The familiar scent of herbs being brewed to make tea brought the elf back to the world. Groaning she slowly sat up, eyes still refusing to open. The pain in her shoulder had decreased thankfully however it still had a sting to it. Her eyes soon snapped open when the events came flooding back to her, "Kai!!" She went to move but gentle hands pushed her back to lay against the furs, Lyonna's face came into view and calmed her instantly. 

 

"Shh, Lethallin. It's alright now. You're safe." She said softly. 

 

"Lyonna.. I.." She tried to protest but Lyonna's expression grew stern.

 

Lyonna was another mage like her, Merrill had trained her since she was a child. If anyone was to be made the Keeper's First and take over it would be this girl. She took her studies seriously and always strived to be in control of the magic she possessed. Although she was gentle when needed, when angered she scared Keo. It was like seeing Kai angry but with magic instead of blades. Lyonna finished brewing the tea and handed her a cup. "What were you thinking going to that hut? You could have gotten killed. Thank the gods the Warden's were investigating that area..."

 

Keo wanted to ask so many questions, most of them involving Kai's safety but the weight of it kept her eyes locked on the liquid in the cup. She watched the herbs dance around as Lyonna lectured her but to her surprise it ended in a hug.

 

"Don't ever go off like that again, okay? I couldn't bare to lose you too." Lyonna whispered as she hugged her friend tightly. 

 

So Kai was dead.. She dropped her head as tears started building up, she knew Lyonna and Kai didn't always see eye to eye but they were still clan mates. All of this was her fault. If she hadn't gotten the idea to explore that old witches hut. If she wasn't such an idiot. If she kept to the rules like she was supposed to Kai would be with her right now. "I-It's all my fault.." She cried, dropping the cup and clinging tightly to the girl.

 

Lyonna flinched, confusion taking hold of her expression. "I.. Admit it was your fault for going off like that but you don't need to cry, Keo." She laughed lightly, then again Keo always teared up when arguments arose or when someone yelled at her. "It's alright little wolf." She smiled lifting the girls face to press a kiss to her forehead. "You just worried us is all."

 

Sniffling Keo wiped her eyes with the fur and frowned. "Wait.. Is Kai.." She couldn't bring herself to say the word dead.

 

Lyonna gave her a puzzled look before suddenly letting out a loud laugh. "Oh! Oh no, Lethallin, Kai's alright. Some Warden's brought her back not long after you arrived. All she needed was some healing and she was back to talking back to the elders."

 

Keo face palmed instantly relief washing over her like a wave. "Thank the Gods." Getting to her feet she noticed the dressing over her wound, clearly Lyonna's handy work. "Thanks.." She smiled, grabbing the fresh tunic which had been left out for her. She braided the left side of her bangs before setting out to find Kai. It was around mid day so all the hunters would be out. She walked around Ostagar slowly, every memory of that day just as vivid as when it happened. Those faces were near impossible to forget. She would have been trapped in that memory if it wasn't for the unfamiliar feeling interfering. The sound of music drifted through the air although it was a song she hadn't heard before, with all the clans gathered here there was a lot of music playing but this sounded.. Foreign. Without thinking her feet lead her to the source where she found a group of humans around one of the fires. Since it was humans she was quick to hide behind one of the ruin walls. The lute sounded so lovely though so she couldn't help sneaking a peek at the musicians. 

 

The human on the lute had short, black spiky hair and dark eyes, black from where she was standing. He reminded her of a puppy which made her drop her guard completely. Suddenly a voice accompanied the instrument, the voice was soft for a males and surprisingly beautiful. She instantly hid behind the ruin when she spotted who it belonged to. The Shem from the clearing. Daehyun. She couldn't help but peek out again but instead of a group of humans laughing and enjoying the music she was face to face with a chest. "Ah.."

 

"Thought that was you. Good to see you're up and about. You didn't mention your brother was a girl." Laughed Youngjae as he smiled down at her. "C'mon, she's sitting with us, you probably want to see her." 

 

Keo smiled and nodded at the human, she was happy to see he survived too. "Sorry.. We do that. Call each other brother I mean.." 

Youngjae stepped out the way and pointed Kai out. She was sat next to an angry looking man. "She's by Yongguk, she was worried for you."

 

Keo was quick to shoot out of hiding and tackle her sibling off the bench. "Kai!!" She whined, clinging onto the girl like that was their last meeting. "I thought you died! I'm so sorry."

 

Kai blinked and started chuckling. "Dead? Nah, last I checked that was the ogre we took down." She smiled, sitting up the best she could with the leech on her. "You can apologize for scaring me but otherwise that was the best challenge I ever faced." 

 

Keo instantly let her go and smacked her head. "Best challenge? Ogre? You dumb I thought I got you killed!"

 

Kai shook her head and ruffled her hair up. "You worry too much, y'know that? And yeah, me and these shems took down an ogre. Much better than a bear. You alright though? I heard you lost a bit of blood."

 

Forgetting that they were surrounded by male humans Keo pulled down her tunic to show her bandaged up shoulder. "Just this. I got tossed about by a mage and almost got my head chopped off by an ugly douche. I'm good though! It was no ogre attack." She grinned, adjusting herself.

 

Daehyun's face appeared out of nowhere as he crouched down to face her. "Watch where you strip, yeah? That guys a ert." He smirked while pointing to the lute player.

 

"Hey! I'm not the one inches from her face, Daehyun. Everyone knows you're just as bad as me. Difference is I actually get laid." He smiled, somehow still managing to give off a nice guy vibe despite it all. 

 

"Himchan!" The angry looking one scolded, smacking the back of his head. "I swear I'll kill you."

 

The man called Himchan laughed and rubbed at his head. "What? He started it."

 

Kai lifted her boot and nudged Daehyun to the side so he'd fall over. "Beat it, pretty boy." As she thought Keo had frozen like a deer caught in headlights due to the unintended closeness. She stood and pulled the mage with her, guiding her over to sit beside her and a tank who was zoned off. "This guys nice sit here. This guy and those three helped when the ogre showed up." Kai explained, pointing to Himchan, the angry man, the zoned off Warden and the tall guy who was bouncing around.

 

Keo nodded and looked at each Warden intently, "They look like a minstrel boy band." She mumbled, a grin forming. 

 

Kai burst out into laughter and pointed at them, "Holy crap they are! I bet they toured Thedas and made all the girls swoon and beg to have their babies!" 

 

At this point Keo started having a giggle fit just imagining them in tights. "While wearing those dorky hats." By now the two elves started mimicking how they would perform. Kai had on a smoulder which she called the blue steel and Keo was making dramatic movements to the heavens.

 

The spaced out one seemed to come back to the world as he piped up, "Actually Daehyun use to be a bard. Sorta."

 

Daehyun jumped up and flashed him a dirty look, "Jongup! Don't just.. Ugh. No, I wasn't a bard. I was a minstrel."

 

Youngjae shook his head and laughed, pointing to his tattoo. "Why not just admit it? You have a blatant assassin tattoo on your face, you may as well admit to being a bard too."

 

Crossing his arms Daehyun sat down beside his friend and pulled a face. "Cause I'm not supposed to remember? Yongguk said "low profile" and I doubt telling strangers I use to spy and assassinate is low enough."

 

"We know now." The two Dalish said in unison, grinning the sort of grin which screamed evil. They'd use that later.

 

Youngjae flinched and glanced at Daehyun worriedly. "Remind me why we're staying at their camp?" Daehyun just shrugged, his expression matching the brunettes.

 

Jongup stood and stretched with a somewhat sleepy smile. The boy was one of those who looked completely harmless until he stretched then it was hard not to notice he had some decent muscles that could probably cause some lethal damage. It was no surprise he was a warrior, he had to have strength to lug around that shield and sword all day. "Zelo, c'mon." He waved over the bouncy guy who looked to be having the time of his life. 

 

"Aw, I wanted to explore the camp more. They have so many mages here." Everything about him screamed baby of the group. Minus his height, that was deceptive.

 

"In the morning. We don't have to leave for a bit anyway, still need to resupply and head back into the wilds." Jongup assured his friend with the same spaced out smile. 

 

Zelo brightened and nodded then turned to face the elves he'd been talking to previously, "Later guys!" With that he ran to catch up to Jongup who had already started walking to find his aravel.

 

Although they had been in Ostagar for quite some time the Dalish were still in the middle of making houses so slept in the same aravels they were use to. The idea of having a roof over their heads was hard to digest completely when they were so accustomed to taking their homes around with them.

 

"Isn't it a bit early for them to sleep?" Youngjae questioned the one known as Yongguk.

 

Yongguk smiled his gummy smile, destroying all intimidation he had in the process. "He took the biggest beating from the ogre and Zelo used up too much mana. Keep in mind they're still kids."

 

Himchan had went back to strumming away at the lute, eyes closed as he got lost in the harmony. Just as the two had joked about how he was most likely the heart breaker of the group a small gathering of a few elves appeared to listen in, all of them female.

 

"Hey look.. Second concert." Kai snickered, motioning towards the giggling bunch. 

 

"Pft, it's like they've never seen a shem before." Keo stated boredly. It was true she thought they were an attractive bunch, Kai even admitted to them being pretty but it took more than a pretty face to impress them. Looks counted for nothing. This was probably why the Keeper's had a hard time finding people for them to bond with. Keo was the closest age for it and they were yet to find someone, in her opinion they never would. She'd rather grow old alone. Kai shared the same opinion as her sibling.

 

"That's a hurtful term, little elf." Daehyun retorted, getting up to move over beside her. He had purposely ignored Youngjae's attempts to get him back knowing full well he'd try to stop another bicker. 

 

Kai shot a glare as the human got closer and due to instinct she draped an arm over the mages shoulder protectively.

 

"Good." Keo grumbled, hostility clear in her tone which surprised Kai. Keo was known to hate confrontation unless she planned it in some scheme and even then she wasn't the one in the actual confrontation. When it came to fights Kai was the master, she was infamous in the camp as a hot-head and had gotten into brawls on far too many occasions. Keo however preferred the tricky methods, she'd rather outwit than confront and if a fight truly was unavoidable she made sure to trick someone into fighting for her. Usually Kai.

 

Daehyun put his hand to his heart in mock pain and dropped down on the bench beside her. "You wound me!" Turning serious again he let out a small huff of a laugh, "Still no manners. You should show some respect, though. Even a little appreciation wouldn't hurt."

 

By now Kai was about to step in when Keo suddenly bristled with anger, "Respect? Appreciation? Why? Cause you killed a few monsters? You aren't a god, y'know. Being from the fabled Grey Warden's doesn't mean you instantly get respect. Legend alone doesn't cut it. Tell you what I'll show you respect when you do something worthy of it or at least show some in return. As for appreciation I already said thank you so what more do you want? Should I drop to my knees in tears in thanks or build a statue of you? I know I was rude when we first met but I was more concerned about my brothers safety than being in awe at your skill. So sorry if that comes across as having no manners but it's all you're getting." She ranted, animatedly waving her hands around like it would make her point clearer. After taking a breath she shot him a glare and got up, storming off.

 

Kai sat in shock as did the remaining Warden's, Himchan had almost broke the string in his lute when the one he thought was a kid set off. Daehyun just stared at where she once was, speechless. He was just teasing so that reaction definitely wasn't what he expected. Once the shock wore off Kai got up and jogged after her sibling. "Keo! Hey, wait up!"

 

Why was she so furious? He didn't actually deserve that rant and she had been extremely rude when he saved her life. She almost didn't hear Kai calling her name she was that confused about her actions. "Sorry.."

 

Kai placed her hand on Keo's shoulder and frowned, trying to get a good look at her. "You alright? I thought you hated arguments."

 

Sighing she threw her hands up and whined to her brother. "I do! I don't.. I mean. I should probably apologize."

 

"Why?" Kai questioned, crossing her arms now. "I was about to tell him to shut it myself. Not in that many words though."

 

Keo managed a laugh and rubbed at the back of her head. "I honestly don't know why I snapped. He did save me after all and he took on all those darkspawn by himself before Youngjae showed up to help. That does actually deserve respect.."

 

Kai listened to the mage and sighed, "Listen, I'm probably not the best person to talk to this about.. I would have just hit him."

 

Another laugh came from Keo as she gave Kai a light shove, "Yeah but you're a hot headed little ." She thought it over for a moment before shaking her head, "I'll apologize. Tomorrow though.. I think I'd just snap again if I went to talk to him now."