[Redd]

Ostagar was destroyed, Darkspawn had long since defiled that place and it now stood as a monument to the War. Lothering too, the last place they'd lived, had been ransacked and razed. Redcliffe was where her petty thievery started and Denerim was where Korinne died and Hawke was truly born. 

She sighed and shook her head, half to herself. If there was anywhere in the world she'd rather die, than go back to, it was Denerim. Sure, it helped shape her into the ruthless, thorough assassin she was today, but it had a cost. Things like that always had a cost.

Denerim had it's fair share of people to help and money to go around, sure but she'd been an outsider. She'd not realised she was stepping into territory that didn't belong to her. She had no idea she was fixing problems that gangs didn't want her fixing. Her boyfriend then had paid the price. She'd almost died. Instead, she fought for her life, the healing procedure rendering her sterile. Not that it mattered, at the time, she considered that a boon. Then she rose up, learnt how to fight dirty and dismantled the entire gang.

But she still couldn't stand the sight of the city. 

[Redd]

So Fereldan was off the table, that was clear. She couldn't stay at Skyhold, that would be ridiculous. She only invited trouble and the organisation was planning to devolve into a skeleton operation now that the whole 'impending doom' thing was over. All she'd do is flit between soldiers for company and attention and that... wasn't a way she could live out her days.

Outside of that... no, it had to be Kirkwall. That was it. It was a home. She had a purpose there. 
To be honest, her original plan of stealing a horse and riding until they both couldn't go any further wasn't holding up much in light of this either.

Didn't help that awful knife of anxiety in her heart though. 

[Redd]

Korinne let out a soft audible sigh and heaved herself off the ledge. It had probably been a few hours since she'd been out here earlier. Looking back on the whole situation was almost humorous in her eyes. Sure, she wasn't completely sure if she'd even be here right now if Ashe hadn't pulled her off the ledge but the whole thing reeked of her usual brand of bullshit. 

Maker, why was she like this? Why did she have to stage a third degree public mental breakdown every time she was mildly inconvenienced. Anders never minded it, probably because he welcomed the odd distraction from his own troubles but the others... she was never too sure about. Surely... it got annoying? Ashe and Varric had seen her fair few outbursts by this point. Maybe they just pitied her, that would make sense. She would have lost her patience long ago, if she were them though. That was a troubling thought. 

A soft breeze picked up, piercing her jacket and softly tossing her hair around. Right, cold. That thing she really hated. Korinne pulled her coat tighter around her and hurried back inside, shutting the heavy wooden door behind her. By now, the hold was quiet, the party had stopped a long time ago. As she picked her way back to her room, the only people around were those who'd never made it back to bed, instead passing out in the corridors or small groups huddled in corners, barely noticing her go by, so deep was their discussion. She couldn't blame them, these people had been working hard for a year, they needed the win. She'd be among them if she ever felt like this had been her fight.

[Redd]

Korinne finally reached her room, carefully placing a hand to the door and holding her breath, listening, before pushing the door open. Like she noted earlier, old habits would never die. The room was, thankfully, empty though. She didn't know if she could handle another person tonight.

She unceremoniously fell onto the soft crimson and gold floral patterned quilt, only rolling over to activate a fire rune on her ring and light the candle set next to the bed.Then, after a few minutes of lying face down on the bed, she pulled herself up into a cross-legged position. Fingers fumbled at the cord around her neck, and she carefully pulled the necklace off from over her head. She ran a thumb over the little carved fox pendant, and turned it over in her hand.

"Of course this is the only thing I have left of you. At least... I'm alone but I have something." she sighed tracing the shape of it with her finger. "I think you'd be happy though, with how it's all going. Looks like you didn't die in vain. Maybe you wanted to be a martyr, I don't know. I... miss you. I hate what I did. But you seemed to understand. And I hate that you understand." she paused, only to wipe a tear away with her free hand. "I'm going back home soon. I'll come visit you, I'm sure no one's looked after your grave in the last year... so I'll do that. I... I'll join you one day but apparently there's still plans for me. Maybe the afterlife's the only place where we could be together, but I got an opportunity to go back and fix Kirkwall. I promise I'll rebuild it with your vision. I..." She suddenly felt the weight of her exhaustion. With a shaky sob, she fell back into the bed again, eyes shut and hands tightly clutching the pendant.

"I... promise..."

[BP RECORDED UP TO HERE, 34 posts made & 102 points gained since last record]

[Redd]

Maker, she was going to be sick.

Fuck this idea. Travelling across the Waking Sea? She'd have rather died. 
Korinne pressed her forehead against her knees and pulled her legs further into the huddled position she'd assumed in some dark corner of the cargo hold. She should have been out there, breathing in the sharp briny air and feeling the soft spray of the ocean against her face. The sound of gulls should have been a beckon, along with the excited shouts of the crew. If she'd been paying attention, she would have realised that they were nearing Kirkwall.

Spoiler alert, she had not been paying attention.

[Redd]

Since when did she even get seasick? Every lurch, pitch and roll over each wave was met with her stomach threatening to empty it's contents onto the decking and she did not want to deal with that right now. She could have shuffled her way above deck as to eliminate the risk of making a mess, but that meant that she'd have to go past like, everyone.

And she was more than content to sit down here and suffer alone.

She did not get seasick goddamnit.