backscene: bullies WHO: Arya Oros, Conlan Delaine and Alderic Thearre WHEN: 9:29 Dragon Age, Eluviesta 14 WHERE: Denerim Alienage SUMMARY: Arya's getting picked on by some older boys and Conlan comes to her rescue. Now with more Alderic for your reading pleasure! RATING: H for heroics
The shems had been making a habit of stalking the first few yards of the alienage for any youngsters they could get their hands on. Too chicken to go further inside and risk the wrath of the older elves, they'd wait until an elven child younger than them might wander too close to the gates of the alienage and then go to work - whether this meant taking food, some bauble that meant the world to the poor elves, or just pushing them down in the mud, it didn't matter because they were building a reputation for their pathetic would-be gang. Most of the shems (all male) were over the age of ten, one or two in their early teens, but overall they towered over the young elven children. Most of the young elves had started picking up the habit of staying near homes or simply the midsection of their small community.
Arya apparently hadn't gotten the memo, or maybe it had just slipped her tiny four year old mind that day. Either way, she was looking for the small, delicate daisies that sometimes sprang up throughout the alienage because her mother had promised to braid her a crown (perhaps a bracelet as well, to match the one her mother had given her on her third birthday) if she found enough. She already had a small handful clutched in her tiny hand (along with a few dandelions), and her wide blue eyes were glued to the ground in search of white petals that were easily missed if one weren't looking carefully enough. Surely Terin or Haldir was supposed to be watching their sister (Sellion was with Arandur at the carpenter's), but the boys had mislaid her for a few moments. And that was all it took.
"Lookit the lil' knife-ears! So small she could be a dwarf!" One of the shems crowed, laughing and pointing. Arya stopped, looking up to see them suddenly standing all around her. Her chubby face was wary, and though she understood the word dwarf, the racial slur went over her blond curls.
"Don't you understand anything, stupid?" Another boy said, putting a dirty hand on her hand and giving her a push. She stumbled back, catching herself but the flowers fell to the ground, the dandelions scattering as they hit the dirt. Her lip began to tremble, but she didn't cry right away. "Stupid little elf - lookit her bracelet, you think that's worth anything?" A hand was snatching at her wrist, pulling at the bracelet that she cherished. She pulled back on her arm, trying to stop them from taking it, her voice rising up in stark protest.