I Want To Play... [Dice Camera Action One Shots]

Drunken Lullaby

The song being used to represent the lullaby is The Dawn Will Come from Dragon Age: Inquisition. I DO NOT own the song, all rights go to their respected owners.

"Come out come out where ever you are!" The mad man coaxed.

The young boy quivered in fear as he hid under the small wagon. Everything was gone. Everyone was dead. His family was dead. Small tear tracks cut through the dirt that caked his cheeks. He squeezed his eyes closed and began to hum to himself quietly. The lullaby never failed to settle him.

"I can hear you, boy." A hand gripped the child's ankle and he shrieked as he was dragged from his hiding place. Kicking and screaming, the boy wiggled from the man's grasp, only to be struck down with a kick to the chest that sent him into the dirt. He met the mad man's eyes, seeing no hint of remorse behind those spectacles. Holding the boy down with one foot, the man brandished a thin iron sword and raised it high above his head.

"For my son!" He cried.

"No!" Paultin shrieked as he bolted upright. His clothes were drenched in a cold sweat. Just another nightmare, he told himself. He took quick, shaky breaths as his friends around him shifted in their sleep. Only Strix stirred.

"Paultin? You okay?" She yawned.

"Yep." He said through breaths. "Fit as a fiddle."

"Bull. Shit." She sat up on her bedroll and rubbed the sleep out of her pale white eyes.

"Honest." Paultin promised. He set a hand over his heart. "Vistani's honor."

"Is that even a thing?"

"It is now, g'night." He plopped back down on his pillow.

Strix carefully moved around the sleeping Diath and Evelyn and sat on the wooden floor next to Paultin's bedroll, leaning against the wall. He ignored her, rolling on his side so his back was turned. He could feel her eyes on him.

"Stop it." He turned to face her.

"Then tell me the truth. I'm starting to think you're going barmy. Is it about the whole, you know, orphaned thing? Cause I can relate with that pretty well."

"I should've killed him." Paultin blurted, remembering the incident from a few weeks ago. He had finally found Van Richten, the man who took everything away from him. He had the chance to kill him, and almost did, but Diath managed to talk him out of it. "I should've killed Van Richten."

"You and I both know you couldn't do it. You're too smart for that. You wouldn't feel any better with his blood on your hands."

"Might ease the pain at least." He sighed.

"More so than wine?" Strix teased.

"I may never have to drink again." He said flatly.

Strix said nothing as she let that sink in. She glanced over to Paultin's satchel and quietly dug a full bottle of wine from it. She took a quick swig from it then nudged Paultin's arm, holding the drink out to him. As expected, he took it. He sat up against the wall and took a long gulp of the drink before handing the bottle back to Strix, who once again took a sip. They passed the wine in silence until half of it was gone. In his drunken daze, Paultin began to sing quietly, choosing the first song to came to mind.

"Shadows fall, and hope has fled. Steel your heart, the Dawn will come. The night is long, and the path is dark. Look to the sky, for one day soon the Dawn will come."

The lullaby. It was the one thing that stuck with him even after the memories faded. His mother's warm embrace as her silky voice echoed along the walls of their wagon. Her fingers moving his dirty blonde hair away from his stormy blue eyes. His father drunkenly stumbling over the words. Warm, safe memories.

Strix listened silently to the melody. She had always heard the bard humming the tune in his sleep, usually when he was hung over. In the years she'd heard him humming it, she'd never heard the words. Strix closed her eyes and sank into her musty robes. Evelyn and Diath shifted slightly in their sleep, calming at the sound of Paultin's voice.

"Bare your blade and raise it high. Stand your ground, the Dawn will come. The night is long and the path is dark. Look to the sky for one day soon the Dawn will come."

Paultin sighed and took another swig of wine, resting his head on Strix's shoulder. He closed his tired eyes as she leaned her head against his.

"Not bad." Strix muttered.

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing... Pass the wine will ya?"