Into the DANGER ZONE

[faderifting]

WHO: All Rifters + the 7 natives who signed up
WHAT: Searching the ruins of Haven for survivors, an Inquisition crew finds something strange. And demons. It's kind of scary that the demons aren't the strange thing.
WHEN: Third week of Harvestmere, 9:41
WHERE: Haven
NOTES: We've broken rifters and rescuers (or "rescuers") into two groups. This log has an arrival comment for each group--you can start smaller subthreads beneath those rather than try to have an eight- or nine-person log, just incorporate surrounding chaos/fighting--and a third top-level set for the whole group's journey back to Skyhold

You were asleep-- deeply or fitfully, for the last time or just resting your eyes for a moment-- and then you were not. And wherever you were was not, anymore, replaced by nothing but the sensation of falling, tumbling into endless, bottomless nothing. If this were still a dream, you would wake before you hit the ground. You can't die in a dream, they say. In some worlds.

But there's no waking here, just a flare of green-white light and a jarring impact, barely softened by snow that lies a foot deep with an icy crust that cracks beneath the force of your landing. The wind is biting cold, the sun is bright, and you are not alone. Others thud to the ground nearby, as bewildered as you, and others run up who look no less confused for having their feet beneath them.

You are also not as you were: in the palm of your left hand there glows a narrow splinter of light the same sickly green as whatever brought you here. It aches, a bone-deep pain that gnaws even through all the distractions. Like that you're being attacked by monsters, some tall, spindly stick-things with too many eyes, some hunched and hooded with no eyes at all.

Welcome to Thedas!

Comments

Ariadne | OTA

[demonicbeauty]

Alastrians slept in the trees. That was the way that packs survived in the forests of Deleo. Of course, now Ariadne lived in a house and was given a bed and treated like a Human girl, but she still had an occasional longing for the canopy of home. And Valeria's trees were oh-so-very tall and wonderfully thick with glossy leaves.

It had been late afternoon when she'd shimmied up one of the trees in Aunt Lysia's yard. She was only going to rest her eyes for a moment, lost in thoughts of better days and better times.

And then she fell.

Through all the light and the swirl and the commotion, one thing remained true about Ariadne. She was exceptionally good at falling. Or rather, good at landing. She hit the ground in a crouch, the knuckles of her right hand steadying her balance. A throbbing pain shot through her left and she tucked it behind her back, raising her eyes to try to gauge what had happened.

Or rather...what was happening...

[colecomfort]

There was snow around her, commotion... and then, there, on her right, a tall and hunched figure in a cloak, raising a clawed hand in preparation for a strike —

— which never fell. The demon lurched forward as something struck it from behind. The blow wasn't enough to kill it, but enough to make it turn and focus its attention on the attacker. Daggers in hand, Cole flashed around its side, giving it a couple of quick jabs before ducking away again. He kept in motion, always, always looking for the openings that would allow a swift strike.

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne's head snapped to the side just in time to see the creature struck from behind. She'd never seen anything like it and, for a moment, her gray eyes widened to the point where one could see the whites all the way around. But her questions would have to wait. She knew a fight when she saw one. And she knew that the stranger had clearly just saved her.

For a moment, she remained crouched, trying to follow the rhythm of his fighting. Oddly, it reminded her of her mother's style. Always moving, flowing like water. She'd inherited some of that.

He was looking for an opening. One good turn definitely deserved another, so Ariadne sprang into action.

Like all Alastrians, she wore her hair long. But she kept it in a braid that went to her hips. Most of her kind were protective of their locks, but Ariadne had her pheromones--or so she believed--working to her advantage. She spun herself in a circle, using the same momentum as a roundhouse kick. Only, instead of lashing out with her leg, it was her braid that swirled around her. It flew at the creature, going in a wide arch around its neck. Ariadne caught the other end and gave a tug, trying to pull the creature off its feet.

[colecomfort]

The shade stumbled, pulled at least somewhat off-balance by the action — which gave Cole more than enough room. He slammed one dagger underneath what was probably the creature's ribs, and it hissed and squealed and stumbled again as he drew it out. A swipe of a claw barely grazed the brim of his hat as he moved to strike again at its back.

Pierced at least four times with a blade, and the demon was still moving, still trying to fight back. Typical of these types of creatures — potentially frightful if one was used to less hearty opponents.

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne was quick to reel her hair back in. It was a dangerous move, leaving it exposed. But it had been at least somewhat worthwhile. At least...her rescuer had gotten a few good hits in.

Although it seemed that stabbing wasn't entirely doing the trick.

Considering she was only armed with a small, leather sling, Ariadne weighed two options. Either she could just try to keep the creature busy, or she could fall back on some of her Alastrian tactics. And, well, since she didn't know her rescuer well enough to know if he would or wouldn't turn on her, she decided she would just play distraction for the moment.

Leaning over, she picked up some sort of stone or piece of debris--she wasn't sure what it was--and chucked it at the creature's head. It turned on her sharply. She clicked her tongue, like she was trying to attract the attention of a cat, then turned around, effortlessly climbing up a larger pile of debris, hoping it would chase after her.

[colecomfort]

He took the cue from her distraction without needing any prompting, and vanished from sight as soon as the shade turned. Without any other immediate threat, the demon took the bait, gliding over the debris more than walking, its head bobbing and arms bending as it moved, almost birdlike.

Then Cole appeared again. Jab, jab, jab. One more blow, both daggers buried on either side of its spine. The demon squealed again, but there was another sound, something like a rush of wind as it dissolved into threads of green light, which spun themselves back toward the Breach in the sky.

[demonicbeauty]

Precariously, Ariadne perched on the very tip-top of the pile, crouching and using her right hand for balance. She watched the stranger appear and disappear, eyes widening slightly in surprise. Of course, she knew that Elves could teleport themselves like that but...it didn't look right.

It didn't smell right either.

But she couldn't think about it too much, her muscles tensing, preparing for another go when...

The creature deflated like a balloon.

Slowly, without demonstrating any difficulty with her balance Ariadne straightened out, looking down with her head slightly tilted to one side. "Where'd it go?"

[colecomfort]

He straightened as she did, listening, making sure they were not about to be attacked again. There were plenty of demons still about, but the others had them busy. They would have a moment to speak, at least.

"The path is too narrow to pass through. Dying hurts, but it lets them fall back to the Fade."

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne jumped down from her perch, landing neatly on her feet. She barely noticed the snow and ice, crossing over to the boy.

She liked the way he talked.

"Thank you," she told him sincerely. Perhaps he hadn't saved her life--Ariadne was a competent fighter--but he'd certainly saved her a lot of pain. And the possibility of having to reveal herself without being fully aware of her surroundings.

She shuddered to think what might have happened.

[colecomfort]

If her thanks had an effect on him, it didn't show. In truth, Cole had been thanked dozens of times by people who wouldn't remember saying the words a handful of heartbeats later. The gratitude didn't matter — only that they were still around to express it.

And to that end: "The rest are still trying to hurt us," he said, with a nod over her shoulder, toward the nearest fight.

[demonicbeauty]

Quickly, Ariadne glanced over her shoulder. There were more of them, but as she turned back, her more pressing concern became the one charging forward from the other direction.

Without any warning at all, Ariadne grabbed the stranger's shoulder and shoved him hard out of the way, throwing herself forward. A soft, metallic sound rang through the air as she spread out her talons, jamming them directly into the monster's belly.

Ariadne didn't like fighting with her talons. They were an unfair advantage, able to penetrate most materials. But her sling, she already knew, wouldn't make a difference.

With a soft hiss, she wrenched her hands apart, leaving ten long gashes through the creature's middle.

[cameasarat]

He'd stumbled around in the confusion of things appearing out of the Rift, hadn't watched closely enough to see everything that appeared. But he did know there was a girl by the demons. Peter didn't know where she'd come from or why- maybe some random thief looting when things went bad- but it was not the place to be. He was backing up from the appearing monsters himself, a clear path left in front of him in the snow, but she apparently hadn't realized the danger just yet.

"H-hey, you. Run!"

[demonicbeauty]

She turned in the direction of the cry, her keen gray eyes widening then narrowing slightly as she noticed the boy. Where had he come from? She couldn't quite figure. But straining to hear his heart, she sensed genuine fear.

It helped, too, when she turned her head and spotted the...creature.

Well, it was her duty to help protect people--even if she didn't have a name for what she was protecting them from. Immediately, Ariadne sprang up to her feet, running not away from the danger, but over to the boy. Two was always better than one in a fight.

"What is that?"

[cameasarat]

"Demon."

There's a breathless note to reply, like he can't quite believe this is all happening again himself. But it's a fair question. Anyone not a mage has no real reason to know- got to be lucky enough to not know.

But now there was a girl besides him and demon quickly closing the distance between them. No real time for full introductions. He took several rapid steps back even as he brought his staff up before him, desperately thinking of what one of the others would do- other than just be better at this. Barrier. Barrier first, which goes up with a blue shimmer over the both of them.

"Lots of demons."

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne fell back a step in surprise, more from the blue shimmer than the revelation of demons. Her realm was full of them. She was even considered one herself. But barrier spells? Those were rare. And only Elves could work such magic.

Her gray eyes fell over the boy's ears which looked pretty rounded from her point of view.

He smelled like a Human too.

"What do they want?" she asked him.

[cameasarat]

"To- well, that's complicated, probably."

Too many kinds of demons, too many...to many everything. Too much he didn't understand yet. But Peter just shakes his head as he reaches out again, trying to urge her to get moving away for the demons.

"But mostly to be out here, instead of over there. And kill anyone in the way."

Like them.

[demonicbeauty]

There were certain stereotypes about demons that were sadly true. That they had violent natures was one of them.

Ariadne, by contrast, was peaceful and gentle. Which wasn't to say she was about to let anyone else--including her demonic cousins--go on some kind of murderous rampage.

Especially when the boy who was helping her was in the line of fire.

"Cover your ears," she hissed at him.

[cameasarat]

He obeyed without thinking, far more used to insane requests than most mages his age (one didn't survive Sirius Black without learning to react quickly and pray the resulting fire didn't ruin his robes). But even as he's covering them, staff awkwardly held with his elbow now, he can't help but demand:

"What?"

[demonicbeauty]

She didn't reply. It wasn't that she wanted to be rude--far from it--but there was a more immediate concern coming at them in the form of a coterie of demons.

Ariadne stepped back with her left foot, planting her weight behind her. When she was preparing to fight or run away, her arms had a tendency to spread out behind her, like a bird's wings. It wasn't intentional. It just tended to happen.

But she didn't fight or run away. No, Ariadne took a deep breath and screamed.

Alastrians had powerful sonic capabilities. And an Alastrian scream was loud enough and high-pitched enough to drop charging elephants. Or, in this case, demons. The three closest to her immediately collapsed, unconscious. There were a few that were farther away that managed to stay on their feet. But they stumbled dizzily, momentarily stunned.

[cameasarat]

Peter stared for a long moment. Girl. In the pit with demons. Lost, he'd thought. In trouble, he'd thought. Now, hands still firmly planted over his ears, he turned slowly to just stare at her as his staff fell from his suddenly more-jelly like arms and clattered to the ground.

This was what happened to mages when they went off on their own. The outside world was terrifying.

"W-what? I- What was that?"

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne was a little bit surprised. She'd thought the Alastrian scream was well-known. And she'd been prepared to defend herself against an immediate attack. But his confusion left her slightly off-kilter.

She started to respond, not entirely sure what she was going to say. But then she paused.

"Um...you can take your hands off your ears now," she said. Too soft and doubtlessly lost under the sounds of battle. So she put her hands to her own ears and mimed the act, raising her voice to shout, "You can take your hands off!"

[cameasarat]

Again, the obedience was more or less reflexive. Hands down. But she'd said something he missed, and his brow knitted in concern and- oh, the staff. Right. He takes his eyes off her just long enough to go and grab it back up from the ground.

"Was that magic?"

[demonicbeauty]

Perhaps it hadn't been the smartest thing to scream. But Ariadne wanted to protect him. He'd been so nice to her, after all.

Still. There was a leeriness to her tone as she shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't have any magic." Alastrians rarely did, and those with abilities were generally social recluses, like her aunt Marukah had been.

"It's just a technique I learned in Deleo." Deleo was always a safe excuse, both because it had been destroyed and because it was so far on the outskirts of civilization.

It helped that she really had been born there.

[cameasarat]

He frowned. It wasn't a town he'd ever heard of...but he'd always been shit at cartography and all that learning where things were and why. In Rivain, maybe? All sorts of strange things were said to happen there.

"I didn't know people could do that. Anyone, let alone...I mean, maybe a mad mage could have..."

And he was babbling. And there were still demons. He took a concerned glance behind his shoulder before stepping close to her again.

"We should still be running."

[demonicbeauty]

Running sounded fine. She couldn't produce another scream for at least half an hour. And even if she could, she wasn't sure it was a good idea. It had made him nervous and twitchy. And he seemed nice. Who knew what it would do to someone less friendly?

So she nodded, realizing a second later that she had no real sense of her surroundings.

"Where?"