faderift | There's a story in my veins, with scars on every page

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There's a story in my veins, with scars on every page

WHO: Ellie & OPEN
WHAT: Rifting in less-than-gracefully, a rogue explosion or two, & initial trouble accomplished
WHEN: Arrival and during the first week after.
WHERE: The Hinterlands, The Gallows
NOTES: So much swearing holy shit.

[Arrival.]

The worst part about lucid dreaming is when shit gets a little too real. Especially when it's not the usual kind of horrible. So when Ellie goes from another nightmare about things hunting her in an endless horrible sewer to being sucked into the water, hurtling down through the rain-soaked Seattle depths, she tries to tell herself that she can breathe underwater. She opens her mouth and tries, and the foul water fills her throat-

And she launches out, along with a gush of Seattle sewer water, hits a hillside and goes tumbling.

... and it's steep enough that she keeps going.

Ellie coughs, chokes, tries to scream, and unleashes a garbled stream of hacking, choking profanity.

Maybe you're the unlucky person on the trail she happens to literally bowl into (and possibly take out).

Or maybe you're the one who finds her screaming back into the face of a despair demon, soaked in foul-smelling sewer water, having just hurled a piece of rock shaped suspiciously like a revolver into its face.

She absolutely just called the demon a motherfucker.

[Gallows; Quarantine Times]

A bath, a few square meals and a bit of explanation later, Ellie seems far less... feral. She's dressed in local clothing, a tunic, pants and boots, and has stopped acting like a cat, roaming the stairways in the towers and popping up unexpectedly in places people didn't see her enter.

She shows up near the top of one of the towers, tucked into a window, looking down at the courtyard below.

"... so I heard there were actual griffons roosting up here. Is it true?"

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"Because the Seneschal and the Guard Captain are visiting in a few days time, and I volunteered to check the storage rooms to be sure there's nothing..."

A trailing pause, while Ellis appraises her a second time. Is there such a thing as too much honesty all at once? Living among Riftwatch for any amount of time will reveal all of the eccentricities of their company sooner rather than later, but someone newly arrived—

She deserves some time to adjust, surely. If she comes from a place like Holden and Amos, magic might be something entirely new.

"Nothing that would embarrass us, if it were seen."

It's noted: Ellie is gentle with Noose. Watching the way Noose pushes into the scritch of her fingers settles his impression of her. (Typical, for a Fereldan.)

"I expect Noose to abandon me, once he realizes that's the plan."

Ellie lifts her eyebrows as Ellis trails off, giving Noose a very good scratch behind the ear, digging her fingers in to rub into the itchy fluff around his neck. She's not bothered by the copious amounts of undercoat.

Independently she assumes it's some kind of contraband, but whether it's drugs, weaponry, blackmail material, spicy paintings, who knows. Whatever it is, she figures she'll find out eventually- if someone doesn't eventually show her, she'll figure it out on their own.

"Gotcha," she says with a nod, even if she doesn't know the specifics. She glances down at Noose.

"Nothing you want down there, huh?" she mumbles at him softly, before looking back up.

"You need any help?"

"Aye, I might."

And if not, the company was a welcome thing.

There might be better people in their outfit for this girl to spend her time with. Ellis doesn't pretend to be the best companion, better suited to listening than most anything else. But he tips his head down the hall, drifting a few steps along without any sort of urgency.

"But don't feel obligated, if you've somewhere else you'd rather spend your time."

Ellie shrugs, slipping her hands into her pockets as she walks alongside him and one pace back. She doesn't move like a guard, right at his side, or as a soldier would. But she has the careful step of someone who is used to covering someone else, someone in the position Ellis is standing in. It's a support position, and to her it's as automatic as breathing.

"I figure the sooner you're done, the sooner Noose can get someone to throw a stick around for him."

Because clearly, the dog knows who to follow for some eventual attention.

"And this place is like a goddamn maze. I haven't seen all of it yet."

And sue her, she's curious.

There is one, quick glance back at her. No, this is not unfamiliar to him. Alongside and one step back is old habit. Ellis is often the first to move forward to engage a threat, but in any less volatile moment he's a step behind, close at hand.

"It was a lot to take in when I first came here as well," he tells her, a flicker of a smile accompanying the words. "But you'll get a sense of it before long. Even the city isn't so difficult, so long as you don't mind stairs."

Which he doesn't expect she would. Even the brief impression he has of this girl is enough for Ellis to feel certain of that.

"I'm Ellis," he tacks on, an afterthought to the only introduction that matters here: Noose.

Ellie notes it automatically, tucks the info away even if it's not something that she consciously recognizes, but it puts her more at ease, and so does the smile.

"Ellie," she answers, giving Noose one last rub. He licks at her fingers, apparently content to stay with them at least until they start descending. His paws give little clicks on the floor as they walk on.

"When did you first come here?" she asks, curious. Maybe it's a lot to ask right out of the gate, especially without offering much to begin with, but he's the one who opened the subject. She's still putting together who's a Rifter, who isn't. What that actually means.

Calculating takes him a moment. Has it been so long? (There is, inevitably, that flicker of guilty discomfort; what has he done here for that stretch of time?) But the discomfort doesn't make it to his expression, which tips back to her as he comes to a conclusion.

"Almost two years ago," Ellis answers her. "I arrived in the fall, I remember."

Recalling those first months, sizing up this disorganized company from some remove, feels almost comically different from where he is now.

"I'd been traveling for a long time before I landed here. I'd heard Riftwatch was doing...unique work. I wanted to see for myself," is offered in anticipation of her next question. Why usually follows when in his experience.

Ellie watches his face, trying to weigh the pause, the reasons behind it. He's free but vague with his answer, and Ellie senses a story there. Everyone has one, though, and few of them are kind.

He correctly anticipates her next question, and it tells her both a lot about him and very little. Riftwatch was something important enough to change his whole life for.

Or maybe he'd needed to change.

It's just an assumption, but Ellie keeps it in the back of her head as she nods, pressing her thumb into her palm, like she can pull out the lingering nerve aches.

"Is it what you hoped it'd be?"

Riftwatch itself raises more questions than it seems to have answers. It's more ragtag than she initially thought, but seems remarkably effective all the same. Seems like it has a lot of history.

Not so long ago, Miriam had asked him a variation of the question: "Has it been anything like what you thought it was?"

He'd been diplomatic in his answer then, and he intends to be now, though there's a fair amount of difference between Miriam and Ellie. Miriam choose to be here. Ellie, judging by the gleam of green in her palm, did not.

"In some ways, yes," is truthful, if vague. He'd tired of wandering, of ministering to villages fearing darkspawn and coming up wolves or bears or opportunistic men. (He'd been lonesome. He'd wanted to do all of that alongside someone ese again.)

"They're good people," is truthful too, but meant to reassure her. "But you must have questions."

In which questions means questions that aren't about me.

In some ways. But in others, not.

Ellie glances down at her feet as they keep walking, her hands in her pockets. Ellis has already answered her next question. Are they good people.

As good as people can be, when it comes to war. As right as people can be, too. A dangerous madman commanding hordes of darkness. Seems a clear-cut case of right and wrong, good versus evil. Things have rarely been so easily defined, in Ellie's experience.

"How do you know?" she asks. "That they're good, I mean."

Is it so clear?

Ellis is thinking of the Wardens, of where he might have landed if he'd stayed at Weisshaupt Fortress instead of fleeing in the midst of the coup. Perhaps he'd be on the other side of the battlefield, alongside Corypheus with those who remained in the Anderfels. Maybe he'd be in Orlais, with those who had broken off.

Noose trots ahead of them both, drawing Ellis' gaze away from Ellie as he settles on:

"Because I'm aware of what it looks like when an organization isn't good," he tells her, solemn over the words. But to add something more substantial, he continues, "The people here care very much about doing right, even if they can't always agree on what that looks like. But they'll risk themselves to help people, and I think there's some goodness in that."

Ellie nods, equally as serious, and doesn't seek out eye contact, doesn't ask questions. Some things are better left buried, and she's dug plenty of holes, placed countless cairn stones of her own.

"Some," Ellie agrees, pressing her lips together to nod to herself. There are lots of variables, so many things that can be moving under the surface.

"Sometimes the trying's almost as important as getting it right."

Ellie will trust people who care about trying to do the right thing over people going through the motions, every time. Even if they fuck it up sometimes. Especially if they fuck it up sometimes.

"Sometimes."

There's no reason to contradict her, even if Ellis is very well aware of what happens when all good intention leads to is the wrong thing. Wardens illustrated that very well recently.

"Have you thought about what you'd like to do?" he asks instead. "What kind of work you're interested in doing here, if any?"

"Sometimes," she agrees, a soft and knowing refrain.

Sometimes it doesn't.

Even if they haven't delved into it, even if they haven't hashed out their history, she feels that Ellis really does understand what she means, and that more than anything is comforting. The world isn't kind enough to make things simple.

"... haven't decided yet," she says, deciding to be honest instead of diplomatic. "I work better on my own than throwing in with a group."

Pain settles in the edges of her mouth, the shine of her eyes. She's seen this kind of thing turn into power struggles, turf wars, oppressive and crushing.

"I want to help," she says, clearly. "I can fight. I can get into places and get out alive. But I wanna do it on my own terms."

Maybe this is the moment to ask exactly what sort of experience led her to that conclusion.

But that's never been Ellis' approach. Instead, he lets that sit, turns over Ellie's self-assessment over in his head as they come up on the first storage room. Noose circles around behind Ellie's legs as Ellis pauses with a hand on the knob.

"It's not so easy to head out on your own," Ellis tells her, gaze steady on her face. He's maybe uniquely positioned to advise her on this. He'd been moving through Thedas on his own for such a long time before landing here.

Where did this girl come from? What kind of fight is she talking about?

"Find someone here worth trusting, and bring them with you to watch your back," is what he advises. "If it comes to that."

Ellie reaches for Noose, buries her fingers in the thick, soft fur of his neck ruff as she looks up at Ellis, searching his face for the reason for the pause.

She finds it in the seriousness of his face, in the weight of his words. Like he knows what he's talking about.

It's good, sound advice, and it obviously comes from a place of caring. And it surprises Ellie how hard the feeling suddenly kicks in her chest, an acid, acrid taste that rises up in her throat, threatening to choke her. How quickly her face goes hot and her eyes burn.

She'd been doing well this week. Taking it in stride. Moving forward and figuring this place out.

But Ellis makes her feel seen, and it's more than a little terrifying. Hurts. And she isn't prepared for being blindsided with that feeling.

She quickly looks down at Noose, pushes her energy into giving his neck a thorough scratching, but not before some of it shows in her eyes.

"Okay." Short, clipped, and neutral.

Despite the unfamiliarity, of this girl being a near stranger, Ellis recognizes when he's glanced off something painful. The reaction in her is familiar. Tactfully, he drops his gaze, turns back to the handle as he jimmies it loose and pulls it open.

"Noose is a poor candidate," Ellis tells her. "Though I won't blame you for being tempted to select him."

Maybe he could offer some more concrete suggestions, but it feels like a step too far. Ellie will ask if she cares to know. And what's more, Riftwatch's agents tend to make themselves known very quickly.

"Here, see...almost entirely boxes. Check the portraits, and if there's anything—"

A pause. Ellis turns back to look at her meaningfully, eyebrows raising.

"Turn it to the wall. Or maybe we should move them to back, see about covering them with a tapestry."

Edited 2021-04-28 02:51 (UTC)

Definitely tactful. The kind of tactful Ellie associates with back home, where people know not to ask too many questions about what someone's done in the name of survival. Everyone's got stories and most of them aren't that pretty.

She manages a huff of a laugh under her breath, and gives him another warm scratch, mustering up a smile for him.

"Nah, he'd probably lick the demons to death," he answers, and follows Ellis into the storage area, eyebrows lifting. Portraits, huh?

"I can help move 'em. Seems like it's gonna be one lumpy tapestry." She automatically ignores the crates, heading over to one of the portraits she can see the corner of, pushing back a box so she can see the rest of the subject.

Sue her, she's curious.

Enjoy a questionable portrait bearing a passing resemblance to Byerly Rutyer, Ellie.

"I think lumps won't get a second glance," Ellis tells her. In the grand scheme of things, stationary lumps in a corner are far and away the least objectionable thing Riftwatch has in the mix.

After a few moments of quiet, in which Noose finds a corner to curl up in while still observe their efforts and Ellis shifts a haphazard cluster of boxes up against the wall, he clears his throat to mention, "I haven't yet seen you in the training yard."

Clearly she's capable of something. Ellis' guess wavers between bow and daggers, the type of fighter that would benefit from someone out in front of her to draw attention.

"I'll take your word for it."

Ellie widens her eyes, presses her lips together, and peers closer at the portrait before giving whistle under her breath.

"Some artistic liberties taken with that," she mutters under her breath, but rather clearly, and hoists up the painting to help carry it back. She's got remarkable upper body strength for her size and narrow shoulders. Once that's sorted, she'll keep on looking for more, and switch it up to help Ellis with anything he might indicate. It's a familiar sort of work, this clearing-out, and the dust doesn't seem to bother her much.

"My kinda fighting doesn't really fit the training yard," she admits, hoisting another frame. She pauses, the decides to trust him. Something-something about a lack of trust being a self-fulfilling prophecy, according to some people she's trying hard not to miss.

"Where I'm from, if you put something down, you really don't want it getting back up again, and you don't want to give it a chance to hit back."

It's probably the nicest way she can think to say it.

"Aye," Ellis says after a moment, straightening, half-turning to look at her.

There is a particular strangeness to conversing with Rifters, and coming up against all the ways their worlds do not quite meet. There are points where Ellis is very aware of what Rifters have no concept of. Often, it has felt easier, kinder, not to enlighten them. (Selfish too, maybe. Vance had never said it outright, though Ellis had sensed the shape of the accusation in some of their conversation.) But the way Ellie phrases that particular approach—

"Aye, I was taught to fight that way too," is recognition and return both. Ellie didn't say this with any kind of ease. It's a small reminder too, that Ellis has been very comfortable with the brutality of his trade for a long time now. "There's cause for it here, but if you care to learn something different, there's room for it too."

Oh yeah, he's picking up what she's putting down. It's a mixture of relief and a kind of ache, for Ellis. It's something that sucks to know how to do. Sucks that it's life out here for some people, even without the infected as a threat to deal with.

She casts him a look, a small nod of acknowledgement. Yeah, she gets it.

"Maybe I should," she says thoughtfully. "I never really had, like... formal training. But there's a bunch of shit out there that I've never seen before, and I figure my switchblade's not gonna cut it."

Har.

Ha.

The pun is not unacknowledged; a momentary look, eyebrows raising and a half smile before he nods in return.

"We might get you something sturdier, aye," Ellis says, speculative. "You'll have your pick of options, and we'll see what sticks."

Punctuated with a thunk of a settled box, nudged a few inches further into the corner by the toe of Ellis' boot.

Okay, Ellis can hang. Ellie sneaks a look at him to see if he got it, and his reaction teases out what looks like a fleeting smile of her own before she picks up another box, peeking inside of it because holy shit does it weigh a ton. Leather rolls?

"Is that you offering to train me?" she asks, tilting her head to one side.

Her body language is starting to open up. Just a bit.

"I can show you a few things," he answers, honest, as he slaps dust from his tunic. In the corner, Noose audibly yawns and rolls over, limbs stretched out comfortably. "Enough so that you can decide what suits you, at least."

There are limitations to what Ellis can do with weapons outside of a mace. He can swing a sword, draw a bow, and Marcoulf left him with a passable understanding of daggers and their use, but Ellis is a man who spent near fifteen years fighting with one weapon. His skill there developed at the exclusion of most else.

And at a glance, Ellie doesn't strike him as the type to gravitate towards a mace.

"And when we exhaust what I know, I'll know who to introduce you to if you haven't met them already."

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