amellsinferno | In Another World | locked to apostate

Anders smiles and releases a small wave of mana at the end of the tunnel, much like he did on the wall in the library. The wall moves away, revealing the exit to be a tree near Lake Callenhad...right near a bush where a boat is hidden.

"Ta daaah!"

It takes all of Nellie's willpower not to break down in giggles and run around then and there. She hasn't been free of the Circle since she was 4...

The wave of fresh air that suddenly hits Solona's face makes her grin so much that it almost started to hurt. Wonderful, tree-scented, unstuffy, fresh air! She inhales deeply as she steps out of the tunnel, letting it all sink in. She sees the look on Nellie's face and she grins even wider, feeling a few tears forming in her eyes.

Cullen feels the same. Seeing the look of joy on Nellie's face fills him with warmth all over. Suddenly all the doubt he had of Anders' little escape plan washes away.

Until: "The boat," Cullen realizes. "Templars patrol the lake, Anders. How do we get the boat across without being spotted?"

Nellie doesn't really hear Cullen's question right away, she's just looking around, eyes wide. Everything is different...well, duh, this isn't Kirkwall, and she's not a little girl anymore, but it's all so wonderful. She'd forgotten what it was like to be out of the Tower...

Anders frowns at the question. Good point.

"Well, we can either risk the boat, or use it as a decoy and walk."

Cullen frowns as well. "Risky either way. Templars patrol the bridge every now and then and, you forget, the bridge is broken."

Solona smiles at Nellie and as much as she'd like to join her in staring awestruck at her surroundings, Cullen had a point.

"I have an idea," Solona says. "It's actually a pretty stupid idea, but it might work. Why not row the boat underneath the bridge and then just swim towards the forest once we dock?"

Nellie is listening, and she's actually stopped her awestruck starings to listen, and she nods at her sister's idea. It's actually a pretty good one. Anders seems to agree.

"Solona, that's brilliant! Cullen, you're not exactly in a position to swim with the armor and everything, so you could man the boat. A templar in a boat on the lake? It'd look like you were doing patrols. You could row around and meet us once we get across the water."

Solona beams, glad she could be of help.

Cullen however gulps. It was a good idea, yes. But then again, ultimately risky as well. Also, it would have to involve Nellie swimming. In the dead of night. In the cold waters of Lake Calenhad.

"I don't want you to swim all the way across the lake," he says turning to Nellie.

Nellie fights off the urge to pout, but he's probably got a point. She's not the strongest swimmer in the world...Anders's first escape attempt had ended up with swimming lessons being permanently cancelled, and that was ages ago.

She sighs. Cullen is right.

"Okay. So, Sol and Anders will swim on ahead and get to the other side...that's the plan, right?"

Anders nods, frowning slightly. He thought Nellie would be coming with them, but whatever.

Solona nods. "That sounds like a better idea. I don't exactly like the idea of you swimming across that, Nel." She gestures towards the lake. She's had enough swimming lessons to know the basics, thankfully. And maybe she could do something about the water temperature too.

"That sounds about right," Cullen says triumphantly. He makes his way towards the boat and tugs on it. It lands in the water with a faint splash. "Nellie, I suggest you lay down. I'll cover you with the packs and a few robes just in case."

"Well, if they stopped dumping potions into the lake, it wouldn't be as intimidating...!"

She shrugs and nods at Cullen, smiling at him and nodding.

"Aye aye, captain!"

She giggles a little bit before getting in the boat, lying down. It's not comfortable, but it'll work.

Anders turns to Solona and nods.

"C'mon, Sol, we'd better get going too."

Solona smirks as she watches Cullen set everything up, trying his best to position all their things in a way that would make Nellie comfortable. Then she smiles. Her sister was in good hands. Unlike Anders, she trusted some templars. There were some that were good to her and the other mages.

Once Nellie's inside the boat with Cullen, she nods at the two of them and Cullen pushes the boat towards the base of the bridge which was around a few meters away from where they stood.

"Alight, Anders, let's get a'walking," she says, working herself into a jog (as a warm up) as the two of them make their way towards the bridge as well.

Well, Anders would be more inclined to trust templars if the majority of templars he'd known in his life hadn't abused him and treated him like shit. But that's a bit too heavy for him to think about now, not when things were going so well...

He nods at Sol.

"Let's!"

They both go towards the bridge together, walking at a relatively fast pace. That water is gonna be cold...

Solona exhales and a cloud of white smoke escapes her mouth. She hadn't noticed it was that cold out. It was a good idea to leave Nellie with Cullen. She hopes her plan would work once she got into the water.

Slowly, she strips of her robes and leaves them on the shore where hopefully Cullen would take notice and keep it in the boat when they arrived. The cold air left goosebumps all over her skin.

"I'm definitely not excited for this," she grimaces as she tests the waters with her foot. It was freezing. She rubs her hands together and exhales, another cloud of smoke, as she slowly entered the lake. She shivers but then releases a surge of mana that manipulates the water, heating a good ten foot radius around her up. She sighs in relief. Good to know it worked.

"You coming, Anders?" she asks, stepping deeper into the lake.

"I've done it before. It's not so bad. Besides, you've got the right idea, heating the water."

He nods and follows her into the lake, releasing his mana and manipulating the water around him, warming it up.

Still, he shudders.

"Can't say I'm a big fan of water..."

"Me neither," she offers with a smile, swimming closer to him. "It might be smarter if we conserve mana, yes? Let's take turns. I can heat things up better than you can anyway."

"Smart. All the supplies are on the boat, anyway."

He turns down his heating and just lets her do her work.

"Just tell me when you need a break."

And with that, the two of them are off.

Cullen watches the two of them go off into the water. It was quite bold of them both to brave the waters like they did. He stops the boat right by the base of the bridge and notices they left their robes. They're swimming in their smalls? Makers' breath! They were bold!

He sets the robes inside the boat and looks at Nellie who looked quite snug despite the awkward position. "Are you alright in there?" he asks as he climbs into the boat. Thankfully, it was big enough for the both of them.

Nellie pokes her head out from under her covering, smiling and nodding.

"All things considered, this is actually pretty comfortable. How are they doing?"

Cullen looks out at the two of them swimming. They were making good time, considering all the factors against them.

"They're swimming naked. In the cold." He answers simply, taking the oars and taking the boat out into the lake. He's pretty strong too. He and Nellie make good time as well.

"They must be doing something to keep the water from freezing them..."

Nellie just sighs and rolls her eyes. They would go swimming naked.

"We should probably hurry up, then...do you need help?"

"Can they do that?" Cullen raises his eyebrow. Despite being around mages for so long, he never really paid attention to what they could do outside healing and offensive spells.

"It's alright, Nel," he smiles at her. "I can handle this. Besides, I think I quite like this angle of you." Because Maker, did she look adorable all snuggled up like that.

"It just a release and manipulation of mana, it's not too difficult...Solona's especially good at it."

She giggles and blushes at him, smiling.

"Aw, thank you! If you change your mind, though, I'm here."

"Sometimes I forget how powerful you three are," he smirks, shaking his head. He's flattered by the offer but he'd much rather she not exert herself too much. Cullen smiles at Nellie as he rows. "Don't worry about it, love. I'm doing fine."

Solona, however, is not. She hasn't stepped into water in a very long time and concentrating on her mana and at the same time her stamina was beginning to take a toll on her strength.

"A-anders..." she pants, slowing down and choosing to stay afloat on her back for a while. She looks out into the lake and they've only just made it past half-way. "A-anders," she calls out again weakly, "I think you're going to have to take over for a while..."

Anders is worried about Solona, and he nods, taking over on maintaining the mana. He's a stronger swimmer than she is too, which probably helps.

"It's okay, Sol, I'm here, I got it..."

He's worried. She's not doing so well...

"Here, do you need help?"

She grimaces. Solona has a few pride issues but she knows when she needs the help.

"Please?"

Anders nods, swimming over to her, letting the warm water surround her, before he gives her an arm.

"Here, just hold on to me."

In Another World | locked to apostate_amell

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