after the storm, i ran

“As you wish.” Rosalie drew her sword and began to move in a circular motion following the rings diameter. “I’ll admit I’m not a fan of putting up against axes but, we do awe must.” She rushed forward to towards the other woman her shield up and ready to go. She wasn’t sure what Levina would do but she was sure the axes were about to be a problem.

                    levina all but hopped out of the way, one axe swinging down to hook onto rosalie’s shield. she pulled as hard as she could, hoping that whether it was strapped to the lieutenant’s arm or not, the shield would be jerked away far enough to give levina an opening. or perhaps just surprise rosalie enough to make her more cautious -- people always made more mistakes in their attempt to be careful. 

The section dedicated to healing in Skyhold seemed honestly quite pitiful for such a large organisation. A few tents next to a fire, tended to by only a handful of those with any medical training, out in the open where they were easily exposed to some of the harsher elements, walls or no.

While not the most well versed in healing magic herself, Murica did have a trick or two up her sleeve. But with blood magic being so looked down upon throughout the majority of Thedas, she was afraid that offering her assistance might cause some upset, or possibly even mislabel her as some kind of villain.

So - like most things in her life, it seemed - she waited until the fall of night, when the injured and ill were briefly left alone, to attend to them herself. There were no witnesses to point fingers, and sleeping bodies could hardly protest. But one could never be too careful, especially with a spy master living within the fortress, so she made sure to take one last - albeit quick - look around before crouching before one of the injured soldiers.

Taking a deep breath, she retrieved the knife from its sheath, and dragged it down her arm. The warm blood pooling in her palm began to glow as it infused with her magic, and the pool of red soon hovered over the poor man’s wounds as she concentrated on sealing them.

                    lungs begging for air, cheek searing with white hot pain, and thoughts louder than her frantic breaths -- ( WHY DID YOU SURVIVE? WHY DID THE MAKER SAVE YOU BUT NOT HIM? WHY NOT THE KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR? WHY SAVE THE STUPID LITTLE GIRL--- ) 

                    silence embraced levina like an old friend, caressing her sore cheek with chilly fingers as she swung open her door. finally she could breathe, though the tension did not ease from her shoulders, nor did levina take much time to relish in the quiet that met her. she nearly forgot her boots in her haste to escape the confines of her room, and as it was, sat outside her room to properly put them on before breaking into a run.

                    exhaustion saw to it that her run soon became a jog, and that jog became mildly lost wandering. not lost physically but rather mentally -- she knew exactly where she was, but for the life of her, levina could not understand WHY. she understood she believed in doing the right thing, in the inquisition, so that particular part of the “ why ” was spoken for, but...

                    her train of thought halted abruptly as she came to a stop in front of the tents that housed the sick and wounded. a woman crouched beside one of the afflicted, facing the man at an angle that hid what exactly she was doing, but there was something glowing and floating just above parts of the man’s body. now, levina was no mage, but glowing typically meant magic was involved. 

but a heartbeat after her verbal response, compassion disappeared… again when she wasn’t looking. he ghosted into the kitchen to fetch the forth cup of hot tea he’d snaked today–surely, the cook would lose her mind now–and reappeared handing it over to the other blonde. “ i listened. ” he answered, simply, keeping his eyes down on the smoldering drink — before looking back up to her with sympathetic eyes. “ …i hope it helps. ”

                    surprise colored her features as she accepted the offered tea ( had it always been in his hands? ) . “ it... it does. ” levina held the steaming cup between chilled fingers, tempted to forget her curiosity and accept the act of kindness for what it simply was, but the temptation of a distraction was greater. her mind eagerly formed the question, urged levina to study the stranger as if his face might reveal the answer before his lips did. “ how did you hear me? i never said a word. ” for those who knew her, it must have been an odd sight to see the scout so silent; to watch her brood quietly and adopt such a solemn countenance. levina couldn’t be bothered to put up an act that day, not with pain twisting her insides and memories assaulting her thoughts. 

                    in all honesty, she’d been in a pissy mood until now.

to make up for my absence, here’s some headcanons for lev!! they’re sad tho bc apparently that’s the mood for tonight (☭ ͜ʖ ☭)

“Well, I’ve been told that I am a walking embarrassment, so I suppose this will be no different,” Hawke nods, though a smirk is climbing onto his face. It has been awhile since he’s sparred properly, and no doubt he is a little rusty. “I’m more of a lover than a fighter, honestly.”

She laughed, “Well aren’t you a cocky one.” Rosalie stood in her armor, her hands resting on her blades pommel. “I may not be a rogue, Miss, but I wont step down from a challenge. I’m a Rutherford, we stand true to our word.” She stepped into the ring and a squire ran up with a shield in hand a beautiful golden lion pained on it. “Shall we begin? or would you rather we continued to stand here and chat?”

                    the twin axes weighed heavily in levina’s hands, unfamiliar after so long of exclusively using her bow; it would be easier for her to REACT rather than act first, allow the muscle memory to kick in before she attempted her own assault. if that plan of action didn’t work -- or DID work, and levina royally sucked anyway -- at least she would have her ass handed to her by the lieutenant rather than some green lad swinging blindly. 

          kasaara’s eyes narrowed instinctively at the other’s challenging tone. on any normal day, she wouldn’t even have acknowledged the taunting - but perhaps she was feeling friendly, this time. with an arched brow, the qunari crossed her arms over her chest. “you… actually want to race me?” she asked, incredulous, gesturing with a wave of her arm at the near foot and a half difference between their heights. her smirk was teasing, but also impressed - an admiration she directed at the other’s spirit, if nothing else.

before i tackle replies, have some headcanons concerning lev’s childhood!!

honestly i don’t know how badrick and ludella survived having levina as a child bc she was hiding and running away from her caretakers and disappearing for hours and getting into fights and trying to skip her lessons like frik she didn’t really change much either once she grew up

she only started to kind of behave bc they’d threaten to take away the lessons she actually enjoyed

was a total daddy’s girl when she was a kid! she went through a period of being embarrassed about it and refusing her father’s help and crying out at displays of affection( “ father stop it – you’re embarrassing me in front of my friends! ” ) , but lev got over that phase quickly and just threatened to punch anyone who made fun of her 

lev as a child? violent lil gremlin!! mostly bc she played with a bunch of boys who often tried to exclude her from certain games or teased her for reasons pertaining to her gender, and she was not about to put up with that my guy ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͠°)

lev is still kinda?? violent but in the way that if you push her temper far enough, she just might punch you. probably won’t break out into a full out fight, but she’ll give you a nice bruise to remember her by.

her father didn’t interfere with the fights she got into as a kid partially bc levina desperately insisted he didn’t and partially bc he wanted lev to learn to fight and win her own battles. it was a lesson she didn’t really need to be taught since she’s always preferred doing things herself, but a lesson he wanted her to learn nonetheless.

“ do you want some tea? would that help? ”

“ What? ”   she asked, coming out of the water to find an intruder looking at her   “ You have never seen anyone swimming naked before? ”

IMOGEN POOTS || introducing [LEVINA BLYTHE]! at age [TWENTY-TWO], of [CISFEM HUMAN] origin, born in [FERELDAN] && best known as [A SCOUT]; [SHE] has just recently arrived at skyhold. they seem to be a [ROGUE ARCHER], their known traits include [TENACIOUS, GUILT-RIDDEN, AND MISCHIEVOUS ]; and they stand with the inquisition. played by: [BEL, 22, EST, SHE/HER]

heya, hiya, dears! i’m bel and i’ll be writing skyhold’s newest dumb dumb scout -- i hope you all enjoy watching lev get into trouble and angst over things out of her control as much as i’m gonna enjoy writing it (ᴗ ͜ʖ ᴗ) and without further ado, tap that read more for a needlessly long run down of levina!!