thearena | [open] winter's light feels different on my skin

Entry tags:

[open] winter's light feels different on my skin

Who| Adella and hopefully no one who wants to kill her
What| Arrival in the Arena
Where| the pine forest, heading east.
When| late week 1, midday.
Warnings/Notes|

Adella would have liked a minute to gather her bearings, before she was shoved though the tube into the Arena. She, of course, wasn't afforded that. What information she was given and expected to run with she'd have to sort through, later. Instinct told her to run, as soon as she was given the chance to, and she did, heading for the forest.

The cold in the Arena felt familiar, at least. Skyhold was in a good location, it could get almost warm during the day, but it was a drafty old castle in the middle of a mountain range. The cold in the Arena was nothing she wasn't used to, although she would have liked her own clothes instead of what they'd provided her with.

She slowed to a walk after her sprint into the woods, looking around for any kind of advantage she could grab a hold of. Being unarmed and acutely aware that she's cut off from her magic worries her. It's been a long time since she felt like she was a caged animal, but that feeling creeps into the back of her mind as she looks around, her head jerking at every sound. One thing struck home, at least. There's people here, and supposedly they want to kill her.

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"No, I'm sorry," she replied, her features pinched with sympathy. She can imagine how she'd feel if she had been the one in Maxwell's place. Adella was determined not to feel guilty about the situation in that she wasn't the one in control, but she couldn't help but feel the twisting in her chest at so many others upset by her sudden appearance.

"There's always hope, though."

He hadn't been aware of his holding his breath until then, the exhale coming at once, heavy and long. He'd known, should have known, but still....

"No, it's alright. I didn't expect that you did; I just needed to ask." His head shook, tiredly, wearily, but he tried to offer her a small smile - trying to push the rest down again.

It wasn't her fault, and the last thing any of them needed was more burden. It was his weight, he would shoulder it.

"And it's probably for the best. It's not as if I would want to subject them to this place, if I could help it."

"I meant more that... we can get out of here, get back to where we belong." She'd only been here a few hours, but she wasn't suffering delusions about the kind of place it was.

"I'm not looking forward to chasing Corypheus through the Arbor Wilds, but I know it needs to be done, and they interrupted me." Which was just rude, in her opinion. It was going to bother her until she could get back there, finish what she'd been building for the past year.

Edited 2015-02-10 05:40 (UTC)

His eyebrows lifted, rising toward his hairline in surprise. He'd been careful to hold back after realizing that not everyone was from the same point in their timelines. He couldn't say it would do harm, precisely, but it had certainly seemed to upset Cassandra.

But he still couldn't help being curious, and he had to fight the urge to say more, pressing his tongue against the back of his teeth.

"I can't say I'm missing my stack of unfinished reports," he replied after a beat, joking carefully. "But I suppose it is nice to know something will be waiting for me."

"It's usually faster if you pitch half of them out the window," Adella replies, a teasing tone touching her voice. She didn't actually throw her reports away, but she'd thought about it more than once, and they often got put off for more interesting things.

"I don't know if it helps, but Cullen's been here for weeks. The last time I remember seeing him, before I woke up here, was very shortly before. I have a feeling that if-when you return, your life will be the way you remember it." Or she hopes. If not, she can't imagine what panic Leliana and Josephine are dealing with, suddenly without their commander and Inquisitor.

He chuckled lowly, his head bobbing in a small nod, thinking of the nights he'd been tempted to just pitch the lot into the fire -- particularly those out of Orlais, where it seemed they had parchment to spare for the rolls and rolls they went on.

Then he sobered, the curl of his lips slipping away as she went on.

"None of it makes sense. I've talked to others, outside our circle--" ours, yes, that felt appropriate, "--they've been here for so long. I don't know how it's possible." He paused, lips parted on a thought he couldn't quite put into words, then shook his head. Hands turned up in a helpless sort of gesture. "All I know for certain is that I'm here now."

"That seems the best way of addressing it," she replied, smiling a little. For the moment, there is obviously nothing they can do from here, and even talking about it she has a feeling isn't a smart idea.

"Make the best of the situation we're in? I have a feeling we're both familiar with that." She knew that their histories may be different, but the way they became the Inquisitor, she's fairly certain that's the same.

"...And make it up as we go?" he added after a beat, lifting an eyebrow. "That sounds familiar."

If nothing else, that was something.

Her smile widened and she nodded her head.

"Exactly. I think we can probably work together, Lord Trevelyan." What she wouldn't have given to have someone else in the same situation she was in when she was the Inquisitor. It could be beneficial, here.

He hadn't given it much thought until that moment. Lavellan and he hadn't had much chance to speak before the arena and then--

But he felt it then, something small. Something like a relief.

That burden could be shared.

"Maxwell," he said, with a gentle smile. "Lord Trevelyan makes me think my father's standing behind me."

She let out a laugh, nodding her head.

"Maxwell, then." Part of her wanted to ask him about his father, his family. She barely knew hers, and she wondered if their families were similar only in name and geographical location. Another time, perhaps. "I prefer Adella, for similar reasons."

"Adella," he echoed with a nod of his own, smile widening slightly.

It was bound to be awkward between them - strange to say the least, especially in here in the very beginning, but it wasn't hard to say he already liked her.

Could see how the others could come to do so.

"I'll admit, it is a little nice to hear it besides, after all that Inquisitor and Your Worship, business," he joked lightly. "I think I might have forgotten it eventually."

"I know exactly what you mean," Adella laughed, a little more earnestly. She turned so she was more fully facing Maxwell, her arms resting on her legs.

"I had to keep reminding people they were allowed to use my first name when we were alone. Even then, it was Inquisitor more often than not," it's a strange but also liberating realization that Maxwell was one of the few people who could truly understand what she has been going through as the Herald. People may commiserate, but few can comprehend the full weight of being hailed as one of the Maker's chosen.

That earned her a laugh in return, even as a little pang of sadness bounced against the backs of his ribs.

Even when they'd been alone together, it had been Inquisitor as often as it had been his name... at least before it become amatus.

Though he suspected it was a much teasing as anything.

Moving closer, he brushed snow from one of the makeshift seats they'd made and join her by the fire.

"The worst was when someone didn't know," he added, leaning his elbows on his knees. "For a moment, I was just another person until someone let the Herald out of the bag."

"People are always so nice when they realize you're the Herald. I'd get about two seconds of judgemental ass because of the staff on my back, and then 'Oh wait, you're her!'" she sighs, shaking her head. "You might not have gotten that, but after a while it was kind of nice. I have terrible ideas, people need to stop just going along with them."

She looks at him for a moment, before tilting her head, curiosity getting the best of her. "So, I know why I was at the Conclave. Why were you?"

"I never got that really, no," he admitted. He didn't know what it was like to be a mage, to face the things she had. What he knew were the things he'd seen: in particular with Dorian and Solas; and in general living among the rebel mages who'd joined with the Inquisition. "But people did tend to be more forthcoming when they thought I was just another soldier. Once I was Him, everything always got more complicated."

To say, exhausting, in so many words.

"Family," he sighed in reply to her question. "I was sent along to assist and report in the interest of the Trevelyans. ...At least on paper. I suspect Father and Mother were also hoping that I would take the opportunity to finally join with the Templars as well."

Adella's head tilted back as a look of dawning crossed her features and she nodded her head. Of course the Trevelyans would have wanted a stake in the affairs of the Chantry. At least, when they didn't have a child they were carefully distancing themselves from.

"I imagine they were proud. Herald of Andraste sort of trumps Templar."

"It - caused a bit of a stir, yes," he chuckled, wryly amused. "I thought the family was large before, but after...."

They'd crawled out of the woodwork like flies on the first warm day of spring.

"Though to be fair, as many were happy to call me heretic as were calling me savior."

"I had cousins that were trying to ride my coattails. My siblings were supportive, at a distance." She pressed her lips a little thin, thoughtful for a moment, finding more interest in her cuticles than strictly necessary.

"What did your parents think of it?"

He nodded, understanding, then paused at the question. His own gaze ducking away.

"They didn't understand all of my choices." The words were simple enough, one word the other without undo fuss, but they were said with the care of a man who'd spent time trying to distance himself from them. From how they made him feel. "I read the first letter, after allying with the mages. I-- hadn't gotten to the others."

There had been two more, after that. One, he assumed, after the rumors had had enough time to spread, and then a third not long after the events in Halamshiral.

They'd still been sitting, waiting, in the drawer of his desk when he'd been taken.

"I... have a feeling, that even though we probably aren't from the same family, our parents are very similar," Adella replied, offering Maxwell a sympathetic smile. "I can imagine that your allying with the mages was a surprise. If you need any pointers for coping with parental disappointment, I'm your girl." She shrugged her shoulders, tilting her head to the side in an attempt to force some cheerfulness into a depressing situation.

"After all, I've had seventeen years to work through it."

His parents had been willing to turn him over simply for daring to understand the mages' position, for daring to give his heart to one.... He could only imagine what it must have been like for Adella, actually being one.

How much it must have hurt.

"On the bright side, it's not as if it's anything to worry about now. Being here takes a bit of the punch out of threats of disownment." A lame joke, to be sure, but he didn't want to dwell on it either.

What was done was done.

And he'd been happy, whatever their insistence otherwise.

"Something that does concern me however..." His expression turned a bit sheepish, hoping she'd recognize one of the quirks of 'camp-life.' "I couldn't help but overhear when you arrived -- is Dorian alright?"

She did smile at Maxwell's joke, despite it being a lame one. Her feelings on the subject of her parents choosing to cut off all contact with her could still be a sore spot, some days, but it definitely wasn't much of a problem here.

At his question her smile melted a little and she glanced off in the direction Dorian had headed.

"I don't think so. He's taking my debunking his theory a little hard." She knew that wasn't the only reason that the other mage was upset, but she isn't sure who else in camp had keyed into what Cullen had. "I'd go check on him but I don't think I'm who he wants to see, right now."

He exhaled a breath, expecting both points.

"I sincerely doubt I am either." Things had been a little easier between them, since the Crowning, but it was hardly the relationship he'd once known. Even before. "But perhaps he'll allow it, considering the lack of options."

Slowly, he shifted to his feet, gaze turning from the dark trees around them to her face once more.

"I hope you can forgive my initial reaction as well. I have no real excuse for it, other than surprise."

"It's all right, I think we're all a little surprised, right now," she replied, waving a hand dismissively. She wouldn't be holding anything about this evening against anyone, because she can very easily see their side of things. It's an alarming situation, plain and simple.

"Make sure Dorian's okay."

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dreadinquisitor - 2015-02-16 11:09 (UTC) - Expand

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