May The Dread Wolf Take You

Chapter One: Before Him

Before him Maeve wasn't sure she'd ever find love. She didn't even know if it was something she thought about before. It had been too long. She'd forgotten. She was not familiar with the feeling. It snuck up on her like a dagger that flies through the air from the hands of an unseen rogue.

She was sure that before all of this, the inquisition, Corypheus, her new life, him, that she'd been happy. But now looking back, remembering her life without him, without the friends she's made, without the strength and courage she's gained, she can't imagine her life without any of it. Can't imagine being happy out of this life or in the life she had before all of it.
She was raised as most Elves were. In a clan, a noble one at that, where she learn the basics of the world, the Elves, the fade, and nature. As she matured, she was taught to fight, to hunt, to gather, and to hone her strength, what little she had at the time.

It was not until upon meeting him that she saw the true ability and elegance of Elves. She had been taught and shown so many things throughout her life. But the Dalish never suited her quite right. She often felt as if she walked, talked, and lived among strangers.

They may have birthed her, raised her, and shaped her mind but they were not part of her as much as they had thought. She felt separate and distant; as if they were fake and blind to all the culture and truth around them. She wanted to explore, to discover and achieve. She craved it.

Her parents and keeper would not have it though. They kept her in the lands. She was too delicate or too naive to see the truth about the world, they would say. She could not leave and still could not bear to stay. When the opportunity arose to escape through volunteer work, Maeve pounced on it.

She had no way of knowing that leaving that day would cost her everything and nothing at all, all at once. Before the inquisition, she was nothing. Small, weak, and insignificant. Before him, she was nothing. Alone, unloved, and unwanting.

But it all started to change when she met him. The ice around her heart started to melt, both with pride and fondness. He looked at her with stunning blue crystal eyes through pale lids and a small genuine smile. "If there are to be introductions." He said. She smiled a bit back at him then. His name danced through her head for a while longer as they treked to their next destination.
Solas.