Fic raffle prize for @neuroticbiotic who asked for Isabela and mermaids! I had a lot of fun, some of the multiplayer characters wiggled in, and I rolled with the assumption that Thedosian merpeople are out to kill you, just like everything else in the world. Also posted on my AO3 account.
(Some Trespasser spoilers)
Isabela and her crew were only supposed to pick up some papers from Antiva City. Easy.
The plan had been to go east. Not entirely east, of course, since there wasn’t actually anything out there, but east enough to avoid the naval patrol and then loop back around and steer for Antiva City. When had Ferelden even gotten a navy? And what were they doing so far north in the sea?
Isabela slogged to shore, ignoring the squelching sound her boots were making. Maybe the other ship had been taken by pirates and the Ferelden heraldry was a cover. Or a mutiny. Maybe Ferelden was scouting out the Qunari after the whole “take-out-every-world-leader-via-magical-mirrors-and-explosives” stunt they’d pulled a couple months ago. If Isabela hadn’t been an agent of the Inquisition during the whole fiasco, she probably wouldn’t have believed it. Magical mirrors? Sure, she’d seen those.
But qunari using them?
Honestly, she’d never thought she’d see the day when Qunari willingly used magic. The world was ending, she was sure of it.
And now her boat was sinking. Again.
Isabela watched silently, hands fisted on her hips, as her schooner tipped, groaned, and finally capsized. The half dozen crew members she’d brought along with her were scrabbling their way out of the water and onto the rocky island. It was small, practically a finger sticking up out of the water, with a grand total of two trees and an incredibly ugly looking seal.
“Remind me again why we took that detour?”
“Didn’t want to sail within shooting distance of that feet, seeing as how Ferelden and the Inquisition have been trading slaps for the past couple weeks.” Isabela turned towards Thornton, who’d been sent along with some other field agents to get their ship to Antiva. Apparently Thornton had used a rowboat once, and that counted as enough naval experience to make him her first mate. “Also we have a qunari on board.”
Thornton glanced over his shoulder in time to witness Katari strip down entirely and begin to shake the water out of his clothes. “I killed a sea-wyvern once, you know!” the qunari boomed, gesturing dramatically to the other soldiers on the shore. The only response he got was Tamar losing her breakfast behind one of the trees. It seemed reavers and water didn’t mix.
Isabela sighed and adjusted her hat. At least it wasn’t boiling hot, and she was certain they could last long enough for another trade ship to go by. But there was still the matter of food and water. Aside from whatever bags they’d swam ashore with, they’d lost it all in the wreck. “Go see what we’ve got left. I’m going to get us something to eat.”
She unhooked her crossbow from her belt and stalked closer to the seal. The creature hadn’t moved since it’d rolled over to watch them arrive. Isabela wondering if it was stuck. Well, it didn’t matter since it was about to be food. Isabela loaded her bolt, aimed, and-
Someone screamed from behind her and the seal began to furiously wiggle its way back into the sea. Isabela turned as Neria latched onto her arm. “Captain, the water ate Rion!” the elf exclaimed. “A hand just came out a snatched him!” She imitated the grabbing motion, nearly poking out Isabela’s eye as she did so.
The seal was long gone by this point and Isabela hurried over to the rest of the group. Thornton had scaled the tree and knocked an arrow, while Katari and Tamar had formed a line at the shore, weapons raised. About six feet out, the water was bubbling furiously, marking the spot where the mage had gone under. “Do we have any rope? I can shoot out a line and we can pull him back to shore.” If there was anything left of him. Isabela couldn’t figure out what had dragged the mage under; her first thought had been a hungry whale, but the crew had mentioned a hand.
Maker’s golden buttcheeks, what sea creature had hands?
Then the water exploded, quite literally. Rion went catapulting out of the sea and onto the island, landing with a very wet-sounding slap. He sat up immediately, electricity from his magic still dancing over his fingers and sparking off of his clothes. He was now sporting a collection of nasty slices up and down his arms. “Get away from the shore! It’s coming back!”
Tamar and Katari took a step back just as the water erupted again. A roar followed and the entire group hurried further inland as the creature landed heavily on the shore. It was enormous- its tail alone was easily six feet long, topped with a human torso. The tail was spiked and long, clawed hands slashed angrily through the air as it tried to snatch one of its quarry. It hissed, revealing not only a nasty pair of fangs but two sets of teeth.
A large, red blister (the impact of Rion’s storm spell, Isabela guessed) marred its chest, along with a dozen other jagged scars. It was hideous, and Isabela had no idea what I was. It reminded her a bit of a ghast, but bigger and with dragon mixed in.
“Is that a darkspawn?!” Thornton shouted from his perch in the tree. The creature’s top half certainly looked like a darkspawn- it was skeletal and the scales that covered it were a nasty purple-grey. It was even making that disgusting chattering noise darkspawn made.
“Just kill it!” Rion wailed from the ground as the creature began to claw its way through the sand to get closer to its prey. “It’s going to eat us all and we’ll die!”
Nobody moved, and Isabela could hardly blame them. If it was a darkspawn, then fighting it meant possibly contracting the blight. And if it wasn’t a darkspawn, then they had no idea what it was or what it could do. What if it shot poison or something equally revolting?
Katari let out a bellow of excitement. “A sea-wyvern!” he declared, pointing his greatsword at the creature. “I’ve fought them once, and now I’ll have slain a matching set!” Before anyone could stop him, the qunari charged, swinging his sword down to attack-
-and was promptly broadsided by a powerful tail swipe that sent him slamming into the tree with enough force to dislodge Thornton.
“Dread Wolf’s droppings!” Neria cursed from the side, summoning up a giant fist of rock and hurling it at the beast’s face. The stone hit with enough force to crack scales and knock the sea creature onto its side. That certainly got its attention and is struggled angrily, aiming for the elven mage.
Isabela grabbed Rion by the collar and pulled him to his feet. “Get up and help her!” she ordered, jabbing a finger at Neria. “You don’t have to kill it, but scare it away.” Rion looked like he wanted to melt into the ground and stay there until the Maker returned, but reluctantly began shooting off fireballs in retaliation.
At least now the beast knew they weren’t going to be easy pickings. Thornton and Isabela had joined in the fight by peppering it with arrows and Tamar and Katari had settled for throwing rocks and yelling insults. Nobody was going to try to fight it close up after witnessing Rion getting pulled under.
Finally, the creature gave up. It howled angrily and flung itself backwards, into the sea. It disappeared beneath the waves almost instantly, leaving the group frazzled and exhausted on the island.
“Was that really a sea-wyvern?” Tamar asked dubiously, sheathing her weapon.
“Of course it was!” Katari replied, “I’ve killed one! And if I ever see that one again, I’ll add its skull to my collection!”
Isabela shook her head and dug for the flint she kept in her pockets. They needed to start a signal fire. “Well whatever it is, it’s gone. And we need to get off this island before it comes back."
"Or we starve."
"Or run out of water."
"Or kill each other."
"Or-"
"Thank you, now please get me some wood before I set your clothes on fire!"
Well I am life-long, born and bred Trekkie. I’ve been watching it from the womb. So that’s the setphasersto part. And ‘fandom’ just because I’m into a lot of different stuff. But Star Trek is my first fandom.
2. What is your middle name?
Brynne, after my mom’s best friend (at the time, before we were transfered)
3. If you could own a fairytale/fictional pet, what would it be?
DRAGON. Like, not a giant huge dragon, but like a dragon of a ridable size that I could keep close by. Or a tiny one that could ride on my shoulder all the time.
4. Favorite color?
Blues.
5. Favorite song?
Blank Space by Taylor Swift
6. Top 5 fandoms?
In no particular order...
1. Dragon Age
2. Mass Effect
3. Fire Emblem
4. Star Trek
5. Star Wars
7. Why do you enjoy tumblr?
Honestly, I didn’t realize how many people were like me in the world? Like, being on tumblr has helped me come to terms with things like my weight, with my likes and my dislikes, and with being okay with pushing people out of my life that don’t need to be there/putting them further away to protect myself. It’s given me a place to be a nerd about the things I love with no shame, from geeking out about the Mage origin to quietly panicking about the new Star Wars movies. It gives me a place to think about the world, to hear about things and then research them for myself and form my own opinions. It makes my world bigger than the town, state, and country I live in and I like that.
Alright, I tag attlashands, justgaffit, thedoctorsherlockedmyheart, and neuroticbiotic! And anyone else really
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS! I hope you got my previous message and things are better now on your end. I hope you have a really great day and an even better year, I love you lotsss! Hugs and cuddles on your special day~ Zee
I think I did! She and I are doing better, I think, which is good.
I've had a decent day, it picked up at work and now I'm hanging with my awesome friends. *cuddles you back*
Once you get this, you must share five random facts about yourself. Then pass this on to your ten favourite followers.
1) I am SERIOUSLY arachnophobic but I have a spider stuffed animal named Mr. Webby (any other Spinnerette readers out there?) who occasionally terrifies me in the dark.
2) I spelled potato p-o-t-a-t-o-e until I was about 18 because I refused to accept that there wasn't an e at the end.
3) I sneeze/get congested when I'm full. After every single meal, without fail. For some reason, it's the worst when I eat dim sum.
4) I built my own gaming computer about 2 and a half years ago and its name is Galileo.
5) My favorite prank to play on people is to tell them this: "Hoagie is a word that derives from the Norse word 'høgen' which means 'single course meal'." I have literally fooled every single person I have ever tried this on, but usually I can only keep it going for about 5 minutes before I start laughing too hard.
