why is it always me

[championofsnark]

WHO: Marian Hawke
WHERE: South Village Fountain + Elsewhere
WHEN: 10/20 and then later
OPEN TO: Open to all!
WARNINGS: Probably some swearing.

Next to the fountain

It's one thing to say you're fine with being left in the Fade, and another thing when you're left in the Fade and about to die. Hawke had been fighting so long, and she'd keep fighting there too, but her luck was out. She knew it in her heart. And she accepted it, in a roundabout 'might as well' kind of way. She gripped her knives, took in a deep breath, and prepared for the end, and then ... she was drowning. It was a shock, yeah, cause you'd think nightmares would torment her with other ways of dying than something like that, but she struggled to the top and sucked in deep breaths. She climbed out of the fountain and dropped to the ground beside it, hands shaking and empty. Dressed in yellow, which was not her color at all, but she could barely make sense of how that happened, without all of her armor on.

This wasn't the Fade, she knew that much. It could be very, very tricky, but it never felt real enough. This was harshly real. Her lungs hurt and her body ached. Dark hair was matted to her forehead at the moment, and she sat up, immediately regretting it. "Damn," she murmured, simply sitting there for a time. "I had to kill so many people to get those knives." Hawke let herself have some laughs over that, which turned into some tears.

Later in the week, around the village

Hawke is known for her adaptability, so once she'd gotten to the inn and given the general directions, she'd simply shrugged and crashed in one of the empty rooms at the inn. Really, this was so much better than what she'd been used to lately. She wasn't sleeping in any ditches (so far), there was actual food so she hadn't starved yet, and no one tried to kill her, which was really just very polite of them. Her sticky fingers led her to immediately check out these 'open' items people spoke of, but none of it was armor, which was a real shame. She felt nearly naked in her normal people clothing. That being said, she kept on the bright yellow clothes she came in with. They seemed cheery.

Hawke will spend her first week exploring. She'll be very easy to spot ouside the inn, sharpening a knife she "borrowed" and then using that knife to carve what was the beginnings of arrows from sticks she gathered into a pile. Or just walking around learning the lay of the land, sneaking down into the bunker to investigate, and/or actually going right back to the fountain she climbed out of and eating some kind of fruit, apparently waiting. Anyone who greets her will find an eager and friendly newcomer!

Comments

around the Inn

[oorah]

The first thing he notices is that bright yellow scrub top, causing a frown as he goes to investigate with Aloe the pitbull in tow. Frank's steps are light and make scarcely any sound as they fall, but the dog snuffling around Hawke probably gives away their position before he could have a chance to anyway. He takes off his hat and wrings it between his hands, meaning to greet her in some verbal way but the words never come out. Instead is a pitchy sigh as he tosses his hat down in the dirt and slowly follows to sit cross-legged next to her. In place of words, there are actions, and he takes up the next dowel as well as unsheathing his own knife from his ankle before diligently whittling the tip to a fine point the same way she's doing. For his part, Aloe tries to fit his blocky head between her elbow and side in an effort to get her to ditch her task and pay attention to him instead.

around the Inn

[championofsnark]

Hawke's expression when she sees the dog is the kind of joy that is usually seen on much younger people, but dogs are special that way. Her entire face lights up and she does put the arrow in her lap for now, reaching out to pet the eager pup right away. He's not as big as her own dog, but there are very few the size of her monstrosity. Oh she missed that giant wiggle monster. Bethany had him now, somewhere in the world, and she'd wanted that. Her sister needed more protection than she did. She told herself not to become a blubbering mess in front of a complete stranger just because she was reminded of her dog, so she simply scratched his ears.

"I had one until not too long ago. You're a beaut, yes you are." She's cooing at Aloe and figures another dog lover wouldn't judge her for it. "You can rest your head right here, you gorgeous thing you." Hawke pats her knee, and then reluctantly goes back to the arrow making. It's a bit of a priority, if she wants to go hunting and also feel less like she's naked without all the weapons she's used to carrying. "Hello, I'm Hawke." She doesn't offer her hand because they're both seeming to enjoy building things instead of all that.

[oorah]

He goes on carving the sticks, content to let Hawke and Aloe get acquainted. The dog is coming out of his shell more and more by the day, it's heartening to say the least. The words directed at him, as a result, almost seem to startle him and he glances over with wide eyes. "Frank," he gets out before dropping his head and going right back to his task.

[championofsnark]

"Nice to meet you, Frank." She knows right off that he's not being unfriendly, because if he was, he wouldn't be sitting down and letting her coo over his dog. So just the quiet type then. That's fine. She knows one of those. Fenris would spend months barely speaking to her even when she chattered at him regardless days on end. Hawke hums and keeps making her arrows.

"I picked up the bow in that general supplies area, and it'll do, but I might have to make one of my own too." She tested it out a bit and it would work, but Hawke is used to a specialized type of weapon. And yeah, most of the time she managed to get someone else to make them, but she knows how herself too. When it comes to surviving and killing, she's an expert. "I had this splendid one back home. It was designed specifically for me by this dwarf who made me pay a pretty penny for it, even after I saved his life. Merchants. Ugh."

Fountain

[treadswater]

There comes, if Hawke listens, the sound of geese. Sounds, really, for a plural of geese. Twelve of them, in fact, making their ambling way into the park. Different breeds, different colours, but they are being walked by a young, red-headed woman who is decidedly not dressed in yellow. Other colours, yes, including trousers that once upon a time really had been white, but not yellow. A young woman who belatedly notices Hawke, and starts.

Then stares.

Even as she stares, Annie is telling herself that it's really not helpful. Particularly not if the woman is... crying? The geese, so often a reassuring presence because they'd protect her if anyone tried to start shit, briefly become a hindrance. They'd get in the way.

Which is good.

People can be unpredictable.

Except this woman is built lean and solid, like a labourer. Or a Career. And Annie knows Careers, so that could be okay.

So she squares her shoulders and approaches the newcomer. Or at least, she gets a bit closer. Not too close. Well outside of an easy reach.

"Um. Hi? Are you. Okay?"

Fountain

[championofsnark]

Hawke's not sure what to make of the sounds. She knows birds, yeah, but it's been awhile since she was around them, and her mind is still whirling. It's soothing though, not startling. Otherwise she might have been on the defensive, but at the moment? She is a bit too tired and overwhelmed to try and fight. If she almost died and then almost drowned, and ended up being killed by a stray goose, that's her fate.

She is a little ashamed of the tears though, since they aren't something she allows herself often. Never in public. Good job, Hawke. She opens her eyes to see the other woman, and she wipes at her eyes, forcing a shadow of her normal bright smile. "Well let's see." Hawke puts a finger to the pulse in her neck. "I'm alive! So. Yes. Things could be a lot worse!" See, that's the right way to look at things. If there comes a point where she expects more out of her life than just surviving, that'd be an interesting day, but it's not now. Beggars really couldn't be choosers.

"I was just about to die, you see, and it was a real shame at the time, but these things happen." Even at the end of her life, Hawke manages to make jokes. Her mouth opens and the humor pours out. At least the woman doesn't seem like a threat so far, but if she is, Hawke will deal with her. If she can make herself stand.

[treadswater]

To Annie Cresta, of all people, the idea of laughing and joking in the face of terror isn't strange at all. Even if this woman is just joking, not laughing as such, she understands the urge. Even after nearly dying. Especially after nearly dying.

So she doesn't look taken back, just... thoughtful. A little rueful. Yeah, that's how it is.

"You're not dying here," she offers. "Um. Or at least not yet. Not, not that you should die later, just that it's not gonna be expected or anything?"

She shifts, awkwardly, well aware of how that sentence sounds.

"There's dry clothes in your pack, though! They give them to all of us."

[championofsnark]

On anyone else, she might've thought that was nearing a threat, but this woman doesn't seem like one. Hawke knows the threatening sort intimately. She is the threatening sort, although at the moment she's not at her most intimidating. No armor, no weapons, no sassy crew behind her to make clever comments as they fought. Best get used to it, this is your life now.

"I get it, love, everyone dies eventually." Hawke should have about fifty times by now, and here's another time where she escaped it at the last minute. It'll sneak up on hr some day. The pet name is casual, not meaning anything by it. It's part of th way she talks, and the way her accent rolls droll and dry off her tongue. "I definitely don't feel dead. I thought at first this was a magical trick, but the near drowning was a real wake up call."

Hawke hadn't thought to check that yet, wearily swinging it around into her lap. "It's the least they could do. Except the least they can do is save my life, so I suppose I should be more grateful." She pauses. "Wait who is they?"

Inn soon after she arrived

[ataashihunter]

The Bull is a regular at the inn for lunch and that is where he spots her. He knows who it is on sight, even if it is someone he'd never expected to see again after he heard what had happened in the fade. He, of course, knew the stories from Kirkwall, had read the reports. But he certainly hadn't expected to see her here.

He approaches the inn a little more cautiously than he normally would. He isn't sure how she'd react to seeing him here. Or any Quanri for that matter. He is armed, a nice heavy axe at his side, but even so he doesn't want to start something.

"Hawke."

Inn soon after she arrived

[championofsnark]

Hawke clearly has been lazy because she wouldn't ordinarily have her guard down enough for a Qunari to startle her. They weren't big fans of her, to say the last. She glances up at the name and her eyes widen, her grip on the dagger and the arrow tightening. She doubts she can fight one with an axe with only her little items, but it wouldn't be the first time she fought her way out of an impossible situation.

Still, she pauses. He said her name. He doesn't seem aggressive. Most of the time, despite what people think, despite how cheerily she talks about killing anyone in her path, Hawke prefers to talk first and kill after. It's the polite thing to do. The pause gives her enough time to look at him, and it comes to her in a flash, snapping her fingers. "The Iron Bull." Oh thank the gods.

Her smile is fast and genuine. "Varric told me about you." And then, a light flickers on in her eyes. "Oh! Please tell me you lot killed that bastard."

Re: Inn soon after she arrived

[ataashihunter]

Bull gives her a moment longer before he approaches more. As far as he can tell coming out of the fountain is enough to startle anyone. But when she smiles he finally closes the distance and comes up besides her.

"Varric or Corypheus? If it is the latter then yes we did. Been a few years now even."

Inn soon after she arrived

[championofsnark]

Hawke laughs. "If you killed my dwarf, I'd have to challenge you to a duel right now, and you would kick my ass in five minutes flat." She is hardly in fighting form or with enough weapons at the moment. Hawke is a very formidable foe, her reputation is well earned, but to look at her it wouldn't be immediately obvious. Especially now when she's casual and lacking armor.

"Years, huh?" Time would move on without her, obviously. That's the thing about dying. "Well, delightful to hear he was put down for good. How's the world going?"

outside the inn.

[scathefires]

Yellow is a scrubs color Jason hasn't seen around much. It's eye-catching; he takes note of the woman first, her knife second, and finally, on the other end of a moment of silent internal debate, he decides to stop and investigate. This is a smallish place, so it's likely they'll cross paths sooner or later. May as well just get it out of the way now.

"Community art project?" he asks, gesturing to the nearby pile of not-quite-arrows. He guesses that's not what she's up to, but there's no sense in overplaying his hand right away.

outside the inn.

[championofsnark]

Hawke glances up at the new fellow and flashes a quick smile. "I suppose I could call my violent tendencies an art. If you do it right, it's downright beautiful, after you wash the blood off." She pauses and winces. "Right, sorry, I don't have my friends around to remind me going right to joking about blood is terrible first meeting small talk. I'm a mercenary not a psychopath, promise. Cross my heart."

In her past life, fighting was a way of life. She spoke about it frequently because fighting was what she did. And she's used to being around people who do the same. "I'm making arrows and then putting together a bow so I can go hunting. I figure best way to help out around here would be to supply the meat. People love food."

[scathefires]

Luckily, Jason's not squeamish about blood, so the joking comment only leaves him with a raised eyebrow. "Some places, mercenary and psychopath mean about the same thing." But she makes a distinction between the two, which could go either for or against her favor. Jason's not jumping to immediate judgment, just offering an observation.

He can understand fighting as a way of life, at least - how it becomes a focus of your attention, your thoughts, how you view the rest of the world. Jason was born a fighter before he ever was formally trained for it, always with an eye toward assessing threats, because he learned early on that anything can be a threat, no matter how seemingly innocuous.

"People do like food," he says, nodding. "Kinda necessary for staying alive. Guess that's one way to get on everyone's good side." If that's what she's aiming for. "Is bow and arrow-ing your most violent tendency?"

[championofsnark]

"Mmm, well, you do have me there. I did know a few people during my training that loved it a little too much." Hawke loves fighting. She may even be accused of having a bloodlust, sometimes. It's not the exact same as that. It's the blood flowing and the simplicity of it. Not the killing, but the winning, the certainty she survived another day, and that the problem was solved. Talking and diplomacy, that she learned, but it wasn't as foolproof as stabbing or punching something until it went away. "It was mostly monster blood at least?"

It is exactly what she's aiming for. She's stuck there for the rest of this life, if she has her choice, so she might as well get in good now. "That's the plan," she confirms. Hawke shrugs. "Not my only, but it's certainly a very helpful one. Long distance fighting can save you a trip." She's gotten out of many a squabble by striking someone from the trees instead of in person. "I'm a master dualist with blades and honestly, I haven't found many weapons that I can't use. There was this giant broadsword that was maybe made for someone much larger than myself, that one I couldn't get over my head. I tried. Nearly took my foot off."

The Fountain, Later On

[unraisehell]

"Waiting for anyone in particular, or just playing lifeguard?"

The woman asking is tall, lean and dressed in red scrubs she's tucked the cuffs of into the hiking boots.

Wynonna finds herself coming by here at least once or twice a day- new arrivals seem to be a common enough occurrence either here or the bunker that it makes sense to at least keep an eye on the fountain. Whether she wants any familiar faces to break the surface, she isn't sure.

The Fountain, Later On

[championofsnark]

"Mix of both if I'm being honest."

Hawke gives her a once over and smiles. "Love the red. They really like bright colors here, don't they?" She's never worn yellow much in her life. It's fun to start. She doesn't have to worry as much about stealth and sticking out like a sore thumb. Her mother used to tell her that black clothes and metallic armor were not the only options out there. She wore red once though. Easier to hide the blood, she joked at the time.

"On a scale of being a saint to being a selfish bitch, how bad is it to hope someone you know is going to crawl out of there?"

[unraisehell]

"Sounds pretty normal to me, but I've been called the latter way more often than the former, so," she shrugs a little. "Actually I think one of my therapists might have written those exact words in their notes, which is a little harsh when you're talking about a fifteen year old if you ask me," she jokes. Mostly.

She was not an easy kid to like, even for mental health professionals. Maybe especially for mental health professionals.

She takes a seat a few feet away from the other woman. If someone does pop out, it can't hurt to have two sets of hands to haul the poor sucker onto solid ground.

Bunker

[killorder]

Things have changed for Jake. For one, Cougar is there, and that makes all the difference in the world to him, but that doesn't mean he's done trying to work out what the hell this place is or what it's all about.

Which is what leads him back down into the bunkers. Spending some time on the computer, seeing if other names have appeared now that Cougar is there, and finding no changes to those names that he knows, Jake finds himself toying with the powers machine, seeing just what it is they offer... and considering seeing what he has to do for such things.

Not that he wants to be a superhero, but come on. What boy doesn't think about that from time to time?

Bunker

[championofsnark]

Hawke has a very good sense of place. She's stealthier than she seems, being rather loud and boisterous most of the time, so she slows as she gets not the not at all creepy bunker. Close quarters. Not too bad. She has a knife she stole borrowed and arrows with pointy ends in case. She'd used on of the belts she found to make a place to hook them. She'd never seen anything like this place, the bunker, and this 'technology' everyone spoke of as if that made any sense.

She has yet to come across someone trying to murder her, which is nice, but she's still cautious when she sees the bloke as she rounds a corner. Eh, she can probably take him. She doesn't touch her blades, instead sizing him up curiously. "What're you doing?"

[killorder]

Bending over this so called abilities machine, considering it and what it might mean to take a chance and make a choice, and then there is a voice.

Jake startles as if he's been shot, bolting upright as he turns, hands up in the air.

"Not doing anything," he says, blinking rapidly as he stares at her before slowly lowering his arms. "Mostly trying to figure out if the machine excretes a liquid, or if it's gas, that can make it give abilities. Swear, I wasn't breaking it."

At least not intentionally, but he's really curious about it all.

Back to the Fountain

[succored]

Though Ty couldn't say he knew everyone in the village, he knew most of them by sight, especially if they were particularly eye catching. And a woman in bright yellow scrubs definitely stood out, especially since she actually seemed cheerful. Though perhaps the fruit she was eating could have some weird side effect of making someone happy at some steep cost.

Curious, he made his way over to the fountain, raising up a hand in greeting.

"So are yellow scrubs reserved for the friendliest among us?" He asked with a small grin, stopping a few feet from her. "I haven't seen too many of them around."

Back to the Fountain

[championofsnark]

Hawke hadn't heard that some of the food wasn't safe to eat without testing, but she probably would have eaten it anyway. She got lucky. This was ordinary. And tasty. She loves eating; she's been known to indulge as much as her stomach would allow. There were more hungry days than she'd like in the past, so she filled up her lucrative days with it. Soon she'd be hunting and helping out around here that way.

She glances up at the question and immediately flashes a toothy smile. "It does seem like it's implying a sunny disposition." Hawke's hair is in a loose braid at the moment, settling down on the edge of the fountain to sit for now. She could always grab someone out of it if necessary. "I'm Hawke, and yes, I'm so friendly I make the grim and angsty gnash their teeth. One of my closest friends is one of them. He's very doom and gloom, but opposites attract, even in friendships." Fenris is very easy on the eyes, but that was an uphill battle if she'd ever seen one.

[succored]

That smile was returned quickly and easily, and Ty had to admit, it was always nice to meet someone else who wasn't so grim about being here. Even if apparently it might wear off in time.

"Nice to meet you Hawke. This place could definitely use a lot more sunshine and less doom and gloom." He gestured questioningly next to the spot on the fountain near her, as if to ask if the seat was taken. "Honestly I've been calling this place Gloomy Town since it's a bit depressing looking." He paused, listening to her describe her friend, unable to help but laugh slightly.

"He okay with you describing him like that?" He joked, but he would agree that polar opposites could make great friendships. Just look at him and Delilah or him and Kira.