Of Assassins and Oracles

The bay horse continued on it's way with the Elven lady looking about, rubbing her arms in the cold. The dark skinned Elf didn't look very happy to be traveling horseback and truly she was not. This was no halla. She wanted a halla. Hallas had a much nicer walk to them which did not bounce a person so much. A gurgle erupted from her gut telling her that she should eat but she did not want to do that. Not while riding one of these beasts. Oh no to eat while riding a horse would be very, very bad indeed.

Since having been sent horseback instead of carriage from Denerim she was not a happy sort. She'd been quiet, an unlikely thing from her and a bit nonplussed that she had been sent to a place where there could be fighting. Oh no no she did not like fighting and to actually meet those horrible Darkspawn everyone kept talking about and that she'd read of in books? Well that was something she did not want to do. Yet here she was on horseback with stuff for the Hero of Fereldan. Oh well. She'd volunteered. What an idiot she must have been.

Just as her tummy made a very loud protest which anyone in hearing distance could notice they arrived at the camp. Suddenly she perked up, dark eyes shining happily. She would be off this beast and having a good supper! YAY!

"Hello?" She said as her horse stepped into the camp and she saw Humans and a Dwarf, "Would you happen to be Nygozy the Hero of Fereldan?"

Nygozy laughed as Fenrir chewed on Ianto's boots and got the meal ready for consumption when she heard the chatter of some birds. That was interesting. She stood and walked to the center of camp, not making much note of the others. The first thing she saw come from the forest was a dark Elven woman on a bay horse who did not look like she was suited to the woods at all and by the way she rode was not a rider either.

One thing caught her eye though. There was a pack with the colours of the King among the saddlebags. She choked, looking down for the moment to get her composure. It was a messenger from him.

"Hello? Would you happen to be Nygozy the Hero of Fereldan?"

She gave a slight dip of her head, "Yes. I am at that. Bowen, Ianto, Caterina ... if you don't mind I have business to attend to." The woman tried to look calm, keeping most of her feelings from her face but some sadness was still evident.

Nygozy moved quickly going over to the woman and directing her towards a path. She didn't seem to notice anyone else around as she did this.

Kai and his dark black horse were in the shadow of the woods, he had kept a short distance behind the elven woman. He looked ahead and saw the elf speaking with a dwarven woman whom he took to be Nygozy.

He stopped a short distance fom the camp knowing he had yet to be noticed, he listened to the to women converse "Hello? Would you happen to be Nygozy the Hero of Fereldan?"

"Yes. I am at that. Bowen, Ianto, Caterina ... if you don't mind I have business to attend to."

Not wanting to take part in the meeting he left his horse standing in the shade and quickly climbed up into the trees where he hoped he would not be noticed

"You are?" She got off the horse and even though her legs were sore she almost skipped in joy, "Oh great!" Jezarine said as she brought the horse along with them. When Nygozy stopped near the mountainside she started taking things off the horse and placing them on an outcropping from the rocks.

Then she started to talk ...

"My name is Jezarine Nyala and I'm from Weisshapt, well not directly from Weisshapt because I actually come from a Dalish tribe but they are not around anymore, diseases and plagues kind of do that to people but I'm the last one from my people and the nice Grey Wardens at Weisshapt took me in to help them find a cure for that disease as it had begun killing lots of people and since I resisted the effects they thought that some magic and herbalism with my blood would help to cure the disease and it actually did pretty good because we were able to stop the plague and they kept me there and I learned lots of stuff and now that they said that I could be a help to the Hero of Fereldan, congratulations by the way that must have been really really scary because the arch demon would have been really hard and you must have thought that you would die from all of that but you didn't which is very weird considering what happens usually but anyway I went to Denerim because I volunteered to help put the Fereldan Warden's back in order and they felt that you could really use my knowledge as I know an awful lot so it could really come in handy so King Theirin sent me with one other to come and help and I also have some other stuff here from the King, did you know he looks really sad, well the stuff ..."

Nygozy smiled at the woman then Jezarine started to talk. The Dwarf blinked as this woman went on and on hardly without a breath. No, she didn't seem to be breathing. Who in the world taught that woman stage tricks? Ok, she was going to have to find out whoever taught Jezarine how to speak without hardly a breath or punctuation and kill them. Kill them slow and painfully. The woman just would not STOP!

She stared at the Elf as if she'd been hit in the head until the words about one other being sent and she couldn't handle it anymore, "Whoa whoa! Wait there Jezarine. What do you mean you were sent with 'one other'? If there is someone else then where is the person?"

Kai sighed as Jezarine mentioned she hadn't come alone, and again he sighed once Nygozy asked about it. "That other person" He jumped from his tree and walked calmly into the camp "Would be me, My name's Kai"

He leaned back against a tree that was near by, his hands were shoved into the pockets of his black jacket and he did not look at the people around him

Jezarine nodded, "Oh yes that would be him. He's not good at listening much but I was told he would be able to ..."

Kai's appearance startled Nygozy only enough for her hand to touch her axe then she relaxed as the man pointedly did not look at anyone. She put up a hand to still Jezarine's tongue and amazingly it worked, "Kai, eh?" She stepped closer to him and tilted her head to the side, "So what is your story of why you are here?"

The Dwarf wasn't really expecting much of an answer but it would be nice to hear a voice that wasn't going on at racing horse speed.

Kai turned and looked at Jezarine "There is a very fine line between not listening and not caring, I like to think that I walk that line every day of my life" He heard Nygozy walk up to him

"So what is your story of why you are here?"

"I was sent to be your guard"

He turned back away from them.

"My guard?" It seemed that she couldn't figure that out for a moment as she looked at him with a blank stare. Her eyes flicked from him to Jezarine and back as she bit her lower lip then she suddenly laughed, "Jezarine, go have supper with the others. I have duties to deal with and a guard to orientate."

At that moment, Torture trotted up to her and she patted the dog's shoulder, listening to him make dog sounds. She glanced towards Lithawen and Sinjan along with the new person who was accompanying them and sneered, "Go get them."

She growled as the dog took off then turned to Kai, "This won't be pretty but I don't want anyone killed. Got it?"

Jezarine was about to say something nasty to Kai but then Nygozy spoke and then started to laugh. She watched the Dwarf for a moment confused then nodded as she was told to go get food. All the better for her.

"Thank you." She said as she walked off towards the camp fire and three Humans, passing by the other three.

"No one killed?" He sighed "As you wish, though that takes much of the fun out of my job" he watched her growl and the dog run off, he thought about asking about it but decided not to "So You're going to 'Orientate' me?"

She smirked, her eyes twinkling with mirth, "Oh your job will be fun even if you don't get to kill someone. In this I just need you to not be seen unless there is a problem. So as soon as you see the dog and two people come this way, maybe three depending on that new one, then the shadows should be your guide." Nygozy rolled her shoulders as she took a look towards where Torture had gone, "Yes, orientation. I get the feeling that neither Zevran nor Alistair gave you much information."

Nygozy listened, hearing Torture barking and her eyes narrowed. She barked back once then smiled at Kai, "So how much did they say?"

Lithawen hadn't been intending to return back to the camp. Empty handed she figured she would go get something to eat, as she didn't eat meat or in front of people. Two very strange different situations, though both kind of came from the same place. And would both put her in the same place; far away from camp.

The elf glared dog at the giant rat as he nudged her forward. "I can walk on my own." she snapped to the mongrel. Walking over to the Dwarf.

She stood next to Nygozy. Her arms crossed over her chest as she waited to be yelled at for suggesting killing humans and attempting to steal from them. She planned to just drone out the scolding, look ashamed, and move on with her life.

As Lithawen moved around the corner of the trees Nygozy noticed that Kai had made himself scarce. She could probably have found him if she'd taken time and looked very hard but that would have taken a lot of time and alerted the Elven woman of what she was doing. No, Lithawen did not need to know of her bodyguard. It would come out soon but right now she was happy to leave it be.

The Elf crossed her arms over her chest in a sure sign of contempt. It was easy to see that the woman was not about to be reasonable or care, believing she had been right in what she did in the name of something Nygozy didn't give a flying leap over. All she cared for was compliance and no matter what she said this woman was not likely to even listen to her words.

That was too bad.

Nygozy looked up into Lithawen's face with no expression, waiting and leaving the silence to drone on. Birds still chirped and animals moving about doing their thing kept on as the murmur of voices from the camp even if one could not quite make out the words. It was all background noise, a whitewash she paid little attention to.

Suddenly, without any form of warning, the Dwarf punched Lithawen in the stomach, hard. As the Elf knelt in pain she backhanded her then grabbed her by the lapels, growling at her and looking like a feral beast who would rip the woman's head off if she so much as twitched.

"If you ever do a stunt like that again then I will kill you. I do not care what sodding hatreds you have cultivated over the years but I cannot have anyone in my camp who is going to attack civilians. I have been nurturing a relationship with that family for weeks now. They grow the food and we give them payment for it so we can do what WE NEED TO instead of screwing around trying to be farmers, which we are not. I sent you with Sinjan because he knew what I would want and it does not come from that farm." She snarled, showing a little fang while her eyes narrowed dangerously, "From now on you only kill and or attack bandits, Darkspawn or anything which attacks us. If you cannot abide by my rules then you can take your ass over to your horse and get the hell back to Orlesia."

Nygozy then pushed Lithawen backwards enough that the Elf might fall on her rump or back, and put her hands on her hips, "Now. What will it be? Are you going to follow me without trouble or are you going to go back to Orlesia in disgrace?"

Lithawen stared at the small woman, taking her punch with only a gasp. She doubled over as instinct dictated, and her hands shot up to nurse her wound. Her uneven green eyes glared up at the women as she braced herself, seeing the backhand coming only moments before impact. Her face turned to lessen the blow and there was barely a breath before she was forced to stare back into the angry eye's of the Hero.

Like a good little girl she said nothing. Falling back onto her arse once Nygozy had all of her anger out. The only people around to see were the animals, though such acts against her were still an attack on her pride. And anger flared up in the elf's veins. She stood, breathing steadily, purposefully, trying to keep herself calm enough not to just attack and burn down everything within a hundred mile range.

"You have no authority to cast me aside." She said with a forced laugh, standing tall as she looked down at the Dwarf. "One tiny little blight and you think your the fucking queen of the world? I am your senior warden. And I am here on orders from men who far out rank you. I do not take orders from you. I don't even have to listen to you!" a scoff came out as she continued on. Feeling no threat from Nygozy. "I was ordered to stay here. Keeping you from dying. Until further notice was sent. Not once was I told I had to answer to you. So the only way I'm leaving is if you actually kick it. In which case I can go back to those bastards in Orlais and I can tell them what ever the fuck I want to. You killed yourself from the stress.. You died in your sleep... you ate some poison. Doesn't matter. They send me off again and I just continue being me."

Stepping around the Dwarf now, Lithawen tensed as she prepared to fend off any other attacks the women felt like throwing at her. "So you're stuck with me. And if you attempt to touch me again, I will freeze you right where you stand. If not, well then I can just keep on keeping on. And you can get back to your cooking. Bye now."

With that said and done Lithawen turned on the balls of her feet, taking long steps away from Nygozy. A smug smirk plastered on her face. She did not head to the center of the camp, where everyone was gathered. Rather she headed to a tree with in sight, and sat on one of the lower branches. Fabric and sewing suplies in hand as she started work on a bag that had ripped on her trip out to Ferelden.

Nygozy glared at the woman as she listened to her but did not balk as she snapped at her. She was not about to take this kind of attitude in her camp and that was all there was to it. She saw promise in the woman but she still could not accept that attitude.

"You did not read your orders then." She said as the woman got into the tree, "And I am not going to take your bullshit. Come fight me on fair terms. If you win, you stay. If you lose, you will either tow the line or leave."

Lithawen smiled looking up from her needle. A challenge. A Warden as an opponent was something that often given to her so easily. The Keeper had already spent a good five minutes when she arrived sizing the grant 'Hero of Ferelden' up, and she was confidant she would win this battle easily.

She threw her sewing aside and stalked over to Elendil, which still rested in the ground. Her hand wrapped around the handle and the flames once again lit up the red steel. She pointed the blade at Nygozy and cocked her head, smiling. "Then you have yourself a fight."

The first thing Lithawen did was cast Shimmering Shield, Fade Shroud, and Combat Magic. Combined with the constant strain of the Flaming Weapons spell already cast on Elendil, the Keeper's magic was waining. But that didn't affect her physically just yet. And she lept forwards, slashing Elendil down at Nygozy.

Nygozy smirked, her eyes brightening with the sense of battle and a willing fighter who could probably give her a workout. This was going to be fun and she intended to make it last. She hoped the assassin wouldn't get into this but felt Kai probably wouldn't interfere with a match unless there was a chance of her being killed.

The Elf moved towards the weapon she had set into the ground then pointed it at her cockily. She chuckled, "Surprise surprise surprise."

Nygozy slipped under the downsweep of Elendil and to Lithawen's side, still grinning, waggling her eyebrows and taunting, "Come now. A fell swoop right at the start? What do you take me for? A swaddling cub that needs a mama bear at her side? You have to be faster than that."

Lithawen's eyes followed Nygozy's movements away from her attack. Even if her body, encumbered by the weight of Elendil, could not. She had hoped that the Dwarf would move aside. It would be boring it the battle were to end so quickly and so easily.

"One never knows." Lithawen snickered, stepping back. "You could be an utter moron for all I know.

And even before she could finish talking she stepped out and then rushed at Nygozy again, swiping from side to side this time.

Nygozy made a swift, sweeping bow as a lark, continuing to watch Lithawen carefully as she moved backwards, "I know of one who would have done so but he uses a shield. I do not." She laughed, "And that would have truly offended you if I had."

The sword swept towards her again, side to side but the Dwarf simply backed off then swirled around a tree at the last moment. Only then did she pull a weapon, her shining axe and whip back around the tree the same direction she'd gone to put Lithawen off her stride, having feinted towards the other side only moments before.

The Dwarf turned her axe and aimed to slap the side onto the Elf's bottom so it wouldn't really hurt but it would make a good "smack" sound if it did hit.

Lithawen concentrated on her breath, keeping it even as she moved.

Her eyes followed Nygozy, glued to her with a adrenaline-heightened awareness. She swung Elendil around to block an attack. But she didn't get her own sword far enough before she felt the slap on her ass. With Fade shroud only about half the force ended up going through.

Lithawen pulled her short sword out, and aimed to either catch the axe against it or to diarm Nygozy of it.

And with her other hand she moved Elendil for another swipe.

Another chuckle as Nygozy had hardly hit for any type of damage. It was a simple slap to say she was no fool and capable enough. She noticed the second weapon coming out to try to disarm her at almost the last moment so she took out her own short sword to counter that attack. She still moved around the other woman, trying not to give her anything too stationary to go after.

Lithawen stayed back as Nygozy moved around. She planted her feet at prepared her sword. Holding her ground and waiting for the Dwarf to attack her now.

The flames wrapping Elendil died down as Lithawen could no longer sustain it along with the other spells she had up As the heat subsided there was a 'second wind' that hit the Arcane Warrior as some of her mana returned to her. A smirk played at her lips again as she watched the Dwarf.

Lithawen had decided to suddenly stand her ground. That was not a difficult ploy, trying to get the opponent to do the attacking. She moved slowly to one side then the other testing the Elf's resolve and knowing already what she could expect. This was her own way of making Lithawen try to figure out what she was up to and let her think that the Dwarf was confused as to where to go.

As soon as it looked like Lithawen was intent on believing she was an idiot, Nygozy came at her head on, slipped to the opposite side she'd gone for the last time and went for a whirlwind attack, her weapons flashing out at speed as she tried so knock Elendil from the other woman's grasp.