amellsinferno | In Another World | locked to apostate

"Don't get your hopes up," Cullen says. "We've still more ground to cover and we still need our rest." He doesn't like to dampen their spirits but it was the truth.

Anders groans and rolls his eyes.

"Do you always have to be a buzzkill, Cullen? Okay, yeah, maybe it'll take 2 days. But we just need to move for as long as possible, then we can rest after it gets dark."

Nellie doesn't say anything, just fiddling with her bag a bit.

"Where are we going to camp tonight?"

"There's a small village, not too far off from here," Cullen says. "I'm not sure about the amount of supplies we'll be able to get, considering the size of the town but hopefully there will be a good household willing to take a few Chantry folk in."

Solona grins. "Ah, if only they knew who we really are. Circle escapees on the run. Three mages and a templar. Who would have thought?"

Nellie smiles and laughs at Solona's comment.

"I can get the supplies while you guys get shelter set up. I know we don't have much money, but we don't need to get much, right? We're only a few days away from Lothering, so we just need enough to get us through until then..."

"We'll need to stock up on some clean water. And maybe a bit more bacon." Solona makes a list in her head of things they might possibly need. "And maybe some blankets. The nights are a bit chilly, don't you all think?"

Cullen nods. "Blankets would do us wonders. How much money do we have exactly?"

Anders thinks for a moment.

"I know I've got maybe one or 2 sovereigns, some coppers...maybe a silver or two...that's it, though. It's all I've been able to save up and keep with me."

He frowns.

"If we need to, we could always try to barter or sell something...we need blankets, water, bacon, maybe soap..."

Nellie stops and looks through her bag. She's got a little money...

"Uh...I've got a few coins well, but not much."

"I have a good amount of silvers from doing random chores for the quartermaster and for extra days on kitchen duty," Solona says. "And soap sounds like an excellent idea right now."

Cullen takes out a pouch from his pocket and hands it to Solona. "At least one of us gets a regular stipend from his work," he says nonchalantly. "You can count if you wish." He maybe was a bit proud by the amount he'd managed to save.

Solona looks through the pouch and Maker, she's never seen that much coin in her life! "Cullen! I can count maybe forty sovereigns in here!" She's surprised he's even willing to spend this amount throughout their trip. "This must be your life savings or something!"

Cullen just shrugs it off. "We can easily earn the amount back once we're settled somewhere."

Nellie peeks over Sol's shoulder, eyes widening at Cullen's stipend. She's never seen so much money in her life...! Not that she can remember, anyway...

"Maker, Cullen...that's enough to get us through this! We need to save this! We can use some of our other savings to get supplies, but we're going to need this to get settled..."

She grins at him.

"What other supplies do we need, anyway?"

"Maker, with this amount, we can probably get our own staves or something!" Solona squeaks with glee.

Cullen glares at her. "Are you sure you want to risk that?"

"It was just a thought," Solona glares back at him.

Nellie laughs.

"Let's wait till we're settled to get staves, okay sister?"

Anders chuckles.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Nels here, Sol. Sorry. We should get a list together of things we need, then we can send Nels into town to get things."

He goes into his bag, gets out a piece of paper and a pencil.

"We need soap, blankets, water, more bacon...what else..."

"New clothes," Cullen says. "Undoubtedly they'll notice that I too am missing and send word to other towns that the three mages are travelling with a templar." He then realizes that maybe even new armor would be needed. Not just for him but for all of them. And weapons too. If they were to run into templars, they needed to be able to defend themselves without magic. "Add armor and weapons into the list as well."

"How much is armor and weapons? And...well, if I'm going to be doing the shopping, wouldn't it look odd if a Sister was buying those things...?"

Nellie frowns. She was the most inconspicuous, but...

"We can save the weapons and armor for later, right, Cullen?" Solona gives him a look. "I think we'll need to be dressed a bit more like civilians to purchase that kind of equipment. We should buy normal clothes first."

"I can get normal clothes for us!"

Nellie just wants to help so badly, and it shows.

"If I'm lucky, I can get us some other foods for tonight...the bacon will last a while, but we can't just eat that for 2 days."

"Why don't I come along with you when we go shopping for food, yes?"

"Okay!"

Nellie nods enthusiastically. She likes spending time with her sister, and this way, they both feel like they're actually doing something...

"These 2 can set up things, we'll do the important stuff...you just want to come along because you don't like my taste in food."

"Not at all, Nel. You may be excellent at herbs but sometimes you come up with strange new recipes that I don't think I'm adventurous enough to try out now," Solona chuckles.

"I think it would be a better idea to take Solona with you, Nel," Cullen can't help but chuckle as well. "Anders can come with me to help find suitable accommodations for the night."

The village was within sight, rooftops peaking over the horizon.

"There it is," Cullen announces.

Anders nods, moving to pat Cullen on the shoulder.

"Me and metalpants over here will get us a nice place to stay. Sol, you'll make sure Nellie doesn't accidentally poison us all, and Nellie, you'll make sure Sol doesn't murder any obnoxious shopkeepers."

Nellie shoots Anders a look at his comments, and he just grins sheepishly.

"It's true what Sol says, and you know it."

Nellie just rolls her eyes.
"Only because I never got taught properly, okay? Jeez..."

"Metalpants?" Cullen shoots Anders a death glare. Solona however bursts out into complete laughter. "You've outdone yourself, Andy!" she says in-between trying to calm herself down.

Cullen brushes Anders' hand away and proceeds to walk faster, honestly annoyed at his new nickname.

"I'll try my best not to murder anyone, promise," Solona chuckles, walking alongside her sister and giving her a pat on the back. "I can teach you now, if you'd like. The first step is coming along with me for food shopping."

Nellie can't help but laugh at Anders new nickname for Cullen, shooting him a small, apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Cullen...you have to admit it is sort of funny..."

And then she just nods to her sister.

"I'd like that. C'mon, let's get started and leave these two to kill each other in peace."

Cullen catches Nellie's look and sighs. "I'm never going to hear the end of this, aren't I?" he groans.

Solona giggles again and moves her arm to interlock it with Nellie's. "Agreed. Let's go shop for some supplies then."

The four of them enter the small village catching a few curious looks.

Nellie smiles at Cullen. "Probably not, love. Sorry."

And then she and Solona go off to get supplies. Nellie makes sure to put her best pious sister face on. They've got to look and act the part...make sure nobody catches on. She's read the Chant of Light a few times, and has some bits of it memorized...so they should be okay. Hopefully.

Cullen marches off, trying to forget that he was stuck with Anders for probably the whole afternoon in search for lodgings. He figures that he might as well try to strike some friendly-- if not, civil conversation with him.

"Do you think they would have a tavern here?"

Anders shrugs.

"Probably. They're usually attached to the inns in places like this...Maker, I could use a drink."

He's not exactly the best at acting like a good Chantry brother...but Cullen makes up for that.

Meanwhile, Nellie and Solona are doing fine as far as blending in goes.

"I don't think that would be a very wise choice wearing those robes," Cullen replies with a slight groan. It was going to be a long afternoon.

The market however was not so far from the village gates.

"Sister Helen," Solona calls out to Nellie, using her full name as a disguise, as they both planned on their way to the market. "You have to come over here!"

In Another World | locked to apostate_amell

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