solas šŗ (fenharel) wrote in welcomethreads, @ 2014-12-31 09:51:00 |
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True to her promise, Ellana did not move from where she was staying. If Solas wanted to find her via her mark than she would allow him to do so. Standing up she went into the kitchen to prepare the water for the tea. She was lucky that she had found tea that tasted well. Rubbing her forehead as she leaned against the counter.
Solas lounged rather comfortably on Ellanaās windowsill, watching a few people idle by outside with parcels. It was a strange place. A bit like Val Royeaux in theory, but as if the blood of Redcliffe Village ran through its structure. It was a curious sight indeed.
Truthfully, heād cheated when he spoke to Ellana earlierābut only just a little bit. While Solas had known she resided just next-door to his own accommodations, heād held true to his initial request: to find her with nothing but the Mark to guide him. So, heād simply let go of his long-held barriers, reaching out to the ether to find where the veilfire burned brightest. Heād felt its presence instantly, like an unmistakable honing beacon. That much was a comfort, if Solas were admitting anything to himself. It wasnāt as if Ellana could ever be in danger without him knowing where she was.
He waited, half-listening to the sounds from the kitchen, feeling as though he were holding vigil more than visiting a friend. Even in his waking hours, Solas was always on guard. Perhaps that was all he would ever amount to.
The elf looked around the kitchen but it would never feel like home to her. However there must have been a purpose of bring brought here. This wasn't like the future she had seen when she went to Redcliff or anywhere else she had read on what little she knew of her people. She just knew that she was some place different.
It was comforting to know that others she knew were also here. At least that would keep her from doing something rational to try and get back to Thedas. She was a little homesick.
The water had started to boil and she took the kettle off the stove. Placing it on the counter next to her as her hand sparked and came to life once more. Looking down, it was permanent, that is what he said. Maybe the Fade was here but she wasn't strong enough in the Fade power to know. All she had was this to go off.
But in that moment she looked up to the direction as if someone had called out to the mark. "Solas?"
āYouāre learning to speak to it,ā Solas said in response, though he was careful to keep the amusement out of his voice. If he was going to help her at all, heād need to seem more impassive about the teaching process. Not that he knew any more than the next Fade expert what her Mark might actually be, if anything had existed like it before, but he could suss out some possibilities.
Solas turned his gaze back on the people outside, which allowed him a clearer sense of the energy that hung heavy in the air, much like lightning before a storm. Beautiful, deadly. āPerhaps if you thought of your Mark as a living creatureāa Spirit, if you will. Allow it to speak to you like one. Listen. Interpret.ā If Ellana could sense him with the Mark, surely that meant she could sense other things. He was more curious than he let on.
"Speak it?" She didn't keep the confusion out of her voice. Was her mark evolving? Granting her new powers? Ellana did not know. She did know it granted her the power to create a rift that pulled demons back into the Fade but she had only used it once - shortly after the destruction of Haven.
Ellana looked at her mark as she tried to do what Solas suggested. She felt like herself but more. Not like a Spirit had inhabited her hand, no it was a different feeling. "It is faint. But only just. If you can seek me out by my mark does that mean others could as well?"
They passed one another like spirits along the border, around and away, content in their preoccupation. Perhaps this world was more like his own than heād initially thought.
āIt is possible, but unlikely.ā Solas stretched before he stood, finally turning his gaze from the window. "Iām able to sense it because it feels, to me, as though you carry a part of the Fade with you. A faint whisper beyond the Veil. Unless there is another here who has walked the Fade as I have, I doubt any will make the association.ā
He crossed her living space with renewed focus, offering his hand to Ellana when he reached her, palm up. It was always easier to note subtle differences when he touched the Mark, though he wouldnāt do that without express permission. āMay I?ā
Ellana thought about this for a moment. "I do not believe there are others here that have been in the Fade. There are others from our world here but, I do not believe they have that kind of sensitivity. I was thinking, maybe...Corypheus would be able to track me." It was a new concern, or maybe he thought she was dead.
She looked up at him when he held up his hand and asked for permission to look at it. Lifting her left arm she gentle placed her own hand into his, palm up. It was glowing with the faint green but it did not hurt. Not since Corypheus tried to take it away from her and failed. "Does the mark continue to interest you?"
āWhether he finds a means to track you or not will mean little in the days to come. You will lead your assembled people to a place of sanctuary, Lethallan. A place Corypheus wouldnāt dare tread lest he risk annihilation.ā Solas tipped his chin down upon his approach, watching her carefully for any sign of lingering pain. Haven had been a trying experience on them all.
When she offered her hand in return, he shifted his attention to the Mark, gently cradling her hand as he observed the woven magic that lay before him. It was magnificent. Solas almost didnāt hear her next comment, but it made his ears flush slightly all the same. āOf course. It is a complex marvelānothing short of an impossibility, and yet, here it lies."
"I did not know a place existed. After Haven, I was not sure if there was a place where to keep the refugee's safe." She hadn't had time to think if others were safe. Once she saw that flare raise into the sky, she released the last trebuchets. She gave an involuntary shiver at the thought of the dragon that was so close to her that she could feel the heat from its breath.
He was gentle with her hand as he looked at the mark. Ellana knew that he would continue to study the mark as long as she allowed him too. His presence did ease her troubles. "If he wanted this, I could only imagine the devastation that it would had caused. Did I tell you about the orb he was carrying? The one he was using to try and take the mark away from me."
Solas didnāt respond to the refugees in need of safety, though he did incline his head toward her in a gesture of respect. He understood Havenās destruction was still a fresh loss for Ellana, and didn't begrudge her concern for the people Solas knew to be dead in his time. Many would not make the journey to Tarasyl'an Teālas. It was the way of things.
āYou did not tell me of the Orb, no. But I did see it for myself when he came for your Mark.ā Solas tilted her hand slightly, using it more as a means to appear engrossed in his studies. It wouldnāt do for her to suspect now. āAbelas. There is no easy way to tell you this. The Orb is elven, and few can be trusted with such information. It endangers our kind greatly."
Ellana continued to watch him as he looking at her mark. She wondered what he was actually thinking and what exactly he was looking at the mark. It just seemed like a strange line that glowed, it used to be thinner but it had spread greatly before she was able to temporarily close the breach that was expanding.
"Elven? Fenedhis. I've never seen anything like that nor is something like that mentioned in anything was found." Ellana sighed slightly and looked away from him. "If it isn't one thing, then it is another." She said softly.
That gave Solas pause. He glanced at her then, quietly assessing, before he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. āLath sulevin, lath araval ena. You will face many trials in the coming months, Lethallan. But you will not face them alone.ā There were some things he couldnāt give her, but unyielding support until the time came for him to move onāin that, at least, Solas could deliver. Ellana was fast becoming a dear friend to him. If he were smart, he would have stopped this much earlier.
āCome. You wanted to see my work, did you not?ā With a small, barely there smile, Solas gave her a little nudge, finally releasing her hand.
Ellana lowered her head, she wouldn't face them alone. She was glad that she had support but it was just luck that placed her at the center of it. It was her own internal struggles that she kept to herself. There was no need to burden others with it, not when they had their own. She didn't let on what he said but it did mean a lot to her and he was someone that she trusted.
She felt the nudge and the release of her hand, which felt cold at the moment. "Yes. I did." Looking up at him and gave him a little smile. "And you wanted something that tasted not like Spindleweeds."
"That would be appreciated, yes." Solas turned his gaze away, making for the kitchen proper. It wouldn't help if he revealed too much, particularly of the events Ellana had yet to experience for herself. There would be time enough for that, more likely from the others in her party before him. Solas hardly claimed to know her any better than they did, as unused to friendship as he was.
He nodded to the tea she had set up, smiling slightly. "I see you're prepared."
Ellana trailed behind him as she was lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "The one I room with, she was the Hero of Ferelden. She is much more prepared when I arrived." She walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a tin and put some leaves into the hot that was not steaming with hot water. Waiting another minute before she poured the water into two mugs and handed on to Solas. "Here." She was avoiding eye contact at the moment.
Solas watched her for a moment after receiving his mug, thoughtful. Perhaps it didnāt matter what he thoughtāheād long since come to this conclusion before heād even realized it himself. āShould you speak, I will listen.ā Heād switched to the language of the Elvhen, as sneaky as the tactic was. He presumed she might feel more inclined to share her thoughts in their own tongue while they walked the short distance to his own room on the same floor. Maybe with more familiar surroundings and his presence, Ellana might feel comfortable enough to talk to him.
At least, Solas thought this was how non-Fade friends might go about conducting themselves. He had precious little experience to go on.
Her lips curved slightly upward as he spoke in Elven. Neria knew Elven but it was different when it was spoken by someone who lived outside of human contact. "I know. It is more complicated than I would like to admit but I will keep it to myself for the moment." She looked at him. "Until I know what I can say."
She walked with him towards his room to see the paintings he had started to create. She had never thought him to be a painter, nor did she take him as the kind to read a book.
Solas hummed, a noncommittal noise, both warm and yet passive. "I would have you know you can say anything to me. It won't change my opinion of you." Case in point, he was still a little annoyed about the Warden fiasco. But he was no longer in a position to judge her choices so readily. She made them as she saw fit, and he was content to live with that.
"I will not press you, Lethallan. The choice is yours." Though for all that, he was beginning to feel slightly self-conscious now that they were just outside the door. Solas had been working pretty tirelessly on the murals ... but maybe they weren't ready to be seen at all?
"Are you sure about that?" Ellana teased but she smirked slightly. The choice is hers. She remembered the first time she made a choice that impacted others - it was a little nerve-wracking to the say the least. She sipped on her tea as she stopped outside his door. "Is there something that bothers you?"
"Of course I am." He frowned, just slightly, glancing at Ellana again out of the corner of his eye. Solas wasn't wary, per say, but he did feel a bit wrong-footed now. What could she have to tell him that he would so heartily disapprove of? He was fairly certain she respected the Fade, though perhaps not as he did. Solas hardly held that against her.
All the same, it wasn't his place to push the matter. Ellana would speak her mind to him or she wouldn't. "I find myself ... hesitant. You are one of the few to take any notice of my paintings." Solas huffed a breath of air, annoyed with himself. "Forgive my weakness. It was merely a matter of pride." Switching back to the common tongue, he opened the door a bit briskly, setting aside his concerns. The paintings weren't finished by any means, but perhaps they would amuse her.
Ellana smirk turned into a genuine smile. It seemed that he didn't not get her subtle hint at the teasing but that is why she liked him. He was different.
"It is not weakness Solas. You are modest." She was fairly certain that he was afraid of what she might think. When he opened the door she stepped inside and her eye was drawn to the walls. Ellana realized she had been holding her breath and a lost for words.
Solas huffed on something like a laugh. āYou are far more than I, Lethallan. Modesty is a rare gift, and certainly not one I claim to possess.ā He sidestepped to allow Ellana entrance into the room, fighting the instinct to track the path in front of her. This wasnāt his world, therefore, this wasn't space to claim. It wouldnāt do to start acting like he still walked in an old form.
Instead, Solas stood all but entirely still, mug in hand, tracking her progress along the edge of the unfinished murals. They were far from done and most were still just outlines, but the one front and center was the most complete, if striking piece. It was all harsh lines and bright colors, an abstract depiction of Storybooke caught in the midst of a hailstorm. Green light slashed through the center of it all like a beacon, cutting across grays, blacks, and blues as if to cleave a path.
There was still more work to be done, of course, but Solas wondered whether she might think less of those partly finished. He remained silent.
Ellana resisted the urges to trace the outline of the painting and when she came to the center on she tilted her head to the side. "You think what happened in Thedas will happen here?" Her eyes traveled to the green cracked sky and remembered the first time she had seen the one back at home. Ellana was bound and in chains, called a murder and the one responsible for the breach. It had turned out she wasn't the one but it didn't bring her any comfort knowing the threat was still out there.
She turned to look at the others. "What are the others? Animals?"
āIf that is what you see.ā Solas had already drained half the mug at this point, careful to hide his impressions of it whenever Ellana turned away. Tea. And people called him the āBringer of Nightmares.ā āThe beauty in art is in the interpretation of it. You arrived here, did you not? I merely depicted that moment.ā
When she mentioned the animals, Solas smiled a bit slyly, shifting his weight to the other foot. āOf a sort. What do they look like to you, formless as they are?ā Heād intended for there to be a cluster of ravens and a lone, dark brown cat slinking into another panel, but he was interested to hear what she saw.
Ellana turned to give him a little shake of her head, "I came via a different kind of rift. Luckily no green." She added with a small smile. She had moved on to the the other ones, "Nothing is formless if you look at it right." She stepped forward. "They remind me of carvings we had seen, before we moved to the Free Marshs, my clan had found some old ruins. Most of them were destroyed from years of the elements."
"These look like the birds Leliana uses."
"Interpretation, Lethallan." Solas found himself smiling a bit more now, which was a fairly new experience for him. At least in some time.
He inclined his head when she made the connection to the wall carvings of the ancient elves. "A sound comparison. I borrow much from the style of what was. It ... reminds me of what I left in the Fade." Solas moved, spurred into motion as she spoke of the animal figures, noting at least two more crows in another place.
"Indeed. They are your good Spymaster's crows. Sadly, the breed in this world doesn't seem to carry messages."
This time Ellana reached up to touch it, so much of her lost culture. If only she knew more. "I do hope they are alright." She whispered and took a step back to admire the work before looking at Solas. "You have outdone yourself Solas. You are very talented."
Solas dipped his chin to his chest, a sign of both respect and appreciation. It meant more to him that she enjoyed the murals than he could really say, but he would try to put it into words. Probably poorly.
"You exaggerate, but the sentiment is appreciated." Solas smiled, just a bit, but it was distant now. "Perhaps you will find it less to your liking once it is well and truly finished."
He fell silent for a moment after that, brow drawn together, considering the empty spaces on the wall yet untouched by even sketching. The question was then rather abrupt. "Tell me: What animal would you say the Commander resembles?"
"Less to my liking? Solas, you think too little of yourself." She lifted the mug to her lips and took a drink of the warm liquid inside. "In my clan, the hunters are the wolves symbols." She looked over at him. "They hunt and keep the Keeper safe. I don't see the Commander as a hunter but I do see him as the bulk of our army."
Later, when Solas reflects on this conversation, he will describe his reaction to Ellana's suggestion as 'polite indignation.' What really happens is he barely manages not to choke to death on the tea. When he finally recovers, Solas laughs, really laughs, and it makes long unused muscles feel sore. He thinks of his pack, now long departed from the world, and what they might have made of Cullen had he joined them. It's too much. Solas wipes a tear from his eye, still half-snorting to himself in great amusement.
"Ah, Lethallan. Speaking to you heals old wounds. You are truly meant for greater than most."
Ellana looked at Solas with great interest as he was laughing, it was a nice laughter and she could help but bring herself to laugh with him. "I am glad for that Lethallin." She smiled at him. Moving away from the mural and stood next to him before looking back at his work, "I think they are a beautiful."