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Ravens in the trees, doleful black eyes watching people struggling through the snow, raised their voices in cacophonous clamor. The sky was still in uproar, noise and lightning flashes of color echoing the explosion the day before.
Leliana stood sheltered among the branches of a drooping fir tree, watching the stragglers arrive in Haven, where they all had found shelter. She tried not to imagine what it must have been like to be among those who first made it here, those who witnessed the destruction, the annihilation of the heart of the Chantry from as close as it was possible to be without being caught up in it.
She had been welcomed by wide-eyed survivors, still shaking with fear. Her presence had brought them some relief, their plaintive voices turned to her, seeking answers and orders. Could she be strong enough to be what they looked for? There was so much confusion. She sent scouts and soldiers out to search for survivors, injured or lost in the snowy mountains. Most of those searching returned alone. Grief tightened around Leliana’s shoulders, despair and rage blossomed in her chest. They had lost so many. They might have lost everything. She was alone again. Justinia was dead.
Hope abandoned the armies of the faithful—No! She was needed now.
Oh Maker, give me strength! Andraste, guide me!
A raven swooped down and landed at her feet. Oh, raven—will you turn to carrion? She felt sick at the thought of it now. It regarded her unflinchingly. This was one of her messenger birds. She picked it up gently and relieved it of its message, stroking its feathered head before releasing it again. I will have grain for you again, if there is any to spare. She longed to soar up into the sky behind the bird as it left.
Her fingers were almost too chilled to open the small, tightly-wound scroll. The message bore a familiar rigid scrawl. The sudden relief almost choked her with feeling as she read. Cassandra was alive, would be here soon!
--v--
Cassandra arrived with a prisoner that sent all of Haven into uproar. A figure found so close to the destruction that their survival should have been impossible. Someone brought out of the Fade, rescued by Andraste herself! And Andraste, dressed in cloth of starlight and armored in moonlight-- could it be possible? Or were they the one responsible for this chaos. They were unconscious still, tended to by an elven apostate Cassandra had found on the way, a mage skilled in the healing of magical wounds. She prayed that he would be successful. They needed answers.
Cassandra arrived wounded as well, the demons she had been fighting had torn deep gashes through her armor and into her flesh. Potions had restored her, but must have run out before she received a long gash in her leg, and she was still weak from exertion and the biting cold. Cassandra was overcome by grief as Leliana herself was, but less able to hide her despair.
“Justinia is gone! They are all gone!”
Cassandra’s pain was volatile, Leliana embraced her friend to feel the living burn of it. “All things in this world are finite,” she spoke reverently, tears in her eyes. “We are still here.”
She could not leave the Seeker’s side until the healer had seen to her leg and she was resting. With Cassandra in Haven Leliana felt like she was part of a whole again: The Right Hand and the Left. Together they might be strong enough to face what is to come.
--v--
Haven was gray in the first morning light. The sun was beginning to rise behind the looming mountains, a soft glow that would eventually be disrupted by beams that shot up into the heavens. Leliana knelt in prayer still, cherishing the numbness the frost brought after the pain, listening to Haven in the morning. Focusing deliberately on the sun and not the breach that illuminated the sky to the West with its sickly glow.
The crunch of heavy boots cracked through the icy snow behind her. “Cassandra.”
Cassandra cleared her throat. “You should not linger in the snow, Leliana.”
Leliana willed her legs to obey her still. She got up unsteadily, suddenly irked at being observed so closely. She sighed and stood to face Cassandra. “Is there news?”
Cassandra shook her head. “No, the prisoner is still unconscious.”
There was an awkward pause in which Leliana looked at Cassandra more closely, wondering at what the Seeker was struggling to say. “And you—are you well?”
Cassandra proffered a clenched fist with a doubtful look.
“Cassandra?”
“When your raven found me, when I read your message, I knew you were still alive.”
Leliana stared uncomprehendingly.
Cassandra unfolded her fist, which held a crumpled handkerchief that she carefully unfolded to reveal what it was stuffed with. “Breadcrumbs,” she explained, now unnecessarily. “For your birds.”
Leliana reached out and took it carefully from her. The gesture was ridiculous, but it made her heart swell. “Thank you.”
“Where are they now?” Cassandra asked. “They have not come to you this morning.”
“In the trees near the lake. They have become more skittish and withdrawn since—” she faltered.
Cassandra nodded and breathed in deeply. “They trust you always. We could walk there together.”
“Yes, I would be glad of the company.”
--v--
Walking through Haven at Cassandra’s made her imagine that this could almost be another mission they were sent on together. Justinia might still be there, guiding their steps— unshaken by the darkness of the world. It was easier to fight despair knowing she was not alone after all.
The tree of ravens burst into chatters and croaks at their approach. Leliana sang a greeting to them.
Some flew down into the snow. They looked up at them questioningly with beady eyes.
“Cassandra has brought you a gift,” Leliana said, scattering the breadcrumbs.
They were eagerly devoured as more birds flew from the branches.
Leliana hummed softly as she watched them.
“I have heard the sound, a song in the stillness, the echo of Your voice,” Cassandra recited.
Leliana stopped humming. “Trials, Cassandra?”
Cassandra coughed. “It seemed fitting.”
“You have walked beside me, down the paths where a thousand arrows sought my flesh. You have stood with me—”
“We will brave this together, Maker willing.” Cassandra turned toward Haven. “Come, we will see if this prisoner has awoken.”