faderift | ( open ) black tears on my freckles

WHO: Six and you!
WHAT: Adalia is gone and things suck
WHEN: Post-Battle
WHERE: Gallows
NOTES: N/A, just sad bean

She has not seen her sister since before the battle.

Six's movement has been limited: her leg is still not entirely healed and the medical attention she was given was enough to get her walking, but she refused much else. She walks with a limp and a crutch, her eyes darting here and there as she moves around the Gallows, seeking out anyone who might be able to help her. She doesn't recognise everyone, even now, months behind her, and there's an edge of uncertainty that buries down inside of her, like a gnawing feeling in her gut.

She spends hours walking around, checking rooms, peering here and there. Her leg begins to ache, an agonising throb that makes her feel intense and pained, but she does not give up. Two wanders at her side, sniffing here and there, trying to find some trace of Adalia to follow. The fact that there is nothing makes her uncomfortable, and the sourness continues, settling on her face as she moves forward and ends up slumped in the corner of the training area.

With her broken leg and her cuts and bruises she can't lift a sword, but she can watch, set and a touch shattered, her frown set on her face and her eyes closing for long periods of time. There is no reason for Adalia to be on a mission, no sign of her being sent somewhere... There is no explanation that she wants to consider. It pains her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I have been told to be thankful for my appearance," Six lifts a hand, touching her ears; slightly pointed, but barely enough to betray her heritage. It is clear which side of her bloodline she takes after and which side Adalia did. Few would imagine them sisters to look at them in strength and appearance, but in heart... Perhaps that would explain it as much as blood could. "I am mistaken for human more often than I am given the due my blood offers, but Two helps. People are often more concerned with him than they are with myself."

Gentle hands keep stroking over Two, his head and his face and back to scratch at his ears, and his behind wiggles in time with the pets, accepting them and enjoying them with a quiet little whine. Her hands only hesitate when Inessa speaks again and she pauses, breathing out softly before she looks over.

"... I did not grow up with a loving family," she admits, voice a touch lower, marred with some grief. "My father was not a kind man and I learned that at a young age."

The notion of half-elves is still a bit confusing to the elf raised in Thedas; either you were are an elf, or you weren't. Elf-blooded never showed signs of their non-human heritage, that was always the way of it. So to see someone with even slightly pointed ears thought of as more human is odd, and stirring feelings she can't quite label, yet.

She reaches into her satchel to retrieve a couple of mabari crunch treats, to keep the dogs happy while they talk. As Garahel inhales his own, she nods grimly, her mouth forming a thin line. "It's a terrible thing, when those who are supposed to protect and nuture are instead the source of fear and pain. How long did you have to endure it before you could leave?"

Living a life where you had been too little of one race and too much of another had not been as pleasant as people might imagine. Six knows it from personal experience; the elven of her land consider her soulless, beyond their reach, and the humans think of her more as a half-breed than anything else, a mutt of two races. She had been lucky that she could hide her heritage with hair and strength.

People do not expect someone her size and bulk to have elven blood.

"Fifteen years," she admits quietly. "I was fifteen when I left my town and escaped to join the mercenaries. I worked with them for almost seven years before I began my training as a Paladin."

"So young...." Inessa shakes her head, thinking back to how she was at that age. Confined, yes, but also sheltered. Compared to an abusive family home she would still have chosen the Circle every time. There's a glint of admiration in her eyes for the woman beside her, what she made out of herself despite what was endured.

"It doesn't sound easy, but at least it was a life of your own choosing. I'm glad you were able to escape, and find your own path."

"Is it?" Six has no comparison, nothing to make her think her age, barely fifteen, was young or old or anything between. She had simply been desperate to escape from the hands of her father, desperate to find a place for herself, a quest that she thinks she is still working towards. There's an edge of something, still an ever present tension that settles uneasily on her shoulders; speaking of her father is clearly something she is not comfortable with, even now.

"I found a path. I am not sure if it was the best one, but I hope that it is." Her hand lifts, touching the symbol around her neck. "Sarenrae guides me now. I could not ask for more."

Inessa's gaze drifts to the symbol, contemplative. "I'm beginning to think that none of us really know for sure, not in the moment. So, all we can do is follow our instincts and see where the path leads. Whatever is truly best, we'll make it count somehow."

"I am doing what I can," she agrees, nodding her head. "I think my sister wished to help Thedas, to see it flourish. I would like to continue that wish, not because it is my duty, but because I care for this place." Slowly, her fingers slip down and away, glancing at the spark of her shard in her hand. "I wish to help those that cannot help themselves. That is my path."

"We need more people like you." Inessa's smiles returns, soft and gentle. "I know you didn't decide to be here, no one did. It's not fair...but that's not the point, is it? If you can help those who cannot help themselves, then I'm grateful nonetheless." She sighs, looking down to that spark as well. "You would make a fine Warden, if we were recruiting."

Perhaps one day...but that's not for Inessa to decide even if she could recommend it.

"I do not think of myself of so worthy of compliment," Six admits. She might not have agreed to come here, but she thinks that she would have answered the call anyway, if Thedas had asked. It is her duty as a Paladin of Sarenrae, with her Oath binding her, to do what she can for people, to redeem those lost to the light and seek to aid those who were damaged by it. Thedas needs more of Sarenrae's guidance.

The rest makes her pause, though, blinking.

"I am honoured," she says finally, voice soft. "If it were to ever change... I would be glad to try."

( open ) black tears on my freckles

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