Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Besides, if I did own Dragon Age, Morrigan would be a Warden's housemaid wearing a short skir-*gets hit in the ass with a lightning spell* ow!

Morrigan: My hand slipped *grins*

Author: Maker, preserve me…

P.S.: I'll say this right away; none of the SO characters will become Grey Wardens. That's all.

Act II: Lothering

The Calnus arrives on the underdeveloped world of Thedas, with a crashlanding.

"Ugh…Everyone…in one piece?" Edge groaned.

Everyone said they were fine.

"We all sustain minor damages. Nothing serious to report" says Bacchus. "The only thing severely damaged is the ship. It may take a long time to repair in a world like this."

Edge took this moment to ask, "You were saying something about this world earlier…?"

Bacchus: "Yes. Like Roak, Thedas is another underdeveloped planet with a technology level and society similar to the Middle Ages in your Earth. The only difference being it is not as...cheerful. Especially during blights."

Edge: "Blights?"

Bacchus: "They are anomalies that can affect the entire world, caused by these creatures called darkspawn and their leaders, archdemons. This is all the data I have on this world."

"There are archfiends in this world as well?" Sarah queried. "Oh, dear. I hope I don't get kidnapped again for another sacrifice ritual."

Bacchus shook his head. "I assure you your sacrifice is not required" he said. 'But they could do much worse...'

The crew finally stepped out of the ship. Then they noticed the weather. It started to snow.

"Ugh. Cold" Myuria said. "Well, boy? Aren't you gonna offer a lady something to keep her warm*grins*?

Reimi: "Myuria!"

Myuria: "Relax, hon. I was only kidding. Tee hee. That look on your face is priceless."

Edge: "Unbelievable. *Ahem*let's just see if we can find a town with supplies. Bacchus, you stay here and see what you can do about our ship."

Bacchus: "As you wish, Mr. Egde."

The Calnus crew, excluding Bacchus, started walking away from the Calnus to look for a nearby town.

"It's cold, 'kay?" Lymle pouted.

"I know. But don't worry people. The sooner we find an inn the better" Edge said, trying to keep morale up high.

Meracle heard something in the distance. "Meow? what's that sound?

"Battle" said Arumat as he readied his scythe.

"No!" Edge barked, stopping Arumat. "We cannot get involved. We have enough problems already."

"But what if there are innocent people? We can't just let them die!" Reimi said, staring into Edge's eyes. "You can't let them die, can you?"

Edge knew he was beaten; if anybody knew how to tap into the goodness in his heart, it was Reimi.

Two men dressed like knights, a suspicious woman in black who is obviously a mage, and…a dog, found themselves battling grotesque humanoid creatures. They were outnumbered.

"Exactly why did we choose this route again?" the mage yelled.

"I don't know this bloody countryside, alright? Quit naggin'!" yelled the knight who is acting as leader.

"First Ostagar, now this. Is this the end?" said the second knight. These people were struggling just to survive. They had to get out…somehow.

"I'm…running out of mana" said the mage. "And we are running out of tricks."

"No" the second knight mumbled, holding his shield up. "It can't end like this…not like this. Duncan…"

"NETHER STRIKE!"

"AURA SPARK!"

"LIGHTNING BLAST!"

With these three cries, some of the monsters were blown away. Edge, Arumat, and Myuria lent their aid to these struggling warriors. Soon everyone else followed, with Reimi doing the sniping from a safe distance.

Edge and Arumat charged in the crowd, using their melee attacks to cut down the demonic army, while Sarah used her power to heal the battered knights.

"Whoa!" said the knight with shield after he was healed. Then he eyed the unusual rescuers. "What's this? Warriors with the strangest attire? And mages outside the Circle. Apostates?"

"I don't think now is the best time to think about that!" shouted the leader, now healed, as he brandished his sword & dagger, cutting down some of the foul beasts.

The woman in black cast her own vicious spells. Everyone fought on until the monsters were destroyed.

"Alright, we thank you for your aid, but who are you people?" the leader finally asked. "And I must say this is the strangest sight I ever saw; warriors with strange clothing that can cast spells? Aand…a girl that looks like a giant cat, and a human chicken…?"

"No, no, sir knight. I'm no chicken" said Sarah.

"Ah! I get it! A hen!" says the second knight.

"I'm no hen either. I'm Featherfolk" Sarah corrected.

"Either way you lot sure are strange" the woman in black said.

"The Maker sure comes up with the strangest things" the leader said.

"Wait a minute" the second knight said. "Most of you are spellcasters, yet you don't look like anything from the Circle of Magi. Are you…apostates? Maleficar?" He had an accusing look on his face. He obviously had something against these apostates and maleficar.

"No we are not" Edge answered. "We don't even know what those things are." Edge then started his introduction. "I am Edge Maverick, leader of my crew. This catgirl, she's Meracle, the Featherfolk woman is Sarah, the one with the scythe is Arumat, the archer is Reimi, the one with the staff is Myuria, and the small spellcaster is Lymle."

"Hi, 'kay?" said Lymle.

"Creepy little one" the second mumbled. "Reminds me of the Tranquil."

"She's not good at expressing herself" says Reimi.

It was the knight's turn now. "I am Aedan Cousland, a Grey Warden. This is my fellow Warden Alistair. And the mage is Morrigan."

"I have no desire to make acquaintances" Morrigan said.

"Don't mind her. She's got a…bit of an attitude" Aedan sighed.

"If her attitude is a 'bit', then Ostagar is a hut" Alistair said.

"However," says Morrigan, "I am curious about this…child." She's referring to Lymle. "How can someone like her cast spells?"

"Don't underestimate our little friend, here. She's been quite helpful" Edge told her.

"Seriously, she's still a child not matter how you cut it. Why even bring her along?"

"Mmmrg. I'm not a child, 'kay?" Lymle pouted.

"Riiight, and I'm your fairy godmother" Morrigan said in a mocking tone.

"I'll show you" Lymle said, pointing her wand. "Sic her, boy!"

Then out of nowhere Cerberus jumps toward Morrigan, startling her and the Wardens. "You can summon demons from the Fade? Are you sure you're not maleficar?" Alistair asked.

"This is my doggie" Lymle said, stroking his muzzle. "He's a good boy, 'kay?"

Then Edge noticed the Warden's dog staring at him, and slowly approaching.

"Fssssst" Meracle hissed, hiding behind Myuria. "A dog. I hate dogs!"

"Uh, guys. Your dog is—" Edge was suddenly pounced by the dog, who playfully licked his face and tickling him. His friends had a slight chuckle from the sight.

"Somebody made a new friend" said Reimi, smiling.

Aedan continued, "this is my mabari war hound, Bronx."

Bronx barked happily.

"Bronx?" Reimi asked.

"Named after some gargoyle in a folk tale. Long story."

"You said something about being Grey Wardens" Arumat said. "What does that mean?"

"We Grey Wardens are warriors tasked with destroying the darkspawn and the archdemon" Aedan said, gesturing to the monsters that lay dead thanks to them. "How is it that you don't even know what we are? Where are you from?"

Edge feared this would come up. He had to say something. "Oh. Uhh…we're from…the northeast."

Aedan: "Where northeast?"

Edge: "Uhh..."

Aedan: "Is it…Amarantine?"

Edge: "Yeah! That's it! Amarantine!" 'Whew'

The Wardens and Morrigan found this hard to believe, but they didn't feel like asking anymore questions.

Arumat spoke up. "Where is the nearest town? Is it far?

"Morrigan said the closest village is Lothering, which is further up" Aedan said. "Why don't you come with us. Safety in numbers. Besides, you lot are quite skilled in battle. We could use the extra arms against the blight."

"We'll go with you to Lothering," Edge said, "but we can't help you with your battles. We have problems of our own."

"…Yeah. We are sorry." Reimi said, shaking her head.

Later that evening, everyone arrives at Lothering. During the trip, Edge and Arumat learned what happened to them previously at Ostagar, where they fought a war against the darkspawn and lost not only the battle, but their Warden commander Duncan as well, which explains Alistair's depression. Even though he didn't show it, Arumat did sympathize with the Wardens; he new too well what it was like to lose those you care about in war. Especially if you are the only one who survived.

"Ah, here it is. Lothering. Pretty as a painting" Alistair said.

"Oh. Finally decide to join us, have you? Was falling on your own sword too much of a bother?" says Morrigan, being as rude as ever.

"Is me being upset that difficult to understand?" Alistair retorted. "What would you do if your mother passed away?"

"Before or after I stopped laughing?"

Edge and his team went ahead of them to the village, with Edge himself deciding he just had enough of Morrigan. "We split up from here."

"Are you sure you won't join us?" Aedan asked. "We Wardens need all the aid we can muster for—"

"No" Edge said, adamant in his decision. "We're not staying that long anyway."

Aedan relented. "…Very well. Disappointing, but very well."

As the Calnus crew walked past the templar that tried telling them to go someplace else, every single person gasped at their appearances, especially Sarah's and Meracle's. They murmured things like "strange", "weird" among other things. Myuria and Arumat caught on to other insults like "knife-ears" and "knife-eared whore".

"I don't think these people like us very much" Reimi stated with worry.

"Shouldn't care less. This world is not ours, and we are not staying that long. Their closed minds are of little concern to us" Arumat said, with everyone in agreement.

"Right. Our biggest concern right now is getting back to space to deal with the Phantoms" Edge said.

'If it's a possibility' Reimi thought.

The chanter at the board near the chantry noticed the Calnus crew walk by and said "Blessed are the peacekeepers, champions of the ju-WHAT IN THE FLYIN' F*** IS THAT?" He noticed Sarah.

"A human chicken?" asked the boy standing next to him.

"I'm no chicken. I'm Featherfolk" Sarah corrected.

"Wait a minute" the boy said. "Hahahaha, you made the chanter speak normally!"

Edge told Sarah to keep it moving, then told the chanter to carry on.

Chanter, whispering to the boy: "This is strictly between us, right!"

Boy: "I won't say a word...*giggle*"

A/N: In the next chapter, Edge is given a rather painful reason to aid the Warden's cause, and they encounter a certain Witch of the Wilds...