Chapter Two

Clothes lay neatly against on large boulders. Weapons carelessly strewn to the waters edge. Two exposed women bathed in moonlight, as if Andraste had blessed them with all her love. They stood in waist deep water, calmer than a tranquil himself. The waterfall provided them with a thick, rainy relief, as they stood underneath, letting it fall onto their pale, bare skin. Pearl turned to Morrigan.

"I remember Lothering, yes." she replied to a conversation past. Morrigan nodded.

"Indeed, there was a man named Erubus, a wicked Templar. I had… longed for him, physically speaking." she chuckled at that. Pearl smiled slightly.

"What did you do?" she asked, rubbing her minor scrapes and cuts from previous battles.

"Oh, well of course I taunted him. I led him all over the Wilds. He chased me often, and never caught up." she chuckled once more as remembrance flashed through her eyes. "I left him small goods when he was lead to a dead end. Poems, letters, sometimes foods. He never gave up." she sighed. Pearl stepped out from under the falls and faced the mage.

"Did he ever catch you?" she asked, crouching, so to hide her bare breasts from the world.

"Indeed he did. One night he cornered me. I was petrified and so excited at the same time. He grabbed me at once and we made passionate love all night long. Twas' nice."

Pearl laughed a little. "Just NICE?" she playfully splashed at Morrigan, who in turn quietly laughed back.

"And you asked such a question, because?…" She stepped back from the falls as well and joined Pearl, swimming in a small circle.

"Because I may feel a degree of the way you did about a certain person in our group." Pearl admitted, blushing.

"Alistair feels the same way for you, also." Morrigan stated, bluntly, yet suddenly un amused by the conversation.

"Alistair? No, not him!" Pearl splashed around like a guppy. "No, no! Sten, Morrigan, Sten!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily. Alistair liked her? But he was always disagreeing!

"The Quinari? Now, that is a predicament, Pearl. You shouldn't contract feelings for such an abomination." Morrigan teased, as if she was an older sibling. Pearl sighed.

"I don't know why I feel such a way toward him, I just do…"

After a long awkward silence, Morrigan finally looked up to say something important, but stopped as her eyes narrowed behind Pearl. Pearl followed her gaze, and watched as a small, frail, little man crawled out from behind the boulders. He scooped up the Longsword, which belonged to Pearl.

"HEY! THAT'S MY SWORD!" Pearl shouted, getting up. The old homeless man panicked and scooped up Morrigan's staff as well. He took off into the direction of the cliff, where the water fell from.

Morrigan shouted a few curse words. Pearl made her way to the waters edge. The clothes were gone too, except for Morrigan's shirt, which was mistaken for a plum rag, perhaps? Pearl turned to her and threw the top. "Go get the boys! I'll follow!" she then too off in the direction, too angry to care about nudity.

Pearl jumped out of the forest, and walked cautiously to the man, who was crouched. She prayed he would be too stunned to see a naked woman, than attack.

"Please, I don't want any trouble!" he shook with every word he whimpered. He stood at the edge of the cliff. The river flowed beside him, down into the pond. She was so much higher up than she though she'd be.

"I just want my belongings back. My sword, my clothes, and my staff." she warned, slowly stepping toward him. He grasped onto the items, shaking his head. She was loosing patience, and beginning to get cold. The wind blew her bangs to the side and her hair blew around. She began to reach out to the old man, when he screamed loudly.

Before she could do anything about it, she felt an agonizing pain tear away at her back. Her lungs lost all air and the wind was violently knocked out of her. She was stunned as her rag doll of a body flew through the air and over the cliff. She lost consciousness after passing the edge of the falls. An Ogre ripped the old man's face right off.

They watched as her lifeless body soared high into the air. She plummeted head first into the black abyss of the pond. Any chance of survival was limited. The three stood at the waters edge and listened to the roar of the Ogre. Alistair took off in a mad dash to the direction, Morrigan, clutching her ragged top to cover her vital parts, sprinted behinde, as to retrieve her staff and hail revenge herself. Sten dove into the water, rushing to the middle of the pond, praying to some sort of omniscient being that it was deep. It was.

With what would be his only breath, he descended into the murky depths, searching for Pearl. It was black as hell down there, as it was just nightfall. He searched around, deeper, and deeper until he caught sight of a body, hovering. The moonlight just barely reflected off her, giving her the existence of a pearl. 'PEARL!' he thought, scooping her up in his arms. Her eyes were closed.

Surfacing, he heard the vanquish of the creature and a war-cry belonging to the other Warden. He cared little, as he swam to the safety of land, vigilantly holding Pearl above the stream. 'Do not be dead.' he mentally begged, placing her on the dirt, and listening to her nude breast for a heartbeat. It was there, but it was faint. He opened her mouth carefully and put his lips to hers. He blew gently, and pushed her chest in slightly. He repeated this process until she began to cough and sputter water. He turned her onto her side for convenience.

She vomited water mixed with blood, but seemed fine. She shook a little, both out of fear and frostiness. She gazed up at him. "I'd be dead without you." was all she could say. Sten panicked and cleared his throat. 'I'd be dead without you,' was what he wanted to say, but what really came out was, "A life for a life, Warden."