Off to Denerim - Side Stepping

Morning was always a pleasant time of calm reflection for the man sitting on the rock beneath a tree. The beauty of dew drops never ceased to amaze, the crisp air which tickled the back of the throat continued to create a pleasant wake me up, and the sight of beautiful women strolling back from a bath with an owl a sweet, new taste.

Drake did not follow her. His job was clear. He watched the camp with hawk like eyes, the dark brown following the motion of the others going into the barn to care for the horses. Still he did not move from his spot as he ran a sharpening stone across Arcarla, his curved sword.

Sounds caught his ears from motion but he still moved not. He would wait as calm as could be, his expression a dead slate of nothingness.

Garoll had regained consciousness where he had passed out by the fire some hours ago, so he had wandered around the camp while everyone slept. Eventually he came across Drake as the others were preparing to leave. "Mornin'... So, who are ya, surfacer? Never seen ya around, unless I was sodding passed out nearby." He grunted, crossing his arms over his armored chest. His orange beard was grizzled like his hair, a result of sleeping on the ground.

He looked off to the stables where everyone was gathering. "So those huge beasties o yers are horses? Sodding intimidating." He grunted again.

For a moment Drake looked at the Dwarf, seeming to consider something then the blank expression came back down upon his face while he continued on with his sharpening of the blade. It seemed that he had closed off even more if that were possible, at least until the Dwarf spoke.

"Drake's the name." He confessed as he looked over the sharpness of the blade, "I was with my team when you met with Nygozy."

Drake looked towards the barn and shrugged, "Not quite as intimidating as Brontos but the war horses are damn sights."

As she said, it only took a few minutes to be ready, and Calliara appeared again, now full dressed and with her bow in her hands. And her guitar on her back with her quiver.

Fenrir barked happily, trotting here and there and waving his little tail to greet everyone. But finally the puppy found what he was looking for and ran towards Drake, barking. The Dalish followed him calmly, but when she saw the human she smiled with her shy and tiny smile. She wanted to touch him, or kiss him so bad, but she hoped it wasn't so evident.

''Good morning. I have to apologize. I woke up with a nightmare and I was afraid of disturbing you while you were resting, so I went out...''

She then looked at Garoll curiously, the dwarf was someone she hadn't met yet

Garoll nodded, eying Drake's sword as he did so. There was something eerily familiar about it. "I see. Well met then I sodding guess." He shrugged and then another surfacer walked up, one of them elves he had heard about. He'd seen a couple the night before but didn't pay much attention. This one had white hair and tattoos covering her face and exposed skin. She was walking towards them. "So you know of Brontos, eh, Drake? Tough beasts to catch, great on a spit." He smirked. Then the white haired elf reached them.

In all his years of experience down in the Deep Roads, one could always tell when people were bed mates by watching their signals. Nothing was private in Orzammar. He smirked as the lass seemed so fixated on Drake. "Top of th' mornin, lass. I'm Captain Garoll Stonebrach of the Legion of the Dead...not that that matters up 'ere so much" He shook his head. He made a sour face. "Are all you surfacers so sodding tall? It's annoying I can't be at sodding eye level..."

Calliara bowed her head with respect and a sweet smirk.

''Well met, Captain. I am Calliara from the Grey Wardens, once from the Dalish clan of the Mahariel. And I agree, all these humans are so tall''

She laughed softly, her head barely reached Drake's shoulder, and had Bowen been there, just the middle of his chest.

Drake smiled at Calli then closed off again as he noticed Garoll looking at his sword. He took a deep breath and flipped his sharpening stone in his hand as he listened.

"It's alright, Songbird." He said quietly as she came up to him and took her hand, "You need not apologize for such things."

A shrug showed what he thought of brontos, "Been around a few in my time. They're tasty with an ale paste." The words came out of his mouth before he thought about how he'd had this kind of meal while he'd worked with the Legion.

"The Legion matters to some up here even if you don't believe it, Captain." He looked up at the sky, "Most of us up here are taller but Elven folk are still shorter than humans."

Garoll chortled a bit. "Aye, they're too sodding tall, but yer also a fair bit taller'n me, lass" He glanced up at Calliara again. Then he turned to Drake who mentioned Bronto stew. That just made the old dwarf hungry, he smirked a bit at the human. "Being a Legionnaire doesn't really matter up here, kid. It's a sodding caste for killing Darkspawn. Yer Blight's over." He spat on the ground. "An' I'm stuck up here on th' surface so...I'm gonna have to make m'self useful. And I already knew how tall yer races are, I jus' don't like being hip level. No dwarf wants to stare at a man's groin all day." He grumbled as he hiked his pack over his shoulder, which clashed with his shield and longsword.

'' I jus' don't like being hip level. No dwarf wants to stare at a man's groin all day."

Calliara laughed quietly, but sincerely, and then almost blushed when she realized that they both could see and hear her. But she didn't care in that moment.

''I used to hate it too. I mean, I'm tall enough to not look at a... well, that part, but they are still too tall for me. But after all, that fact has its advantages... Vital and painful parts, you know''

The archer smiled sweetly. ''In fact, being a dwarf is not that bad on the surface. Dwarves are tolerated and welcomed in human cities... When I had to stay in Denerim with the Wardens, I lived locked up in our quarters. The Commander didn't allow me to go out alone after some problems after our first arrival there. But the times I could go out, with company of course, I saw many dwarves there''

Fenrir barked, excited, and tried hard to sniff at Garoll's hands, standing on his back legs and waving his little tail. Calli smiled again. ''I've been to the Deep Roads and Orzammar twice, Captain Stonebrach, and I can see the beauty of it even if being underground made me feel deathly sick. Almost everyone love the place they come from. I was born in these mountains, in the snow and the ice and the cold, and for me the mountains and the forest are the best place in this world to be''

"Being a Legionnaire doesn't really matter up here, kid. It's a sodding caste for killing Darkspawn. Yer Blight's over."

Drake snorted as he stood and looked at his sword. His eyes gleamed angrily while taking the measure of the dark, curved blade, "The Blight may be over ye old nug hunter but there are still many more, many many more Darkspawn to kill. They have not just disappeared with the loss of the Arch demon." He almost sounded like a Dwarf when he mentioned "nug hunter."

He listened to Calliara then set his sword home within it's sheath and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Cold lands do seem to bring beauty into this world. The problem is as such. Nygozy had mentioned many times how a Dwarf could be accepted whereas the Elves had no such luck. I find it strange yet it is true."

Garoll listened to Calliara's laugh, smiling to himself that he at least got a laugh out of someone. Then she said that Elves were barely tolerated compared to Dwarves on the surface. He spat on the ground. "Humans probably like us Dwarves better 'acause of our smithing skills, or our drinking skills. Depends on who you're asking. Nothing more." He sighed, shaking his head. "They seem to fail to realize that its only the Smith Caste that actually does any smithing." He grunted again. Then she had said her experiences of Orzammar and Garoll wondered silently how she could feel ill there. Orzammar was a grand place, even surfacers when they were permitted entrance could bask in the glory of the Hall of Paragons and the Proving Grounds among other things.

Then, Drake said something that made the hairs on the back of the old dwarf's neck stand up on end. Something too familiar to ignore. So what did he do? He threw a punch straight for Drake's arm. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say ye were a dwarf in human form. You sound jus' like my second, Rainard." He snorted, his blue eyes glinting with almost dangerous flare.

'' The problem is as such. Nygozy had mentioned many times how a Dwarf could be accepted whereas the Elves had no such luck. I find it strange yet it is true."

Calliara looked at him, a white eyebrow lifted. ''Strange? Politics and convenience. Dwarves are a nation, we elves are nothing nowadays. We once were a land, now most of them live as human's slaves in the cities, and the Dalish are nomads and live in freedom, but hunted and always running away. A dwarf is accepted because a dwarf has a King, nobles behind that can shout and protest, elves have nothing''

She shrugged, wrapping an arm around Drake's waist shyly. She wasn't angry speaking about that fact, just sincere. ''As Garoll say, dwarves have things humans need or want. An elven man is nothing but a slave, a worker, and an elven woman is... Well, the reason I was not allowed to go out alone in Denerim. Humans used to assume that an elven woman alone is for the first who grabs her. I have scars that...''

Calliara suddenly stopped, closing again and feeling she talked more than enough. When Garoll punched Drake's arm and called him 'Rainard' she looked up to the human, surprised.

Drake listened to Calliara's diatrabe in quiet fascination. He had heard the basics of why Elves were treated so badly time and time again but had never tried to learn all the reasons. He'd heard it often enough to know so searching further fro information was not top on his agenda. Besides, it angered him to know that another race was treated so abysimally.

"I find it strange because ... it matters not."

He shook his head and looked to the Dwarf who had just hit him while muttering, "Nug fucker." Under his breath, almost inaudibly.

"I find it strange because ... it matters not."

Calliara lifted an eyebrow again, and touched lightly his arm with her free hand. ''But I would want to know. Please. You were the one that told me not to hide things from you''

She realized that she had just done that, and whispered. ''I'll tell you then whatever you want to ask me. You told me yesterday you wanted to knew me. I want to know you too. I tell you the same you told me: don't shield yourself from me''

Fenrir barked and began chewing Drake's boots, excited, and panted something that made the Dalish suddenly blush and look at the pup, shocked, but she hid it as fast as she could. Then she looked at Garoll again, resting her head on Drake's shoulder lightly.

''Captain Garoll, who was your second?''

Garoll had listened to Calliara's rant, but hadn't said anything. There was no need to, as any Duster could attest to the same scars that the white haired elf had. And when she began to speak briefly to Drake and then suddenly address the Dwarf again, who was busy contemplating the chillingly familiar comment Drake had delivered just post-hit, he responded with "Eh?" then he cleared his throat, snapping out of his thoughts. "My second was a kid named Rainard. He carried a sword just like your loverboy's there, an' he had the strength of a pissed off bronto. And that last comment, boy..." he glanced meaningfully at Drake. "Makes me wonder how you grew three feet in the past months." He smirked beneath his beard.

Drake sneered, a tooth showing as he growled while looking at the Dwarf. He'd never expected anyone to come up with something like that and certainly had not expected to see another Legionaire of the Dead up topside. It was some kind of test of his resiliance that he did not turn and walk off just then. There were questions and he had to answer them, the best he could and the best he knew how.

The man looked about slowly before taking Calliara's hand, "You trust me, do you not?" He asked calmly, "There are things I must tell you as I have not been completely truthful to anyone but my leader. I need your understanding."

He squeezed her hand then turned, "Come, we must talk." He said to both people.

Calliara looked at him right in the eyes, calm and serious as always, and nodded. ''You have it. I trust you''

She bent to pick Fenrir up in her arms and rubbed the pup's belly while following Drake, intrigued now. She looked briefly at Garoll

Garoll harrumphed beneath his mustaches and folded his arms. "Curious that you're asking for her trust, boy. Got some dirty secret do you?" Though he still wasn't a hundred percent sure if this man was indeed Rainard, if he was, Garoll could always bring her up and what her fate was that bloody day when Garoll was separated from his company.

He exchanged a look with Calliara as they followed Drake. Garoll still had his arms folded over his barrel-like chest.

The walk took a couple of minutes as Drake wanted to speak with these two well out of hearing distance of the others. No one would come after them, or at least he figured as much. They would all be working on getting ready to leave and that was to the best. He only wanted people he could trust knowing his secrets, or at least one or two of them anyway.

He halted near a stream where it was shaded by pines and difficult for anyone to come around and snoop without being heard easily. The man was nothing less than paranoid when it came to his privacy.

"I am not as I seem." Drake started as he turned. He looked at the two and took a deep breath, his body seeming to shiver as he changed into the young Dwarven man Garoll knew for some time, "My full name is Drake Rainard but this is not my true form either."

His body shifted once again to look very much like his normal self but with white skin and red eyes, "My race is called Changelings. We are not trusted in these lands which is why we do not stay in our normal forms. Many of us choose to change into a form which is easier for others to accept. My parents chose human but when I went to become a Legion of the Dead, I found humans were not accepted easily so I became Rainard, joined and worked as Garoll's second for some time."

"This is not something done to deceive in any more than avoiding persecution and death. You see, Calliara, the treatment of Elves behooves me as it has for the animosity towards my race does, yet, those of my kind are mostly unknown and ones who have been found were either killed or used as sex slaves as we can change our bodies to whatever one wishes."

Calliara looked at him with wide eyes. Never in her life she thought she was going to see a Changeling, yet she heard of them in the hahren Paivel's stories as myths, something unreal... And here he was, standing in front of them.

''...we can change our bodies to whatever one wishes."

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to erase the instant thought about that. Then she looked at him again, still holding the pup, and moved towards him. Standing on her tiptoes, she closed her bright blue eyes and kissed the Changeling's lips slowly and sweetly, and then, she moved to let him speak with Garoll. That was all she had to say.

Well that was completely unexpected. The look of shock on the Legionnaire Captain's face was priceless to those present. His jaw hung open as he watched Rainard appear before his eyes in Drake's place, then change into an almost ethereal version of Drake. "By the Stone...Rainard? It really is you! But sweet sodding Stone, you're a Changeling? I never saw that coming. Never." He blinked in bewhilderment.

"What happened with the group after I fell? Pendra? What happaned t' her? Did she finally dump your scrawny ass for someone younger?" He grinned, remembering the third member of their little clique of friends back in the Deep Roads. Commander Prinda was a firebrand and Rainard was her personal fuck toy on occasion. Though she took the Legion's business quite seriously and was a harsh task master to her men in contrast with Garoll's more relaxed, if firm leadership.

Calliara's swift, direct response to his revelation made his heart stop a moment, surprised at her reaction. He kissed her back and smiled, a hint of a smile taking place upon his lips before he looked towards the Dwarf he'd known so long.

It was amusing to see the elder Dwarf so flabberghasted that he couldn't help but clap a hand onto the man's shoulder and grin as he changed back to his human self, "Figgered it would not be so great to show anyone before but Changeling I am. I trust the both of you more than well enough with the secret. And no, I worked very hard to keep it from you when we were in the Deep Roads."

At the mention of the troops and Pendra he shook his head, "I didn't get to see but I heard it was a slaughter. Darkspawn had just kept pouring out. That's when Nygozy and her group came along. I have no idea what happened to Pendra. By the time I stopped looking for you below it was too late. I flew over the destruction but could not find her."

The Dalish listened silently their banter, intrigued now about that 'Pendra' they were talking about. She assumed she was the 'former lover' Drake said he lost. She was surprised to recognize some kind of light and sad jealousy, not because of the woman's past existance but the time she spent with Drake. It seemed she knew him so well, even if she didn't know he was a Changeling.

Putting aside those thoughts, she looked at them again, waiting for Garoll's answer

Garoll merely nodded at Drake's asking him to keep the secret safe. "As best I can, kid." Then he listened to Drake's story. He felt a pang of sorrow for his comrades who were probably dead, but then again, such was the fate of the Legion of the Dead. Still, he had friends among his soldiers and to lose them after so long a time spent with them, it was natural to feel sorrow.

He nodded slowly. "They've returned to the Stone then. And I guess that was you who followed me then? I thought it was strange to see a bird underground." He sighed and sat down on a rock nearby, staring off. He started to hum the funeral song sang at the 'funeral' of those who join the Legion. It was out of respect for the dead. When he had finished he stood up, combing armored fingers through his orange hair. "I suppose we should start moving."

He took Calliara's free hand, "It is time to go I believe. I am glad to get this out with the two of you. It was not something I wished to keep secret from those I care for. And yes, that was me as a hawk. That is my extra, special gift. Few of my kind have the ability to go so far as to take animal form yet I do have the capability."

Drake started off towards the others, "I shall be sure to discuss with Nygozy about adding you to my team, Garoll ... if you can handle a sodding, wet behind the ears pup as the leader. Or maybe it would be different and Nygozy would give me a rest from it."