[CLOSED] And I'm wondering why I still fight in this life,

[twistingveil]

[The walk had been an exceptionally lonely one, the silence around her almost suffocating-- for all the danger she and her companions had been ever hurtling towards, none of them had ever lacked for company, for support. Ashelia had always been grateful for that, but now more than ever she was beginning to realize just how much she had depended on her friends and followers, here in this place she did not recognize, a place that seemed like some hollow, estranged echo of the Orlesian countryside. She had been walking for what felt like ages, exhausted from the trip and all that had come before it, leaning heavily on her staff as she made her way towards the little town that she'd been working her way towards since she'd spotted it on the horizon-- but now, upon entering, it became painfully clear that wherever this was, her suspicions were confirmed: it wasn't Orlais at all, or even Ferelden, and so much of what she sees upon arrival defies any kind of logic, entirely foreign even when she considers that she's spent the last three years among humans and dwarves.]

What--

[There are no words to express her confusion, and nobody at hand to hear them even if she were able to articulate exactly how she feels. She grimaces, choking up on her staff to strengthen her grip with her remaining hand, exhaling slowly as she presses forward. Whatever the case, there is no one to help her now, and she can feel her connection to the Fade itself waning-- almost nonexistent, and perhaps that's the most terrifying part of all, well beyond the unfamiliarity of her surroundings and the fact that she has found herself here alone. She had been without her companions before, for all her life until the Temple of Sacred Ashes, but she had never been without the connection that made mages what they were, and that was frightening.

She keeps to herself, doing her best to ignore the looks she draws as she makes her way along the main road, careful not to meet eyes or engage, but she know she can't continue that way forever. Sooner or later, she'll need to stop to rest, maybe find something to drink-- preferably sooner. It's a small shop with a welcoming front porch and a set of bright blue doors that finally gets her to slow her pace, hoping she might find something of aid once she steps inside. Some direction would be nice, and water wouldn't be amiss, either.]

Comments

[twistingveil]

Shut.

[It doesn't seem possible. It's too firm and final a statement, and she has never been one to accept 'no' for an answer, not when she believes there are other options to be explored, and yet--

This world isn't her own. Things work differently here, and there are others who have had years upon years to investigate this very predicament.]

You're certain, then.

[arretez]

I am, I'm afraid. [ she reaches out to cover ashelia's hand with her own. ] I can help you begin a new life here, if you'd like. If not in Orléans than perhaps somewhere they speak English.

[twistingveil]

I'd already been forced to begin a new life once before.

[She frowns at the admission, though she appreciates Jeanne's offer-- it's a kind one, to say the very least.]

I never expected I would have to do it again so soon.

[arretez]

I can promise you will have help, if you wish it.

[ maybe not acceptance with those ears, but baby steps. at least orléans is kind. ]

[twistingveil]

[Perhaps it's fortunate that acceptance has never been something she's had the opportunity to get used to. Dalish Elves were almost as unwanted in Thedas as the Darkspawn themselves.]

Help?

[She pauses, hesitant.]

You would do that? We may as well be strangers.

[arretez]

[ jeanne smiles softly, holding out her hand. ]

Even the best of friends and family start out as strangers at first.

[twistingveil]

[Ashe, perhaps, should know that better than most, considering how close she'd become with certain members of the Inquisition's Inner Circle-- but she had never learned to expect that sort of kindness from strangers, and so Jeanne's offer still comes as a surprise, albeit a pleasant one.]

I-- if you truly mean to offer such a thing, then I thank you. I will repay the favor in kind, of course.

[arretez]

I need no repayment, [ jeanne says, shaking her head. ] I only ask that if ever you find someone like yourself, you offer them whatever repayment you would have offered me.

[ effectively pay it forward, in her fancy french way. ]

[twistingveil]

Of course. [She answers immediately, without thought.] As best I can.

[At the moment, she doesn't feel she'll be much help at all, as little as she knows of this world-- but if she really is trapped here, then that will change with time, and even if it didn't, she didn't believe in leaving anyone to struggle on their own.]

Nobody should be left to drift alone.

[arretez]

Précisément. [ she stands up and holds out her hand. ] Come then, Ashelia, let us head back to my home. Francis will have surely noticed I am not home for dinner by now, his forlorn music will lead the way.

[ her husband has a touch of the dramatic and when he decides jeanne has been out to long -- usually in the garden -- he will sit at the piano and play old french love songs until she comes back inside. ]

[twistingveil]

Francis? [Ashe looks hesitant for a moment as she looks at the offered hand, taking it gingerly after another beat.] Your-- husband?

[She can only venture a guess. He could be some other family member, she supposes, but it seems likely].

[arretez]

Yes. [ the look on her face is pure love, its gross, they need to stop. ] Most people call him Saint-Germain, but he is always my Francis.

[twistingveil]

[Ashelia knows that look all too well, and the familiarity makes her heart ache, the wounds she carries having been too recently pulled open and rubbed raw all over again.]

You two are very much in love, aren't you. You're very fortunate.

[She smiles warmly, although there's something vaguely wistful about it, only very thinly veiled.]

[arretez]

I am, I know. I couldn't begin to imagine my life without him.

[twistingveil]

[Ashe thinks, for a moment, that she once knew how that felt, but then the day came when she'd had no choice but to imagine a new life for herself, one all on her own, full of friends and followers but without the person she'd come to trust the most.

She chooses not to voice any of it. There's no reason to begrudge someone else their happiness.]

He won't mind your bringing home strange company?

[Otherworldly company, at that.]

[arretez]

You are not the strangest company I've brought home, I assure you. [ they met through their immortal mutual friend and jeanne's steadfast protector is an irish warrior princess vampire so like. a mage from another world is just tuesday. ]

[twistingveil]

[Well that's a relief.]

I'll admit, I'm not used to such generosity. My kind is not well-loved, where I'm from.

[arretez]

Shadowkind are not always well-loved here, either, unfortunately. I fear you may find the same prejudice in this world that you left in your own.

[twistingveil]

I suppose life in Thedas has prepared me for that well.

[Her clan had always been free, being Dalish, but that was not true of all elves.]

My people are often made to be slaves; it's been that way for centuries, since the fall of our civilization.

[arretez]

Thankfully slavery is looked upon with disgust here. There are some people who will never see the truth and light, but they are blessedly few. And Wynn, the people I work with, we champion the cause of Shadowkind. I promise that however long you choose to stay with Francis and I, we will protect you.

[twistingveil]

[She nods, letting out a low exhale of relief. That is one difference from Thedas she's glad to embrace without question.]

The people you work with-- you serve as champions? What do you do?

[That sounds awfully familiar.]