A/N: I had initially planned for this chapter to show how both Max and Chloe coped with their separation, but in the end Chloe hogged all the screen time and this turned out to become a Chloe solo chapter. It'll be Max's turn in the next chapter. If this format is well received, I will probably continue to alternate like this until our heroines are reunited. Mind you, I'm still making a lot of decisions on the fly here. This story is a little different from what I'm used to writing. :)

Chapter 2

Year 9:22 of Dragon Age

Highever, Ferelden

Three months remote from the incident that saw her best friend Max Caulfield taken away by the templars, Chloe Price still felt like the most miserable person in all of Highever, despite how many times her father as well as Ryan and Vanessa had told her that these feelings of hurt and separation would fade with time. If anything, Chloe grew even more angry and frustrated with every passing day, almost seeing it as some kind of insult that Max's parents were actually capable of functioning and going on with their everyday lives. Of course, she understood that they missed their daughter terribly but were simply much better at hiding their pain, while Chloe, the eternal wild child, wore her heart on her sleeve and never shied away from shouting her outrage at the world.

And as more and more time passed, Chloe Price arrived at a simple conclusion. She could not move on from what had happened. She would not move on. Max had sacrificed her freedom by saving her life. Where was the fairness in that? She could continue to live the life that her father had secured and imagined for her, but how could she ever live with herself if she would always have to look at everything she had only to realize that it was all bought by sacrificing the freedom of her best, her one true friend.

She needed to do something, not just for Max, but also for herself. She had to make an effort to help her friend, so that she could actually live with herself. Chloe made sure to speak with as many people in Highever as possible to find out everything she could about the Circle of Magi, including the historian Aldous at Castle Cousland and Mother Mallol at the Highever chantry. After spending an entire week to ponder upon everything she had learned, Chloe eventually arrived at her decision to pursue the only logical path she could take if she ever wanted to see Max's smiling face again.

One evening, having toiled particularly hard to cook her father the best dinner he'd enjoyed in a while, young Chloe finally took the courage to approach William, seeing that he appeared in a particularly agreeable mood, especially having downed a mug of ale following the meal. "Father?" she spoke up, standing by the dinner table, looking firm and resolute. "May I ask you something?"

"Chloe, poppet, you can ask me anything, especially after serving me this kind of feast fit for the kings," William smiled softly at his only child.

"Dad... please don't be angry by what I have to tell you, but... there is something I must do," Chloe began, hesitant at first, but the thought of doing this all for Max gave her the strength and confidence she needed. "Father, I want to join the Templar Order."

William blinked hard, at first unsure if he had heard his daughter correctly. Chloe's words seemed so absurd that at first he wanted to laugh out aloud, but he stopped himself as soon as he saw the burning intensity in his daughter's clear blue eyes. "Oh... my daughter," he shook his head, speaking softly. "You just can't let go. You just can't forget Max, can you?"

"I will never forget Max! No matter how many times you, or Vanessa, or Ryan tell me that the pain will pass, it won't, I know it won't!" Chloe exclaimed vehemently. "I must do this. Please... please, father, give me your permission to enter the tournament." Every year, one youth from Highever would be sent to Denerim, the capital of Ferelden, to be trained as a templar, a prestigious honor and a lucrative arrangement, especially for the families mired in poverty. Any youth of age sixteen and under could enter the competition, as long as they had the permission from their parents.

"Chloe... I don't know how to tell you this," William sighed, his heart aching for his daughter. "I understand why you want to do it... or at least I think I do, but... I don't know whether you understand what kind of life you would condemn yourself to as a templar. I know my headstrong and impulsive little girl. You would chafe under the rigid discipline and countless rules of the Order; it would crush your spirit swiftly. By attempting to escape one misery, you would only plunge yourself into an even deeper one."

"I know what I'm signing up for, dad," Chloe shook her head stubbornly. "Mother Mallol told me everything there is to know about the templars, and I still want to... I have to go through with it! Mother Mallol also explained me about the compensation that the Chantry is paying the families who give their children to the Order... I mean... it's far more than I could make at the forge, dad, so you would be provided for!"

"You really think you've thought everything through, haven't you?" William shook his head. "Do you also know that the templars have to memorize the entire Chant of Light, and they must be able to recite it at any time of day or night?" Chloe frowned and gave a minute shake of the head. "I know that you bear no particular love for the Chant, daughter, Mother Mallol has given you plenty of grief about it in the past. I know you, poppet, and you could never memorize it the way a templar must. Just... just go wash the dishes, child, and try not to think so much about Max. I'm sure she is perfectly happy amongst her own kind."

Chloe sighed and turned around, retreating in defeat, fuming in silence and hating the kind of world where her friend was no longer being thought of like a human, all because she had used her gift of magic to save her.

Three more months passed in Highever before Chloe once again approached her father to confront him about the dream that she stubbornly refused to give up on. "Any stanza, dad," she spoke, a daring, determined look in her narrowed eyes. "Name any stanza, and I'll recite it to you."

"What are you on about now, Chloe?" William frowned at her.

"The Chant," Chloe replied. "Ask me for any stanza in the Chant, and I'll give it to you."

"Sweet Maker... when will you finally give up!" William exclaimed. In response, Chloe merely crossed her arms on her chest and glared at her father. "Fine... fine, why not if you are determined to make a fool of yourself. Give me something easy... Fifth Canticle of Threnodies, Stanza Two."

Chloe closed her eyes, focusing on her memory before starting to recite the verse.

"Then in the center of heaven

He called forth

A city with towers of gold,

Streets with music for cobblestones,

And banners which flew without wind.

There, He dwelled, waiting

To see the wonders

His children would create."

"Well." If her father was impressed, he certainly did a good job of not showing it, instead frowning a little. "Like I said, that was an easy one. You were supposed to learn that when you were eight. Something more challenging, then... like the sermon Andraste gave at the Valarian Fields."

Chloe did not hesitate long this time either, the words etched in her mind and the memory coming back swiftly.

"Many are those who wander in sin,

Despairing that they are lost forever,

But the one who repents, who has faith

Unshaken by the darkness of the world,

And boasts not, nor gloats

Over the misfortunes of the weak, but takes delight

In the Mabari's-... uh, In the Maker's law and creations, she shall know

The peace of the Maker's benediction.

The Light-..."

"Alright! Alright, that's enough," William interrupted her, looking a little surprised now. "Obviously you know that one as well. Let's go with something that I know Mother Mallol hasn't taught you at the chantry. Give me the three final stanzas of Trials."

"Not a problem," Chloe shrugged, though she did hesitate for a moment before the verses floated up to the forefront of her thoughts and she could begin to recite them.

"Though all before me is shadow,

Yet shall the Maker be my guide.

I shall not be left to wander the drifting roads of the Beyond.

There is no darkness in the Maker's Light

And nothing that He has wrought shall be lost.

I am not alone.

Even as I stumble on the path

With my eyes closed, yet I see

The Light is here.

Draw your last breath, my friends.

Cross the Veil and the Fade and all the stars in the sky.

Rest at the Maker's right hand,

And be forgiven."

"Well, I'll be..." William's eyes widened after Chloe had finished her recitation flawlessly. "How..."

"Dad, I've done nothing else during my free time over these past three months than studying the Chant of Light," Chloe replied simply. "I've stayed up hours past midnight, reading and memorizing that bloody awful thing. That's how I've done it."

"Damn... I was wondering why you no longer seemed interested in fiddling around, creating all your jewelry knickknacks," William sighed, giving a very determined Chloe a hard, searching stare. "You're really determined to do this, aren't you? You are prepared to quite possibly ruin your life for the incredibly slim chance of being able to do something for Max? Is it really worth it?"

"It is," Chloe nodded stubbornly. "And while this is for Max, it's not... just for her, you know? I've realized that I have to do this for myself. Dad, it's been half a year, and it hasn't gotten any easier! Surely you must understand that I will never be able to accept just... just doing nothing!"

"Maker... what am I to do," William rose from his seat and walked over to the window, looking outside in the darkness as if waiting for some kind of divine sign. "Tomorrow morning, you rise with the first light and meet me behind the smithy. And bring your practice sword."

With an abrupt cry of relief, Chloe barged forward and hugged her father from behind. "Thank you, dad," she whispered as William slowly turned around and gently embraced his big daughter. "Thank you..."

Year 9:23 of Dragon Age

Highever, Ferelden

Several months later, with the arrival of the spring, Highever became the host for the annual tournament for the right to travel to Denerim and join the Templar Order. As he had promised, William entered Chloe as one of the many participants, putting her name down as 'C. Price' and landing an ambiguously smeared ink blotch next to the square where her gender was supposed to be marked down. William had told his daughter to keep her helmet on at all times while in the competition area because while girls were permitted to enter the contest, in reality the practice was discouraged and certain judges always tried to employ underhanded tactics to keep girls from advancing too far into the tournament. Still, fortunately at her fifteen years of age, Chloe was not particularly well endowed in the chest area, so least she had the body type to easily pass as a thin and somewhat spindly boy, as long as she did not remove her helmet.

The first stage of the competition was comprised of various feats of strength and agility, simply to thin down the large pool of participants down to the last sixteen who would then participate in a knockout tournament, until only the victor remained. Chloe was languishing in the middle of the pack following the tests that measured brute strength, becoming a little worried about her chances, but the various running, jumping and climbing exercises were where she truly excelled, easily elevating herself amongst the ten best, earning herself the right to compete in the makeshift arena for the right to travel to Denerim and make the first significant step towards her dream.

The two initial rounds of one-on-one fighting did not pose many problems for Chloe. She was helped greatly by the intense practice sessions with her father, as well as by William's tailor-made chain mail from the best materials he had saved over the years, and of course, Chloe's own extreme determination to succeed and not stumble at this final hurdle. Her penultimate fight was against a year older youth by the name of Zachary, son of a local mason, quite a big lad who had given her a bit of a pummeling before Chloe eventually gathered herself and managed to trip and then disarm the big lug, paving herself the path to the tournament's grand finale.

Only one contestant stood in her way now, but... even looking at him before the fight made Chloe's arms shake a little, heart pounding in her chest. Logan was the son of the captain of Highever guard, looking like a man amongst boys in this competition, and a rumor was making the rounds that he was actually seventeen, or even eighteen summers old, but considering that his father was sitting amongst the judges of the competition, these claims were quickly dismissed and the final bout proceeded with the heavily fancied Logan immediately going on a furious attack and trying to mercilessly pound his small but agile opponent into the ground.

Ten minutes into the fight, and Chloe was definitely not doing well. Logan was toying with her and they both knew it, the larger youth having delivered so many blows already, some of them having dropped Chloe to the ground, and yet she always kept getting back up to her feet, hopeless as it seemed, summoning her final vestiges of strength by recalling Max's face before her eyes, as if to remind herself what she was fighting for.

A few more minutes later, things turned for worse when one of Logan's hits struck her so hard that Chloe's entire left side flared with sharp, piercing pain, as if her rib... or ribs had snapped from the blow, greatly reducing her mobility. "Why. Won't. You. Stay. Down!" Logan shouted, breathing heavily, as their practice swords locked, but her opponent's heavy fist caught Chloe in the chest again, knocking her to the ground and leaving the girl slow to get back up.

"Someone stop the fight!" "He's going to kill that boy!" "Break it up, already!" came the cries from the crowd, and even some of the judges were looking uncertainly amongst themselves, wondering whether they should interfere. Still, Teyrn Cousland himself was in attendance, as always at these tournaments, and he nodded his head to allow the fight to proceed, leaving the judges unable to act. Chloe refused to even spare a glance at where she knew her father was standing in the crowd, silently praying for her to stop, but she simply could not stop herself from getting back up, probably one final time. Max, she reminded herself, fighting through the pain to rise again. I can't give up on Max...

"Are you insane?" Logan barked at her in disbelief. "I gave you the chance to stay down! Now you're going to suffer!" he shouted, aiming a heavy kick at her crotch, but then appearing rather stunned when the 'boy' he was fighting did not double over from excruciating pain. "What the-..." he blinked, hesitating for a moment.

This was the one opening that Chloe had sought, had suffered for so long to receive. With all her remaining might she brought up her sword, taking it into a two-handed grip almost like a club and smashing it against the temples of the surprised Logan. The ox-like youth groaned, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he fell to his knees, then collapsing face first in the fresh sawdust of the arena.

The fight was over. She had won. Ignoring the terrible pain seizing her left side, Chloe threw away her helmet allowing the strawberry blonde hair to spill out and raised her arms in the air, crying out in jubilation, as the crowd as well as the panel of judges was seized by a confused and disapproving murmur as soon as she had revealed her identity.

"This is a disgrace!" Logan's father was the first to raise his voice from the judge's stand. "This girl has cheated! My son should be declared the winner!"

"And how exactly has the lass been cheating, Guard Captain Robertson?" Teyrn Cousland spoke up in a thunderous voice, jumping into the ring of sawdust and approaching the slightly confused and staggering Chloe.

"Your Grace... if Logan had known he was fighting a girl, he would have never tried to kick her in the balls... Ser," Guard Captain Robertson replied, refusing to let the matter go.

"Indeed," the teyrn smirked, standing next to Chloe, her adrenaline rush starting to fade and leaving her in horrible, stinging pain, but she bravely bit the inside of her cheek and refused to show how much she was hurting. "I think I've seen you around the blacksmith's shop, girl. Do you have a name?"

"Chloe. Chloe Price, Ser," she managed through gritted teeth.

"Well, Chloe Price, the Guard Captain has accused you of cheating," Teyrn Cousland looked straight at her. "How do you respond to that?"

"I... uh..." Chloe struggled to sort her thoughts through the numbing pain, but thinking of Max once again pushed her past the threshold of her suffering, giving her the clarity of mind to answer. "We compete to become templars, Ser. As a templar... I may not always know what I will be up against, so it would be wrong to simply assume that I am fighting a man. It could be... well, anything. A templar has to be strong and bold, but a templar must also be smart. I will be that kind of a templar for Highever." But mostly for Max, she added to herself.

"I am satisfied," Teyrn Cousland said as he took Chloe's hand and raised her arm high in the air. "Here is your victor, people of Highever... Chloe Price!" The crowd immediately reacted with roaring cheers and applause, even those who had booed disapprovingly moments ago having to go along with celebrating the victor, for the teyrn's verdict would not be questioned. Chloe's reaction to the jubilant crowd was slightly embarrassing, however, as the pain eventually became too hard to bear and she collapsed against the teyrn's side, fading into unconsciousness.

Two months later, well in the middle of the summer, having finally recovered from her severe injuries, Chloe Price sat at the back of a merchant's wagon as it slowly rolled out of Highever. A locker with her meager belongings stood at her feet, the heavy tome of the Chant of Light lay in her lap, as she earnestly intended to use every waking moment of the journey to refresh her memory of the verses, knowing that more tests, both spiritual and martial awaited her at the capital.

And still, despite knowing that the hardest challenges still awaited her, Chloe Price felt the happiest she had ever been in her short life, even if she was leaving her beloved father and her old, comfortable life behind. She had just successfully completed her first step towards being reunited with Max, her Max, and almost eight months since their separation it still seemed like the only thing that truly mattered.

Denerim and the Templar Order awaited her. A new chapter in the life of Chloe Price had begun.