[closed-ish] we live and dream in an ancient hallowed land

[eolasemah]

WHO: Sina with Nari, and with Korrin and Araceli (let me know if you want a specific starter)
WHAT: the aftermath of this thread
WHEN: the following night and a few days after
WHERE: the Dahlasanor tent, the tavern, wherever others want
NOTES:The third prompt is open to all!

Directly after her argument with Pel, Sina made a beeline for the tent she shared with Nahariel and all but dove inside, immediately flattening herself against her bedroll and burying her face in her modest pillow. Small, angry crying sounds emanated. (Nari)

The following day, Sina went to the tavern of her own volition for the first time. Not to drink, of course; perhaps it was because it was the last place anyone would look for her. She sat by a window with a cup of tea, her knees drawn up to her chest, melancholy emanating from her very being. (Korrin + Araceli)

Over the next few days, she could be found ghosting around Skyhold, avoiding most people, particularly Clan Ashara. When not out and about, she threw herself into her gardening with a tenacity unusual even to her. (errbody else)

Comments

[chainlightning]

Mouth open, Merrill only stares in shock for a moment before practically spluttering, puffing up a bit like a rather small cat trying to make itself look larger. "That's not what happened! I was restoring a piece of our history and they were afraid! Yes, I used blood magic, but it was so I wouldn't end up Tainted by the shard of the eluvian! Hawke came and the Keeper sent me with her to perform a ritual and then I was to leave, if I wanted to restore our history so badly, so I left!"

[eolasemah]

Sina's cheeks burn with the incredulity and adrenaline of now being in a tiff with yet another former First, and she holds her chin up defiantly as Merrill replies. "Eluvian?" she demands-- she doesn't remember hearing anything about this, only about the disaster that befell Clan Sabrae. "What are you talking about?" Were she Keeper, she too would have demanded a blood mage leave the clan.

[chainlightning]

"Eluvian," Merrill repeats, arms crossing over her chest. She is as convinced she's right as she had been every step of the way until Marethari's death, and where that had been a tragedy -- she knows what happened. She knows why she did what she did. "A great mirror that our People used to communicate. My clan found one in Ferelden, though we lost a hunter to it; the ruins had been taken by the Blight. But it was a piece of our history, one we could not afford to lose again; not when we've lost so much else. I wanted to restore it but the clan was afraid, afraid of the risks, so I left. I left for our people, for our last past, to work on it in Kirkwall's alienage."

[eolasemah]

Sina tries to remain angry, but is quickly overtaken instead by curiosity. Her face is still red, but her eyes have gone wide and intrigued.

"...did..." she begins, suddenly timid again, "...did you succeed?"

[chainlightning]

It takes the wind right out of her, for a moment. A deep inhale and a soft, hesitant smile; not so much for Sina, but because she did succeed. She restored a part of the history of the People. "Yes. It took... years, and I wish I could have done some things differently. It's still in Kirkwall; it was too dangerous to bring it here when it was just me and some of the others from the alienage."

[eolasemah]

Sina continues to watch her, and although still wary and in some ways offended, there is awe in her expression now. "...but you may still?" she prompts, hopefully.

[chainlightning]

A nod, now; she's also cautious, not at all someone to enjoy shouting matches, but... "Yes. If the Inquisition will spare the people for it." She imagines Morrigan's support could be crucial, if she does.

[eolasemah]

Several more moments of staring, then Sina looks away, putting a hand on her face in thought. She blinks widely at nothing, her mind racing with all the possibilities this suddenly presents. Then she stands, slowly, but measuredly.
"..can I help?"
She turns to look at Merrill, fingertips still over her mouth.

[chainlightning]

"I- what?"

It doesn't register, really. First there was shouting, and now she wants to help? Merrill isn't even sure if the other elf believes her.

[eolasemah]

Sina is lost in thought for several moments, then her eyes focus in on Merrill again. "Ir abelas," she says, and actually seems to mean it-- but in the 'sorry I'm being confusing' way more than anything else. She takes a few steps toward the other elf, lowering her hand to fold it with the other.
"If it's true, if you have a working eluvian-- this... this could change everything," she breathes.

[chainlightning]

Sorry for being confusing is, at least, sorry for something. It's more than she usually gets, and Merrill inclines her head in acceptance.

"If I can get it here, then- yes. Yes, you can help. I wouldn't deprive any of our People of a piece of our history." Well, unless they try to destroy it. "And it's perfectly safe now, as far as the Blight goes! Really, the only danger is that it's quite heavy so someone could push it on someone else."

[eolasemah]

At that, Sina's face brightens in a true smile. She even laughs a little, so pleased by what she's hearing that she can't contain it. After a moment, however, she pauses and looks back at at Merrill's face, her own reddening with guilt.
"My Keeper told me only of what Keeper Marethari told her," she says in a lower voice, apologetically, "and when she... didn't answer anymore, we assumed..." Sina lowers her head, rubbing the back of her neck. "Keeper Thalia cautioned me to..." Suddenly this has become very difficult to say. "...to not follow your path. You became a tale of warning in my clan. But." She glances furtively away, then up at Merrill's face again, her eyes empathetic. "...but I understand now. She didn't know the whole story."

[chainlightning]

Keeper Marethari, when she didn't answer anymore. Merrill has to take a breath, eyes shutting again.

No, Sina's Keeper hadn't known the whole story. But neither does Sina, now.

"There was a spirit, on Sundermount. What humans would call a demon, most likely. The Keeper let it possess her, so that it wouldn't possess me -- she said it was inevitable, that it would. We found her like that, and- and what used to be my Keeper attacked."

She doesn't open her eyes, hands trembling.

"We defended ourselves. But the clan didn't know what she'd done, and they wouldn't listen to us -- wouldn't listen to me."

And now all of them are gone, another piece of the history of their people.

"I regret it, so much. If there was something I could have done, something that would have made them understand, would have opened their eyes, anything..."

[eolasemah]

Sina's expression shifts from attentive to horrified as she listens, her eyes wide and full of disbelief. A thin hand rises to cup over her mouth, and several long moments of silence follow after Merrill has finished speaking.

Then Sina lowers her hand, and the other joins it to very carefully take hold of Merrill's shaking ones. She continues not to speak, still allowing the grief and the horror of the situation to wash over her. A Keeper, possessed. A clan killed, no one knowing the truth. It is beyond her worst nightmares, and to one First, it happened.

[chainlightning]

The silence is deafening, but Merrill doesn't open her eyes. If Sina should strike at her, she can, at least, land the first blow.

But instead her hands are taken and it's nearly enough to make her break, to let the tears fall. It's certainly enough for Merrill to suck in a shuddering breath, to grip back at Sina's hand with her own. Comfort from someone who truly understands the importance of clan and Keeper, from someone who at first accused her... it's something she never thought she would receive.

"You- you can tell others, if you wish. Maybe it would be for the best. They may still blame me, but at least they would know."

[eolasemah]

Sina doesn't strike. She stands silently gripping Merrill's hands, her head bowed in quiet reflection. All the elves here, regardless of clan, have lost much. Some more than others. Merrill the most, probably.

An idea occurs to her, and she smiles sadly, but keeps it to herself for now. A week later, Merrill will be given a note instructing her to go to the back corner of the garden, behind the gazebo.