Emma knelt at the fire, rubbing her hands together before holding them over the flames for warmth. The morning air chilled her to the bone, her fur mantle and plate armor doing little to shield her from the winter wind. The others were still asleep, much to her relief.
She looked across the camp at all the tents harboring her sleeping companions. It would be nice to get some sleep herself, she thought. Images of the Archdemon and the hordes of darkspawn deep in the belly of the earth flashed behind her eyes, reminding her that that luxury would not be hers at the moment.
Bringing her hands to her mouth to blow on them and replace them over the fire, she sighed a contented sigh. Sleeplessness was the least of her worries. Arl Eamon's last hope lay atop the Frostbacks looming over them. Without his support... she didn't want to think of what that would mean. And Alistair.
He was devastated to know the man who had raised and given him shelter as a boy was near death. Her heart couldn't let his be broken yet again. She would save the Arl, she vowed fiercely to herself. For him, and for Ferelden.
Her calves began to ache at her crouch, pleading for her to stand and stretch them out. She granted them their wish, shaking out her legs and arms to get the blood flowing through them once again. The sky darkened with each passing minute. It was going to snow, she predicted. The thought brought her hands to the edges of her fur mantle and she tugged it tighter around her shoulders.
It would be a long journey, indeed.
Emma stood watch another hour and half when Leliana roused herself from sleep and crawled out of her tent.
"This blasted winter..." she cursed under her breath as she got to her feet. Clasping her cloak tightly around her neck and wrapping it around herself, she hurried over to Emma. "Have you been out here all morning?"
The bard was met with a nod and a smile. "Not long. It's going to be a long walk, so I wanted to let everyone sleep as long as they could."
Leliana observed the dark circles around Emma's eyes and knew immediately she was graciously avoiding explaining it was her inability to sleep that had her awake before the rest of them.
"Heh," Leliana chuckled, "even with bags under your eyes, you still manage to look radiant in this drab weather."
Emma laughed. "Radiant? My my, Leliana," the warrior smirked at her.
"I only speak the truth," she smiled back at Emma.
"Flatterer," Emma turned back to the fire and again held them over the flames for warmth. "Did you sleep well?"
"Well enough in this cold," she darkly replied. "Have you eaten?" Emma's shake of the head pushed her to begin breakfast. "Go wake the other's and I'll make a vegetable broth to warm us up."
Emma felt her insides shiver with glee at the sound of warm soup. She gave a thankful smile to Leliana before turning and heading over to wake Wynne first.
"Wynne?" she bent down to the front of the mage's tent. Her plate armor creaked and scraped against itself as she leaned in. "Wynne its morning. Leliana's making soup." There was a gentle rustling followed by a mumble. Emma couldn't hear the words, but gathered Wynne was waking up. She stood and ventured to the next tent; Alistair's.
"Alistair?" she called quietly, leaning closer towards the opening, armor creaking and scraping. "Leliana's making-"
"What?" his head popped out of the tent's opening, inches from Emma's face. It startled her enough to knock her back onto her bottom. They both gasped in surprise to have been almost nose to nose. Laughter immediately erupted from her as she looked at the bewildered expression on Alistair's face.
"Oh Maker's breath!" he quickly emerged in his undershirt and pants to help her up. "I didn't expect you to be right there! I'm so sorry Emma."
Emma was still laughing as she grabbed onto his arm for leverage to hoist herself up. "I didn't expect you to be awake already. It's alright," she looked to him reassuringly as she stood. "In any case, Leliana's making soup. We'll leave once everyone has eaten."
"Right," he nodded as he let her go once she was balanced, a chuckle escaping him. "Good morning, by the way," he smiled before turning away to get fully dressed.
"Good morning," she answered, dusting off any dirt and debris from her rear. She progressed on to Morrigan's tent.
Sten and Zevran slept on bedrolls without the cover of a tent the previous night. Despite Emma's warning's that it might snow, they preferred to be out in the open. It had bothered them both to know they had something in common.
After making the wake up rounds, Emma bee-lined to Leliana, eager for the warm liquid she was brewing. "How's it coming along?"
"It'll be bland, but warm. Grab a bowl," she motioned for Emma to get one from her pack. Emma hurriedly did so and held it out to be filled.
"As long as it's warm it could taste like ass for all I care," Emma quipped before gulping the bowl's contents down.
Leliana frowned. "That's horribly disgusting, Emma."
"She is right, though," Alistair jumped into the conversation as he pulled his fur mantle tight around his shoulders and stood at Emma's side. "Now, where is my bowl of ass?" he rubbed his hands eagerly together.
Emma choked on the last bit of soup that went down her throat as she laughed, coughing as she tried to catch her breath. Alistair gleamed proudly at his joke while Leliana dropped the ladle into the pot to check on Emma.
"Andraste's mercy, are you alright?" Leliana took Emma worriedly in her hands.
Emma nodded. "Yes, I'm-" a cough interrupted her, "fine, I'm fine."
"Alistair that was rude," Leliana frowned over at the man.
"Oh, Lelianaaaa," he teased, "you know I didn't mean it when I agreed your soup tasted like ass."
"That's not what-" she held up her hands, "you know what, nevermind."
"Leliana it's fine," Emma insisted.
"I'm sorry for nearly killing you Emma," Alistair apologized with a smirk.
She nodded her forgiveness, shaking out the remaining droplets from her bowl to hand back to Leliana. "It's no trouble. It'll take more than that to kill me," she jested as she handed the bowl back to the bard. "Thank you for the soup. I feel warmer already."
"You are welcome." Leliana picked up the ladle and gave the broth a stir. She lifted it and spooned out some soup for Alistair. "Here you are," she offered the bowl to him.
He took it graciously. "So when are we heading out?" he asked Emma as he sipped his breakfast. "Mmm... hint of dried rabbit, yes?"
"Very good," she commended him.
"As soon as everyone has eaten and are packed and ready," Emma rubbed her hands together before tucking them under her arms which were crossed under her chest. "On his watch, Sten scouted up the trail a ways and said there was a place for camp. We'll set up there, and I'll take you two and Wynne with me the rest of the way."
Alistair and Leliana both nodded in unison at Emma's instruction. His eyes moved to her as she squeezed herself tightly, shivering in the cold morning air. She looked exhausted, but her eyes still shone with determination and the will to keep going. Leliana was touched at the smile on his face. She knew he had no idea of the many times she had caught him looking on at Emma.
"Ahhh, I see Ferelden never ceases to let up on the cold weather, eh?" Zevran approached the three at the fire, eager to get warm himself.
"Not today," Emma jested.
"Bring it on! I say," he rubbed his arms and stepped up to the fire to warm himself further. "Mmm, broth is it?"
Emma turned to head over to her tent and belongings. She glanced around to see everyone breaking down their part of camp and wandering over to Leliana for soup. She looked up at the Frostbacks above them, only imagining what awaited them up there. Her heart skipped at the urgency of their mission to save Arl Eamon. She unsheathed her axe from her back and stabbed it into the soft ground, kneeling then to break down her tent. Next to her, Sten was silently rolling up his bedroll, strapping it to his pack. He fastened his greatsword at his back and checked the buckles of his armor. Leliana called to him for breakfast, for which he responded with a mere nod.
"Emma?" Alistair leaned over her as she rustled with her map, trying to refold it how it was supposed to be folded but having a hard time of it. He chuckled, "do you need help with that?"
"I always do this, blast it," she scoffed as she opened it all the way to try it once more. "Why does it need to be folded into ten different..." she mumbled to herself as she continued to fold, "sorry Alistair. Did you need something?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Just, coming to watch your failures at map-folding," he spoke simply as he indeed continued to watch her. "I think that part folds over that, you know what here," he leaned down and took it from her. She looked up at him, watching him unfold it a few times, then re-fold it effortlessly and hand it back to her. "There you go my lady."
"Ha. Show off," she smirked as she lightly snatched the map from him and shoved it into her pack.
"Well, you're not welcome, then," he frowned.
Emma clasped her pack shut and checked to make sure her bedroll and tent canvas were secured to it. Approving they indeed were, she flung it onto her back and stood. "I didn't ask for your help, sir," she replied as she turned to face him. She plucked her axe from the ground and slid it into its scabbard on her lower back, smiling at her fellow Warden.
"Oh hoho, sassy now," he held his hands out in front of him. "I'll have to curb my chivalrous ways in the future, then."
Emma laughed. "Really, are you standing here just to mock my inability to fold a map or what?"
He laughed as well. He enjoyed Emma's sarcastic sense of humor. It fit in well with his own. "Well of course, but also I wanted to check up on you," his tone a tad more serious as he looked on at her. "You look tired."
She sighed. "I am, but it's fine," she placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Did you sleep well?"
"Well enough. Did you have last watch?" he asked, adjusting his breastplate as it suddenly had slipped into an uncomfortable position.
"I did. I spoke to Sten about the trail up into the mountain..." she began to go into more detail about her decision on taking him, Leliana and Wynne along up to the temple itself. She also spoke of the medallion, the key Brother Genetivi had showed Emma how to manipulate. His insistence on going with them was thwarted only by his injuries. They had found a caravan returning to Denerim and paid them a good sum to get Genetivi back home safely.
"He spoke of traps that the cultists use, mostly tripwires and leg traps. But this place," she looked up at the mountains, "the air is thick with death here." Her voice lowered as her eyes met his, "I wonder what else lay in store for us besides lunatics worshiping Maker knows what."
Alistair snuffed with a smile. "Oh, probably ghouls, undead skeletons, blood mages, you know. The usual. Well, for us anyhow, as of late."
Emma's expression went flat. "You are a reassuring companion, Alistair."
"Tis what I do," he grinned.