The Grey Wardens' Leader

0.9 - Home

Broken by Seether feat. Amy Lee
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Avril took the lid off of the urn cautiously and sprinkled some in a pouch, putting it in her bag. She pulled her hair back into a bun, a few light strands hanging loosely. Going down the steps, she pushed open the door to the exit, grateful to get away from here.

The leader looked back at her companions once they were far enough away from the temple,"I'm stopping by my old home...my clan, I mean. I have no intentions of telling them what truly happened to Tamlen, so everybody, please, respect my wishes."

Morrigan couldn't be sure, but she thought that on their journey back to the clan, Avril was crying.

Nearly at her old home, Avril and her companions were ambushed by a group of Crows, the assassins. She tuned out everything else, simply focusing on killing them all before they could kill her.

She did a back flip away from one of the assassins, kicking them in the jaw and undoubtedly dislocating it at the least. Being a rogue, she knew a little about assassins. She remembered stabbing one in the neck as they snuck up behind her.

Avril stood over the last remaining assassin - who was barely alive - and held him down with her foot, an arrow pointed in between his eyes,"So, Zevran, who sent you?"

"A man, Loghain?"

"You've gotten what you need out of him. I would kill him if I were you...", Morrigan warned.

"He might be of good use, you never know.", Leliana added.

Zevran smirked and made some cheeky comment, one that Avril didn't care to listen to. This was a man who had attempted to murder her, who's to say he wouldn't try again? She didn't hesitate in the slightest releasing the arrow and ending his life.

The Warden spat on his dead body and snarled,"I hope the Dread Wolf devours him whole, killing people like that. There's so much hate in this world and all he's doing is adding to it!"

She took a ragged breath and continued walking. Her group remained silent until they reached her old home. The two Dalish elves at the gate glared at her friends until she practically threatened their lives in order to let her companions in.

"Why are we here...? No offense, I just-"

"I'm saying goodbye to Tamlen and settling old scores, nothing more and nothing less. We won't be here long, no need to get all weird about it."

   Avril slowly opened the door to Tamlen's old home, stepping inside and hating how much of a mess it looked. But that's just how he was. He never cared much for how things looked, really, not until his last days it seemed. That's one of the many things she loved about him. She remembered other kids picking on her because of her nearly white hair, but Tamlen thought it looked like her hair was covered in snow. He was sheltered, the stereotypical Dalish elf actually, but he wasn't a bad person at all. He didn't deserve to leave this world the way he did.

   She stepped into his bedroom, sprawling out on the bed and breaking down into sobs. She screamed and cried until her head hurt. Then, just like that, she stopped. Avril picked up one of his shirts that was draped over the bed post, biting down so hard on her lip that she tasted blood so that she didn't cry again.

"Wh-What's she doing?", Alistair whispered worriedly.

"Mourning..."

   The Dalish girl buried her face in her old friend's shirt, trapping the scent in her nose one last time, that's all she wanted. She could smell him again: oak trees, and oddly enough, rain. How somebody could smell like rain, she didn't know, but Tamlen did.

   She dropped the shirt into her lap, still desperately clinging onto it in fear of forgetting how oak trees and rain smelled together. She figured that she looked absolutely insane to her companions, but she didn't care; she was going to get a proper goodbye in her own way,"Falon'Din help me...I can't let go."

   Avril looked to her friends and wiped her tears,"He's an elven god. He's supposed to guide the dead to good fortune in their afterlife, watch after them in a way."

   She shook her head and stood up, soaking up the visual of the room and sighing softly,"Talking about elven gods like this makes me feel bad for what I want to do; I'll handle my personal problems another time..."

Morrigan frowned and rested a hand on the young woman's shoulder to reassure her,"We're here for you like you are for us. There's not another individual in the world who would look for my mother's grimoire in the middle of trying to help the Circle of Magi with their mess at the tower. 'Tis a real friendship we have, so at the least, I want you to know that I will listen to you."

Avril sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve,"I don't truly have a family. I never...I qnever knew anyone that I was related to. According to the Keeper, my family were actually city elves, but they were taken away from...you know. I was just a baby, the Keeper took me in, and for that I'm eternally grateful."

"You didn't know your parents then...?"

She sucked in a breath before answering,"Apparently my mother was slaughtered in front of the entire family and my father died on the way to Tevinter, I'm guessing, to be a slave along with the rest of my family. Just before I left, the Keeper had gotten information on two of my cousins."

The elven girl looked at her friends with hope in her eyes,"One of them even has hair like mine! They're in Tevinter, I would like to see them when this is all said and done."

Alistair pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head,"Of course, I'd love to meet your family."

"Why Alistair!", Leliana gasped.

"Oh, you all twist my words, come now!"

Avril looked up at him and smiled weakly,"I'd love to meet them too."

Word count: 1046