AN: This is my first story, so please leave reviews! This story is based off my first play through of Dragon Age 2 and takes place after the events at Kirkwall. WARNING SPOILERS! Rated M for later. I do not own the rights to Dragon Age or any of it's characters, I'm just a fan-girl. :) Also, I huge thank you to my sisters, xxignoredxx and Wasabi-san, for helping me get this down in a cohesive fashion and for putting up with my constant questions!
10-1-11: I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS STORY! Life has just gotten away from me and I was having trouble getting inspired. At school I didn't have the game with me, but now I do. I've gone though and cleaned up what has been posted so I can get started on writing the next chapter. I do have a rough outline, so I hope it won't take more than a couple weeks to get the next chapter up. Thank you to all those that have stuck with me on this!
They had been running for days. Hawke knew that once the Kirkwall city guard had pulled itself back together a massive manhunt would sweep across the Free Marches. It seemed as if there was no where safe.
It was still a long way to the closest city in the Imperium, the only country in Thedas where mages were free. Tomorrow they would come in sight of Tantervale, signaling that they were close to the border. If she couldn't catch any food when they stopped for the night, there would be no choice but to venture into the city for supplies. She could only hope that word of what happened in Kirkwall hadn't spread that far yet.
To make matters worse, Justice had been acting up. A couple times now Hawke had needed to talk Anders down after he had gone off about how they shouldn't have to be running. Every time the mage would start, Justice would come out threatening to turn back around and kill every last Templar in Kirkwall along with anyone who got in his way. And every time, he would only calm down when Hawke held his face in her hands and forced him to look into her bright green eyes. So far it had worked, but each time it took longer for Anders to return. They needed to figure out something soon before Justice became too defiant.
Hawke had been having nightmares every night about Kirkwall, though she could never tell Anders. All those innocents killed in a bloody uprising the mages of the Circle carried out against the Templars; the Chantry being blown up, killing everyone inside including the Revered Mother; the streets so soaked in blood that it was hard to keep your footing. And to think she was harboring the man responsible. Hawke knew what Anders did was extreme, even wrong, but she loved him and she understood how he could revert to something so drastic. The Champion also knew that if Justice wasn't joined with Anders that he could never have done anything to hurt anyone. Hawke could still see through the monster to the man who was trapped inside.
As they reached the top of a ridge, they stopped to make camp. Anders could just make out the cityscape of Tantervale along the horizon. He quickly set to work putting up a tent as night would be approaching soon. Hawke grabbed the longbow she had bought off a merchant along the road out of Kirkwall. Even though she was a trained rogue, she had never touched a bow before and had not had much luck so far in providing food. She sighed as she gazed down at it, knowing she had to try.
Hawke headed towards a small wooded area nearby to look for some small game. Anders watched her leave, wishing that he could be the one to take care of them. Nothing had been said since his last episode a couple hours before; Hawke hadn't even cast a single glance in his direction. He had shoved her to the ground before he had been able to take back control from Justice. It had frightened him. Anders had never laid a hand on Hawke before and he had never wanted to let that happen. When Justice took over, he had no control of what he did. It was like he was watching everything happen through a daze and couldn't fully realize what was going on until it was all done.
He had begged her not to come. He had begged her not to help. He had pleaded that she stay away. Hawke was the Champion of Kirkwall, a great hero to many, and by her fiddling with an apostate put all that in jeopardy. She could have had a normal life in Kirkwall. She could have a normal family by now with someone who was not possessed. Anders had warned her that she would be throwing away any chance at that life by being with him, but she had made her choice. It was too late to change her mind now.
As the mage muttered a spell to assemble the tent, he wondered to himself. Does she regret staying with me? Is she just staying because there is no other option? Is that why she can't look me in the eye? The idea made him sick, but he couldn't think of anything else. I would have rather died back in Kirkwall than to live knowing I let her make the biggest mistake of her life.
After looking around near by and only gathering a small amount of wood, Anders threw it in a pile and sat down in front of it. The farther north they had been getting, the warmer it was at night, so he just got a small fire going for now. A quick spell and the wood was aflame. At least I have some use. He smiled to himself, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
Half an hour later, Hawke appeared empty handed. "Put that out. We can't have a fire this close to the city," she snapped with a frown, throwing her longbow on the ground. Immediately the fire disappeared and they were plunged into twilight. Hawke turned to look at what was left of the sunset and walked to the edge of camp as Anders got up and stood next to her.
"We're almost there. Maybe two days and we will be across the border."
"We are still at least another week away from Perivantium and we're short on supplies. I'll have to go into Tantervale tomorrow." Hawke still wouldn't look at him.
"I'm going with you." Anders took her hand without looking away from the horizon. He had not seen the sunset since arriving in Kirkwall and had almost forgotten its beauty.
The Champion turned sharply to face him, snatching her hand back. Anders didn't move. He knew what was coming. "Are you mad? If word has traveled this far yet, you're face is going to be plastered everywhere! I can slip in and out quickly without being recognized but I can't hide you."
"And what if you are recognized? You would be killed just as quickly as me. There would be no way you could fight your way out of there alone. We didn't come this far just be separated within sight of freedom." Anders looked at her, cupping her face in his hand. Her cheek was noticeably wet and warm. When did she start crying? This time Hawke did not pull away. They had been so focused on fleeing that they had little time for anything else and she missed his touch. "I'm not going to loose you. We will go into the city tomorrow together." His tone was soft, but left no room of further discussion.
Hawke was glad. She didn't want to argue with him. She was exhausted from running and hadn't eaten in several days. They had bought some dried boar from the traveling merchant and scavenged some berries, but the plains of Free Marches offered little vegetation and Hawke was no hunter. While trying to hunt today, she found that she couldn't stop crying. It was like everything that had happened was just now hitting her and she was unable to control her emotions for the first time.
Sobs took her over. She would have fallen to the ground had Anders not caught her. He sat them down and Hawke crumpled into his chest. He held her there, letting her cry into his robes. The only other time Anders had seen her cry was after her mother was killed, but even then it was no where near this hard. It made him feel uneasy. What if he was right? No. I can't think about that now.
He turned his attention back to Hawke. They sat like that until the light from the sun was almost completely gone. Eventually her breathing became more rhythmic and calmed. Before the mage knew it, Hawke sat up and quickly wiped her face.
"So, mid-morning we shall go into Tantervale together. We will need to have everything packed up with us, just in case we need to get out of there quickly."
Anders could barely make out her face, but she sounded as if nothing had happened. Even with his mind reeling with questions, he was too tired to prod her when she seemed to be calming down. "Alright, sounds like a plan."
They stood up; Hawke took his hand and led him to the tent. Anders helped her remove her armor then removed his robes. They collapsed into sleeping bags and held each other as they sank into sleep.