open; Give me a field, give me a big sky

[foxsays]

WHO: Araceli, Morrigan, Asher and you
WHAT: Catch-all for Bloomingtide
WHEN: Bloomingtide (post-5th Bloomingtide for Araceli)
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: A proper catch-up for all three characters below with specific starters and some open headers, if you'd like something specific feel free to hit me up! If you'd like a backdated thing for Araceli or Morrigan, let me know and I'll sort that too, I know I've been gone for a fair bit sorry!
Araceli's threads will all be post 5th Bloomingtide when she gets back from her mission in Antiva!
For some ooc details on Morrigan things, please see here, a rookery post will go up shortly for research helpers!
Warnings for talk of violence, blood and language in Asher's threads.

Comments

[dragoon_pride]

"Yes... unfortunately, I was among those stricken by that illness. It's not an experience I hope to repeat again." It was bad enough to have a fever that had laid him up so badly, but to hear and see spirits, things that don't belong here... He's glad it's over and done with. He'd been so afraid of something terrible happening, of those things breaking through the Fade.

He smirks for just a moment, slowly stretching his legs. There's more than enough room up here for them, of course, but he can't help but go along with the teasing. That's something he can just understand, someone else who enjoys heights the same way he does. "Are we on the verge of a territorial dispute? I'd be more than willing to rise to such a challenge."

[foxsays]

"Korrin was unfortunate to fall ill, along with Sina. Taking care of them was rather more tiring than I expected, not something I feel like repeating any time soon if I can help it." Exhaustion she can deal with - she slept for over a day when it finally ended, and when she could find the energy to crawl away she had cried somewhere else for hours afterwards too - but it was the helplessness that had gnawed at her. How could she help when she hadn't even been able to fully understand what plagued them?

Smirking, she plucks a tie from her wrist to gather her curls out of her face as she looks him up and down. Men are always the same. "Do you really think you can best a girl that comes from a place of no streets?"

[dragoon_pride]

Kain makes a face, thinking about how badly that sickness had taken its toll, on the ones affected and the ones caring for them. He feels somewhat guilty for being a really difficult patient himself. “I’m sorry to hear that it affected you so terribly as well. That’s no easy task, to care for those who fell ill. At least it seems like we’ve gotten rid of it… Let’s hope that such an illness doesn’t afflict us again.”

There’s an amused look in Kain’s expression, something he rarely lets himself have. Though times like this put him in a certain mood. Still, he knows better than to underestimate her. He’s never met anyone so steady with heights the way he is. “That remains to be seen… but I’d be up for finding out.”

[foxsays]

Korrin had said so many things about making it up to her, and Araceli could tease her about it now, or say she wants to collect on it; words don't settle debt, she could say that with a smile and Korrin would go along with it. But it isn't a hardship to look after her loved ones. It isn't being taken for granted when it's someone she cares for. She would simply rather put it from her mind. Unless it's a particularly terrible day or night, when she's sinking so low that well, at least the bottom of the pit is comforting in its familiarity. "Korrin is well again, Sina is….better than she was," she continues carefully because one can never be too sure about Sina's health, and to be certain, the illness has to have been a setback for her. "With so many mages in Skyhold? Surely we won't be struck again."

Or they'd better not or she'll have something to say about it next time.

"Around once and then to the very top of the main hall?" And she does mean the very top. Because that tends to be where she goes when she doesn't want anyone at all but the ravens to find her since only the Nightingale can reach her up there.

[dragoon_pride]

It definitely had been an unpleasant experience, and a setback in ways since it took him from his training routines. But at least it was over, and with no lasting effects. “Yes… those of us afflicted do seem to have recovered, as far as I’ve heard. It was a terrible experience, but I suppose all things considered, it could have been far worse… I hope they’ll be able to prevent such a thing in the future, all the same.” It’s not the kind of experience anyone needs to go through again, once is enough.

As for the route she’s proposing, that definitely sounds great to Kain, it’ll get him back into the swing of things very well. He needs this after that week or so of being stuck inside. He needs heights and speed and the wind in his hair... it's definitely a comfort thing to him, returning to his element. He nods. “That ought to give us plenty of ground to cover. I’m definitely up for it.”

[foxsays]

"There's something wrong about it, when it's the water. I grew up on the sea, the sea is in my blood." She shakes her head, folding and unfolding her arms, touching one hand over her heart where there's a simple tattoo hidden beneath her clothes, a simple circle of the moon with the waves caught within. "I like to think that in some way it protected me from being afflicted. Though I drink watered rum, brandy, wine, rather than plain water myself, I wonder if that explained some of it." But she likes to think of it as the sea protecting her, even when she's so far from it.

Sometimes even a woman grown wants to be comforted.

With a grin, she tightens the belt that holds her rapiers, settling them and a few things into place, buttoning her pockets just to be safe. "On the count of three and we go, yes?"

No need to bother stretching after all, she's used to this, and she's been moving around up here for hours now as it is.

[dragoon_pride]

Kain definitely understands what she’s saying, all too well. The sea is to her what the sky is to him. He’d feel much the same if his favored element were turned against them somehow. Still, there may be something to that explanation she’s giving, the fact that she’s so connected to the water. “Having an affinity may have helped, at least I like to think so…”

Already pretty well warmed up himself, Kain is good to go as well. He moves to a good starting point and adjusts his stance. “Yes… and I’m ready when you are. One… two…”

[foxsays]

"Three," she says in a rush, and then she's moving.

Smaller than Kain, she doesn't have his long stride or his jumps, but she has the grace of a sailor to help her, someone who has known rooftops all her years and an uncanny ability to pick a path as she moves, a few birds startling and taking flight as she rushes past. She makes little sound as she runs; thieves that are noisy are caught quickly, and she makes a short leap over a section of roof where she knows that the wood beneath the crumbling tiles is beginning to rot, and that even her weight at speed won't be supported. There's a smile on her face, the cold stinging her cheeks, her nose, her eyes, burning when she takes a breath but she savours it. One day she'll be home again, but for now...for now she will at least have this, and someone else who understands the joy in it.

[dragoon_pride]

That’s the fun of it to Kain, the fact that they’ve both got things that gives them an advantage over the other, the fact that there’s nothing so clear cut to suggest one of them is bound to necessarily win. He has dragoon skills which gives him a tie to the wind itself, legs which are well honed to jumping. But she’s small and slighter built, and moving like this is also something that he can tell is ingrained in who she is too, something she’s very well experienced in. Knowing she’s got such skill makes him push himself more, as his legs propel him forward. He’s a natural at high jumping, so more distance-related skills are something of a challenge. A good challenge. They’re definitely keeping in good pace with one another at the start.

The wind whips his hair back as he runs, leaping when there’s a gap, tumbling and rolling as he lands, continuing to run from there. Flying along the rooftops, with the ground so far below… it’s hard to describe how liberating the sensation feels. It’s like being home, home in a way that nowhere else ever could be.

[foxsays]

There are so few that really come up here, honestly, since Zevran lost the sight (she hasn't asked, she merely covers that side now, makes sure she's the buffer if she's around him) and Marcel vanished she's been mainly alone up here. The lessons are usually teaching people to go up or to fall, and they've got duties, the scouts or the odd soldier, they don't have the same sort of time that so many of the rest of them do for things like this. And it's not so normal. Not like it is for sailors who clamber up in the rigging, or thieves who race across rooftops and waterways.

"You move well," she calls over her shoulder, the barest turn since she's been trained to see well out the corner of her eye. The stones towards the edges of the rooftop and battelements are much more likely to crumble, but she sticks to them, using the momentum when a few wobble to boost herself up when she has to start climb a section. Pushing with her thighs, she muscles her way up, fingers finding holds quickly - how many times has she mapped Skyhold this way by now after all?

[dragoon_pride]

“Thank you!” Kain calls back. It’s also ingrained in him to be aware of his environment, it’s essential in combat to be aware of your allies’ and enemies’ positions alike, after all. So he gives just enough attention to her as well as moving along forward. It’s important for his particular skill too, to know what’s going on in his surroundings… a jump into the wrong position could be a disaster, after all. “I can say the same of you!”

It feels so liberating, being back outside and up high, not stuck inside getting increasingly restless. He needs to do this more often. He’s so used to mountaintops and rocky ledges, but there’s just as much of a challenge to be had from rooftops. Especially Skyhold’s. His landing is light and swift, as he leaps over a gap, continuing forward with his momentum…