amellsinferno | In Another World | locked to apostate

"They're likely to head to Lothering," Cullen scowls, squeezing Nellie's hand then standing. He goes over to his tent to grab his armor, his weapons and his pack.

"Then we have to beat them to getting there," Solona says, dousing the fire and covering it with a fresh batch of earth. She keeps the pan and helps Anders put the tent back together.

Anders nods.

"They're likely going to search the surrounding area, then move to Redcliffe, since it's the closest town. Which is why we're avoiding it."

He's made that mistake before, and it shows on the frown on his face. He quickly packs up everything, before nodding at Cullen and Nellie.

"Ready on this end. You two ready to move?"

Cullen dismantles the tent and hands Nellie her pack. "Are we good?"

Nellie nods, gathering all her things into her bag.

"I'm ready. Let's move before somebody gets close."

Cullen nods. He leads the four of them out of the woods. They travel for a few hours before they finally reach the Imperial Highway. It was a good thing he could still recall the pathways and the area.

The highway towered over them, leaving Solona totally stunned at the sight. "Nel, do you even remember the highway being here? I think I was asleep for most of the ride to the Circle."

Nellie looks just as stunned as Solona, if not more so. She shakes her head quietly in response to her sister's question.

"If you were asleep, I was definitely asleep. Younger, remember? Maker, it's huge..."

"That's what she said, little sister," Solona winks and cackles before trekking along before the rest of them.

Cullen shakes his head. "Is she really always this childish?"

Anders laughs at Solona's comment, and Nellie just groans and rolls her eyes, nodding at Cullen.

"Yes. Yes, she is. Sister, that was unnecessary, we were sharing an important moment!"

"Lighten up! We're seeing the outside world for the first time in over a decade and I'd rather see it all with laughter sounding from my throat," Solona smirks, looking back at the rest of them.

Nellie pouts for a moment, before breaking out in a grin, laughing.

"Maker, I still can't believe we're actually outside!!"

"Right?" Solona laughs alongside her, unable to control her excitement. "With actual trees and rocks and Maker, even highways!"

Cullen could only smile watching the two girls giggle at almost everything. He decides to take up the lead, looking at Anders and telling him to keep watch at the back, for the two were just walking around looking at absolutely everything (He thinks it's a bit silly but he'll let them have their fun.), just basking in the sunlight and being completely distracted by their surroundings.

"Even highways! There was nothing like this back in Kirkwall...or was there? I can't really remember."

She giggles and walks alongside her sister. Anders nods at Cullen, taking up the back, just smiling and shaking his head. Girls.

"Nothing, Nel. Just a lot of stairs, if I remember correctly. Though I don't really know what's beyond Lowtown. Do you remember that place? The one with the big market?"

"I remember the market! It was huge, they had a lot of stalls there..."

She nods and grins.

"Can't remember much else about Lowtown, though. Just the market..."

"Well, maybe we'll get a chance to visit sometime. I expect we'll be travelling a lot anyhow." She turns to both Anders and Cullen-- since when was Anders walking behind them? "Right, boys?"

Cullen gives her a look. He wasn't too sure they would be able to make it to Kirkwall.

Nellie nods at that, smiling.

"I can't imagine we'll be able to do that immediately, but...well, I'd like to visit someday. I want to find out what happened to Mother."

Anders shrugs and nods.

"We could go someday, I guess. I don't remember you talking about Kirkwall a lot, Sol."

"I honestly don't remember much about it, Andy. I mostly remember just the estate and mother and grandfather but other than that, nothing much," Solona shrugs back.

"Kirkwall would probably be a bad idea," Cullen says. "Horrible place for mages. They lock them up in the Gallows, or so I've heard from the other templars."

"That's still more than a lot of people remember, Sol." Anders remembers more about his family than most, but he knew people who couldn't remember where they were from originally, who their parents were...it wasn't right.

Nellie nods quietly at Cullen, shuddering slightly.

"Yeah. Yeah, they do. It's...bad."

Cullen frowns at that. "Where do they keep the mages then? In cells?"

Nellie nods slightly.

"Not always, but mages end up there more often than not. If they're not there, we've got dormitories. They're a lot smaller than what the Tower has, and we all have to sleep in them--even the senior Enchanters. I think the only person who gets their own room is the First Enchanter."

And the templars, of course, but that goes without saying.

"When Solona and I first arrived at the Gallows, they had a new Knight Commander, and she was the one putting all of these big changes into effect. I don't know what it was like before that."

"That sounds like a horrible place to live in. I imagine the Circle was a breather after experiencing that," Cullen sighs, trailing behind to wrap an arm around Nellie's shoulder for a half-hug. He lets his arm linger there for a while before letting go, remembering that they couldn't risk being too conspicuous. "And this new Knight-Commander, I've heard of her. Meredith, I think her name is."

"That's her," Solona adds to the conversation. "I remember she had lovely hair. Ash blonde and fell down in waves."

"It was a lot better, all things considered."

Nellie sighs and leans on Cullen's arm for a moment before they both pull away, afraid of drawing attention.

Nellie nods in response to her sister.

"She had beautiful hair...and I remember that she was putting all these new rules in, but weirdly, despite everything, she was always sort of nice to us children..."

Anders scoffs at that. Somebody who locks up mages in cages can't be nice to mage children.

"What was that noise for?" Solona turns back to look at Anders, raising an eyebrow with a smirk playing at her mouth. "Don't believe a Knight-Commander can actually have some good in her heart?"

Anders just scoffs again.

"No, I can believe that a Knight-Commander can be a good person...I just find it difficult to believe a woman who locks mages in cages can be nice to mage children she'll probably start locking up when they get old enough."

Nellie sighs quietly.

"She was strict, but things were a bit rough in Kirkwall when she took over...I'm sure she's lightened up by now..."

"Well, then, it's a good thing Nellie and I didn't stick around long enough to find out how it would be like behind bars, right Nel?"

In Another World | locked to apostate_amell

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