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{ ariadne }

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WHO: Those who didn't go to the Fallow Mire
WHAT: Some people were smart enough to not go to the Fallow Mire.
WHEN: Firstfall
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: None as of yet. Any threads that need to have content warning please tag them properly.

While the exit of the volunteers to the Fallow Mire had left Skyhold a bit more quieter, there were still things left to do in the mountain stronghold. Just because you didn't volunteer to go fight undead doesn't mean you get to shirk on your duties! In fact, you should probably pick up the pace. Less people around meant it might be easier to stand out and get in trouble, and you don't want that, do you?

But always, the Inquisition is there for you. There to help, there to overcome any challenges that might be presented. Make new friends, chat to old ones.

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Sina knew she'd heard of the Suvahl, but it had been a while since the last Arlathven, and she couldn't decide if Chaya looked familiar or not. The woman's assertion that she was no longer of the clan, however, was enough to give Sina pause.

"...what happened to them?" she asked timidly, before she could stop herself.

"Oh!" She realised what she might have implied there. "Nothing terrible. One of the little ones came into their magic, and no-one else we could find had space. You know how it goes. Better an adult go clanless than a babe, I thought."

The words come easier the second time she tries to explain it. "The inquisition seemed as good a place as any to go."

Rather than clarify anything, this confused Sina further. She found herself staring openly at Chaya, perhaps with a hint of distrust.
"...so you just..." she said faintly, "...left?" As far as she knew, this was simply not done, and certainly not with so cavalier an attitude.

It generally wasn't, but it'd be hard to tell that from the way Chaya spoke of it so casually. "Yup. Up and left. Not sure it was the best choice I ever made, but I made it."

What had begun as confusion was now rapidly becoming affront. Sina stared at Chaya for another long moment. She had a multitude of questions, none of which were polite to ask a stranger, even one of the People; but was she really, anymore? Sina's eyes flitted to the woman's forehead once again. Mythal. There was an irony to this, but she couldn't place it.

"..how?" she asked, with the implied 'could you' never reaching her lips. Her shy demeanor was quickly icing over.

"Easily enough." She wasn't sure how to deal with the affront - she was still working on that part herself. Taking the question literally seemed the easier way to answer it, and Chaya always did love easy ways of doing things. "I went to collect herbs, didn't come back. Left a letter for them to find, so they knew not to waste effort looking for me."

She shrugged. The topic was clearly bothering the other elf, and she herself was only too keen to move from it. "Guessing that that's not how you ended up here, hmm?"

Sina's stare had become incredulous as she listened, and the look she gave Chaya at her following question was downright sulky. The woman was probably only a bit younger than her Keeper, Sina thought, and she'd been taught better than to be overtly disrespectful to her elders-- even if they were only elder by a decade or so-- but she found the topic offensive to a frightening degree.
"No," she said, more clipped than before, and hunched her shoulders as she went back to her planting. "It's not."

"Another representative of the clans, then? I heard a few of us-" She paused. Not 'us'. Not anymore. Certainly not to this woman. She might have given every indication of ignoring her growing distress, but that didn't mean she hadn't taken note of it at all.

A quiet snap filled the awkward silence that followed, as she broke off a small piece of the stalk, examining it for a moment before putting it in her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully.

After a moment she corrected herself. "-heard a few of them had thrown their lots in with this inquisition business. Can't fault them, seems as safe a bet as any."

The atmosphere was awkward indeed, and that was putting it lightly. Sina filled the silence by aggressively planting a sprout or two, but she paused and side-eyed Chaya when she spoke again.

"Clan Ashara is here to help the Inquisition," she informed her, with the air of a precocious child, "not to be kept safe by it. And Nar-- my clan sister and I are here because..." She hesitated, a flush coming to her pale cheeks, the hue of which verged on sickly on most days. She fought with the words for several moments, her young face contorting in frustration.
"...because I could die otherwise."
She pursed her lips in defiance to no one in particular, mashed some dirt over the roots of the newest stalk, and folded her arms. She had covered the shard well with several layers of shirts and scarves, but if Chaya looked closely, she might still see it glowing oddly through the fabric around her sternum.

Her eyes were suddenly brimming as she stared hard at the ground. "I would give anything to be back with my clan," she whispered.

"Rough topic, hmm?"

The genial warmth had never really left Chaya's voice through the conversation but now, at the sight of tears, it became something greater. She had once been keeper, after all, in all but name, and Sina might have already earned her vallaslin but she was still a young one. Carefully, she brushed some stray hairs out of the younger elf's face, tucking them behind her pointed ears.

"You will return to them, I'm sure. The things that you learn here will be priceless to them. Might help them. Might save lives. Even the shems have a thing or two to teach, and I can think of no better place to learn them than here." She smiled. "I know it's hard, but you're not a flat-ear like me. You will endure, and your clan brothers and sisters will be stronger for your efforts."

Sina thought too late to flinch away, and by this point Chaya was touching her. She resigned herself to it, and wasn't sure why. A few tears fell, but she wiped them away, keeping her head down.
"You're so all right with it," she said quietly, "I don't understand."

"It was for the best. Someone needed to leave willingly, the clan would have torn itself apart if anyone had been forced out. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss them, but-"

She shook her head and shrugged, changing the subject. "How long's it been since you've seen a halla?"

The mere thought of willingly leaving her clan was heartbreaking. It was fairly clear at this point what feelings Sina had been projecting onto Chaya, and now that the floodgates were open, she was finding it difficult to close them again.

She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, smiling sadly at the question. "Weeks," she whimpered. "..b..but I..." She trailed off and slid her hand into the tool pouch she wore at her belt. From it she withdrew a small wooden halla figurine, which she lovingly turned over in her hands. "...Nari makes me these."
It was as though she had forgotten entirely that she was talking to someone she perceived as, if not a traitor, at least sacrilegious; now she was just sad, and isolated from everything and everyone she held dear.

Chaya fell silent for a moment, admiring the craftsmanship on the figurine and giving the younger elf a moment to breathe - she seemed to need one. "Well made, isn't it?" She said eventually, nodding to herself. "Takes a good end to make them look nice when they're that small."

"Come down to the stables with me once your eyes're drier, Saeli'll be wanting to eat soon."

Sina kept the figure out for a moment more, smiling sadly at Chaya's observation. "She's the best," she murmured. As she put it away, she looked back up at the other elf, her reddened eyes widening slightly. "Saeli..?" she asked, a hopeful edge to her voice. Surely not a halla!

"She'll be glad to see one of the clanfolk, even if you're not Suvahl. She's been patient, but she's missed having a clan to tend her, rather than just me."

She doesn't quite confirm it, but er smile widens as the younger elf looks up.

"She's my sister, near enough. Followed me all the way here."

Sina hesitated, but her interest couldn't be denied. "...I'd love to see her," she admitted.

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