Runaway Dalish

[[I feel like this has been a long time coming but - as much as I want to keep up threads on here I genuinely do not have the energy to do it. Maybe one day I will again but right now a LOT is going into work and everything else and maintaining two blogs is just too much.

So I’m cutting back and, unfortunately, I think I’m going to have to put all my focus on my Mass Effect blog @tavianalvia. I don’t have a lot going on here right now but I know this is dropping a few threads and I’m sorry. I can be found on Skype or my Mass Effect blog if anyone wants to keep up with me and I’m always open to Skype RP, just for now I can’t keep up this blog at the level that my partners deserve.

Lily looked over the food stores, humming softly as she thought. She began by bundling ingredients in her arms, potatoes and bits of smoked sausage, some leafy greens and a bit of hard cheese. she took her ingredients out to her fire, bringing out a smaller pot from her belongings to cook in. “Want any? Grab some more root veggies if you do.”

Olek cheered at the prospect. Hiding away someplace dark and safe with Tavi sounded perfect. “Spiders don’t bother me. S’long as you mean the little ones, anyway. After you, tesoro.”

“Before,” he laughs. “Anything after is just cheating. I wanna hear a wild story, come on. It’s a long ride we got ahead of us, we gotta entertain ourselves somehow.” 

He gives the elf a grin. “You tell me a story, I’ll tell you one. And  mine’s a doozy, so gimme something good. It’s a competition, you know.” 

“Well now you’re making it hard.” Most of the things that happened to him were some sort of shady, sure, but he was losing track of what was interesting and what was just stressful enough to stick in his head.  “I’m trying to think of what’s interesting to people outside of me.”

“It’s okay, I’d rather sleep in my own bed anyway. S’comfy.” She shrugged, peering into the food supply tent. “So… what am I allowed to eat? It’s been a while since I’ve seen so much food.”

“Come on, I have an actual house that’s like ten minutes away from your camp, I don’t need your tent if you’re gonna be outside in the cold!” Lily insisted. “You could even bring your bed and sleep in my house! Just I’m not kicking you out of your bed, and that’s final.” She gave one last stern nod, standing her ground. 

“Oh, come on now. I’m not kicking you out of your bed! I’ll just walk back to my cabin and sleep in my own bed. It’s warm and doesn’t leak any more.” Lily followed after Tavi. “Honestly, I don’t want you sleeping outdoors. It gets cold here during the night and there’s things that bite. I don’t need more people getting sick.”

Bull shrugs a shoulder. “The blood of the innocents. I feed him small children as treats,” he pats the horse’s flank. “Ready to shove off?”

They head through the gates and begin the long journey down the mountain, a path long since worn through the snow, traveled heavily in both directions. It’ll be a long trip from Skyhold all the way to the Exalted Plains, but Bull’s looking forward to the time to get to know Tavi. 

He pulls his mount up alongside the other man’s. “So, tell me a wild story. Craziest thing ever happened to you.”

Tavi stared at the horse like it might turn around and eat him instead. Was probably big enough for it.  The only good thing was that the mount that had been brought for him looked much less terrifying in comparison.  Horse, yes, grumpy, yes, but a little more his size.

Still, he didn’t trust it, and that showed in how tightly he held himself, spine rigid, eyes narrowed at the path to ensure that he kept track of where they were going. He almost didn’t hear the mount beside him - almost. The beasts hooves were too big to go completely unnoticed by eleven ears.

Olek grimaced. “Fuck, that’s a good point.” His nerves itched at just the thought of all the attention. “Let’s go hide. C’mon,” he nodded away from the main hall. “There’s another way without the crowds of nobles.”

“I’m good at running, don’t worry.” Lily chuckled. “You get good at it when you don’t like fighting.  Anyway, what was it we were gonna go do again? I forgot. Food or something?”

“Routine ‘find the guys and make them dead’ sort of job. We’ve gotten pretty efficient about that by now, but we can always use an extra pair of hands. Meet us by the gates at dawn tomorrow, that’s when we shove off. If you’ve got a mount, bring it along. If not, you can ride on mine with me. He’s certainly big enough.” 

He grunts as he stands up from the table, gives the elf a two-fingered salute, and heads off. By morning, when Tavi heads for the gate, he’ll see the Inquisitor, all trussed up in shiny armor and feeding sugar cubes to a red and white spotted mare, Sera with her scraggly donkey, Dorian with his sleek black mare, and Bull fixing the saddle on a truly titanic dapple grey and black draft horse.

“Hey, you made it!” he calls out as soon as he catches sight of Tavi.

A mount. Tavi had... borrowed one once or twice - it’s not stealing if he gave it back at the end - but never had one of his own here.  The fact that most of the ones up for grabs were horses contributed to that. There were maybe two harts in the stable and both of them already claimed, and he’d much rather ride on their backs than a horse any day.

Harts were already sizable enough for his tastes, horses tended even bigger and were a little less helpful about a tiny elf scrambling onto them.  Even so, the sight of Bull’s mount had his ears immediately drooping, eyes going wide.

“Yeah, I figured. I heard about what you lot are doing for the mages, wouldn’t think you’d call templars on me after I save all your lives anyway. I’m sure you’d be willing to kick any butts of the non-dying, yes?” Lily chuckled. “I mean, you’re the only person here I’ve talked to besides those poor suckers who can’t really move, so you’re my only hope at a bodyguard.”

“Ah well..” he breathed with a sigh,shrugging  and  shoved himself away from Marebelle. “My dear, you know what to do, off with you” he told his four hoofed friend who just nickered and  stepped into the undergrowth, melting into the   greenery with her spotted coat..or maybe with a touch of magic. He certainly had a strange prepping for a fight, combing fingers through his  hair, shoving their rucksacks aside so these would be out of the way, stuffing a few twigs with leaves on himself before he stumbled around as if he was a city raised twat without an ounce of  self preservation, swearing loudly. “Dear me, what is this, where do all these awful bugs come from? And where is the road!”  there was just the question if his impression of a pampered, gotten lost Orlesian would work as intended and leave their  opponents to underestimate him…and the situation they were in.

Tavi stayed quiet in his hiding spot. The Bard was... doing something, absolutely nothing useful from the look of it, but something.  He let out a little huff of near silent air, ears drooping. He’d have to keep an eye out for him, ready to loose an arrow if it looked like he was going to get hurt.

The stomping feet of the newcomers drowned out the Bard’s excellent impression of a lost noble. Tavi drew the bowstring back, holding it in tense fingers.

“Yeah, it’s been about a year or something? Probably a bit more, if you count the time I was wandering, but I’ve been here in the forest almost a year. Didn’t wanna play third wheel any more.” She shrugged. “Its hard to make friends though. The people in the village, ‘bout a few hours walk from here? Well, they’re pretty nice, but no one I’d trust to not call the templars if they came through.”