"We're going to get lost and starve to death, aren't we? A glorious end for the Inquisition." Dorian complained behind them as he rubbed and rolled his neck. Trevelyan had been looking for a dragon that has been causing trouble for their scouts as of late. She wouldn't mind if it chose to attack the Red Templar's or Venatori, but nooo, it had to attack her scouts—even kill one of them. She listened to Blackwall and Dorian bicker behind her, Cole silently walked beside her, thumbing another coin he found on their travels. As she heard Dorian repeat again that she's lost them, she couldn't help but inwardly agree. She should have brought Varric, at least he could bullshit for her long enough until she knew where they were again. Trevelyan and her band of misfits gave up four hours later, still dragonless. Trevelyan sighed and stopped walking as they stood on the edge of a high cliff. She placed her hands on her hips and kicked a pebble over the edge, shaking her head.
"Damnit." Trevelyan hissed, her lips pouted out in disappointment.
"Better luck tomorrow, Inquisitor." Blackwall groaned, stretching his hands above his head, yawning. Trevelyan sighed, turning her back away from the cliff, "Okay. No dragon slaying tod—"
Trevelyan was cut off by a loud roar, the dragon zooming by the cliff and almost throwing the four off their feet with the wind that followed soon after.
"Was that a—" Dorian paled, the happiness that once covered his face changed to panic.
"Yes." Cole smiled, seeing Trevelyan start to jump in excitement.
"Yes!" Trevelyan pulled her staff out, turning around to face the cliff. She could see the dragon circling back around, ready to breathe ice on them. "Let's do this!"
"Woohoo!" Trevelyan laughed as she started gutting the dragon.
"Ugh," Dorian covered his mouth and nose, making a disgusted noise, "This is why I hate coming along to kill dragons."
Trevelyan smiled, handing Blackwall his sword back and grabbed the dagger Cole offered her, "Oh, come now, Dorian. This is my favorite part! I hope I can find a nice outfit for you in it's stomach again."
"If I knew the outfit I am wearing right now was inside of a dragon, I would have never let it touch me." Dorian shook his head.
"That one wasn't in the dragon." Cole spoke, his head tilted at Dorian's robes, "It was on a corpse."
"That's just lovely." Dorian glared at Trevelyan as she crawled into the dragon's body, "You lied, Inquisitor."
Trevelyan's laugh echoes from within the dragon, "I wanted to see what you'd do if I told you I looted it from inside a dragon."
"You think I'd tear it off my body and walk around in my smalls?" Dorian crossed his arms.
Trevelyan jumped out of the body, holding the dragon's heart on her hands, Cole's dagger clipped to her belt, "Bull was with us, thought he'd enjoy the show."
"I don't know whether you were trying to help me or humiliate me." Dorian mumbled, taking the heart from her and creating a cooling barrier around it before placing it in his pack.
"Both." Trevelyan admitted, crawling back into the Dragon's body, "Ooh! I found a helmet! It looks like it would be perfect for Cassandra!"
"We passed by a waterfall about eight hundred yards east of here. I'll be taking a bath there, if anyone needs me." Trevelyan said, scratching off more dried blood from the dragon that was left over after exploring inside of it.
"We'll send someone for you if something happens." Bull nodded to her from the fire as she grabbed her pack next to her tent.
"Thanks, Bull. Keep an eye out for Red Templar's, their've been recent sightings of them." Trevelyan said before leaving camp. Trevelyan couldn't wait to jump into the water, freezing cold or steaming hot. This dragon's blood was irritating her skin and she needed to heal some wounds that she's sure she missed the first time going over her body. She was happy to find the waterfall without much trouble, even happier to see it was warm and deep.
"The bath I always wanted and never got." Trevelyan laughed, setting her staff down and pulling off her armor and smalls. She dove in, resurfacing under the waterfall. She stood, the water coming just above her waist and pushed her hair out of her face, tilting her head up. She pushed her fingers through her hair, pulling out the knots, sweat, and dried blood that had accumulated through her adventures today. She started scrubbing herself, scratching off the caked on blood, both her own and the dragon's, before submerging herself under water. She stood back up, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips before she left eyes on her.
"Cole!" Trevelyan's voice hitched, covering up her breasts and quickly turning around. Cole had been sitting on a boulder on the edge of the river, next to where she set her pack. His head was facing down, his hat covering his face. Trevelyan was frantic, How much did he see? How long as he been there? What the—
"I needed to apologize."
"Ca—Can you wait till I get back to camp?" Trevelyan face heated up, turning her head to look over her shoulder at Cole.
"No." He spoke after a long pause.
Trevelyan sighed, her face continued to heat up, "F—Fine, just...turn around..." She heard Cole shift and turned her head back around to see Cole's back was to her. She could hear the heel of his foot hitting the boulder and knew that something was wrong. He hadn't done that in over a month.
"I lied when I first met you." Cole stared down at his hands, rocking back and forth as he continued to kick his heel against the boulder.
"What do you mean?" Trevelyan furrowed her brows, scraping more dried blood off of her arms.
"You asked what I saw in you, when I focused on you...I lied."
"You didn't see brightness, I take it." Trevelyan sank down into the lake, letting the cool water relax herself.
"No...brightness did not come until later. The anchor, your mark, it was dark—a burden. You felt pain, guilt, anger, shadows followed you into the darkness—you fought to free yourself, like a caged bird. Picking at the locks but finding no matter how many times you picked them, you would still be stuck in the cage...a caged Canary."
Trevelyan froze, "W—What did you just say?"
"...Canary...that is what he called you, as he—"
"Stop." Trevelyan stood up, walking to her pack and pulling out new clothes. Cole's body was still turned away as she redressed. She forced her eyes shut as Cole continued to speak of him, what he'd done, what he did to her, what he knows—what she wished no one knew. She walked around the boulder as Cole slid off.
"'Canary.' He whispered, softly, lovingly, lying—"
"Stop!" Trevelyan pushed Cole back against the boulder he once sat on, her hand gripping his throat, the other balled into a fist at her side. Her body shook with rage and fear as Cole yelped, his eyes watching Trevelyan movements. Her eyes were shut tight, desperately trying to hold in the remainder of the tears that had forced their way out. Her finger nails dug into Cole's skin, her arm shaking, her body trembling as the memories that word brought up surfaced back in her mind. Trevelyan covered her mouth with her free hand, choking in a sob. She opened her eyes to look at Cole, the hand that clutched onto his throat went to cover her mouth as well, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She stared at Cole through her teary eye, sobbing into her hands. Cole hesitantly reached a hand out, placing it on her shoulder before she ran into his chest and cried, her fingers clutching onto his collar. He wrapped his arms around her, his brows furrowed as he felt a tear escape his own eye.
What had he just done? Did he do something wrong? Yes, he did. But what? Cole looked down at Trevelyan as she pulled her face away to look up at Cole.
"P—Please...never do that...or bring...up that name...again." She spoke in between sobs. Cole nodded, his arms wrapping tightly around Trevelyan as she buried her face in his chest and continued to cry. Cole stared blankly at the waterfall, hiding his true emotions. He was confused, he had never seen Trevelyan like this before. What did Canary mean, why did it set her off? He had never gotten a full reading on her past, she knew how to block him out, knew that he would never dive too deep unless she gave him permission. This was not deep, though. When he started to speak about what he really saw, the small memory popped out at him. Crystal blue eyes. Brown disheveled hair. Caramel color skin. Musty, like the forest, but ugly, like a storm. Nightmares and daydreams. Nightmares become reality. Uniform that everyone hides behind, a uniform that everyone believes in. But Trevelyan didn't, doesn't. She was, is scared—terrified of that uniform, the uniform that haunts her dreams, both asleep and awake.
"I promise." Cole spoke, leaned his chin atop of Trevelyan's head, "I won't speak of it again."