Kessie's Short Stories

[KH + DA] Hurricane and Venus

Originally published 8/13/2010

She had been following the trio for three solid days now. If the older two had noticed, they certainly didn't let it show easily. Not that she actually had plans on intercepting them at any point. By now, rumors and legends could easily identify the blue haired woman in that trio; the Gray Warden, the Hero of Ferelden, Aqua Amell. Traveling with her were two male companions, one about the same age and one younger. The one close in age to Aqua was another Gray Warden; Terra. The younger one, the one she was slowly growing an odd fondness for as she watched the trio travel, was actually the son of a Ferelden arl; Ventus.

The trio were on a mission, given to them by a friend, and it was one that she could have been a part of. But seeing the trio now? From just watching them deal with wildlife, and bandits, and those dumb enough to make known that they were hunting the trio down, she realized that she had made the smarter move here. Old habits wouldn't let her stop watching them, however. She simply wasn't trained to remain idle when people of interest came along.

And Ventus? He was very much a person of interest to her.

She just needed to get a little bit closer...

. . .

At first, Ventus thought he was going insane, hearing flute music come from somewhere deeper in the woods. Terra didn't seem to notice it, and Aqua had already gone out to scout the area. He didn't really tell Terra that he was going -more of an over the shoulder 'I'll be back' kinda deal- but he didn't expect that flute to be so far into Ferelden's dense forests either. The idea that he shouldn't have come alone didn't even hit him until the music suddenly stopped. Dead silence rang in the young man's ears. He considered tracing back to their campsite before he heard someone say;

"You must be some kind of idiot- following strange music in the woods like this."

Surprised, Ventus turned around and found himself almost face to face with someone new. This person was a young woman, her shoulder length raven hair tightly curled and gently resting on her left shoulder. An ornate mask, designed in the shape of a rabbit head, covered her face- preventing him from knowing what her eye color was.

Ventus knew that, because she wore a mask, it meant that she had come from Orlais. He wouldn't have assumed that at first, though. Her voice barely contained the familiar Orlesian accent- only coming through with the way she'd lengthen her 'A's and 'S's. He wondered if it meant she was Ferelden, then taken in by an Orlesian family. Or perhaps it was the other way around, and she was losing the accent? Was that even a thing?

"W-who are you?" Ventus questioned. "And why are you-" he didn't finish his sentence, because his mouth almost betrayed him by saying 'so pretty.' And that was ridiculous. He didn't even know her; for all he knew, she was another one of Luxu's guards sent to kill them. Besides, how could he find her pretty when there was so little of her to be seen? The mask covered most of her face, and her clothing hid even the tiniest bit of skin from showing.

The woman straightened up a little at him. She walked toward him, offering her hand out in peace.

"The name's Sabrina. Means 'princess.'"

"You should be." Ven sighed before he could stop himself. When he realized what he said, he flinched and quickly started to babble, "I-I-I mean, you... you should be going! Y-yeah! Going! I'm a lot more dangerous than I look! Oh yes, you haven't seen nothing yet. Absolutely nothing."

"Just shake my hand, you idiot."

Ventus suppressed the urge to say 'Yes ma'am' before quickly taking her hand. Her hand was much smaller than his- with a jolt he wondered if it meant that she was younger than him too. He had been so focused on how small her hand was that he nearly jumped out of his skin when she asked; "And what's your name?"