Chapter Text
9:30 - Around Lothering
Ymlaïs began to get rid of her armor and once naked, untied the braid that held her hair.
Climbing on a small rock, she delicately let one of her feet slip into the water. This one was fresh and brought up a wave of cold throughout her body, causing all her hair to rise up along her arms and the tip of her breasts. She brought her foot up, took her momentum and dove into the lake.
She swam for a few moments. It reminded her of teenage memories when she and her friends went swimming in the pools at the foot of the forest waterfalls. It seemed so far away now. Everything had happened so fast since she left her clan with Duncan. The hunt in the Korcari wilds, the massacre of Ostagar, Lothering and its lot of outlaws and bandits. In the surrounding silence, she enjoyed her first true moment of peace in a long time.
Her thoughts returned to the small village they had left behind. She had never seen a shemlen village before. She found the place noisy and dirty. But what struck her the most was the individualism of humans. Many of them were clearly acting in their own interest without concern for the good of the community. There seemed to be great differences in lifestyle between people depending on their place in society.
Within her clan, she had learned to share resources equitably among all members, and everyone, regardless of status, lived in a manner similar to others. Only the material needs necessary for each person’s role within the group differed. Never would the members of her clan have left one of their members reduced to begging or starving.
She let herself sink into the water, her long fiery hair drawing a moving halo around her head. She did not understand the shemlens but she had also been fascinated by their culture: its huge stone buildings, clothes, food. At the inn, she had slept on a mattress for the first time in her life: it was a real delight. She had often wondered what existed outside the boundaries of her clan, but her imagination had always been confined to the culture of her people. She slowly realized how vast and varied the world was. They were now heading for Redcliffe. Alistair had told her a little about his childhood there. She would see an even bigger village, and a castle.
Taking momentum at the bottom of the lake, she rose to the surface and let herself go on her back. Lengthening her legs and arms in the shape of a star, she let herself float while observing the sky, enjoying the gentle rocking of the waves on her skin. She had also been touched by the distress of all these people. Elves, humans, dwarves, the Blight threatened everyone in the same way and whatever their size or the shape of their ears, people would all suffer from it: they would lose loved ones, know fear, hunger and pain. To see these waves of refugees piling up in despair at the gates of the village, to see their faces marked by fear had made the threat of the Blight as real as the presence of the darkspawns.
Being a grey warden meant that now she was fighting for everyone. She was at peace with that idea. She regretted that her people were forced to flee any other form of civilization. She was convinced that the dalish would have much to offer to the rest of the world… But would the world have much to offer to her people? She realized that she was now this dalish seed planted in human soil.
The absence of movement accentuated the sensation of cold caused by the water and Ymlaïs left the lake regretfully before being frozen. She grabbed the handful of plants she had picked along the way and rubbed her body with it. The plant released a frothy juice, like soap. She rinsed herself by picking up the water from her hands and then dried her hair before tying it and began to dry herself with the little blanket she had taken with her. She now felt lighter (body and mind), invigorated and clean of course, a sensation almost forgotten in recent days. Once dry, she looked at her armour still full of dried blood and undertook to wash it too. Not eager to put back the wet leather on her, she simply put on the sleeveless shirt and the tanned skin pants that she wore under her armour, whistled Fallon and Halani who stood guard and left for the camp.