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The boxsplosion has been dealt with, and Shephard thanked Kanaya appropriately before taking his various Christmas gifts home. Except the mug- he's keeping that in one of the abstracted pockets of the jacket Kanaya gave him a while back, as he intends to make a point of using it where people can see. He's not drinking now, though. Alene, one of Mrs. Wilson's first litter, insisted on following him when he started putting things away, so she's trotting happily along behind him as he heads out to the target range. It's been a while since he's been able to get in any time with a bow, and he's got some recently fletched and tipped arrows to test out anyway. Best to have one of the houndeyes around in case someone- not naming any names, but they're probably French- wanders through. Again.

He'll be happy to talk in between flights, though.

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It's been a while since Shephard's heard a bark even a little bit like that- the huskies on Svalbard don't have the size you'd need to get a mabari's resonant sound. Shephard lowers the bow and glances over in the dog's direction. "Naw, it ain't no big thing," he answers. "Just out for practice. Alene, sit."

The houndeye had come to her feet to get a better look at the new arrivals. Fortunately, 'sit' on a houndeye only involves one leg's worth of work.

"Every time I think I've found all this place has to offer."

Ysalwen shakes her head, looking a cross between rueful and amused.

"Thanks for understanding. You've got your own bit of trouble, I see?"

Really strange-looking trouble, but it doesn't feel like darkspawn or demon, so that's all right.

Liranan barks again, just as loudly as before. Then he attempts to nudge the chewed-on frisbee toward the three-legged eyeball thing.

Maybe it wants to play? If it's allowed?

Can it be allowed? Can it? Please?

"She ain't trouble so much as makin' sure other folks don't git into trouble," says Shephard amiably. "Alene here's all right. I git folks who don't allus recognize they're about to walk onto an active lane. She's better'n me at chasing 'em off."

He glances down at the dog, and then at Alene, who turns to blink hopefully up at him.

"Oh, all right. You c'n play if you want."

She jumps up in a gleefully wriggly fashion and scampers over to the frisbee. Given that her mouth is on her lower side between her legs, picking it up is a little awkward, but she manages. This should be fun!

"If I were more of an archer, I'm sure Liranan would be good for that, too. Instead he mostly defends me when other people get the idea to interrupt my spellcasting. Or my sleep, honestly."

She laughs a little, quietly, watching Liranan cock his head left, then right, then left again, as if to figure out how best to play with someone with a mouth in that particular location.

No sense not trying tug-of-war, right? Right??????

"I'm Ysalwen, by the way. Before they, and we, get too engrossed and I forget to mention. Hello."

Liranan will probably win at the tug-of-war, but that doesn't mean Alene isn't going to try. She'll just dig her hind hoof into the ground and go up on her one leg to keep her grip, that's all. (Even if she is considerably smaller than Liranan and will probably get dragged around somewhat as a result.)

"Shephard," says Shephard by way of introduction. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I'm gonna guess you're new 'round here?"

Liranan is careful with his playmates! Well, he tries to be, but it's more a matter of trial and error than anything.

Alene is great!

"I am new, does it show so much?"

Something to work on, then, certainly.

"Naw, I just been comin' here a while now and I'm pretty sure I ain't seen you around before," says Shephard. "That ain't to say I know everybody here, but I got a fair enough memory. Fine-lookin' dog you got there, by the by."

"It's more like he's got me, but thank you anyway."

She lifts her voice just enough to be heard over Alene and Liranan's play.

"Did you hear that, Lir? He said you look very nice."

The mabari lets go of the frisbee long enough to bark twice. Happily.

He neglects to consider what this loss might do for Alene.

Whoops!

Does the phrase 'ass over teakettle' exist in Thedas? Probably not. Well, assume it does because that's how the houndeye flips; fortunately she's too startled to let out more than a single low yelp. Also she drops the frisbee in the process.

"You ain't in trouble, girl, don't worry," Shephard says when Alene turns anxiously his way. To Ysalwen he adds, "Her kind, uh... they ain't that great at bitin' like a proper dog, but they c'n bark fit to break a man's bones if they're in the mood for it. I got her trained not to bark less'n I give the order."

Liranan cocks his head at Shephard, as if listening.

Then he barks once at Alene. Quietly. It's like an apology.

Ysalwen reaches over to ruffle his ears.

"That's a powerful bark. Does her kind work with people on the battlefield like that? Or in rescue operations? If her bark can shatter stone as well as bone, I mean to say."

"Not yet, but that's on account of Alene here's part of the first litter born to a tame momma," says Shephard. "These're mostly wild critters back home. I been workin' on taming'n training Alene'n her brothers'n sisters, since we ain't really got proper dogs these days."

He nods soberly to Liranan; as far as he's concerned the apology is accepted. Alene, for her part, gets up and shakes herself off before grabbing the frisbee again.

Alene is the best! (Again.)

Liranan is much more careful this time. It's only fair.

"No proper dogs?"

Ysalwen looks both startled and horrified.

"What happened?"

"Invasion," says Shephard. "That's the short version, anyways. You said somethin' about spells a little while back- that mean you come from somewheres with a spirit world or somethin' similar lyin' right close to regular everyday shit?"

He's hung around Kreyu long enough to have a general idea of magical multiverses. And magic otherworlds make explaining borderworlds and parallel universes a lot simpler when you aren't actually a theoretical physicist yourself.

"The Fade, yes. And the Deep Roads, in their way, I suppose."

Other continents, too, if it comes to that.

"Is that where they came from, those invaders? Your -- spirit world?"

Edited 2014-12-29 23:35 (UTC)

"Somethin' mighty similar to one," says Shephard. "We had some folks tryin' to work out how you could go from point A to point B without havin' to pass through every other point in between, and they fucked up along the way. Whole lot of weird shit got in, includin' things like Alene here. That was nasty, but it wasn't the big one. Turns out you rip a hole in the world like that, you git the attention of bigger shit entirely, and about four years after that we got us a visit from things that just go from world to world and conquer the shit out of whatever they find. Fuckers took down every country you could name in a total of seven hours."

"Andraste's tits!"

If he thought Ysalwen looked horrified about the dogs --

"Even the Blight doesn't take lands in that short a timespan. Do they still occupy your world, these conquerors?"

"We managed to git 'em driven out 'bout two years back," says Shephard. "Far as we c'n tell we wrecked their ability to ever come back, but we still got a hell of a lot of shit to deal with even with 'em gone. I'mma guess you ain't referring to the kind of blight that kills off crops'n starves whole countries?"

... hey, he learned about Ireland in school, okay?

"It does that, too, but it poisons more than the crop, and it brings darkspawn with it. Entire armies of them."

Her mouth twists.

"I'm glad your plague of armies won't be coming back, ever again. We're still likely to have two more Blights of our own. Someday."

"Can't say as I've ever heard of darkspawn, but they don't sound like nothin' you'd want on your doorstep," Shephard says. "Whatever they are, you got my sympathies."

"Thanks. You have mine, as well. It -- the most recent Blight we just ended. It was bad enough. But the darkspawn always remain. And they'll swarm again. Someday, but not soon."

She rotates her shoulders as if releasing tension.

Liranan cocks an ear, but doesn't let up from his play.

"Sorry. It's -- are things getting better, for you and yours? Now that you've been invader-free for two years?"

Is there a great deal of hope for more changes to come?

Edited 2014-12-29 23:54 (UTC)

"They're pickin' up," Shephard allows. "It's slow goin', but they're pickin' up. We're gittin' our feet back under ourselves better'n I would've thought."

"I'm very glad. I'd like to think we'll do the same, but it's only been days yet."

She doesn't sigh.

"Did you come here through all of it?"

Shephard grimaces. "Tell you the truth, I wasn't there for all of it," he says. "I was there at the start, and then some sick grey fuck who talked like he was a team of weasels all dressed up like a human put me in some kinda... I don't even know what, but when I woke up next it was twenty years later and folks were only just startin' to git their shit together enough to give the invaders hell. Started comin' here a little after that, been comin' off and on ever since."

Yeah, it sounds like bullshit, he knows that, but it's the best he can manage in the way of an explanation for that dog bastard shit in the suit.

"Gods damn it all, I hate when that happens."

She'd set Fen'Harel on that kind of thing, if she could.

If he wasn't the kind to enjoy that kind of thing.

Ah well.

"It's not quite as bad, I suppose, when it only feels like twenty years have passed. Still."

"Ain't much I c'n do about it now," Shephard admits, "but at least I got the chance to throw my weight in when we took the fight to the Combine's home turf. That counts for somethin'. Other'n that I got a lot of makin' up for lost time to do."