Not knowing how long he'd be gone, Ru rushed about their small campsite. Beli lounged near where the bedrolls had been laid out, his great head resting on his front paws as his four pitch black eyes tracked her movements. She could feel his bemusement, but ignored it. There was much to do.
As they'd walked that day, she collected what she could. There was little that would work out in the wilderness of the Orlesian back country, certainly not what she needed for a cake, but surely the thought and effort would mean just as much. Though it pained her heart just a little bit, Lirulin committed the last of the bread she had brought with her to this endeavor. It was old and stale anyway. If they didn't eat it now, it would waste. So why not?'
With the bread, she arranged the berries she'd found when they stopped for water at mid day. While Avi was busy splashing his face in the stream, she'd found the bush and its green fruits. Concentrating, she'd put her hands on the leaves, feeling the connection instantly. Through her new strange power, it took just a bit of concentration to pull the energy needed from the light piercing through the forest canopy and up from the roots in the dirt. The berries grew and reddened. When they were near black, she lifted her hands away and then hurried to pluck them from the bush before Avi noticed what she was doing. It took a great deal of discipline to keep her hand out of her satchel as they continued their trek.
For the final touch, she closed her eyes, opening her heart to the world around her. She was fairly certain that, somewhere nearby.... There! Opening her eyes, Ru hurried away from the camp site. Beli's head lifted abruptly from his paws. With a huff, he lifted his silver frame from the ground and trotted after her.
The wolf found her swaying near a fallen tree that had caught against another, forming an angle with its half rotten trunk. In that trunk, swarmed a colony of bees, buzzing to and from the honeycomb hive they'd created. The buzz, at first a chaos, slowly formed itself into a singular, steady hum. It vibrated in time with Ru's swaying. After a few more moments, she stepped forward, lifting her hands to the honeycomb. Where she moved, the bees made way, parting and reforming. When she came away, her hands held a portion of the comb, honey filling its hexagonal pores.
Back at the camp, Ru laid out her cleanest scarf across a large, flat rock, then arranged her surprise for Avi on their dingy mess kit plates. It was just in time. She and Beli both turned their heads as they sensed the approach of their brothers. Smiling, Ru stood, rushing to meet Avi as he entered the clearing.
Ru was definitely up to something. Avishan was trying his best not to notice, wandering alongside the stream with Kay padding ahead. He’d heard a story about fisher wolves once, from their mother. Supposedly they had been stranded on an island long ago, and learned to swim in the cold coastal waters for their dinner.
Kay wasn’t showing much of an inclination for that kind of thing, alas. The water here was very clear – but if there was anything to eat in this stream, it would not be more than a bite for the massive wolf. Still, the water itself was prize enough.
“Smell anything nasty upstream?” Boiling drinking water was the safest thing, yet it wasn’t feasible to light a fire every night. If you couldn’t have that, fast churning water was cleanest – so long as there wasn’t a dead sheep or darkspawn upstream. Kay sniffed at the water and began drinking, so Avi followed suit, cupping it in his hands. Once he’d had enough, he washed his face and refilled all their containers.
“That should have been long enough.” Avi pet Kay’s wide head and they turned to retrace their steps back to camp. He caught Ru by the shoulder at the edge of the brushline, laughing in surprise.
“What, really?” He glanced skyward, as if he might find a proper tally of the days in the canopy. “How can you tell?” He’d been born in spring, and it was spring now, blending into early summer. That made him … Thirty-three? An old man for sure. Avi squeezed her shoulders, catching sight of her scarf.
“Ah. That’s why you’ve been sneaking around all day.” Obediently, he went to sit at the makeshift table, leaning down to study the ‘cake’ from surface level. “My birthday wish … Is to split it. And you can't argue with wishes.”
Her momentum might have pulled her off her feet, were it not for Avi's grip on her shoulder. Laughing, she nodded up at him, chin high with pride. "I counted!" she said. She was fairly certain she had the day right, though she had lost some time here and there after leaving their home. "Close enough, anyway." she amended.
"What are you talking about?" she said, unable to hide her smile or the humor in her voice. "This all just... appeared! Isn't that right, Beli?"
Beli gave a noncommittal grunt and plopped back down where he'd been lying before, licking at one of his paws.
"It's a birthday miracle!" she declared, unfazed as she ushered him to his spot by their "table". She ruffled his hair for a moment, then circled around to the other side. While he studied his treat, she studied him. When he stated his wish, she scrunched her mouth to the side for a moment and furrowed her brow. She'd intended it just for him but, if that was his wish...
"Those are the rules." she nodded, solemnly. "I'll cut it, then." Before he could protest, or give any input, Ru sliced off barely a third of the "cake" and pushed the larger half toward Avi.
"To the old man." she said, giggling as she lifted her piece up in a toast and took a small nibble. Her eyes wandered around their campsite as she chewed. Inevitably, her mind conjured thoughts of their parents, of their home. When her eyes returned to Avi, she tried to hide the pang of sadness her thoughts had caused.
"Do you like it?" she asked, then took another small bite.
“Liru, you cheater.” Despite his words, Avi laughed and accepted his slice. “I know that you know that the person who makes the cut doesn’t get to choose their slice.” Any siblings so close in age would, or childhood peace would have been fleeting indeed.
He picked up the ‘cake’ and ate carefully, not wanting to lose a single berry. Although, in all honesty, probably neither of them were above eating fruit that had been on the ground by this point. Still, dropped berries would make a sticky mess of his clothes. Avishan closed his eyes and pretended to be in deep thought about it.
“It’s … Very chewy.” The honey had rehydrated the bread, just enough to make the texture supremely odd. He’d never had honey this fresh and unrefined, and its sweetness was very intense to his unaccustomed palate. The berries were perfect, owing to Ru’s magic. “I don’t think even an old man would mistake it for cake.”
He noticed a shadow pass over her features. Perhaps he had been a touch too honest, there? Or, no. Of course she was thinking about other birthdays, with other people. He missed them too.
“I do like it. Thank you very much.” Avishan ate the rest of his slice slowly, savoring it. Then he offered his sticky fingers to Kay, who sniffed curiously before lapping up the residual honey. The red wolf’s heavy tail thumped once or twice in pleasure. Avi looked back at Ru, meeting her gaze with reluctance.
“How were they? Mom and Dad. After I had to leave, I mean.” Whatever they might have felt, it must be doubled now.
"Mom was... quiet." she said as she copied him and let Beli lick the remnants of honey from her fingers. When he was done, she leaned against the large wolf's side as she thought back. It was hard to remember. She'd been so distraught, it was all a blur of tears. "She sat by the fire and just stared into it. Dad just kept saying you'd probably be safer with them. And that you had the sword." He'd repeated that to her, over and over, until she'd cried herself to sleep. Thinking back on it now... she wondered if it was for her benefit, or his own.
She was hit by another pang, this time of guilt. Had she done the right thing? Their parents had just lost their son. Their eldest child had been taken into danger and uncertainty. Ru could not comprehend how that must have felt for them. It had felt unbearable to her. And then, the next morning, their daughter disappeared and left behind only a note to say she'd gone.
Beli, perhaps sensing her mood, grumbled beside her. She reached up, scratching under his chin to soothe him. Yes, what she'd done had been hard and painful, to herself but especially to their parents. But she had to leave. At the time -and even now- she could not explain why, but there was something more to all of this than just fear for the safety of one's family. Whatever she now carried inside of her... it was bigger than her. That's why they needed to get to Arlathan. More than safety, for themselves or their family, she needed to understand what this was and what it meant.
"What is the sword?" she asked, shifting her weight against Beli and her mind away from the currently unknowable. "I don't think I ever saw it before dad rushed out with it when your were leaving. Is it special?"
He could see it in his mind’s eye. Not so long ago they had been packed into one of the glassworks – ironically one of the most defensible buildings in Serault Town. Sheltering all together, with all their neighbors too, smokey and suffocating. Avishan had worried so much for his family then, cut off from the river and the forest that they loved so much.
But at least they’d been together. He should have appreciated that more. At the time … Well. He’d been drunk and pissed and bored, interchangeably. No help was coming, perhaps the bloody Marquis had never even made it out of the Tirashan.
“They’ll be alright. I’ve never known darkspawn to swim, and mom knows the river better than anyone. We’ll, uhm …” The words he wanted to say stuck in his throat. They’d go back for them as soon as they could – but that wasn’t possible and might never be. He was a deserter and little Liru had killed all those men and women. The Blight might confuse things for a while, but if anyone ever came looking, of course they’d start at home. Avi couldn’t let that happen.
Their only chance was to get far, far away. Where no one would have any cause to link the two of them to a patrol of dead wardens in a blasted ruin. Arlathan would do, for that. The city was fairytale come to life if that stranger they’d met near Val Firim could be believed. A place for elves in the heart of an ancient, magical forest.
Someone there would be able to help Ru with her new passenger. But even if they couldn’t, it was on the other end of Thedas and there was no blight there. That was enough for Avi.
“Oh. Here.” Avishan picked up the sword from among his other effects and offered it to Lirulin, hilt first. It was long and light, suitable for wielding in one hand or two. “It’s ironwood – supposedly the Dalish are the only ones that can work it.” He wasn’t so certain about that. Surely Ru’s magic could shape a bit of wood, if she wished.
“I can’t imagine father doing battle against anything but the slugs in the Marquis’ garden. He always kept it locked away.” Avi had been fascinated with it as a boy. He had thought that when he joined their lord’s household guard, perhaps … But no, a decade of service hadn’t made him worthy.
“Probably took it off some noble asshole deep in their cups.” That would make sense, wouldn’t it? If it was stolen. “They do like to crow about ancient history.”
Ru lifted herself upright as he held out the sword. Tentatively, she reached out to take it. "Oh!" she said as it settled lightly into her hands. It hardly weighed anything at all! Lighter than her staff, she'd wager. Though she'd never had interest in fighting, Ru and the other girls her age had sometimes made a game of trying to spy on the guards as they practiced. Some of the girls had asked teasing questions about Avi that Ru really wasn't sure how to answer. But the effort they'd all put into their training had always been obvious. The swords, axes, and pole arms required strength to wield effectively. How could something this light even compare?
Pulling it slightly from its sheath, Ru lightly grazed the pad of her thumb across the blade. It was sharp, certainly! Beli sniffed at the sheath as she pushed the blade back in again. It was beautiful, and a symbol of something they were connected to, but never truly knew. How far back through their family line would they have to go to no longer be in the service of humans? Which grandfather, or great or greater still wielded this sword in protection of his people. Avi's comment, surprising her with its mental image, caused Ru to laugh. For all his qualities, a fighter their father was not.
"Their history..." she said, handing the sword back to them. She couldn't picture their father as a thief any more than she could picture him as a warrior. But, if a human had it, it would have had to have been stolen. If their father did take it... then he was only reclaiming it, surely. "Maybe someone in Arlathan will know more about it."
Arlathan sure seemed to promise answers to all their problems and questions lately. A part of her still was unsure if the place was even real. It seemed more like the kind of story a parent told restless children to get them to go to sleep. She certainly felt restless. But the... entity inside of her wouldn't allow such doubts to truly root into her mind. Something about Arlathan was true, even if it wasn't some magic shining city in the forest. Whatever it was, it was where they needed to go.
Beli gave a huff and a grumble, turning on his side and rubbing his neck and shoulders against the ground as he gave a wide yawn. Glancing upward, Ru saw that night was steadily falling around them. Through the canopy, the first stars were becoming visible. With their treat finished, she gathered the mess kit up.
"I know we couldn't go to Montsimmard..." she said tentatively. It was not safe, too many Grey Wardens at its fortress. But it'd been so many nights since either of them had seen a proper bed, let alone a bath. "...but maybe we could stop at the next city?"[/b] she ventured, then added, "Since it's your birthday."
