On the main road, Arl Eamon of Redcliffe was traveling with his sort-of adopted son, Alistair. He was a twelve-year-old sullen boy with blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was angry that he was being sent away to the Chantry to become a Templar. Upon finding out that this news, he threw a horrible tantrum. He didn't want to go.

Arl Eamon tried to talk to to Alistair in an attempt to make some kind of conversation in hopes to cheer him up, but he just remained stubbornly silent, staring off out the window of the carriage. He refused to speak to him, let alone acknowledge his presence.

The Arl didn't want to send Alistair away, but what was he supposed to do? His marriage was already at stake with his new wife, Isolde. She didn't like that he had taken an interest in the boy. She accused him of cheating on her...and this was his bastard son. Arl assured her that Alistair was not his, but he made a promise to look after him. She was not moved at all.

It's me or the boy. Arl Eamon kept hearing from her.

"Let's stop here for a moment and rest," suggested Arl Eamon.

The soldiers and servants set up a camp just off the main road. They got a fire going and the servants cooked food for them. The Arl and Alistair sat in front of the fire on a blanket. The boy remained stubbornly silent, hugging his knees and looking down. The arl looked at the blond, frowny boy.

The silence between them was long and uncomfortable. Arl Eamon knew he had to talk to him like he always encouraged him to express his opinion or feelings. With an exhale, he began to break the ice.

"Alistair..."

Before the noble could even begin his sentence, the boy just got up from the blanket and stormed away. Arl Eamon frowned; he figured this was how he would react.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Away," Alistair snapped.

Arl Eamon assumed that he just wanted to be alone so he could collect his thoughts. Maybe he'd sulk there for a while.

Alistair went deep into the woods to relieve himself. He thought about running away. Where would he go? He didn't know. All these thoughts were tempting to him.

***

At twelve, you are being taught to survive while living in the forest at the Dalish camp. Since your childhood, you were taught that humans were bad and how they enslaved your ancestors. Yet you were a curious child, so desperate to know why they were bad. Often you wandered away from the Dalish camp to explore the forest, sometimes getting close to the roads to see humans. You wanted to see what they were like since it was rare for humans to pass through your camp...mostly you heard of the Grey Wardens passing by looking for recruits. Mostly, you would hear rumors about the hunters driving them away.

You decided to sneak out of the camp to see if there were any tonight. Luckily there was a group of them that pulled over to stop and rest. You kept your distance by hiding in the bushes so you could observe them. The group consisted of a few soldiers, some flat-ears that looked like servants, an older man dressed elegantly and a 12-year-old boy. You saw the human boy walking in the woods. He stopped behind some bushes, undoing his trousers and...

Oh!

Blushing, you looked away. You waited until he finished and wanted to get closer to see the human, staying hidden in the bushes. The boy muttered to himself angrily. Then he threw a tantrum, breaking some sticks nearby and throwing rocks (one barely missing you).

Alistair sighed, sitting down near a tree. He was beyond angry. He didn't understand why was Arl Eamon sending him away. He wondered if he did something wrong. Did the Arl hate him? Did he not want him anymore? He felt tears pricking his hazel eyes; he didn't want to cry, yet he was just so hurt. First it was being sent to sleep in the stables by the Arlessa and now he was being sent away forever. It wasn't fair!

His ears pricked up when he heard a snap of a dry twig to his right near the bushes. He looked around to see where it came from.

"Is someone there?" Alistair called.

You curse to yourself as you tried to be stealthy as possible while getting a closer look at the human boy. You had always tried to be silent especially while hunting, yet you were still clumsy. Your teachers assured you that you'd get it eventually. You stayed quiet, holding your breath so you wouldn't get caught. You hoped the boy would forget about it. You looked around and saw the boy was gone.

I should get back, you thought to yourself. Hahren will be especially angry if he finds out I wandered away from the camp again.

"Hello," said a voice behind you.

Startled, you whipped around and saw...the human boy! He was staring at you curiously. You were too scared to move.

Alistair had seen Elves before in Arl Eamon's castle as servants...but this one was different. Your (h/c) was too wild to be a city elf and your clothes looked like they were handmade from animal skins.

Swiftly, you took off running, your heart pounding wildly. Oh! If you were caught, who knows what Hahren would do? As if you were enough of a troublemaker already for wandering away from the camp. Hahren Paivel and the Keeper often scolded you for being a little hellion; making jokes during stories, playing pranks on the other children and so forth.

"HEY!" called Alistair. "Wait! Come back!"

You kept running and he ran after you. You tried to evade him, but he was pretty fast...and of course, you tripped over a branch. Creators above! You were nothing but an embarrassment to the Dalish tribe!

"Are you alright?" the human boy said, panting as he caught up to you.

You spoke in Elvish, pretending you didn't understand him. You'd hope this would make him leave you alone.

"Sorry, what did you say?" he asked with a frown.

You just remained silent, staring at the human boy. You had no idea how to handle this. If the scouts were here, they would've driven him off already. But you were miles from camp and had no weapons. Oh Creators above! You were in big trouble now!

"I'm not going to hurt you," he promised.

You blinked a few times, listening to him. You nodded and stood up, dusting yourself off. Then you look at the trail where you last ran, tracking the footsteps and disturbances of the forest floor. You were glad the hunters taught you this in case you got lost in the forest.

"What's your name?" asked Alistair.

"(y/n)," you replied.

"I'm Alistair."

You nod silently, trying to concentrate on the tracks so you could take the human back to his camp.

"Why are you here anyway?" asked Alistair. "I'm gonna guess you're a Dalish. I thought they stayed away from humans."

"I dunno," you replied with a shrug. "I want to see what they're like, I guess. I don't see anything bad about them."

Alistair chuckled a bit. "What do you mean 'bad'?"

"It's...not important," you said abruptly, not wanting to offend the human. "Besides, you need to get out of here before the scouts come this way. I'll take you back to your camp."

"I don't want to go back," said Alistair sulkily.

You raised your eyebrow a bit. What human wouldn't want to go back? This certainly odd. You glanced over towards the woods again, hoping the scouts wouldn't be heading this way. Creators above if they found out that you wandered away from camp, but were caught interacting with a human boy.

"Still, you can't be here," you said.

"Why not?"

"The scouts will kill you."

"Well, honestly, I don't care anymore," he said. "Nobody cares how I feel."

You frown at the boy's petulant stubbornness. Yet you wish you could understand how he felt. Sometimes you did feel like that, but you knew you had to follow traditions of the Dalish. After all, your adopted mother did love you. Yet you wondered what really happened to your parents, but the Dalish way was to not look back into the past. It was to keep moving forwards.

"Why?" you ask.

"My..." he began, rubbing the back of his neck, unsure of how to address the arl since he didn't want to confuse you. "My guardian is sending me away to the Chantry to become a templar, but I don't want to go."

"Why don't you want to become a templar?" you asked.

"It's not about that. It's the fact that my guardian is abandoning me. He won't tell me why. He just said..." Then mimicked Arl Eamon's voice. "'It's what's best for you'."

You weren't sure how to respond. "I'm...sorry?" you replied a bit awkward.

"You think I could come and live with you and your tribe?" asked Alistar; he really wanted some excitement.

"As much as the idea is tempting," you said. "But it's not a good one. My tribe won't hesitate to kill humans."

"Oh really?" Alistair challenged. "How come they don't kill Grey Wardens?"

"Because they are heroes," you said. "We respect them enough to allow them to visit. They only come to seek recruits anyway."

"Well then, I'll just have to become a Grey Warden and seek you out then," he replied with a smirk.

You roll your eyes at the blond boy's humor. "For you to become a Grey Warden would take you YEARS," you answer. "I doubt we'll see each other by then."

"Well, I won't forget you," said Alistair.

"Well, should I become a Grey Warden," you answer. "I'll pay you if I lose that wager."

"It's a bet, (y/n)." Upon arriving at his camp, he pouted a bit, looking there and at you. "Well, I suppose...see you in a few years then...if it does happen."

"Sure, Alistair," you said. "I'll have my bag of gold ready when the time comes."

You watched Alistair go back to his camp safely. You swiftly dashed away, hoping to be back to the camp before the scouts could find out, going back to the Dalish camp. You had a feeling you probably wouldn't be seeing the human boy named Alistair again.

...then again...who knows?