Things had been far too quiet on the trip from Haven. It had been chaos at first for the first couple of miles, then there had been dead silence. Cullen knew it was out of fear. That and apprehension and loss- it was hardly unwarranted.

But then they had set up camp and the Inquisitor-Rhia, he corrected. She had asked him to call her ages ago- hadn't shown up yet, and there was even more fear that drove the silence. If she failed… well, no one wanted to dwell on what was to come. But then she had shown up around the corner, coated in snow and half dead. It wasn't much of a relief to many, but they took it.

The song that the survivors had sung hadn't done spirits much good, but it was enough. People rested relatively easily that night. Their savior was alive although hurt, they were miles away from apparent danger, and the snow was enough cover from smaller dangers.

He had kept watch the entire night, despite Cassandra and Leliana trying to take over for him. He had insisted he should stay since he was still wide awake from the fight and it was the brains of the operation that needed to be rested and weary the next morning. He had a feeling even they knew that wasn't entirely true. Of course, was fear that something like that had passed in the Circle would happen again. The abomination- Corypheus, he reminded himself again. An abomination was an abomination but there was no point in unnaming him and therefore reducing his threat- had wrecked Haven. Upon seeing him, Cullen had been brought back to That Day. When Darkness ruled and its cause had the same face as the latest monster. No matter how many times he would insist that he wasn't, he was still that scared recruit who had been the only one besides Irving to walk out of the heart of the fire.

He was still awake and hyper-aware early in the morning when Cassandra had come to check on him. She had all but dragged him out from under the rock outcropping he had settled beneath. He apparently "needed to clear his head" and "breathe cleaner air." He wasn't sure how either of those worked under the circumstances, but he had agreed and had a small band of soldiers accompany them, planning to train them to keep them on their toes later.

They had made it down to the river not far from camp when they had stopped. Cassandra had been giving him a look that was half uncertainty, half pity and Cullen was ready to lay into her about not needing either of it when something had caught her eye behind him.

He turned to see what it was, and upon seeing wreckage floating in the water, his heart sunk. It wasn't from Haven, but at this rate, with the abomination's powers, it could've been from any other evil they caused. Or any of the other rifts that had scattered. Far too many people had died these last few weeks over all of this. They watched the wreckage get closer and closer, too moved to say anything or do anything- and then one of the larger boards in the wreckage and his heart practically stopped in general since there were bodies scattered around the water behind it.

And he knew one of those bodies.

It was a woman. She had long, fiery red hair, she was unhealthily thin, long, triangular face, pale skin that was paler visibly blue from the cold and potential death.

No.

"AMELL!"

He wasn't even aware he had run for the river-let alone called her name until he was shin deep in it and he had heard Cassandra yelling for him.

"-What are you doing? They're dead! They have to be!" Cassandra called, but her voice barely reached his ears.

"Cassandra- the soldiers who were with us- get them, now! Have them help me!" he called. He struggled against the current for a moment, then caught sight of where she had drifted to. He caught another drifted around the elbow and pushed off another piece of rubble to get to her. He lunged at the last minute, somehow managing to get footing on the river floor and tossing an arm around her middle at the same time. He yanked her upright to lean against him, and he tried not to let shock take over when he saw two arrows sticking out of her abdomen. "No. No no no no no…" he made his way over to the bank and dropped Amell and her potential companion before going in again. The fact that the soldiers he had called for had finally shown up and were scrambling to get the other three bodies out did little to settle his nerves. He got the remaining straggler and deposited him on the bank before crawling to Amell's side. He lifted her to survey the damage. Both hits had gone through, arrow and everything. She had lost a great deal of blood already, but most of the evidence had washed away. He turned to the small party of soldiers behind them and pointed to one. "Alert the healers that we have more people coming. Now."

The man nodded and ran off.

Cassandra watched him go, then turned back. "Cullen, they are unfortunate souls, probably dead. We have our own people to-"

"She is not some unfortunate soul, she's the Hero of Ferelden, and if she's alive we need her- and these people if they were in her party," Cullen growled.

Cassandra frowned. "This is the Hero of…? This is Solona Amell?" Cassandra asked.

Cullen paid her no heed this time. He turned Solona on her side and hesitated briefly before snapping the arrowheads off. He pulled the shafts out a moment later, then looked her over. His heart sunk again. He could barely even bring himself to check if she was living for fear of finding out she wasn't. He reached to hold his hand over her mouth- any other ways might have undone him then and there. And for the first time in a long time, he was relieved. She was barely breathing- the sensation of breath on his hand was slight at best, but it was there. "Check the others."

After a few moments, one of the soldiers chimed in. "Two dead, three breathing, Ser."

"Take them all back to camp with us then," Cullen replied before he hoisted Solona up into his arms. She was dead weight, too. Everything was wrong about this. So wrong, but he refused to give up just yet. Not when so much had happened- so much had gone unsaid.

"And if these men are the ones who did this to her?" Cassandra countered, moving so the soldiers could get the other bodies settled.

"Then we'll keep them separated," Cullen countered.

"Cull-"

"Would you rather we do nothing? Not give the Hero a chance? Her presence could be an advantage," Cullen cut her off. He adjusted his hold on Solona and kept moving.

"And if these others wake first?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

It had been a quiet day after the commotion that came with dragging the Warden back to the camp. The survivors were terrified that such a legend had been brought down, but now they had another savior on their side, according to the healers that had insisted they could restore her to health since she was a healer herself- it would just take time.

When Cullen had heard that she was going to survive it, Cullen had far too many emotions than he would've liked. Relief that someone else who could bring their cause great success was going to persevere and hopefully stick with them, anger at whoever had attacked her to begin with, and then there was bitterness at himself for doubting that she could survive before. And on top of that, there was guilt, especially when the healers had noted Solona's healing energy still doing a decent job at preserving her. The last time he had seen her he had been furious and destroyed and she had the nerve to look at him with even more pity than people had given him later. Even after Solona and her companions had checked in with everyone before they left the Circle after destroying it, he had yelled at her, accused her of wanting to hurt people, just like so many of the mages he had seen. He had called her destructive. Her, the one who had used her magic to heal people- whether it was a simple papercut on a mage apprentice's finger they had gotten, or a Templar recruit who had gashed his arm open during a training exercise. She used her powers to help people because that's what she enjoyed doing- she had told him as much years before, and he had thrown that all back in her face. She had claimed to understand, considering that she had seen and heard what he had been through, but it still wasn't enough.

He was going to have to repent for being so vile to her. And now he had a chance. And that terrified him too.

He had been so caught up in his own mind that he had isolated himself when most of the survivors- notably from Ferelden started up another celebration that their Hero was here and their hero was going to help the new one. Something in him twisted at the thought that she might have wanted to be done with any conflict if she had almost died. Another part of him vehemently denied that. She had seen the slaying of the Archdemon through, she would probably want to see this through as well. He had to hold onto that hope. So when the celebration was going on, he retreated to the healer's tent to check on her recovery.

When he reached the tent and pulled back the flap to get an update, he was surprised to find Leliana sitting on a rock beside Solona's cot, holding the woman's hand, simply watching her- and, to Cullen's relief, the slow rise and fall of her chest- that was the best sign they had so far. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were… I could-"

"No, stay," Leliana offered. "'Lona was a dear friend to me and I know she would do the same if I was in her place," she replied. "And… if I remember correctly, you called her friend as well, so it's only fair we could share this time."

Cullen flinched. "I don't think she would allow me that title anymore…"

Leliana scooted over on the rock and patted it. He hesitated again, then sat down. "I'm sorry, and I'm sure you don't want to dwell on that time, but… what happened did not deter what she thought of you. She told me so much once. I was there too, you know. She wasn't angry at your reaction to your… misfortune. She was upset. Even afterwards, she wanted to go back to the Circle numerous times to check on you, check on the First Enchanted, but we hadn't the time. She was adamant that you were friends."

"I didn't deserve that friendship. I still don't," Cullen countered. Yes, he had forgotten he had seen Leliana in passing all those years ago. She had been quiet, understanding. No wonder he could tolerate her even now over the others.

"She's the forgiving type," Leliana offered.

That got another scoff, but it was somehow a grateful one at that. "Yes, I hope so…"

They were silent again for a while until the tent flap opened. They turned to look at who had joined them. Varric offered a wave of greeting, then turned his attention to Solona. "Shit, Curly, you weren't exaggerating when you said Hawke looked like the Warden. No wonder you got all bug-eyed the first time you met her" he realized. "I woulda thought it was her had I not-" he stopped short.

Cullen caught the backpedal. "Secrets already, Dwarf? Usually the trick's getting you to shut up."

Varric coughed, then laughed. "Well, what can I say? I'm a storyteller. And well uh, maybe there's something that I should tell you, considering our latest problem. You're less likely to hit me over it than Cassandra, anyway…"

"And why would I hit you?" came Cassandra's voice from outside of the tent. A couple of moments later, she joined them as well.

Cullen glanced back at Varric, and when the dwarf looked guilty at being caught in whatever was about to be revealed, he had a sudden feeling that being with injured and dying while having this conversation was a bad idea. He rose to his feet, and Leliana did the same, apparently having a similar thought. "Are you sure you want to have this talk here?" he offered.

Varric gave him a pleading look and Cassandra ignored him.

The latter paused. "Hold on. I heard you mention the Champion's name- and then you hesitated…"

Varric looked petrified, and even Cullen saw the wheels in Cassandra's head going. Even he didn't exactly mind when Varric took a cautious step beside him- then behind him. He was a human shield now. And then he realized he was a human shield against Cassandra. Perfect. He was going to have at least one broken bone after this.

"You told me you didn't know where she was!" Cassandra hissed.

Varric stepped a little further behind Cassandra. "Well, cat's out of the bag, it's a need-to-know now, and Bianca's half a camp away. Yeah, Hawke… missing … … about that…"