heaven, a gateway, a hope

[byblow]

WHO: Grey Wardens & You
WHAT: A daring and not at all ragtag group of Grey Wardens has walked all the way across Orlais to inform the Inquisition--just in case it hadn't already realized on its own--that everything is terrible.
WHEN: Harvestmere 22
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: This post has: (1) A single group "we just got here, we're freezing, who is in charge, what do you mean you haven't decided yet" starter that we'd like to keep to one chronological thread. (2) Open starters for individual Wardens set later in the day/week.

OOC Note: Regarding the first starter--threadjack away! Anyone is welcome to wander onto the scene to see what's going on and wander back out at their leisure, to fall silent for a while, etc. No tagging order. But let slower taggers get a word in edgewise!

Comments

[salvatore_underfoot]

He knows that voice. He searched the whole of Perendale tower for that voice. But it was gone. She was gone. Just gone. No warning, no good-bye. Had their disagreement been so bad? He was going to apologize, try and make amends. It was too late.

How long ago was that?

He turns, and confirms that it really is her. "Sabriel."

[paperwing]

Long enough that whatever she had felt had long since ebbed. She was not one for leaving something unresolved, to vanish without a word, but she had not expected to suddenly be stripped of time. The argument was... an inevitability, but her upheld silence had been her choice, and then she had gone. She was forced to let it go.

And then, as the Circles fell, and she had no way of knowing what became of Perendale, just that it too, was gone. She had to let that go, too.

She inhales. "I thought you-" -he was what? Dead? She hadn't expected them to survive, much less to anticipate seeing anyone from her former home as part of the Inquisition. "-Perendale? What happened?"

[salvatore_underfoot]

He winces. She thought what? He can imagine - and to be honest, it had been close. After hearing what happened in other Circles, that's a natural conclusion to draw. He'd thought the same of her, to tell the truth.

"It fell." Obviously. He doesn't want to get into the details. Not now. Maybe later, when the shock has worn off. "We, uh, those of us that were left came here.

But what happened to you?" He doesn't mean for it to be accusatory, just curious, but it is, a little.

[paperwing]

"That's- that you made it out..." she trails off again. It's not good. It should never have happened to begin with. The Circles were safety, a place of learning and stability and then they were not as the war escalated, and all the news she heard was hand me down with nothing she could do. She had given herself to what she had to be. Given herself and... well, now she was here, because she would not give them everything.

"The Wardens declared my father dead. They came for me. I've been with them ever since."

Until, well, now.

[salvatore_underfoot]

His brows furrow. Is she upset that...? The Circles were prisons. Even Nevarra was not immune to the poison of corruption and power struggles. The Order was no good for them.

"I see. They swept you away without a chance to say good-bye." He scrapes a hand over his scalp and looks away briefly. "Or would you have, if you had the option?"

[paperwing]

"No," she says it too quickly, too fiercely, that it even surprises her at the ferocity. It also sounds like someone quick to defend when they would have in fact done the opposite, so she swallows, biting her lip, an attempt to sound more sincere.

"No. I would have. I would have done things differently - a great many things. I would not have kept my silence, Sal."

She hopes he can still believe that, in her. She's given him enough reason not to.

[salvatore_underfoot]

Wait. No? That wasn't the answer he expected.

He's stricken, for a moment, until she goes on to clarify. Almost laughs, because after losing everything else, seeing Sabriel here, and alive means so much.

"Nor I," he says. "I meant to apologize. I searched all over for you. I swear I did."

[paperwing]

She half-smiles, because she believes him - and is gladdened to hear that he did. "I tried to leave something behind, but... it's not that easy." When you were conscripted, you left your whole life behind. You only took what you needed to fight - and that staff she had taken was long gone, left behind on the road somewhere, as she had little need of it with the family sword. Whatever small things and trinkets she had once owned had either been dispersed, destroyed, or sent to the estate.

It seems like another chance, if only to apologise - even if things can never smooth over, and she'll take it.

"Let me say it to you now. I'm sorry for the argument. The silence... for not wanting to listen. Our views may have been different, but we grew up together - we were friends. That accounts for so much more."

[salvatore_underfoot]

"It's alright. Probably for the best, really. I couldn't bring much with me here." Though he managed to drag along a few books... Books she probably won't approve of, if she still holds those same ideals they fought over.

He smiles, relieved, a little sad. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for the things I said. I'm sorry for the silence." He would like to reach for one of her hands, but he hesitates, and decides not to. Thinks, maybe too much time has come between now and then. "Is it too late? Could we try to be friends again?"

[paperwing]

Sabriel silence speaks volumes. Was it too late?

It could be. She'd been through more than they could ever have dreamed in their Circle days, even as prepared as she was for what she would become - and he the same. This may be the Salvatore she grew up with, one that was alive - and she was so, so glad that he was alive - but as well as growing up, they had grown apart, grown sideways, taken different views... they had been old friends, but now, they were also strangers.

She had lost so many things.

"I would be willing to try."

[salvatore_underfoot]

"That's all I ask." Just the promise of an effort is enough. Much as he rails against the Circle now, it was the only home he'd had. It feels like a part of that has reappeared all of the sudden. He's relieved, and happy.

And also tired. He hadn't gone to bed yet, and here it was almost dawn. He thinks she could use some sleep to. "Should you get some rest?"

[paperwing]

"Likely I should." She sat up all-night in the Circle only once or twice, as she was too much of a stickler for the rules to do all the time. And now here she was, sitting up all night like she did it every night.

Which she did. The last time she'd had a decent night's rest was...

"I will, soon, within the hour. You as well." She pauses, and hesitates before adding, "I'll.. likely come back here tomorrow. Perhaps I will see you then?"

[salvatore_underfoot]

"On my way there now." He would smile, but a yawn catches him instead. Seeing Sabriel again had given him a second wind, but now the overnight training he'd snuck in is catching up to him.

His answer is immediate. "I come here all the time. Of course you will." And he mentally notes to come back tomorrow, same time.