* LAMBS BECOME LIONS ;

She stared down at the corpse at her feet, taking in the sight of its twisted features before looking up at Mei's words. "Huh?" She blinked, taking a moment to process what the other mage had said.

"Oh. Of course." She flashed her a dazzling smile, ignoring the disgust and distaste in her gut. "I was just thinking about what we could possibly need all this darkspawn blood for."

　　𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, though she still kept her distance. poisons were far more her speed, but she could recognize certain herbs well enough. a few even grew in the little dirt and grass patches that interrupted all of denerim's cobblestone, if you could keep them safe from being trampled over.

        eyeing the other elf thoughtfully, mei flicked the little ball of sticky elfroot residue into the fire, then quickly plucked the last few leaves from the stem and dropped them into the bowl. then shrugging, she discarded the stem into the fire as well and took up her chosen makeshift pestle—an especially smooth rock that fit her palm just right that she'd found outside of lothering and done her best to scrub clean in a brook.

       “then it might be just what you need.” and after a pause: “i'll keep an eye out for the herbs. just in case.” mei only knew enough about poisons to recognize which herbs could be used to brew them. actually mixing anything more potent than a health poultice was something she'd been meant to learn if she'd gotten to be a teen under her own mother's care.

        palming the stone in her right hand, mei started crushing and crushing the leaves in her bowl. “i think i know what you mean. in the tower, the apprentices slept in dormitories together. i got very used to the sound of other people sleeping. moving around. snoring. babbling, sometimes...” 

Cole smiled when they'd finished, almost cheerful at the thanks. She didn't need to thank him—Cole was happy to do it regardless—but it felt nice to hear.

"We were happy to help."

Or, well, he was. He couldn't tell if Cassandra was genuinely happy about the manual labor or just begrudgingly helping out of respect for Mei and the dead. Even still, she did help, and that meant something.

        and she dragged the back of her arm across her forehead as she turned to answer cole's question: “what, this?” she gestured to the mound of freshly turned earth where the grave now sat; from their deaths perhaps new life would spring some day.

as apathetic as mirwen was feeling, she supposed there was no harm in drinking the offered tea. she truly did feel as though she was growing more and more ill by the hour. she wished, more than anything, that tamlen could have been with them. that she could at least somehow know that he was still somewhat alright — that he wasn’t suffering alone. but he was lost, as far as she knew. and even if he was elsewhere, it was too late for him to join them on their quest to ostagar. 

“ a part of me doesn’t want to make it to ostagar, ” mirwen confessed softly. she took a sip of the drink, making a slight face as she swallowed it down. she’d never been the biggest fan of the tatse of elfroot — but she didn’t like feeling so weak and rotten. she’d never been apart from her clan. “ sorry that was… ” the elf sighed, looking at her new companion. “ i'm sure you've had enough of my moping. how are you holding up? ”

        mei's brows drew together with a note of concern as she turned to mirwen with a sympathetic look. she knew the dalish elf's conscription had happened quite differently from her own, and she felt a bit awkward knowing so much about what must've been very difficult. not wanting to make the other elf feel too much in the spotlight, mei turned her gaze back to the fire.

       “i'm really sorry about your clanmate,” she said gently. “i'm sorry we couldn't find him.” she tried to imagine being in mirwen's shoes, the missing person being her own brother, and she nearly teared up at the anxiety it filled her with. of course, she had no idea where taren was now anyway, but something about the idea of knowing he was missing would be worse. “me? i'm fine. i spent the last ten years cooped up in the same tower and now i'm feeling the wind on my face.” 

Dragon Age Based Prompts

Change pronouns/insert words etc. as needed

"If you say one more word about The Game, I'm going to throw up on your perfect shoes."

"Did we kill the wrong one?"

“I’m sorry my mabari ate your paintbrushes.”

"You can't do this in the royal gardens!"

"Negotiations are going poorly"

"You developed a whole new spell... for me?"

"Does he normally just lay like that without moving?"

"It's improper to be seen doing that"

"Why do you fight like you're running out of time?"

"Magic is Chaos, Art and Science. It is a curse, a blessing and a progression."

“That was my tooth! My TOOTH you nug-humping sea foam flecked bastard!”

"Nobody tell ___!"

“Why is there a dead noble in my study?”

"In the Fade, believe nothing you hear and only half that you see."

"Who will win the prestigious title of Mr./Mrs. Thedas?"

"That's a lot of blood."

"Fucking demon shit!"

"We won't be able to hide in time."

"Maker, forgive us for the dozen or so extremely annoying bastards we're about to send to your side. It's them or us. I think you'll agree we made the right choice."

“Yes, but, why are my small-clothes on the rafters?”

"This better not take long. I already tried to kill three people at this table."

"You're a heretic! You cannot say such things in a Chantry."

"Honestly? Fuck the Chantry."

"Why are we NOT killing this demon?"

“You did not just compare me to a [Thedosian animal of your choice]!”

“I accidentally punched a Templar. A few times. At least ten.”

“There’s no problem a well-aimed fireball can’t fix.”

"No! Dragon-hunting is not a way to kill time, it's a way to kill us."

"Void! Did I say that out loud?"

"Your magic makes me feel safe.”

“This deal is shadier than a Darktown whore."

"Well that went splendidly. Drinks at the tavern later?"

HOW TRAGIC TO LEARN YOU ARE A PERSON OF TOWERING IMPORTANCE

ind. sel. priv. ALOY of HORIZON: ZERO DAWN and FORBIDDEN WEST written & beloved by BEAN