A Whole New World

He looked up from the food and tilted his head at Kassina's comments, "You didn't scare me. I've seen shape changers before and usually they are really nice people... a little different but nice enough. I don't think Cestrah has ever seen that though." His ears twitched as if catching a sound then he picked up a bit of cooked meat, "Lots of meat sounds good."

Torture had moved as Kassina made him then he barked as she said that she would like to learn his form. His little tail wagged away as he was delighted to have another mabari around. He licked her hand and barked again.

Maghai laughed, "I think Torture doesn't mind. Hey ... some humans are good!" His lip pouted out as he said this, "Rakot was really nice helping me find Jezzie and," He stopped in mid finger waggle, "Then he kidnapped her to give her to Tevinter slavers." Ok he was going to have to rethink that drink.

It took a few moments for him to regain his pace, "AH! Yes, there's Ianto! Ianto is really good to my sister. Then there is Sinjan ... oh yes he's half and half cream. The king is a nice guy and ... uh. Well, not all humans are bad! I know there are lots of bad people in this world but we all do our part in being bad. Then again, I would like to swat lots of humans. They do seem to be the most proliferate idiots but maybe that's because there are more of them that the nice energies of the world cannot touch all of them."

Then the girls mentioned about Cestrah being adopted and made an elf like them. He wondered at this, watching the two with a blank stare, wondering, considering. The blank look on his face continued for some time before his eyes seemed to glow for a moment, "Someone would want to adopt you I'm sure, Cestrah. I can't. I'd make a bad da but I make a real good friend. Maybe Nygozy or one of the other wardens will adopt you. But we can't make you into an elf. I don't think ... there can't be a spell for that."

There couldn't be but that wasn't going to stop him from looking and trying because it looked like she was interested in it.

Kassina thought for a few minutes about what the others had said. Obviously she hadn't said things right, or maybe elves and humans were just different than wolves. That was probably it.
She took a deep breath and then tried to explain what she meant about adopting Cestrah and making her an elf. "Adopt Ces.. Cesta? in pack. Make litter mate... sister? Cesta be elf cause part of pack family not cause what look like. Like Kassina wolf cause wolf family. Even when look elf, still wolf. Are what here," She said while pointing to her heart, "Not here" and she indicated her ears and different face shape. She hoped they would understand better what she meant. Maybe elves didn't adopt pack sibblings. She didn't really know, but the warden pack seemed like a family pack even though they were humans, elves, and dwarves.

Kassina absently scratched Tortures ears while she thought about what Mag said about not all humans being bad. She guessed it had to be true, but she had met very very few nice ones. Most of the nice ones she met had only been nice to her because they needed her help to survive.

"Kassina never meet nice humans before Cesta. Kassina meet other nice humans? Kassina want learn 'bout warden pack."

Cestrah looked at Maghai with a smile. "I'm sure I don't need formal parents... If I have all of you as my friends, I don't think I really need parents." She then looked down in thought. "Well... I don't think there'd be a spell for it. But... if someone can change into a wolf, why wouldn't they be able to change into an elf or a human or something?"

Then when Kassina said about being an elf was in your heart, not your body, Cestrah stared at her in wonder. "That's... ah... beautiful... I... didn't expect that much... wisdom..." She then wiped a lone tear from her face. "A-am I already an elf then?" She said with a small smile.

Maghai was stretching his legs out while Kassina spoke. He moved his foot then bent his leg, bringing it up against his chest, held it there then stretched it out again to do the same with his other leg. His attention seemed to be completely contained upon his leg exercises but his eyes darted back and forth subtly when each woman spoke. He made no comment at first as he stretched a foot then looked up at the two young women.

"Then it would be like an adoption in a sense." He smiled, eyes gleaming with a blue tenderness, "Jez says that the wardens are like a family and doesn't want that feeling to change. I'm sure people can change into other person forms but I don't think that is a spell. If there was a spell it would be difficult to get." He thought it over once more then went back to his leg stretches.

He suddenly patted his chest, "You're good and elf in here, Cestrah." He chuckled then started on some arm stretching, "I think you can meet more of the warden pack some time, Kassina."

Kassina looked at Cestrah, not quite sure what to make of her reaction. She wasn't very familiar with human emotions other than fear and anger. She looked sad but smelled happy and Kassina didn't know what to do. She didn't want her new friend to be sad. Before she could think about it she went over and gave Cestrah a quick, tentative hug and then retreated lightening fast back to her spot with Torture.

As Maghai did his stretches Kassina listened but also turned much of her attention to Torture and began to study him in the way she had discovered as a child. She wouldn't master the mabari form today but she could certainly start to learn about them.

Maghai saying her name brought her out of her almost trance like study of Torture and she realized how late in the day it was getting. She hadn't seen Dartmoor since she woke up and she wondered suddenly if he was alright. He was more familiar with human places than she was, but she got the feeling he would be just as out of place around here as she was.

"Need find Dartmoor. Elf Kassina come this place with. Was big room with fire. No see since sun up." Kassina stood up but then realized she didn't really know where to go. This place was so large and scents were hard to follow in this form in hallways of stone. She looked uncertainly at Maghai and Torture hoping one of them would know the way.

Upon realizing how late into the day it was, Cestrah was about to stand up, but then Kassina did something unexpected. She hugged her. It was a very brief hug, but Cestrah felt very comfortable with it. But just as quickly as it had happened, it ended. Kassina went back over near Torture, leaving a slightly flustered Cestrah. "I-I guess... the Wardens are my family now then. I have nobody else." She then realized that Maghai and Kassina weren't wardens. She let out a small giggle. "And of course the two of you..." Then as Kassina mentioned some named Dartmoor, she was curious as to who that was. "Dartmoor? Is he a friend, or just a traveling companion?"

(OOC, ugh... sorry on the huge wait guys... I've been stressed lately, then when stuff was resolved it took a day or two before going "Ah crap, I haven't posted in forever!" I'll be a bit more focussed now without the impending day my heart died. )

Maghai smiled at the girls and did his strange workout then got onto his hands and knees and stretched his back like a cat that's been upset, relaxed and did it again as he listened. He didn't look up until Kassina mentioned a "Dartmoor" and he jumped up to his feet, agily bouncing about on the balls of his feet.

"Yes we're family now." He said to Cestrah happily then looked at Kassina, "Yeh. Who's this Dartmoor guy?" He winked at her.

((OOC: That's fine. Mine is short too as my brain is slow this morning but want to get this going ))

Kassina wasn't quite sure what to make of the other's reactions to her mention of Dartmoor. "Dartmoor friend like Mag and Cesta. Meet yesterday. Kassina owl see elf on roof. Kassina lonely, say hello. Then see bad men hurt good smell girl. Look like dark garden elf, but not elf at all. Shape changer. Kassina and Dartmoor help stop bad men, come here meet small alpha." Kassina's story came out slowly and haultingly as she wasn't used to recounting events to other people.

"Sun up Kassina hungry. Dartmoor still sleep. Kassina look food, get lost stone maze. Meet you. Help find Dartmoor? Stone make nose no good. Sleep big big place with fire." With that Kassina seemed to run out of words and simply looked at them while bouncing slighly on the balls of her feet.

((OOC: By 'want to get this going' you mean I was pestering you, hehe))

Kassina turned as she heard someone approaching, and soon picked up Dartmoor's scent. She gave Dartmoor a fleeting hug when he showed up at her side, then retreated like she had done with Cestrah. "Found me! Kassina just bout come look you. Meet others here. Cesta new here too. Elf is Mag. Mag litter mate of dark garden elf meet night last. Food?" Kassina asked and pointed to the remains of their lunch. The cooks had packed them too much and there was still plenty left.

Kassina wasn't sure why Dartmoor's presence had gotten her so excited. It had even made her talk almost like Mag or his sister. But now that she didn't have to go hunt for Dartmoor she plunked herself back down on the grass beside Torture and began scratching him behind the ears.

Cestrah jumped a little as she heard the elf cone in and speak, and was still quite uneasy. However, she smiled when she heard that it was Dartmoor. Kassina introduced them very briefly, so Cestrah nodded towards him sheepishly, clutching Maghai's arm a little. "I-I'm Cestrah... Kassina has told us a bit about you..." She felt herself grow very nervous. Once again... So many people around... All of them looking at her... Just like before in Jez's room, she felt nervous, shrinking back a little. "S-so... Maghai? How long will we be staying in Denerim?"

Maghai waved excitedly as Dartmoor arrived and smiled while tilting his head to the side like a puppy to check out the newcomer. It was interesting that Kassina seemed to stay near Dartmoor and that she had given him a hug like that. She must really like him or something.

"Hi!" He said happily then noticed confusion on the man's face, "Oh. Jez and I are twins. Mom was light coloured like me and Dad was dark like Jez. We always confuse people because of that. People are always stunned when they see us together, see the resemblance but the colour messes them up all the time. Both of us are used to it."

He looked to Cestrah and shrugged, "I think we will be leaving in a couple days. I know the warden commander wants to get going soon and so do most of the elves."

Kassina was happy that all her new friends were together in one place and seemed to be getting along. She was glad to hear they would hopefully be leaving this place of stone in a few days.

"Kassina would chew my leg off if I tried to hurt you"

"No one hurt Kassina friends. Kassina protect pack."

Kassina sat silently for a minute watching Dartmoor eat, paying attention to the foods he ate and those he ignored. She guessed she would have to learn to eat cooked food eventually if she wanted to stay with the warden pack.

"Give raw meat Kassina and Torture. Think just for Torture. Butter?" She cocked her head to the side like a curious puppy. "What butter?" She reached out and picked up a piece of a roll and sniffed it curiously before taking a small bite. She chewed a few times and then took a second small bite. "Is funny. Not meat, not fruit." Slowly she took one more bite then fed the rest to Torture.

"Where go when leave here? Kassina need see pack tomorrow. Dartmoor come? See forest? See pack?"

Cestrah stepped a little bit on her own once Dartmoor reassured her that he wouldn't hurt her. She was still nervous around new people, but it would go away with time. She simply replied to Dartmoor with a nod. It was interesting that Kassina had already started to become defensive of Cestrah… The Wardens would be a better family than she had ever had… She let out a heavy breath of relief and sat down on the grass. "So… what are the Wardens trying to do right now? Rebuild Ferelden?"

Maghai nodded, "No one will hurt Cestrah. Believe me, Cestrah is safe with us! I'm never allowing anyone to hurt her ever again. Not if I can help it." He announced while putting his hand over his heart, "Hey, did you want to go see the ball room?"

He bounced about on the balls of his feet as if he were doing exercises, "Or maybe we can go watch some fighting training going on. The weapons master was found and I heard she packs a wallop. We can see some people put in their places." He grinned as he enjoyed watching people learning to fight. It gave him ideas to use as well, "Or the library! Hikaru and I read lots of books in there. You should see it."

He stopped and looked at Cestrah, "I don't know what the wardens are doing. Jez didn't tell me. Should we go ask?"

"What milk?" Kassina asked as Dartmoor described butter. She was very happy when Dartmoor agreed to accompany her. "Forest good. Show Dartmoor lots things! No think Mag like forest bugs."

Kassina turned in curiosity when Maghai began to speak. "Ball room? Lib.. libawy?" Kassina asked with a look of concentration on her face as she puzzled through Maghai's words. "Books? Books the flat things with stories in?" Suddenly her face lit up like a small child's. "Kassina love stores! Can tell stories?" She asked with a look of wonder at the three others. "Kassina no know how make little pictures tell stories."

Suddennly she jumped up and started pulling on Dartmoor and Maghai's hands, then ran over to pull on Cestrah's as well. "Kassina want stores!" She demanded and she bounced on the balls of her feet, impatient with how long the others were taking.

Cestrah's eyes lit up at mention of the ballroom. She'd never seen one, and she was guessing it would be beautiful! "I-I'd love to go see the ballroom! We can ask the wardens about that stuff later…"

Kassina then got very excited about the library and grabbed Cestrah's hands. She let out a small laugh. "Okay, Kassina! We can go to the library first! That is… As long as Dartmoor doesn't mind… I'd hate for him to be left out or bored or something…"

"It is hard to explain because I do not know if you have ever seen a cow. Let me try. People get mother's milk from a big animal with horns and breasts lower on the body." He pointed to Kassina's belly but kept his hand away from below that, "They use it to make food with. Butter is made using the thick part of the milk and mixing it constantly until it gets thick. I don't know what else they put in the milk to make butter but it is good."

Dartmmor was amused at how the girls were acting about the ballroom and library. He shook his head to.show he did not mind any of it at all.

Maghai.wasthe opposite to Dartmoor as he bounced about excitedly while Dartmoor stood there silently and calmly keeping an eye out for anything that could go wrong.

"We will go to the library and read then go to the ballroom. We won't see bugs there I don't think. We can get there fast."

Maghai was now on the move holding Cestrah's hand and turning to make sure everyone was following him, giggling happily as he figured it would be a lot of fun for them.

Dartmoor held Kassina's hand and followed the crazy elf, chuckling at how funny the man was.

Kassina stopped her bouncing and listened to Dartmoor explain milk with a frown of concentration on her face. "Milk baby food from mother animal? Why want baby food? Dartmoor not baby." Kassina shook her head. There was so much about the city that she just could not understand.

Then the library was mentioned again and her attention went back to stories. As Dartmoor took her hand and they began following Maghai and Cestrah she got excited once more. Cestrah seemed very excited about the ball room, but Kassina had no clue what it was. It must be good though if Cestrah wanted to see it so badly.

"Darmoor know how make little pictures tell stories?" She asked, looking at him as she walked. "Can make flat things tell stories for Kassina? Why flat things in libawy? Can take flat things to ball room? What ball room? Can have stories there?" Kassina realized she was asking way too many questions without giving anyone a chance to answer her and so she fell silent once more.

Cestrah was happy to see Kassina was so excited. "If you need, Kassina, I could probably read for you…" She then realized Kassina probably didn't know what reading meant. "Or… err… making the pictures tell stories… I… Haven't read in a while, but I should be okay." She took Maghai's hand, walking with him. It felt… oddly comfortable to hold Maghai's hand… She clutched it very tightly and smiled brightly. This was the most freedom she'd had in her whole life, and was overjoyed she could share it with such great people. She was happy to leave… happy that she'd see... A whole new world.

(OOC I SERIOUSLY COULD NOT RESIST XD)

"Milk baby food from mother animal? Why want baby food? Dartmoor not baby."

That was a good question and how in the world could Dartmoor answer it? The half elf was confused as they were moving then noticed the kitchen up ahead and rushed over to a cook, asked her something and got a glass of milk from her then handed it to Kassina, "Try this, Kassina and tell me what you think."

"Baby's don't only drink milk." Maghai added, "But milk can be used for a lot of food and it is tasty." The Dalish bounced about again, amused with the conversation.

"Darmoor know how make little pictures tell stories? Can make flat things tell stories for Kassina? Why flat things in libawy? Can take flat things to ball room? What ball room? Can have stories there?"

"I know how to read some so that should be ok. We can borrow a book or two to read, I'm sure." Dartmoor didn't say that he'd just grab one and they could go to the ballroom then bring it back. Books were too heavy and ungainly to bring around for a thief and you pretty much had to have only what you carried on your back and maybe a few things you can hide away but any hiding place always had that chance of being taken. He had a good hidey hole but they would be leaving Denerim soon so he might as well be good and bring it back.

"If you need, Kassina, I could probably read for you…Or… err… making the pictures tell stories… I… Haven't read in a while, but I should be okay."

Maghai bounced about some more as they waited, "See we have all of us who can read at least a bit so it will be fun. Ohh shiny." He rushed off and picked up a medallion from the ground and looked it over.

Kassina accepted the glass from Dartmoor and sniffed at it carefully. It didn't smell like anything she'd had before. Slowly she took a small sip, carefully as she wasn't used to drinking from glasses. As soon as she swallowed she made a face and handed the glass back to Dartmoor. "No like!" she said empatically as she continued to make funny faces.

"Read? Make pictures tell stories read?" Kassina filed this word into her quickly growing vocabulary. "Bu.. book? Book flat thing tell stories?" She was envious of how they spoke of all these strange things so easily. There were so many words to remember!

As they entered the library Kassina stopped in her tracks and stared around her. She had never seem more than a few books at a time in her life. To see such a huge room full of them from floor to ceiling was almost overwhelming. She tightened her grip on Dartmoor's hand, slightly afraid the shelves were going to fall on her.

"So many," she whispered, continuing to stare around with giant, curious eyes. "All tell stories?"

Cestrah looked at all the books with a stuned, excited face. It was more than she’d ever seen in her life, and she picked a small book from a shelf, flipping through the pages. She smiled as she read, having not seen a book in quite a while. She looked over the familiar letters, seeing a story about a noble and an apostate blood mage being in a romance behind everyone’s back. Before she even realized it, Cestrah found herself captured in the story, sitting on the ground to read it.