Outside the Campus' North Gate, Wednesday Morning

[seeks_truth]

She had heard the first shriek when she'd left the dorms complex for her morning jog. There had been dead eels on the lawn, but she had not paid it much heed.

Then there had been the second shriek, as she approached the gate. It had given her pause. What was out there that was, apparently, throwing fish at the school?

It was the third shriek that made her draw her weapon.

By the fourth, Cassandra was outside the North Gate, her sword in one hand and a makeshift shield in the other. "Maker," she snarled, "You will not make it to the school, creatures!"

... and so, if you left campus before classes today, there was about a fifty percent chance you'd run into a tall, dark-haired teenage girl in full armor, punching flying eels in the face with a garbage can lid. One had to make do with what one could find, after all, and she had not had the presence of mind to equip a shield the day she'd come to Fandom... etcetera.

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[not_every_mage]

When the first eel hit Anders' window, his reaction was to roll over and try to get some more sleep. Someone else would deal with them eventually, right?

But after another hour or so of screeching flying eels crashing against the dorms, he reluctantly decided he might have to be one of the someones to go deal with them. He put on a heavy sweatshirt and jeans -- the closest his wardrobe came to armor -- retrieved his staff, and went out toward town.

He'd zapped a few eels off to meet whatever Maker they believed in before he spotted Cassandra and greeted her with a relatively cheery "Hello!"

Killing things together tended to lead to a temporary truce, after all. And if Cassandra didn't think so -- his train of thought was interrupted by the need to attack a particularly large eel propelling itself directly toward him.

[seeks_truth]

"The eels are more plentiful outside the gates!" Cassandra felt she should likely warn him. "Do not let up your guard!"

She was even going to be nice and put herself - and her garbage can lid shield - between Anders and the next barrage of eels hurtling his way.

[not_every_mage]

"Thanks," Anders said, waiting behind the shield for the barrage to die down to something he could manage. (He had no shame when it came to not getting killed.) As he did, he noticed what exactly it was. "You're protecting us with a garbage can lid?"

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra grunted.

"Are you complaining?" she asked, bashing the last of the barrage with her shield so hard the eels went flying backwards.

[not_every_mage]

"Not as long as it works," Anders said. He was finally able to move out enough to quickly freeze a few eels with his staff, watching them fall to the ground. "Just an observation."

[seeks_truth]

"I will have to acquire a real shield here when I am able," she said.

Then she was off, sword and shield pointed ahead, smashing each frozen eel before it heated up again.

[not_every_mage]

"I'm not sure there's an armorer on the island," Anders said thoughtfully. An eel crashed by his foot and he stepped on it before it could do anything more. "Let me know if you find one. I want a better staff."

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra snorted. "You don't need a better staff," she said.

She cut through several eel, then kicked one well into the air.

[not_every_mage]

Anders snorted right back at her and froze more eels, since the teamwork aspect seemed to be paying off there. "And since when are you an expert on them?"

[seeks_truth]

This time, Cassandra smashed the frozen eels with her shield.

It clanged. She chose not to think about that.

"Whether I'm an expert is irrelevant," she said. "We will not be staying long. You can get a new staff at the Circle."

[not_every_mage]

Anders rolled his eyes, which was possibly not a wise thing to do in the middle of a battle but felt essential.

"By that logic, you could wait and get a new shield wherever they keep Seekers," he pointed out, stabbing a half-frozen eel with his staff blade. "Anyhow, do you really still believe we're going home anytime soon?"

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra didn't feel she needed to waste more words on that than a simple, "Yes."

She saw several eels closing in on Anders' position, and decided to use her voice for something more useful: she let out a loud warcry, drawing their attention.

[not_every_mage]

Anders still thought she was wrong, but the debate could wait until after the eels were gone.

He muttered an impressed curse at Cassandra's warcry, then set about electrocuting the eels while they were occupied. "You're good at this."

He was almost certain she knew that, but he could give a compliment when it was deserved.

[seeks_truth]

"And you are efficient," she returned.

Not so much because he was owed a counter-compliment, but because it was true.

She slammed the hilt of her sword down on one of the paralyzed eels, smashing the head.

[not_every_mage]

"I've found getting on with it works better than screaming 'Andraste save us, we're all going to die,'" Anders informed her dryly, and frowned at the smashed eel.

He prodded the oxygen tank and anti-grav generator with its staff. "Funny. Someone put armor on it. Or -- something."

[seeks_truth]

"It seems fairly useless for armor," Cassandra said, glancing over her shoulder. It seemed to have quieted some, but she wasn't lowering her makeshift shield yet. "It does not even cover a quarter of the eel."

[not_every_mage]

"You're right, but I can't make out what else it might be," Anders frowned. He was taking advantage of the temporary lull to give the eel a closer look, but the technology was unfamiliar to him. "It worries me, is the point. I don't think the eels slithered out of their nests and geared up on their own."

[seeks_truth]

"You believe someone may have enchanted them?" Cassandra asked.

She stepped closer now; she had to see more clearly.

[not_every_mage]

"It doesn't feel like magic to me," Anders told her, shrugging as he stepped to the side to give her a clearer look. "Besides, a mage who wanted to control eels wouldn't need to dress them up to do it. But I do think someone's behind this, yes."

[seeks_truth]

It was Cassandra's turn to roll her eyes. "I did not say a mage did it," she said flatly, "I said it might have been enchanted."

Even she knew most enchanters were not mages - or at least not ones that still retained their magic.

"What is your theory?"

[not_every_mage]

"I didn't get much further than 'someone dressed them up and sent them at us,'" Anders said, and then backed up even further and raised his staff because he saw another cloud of eels coming in. "And -- watch your right! -- probably not as an early Wintersend gift."

[kenselvren]

Jalian wasn't sure precisely what was going on here, but once an eel tried to attack her, she didn't much care. She started around the dorms, but when she saw the battle by the gate - well, numbers always helped.

So she was striking out at the latest batch of eels, a long knife in each hand, practically a blur as she sliced them neatly.

[kenselvren]

Jalian took out an eel near Anders and grinned at him. "Can we kill things together again?"

[not_every_mage]

"It'd be my pleasure," Anders grinned back, generously freezing some eels in Jalian's general direction. "Well, not exactly a pleasure, but as close as we're coming to one today."

[kenselvren]

Jalian laughed and swept one frozen eel to the ground, stepped on its head, and used it to bat the others away. "Where are these coming from? The other island again?"