#ryuchanwings

She’d gone out with the clan’s senior scouts and hunters, learning more about how to do things, and be USEFUL, and pay attention....  Well, mostly.  The young Dreamer couldn’t help it if she got a little distracted from time to time. There were a lot of interesting things in the world that demanded her attention.   Well, her teacher demanded her attention too, she supposed.  But there were only so many times she could hear the same things over and over before she started tuning them out.  The woods were cold, but not covered in snow, just damp and a bit gloomy. The weight of the lightly armored elves was such that they made little to no noise, and left no evidence of their passing.  Rayne’s ears twitched and she looked up at the passing of a Raven, carrying a piece of something shiny back to it’s nest, and twisted her head to look at a badger as it trundled across the ground.   So when there was an explosion of magical origin coming from the direction of the graveyard on the edge of the forest, that captured her awareness quite fully.   “Alarith-” “Yes, we heard it too.”  The dark haired elf turned, frowning in the direction.  “... We’ll investigate.  Rayne, Stay-”   “Right behind you, yes sir!”  The crimson haired girl replied as she snaped to attention. He scowled, brows pinching at his Valaslin.  “That’s not-” “Because you wouldn’t leave me behind, alone, after all the nasty things the Shems around here have been up to lately, right?  Especially not with magic like -that- being thrown around?”  The corners of her mouth lifted up into a small smile that was hopeful, innocent, and incredibly cheeky all at once.   The other members of the party looked at him curiously, wondering what his response would be to that.  He struggled for a few moments before heaving a heavy sigh and pointing at her.  “You stay back unless we say otherwise.  If we tell you to run, you run, back to the clan, and you don’t stop.” She nodded, energy vibrating through her.  She was no mage, never would be one as she was incapable of channeling magic, but she had a connection to the Fade.  Usually, it only showed up in her dreams, but occasionally she’d get ‘feelings’ from the area that usually indicated when it would be a good time to move on, or find something interesting.   The small Dalish band approached the source of the commotion with caution, stopping at the edge of the trees as they looked out over the soggy grass. The landscape before them was mostly a mixture of gray, brown and green, but laying on a patch of grass not far away was a swatch of scarlet, next to... “Is that a GRAVE?”  Katriel, one of the scouts said, her eyebrows lifting. “And the body, do you think-?” “Right, bows at the ready.”  Aralith said sternly.  “It’s suspicious.  If it’s a Darkspawn, or undead, we shoot to disable, then kill it.  We don’t need that around here.  If they’re still alive... we’ll see.” Rayne swallowed as they approached.  She’d never come across a zombie or a Darkspawn before, but she didn’t feel like there was anything nearby that was stranger than her aunt, the clan Keeper, so she tried to remain optimistic.   What they found was... An elf.  “A flat-ear.”  One of the others muttered, un-notching his arrow with a harsh breath as Aralith knelt by the body and turned him over, brushing a few insects loose.  “Must have escaped the slaughter nearby somehow.” “He didn’t escape all of it.”  Katriel said softly as she crouched by his other side, lifting one of the youth’s hands after cutting the ropes binding him to look at his bloodied and torn hands, rotten wood splinters imbedded in his fingers, nails cracked and torn, some having been removed completely.  “The shems buried him in there.  Alive.”  She said with a sharp nod at the grave, lip wrinkling in disgust.  “He can’t be much older than Rayne!” Rayne remained silent, merely standing nearby as she looked down at the unconscious boy, her brows furrowed.  He was really, really pretty.  His hair was the same color as hers.  And judging from the track marks on his face (And the traces of snot under his nose), he’d been crying.  Rayne had never been quite so utterly glad she was born Dalish in her life, and said a short prayer to Mythal in thanks in her mind.  “We’re taking him with us, right?”  She asked, her voice much quieter and more subdued than usual.   “Hah.”  Jawen, the male from earlier, scoffed.  “Rayne, we don’t just go around picking up stray-” “He’s a Mage, Jawen.”  Aralith said, glancing up at the blond.  “And powerful enough if he was able to blast his way out of a sealed wooden box six feet underground.  After we lost Hanin, all we have left is the Keeper and Arinaya.”  He glanced at Rayne, and she pretended not to notice, their disappointment that she couldn’t have taken more after her mother made clear long ago.  “We could use another mage, and I don’t think he has anywhere to go.” Jawen’s look was incredulous.  “He’s a city-elf!  He won’t know which end of an Aravel is up!” “He has time to learn.”  Aralith said as he stood up, brushing his hands on his leggings.  “Besides, I’m leaving it up to the Keeper to decide.  We take him with us.”  He turned towards the forest and let out a sharp, short whistle, calling his Hart from the trees.  The large, dark stag was at it’s prime, and dark coloration made it perfect for more stealthy missions.   “Rayne, help me with him.”  Katriel said as she took one of his arms and pulled it around her neck, lifting the limp young man from the earth as he let out a slight moan.   The young archer hurried to his other side, grunting a little as it was rather awkward for her to try and maneuver someone taller than her.  They managed to get him on it’s back, then after a few more moments of consideration, Rayne was told to get on as well.  “Keep him steady.”  Aralith ordered softly as she adjusted him on the saddle, slumped slightly but leaning against her thanks to the belt that tied them together lightly.  “And monitor him.  I don’t want to deal with a panicked mage in case he should wake up.”   She nodded, and that said, they headed off, back towards the clan.  At thirteen, it wasn’t like Rayne was the epitome of knowledge and wisdom.  She was whimsical, sometimes impractical, and a bit impatient.  But she had the feeling that this young man would pass her Uncle’s inspection, and that she’d just met someone who would be quite important in her life. ((To be Continued)) ((For @taerellavellan ))

Cheering someone up after such a serious tragedy was really, really hard, and not something Rayne had ever attempted before.   She’d begun by sitting next to him at the fire after getting her food, holding out a biscuit in offering as she’d noticed he didn’t have one.  “Hi.  I’m Rayne!  I’m glad to see you’re awake.”  She said, flashing him a small, but friendly smile.  “You’ve been sleeping with my mom and me in our Araval.  She’s been looking after you.  You’ve been asleep for a while, aren’t you hungry?  We were pretty worried about you, you know.  I was with the others when they found you.  I’m not a full-blown hunter yet, but I have really sharp eyes, and I’m a pretty good shot.”   She rambled for a couple minutes before she realized he was just staring at her.  Not saying anything, not smiling or frowning, but just... staring.  She blinked before blushing, setting the biscuit on a piece of cloth next to his leg before turning back to her stew, taking her own bread and tearing off a piece before using it to scoop a bit of the thick stew onto it.  “Sorry.”  She said.  “I talk a lot, I know.”  There wasn’t a lot she could say.  She was sad for him, but to say too much would be kinda crass, like she was assuming she knew what he went through, and she would never, EVER know.  “... Sorry.”  She said again, leaning over slightly to touch her shoulder against his arm before moving back to her own personal space and working on eating her stew with the improvised starch spoon.   She was pleased that after a few more moments, he did begin to move, tearing off a piece of his own biscuit and copying her action, making her smile into her bowl.  He hadn’t given up yet.  And she wasn’t giving up either. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the next couple of weeks, Rayne tried her hardest to get some sort of reaction from Taerel, hoping that the first one she got would be a positive one rather than angry at her for being an underfoot pest.  She sang some rather silly songs one day, until the Craftmaster chased her off to ‘Go be useful and pick some herbs if you’ve got time to be an annoying warbler’.  She told him about a few of her more interesting dreams, though he didn’t seem to notice.  He would talk, but that was mostly only to the grown ups, and only when he was asked a question.   She tried anything she could think of, offering to brush his hair, showing him the Halla (with permission), showing him her mother’s Hart (A beautiful rust-furred doe named Holly), taking him to where she shot practice arrows, purposefully falling into the river when she was trying to catch fish, having a few spectacularly clumsy moments (At least one of which wasn’t planned and wound up with her sprawled upside down and covered in dirty laundry and a rather foul-smelling herbal paste, that resulted in her doing nothing the next few days but replacing what she’d destroyed), and a couple other things, but nothing worked so far.  She was getting a little worried.  He was being allowed to stay until he decided what he wanted to do, but she was worried he might choose to leave, at this rate. Another week brought about another hunting trip, and Rayne heaved a heavy sigh as she walked by Aralith, the man chuckling at her sorrow.  Well, more like finding it amusing that his protege seemed to have a rather large crush on their guest.  “He’ll be alright eventually, Rayne.”  He told her, patting her shoulder.  “Those kinds of scars never entirely close, but the pain dulls with time.” “I just want to see him get better.”  She mumbled, kicking at a rock with her boot.   It was at this moment that they heard a sound which tore through the air and chilled the blood- an enraged roar of a bear, followed by snarling.  The elves knocked their arrows and immediately sought higher ground, heading towards the source of the noise.  Bears were a threat to the Halla, and the clan if they were mad, and the meat and hide was valuable.   They crested the side of a ridge and looked down the cliff, seeing a large brown bear fighting with a Mabari female.  There were a few small, bloody patches of fur scattered around, enough left of one corpse to indicate a fluffy puppy.  The battle was fierce, and the bear seemed to be winning, though there was so much blood it was hard to tell for sure.   Rayne and Aralith raised their bows as the bears jaws clamped on the Mabari’s throat, frothy bright blood gushing around his muzzle, just before their arrows flew, embedding themselves in his eye sockets, blinding him.  The bear dropped it’s prize, giving a howling, enraged roar as the other hunters shot it as well, until finally the beast lay dead.   Cautiously, they made their way down, Rayne feeling a throbbing across her lower back.  Her scars remembered the bear that had attacked her as a youth, and she didn’t care to repeat the experience.  She looked at the dead Mabari with some sorrow, as well as the dead puppies.  Mabari were fierce and awesome dogs, it was a shame that- One of her ears twitched ad she turned her head towards the small den at the base of the cliff.  She’d heard a sound... a whimper?  A whine?  She approached while the adults got to work on harvesting the bear, they didn’t wish to linger too long.  She crouched down and peered into the cave, then fished around in her belt pouch for some of her traveling rations, selecting her prize of a bit of cheese.  “Hi baby.”  She cooed softly, holding out her hand.  “The bear’s gone now.  C’mere sweetie, I won’t hurt you...” There was a snuffle-snorting, a soft, quizzical noise, before the fluffiest, pudgiest puppy she’d ever seen plodded out on tiny, stubby legs, with huge paws.  Dark gray and white with blue puppy eyes, he stared at her before taking the cheese, his tail slowly beginning to wag.  He came fully out of the cave, snuffling at her, licking her skin and attacking her leathers with his tiny puppy teeth, giving a ‘fierce’ growl.   She giggled and picked him up; it was love at first sight.   Aralith sighed when he saw what she was bringing over.  “Rayne-” “Please, Aralith!”  She begged, cutting him off.  “He came to me, he picked me! If we leave him here, he’ll die!  I can take care of him, I can!” “He’d be your responisbility, Rayne.  If he grows into a beast, you’ll have to end him yourself.” “He won’t!  But if he does, I’ll take care of it.”  She said hastily as he gave her a sharp look.  “He’ll be a great hunting dog and a protector!  He’s a Mabari, right?” Aralith gave the puppy a dubious look.  That was a shaggier Mabari than he’d ever seen, but he shrugged.  “Ask your mother when you get home.” “YYYYYES!”  She cried as she gave him a big hug, making the puppy groan slightly, tongue poking out of it’s mouth.   ~~~~~~~~~~~ After getting her mother’s permission to keep him, Rayne set about cleaning him up, chattering at him all the while.  “You’ve got really big paws.”  She said, “And you eat a ton.  Like, where do you put it all?”  She mumbled.  “Well, you are kinda heavy...  Maybe I should name you fatty.”  The puppy barked at her.   Once he was clean and dry, she had... an idea.  She got up and began seeking out the young mage.   He was sitting in the grass by the river, and she made her way over to sit by him, before plopping her squirmy bundle of puppy in his lap.  “Here, meet my new partner.”  She said, watching surprise cross his face as he looked down at the puppy, which began nosing him immediately and licking everything he could reach, including his face.   “... What’s his name?”  She brightened as he spoke, his voice a bit hoarse from disuse.   “Puppy for now, I haven’t decided on his actual name.”  She said with pride.   “... Rayne, wasn’t it?”  He said after a couple moments of petting the happily panting puffball. “Yeah.” He looked at her again as he hugged the puppy closer, giving her the most... fragile looking of smiles, and her heart pounded in her chest, breath catching briefly.  “Thank you.”  He said   “I’m Taerel.”  ((The end!  @taerellavellan , I hope you like this as much as I liked writing it!))

The trip back to the camp wasn’t terribly eventful, Rayne made the best she could of the trip as she plucked the splinters out of the mage-boy’s hands and brushed as many of the creepy-crawlies as she could off him.  She broke the silence when she could, humming under her breath or murmuring to him about one random thing or another, such as something funny she saw with a rabbit the other day, or repeating a story she’d been told by the Hearthmistress.  The stag they rode was graceful and silent, his back making the ride fairly steady save for a gentle swaying.   By the time they reached the others, Rayne had temporarily run out of things to ramble about.  She fumbled with the buckle on the belt for a moment or two before getting it loose as the Keeper approached, the adults helping the redheaded male off the Hart.  “Rayne, could you clean Nen up please?”  Aralith asked as he patted the side of the large herbivore’s neck.  Catching the teen’s pause and lingering stare at the newcomer, he gave a small smile.  “Now, please.  He’s not going to slip away while you’re gone.” Her blue-green eyes flicked back to his quickly as she flushed, then nodded.  “Y-yes, sorry...”  She mumbled as she reached up and took hold of Nen’s harness.  “Come on, Nen, let’s go get that off...”   She removed his tack and harness, setting aside the leathers to oil later, taking a brush and getting to work on the dark brown, shaggy coat.  She cleared away all the burrs and brambles, taking all the excess fur he was shedding and stuffing it in a bag for later use.  Sure, hart hair smelled a little musky if it wasn’t treated properly, but stuff it into a coat or a pillow and it sure could be warm and comfortable.   Rayne never took shortcuts when it came to dealing with animals, so it wasn’t until some time later that she was finished cleaning him up, letting him return to the small herd that stayed near the Halla.  Task complete at last, she ran back over to the center of camp, only to see that the meeting was over.  Her mother turned and smiled at her, opening her arms to welcome her into a hug.  “Hello, dear one.” “Hello Mother!”  She replied, giving her a hug.  “Where’s the boy?  Are we keeping him?  Is he gonna be okay?  Are-” “Slow down!”  Arinaya said with a laugh as she lightly squeezed her shoulder.  “He’s alright, he’s sleeping.  He exhausted himself.”  She said as she glanced at the Aravel.  “So we’re going to be very quiet and let him sleep, right?” The thirteen year old nodded solemnly.  Her mother was a good healer, she’d be able to make sure he pulled through okay.   Once preparations were made for bed, they climbed into the Aravel and made themselves comfortable, sleeping next to their now-clean visitor.  Rayne turned on her side to study his face better.  He had a very fine face, despite the scrapes and bruises, but what she was most drawn to was his hair.  It was just like hers!  The same color!  Or well, close to it.  She didn’t know his eye color yet, because he was still asleep, but that was okay.  She never really understood the term flat ear, they all had the same sort of pointy ears, didn’t they?  It was a silly phrase.   She found herself smiling a little as she went to sleep.  Warded as they were, her dreams wouldn’t be very eventful that night, but that was alright.  She had enough excitement for the day. ~~~~~~ It was several days later before the young man woke up, but it certainly excited Rayne by the time she came home from another hunting trip with the others.  She could barely contain herself as she helped take care of their catch, then darted over to where the clan seemed to be gathered.   He was sitting by the fire with a bowl of stew sitting on his lap, staring at it in a solemn manner as he listened to the adults speaking around him.  His eyes, she saw with delight, were different from hers, more of a honey-amber.   Of course... He didn’t seem very happy.   She learned that his name was Taerel, and his parents had been Dalish before living in the Alienage.  She heard whispers of what had happened, so she knew that he was rightfully distraught about what had happened, but... well, he couldn’t let it weigh on him forever, right?  Despair was really bad for mages.  So, she decided; she was going to cheer him up and become his friend.   ((To be Continued...)) ((Part two of a gift for @taerellavellan !!))

I like Solas plenty, but I used to hate him so so SO much when I first started playing DAI. I took me 3 playthroughs to warm up to the guy. Whereas for the characters I actually mentioned it was basically love (and romance!) at first sight lol.

Thank yooouuu ^__^

I am doing okay and thank you so much for messaging me! And again, sorry for making you wait and worry. Life’s been craaaaaaaaaazy ._____.

<3