"Oh bollocky shitwank," Sera yelped, as Cassandra levelled a hefty punch at the elf's head. She moved just in time, grunting in frustration. "I'm trying to help!"
"Keep. Your. Hands. Off. My. Person," Cassandra said through gritted teeth, drawing away from Sera sharply and letting out a hiss of pain. An arrow stuck out of her shoulder, the shaft darkened with blood. A steady fount of crimson flooded down her front. Sera watched, bemused as Cassandra tried once again to rip the arrow out and more blood pulsed freely from her shoulder as she roared in pain.
"If you hadn't messed about with it like an arse, you wouldn't be bleeding out," Sera observed unhelpfully, ducking as Cassandra attempted to take another swing at her. The Inquisitor galumphed over, and Cassandra made a noise of disgust.
"I think that means she reckons you're even more useless than I am," Sera said.
"You are correct," Cassandra confirmed acidly.
"Big useless Qunari hands," Sera qualified, grinning.
"Yeah because you're the best healer from here to… somewhere far away," the Inquisitor replied with mock offence.
"Can you stop flirting for five seconds and find somebody who isn't a tremendous idiot?" Cassandra asked, shakily adjusting her sitting position to try and better see her wound. Due to her armour, she was having a hard time seeing the full extent of the damage, but the strange burning sensation spreading across her chest told her the arrow tip had been slicked with poison.
"You're the one with the dirty great arrow sticking out your shoulder," muttered Sera, but she got up and went to assist Vivienne in finishing off the last of the bandits who were responsible for Cassandra's injury. Usually, the group dispatched the Hinterlands' scattered groups of bandit nuisances with relative ease, but in a moment of post-rift-sealing arrogance, they had charged into battle and neglected to check the perimeter for archers. Cassandra had soundly trounced her attacker for his trouble (indeed, one of his arms lay a few feet away from where she sat.) but thanks to the arrow's poison, another unaccounted for factor, she had succumbed to exhaustion and had been forced to retire to the sidelines whilst Vivienne and the Inquisitor tried to beat back the rest of the bandits and Sera had tried and failed to staunch the blood gushing from Cassandra's shoulder. The Inquisitor hovered awkwardly, torn between leaving Cassandra to harass her wound some more, or risking a clout on the head to try and help. Her indecision was short-lived however, as Sera and Vivienne appeared at her side moments later, Sera wiping blood spatter off her nose ("Bugger got up too close for arrows, had to go all knifey-stab and poke a hole in him.") and Vivienne looking both spotless and unruffled, though amused at the sight of the Seeker sitting moodily in a puddle of her own gore.
"My dear you look ghastly, you've aged twenty years in twenty minutes," she exclaimed, folding her arms and examining Cassandra critically. "Blood loss willdo that to you; come on, I shall stop the bleeding and we can get you back to Haven where a better healer than I can address your wounds properly."
"Can't you fix it here?" the Inquisitor asked, crouching to hand Cassandra a water skin, from which she drunk deeply and gratefully. She was growing greyer and paler by the minute.
"No. If it's stuck in bone, trying to get it out will just make things worse," Vivienne said with such authority that nobody noticed she wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about, stepping back as the Inquisitor helped Cassandra to her feet. "And from the look of her, I'd imagine that arrow was tipped with poison. I'm a mage, not a healer."
"Once you're all finished talking about me like I'm not here," Cassandra interjected acerbically. "I'd rather like some medical attention."
The Inquisitor nodded and whistled for her horse as Vivienne applied some sort of blue-green healing magic to Cassandra's wound. It did not heal, but the bloodflow slowed. Moments later, the beast appeared at her side, an enormous strawberry roan gelding with a white blaze and a wall eye. Cassandra and the horse looked at each other with dislike.
"Falling from that beast will kill me sooner than any poisoned arrow," Cassandra protested, but the Inquisitor was already shoving her into the saddle. Grudgingly, she adjusted her seat and took the reins in her uninjured hand, sagging slightly. She flushed with embarrassment as the Inquisitor adjusted the stirrups, feeling like a child.
"Sera, ride ahead with her," the Inquisitor said, beckoning the archer, who promptly laughed in her face.
"I'd sooner carry her myself, mate," Sera replied. "That thing's massive. Dunno how to ride a horse anyway."
"Learn," advised Vivienne as Sera too was lifted bodily into the saddle by the Inquisitor.
"You're rubbish," Sera complained. "Just 'cause you're bigger than us. How come she doesn't have to take her? How come you don't?"
"Because you're lighter than me and you'll get there faster. And Vivienne doesn't want to," the Inquisitor replied, stretching expansively and beginning to walk ahead. The horse immediately started to follow his master.
"Idon't want to!" Sera bellowed, and the horse flattened his ears.
"Can I politely remind you bickering children that I am bleeding out," Cassandra croaked peevishly. Sera let out a loud, theatrical groan and kicked the horse into an uneven trot. It was readily apparent that the Inquisitor's horse disliked the elf just as much as Sera disliked him. Cassandra held herself stiffly in the saddle, gripping the back of the saddle with her free hand so tight her knuckles turned white, as Sera pressed the horse on at a gentle lope.
"His name is Tristabelle, by the way," the Inquisitor called as the distance between them grew. Cassandra looked back and watched the trees swallow Vivienne and the Inquisitor as they rode onward through the wood.

Sera was unusually quiet as they rode, and Cassandra did not attempt to start conversation, focusing on staying conscious. She supposed the girl had directed all of her attention at keeping control over the Inquisitor's rather unruly and spoiled mount. Occasionally, Sera would apologise for the bumpy terrain or whisper "shhh" at nobody in particular when she spotted signs of enemies on their path.
"Here," Sera said suddenly, long after night had cast a velvety shadow across their path. "I should probably be making sure you don't go unconscious or summat. Keep you occupied. Get a bit of banter going, keep you awake and that."
"I can assure you I am doing just fine," Cassandra replied.
"If you and a nug got into a fight but the nug was as big as a dragon, who would win?"
"Leliana," Cassandra replied immediately.
"Where does she come into it?" Sera asked, twisting in the saddle to glower at Cassandra for dodging her question.
"If she had heard I had so much as looked the wrong way at a nug, I'm certain she'd have me killed in my bed," Cassandra said flatly. "She is fond of them."
"That's a good point," Sera mused thoughtfully, scratching her chin. "She's quite scary. All that cloak-and-dagger-hood-up-can't-see-my-face-spymaster pish. Bit unnerving."
"She is no bark and all bite," Cassandra answered.
"And you're the opposite," Sera quipped, the grin in her voice apparent. She threw herself down onto the horse's neck to avoid a punch in the back of the head from Cassandra and sent the beast into a frenzied gallop. When at last they stopped, Sera was cackling wildly and Cassandra had turned the colour of soured milk. Fortunately, their journey was almost over; Sera's face was green in the light of the breach as they drew closer to Haven, the terrain growing more mountainous, patches of snow growing more and more frequent. As the snow increased, so too did Sera's observations that most of the countryside was "rubbish" or "creepy". Cassandra didn't bother to respond, content to focus on Sera's endless wittering about various things she wasn't much interest in to keep from falling asleep. Her eyelids were heavy and whilst Vivienne's magic had clotted the blood initially, her shoulder had gradually started to bleed again, a cruel burning sensation radiating from the entry wound whenever she was jostled in the saddle. Thankfully, Tristabelle, as disagreeable as the gelding was, had a very smooth gait and Cassandra did not find herself shunted about too much. Sera too seemed relatively at ease in the saddle, though she struggled to keep the horse from pausing to snatch mouthfuls of foliage from the roadside. As the hours crawled past, Cassandra felt the sweat beading on her forehead, somehow too cold and too hot all at once. Her entire side was numb now, her arm dangling uselessly at her side. As she experimentally tried to make a fist, nothing happened. No doubt the poison had spread enough to render the affected side paralysed.
"S'good you're so calm," Sera said conversationally. "I heard panicking can make poison spread faster. Nearly there by the way. Somebody will be able to fix you, probably."
When they eventually arrived at Haven, Sera pressed the horse through the snow and jumped off at the gates. She handed the reins to Cullen, who looked bemused.
"The Inquisitor sent a message ahead to say you'd be coming back with Cassandra. Interestingly, she did not think to inform me that Cassandra has become a human pin-cushion," he said, looking at the horse with unease as Sera tried to yank Cassandra out of the saddle. The Seeker slid to the ground, almost crumpling on impact, trembling for a moment before turning away to vomit.
"Poison," Sera told Cullen cheerfully. "Put the horse in the stables, I'm taking her to get fixed. It's just like a big dog. The horse I mean, not Cassandra."
Cullen, stunned at Sera's commands, nodded mutely and led the horse away as the elf threw Cassandra's arms over her shoulders and hefted her up the steps. It was slow progress; however, they stopped short of where Cassandra was expecting to be led.
"To what do I owe the honour of such a late night visit?" asked a familiar voice. "Maker! What happened to you?"
Leliana's pale, concerned face swam into view. Cassandra attempted to explain but instead uttered a near inaudible stream of garbled nonsense.
"Stuck with an arrow, innit?" said Sera simply. "Shitehawk caught her in the shoulder. Reckon it's poisoned."
"Bring her in here, though why I was your first choice I cannot fathom," Leliana said, shouldering Cassandra on the other side and assisting Sera in lifting her onto the narrow cot in the tent. "I'm not a healer, Sera. Leave her here for now, I'll stay with her if you fetch Adan; he'll be more use against the poison than anybody else I'd imagine."
"It was her first choice because she is an idiot," supplied Cassandra from the bunk.
"'Cause you act like you know everything," Sera said blithely, ignoring Cassandra. "Reckoned you'd know how to fix that as well."
She shrugged and bolted off to fetch the poor-tempered man from the apothecary. Leliana did not envy her the task; she knew that being woken up by noisy, bad-mannered elf girls was probably not one of Adan's favourite things. She busied herself putting water on to boil to clean the wound, and pouring Cassandra a stiff drink.
"Legacy White Shear," Cassandra remarked as she downed the whisky. "It must be strong poison to deserve such a strong drink. You're not about to tell me I'm going to die, are you?"
"No," said Leliana, amused by Cassandra's lackadaisical response to apparent paralysis of half of her body. "I'm just very aware that somebody is going to have to pull that arrow out at some point."
Cassandra grimaced and lay back down on the cot, wincing. Leliana fished through her belongings and found a leather gauntlet, which she tossed at Cassandra as Sera entered the tent.
"Bite down on that when he pulls it out," Leliana advised, and Cassandra nodded. Sera looked a bit ill.
"Says he'll be here as soon as he can, he had to get some stuff first," Sera said, jerking her head in what was presumably Adan's direction.
"Good. Thank you. Help me get her out of her armour," Leliana said, gently easing Cassandra into a sitting position. Sera giggled a bit, but one look from Cassandra silenced her, and she set about assisting Leliana in removing the armour. Her clothing underneath was soaked with red, turning stiff and coppery as the blood dried. Sera gave Cassandra funny look.
"You smell weird," she said suspiciously.
"Excuse me?"
"All… fancy. Blood too. But under that, you smell like those funny pink Qunari sweets the Inquisitor eats," Sera insisted. Cassandra turned away, looking slightly embarrassed as Leliana leaned in slightly, and started laughing.
"Rose oil, Cassandra? You're more of a hopeless romantic than I thought," Leliana teased.
"Far from hopeless," Cassandra deadpanned. "As I recall, I have not been the one wandering the camp mooning over letters and clutching them to my heart dramatically when nobody is looking."
"Rose oil is a bit daft though," Sera added. "Never pegged you for a pansy."
"I am not a pansy," Cassandra said crossly. "Is it so wrong to like nice things?"
"Vivienne likes nice things. You'rea pansy," Sera said firmly, though neither she nor Leliana said anything else as Cassandra looked mutinous and Sera had not forgotten the various attempts at assault conducted since Cassandra had first been wounded. Fortunately for the spymaster and the thief, and perhaps Cassandra too, Adan bustled into the tent, arms full of various intriguing looking bottles and tinctures. He shooed Sera and Leliana out of the way.
"Sorry to trouble you so late, Adan," Cassandra said, her voice strained as he examined her wound.
"Not a problem," he said shortly in such a way that implied it had indeed been at least somewhat of a problem. "Whatever poison was on that arrow had an anti-coagulant in it, that will be why you've lost so much blood. I can see somebody, Lady Vivienne I presume, has tried to at least clot the blood, but it doesn't seem to have worked."
"Will the effects of the poison be permanent?" asked Leliana worriedly.
"I cannot say; I'm not sure precisely which poison was used, though the paralysis the elf girl described suggests to me it's perhaps soldier's bane in some form…" Adan spoke more to himself than to Leliana. So suddenly Leliana jumped in fright, Adan had signalled for Sera to jam the gauntlet into Cassandra's mouth and hold her down whilst he produced a small silver knife and widened the entry wound the arrow had made, sliding a finger in alongside the shaft to feel for the arrow tip. Cassandra bellowed in pain, her voice so full of agony that even Leliana winced slightly. Tears had sprung to the Seeker's eyes. After a few painful that seconds that felt like minutes, Adan was able to gently withdraw the arrow from Cassandra's shoulder, letting a fresh gush of blood come with it.
"Sick," remarked Sera, moving safely out of striking distance as Cassandra pulled the leather gauntlet out of her mouth and threw it on the floor in disgust.
"There was no need to- I would have simply remained still if you had asked," she protested angrily, attempting to stand up and immediately sitting back down again. Adan ignored her.
"She won't be able to use that arm for a few days, but she won't be fit for battle for at least few weeks. Clean her up, spread some of the tincture I left on the table on the wound, and bandage it tightly. She's going to be feverish, so stay with her through the night, if she gets any worse fetch me. Have a mage see to her in the morning, they'll be able to heal the wound but the poison will take longer to wear off. I'm back off to bed now that we've confirmed the Lady Seeker is in no immediate danger," Adan said, bowing his head at the three astounded women and taking his leave.
"Bet I could've done that," Sera muttered. "Arse."
For once, Cassandra rather agreed with her.
"There is a room inside the Chantry you can sleep in; you've lost so much blood I'd rather you didn't sleep out in the cold," Leliana said, sounding uncharacteristically motherly. "I'll have it made ready for us."

It seemed an evening for unusual behaviours; once again, Cassandra was surprised at herself when she did not protest Leliana's suggestion; the cold had bitten cruelly at her skin and her extremities had turned bluish. It seemed Leliana was only gone moments before she had returned and, with Sera's aid, moved Cassandra into the Chantry. The room she had mentioned had been made ready with a fire in the grate, the torches lit, and two bedrolls furnished with an unnecessary number of blankets. Sera disappeared and came back with Cassandra's armour and weapons, dropping them unceremoniously onto the rug in front of the fire.
"Swish place this," Sera said, sitting at the end of Cassandra's bedroll. "How come nobody was already in here?"
"We just found the key today, couldn't get in before," Leliana explained. "Nobody had claimed it, so I rather suppose its Cassandra's quarters. At least whilst she's too wounded for anybody to argue."
Leliana passed the Seeker a steaming cup of some type of herbal tea that was supposed to help with fever symptoms. Adan had left it alongside the tincture and wound dressings, though according to the expression on Cassandra's face upon taking a sip, she probably would have preferred the fever to the tea.
"He was a bit crap for a healer, wasn't he?" said Sera ruefully. "Poking holes in you, giving you pisswater to drink then buggering off. That's not very… healermanly of him."
"I am not an important casualty," said Cassandra, waving away Sera's sympathies. "It is nothing severe. He said I will be fine in a few days."
"Weeks," corrected Leliana. "He just said you'll be able to use your arm again in a few days. I hope you enjoy my company, because it looks like I have been assigned the task of nursemaid."
"If it helps I can nick some of them pansy roses sweets from the Inquisitor," Sera suggested unhelpfully. "Cheer you up. Smile's the best medicine and all that. Plus I like nicking things."
"You will not steal on my behalf," Cassandra asserted stonily, and her expression left no room for arguing, though Sera looked a little crestfallen that her suggestion hadn't been well received.
"She only mean because she's tired," Leliana said patronisingly, biting her lip to avoid laughing at the sour look Cassandra threw at her. Leliana busied herself with examining Cassandra's wound critically.
"Can I help?" piped Sera, leaning in to stare at the bloody hole in Cassandra's shirt as though she'd gain some understanding on how to cure the Seeker.
"Yes; would you mind awfully fetching the water I boiled from my tent?" Leliana asked. "I need it to clean this up."
Sera nodded and slipped out the door to do as Leliana had asked.
"She is… energetic," Cassandra said quietly.
"I like her," replied Leliana with a smile. "And I think she rather likes you. She has a good heart. Take your shirt off, I need to see your wound properly to clean it. I promise I won't look."
Cassandra grudgingly attempted to remove her shirt, eventually allowing Leliana to help ease it off on her wounded side as her arm still lay there uselessly. Leliana politely averted her eyes.
"Bloody hell," squeaked Sera, almost slopping the pot of boiled water down her front in her haste to look anywhere but at Cassandra. "You didn't tell me you were shacking up in here."
"We're not," Cassandra and Leliana insisted in unison as Cassandra drew the blanket safely up to chest height.
"More the pity," said Sera cheerfully, recovering from her initial shock quickly and bringing Leliana the water. She watched with interest as the woman carefully tended to Cassandra's wounds, washing away the crusted blood and the strange, sticky residue she could only assume was a result of the poison. Finally, after what felt like an age, Leliana had cleaned the wound to her satisfaction, applied a thick coat of the tincture which smelled like an odd combination of grass, pine needles and incense, and bandaged Cassandra so extensively one would have been forgiven for thinking her entire arm had been hacked to bits as opposed to her shoulder. The Seeker was at last given Leliana's permission to "try and get some sleep". Cassandra dozed off near immediately once she had settled into bed, though Leliana and Sera sat up together a little later playing cards in comfortable quiet. Once Leliana had fleeced Sera of nearly everything she had ("Never gamble with a spymaster.") and Sera herself was certain Cassandra was comfortable and in no immediate danger, the elf bade Leliana good night and left soundlessly. Leliana mused briefly on how affable she had found the young woman, despite some of the other camp residents' complaints about her pranks involving their missing trousers being used as Inquisition banners. As she blew out the candles and left the fire to die to ashes, she heard Cassandra stir and murmur something in her sleep. In the green light filtering in through the narrow window, Leliana could see her companion's furrowed brow and parted lips; apparently, her fever dream was not a pleasant one. She got into her own bed and lay in the dark, staring into the green-toned darkness and pretending not to hear Cassandra mutter Justinia.