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004 || video;

Who: Leliana
Broadcast: yes
Action: aboard the blue fish
When: now

[Leliana's address to the network came somewhat late - someone had gotten revenge for her prank, after all. Her cowl is pulled back resting about her shoulders and her skin and the ends of her hair are still drying after she'd scrubbed the ink off. Schmooples could be heard snuffling from her lap, his long ears making a cameo as he was cradled against her.]

I apologize. It seems I mayhap have fallen victim to a long slumber. I don't recall the ships leaving the planet we were last on, but I am to understand some time has passed.

[Guaranteed, Riona waited a good few days before daring to draw on her face.]

I will be resuming my duties in the Interfaith Center – Stefan, I apologize sincerely for my absence. I hope it has not caused an inconvenience.

[She smiles warmly, blue eyes lit up as she continues speaking.]

For those who do not know me: I am Sister Nightingale and I assist the Interfaith Center for those of Andrastian faith, hailing from Thedas. I can also be found aboard the Blue Fish, should anyone ever seek counsel from me outside of the Center. You do not have to be Andrastian to do so, of course.

Private: Riona Cousland Theirin.

[There's a bit of an evil smile on Leliana's face as she switches the feed to private.]

You got your revenge, no?

[She laughs warmly, her eyes alight with mischief]

Care to join me for lunch? I'm feeling a bit peckish after being out of sorts. You can catch me up on all the latest gossip.

[She runs her fingers through the wet ends of her red hair and Schmooples crawls up her chest into view to snuffle at the camera over her shoulder.]

I hope I didn't worry you too much.

Action

[Leliana can be found either aboard the Blue Fish or in the Interfaith Center praying silently before her own hand made totem statue of Andraste. The nap seemed to have done her at least a little good. Still she felt the lingering grief of home and the troubles it faced but she was slowly becoming more at peace in her new life. Perhaps she could finally lay down her burdens? She wasn't so sure yet. For now she moved on to the next stage of things – normalcy.

Aboard the Blue Fish Leliana makes her security rounds, stopping to take a break to make some tea and enjoy some quiet in the kitchens. Something seemed amiss, though she couldn't put her finger on it nor guess that perhaps that it was because a crew member had gone missing. Still the stillness put her at ease.]

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[Adalwolfe never spent much time in the Chantry, not like his sister. He'd come into his magic before Lothering and thus avoided it when he could. Of course he still went to check the board, and during holidays - it would be suspicious if he didn't, along with all his family - and even knew parts of the Chant by rote, but being an apostate means being very careful and generally avoiding buildings full of Templars whenever possible.

It feels strange to step into the Interfaith Center with that behind him, and with what had happened the last time he'd set foot anywhere near a Chantry building. He's not completely sure why he's here, really. Well no, he is, he's here to see Sister Leliana, but the why of that is a concern. He doesn't owe her anything, doesn't need to explain the situation to her regarding Anders, but he also doesn't want any unnecessary misunderstandings or actions. Varric had said Leliana could be ruthless, but she had her heart in the right place and if there's anyone Adalwolfe trusts regarding people, it's Varric. Still, that had been his Thedas. How different is this version?

He leans in before actually stepping through the door, looking left then right and whispering quietly so as not to disturb anyone unduly.]

Hello?

[Allen was coming into the kitchen to grab his own cup of tea, when he sees Leliana sitting at the table. The sight alone is enough to make him break into a relieved smile]

Ah, you're finally awake!

[Cole ventures to the Blue Fish because he saw Leliana's transmission...

And he saw those nug ears.

And Cole loves nugs.

He appears in the doorway of her room, knocking on the outside and peering in.

He has a small entourage of fluff slugs living on his hat.]

Can I see Schmooples?

I did, in fact, get my revenge. The large mabari on your cheek was my favorite.

[She snickers.]

Lunch would be good. There's a ridiculous amount of dinosaur meat in those refrigerators. Sokka and Allen killed a large one while we were still on land.

[THOSE TWO, SHE SWEARS.]

I'll come meet you in the kitchen. There are... one or two things you should know about.

Ah, it was a shame I had to wash it away.

[Except not really because she can't exactly present herself with mabari on her face!!]

A... dinosaur? Maker's breath how'd they manage that?

[She can't wait to hear the story it sounds like a good one.]

Has something happened while I was asleep?

[If she wasn't used to Cole flitting in and about Skyhold she would have been startled by his appearance. When he arrives, she waves him in and Schmooples leans in his direction, snuffling and ears twitching at the sound of his name.]

Of course. He loves making friends.

[She gives pause when she sees his little fluff snugs - she'd seen them on the planet they'd been on before but she hadn't expect him to gather so many together. Of course he would. Cole was definitely the type to wrangle cute fluffy creatures. He was a strange child but a kind one all the same. It wasn't any trouble to hold Schmooples toward him so that the nug could be handed over.]

Have you been well?

Indeed! And I seem to have missed quite a lot, no? I heard that you and our esteemed Captain acquired dinosaur meat.

[She sips her tea, eyes alight with excitement.]

I'm sure there's a good story to go along with such a feat?

[Leliana was busying herself with lighting candles, holding the long match in her hand and drifting from candle to candle around her totem of Andraste. While it was not nearly the same as being inside of a Chantry, Leliana felt at peace. It gave her a place to have a moment of quiet reflection. So many things swam through her mind of late. She had chosen to lay aside what issues she had with Hawke, what issues she had within herself and without in relation to the events of the last ten years. The Left Hand should lay down her burden...

Justinia's words and her teachings still stuck with Leliana. All she had to do was close her eyes and she could see her as she'd been when they first met. Leliana had been frightened and angry then, fresh from Margolaine's betrayals. Justinia had shown her what it was to have faith and devotion to another person again. She had shown her where her true calling resided.

And now she was gone.

When Hawke arrives, she lowers her match, setting it down after blowing the smoke out at the end. Hawke's voice had brought her out of her thoughts for the moment. It was just as well, considering Justinia would have hated to see her linger in the past.]

Welcome to the Interfaith Center.

[Leliana gestures to the spot where he should remove his shoes. Her own boots were left to the side. It was a strange custom she'd been taught but it was what was required of the Interfaith Center, should someone want entry.]

Can I help with anything?

[Sokka is always happiest when he knows his crew are safe and accounted for. This just leaves the big, horrible question of what happened to Beverly. That one is really starting to eat at him.

Still, he offers Leliana a wide smile as comes across her, pausing on his way to the kitchen for a snack. He's genuinely glad to see her. ]

Welcome back to the waking world.

Welcome back, Sister Nightingale. It seems to have been the month for Thedosians experiencing overlong sleeps.

It seems so - Riona was asleep before I and it seems it was due to be my turn. Unless you had someone else in mind?

[She had no idea about Anders, of course, having been asleep prior to. She also has no idea anything might be different about him yet. The two hadn't spoken since before her own slumber.]

Thank you. I can safely say being awake and about is far more exciting. Riona tells me that you and Allen acquired a cache of dinosaur meat straight from the source. A story like that is worth recounting, no?

[Please tell her all about it!!]

Anders was recently asleep, also. He's only just awoken.

[How about that tenseness in his voice, Leliana? All is not well, there.]

You better believe it is! And man, that's a great story, we-

[His smile suddenly fades. Important business first. Fun later.]

I should tell you first, though. Beverly's gone missing. She's still listed as a member of the crew, so she's probably not gone home, but we can't find her anywhere.

[She could already tell without asking. No one who remembered what happened at Kirkwall would ever be pleased to think of it or talk about it. That was the assumption she was going on, though she knew there was not much love between the broody elf and the destructive mage. Still, she did not begrudge Anders' frustrations - it was the end result she had an issue with. Murdering hundreds of innocents in the name of freedom was not something she could abide by.

As it were, Kirkwall was the inciting force of the current Templar and Mage war that raged on back home. If he remembered... that was only too unfortunate. She would regret it, should the day come where she would need him to answer for his crimes. Hawke had killed him, according to Varric's account of events, but she knew that was not always true in this place. What she knew and what others knew could be entirely different events.

She imagines Fenris can see the wheels turning in her head without her even speaking a word. Just as tense, she rests her hands together beneath her chin, as if she could pray all of this away.]

I take it his memories have caught up to certain events? Or is there another reason you look as if you need a stiff drink to wash some bad taste out of your mouth.

Edited 2016-08-11 19:52 (UTC)

Is it possible her communicator is malfunctioning? But then that does not explain the loss of her presence aboard the ship. What of the security logs? No signs of her coming and going?

[She frowns, resting her chin in one hand as she tries to think of all the possible avenues with which to search.]

Naddah and nothing. And given we're travelling again, and I made sure she was on board when we left the planet, there's very few places she can be. We can't ever travel too far out of the Marsiva's range.

So it's like she's literally vanished.

...Oh man I hope she hasn't literally vanished.

[Oh, if only you know, Leliana. Which...actually, he knows she might be one of the few people here who can look at this with some degree of distance. Everyone else here from Thedas is pretty close to Anders. They might lack the...clarity that's needed in this situation. ]

A little of both. I would not refuse a drink right now, in all honesty.

[Come drink with him, Lels, they can have a great bitch about everything. It'll be the best ever. ]

[For a moment there's a flash of something - anger, a thirst for vengeance - but then it disappears. Anders had been so different the last she'd spoke to him. She wants to hold onto that and remember that even the most gentle of mages could be twisted. She knew the story - Justice had possessed Anders. He'd been a good spirit, not unlike Cole's Compassion, but it didn't save him from being corrupted by Anders' desires for mages to be free from the injustices of the Circle.

Unfortunately, the Chantry was not a governing body. They could not sway the Templars, only hope to guide them, as Justinia had tried to guide both sides to peace.]

Blood and damnation... I assume the Hero of Ferelden is aware of this as well?

[And she was friends with Anders which meant there was absolutely no way Leliana would be allowed to confront him. Part of her didn't want to bother because she knew, in some version of the universe, Hawke had passed judgement upon him for his actions. It still didn't help her feel better about having to sit by idly while Anders walked with a demon possessing him.]

I have wine - Varric left a bottle for me when he departed back to Thedas. Perhaps we can sit together and talk about this more privately?

[Because she knew Riona and possibly Anders and both male and female Hawke could probably see this as they were speaking. It wasn't as if they were having an overly private conversation. It killed her to be so secretive to the one woman left who still believed in her being a genuinely good person, but now was not the time for guilt. She wanted to hear Fenris' thoughts unabridged.]

I do not know enough about such occurrences to be more help, but if I find a lead or if she returns I will be sure you're informed.

[It bothers her really. How can a person just vanish?]

[He understands the anger. He felt it himself. He'd hoped, when Anders showed up younger and free of the thing that drove him, they were safe from it. This, it seems, is no longer the case. They have to be careful. On guard. ]

I do not know. I assume that she does, yes.

[And from what he heard of their tales, Riona knew Justice, too. That would be a tangled mess to deal with when they inevitably would have to. He hopes he can show her sense, but somehow, he doubts it. ]

That would be amicable. I will be there shortly.

[The Blue Fish was one of the places Cole would go, but he'd just have to deal with that if the spirit made an appearance. This was a far more important matter to attend to before any of that. He knew, too the secrecy was important. They NEEDED it, at least for the time being.

And, true to his word, it doesn't take him long to get a shuttle and fly himself over to the Blue Fish. He doesn't know the layout of this ship as well as his own (wow they have so much STUFF) so he'll be wandering around trying to find her.]

[One thing that she often enjoyed about her former profession as a bard was her ability to move silently throughout the ship and to go unnoticed. At times it lead to occasionally startling the bejeezus out of the less alert members of the crew and others it was mostly easy for the fact that she could shut out the noise of the ship if no one was stopping her to chat. This was one of those times where she was able to do just that.]

Fenris, you'll get lost if you go that way.

[She found herself not far behind him, probably appearing like a ghost to the unaware. She hadn't seen Fenris' skills of perception for herself, but she didn't imagine it would be easy to catch someone of his skill by surprise.]

Come on, then.

[She waves him forward, moving to retreat back down the hall. She couldn't decide if it would be wiser to retreat to her quarters or if sitting in the kitchens would work. Riona was off seeing to her own duties and Kiter would not listen in on her, that she was aware of. Should she feel worried about something like that? It wasn't as if she had anything to hide from her beloved Hero of Ferelden and yet she didn't want to disappoint her with her personal feelings on the matter of a certain mage.]

Thanks, Lelina, I appreciate it.

[Because if they work together then maybe, maybe they could find something out. And he knows as bad as it is, they need to function as PEOPLE between all of this. If there's one thing he's learned about grief, it's that you can't just stop.]

And now you know about that, dinosaur meat! Me and Allen took down a...something, T-Rex? I think that's what he called it. We shared the meat across the Fleet but we still have lots. You should try some.

[He stood outside, out of sight of anyone in the room who might look up, but close enough to know he'd come this far and the only thing still keeping him back was himself. It had been a fight with himself even to get from the Three Twins to the Iskaulit.

He'd heard her broadcast and it had stirred something in him. He hadn't even known there was such a place as an 'Interfaith Center.' Memories of quiet moments in prayer with his mother, their faith the only thing really allowing his father to open up to him, thoughts of hope in those younger years before it all came crashing down in a storm of disillusionment, those where what had gotten him here to this hall.

No it was thoughts of a red night and the smell of a burning city and the sounds of death in the streets, mages, templars, random Kirkwallers caught in the crossfire as desperate and fearful mages turned to what they saw as their only hope and became abominations.

Damn the Chantry for it's corruption and vile attitude, praising the Maker and His love and brilliance in one breath and deeming His children unworthy of praising him in the next. The Chant was for everyone, the Maker loved everyone, it was the Chantry that was wrong and dangerous, that ruined lives.

But the Chant could still bring tears to his eyes. The village in Orlais, the home he and Hawke had made for nearly a year, those simple people sang more beautifully than any Mother Anders had ever met. Their love and reverence had reminded him of what had once delighted him about his faith. A faith he still had to his core.

But considering the blood on his hands he'd never stop atoning for, did he really have any right to Praise the Maker or pray to Andraste now? He'd prayed more in the last few months in Orlais than he'd prayed in the years since arriving in Kirkwall, but alone by candlelight, begging for Hawke to return to him safely seemed different than stepping into a holy space to try and talk to a woman who didn't owe him her ear.

He sighed heavily and his breath shuddered, nervousness pulsing through his limbs and tightening his chest. Anders took a step and then another until his feet had finally carried him to the doorway. He nearly asked for permission to enter, but his mouth was dry and the words wouldn't form.

He hovered there in the doorway, his own silence heavy on his ears as he fought to dredge up something to say, anything.]

...hello..?

Edited 2016-08-12 00:33 (UTC)

[Leliana hadn't left the Interfaith Center just yet, having spoken briefly with Fenris on the network. She knew now that Anders was aware of his future. It had been all well and good to be kind to him when he didn't know. He had nothing to be blamed for then.

Knowing the truth had brought immeasurable guilt. She'd gone to Kirkwall to warn Elthina but she had refused to leave the Chantry and it cost her and many others their lives. She wanted to be furious with Anders. What he'd done had been the spark that had hurt hundreds and thousands of mages, templars, and innocents. It had been one thing to know that Hawke had killed him - her Hawke, rather. The one he knew served only to frustrate her with his impractical and emotional way of doing things. He didn't think and reminded her more of a child stumbling about trying to keep his toys from collapsing at his feet when he kicked them on accident.

She couldn't afford that sort of sentimentality, not after everything she'd seen in her life since the Blight and since Kirkwall.

She was angry. Leliana wanted to be furious at Anders, to give him the burning pain he'd given so many good people. To her, the idea of blaming the entire institution of the Chantry and the Templars was foolish, but then she could hardly blame him or the other mages of his ilk. When you beat a creature long enough, eventually it bit you back.

When Anders' voice rings out, Leliana very nearly drops the candle she'd been lighting. Instead of going to him immediately, she stares down at her statue of Andraste, willing herself to not give in to grief or anger. Riona would be heartbroken if she struck out at Anders and yet she still felt bound by her duty to protect the Chantry. It was a complicated feeling.]

Blessed are they who stand before
The corrupt and the wicked and do not falter.
Blessed are the peacekeepers, the champions of the just.
Blessed are the righteous, the lights in the shadow.
In their blood the Maker's will is written.

[She'd asked once if that had been what the Maker had wanted blood. Surely that had to have been why Anders still lived after the destruction he had wrought. That would be why the Breach had come to be and Justinia had died. The Maker had sought to remind her that her work was not done, no matter the peace that it brought her at times. There would not be peace waiting for her in Thedas just yet.

Standing back from her candles, she turns towards the entrance of the Interfaith Center and makes her way towards Anders.]

Shoes.

[She gestures to his feet, wearing boots, and then hers without. It was a strange custom but something Stefan and Misty had requested she follow and she did so without complaint.]

Are you looking for something, Anders?

[She smiled softly, trying to keep their last conversation in mind: he'd been a sweet innocent mage who had loved cats. In a way he was still that person, but innocent no more. She wanted to forgive and forget and yet her agony over Justinia was like a burning flame, as if he'd been the one to kill her himself. His deeds had certainly set the world on the path of her death and the death of many templars and mages.]

Edited 2016-08-12 01:10 (UTC)

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