A/N: Thank you Agnez for my first (and only) review! As for everyone else, please don't forget to review after reading. It won't take five minutes to do so. I'm really hoping to get some honest and constructive criticism here.
Anyways, on to the story! I hope y'all enjoy it. And once again I don't own Dragon Age and all that good stuff.

As they drew up to Ostagar Gabriela felt no more at peace that she had on the road with Duncan as they fled Howe's treachery. The once proud city was now no more than a ruin, with only a single tower rising above the otherwise fallen stone. In the distance she could see tents pitched and campfires burning, and presently a group of three men were striding towards the pair from across the bridge.

"Ho there, Duncan!" The man standing in the middle called out. His voice was rather cheery, a little too cheery considering the darkspawn threat approaching. As he and his companions drew nearer, Gabriela could see that this man was very regal indeed. His golden plate mail beamed almost as brightly as his young excited face.

"King Cailan," Duncan replied sounding quite surprised, "I wasn't expecting a—"

"A royal welcome?" The king cut in good-naturedly. "I was beginning to worry you'd miss all the fun!"

"Not if I can help it, your majesty," replied Duncan with a benevolent smile.

"Then I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side in battle after all! Glorious!" The king drew Duncan to his side, his eyes glittering with anticipation. After a moment, he lowered his gaze to Gabriela, who had been watching the conversation in silence. "The other Wardens told me you had found a promising new recruit. I take it this is she?"

Duncan nodded, gesturing Gabriela forward. "Allow me to introduce you, your majesty."

"No need, Duncan," said King Cailan pleasantly, stepping nearer to her. "You are Bryce's youngest, are you not? I don't think we've ever actually met."

"Yes, I am, my name is Gabriela—but I bring important news, sire..."

"Is it about your father?" Cailan asked, lifting his eyebrows slightly. "Your brother has been concerned about him."

"He... he's not coming, my lord," Gabriela said softly. "He died when our castle was taken."

The king looked quite alarmed at this, "Dead?" He repeated, as if hoping this was some sick joke. "What do you mean? Duncan! What do you know about this?"

Duncan bowed his head sadly. "Teyrn Cousland and his wife are dead, your majesty. Arl Howe has shown himself a traitor and overtaken Highever Castle. Had we not escaped, he would have killed us and told you any story he wished."

Cailan turned to take a few steps away. He seemed to be much more concerned with this news than Gabriela thought he might. "I... can scarcely believe it! How could he think he would get away with such treachery?" The king stopped, facing Gabriela again, his face soft and sympathetic. "As soon as we are done here, I will turn my army north and bring Howe to justice. You have my word."

Gabriela couldn't help but smile in response. She was glad to hear the King was going to take action against Howe's treachery. "Thank you very much, your majesty."

The king placed a hand on her shoulder, "No doubt you want to see your brother. Unfortunately, he and his men are scouting in the Wilds. They are not due to return until after the battle is over, and until then I'm afraid we can't even send word. I apologize, but there is nothing more I can do."

"I am not so eager to share with him the news, your majesty," Gabriela replied softly. "So long as Arl Howe pays for his betrayal, I am happy."

Cailan nodded. "All I can suggest is that you vent your grief on the darkspawn for the time being." He glanced up at the sky briefly before sighing. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I should return to my tent. Loghain is no doubt waiting eagerly to bore me with his strategies."

"Your uncle sends his greetings and reminds you that Redcliffe forces could be here in less than a week." Duncan told King Cailan before the king took his leave.

The king merely snorted. "Eamon just wants in on the glory," he said, indicating for Duncan and Gabriela to follow as he and his guards began to stroll back towards the main camp. "We've won three battles against these monsters already, and I assure you tomorrow will be no different."

Gabriela looked at Duncan uncertainly before turning to the king, "I didn't realize things were going so well..."

"I'm not even sure this is true Blight," replied Cailan haughtily. "There are plenty of darkspawn on the field, but alas, we've seen no sign of an archdemon."

"Disappointed, your majesty?" Duncan asked.

King Cailan chuckled, "Can you blame me? I'd hoped for a war like in the tales! A king riding with the fabled Grey Wardens into battle against a tainted god! But I suppose this will have to do." He looked at the position of the sun in the sky and decided to stop lollygagging. "Now really, I must get going before Loghain sends out a search party. Farewell, Grey Wardens." He gave them each a curt nod before taking his leave, disappearing amongst the throng of tents.

Duncan, however, did not seem to be in any hurry and Gabriela got the impression that something was bothering him. After a few more moments of silence, he stopped and looked out over the bridge towards nothing in particular. "What the king said is true...They've won several battles against the darkspawn here."

Gabriela tilted her head, "Yet, you don't sound very reassured."

"I know there is an archdemon behind this." Duncan said with the first note of frustration Gabriela had ever heard from him. He sighed before continuing, "But I cannot ask the king to act solely on my feeling."

"Why not?" Gabriela asked, rather confused, "He spoke of the Grey Wardens very highly."

Duncan turned back to her, a wry smile on his face. "Not enough to wait for reinforcements from the Grey Wardens of Orlais." He continued their walk across the bridge, still speaking of the king delicately. "He believes our legend alone makes him invulnerable. But our numbers in Ferelden are too few. We must do what we can and look to Teyrn Loghain to make up the difference. To that end we should proceed to the Joining without delay."

Gabriela nodded her head, inhaling deeply. "What must I do?"

"For now feel free to explore Ostagar as you see fit," Duncan replied. "All I ask is that you do not leave it for the time being. Your hound can stay with me as well. Also, there is another Grey Warden in the camp by the name of Alistair. When you are ready, seek him out and tell him it is time to summon the other recruits." With that he took his leave with Ares trotting along happily behind him.

She knew she ought to seek out this Alistair man right away, but she found the goings on of camp Ostagar too fascinating. On the southern edge she found a group of soldiers surrounding the first darkspawn corpse she ever laid eyes on— the sight of it nearly made her sick. She was gone from the scene within seconds. Gabriela began to wander aimlessly through the camp once more until she stumbled on the Mage Circle's fire. The templars standing outside promptly turned her away. Reluctantly, she obeyed and headed off the opposite way. She only slowed after coming upon what looked to be an uncomfortable argument between what was certainly a mage and a Grey Warden.

"Yes, I was harassing you by delivering a message," said the Warden in an annoyed tone.

The mage sneered in reply. "Your glibness does you no credit."

"And here I thought we were getting along so well," the other man said with a sigh. "I was even going to name one of my children after you: The Grumpy One."

A snicker escaped Gabriela at that, which alerted both men to her presence.

"Enough," the mage said, sounding rather exasperated. "I will speak to the woman if I must! Now, get out of my way, fool." With that he pressed on past the two and disappeared from sight, giving Gabriela her first opportunity to get a look at this Alistair man.

Alistair was quite young, around her age she'd guess, which was certainly not something she had expected. He was tall and muscularly built with dirty blonde hair that was unkempt and swept back from his face. "You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together," he said as he walked over to Gabriela.

Gabriela laughed lightly at this, suddenly realizing how odd it felt to laugh again. "I know exactly what you mean." She answered with a small smile.

"It's like a party! We should all stand in a circle and hold hands. That would give the darkspawn something to think about." He beamed at her a moment, then cocked his head to the side, as if suddenly realizing he was joking with a total stranger. "Wait, we haven't met have we?" He asked uncertainly, "I don't suppose you happen to be another mage?"

"Don't worry, I am not a mage." Gabriela assured him.

"Less being yelled at for me then," he replied with an almost sarcastic sigh. "Though, the day is still young..." He shook his head, his easy smile back on his face. "You must be Duncan's new recruit from Highever. Gabriela Cousland, right?"

Gabriela nodded and held out her hand for him to shake, which he did energetically. "And you must be Alistair?"

"Did Duncan mention me? Good things, I hope." He gave her a quick wink and continued, "Well, as the junior member of the order, the task of accompanying you as you prepare for the Joining has been relegated to me. Hope you don't mind?"

Gabriela smiled, "Not at all. I look forward to traveling with you."

Alistair beamed at this, glad to have someone around who didn't seem to mind his jokes. "Anyway, I'm curious... Have you ever actually encountered a darkspawn before?"

Gabriela shook her head, only the images of those darkspawn corpses entering her mind.

"When I fought my first one," he continued. "I wasn't prepared for how monstrous it was. I can't say I'm looking forward to coming across another. But I guess that's what we Wardens have to do. Anyhow, whenever you're ready we should head back to Duncan. I imagine he's eager to get things started." He held a hand out, gesturing for her to walk with him.

She smiled before walking southward with him towards Duncan's bonfire. "So..." She began slowly, curious about the man striding alongside her. "If you don't mind my asking, I was wondering if you'd tell me a little bit about yourself."

"It's all quite boring I assure you," he teased, but obliged her anyway. "I was actually trained as a templar before Duncan recruited me about six months ago. The Chantry raised me and becoming a templar was a decision made for me a long time ago." He sighed, staring down at the ground for a while. "I spent years in that chantry, hopelessly resigned to my fate. Duncan was the first person who cared about what I wanted. He risked a lot of trouble with the grand cleric to help me."

"Why didn't you want to join the Chantry," Gabriela asked curiously.

Alistair shrugged at first. "It just... wasn't for me. I believe in the Maker well enough, but I never wanted to devote my life to the Chantry. Duncan saw I wasn't happy and figured my training against mages could double for fighting darkspawn. Now, here I stand a proud Grey Warden. The grand cleric wouldn't have let me go if Duncan had never forced the issue. I'll always be grateful to him."

"You speak rather fondly of Duncan."

"Duncan is the leader of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden." Alistair said with a hint of admiration in his voice. "Which he would say doesn't mean much, considering there aren't many of us here. But, beyond that, he's a good man. And a good judge of character. I owe him a lot." He looked over at his companion, curious to hear her opinion on Duncan. "What about you? What do you think of him?"

Gabriela hesitated. It was hard to give a good and honest opinion on a man she met not even a week ago. "Well, I haven't exactly known him for very long…but he seems to be a kind, yet serious man."

Alistair smiled, "That's fair enough."

It took Gabriela and Alistair a few minutes to reach the bonfire at the center of the camp where Duncan was waiting with Ser Jory and Daveth. "Good. I'll assume you are ready to begin preparations? That is, of course, if you're quite finished riling up mages, Alistair."

Alistair shrugged and adopted what he hoped was a guiltless grin. "What can I say? The revered mother ambushed me. The way she wields guilt they should stick her in the army."

Duncan folded his arms over his chest, looking at Alistair as a parent would while disciplining a child. "She forced you to sass the mage, did she? We cannot afford to antagonize anyone, Alistair. We don't need to give anyone more ammunition against us."

"You're right, Duncan," Alistair replied quietly, "I apologize."

"Now then, since you're all here, we can begin." The senior Warden said, looking at the new recruits now. "You four will be heading into the Kocari Wilds to perform two tasks. The first is to obtain three vials of darkspawn blood, one for each recruit."

"What do we need darkspawn blood for?" Gabriela asked, trying to hide the disgust in her voice.

"For the Joining itself, I shall explain more once you've returned."

Gabriela glanced at Alistair, hoping that she would get more information from him, but wasn't so lucky. So instead, she put it out of her head for the moment, "And the second task?"

For this, Duncan turned to Alistair, directing the request mainly to him. "There was once a Grey Warden archive in the Wilds, abandoned long ago when we could no longer afford to maintain such a remote outpost. It has recently come to our attention that some scrolls have been left behind, magically sealed to protect them. The scrolls contain treaties promising support—ones that may prove valuable in the days to come. Alistair, I want you to retrieve these scrolls if you can."

Alistair nodded, "Yes, Duncan."

Duncan gestured towards the western gate. "That is the entrance to the Wilds and may Maker watch over your path. I'll see you when you return." He turned his back on them and the four retreated towards the Wilds entrance.

"The Wilds," Ser Jory whispered as soon as they were out of earshot. "Isn't that dangerous?"

Gabriela shrugged and paused so that a guard may lower the gate for them. "It can't be too bad if they're sending us out our first day."

Jory didn't seem convinced. "I was here last night when the only survivor of a patrol came in. He said that his entire team had been wiped out by darkspawn!"

"Calm down, Ser Jory," Alistair said authoritatively. "We'll be fine if we're careful."