victory_road | [Entry 001?] -- Sevii Islands

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[Entry 001?] -- Sevii Islands

[The beast approached -- eyes the size of hands glittering menacingly at Hawke and her companions. Varric was through, but Stroud and the Inquisitor remained. The former, perhaps the last sane mind in the Wardens, would need to bring stability to the organization. The latter was the last hope that Thedas had.]

[And Hawke?]

[Hawke was a remnant of a bygone era. She'd failed a city, failed the people she cared for by letting it fall to ruin. The Templars had cast her from her home for aiding the mages, and the mages thought her solely responsible for what happened in Kirkwall. She had, after all, had a hand in its destruction. The city had taken everything from her: her mother, her people, her cause and eventually pushed her to drive a blade into the back of her lover.]

[It had been four years since she'd heard Anders say her name. Four years since she]

[Her best friend would miss her, of that she was sure. Relayed as much to the Inquisitor as he nodded his assent and began to charge toward the fade rift.]

[Drawing her staff, Hawke turned to the beast. Lightning crackled across her fingertips, flames built at the tip of the staff that had once been her father's.]

Sorry, Anders. [She wanted to believe that somewhere out there, he was listening. Heard her grief and would perhaps accept her with open arms when she slipped into whatever afterlife awaited her.]

[She charged forward, toward the clicking mandibles and murderous eyes of death itself. The rift nearby flashed twice, Stroud and Lavellan plunging through its shimmering surface. A jointed leg smashed down, knocking Hawke to the ground hard enough to hit her head. Her vision swam, barely processing another leg racing toward her chest with blazing speeds.]

[And then... Marian Hawke woke up.]

i. Closed to purramedic

[She rolled off of the cot with explosive force, crashing to the ground with a grunt before her hand flung out, searching frantically for her staff. Her surroundings made no sense, a bright floor and lights far too consistent to be firelight or veilfire.]

[Failing in finding her staff, Hawke leapt to her feet, fists out. Instead of finding a spider or demon awaiting her, she found the golden eyed stare of Anders. Beside him was a collection of creatures that -- ]

[The memories rushed back to her, of her adventures with Anders and their new pets -- Pokemon she recalled. She'd been here for five months, living in peace.]

[Living and married to Anders.]

[She sat back down, crushed by the weight of the memories. She'd admitted that she would have killed him, then promised that she wouldn't if she ever found herself back in Thedas. And yet...]

Anders...

ii. One Island, Beach. (Action)

[Hawke watched the surf intently, waves churning fitfully against the shoreline. One elbow was propped against her knee, holding her head up by the forehead. No longer did her eyes hold a mirthful sort of glimmer, her hair was no longer a perfect sheet of black. Instead, her gaze was dull and haunted, and her hair contained a silver streak.]

[The past four years had been agonizing.]

[Her fingers fidgeted with the ring on her left hand, and when she didn't stare at the water, she was focused on that.]

[She wasn't alone though. An Arcanine curled around her, licking her knee with and looking something akin to a kicked puppy. Beside her, a Granbull troubled with both her paws and her dress, looking between the woman, the ring and the surf, but making no sound.]

iii. Video

[After awhile, she clicked her Pokegear on, revealing the raven-haired woman (plus her blighted gray streak) rather unceremoniously. Those familiar with her would note how exceptional that was -- considering she was the woman who had once introduced herself while harassing her Doublades in an attempt at pretending to be an infamous admiral.]

[She lifted a hand, now bare of the ring, in a silent greeting.]

I did some pouring through the feed. It seems that my abrupt departure from this land had some of you worried. Fear not, your hero has arrived. [Though the words were perhaps familiar, the way they were spoken was halfhearted almost.]

I do... have a question. Since it is no secret that I have gone home and come back I was... wondering how one dealt with reintegration. [She closed her eyes.] I have spent the past four years living without Anders. It is hard to grasp the fact that he is now alive.

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....okay.

Kinda sounds pretty heavy.

[And serious. Neither of which are things Jack would apply to whatever the hell it is they do. If she plans on giving him the 'it's been four years, I barely remember you' speech, she can spare him.]

Usual place?

Does it? [Her tone was kept even, maybe even flat. She shrugged into the camera, while her expression screwed up into something thoughtful. Jack... would probably be disappointed by the talk to come, but at least it wouldn't have anything to do with her memories.]

The hotel, correct?

It's the fancied up version of 'we need to talk', of course it does.

Yeah. When you wanna meet up?

When are you free? I would rather have this discussion sooner, as opposed to later.

Like 'asap' soon, or...? I mean, should I be getting my boots on?

[What the shit?]

Just be there in an hour, Jack. [Spoken almost harshly. Almost.]

Fine, fine, see ya in an hour.

[It's not like he's running a business or anything, sure, he'll drop what he's doing and run right over!]

[Except yeah, he will. Because Something's Up. And either he's losing it, or she got even hotter while she was back home. This is either going to be the least or most fun he's had with Hawke in a hotel room. Plus he just wants to know what the hell is up.]

[So he does put his boots on, and his jacket. What the hell does she wanna talk about? He figures either she's dumping him, or wants more. Not that he blames her, but...he's got a boyfriend. This is just a friends who bang kinda thing. And if he's gotta make a choice between being something serious with her or Felix...]

[He doesn't even really need to think about it. Hawke's hot, and she's fun, but that's what it boils down to. He has fun with her, he likes her, but he doesn't turn to her when he's bored. He doesn't get grumbly and grumpy when she's not around. He doesn't think of her the minute something funny or cool or stupid happens that he just has to share with somebody. He didn't buy her a ski lodge.]

[He hopes they can get this over with quickly. He struts into the lobby of the hotel, hands in his pockets, scanning the lobby for her.]

[This time, there's no flirtatious pictures to preempt her arrival. She comes dressed in her usual, veteran attire, no extra, exaggerated cleavage or anything that might have indicated that this was strictly for play. She regarded him with a cool glance over her shoulder, then nodded toward the elevator.]

[She might have had a job to do, but she still bore at least a little bit of residual respect for him to not have it out in the middle of a hotel lobby. At least, not until she had a solid answer from him.]

[It wasn't until they were both in the seclusion of the small, rising chamber that she spoke to him. She kept her voice even, the way one might regard the weather, rather than the fact that she hadn't seen him in four years.]

I would say it's been awhile, but I get I suppose for you, it hasn't.

No, not really. You've...clearly been through some shit.

[Oh yeah, Jack's on edge. This is Different, she's being all different with him. He doesn't like this, doesn't like that he can't read her the way he could. The whole vibe's off.]

Sorry about your husband. In the future. Or...whatever. I dunno how all that shit works.

[Though that's probably adding to all of Hawke's weirdness. Jack can get that. Having dead people back...it messes a brain up.]

[His words earned a sharp, bitter laugh from the woman.]

We were first pulled from just a few minutes before I killed him. [She shook her head.] We knew it was coming, but I was stupid enough to believe I might have been able to make a difference. Might have been able to save him.

[But she hadn't. And around her, Thedas began crumble. Anders had gotten his war, and with it came the chance of losing it all. In the end, Varric had been right. Getting involved with the possessed mage was dangerous.]

I'm not here to wax poetic about what I've lost though, Jack.

...You guys got a complicated relationship, huh?

[That sucks. Not the relationship, the whole killing him thing. Jack doesn't have any strong feelings about the guy, but it tends to suck when you kill somebody you like. He gets it happens, hell, he's had to do it plenty of times. And okay, sometimes it's fun. Depending. He doesn't think this falls into that category.]

Look, I dunno what the hell it's worth coming from the guy you used to screw in another life, but...you get here. It's a stupid place and I think it's gonna drive me completely nuts half the time, but...more time with people who don't get it any other way's pretty cool.

So, uh...what is it that's so important we had to meet up and talk it out right now?

[Hawke said nothing in regards to his first point. At a later date, she might perhaps consider his words further. In the present, though, she simply gave a short nod, less to agree with him, and more to move the conversation along.]

[His question, on the other hand, would have to hang in the air, long enough for Hawke to leave the elevator and make her way to their room. She remembered the first time they'd come here, in another room in another suite. She wished it could be so easy, wish she could have simply fucked the guilt and sorrow away.]

[She'd been right all along. Growing up did suck.]

I was hoping you might answer a question. [Rather than sit on the bed and give him the wrong idea, she leaned against the wall, gaze locked on his]

What happened to your daughter?

Uh...what?

[When Hawke finally talks, Jack's thrown for a loop. What the hell did Angel have to do with any of this? Why was Hawke asking about her?]

I mean, I heard ya, that's just...a really random thing to ask. Or to go all mysterious spy mode over. Jeeze. And as far as I know, nothing, she's living it up over in Ecruteak with the people she hangs out with.

[Because the question doesn't have any context at all, Jack doesn't immediately leap to the assumption Hawke's asking about the shit that went down back home. But he remembers that her husband and Angel know each other. Huh.]

If you're asking about why she lived such a sheltered life before she came here... [Jack clicks his tongue and leans against the wall, next to the door.] I don't talk about that too much with too many people. It's not a nice story. And I don't really think it's too cool to talk about my kid behind her back.

[Hawke looked unconvinced. How many men had lied through their teeth before her. The truth usually tended to come out eventually, but with her only weaponry in this world being a sentient pair of blades, the usual method of extracting it was somewhat out of the rules of this particular game.]

[Lolling her head back, Hawke drummed her fingers against the wall behind her. Her foot tapped idly, any way to show that she absolutely wasn't here for whatever bullshit story Jack had to tell. From what she had gathered, that wasn't nearly the truth.]

[Even if he was admitting to having done something wrong.]

And I'm supposing that the rumors of her death were greatly exaggerated?

[At that, Jack's face changes. There's something in his eyes, a flash before he looks away so she can't see. Something honest and real and pained. With Angel here, alive and well, it was easy to not think about what happened. To push it away and focus on the here and now.]

[He shook his head.]

No. She uh...it happened. I...I couldn't stop it. [He fidgets with his pocket chain, not looking at Hawke. He hates talking about this stuff. It's private. It's between him and Angel. And inevitably it means having to bring up other stuff he hates talking about it. He doesn't even talk about this stuff with Felix.]

Look, the whole thing's complicated and personal and I dunno what you've heard, but whatever mistakes were made, whatever shit happened...I love my daughter more than anything, and we're working things out. Whatever the hell you think of me as a father...this is fact. Angel has made certain requests of me here, and I'm following every one of'em. We're working on stuff, and we're doing pretty good right now.

[As far as Jack knows.]

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[Entry 001?] -- Sevii Islands

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Video -> Action

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