When: 14 Molioris, Late, Late Evening Summary: Falina has her first Blight Nightmare post Joining, and heads to the only place where she is certain someone is awake. Rating: Pfft, H for Ordhie hugs
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The dreams came again, violent flickering images that, once they were upon her, only assailed her senses. They were dark visions that pieced together in no discernable order, and their only clarity lay in the promise of menace and suffering. The siren call echoed, the archdemon's eye still visible to her even though the fringes of sleep had receded. Her heart still pounded, and even though it hammered against her ribs, it was nothing in comparison to the footfall of the horde, marching through the Deep Roads, filtering through the deep forests of Ferelden even as she sat sweating in her bed.
She had a new respect for those who could dream, those who saw things even when they surrendered themselves to the deep black, only to continue seeing. Falina kicked off the coverlet, flopping it forgetfully over Shartan who merely made some small sleepy noise, his massive head tucked lazily overtop of his paws. Carefully, trying not to wake the Mabari, she eased her legs over the edge of the too large bed, slipping lightly onto the floor. There was no way of telling how late it was, but she knew gauging from the inky black and how it played with the deep blue on the flagstone, Cormac was certainly asleep. There were others she knew, but she was hesitant to pound on the doors of sleeping friends. Especially those of Cormac and Rhocanth, two men who had already been so generous with her. The Joining had been hard, but asking for help had been harder, and they'd given it freely. Asking again tonight would only feel like a burden.
She slipped out of the door, stepping into the dimly lit hall. The key was not to be alone. Someone had told her that nothing seemed to chase away nightmares like company, and someone was certainly at the outpost. She felt a flicker of hope that Ordhan might be on duty, but would also freely accept the company of Conlan Delaine. The two were mere acquaintances, but he too had just made it through the Joining. Her visions were surely his own.
Falina had always lived underground, and had never borne a fear of the dark. Not even as a little girl lost in the Deep Roads. It was easy to slip unnoticed in the dark, and even easier to move free of the company of others, but now the silence felt oppressive, and she found her bare feet carrying her as swiftly as her pride would allow toward the outpost. Only now that she was already climbing the staircase to the upper wall, did she consider that perhaps she should have dressed in something more appropriate. The thick white shift that fell to her knees, and while it wasn't revealing by any stretch of the imagination, it did forgo some sense of propriety. She shivered in the cool night air, not yet accustomed to the Coastland temperatures. Gooseflesh was already rising on her arms, and she ignored the quick flare of disappointment when he wasn't immediately visible.
She ignored the odd look of one guard, but then heard Ordhan's voice from further down the wall. Her heart jumped happily, and she all but pushed passed the stranger in order to see her friend. She stopped a few feet short of the knight, smiling happily as she waved. "Good... whatever this is. Midnight. Morning. Whatever it is, I hope it's good."