A/N: This is a response to a Dragon Age Writer's Corner challenge - Write a happy story about the Circle. I thought this would be kind of fun, since I spend a lot of time reading anti-Circle stuff. I don't get nearly as much sleep as I would like, thus, while this is probably more serious than the challenge calls for - the ending of it makes me really, really happy.
They prowled at the edges of his dreams, circling closer and closer in his mind. Pith stood still surrounded on all sides and paralyzed with fear. One of them broke away from the circling pack and stalked unerringly towards him. In his dream, Pith opened his mouth and screamed.
"Pith? Pith?" A gentle voice said above him. The elf boy felt a pressure on his shoulder. " You were talking in your sleep. Are you okay?" The voice was feminine and comforting. Pith Surana opened his eyes. An older woman in Circle robes stood above him. He realized he must have screamed out loud. With a cry he threw himself into her arms.
"Shh, it's alright, you're awake now. Wynne's here." The older mage said, holding the boy and smoothing his long blond hair.
"They were coming to get me, Wynne. One almost..." He choked out. He buried his head in her shoulder. The two of them just sat there in the stillness of the night, with the woman slowly rocking the bereft child. Pith was halfway back to sleep when they were interrupted by the heavy footsteps of templar. Wynne looked over her shoulder when Knight-Commander Greagoir cleared his throat.
"Is everything alright in here?" He asked quietly, trying not to wake the sleeping children in the dorms.
"Yes Commander. Pith just had a nightmare; he's fine now." She reassured the uneasy templar. "What brings you in here?"
"Patrol. Saw the light on; thought I'd stop in." Greagoir strode casually among the beds. "This isn't his first nightmare, is it?"
"No. But he just got here. He hasn't learned to block the demons yet." They talked as if Pith was no longer there. He didn't mind; he was sleepy and happy to be drifting off in Wynne's arms. The old templar had made it the far end of the dorms and had just turned around to come back when he stopped by a bed with an unknown occupant. He bent over, ear towards the head of the bed and listened. A look of concern crossed his face and he poked the mound of covers with his finger. Not satisfied, he lifted the covers to reveal artfully arranged pillows.
"Wynne, have you seen Anders?"
It was morning before the templars found the runaway apprentice. It took two templars to drag Anders into the dining hall where Pith and the other denizens of the Circle were eating. They held him under the arms with his feet kicking wildly off the ground. The boy was screaming in their ears but to no effect; the two junior templars just looked bored.
"What should we do with him?" The bigger of the two templars spoke. Anders delivered a kick to his shin and winced when his slippered foot hit metal. The templar didn't even register the blow. Greagoir looked up from his breakfast and sighed. He glanced over at First Enchanter Irving, who rolled his eyes and stood to address the trio.
"Take him to the dorms. He's going to clean them top to bottom today. After that, make sure he gets to his lessons on time... Carroll, is it?"
"Yes Enchanter." The sandy-haired templar said dejectedly. His partner looked pleased that he was not going to have to deal with the brat. Anders was still putting up a fight as the two escorted him back to the doors. Conversation around the dining hall resumed normally.
"I can't believe Anders ran away again!" Jowan chattered excitedly to Pith. "He's brilliant!" Jowan was a nervous; mousy-looking child who held the rebellious Anders in high regard. Pith just shook his head sleepily. Even though he had no more nightmares, there were still dark circles under his eyes.
"Anders is stupid." He said shortly, eyes never leaving his bowl of oatmeal. "The templars always catch him."
"But maybe one time they won't." The older boy insisted. "It could happen."
"Yeah, maybe." Pith really wasn't in any mood to argue. He was too tired and he needed all his focus for the lessons today. Today he was going to learn how to shield.
Torrin was a patient instructor, so even though he messed up a lot, Pith didn't feel completely hopeless. Torrin told him to continue to practice, and soon he would be able to shield through his sleep. That was a day to look forward to. Pith couldn't remember a time when he had a full night's sleep. When he was younger he lived on the streets of the Alienage, subject to the weather and noise of Denerim. When his powers manifested, he was beset by horrible dreams on a nightly basis. At least his bed in the dormitory was better than pavement, but Pith still wished he didn't wake up scared and sweating the darkest hour.
Torrin signaled the end of the lesson, and Pith ran back to the dorms. Anders had apparently took long enough to clean that he completely missed lessons for the day. He was lounging on his bed, reading a book when Pith came in. The elf ignored the older boy and went straight to his chest of belongings.
"Jowan said you called me stupid." Anders said lazily, sitting up and setting his book aside. Pith jerked upwards.
"Maybe I did. What are you going to do about it?" Pith said, drawing up to his full height, which unfortunately was a good foot less than Anders at his most hunched over. He trembled hard with the effort of looking tough, but as the older boy got closer and closer, Pith felt as he though he was shrinking. His vision narrowed until it was filled with the sight of Anders. He blinked once to clear his eyes. When he opened them again, Anders was above him with a concerned look on his face.
"I didn't scare you that badly, did I?" Anders said, all former anger gone.
"What?" Pith was confused. He could've sworn that Anders wasn't actually five feet taller than him. His back was starting to get cold, and that was odd too. "Am I on the ground?"
"You fainted, Surana." Anders reached a hand down to help Pith stand. "Are you okay? I just wanted to intimidate you a little, not make you piss yourself." Pith looked down at his trousers. No, they weren't wet, so he had nothing to be embarrassed about in that department. Still, a red blush was creeping up his pale cheeks.
"I'm okay Anders, honest. Just tired, is all."
"Alright. Just so long as I don't get punished for beating up someone, when I didn't even touch 'em." The blond boy went to walk out of the dorms, and then turned back to look at Pith. "Me and Jowan are gonna try to summon something in the library. Wanna come?" Pith nodded and followed the older boy out of the room.
Hours later, all three boys were ushered back into the dorms. Anders had successfully managed to summon a spirit hog. It died very quickly and he was disappointed because of it, and also because it wasn't a cat. Jowan and Pith were unsuccessful in their attempts and so were impressed by Ander's achievement. Pith was so tired by then that the two older boys had to half drag him into his bed. Before he went to sleep, he spent what little energy he had left building the shields that Torrin had taught him earlier. He fell asleep with a faint glow wrapped around him like a blanket.
Pith could see the stalkers in the dream, but he was protected now and unafraid. They couldn't pass the barrier he made around himself. Perhaps they weren't so tough after all. Slowly, Pith began to walk around, exploring like he had never dared to do before. Wherever he walked, the demons scurried to get out of the way.
But all good things came to an end. He saw his barrier stretching and thinning, and the stalkers were poking around the edges, looking for a weakness. Pith felt the same rising panic, and worked frantically to bolster his shield. Nothing helped, and Pith was about to give up in dispair.
A warmth flooded his being, and suddenly he was aware of a nearby light. The demons shrieked and cried, running away from the elf boy. Pith went towards the source of the light, drawn to it's comforting presence. He held out a hand wonderingly; the spirit backed away at first and then came forward, winding around his hand, his arm, his body, as playful as a kitten before floating away. When Pith didn't follow, it came back, bouncing around joyfully. With a giggle, the elf boy took off on the path, the spirit leading him forever forward.
Wynne lifted her hand off of Pith Surana's back. He was sleeping soundly now; no longer tossing and turning. He didn't need her anymore tonight. The boy was strong, it wouldn't be very long at all before he didn't need her at all. She looked over the other apprentices – all the beds were full of sleeping children, and she could even see Ander's long blond hair streaming from his pillow. He needed a haircut, but he always refused to get one. She walked out of the dorms, and towards her own quarters. In the middle of the hallway, she met Greagoir heading in the opposite direction, on patrol as always. They nodded to each other and their footsteps echoed in the empty stone passage. When they passed, all was quiet and still once again.