Sisters of Tevinter

The Forbidden Oasis

   For the fourth time that night, Jor woke with a start in her tent. She didn't know exactly why, but it left her feeling icky for the fourth time. Her eyes were aching with exhaustion for the fourth time. She was getting irritated with herself for the fourth time. 

     Outside, the soft humming of insects and chirping crickets clouded like a fog around the canvas walls of her tent. Jor sat up with a heavy sigh, rubbing her eyes. Kaisen was fast asleep in her bedroll beside the scholar, curled on her side, her daggers beside her within arm's reach. Jor's gaze lingered on her sister for a moment. The girl's face was free of distress. Her form was relaxed, her red hair loose in messy swathes around her shoulders. A snoozing Dane snuffled by her side, curled tight against her with his head on his haunches.

    Jor smiled slightly, glad they seemed to be alright, and carefully rose to a crouch. Her creaking bones made her wince as she lifted the tent flap and stepped out into the night. 

     Their little camp was arrayed against a curving wall of reddish stone that blocked the oasis in like tunnels in an ant farm, winding this way and that with confusing turns that would bring you to the dusty upper levels at inopportune times if you weren't careful. Just a few hundred feet away, a great clear waterfall tumbled down from the cave systems set in the rock. Scrub brush and blood lotus bloomed along the rippling silver pool that flooded its circle of stone. Fat, tusked beasts grazed contentedly along the banks. 

        Bull's snores added another layer of sound to the whole oasis, and it made Jor fight not to snicker in the dark. Solas had cleverly chosen to rest beneath a thin tree, its bark a ghostly white, sword shaped leaves an interesting olive yellow. Dorian was on watch. 

         It was here Jor chose to sit beside the mage in the cool, grainy sand, laying a hand on his arm to let him know she was there. He smiled slightly, gaze trained on the passage beneath the canyons behind the camp, his staff across his knees. 

      Jor listened to the crickets, closing her eyes with a slow, soft exhale. 

      "Can't sleep?"

      "Not yet. Tried."

      "Hm." Dorian patted her shoulder. "There there." 

     The scholar gave an amused snort and knocked her shoulder against his. "I'm okay. How are you?" 

      "Oh, you know," Dorian drawled, firelight dancing off his features. "I'll be washing sand out of my ears for the next six years, but other than that I have few complaints." 

        "Ah yes, sand." Absently, Jor took a handful of the stuff and let it sieve over her palm and back into the dunes in a rasping white stream. "It does come with the territory." She smiled, following the mage's gaze out along the canyon. "All clear?"

     "For now. No sound, no light, no undead moans." 

    Jor laughed softly. Dorian grinned. "Though even if there were I don't think I'd hear them over the qunari."

     Jor snickered and dragged her hands over her face to smother the sound. Solas stirred beneath his tree, lifting his head wearily, his arms folded loosely around his middle. "Good morning," he murmured distastefully. 

       "Sorry," Jor whispered, looking back at him over her shoulder with a smile. She patted the sand beside her. "It's early." She rifled through the pouches and satchels laid haphazardly around the crackling fire. 

       Solas hoisted himself up and dusted off his trousers, coming to sit beside the rogue and mage. Jor took a few blocks of cheese wrapped in grape leaves and passed them to her companions before pouring ground coffee into a small kettle.

     The sky was still dark, but remarkably clear. Not a single cloud blurred the horizon, stars twinkled down at them from the cloak of deep blue. The moon was full tonight, a bright white jewel high above the oasis. Jor poured water from her canteen into the kettle and hung it over the fire. 

     "Will we take the east today?" Solas asked curiously, picking at the cubes of cheese in his palm. 

      "I thought so. The mine shafts in the peaks, the cave systems, just to make sure nothing decides to slip through there." Jor nodded. 

    "Hm. Would it be rude of me to hold out hope the Breach took all its demons with it?" Dorian smiled wryly. 

     "Not rude. But probably misguided. In case you haven't noticed, our luck doesn't necessarily scream one and done." Jor nudged the mage good-naturedly with her elbow. 

      "Unfortunately the ruins here will not be unoccupied," Solas said gravely. "I do sense disturbances here. Old magic. Very old."

     "Ah, I knew something felt all dark and gloomy. I thought it was you." Dorian grinned at the elf. 

     Solas replied with a flat, unamused stare. Jor smiled slightly and tucked her scarf close around her neck as cool wind raised goosebumps along her arms. "I envy you both your senses." 

     "We're remarkable, yes." Dorian nodded.

     Solas only shrugged. "You are not devoid of magic. You are learning." 

     "I know." Jor flexed her palm in her lap. The Anchor was quiet today, only a dim, flickering green. "Still. I wonder."

     Solas smiled ruefully. "It is good to wonder, but jealousy does not become you, Inquisitor." 

    Jor blushed and barked out a laugh. "Is that a joke?" 

    "Don't listen to him, darling, you look fabulous in green." Dorian brushed his thumb over Jor's hand with a grin. 

      "Oh, ha-ha. Comedians both of you. Let me know when you want to take the 'I'm a mage' bit on the road." Jor scowled and pulled the kettle from its hook, pouring three cups of coffee. 

     "Do we get to wear funny hats?" Dorian smirked. "We'd make a killing on the streets of Val Royeaux." 

     Solas grimaced. "There are few things that would disturb me more." 

      The sun rose, turning the sky to layers of sweltering gold. The canyon was illuminated in orange and scarlet, light dancing through the leaves of brush and trees. Kaisen woke first, Dane trotting at her side as she stumbled wordlessly from her tent and chugged a canteen's worth of coffee. 

       Bull was up soon after. Now he was polishing his axe in the sunshine beneath a palm. Jor tucked her journals into her satchel and slung it over her shoulders, patting her belt and thighs to check her blades. She'd brought four this time, including the rune and onyx dagger she'd dubbed Bleeder, Tandem, and two smaller knives Leliana had lent her. Just in case. She'd grown tired of dropping one or the other in battle. A dry wind kicked up sand across the camp and Jor drew her scarf up over her nose. 

      Solas had tugged a white cowl over his head as protection from the sun, swathes of cotton draped across his neck and arms. He looked... good. It was distracting actually-- Jor was trying very hard to look everywhere but at him as the mage slung his staff over his back and gathered blood lotus from the edge of the pool. 

       Dorian was rubbing Dane's ears off to the side, cooing endearing nonsense in a comically deep voice, making Kaisen laugh as she leaned on the spellbinder's shoulder. 

       "Everyone good?" Jor called, dusting sand from her sleeves. 

        "Ready, boss." Bull stood and Dane let out a gleeful bark that bounced off the canyon rocks, bounding to the qunari's side.