Oubliette

"Where the Fade are we?"

"Someplace dark?"

"You are not being helpful."

"Smells like the Deep Roads."

"How did we get here?"

"We fell."

"Right, but how did we fall into the Deep Roads?"

"Are you alright?"

"I hurt all over, but I think I might have broken my tailbone and maybe my wrist. You?"

"I hurt all over too."

A dull blue light flared to life and started circling Anders' head. He looked off to his left and found Zevran lying on his side, his face scratched and bloody. He was cradling his obviously deformed wrist close to his body. "Sweet Andraste, you look terrible."

"You're not exactly looking that good yourself."

Anders moved to try to get closer to Zev and let out a small scream as a bolt of pain shot through his upper arm. He looked down and saw bone sticking out of his upper arm. He suddenly felt light headed and let his head drop to his chest as he took deep breaths.

"Anders, are you alright? You're not going to pass out are you?"

"No, it just… It's bad, give me a second." He used his good hand to unbuckle the belt around his waist and slid it free.

"What are you doing, do you need help?"

"Can you even move?"

"Yeah, it hurts a bit but I can move." He pushed himself slowly into a sitting position and scooted closer to Anders carefully. "What do you need?"

"I'm going to lean against you in case I pass out."

"What?" Zevran's voice jumped a bit higher.

"I have to clean this before I heal it. It's going to hurt, a lot. I might pass out; I want to lean against you so that if I pass out I don't fall and hit my head or something." He leaned against Zevran's side and Zevran carefully set his broken wrist into his lap then he wrapped his good arm around Anders trying to make sure he wouldn't fall.

Anders put the belt between his teeth and bit down. He used his good hand to create a gentle trickle of water then unwound the energy from a fire spell right under his skin. The water turned to steam and he directed it at the exposed bone, gritting his teeth down on the leather and trying not to scream.

He didn't pass out, but it was a close thing. Exhausted already from the pain he turned to Zevran. "I need you to help me put it back into place."

"What? How are we supposed to do that? We each only have one working arm."

"I know, that's why I need your help. Grab above the break, just hold it still and I'll set the bone."

Still looking uneasy Zevran moved a bit and wrapped his good hand around Anders' upper arm.

"Tight, you can't let it move, it'll be too hard to set otherwise."

Zevran tightened his grip. He watched as Anders put the belt back between his teeth. Anders took a few deep breaths and grabbed the lower part of his upper arm. He pulled downwards pushing a bit to the side to get the bone to slide back into place. He wasn't able to hold back a scream and Zevran felt a bit nauseous at the sound of the bone scraping together as it slid into place.

When it was finally back in place Anders sagged against Zevran. He looked ashen and was a bit clammy.

"Are you alright?" Zev asked quietly.

"I'm glad my stomach is empty, otherwise I might have lost it, but I'll be okay in a minute." His breaths were shaky; he was obviously still in a lot of pain.

"Do you want me to let go?"

Anders shook his head a little. "Need to hold it in place until I heal it. I just need to rest for a second."

A couple of minutes later Anders sat up, he worked as quickly as he could with his depleted mana and closed the wound, healing the bone. Once the bone was knitted back together he let go of the belt and moved his weight off of Zevran. There was sweat pouring off his face.

"Are you alright?" Zevran released Anders' arm.

Anders nodded.

"You burned yourself."

"Had to, needed it clean." He was out of breath. The wisp above him started guttering. "Let me see your wrist quick, I think I can fix it."

"No, rest. It can wait. Not like we're going anywhere right?"

"What about Darkspawn?"

"I can't feel any. We're fine. Get some rest."

Anders never would have thought he could fall asleep on the filthy floor of the Deep Roads but within moments of lying down he was fast asleep.

Zevran wasn't really sure what had happened or how they had ended up where they were. He remembered seeing something flying straight at them, then he had felt as if a giant hand had grabbed him and yanked him downward. He had thought they had fallen and he had just mistaken the jolt at the end for being grabbed, but they were somehow in the Deep Roads.

If they had fallen he should have been able to see the hole where they had fallen through, but above them was solid rock. Whatever had happened had been quite violent, they both were covered with scratches and cuts and they both had broken bones. Granted it was still better than being dead, which is what he had thought was happening.

Zevran was thankful that Anders hadn't healed his wrist yet. The throbbing kept him awake. He was so tired; they had been fighting for so long. His whole body was screaming for sleep, but they were in the Deep Roads. He couldn't feel any Darkspawn nearby but that didn't mean that there weren't other dangers.

He was worried, they were lost in the Deep Roads, somewhere, and they had no provisions other than a bit of water. The Deep Roads were a labyrinth; he had no idea how they were going to find a way out. Realizing he had no weapons on him he started feeling around in the dark to see if he could find his daggers.

He didn't want to move around too much, he was in a lot of pain, but he felt distinctly uncomfortable without his daggers. After searching for a few minutes with no luck he reached into his boot with his good hand and pulled one of his knives free. He mentally said a quick thanks to Sareyna for buying him the boot knives. He had thought it silly at the time, he never went anywhere without his daggers, but he had gotten used to wearing them none the less.

He found himself frustrated that his eyes couldn't get adjusted to the darkness. There was absolutely no light at all, not even enough for his elven eyes to pick up on. So instead he focused on listening. He heard the sound of water dripping somewhere off to the left, it was a very slow drip. Other than that it was just silence.

There was no breeze, nothing moving, just the sound of Anders' breath beside him. Instead of easing his tension he found himself on edge at the lack of sounds. Zevran's gut was clenched tight; he wondered how the Keep was fairing, if they had brought down the ogre yet.

His mind started feeling a bit fuzzy from fatigue and pain. He reached out and touched Anders lightly, he wasn't sure why, perhaps just to assure himself that this was all real. They should be dead, he knew it, he couldn't figure out how they had managed to somehow end up in the Deep Roads. But he was glad to at least have another chance.

He shifted a bit and a bright flare of pain cleared his mind a bit. He jerked his head abruptly, there was sound coming from his right, it was distant and quiet, but it was there. It wasn't Darkspawn; he didn't feel the telltale buzz in his head, not a Warden either.

He sat very still blocking out the sound of Anders breathing beside him. He furrowed his brow, what was it? It seemed small, it was making snuffling noises and its steps were odd and irregular. As it got closer Zevran suddenly let out a laugh.

He had been so tense and worried over a nug. Zevran's hearing let him figure out where it was and as it approached he threw his knife. There was a yelp and a thud. Zevran moved slowly, each breath, each movement causing pain, over to where the nug lay dead.

He had no idea how long they would be down there and they had no food with them. He retrieved his knife, but soon realized there was no way he could gut the animal with a broken wrist. In the blackness of the Deep Roads it was difficult to tell how much time had passed. He decided he could wait a bit before waking Anders, but he would need to wake him soon to either heal his wrist, or to gut the nug if he didn't have enough mana yet.

Zevran leaned back against the wall behind him, wincing at the pain in his tailbone. Purposely relaxing his too tense muscles, he let his mind reach out; he needed to find the Wardens. If he couldn't find them the two of them could easily die trying to find a way out.

Sareyna had been a Warden longer than anyone else at the Keep so he focused on trying to feel her, to find that particular vibration that was her, high and sharp. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his good hand, trying again to clear his mind. His head was throbbing now.

In the dark, in the silence, he sat vigil over Anders as he slept. He couldn't feel any Wardens besides Anders, but he was struggling to keep a clear mind. He felt as if there was a heavy fog in his head, preventing him from seeing what he needed.

Finally, he gave in and woke Anders up. His body was screaming in pain and his mind was trying to drag him into sleep and he couldn't resist its pull any longer. "Anders," he touched his shoulder gently and gave him a small nudge. "Anders, wake up."

Anders shifted and mumbled. When Zevran shook him again a small wisp appeared above his head and his eyes slowly opened, he yawned as he sat up.

"Sorry, but I can't stay awake anymore. I need a bit of rest."

"No, no I feel much better." He stretched his arms out for a moment, yawning again. "Here let me see your wrist."

Zevran carefully moved it so that Anders could reach it. The mage winced at seeing it.

"I have to set it first."

"I know, where's your belt?"

"Oh, uh," he turned looking around and found it lying on the ground. He picked it up and sent a short blast of water over it before handing it over to Zevran.

Zevran bit down on the belt and closed his eyes. In his experience these things went better if you couldn't see it coming. You could resist the urge to pull away better that way. He felt Anders wrap a hand carefully around his forearm; the other hand grabbed his hand right below the wrist.

Zevran let out a small strangled cry as he felt pain flare bright in his lower arm. He couldn't control a shudder as he felt bone scrape against bone as they moved back into place. The pain was momentary as he felt Anders' cool healing energy move into the arm.

When Anders was done Zevran stretched out his arm and wiggled his fingers. "Thank you."

Anders nodded, "Hold still for a minute."

Anders' healing energy flared bright then cascaded over his body. Zevran couldn't help but let out a happy sigh as the pains in his body were soothed. "That's nice."

Anders smiled, "I'm just glad I can heal, can you imagine what would have happened if I couldn't?" His energy flared bright again as he let it cascade over himself. "Hmm, that is nice."

Zevran couldn't help but laugh at Anders. He stretched like a cat when he was done healing himself. He turned to Zevran and grabbed his chin turning his head away. His wisp moved closer to Zevran's face.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure I didn't damage your tattoo."

Zevran chuckled. "We're probably going to die down here lost and forgotten and you're worried about my tattoo?"

Anders smiled, "You know what they say about leaving a good looking corpse."

Zevran laughed again. "I know this is a terrible thing to say, but I'm glad it's you I'm trapped down here with."

Anders gave him a lascivious grin, "At least we won't get bored."

Zevran shook his head and smiled, "You're a good man, Anders."

Anders' look turned sour, "Let's keep it light, alright?"

Zevran nodded, he gestured over to the nug on the ground a few feet away. "Do you know how to gut and clean an animal?"

"How did you kill a nug in the dark?" Anders asked, eyes wide.

"Elven hearing."

"Elven hearing or not, that's impressive. But to answer your question, yes I can clean an animal."

"I need a bit of sleep, but why don't you clean the nug."

"We're going to eat it raw?"

"Unless you can figure out how to cook it without burning it with your magic, we need food, Anders."

"Right, I'll take care of it, get some rest."

Zevran nodded and handed Anders his knife. He turned his back to Anders' light and laid down, his head clear and his body pain free. He slipped quickly into sleep.