Dead or Alive
Here we are yet again, with another new story, one not in the original game at all. This time, Loghain decides to step up his hunting for the Wardens by turning the very people of Denerim against them, with the all important motive of money. It takes place pretty early in the overall story, before everybody's realized they should love the Wardens. I've decided that Daniel's mabari is to be named Chet, after my mom's boyfriend's old dog. And if you're wondering what Daniel himself looks like, I'd suggest looking up Sam Winchester from season 1 of Supernatural. This idea came to me from an episode of the great show Samurai Jack, and since I'm always watching a movie while writing these, this time it's Highlander. So let's get on with the story, shall we?
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these ideas, I'm just responsible for putting them together all fancy-like and bringing them to an audience, like Apple with the iPhone.
One of those rare off days, a necessary resting period after Leliana's ordeal in driving off Marjolaine and the discovery of Brother Genitivi's falsified assistant, had been declared. Daniel Cousland, Ferelden's newest Grey Warden, ventured out from his companions' camp at the edge of the woods and into the nearby city of Denerim. As he walked down the streets of the market district, not yet crowded due to the sun having not yet risen, his cloak was pulled tighter around his increasingly bushy brown crop of hair, attempting to remain warm and unseen. He must give himself a cut soon, perhaps when he returned to camp, he decided.
For the moment, though, the order of business was relaxation. To that end, the young Cousland was on his way to the Gnawed Noble tavern, in hopes of getting himself a drink. Perhaps, had he not been working so intently on not being recognized, he might have seen something himself. A new set of postings had been added to the town's chanter's board, off to the west of where he walked. Of course, as in all of Ferelden's towns and villages, perhaps even more so due to its great population, news traveled fast in Denerim. So it was hardly surprising that the Warden would learn of the new development momentarily.
Once he opened the door to the establishment, the hearty laughter and generally raucous attitude of the place's regular morning visitors quickly became a much more subdued, though no less pervasive, whispering that spread throughout the gathered like so many wildfires. Daniel, paying no attention to his fellow customers, walked directly to the bartender, who quickly offered him the warm cup of tea he had asked for. Despite Oghren's many protests, he still maintained the opinion that any time before midday was much too early for the first mug of ale.
At the only available table, the young Warden slowly lowered himself into a seat facing the door. As he raised his cup to his mouth for the first sip, a scratching on the floor was heard, and he looked up to find himself surrounded.
"You got a lot of nerve coming in here." One of the largest of the group, standing directly across from him, was the first to speak.
"I suppose that must be a rare quality around here, if you and your little buddies need a whole group to bully people."
Another of the group growled behind him, but was silenced by the one who had spoken before. "Now now, we're just making sure we're the ones what gets that pretty price on your head, Warden."
Daniel lifted his head from his cup at this, staring at the speaker. "A prize for bringing me in, you say?"
Some of those surrounding him nodded, but he kept his eyes on their spokesperson. "Aye, and the easiest part of it is, we don't even have to keep you alive. Get him boys!"
At the command, they charged, collapsing their circle in on the Warden. He jumped up onto the table he'd been sitting at, kicking his chair back into the ruffian closing in behind him and throwing the still warm remains of his tea at another. Using his new advantage of higher ground, Daniel took a moment to draw his belt dagger before hopping down to deal with the remaining three.
Two of them charged his landing point, attempting to take him out as he came down. A quick roll upon landing caused them to crash, removing themselves from the fray and bringing Daniel even with the leader, who had yet to move. The shocked look in his eyes was not helped by the feel of a dagger at his throat, and he stayed stiff as a board.
"I really should kill you, just as a general service to the townspeople, but I can't do that. You're a bully, but you're harmless. So have a good nap, and I suggest you don't try to follow me when you wake." The other man nodded quickly, before stopping with a confused look in his eye as he registered the phrase 'nap'. He didn't have long to wonder, as the flat of the dagger's blade came down on the back of his head, sending him to the floor.
The Warden looked to the bartender on his way to the door. "You saw nothing." The other man nodded his agreement, and Daniel took his leave of the place.
There seemed to be quite the commotion on the nearby streets, so he again pulled his cloak tight as he stepped outside. Across the road, someone yelled "Warden!" and he was unable to stop his head rising to the summons. A dwarf, the merchant from down the road- Gorim, he thought- was standing there, holding what looked to be a wanted poster with a picture of Alistair on it. He looked back and forth between Daniel and the picture, a confused frown creasing his brow.
"Hmm. Coulda sworn..." He mumbled to himself, as Daniel let out a slight sigh of relief, but then the dwarf's eyes lit up. He reached behind himself and rummaged in the back of his trousers, coming up with another piece of paper. "Ha! I knew it!" He cried excitedly, pointing Daniel's own wanted poster at him.
He reached back toward his behind, and this time the Warden's face showed confusion. He has more back there? Where is he keeping all of it? Does he have no ass? He thought to himself, but as Gorim drew out an axe, he quickly decided he was better off not knowing.
Gorim charged at him with the axe, managing to knock him back a few times while the Warden shook off his surprise. The last time he stumbled back, his feet caught on a stone sticking out from its fellows in the road, and he tripped backwards.
"Heh. Easiest fifty sovereigns I'll ever make." The dwarf laughed, bringing his weapon up for a final charge. The Warden regained his feet, waiting for his opponent as if he were a matador. And this time, Gorim's challenge wasn't nearly as successful as its predecessors.
Daniel stood his ground, stepping slightly backward once Gorim got close, but leaving one foot forward. The dwarf tripped over this foot, sending him sprawling into the larger man's arms. Daniel quickly flipped him over the nearby fence, calling "Not today, little round man!"
With no more challengers in sight, he was finally able to make some progress toward getting out of the city. He kept close to the sides of buildings, glancing around the corners and darting back quickly if he spotted anyone. It seemed the whole city had decided to join in on this Warden hunt, and they had a bad enough reputation without killing half of the population, even if it was self-defense.
As he turned on to one of the larger side streets, he heard another commotion coming from the small square up ahead. He nearly turned back to find a way around, until he saw the brown flash of a mabari fly into one of the groups of people that had gathered. He hadn't seen any other mabari on the streets during his time in the city, so in all likelihood it had to be his. He'd sent Chet with Alistair that morning, which meant that... They must have been spotted!
Daniel took off running to the square as quickly as he could, sliding to a stop and pulling his dagger free once he got out of the alleyway he'd come from. It took a moment to survey the situation, with all its moving parts. Alistair was holding off no less than five people with his shield, while dueling another three with his sword. At least he'd been able to bring his armor and weapon into the city, as they'd found him enough of a templar's gear back at the Circle Tower to make a suitable disguise.
Still, they seemed to have not fared nearly as well as he had in the not being recognized department, as the large group they were now fighting had apparently been even larger at the battle's start. Corpses littered the ground of the square in various places. They'd been far too outnumbered to worry about keeping people alive.
Daniel raced toward the group by his fellow Warden's shield arm, tackling them before nimbly rolling out of the way of their makeshift weapons. Without the encumbrance, Alistair was able to quickly take care of those he'd been dueling with, and they worked back to back to take out the rest as they recovered, Chet working with Daniel to make up for their less than ideal arms situation.
As the last fell, Alistair turned to his friend. "Whew! Thank goodness you showed up when you did. I'm not sure we could have held them off much longer, I kept thinking more would come round the side and overwhelm us at any moment."
The other Warden's eyes darted around the square. "They still might. This probably isn't the best place to be having this conversation," The sound of armored feet coming closer alerted them to the presence of a patrol of guards, "and we're too late. Everyone stand fast!" They faced the direction the noise came from just as the first of the patrol came into view, causing Daniel to lower his dagger.
"Sergeant Kylon? Is that you?"
"Wardens! Thank goodness we found you. You need to get out of Denerim right away."
"Really? But why?" Alistair asked, his demeanor just overflowing with sarcasm until Daniel elbowed him and he switched to a quick glare.
Sergeant Kylon, for it was indeed him, and not just his twin brother or something equally unlikely, looked to Alistair's leg, which the Warden's just now noticed had been wounded in the fighting. "We can get you out, but can you walk?"
Alistair chuckled humorlessly. "I'll bloody walk out of here." The others nodded, and with Alistair leaning some of his weight on Chet, the group slowly made their way out of the city.
As they reached the main gate, the Wardens turned back to their escort, and the younger one spoke. "Thank you Sergeant. I'm not sure we would've gotten out of there without you."
"Not a problem, Warden. You do good work. And," he looked back to the various smoke trails and occasional arrows rising into the air, "if the Regent wants to get rid of you that badly, this clearly isn't the way to do it. Far too much collateral damage." Everyone nodded in agreement at that. "I'll get the rest of those posters torn down and tell my men not to put anything like 'em up without running it by me first, but you might want to stay away from the city for a while."
They nodded again, and turned to head back to their forest camp. Upon their return, they were accosted by a very anxious bard and mage. Wynne went to deal with Alistair's leg, while Leliana drew Daniel off to the side.
"Are you alright? Where have you been? Everyone's been looking for you two. And not even just us, the whole town! Why didn't you come back or contact us?" She rambled, and the Warden jumped in once she finally paused for a breath.
"I'm fine. I was working my way back here, but I had to take a detour to save Alistair. And as for not contacting you, if I had been in any danger, I would have." He chuckled, and Leliana rolled her eyes at him, turning and walking off, clearly still upset with him. "Wait!" He called. "I'm sorry! I'll send you a message next time!"
She stopped, shaking her head, before turning back to plant a finger in the middle of his chest. "I'll hold you to that, oh reckless leader. But hopefully there won't be a next time."
"Well, no arguments there." She nodded, and turned back on her way, passing Alistair as he limped back up, his lower shin wrapped tightly in cloth.
"We should just go find a dragon to kill or something. It'd be easier than taking a bloody day off." They both chuckled darkly.
Back in Denerim...
Teyrn Loghain was irate, on a rampage through the palace. "You're telling me an entire city wasn't enough to capture, or to even kill just two Grey Wardens?"
"Well, yes, it would appear so, sir. We have gotten reports that Maric's bastard received a slash to the leg, so there is that at least." Rendon Howe spoke quickly, his hands up as if to surrender.
"And what of the other one?" The Teyrn asked, raising his eyebrow to his subordinate. It pleased him to see Howe at least somewhat as angry as he felt at the moment, and the Cousland brat was always good for at least that much.
"It appears that the young Cousland used the, um, 'cloak and dagger' method most effectively, and escaped unharmed." He nearly growled out the end of his sentence. "To that end, it would appear that we are going to require the best to deal with them."
"And the most expensive." A deeper voice laughed from behind him.
And thus entered Zevran, intent on laying the groundwork for a sequel. Unfortunately for all of us, that's a story for another story. I like this one the way it is, and I hope you do too. Feel free to let me know, or even just to yell 'mashed potatoes!' (They're doing it at golf tournaments now, so why not in reviews too, eh?) I don't mind. I like mashed potatoes. As long as there's gravy. Hence my name. -SGM-