Freedom Fighters

By: TheWildFool2011

(I do not own Dragon Age II, nor do I own the characters.)

Hawke ran through the forest away from the burning Kirkwall. All of his companions kept close by, some looking back sadly at Kirkwall. Most of the party was wounded as they made their way through the wood area.

"Can we stop…now…Hawke…?" Merrill stopped in her tracks panting, her face covered in small cuts along with her knees. Varric stopped just a few feet in front of her, He walked back to her and grabbed her hand, "We don't have time to stay here daisy. Those Templars are pretty quick with catching up, don't wanna get caught now do we?"

Fenris who was being helped by Isabela had stopped and winced in pain. His flesh on his side was torn during the battle against Knight-Commander Meredith. Isabela looked at Fenris who looked as if he'd pass out any minute.

"Hawke! We can't keep going on like this. Fenris is in pain…we could at least find a dry stop, maybe a cave…" Isabela exclaimed as she held the weak elf.

Aveline fell to her knees panting. Anders looked back at Kirkwall with a slightly satisfied look written upon his face. "You…" Fenris said in a cold voice as he turned his head to look at Anders, "If you wouldn't have blown the damn temple, chantry or whatever you did up, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

Anders brushed him off, "I only did what others claim they could not do. Simply getting the job done is all."

"Not only that…" Aveline paused as she felt a tear run down her face, "I've lost my home, a second time! And not just that but, Donnic is still somewhere within town…"

"We can all start anew…" Anders muttered as he folded his arms against his chest.

Hawke turned around looking at his companions. He sighed and looked down on his arms, filled with the scars from his attackers at Kirkwall. 'How does this all manage to end like this…?'

"Well if you all stay here I'll go scout ahe-" before Hawke could finish his words Varric cut him off.

"Hell no, Hawke, you look just as worse as the elf…if not better." Varric exclaimed in a small jokingly manner. Fenris gritted his teeth, "I'm not out of the game yet…dwarf…" he passed out quietly snoring.

Hawke gave Varric a blank look, "In case you haven't notice…the damn city is burning! We've all lost our homes, and you're making jokes at a time like this?"

Varric glared at Hawke. He crossed his arms and huffed, "In case you haven't notice, I just lost my damn bar!" Isabela glared daggers into Varric, "Oh shut up Varric, you didn't even own the damn bar!"

"Well I was close!" Varric yelled and slammed his foot against the ground. He then sighed and looked back seeing dark smoke filling the sky, "So…close…" he began walking forward passing Hawke.

"Where are you heading too?" Hawke asked half-heartedly. Varric just pointed straight ahead, "To find us a nice place to rest. Where else? I can't go back home."

Hawke watch the dwarf walk ahead. His dog started to bark and ran after Varric. The blank expression within his face turned into a frown as he stumbled back into a tree. Isabela walked Fenris over to Hawke, setting him down beside their leader.

She then sat on the other side of Hawke and looked up into the sky, "You know…if I had my ship, we could all board there…and be out in the vast open ocean. It would be wonderful! You would all love it…" she smiled hoping to cheer Hawke up.

Hawke only stared down at his arms. He clenched and unclenched his fist, "I wished none of this ever happened…it would have been better if we all would have never met…" he looked down sadly at Fenris and sighed, "I've lost almost everything…"

Merrill walked over to Hawke and sat down in front of him. She placed her hands over his fist, smiling at him, "You haven't lost everything. You have us…and Hachi…not only that you also have Fenris." She unclenched his fist and laid his hand on Fenris's hand.

A small smile played upon Hawke's lips as he stared at his hand. He then quickly frowned as memories of everything he had in his possession became lost to him. Shaking his head, he took his hand away from the unconscious elf, "No…it'll all just end up the same. One by one…"

Anders stayed quiet leaning against the tree, listening to every word. Silence then found a place to set in between the friends. Aveline quietly prayed to herself during the intense silence.

"Hey" they all looked up to see Varric walking towards them all, "Me and Hachi found a nice little quiet, dry, and safe area." He motioned them to follow. Hawke sighed as he hooked Fenris arm around his shoulder and lifted up.

Isabela brush herself off as she got up. She looked at Merrill, who smiled and followed after Hawke. Aveline clenched her fist, glaring at the dirt. A quick tap on the shoulder caused her to look up seeing Isabela holding her hand out with a light-hearted smile.

"Thanks Isabela…" Aveline whispered quietly taking her hand. Isabela looked over at Anders who was facing the way they came from, "Hey mage boy come on, don't wanna catch a cold now do we?"

"Yeah, coming, coming…no need to pop a blood vessel Isabela." Anders snickered under his breath as he caught up with the group.

Isabela raised her eyebrow at Anders, "Is that supposed to be a blood mage joke? Hmm? Am I supposed to be laughing at this?"

Anders grunted muttering, "Laugh at whatever you want, but be on your guard not everything is a joke." Merrill shivered slightly, knowing that everything cannot be label as a joke.

"Cut it, all of you. We'll talk in the morning okay?" Hawke exclaimed, "Now, Varric."

"Yes, Sir Hawke?" Varric asked sarcastically. Hawke looked down at him, "You know what I'm going to say Sir Varric."

Varric turned his head away with his arms crossed against his chest as he stopped immediately. The others gave him an odd look. "What? Its right here, Hachi's probably knocked off tired in there." He pointed to nothing but a bunch of leaves that was behind him.

"Um…Varric not to be a smarty pants, but…" Merrill started off as she looked down at the dwarven male, "That's nothin' but a bunch of leaves."

Aveline brushed past Merrill. Varric stepped to the side allowing the guardsmen to enter. The others hung their head as they watched the redhead women push the leaves to the side.

"By the Dread Wolf…I really feel like an idiot right now…" she dragged her feet as she followed behind her friend. Varric patted her back as she walked past him, "All is alright daisy you're just tired. Anyone would have made that mistake, even Fenris."

Hawke handed Fenris over to Isabela, watching as she entered the medium size cave. Varric looked over at him, "So what now Hawke? We have nowhere to go. Nobody to turn too, are we just going to keep moving around…?"

"No, we won't keep moving around. In matter of fact, it's best to my knowledge that you all were supposed to part ways from me…" Hawke took a deep breath and sighed, "I had a plan…only in case of a situation like this. Fenris and I, we were going to head to the Orlais, and try to find my cousin who's in the Amell family."

Varric looked up at the sky, "Not a bad plan. If you would have told me beforehand I would have contemplated on whether I would want to tag along or not." Hawke looked at him and snickered. Varric only raised his eyebrow at his friend.

"Well I didn't know my dwarf friend would want to tag along with me. So much love and care you give to me Varric." Hawke said sarcastically. They both decided that they would look for wood the next morning as they retired to the medium size cave.

Author Note:

Hello, all my wonderful and great readers! Yes, I got this story started for you eager readers, so I do hope you enjoyed it. Until, next time cya later!

Forever Yours Truly, TheWildFool2011