faderift | [Open] Sometimes...

Entry tags:

[Open] Sometimes...

WHO: Jamie and you!
WHAT: Recovery after the events here
WHEN: Mid-Kingsway through the end of Harvestmere
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: CW for references to the shardbearer plot, so torture, forced lyrium ingestion, hallucinations, violence and other Bad Things. The first part in healer tents features lyrium withdrawal and may involve the possibility of the getting glimpses of other people's memories. If you would like to have Jamie pick up your character's memories, let me know via pm or in your header, whichever you prefer.

[Healers Tents]

It's no surprise that after being taken by the Venatori and experimented on, Jamie winds up having an extended stay in the healers tents. Not only does the lyrium have to work its way out of his system, contend with, he has a concussion and cracked ribs to contend with as well, and for the first couple of weeks he's fairly out of it, still having problems distinguishing people he knows here from people he knew back home. As time goes on and the lyrium wears off that starts to improve, slowly but surely, although his head still hurts and it's still hard to breathe.

[Still the healers tents]

Eventually, however, the worst of the lyrium has passed through his system, leaving him more his usual self - and that usual self is one that doesn't much care for being stuck in bed, no matter how injured he is. There's more than one time where he insists he's perfectly fine, and more than one time where he might very well wind up being caught at trying to sneak out of his bed and out of the the healing tents entirely. Whether or not he's successful depends on whoever catches him wants to do...but he's supposed to be resting, so steering him back to lie down is definitely always an option.

[New quarters and out and about]

Finally he's deemed well enough to be able to be let out on his own, and left to his own devices. The very tiny room that he's been working on fixing up for months now is finally done, and he's finally able to move his belongings out from where they've been stored and put them someplace he can call his own. He might have to look into getting a roommate at some point, but for now he works on settling in and getting back into something like a routine. Not too long after he's released from the tents, he gets a present of sorts - a set of dragon armor, crafted from his share of the hide of the dragon he helped to kill months ago. There's a fitting or two to make sure everything is where is should be, but once that's done, he settles into training, both with sword and shard. He knows he's got to be able to control that extra ability it's developed, or at some point someone's going to get hurt that he doesn't want to get hurt. So while sometimes he can be found at the pells like everyone else, other times he's in remote areas, practicing at reliably shooting those small projectiles out of the mark.

Days like that leave him tired and his hand aching, but while he used to pop around to the healers tents, even that ache doesn't seem to be enough to get him to go there any more. Instead he can be found at the tavern having a drink, or tucked away in a corner practicing finger exercises on his chanter. Sometimes he still goes to the stables, too, even though he isn't living there any longer. He likes being around the horses, and here more than anywhere else you can catch him idly carving small pieces of wood. Nothing he does is terribly fancy, but some of pieces do eventually turn into things someone could wear or display - well, if you happen to like tiny figures of various semi-recognizable beasties, that is.

[Once a piper... (end of Harvestmere)]

It takes quite some time for his cracked ribs to heal to the point where it doesn't hurt to draw a breath, and longer still before he's able to sustain the breath he needs to properly play, but eventually, one day, there's a noise that's possibly familiar to the people who know Jamie well - the skirl of bagpipes, the sound carrying from high up on the battlements and traveling throughout Skyhold. Unlike some of the other times he's played, it's a somber sound, the tune itself sad and maybe just a little haunting. There's a reason behind the song, a promise he'd made to himself awhile ago, and even though it may be a little rougher around the edges than usual, it's something he's determined to see through, even if there's a risk someone might come up and try and figure out what's going on. He can deal with that if it happens. Until then, he's going to play.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In contrast, Jamie was a much smaller man, a good four inches under six feet in height, with a build that was closer to wiry than muscular even after spending months fighting for the Inquisition. He'd seen quite a few people built like Iskandar, though, and the man's height didn't faze him, even if it did remind him a bit of people he'd once known.

The memories, though, were of brave and good men, and when he glanced up, it was with a smile - albeit a slightly wry one, based on the question.

"Aye, well, I'm not sure yet. Could be a horse. Or a bear. Or maybe a terrible beastie. Depends on how it wants to turn out."

He couldn't say he was worried, either way. It was more something to do to keep busy, since he was stuck in Skyhold for the foreseeable future, and he gave Iskandar a shrug.

"I'll figure it out along the way. Here, did you want an apple for your horse? I've got some here still, and I should do something with them anyway."

"You have one? Bucephalus would certainly enjoy one of those."

He went closer and crouched down, a grin still on his face. Of course Iskandar generally seemed to always be with one of those. There was just so much joy to be found in life that he just wanted to discover all of it and live with all of it.

"Perhaps I might fetch you something in return. Or offer you company for a time. I may have little currently but I can offer that much to another."

He gave a soft laugh then. "I am Iskandar, my friend. Who might you be?"

More than one - and in this case, Jamie didn't have to go far. He twisted slightly to one side, reaching for a small sack that was half-hidden in the hay. Pulling an apple out of it, he offered it over.

"Here you go."

Bucephalus was welcome to it, and as far as he was concerned, there wasn't any need for anything in return - something that got him to shake his head at the offer.

"I don't need anything, though if you want to stay, you're welcome to. I'm Jamie. Iskandar's not a native name, is it? Don't think I've heard anything like it before."

Taking it, he tossed it up once before catching it. Pulling out his sword, he started to slice it there on the spot. Not really what a sword was used for but he really didn't seem to mind at all. He hadn't done things like this for his horse since they were both alive during his conquests of the world.

"It is the name I took when I conquered Persia. I was born as Aléxandros and history of my world knows me as Alexander the Great."

Returning to his horse, he carefully fed him the pieces of the apple, laughing at how eager the great beast was. He might not have eaten in a couple thousand years but it was clear he remembered the taste of food rather well.

Jamie's strengths don't necessarily lie in academia. He's not much of a writer, he's only somewhat proficient in maths and his geographical knowledge is rather hit and miss. It's also fair to say that he's not really a historian, despite having spent the past few years before coming to Thedas getting involved with rather a lot of it. However, he's always been interested in battles, and the armies that fight with them - and the kings who were in charge of the armies as well. It means that even without being a true historian the name Alexander the Great rings a bell. Enough so, as a matter of fact, that his eyes widen, and he winds up turning his head to stare for a few seconds as the man feeds his horse.

Eventually, though, he finds his voice again, and reaches up to rub at his eyebrow with the first two fingers of his hand.

"Aye, well, I know that the people who've come through the rift have come from all times and places, but I think you might be the earliest of the lot. Or from the furthest back, anyway."

"The earliest? You know of me then!" He laughed at that, pleased by this discovery. Jamie was not the first to recognize Iskandar for his history but that didn't change his feelings on the matter. Smiling at the young man, he went over to help himself to a seat, legs crossed and hands resting on his knees. "Let me see if I can guess where you are from then since you are of the Earth as I am."

He stroked his beard and thought of the accent he'd been hearing. Which language did that belong to again? English? Yes, that was right but he felt as if that wasn't the right place that it came from. Interesting.

"Hmm...I know the accent can be associated with the English language but I know it is not that. Is it one of the lands close to this land of England perhaps?"

"I do."

It seemed that Iskandar didn't mind knowing that, which was just fine with him. That was one benefit to being stuck here rather than still traveling with the Doctor - he didn't have to be so careful to try and not let it slip that he was from someone's future. Or past, for that matter. Not that he'd actually said explicitly that he was from the king's future, but from what he'd read, Alexander the Great'd been a canny ruler and was just as likely figure it out at some point anyway. He just wasn't going to worry about it if that happened.

Instead, he set the knife and the bear-horse-beastie down next to him before leaning back, stretching his arms behind him so he could prop himself up in place. While it would be easy enough to just tell Iskandar he was from Scotland, if the man wanted to guess, he was willing to go along with that for now.

"Now, to be fair, there's people here from a place called Starkhaven that do sound like me, but I am from Earth, so you're not far wrong. Or far from the place, either."

"I have to recall what the various countries are associated with this English tongue. It is easy to forget when I was not actually born into a time when those lands were called such things." He considered it a little longer as he ran through all the information that had been jammed into his mind upon summoning before he snapped his fingers.

"Ah! It is Scottish! That is it, yes?"

At this point he really looked more like an over excited dog about to get a treat for doing good. He really did get excited about things like this. It was so small a thing in reality but he adored them all the same. Even the smallest of things were wondrous in his eyes.

"Aye, that's it!"

Iskandar's obvious enthusiasm was a bit infectious, and he couldn't help but grin for just a moment at it - although he was also pleased that someone had been able to figure it out. Most of the locals just assumed he was from Starkhaven, unless they already knew him and he'd had the chance to explain.

It was the same with a lot of the rifters, too. Oh, there were some that were from Earth and knew as well, but there were also a fair-sized batch who didn't seem to have a clue, and it was admittedly nice when he found someone who was the former rather than the latter. Still, after a moment, the grin faded, and he shrugged.

"I've not been there for a few years though - ah, even before I wound up in Thedas. I know what you mean about finding out about things that happened after you're born, though. It's a lot to try and remember, isn't it?"

"A great deal. It can be difficult to recall all of the little things. At times I wonder if I am perhaps forgetting things that I've known since childhood."

Being a Servant meant that he had all the necessary information required to handle the modern world stuffed into his head. Not the worst thing really but trying to fish through all of that was rather taxing at times. Perhaps not physically so but it could certainly drain the mind more than he might wish it to.

"What were you doing that took you away from your homelands?"

Those could be some of the most interesting stories.

Not being as able to remember all the little things made sense, and Jamie nodded before his expression turned somewhat more thoughtful. There was a lot of ways that he could answer Iskandar's question, and trying to figure out which would be the least complicated wasn't easy.

As a result, he fell quiet for a few moments, but then he shifted and sat back up, turning to face Iskandar more fully.

"The short version is likely saving my life. It was after a battle on Culloden Moor, and...aye, well, let's just say I wasn't on the winning side. If I'd stayed I'd have been hunted by the English until they caught me. Maybe jailed, if I was lucky. If I wasn't-" He broke off and shrugged, feeling he didn't need to go into detail, not with a fellow warrior. "The slightly longer version involves the people I'd met right after the battle, and a ship that I'm no so sure I can explain without making it sound like I'm mad."

"Considering all that I have seen I actually doubt that you will come across as mad to me if you ever wish to share. After all, you hardly seem so mad to me now as we speak and one would think the likes of that would appear before the oddness starts."

At least that was his reasoning. Perhaps he was wrong about that but at least it was clear he had a very open mind. Then again, he was Alexander the Great. Openness was one of the things he'd been so well known for. Sometimes to the point of people he cared about rolling their eyes over it. Not stopping him, of course.

But could anyone really stop this man if he put his mind to something? Probably not.

It was sound enough reasoning, as far as it went, although he still wasn't entirely sure he was convinced that it wouldn't change once he opened his mouth. Still, Iskandar seemed like a decent chap, and even if he didn't believe him, maybe it'd not turn out so badly.

Worst case, the man would wind up thinking he was mad, and he'd have to deal with that. But the only way he'd know for sure one way or another was to have a go at explaining, and after some consideration, he nodded.

"Alright then, let's see what you think. Have you ever heard of anything called a spaceship?"

"Yes. Humanity has made great strides to move forward beyond the world to explore the stars."

Did a spaceship have something to do with why the young man thought he'd think him mad? So far it seemed reasonable enough. Unless there was something unique about space or the ship? Hard to tell just from that one question so far.

"Have you been in such a ship?"

That was a start. Not that he didn't think that he couldn't have explained the concept of it if he'd needed to - he'd had to before, and had done alright, despite it not being something that'd really existed in his time. But not actually having to describe that part of it helped, and he nodded.

"Aye. One of the people I'd met -- he'd had a sort of spaceship, and when he and his friends left I went with them. Only it wasn't just a spaceship."

And that was the part where Jamie wasn't sure what the reaction would be, but he'd already committed to what he was going to say, and whatever happened, he wasn't going to back down now. So while there was a small hesitation, it was more a pause for effect, and it wasn't long at all before he went on.

"It could travel through the stars, mind, but it'd not just taken us to other worlds. It took us to other times as well."

Not just a spaceship? His eyes widened as he listened, obviously interested in this explanation that was unfolding before him. Perhaps he wouldn't understand all of it but he still found it to be fascinating. More so when Jamie revealed that it would travel through time as well.

"Time and space?"

For a second it seemed like he would laugh at the madness of it all. And while he did laugh, it was out of sheer joy.

"Amazing! What sort of things were you able to see because of this? Tell me a story of one of your adventures!"

Rather than think it mad, he had embraced it and was eager to learn more.

There'd been a lot of it that Jamie hadn't understood either, to be honest, but having an accepting nature had gone a long way towards letting him embrace his experiences. Finding someone with a similar mindset was unexpected, but welcome, and Jamie found himself warming to Iskandar just that much more.

"Well, you've heard of the lost city of Atlantis, have you not? What if I told you that we'd landed there once? Not that we'd meant to, mind, but the TARDIS has a mind of it's own. Try and go to Mars and you'd wind up on the moon instead."

They'd wound up there, too, and there was a wry twist to his mouth that said as much, but that was a story for later, perhaps. Right now he settled back, propping himself back up on his arms as he settled into the tale.

"And of course, the first thing that happened when we got there was that we were captured. Before we knew it, we'd been tied up to ramps that were meant to tilt into a water filled with sharks. There was a priest who said there'd been a prophecy that we'd turn up, and as part of that prophecy, we were meant to be sacrificed to their great goddess Amdo."

Iskandar was leaning forward with all the interest of a child being told a tale of grand adventure. In some ways he felt like he was hearing the Iliad again for the first time. Eyes wide, he smiled and waited for the next part to unfold. Not only had he been to the lost city of Atlantis but he'd been to Mars as well?

"How did you escape?"

Obviously he knew that part had to come next. Jamie was here telling him the tale which mean he obviously hadn't perished. Or maybe he had and had arrived here after that? He really didn't understand how time worked here honestly but he was willing to believe that they'd all escaped instead. Through some miraculous turn of events according to his own imagination.

The idea that someone might have died and been brought in hadn't even occurred to Jamie - he didn't even know if it was possible, as a matter of fact. But it didn't really matter - in this case, Iskandar was right that they'd escaped. There'd just been one or two hiccups along the way.

"Aye, well, as luck would have it, the Doctor knew an important person who was there, and talked him into stopping the sacrifice. We weren't out of the woods yet, mind. The Doctor'd managed to save our lives, but the person - his name was Zaroff - wasn't interested in talking to the rest of us, so they sent us away to make us contribute some sort of useful service, as they put it."

He didn't think all that much about their 'useful service' and it showed, his lip curling a bit in distaste before going on. The way Iskandar was listening made him feel like he was truly interested in the story, though, and as he went on, he started to lean ever so slightly forward himself, gesturing with his hands as he talked.

"They'd some odd definitions of useful, mind. Our friend Polly was taken away to be turned into a fish person -- someone who could breathe underwater and work to fetch the food that the people needed to eat. Ben and I'd not known that at the time, of course. We'd been sent to work in the mines. Not that we had any intention of staying there, and when the chance came for us to get away, Ben and I took it."

A fish person? He blinked at that but not because he thought it impossible. The tales of all that the gods of his beliefs could do were impressive to say the least. Turning someone into a fish person was not out of the realm of possibility. No, he was more surprised because he hadn't expected the story to go that way.

"What task was the Doctor given? You three seemed to have work but he would have been given something as well, wouldn't he?"

That made sense with the story. And then he could ask about the escape if that wasn't covered next.

"Well, not exactly. The Doctor was pretending to try and get the man he knew -- Zaroff -- to think he was on his side. What he was really doing was figuring out what the man doing there in the first place. He wasn't a native, you see, but a scientist who'd claimed he'd come to help the Atlanteans."

And he'd had his own motives for being there, but Jamie knew he'd get back to it. In the meantime, there were escapes to tell about, and he shifted positions just enough to get slightly more comfortable before going on.

"While he was there, though, the Doctor found out what was going to happen to Polly, and he figured out a way to stop it. He always does, you know. In the meantime, Ben and I met a couple of the other workers who'd found a tunnel out, and we used that to make our escape, with only a few wee hiccups."

"So you were able to help others along the way! How noble!"

He was liking this story more and more as it unfolded. Especially now that it was reaching this part of things. One had to wonder what would happen next now that he had the detail of Zaroff being from another place with his own motives. Did that make him an enemy?

"Did you go to find the Doctor again?"

"That's what we do. Er...did, anyway."

It's not that he's still not helping people here, because he is - but it's not the same without the Doctor, and there's a faint twist of his mouth before he goes back to the story.

"At any rate, we did find the Doctor again, but not right away. We ran into Polly first, and she told us about almost being turned into a fish person. We didn't see the Doctor until he and one of the priests who'd been convinced to help the Doctor turned up in the temple. Things hadn't gone well with Zaroff, you see, so he'd sent the Doctor back to be sacrificed again."

It was probably safe to say that Zaroff was an enemy by that point, but what happened after that had made it clear to everyone, and Jamie leaned forward, his hands gesturing once more as he tried to make that clear to Iskandar as well.

"The temple had a secret door, though, and Polly'd found a sort of-of tube that you could use to throw your voice. So we convinced the other priests Amdo was talking to them, and to cast their eyes down, and we got the Doctor and the friendly priest out of there. It was then that we found out what the Doctor'd found out. Zaroff was mad. He planned on destroying the world, and it was up to us to stop him."

His eyes went wide when he found out what had happened to the Doctor. Leaning forward even more, he became that much more invested in the story. Jamie could have been making this whole thing up (he didn't believe that for a second) and Iskandar clearly would have just believed him. Such a tale was amazing! He could hardly wait to see what would take place next!

"And then? How did you stop him?"

What became of Zaroff? He had to know!

Jamie'd been told before that he had a pretty vivid imagination, but making this up would've been a stretch, even for him. Well, for the most part. Some parts would be easier than others, but in this case, he was telling what he knew - and oddly enough, enjoying the chance to do so. It'd been awhile since he'd been able to share his adventures with anyone, and he was enjoying it more than he'd thought. Iskandar's reaction was helping, too, and a bit of a smile played around the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, there was a wee bit to it, but we started by having the men we'd met at the mines earlier convince the fish people to go on strike. Food didn't keep for more than a couple of hours down there, you see, so the fish people had to constantly gather it. Once they'd been talked into stopping, well...people began to notice. And it drew Zaroff out into the open, which was just what we needed." The smile stretched into a grin as Jamie leaned forward, and stayed there as he lowered his voice, almost conspiratorially. "We'd not have been able to kidnap him, otherwise. And then we'd not have found out that he was going to set off a nu- a great explosion. That was part of his plan, you see. He said as much before he looked to have some sort of attack and collapse."

The grin faded at that, not so much for what had appeared to happen to the man, but what had actually happened after that. His lips pressed together briefly, just thinking about it, but then he let out a breath through his nose and went on, any hint of amusement gone from his face.

"It was just a ruse, only no-one believed me when I'd said as much. At first, anyway. They'd thought he was too weakened by it, and so when the Doctor and Ben and I left, we left Zaroff with Polly and the priest. The Doctor did think better of it and set me back, but by then it was too late."

Edited 2016-11-14 18:59 (UTC)

[Open] Sometimes...

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)