Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill dutifully beings petting her pup as well, the runt of the litter- not that any of them are any kind of small given they're less than two months old. "I've never seen an actual dog before, not up close." The elf looks saddened by the admission. "Just those wolves. Sometimes travellers have dogs, but I'm not supposed to talk to... well, most people prefer I don't talk to them but..."

[Carver Amell]

"There's lots of dogs in Nyra. But a lot of them bark at the cats. Oh, the cats are my friends, some of them, I mean. Niko and Miki and Don and Ari."

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill brightens up. "Oh! I know about cats. Elder Marethari has a cat, her spirit animal. He's kind of old though," she confides in him. "There are other cats in the village too. And some wild cats in the woods. Oh! And one of the druids at Raplin's Oak can turn into a dire, ummm, dire tiger! That's it, a dire tiger. And her mate is a dire tiger too, but he's a person because magic."

[Carver Amell]

What's a tiger? He doesn't ask -- Vangal forbid he make her cry again. "Uh, the ones I meant are cat, uh, catfolk I guess. They call them cats, like the animals, but they walk on two legs and make tools and stuff like people."

[Tethras Clan]

"Ooooh," Merrill's eyes almost shine. "That's cool.... I wonder if there are dog people? Or bird people or horse people or deer people or rabbit people or...." She finally runs out of steam, trying to come up with more interesting options.

[Carver Amell]

"I think there's fox-people?"

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill beams at him, her heat fluttering. "It must be wonderful, leaving in a place with cat-people and fox-people and dogs and.... all sorts of other marvelous things," she whispers.

[Carver Amell]

Despite himself, Carver smiles back, bushing just a touch. "You should come with us. Back to Nyra. You can live with my friends, they'll teach you how to survive."

[Tethras Clan]

Gaping at him, Merrill just stares. "Y-you w-want me around? On p-p-purpose?" Why? Why would? Does- is it to do a trick, a prank? But he wouldn't- he saved me! People have acted nice to you before, to get something or to set up worse. But he's new and he stopped her! I can't... Dare I hope? Can I trust this? Does he mean it or is this... maybe he was just being polite? Yeah... yeah, that's probably it...

[Carver Amell]

"Well, yeah," he says, shrugging. "Of course. And... and I think... I don't think you should live here. I can maybe teach you how to fight, a little but, but I'm only here for a few days and, and you need more than that. The bandannas can teach you a lot more. And you'd have friends, and you'd have somewhere to live for real, not just some guest room. And I'd be there, and Beth would be there. We could get you a dog, and I bet there's all kinds of cool ghosts in the city you could talk to."

[Tethras Clan]

"Really really?" Merrill asks, voice trembling and eyes welling up with tears. "P-promise you m-m-mean it?"

[Carver Amell]

"I promise," he says gravely. "If you come to Nyra, I'll look after you. I want you to come to Nyra with me. Please do."

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill bursts into tears, hiding her face behind the puppy. He can still see her pinkened cheeks, however- mabari are large but they've very young puppies. "Okay," she whispers. "Yes, okay."

[Carver Amell]

"Okay." He smiles. "Good. Great. Now we just have to get you there."

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene fidgets faintly as they climb into their chair once more, having set down the teapot in front of Elder Marethari. "This one has questions. In truth, this one came to this village in search of answers. This one has been researching the history of this region, specifically of a few figures in this region's somewhat recent history, and this one's trail led to a place or person called Golden Green." 

They glance at Varric, across the table from them, before returning their attention to Marethari, seated beside the two. "May this one ask this one's questions?"