[Open] I can't take the distance

[bookish_lioness]

WHO: Hermione and OPEN
WHAT: Catch-all for the month while Hermione gets used to Kirkwall
WHEN: Throughout Bloomingtide
WHERE: The docks, the Gallows, and exploring Kirkwall
NOTES: Will update with any warnings if necessary. If anyone wants to plan or would like a specific starter, feel free to either PM this journal or hit me up on plurk (StarryOblivion).

Arrival

While Hermione had never had trouble with boats, she couldn't help feeling nauseated during the entire trip. She was still convinced that she'd left Harry behind in Skyhold, and that she could have done more to find him, and the concern and guilt weighed on her heavily.

By the time she'd disembarked, she was a little unsteady on her feet, and the sight of the Gallows wasn't really helping to foster a cheery disposition. She lingered by the docks for a time, often stopping to stare back across the water towards where they'd come from, but she knew that eventually she'd have to make her way into the Gallows proper.

The Gallows

Though it wasn't as dismal as it had been when she'd been kept a prisoner there in that horrible future world, the Gallows still wasn't the most inviting of places. Hermione didn't consider herself sensitive to that sort of thing, but she could swear she could feel the pain and anguish that lingered, soaked into the walls despite the Inquisition's best efforts to make the place livable. Though she sat in the library more than once and took a few meals in the dining hall and tried to settle into something resembling a day-to-day schedule, she didn't feel wholly comfortable anywhere. It wasn't until now that she realized just how much Skyhold had come to feel like home, and that posed a whole host of other problems in itself.

The city

Though Hermione hated the Gallows, she'd heard enough mixed tales about Kirkwall to be reluctant to travel there. But she knew that staying in the Gallows all day every day wasn't healthy, and so she eventually managed to borrow a set of clothes that wouldn't look too out of place among the locals, and so wouldn't attract any undue attention as she spent a few days familiarizing herself with her new surroundings.

[OOC- For the last option, anyone in her current CR circle is free to venture along with her, and anyone is welcome to encounter her throughout Kirkwall as she tries to get her bearings. She's curious enough that she'll at least pop her head in anywhere that doesn't look clearly dangerous, but feel free to contact me if you want to be sure or want something specific!]

Comments

[bookish_lioness]

She tries not to feel bitter about the whole thing, and for the most part, Hermione manages to hold her tongue. But ultimately she can't help asking, "Has anyone even been looking for a way to send us back? It seems as though most people have either accepted us as a part of their lives, or else they'd rather we were dead. I understand that people are more focused on Corypheus and the Breach, but... what if part of the reason new rifts open up is because rifters are here, instead of in their own worlds?"

Silent for a moment, Hermione ponders over that. "What if the rifts are the universe's way of trying to right itself, and the breach will finally close when every rifter is back where they should be?" It's no more possible than any other theory, but that only means it's no more impossible. She just doesn't have any data with which to support or denounce the idea.

[circleprodigy]

Hermione's question prompts a furrowed brow as Inessa mulls over the possibility presented. "I...an interesting theory, though the rifts appeared before rifters themselves did. That cause is not you or the others arriving here, though I cannot say for certain that your presence does not affect them. That's a good question, one we must research."

There's a soft whine from Garahel as he senses Hermione's mood, bumping up against her comfortingly. "I...don't believe there has been a constant effort to determine how to return rifters to their point of origin. Many believe it to be entirely impossible, or that it pales compared to our other priorities. I'm sorry. I know it's unfair. Perhaps this reorganization can give us more resources to devote to that area. No one deserves to cast adrift forever."

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione doesn't know if she really thinks her new theory is at all viable, but it's still a theory, and it seems as though she's one of the only ones bothering to come up with any. Or, at least, to come up with any theories that include the rifters heading home.

She reaches a hand out to pet Garahel without really paying attention, though she eventually concedes to look down and focus on him a bit more as she pets him with both hands. "It isn't your fault. And I can understand the circumstances. But if the Breach is sealed while the rifters are on this end, effectively closing off our way back...." She frowns a little, even if she doesn't like the fact that the mabari can apparently sense her grim mood. "You can see why it's been on my mind."

[circleprodigy]

Aw, Hermione. Garahel nuzzles her, tail wagging a little as she does so. Inessa nods gravely, sighing as she mulls over the situation herself. "Were our positions reversed, I would be just as determined to return. The wonders of a new world do not negate my duty to this one. I cannot guarantee what will happen, only that I will not forget that there are many who deserve a chance to return."

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione doesn't consider Thedas to have a particularly impressive amount of "wonders," certainly not enough to make it preferable over her proper home. The racism and classism is even more blatant here than what she'd known growing up. "Things at home were just beginning to make sense again," she notes softly. "And then I ended up here. It's been so long since I've had any semblance of normal in my life that I'm not wholly sure I'd know what to do with it." With a soft sigh, she admits, "I'd like to find out, someday. If only for a little while."