A/N: If you follow my Tumblr or DeviantART, you'll know that I have an OC for Dragon Age: Inquisition. You'll hear more about her in the story, so I won't describe her here in the Author's Note. Anyways, to clarify, I like Grim. One of my more favourite Chargers (and coming in a VERY close second to Krem); he's handsome and cute, he's a strong silent type and he's terribly underrated because (I think) he doesn't talk/have much of a part. We also don't know very much about him so not very many people care. Anyways, this will be a series of one-shots and this is the only one that takes place before the Chargers joined the Inquisition. If this goes well, I'll continue it. If not... then yeah.

Chapter Genre: General

Chapter Rating: T

Rating Content: Brief Mild Language, Depictions of Violence, Depictions of Blood

At first glance, she didn't look like the fighting type. She was pretty lanky-looking, even for an elf. Thin arms and legs, small waist (but with a decent hourglass figure), dainty hands. The pack she was carrying looked almost too heavy for her to even be carrying in the first place. Her skin was just a bit darker than most elves, though, so she must be outside often or traveled a lot. Her hair was very short and layered, and it was a strikingly dark brown, almost to the point it was black. Her face was a mix of sharp angles and soft edges, giving her an almost too feminine look.

Of course, she wore earrings, two on her right ear were just a silver and gold ring, around the tip of her ear, and the one on her left ear was a small chain with a Mabari tooth at the end. They weren't too bad, he guessed. The Vallaslin that decorated her face wasn't too intricate of a design, either, just around her jawline, under her eyes and on her chin.

The only thing that gave her a predatory look were her eyes. They were upturned, giving her an almost seductive look. Her dark lashes were thick and voluminous, which brought out the colour of her eyes very well. The most venomous of greens, much like a snake's. Krem had even said to him that her eyes looked like they could take someone's soul just by looking at them.

Maybe that's why the Chief had let her join them on their assignment.

Or maybe it was her insistence and her throwing a knife between two people leaning against a wall. Either way, she was already tagging along and there was no changing the Chief's mind.

Despite her non-intimidating appearance, Grim couldn't help but feel on edge as she had walked beside him. Before they left, she donned this sort of armour, which hid her figure quite a fair amount. The chest plate was made from what looked to be like Antivan Leather, expensive but extremely good quality. There was a metal plate on her left shoulder, held by a thin leather strap. There was a leather harness across her right shoulder which was connected to a belt around her hips. There was two holsters, both containing some type of blades. One was located in front of her left hip and the other was located just behind her back. He didn't understand the arrangement of her weapons, but he didn't bother to ask. There was no need to ask, anyhow.

She had simply donned some black leggings, which were longer than her actual legs. Upon looking, however, Grim had noticed that the leggings also worked like a sock, allowing some protection on the bottoms of her feet. However, her heels and the toes were still exposed. He would never understand why most elves didn't like wearing shoes... There were metal platings on the sides of the thigh-areas of her leggings, which he also didn't understand.

Once they had reached the cave, the elf was extremely on edge and he swore he heard her say something about not liking it. When the Chief asked her, she just said something was off.

"Just the first-assignment jitters." Bull told her. "You'll get over it."

She didn't look like she had appreciated him tossing her bad feeling aside but she let it pass. Grim, however, also thought it was just her being nervous but once they got into the cave, both he and the Chief were proven wrong.

As it turned out, their little 'target' was apparently non-existent and the Chargers had been set up by a rival company and were ambushed. There were lots of archers and Mages and, because of the mages, plenty of undead. It was no wonder they didn't get payed up front this time!

The elf had handled herself pretty well. Although he wasn't watching her (mainly because he couldn't catch a break between fighting Mages and undead and archers), he caught a few glimpses of her fighting and he was very impressed with how well she had handled herself.

The only things that ever followed one of her movements would be shouts of pain, the death rattles of the undead, breaking of skeleton bones and the (almost) unnerving stench of burning flesh. He didn't know the cause of the stench until he managed to catch another glimpse of her fighting against a mage.

Her blades were on fire.

Since when was it possible to do that?

One final enemy was left and he was taking off through an escape route of sorts. Grim just about went after him, but the elf was hot on his trail, dropping her blades and charging down the stone path. They all waited patiently and she returned, dragging the mage behind her. She tossed him, literally, ahead and grabbed her blades, threatening him with them.

Although the Chief did end up killing the mage, he prevented the elf from doing so. Most likely something to do with morals and listening to what he had to say first, getting answers before tying the loose end.

Bull, of course, didn't fail to voice his impression of the elf after they had returned to the Tavern, smacking her right on her back and knocking the wind clear out of her lungs (and nearly tossing her to the ground in the process).

Grim was shaken from his thoughts as someone tapped at his shoulder. He looked up to see Krem, looking almost amused. "What about you; any good nicknames?"

He raised an eyebrow and looked around, now seeing that all eyes were on him.

"For the rookie." Krem clarified, pointing up into the rafters of the tavern.

Grim then looked up to see the elf sitting on one of the rafters, her leg hanging off the edge as she twirled one of her blades. "I don't need a nickname." She stated curtly.

"Everyone is given a nickname under the Chargers." Bull told her. "And since you won't tell us your real name, or tell us much about you before meeting us, you'll have to settle with a nickname."

"Elf."

Bull made a face. "No, you don't look like... well, you are an elf, but that doesn't suit you for a name."

The elf scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You seem pretty particular about names, Bull."

"I need to call you something."

Grim shifted in his seat. "Shredder."

Her eyes suddenly widened and she looked down at him as she stopped twirling her blade. "You actually talk?"

He didn't respond.

"Not a bad name, Grim." Bull said. "I watched you when we were fighting in the ambush. The only blood you got on yourself was the enemy's blood. You were a force of nature, shredding through the enemy. A relentless storm of daggers and flames. Shredder suits you!"

The elf - Shredder - rolled her eyes again.

"Which actually makes me think; how do you set your blades on fire like that?" Krem asked.

Shredder slid down from the rafter and landed gracefully on her bare feet, tossing one of her blades to him. "See that substance coating the blade?"

"What is it?"

"Dragon saliva." She stated. She then pointed to the tip of the blade. "That there is flint; strike it against anything hard and rough and it sparks and, in turn, it lights the blade."

"Where the hell would you get dragon saliva?" The Bull asked.

"Aided in the killing of a dragon, once. I wanted to try an experiment; a theory." She took the blade from Krem and sheathed it in its holster. "Took some saliva and lit it on fire. It worked out."

"Why have your blades on fire?"

"It makes the cuts more painful, and death a lot slower. Fire instantly cauterizes the blood." She told Krem. She then grabbed a chair and sat cross-legged on it. "And it scares the creepy-crawlies, namely spiders."

Grim briefly eyed the elf. She was a lot smarter than what he had previously given her credit for. She was also a fighter, no doubt about it! And a damned beautiful elf.

He didn't understand why, but he was glad she made it into the Chargers.

/ / /

She was obviously limping, but he decided not to voice it. She was a strong person and asking about it would most likely just wound her pride. Not only that, but he already knew the cause of the limping thanks to the (barely-there) blood smudges that he saw on the floor of the Tavern.

Grim and the rest of the gang had decided to turn in for the evening and on their way to the tents, he saw that the elf was limping. It was most likely after she chased the mage in the cave; the ground was rough and if you didn't tread carefully, you could easily end up cutting yourself on some bone shards or sharp rock edges, or pierce your foot with a newly-growing stalagmite.

He wanted to inform Stitches about it, but it would almost be no different than asking her about the wound directly. Once again, he let it go.

At first, Grim thought she was walking towards a tent but instead, she started climbing up a tree. Krem was the second to notice. "Good luck sleeping up there. Don't fall and crack your skull in the night, mind you!" He called to her.

Shredder stood on a thick branch and removed some of her armor, strapping them to smaller branches above her. Then, pulling some rope out from her bag, she lied down on the thick branch so her back was against the trunk and her feet were pointing out on the branch. She then used the ropes to tie her legs to the branch, not tight enough to cut off blood circulation, but tight enough to keep her from falling off and she wrapped the bag around her feet. Most likely to keep them from freezing. "Sound advice, Cremisius." She replied.

Krem sighed and shook his head. "That elf is something else..."

"Mm." He grunted in response.

/ / /

She was only just starting to get comfortable until she heard a set of heavy footsteps approaching her. She sat up and turned her head to see the Iron Bull walking towards her. She released a small sigh of relief. If it wasn't for the campfire that some of the Chargers set up, she might have mistaken the Bull for someone else.

"Shredder." He greeted.

She raised an eyebrow. "Something you need, Bull?"

He was tall enough that he was almost eye level with her, despite her being in a tree. She needed to sleep in a taller tree...

"I just wanted to say that you did well today." He said. "And that you're now officially part of the Chargers."

She snorted. "I get the feeling that there's a few catches."

"We move around a lot." He explained. "There's never much of a permanent 'home' for us. There's often a lot of life-or-death assignments we get put on, suicide missions, and we sometimes lose some people. If you don't mind those things, then you're free to stay as long as you pull your own weight."

Shredder shrugged and crossed her arms. "As long as I get payed and as long as nobody gains any personal problems with me, I'm fine with all of those things. And death isn't something that scares me, if that's what you're hinting at."

"Good to know."

Bull patted the trunk of the tree. "Sleep well; we have a far distance to travel tomorrow." He turned and left the elf to her own devices. "And don't fall out of the tree." He called back.