the long way to skyhold [OPEN]

[rivernamed]

WHO: Hudson, Sideswipe, and OPEN!
WHAT: A Tal-Vashoth with a mabari arrives with a skinny human mercenary. It sounds like the start of a joke, but there's no real punchline.
WHEN: 21st of Haring
WHERE: Skyhold.
NOTES: Feel free to tag either specifically to Sideswipe, Hudson, or both. Both. Both is good.

TAVERN WITH SIDESWIPE, OPEN.

Leaving Manahata had been an enormous decision for him, something he is not always convinced was right, but he is determined to ensure that this Red Templar and Tevinter business is done away with. They have enough to worry about without further complications of holes in the sky and whatnot. The rebellion was bad enough, now there's this, and Hudson knew he'd do what it took to make sure everyone else was safe.

On the way to Skyhold, he'd found this boy, a potential recruit. Mostly skin and bones, long and lanky and young, but determined to make something of himself. He certainly wasn't going to do it by freezing to death on the way to Skyhold, so Hudson has been ensuring that the boy is hauled up the mountain to the Inquisition's fortress.

"C'mon, lad." Practically carrying the redhead, Hudson immediately makes his way to the tavern, knowing that sitting by a fire with something hot in his stomach will help him. "Sideswipe you said was what you were goin' by?"

Kind of a silly nickname, but then again, his companions named him after a river, so there's that.

Hudson puts Sideswipe in a chair, closest to the fire. "Bronx, stay," he orders the mabari, who obeys while wagging his stub of a tail. The giant warrior makes his way to the bar, working on ordering something warm for the boy.


STABLES, OPEN.

It's been a few hours since settling in and making sure that Sideswipe wasn't going to freeze. Ridiculous young warrior hardly wore anything to keep himself warm from the cold. Bit of a show off, but he's young; he'll learn, and he knows it.

For now, Hudson is by the stables. He's already established himself as a recruit for the Inquisition. Simple enough process, really, but for now it leaves him to his own devices.

He's sitting inside the stables, not minding the nearby mounts. The Tal-Vashoth is working on a letter, and at his feet is Bronx, dozing away comfortably.

"Already makin' yourself at home, boy?" he says with a snort, nudging the hound with a foot. The mabari just grunts, hardly offended. "Don't get too cozy. He said you needed exercise."

Comments

FOR HUDSON - also OPEN

[redshitlord]

He thought this was a great idea. Get the cloak the merchant swore would keep him warm no matter the weather -- and hey, how was he supposed to know it was just regular old black fabric? The guy had been so convincing.

He hadn't noticed anything was off until his fingers stopped moving. And turned blue. So maybe he'd panicked a little, and picked up his pace, spending more energy than he should have. But he had to get to this Skyhold thing! They needed him! And... if he were being honest with himself, he needed it, too.

By the time the big guy found him, he'd been a little hazy -- half-convinced he'd been hauled out of the snowdrift by his father instead of a grizzled, horned warrior. Things were kind of a blur after that, up until there were gates passing overhead and suddenly they were out of the wind. He'd done his best to walk, then, stubbornly, and only tripped over himself once.

"Uh, yes. Yeah! It is," he answers, lamely, once he's in the chair. But all too soon, the big Qunari -- that's a Qunari. Andraste's buttcheeks that's a Qunari -- is gone, and it's just him, and the mabari.

Which of course, he has to try and pet.

[girlinthebox]

The stables are warm, cozy. They smell of horse, and the keep mousers used to hide in here and play with her boot laces. That's likely over, with the presence of a dog and the accompanying smell.

She'd been about to hide her shoes in a hay bale again when she spies the old man and his dog. Qunari. No. The other word. She hesitates in the shadows, light catching a sliver of her arm and dress, as she debates coming back again another time.

Not out of fear, no. But his song is calm, quiet, certain as the ebb and flow of the ocean. Best not to disturb them.

[noleechesneeded]

Another day, another pair of boots River's left somewhere besides on her feet. Simon's getting better at going through her usual hiding places and this time he's starting with the stables. Stepping inside and giving the stables a quick look around doesn't reveal them lying about but it's never that easy...though Simon does notice he's not alone in here.

"Ah, sorry to intrude..." Nevermind that it's not as if he barged into someone's room. But the fact that he's walked in on a qunari and his very large dog prompts the mage to be that much more mindful of his manners. Simon's lips thin for a moment, giving the very large dog another look in case there's a pair of leather boots currently being gnawed on to be found. No such luck...

"I don't suppose you've seen a lost pair of boots somewhere in here?" he asks. "Or maybe the girl who would have left them?"