Jamie McCrimmon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wontforgetyou) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
faderift2016-10-01 01:55 am
wontforgetyou) wrote in faderift2016-10-01 01:55 am
[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.
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.
no subject
"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."
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"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.
no subject
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."
no subject
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?"
no subject
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."
no subject
"And then? How did you stop him?"
What became of Zaroff? He had to know!
no subject
"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."
no subject
It would be so tragic...
"What happened?"
no subject
Luckily he had, and even if he couldn't manage to save the priest, he had managed to save Polly - and something in him brightened even as he started to sketch out the fight he'd had with Zaroff with his hands.
"I managed to get the drop on Zaroff, and he let go of her. He shoved her into me before I could take him down, though, and while we were recovering from that he took off again. From what I was told later on, he tried to kill the King of the Atlantean people and then went to put his final plan into motion. Polly and I weren't there for that, though. We were too busy trying to find a way back to the others to warn them about Zaroff when we were cut off. A lot of Atlantis was built underground, you see, and the sea was right there behind it. Breach the right walls, and...well, I think you can imagine what happened."
no subject
"I take it the Doctor found a way to put an end to all of this madness by Zaroff?"
He didn't even know this man but he had so much faith in him already just from the way that Jamie spoke of him. He had to be such a great man. A shame he wasn't here in this moment for him to meet him. At least, he assumed that he wasn't. If he ever did arrive though he knew he would want to get to know him better and even have many a discussion with him. About anything really.
no subject
"Aye, he did, even though it meant Atlantis was flooded. Only, as it turns out, it had to be. It was the only way to stop Zaroff's explosion. If it'd not been flooded, then his explosion would've gone off and destroyed the world."
The water had stopped Zaroff - permanently, as it turns out - and drowned the machinery so it couldn't be used ever again. And yes, Atlantis may have been lost, but the cost wasn't nearly as high as it could've been.
"There was enough time for the people to get to somewhere safe, so even though their home was lost, the King and his people were still alive. We were still alive. Polly and I got out too, and eventually found Ben and the Doctor again. And then...well, we left."
no subject
He really meant that too. They'd found the best possible method and had saved so many in the process. The home was destroyed but the people lived on to continue with their culture. In the end, that was what really mattered. Far better than a people to simply die out because of some mad man.
Iskandar smiled at him.
"You tell this tale well! My heart was gripped throughout it!"
no subject
Still, he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit pleased at the compliment, and Iskandar's smile gets one in return even as he winds up sitting up just that much straighter.
"Think that's the first time someone's actually said that I've told it that well, though. Usually I just get accused of having a vivid imagination, but believe me, I couldn't make half that stuff up if I tried."
no subject
How could he not want to? After everything Jamie had said about him in his story, the way he spoke of him, he just had to meet him one day. The man seemed a great wonder! Of course he'd want to know such a man that would get his new friend to admire him so.
"I feel as if I would like him a great deal, my friend."