Author's Note: Some of you might know this story was once entitled "Slave". I had written it about a year ago, and I thought I had been happy with the results. Until, however, I met one of my readers personally. Reluctantly they admitted that the story felt cliche and the Hawke hero was just the same as the others: a Gary-Stu. After hearing this, I was shocked and relieved at the same time. I realized something more realistic was missing, and I knew I had to change it.

So I did. Here is the rebirthing of "Slave", with a new title and approach to the story. Chapters are to come swiftly, I hope.

Stumbling Rock

Prologue

"When do you plan on cutting all the bull and telling me what really happened?"

Varric's eyebrows arched upward and watched Cassandra with unblinking eyes as she paced the room, eyes blazing with fury. A smile twisted at his lips and he displayed a look of mock hurt.

"You wound me, Seeker!" the dwarf exclaimed, shrinking away from her dramatically. "I've been telling you the whole story through and through!" When he received a withering glare in return, he sighed and shifted his weight to a more comfortable position on his chair. Blighted Seeker can't even take a sodding joke.

"Oh please, you tell me what I've got wrong! Does my story not make sense-"

Cassandra cut him off with a wave of her hand and interrupted with her sharp voice: "I have no doubt your story is true. But it seems you have a tendency of keeping parts of it in the dark."

Varric's smile flickered momentarily before it widened in girth. "I keep a lot of things in the dark! I found several...scandalous actions Fenris committed, and I also discovered Isabella has a secret love for a few noblemen! You would not believe the things I've seen in the Hanged Man!"

The Seeker's eyes narrowed and she displayed her own smile. Maker, it was not a pleasant one. Varric concluded that charm was not a strong point with her.

"You seem to skip a large period of time between Hawke's dealing with the slavers and the Arishock's defeat."

"Do I?" Varric murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Hm, must have slipped my mind." His tongue felt dry, and the dwarf tried to make light of what Cassandra had just noted. Unfortunately for him, the Seeker's curiosity was peeked. She looked at him inquiringly, her gaze searing into his stomach.

Varric tried again:

"Look, it was just a little stumbling rock along the road! It wasn't a massive deal. Hawke quickly got over it and moved on."

Cassandra leaned closer to the dwarf, her hot breath swathing over his face.

"Spill it," she snarled.

Varric scowled before shrugging, relenting to her authority. She could skewer him in an instant if she didn't get what she wanted. The dwarf would much prefer to extend his life certificate, thank you very much.

He sighed. "Alright. But I promise you, it's a very long, boring story..."

A small prologue, I know. I assure you that later chapters will be longer. For now, I simply wanted to draw you in!