Icicle Isle Quest: Round 2

[leliana]

Leliana

baby, when I'm in your arms, I can make honest sense of love and war's alarms

The ice in the air freezes in her lungs.

She can feel it collecting, shards in her throat and over her tongue. Bitter and biting as she struggles to breathe, the effort amplified by the weakness of her body. Her nostrils flare and she feels her legs shake. Was she ever going to make it home? Was she ever going to be able to tell her family how much she loves them? Apologize to Dovev for everything that has ever gone wrong between them? She doesn’t know. She can’t say, and the doubt of it all simmers there, coming to a steady boil of upset as she stands shivering on the beach.

When the wind comes, she closes her eyes and sighs into it. The air is warm, much warmer than what had previously been blowing, and she can’t help but wonder if it comes from Tephra. Her nostrils flare, delicate skin slick with exhaustion, as she hunts for a trace of sulphur. Something to remind her of home. Something to carry with it traces of familiarity.

She finds none, but it is comforting all the same.

It is enough comfort that she is able to open her eyes fully and comprehend what lies before her, the path wicked and forked as it snakes away from them. She frowns as she takes a testing step forward, head tilting to the side in thought. There was no sign pointing to which one was the correct option. There was no sign showing which one would lead to a better understanding of the cure and which one would simply take you nowhere.

But she doesn’t have time to ponder on it for long. Because as seemingly quick as the comfort the wind brought, it brings pain in equal measure. The warm breath of it turns frosty and the sky begins to darken her brows draw together as she tilts her head back, watching the storm gather and cluster around the island. Fear doesn’t strike her but worry does as she takes another step forward. Her crimson tail whips behind her, driven by the wind, and she swallows back more doubts, more uncertainties, as she takes another step forward.

Left or right?

Left or right?

She can barely see know, the wind stirring up particles of ice and snow before her, and she knows that she doesn’t have time to contemplate this for long.

Left or right?

Frustration strikes at her, fear for her daughters, and she takes a steadying breath, ignoring the sharp stab of pain as the cold coats her throat.  

There is no right answer for her.

But she can try.

Squaring her shoulders, she angles her body to the right and presses through the driving wind as it sliced through her. With all of the resolve she can muster, coughing sporadically as the sickness continues to work its way through her, she begins to make her way down the right path, doing her best to not think of what lies ahead but instead each and every step she must take to get there.

but there's something primal underneath and it drives this nothingness I seek

To the right.