Author's Note:

Update: This is now a companion piece insomuch as they are in the same universe, and will intertwine. I think what I'll do is write different scenes in both of them, we'll see how that works. (Not necessarily from different perspectives, but just...different scenes.)

Twins all over! Cedric and Beatrice replace the original main Hawke character. Everyone else is the same. This (the prologue) will be in third person, but the following chapters will be in first person (though I will be switching characters).

Rated for language and for what will probably happen in later chapters. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.

Disclaimer: Let's just say I don't own anything. It's easier that way.

Prologue

My Maker, know my heart
Take from me a life of sorrow
Lift me from a world of pain

(Transfigurations 12:3, lines 2-4)

Four pairs of vibrantly blue-green eyes watched Leandra, helplessly, as she collapsed behind them. Two sets of strong legs pushed two lean bodies back in her direction, lunging protectively to take the brunt of the genlock's force as it approached the fallen woman. Only a few paces away blue erupted from two sets of slender-fingered hands, covering the gray-haired widow in shielding glow. In the fray, a large Mabari warhound began to tear at the throats of the attackers.

"Mother!" the four children called, though the taller two were currently swiping off the head of a hurlock and thrusting a dagger into the gut of another as the shorter set were maintaining the barrier around their mother and sending elemental spells to aid their brothers.

As the last of that particular group of assailants fell to a volatile mixture of force and magic, the Hawke widow managed to make it to her feet. "Oh, my children, what would I have done without you?"

"Mother, now is not the time for this... We need to keep going, or else we may be swarmed."

"Cedric is right, Mother – we can stop when we reach-...Where are we going, exactly?" Beatrice, who had been talking directly to the oldest member of their family, turned pointedly to her twin. He and his younger brother had only just returned from Ostagar in time to herd their family (though Cedric was mostly doing the herding as he was now the head, with Malcolm Hawke three years dead). The younger set of twins, Bethany and Carver, stood by with the former quietly and patiently awaiting an answer while the latter tried to put in his two coppers.

"-we can't go-"

"...They seem to be coming up from the South," Cedric started in again, shooting a mildly apologetic look to his younger brother while Bea gave Carver a much less appreciative glare to silence him. "Our best bet is to head towards Lake Calenhad and find passage across, to the Gherlen's Pass. We can skirt Orzamar and head to Orlais."

"But the Frostback Mountains," Bethany started, glancing to their mother. All four children understood what she meant to say and, apparently, so did Leandra.

"I will take my chances with the mountains, Bethany, if it means we escape these blasted darkspawn."

Carver, however, was frowning something fierce. "Orlais? What have we got in Orlais?"

The five of them stopped a moment to think; a family of Ferelden refugees, two of which were apostate mages, would probably not have the easiest time settling in the home of the Divine.

"I hate to admit it, Ced, but I think Carver has a point; Orlais might not be the best idea."

"Oh!" Leandra started, "We should go to Kirkwall."

"...Why would we go to Kirkwall?" Bethany asked, curious; she had heard horror stories about the Templars there and though she was loathe to disagree with her mother, it seemed hardly better than facing the Divine herself.

"I have family there; your Uncle Gamlen is still there, and the Amell family is well known. We should be able to find something suitable and settle in. Oh, I had never thought to return..." For a moment, Leandra let her mind wander back to her childhood, before she had fallen for the apostate Malcolm (the man she desperately loved, even now with him having gone to the Maker), when life was silks and sweets.

"Right then," Cedric started, clearing is throat in an attempt to gain his mother's attention once more. "It's settled; we'll head to West Hill and find a ship to take us across the Waking Sea. If we stay east of River Dane we should be able to avoid much Templar activity."

"This from the man that had us crossing Lake Calenhad," Bea snorted, though her eyes were smiling at her twin. Twins were altogether rare in Thedas, though such strong magical lineage in a family was not particularly common either. The Amell-Hawke family that now ran for their lives from their home in Lothering, massacring darkspawn and saving a soldier and her Templar husband along the way, had once consisted of Malcolm, a former Kirkwall Circle mage, and Leandra who belonged to the Amell family of Kirkwall with a history of magic in her veins. From their they were blessed first with Cedric and then, not moments later, Beatrice. Cedric had taken to the sword and shield, though he did not lack prowess with a dagger. Beatrice, like her father before her and her sister after, had magic coursing through her veins. While she favored healing magic, she could also conjure quite a nasty ice storm. Not two years later another set of twins came into the world, first Carver and then Bethany. Carver, like his brother, had taken up the sword though he preferred to use a two-handed weapon. Bethany held her staff like walking stick and less like a weapon, best with fire spells and arcane forces. Her sister occasionally envied her for her offensive spells, though Beatrice had long-since learned how to use her staff as more than a channeling tool. The four of them were certainly a force to be reckoned with though even with Aveline's help they could not fight the darkspawn forever.

They approached a steppe, the ground flattening out so that they might stand a moment and look ahead. The landscape seethed with the taint and, despite her resolution, Bea reached for the hand of her twin as she had when they were children. Cedric gave her a gentle squeeze; across the open area from them, Bethany did the same to their mother. Carver, however, stood alone. Aveline and her husband, Ser Wesley, huddled a little ways off as well.

It was then that the rumbling started. An earthquake, perhaps? Oh, no; it was far more dangerous. Bea jumped back from her brother who unsheathed his sword with incredible grace, hooking his arm behind his shield and trying his best to decide which direction their attack was coming from. It was either a lot of them, or something very, very large. Neither knew which would be worse.

Carver, seeing his brother and sister ready themselves, withdrew his greatsword and took broad strides towards the nearest downward path as he attempted to scout. Bethany remained with Leandra, her staff at the ready.

What happened next surprised every single one of them, Aveline holding by Wesley until it was obvious her help was needed elsewhere. It all happened in a rush – unfortunately, it was not an either/or situation with the "a lot" or the "very large". All at once they were swarmed; it seemed two ogres and at least thirty darkspawn had found the, though how they did not know.

Everyone was blinded by the din, calling out for help as they were overwhelmed. Everyone heard the piercing scream, however, as Bethany was tossed into the air. Bea turned and let loose a massive ball of ice, only to receive a dagger in her side. She gritted her teeth, eyes watering as she swiped her scythe-like staff to take off the head of the offender. She straightened again, wincing, as she looked to where the ogre had been. It was gone now, having moved into the fight with Dane (the Hawke mabari) dodging about its heels. On the ground lay what could only be Bethany's bloody body. She knew, without a doubt, her sister was gone.

With a cry that betrayed her pain and thirst for blood, Bea rallied all of her strength and called forth every last ounce of magic she had. Typically rather useless at offensive spells, a blast of ice force erupted from her much like a shockwave. While it did not necessarily decimate the entire enemy force, it did freeze the majority of them long enough to let the the three warriors regroup. The ogre that had taken Bethany was down, though the other was dancing around Carver. Bea was going to wear herself thin but she reached into her pack and removed one of the few lyrium vials she had. Tossing it and her head back, she readied herself and cast a healing spell over the group. Renewed, the warriors were able to take down the remaining assailants. Exhausted, they came together in the middle of the battlefield with no words between them.

It was hardly a moment before the rumbling began again, though softer this time.

"I don't...know how much longer I can do this," Bea coughed, turning a wan face up to her blood-covered brothers.

"Then we will just have to make quick work of it, sister." Cedric half-smiled, though it did not reach his eyes.

It seemed more that the darkspawn would make quick work of them, however. They were outnumbered tenfold and Beatrice was drained; she did not think that Carver or Cedric had had the chance to notice that Bethany had fallen and Aveline had not seen Wesley slump down against the rock. The world was growing grayer by the second and it was all she could do to keep the monsters at bay.

In a great burst of light, though, everything changed; an incredibly large winged creature (it could not, of course, be what it looked like) swooped down across them. Everyone stopped for a moment, even the darkspawn, to turn their heads and watch as the (it most certainly was a) dragon let loose an impressive river of flames, destroying countless of the tainted ranks. It skidded across the dirt of the steppe, taking more than a few demonic soldiers with it. As it came to a standstill nary three feet away from the surviving mage, it was suddenly a much smaller being though none less intimidating if truth be told.

There were no words as Carver and Cedric moved to stand on either side of their sister, Leandra bent over Bethany's body and Aveline hovering beside her husband. Instead, the three standing Hawke children gaped openly at the white-haired...witch.

"...Th-thank you," Cedric barely managed, sheathing his sword as he curved a supportive arm around his twin's waist. All three of them were about to drop, but Bea was still slowly bleeding from her earlier wound.

"...d'you think you could teach me that trick?" Bea tried to smile and the dragon-lady let out a chuckle, throwing her head back.

"It is not the sort of thing one learns, child; it is the sort of thing one is."

Bea blinked but shrugged a little. "As my brother said, thank you...but why?"

"It is not always prudent to allow death to overcome," the woman spoke, watching the mage exclusively.

The girl opened her mouth and closed it again, shaking her head. Cedric looked up at her with a curious narrowing of his eyes. "I've... I've heard stories of you, I think. Are you not-"

"...The Witch of the Wilds," Aveline finished with a grunt, shaking her head and Wesley continued though his words were breathy. "...Watch out for her; she-"

"...eats Chasind babies," Flemeth spoke with a wicked grin. Bea, delirious with bloodloss and pain that was more than just physical, added, "...do you drown puppies for fun too? I think I've heard that."

Dane, limping a little, came up to nudge in between Bea and Cedric. He let out a tiny, disapproving bark. The Witch of the Wilds laughed again, though after a brief time took on a somber look. "While I do quite appreciate a clever-tongued mage, this is not the time. I have a...favor to ask of you."

Again, the party was stunned. Leandra had taken a moment from her grieving and fretting to listen and the three breathing Hawke children stiffened. Aveline was shaking her head vehemently, "Don't."

"What choice do we have?" Cedric, currently the voice of reason, looked back at Aveline. Bea frowned; he was depressingly right. They could not go on like this. Carver had crossed his arms over his chest and looked every bit the dejected child. He was, of course, not being deferred to. He had expected no less.

"None at all," Bea finalized and, looking to Flemeth, nodded a little. "All right then, what do you propose?"

"You five are to find your way to Kirkwall, correct?"

"There are seven of us, witch," Carver corrected, expression dark. Bea thought to smack him for his insolence; the last thing they needed was that dragon creature turning the flame on them. Pissing off a Witch of the Wilds, myth or no, did not seem like the brightest of ideas.

"...That one," Flemeth pointed to the body of Bethany, "has left this world and that one," she turned towards Wesley and Aveline, eyes on the former, "...is not long for it."

"No!" Aveline cried, turning to look at her husband. He was gray in the face, his veins showing darkly through his skin. His eyes were cloudy now, as if his vision was gone.

"She's right, my love; it's the Taint, I can feel it...in my blood."

"There has to be something we can do. Beatrice, haven't you got healing magic?"

"...The only cure for the Taint is to become a Grey Warden," Cedric offered and frowned when Carver pointed out that they had all died at Ostagar.

"Not all," Flemeth corrected him, "but the ones that remain are far out of your reach."

"Couldn't you-"

"No, Aveline," Wesley hushed her, "...there is nothing but for you to go to Kirkwall. The Maker is calling."

Bea felt sick to her stomach as she moved towards the soldier, standing close. "...Aveline, I..." She did not have the words. Cedric would not do it, not unless asked. Carver would, simply to get it done, the big clout. Beatrice, however, knew somehow that Aveline would not appreciate being pushed into it. It was her choice and hers alone. The redhead turned to look at her mage companion and nodded with a horrified expression, withdrawing her blade.

"...How I love you, Wesley."

"And I you, my darling," he sputtered and coughed a little and, with one last sigh, closed his eyes against the piercing of steel through his heart as Aveline drove the dagger home.

With her jaw set, Aveline stood away from her husband after retrieving his sword. She held it proudly, silent as the grave as she came to stand beside Carver and Beatrice moved to kneel at Bethany's side. Leandra balked as her elder daughter approached.

"You did nothing," the grieving woman hissed as Beatrice reached out to touch the youngest Hawke's cooling cheek. "...You just let her die! How could you?"

"Mother, hush," Cedric spoke, his tone comforting but tired. "It is no one's-"

"My baby is dead, don't tell me to hush!"

"She's right," Beatrice clenched her jaw, vision blurry. She needed to heal that wound and fast, or else she would be no good to anyone. That didn't matter then, though; her little sister was dead, laying in front of her because she hadn't been fast enough. Her brothers had been too far away, it was not their fault. She, however, had been given the opportunity and had failed.

Baby Bethie, she thought, wiping furiously at her eyes with dirty hands, may the Maker take your soul. I hope you have been right all these years about Him, sweet sister.

She began to murmur piece of Transfigurations 12, the lines that were Bethany's favorite. Flemeth stood by quietly for a time, though eventually she required their attention once more.

As Beatrice stood to speak to the witch once more, she withdrew a healing drought. She decided that would have to be enough for now, as she could not focus enough of herself to conjure the healing magic she required. Her brothers and Aveline seemed, despite everything, no less worse for wear. They would be bruised and but the majority of the blood their wore was not their own.

Flemeth went on to suggest to them that their bury their dead (an oddly eccentric woman she was, though the time given was greatly appreciated) before they would be moved to West Hill and set upon a boat. The end of their deal was, it seemed, simple enough; deliver an amulet to the Keeper of the Dalish clan that would be waiting at the base of Sundermount. Barring any mass amounts of outside interference, their task appeared to be an easy one compared to what Flemeth had already done for them. Carver, entirely too suspicious for his own good, disliked making the deal. Luckily, Cedric deferred to Beatrice and so they found themselves in the cramped hull of a rocking ship that evening.

End Note:
Thoughts? Reviews are greatly appreciated!