1 Year Ago

Lothering.

The home that she had always known was a small speck in the variety of Banns existed within Fereldan. Long ago their mother left the Free Marches over what she could only assume was a family spat and married their father, whom of which was part of the dilemma back in Leandra's time spent in Kirkwall. Not much was known of him apart that he was an apostate mage and had met their mother around in the city of a ball of sorts. It was romanticized by either parent and it gave hope for Celestia that she too could have a family just like her mother and father did.

In her childhood, all she could remember was moving and running. Initially it was because people found out that she and Bethany could use magic, or someone in town could perceive their father as someone to not be trusted. Whatever the case may be, they moved all over Fereldan, always choosing to be scarce and not keep many belongings. She was explained at an older age this was because people feared magic but it shouldn't be something she nor her sister should be afraid of and be thankful for the gift the Maker had given them.

When they had settled down in the outskirts of Lothering, she thought they finally found a measure of peace. It wasn't perfect as they still had to work hard to make sure everyone was provided for. This meant that Bethany and her had to make use of their hands and feet more than their mythic talents, allowing them to stay unnoticed and accepted in their quaint community of villagers and pious folk. Even when Templars or Brothers of the local Chantry interacted with them they gave them no qualms to suspect them of foul play.

Inheriting her father's hair and eyes as the eldest child, Celestia was considered a rare beauty among the village. While her male guardian had snow colored tresses she boasted a shimmering silver that glittered in broad Sunlight, with her eyes matching the same and almost mirrored his own crystal light blue orbs.

Bethany, her younger sister, bore the traits of her mother with deep onyx hair and near black eyes that had hints of amethyst streaking through them. While Celestia was considered to be more headstrong and often brazen, Bethany seemed to be pragmatic and thoughtful, often being the one to help discourage the more hearty antics of her older sister.

Carver, sharing traits similar to his twin, had deep onyx hair and violet-streaked black eyes. He was regarded as the most loud and did anything he could for attention due to the neglect of not receiving the same kind of attention his two sisters possessed. In that respect, it made sense that eventually joined King Cailan's army to fight the Darkspawn to the south.

It was much to their surprise when Carver, dirtied and covered in blood of fellow and enemy alike, ran with other stragglers on foot. He collapsed in their home and Leandra hurried to give him water to clean himself and rehydrate. The moment Bethany saw his condition, she had knelt to comfort him. But when Celestia saw his condition, she asked the pointed question that made sense.

"Did we lose the battle?"

Hurriedly explaining the fallout of the massacre that took place with alleged betrayal by the famous Teryn Loghain, Celestia rallied their family to take what little possessions necessary they had and run. Leandra said the only place they could truly be safe within reasonable travel distance was Kirkwall. Despite the stories told of their late father, whom had passed away three years prior, they knew it was the only place to find sanctuary away from the horde that was assured to overwhelm them past nightfall.

"Come on! We have to go faster!" Celestia Hawke proclaimed with haste in her voice as much as her step. She led the family along the road, ignoring the screams of fellow villagers, deserters and survivors alike. Their family unit stuck together as the snarling beasts began to catch up with them. How they avoided the clusters of monstrous mutants she couldn't fathom; just that they were now being caught up was enough for her disciplined instincts to kick in.

"S-Slow down-!" Her mother could barely get out as she slowed, resting her hands on her skirt covered knees. Carver was the quickest to halt, his sword already in hand and eyes widened with alarm. A massive hurlock leaped out from the bend of the road, sword in hand and its grotesque hairless head on display; bloodshot yellow eyes and jagged teeth opened as it let out a haughty laugh with a blade swinging down at their mother.

Only for the weapon to be thrown out of its grip, spinning just over the grey-headed woman. Too shocked to realize he was left unarmed, the creature didn't pay attention to the massive great sword that slammed into the exposed part of its neck where it met the shoulder blade. A meaty crunch, a spurt of dark red splattering the sword and the sharp edge embedded deep into its body and crushed the armor like foil from the angle it was met. Dying on its feet with a coughing hack of bile from its mouth, Carver wrenched his weapon out of the hurlock, tripping over a genlock that emerged from the uneven road like a demonic mole.

Falling to his back with a metallic clap. The genlock crawled out of the ground and bore a pair of axes in hand. With the sharp eared grin and warped lips forming around drooling teeth, the dull yellow stare told Carver that he was going to be butchered before he'd have the chance to shrug it off. So as it launched itself up to strike down on him -with his arms crossing over his face in a desperate move to protect his vital area not covered by metal- he was surprised when the form was catapulted off by a spinning projectile.

Even as the splat of blood fell over his arms and chest, he'd blink and look over to see Celestia's hand maneuver with the staff crafted of lacquered wood and Lyrium crystals embedded at the gnarled tip. The sword she had telekinetically wrenched out of the former hurlock's hand was launched back around, he wagered, as it now danced in a gory spin from the now mutilated corpse of the genlock. Without waiting another second, she sent it hurtling at another genlock that was hiding in some dead bushes for poor cover, pulling back a short bow but failed to release the arrow taut and ended up shooting the ground as the blade sank deep into its skull out the other side.

Bethany had stood in shock, her hand clenching her own staff of a black dyed root they found from a dead tree, one of which she inscribed runes into from her own talents of the craft. Her knuckles were white but her own face was paler still, and she looked like she was stuck in place.

Celestia, seeing the uncharacteristic fear across her sibling's face made her frustrated; this was unlike her, and she was dependent on her sister's level-headed nature to help guide her out of trouble. Shaking her head, she rushed to her mother's side, ignoring the glare she was getting from her brother as he pushed himself up back to his feet.

"Mother, we can't slow down like this," She urged as gently as she could manage, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her expression of concern through to her violet-black eyes. "I know this is hard, but we have to press on if we're to make it to the harbor."

"I-I know...I'm sorry," Leandra apologized with a shaky voice, taking in deep lung fulls of air. "Forgive me. I'm just not as young as I thought I was. Please, let's continue."

"This is madness!" Carver exclaimed, finally back on his feet as he began to look all around them. Bethany, finally breaking out of her fearful state, had enough clarity to rejoin the family in a complete circle beside her angry brother. She took cautious glances between them, but found no voice as he flailed his unarmed hand for emphasis. "The Darkspawn have already caught up to us, despite the horde being half a day's journey behind. How can those bastards run without resting?! Can we outrun them at all?!"

"Carver, if you haven't noticed, there's not many of them just yet," Celestia rationally gestured, casting a stare at the slain hurlock with contempt. "It's likely some of them have broken off from the bulk and ran ahead. They don't seem to be that coordinated so let's just be thankful they're fewer in number at the moment."

"Easy for you to say," He sneered, swinging his hand down as he glared hard at her. "You didn't fight them in their entirety. You weren't there when we were left to die when they overran our formations. You weren't there when our king died!"

"Carver, please," Bethany finally spoke up, bringing herself to be in between Celestia and her twin. Casting a glance between the pair, she could tell that Celestia herself wasn't apologetic in what she said and made the situation even worse. Staring at her brother, she placed a hand on her chest, she looked up at him with empathy as she softened her voice to him, "I'm sorry. I wish I could have been there to help you, I truly do. But we can't afford to think about it. Our family is still alive and we need to get to safety. You can tell us the rest of the story, if you want, after we're back in our new home."

Pressing his lips tightly shut, he closed his eyes and began to recompose himself with deep breaths. As he did so, Leandra herself helped echo her own opinion that they can't be fighting at a time like this. Celestia seemed to tune everything out as she began to look all around her. Something felt off about the whole scenario despite her attempt of reassurance. Why was there only three? Were they scattered to such a wide degree? Or were they simply scouts?

Discouraging the notion, she looked to Bethany, her hand raising up to touch her on the shoulder. Seeing her flinch and cast a shocked glance that quickly receded into shame, Celestia spoke quietly as she intoned seriously to her, "Beth, I can't do it by myself. Without lyrium, I can't keep up my spells forever. You have to help me make up for that difference. You can't freeze up again. Do you understand?"

"I understand," She nodded, shamefully hanging her head as she spoke.

"Look at me, Beth," Celestia spoke again, this time getting her violet-streaked black eyes to look at her peerless silver ones. "It's going to be alright. You just need to trust me and we'll get through this."

"I believe you," Bethany affirmed with a smile. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Please don't, less I trip like Carver did," She giggled, much to the brother's annoyance.

Sharing her own laughter, the family soon trekked on and began to efficiently ward off more bands of stragglers. Much to their fortune some remains of dead soldiers and templars had left over remains of supplies they needed. Despite this being a war Celestia herself felt it ill to pilfer from the recently deceased but felt they had no choice in the matter. It was a matter of survival, and she'd do anything to ensure her family's safety.

With Lyrium shared between herself and her sister, a healing canister for Carver and a stamina drought jar for their mother and brother, they rejuvenated themselves with poultices before continuing.

Their journey led them to encounter a couple surrounded by a larger pack of hurlocks. One of them was injured and beaten down, leaving a rather broad-jawed woman of colorful orange-red hair to pick up his shield, defending him heartily. While female soldiers were uncommon, the ability of her swings and deflections of the shield proved she was able bodied enough to protect the man whom lied wounded behind her.

A sense of desire to help them rushed within Celestia right before Bethany herself cast a bolt of lightning from her staff. The Primal spell scorched through the back of the hurlock, allowing it to be cut down by the woman with the shield in hand. Getting the attention of two other hulking beasts, they broke out into clanking runs with sword and shield in their hands.

"Great, now we have to fight these now!" Carver complained audibly as he gripped his claymore with renewed anger. Stepping in front of his sisters and mother, he swung with a loud roar, making the approaching hurlocks stumble back as he parried their blades with venting frustration. Amidst his furious swings he'd slash a shield away in time for him to lunge a pommel strike to its face. As it was stumbling, he'd backhand the other hurlock approaching him across the face, feeling his leather bound knuckles rap hard against the exposed jaw and teeth with a painful smack. Turning to give a two-handed swipe, he'd crush the creature's skull into gruesome pulp, allowing him to swing the bloodied weapon around in a decapitating slash across the other's throat.

By the time he finished with the pair, Bethany and Celestia helped finish off the others while orange-haired woman finished off the last of the filth with a skewer through the gaping maw.

Turning about, she'd help the man up, revealing himself to be in fact a Templar, as the shield testified in the woman's hand.

"Mages," He rasped out, mustering up a determined grimace past the weakened expression he was unable to dispel. With a hand holding onto a bleeding abdomen where the armor had failed to protect him, he raised the other hand as if to command the apostates through undying duty. But, in failing to halt their approach, he felt forward and leaned against the woman's shoulder for support. "I must...stop...the apostates! They could be...maleficar-!"

"They helped us, Wesley," She attempted to soothe, her shield adorned arm holding his body weight back for his support. "Be still, my husband. They don't seem to mean us harm."

"Can't be certain. You never know when they...turn on you..."

"What a charming fellow," Celestia snarked with an unimpressed stare aimed at the pair. Seeing the look of contempt made for the comment from the templar's wife, she sighed with a roll of her eyes and shrugged. "Sorry, can't help being born as I am. You'll just have to deal with it I suppose."

"What my sister means to say," Bethany interceded -much to the silver-haired sibling's disapproval- as she stepped forward with a hand pressed against her exposed collarbone above her white and blue colored blouse. "My name is Bethany. We're of the Hawke family of Lothering. We're fleeing the horde and are trying to meet with our family in Kirkwall."

"Yes, it's as she says," Leandra nodded as she stepped up beside her daughter. "Can we peacefully escape this Blight before it overtakes us?"

"I'm certain my Wesley means well, and I won't turn down help when it is offered," The orange haired woman said on behalf of the pair, looking to the man as he gave a weak nod. Smiling, she looked favorably as Bethany walked up ahead and cast a healing light over his midsection, lessening the severity of his injury. Despite a visible protest of magic being placed on him, he did mutter a disgruntled thanks for her aid. Standing more upright beside his beloved, the woman introduced the pair with a gesture of her sword. "I'm Aveline Vallen, and this is my husband, Wesley. I was stationed at Ostagar and he came in search of me when I was fleeing. We were ambushed shortly after our meeting and we haven't been able to be rid of these foul creatures."

"That's the same as me," Carver piped up, causing the siblings to look at him, more confidently nodding to Aveline with a morose expression. "I...also served at Ostagar. I came to Lothering to warn my family and we've been running since."

"Then we're of similar objectives," Aveline nodded with a smile. "No need to delay ourselves any further because of semantics. Let's flee the Blight and head to Kirkwall, since that seems to be a safe enough distance for the moment."

"Unless the Darkspawn learn how to swim," Celestia added with a slight chuckle.

"Don't give them ideas, Cel," Carver snorted, resting his weapon on his shoulder as they prepared to continue onward.

After the formal exchange, the families moved forth with a measured pace, making sure to not run faster than what the recently recovered Templar or the older woman could manage. While the full extent of the Blight's effects hadn't rampaged to their homeland just yet it was still eerie this time of year to see so little in terms of grass and leaves in their immediate surroundings. It added to the dread of the foul creatures' emergence whenever they had approached.

Stragglers came and went as they moved onward, easily dealt with thanks to the preserved supplies of potions they kept in reserve. Rationing out to use as little in terms of grandiose maneuvers or complex spells, they moved through the hills with haste and caution. The numbers of these encounters seemed to increase over time and it was a certainty in the battle hardened mind of Carver and the disciplined pair of mage siblings that something was coming; something they couldn't simply deal with as easily.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Tremors?" Wesley asked aloud, as if realizing something was amiss to these paced vibrations.

"No, not tremors-"

"Footsteps!" Carver finished for Celestia, turning just in time to feel the thunderous approach of a twisted pair of horns atop of a massive beast of purple-grey skinned monster. Armed with little in terms of weapons, the ogre was a massive behemoth that was over ten feet tall with thick skin, this one possessed only a spiked pauldron on one arm and a pair of braces easily as thick as plate-mail on each hand. With an armor piece placed around the pelvic region, the bare footed beast charged straight ahead with flailing arms, seeming intent on running them over with its momentum.

Everyone reacted at the last second, with Aveline pulling her husband away and Carver his mother away. Bethany and Celestia dove in opposite directions, barely missing the massive shins and clawed hands that nearly raked their less armored bodies. Rolling over to stand up, the giant looked over at them, bellowing out an authoritative roar as it beat its chest like an ape.

Before anyone had time to conjure a hope to combat the monster, Bethany took a look at the horrified look on Carver and the frightened look on Leandra. Something inside of her snapped as she stood tall and gripped her staff in both hands. Looking ahead at the ogre, she snarled out loud with no fear etched into her voice, "You foul monster!"

With a slam of her staff against the ground, she let loose a cacophony of electricity from the black stained root. It stormed outward in a flashing display of power, nearly blinding the observes, entangling the tall creature with the full fury she had to bear. The thick hide was frying across the chest, bubbling and popping with searing tissue as it opened up parts of tissue that'd ordinarily take a stronger weapon of conventional means to tear through.

Before her spell even ended, a hand swung out and the beast howled in rage as it clung to her whole midsection in its grip.

"BETHANY!" Celestia managed to cry out before her sister's body was slammed into the ground.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Holding it upright, the ogre snarled angrily at a now bloodied and inert form that resembled the fearless girl that had attacked it. Without thinking twice it tossed her aside, toppling about like a limp doll before crumpling into a heap. Turning to look at the others, it roared out as it rushed to kill the rest as it did with her.

Her mind went blank as she dug deep within the well of power she had to offer. As its stomping feet came alarmingly close she let go of her staff, allowing it to suspend in the air as both hands raised upward and then clawed at the space separating the beast and herself. All around the behemoth a spectral prison of pure magical force ensnared it, wresting its ability to move while simultaneously crushing it at all angles. Bones began to break and the large appendages began to twist in on themselves along with its jaw filled teeth.

Not wasting the chance given to them, Aveline, Wesley and Carver all yelled out in unison to rush at the beast trapped by Celestia's magic. The wounded flesh was easily cut into thanks to the roasting the Primal spell had marked it, with relative gallons gushing from the chest and belly as they stabbed, hacked, and thrust into the beast that doused some of them in the tainted blood shower. Weakening further thanks to their collective effort, Celestia's eyes went to the staff near her sister's body and levitated it through her sheer will.

Then, with only her eyes to guide its path, the wooden instrument slammed through its head, burrowing past its ear canal in one end and out the other in an explosion of wooden flotsam and grey matter. Releasing the spell, she'd collapse to her hands and knees, the staff that was suspended before her falling with a tapping clank. Tears rushed from her eyes as well as sweat as it took what mana she could manifest to accomplish the spell she had; even then the Crushing Prison wouldn't have worked completely had it not been for her brother and the married couple's assistance.

"Bethany, noooooo!"

Leandra's distant wail brought her back to the instance that etched into her mind permanently. The instance of her sibling, standing tall where she had hesitated, and died because of her own inaction. Her sister was beaten into a pulp and would have been saved if not for her. The fire that raged within her died the moment the beast fell, and all that was left with was an empty numbness of the hollow pit formed from this loss.

In that moment, she had wished the Darkspawn had killed her instead.


"Hello?" A voice seemed to echo off a dank enclosure.

Celestia's eyes fluttered, wrested out of a deeply unpleasant memory amidst her nightmare. Her stomach rolled with her movements, nausea coming to as she forced herself to sit upright. Clutching at her stomach, she'd feel dizzy to the head but no longer cold and clammy. Her sight had returned, allowing her to see the makings of a torch-lit campfire made within a storage room of the Deep Roads. The scent of the place was still musty and the masonry was still decrepit, but intact nonetheless.

Turning to look around, she'd be surprised to see a griffon helmed soldier squatting curiously right next to her. Blinking blearily, she'd turn her head left and right, noticing nobody else was paying attention. The three men she had remembered their faces from before were talking in quiet voices -more than likely being respectful of her previous slumber-; the one named Howe pacing, the dwarf Oghren hoisting a large ale jar over his face noisily and the one in charge, Alistair, was sitting on his knees still armored as he was before. The other pair of helmeted Wardens were watching the stone door entrance, making idle talk as the smaller one of the group was still looking at her in a hunched squat before her.

"Um...hello?" She heard the voice asked again, this time causing her head to turn and cast a weary glance at the figure.

"Sorry," Celestia apologized, raising a hand to rub her face, massaging the bridge of her nose as she continued to force herself to be more conscious. "Whatever I drank from earlier still has me reeling. Better than puking up blood, I suppose but...Maker...did I drink their blood?"

"Some Lyrium and other stuff too," The Warden replied with a bob of the winged mask of metal, the visor slit showing a pair of cool blue eyes blinking within the darkness of the head protection. The voice was muffled enough that she couldn't tell the sex, and the frame was slender enough she'd wager that it could be appropriate to assume either one. Either way, something seemed weird about the novice, but she couldn't place a finger why as she heard the figure continue to speak with a shrug. "It's complicated stuff, I'm not fully sure what it all means."

"You're a bit on the small side to be a Warden," Hawke said with a glib tone, grinning halfway as she heard a choking gasp from behind the helmet. Raising a brow, she leaned partly back on one hand while gesticulating a challenging gesture with her other hand. "Am I wrong?"

"I'm...eighteen."

"Pardon?" She blinked with confusion.

"Sorry," The Warden finally relented, grasping at the rim of the helmet and pulled it upwards in a hesitant manner.

Once revealed, Celestia couldn't help but stare. It was a young man, -an elf, in fact- with hair the color of Sun-kissed wheat and smoother than a horse's mane. Atypical of his race's features he had sharper angles to his facial structure, his chin more pointed and his cheek bones higher than normal, only offset by a smoother suppleness that wasn't erased yet by maturity of adulthood. There was a roundness at the end of an arrow shaped nose and a pair of blue eyes akin to a pool of crystal filled water, shimmering where the flames of the campfire was cast.

"My name is Sael'sa," He introduced himself, his eyes staring deep into hers as he pointed to the top of his breastplate. "I'm an Elf from Denerim, from the Alienage."

"Not to be rude, but I can't imagine where else Elves would live inside of Denerim," Celestia smirked, feeling the sickness slowly ebbing away as she talked to this young boy turned warrior. "Given how unsavory the upper class tends to treat you lot when in nicer places of living space."

"It wasn't so bad," Sael'sa dismissed with an averting glance to his right, looking at the wall; there they were using as a place to prop up their knapsacks and equipment. Eyes fell as he sighed, continuing to tell his story to the newly christened Warden. "I was an assistant to a Guard Captain at Fort Drakon. Despite the glances and...the Etuna treatment I received...the Knight Captain gave me coin and even taught me how to defend myself. I guess that's how I survived the Blight when it reached Denerim."

"Waitaminute," Celestia stopped, turning over to place both hands on the floor and look up with wide eyes at him. "You were there?!"

"Yes," Sael'sa he replied, looking back at her with a brighter smile. She could tell he was proud of this part of his tale, raising his hands to gesticulate while keeping in what she'd feel like was an uncomfortable squat the whole time. "I was so scared. We all were. Our Hahren -our elder- tried to keep us under control but I guess we all thought it was the end. It nearly was until the Warden Commander, his majesty, came in with just several others and rallied us under his charge. With what weapons we had we managed to actually hold the Darkspawn off and not long after, the bridge leading to our Alienage was destroyed; a bit of luck I think, since it kept anymore of those ugly bastards from getting into our home."

"Sounds more exciting than how I got here," She felt her face become crestfallen, the color draining from her face as she remembered events from her nightmare. The clarity of how detailed it still was in her mind, as if the trauma ingrained it with such an etching that she'd never forget what it was like moments before her brother arrived; and how she had managed to escape, but not without cost.

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to," Sael'sa proffered, detecting the sudden discomfort from her pause and the look on her face.

"No," Hawke persisted, shaking her head as she inhaled with a fluttering closure of her eyes. Exhaling, she reopened them and fixed her piercing silver stare straight at the young Elf Warden. "I'm not originally from Kirkwall, the place I came from to get into the Deep Roads here. My mother hails from here and she met my father a long time ago. After some family disagreements were had, the pair fled and I was born, along with my twin siblings, Carver and Bethany."

"Something tells me it was more than a typical family spat," Sael'sa assumed with a tilt of his head. "Does it have anything to do with mages?"

"Dead right," She laughed, looking up at the ceiling with both palms resting on the ground floor. The nausea was almost all gone, and she focused on her earliest memories that she had the most fondness for. "It wasn't an ideal life but it was mine and my family's. Despite the fact I and my sister Bethany were born with magical talents, father did his best to raise us right and teach us to not abuse the gifts the Maker has given us. I never made many friends as a result of us constantly moving around or keeping to ourselves; Lothering was the closest we ever got to having a true permanent home.

"Unfortunately, father passed away from illness four years ago," She added, her eyes shimmering as her face fell a midge at recalling his burial. "Strangely enough, even though the village had some people who were suspicious of us, the Chantry voluntarily took charge of the expenses and gave him a eulogy the whole townsfolk attended. It was probably the most touching thing, seeing all of these people pay respect to my father, despite the wide berth we had given most folks we lived alongside of. Even the Templars seemed to express condolences as they never once pursued any action on our family despite a number of accusations or complaints sent our way."

"He sounds like a good man," The young Warden intoned with audible empathy as he coolly looked up with her at the ceiling. "I was an orphan at a young age, so I never knew what my father or mother was like. I was only taken in by the Alienage and they treated me like real family. I even considered our Hahren to be closer to a grandfather than a simple leader for us."

"The Chantry Mother and the Templar Knight Captain were like family with how much they helped look out for my own. It was...comforting, to say the least," She inferred softly, a hint of a smile donning before a sneer adorned her face. "Then, the Blight came from the ruins of Ostagar."

"Your brother fought at Ostagar?" Sael'sa inquired, clearly interested as he leaned forward with his hands resting on his squatting knees.

"Yes. He fought there beside King Cailan. Him, and another companion we befriended on the way during our escape from Lothering. The Horde was far more swift than we had anticipated, with stragglers moving even farther ahead after they had razed our family home. We fought those that we could, but...it wasn't enough," Biting her lip, she looked down at her sprawled legs, knitting her brows into a scowl before closing her eyes shut. "My sister, Bethany, was slain before I had a chance to even react. And Wesley, the husband of our soldier acquaintance we met on the road, Aveline, was overcome by the Blight and was put out of his misery by his wife."

"By the gods," He breathed out with shock, realizing the depths of loss that this new Grey Warden has been burdening herself with."You must have been in thick combat. How did your family escape?!"

"Well," Celestia trailed off, her eyes blinking with remembrance as the scene played out before her as if it happened yesterday...


"There's too many of them!" Carver Hawke proclaimed, his armor splattered with blotches of red while his sword dripped with the thick ichor of the beasts he slew. Despite the corpses of the maimed, murdered and incapacitated strewn across the desolate hillside, the hurlocks all seem to revel in their sheer numbers outweighing the exhausted group of Fereldans. They had twisted grins and exposed teeth all jeering with a cacophony of snarls and growls, practically ecstatic to soak in the dread of their weakened enemies.

The strong arm of the group felt his brow caked in sweat, as the rest of his body felt the aches of running catch up with his burning lungs. His eyes stung and his tongue felt dry as his throat was parched. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Aveline and a limping Wesley standing near back to back of each other as they had suffered injuries and were also covered in Darkspawn blood. Turning to his most proximate left, he'd see in the periphery his brutalized sibling cradled in the shaking arms of his mother while his older sister looked as exhausted as he was, while her knuckles held the partially bloodied staff till they were paler than normal.

It looked to be the end as the Alpha Hurlock of the group began to walk forward, swinging a double bladed ax in a brandishing flourish for nothing but its own simple amusement. Its thick armor of plate mail clinked as it moved forward, its glowing eyes emitted from the slits of its horned helmet. Breathing with bated breath, it'd roll its neck side to side, ushering a series of sickening cracks before it rolled its shoulders in readiness. Raising its weapon with both hands, it'd suddenly halt its advance -and thus, the moment to strike for the rest of its kin- as a thunderous roar broke the air and silenced their rasping snarls.

All looked in the direction of a peak at the top of the hill they were traveling on, looking at first to be a leathery top that looked out of place with the rest of the drab landscape. Unfurling two wings, a deep violet-black scaled creature emerged and let out a shrill shriek that warped the air and shuddered the ground from which the blighted and the survivors stood upon.

"By the Maker..." Leandra spoke under her breath, Carver himself gawked with his mouth open and Celestia blinking with disbelief.

"That's a-"

"-High Dragon!" Aveline answered Celestia before she had the chance to finish. "If those Spawn don't finish us off, that beast certainly will!"

The beast perched on high shook its spiked spine as it took in a guttural breath inward; then it leapt off the peak and glided down by its wingspan to let loose a column of fire in their direction.

"Get down!" Celestia cried out, ducking while grabbing her brother's arm to hit the earth.

Despite her urgency, Aveline simply raised her husband's shield up and was surprised as the siblings' mother as the flames swept around in a curling arc of liquid fire that torched the creatures behind and around their flanks. As the dragon did a graceful fly-by, it spewed another wafting pile of flames, landing mightily among the burning, screaming and howling monsters with a snarling breath coming from its sword-sized teeth. Whipping its spiked tail, it cracked against several burning hurlocks, crushing their bodies through the force and left their crumpled frames to burn away in a discarded fashion.

As the Alpha Hurlock, still engulfed in fire, rushed up to swing at the beast, a clawed hand sought it in a swift talon vice grip. With no sign of effort on the part of the beast, a swift crunch overwhelmed the Darkspawn, crumpling the plate mail as if it was tin. As a result, a gush of blood and organs spouted from its torn armor like a fountain, sizzling as the flames still lapped over its mostly bloodied metal frame.

Curiously, the High Dragon seemed to look at them with the creature in hand, standing on its hind legs as it studied them with a tilt of its horn-enamored V-shaped cranium. Celestia could only marvel in awe and horror at the power this king of monsters had over the Spawn they have been fleeing since the morning. While she couldn't tell what her family or their fellow acquaintances were thinking, it was much to her shared surprise as a grand thrum reverberated the air and ground following a familiar tingling sensation she got when sensing magic at work.

Standing more and more upright, the glow of gold outlined white soon became more erect until it resembled the shape of a person. Amidst the bright flash of mana being expelled a head rose up with a soft white mane brushing over the back of a feminine form. Even from this distance she could tell the individual had a wrinkly face, one of time she could not guess she's lived; the stride towards them, however, told them that appearances weren't exactly as they seemed.

She wore what looked like a battle dress, somewhere cross between armor and robes of a sort of design she hadn't seen before. Armored legs walked in a confident strut, crunching the flaming soil as a gloved palm let go of the burning, gored body of the Alpha Hurlock she killed in hand. In burgundy threads with a feathery pair of pauldrons on each shoulder, a metal horned crown with spikes that jutted up above her brow and near the corner diagonally to each temple. Her 'horns' as they had saw before her approach was just an eloquent hair-braid, wrapped in crimson twine to give them the appearance of shape and texture to rear-jutting bone; a prominent feature that was reflected in her dragon form they saw earlier. With dark colored lips and deep pools of yellow for eyes, she stopped her approach when they were but a spear thrust distance away.

"Well well well," Their savior began to say in a deep, raspy voice, a curled grin adorned on her face as metal covered hands rested audaciously on her hips. "What have we here?"

At that moment, any strength the templar had vanished and he began to stumble to the ground. Aveline quickly lent her support so he wouldn't hurt himself further, causing Leandra to be moved with concern and joined them at their side. All the while, Carver and Celestia looked at the old woman drabbed in strange garbs while looking them over with coy curiosity.

"It used to be we didn't get any visitors, here in the Wilds," She stated with a smirk, walking forward a couple of steps till the pair of siblings were now face to face with the magical enigma. "And now we get them in hordes."

"That was," Celestia began to say, rubbing her lips with her tongue as she looked to the flames that still crackled around them, littered with fresh kills made by the woman. "Impressive, to say the least. Can't say I've ever seen magic like that."

"That just means you need to see more of the world, young man," She jeered with a chuckle, postulating with a wry smirk in addition. "Or, maybe I need to get out more? Perhaps both are true, haha!"

"Well, uh, thanks regardless," Carver spoke cautiously, doing his best to glance at his sister before nodding his head towards the old woman's direction. "Who would've thought there was a mage who could turn into a dragon out here?"

Blinking slowly, the woman's lips curled into a grin and flashed her teeth as she leaned forward with a single step that was more palpable than the rest, "Perhaps I am a dragon?"

Celestia felt her spine rush a frigid chill up and down, her weariness giving way to a sudden numbing fear of the old lady in armored attire.

But as quickly as Carver was about to step back, the old woman did before he did, and added with a humored shrug, "If so, count yourselves lucky that the smell of burning Darkspawn does nothing for the appetite."

Tension unraveled slowly from Celestia's shoulders she didn't know knotted when she felt threatened by their rescuer. She didn't know how to gauge her words of being truthful or fiction, as her mannerisms seemed to be an effective mask for her intentions. If nothing else, she was an old mage with a sense of humor that had little to not tact for her tastes.

"Haha, that was a good joke," Carver tried to break the ice, only for the woman to turn her back on them, beginning to walk away back towards the pile of burning bodies.

"If you're looking to flee the Darkspawn, you're going in the opposite direction," She informed them, seemingly nonchalant as she kept moving away.

"H-Hey!" Celestia's brother began to say with concern, walking ahead of her a few steps while making sure not to get too close to the mysterious old mage. "You can't just leave us here!"

Stopping her measured stride, the woman turned her head slightly but not enough to look at them.

"Can't I?" She asked, her graveled voice sounding almost like a hiss in those simple two words. As Carver reared back at this response, she turned around to look at the pair, walking back towards them anew. "I spotted a most curious sight; a mighty ogre, vanquished! Who could perform such a feat?"

Coming to a pause as she was within reaching distance of the two young men, she then gesticulated with her left armored hand with her speech, "But now my curiosity is sated and you are safe...for the moment. Is that not enough?"

As if to seize the advantage of this woman's particular personality, Celestia quickly piped up with a disarming smile, "Why not show us that trick you just did? It seemed pretty useful, and I'd like to see how its done."

A raspy laugh was released from the woman's throat, her searing yellow eyes looking to the white haired girl's silver orbs with approval, "That it would be indeed. Such a clever tongue, for a mage," Leaning forward, she then asked with a lower whisper a very good question. "Tell me, clever child, how would you plan to outrun the Blight?"

Looking to add his own commentary, Carver raised a hand and pointed over his shoulder for emphasis, "We're going to Kirkwall - in the Free Marches."

"Kirkwall?" She questioned with a twist of her lips into a perplexing shaped smile. "My my, that is quite the voyage you plan to make. So far, to escape the Darkspawn."

"We've got family there," He continued to explain, looking over at his mother as she tried to do her best to console the sickly looking Wesley and the emotionally taxed Aveline. "We intend to stay with them there."

"Unless you prefer us to go farther?" Celestia snarked with curled smile, swishing her left hand about towards the deceased Darkspawn lying about. "I hear the Deep Roads are vacant."

A far deeper laugh echoed from the horn-haired woman, seeming to be quite taken with the joke. Ending with a raspy exhale, she nodded with a toothy grin, "Oh, you I like."

"Figures," Carver snorted, causing his sister to roll her eyes at him.

"Hurtled into the chaos you fight," Their rescuer suddenly said, causing Celestia to return gaze at the woman, seeing her almost stare far-off and straight at her simultaneously as she muttered something nearly incomprehensible. "And the world will shake before you."

Turning away from them, she stepped away several feet, propping one arm up by the other so one metal hand could stroke her chin, postulating almost out of hearing from the pair, "Is it chance, or fate? I can never decide."

A few seconds later, she turned back and strutted back to her exact spot, speaking once more as she came to a halt, "It seems fortune smiles on both of us once more. I may be able to lend you aid yet."

"Just like that?" Celestia nearly snorted, angling her body forward at a diagonal posture, raising a brow with near disbelief. "There must be a catch."

"Haha!" She laughed, turning as well as she answered her in a dubious fashion. "There is always a catch! Life is a catch! I suggest you catch it while you can!"

At the near lunatic response they were given, Carver asked without concealing his voice to his sister, "Should we even trust her? We don't even know what she is?"

"I know what she is," Aveline inserted into the conversation, causing the pair of siblings to look her way as she addressed with a level scowl at the old woman from the distance. "The Witch of the Wilds."

"Some call me that," The old woman replied with a shrug, adding with several gestures of her right hand. "Also Flemeth. Asha'bellanar. An 'old hag who talks too much', haha!

"Does it matter?" She questioned, turning herself in accordance to her proposition. "I offer you this. I will get your group past the horde in exchange for a simple delivery to a place not far out of your way. Will you do this, for a Witch of the Wilds?"

Celestia had to mull it over in her head. Carver looked just as concerned of answering too quickly, but he'd know just what she was thinking. They were out of options and by the looks of it, Wesley was in dire straits that made it next to impossible to advance any further in the condition they were in. Even considering their mother and Bethany's body, the two could tell they had little in negotiating power for what seemed like an offer too good to pass up.

"Alright," She nodded to her sibling, getting an approving -if not wary- glance in exchange as she looked to the woman with an outstretched hand. "You got a deal, Flemeth."

As if not noticing her outstretched hand, she smiled with acceptance and approached with a prideful stride, speaking evermore still in entailing their deal, "There's a Clan of Dalish Elves not far from the city of Kirkwall. Deliver this amulet," She proffered with a raised hand, now in possession of a carved necklace with foreboding imagery emblazoned on its face. "To the Keeper, Marethari. Do as she asks of it and any debt between us is paid in full."

"Okay," Celestia answered, though her brows knitted pensively as she accepted the accessory into her palm, looking at it with caution. Sensing nothing other than a faint magical aura from the immaculate designed item, she pocketed it within her robes' inner folds, and looked back straight at her benefactor.

"Before I take you anywhere, there is still a certain matter," She added, causing the siblings to look with her towards a rasping cough of a very pale and vein lined face of Wesley.

The ordeal was made worse by Aveline protesting that he was fine when they all knew better. It was confirmed by the templar himself, having figured out the moment its taint had infected him. Flemeth made no qualms to poke at the suspense of the situation and only commented something Celestia wouldn't realize until much later; that the only way to avoid death by the Blight was to become a Grey Warden.

A moment that she wouldn't experience in full until over a year from that day forth...


"That's incredible," Sael'sa replied, blinking almost owlishly at the rich details of the story that took place at the point of Celestia's rescue. "To think that a legend such as Flemeth existed and actually leapt to your aid. As a dragon!"

"Believe me, I didn't think there was any chance of being so taken off guard ever since that day," The silver hair and eyed mage shrugged with a mirthful grin. "Shows what I know about the world, huh?"

"Oh I don't know about that," A voice suddenly interjected, causing her to look to her side, seeing the leader of the Wardens standing casually beside her lying form with a soft smile on his face. It was quite disarming how someone of such stature and armed appearance could look so harmless at the same time, to the young Hawke. Gesturing to her and then himself, he finished his comment with a chuckle. "I don't know much about the world myself and I traveled all over Fereldan."

"Somehow I think that was more inspiring in your head," Howe gravely shook his head with a sigh.

"'Psh! At leash shez a god lookin' lass-asssssssss, haha!"

Celestia blinked, having heard all three of them say something that didn't complement with the other. Just as she opened her mouth to say something she watched the dwarf take a swig, belch, and fall backwards from the force of his own oral gas. He snorted aloud and muttered unintelligible things as the pale mage looked around with wide blinking eyes.

This expression must have been humorous because it caused all the Wardens in her company to bust out laughing.

"...haha?" She forced a laugh hesitantly, looking at the rest nervously now all eyes were upon her.

"Excuse me," Alistair cleared his throat, reaching a hand down to take Celestia's, pulling her up to her feet. "How are you feeling? You were out for almost half the day; for what passes as a day in the Deep Roads, that is."

"I'm fine, just still a little squeamish," She answered honestly.

"That'll pass in time. You were infected before taking the Joining so its natural to feel a bit off," He assured her with a smile.

"I see," Celestia smiled, her sparkling smile returning now that she had become settled into her place among their ranks. Grabbing the hem of her skirt, taking a half a step back, she performed a bow of her head and a curtsy with her robes before the company of men. "My name is Celestia Hawke, eldest of Leandra Amell and Malcolm Hawke. Pleasure to meet you, Grey Wardens."

"Well well," Nathan grinned with approval, his gravely voice brightening as he eyed at a nearly stupefied Alistair and the surprised recruit, Sael'sa. "Now that is a greeting befitting of a true lady. I guess it's only fitting if we introduce ourselves in just as proper a manner," Placing a hand across his chest with his left leather covered forearm, he leaned forward with a disciplined bow before rising perfectly erect once more. "I am Nathaniel Howe. A pleasure to make your lovely acquaintence."

"Likewise," Celestia flashed a smile and a wink back at him, only further causing the man to smile fetchingly in return.

"I am Alistair," The man in charge gave a polite nod, his armor clinking with his movement. "I am one of the...well...I guess you could say senior Grey Wardens in Fereldan. Not that I'm that old or anything, mind you! I still got quite a few more years left if I have anything to say about it; unless a Darkspawn tells me no one day, I suppose."

"Pleasure to meet you, Alistair," She responded with a humored grin. "If nothing else, you will ensure that nothing is dull while I'm in your company."

"Haha! I'll take that as a compliment," He remarked with a pleased laugh. Looking to the elf standing next to her, he pointed his way with an approving glance. "I see you've met Sael'sa. He's a newer recruit, and only has just left with us to travel through the Deep Roads with us. He may be young but he's a natural talent with the blade and is quite quick on his feet."

"We've had a nice talk," Celestia turned to smile fondly at the young man, whom only nodded readily in enthusiasm back.

"The other pair," He turned to point at the other helmeted individuals, standing guard near the front of the storeroom they set up camp within. "Is Jorge of Redcliffe's Knights in service to Arl Eamon, and Asmund of Dragon's Peak. I'm sure you'll get to know them as we make our way back to the other half of our men stationed here."

"I'll try to pull my weight," She assured him, placing a fist curled hand over her heart with a wrapped thud -a tradition of the Red Irons in showing your commitment to your task- as she looked seriously at the jovial man with determination. "I won't make you regret taking me on as one of your own!"

"Well said," Alistair approved with another nod. "I can tell we're going to get along just fine."


A/N: And that's Chapter two! A bit of a lengthier one if only because I wanted to show my own version of the beginning of DA2, including both story scenes that I thought were pretty integral to building Hawke's character. And since I'm not confined by the boundaries of Color Coded Choices, I went with my own variant of how she responds to specific individuals. In this way, I think her actions speak for themselves. Also like sprinkling in some characterization for Bethany, albeit short, and Carver because I like the Hawke siblings too much to not give them something for their presence in this story. Flemeth, being a favorite of mine, gets to make a variant of her conversation to the Hawke siblings and we get to break this up through a conversation of Sael'sa (Meaning, "First One," in Elvhan,) and Celestia.

We'll probably get more flashbacks in addition to events of the present, depending on how much I and you readers enjoy it. So far, I'm having fun and as long as that's the case with you readers as well, this story will keep on going! Who knows? Maybe things will be different this time, now that the eldest Hawke is a Warden and leaving Carver behind in Kirkwall?

Well, until next time, see you all in the next update!