A Sith & A Mage & Hijinks...

[kallig]

It had been a week now since that day they had decided to start traveling together.

It had been nice- traveling alongside someone else, having stories shared with him and even sharing some very heavily edited ones of his own given that edited stories were all he could offer without sounding completely off in the head. It had also been difficult given that Altair had to be very careful to not let even a slip of skin show. Wandering off on his own during times Anders was otherwise occupied to clean himself or to eat or drink.

Still, Altair preferred it to traveling alone- even if he had found a lot of ghosts along the way to talk to. Having a friend among the living was nice too.

As they traveled on this particular day, the light was quickly being replaced with the darkness of night.

Some old and unused path through a forest, that had once been a well-traveled road if the old rock fence he was currently keeping his balance on as he walked along the top of it rather than on the path through the trees was anything to go by- maybe the place had been settled some time ago. Maybe people had lived out here. It seemed likely, all things considered. Maybe they'd find something neat if they kept walking in this direction.

Who knew.

He wasn't so focused on that at the moment though, instead keeping his head tilted back so his face was turned up to the sky- knowing that the stars would be starting to come out soon.

"Do you ever wonder if there's life out there?" He asked his companion, breaking the comfortable silence they'd been traveling in for a little while.

It was a question that had been on his mind, all things considered.

Maybe there was a similar Empire to his own out there. Maybe a Galactic Republic or something like it. Or perhaps all the worlds out there were like this one- still so early in their development.

Altair wondered if this planet had even gotten to the part of history where they were wondering or theorizing about whether or not there was life out in space too. Maybe he was sounding completely insane to Anders by asking.

But then, a lot of things Altair had said and done since they first met probably seemed completely insane, so it really was business as usual.

Comments

[rebelhealer]

Anders wondered if this was an old merchants' trail, or an Orlesian path from back when they ruled Ferelden. It wasn't a Dalish path, since they preferred to travel along the plains or through the woods in their landships. They had to be close to the Brecilian Forest, or possibly Amaranthine. Anders had seen a sign a ways back that pointed them towards Crestwood.

During their travels, he'd told Altair of his adventures. The Wending Woods, the Deep Roads, Kirkwall, and even some of his escapes from the Circle.

He looked up at the stars. "You know, I never thought about it."

[kallig]

Altair placed his foot on an uneven rock as he wandered atop the stone fence, feeling it slightly give beneath his weight as he stepped over it, making him wobble slightly though not lose his footing, despite the fact that he was looking up at the sky. If he was concerned about falling, there was no indication of it.

"I think there is."

Maybe he should try to bring a ship through if he went back to his own world and then returned here at a later date. Though he imagined that a lot of people would think the end times had come even from seeing a ship as small as the Fury sail through the skies. Altair imagined that magic could advance technology in this world, but all things considered, that sort of advancement seemed a long ways off.

Regrettably.

"If the sun is a star, and the sky is filled with stars so far away that they're pinpricks against the darkness of night, then it stands to reason that there are planets out there just far enough away from their own sun- or suns- to be suited for life as we know it."

He hummed thoughtfully, "It's only logical, isn't it? Or perhaps it's life as we don't know it."

In his own galaxy there were plenty of species who had evolved perfectly for environments that most near-humans couldn't handle, after all. It was interesting to think about- especially since this world had species that Altair had never heard about back in his own.

Humans seemed to be inevitable, though.

[rebelhealer]

"You really think so?" He almost tripped on a rock and looked ahead once more, but still glanced up at the sky once in a while. "You think that each of those stars out there has its own Thedas, teeming with life?"

It sounded ridiculous. The Chantry taught that there was just the world of mortals, Thedas, and the world of spirits and demons, the Fade, with nothing beyond that. The very idea that there were other mortal worlds out there, that there was life among the stars, seemed blasphemous. Like such a thing went against the will of the Maker.

[kallig]

"I doubt it would be all of them," Altair said, thoughtfully. Even in his own world it wasn't like that, after all.

"After all, had I thought that proximity to a star was all that is needed for life to flourish," He said, pausing so that he could hop over a gap in the fence before continuing, "Then I'd be going on about people on the moon too."

Sure there were places where even a planet's moon was populated, but based on the size of the moon here and the look of it, it was entirely unlikely to have an atmosphere that would support any complex lifeforms. Not that he'd gone up there to check- yet- but still. Educated guess.

"And then we'd know I'm entirely off my rocker, wouldn't we?" He asked, with a laugh.

"It just seems likely, though. And it's a bit comforting to think that off on some planet where the sky is green and the trees are blue and the water red, there's another pair of travelers looking up at the stars and wondering whether or not there's more to the universe than this."

His tone was entirely playful for that- that at least seemed to be meant as a joke- even if everything else was serious.

"There are probably more stars than we can see too. Space that goes on endlessly beyond the darkness."

Certainty again. Had Altair been from this world then it probably would never have entered his mind, but. Since he was from an entirely different dimension where space travel was commonplace, he couldn't help but wonder.

[rebelhealer]

Anders chuckled at that. "Life on the moon? Now that sounds ludicrous."

He looked ahead to make sure he cleared the fence, wondering how Altair could navigate the way he did without looking to see where he was going. It just gave more credit to the blindness theory.

"It's hard to imagine, the idea that the sky goes beyond what we see up there. But, they say that the Fade is endless."

[kallig]

"I think you could probably spend an eternity exploring space and still have many places that you wouldn't have seen. I think it must be so vast and indeed endless that it's difficult to wrap one's mind around even the idea. Like the Fade then, probably. If it's endless too."

Even in his own world there were endless galaxies. Places no person from his little slice of space could even dream of. Altair liked thinking about it, wondering about it, but then, Altair also liked musing about impossible things in general. When he was a slave he hadn't thought much about things at all.

Hadn't had the luxury for much more than a bit of stolen thread and dull needles to break up the monotony.

But ever since becoming Sith, he'd had much time to think indeed. And used it to the fullest, chasing thoughts and mysteries.

Even coming here would have seemed impossible until he did it. So he could think of other impossible things too.

Though he was still unsure exactly how it had happened.

"If you did meet someone from another world entirely, do you think you'd be afraid of them? There is a chance they might look very different from what you'd expect, after all."

[rebelhealer]

"If there are other worlds out there, beyond the stars, then that would truly be something. Worlds without the Chantry, without the darkspawn, without the injustices that plague Thedas."

Perhaps it was foolish to think that there were worlds without injustice. Even Altair's land, enlightened as it was, had the injustice of slavery. He was still hedging his bets that Altair was an escapee from Tevinter. He just wanted to believe that people were inherently good and injustice was a product of the corrupt and powerful.

"I don't know... I don't think that I would, no. I mean, I've met demons, and they certainly look different from mortals. I've also met qunari, and they look different from humans and elves."

[kallig]

"That's what I like about you. Kind and openminded."

In a world that was anything but. Altair still remembered the shrieking and the attacks back when he'd first arrived. He hadn't known the language enough to put it into context, but by now he knew that they had called him demon- had thought him something truly evil based only on what he looked like.

Not that he was about to share his otherworldly nature with Anders just yet.

Discussions were well and fine, but... Well. Long explanations and all. Plus there was the crushing reality of slavery existing even someplace technically more enlightened.

Sensing movement up ahead- too far off to be seen or heard just yet- he hopped down from the fence and to Anders's side to grab his hand and pull him off to the side where trees and bushes would hide them somewhat from sight- he also made sure to gently shush the other man, indicating he should keep quiet from now. A few moments later people came down the path they'd been on- heavy armor from the sounds of it, though it was difficult to tell whether they were mercenaries, soldiers, or more of those abominable Templars.

Either way it was best if they stayed quiet a little longer, he imagined.

[rebelhealer]

"You're too kind." Anders wondered if Altair would think that about him if he knew what he'd done in Kirkwall. Altair bore no love for the Chantry, but how would he feel if he knew that Anders had destroyed the one in Kirkwall and killed their Grand Cleric, along with a handful of sisters, mothers and Templars?

A lot of people blamed Anders for the current situation. Some of the Loyalist mages had even blamed him for the fact that they now had to live as fugitives. Yet, the war didn't officially start until almost a year after the Kirkwall rebellion.

He allowed Altair to pull him aside and fell silent. He soon heard it too. He resisted the urge to peek from around the trees to see if it was Templars or not. He didn't sense the taint, so they weren't Grey Wardens, anyway.

[rebelhealer]

Altair was proving to be quite the travel companion, even if he still didn't know much about him. He knew that Altair came from a far away land, that he was a former slave, and that he came from a place without Templars or the Chantry. Yet he didn't know what his homeland was called, whether or not he was a mage, or even what he looked like. He could even be an unusually tiny, hornless qunari.

Not that Anders had opened up that much either. He'd told Altair that he was from Ferelden, that he'd been in a Circle and spent time in Kirkwall. He'd told Altair about his hand in the Kirkwall uprising, and even about Justice. But he hadn't gone into more personal details about his life or what he'd gone through in Amaranthine or Kirkwall.

Currently, the two were heading towards Orlais. It was dangerous there for the likes of them, but they'd picked up some promising rumors.

Anders paused when he saw smoke in the distance. "Think we should investigate?"

[kallig]

Traveling together with a companion truly was the way to go, Altair thought. He liked it. Liked Anders- and yet liking Anders was starting to make him feel bad too. He still flirted, of course. Acted much the same as he had all along. Didn't show that he felt guilty for not being totally open and honest with him. But still. It was most certainly there.

On days like these when they were traveling it was easy to push it out of his mind though. Though he did not know what Orlais was like, Altair was nonetheless curious in the way that he was about most new places. How different things were there compared to here. And he'd certainly traveled places before on less than promising rumors.

The sense that something was wrong hit him before Anders spoke- shown in the tensing of his body language, and the way he lifted his head.

"I think we should, yes. Something doesn't feel right."

Not in the sense that it was something that should be avoided, but in that they needed to figure out of what was going on and help if they could. He picked up the pace- hurrying in the direction of the smoke.

[rebelhealer]

Anders kept up with Altair. Amazing how the other man didn't fall behind with those short legs of his. The closer they got, the stronger the smell of smoke became, and the more Anders got a feeling of dread. Like the smoke was the embodiment of the bad feeling he had in the pit of his stomach.

When they finally reached the source, Anders froze.

It was the smoldering remains of a small house. Judging from the damage and the smoke, it had happened recently.

Despite feeling like he wasn't going to like what he saw, he investigated further. Right outside the door was a corpse in Templar armor. There was a scorch mark on the chestplate, as if from a lightning bolt. The armor was slightly burnt from being near the edge of the fire.

Stepping up to the house, Anders looked in. Inside were two bodies, too burnt to tell who they may have been. But he saw the remains of a partly melted metal mage staff.

Stumbling backwards, Anders whispered through a tight throat, "The Templars trapped them inside and burnt the house down."

Did the mage live here? Was the other body their relative, friend or spouse? Or did the owner just agree to let them stay the night out of kindness? Either way, the Templars deemed associating with a mage to be a crime worthy of death.

But, it also looked like the mage had taken down at least one Templar first.

[kallig]

Burnt wood, burnt flesh. It was an unpleasant scent. The feeling of desperation that the pair had felt in their last moments lingered too. The Templar didn't matter- Altair had never sensed anything but cruelty in any of them- but the mage and whoever their companion had been. What a cruel death they had been put through, trapped inside of a burning building, unable to find a way to escape.

Were there still Templars nearby? Probably. This was recent enough to still be smoldering, after all. Whoever had done this were likely still close by.

He stepped closer to Anders, guard up just in case this would turn into an ambush, but reaching to put a hand on his arm with intent to comfort nonetheless.

"Anders?" His tone was soft, intended as comfort, as assurance, "What do you want to do? I think we should give them a proper burial, but..."

Going after the Templars who had murdered them was near the top of his list too, but his first concern was what Anders wanted since they currently had the liberty to choose their next course of action given that they hadn't been attacked yet.

[rebelhealer]

Anders buried his face in his hands, unable to look at the sight. How many others had the Templars done this to? How many others had they killed just for being mages? It didn't matter to them if a mage never hurt anybody and just wanted to live in peace. Death was the price you paid when you were born with magic.

The Templars were just taking their views to the logical extreme. This was what they did. They hunted and hurt innocent mages. All in the name of protecting Thedas and carrying out the Maker's will.

Looking at Altair with hard eyes, anger surged through him. Not just his anger, but the anger of the being he shared his body with. His eyes flashed blue for just a moment.

"We need to find the ones who did this. Before they destroy any other lives."

[kallig]

Sorrow. Anger. Not just Anders's anger, but someone else's- the spirit's?- too. Altair understood it, and he nodded his head. They could bury the victims once the people responsible had become food for the scavengers.

"Alright."

No arguing, nor attempting to soothe that justified anger away like some people might have done. Just understanding that this was what needed to happen. The people who had done this, the Templars, they needed to die. Before they hurt any other innocents.

"They can't have gone far, so let's go."

[rebelhealer]

Anders looked around for clues. The Templars were likely to use the roads, since their armor didn't make for good travel through bushes and trees. Lucky him, it had rained recently and softened the ground, thus the Templars had left some footprints.

"This way." Trusting Altair to follow, Anders headed down the road in fast, long strides. He wished Nathaniel were here, since he'd been taught how to hunt and track in his youth.

It took them about twenty minutes before Anders spotted grey armor off to the side of the road. The Templars had stopped to catch their breath.

Filled with righteous anger, Anders allowed Justice to come to the forefront. Rushing headfirst at the group of Templars, Justice unleashed a wave of ice magic, freezing some of the Templars as he caught them off guard. The others drew their swords and advanced on him, yelling out "abomination!"

[kallig]

Altair followed with ease- keeping up at a pace that left him just about at Anders's side, perhaps only a few steps behind.

The emotions he could sense from his companion were, so far as Altair was concerned, completely justified. The swell of righteous anger as they came upon the Templars and the shift in how Anders felt told him that Anders's spirit friend was likely at the forefront now- not that Altair let that trip him up since Anders had told him about it so it didn't really come as as much of a surprise that it otherwise might have.

Instead he rushed into the battle himself as well, dodging a slash from a sword and pulling a hidden knife out from within his outfit, jabbing it up into the gap between helmet and chest piece and into the Templar's throat, pulling it back and moving out of the way as the Templar collapsed to the ground, immediately moving to handle another who had diverted his attention to him.

Altair did keep his attention partway on his companion, of course- ready to jump in if he needed help.

[kallig]

Coming across Templars wasn't exactly a rare occasion. Seemed their particular brand of evil was spreading across the land like a sickness, if you asked Altair. Even now they woke up every day and chose cruelty despite having every opportunity in the world to stop and say that enough was enough and that they would no longer raise a hand to harm another innocent mage.

There were a lot of them this time though.

And trying to avoid them hadn't worked- it had become a battle before Altair knew it.

It had been going fine until another group of them had joined the fray, and he could sense their intent- to separate him from Anders and overwhelm them separately. He could sense their intent to hurt too and when that intent turned to Anders despite Altair's attempts to keep most of their attention on him, his desire to protect the mage- not to mention his desire to not lose him, selfishly- won out over continuing to pretend to be something he was not.

The lightsaber hidden beneath his outfit was unhooked in a flash, red blades flaring to life, casting its eerie glow over the darkening surroundings- a single swipe cut through the Templar who had been crowding him, slicing through the metal of his armor like it wasn't even there. A dash forward and the hum of his blade and two more of them laid in pieces, and the battle fell into chaotic shouts as malice turned to fear.

The rush of a blade overhead, the pressure of the air moving just above his head as he ducked down, bringing his lightsaber up and slicing through the sword like it was nothing as well, sending the pieces into the ground, followed by the shocked Templar's arm, and then his head.

Through their shock he could sense the remainders of the ones who had attacked them turn to at least try to get at Anders- the wise thing to do would have been for them to run- and as Altair sensed killing intent, he thought he heard himself yell no because as much as he knew the mage was plenty capable and even confident in battle, Altair hated the feeling of attention leaving him to be directed at someone he loved.

Whether it was Anders or his loved ones at home, it was better if people attacked him.

So perhaps it was no surprise that he instinctively reached out with the Force- halting the Templars where they stood, swords raised but unable to bring them down, followed by the sound of metal being crumpled and flesh and bone breaking beneath, followed by the clatter of heavily armored bodies to the ground as Altair came to his senses again.

"Anders!"

Returning his lightsaber to his side, he was quick to head toward the other man, concern obvious in his body language as well as in his voice- "Are you- Did they hurt you-?"

[rebelhealer]

They couldn't avoid the Templars forever. The way Anders saw it, if they wanted peace, they would have left the Order, or at least made an offer of surrender. But they weren't out for justice, they were out for blood. Mage blood, his blood. They were just taking their creed to its logical conclusion.

Plus, Anders rather liked seeing Altair in action. He swore, that man liked killing Templars even more than Justice did. He could easily pass for an Orlesian bard, with the outfit and the way he fought. Templars were only trained to fight mages and demons, but they were ill-prepared for rogues and fellow warriors. They probably assumed that there was no need to learn to fight non-mages, figuring that the general population was on their side.

It was when he began to be overwhelmed that he started to worry, as he felt himself begin to run out of mana.

Before Justice could make an appearance to defend them, they heard an odd snap-hiss noise, immediately followed by a red glow. Anders's head snapped in that direction and his eyes went wide. He could only stare in awe as Altair sliced through the Templars like butter, using a glowing red weapon unlike anything Anders had ever seen.

Turning back to the Templars attacking him, he continued to stare agape as their armor crushed them. Templar armor was enchanted to resist magic, to say nothing of how Anders had yet to see magic that could do that to armor.

"Huh?" He turned to Altair, giving a small nod. "I'm fine, yes... How did you...?" He looked at the weapon in Altair's hand. "That... that weapon, it's like the blades are made of magic."

[kallig]

Altair hadn't meant to crush the Templars into their armor to the point that their bodies wouldn't be able to be extracted from the metal without cutting them out of it, really. But he had sensed their intentions, and he had sensed Anders becoming overwhelmed, and he'd sort of lost it for a moment.

It was scary and fascinating all at once whenever it happened, because it felt like everything faded away- sound and sight and smell and maybe even reason- in the drive to protect those he cared about. But Anders was okay and he could breathe.

"Good..."

The Templars certainly weren't fine- were they all dead?- had some of them had the sense to flee?- but Altair didn't care. Though he was all for second chances normally, Templars were people he enjoyed killing because like with some of his darker fellow Sith, he couldn't understand how so much malice could be gathered in a single person.

"And it's... A weapon from home. It's called a lightsaber."

A dualsaber in this case, but still. That particular detail didn't matter right now.

As he could sense that they were alone, he reached to remove his mask and the white hood over his head, so he could look at Anders to confirm that he was completely alright. Another conversation was coming, he knew, but he just needed to make sure his mage friend was alright.

"I'm glad they didn't hurt you."

He glanced at the very crushed body of a Templar and frowned ever so slightly. Not the worst thing he'd ever done to a person, but it wasn't a particularly pleasant sight.

"We should probably move in case there are more of them around."

[rebelhealer]

"A lightsaber." He had so many questions about it. Was it magic? An enchantment? Technology? Some combination of those things? And the way it had just cut through armor, even the best sword couldn't do that.

"Good idea," Forcing himself to move, Anders began walking. This part of Ferelden still had plenty of forested area for them to hide in. Ever since they'd left the cabin, he'd thought about where to start searching for Birch. By all accounts, he was still in Ferelden, and still with Zevran. So they just had to start asking if anyone had seen an elven Warden with an Antivan elf. Perhaps they needed to start following the Templar corpses or the good deeds.

Birch wasn't on his mind at the moment, however. "Are you a mage?"

[kallig]

Altair followed along, not putting his hood and mask back on just yet, since they were alone anyway.

Someone would have a very bad day when they came upon those Templar corpses, but it wasn't like that was any of their concern any more. Or perhaps the area was secluded enough that they'd just stay there and rot. Who knew, really.

"We're called Force sensitives. It's a little different than magic."

Altair certainly couldn't call upon the elements like a mage could. And the power came from different places, he thought.

"By this world's standards, I suppose I would be a mage. Just... A very specialized one, I suppose?"

[rebelhealer]

"Force sensitive," There was a kind of magic specialization called force magic, but he'd yet to see a force mage do that. "I suppose the Templars wouldn't care about the difference regardless." As far as they'd be concerned, Altair had powers beyond what mortals should be able to do, and therefor he was a mage and thus inherently dangerous.

"Justice thought he could sense power within you when he got up close back at the cabin, but he was also confused because he couldn't hear you... sing."

[kallig]

"If they were exposed to just my powers, then they probably wouldn't, no. If I faced them as I am, I'm certain they'd be crying about a demon rather than worrying about whether or not I have powers, I imagine."

Altair wondered what they'd do. Stand and a fight or run and cower. Altair's money was on the second option. The Templars weren't brave warriors fighting to protect the innocent, after all. The only time they acted was when they thought they had found an easy target to victimize. Abhorrent bullies who would not be able to survive even a day as a mage, of that Altair was sure.

Now that the truth was out, Altair internally debated whether or not to trap Templars in their own nightmares in the future, really.

After a second, he decided against it- knowing the Templars they would not see the error of their ways, but instead let it drive them further into zealotry and push them even further into thinking that mages were dangerous and that their mission was a just one.

Altair was certain that this Maker of theirs could descend down to the world in a spectacular show of the heavens opening up and a celestial choir resounding throughout all the lands and the Templars would likely turn on him too and think him a mage to victimize instead.

"Does magic normally sing then?" He asked then, a bit of curiosity working its way into his voice, pushing thoughts of foolish and cruel Templars from his mind for now. He didn't think that it was a literal singing, after all. Perhaps more like the whispers he sometimes heard in places, like the subtle rush in the Force when thoughts and intents shifted around him.

[rebelhealer]

"Somehow I can't imagine that letting them know that you're from the stars would make it any better." It still amazed him that Altair wasn't human, or any race known to Thedas. It also made him special in a way, in that he was one of the few who knew about the Chiss, and that Altair trusted him enough to let him know.

"Sort of. Spirits can sense magic, and lyrium is basically raw magic in crystal form, and thus they can hear it as music. Get up close to a mage, and he can sense the magic within them too. I can hear it too, through Justice." Though he heard a more muted version, since he was parsing it through a mortal mind.