Authors Note: Sorry for the delay! For some strange reason, the website was acting up and not letting me edit my story. It made me so sad. But, now, I'm back and updating. I hope you all enjoy my expanding version of Dragonage 2!
Hawke flung herself on the back of the ogre, stabbing one of her daggers into its rough skin. She felt as though she was cutting into a leather purse, but she did not linger long enough to think heavily about the way the creature's skin felt. Instead, she scrambled further up the creature's body even as it screamed and thrashed about. Hawke held on to anything she could get her hands on, keeping herself from being thrown this way and that. She was most certainly a rag doll compared to the brute. Even as she made it up to the neck of the creature, she soon realized how feeble the attempt had been; Bethany lay unmoving on the ground a few feet away.
There was a spark that set off inside Hawke. Whether it was the sight of her fallen sister whom she loved dearly, or if it was the adrenaline pumping through her blood as she was tossed around, Hawke lost sight of reality.
She saw red. She saw nothing, but could only feel the hatred and drive to kill, like a hunger burning her insides. Her knives dug deep into skin and tore open wide gashes. Blackness gushed. Scars were forming. Cuts smiled up at her. Screams of the ogre mixed with that of people, those people running in Lothering. Crying. There was crying. Were those her tears? Some one was yelling. She was being pulled. Then, the hunger was gone and Hawke was a candle put out.
When Hawke came to, her head pounded. The rogue reached towards her head and did a double-take. Was that… blood on her hand? She inspected it closer, amazed at the amount that covered it. Then, she looked down her arm. All was stained red. There were drip marks and lines, where the blood had trailed down her arm. Hawke didn't know whether to be surprised, or disgusted by the amount of carnage visible on only one arm.
"How are you feeling?" Hawke looked up at Anders. He was kneeling down over her, with a soft smile across his face. It took a moment for Hawke's eyes to adjust enough to see Fenris and Varric sitting not much farther from where she lay. Both looked at Hawke with concern.
Suddenly, Hawke gasped and tried to get up, muttering things about the ogre and Bethany.
Varric was the first to reach out and keep her down, "The ogre's dead, Hawke. You tore him a new one. Literally," he laughed softly, "And Bethany's resting as well. Something which you need a little more of,"
The two stared at each other for a moment, before Hawke laughed, "Varric, we need to get out of here. Please," she gave him the best puppy eyes she could muster.
The dwarf sighed, chuckling, "Alright, no need to pull out the big weapon," he removed his hand, allowing Hawke to sit upright.
All three of the men helped Hawke to her feet. She wobbled and teetered slightly, causing the men to rethink the idea of moving on. Those thoughts were only verified when Hawke began to fall towards Fenris. All the men reached to grab Hawke, though Fenris broke her descent the quickest.
"Let go of her mage," Fenris hissed, watching as Anders held Hawke's arm.
Varric sighed, "How about this," the dwarf let go of Hawke's other arm, turning quickly on the two men holding Hawke's barely conscience body, "Fenris, you will be able to touch her right side, while Anders, you will be able to touch her left side. No one touches the other's side. And, whenever she does decide on one of you, you'll have to learn to compromise," Varric chuckled, "Just think about that whenever you lie down in bed fantasizing about her,"
"That's absurd!" Fenris retorted immediately.
"For once, I agree with you, moody," Anders smiled with a thick, fake camaraderie at Fenris. He let go of Hawke's arm, like a fisherman disgusted by a limp fish.
Fenris turned his face away from Anders quickly, "Don't get used to it,"
"Well, let's get out of here. I'll get Sunshine and we'll go,"
Hawke came to not long after passing out. She looked around and noticed that they were still stuck inside the Deep Roads. An endless prison, she thought to herself as she began walking on her own. The ground looked the same as it had before the ogre. Would they ever find freedom? Would they get out alive? Hawke's stomach churned unsettlingly, "I'm gonna be sick,"
Bethany rushed to Hawke's side, "Sister! I'm so glad you're awake!"
Hawke leaned up against a wall, and held back the urge to vomit.
"This place doesn't end," Hawke whispered hopelessly.
Bethany gently rubbed Hawke's arm, "We'll get out. You always find a way to escape a tight fix. You are a naturally born leader," Bethany gently tugged Hawke's hand to encourage her, "I believe in you,"
Hawke nodded absently. She pushed herself off the wall, feeling her strength returning to her with each movement she made. Wariness cloaked her at first, but, with each step, that cloak was brushed off inch by inch until it was no longer a burden on Hawke's shoulders. She felt more alert, more awake. Nothing could catch her off guard now. Perhaps it was the urges of her sister that made her begin to take the path of her future? Either way, it was the urges of her sister that made her begin to lead the party towards their freedom.
"Then they spoke to some creature underground, promised to kill some ancient rock wraith that was lingering over the creature's treasure, killed the wraith, backstabbed the creature, killed the creature and took the gold for yourselves," the Seeker shook her head, "And that is your champion of Kirkwall?"
Varric shrugged, "Hey, she came back rich. And it seemed to fill the void that her sister left,"
"Continue,"
"This part of the deep roads looks familiar," Hawke looked towards the distance where the darkness began to give way to light.
Varric made his way past Hawke, "We're back where we started, and in only five days," he turned and smirked at Fenris, "Not bad, eh?"
"Could we… slow down?" Bethany voiced softly, "I'm not feeling very well,"
"Let's make camp, if you're sick," Anders suggested.
Varric chuckled once to himself, "I'll wager it was those deep mushrooms we found,"
They all turned to look at Bethany. At the same moment, she began to fall to her knees weakly. Hawke, for the first time in a while, saw how feeble her sister had become. Bethany was frailer than when they left, and she was growing gray. She looked ill. More ill than Hawke could ever recall her ever being.
"No, I…" Bethany gasped as she fell to her side.
"Bethany!" Hawke cried out, her face full of concern as she rushed to Bethany's side. Hawke knelt down, and gently grasped Bethany's hand, "What's happening to you?"
Anders approached the two, "It's the Blight, I can sense it,"
Fenris sneered, "Of course it's the Blight. An idiot could have told you that,"
"I'm sorry, I don't recall asking for your worthless opinion," Anders glared, "Now, if I were looking for some advice on where to get some lyrium engravings…"
"Shut your mouth," Fenris said through clenched teeth.
"Anders!" Hawke cried.
Bethany looked back up at Hawke, "I'll end up just like Wesley, won't I?"
"Well, not just like him," Hawke smiled weakly, "At least you'll be prettier. Dammit Bethany, why didn't you say something?"
"What could you have done? Swoop to my rescue?" Bethany glanced away quickly, "I'm not going to last until the surface. It's coming on faster," she cried softly, her eyes already beginning to fade to a distant grey.
"There might be something we can do," Anders interceded, "I stole the maps from a Warden that had come to Kirkwall. I wanted to know if he was looking for me. He wasn't. The maps were for planning their own expedition into the Deep Roads,"
Hawke looked up at Anders, "And this is important to us because it had instructions on how to save my sister from dying?"
"No, but the Gray Wardens have that," Anders raised his eyebrows.
"Way to keep it to yourself, Anders," Hawke smiled, glad that there might be a bit of hope after all.
"I was trying to avoid them! They are too much of the partiers for me," Anders smiled back, "Besides, you just wanted the maps. At any rate, if the Wardens are here, I know where. We could bring Bethany to them…" they all looked at Bethany.
She shook her head, "And do what? Become a Gray Warden?"
"It's better than a dead sister," Hawke shrugged her shoulders, "I guess we have no other options,"
Anders' face grew a little dark, "Then I hope I'm right,"
Leave me a comment! Stick with me, the story is about to veer from the game's version. I guarantee you'll like it (and if you don't, I don't know what to tell you, lol)!