[Open] Nothing so strong as gentleness

[the_effect_she_has]

WHO: Katniss, a baby wolf, and you.
WHAT: Katniss finds a baby wolf in the forest, and brings it back to Skyhold, and begins to raise him on her own.
WHEN: All during Drakonis
WHERE: Forest outside of Skyhold, inside Skyhold.
NOTES: Welcome to Katniss's specialization reward, aka Ranger. Warning for wild animal death.

Closed
The forest was starting to come alive again. It was still cold, of course, with patches of snow everywhere. The temperature was just starting to warm during the day, to where you couldn't see your own breath. There was the start of flooding in the lower parts of the forests, and in some of the caves, carved out of the mountains themselves.

Katniss's boots sunk into the soft, frozen muck slightly, as she made her way through the trees, up the side of the mountain. Today was not a day for rabbits, or even snofleur. The wind was high, and she had seen geese flying across the sky again. She could get a few decent birds for the kitchen, and more than a few for the refugees. She tilted her head to the sky, breathing deep, closing her eyes to feel the sun on her cheeks.

That's when she heard it - the soft whine of something that sounded like a dog. She frowned, worried that some mutt had wandered up the hillside, and gotten caught in one of those damned bear traps. She stepped through the bushes, and made a soft noise of shock and pain. A wolf mother, and her pups, all dead from their burrow being flooded. But she had heard a whine ...

There! Crouched yet to his mother, whimpering. Katniss moved close to the pup, who looked at her with scared golden eyes. She crouched down, taking out a piece of meat, and leaving it down for the pup, before backing away. It looked half starved and cold, and it reminded her ... well, he reminded her of herself, she supposed. All alone, out here, and he had no idea how he was going to make it.

And just like that, Katniss's decision was made for her.

Open

Which was when Katniss brought a wolf into Skyhold. She figured, hey, she already brought in a grouchy horse and a demon cat. What was one small wolf?

All right, one small wolf that would grow into a full-sized wolf, but you could train wolves, right? The Emerald Knights did it. Of course it would have been helpful if the Chantry hadn't killed all of them and probably burnt all the damned records that would teach Katniss how to do the same, but she'd learn.

For the little guy's sake, she'd have to.

So for those looking for Katniss during Drakonis, they'll find her mostly in the courtyard with a young wolf pup. Feeding him warm milk and small bits of meat, running him around the yard, or just sitting there with the wolf curled up against her, sleeping. Mostly, you'll find her trying different ways to train him as a companion, and not as another one of the not-so-adorable lapdogs running around the camp. The amount of success she has? Really varied on the day.

Comments

[the_effect_she_has]

She looked over at Sam, before she huffed out a quiet snort. "... and to be fair, I'm not entirely sure he'd seen me, before then, as a woman. But I absolutely had seen him as a man, and not just my commander so I - well. I took a shot."

[el_tybs]

"I do hope you mean you went and talked to him and not actually shot an arrow at him." He chuckles lightly, teasing, but also a bit nervous that that could have been the case. Hey, you never knew.

[the_effect_she_has]

"I don't shoot arrows at people I like." Katniss answered with a completely dead-pan expression. She did not, however, elaborate which list Sam was on.

[el_tybs]

"Ah huh." He does notice he's getting when she says 'like'. This is why he asked in the first place. He's not letting you stand behind him, Katniss. "So you went and talked to him... aaaand?"

[the_effect_she_has]

She sighed, looking up to the sky, before she gave him a wry look. "You're really not going to let this go until you get the romantic story out of this, are you?"

[el_tybs]

"Well now that you told me there's a romantic story to it, certainly not." She could have easily fessed in a rather mundane way and he would've been fine with that. Also she's the one that had brought it up. Of course he wanted to know.

[the_effect_she_has]

She sighed again, before she gave him a crooked sort of smile. "Have you ever met someone - and the instant that you did - you wondered what it would be like to make them smile at you? And when they do ... you want nothing in the world but to make them smile more?"

[el_tybs]

"I didn't have anything exactly like that, but... I can understand that feeling." He certainly understands the 'making them smile more' part. "So you made him smile?"

[the_effect_she_has]

"I made him smile. So ... I have done two things in Skyhold, for myself. I have started working on studying elven history with the Dalish, for all my personal prejudices, and I've ... worked on me." She looked down at herself, her mouth twisting, "Nothing so drastic as 'I am no longer Katniss'. I'm always me. But I've learned to soften the edges."

She frowned a little, "Which ... might be why people are nicer to me now. Well, some people."

[el_tybs]

Learning history because of personal prejudices, nothing wrong could go with that. The bit about working on herself though-

"If you're talking about me, I'm always nice." He gives Katniss a look because he knows she's going to say something. "Soften the edges how?"

[the_effect_she_has]

"Yes Sam, you're always nice. I'm not even going to argue that." She paused, then looked at herself, "Less ... angry. More open. He makes it easy, if you can believe it. I washed my face, and tied up my hair, but the only thing he's ever really cared about is the fact that I'm honest with him."

[el_tybs]

"I think I can. Looking nice is good, but being you is always important, I'm not surprised that Cullen appreciates that more than anything." Cullen was also a soldier, so he probably could appreciate someone who was a bit dirty and messy.

[the_effect_she_has]

She nods her head slowly at that, before one corner of her mouth lifts up. "You understand completely, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

[el_tybs]

"Clearly a fountain of overflowing knowledge," he says with teasing seriousness, smiling at the small one starting to pull at Katniss' lips. "I think someone else would call it a Ferelden thing."

[the_effect_she_has]

"Yeah ... I've never heard any Fereldan accused of being a fountain of knowledge - outside of Brother Genetivi, that is." Katniss snorted softly, "And he might be our prime example of scholarship."

[el_tybs]

"Well I meant the part about being unkept and dirty, people would say that's a Ferelden thing," he says with a chuckle. Maker knows Christine has poked fun of him being as such. "Well I'm a mage so think scholarly holds a bit more true for us."

[the_effect_she_has]

"You know ... you come from a country with a lot of annual rainfall and people just assume that means you like being covered in mud." Katniss said all too innocently, with a smirk on her face. "Hmm. Fair. Although I've never seen you as happy as you are at the forge."

[el_tybs]

"A lot of people get 'like' and 'tolerate' mixed up a lot. With so much mud you just get used to it," he says in agreement, nodding as he does so. The other comment catches him by surprise however, making him blink at Katniss curiously.

"Really?" Crossing his arms over his chest he takes a moment to consider that. "I wouldn't say that I'm happier," he says thoughtfully, head tilting some to a side. "I rather like my magic, but it also causes issues. The forge though, that reminds me of my family and knowing I can be something different then what people expect."

[the_effect_she_has]

"I do love mud. Not to take baths in it, though." Katniss smiled a little as she tilted her head.

"So you'll be the person who can do a little bit of everything?" She asked curiously.

[el_tybs]

"At least I'm aiming to be that person," he says with a bit of a shrug. "I'll clearly be better at magic for a long time, but there are obvious points and places that magic isn't going to help, and I'd rather be prepared for that. Besides it gives me something to do if I'm learning other things."

[the_effect_she_has]

"That's true ... it is better to have your finger in a lot of pies than one or two. That way you can be more than one person, have more than one path." She looks down at the wolf pup, her grey eyes quiet. "Some of us, when this over, only have one thing to go back to."

[el_tybs]

It would figure that Katniss would find some way to put food into the conversation somehow.

Sighing some, Sam leans over and lightly nudges her with his arm, his eyes gazing out to the space before them. "When this is over you could go anywhere you know? If you want that is." He smiles lightly and turns to look at her. "I mean you have someone right now that you could try adding to your future and going to." Cullen was something she could consider going to, right?"

[the_effect_she_has]

Sooner or later you are going to realize, Sam, that she absolutely adores food and will bring it into every conversation she can.

She looks up at him at that, then her gaze goes to the Commander's tower. One corner of her mouth lifts up, and she nods her head slowly as she strokes the pup's ears.

"You ... might be onto something, there."

[el_tybs]

"Fountain of knowledge," he repeats again with a sagely nod. Come on Katniss they've already been over this. Not like he's talking from experience that he once had a similar plan for the future.

"You have more options than you think, Katniss." A pause. "Like Everdeen and Gareth Co." Or whatever she had said it was before.

[the_effect_she_has]

A roll of the eyes, that's what you're going to get right here, Sam, even if there's a faint smirk to follow.

A smirk that widens. "You still want to do that?"