Adventures in the Far Reaches (for Weiss Ritter)

[Xatarias]

The two unrestrained troopers stagger to sitting positions- apparently their immobility was partially induced by the instinct to play dead. Being given the offer to walk out of the jungle alive with most of their equipment seems to have taken them aback. One even nods vigorously at your proposal.

The trooper in your arms is another matter all together. She- as soon becomes apparent when Ilyanna begins the process of unarmoring her- fidgets and squirms, making the shameness's job an utter nightmare. Finally with an exasperated sigh, Ilyanna rises with a hefty branch in hand and smacks your captive upside her helmeted head.

"Alright hon," She growls, hitting the release switch on the woman's head gear. "I know that didn't hurt with several layers of alloy protecting your noggin, but trust me, it's gonna do worse than tickle with it off. Now hold. Still."

The helmet tumbles from the woman's head, and you double take seeing her features for the first time. Her hair, skin, and eyes were shades paler than you had ever seen. Red and blue warpaint traced intricate symbols across her lips and cheeks, a sharp contrast to her snowy skin and framing those icy blue eyes. She was... Beautiful in way that you struggled to describe. Delicate maybe?

You didn't have long to contemplate the thought because as soon as her mouth was uncovered, the female trooper twists and bites down on the arm you have placed across her cuirass. Strength band or no, it hurt a lot. The woman latches on like a crypt worm and refuses to dislodge. Ilyanna's earlier threat seems to have an empty one as she stares with her club forgotten in her grasp. Damn it, was she laughing!?

 

[Weiss Ritter]

For a brief moment, Orion wondered if he had been a bit too generous with his terms. Two of the remaining strangers were eager to accept his mercy in a way that Tysera's rivals-turned-prey rarely were. At least, from what relatively little he had been able to see of her life-long dealings. This was probably for the best, though. As invaluable as even one of those suits were, they'd be little more than bulky dead weight unless Ilyanna could repair them in the field. Not to mention any good will this gesture of his might have generated would probably go up in flames if the trio of "pups" was ambushed by a clever predator on their way back with only one weapon and dubiously useful armor between them.

The young warrior frowned as what should have been a relatively painless process became an insurmountable challenge for even Ilyanna's dexterous fingers. Apparently, not all of the strangers were so happy with the conditions of the peace after all! Unfortunately, there was little Orion could do about it. Shaking their wriggling captive would have only added to the problem and he wasn't sure even one of the larger constrictors would be able to squeeze hard enough to get through that armor.

The trooper's helmet came off and a subtle exhale that bordered on a gasp passed through Orion's lips. He wasn't really sure what he'd expected Ilyanna to find beneath all that armor in the first place, but it definitely wasn't...this. It really was as if the almost supernaturally pale woman had come from another world altogether. She was still clearly human and there was something familiar about the warpaint adding life and color to her exotically pallid features, yet-for Orion at least-it didn't seem possible that anyone who'd carved a place for themselves out of these often cruel lands could come out the other end looking so...so...

"GRAH!" Orion bellowed out a surprised and rather undignified yelp as his seemingly helpless captive sank her teeth into his tough but otherwise unprotected flesh. "Delicate" was the last word on his mind as his jaw clenched and he fought every instinct to release the viper of a woman.

"Fuck you, Ily!" He hissed through gritted teeth just loud enough to be heard over the shamaness's cackling. His free hand rose in a blur of movement, balled up into a fist aimed squarely for the stranger's throat. Despite the pain, Orion hesitated. A strength-band augmented blow there issued by a warrior with his gifts had the potential to be lethal even to some of his own clan. Maybe the figure beneath the rest of the armor was more powerfully built than her face implied, but he wasn't going to take that chance.

"Stop that! Crypt worm! Tree tick!" Orion hissed again and brought his hand down upon the woman's head in a series of steadily escalating chops that would hopefully do what Ilyanna had promised, and failed, to do with that branch of her's.

 

[Xatarias]

"S-sorry I just- there!" Ilyanna connects with her improvised weapon as your blow finally manages to dislodge the piranha of a woman. She tumbles backwards mid-crouch, no doubt preparing for another undignified assault on your person. Every instinct in your body tells you to pursue and keep the threat down, but one of her companions intercepts with his hands raised placatingly.

"Please Sir, Rhenn has the pride of a warrior. She didn't-"

"Fuck you, Cault!" The woman spat around her blood-glazed lips. "I'll not surrender my arms and armor to these Forgotten!"

Seems you were lucky to choose the least-placid member of their party for disarmament. You don't doubt that if her weapon was returned to her, she would do something very very stupid. The way she fixes you with a hooded gaze was eerie, full of bile and contempt that was usually was reserved for blood-feuding clanmembers.

"They're letting us go, Rhenn," The remaining member of their group grates through his helmets filters. "We won't be able to catch Sethi with our gear disabled. It was pure luck that we found his trail the first time. Let's report back to headquarters, like we should have to begin with."

Rhenn turns an even nastier look towards the man. The thought strikes you that maybe she didn't harbor some personal grudge towards you or your fellow valley dwellers. Maybe she was just an unpleasant person.

"They could!" Rhenn points in your general direction. "These barbarian scrape a living tailing beasts and the like, I'll bet they know where the rebel encampment is! Tell us or else."

You exchange a flabbergasted look with Ilyanna. The shamaness shrugs and then hits Rhenn with another blow of her branch. Harmless since it was directed at her still-armored chest, but the impact was still enough to put her on her ass.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion's rune-blade blurred through the air the moment his toothy attack fell back. It wasn't active, of course, but it wouldn't need to be for him to bat the stubborn warrior straight into the ground. Her companions had other ideas.

"Hrmph..." He grunted at Cault's words, his crimson eyes boring a hole through Rhenn's armor in a way even the blazing bolts from before had failed to do. Orion couldn't quite decide whether the snowy-haired woman was playing the part of an annoying but gloriously determined warrior or a stupid brat like Renly. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak again, Orion started leaning rather firmly towards the latter.

Unfortunately for Rhenn, her two companions were no Kazanki and Kat.

"Or else...?" Orion let the thought hang in the air for a moment. Ilyanna proved even quicker to put the disarmed intruder in her place than him with a well-placed whack. He raised his still deactivated rune-blade in silent warning. Even without its crimson runes alight, masterfully refined durosteel was bound to have more of an impact than a mere branch.

"One: my clan and I will not be choosing sides in your war unless given reason to do otherwise. Two: this is the first time I've seen anyone like you so, no, we don't know where your enemies are encamped. Three: this 'Sethi' defeated all three of you by himself. Even if I did know where he was going, what in the names of whatever ancestors you revere do you think would happen if you tried to take on him and all his allies in that disabled gear of yours?"

Orion remained silent for just one moment before cocking his head. "But what do I know? I'm just a dumb barbarian who's apparently...Forgotten more about surviving out here than you've ever known."

 

[Xatarias]

"A true warrior overcomes in even the most adverse situations," Rhenn states as if spouting an age-old saying or quoting some text. "Pain and struggle-"

"For gods sake, Rhenn," The trooper in front of you mutters.

"Pain and struggle in the face of death," Rhenn continues determinedly. "These are the legionnaire's constant companions. Be of steel, or be broken."

There is an awkward silence as everyone considers just what to do next. Rhenn for her part, looks utterly pleased with herself.

"I think we broke her," Ilyanna says finally. "Look, if I had it my way, you'd all be marching back home naked. And trust me, you wouldn't make the trip. Think your buddies wherever they are would care that we stripped you and left you to die?"

She brandishes her glorified twig like a scepter, leveling it at the group.

"Trick question because they'd never find you. Churning in the belly of a slagbear or slowing disolving in a dire pitcher if I was forced to guess. Sounds like you little shits broke the rules coming out here. You're just the next cautionary tale for whatever idiots come after you."

She glances your way, queuing for you to follow up her bad arbiter routine. Knowing Ily, she really didn't want these kids dead... Although your throbbing arm certainly would make you less inclined to adopt such a merciful sentiment.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion stared at Rhenn when she finished reciting her tid-bit of memorized wisdom and slowly arched a brow when Rhenn started to puff up like a razorbeak trying to attract a mate. Oh, there was some useful truth to be found in her apparent quoting and attitude, but the idea that every battle could be won or was worth winning in the first place tended to die fairly quickly in the valley and the more...ambitious simulations he'd contributed to Skyhold's holo-archives. Tysera had once taught him that lesson through a full den of hexapuma. It seemed only fitting that he pass it along to the more stubborn warriors the same way.

It was enough to make him wonder about the training this so-called legionnaire went through. It was hard to imagine pain and struggle being a real part of any regimen that didn't even teach the trio to take cover and handed them weapons that would have allowed any unblooded youngling to dispatch any jungle predator with a simple point and pull of the trigger.

"Don't forget the magma flows," Orion chipped in at Ilyanna's glance. "We're six-legged jog away from hexapuma territory too. The jungle is very good about not letting dead meat go to waste. Which is exactly what you would be right now if your quarry and the two of us weren't so merciful,"

The warrior gestured pointedly with his rune-blade. "I'd work on swallowing that pride of yours before it gets you and your clansmen killed. In the meantime, you've made it clear that this isn't going to be a one-time skirmish, and I'm not going to let my people be collateral damage. We're taking one of your weapons and one of your suits, and you'll be taking that message back to your headquarters. If you don't want this to happen again, your people had best start talking with mine,"

Orion's crimson eyes flickered pointedly over Rhenn. "Preferably with someone who doesn't bite the hand that spares her."

 

[Xatarias]

"You should kill me now, outlander," The would-be warrior declares ferociously, "You won't be able to sleep knowing that I will be training. Growing stronger and-"

Rhenn's tirade was abruptly cut off as Cault pressed an armored hand against her scalp and assumed a kneeling position beside you.

"We have no qualm with you or your people," He promises quickly before Rhenn can squander your generous offer. "We gratefully accept."

It takes several minutes of awkward posturing before Cault sighs and volunteers to disarm so Rhenn can maintain some modicum of control. He strips off his armor, revealing the same pale, painted features that Rhenn had surprised you with. Carefully watching for any threatening motions, you note that his build was well-formed and strong. Whatever their skill in combat, these three likely had been through regular physical training.

"You'll want to put some mud on that skin, pasty," Ilyanna notes. "Unless you want half your hide peeling off before sundown."

She tosses Rhenn the remainder of her equipment. The girl glares daggers until Ilyanna waves her tree limb with a friendly smile. With a satisfied grunt, the shamaness packs away your precious loot and rejoins you.

"We'll want to put some distance between us and them after dark," She murmurs to you while the young troopers ready themselves to leave. "The other two seem to want to save their skins, but that girl... She's definitely brave enough to try and follow. Well, brave or stupid."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion flinched at Cault's sudden and submissive display. It wasn't something he had intended to demand and certainly hadn't expected, but the young man tried to hide that with a brisk nod. "Good. I'll be able to sleep comfortably knowing that,"

He couldn't help but flicker his gaze over Rhenn for an instant.

The suicidally belligerent trooper proved about as stubborn as he expected. As...amusing as it might have been to see the arrogant Rhenn stripped down, the more rational parts of Orion's brain were quite content to see what lay beneath Cault's armor as well. It seemed to confirm that the woman's almost unnaturally pale flesh were a trait shared by her clansmen, to one extent or another. Orion's gaze traced over Cault's bared form in a brief and clinical manner as the man continued to strip down. The man and his comrades at least took the very basics of their warrior training reasonably seriously, it seemed. Of more interest to Orion than the disarmed trooper's build was his warpaint. How far did it extend beneath all that armor and how did it compare to the blood-red Ta-Moko marking his own body?

"Mh," Orion nodded thoughtfully after Ilyanna spoke and gestured at Rhenn. "And you: you want to talk about training? Consider this a field exercise. Guard the hell out of your comrades' flanks. I'm not sure how well that armor will hold up against some of the larger predators that live here, but Cault's a dead man if you let any of them get the drop on the three of you. You can even imagine you're putting a round or three in my chest, if that keeps you on-task. I'll even pretend to be offended by being compared to an absolutely lethal predator perfectly adapted to kill anything in this valley."

With that parting...advice, Orion turned to resume their journey.

"Stupid. Definitely stupid," He murmured back even while shooting Ilyanna a serious glance. "But you're right. It doesn't a genius to do a lot of damage with that kind of firepower."

 

[Xatarias]

"I don't need-" Rhenn began furiously before a hand from Cault stopped her mid-sentence.

"We'll keep it in mind," He assures you.

"There's a cave due west that you can reach before nightfall," Ilyanna tells them. "I'd advice you to camp there and fortify the entrance. Sleep in shifts if you don't trust yourselves to get up at a moment's notice. Hopefully you'll reach your base before the next moon dark."

"Don't worry, it shouldn't take us-" Began the remaining trooper before being harshly elbowed in the ribs.

"Let's go," Says the ever impetuous Rhenn. Somehow even helmeted she manages to glare at her companion who apparently said too much.

Ilyanna watches them tromp through the underbrush before giving you a significant look.

"Not too far for them to reach safety apparently," She says breezily, rolling a piece of armor in her hands. "And it must be a safe place indeed if it can support so much dead weight... What's the plan, fearless leader? Follow or get back to the task at hand?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion fought very hard to keep his expression neutral. For once, Rhenn's lashing out was utterly justified. The trio's headquarters, whatever that meant in practice, was that close to this battleground? That was more than enough for him to begin estimating where it might have been located. There were only so many places less than a nightfall from this spot that could have supported more than a small camp. Perhaps these legionaries' technology could reshape the terrain and conceal that they had effectively enough to get around that without casual Cloudclimber patrols realizing it, but how well would even that hold up to a dedicated, focused search...?

"...I think we should get back to our 'patrol' in the Barrows," Orion said after a long moment's consideration. He glanced at Ilyanna, half-expecting a pout and a bit of chiding. "We're already carrying some of the most valuable finds Skyhold has ever seen, and we've got a long and very dangerous journey ahead of us as-is. I don't want to blow it all because we got greedy. Besides..."

Orion noted the direction the trio of troopers had marched off in. If Rhenn and Cault had any sense, it would have been a false lead to make guessing their destination something vaguely resembling a challenge. He wasn't sure if he was willing to give them that much credit.

"It might not be the best idea to give the Council their headquarter's location so soon after all this. With the way things have been going lately..." The warrior trailed off. He hadn't immersed himself in politics as Grandmother had, but he could try to extrapolate from what he did now all the same. A new source of invaluable salvage practically sitting on Skyhold's doorstep and guarded by intruders who may have only had glorified younglings to defend them? There was scarcely a doubt in his mind about how the Donya coalition would push to respond to that, or what sort of promises they could make to begin seducing the Fireveins' allies in light of such a prize...and the prizes they might take from Cloudclimber's rivals while staring down the barrels of those mighty weapons.

"...I think ensuring the Council has time to think things through and our new 'friends' have a chance to reach out to us would be best. We still barely know anything about them or these so-called rebels."

 

[Xatarias]

"Not sure if caution suits you, Ry Ry. Where's the kid that begged me to let him into the archives after hours?"

The shamaness clearly intended to make a joke, but her brow remains slightly furrowed.

"It's a good plan," She hastens to add. "You're taking the political situation into account, I get it... Just a little surprising is all."

With that you both stoop to retrieve your packs- now quite a bit heavier with a full suit of armor distributed between them. Hoisting the burden onto you shoulders, the thought occurs to you that conventional clan war tactics would be hard pressed to accommodate a warrior fully equipped in futuristic plate mail. They wouldn't be able to take to the trees- the main avenue of retreat and pursuit in any jungle skirmish. The tactician in you recognizes the problem and wonders how best to solve it...

"Is this about that kiss?" Ilyanna asks, mistaking your moment of thought for self-imposed silence. "I can't help but wonder if it's something you always do with the huntresses before a scrap."

What right does Ily have to be looking so hesitant? The way the flushed shamaness pointedly keeps her gaze fixed on the treeline, you'd never guess that she laid one on you less than a day ago!

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"There's a difference between trying to break all the clan records in the simulation chambers and taking my closest comrade to spy on a very strange, very trigger-happy clan,"

Orion glanced at Ilyanna with a playful grin he visibly struggled to keep in place. Her words were teasing, but her tone and expression failed to follow through. Did she think he was making a mistake allowing these strangers to remain encamped in Cloudclimber lands without their warriors' swords dangling over their heads?

"Grandmother's been trying to get me to start thinking like a leader rather than a warrior for some time. I'm not looking forward to it, but...I think I'm out of time there, Ily." He shrugged and flickered his gaze over the shamaness carefully.

A warrior is eager to test his limits, Orion. A leader ensures that he never has to. Restraint will keep you and yours alive far longer than foolish notions of bravery.

Tysera's words and the not insignificant weight added to his pack made him confident this was the right decision, despite the hesitation Ilyanna's misgivings gave him. The Barrows and the disputed territories would be treacherous enough without even more loot slowing them down, and they had barely even scratched the surface of what the strangers' almost miraculous technology was capable of. Who was to say what an entire entrenched clan of them had at their disposal to deal with prying eyes? Especially given their success in avoiding Skyhold's sensors and patrols until today.

Hrm...okay, what about the trunk? Limbs might break or tremble enough to give away my position with that armor on, but if it works like a second set of strength bands, I could probably get a knife in and out of any tree quickly enough to-

Orion faintly flinched when Ilyanna snapped him out of his tactical reverie regarding those very capabilities and how they could be used to serve Cloudclimber instead. "What? No, I-"

The young man sucked in a quick breath of air to steady himself before looking at her with a slight smile that was almost collected enough to make one forget his startled stuttering just a moment before. "It was...a special thing meant for a special comrade. Just in case. I was planning to haunt the shit out of you that negotiation went bad."

His joke was said hastily, as if added to the former sentiment at the last second. Orion's heart was starting to beat faster and he could feel and uncomfortably warm tingle spreading through his flesh. Did he just sound stupid now? Like...well, like he did when they were children just beginning to grasp what affection between a lonely cripple and an outcast shamaness-in-training could become?

 

[Xatarias]

"Special?"

It might be your temporary fluster or simply that Ilyanna always manages to get under your skin, but she slips inside your personal space far too easily for your personal comfort. You find yourself with your head tilted down, nearly nose to nose with the lithe priestess. If the power of speech was difficult earlier, it would only get harder as those deep, bewitching eyes locked on you.

"I think you have something you want to say." She says simply, taking a step back and turning to the path that snaked north to the highlands. "Best get it off your chest, while we've got the time."

The ridiculousness of the situation is palpable. Literal years have gone by as Ilyanna tipped toed around the edges of your life. Your only true friend in childhood to impossibly cold as Tysera finally cured your affliction and unlocked your potential as a warrior. Then the thaw as you both reached adulthood and started working together again... And apparently the priestess thought that trekking through dense, dangerous wilderness was the perfect situation for a heart to heart.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion's throat tightened as he found himself face to face with his beloved. He could feel her warm breath caressing his flesh while her eyes held his captive. Ancestors, how did she do it? How could she tease him, mount him in sleep, and thrust herself mere inches apart from him without the slightest hint of embarrassment while a mere bat of her eyelashes was all it took to make his heart flutter?

"Y-yes..."The young man managed to choke out. He took a breath to try and steady his nerves. The irony of it all was cruel. Orion must have imagined and prepared for this conversation a thousand times over the years he and Ilyanna shared this often awkward dance. Yet, now that it was actually upon him, his mind went blank for a perilous moment and struggled to recall even the most basic of outlines.

"Ilyanna...you've been with me from the start. When I was the great disappointment of the Firevein family, you were the only one besides my kin to treat me like I wasn't a dead child walking. Some of the huntresses were nice to me back then, and I've shed blood alongside them, but none of them are you. They'll never replace what you mean to me. No one will."

Orion words came out slowly at first, but his voice gradually picked up speed and strength. The more he bared his soul, the easier it became to bare the rest of it. Maybe it was just the adrenaline of the moment kicking in. It seemed ridiculous at first that Ilyanna would want to talk about this here of all places, but...it made sense. Out here, there was no Skyhold or dynastic politics to get in the way. No elders chanting mantras of responsibility to the clan that had once shunned them both. Just Ily and Ry Ry against the world...like it had been in simpler times.

"I've seen more of what my grandmother has been doing to keep Skyhold together. It's...she needs me to be more than a warrior now, Ilyanna. Sooner or later she's going to bring up my failure to pledge myself to a woman from one of the other great families again, and...I need to know if I-we-need to fight her for this. For...us,"

Orion's heart skipped a beat and he could feel his throat tightening as he stopped to regard the shamaness. It was like staring down a precipice. This was it. This was the few seconds they had spent years avoiding. Ancestors, it was every bit as awful as he'd dreaded. He would literally have found staring down the grandest of hexapuma matriarchs in that collapsing vessel all over again less terrifying than this.

"...But Ily? No matter what you say, no matter what anyone else says, I want you in my life. As a friend or...more. Nothing and no one on this planet is going to change that."

 

[Xatarias]

Ilyanna stops, shouldered pack obscuring her expression as you take the plunge and make your confession. When you circle round and meet her eyes, you are shocked to find the normally stoic priestess red-faced with welling eyes. She wipes her face and glares at you. Dropping her pack, she marches right up to you and the world seems to shift beneath you. She was close, so close-

"We're not friends," She murmurs before pulling your lips down to hers. It was a simple thing really, but somehow you feel more in that moment than any intimacy shared previously. The slowly kindled lust between you flares strongly, but there is something else that makes you forget about predators, politics, and spaceships. Somehow the future seemed closer than ever. Now that you had someone wanting to share it with you.

A few moments later you realize Ily has broken the kiss, but her grip on your arms remains. Her pack lies forgotten on the ground and several pieces of armor have tumbled out of its interior.

"I don't... I'm not just the girl that was nice to you when we were younger," She says with a tight, nervous expression. "Just like you weren't the same after... After what your grandmother put you through. I had to change just like you did. Before you go talking about alliances, I need to know that this isn't just nostalgia or gratitude for something that's behind us. We've got history... But that can't be all we have."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion's heart stopped as soon as he saw Ilyanna's flushed features and a glare that cut through him as surely as any rune-blade. He couldn't even breath as she dropped her pack and stalked closer.

"We're not friends,"

The warrior stopped just short of physically recoiling at those three little words. He was too numb to feel her hands upon the back of his head and neck, but the crushing tide of regret and despair left as quickly as it came the instant he felt her lips against his. Orion's well-muscled arms immediately wrapped around his beloved's toned and chiseled form. His lips pressed desperately back against her own.

It wasn't a long kiss, but it was real and lingered just long enough. An electrical current raced through Orion's body when Ilyanna pulled back. If not for the lingering heat on his lips and her intimate grip on his arms, he might have been half-inclined to think it was just another one of his dream. Heat reddened the often unflappable warrior's cheeks and tears born of a churning cauldron of rampent yet mixed emotions welled up in his eyes. The scions of Cloudclimber were mirror images of each other in that way, now.

"N-no," Orion shook his head with a trembling smile of his own. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. "That's not...that's not why I keep coming on these adventures with you, Ilyanna, no matter how many times it nearly puts me in the infirmary or the morgue. I wouldn't risk everything my grandmother hopes to accomplish through me just...just to repay old favors."

Orion's hands slipped down to firmly squeeze her's despite his cracking voice. "I love our banter. I love how you look at me and see...me, not just Tysera's agent and heir. I love the way you can look at ruins and wilderness and see a future where I'd only see scrap and distant hunting grounds. I love...dammit, I love you, because you're you, Ilyanna."

 

[Xatarias]

"Ry Ry... Ancestors we're a mess." The words came out as a watery chuckle as Ilyanna let her hands linger in yours. She returns your squeeze. "But I think I like it this way. And to answer your previous question, yes, I'd be a little miffed if you decided to shack up with the Donya's niece. Even if it was to improve 'clan relations'. I guess I'll have to duel for the right of your hand, fair damsel."

She bursts out laughing. It wasn't the perfect moment described in Ilyanna's prized collection of trashy romance novels, but it was normal for both of you... Somehow that was easier to swallow.

"On second thought, I'm pretty sure Lanna would cave my skull in pretty short order. I'll leave it to you to hash out the details."

While lingering in the moment held a significant appeal, training and common sense overrode any fantasy that you might have been entertaining. Between the encounter with Rhenn's group and your recent confession, you had lingered far longer than was safe. Predators human and otherwise would be well alerted to your presence and it was imperative to find a more secure camp site before nightfall.

You nearly sag with relief when you spy a bloodwillow some miles away. The thorny, demonic-looking tree was covered in finger-length scarlet barbs laces with a nasty chemical agent that inhibited coagulation. Luckily, there was a pattern to the nasty protrusions and with a bit of know-how, a ranger could weave himself a cocoon as safe as any cave or hollow within the forest. Less prone to random encounters with Depthmaws too.

Ilyanna passes you vines while you suspend yourself from an overhead bough and weave with practiced dexterity. Finishing the first impromptu hammock, you estimate just enough daylight to complete a second when Ilyanna slips inside the shelter.

"You coming?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Yeah...yeah, we are," Orion's chuckle mirrored Ilyanna's own. He shook his head and savored the sensation of her hands in his.

"D-damsel?" His laugh mixed with her's, though not as loudly. Imagining Ilyanna swaggering up to one of the Donya family's finest while he cheered from the sidelines in one of those ridiculous dresses the ancient ancestors of Ilyana's novels seemed to prize? Hilarious. Imagining Lanna Donya take actual, physical issue with the shamaness staking her claim upon the handsome champion of the Fireveins, or any of the other huntresses for that matter? Less so.

Still, nothing short of lava or lightning striking them dead on the spot could have ruined this moment for him. Many great challenges stood before he and Ilyanna, both within the clan and outside it, but right now, from where he was standing, the future never looked bright.

"Rest assured, my knight in shining armor," Orion caressed Ilyanna's cheek and brushed a speck of a tear that managed to escape from her eye aside. "I'll come up with a clever plan to save that magnificent ass of yours. You can always hide behind the folds of my great, billowy dress if all else fails,"

He leaned down to savor a quick kiss from her lips and murmured. "I wouldn't be here if I couldn't accomplish what everyone else believed to be impossible, you know."

Orion's body still tingled with the lingering sensation of the emotionally charged exchange well after they'd resumed their journey through the wilds. There was a faint and giddy tremble in his limbs despite his best efforts to suppress it, and his normally sharp and masterfully focused senses were clouded by wandering thoughts of Ilyanna and the future they might share together. She wouldn't bring wealth or a great deal of influence into the Fireveins' arsenal, but she had ideas. Visions she'd shared with him before! If they succeeded here, brought back both revolutionary equipment and a working vessel that made even the skimmers look like children's toys, it could change everything. Maybe more than just he and her fellow shamen would be inclined to listen when she spoke.

...Maybe even Tysera would be forced to admit Ily had been an excellent match from the start.

None of that was going to matter if they couldn't come back to Skyhold alive, though. A chance to rest and get his head straight was exactly what he needed right now.

Orion hummed cheerily to himself as he sewed the last of the vines into their proper place within the hammock. He gave them a few quick tugs to make certain the pattern was tight and secure enough to hold a grown warrior and extended a hand down for the next collection of vines he'd need to begin working on the second set of bedding.

Ilyanna stepped away instead.

"Coming? I've got one more hammock to...to..."

Oh.

Orion hesitated for a moment. Old habits died hard it seemed, and their entire relationship had changed over the course of minutes less than a day ago. Unless he was misunderstanding her, was Ilyanna even more eager to make up for lost time than he was...?

"Yeah, I'm coming," Orion slipped down from the bough with an eager grin and the sole piece of bedding between them pressed close against his body.

 

[Xatarias]

The dimming light is further filtered by the tight weave of the vines. The whole shelter swings in a slightly precarious manner as you and Ilyanna settle inside. For a few terrible seconds you wonder if your first night spent with Ilyanna would end on the forest floor with more than one broken bone between you. Small head overriding the larger, indeed!

The moment passes and your improvised shelter settles into a gentle, predictable swing. The tough fibers were far from the luxury of a feather mattress, but the interior is cozy and the heat of two adult bodies was more than enough to combat the chill of a moonless night.

"Ry Ry... You're squishing me."

There is a bit more wriggling as you both adjust positions, awkward blushes and hurried apologies tossed all around. Eventually Ilyanna settles her supple form against your chest, the curve of her backside nestled just above your pelvis. She traces an idle finger against the sharp planes of your corded forearm.

"I wonder if your bands constantly flaring burned all of your excess energy as a kid. You're a far cry from the skinny rake you used to be."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

The warmth and comfort of the shared hammock was almost enough to make Orion forget the rather undignified squirming and awkwardness that had transpired mere moments before. Curious how neither Ilyanna's novels or Skyhold's ballads tended to acknowledge that aspect of two newly-christened lovers coming to know each other! Not that this was the first time he'd had to find a way to embrace a womanly companion of the evening under less than orthodox circumstances.

It was the best to date, however, and it was a feeling Orion never really tired of. Two souls sharing long moments of utmost intimacy and privacy while the trials and tribulations of the world outside them were forced aside. A pure and gentle expression of the affections he'd craved and been denied for far too much of his life, and now he could share it all with his beloved.

"Hm...you're just noticing that now?" Orion made a faintly amused grunt. It certainly wasn't often someone could get one of those out of him when speaking of his miserable childhood. "You might be right, though. It was like my body was always trying to push and pull itself farther than it could with strength it never let me build up. And then when I got desperate enough to try and use the bands myself, well..."

Invisible knives shredding his muscles apart, his heart pounding and lungs squeezing air out to his last gasp while literally blinding pain wracked his tortured form. He could remember it as if it were yesterday.

"You've been filling out your leathers pretty well yourself, you know," Orion's fingers teased patterns into the ridges of Ilyanna's well-defined midriff as he murmured. "Not bad for a stubborn girl they practically had to drag kicking and screaming from her holos and books every time there was a mandatory session in the training grounds. You almost made me drop that thunderhoof's skull right on Grandmother's foot when we came back from my Trial and you pushed your way to the front of the crowd. Ancestors, can you even imagine how that would have gone over?"

 

[Xatarias]

"Pushing wrenches is it's own form of exercise you know," Ilyanna quipped back even as her distinctly feminine physique fluttered beneath your touch. "It's not like I didn't enjoy training. There were just far more pressing matters to occupy my time. As I recall, I never failed a preliminary when they allowed me to use my own modifications."

You distinctly remember the day younglings competed with bow, javelin, and archcaster. Technically Ilyanna had the highest score... Of course one blast of her souped up blaster hadn't left any targets for the remaining competitors to shoot at.

You mind was dragged firmly into the present as Ilyanna shifted against you, unconsciously grazing parts unmentioned.

"But a stubbed toe would be a fair recompense for everything she did to you. I know you'll never say a word against Tysera for making you into the man you are today, but... You have to realize you also lost something out here. I'm not saying you don't have a right to your own feelings, just that you didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. I see now that you couldn't live with yourself being a burden to others... It just took awhile for me to realize it."

She paused, as if hesitant to continue. For a few moments, your chest rises with the steady rhythm of Ilyanna's breathing.

"I was going to save you, you know. Or at least try anyway. The moment the trials started, I'd skip temple school, make my way through the Warrens and meet you outside. We'd wait it out in the safe house I'd been building down there... I wonder how much of it has gone to rust by now..."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion scoffed playfully at Ilyanna's claims about wrenches, but she had a fair point. Devin was living proof of just how sturdy one had to be if they wished to follow in the shamaness's footsteps. Dejectedly realizing that had been another nail in the coffin of a young Ry Ry's hope that the temple's entrance exams might have offered him some salvation.

"I'm still amazed some of the hunters give you lip after that. I know it was awhile ago and they haven't seen you in action like I have, but..." The blond's tone blurred the line between being serious and wistful as he shook his head. "Maybe it's for the best, though. You wouldn't have nearly as much time for your projects if every warrior in Skyhold was begging you to tune-up their runeblades and archcasters too. Ancestors, I'm kind of scared of what you might do with that blaster we took from those strangers!"

A grunt that Orion couldn't sure was inaudible given how close they were escaped Orion's lips as Ilyanna shifted against him. He shifted himself, subtly trying to his big head clear by keeping his little head out of "harm's" way. The last thing he needed, at least right now, was that not-so-little issue to make a mess of this all-important heart-to-heart.

Ilyanna's next choice of topic made that somewhat easier.

Orion was silent for a lengthy moment after the shamaness stopped speaking. His mouth opened and stayed that for several seconds more when the words escaped him at the last instant. "You...you were...You would have done that for me...?"

His breath caught in his throat and his gut felt lighter. Orion's arms tightened around Ilyanna, drawing her even closer again him-awkward stirring beneath his thighs be damned. She could feel warm yet trembling breath caressing her neck and face. "Ancestors...how the fuck did I take this long to just...talk to you about all this?"

He'd never really doubted the lengths Ilyanna would have gone through to save his life, but to hear her say that she would have been willing to live and likely die young as a clanless outsider just to protect him from an uncaring world even back then put it all in a new light. It was the difference between hearing the reverence most had for Tysera and actually seeing the living legend shred a depthmaw in seconds flat even as a retired elder.

"...You're not wrong," Orion's murmur was slow and cautious, as if he expected the angry specter of his mentor might spring out of the ground to punish him for his ingratitude at any moment. "I know why she did what she did. I didn't...I couldn't keep going if it meant knowing that you and my family were going to risk your lives and while I gave you nothing in return. It's just...it's this world..."

Orion closed his eyes and squeezed Ilyanna tight. His head nuzzled against her's.

"It doesn't let us keep the people and things we love unless they're strong and lucky enough to endure it. Grandmother didn't have a choice, but it...it hurt knowing that I just...wasn't good enough. If she couldn't have fixed my bands, then the rest of me wasn't worth saving in that pit..."

 

[Xatarias]

"You were a little busy reveling in your newfound awesomeness," She said coyly before giving a reflexive grimace. "And... Well I didn't exactly make it easy to talk. I was angry to tell you the truth. Not that you had lived, but that you were so ready to forgive the people who had treated you so unfairly. I had it in my head that as soon as I learned enough from the temple, that we'd run away from them. Their prejudices, their old way of doing things... I didn't give much thought to what we'd be leaving behind."

"You made me realize a pretty ugly part of myself," Ilyanna whispered almost too quietly for you to hear. "It took some time, but I realized that Tysera gave you something I never could. I could offer you a life apart, but she carved a place for you amongst it all. So you could shape the future..."

That profound thought is interrupted by a sharp elbow to your ribs. You squirm as Ilyanna rolls so she was face to face with her arms wrapped around your neck.

"I was also a little ticked when I heard about your other... Escapades. Tasha, Orion? Really?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion gently scoffed at Ilyanna's gentle reproach. She wasn't wrong, but there was a bit more to it than pure hedonism on his part.

"For what it's worth, I didn't forgive them. Not really, not entirely..." Orion exhaled a weary breath and shrugged. "Getting older just made me realize how many of them were probably celebrating at the thought of me dying as a cripple in the jungle. It would have left Tysera with only my mother to rely upon, unless Alec and Syndra turn out to be latent political geniuses. Anyway, I would have made a pretty poor deputy for Grandmother if I lashed out at anyone who didn't really ask for it when I was the shame of the clan..."

"...She did," Orion's sigh was content this time. "It was more painful than anything else I've ever gone through, and I pray I never have to do even half of what she put me through to someone I love, but...she did. I'll never forget it."

The swirling tide of mixed emotions left the proud warrior utterly vulnerable to Ilyanna's surprise two-pronged assault. Her elbow drew a startled and pained gasp from his lips while suddenly finding himself face-to-face with the Ily-quisition cut off any actual words he might have had on the subject.

"H-hey! She was nice to me when I was a scrawny rake, Sarisa too! She almost died in that trenchviper den we cleared out and I...promised to celebrate surviving that once she got out of the infirmary."

That probably wasn't going to placate Ilyanna. Orion tried to speak up before another elbow could be slammed into his gut.

"She wasn't you, neither was Sarissa, I know. It's just, after I came back...I wasn't sure where we stood. I thought...maybe we would just pick back up from when we were younglings, but we didn't. Something changed, but I missed...this," Orion's arms gently squeezed Ilyanna's body.

"I needed this. Having these moments with someone who cared, even if it was only for who I became after Grandmother was through with me. I wasn't sure if you'd ever...if we'd..." Orion sighed and grunted. "I'm sorry. I should have just spoken up sooner. Love bravely and all that..."

 

[Xatarias]

Iyanna's mouth quirked in bemusement even as her body was pressed to your own, fitting every plane of your physique like she was made for you. Eventually she lets out a little sigh and relaxes against you.

"I'm not putting you on trial, Ry Ry. Just letting you know how I felt. I realize I didn't make my position very clear, and we weren't talking much at the time but... Well, can you say you'd feel nothing but happiness if someone you wanted was with someone else?... A revolving door of someone elses? It kind of feels like whatever we might have... Well, it wouldn't be all that special to you. But I'm not going to harp on exclusivity. Hell, maybe if I'd experimented more, I'd be less nervous about... You know, when the time comes."

Even though the sun has all but set, you can still make out the glint of Ilyanna's naughty smile.

"Although I gotta say, it makes me happy to see you so wound up being this close. I guess some part of this special after all."

The words are jarringly sultry even if Ilyanna's blushing face somewhat countered their delivery. The buxom shamaness hesitates for amount before leaning in and gently brushing her lips against the sensitive skin between your shoulder and neck.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion had to resist a pleased shiver racing down his spine once he felt Ilyanna's body press fully against his own, face to face. He'd literally dreamed about this moment, and the reality exceeded all expectations. Her toned and sculpted form melding against his while she regarded him with an expression that was equal parts teasing and warm. It was all so...Ily.

"I thought about it..." Orion confess with a faint, if relieved, frown. "I'm not sure if I would've been happy. I might even have gotten upset, but I kept telling myself that it wouldn't be fair for me to...spend that kind of time with the huntresses and then turn around and get pissed if you did the same. That...that wasn't really the issue, though, was it?"

He let out another sigh despite the bemused smile tugging at his own lips. Ancestors, they really had been a pair of complete messes, hadn't they? It boggled the mind to think that two people who had been so close, shared so much, could possibly make these kinds of mistakes about each other. Yet here they were...tentatively triumphing in spite of it all.

"More than you know..." Orion purred back at Ilyanna, all but daring her to her to face him in this arena. He'd slain countless ravenous beasts and shared beds with more than his fair share of Skyhold's women. He could handle a little sultry play from the shamaness now that were no more questions about where they stood.

Then she pressed forward and let her lips linger on one of his more sensitive spots. Orion flinched and let out a barely-audible gasp as if he were a virgin all over again.

"...Okay, I guess this is more special to me than I knew either..." The warrior huffed before gently pressing his forehead against Ilyanna's. As the sun fully set upon them, he shut his eyes and concentrated entirely on the warmth of her body.

 

[Xatarias]

"Well that's good to know," Ilyanna murmured wryly, nuzzling against your cheek. Her hands lightly run along your ripped front, more exploratory than heated. Ever the mechanic, your childhood crush seemed eager to test the parameters of her newest find. Even if the action was purely diagnostic, of which you certainly had your doubts, those clever fingers were certainly making it difficult to get some shut eye!

Night sounds creep into your shelter as the nocturnal wildlife begins to stir. The whirr and whine of small flying creatures punctuate a background of chirps and forest songs. Distant rumbling signals the group of Iron hides you met earlier have decided to use the area to bed down. A swinging hammock suspended amongst the thorns of a bloodwillow was a far cry from the comfort of Skyhold, but there were still quiet moments in the jungle that held a certain beauty.

"I love you too, Orion."

It came as barely a whisper, and long after you had closed your eyes with Ilyanna curled against your chest. She must think you are asleep.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion's body shivered enticingly beneath Ilyanna's roaming hands he exhaled a breath that sounded distressingly close to an undignified mewl. It was hardly the first time a female companion of his had eagerly set about exploring how the most intense training imaginable and the years of hunting and record-breaking after that had sculpted his form. This was Ily, though! Her touch may not have been as immediately eager or lusty as the other women to share his bedding had been, but in a strange way that simply made every caress she graced his perfectly chiseled musculature with downright electrical. Even now that they'd confessed to each other, it seemed the shamaness was as content as ever to tease the mighty warrior into a squirming fit.

He couldn't say he minded.

A few of the noises echoing through the crisp night air prompted Orion to turn his head ever so slightly in their direction. Whatever dangers may have lurked beyond the wall of thorns around them, they were safe here. Not that it was easy to get that through to such deeply ingrained reflexes. Not while his beloved rested in his arms.

Orion said nothing and made no movements for a moment after Ilyanna spoke. His smile was shrouded in the darkness as he shifted ever so slightly in turn, just enough to nuzzle his beloved a little closer. Just this once, he would resist the urge to comment on Ilyanna's own nocturnal mutterings.

This night was theirs. Whatever trials and friendly but jabbing banter awaited them beyond the morning were a little later on.

 

[Xatarias]

Sleep comes easy and goes uninterrupted until the moons make their reappearance, reflecting enough solar energy for the temperature to rise and bring a new day. Light filters in between the woven vines of your shelter, casting you and your bed mate in crisscrossing shadows that seem to accentuate the intricate tattoos swirling on both your bodies. You watch as Ilyanna's taut belly rises and falls with each breath. Unconsciously registering your stirring, the sleepy beauty grumbles some sort of protest and snuggles closer into you.

An aching in your loins finally registers. The scent of Ily filling your head and her luscious body unashamedly pressed against you did nothing to quell your body's normal morning functions. The result was a raging hard on that robbed you of practical thought. The buzz of wanting pleasure tempts you to stay put and relish the situation.

"You're warm~"

Eloquence apparently wasn't the shamaness's forte early in the morning. She looks awfully content sidled next to you with her raven tresses flowing down her bare back. The swell of her firm buttocks cups naturally into your palm as she fidgets and lets out a big yawn.

"Looking at something, fearless leader?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Mmm..." Orion sleepily responded in kind when Ilyanna pressed her splendidly toned and chiseled form against his own. A hammock suspended within a bloodwillow was certainly no replacement for Firevein bedding, but he'd never felt warmer and more reluctant to force himself out of bed.

At least, until the inevitable happened. The natural firmness in his groin that came with nearly every morning, even when his dreams were nothing but pure and wholesome, had been an awkward but easily avoided issue whenever Ilyanna "helpfully" awoke him in the past. Now, however, there were no covers for him to exploit or reasons for Ilyanna to rush down to the Firevein family table. The hard evidence of his hard on straining against the cruel bonds that clothed it was perfectly plain to see...and feel.

Orion almost didn't care. Her warmth and scent kept the tension well out of his body. Her beautiful body melding perfectly against his own had been a dreamed of sensation for far too long for him to relinquish it so easily now that it was finally theirs to share.

"Mhmm..." The warrior merely grunted and nodded. Eloquence wasn't his forte this particular morning either. Certainly not with that much blood rushing down to his smaller head.

"Just the most beautiful, brilliant, and frustrating woman I've ever known," Orion stirred enough to offer Ilyanna a slight but very bemused smile. His hand remained firmly glued to her perfect derriere. They were going to have to get moving eventually, of course, and this wouldn't be the last time they would find themselves encamped without any of Skyholds woes or personalities to get in the way, but those rational parts of his mind could have died in a crypt worm cluster for all he cared. At least, for the next few minutes or so...