sight to the people so used to it here, and she heard them laughing openly at her.
"Your mark needs to be tested on something smaller than the breach first. You will see." Cassandra replied without looking back. Her steps never faltered despite the ice. "Open the gates. We are going to the forward camp!"
As she yelled this, Penny watched in amazement as the massive and heavily reinforced gates swung open. They stood at least 5 times her height and nearly as thick as her shoulder width. Beyond the immense stone walls and solid, ever-protecting gates, stood a scene beyond any she had witnessed before.
The mountains, though visible from inside the walls of the keep, were seemingly even more monolithic up close, making all who went near them feel as insignificant as grains of soil. Spread across their peaks of snow-covered ice were evergreen trees in varying shades of green, each one pointed and tall, as if to try and reach the peaks far above that soared into the clouds. A path, as well worn as the ones inside, wound around the side, set precariously just above a sharp cliff which was only kept safe by a single and barely secured wooden railing made from the same trees that were growing nearby.
Along the path, in stark contrast to the serene beauty surrounding it, lay a scene of desolate, heart-wrenching terror. Barricades stretched forth every few paces, made of discarded and broken carts of supplies, fallen logs, and in some cases, piles of dead and near unidentifiable bodies, and reinforced with quickly made spikes. Splattered and strung between, beside, and entangled on the barricades was the very life and blood of soldiers, traders, women, and children alike. All sprawled lifeless among piles of ash, destroyed carts and barricades, dead animals, and still-burning ethereal green fires.
For a few minutes, Penny felt nothing. Her body starkly white and breath not coming or going from her. A glacier the size of the mountain they stood upon had settled in her stomach and its weight, for a few moments more, dragged her beneath waves of depression and regret.
"This, is the consequence of the war and destruction brought about by the breach. Such scenes like this, have hardened the hearts of everyone in the land. Have turned the hatred we had for each other, onto anything… and anyone… connected with it." Cassandra's voice came from beside her now.
As Penny looked up at the stern woman's face, she discerned feelings so different from her own. Stoic and a sort of numb disheartening painted itself across her features as she gazed on the fallen. But in a moment, the look was gone, replaced with the soldier's face once more.
"Come. The first camp is not far from here. And after that, your test awaits." As Cassandra spoke, she strode forward again and Penny did her best to keep up and ignore the scene they waded through.
The path carried them on for nearly an hour or more until they reached a heavily fortified and guarded bridge. The gates here were as massive as the ones in the keep and opened with a more painful slowness and squeaking. The bridge itself was being used as a sort of camp over the fully frozen river below.
Penny heard a cacophony of whispered tidings and conversations as they passed soldiers receiving orders, a woman in red and white robes and headdress, and several wounded or tired people.
"-lost in the mining caves. We must provide assistance…"
"-the winds of faith carry your soul to…"
"...19 so far, dress and crest resemble the Orlesian…"
"-bigger than the largest steed! And nearly killed…"
Penny's head swam with both her migraine and sensory overstimulation. Everywhere she looked, the blinding white snow and packed ice reflected a harsh sun. The pain grew worse until it overwhelmed her, her body suddenly jerking and spasming as the breach crackled and grew, her body becoming covered in the electric green lightning-like energy once again. Her cries of anguish alerted everyone on the bridge until only her pain was heard.
When the pain and energy subsided, she dropped to her knees and hands, panting for breath and shaking violently in the aftermath of pain. Cassandra came up beside her and, with a gentleness she'd not yet seen, helped Penny to her feet once again.
"Each time the breach grows larger, the mark on your hand spreads. The pulses are coming faster now, as well. We must hurry."
Penny merely nodded weakly and tried to stand upright on her own. She'd gotten no more than a step when a cry was heard and everyone instantly tried to scramble to the gates. Confusion for a moment made her head clear, but she only had a split second to register the flaming green comet from the breach before it hit the bridge near her and Cassandra, whiting out her world as they tumbled to the ice below.
She blinked several times once she came to, but the fever pitch whine in her ears wouldn't subside. As she looked up, she saw a pool of black across the frozen river that had been scattered by the comet suddenly start rising. It formed slowly into a nightmare-black creature, it's sickly fur absorbing all light, and it wore a bone-like skull streaked with glowing red veins on its face. Along its body were the same bone-like material, sharded into spikes and scales. It stood nearly as tall as the gates, and despite its wolf-like body shape, stood easily on two legs.
She barely registered Cassandra's voice through the whine as she rushed forward, shield and sword drawn, "Stay behind me!"
As her senses came through enough to hear and see properly, she realized with dismay she'd fallen into a pool of black, sticky substance from the comet, and it was now trying to form up into another creature. She started back, scrambling to stand and move away from the demon that was about to be in front of her. Nearly panicking, she looked around frantically for cover. And her eyes rested on a crate of weapons and supplies that had been broken open. A small sword reflected the light, its handle bound in green and black leather, the blade thin and the length of her arm. Something stirred within her at the sight.
The immense creature roared at her and lunged suddenly, and she only barely managed to dodge in time. She leapt for the crate, diving in with bare hands and arms, hardly registering the cuts she gleaned from them as she grasped the weapon's hilt and hauled it upwards. Using her weight and balance, she swung her newfound weapon in an arc towards the beast, slicing through one of its upper limbs with ease before embedding the tip of the blade and half its length in the ice.
Penny now began to register that the weapon she'd picked up, was not the sword, but instead a large and handcrafted sickle, modified from its farming purpose to suit the hands and hardships of war. Its handle lengthened to nearly half her body in length and a curved blade the same size fastened securely to its end at a nearly right angle.
She tugged and pulled at the weapon, trying with futile efforts to dislodge it. The beast, now recovered from the wound, bellowed out its fury and made to lunge once again at her. Penny moved automatically, hand reaching down and feeling a magic and energy surge within her, bringing her hand quickly up and forward, pointed towards the demon's chest.
She blinked at the sight, surprise and confusion in equal parts. The beast had been brought to a complete halt by the sword now embedded deeply in its chest, its blade glowing with the same green energy as her hand and body. It took an unsteady step before slowly melting away into a pile of ash and smoke, the sword clattering to the ground before Penny picked it up in amazement.
"Drop your weapon!" Cassandra ordered, her voice full of threat and red-hot anger as she pointed her sword at Penny's throat.
"O-oh okay…" She replied, stuttering as she bent down to place the sword on the ground and backed up, hands raised in surrender, her mind still reeling from the event.
Cassandra looked at both the sickle and sword, and then at the pile of smoking ash beside them with a sneering contempt before shaking her head. With a sigh, she relented to some argument she was having with herself. "No. Choose one. I cannot possibly protect you alone. You did, after all, agree to help."
With that, she turned on her heel, sheathing her sword and walking away. Penny hastily grabbed her own sword now, and followed, doing her best not to slip on the ice as she tried to walk and fasten the sheath to her waist at the same time.