VK - Sinjan, Rakot, Ostef, Leliana, Lithawen, Torture and Garoll

"Sin. Since you've gotten all cozy with the 'Trouble Twins' you get Rakot, Ostef, Leliana, Lithawen and Garoll." She then grinned, "And Torture will help."

Sinjan's eyes went wide as he looked at the group. It was going to be difficult to keep the peace with Leliana in the group.

Garoll folded his arms and nodded. "Aye, alright. At least we got some decent fighters here. I'd hate to be the only one." the elder dwarf grunted and checked his weapons, to see if they were clear in their scabbards. His heavily scratched and dented shield rested on his back, and he wore his equally dented and scratched Legion of the Dead armor. At his hip was his immaculate silver sword, and at his other, his dagger.

"You got all your gear, Ostef?"

"Actually yes, and I have a question, why the Maker's balls was my pack full of stones then I opened it?"

"I didn't know how long we were gonna have to wait until we were to move out, so I figured we could do some full gear sprint drills while we were waiting. I added some weight to your pack and went looking for you, but you wandered off somewhere."

"Oh...thanks...well, I guess I'm also thankful that the Commander decided to give the order then she did."

Leliana sauntered over to her traveling group and looked everyone over. Since she had just recently gotten back to Denerim some of the people in the group were new to her.

"How lovely to see you again Sinjan. You're looking well." The redheaded Orlesian said as she walked up to Sinjan and gave him a peck on the cheek. "And you too Torture." She reached down and gave Torture a pat on the head. "Just stay away from my underclothes."

"I'm delighted to meet the rest of you. My name is Leliana."

"Pleasure to meet you, Leliana. I'm Ostef, and my large, ugly friend over here is Rakot. We're the infamous 'Trouble Twins' that the Commander spoke off."

"Pleasure."

Rakot tipped his head to Leliana and the duo walked off to get their horses.

"Thats a pretty lass."

Ostef remarked as they got to their horses, mounted them, and started riding to catch up to the rest of the group.

"That's also Leliana, the Orlesian bard, and at this point she is the one I trust least in the wacky band of misfits we've been assigned to. Never know what an Orlesian, and especially a bard is going to pull."

"Well, I'd be happy to keep an eye on her for you....to avoid backstabbings and such, you know."

"Might end up loosing that eye, so as a friend, I would not advise it."

They rode back and rejoined the party.

Garoll grunted a greeting to Leliana. "Leliana, huh? You fit the description of that human who wanted a walking meal as a pet, from about a year ago." He said, peering up at her beneath his blue eyes. "Name's Garoll Stonebrach, Captain of the Seventh Company of the Legion of the Dead. Well, I was. They're all dead now. Me 'n Drake were the only survivors." He said.

"Trouble twins? I am sure the commander would not have named you that without cause. But trouble can make life so much more... interesting. Pleased to meet you both. Leliana gave them a smile and a small bow of her head as they were introduced.

"Walking meal? Oh, you mean a nug. They are just so adorable! Very nice to meet you Garoll, I look forward to travelling with you. How does one of the Legion of the Dead end up on the surface after the end of the blight?"

Leliana mounted her horse as the trouble twins returned on theirs. "Sinjan, would you care to ride with me. I'd love the chance to catch up. We have so much to talk about." She gave him a giant smile as she moved her horse over toward his.

Sinjan listened to Ostef and Rakot getting ready and was content to wait it out while the others got ready. Then there was a kiss on his cheek and he looked over to see Leliana, "Lel ... yes, you're looking well too but that's a given."

Torture barked at Leliana happily and jumped around in circles, glad to have her back even though he was being told to stay out of her stuff. That was fine. He'd find another way to show her he appreciated her.

"Hmph. Just showing your colours." Lithawen said as she went to the back giving Leliana a glare as she went and mounted her horse, waiting for whatever was to come.

He got onto Snow, ignoring Lithawen's snarling then waited until the others were about ready. He looked to Leliana and smiled, "If you still find me worthy of your company then how can I say no?"

Then there was the sound of a dragon, then a hawk and another dragon. Sinjan looked up into the sky, eyes narrowed while he waited until he heard another dragon roar and finally a hawk call he knew, "Ok we can move out. Lithawen and Torture get the rear. Rakot, Ostef and Garoll the center and Leliana and I have the lead. Let's go." He started off without any concerns.

Leliana watched the elf woman scowl at her as she passed and wondered about it, but decided to shrug it off for now. She was just turning her attention back to Sinjan when there was strange noises from above.

"Are you not worried about the dragons?" She asked as she rode beside Sinjan. "Do you know something I do not? Do share!"

"Dragons? Must be my fault. The sodding things are supposed to be extinct, yet I keep running into them. I am however yet to kill one, mind if me and Ostef take a little detour, Sinjan?"

"Wait...what? How the hell did I get dragged into this?"

"I need someone to distract it so I can move into position to chop its neck in half. The sodding things spit fire, that shits dangerous you know."

"Eh...well, if you put it that way, how can I pass up a good near death experience? Especially if there is a good chance for it to be upgraded to a full death experience."

"Come on, it'll be fun. You'll get pot roasted in your armor a bit, I'll make the kill and take the glory, we'll be done before lunch."

"...sometimes I don't know if you're being serious."

"To be honest, sometimes I don't know either."

Snow started to move and Sinjan chuckled under his breath, "The hawk calls were Nygozy and Drake. I guess you were gone long enough to forget that call to move out from her. Anyway, the dragons have been taken care of and we have nothing to worry about. I don't know how but with the white dragon being out there and the call coming back as a move out, it means that all is fine."

"Ah yes, the Commander and her pets. I was obviously in Orlais for far too long. I will have to relearn her signals." Leliana replied to Sinjan.

"Don't either of you fine gentlemen go off and get yourselves roasted." She called back to Rakot and Ostef. "We've only just met after all."

"Dear Sinjan, you really must tell me all that has happened here lately." The redhaired bard commented with a smile as they rode out. "The Commander seems to have gained quite the following. It is no wonder really, she is such a lovely woman." This last was said with a fond smile on her face and a sort of faraway look in her eyes.

Her trip to Orlais had dug up some painful memories and she was happy to be back where good memories could resurface.

"See, Rakot, she called me a fine gentleman. I am starting to like my chances more and more."

"Ah yes, a gentleman is what you are. I do remember seeing you use a live squirrel to wipe your ass the other day."

"What?...Well....there were no bushes around and....it was right there....and why the hell were you watching me take a shit?"

"Well....I was tracking that squirrel, it was going to be my afternoon snack. I had an arrow lined up on it, then it ran past you and....you grabbed it..."

"...Yeah!...Ah...see, I can't say anything to that, because I would be doing the same thing as you if I didn't need it for other....things..."

After a few minutes of awkward silence Rakot sighed.

"This is going to be a long journey."

"Too soon...lets not talk for a few more days, and no eye contact. Only time will let us forget."

"Agreed."

"Well, I'm on the surface because I took a long drop in the Deep Roads during a battle outside of one of the Thaigs. Darkspawn were everywhere and there were two batallions of the Legion to fight 'em. But they were shrewd and destroyed the bridge with me on it. I fell for a long time and woke up at the bottom of a chasm, and basically clawed my way out of the Deep Roads and onto the surface. That's when I met the Warden-Commander's group." he told his story to Leliana. His mustaches quivered as he remembered that black day in the Deep Roads. Only he and Drake survived that battle. Drake had turned into a bird, but Garoll didn't know that bird was Drake back then. He thought he was going crazy seeing such a creature in the Deep Roads.

Garoll had visited Nygozy's group for a light helping of teasing her about her little love triangle she had going on, and then returned back to his group, only to see everyone was getting along fine enough. The elder dwarf nodded his approval. Then Rakot and Ostef began arguing about shit and squirrels and then Garoll's blue eyes rolled. "You're supposed to kill your ass wipes first." He growled and hopped back onto his horse with difficulty. "Or try using some sodding leaves."

"But, like I said, there was no leaves! By the Maker's balls, what kind of madman would use an innocent, perfectly edible squirrel, if he had a choice in the matter?!"

"A little too loud, bud."

Ostef lowered his head and continued to mumble something incomprehensible. Rakot turned to face Garoll, in an attempt to change topics.

"So, Ser Dwarf, I overheard you were in the Legion of the Dead. Now that the Blight ended, why didn't you return and rejoin the Legion?"

"So, Ser Dwarf, I overheard you were in the Legion of the Dead. Now that the Blight ended, why didn't you return and rejoin the Legion?" asked Rakot to Garoll. The elder dwarf snorted. "I'm a surface dwarf now. They don't want me down there, dead or not. Besides, have you tasted the ale up here? It's sodding fantastic. Wish I came up here sooner." He chuckled beneath his mustaches.

"Oh, I know all about that, Romek Hemlin, the dwarf who raised me always went on and on about the ale. If things went badly during our travels, he'd always say that at least he doesn't have to drink that sodding nug piss they have in Orzammar. This one time we were in Antiva and were ambushed by bandits, they threw a firebomb and the explosion flipped our merchant cart on top of Romek. I killed them, then pulled him out, he had two arrows in his chest, his face and hands were burned, and his legs were out of commission from getting crashed by the cart....and still, all he could talk about was how lucky he is to be able to get a decent pint of surface ale. Haha."

Rakot looked to the side.

"Still, I'd like to see Orzammar one day. I might be a human, but I do carry the Hemlin name, and by the Stone I'll make that mean something."

Kai ghosted down the line of travel and appeared at Sinjan's side. He was glad to see this group was moving as well. They were making his job easier. Well the faster he got back to Nygozy the better he'd feel.

"I bring a message from the Hero. I see you've already started to move, so part one is done. She wishes you to know the dragon situation is well under control and not to be concerned. Also a pack of wolves will be travelling with us. They are to be protected if necessary and they are not to be attacked. They are the family of one of the shifter mages."

Message delivered Kai faded from sight once more.

"Wolves? Why the sodding shit are we protecting wolves now? What kind of treehugging bullshit is that? Whats next? We'll be required to come to aid and risk life and limb for every woodland critter? Its a slippery slope."

"Think of them as extra rations, that we don't even have to carry on our backs."

"What happened to not talking for a few days until we can forget the awkwardness of the moment that just happened ten minutes ago?"

"Lets be honest Rakot, that was far from the most awkward situation we ever been in. Remember that time..."

"No, I don't, and neither do you, and if I did, then I'd remember that I was black out drunk. And that's a valid excuse for that which I don't remember doing, and you don't remember seeing, because it never happened."

"...you unsuccessfully tried to molest a cow and me and two of Ser Koru's guards had to pull you off."

Rakot stopped his horse, and glared at Ostef.

"What? This is payback for yesterday, you knew it was coming."

"Ostef..."

"Yes?"

"Run."

Ostef took the advice, jumped down from his horse and sprinted off the side of the road. Rakot gave Ostef a ten second head start, taking the time to stretch his leg muscles, cracked his neck and fists, and then took off after his comrade on foot.

"Ah yes, the Commander and her pets. I was obviously in Orlais for far too long. I will have to relearn her signals."

Sinjan nodded, "She does like animals a great deal. Your trip must have been interesting to take you away for so long."

Rakot and Ostef started discussing fighting dragons and he shook his head at that but didn't have to say anything as Leliana beat him to it.

"Don't either of you fine gentlemen go off and get yourselves roasted. We've only just met after all. Dear Sinjan, you really must tell me all that has happened here lately. The Commander seems to have gained quite the following. It is no wonder really, she is such a lovely woman."

Her last words made him go over the past in his head but the conversation between Ostef and Rakot made him chuckle and he was still smirking when Kai came over to tell them that all was well then disappeared.

"Have you ever known someone to fade out that easily? I mean, Nygozy is good but damn that guy is more shady than Zevran." He said as he shook his head then went back to talking to Leliana, "Basically a lot of people showed up outside of Orzammar, we were hit hard by a ton of Darkspawn, traveled back to Denerim, stayed here for some time and are now on our way again. We've had some fanatical group with stylized falcon tattoos under their ears try to screw with us and now have an unhappy elf showing us to some tear in the Fade. I'm just hoping I get a good supper each day and I'm not asked to cook."

As he finished his words he noticed the two men went at it with tales again and started laughing at the concept of his father standing by while two of his men and Ostef tried to haul Rakot off a cow. He slapped his leg and Snow moved sideways, aggravated by the action but that was all, "Could you go fetch the Trouble Twins and drag them back so we can get on our way?" He laughed again.

"Maker's balls, you're fast!"

Ostef yelled out, still running as Rakot closed in.

"Your fault for pussying out of doing sprint drills."

Finally Rakot got close enough and leaped forward, pushing Ostef to the ground. The two rolled down a hillside and then jumped up to their feet. Rakot pulled off his gauntlets, revealing bare fists.

"Atleast let me take off my plate, its not flexible enough for me to swing a proper punch."

"Alright, hurry up, and so you're not bitching about how unfair it was after I whoop your ass, I'll take off my chainmail."

The two warriors quickly took their armors off, until all they had on was the sleeveless fatigues they wore under them. Rakot's giant frame and bulging muscles overshadowed Ostef's much smaller yet sturdy build, as both of them assumed basic combat stance. Rakot swung first, sending forward a crushing blow to Ostef's head which the young mercenary narrowly dodged by ducking under it, and then springing upwards, delivering an uppercut to Rakot's chin. The berserker took a step back from the force of the strike, but quickly recovered just as Ostef attempted to follow up early success with another swing. Rakot caught Ostef's arm with both of his hands in mid motion and holding on tightly, tossed his comrade over his shoulder. Ostef landed on his ass, but was able to spin around from that position, twisting his own arm, but delivering a low kick to Rakot's leg joint, tripping the giant to the ground, and setting his hand free. Rakot then immediately rolled to the side, Ostef's descending foot narrowly missing his face. The berserker then swung his fist from the lying position and it connected with Ostef's stomach. The young mercenary leaned down in pain, grabbing his abs, while Rakot got up, and kneed him in the face. Ostef fell over, bleeding from the nose. Rakot swung once again at his downed opponent, only to have his fist blocked with an elbow. Ostef then caught Rakot's arm in an armbar, grabbing the arm with his hands and wrapping his legs around it, jerking it backwards, and sending a pulse off pain through the berserker's body as the arm began to come apart at the joints. Rakot took the pain, and Ostef wasn't able to bring down the giant, instead the berseker lifted his locked arm off the ground with the young mercenary still clenched on to it, and smashed his opponent against the hard soil. Rakot kept smashing, and Ostef kept holding on. Finally Ostef let go, and rolled off to the side, getting up to his feet. Ostef defyingly spit blood on the ground and wiped his broken nose with his fist. Rakot poped back in the shoulder that was dislocated by the armbar. Both fighters stood opposite each other, returning back to the basic combat stance they started from. Adrenaline was flowing thick in their veins and they were ready to go at it again.

Leliana watched silently as the blond elf appeared and delivered a message to Sinjan and then dissapeared once more. "He is quite impressive yes. I have seen many rogues over the years but that young man is good. Too bad he has gone already, I would not mind looking at him some more." Leliana commented with a laugh.

She listened as Sinjan filled her in on what she had missed in Orlais. "Sounds like I missed all the fun. How sad.

"Could you go fetch the Trouble Twins and drag them back so we can get on our way?"

"Of course Sinjan dear. I will be right back." The bard kicked her horse into a trot and headed toward Rackot and Ostef.

"Come on now boys, play nice. We have recieved a move out order, be good lads and get mounted. You can settle this at camp tonight. Not that the view isn't plesant, but you should keep your armor on when travelling through unscouted terrain. I'm sure the commander would not issue an order to protect these wolves if she did not have good reason. They may make excellent allies and I'm sure they can help supply the rations you are so worried about."

Leliana made her way back beside Sinjan. "So have any of the noble women trapped you in a loveless marriage yet Sinjan? Or are you still a free man?"

"She does have a point you know, we have orders. Why not call this one a draw?"

Said Ostef, lowering his fists.

"A draw? Fuck that. Let's call it what it is, a woman having to bail you out, cause you're so fragile and soft."

Rakot lowered his fists as well and took a step towards there he left his armor. Ostef grinned.

"Cowfucker."

"But I didn't even....!.....Sod it, you inbred asshole....and you punch like a girl."

"Yeah, I definitely got you back. Now excuse me as I savor the sweet, sweet nectar of my revenge."

The grin did not disappear from Ostef's face as the two warriors put on their armors and walked back to their horses, mounting them and rejoining the group.

Garoll chuckled at the Trouble Twins. "Take it as a compliment, Ostef. I knew women who could break a man in half for looking at them funny. They'll steal your pants as well as your ability to process oxygen." He said and started moving his horse onward, leading the group. As clumsy as he was on horseback, Garoll was a natural leader, having had decades of experience in the Deep Roads.

"Its been way too long since I've killed something."

Rakot muttered under his breath. He got over the fight with Ostef very quickly, it was just comrades testing each other after all.

"I'm sure opportunity will present itself."

"The sooner, the better, I'm yet to test my new weapon in real battle..."

"Meant to ask you, so what do you think about the Joining?"

"What is there to think Ostef? Its some sort of ritual, we have to perform it to become Wardens."

"Yes, but the secrecy around it...you don't find it at all suspicious? The training we've done at the Koru estate was hard, but not impossibly so, if getting through it was the only requirement for becoming a Warden, then there would be a lot more Wardens running around. Which means that this Joining is more of a test then a ritual. At the same time I never heard of anyone who failed to pass the Joining. You'd think if they failed and lived, they'd simply go back to their normal life, unless passing it is a matter of life and death."

"Heh, better not to think about it. We're survivors, our entire existence constantly puts us in life or death situations, yet we've come this far. Whats just one more test compared to that?"

"Its easier for you, you gave your word, and now things couldn't be simpler. I got my family to take care of still, its not just my life I'm bargaining with."

"True, and I do consider myself lucky to not have any roots. Don't know what to say to you, we all have to take life as it is."

"What I meant to ask is...if I fall, will you take care of my family?"

Rakot gave Ostef a stern look.

"Don't bury yourself before your time, kid...."

Then the berserker sighed.

"...But, alright, if anything happens to you, I'll send them money in your place. Not like I have anything to spend it on, booze and whores are cheap."

"Thank you."

"Don't get all soft on me, we spilled blood together, fought side by side, that makes us brothers. I'd do the same for any brother of mine, don't mean I won't kick your teeth in then we stop to set up camp for the night."

Ostef smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, unless you spot a stray cow and get distracted."

"Go to hell."

"Right after you, brother."