Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Bethany]

"Like I said, my sister is staying," Bethany assures them both. "And we should hopefully be back around midnight at the lastest." That's five hours and change... should be long enough, right? I wish Carver was here... for a lot of reasons... but also so he could stay with Merri and help look out.

[Varric]

"Or...." 

The following debate only lasts a couple of minutes and is conducted in intensly whispered dwarven. The end result? Helene heads for their supplies, as previously stated. But both daughters will be staying in the house, behind the wards and with the security golem ("We have a what?" Got kids now, needed to update.") activated. Varric will sneak his way to the temple bearing a letter from Bethany to Don that will hopefully get him access to Rosemary's place so he can get some of her fur and clothes for Helene to scry with. Once he has a location, he'll hunt her down and deliver the sedated catfolk to Lt. Vallen posthaste.

Surprisingly, the plan... works. Don is a bit stone-faced and terse, but that's pretty understandable The explanation of having a diviner willing to work for free- and Beth's letter- unbend him enough to get directions. Breaking in and finding the needed items is easier by far. In under an hour, Varric delivers them to Helene, who quickly locates Rosemary hiding in the Undercity- alarmingly, still in Aurora. Thankfully Varric is able to get access to that part of town even with the hubbub going on and Rosemary is far from a match for the dwarf.

Lieutenant Vallen is... unamused by having a dwarf quite literally dropping a body in front of her, but given the identity of the body (and the body being still alive) stays her temper. His side of things done, Varric heads for home, wanting to be sure his girls are still safe. And Helene too, hopefully they made it back okay...

[GamesMaster]

When Beth makes her way into Cattown the next day, looking for bandannas, the mood has changed. Cats are more subdued, more likely to pull away from her and avoid eye contact, slipping into buildings rather than risk catching her attention. Several of the cats have black armbands, but not many. Things are tense and somber and awful.

...Right up until she enters the bandanna hideout. Once she does, Don jumps to his feet, sprinting across the room to hug her tightly. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou," he stammers into her ear. 

[Bethany]

Bethany tenses, for just a second, then returns the hug twice fold. "Thank all the Bright gods you're safe. Ari! What about Ari?" she demands, pulling back just enough to look him over for obvious injuries before yanking him close again.

[GamesMaster]

"Ari's alive, thanks to you," he murmurs, clinging to her closely. "Sleeping off the excitement. Thank you, thank you so much!"

[Bethany]

Stupid penis. Stupid racial divide. In any decent story, this is where we'd kiss for the first time. "Good. I... I had to help. It... I helped cause this," Bethany confesses in a whisper, eyes pricking with tears. I hate having to tell him, hate risking.... this... but I can't lie about it.

[GamesMaster]

"It doesn't matter," he says, pulling back to wipe his eyes. "We only lost two. Would have been three, but I remembered what you said about Captain Vallen, and she-- she stopped the guard beating Ari, even healed Ari. We were able to limp away while she berated him."

[Bethany]

"I'm so going to bake her something tasty to eat. Hells, I'll eat-" Beth cuts off, blushing. Waaaay too much time with gossiping with whores, Beth. Tone it down a bit. "Good. I'm... I'm glad. I'm so glad you're both okay. What about everyone else? Miki and the other?"

[GamesMaster]

"Miki and Niko are fine. We lost Kara and Vin," he adds, his ears drooping a bit. "But they were both... well. The Tribe will mourn, but we are healthy. We survived. This could have gone so much worse."

[Bethany]

Wasn't too worried about Niko. He's got his Light protector patron keeping him safe. Nice to know he's safe though, I guess. "Good. I'm sorry you lost people... I... if I pass you coin, can you see it helps their kin, if they have any?" she asks softly 

[GamesMaster]

"Yes. How are Basil and Juniper?"

[Bethany]

Beth rolls her eyes, even if he can't see it. "Skittish and wary but fine. Juniper feels worse than I do, I think... which is understandable. But Basil is more... put upon, like he doesn't see why this is happening to him."

[GamesMaster]

"Basil did nothing wrong. He offered her claws and her womb, far more than he'd have offered for any offense against one of the Tribe, and still she managed to bring shame upon him. I imagine he's quite..." Don shakes his head. 

[Bethany]

Beth blanches a but "H-her womb?" She swallows. "I... Hadn't heard that part. Umm. I... Suppose it makes a kind of sense," she offers weakly.

[GamesMaster]

Don flinches. "I wasn't sure you'd... approve. She... it's because her heat, you see, she couldn't control herself during it, so, now she won't have one anymore. Well, now she probably... but, that was the hope, that we could head off anything like this."