Faded Flames

Chapter One: A New Clan

Author's Notes: First of all, credit is highly due to my dear friend Arimabari on Tumblr. Nahari, Lona, Kala and Briaril are her ocs, and a fair chunk of this writing is her own- pieced together in a proper writing style through rps we have done together. I have her permission to share her parts on this writing and represent her ocs here. We've had a great deal of fun creating this family together and expanding the Lavellan clan with headcannons. Please enjoy.

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It was early autumn in Thedas, and Ostwick in particular was preparing itself for the harsh winters that were to come. Just on the outskirts of the grand city, the forests were changing in color with red and orange leaves surrounding the area, the wind blowing many of the leaves into the sea not far from there. The land seemed still save for the gentle breeze and the ocean waves swaying back and forth. But it was only the humans that lived in the city that thought the land appeared lifeless.

Hidden underneath the trees near the ocean waves were the animals that call the forest home and the Dalish clan that had roamed these marches since the fall of the Dales. Clan Lavellan, which was a peaceful clan that kept to themselves for the most part, was preparing for winter in their own ways. While the humans in their large and cramped cities harvested their food and prepared for the seasonal holidays, the clan had just returned from Arlathvhen to exchange ancient tales, discuss clan traditions, and swap mage children for the clan's Keepers. But now they were home, hunting and fishing for animals that would keep them fed for months on end if preserved well, the hunters gathering and selling furs and pearls to trade with the local human traders, and preparing for their own ceremonies and celebrations as well.

As such, Clan Lavellan was bustling with life during these preparations, so much so that Keeper Deshanna simply didn't have time for anything else, including showing their newest member around. During the Arlathvhen, one particular clan with one too many mages had given a young girl, Fainauriel, to Clan Lavellan. The Keeper gladly accepted her and named her Second, for she had already had a First, and brought her home. With no parents to raise the girl and provide for her everyday needs, Deshanna had handed the young girl to one of the clan's finest hunters, Kala.

The Keeper had been hesitant at first. Though she knew Kala to be a loving mother to her children, she had just given birth to her third child, was tending to a sick one, and had only just lost her life partner to the very same illness that was slowly killing her daughter. Still, Kala insisted, knowing that her own mother, the elderly Briaril, would be there to help her raise this new child.

So now, the huntress was showing Fai around, something no one had the chance to do until they returned to the Free Marches.

"You listen carefully to me, da'len. " Kala said with a motherly stern-ness to her tone. "This place? It is your home now. We are very different from the clan which you were born in. You will be expected to follow our rules and our customs no matter how strange and foreign they may seem to you. You will be given food, shelter, and love, and you will regard my children as your siblings as you will be sharing much with them. Treat them well as though you shared blood, and we will have no problems. Do you understand, Fainauriel?"

"Yes, Hahren." Fainauriel said softly. Clearly she had listened, for she looked up at the woman as she spoke- a very attentive child- though her gaze soon wandered. An ever curious child, Fainauriel took in every speck of her new home in sight- the trees, the shore to the ocean in the distance, the salty breeze, the cry of birds. And the new faces, of course. Before the Arlathvhen, Fainauriel had not seen very many faces that were new to her. And she was still too young to fully understand that she would not see her true parents or siblings for a while- possibly never again.