Gang of Weirdos

seven - to the underdark

(A/N: I have no idea where these characters are taking me. They sort of develop minds of their own when I start writing. Have fun on this wild ride with me!)

When we'd made our way back to our camp, Halsin was there waiting- ready to relay all the information he knew. We were to make our way to moonrise towers, though the journey would prove perilous, and Halsin insisted on joining us. He said that he'd been ignoring the shadow cursed lands we'd have to traverse for far too long. Astarion eyed the larger elf up and down, a wariness in his gaze that only someone who'd been studying the pale elf far too often would pick up on.

I coughed and earned an odd look from a few of our camp mates. I gave a small smile, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Well, I hate to say this, but I think the underdark sounds like the safer path," I said. Shadowheart was elated, Lae'zel however was not.

"Chk!" Lae'zel said. "We must make way to the creche, or has the tadpole scrambled your brain to the point of forgetting?"

"Look, Lae'zel," I said, turning to her. I placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want to go the route of the mountain pass. I know the creche is there. You're welcome to continue traveling with us, or make your way to the creche all on your own."

Lae'zel cursed and yanked her shoulder away from me, "Very well, I will make my way there without you."

And with that, Lae'zel made her way over to her tent, gathering her things.

"Really, Onasha?" Gale said, his brows furrowed disapprovingly.

"You're welcome to join her, Gale," I said with a nod.

"I for one will miss this feeling of walking in the sunlight," Astarion sighed, flipping lock of white hair out of his eyes. "But I agree- I wouldn't want to find myself at the end of a Githyanki blade, which we would surely find at her... creche."

"I'll go talk to her, see if I can change her mind on leaving us," Gale said, shaking his head and turning toward where Lae'zel was angrily stuffing a bag full of her belongings.

"I wouldn't bother," Shadowheart scoffed. "One less mouth to feed." The look Lae'zel shot at Shadowheart was full of daggers. "But if green skin and small noses are to your liking, Gale, be my guest."

Gale turned beet red, and made his way over to his own tent instead of over to where Lae'zel was now seething. Shadowheart shrugged and turned toward her own tent, though not before I caught the small triumphant smile on her lips.

We all turned to gather our things, taking the camp apart slowly. Lae'zel was gone by the time we were done. None of us was ready to go through the goblin camp again, to the ruins below, to the underdark.

Our journey resumed, with Halsin in tow- though we were down one fiesty Githyanki.

"I'm going to miss our little green skinned friend," Astarion said with a sigh. "She was such fun to tease."

I fought off a small grin, "Yeah, I guess I'll miss correcting her when she says a word wrong."

"Teethlings," Astarion laughed. I shook my head, nudging him with my elbow. He dodged out of the way, and picked up his pace- matching stride with Gale.

The look Gale gave Astarion made him put his hands up, and Astarion was suddenly walking with me again.

"Don't want him to suddenly blow up on me," Astarion muttered to me. I had to place my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter.

"Do you ever stop?" I said, exasperated.

"Whatever do you mean?" Astarion feigned ignorance, though I could see the grin he was attempting to hide. I rolled my eyes and gave him a light shove, before picking up my pace to catch up to Halsin. I turned to look over my shoulder; Astarion was watching with that twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

I looked back up at Halsin. Gods, he was tall.

"You're rather large for an elf," I blurted. Halsin's eyes widened briefly and he let out a snort.

"Am I?" he said, laughter in his voice. I flushed, mentally kicking myself for letting the comment slip. But he didn't seem too offended by it. "Trust me, it's been said before. You've shown more restraint than most, avoiding the subject until now."

"Oh, well, uh," I stuttered. I still couldn't shake the embarrassment. "You, uh- how do you think that came to be?" Halsin chuckled.

"Perhaps there's an orc somewhere in my ancestry," he said, his warm smile never once leaving his face. "I've no idea. But I can't say it's been much of an issue. Stranger things have most certainly happened."

"Like what?" I couldn't help myself. The question came out before I could stop it. Halsin let out another chuckle.

"Well, I didn't get these scars," he said, gesturing toward his face, "in battle. There was... I forgot it was mating season, and I was in my bear form, and there was this female bear who was rather upset when I turned her down."

I covered my mouth, but the laughter still spilled out of me.

"A- a bear tried to-" I said in between laughs. "Oh, gods, I'm sorry."

"It's perfectly alright," Halsin said. The conversation died off then, and I fell back a bit in stride.

Halsin had to turn down a bear, and she didn't take it very well, thus swiping him across the face... I fought another fit of giggles as my imagination attempted to run away with me.

"Something funny?" the sultry voice next to me startled me out of my thoughts. Astarion was walking with me once more.

"Oh, just- wait, you have excellent hearing," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "You likely heard it all. Why do you need me to go over it again for you?"

"Oh, you're no fun," Astarion said, rolling his eyes.

"You seemed to think otherwise last night," I said with a smirk. It was Astarion's turn for his mouth to fall open. He stopped walking altogether too, so I was allowed time to walk away from him. The giddy feeling at finally one upping him was delicious.