A little something I wrote for our discord secret santa gift exchange feauting my not-quite warden Declan Aeducan and Sedda from RavenZaiyo.
Declan looked around, left was a street he did not recognize, to his right was a mountain range with a small path he could not remember seeing before either. How could he have overlooked a whole mountain while travelling? Scratching his head, feeling the fine braids with a smile, thinking back to the qunari couple he had left this morning, waking up in their bed sure had been an experience, but even better was them taking care of his hair, he couldn't remember the last time someone had cared enough to do that. They had mothered him without making him feel crowded. Sometimes he wished he would find a steady traveling companion to share with and not only these short visits. But that thought did not help his current problem, not that it was a new occurence that he did not know where he was, actually that had been the very reason he had been washed up at the qunari tavern a week ago.
Shrugging and going with the wind, he followed the better street and walked merrily in the sun, well, as merrily as he could with the clouds slowly darkening and watching for rustling bushes, bandits were not an unusual occurrence in these parts of Thedas, what would be every part of Thedas to be honest.
Watching a bird, Declan was suddenly pulled out of his musings rather loudly, something was screeching in a tree, it sounded like an animal in pain. Looking around, in a big apple tree something small was running on a branch up and down, looking towards the earth, like it wanted to jump but then always hesitating at the last moment and screeching like the height had personally insulted it. Laughing, he walked closer, Either he would find something entertaining or his dinner on this branch.
Looking closer, a small rodent with big black circles around its eyes was sitting in the tree, it looked visibly distressed. Thinking back to his school days, Declan remembered a surface animal called a racoon, mostly that one could not eat them. But it's fur looked fluffy, maybe a new hat? Just when he stood right before it, having to crane his neck, the branch sure was some way up, he noticed a staff standing next to the tree and the racoon was wearing a small scarf? What kind of rodent was wearing clothes?! And it did look a lot more intelligent than normal rodents did, well most, he had once encountered a very special nug wearing a crown in the deep roads and wondered for years if that one had been a shapeshifter or some kind of deity for years, thus he had read a bit about shape shifting, even if a dwarf could never learn it, it was still a handy skill to know about, especially when encountering an angry bear in a swamp who had been a black haired beauty who had let him go with a scathing remark not to come back and to steer clear of Ostagar.
Declan was pretty sure, he was standing in front of a shape shifter, apparently one who could not change back on the branch, because it would break and they would fall and could not get down in their current form.
“Want help?” he shouted up, seeing the racoon stop and stare at him. A tiny nod could be seen. “Wait a minute”, with that Dec turned towards the staff and tried reaching the branch with it, so the racoon could climb down but it was way to slippery, the shifter did not even try to climb on it, looking at him with a expression one could just describe as unimpressed. “Well, then it's gonna be this way.”, he mumbled. Taking his sleeping bag out and taking all kinds of soft materials, he made a big pile under the branch, “You gonna jump or should I help?” he asked with a grin people could take as threatening.
The little rodent did in fact not jump, rather it screeched at him indignated, it sounded terribly like “You wanna kill me, idiot?”
With a grin, Declan took his sword out of its sheath and threw it at the branch. With a crack and a loud screech all three, branch, sword and racoon landed on the pile. “See, still alive and not a scratch even, I really outdid myself there.”
The racoon shook his whole body and with a last glance and a puff a naked man was sitting in front of Declan, funnily enough his eyes were still circled black and the little scarf was lying around his shoulders. Sitting in the pile of clothes and other soft things, including leaves and moss Declan had built, he looked quite comfy. Inspecting Declans sword, he used it as a mirror, eyes lighting up at the shine and sharp edges. “Well, you got me, now what are we gonna do?” Declan heard from in between the pile.
Smirking, he came closer, looking up at the sun, and sat down on a free spot, “How about lunch?”, the pile really was quite comfy and warm. Getting bread and a bit of cheese out of his satchel, he offered the stranger some food. His eyes seemed suddenly a lot warmer. Snatching the food, he sat up, surrounded on all sides by different clothes, barely covered in his nakedness, and started nibbling on the food. “A racoon alright.” Declan thought, trying not to smile or laugh too much, he did not want to intimidate anyone but this was actually quite funny and cute.
Suddenly, shadows were stealing their warmth, the sun was now hiding and far away thunder could be heard. “Better hurry and help me packing, if you don't want to end up drowning in a pile of leaves and wet unwashed underwear.” Declan quipped, seeing the other man get up with a pout, he threw a bag for the clothes at him. “And while I don´t mind your state of nakedness, maybe put on a cloak or something if you don't want to get pneumonia.” He never could quite stop being a big brother sometimes. In the cold without a jacket, no that was not alright. “I´m Declan by the way.” the dwarf finally introduced himself, while frantically packing his things. A wet sleeping bag could make your nights miserable for days, weeks if you caught a cold in it. He heard a grumbled “Sedda” between two bites, his new companion was still happily munching on his bread, even while using both hands to messily push clothes into the bag Declan had thrown at him.
They barely managed to put everything into it´s place before the first drops started falling. “I don't suppose you have a tent hidden somewhere in your pockets?” Declan asked, looking at the others decidedly lack of pockets or garments of any kind, just to be met with a knowing smirk. “Would a cave please your noble self?” he was asked in a very much not reverent tone that made Declan smile widely. And with that he took off, Declan scrambling up behind him. “Not so fast, I´m not a frigging rodent, scrambling through the woods!” he could barely puff but managed to keep up.
They came up at a small cave full of furs and hunted animals, a few herbs were hanging in one corner and even a fire was still burning, barely but enough to make the cave warmer than the way too wet outside. Rain. Declan could still not understand why people lived on the surface when said surface decided to surprise you with pouring water down your neck regularly, sometimes even using frozen water. With a shudder and a sigh, he sat down at the fire, seeing his new companion whose guest he now was, doing the same.
Sitting there, he still felt cold and soon both were huddled together in different states of undress, wet clothes really were the worst. All cuddled together, Declan enjoyed the warmth and let his thoughts and let his guard down. He was pretty sure he was save here. His eyelids soon felt heavy.
The next morning, after a surprisingly restful night, Declan woke up from the sun tickling his nose through a small crack in the cave and saw the last drops of water glint in the first light of the day. Sitting up, he noticed a raccoon curled into a ball in front of him, seeking heat from his body. With a smile, he lay down again, maybe they would travel together for some time?
