That'll Be the Way Home (Closed with IrradiatedWarden)

[SensibleSidekick]

The road was a quiet one, something Alex had yet to get used to during all her travels. She was so used to the clanking of armor, the thump of iron-shod hooves in the dirt, wagon wheels crunching over stones, that to not hear it now as she made her way to Redcliffe on leave was almost unsettling. She even had her own gear muffled by the warm clothing she wore for the chill autumn day, leaving the road eerily silent. Having Ruffles by her side helped however, giving a padded echo to her footsteps as they traveled west together.


When his footsteps stopped, however, Alex turned to look at her companion, hand resting on the sword at her hip in preparation for an attack. Ruffles had a knack for sniffing out trouble before it hit, giving her plenty of time to prepare usually. The mabari stood stock still for a moment, ears perked up as his nose twitched in the air. Alex kept her own eyes peeled, looking for any threat that could be nearby. She looked back to her friend curiously when his stubby tail started to wag and he bolted off back the way they came.


Taken by surprise, Alex hesitated in chasing after him before going into a full sprint. Any order she called to him seemed to fall on deaf ears as he careened down the road again towards a faint image of a figure. The mabari was far faster than her with the advantage of four legs and the fact that her stride was small, and had reached the figure first. He jumped up at the figure, pawing at their leg and yipping happily at them.


"Ruffles, down boy!" Alex called as she got within earshot.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Basoren didn't know where he was going, not really. Denerim had been interesting, he had enjoyed wandering about the Wonders of Thedas for hours, walking around the market place as he ignored the questionable looks he was given and the way parents pulled their small humans away from him as though he were more of an animal than a person. He didn't mind. They didn't understand him just as he didn't understand them and he had become accustomed to the odd stares and provoking words. But now, out in the wilderness, he felt peace.


In a way, it was nice not knowing here his feet would lead him. He wasn't controlled by anything but himself, allowed to do as he wished whenever he wished to do it. That, he thought, was true freedom.


He walked as quietly as one his size could, his cloth shoes not doing much to protect his feet from the ground. He had purchased a cloak to help keep him warm now that the colder months had come upon them and it hid his form, likely making him seem more eerie than anything. Granted, with scars and horns it was hard to not seem eerie.


The sound of barking and someone yelling cut the silence and Basoren barely had time to gather his wits before a mabari was upon him. He had been prepared to attack, only stopping when he realized he knew the dog and the dog knew him. Freckles? No, Ruffles. That was right.


Kneeling down to better reach the animal, the Qunari scratched behind his ears, feeling a warmth echo behind his ribs. He was smiling.


When he heard Alex, he glanced up.


"And here I thought I would have to call for help after being attacked by such a ferocious beast."

 

[SensibleSidekick]

At the sight of Basoren Alex felt an odd sort of relief, one she didn't expect. Pushing the feeling aside, she laughed, "Ferocious beast, my ass. He's just a courtesan when it comes to head scratches." She leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Stupid dog was going to be the death of her yet.


Said stupid dog was now doing his best to get into Basoren's lap, nuzzling against his hand, giving happy whimpers at the affection. Yes he had missed tall ram man.


"What are you doing out here, anyway?" Alex asked after straightening again. She hadn't expected to see the Qunari here, of all places. "I thought you enjoying the sights in Denerim, or something." That was what he said he was doing, right? She had been so mixed up in getting everyone home safely, tending to her own wounds, and making sure their new charge was treated fairly throughout the journey she had sort of forgotten some of the things they had talked about.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

"I am walking, and I assume you are doing the same." He pulled Ruffles close, one arm loosely wrapped around him as the other hand continued slathering him with love.


"I did enjoy the sights in Denerim, and once the enjoyment vanished, I left. Large cities are not exactly places I like to be for extended periods of time." There were too many alleyways and dark corners for him to feel safe, too many walls closing him off to feel free. He liked wandering roads and small villages more. "But I assume you wish to know where I'm going? At the moment, Redcliffe."


He managed to pull his attention away from the dog, letting the beast go as he drew himself up to his feet once more.


"But what of you? It is odd seeing you without your platoon on your heels."

 

[SensibleSidekick]

Ruffles was a happy camper, padding circles around Basoren's legs before returning to Alex's side, panting with tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he watched the two converse.


"No, I'm flying, smartass," The insult was thrown with a smile. She usually held the really scathing insults for people she didn't like. The lighter ones were for friends and family. They were more like endearments than actual insults, with how she used them, really, and Basoren wasn't to be excluded from them. At the mention of his destination, her smile only grew. Finally, some company that would talk back to her, "No shit! Talk about coincidences, friend. My platoon is on leave, so I'm heading home for a bit, which happens to be Redcliffe." Her head tilted before continuing, "What's got your interest in Redcliffe? I guess the castle is kinda interesting to look at, and there's the lake too. Hinterlands are fairly pretty to look at, if nature's your thing too."


She took a breath to stop herself from talking. Why was she rambling so much? That wasn't like her.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

He listened patiently as she spoke, absorbing what information she gave him. She lived in Redcliffe? Odd. Basoren wasn't one to believe in fate, but them both heading towards the same place at the same time with no warning given to one another was almost too serendipitous. Not that he was going to complain. He had enjoyed Alex's company on the way to Denerim and he was sure he would enjoy it now.


"I would like to see the Hinterlands, I have been told the land is...peaceful." And with an area so vast, maybe he'd be okay there, maybe he'd be able to stay for longer than a few weeks. He paused in thought. "However, if we are traveling in the same direction, would you be opposed to traveling together?"


He asked to be polite rather than anything else. In his head, he didn't really think she'd say no.


Or, he hoped she wouldn't.

 

[SensibleSidekick]

"That's what I'd figured we'd do." She shrugged, no longer feeling the sharp pains of an arrow wound. She had healed up enough to travel on her own, though things were still certainly tender to the touch and she needed to be careful of how she moved. "It's a pretty nice place, gotta admit," She did love her home. Full of places to explore, lakes to play in, things to climb, farmers to help out young ones with finding work. It was a good place, one she was happy to help protect, in her own way. "There's a lot of interesting ruins to see and stuff out there too. And besides, you won't have to pay for room and board now." She smiled at this and began to walk again, taking a few side steps to make sure he followed before she turned around. Ruffles took off in front of them, snuffling the ground for danger, or perhaps just something to chase, "I got plenty of room at my place."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Her place.


Her home.


The idea of staying with her almost felt a little strange. He was used to inns, of having small rooms for the night when he was in town or sleeping out under the stars, in caves, wherever he could manage when he was on the road. It wasn't as though he needed much sleep. Truly, he could go days without it, but there was something comforting about the soft touch of the Fade, the few hours he had to escape reality.


"I have very little to store. I promise I will not take up much space."


Well, not with his belongings. With himself he couldn't much help that as hunching didn't really even seem to make things better.


"Have you always lived in Redcliffe?"

 

[SensibleSidekick]

"Born and raised there by Mum and Da," Alex with a glance up at him. She was used to people being taller than her. It came with the territory, really, but Maker this guy was tall, "Same with my brothers. Charlie is part of the militia there and Ethan works at the Inn. Oh, speaking of Inn stuff, you don't have to worry about taking up space. Though, uh, you might be a bit tall for some of the doorways, now that I think about it." He might be a bit big for the bed too. She'd have to think of a way to take care of that. "Hope you don't mind ducking your head too much." Having founds an interesting scent, the mabari had trotted a bit further ahead, tail wagging so quickly, it made his hind quarters go a bit off balance with the force of it.


"So, I'm guessing you don't have brothers and sisters, right? Because of the whole, um," she frowned, having difficulty remembering the words he had used before, "those teacher women you were raised by?"

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Her words were confusing to Basoren to say the very least. Lapsing into silence in order to parse out her words, the Tal-Vashoth continued on along side her with a slow, lumbering pace. If he moved any quicker he'd easily end up too far ahead. Mum and Da, brothers, the words would be difficult enough to understand even if he was speaking his first language. He lumped them all under the outsider concept of family and moved on, well, until she brought the conversation back around to it. He didn't mind so much, it was almost just nice to hear her talk.


"Tamassran." He offered the word though she truly didn't need to remember it.


"Brothers and sisters, siblings," he could remember that word at least, "they are...people born of the same individuals? If that is the case then yes, many breeders will give the Qun multiple children though the distinction is not made."

 

[SensibleSidekick]

Tamassran, teacher. It was close enough really. Or so it sounded like. Her face scrunched at his apparent confusion. She didn't think it was that difficult a concept, having siblings. Then again, what did she know? She's never known a world without her idea of family, so she was just as clueless as he was,"Yeah, they have the same parents, or uh, male and female they were born from," She was tripping over her explanation, unsure of what was common knowledge for Basoren and what wasn't. "So you don't know who you're related to then." It was more of statement than a question.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

"The Tamassran keep detailed records but, as a whole, no. There is no need to know such trivial things. The concept of family is replaced by the concept of the Qun, many individuals creating one body. Or... there was replaced, I suppose."


He frowned, making a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat before lapsing into a beat of silence. It was difficult both trying to understand the mindset of another culture while explaining his own, to remind himself that, really, that wasn't his culture any longer.


He didn't have one.


The Tal-Vashoth shook his head, brushing his hair back out of his face.


"Tell me, what makes someone family? Is it simple blood relation?"

 

[SensibleSidekick]

Alex was about to say yes, when her words caught for a moment, leaving her mouth to hang open until she remembered to close it. That was part of it, she supposed, but really, there was more to it than that, wasn't there? "In the most basic sense, I guess. But there's more than one way to be a family." But how could she explain that in a way he would understand? Blood relations already confused him. Brow furrowed, she racked her brain for a way to describe what she meant. "Well, what I mean is..." she sighed, not entirely sure where she was going with this. That was, until she thought of an example.


"Take me for instance. I have my blood relations, Mum, Da, Charles, and Ethan, but I also have Ruffles," who was now halfway into the ground digging at something as they walked passed, "I consider him family too. Same with my platoon. I love them all dearly, as block-headed as some of them can be, and would do anything for them. They are my family."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

She seemed to consider her answer and Basoren was willing to let her. Truth be told, he just wanted to hear what she had to say, she could tell him about the most mundane aspects of cleaning a sword and he would have listened with rapt attention.


Not that he'd admit that.


The answer was one he had to mull over, twisting his thoughts to try and truly grasp it. Ultimately, he could understand it on a psychological level rather than an emotional one. He considered it progress, though, as not even a few months ago he would have been fighting himself to even consider anything that existed outside of his teachings. The reigns of the Qun still bound him, but they were slipping.


"Family are people you would sacrifice for without thought, then; not because of obligation, but out of the desire to do so." He gave a single nod, looking away from her and down the path that was starting to clear. In the distance, he could hear the faint movement of water. "That is...nice."