[One-Shot] Missed
Title: Missed
Author: kryss_delrhei
Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins
Type: Video Game
Characters/Pairing: Alistair/f!Amell, Oghren, Anders, Nathaniel Howe
Word Count: 1,505
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Darkness is only filled with the bringing of the new dawn.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age nor the characters, just borrowing them from BioWare for a little while.
Author's Notes: Six straight hours, with mingle hours of watching my friend play Skyrim at 1 am to like 8 am. I'm proud of it, but I had started out writing a short story for my creative writing class and ended up working on this.
Prompt: a_writing_muse : #07 - Writer's Choice : Table 10-A
--
The rubble of Vigil’s Keep laid strewn around the grounds in mass heaps of crumbled marble and splintered beams, overshadowed by the fading day’s light as the sun was hidden behind the tree tops. Bodies were crushed - guardsmen and darkspawn alike, scattered heavily all over. The putrid scent of days old blood and rotting flesh hung potent in the air.
Solona’s heart sank as she lowered her staff.
So much destruction, all for what? The savior of one small city and the lives of thousands that lived in Amaranthine. She had stayed to protect the city from falling, and this was what The Mother had done in retaliation? What of these innocent lives that she had not been able to save? Had she come here instead of traveling the coastlands to the Dragonbone Wastes to track down that wretched Broodmother and her kin, would she have made it in time to have saved the Keep?
The Mother would have just sent wave after wave, but that still had not made the decision any easier. All the guardsmen that had pledged their lives for the Arling, their bodies were heaps of indescribable forms among the wreckage.
Seneschal Varel?
And what of the Grey Wardens she had left to defend the Keep?
Velanna?
Sigurn?
Justice?
As the newest appointed Ferelden Warden-Commander of the Grey, all Solona could do to withhold the whimper from escaping her trembling lips was fall to the muddy ground on her knees, her staff slapping against the brackish, foul smelling water as she released it from her grasp.
The grime of a weeks travel across the coastloads in hunt of The Mother, the nasty wading through dusty, darkspawn taint covered caves, all of the past few days weighted heavy on her shoulders, even more as she looked upon the destruction the sentient darkspawn The Mother had sent to attack the Keep with had left in their wake.
Anders hurried forward, kneeling next to her, tendering holding her from the violent tremors that threatened to take over her body.
“Commander…” he mumbled under his breath.
The mage looked over his shoulder at their companions, who were also unnerved at the Keep’s destruction, Nathaniel far more than Oghren, considering it had been his birthplace. Anders pleaded for some kind of rational help, but the others failed him just as much as it was futile for him to help her.
Solona wept, her tears uncontrollable as the failure of her weakness washed over her, the sun creeping ever lower on the horizon.
--
Sifting through the wreckage the following day, was a lot more daunting to say in the least. Bodies had been pulled from their marble tombs and laid out in rows, identifying was difficult, since many were mauled beyond recognition, some corroded with the purplish taint from the darkspawn. The pyres were blazing and the smell of rancid flesh burning on the morning air turned the stomach at best.
Solona has busied herself with searching the debris for any signs of her missing comrades as Nathaniel had taken to tending the pyres. She groaned in exertion as she tried to heft a splintered wooden beam out of her way.
“Let me help you with that Commander,” Oghren grumbled in his dissatisfied voice, that oddly sounded like he was choked up.
The mage bowed her head and stood up as the dwarf heaved the broken beam and tossed it effortlessly of to the side. Solona mused as she realized that the berserker wasn’t drunk this morning, fitting she thought.
“By the stone!” Oghren exclaimed a little irately.
The crumbled body was twisted and it’s flesh tainted that disgusting purplish hue, a mass of swelling taint growing off the shoulder of the corpse. Solona stared, knowing full well it was the body of the mentor she’d grown to know so well from her stay at the Keep this long year past.
Anders mumbled as he walked up, “Seneschal Varel?”
It seemed that all of them were covered with so much ash and dirt and least not forget the blood. Solona whimpered and turned away. She swallowed and nodded toward Oghren, who stared at her with his unreadable expressions.
“Pull his body out and bring it to the rest,” she sighed, glancing to Anders who shifted his footing awkwardly. “There something wrong Anders?” Solona wiped at her dirt covered face, the sweat beading at her hairline, her wild brown locks pulled back into a tight bun at the nap of her neck.
Anders stared at her, unsure of why his heart fluttered amidst all the chaos that surrounded them as well as all the tragedies that had occurred over the past few days. It seemed he had grown to care for the Commander more than he has surmised he should have, especially at a time like this. Maybe all this had made him release that he needed to take a foot towards what he’d been holding off on the last year he’d spent in her company. He knew it wasn’t the right timing he’d planned on, but he could think of little else.
Now was the time he’d tell her how much he had fallen for her. Maybe she’d even find it a little morbid and say she felt the same kindling, though it was only hope, he mused. Anders opened his mouth, his emotions glistening in his eyes just as horns sounded just down the hill outside.
Nathaniel called from just outside the crumbling gates, “Apparently the King has arrived!” A little irritation was hidden in the undertones of his voice.
As Nathaniel’s voice filled the clearing silence, Anders watched as Solona’s expressions of sadness and despair seemed to ebb away into that of general surprise, a bit of hidden longing following just after. Anders stared a little confused, before he watched as the mage took off into a sprint across the rubble littered, once beautiful courtyard.
Oghren chuckled, his voice mirth filled, “Heh, seems you missed your chance Sparkle-fingers.” He slapped the mage on the back, while Anders gagged before glaring at the dwarf.
“What are you talking about?” he narrowed his eyes, hoping that his emotions for the Commander hadn't been that obvious.
“Exactly what I said,” Oghren shrugged, watching as Nathaniel raised a brow, Solona barreling past him. “You see the King and the Commander…”
“ALISTAIR!” Solona screamed, her voice desperate as she gripped the skirting of her robes and raised them higher so she could sprint unhindered. “Alistair!”
As she bounded down the hill, the King’s entourage was full well in sight, the newest King of Ferelden astride his horse, looking all the unnerved by it in the process. When their eyes met, he pulled sharply on the reigns, halting the horse’s movements further as he slid out of the saddle against his guards advisement, and stumbled slightly.
Alistair turned toward the upward hill and took to jogging forward, his face filling with belated relief, “Sol--”
The mage barreled into his chest, arms clasping around his neck as she was pulled into his embrace, lifting her up, eyes glistening as their lips met in a passionate kiss that left them both breathless when they retracted for air. Solona released a sob of happiness as she showered her king with tiny kisses that he laughed softly to, holding her closer. When she leaned back to look at him, she teared up more at his appearance.
Alistair had let his golden blonde hair grow out slightly since the last time she'd seen him, the tips almost grazing his shoulders. He was a little scruffy on his chin, his honey eyes so warm and charming as they stared at her in her dirty, smelly robes that was in dire need of a washing, compared to Alistair in his brown riding leathers, all pristine and kingly. Solona trembled and kissed him again, deeply as she wove her fingers into his sandy tresses.
“I’ve missed you…” he whispered against her lips, hands holding her tightly against him, and she didn’t so much as mind the buckles of his leathers that dug into her skin from his embrace.
“And I’ve missed you… my king…” she nipped his nose with her teeth and stroked his face as he reached up and pulled her hair free from her tight bun, letting her dark brown locks fall around her heart-shaped face.
She smiled, dirt and dried blood smeared across her face, but to him, she was ever the bit gorgeous.
He stroked her hair and smoothed it down, looking over her many cuts and scrapes, “News reached Denerim about the Keep…” Alistair paused, swallowing hard, tears welling up in his vision, “… I thought I might have lost you in the battle…”
Solona smiled warmly and hugged him tightly.
Oghren shrugged as Nathaniel joined them on top of the hill to watch the long-lost lovers. Anders glowered to himself, feeling terribly heartbroken among other things. The dwarf chuckled and shrugged again, “What can you do? He’s her little pike-twirler.”
Cross-Posted to: swooping_is_bad, a_writing_muse, circle_tower