Isabela
Shiva was awoken the next morning by Danyla's wet nose sniffing her face. She stretched and sat up from her bed, still in a sleepy daze. Glancing over to her nightstand, she saw her phone light up with a new message. She swiped it to the home screen, and groaned.
41 unread messages
She flopped back down on her bed, not ready to deal with what she already knew was going to happen. She hit her hand against her bedframe accidentally, and she winced as she felt the site of her injury sting. Danyla sniffed her hand curiously, and Shiva pulled it sharply away. At least this reminded her to apply the healing ointment.
Shiva stretched and climbed out of bed. She glanced through her glass sliding door, and noticed there were huge, dark paw prints in the mud outside. It was even bigger than Danyla's prints. It reminded her of the creature she had seen in her driveway just the other day, and she tried to shake it off. Only a huge animal could have left those prints. Halja would have known what it was. No. Now was not the time to think about her sister. She felt a pang of sadness in her gut, and she turned away, trying to forget what she had seen.
The daytime passed quickly, with little else to do but chain-smoke and wander the city. By dinnertime, Shiva had nearly finished her pack of menthols, and was getting bored. Her phone had not stopped buzzing all day, and she had avoided reading any of her messages. Social interaction seemed too draining for that day.
Once again her phone buzzed, and she contemplated throwing it across the street. Instead, she sighed and pulled it from her pocket.
87 unread messages
She spat her cigarette out on the ground and stomped on it to put it out, and headed inside a small locally owned diner. Not bothering to wait for seating, she slid into an empty booth and kicked her feet up on the table.
"Time to see the damages." She mumbled quietly to herself, unlocking her phone and scrolling through her texts.
Anders
3:23 AM
I saw your handiwork.
Don't come visit for a while.
Anders
3:40 AM
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
Anders
3:46 AM
If anyone finds out that it was you, my job would be in jeopardy.
You're my friend after all.
Anders
3:50 AM
Shiva?
Anders
4:04 AM
I realize now you're probably asleep. Call me when you're up.
Anders
4:04 AM
We need to talk about this.
SERA xx
4:20 AM
420 BLAZE IT
Varric T
7:12 AM
That new piece one of yours?
Varric T
7:12 AM
More minimalist than I'm use to from you, but it's not bad.
Varric T
7:15 AM
Nothing? I'm disappointed.
Varric T
7:17 AM
Let me know if you change your mind about that interview.
$$$ HAWKE B-)
8:00 AM
do you know anyone who would want a dracolisk as a pet? asking for a friend.
Shiva scrolled through the rest of them. More from Varric, Sera, and a few other excitable friends... Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a different name flash on her screen.
♥Isabela♥
10:08 AM
Meet up for drinks and a chat soon? xxx
The rest of the messages didn't matter. For now, all she was concerned with was getting back to Isabela as quickly as possible.
6:50 PM
shit i'm sorry
i didn't check my phone till just now
still down to meet up?
She waited what felt like an agonizingly long time for a response, until she heard a tapping on her table. Looking up, she noticed a man with a sour expression on his face and a pad and pen in his hands staring at her. He wore a dirty brown apron, and his nametag was a worn post-it note with "NATHANIEL" scribbled in permanent marker. He pursed his lips, forming a scowl that looked like someone had just kicked his favorite puppy.
"Are you going to pay this time?" He asked bitterly. Shiva let out a nervous laugh, to which he sighed. "And get your dirty boots off the table."
Shiva reluctantly pulled her legs under the table, rolling her eyes. She rifled through her bag and lifted a heavy coinpurse from her satchel. It jingled with coins as she let it drop to the table. "I'm feeling roast venison with blackberry sauce tonight." She shrugged, propping her elbows up on the table.
"I think we've got some venison in the freezer." He mumbled, writing it down on his pad. "You're lucky our cook is Dalish,” he said right before he turned and headed to the kitchen. Shiva checked her phone. Still no response from Isabela. She sighed and turned her phone down on the table. If she got a text, it would buzz violently on the table and she would know. In the meantime, she wanted to try to distract herself.
Sighing loudly, she kicked her feet up on the table again and leaned back in the booth. She continued to eye her phone for the next while, willing it to buzz. Nothing happened. The minutes ticked by as she gave up entirely on distractions and stared at her phone. She was just about ready to give up, when her phone lit up. It was in her hands before it buzzed, and she swiped, eager to see the message.
♥Isabela♥
7:15 PM
Come by my place later. See you
See you? What was that supposed to mean? When did she want her over? Questions swirled in the little elf's mind that were only interrupted by Nathaniel dropping her plate of food on the table with disdain. The plate clattered on the table, somehow miraculously not spilling its contents onto the floor. The silverware was thrown with the same abandon, and as Shiva raised a hand to sheepishly ask for a napkin, he pulled several from his apron and tossed them at her. Most of them ended up on the floor.
'Someone's in a bad mood.' she thought bitterly, leaning down to pick up the fallen napkins. Despite being handled so carelessly, the food looked incredible. She retrieved her knife from across the table, and used it to gingerly spread the thick blackberry sauce on the meat. It glistened a dark purple, almost black, in the light. There were hints of elfroot cooked in, and she felt her stomach gurgle audibly.
The food was fantastic. It reminded her of the food her sister used to cook back on the reservation. The sour pang of longing for her family struck her like an arrow, and she sucked in deeply and held her breath to hold back tears. The knife cut off more pieces of meat, until it was all arranged on her plate in little squares. Her fork pushed the pieces around, fixing them into different shapes as she stared sadly into her plate. She could hear Halja reminding her in the back of her mind to not play with her food. It had been years since she had last seen her. She tried not to think of that, and took another bite.
Soon, the only remnant of the meal was the empty plate on the table. The twisted feeling in her gut lingered from earlier. It was with reluctance that she stood up from the booth and dropped several coins onto the table. She waved at Nate, who shot her an annoyed look, and headed out.
It was getting late already. Checking the glow of her screen, her phone read 8:50 PM. How did it get so late? That made no sense to her. She was in the café for... Well, shit.
Her phone hadn't gone off at all since earlier, and she was wondering what to do. She tried to call Isabela, but the phone went straight to voicemail.
'Great. Her phone is dead.' she thought bitterly. Deciding to just head over to her place instead, she shoved the phone in her bag and turned around in the direction of Isabela's apartment.
The streets were muddy and slippery from the moderate sprinkles of rain that day, and Shiva watched her step so as not to slip. As she got closer to Isabela's home, it seemed as though the streetlamps were getting dimmer. Perhaps it was just her mind. Regardless, she trudged forward, ignoring the fear she felt rising up in her throat. Ahead of her, she saw the dirty brown building. If her memory served her correctly, Isabela lived on the bottom floor. That would be easy enough.
She trudged up to the door and knocked. Her boots were covered in mud, and so she tried to wipe some of it off on the welcome mat. It didn't help much. No one came to the door, and so she raised her clenched fist to it again, but stopped as she heard yelling from inside.
"I thought you said it didn't matter who I saw!" came an angry male voice Shiva didn't recognize.
"Yeah, well, you certainly know how to make things awkward!" a voice she did recognize shouted back. That must have been Isabela.
"I didn't mean to offend you! I had no idea you two even knew each other!"
"Stop it already, Fenris! You don't know anything, do you?"
"Bela, how is it that you can fuck whomever you want, but as soon as I decide to-"
"Enough!"
Shiva's hand was still frozen, ready to knock at the door when it opened to a stern-faced elf. His face reddened as he saw her, making his white vallaslin-like markings stand out more.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’m-” Shiva started, a pit of fear growing in her stomach.
"Who the fuck are you?" He demanded angrily. "Eavesdropping? Well?!"
Shiva paled and took a step back. "I- I was just here to see Isabela." She stammered.
The man rolled his eyes. "Isabela? You've got another groupie here to see you." He said in an exasperated tone. "Shall I take care of her for you?"
"Whatever." She heard Isabela respond from another room.
"What?" Shiva was confused. "Isabela, it's Shiva! You asked me to-" she suddenly lost the ability to speak as the man's fist connected with her jaw.
"Leave us alone, stranger." he stepped closer to her as she cupped her jaw in shock.
"Venavis! Ma halam!" Shiva shouted through the pain. The elf advanced on her, either ignoring her words or not understanding.
"Leave." He commanded. Shiva stood her ground, trying to not show the fear that was coursing through her veins.
"Isabela!" She shouted. That earned her a swift punch in the gut. She gagged, and fell to the ground.
"What did I say?!" He shouted at her. She only whimpered in response.
"Bela-" She choked out, interrupted by a kick to the ribs. She shouted in pain, feeling something crack. She had trouble breathing, and the stranger continued to kick her until she was just shivering in a ball on the ground. Isabela stepped out and looked at Shiva with distaste. Shiva pleaded at her with her eyes, but she sighed and knelt down.
"Sorry, love." She whispered, and pulled Shiva's coinpurse from her bag. She pulled out the few gold coins Shiva had, pocketed them, and rifled through her bag once more. Deciding she was done, she threw the much lighter coinpurse back in, and walked back inside. The man stared down at her smugly.
"Fened'his lasa, palas na'mamae." She spat at him, covering his lower pant leg in her blood. He raised his leg and kicked her once more before heading in and slamming the door, much more sharply than he had before. She tried to breathe in, but felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her chest. She tried again and felt herself panic as her vision blurred and she fought for oxygen. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw a large, dark figure approach her.
She gave one last feeble attempt at breath, and then...
Nothing.