Sworn to the Sword

[ladys_night]

SWORN TO THE SWORD shipping meme It's textbook, really. Or, more accurately, parchment, because you've either found yourself or always been in a time (it doesn't necessarily have to be medieval) where swords - and possibly sorcery - are the weapons and the mindset of the day; at the very least, the rough and tumble attitude that comes with a knife's edge permeates the land. And you know how to wield a weapon, be it a blade, your own body, or something else entirely, so you've put it to good use. You've become a sworn sword to protect someone. It could be out of the goodness of your heart, out of heritage, or stemmed from a desire for compensation or power. No matter what the cause, however, one fact remains the same, and that's how you cannot let emotions cloud your judgement. Of course, that may be a little easier said than done. When you're so close to a person, in order to keep them safe, and when you put your very life on the line... ...ah, but you must persevere. Your duty does not allow you to falter. Comment with your character, role, and preferences. I forgot to mention, feel free to AU. Reply to others. Thread.

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[ineedanewname]

Honestly? He wasn't a very good Templar. And he'd obviously done something to upset her, because now she'd gone quiet.

Maker, he could never get things right.

He put his head down as they walked along in silence for what seemed like forever, but was in reality just a few minutes. "Are you going to be quiet the whole way to Orlais, because it's a really long way if we aren't going to talk."

[spellpower]

Neria's steps faltered at his voice, before she shook her head no.

"I thought you wouldn't want to talk to a mage," she said sensibly. Why would he? "What would you like to talk about?"

[ineedanewname]

"Well. I like talking to people, and I believe that mages are people so... why wouldn't I?" he asked, cocking his head to one side. "Oh, anything. How sore our feet are going to get, what the best cheese to try when I get to Orlais will be. How long you think it will take us... I'm open to topic suggestions as well."

[spellpower]

Well, that was heartening. The Templars who saw her as a person were a step up from those who saw her as a weapon or an abomination waiting to happen.

"All right. My feet will be very sore because I'm wearing slippers instead of boots, I know nothing about cheese in Orlais, and I think it will take a few weeks to get there." Her lips twitched with a hidden smile when she was done.

"As for a new topic, let's discuss your hair. What is going on there?"

[ineedanewname]

"Why not boots? We should get some boots for you. It's a long way." He really didn't want her wearing through her slippers if they were walking all the way to Orlais. "Oh."

He frowned, his gauntleted hand touching his hair very gently. "What's... what? What's going on with my hair?"

[spellpower]

"They're part of the mage robe set," she answered dryly. Apparently they boosted spellpower, but she never felt like they did anything. Maybe it was all a lie to encourage them not to try and escape, because their feet would be wrecked in the process.

"You know," she said, trying not to sound too amused. "How it's all... sticking up in front? It can't do that naturally, can it? You style it somehow?"

[ineedanewname]

"Maybe, but they're not exactly practical, are they? I mean, at least it isn't snowing, or else we would be in trouble." And then they would have to stop and get her some boots. Now he'd be willing to wait and see.

He patted his hair again. "I, uh... style it? No, why would I do that? It's always been like this." Well, with a little help, anyway.

[spellpower]

"Really?" she asked in disbelief. "It just defies gravity like that? What happens when--" But her question was cut off by the snap of a twig close by. She jumped, her hand reaching for her staff as several bandits ran out from behind the trees.

Oh, no. She'd never actually fought anyone before. She'd had training in case the king ever wanted to recruit mages for a war, but this was the first time she'd actually had to use her magic on someone. Still, she didn't fancy dying today, just for these idiots to realize she had nothing of value on her anyway, so she cast Winter's Grasp on the nearest.

[ineedanewname]

Alistair had been so distracted by her curiosity towards his hair that he didn't sense anyone close by until they were on top of them. Luckily, training with a sword and shield had been part of Templar training that he'd actually enjoyed, so he moved quickly, using the shield as much of a weapon as the sword itself.

"Get behind me!" he called out, hoping to protect Neria from the worst of the damage.

[spellpower]

That was a plan she could get behind. Mages were meant to fight at range. Her robes were hardly armor at all. So she was quick to run back out of the way before turning around and leveling a spell at one bandit who was following her. Alistair was busy enough with the rest, and she knew she had to defend herself from this one. The spell knocked the man back a few feet, stunning him. It was a relief, because Neria could feel her reserve of mana was low, and she only had a few lyrium potions on her.

Briefly, her eyes left the man to see how Alistair was doing on his own.

[ineedanewname]

He caught her out of the corner of his eye, making sure she was safe while he focused on catching the attention of the rest of the bandits, making sure they aimed at him.

He was mostly holding his own - he was young, powerful if only a little inexperienced with actual fighting. Still, he was just about coping.

[spellpower]

If she could get the bandit to give up and retreat, that would be great. Neria had never killed anyone before, and she didn't want to start now. But if it was between the bandit and her, self-preservation would win out. For the moment, however, she cast a force field on him to hold him in place before shooting a spell at another bandit on Alistair's left.

[ineedanewname]

Alistair smiled a little internally, before bashing the head of the bandit that Neria just fired a spell at, watching him drop to the ground. He immediately moved to the one that had been harassing Neria, forcing him to engage him rather than her.

[spellpower]

There was enough space for Alistair to engage the enemy, but even so, Neria moved back out of the way even more, just to be sure his sword stayed out of range. She kept an eye on the one Alistair had felled a moment ago, and her stomach lurched a little as he stayed motionless on the ground. Was he dead? Was that a dead body? Oh, she felt faint. But she swallowed hard and pressed her nails into her palm, telling herself to stay steady on her feet. She wasn't a wilting flower.

[ineedanewname]

Alistair didn't want to kill, but better the enemy were dead than they lying in a pool of blood somewhere. He'd worry about it later - after they were safe.

"Surana?" he called out, engaging in a complicated set of sword strokes. "Are you still with me?"

[spellpower]

She swallowed past her unease and said "Yes," as clearly as she could before turning to see if she could aid him. It would need to be a direct spell, not one that could catch him too. She settled for arcane bolt to let her mana replenish.

[ineedanewname]

Good.

He settled back into fighting against the ones that were left, whittling them down slowly, while he hoped that Surana would get back into the fight soon. He knew she had to preserve mana, but it was hard work.

[spellpower]

So she guessed she was doing this. She was going to kill people. All right. Here went nothing...

She fired off Winter's Grasp to freeze one and keep him from moving before casting Walking Bomb. Needing mana, she settled for just small blasts of magic until she felt she had the power for Lightning. That was enough, and the bandit exploded from the poison, infecting the bandit closest to him, who stepped back, stunned.

[ineedanewname]

He couldn't get enough strength behind it, fighting two at once, to be able to kill one of them. He knew the poison would be taking the most effect shortly, so he stood back as the bandit exploded, then followed up by sinking his sword into the stomach of the other bandit, watching as he dropped to the ground.

[spellpower]

Neria blew out a breath, her heart pounding at the exertion. Staring at the carnage, she tried to convince herself that they were bad people who had no qualms about trying to kill Alistair or herself.

"Are you all right?" she asked, knowing she could easily heal him if that was the case.

[ineedanewname]

"I'm fine," Alistair replied, hauling himself more upright. Fighting in full armour was hard work, but necessary. "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?"

[spellpower]

She shook her head no in regards to his second question. "Fine too." Had she been alone, she would probably be dead. There were too many of them and she wouldn't have had enough mana. Alistair had done all the hard work. For her; a mage. Well, it was his job, wasn't it? He had to see her delivered safely. But even so, it made something heavy in her chest lift away just thinking about it.

"You saved me."

[ineedanewname]

He was peering at the bandits, seeing if there was any identifying marks, though he wouldn't really know what to look for anyway, but her comment made him look up at her, frowning slightly.

"Of course." He was a Templar. Templars saved people, didn't they? At least, in his mind they did.

[spellpower]

Right. Of course. It was his job, after all. She said no more, merely making a wide arc around the bodies, like she was afraid one would reach out and grab her ankle.

"What are we supposed to do now? Do we... just leave them here?"

[ineedanewname]

"I don't see we have a choice." An Andrastian funeral was out of the question, and frankly, to dig a grave to bury them, or set a pyre, would take longer than Alistair was comfortable with to have them out in the open. "I suppose we just carry on. It's safer this way."