blessed are they who stand before

[cutenug]

Who: leliana & robyn, leliana & cullen, and leliana & OPEN
Where: around the mansion
When: april 16-20
Rating: pg-13??
Summary: killin' some zombies. and some friends. oops.
The Story:

WITH ONE SWIFT STRIKE HE PIERCED HER HEART ( CLOSED TO ROBYN )

It's hard to keep track of everyone in this chaos. After the first day of running, hiding, and fighting, Leliana mostly gives up on keeping track of everyone she's concerned about. But as the event wears on and she doesn't see certain people, she abandons her crusade of killing as many of these monsters as possible while herding others to safety. Just long enough to track down certain parties.

It's mildly annoying how long it takes her to find Robyn. But any annoyance Leliana feels goes flying straight out the window when she sees the state of her friend. Breath caught in her throat, she rushes over to the small bit of safety Robyn has managed to carve out for herself and reaches out for her. Gloved hands hover over her, not daring to touch her quite yet. Her gaze is locked on the bloody bite on Robyn's arm. She paid attention to the informative posts on the device the day this all started. She knows what that means.

"Merde," she breathes. "How long has it been?"

NOW HER HAND IS RAISED, A SWORD TO PIERCE THE SUN ( CLOSED TO CULLEN )

By midday on the eighteenth, Leliana is beginning to tire. She's been catching naps over the past few days in barricaded rooms, but hasn't had any real, good sleep since all this started. It's not the longest time she's done this--the Arbor Wilds was about three days as well--but exhaustion is slowly creeping up on her. That is how she finds herself caught fighting three runners.

She grits her teeth and curses under her breath, knives flashing. She's angry with herself for letting this happen. She's angry that she's trapped in a place where things like this are relatively normal. And she's downright peeved that she's out of arrows. It makes her strikes a little harder, a little more vicious.

At least until a runner bites her arm. The bite doesn't go through her leather gloves or her chainmail, but it throws off her balance. "Maker!" she reaches out with her other hand, driving her knife into the thing's skull. But another runner comes at her from behind as she does, and she hasn't the time to turn around. Now would be a good time for unexpected back-up.

WHERE THEY TOUCHED THE EARTH, TWISTED DARKNESS GREW ( OPEN )

The first days are mostly spent fighting. Leliana prowls the halls of the mansion, looking for those cornered by the monsters or trying to get to safety. When she needs to, she breaks for food and rest, usually barricading herself in a room and sleeping with her knives on her lap. It's dangerous. But better that than fumble for them if she gets woken by the creatures.

As the days drag on, it gets harder to focus. Dark circles appear under her eyes and her armor is stained with viscera--some fresh, some old. By day four she's less concerned about helping other people and more concerned about getting out of this alive. Oh, she'll lend a hand if she sees someone in a bad situation, but she's more likely to greet strangers with a suspicious look and a question about infection than anything else.

This is worse than the Deep Roads, really. And she hated the Deep Roads.

Comments

[circlejerked]

Hadn't he also heard something about a Leliana being named the Divine's Left Hand and taking up a role in the Inquisition, freshly dug up from its grave in history and dusted off? Is that how she'd known so much about this Corypheus? Maker's breath, the plot keeps thickening. Soon it'll be as thick as glue.

"You really are a woman full of surprises," he observes. He looks at her a moment longer before shaking it off and swivelling his gaze back to the front.

If the lady wants to talk about food, they can talk about food. Unless she's about to stab him in the kidney right now in retaliation for defiling one of the Divine's blessed holy houses, he'll file this bit of information away as 'things to ponders when not in imminent danger of death'.

"Yes, as for what I harvested, it isn't much given the time of year, but you can have your pick of some carrots and asparagus. I found some peas, greens, and spring onions that were fairly ripe before I left, too. I could have a real career as a vegetable thief."

[cutenug]

Any and all kidney stabbing will happen after he's actually blown up said holy houses. And probably not for blowing up the chantry but more for fucking up Kirkwall. ... Leliana is not exactly your typical ex-sister. Which is probably a good thing.

"Carrots and peas sound lovely." Anything fresh and not provided by Wonderland directly sounds lovely. But those especially.

As if sensing earlier talk about who Leliana is and her reputation, her treacherous stomach growls again, slowly peeling away layers of her dignity. She presses a hand to her stomach and, with a small sigh and a frown asks, "I don't suppose we're near our destination?"

Someone may have forgotten to eat breakfast today.

[circlejerked]

"We're close." The higher they climb, the more hushed he becomes. Nice as it is to hold a conversation with someone capable of more than just spitting and screaming, he doesn't relish the thought of drawing unwanted attention so near his safe room.

Another flight of stairs, then Anders leads them into the main corridor. His destination is an unmarked door, indistinguishable from the infinite number of other unoccupied rooms by the naked eye. But beyond the naked eye the space around the door buzzes with the presence of magic, signalling wards. "Here we are. I spelled it shut just to be safe. Would you be so kind to keep an eye out while I take down the wards?"

It takes less than a minute to undo his work, the last of it unravelling with a brief flare of light. Taking the doorknob in hand, he opens the door, and smiles sidelong at Leliana to say 'ladies first'. "You're welcome to what I have. There's no telling how long these things plan on sticking around and we'll need our strength."

The room itself is one of the mansion's typical unused rooms, bare and undecorated. Anders' pack and a smaller supply bag rest against the wall. The bathroom door is closed, but at the sound of their voices Leliana might be able to pick up a faint mewing from behind it.

"My cats," he explains. "I didn't want to take any chances with them."