Based on a DAWC prompt: Write a story that starts with "It was a dark and stormy night...". For some reason, this is what I came up with - perhaps because the thing I love about DAII is the fact that it is entirely possible to have an all female party, no matter which class you played, something that was a bit more difficult with DA:O, especially if you didn't have Shale. This takes place sometime between Act 1 and Act 2. I don't own any of these characters - Bioware builds the sandbox I play in.
It was a dark and stormy night on the Wounded Coast. Thunder and lightning raged over the rocky cliffs and sandy beaches. A curtain of rain veiled the coast, making it impossible to see more than a few feet. But, if one squinted, they could see a dim pinpoint of light on a distant ledge. If they listened very closely, they might be able to hear the dulcet tones of a Rivani woman over the crack of the thunder.
"'It'll be fun', she said," Isabela grumbled, "'Just a day at the beach', she said. 'Just us girls, no troubles, it's supposed to be nice all day' she said. Hawke, why do I ever listen to you?" Isabela was sitting cross legged on the ground under a leaky, makeshift shelter. Blankets covered the ground, except for a small circle in the middle where a small fire was threatening to go out. It's soft glow lit up the faces of four women - Isabela, Merrill, Aveline, and Diana Hawke – as they tried to soak up whatever meager heat they could manage.
"Because I'm gorgeous and charming. Come on Isabela it's not that bad." Diana said, her teeth chattering slightly.
"Not that bad?" Aveline interjected. "Hawke, we weren't at the coast for five minutes before we were attacked by bandits, pirates, and Tal-Vashoth. At the same time. Our 'picnic' was stolen by some sort of abomination, and to top it all off, this stupid storm has washed away the trail, and we're stuck here until morning. Am I missing anything?"
"You forgot about your sprained ankle." Merrill said, pointing to Aveline's outstretched leg, which was wrapped up in a bulky, makeshift bandage.
"Right, Merrill, I had completely forgotten that I'm injured." Aveline's tone was dripping with sarcasm. "As much as it pains me to admit it, I have to agree with Isabela."
"Aw, thanks man-hands."
"You're welcome, whore. Seriously, what part of this misadventure is 'not that bad'?" Aveline finished. A bolt of lightning arced towards their camp, making all of them jump.
"We're all together at least?" Diana asked with a shrug.
"Oh, that makes me feel a whole lot better."
"At least there's food in the Tal-Vashoth camp." Merrill said cheerily. Her Dalish robes were not suited for the storm, and her thin frame was shaking like a leaf.
"At least there's no Tal-Vashoth in the Tal-Vashoth camp, kitten." Isabela scooted closer to the elf and threw a dirty blanket she'd found over both of them. Merrill clutched at the blanket gratefully and tried to leech as much body heat from Isabela as she could manage. The four women stared at the fire in silence, listening to the crackle of burning twigs and the pounding of the rain. Thunder rolled on overhead.
"So, what do we do now?" Merrill asked.
"We sleep, wait until morning, and try to get back home then. I'll take first watch." Aveline said firmly.
"Oh, I don't think I could sleep right now – I never could during storms." Merrill said.
"A captain who falls asleep during a storm isn't a captain for very long – I'll be up until this thing is over." Isabela added, poking the fire with a stick.
"You do realize we're not on a ship, pirate?" Aveline said, rolling her eyes.
"Doesn't matter, still won't be able to sleep."
"Bethany always used to get nightmares during really bad storms. I'd have to watch over her all night." Diana said softly. She was hugging her knees to her chest, and her eyes had taken on a faraway look as she gazed at the fire. The other three exchanged concerned glances.
"You really miss her, don't you?" Aveline asked finally, putting an awkward hand on Diana's shoulder. The normally-gregarious rogue nodded, still staring into the dim light.
"She and I used to do this kind of thing all the time; go off on our own, just us girls, and take a break from training or chores or whatever. It worried our parents and infuriated Carver because we never invited him. It's just... well you've become almost like sisters too me, and I thought..." Diana sighed. "I'm sorry this trip has been so awful." She buried her head into her knees, and whether she was shaking from the cold, or from sorrow, it was difficult to tell.
"Hey..." Aveline murmured, rubbing Diana's shoulder, "Hey there. It's okay. I... well okay, I'm not going to lie, this adventure has been all sorts of awful, but it's not your fault. I'm honored that you consider me a sister." She shot a glare at Isabela over Diana's bowed head, daring her to say something inappropriate.
"Me too, Hawke." Isabela said, sticking her tongue out at the guard captain. "I'm sorry we've been bitching at each other. I promise to stop." Diana lifted her head and gave a wry smile to the Rivani woman.
"Don't make promises you can't keep." She said. Isabela's mouth dropped in mock-indignation.
"You don't believe I can be nice? I can be nice. I'll be so sweet your teeth will ache. Isn't that right, big girl?"
"Isabela, you couldn't be sweet if you were swimming in a sea of honey." Aveline grinned.
"Hawke, I take back my promise. So don't be surprised if you wake up in the morning and we have a dead captain of the guard on our hands."
"I'm glad you think of me as a sister as well, Hawke, although we'd make rather odd relatives, considering you're not an elf, but I guess you can't have everything." Merrill said, turning the conversation back to Diana. "What did the two of you do during your outings?"
"Oh, we'd go swimming, we'd run around. I'd try and scare her sometimes, and she'd show me some magic if we were sure there wasn't anyone around. Drink some of dad's special reserve that I'd stolen. We'd also just talk a lot, about what we wanted to be when we grew up, what an idiot Carver was, boys that we liked, that kind of thing." Diana eyes brightened at the memory, and her smile grew warm.
"Ooh, that sounds like fun! Let's talk about that!" Isabela clapped her hands excitedly.
"About what we want to be when we grow up?" Merrill asked.
"No, kitten, about boys that we like." Isabela was wearing a grin that went from ear to ear. "I want to know who every one here is interested in. And while I don't have 'dad's special reserve', I do have some swill I borrowed from the bandits who tried to kill us." She pulled out a large bottle from somewhere and took a large swig before passing it along to Diana.
"What are we, thirteen? Come on." Aveline groaned and rubbed her temples. Next to her, Diana cautiously sniffed at the bottle, which appeared to be a mistake. She recoiled back, wrinkling her nose. Visibily steeling herself, she took a drink anyway and passed the bottle along to Aveline.
"I'm completely serious. Come on Aveline, I've seen you eye Sebastian's fabulous... armor. Tell me you would toss him out of your bed." The pirate's brown eyes were full of mischief and good humor. Aveline sighed with resignation, and took a sip. She made a face and glared at the offending bottle.
"Isabela, he's a cowardly, entitled brat. Sebastian does not interest me in the least." She finally said, taking another sip and handing off to Merrill.
"I'd do him." Isabela said with a shrug.
"Of course you would."
"The point is rather moot, considering he's celibate." Diana admonished.
"I know, that's what make's him such a fun challenge."
"I think he's handsome. And I like his accent. And his armor." Merrill added. Isabela guffawed loudly, startling the poor elf. "What?"
"Nothing, kitten. Well Aveline, if not Sebastian, then who?"
"I... that is none of your business, slattern." Aveline stuttered, her cheeks getting as red as her hair.
"Ooh, touchy. So there is someone!" Isabela waited for Aveline to say something, but the guard pursed her lips and refused to say another word. "I'm going to find out sooner or later, just wait. Merrill, is it just Sebastian, or is there someone else?"
"I like Varric too. He's been so helpful since I came to Kirkwall. But I think he's only interested in dwarfs. And Bianca." Merrill giggled.
"Such a shame too. All that chest hair, and not one of us can touch it." Isabela fluttered her eyelids and sighed. "Why must I go for the ones playing hard-to-get?"
"Ones? Who else is playing hard-to-get?" Diana cocked her head curiously.
"Why Aveline, of course. I fell for her the moment I saw her."
"You are so full of shit." Aveline grumbled.
"Oh, big girl, wouldn't it be fun? Me, you, a large bed and your... sword?" Isabela leered. Diana and Merrill laughed.
"Watch it wench, you may not like where that sword ends up." Aveline pulled up the sword next to her and started to stand up, despite her injury. Diana's hand shot out and grabbed Aveline's arm, forcing her to sit down again.
"Will you two please stop bickering for one second? Isabela, you're the one who wanted to play this silly game, but if you're not going to tell the truth..."
"Who says I'm not?" she said cheekily. Diana raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Truth of the matter is, I find most of the people in this town, with the exeception of you, Hawke, extremely boring and not worth my time. That said, I am curious about how far down Fenris' tattoos go."
"I wonder about that as well, sometimes." Diana said, a half-smile on her face.
"Really, Hawke? And here I thought Anders' manifestos had finally won you over." Isabela reached out and pushed Diana playfully. Diana rolled her eyes.
"Very funny." She mumbled.
"I have seen you at his clinic in Darktown an awful lot." Aveline mused thoughtfully.
"Do you know how often I get injured Aveline? I swear, half this damn city is trying to kill me on a daily basis and I have no idea why. Anders happens to be very good at patching me up."
"He is really in love with you, Hawke." Merrill added. "He doesn't say so, but I can tell."
"Merrill, the day I go for Anders is the day..." Over the pounding rain, there was a loud crack and a gutteral scream. The four women sat bolt upright. "... What was that?"
"I have no idea." Aveline murmured. "I'm going to go check it out..." She struggled to stand, but Diana was faster and pushed the injured guard back down.
"Have you forgotten already, gimpy? I'll go check it out." Diana said.
"I'm coming with you." In a moment Isabela was besides the other rogue, daggers drawn and ready. "Kitten, stay here and watch over the big girl." Merrill nodded, and grabbed the staff that was sitting behind her.
"Too late." Diana said grimly, as she nocked an arrow to her bow and pointed in the distance. It was difficult to see in the dark and pouring down rain, but it was possible to make out a large number of lumbering figures. Isabela groaned.
"Darkspawn."
Diana let her arrow fly; her aim was true and one of the darkspawn went down in an ugly, squealing lump. The others roared and started to close in on the two rogues. Isabela leapt forward with a bloodcurdling cry and drove her daggers deep into the nearest of the monsters. She yanked them out again, and was on the next darkspawn before the first had even hit the ground. Diana was loosing arrows as fast as she could, barely even trying to aim. In one the pauses, she pulled out a grenade and tossed it into the deepest part of the fray.
A fireball lit up the sky, before landing into a knot of darkspawn, who burned and sizzled with an unholy light. Diana quickly looked beside her to see Merrill standing there, waving her staff, a look of grim determination on her face. Diana grinned, and went back to shooting. More and more of the darkspawn fell.
The trio worked together with ease; Isabela's daggers were lighting fast and she moved from target to target in a deadly dance, Diana watched her back and any darkspawn trying to catch the Rivani woman unawares found themselves with an arrow in the chest, and Merrill took care of the packs, far away from where the rogues worked. But it wasn't enough; the darkspawn kept coming. A pack of them broke away and started to sneak around behind the elf and human.
There was a loud ululation, and Merrill spun around quickly. Despite limping heavily, Aveline was standing, and laying her sword about her like a mad woman. Darkspawn swarmed over her, but none were successful in getting past her defense. Merrill practically cheered in response, and petrified one of the largest of the darkspawn.
Slowly, but surely, the number of attackers decreased. Isabela had stopped leaping from creature to creature, and Merrill had traded in the destructive fireballs for bolts of pure spirit energy. When only a few stragglers remained, the darkspawn realized they had been beaten, and tried to make a run for it. The women watched them go; bedraggled, wet, and exhausted. Diana sent a few arrows into the retreating backs, but they lacked the force of her earlier volley. When they were sure the last of them were gone, they retreated to the relative safety of the Tal-Vashoth camp, Aveline leaning heavily on Isabela's shoulder.
"Hawke," Aveline said finally, once they had all collapsed by the fire. "Officially, this has been the worst trip ever." Diana laughed weakly, and curled up in a pile of dingy blankets. The four of them fell asleep to the roar of the fire and the rumble of thunder.