[open] a little truth arrives in the dying of each day

[eolasemah]

WHO: Sina and you
WHAT: here we go
WHEN: mid-Harvestmere
WHERE: Hightown and then the Gallows
NOTES: All Sina logs from this point onward will involve discussions/dealing with death and illness, so if you're sensitive about those topics I recommend passing these by.

I. Just outside the Forest Garden [single thread please, 1-3 people max]

Sina still looks like Sina, but if Thedas had photographs, and the ability to compare a person's image of two years ago to their image today, only then would it become achingly clear how much mass she's lost. As the weather grows chill, she has to bundle up more and more just to go to work in her gardens, and even then is constantly cold. But she's been all right, all things considered; she's still upright, at least.

Until she isn't. Having felt a little strange since they found the elf children in the warehouse, Sina has chalked it up to the usual business and the gut-wrenching trauma of what they found. Her chest has felt a little heavier, her step a little slower, her hands a little colder, nothing worth calling a healer about until today: she's nearly down the stairs of the former Chantry when she abruptly loses consciousness.

Crumpling like a doll, Sina scrapes her leg on the last few steps and collapses to the ground, basket of herbs on its side, its contents splayed everywhere. She wakes up at once, but with bleary confusion, disoriented and burning with fever.


II. The Infirmary [ota]

Those who spent any significant time with the rescued elven children may also have caught what ails Sina now, but with a body already so ravaged by weakness, fighting it is clearly difficult for her. She's asleep most of the time, coughing when she's awake, and unable to keep food down.
It's not the first time she's been in this position, but it may be the last.

Comments

II

[arlathvhen]

She's spent less and less time with Sina recently, though Beleth stays updated on her situation. The guilt wrenches at her, guilt mixed with a quiet dread of what seems to be more and more inevitable looming ever closer. That guilt and dread had gripped her enough to fetch her own twin to Kirkwall for Sina, and enough that when Beleth hears about the fall, she puts aside all of her work and plans to come sit at her side.

Besides Sina's bed, she places an array of flowers from the woman's own hand (blood?) grown forest, hoping that it will provide some cheer to her.

"Aneth ara," Beleth murmurs, fingers pressing into her own lap. "I...um. I heard. About what happened." Of course she heard, Beleth hears everything that happens, now. "Can...I get you anything? Tea? A book?"

[eolasemah]

There have been visitors off and on throughout the day, and Sina wishes she were more alert, less exhausted and able to devote more attention to them. Each break between them is a welcome respite, yet it would be a lie to say she isn't still glad to see someone else.
She smiles at the flowers, then up at Beleth, whispering back a voiceless 'aneth ara' before clearing her throat gently. "I'm all right," she replies, "I'm glad you came." It's lost on her that Beleth is busy, busier than she's ever been before. "...and that you sent for Sorrel."

[arlathvhen]

Beleth isn't sure about her being 'alright'. Alive, at least. But she doesn't say anything contrary. If Sina knows, she knows. If she doesn't...Beleth isn't going to correct her and tell her no, actually, she looks terrible.

"Of course. I thought about telling you, but...I thought it'd be a nice surprise for you." Also, she didn't know how to say 'I'm making Sorrel come here bc you look terrible'. It's an increasingly difficult topic to dodge around. "He was happy to come here. He's still adjusting to Kirkwall, but just watch, in a few months, he'll be an expert at it."

[eolasemah]

Sina knows, but, in her usual pleasantly stoic way, refuses to show that she does. If she caves and shows weakness, everything around her will fall apart. It's just part of being a Dalish mage.
"It was," she agrees, even blushing a little, "I know he will. Especially with your help." Your, not our.

[arlathvhen]

"I'm glad that worked, then." Beleth replies with a small smile. She notes the 'your' instead of 'our', but...she's not sure what to really do about it. She's not sure what to do about any of this, and instead lets the conversation fall into silence for a time.

"I visited your little forest," Obviously, the flowers are from there. "It's really beautiful. Even with the chill starting to come in the air, it's been doing well." She should say something else. Assure Sina that it'll live on, that she'll take care of it. That even after...Sina is no longer around, it'll be there.

But she can't.

[eolasemah]

Sina smiles, even a bit wryly, at the term 'little forest'. So diminutive, and yet, because it's Beleth, it's just funny and not offensive. She knows where Beleth's heart lies, and knows she's not being patronized.
"Serannas," she whispers, blushing a bit, "it might bloom through the winter. I'm not sure." It's a magic forest, after all, and doesn't necessarily operate by the usual scientific rules.

[arlathvhen]

Beleth certainly hadn't meant it offensively. It was just. A little forest. Not one of the massive sprawling ones that they'd both once lived within.

She gives Sina another encouraging smile, and nods. "It might. I'll do what I can to look after it. And make sure that it's safe." From both natural ills, and from fucking Seekers, because Beleth was about to set those fucking Seekers on fire if they tried to touch the goddamn trees.

...Anyway.

"I promise, Sina. I'll protect it." She looks down at her hands, still feelings that awkwardness, but it's better, now. She has something to focus on. Something to hold herself to.

[eolasemah]

Mirroring Beleth's smile, Sina nods wearily. "I never thought... becoming so involved with the shem'len could be so good for us," she admits, "you do so much, Beleth. You serve the People well."

[arlathvhen]

A genuine, proud grin works it's way onto Beleth's face at that, and she ducks her head a little, suddenly bashful. "I do what I can. What any one person can do. Though...I still can't believe sometimes that I made it here. I knew we could use the shemlen, but I never expected that they would be so willing to work with us. I would have never thought that they'd allow me to lead them."

She reaches for Sina's hand, and suddenly, there's so much she wants to say, things she needs Sina to know. "It's not going to stop here, Sina. And it's not going to stop with me. The People will flourish, and we'll make the shemlen respect us. We'll prove that we deserve it." Even if she has to drag the rest of the Dalish kicking and screaming.

"If I could get this far in two years, think of how much further we can go."