The camp was silent except for the subdued sounds of nature and the crackling of the fire. Almost all had gone to sleep for the night except for Shale, who didn't sleep as it was a golem, and Mirabelle Aeducan, for her nightmares kept her awake. Oh how she envied Alistair on nights like these, for he had had the taint for longer and knew how to block the worst of it out. She, on the other hand, had never even dreamt before.
The dwarf remembered that first night after her Joining, when she awoke screaming and thrashing about. Morrigan had nearly set everything on fire, thinking something had intruded on their small camp at the time. Alistair had run to her, realizing the problem, and hugged her till she could finally stutter out her question of what the sod had just happened to her. Mirabelle hadn't slept much since.
Tonight she had woken herself up before the screaming of the darkspawn in her dreams made her wake everyone else. It was a cold, breezy night, something else she wasn't used to, having grown up surrounded by lava fountains and stagnant, dry air. The young dwarf was sitting by the fire in an oversized (on her) men's shirt (donated by Alistair) and a pair of dark colored pants. A blanket was wrapped securely around her shoulders to block out the gentle wind. She stared into the fire, wondering idly what was happening back in Orzammar. She frowned as her imagination went rampant and she thought of everything from rioting in the streets to the darkspawn breaking in through the mines and slaughtering everyone.
Mirabelle turned from the fire and closed her tired eyes to ward away the thoughts.
"What is It doing?" The bored voice of Shale asked. Mirabelle turned towards the golem and found herself entranced by the subtle glow of the crystals in its shoulders.
"Just scaring myself with outrageous thoughts, Shale." Mirabelle replied, a grimace on her face as she continued to focus on the blue glow of the crystals. She realized that the crystals were glowing in a steady rhythm, like a slow heartbeat or relaxed breathing. She also realized that her own breathing had slowed to match the gentle pulse, calming her from the start those terribly intrusive thoughts had given her.
"Such a foolish thing to do. Why would It do such a thing?" Shale rumbled, confusion underlying in its voice. Mirabelle merely chuckled and shrugged, shaking her head.
"My thoughts drift without my consent when I'm tired, Shale. Not much I can do," She could try and sleep but her bedroll would be so cold and the fire was so nice... It captured her gaze again and she pulled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. "Didn't your thoughts ever take hold when you were frozen?"
"For a time, I believe they might have. Most of what I remember during my wretched time in that village was the need to crush the skulls of all the annoying humans and to squish every bird that dared perch on me."
"And now you can squish every bird you want." Mirabelle replied with a light smirk. Shale rumbled approvingly, the ghost of a smile upon its stone face. They both became silent then, Shale standing as still as the statue it appeared to be and Mirabelle staring into the fire with thoughts of home in her head.
Finally, an hour later, Mirabelle stood and walked to her tent. As much as she hated it, she would make herself sleep. They were to begin traveling to Redcliffe in the morning to seek Arl Eamon's aid and she needed to be rested. Before she crawled into her tent, she turned and nodded to Shale with a small smile.
"Good night, Shale."
Shale didn't reply, and Mirabelle could practically feel it rolling its eyes at her, despite its lack of irises. As she finally lay on her bedroll and closed her eyes, Mirabelle could have sworn she heard Shale rumble something, but it was lost as her tiredness crashed on her and she passed out almost immediately.
At the edge of camp, Shale watched the the exiled princess crawl into her tent and quietly wished her a good night as well.