[ CLOSED ] THE ANTIVAN CROWS SEND THEIR REGARDS

[ombranera]

WHO: Alistair, Araceli Bonaventura, Beleth Ashara, Anders Detlef, Korrin Ataash, Taashath, The Iron Bull, Twisted Fate, an Zevran Arainai. Guest Starring: Samouel, Cyril, and Merrick, Super Special Guest Star: Leliana.
WHAT: The Crows come for the Ombra Nera.
WHEN: Begins Guardian 6
WHERE: Skyhold/Antivan Border/The Road
NOTES: CW/TW FOR: Flesh hommonculi, violent/gruesome content, torture, blood magic, non-consensual drug use, adult content, adult language, reader discretion is advised. Sign up post, original plotting post, hit me on PM or @ thesouthernbelle if you have questions.

It's a normal morning in Thedas until, abruptly, it isn't. The Crows come calling; they are swift, they are certain, they are silent and leave behind but one witness that won't be alive for much longer (or so they assume). Prize in hand they ride North for Antiva.

Subthreads for portions of the plot are yours to tag around in as you like!

Comments

[arlathvhen]

She said something wrong. She knows it as clearly as if Zevran had shouted at her--and the effect on her isn't much different. She instantly ducks her head, subservient, apologetic. "I'm sorry, Zevran. If I said anything--I'll, um. I'll wear the boots and the soap, alright?" She reaches to touch his hand, while she parses what she said, what had been wrong. Was it the subtle joke about blood magic? Maybe that was it.

Idiotic.

She does, however, reach a hand up to pat at her hair. She must look like a mess right now. No one's been caring much about their appearances on this little trip. Self consciously, she runs her fingers through the short waves. "Well, there's that, at least. Maybe I'll start pretending I don't know King's Tongue? I might have to make up bits of Elvhen to sound like that's all I can speak."

[ombranera]

"No, no, no." He turns enough to press his lips to her temple. "No. You said nothing wrong."

He'll not have her blame herself for his own mind's traps and tricks. Things he'd never worried about before, things he must worry about now. Things he must consider if this is real. Voice oddly thick for a moment he murmurs, "Be wild. Be tame. Be...be Beleth."

Please, for the love of Andraste, actually be Beleth and not another shade. He can't take another round of this.

"...I...I think I have a book that might help with that. Something of the Dalish."

[arlathvhen]

She's Beleth, but she's not always sure how to be Beleth, exactly. It must've been easy to pretend to be someone who always pretends to be something else anyway. But he's not mad at her, and that's good--but he is distressed, and that isn't. So she squeezes his hand, then gentle bumps her head against his.

"I'd love to read it." She muttered to him, a smile back on her face. "It's not in Elvhen, is it? I can't read that, only mages can."

After a pause, she leans back against him, looking off. "Would you like to hear a story?" She's not really sure how helpful stories would be. But stories are a special thing to the Dalish--to many cultures, she's been discovering. They can take you away from where you are and transport you somewhere magical, where beautiful things happen and the world is safe.

[ombranera]

"Notes of Genitivi's on what he has seen. It is all highly biased towards the chantry but there is a decent enough section on the Elvhen language, written in common." The man had been interesting enough, driven and devoted. It is something he can think on without his mind skittering away entirely.

That far back is safe, but no further.

He is content to sit like this, Beleth tucked close and safe before she moves away. For a moment he's confused- dreams don't include stories, but this isn't a dream.

Or at least it isn't one he is sure of.

"May I rest my head-" On your bosom is the usual line and one he finds he cannot manage. "On your lap?"

[arlathvhen]

"I've read some of Genitivi's work. I'd like to read more." She feels a bit proud, truthfully, to say that she's already read something from this man. "I was reading about other lands. Like Nevarra. Did you know Nevarrans don't burn their dead, or bury them? They build...palaces. Can you imagine?" Of course, Zevran no doubt already knew this, but it was certainly new for her.

And his question, she nods without hesitation. Then shifts positions so her lap would be more comfortable. She waits until he lays down to speak, letting her fingers toy with his hair, if he allows it. Braiding and unbraiding, detangling, just casual and affectionate gestures. As she does so, she dwells on just what story would be appropriate for this. Something Zevran had never heard of.

"One time, shortly after I was made a Hunter, I traded one of my catches with a human for cake. Cake isn't something Dalish get very often, and I figured--I caught this damn woodchuck, I should get to have cake if I want it. It wasn't a very big one, of course, but it tasted sweeter than anything I'd had before." She smiled, ducking her head slightly. Apparently, she'd never given up that sweet tooth for human goods.

"I ate it in small slices to save it, and on a special occasion, I went to get the last slice--only to find that Sorrel had eaten it! He said that it was about to go stale, and he saved it from such an embarrassing death. Well, even if that were true, I couldn't let that stand. So I waited. And then, we had to trade for soap. Before we got home, I covered one of the bars in a thin layer of bow wax and let it set. You couldn't see it, but the soap wouldn't work. Suds up or anything. I gave that one to Sorrel, and convinced him the bar of soap must've been defective." She laughed at the memory of her twin's bewildered face, shaking her head.

"Of course, my mother wasn't happy--about the cake, about ruining a bar of soap--but it was worth it."

[ombranera]

"You should see them- I did not have time to explore but even from a distance they were a marvel." He would sketch one for her, sometime. Something that he saw that was beautiful and macabre- he can enjoy that easily enough.

Curling up on his side takes time, the whole of him still stiff and aching from whatever they'd given him. Every day a little less, every day a little more himself. He sighs once he's settled, cheek on her leg, eyes half closed as she spins a tale. The fingers in his hair make him go tense for a moment but only a moment. It passes. For now...for now it is fine if she does this- it reminds him of how Rinna used to and he needs that. Something soft, something easy.

"...Bow wax?" That- that is wicked enough to wring a rough laugh out of him. "Always so clever, my Beleth."

[arlathvhen]

"I don't think I'll be going to Nevarra any time soon. But...I didn't think I'd be going any of the places that I've been since I joined the Inquisition." She thought on that for a bit, and shrugged. The world was certainly a lot bigger than she imagined, and all of it seemed to be on fire and needing the Inquisition's help. "If I go, I'll take you with me, and we can get a good look together."

She smiles when he approves of her antics, flashing a pleased grin. The only hesitation is when he calls her my Beleth, because that is...nice, but in a way that warms her stomach and her face. Has he called her that before? She would think she would remember that. The way it makes her feel.

But she catches that emotion and stomps it firmly under her heel, because she can recognize that she is just too emotionally drained to have normal emotional responses to things. And Zevran has a thousand things more important to deal with than her trying to wrestle her frayed mind into not misinterpreting things. Don't be such a damned, selfish fool, you ass.

Mentally insulting herself proves to be remarkably effective and Beleth just laughs, shaking her head. "I'm sure my mother wouldn't agree. Keeper's children have to hold themselves to a degree of responsibility and all that. But it never stopped me and my brother from being jerks to each other." She hummed thoughtfully, tapping on his scalp as she thought. "I could bore you with a dozen stories about us driving each other and our parents up the wall."

[ombranera]

"That would be marvelous." It almost sounds like it should, drawling and warm and easy. Thinking that far ahead is difficult- right now it is all he can do to think of what might happen in the next hour and even that? Is exhausting. He's shaken and shuddering in subtle tremors that he can't still- but Beleth doesn't care.

The lack of judgement is what he needs most right now.

"...And if I said that it would not bore me? I never had that. There was the brothel and then the cell shortly afterward. Normal siblings and parents...I know nothing of them." Hearing it isn't the same as living it, but it would give him something to focus on other than the fact he might have to, once again, take a knife to himself for this to end.

[arlathvhen]

Beleth has a lot of thoughts about a lot of people, but for Zevran? There are no judgments. There's no thoughts of judging him. He is beyond reproach, especially now.

She gives a soft huff of a laugh, and shakes her head. "Alright. I'll tell you about my family. Just let me know if you get bored or you want me to stop. I did warn you." She stops for a moment, thinking once again about what to say. After some time, she decides to start at the beginning. A very good place to start.

"My father and my mother were...a sort of arranged marriage, you could say. It's not the kind that the nobles do, where they pick out a person and if you don't like it, then tough luck. It was more of a suggestion. They were introduced, and if they hadn't hit it off, either one could refuse. But they did hit it off. Love at first sight, and all of that." She doesn't mention that love at first sight faded, that by the time Beleth was old enough to grasp what love could be, the luster had worn off. The two were amicable, but painfully, clearly distant.

"And I know that I've mentioned Sorrel often enough. He's my twin, and a mage. He discovered his magic pretty late, though--he'd already started apprenticing with me as a hunter. But one evening, we'd been off in the forest practicing, and headed home. And--I used to have long hair. Very long hair. It was so wavy and thick, and I was very proud of it. I never tied it back. And of course, it got caught on some branches. Well, I started flailing around, and ended up only making it worse. Sorrel was there, but the sun was setting, the light wasn't enough for him to be able to unknot it. And--well, two children, in the dusk, scared out of our minds. We imagined we heard wolves and worse, coming to eat children who weren't home by sunset." She gave a little laugh, shaking her head.

"Sorrel was considering running to the camp for help, and I begged him not to leave me alone. It was a terrifying experience at the time, we were both absolutely terrified and I thought for sure I was going to die there, and my mother would just frown and say that it was my fault, and I would become a Dalish legend of what happened when bad children didn't tie their hair back. And just as the sun disappeared--Whoosh!" Here she included hand gestures. "Fire came from Sorrel's hands. He burned my hair free--it smelled awful--and we ran home. My mother was besides herself with Sorrel being a mage, and Pel ended up having to be the one to cut my hair so the ends weren't uneven and charred." More than Sorrel being a mage, that had, obviously, been Beleth's top priority. Not so with everyone else.

"My mother was pretty happy, though. Kind of ironic, since everyone thought that I'd be a mage. But she was just happy at least one of us took after her."

[ombranera]

Whether it is the hands in his hair or the story itself, the comforting lilt of her voice- Zevran finds himself soothed by the whole of it. Curled tight like this on his side he feels smaller, safer- with eyes he knows he can trust to mind their surroundings? He lets his own drift closed. The story is nothing more than white noise after awhile, but he retains the sentiment and the patter. There are hints here he cannot begin to dig at, truths he can't unearth just yet. But later when he is more himself, when he is better able to understand and twist this about to solve the puzzle that is Beleth? He will act on it.

For now he drifts, slowly floating down to sleep.

It feels like it has been forever since he was allowed to actually sleep.