Feeling her cheeks heat up at the compliment she pointedly looked away from his face, focusing on his wounded arm. Sliding in to the space next to him, swallowing her discomfort at the nearness, she pulled his arm towards her. Flicking her eyes up to him she nodded and fought down the blush. “Thank you, I am sure there are others out there with the same name though.”
Turning her attention back to his arm she leaned down to grasp the flask and a clean cloth. Opening the flask she gently poured some of the water out to wash away most of the blood. “I haven’t met many, two that I saw change, but I heard stories of others. It wasn’t an uncommon skill for mages to have, another piece of our culture I suppose. Something they were obligated to learn and pass on.”
Brow furrowing she started to wipe away the blood, rubbing small circles on Pavak’s arm. Biting at her lip she turned her gaze to him once more. “I was born in Ferelden, I have never left. We didn’t have a Chantry or anything quite like the Tower. I had thought they were a myth meant to scare children but…” Shaking her head with a laugh she went back to cleaning away the last of the blood.
Glancing over his arm to make sure she hadn’t missed any of the blood on his arm she turned her focus onto the actual injury. Slowly wiping away blood and dirt at the edges of the wound she smiled at the sound of his laugh, feeling happier just hearing it. Brushing back a stray piece of hair tickling at her cheek she laughed in turn. “That’s almost a disappointment. I doubt many people can say they met a bear mage, not may sane ones at any rate. Is it the only form you can take, or are there others?”
Throwing the soiled piece of the cloth to the ground she rummaged around in her pack, searching for a poultice. Fingers hitting glass she let out a small cry of victory and pulled the vial from the bags depths. Hearing he had come from so far away had her head popping up, terribly curious. “Rivain, really? That is quite far from here. It sounds beautiful. Why did you leave?” Cringing at both the barrage of questions, the last one in particular, she bit her lip and looked up at Pavak. “That is if you don’t mind me asking. It sounds like a nice place for a mage. It seems strange that you would come here to a place where apostates are hunted down.”
Focusing on the task at hand she popped the cork off the vial and carefully poured it over his wound, grimacing at his quiet hiss of pain. Murmuring an apology she massaged the poultice into the wound, stroking his arm so he would relax. Feeling the muscles in his arm slowly unwind she gazed up to his face only to see his teeth grit and his eyes closed. “Almost over, I promise.”
Quickly grabbing the roll of bandages she started to wind it around his arm. Pulling the linen taut she made sure the wrappings were as tight as could be. Hands clenching at his question she paused momentarily just staring at him. How did you tell someone you wanted to die, that dying would be better than living?
Shakily drawing in another breath she had to turn away from him, ignoring his question for a moment and finishing tending to his injury. Patting his arm she stepped away, keeping her gaze off of him. “That should do it. You should probably eat something; you lost a good amount of blood.”
Moving away from him she headed towards the fire, crouching down and ladling the soup into a bowl for him. Sitting there for a moment she tried to think up any answer for him. Spinning around she strode over to stop in front of him, bowl held out, scowl plastered across her face.
Slumping down onto the ground she leaned back on the trunk and turned her gaze to the sky. Scanning the heavens she sat in silence, letting him eat. Frustrated she ran a hand through her hair, clutching at her scalp. “I… I came out here because-” Cursing she broke off and glared at the stars above. “There was nothing out there for me and so I came here. That’s it, nothing that interesting.”