A Rogue's Sparkle
Note:

First of all, my thanks to Horselover90 for adding this story to your favorites, to KiniroTora & YQ for adding this to your alerts, and to Erynnar for the review!

Second, I do not use a beta at this moment so please let me know if I make any mistakes in sentences/words etc. I do not wish for a beta unless he/she has the time to respond to me within a reasonable timeframe. Not that I think anyone will ask, but just so you know if you do wish to ask ;-)

Last but not least, I do not own anything of Dragon Age. It all belongs to Bioware. I only gave it a little twist of my own which I hope you'll like.

Chapter 4
Changes

=Aedan=

While I followed Alistair to the other recruits he looked dead serious. When we arrived at the most silent part of camp, Ser Jory and Daveth were having an arguement. I shut myself out from their words and looked back towards Alistair's tent. I wondered how Catherine was doing and if Wynne could help her. It wouldn't be right if Howe would manage to make yet another victem. The arguement next to me heated up and I couldn't stay silent anymore.

"Can you both shut up?"

"Yeah Ser Knight, try not to wet your pants..." I shot Daveth a look and he stopped his sentence. At that moment we saw Duncan walking towards us. He was holding a cup and something was in there. I could only assume it was at least the blood we collected in the Wilds. He caught our immediate attention with the tone he spoke with.

"At last we come to the joining." he said as he walked towards the table next to us. "They Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation." He put down the cup and turn towards us.

"So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of Darkspawn blood and mastered their taint." Ser Jory swallowed and moved around nervously.

"We're... going to drink the blood of those... those creatures?" Duncan frowned and walked towards him.

"As the first Grey Wardens did before us, as we did before you. This is the source of our power and our victory." he explained.

"Those who survive the joining become immune to the taint. We can sense it in the Darkspawn and use it to slay the Archdemon." Alistair continued.

"Right. So let's continue with this joining then." I said.

"We speak only a few words prior to the joining, but these words have been said since the first." Duncan looked at Alistair and nodded. "Alistair, if you would?"

Join us, brothers and sisters.
Join us in the shadows where we stand, vigilant.
Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn.
And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten and that one day we shall join you.

Daveth was called upon first and he bravely stepped forward, accepting the cup from Duncan. He looked at it and sighed before drinking a bit of the blood. He gave back the cup and stepped backwards a little. I saw Duncan and Alistair step back a bit too when Daveth started coughing. This wasn't bad yet was it? I looked at Alistair and he shook his head. I looked back at Daveth and saw he dropped on his knees. I had to resist the urge to run to him to help him. It was over fast and Daveth's body silently dropped on the floor.

Ser Jory was even more shook up by what happened right in front of his eyes. He slowly stepped back until he was against the walls. Duncan looked unaffected and called Ser Jory to step forward. He shook his head.

"But... I have a wife! A child! Had I known..." he said as he took out his sword. Stupid Ser Jory! Be a man for once. Duncan was as stone. He walked towards Ser Jory who was holding his sword in front of him.

"There is no turning back."

"No. You ask too much! There is no glory in this!" Duncan put down the cup and took out his dagger. He slowly walked towards Ser Jory who seemed confident enough to fight Duncan for this. Scared for the ritual he so willingly wanted to participate in before he saw Daveth dropping on the floor. He lunged out to Duncan. Duncan blocked it with his own dagger and it didn't take long for him to find a weak spot and pushed his dagger in Ser Jory's stomach. I held my hands before my mouth. This was by far the most strange ritual I had ever seen. Duncan got his dagger out and Ser Jory dropped on his knees. Wordless he fell on the ground where a large pool of blood appeared underneath his body.

"But the ritual is not yet complete." Duncan picked up the cup and turned to face me. His body covered with Ser Jory's blood.

"You were called upon to submit yourself to the taint for the greater good." he said as he held out the cup. I looked back to Alistair's tent once more, and saw the soft light of the healing mage fading. I accepted the cup and held it with both hands. If I don't make it, be strong Cath. I closed my eyes and drank from the cup. The smell and taste was almost enough to make me throw up. Nothing happened yet and for a second I wondered if this was it.

"From this moment forth, you are a Grey Warden." Duncan said. Then the blood did its work as my head started to give me a splitting headache. I put my hands on my forehead. Vaguely I heard Catherine scream.

"Aedan!" I opened my eyes, but saw nothing except for a large dragon on a huge rock. The dragon saw me. It felt so real! Then I blacked out. When I woke up, Alistair and Duncan were hovering above me. Their faces showed relief as they helped me up.

"It is finished, welcome." Duncan said.

"Two more deaths. In my joining only one died, but it was... horrible. I'm glad at least one of you made it through." Alistair softly said.

"How do you feel?" Duncan asked.

"I'm fine, now that it's over." I replied. I remembered hearing Catherine screaming and I really wanted to check up on her. Alistair didn't seem to sense that at all as he continued asking questions.

"Did you have dreams? I had terrible dreams after my joining." Wait, dreams? I thought about the dragon I saw, but Alistair was talking about after the joining too. Did I had to endure more than drinking this blood?

"Such dreams come when you begin to sense the Darkspawn, as we all do. That and many other things can be explained in the months to come." Duncan explained. I nodded and shot a look at the camp.

"Before I forget, there is one last part to your joining." Alistair walked towards me and pulled out a pendant.

"We take some of that blood and put it in a pendant. Something to remind us... of those who didn't make it this far." he said as he quickly glanced at the place where the bodies of Daveth and Ser Jory were before I woke up. They removed it either really quick or I had taken my time with waking up. He handed it to me and I put it around my neck.

"Take some time. When you are ready, I'd like you to accompany me to a meeting with the King." Duncan told me. Again I nodded and as Duncan and Alistair turned to leave I ran past them to see Catherine. The mage was standing in front of the tent and stopped me from going in.

"Is she..."

"She's all right young man. I managed to stop the infection from spreading further. She needs as much rest as she can get you understand?" I nodded and walked in the tent. Catherine was sleeping so peacefully. I watched as her chest went up and down and took her hand. She was still in her under garments and the mage had bandaged the wound. I pulled up the blanket a bit more so she wouldn't get cold. On her neck I could see a locket. It was fallen on the pillow, but it was still around her neck. I recognized the small seal on it and lowered my head. I was glad she had something to remember them by. I put down her hand and touched her cheek.

"I'm glad you're safe sister." I whispered. When I wanted to leave I heard Catherine trashing around. She slowly opened her eyes and whispered out my name. When she saw me, her tears started to flow out of her eyes. I sat down next to her again and tried to remove at least some tears.

"Oh Aedan! I just had the most terrible nightmare!" she whispered as she started hugging me. "You were to drink poison and you passed out! I..." she stopped her sentence as she looked at me.

"Wait. Something is different." she said seriously. My eyes dropped to the ground as she remained silent, waiting for me to explain what changed.

"Cath... I have been recruited into the Grey Wardens. Actually... I am a Grey Warden now."

"How did you get recruited?" she asked almost so soft I barely could hear it. I looked her in the eyes. What I was about to tell would cause her so much pain.

"When we lost sight of you when we came out of the dining hall... we made our way to the treasury." I started.

"Yes. I went there as well after the Warden got to me, hoping the sword wasn't taken out by..."

"He found you? How! He only had Dantos when he arrived with us."

"Dantos? Is he here?" she asked. I nodded in reply and told her she would see him soon. "Duncan wanted to go to the larder, but I had to check the treasury. Stupid, I know."

"Oh sis, it's not stupid." I gave her a kiss on her forehead as she started sobbing again. "Calm down, Cath. It's all right." When she calmed a bit, I continued.

"I went to the main hall with mother and we found Ser Gilmore. He was protecting the main gates with all the guards there. He told us father went to the larder so we did the same right away." I waited a second for Catherine to take in this information.

"When we arrived there..." My memory of him lying there was so fresh. It seemed like a dream. "father was lying on the ground. We rushed to him, but he was wounded by one of Howe's men. Mother wouldn't leave his side and when the Warden came in he demanded a recruit."

"Mother stayed?" Catherine said in disbelief. "And he recruited you while our parents were about to die?"

"He asked father's permission and he gave it Cath. We ran as fast as we could after that. I tried not to. I wanted to find you first." Catherine's head dropped.

"So a Warden, eh? You will have to go with them, right?" She said as she looked me in my eyes.

"I didn't want it to be like this either, sis. I wished we both could have been recruited. Now that I am I do not wish you to undergo that ritual. Trust me. It's better this way."

"Better? My brother is a Grey Warden now and will walk a different path. Tell me, how much will we see each other anymore." I didn't had an answer to that. I knew she and I were close and the last thing I wanted is to walk out on her, leaving her alone to do her own thing.

"Catherine, you must be strong. Please. Fergus is still lost and for all we know he might... you might have to run Highever." Her eyes widened.

"Oh no. Don't you dare putting that on me. I never asked for that!"

"Let's talk about that later shall we? You still have to rest and I have to meet the King." Catherine nodded and lied down again while I walked out of the tent. Wynne was still waiting in front of the tent and talking to Alistair. When they saw me coming out he walked towards me.

"Wynne told me she'll be fine. How is she taking it?"

"Taking what? The fact that I'm a Grey Warden and she's not? Or the fact that Highever is taken over and she got wounded?"

"Right.." Alistair mumbled. "Sounds like you've got quite a bit to talk about when the battle is over." I stared into the distance and softly whispered "Mhm."

=Catherine=

While staring at the cealing of the small tent, I wondered how I should feel about the situation. My own brother now a Grey Warden. He loved the idea of becoming one along with me. The Warden twins off to ride to battle. I sighed while I slowly sat up again. I winced a bit from the bit of pain my side still gave me. It was a whole lot better than when I came in. The mage, Wynne, did a good job on it. When I woke up after the nightmare she held me for a few moments. She told me about the wound and that it would be fully healed eventually. I looked at my armor and decided to put it on to explore this place. I was careful not to force too much pressure on the wound and when I was done I collected my daggers and walked out of the tent.

Luckily Wynne wasn't around as I was sure she would try to keep me resting in my tent. I sheated my daggers and went to search for Dantos. I finally saw a man standing in front of a low gate. Behind the gate stood a Mabari.

"Good Ser, do you know where the Mabari is that Warden Duncan brought in?" He looked at me. He had a gentle smile on his face and nodded.

"Of course, my Lady. Here he is. He's one hell of a Mabari. Very strong too." I chuckled. Dantos barked immediately when he saw me and when I opened the small gate he started licking my face as I dropped on my knees.

"Hey there boy, I missed you too!" I said as I scratched him behind his ears.

"Ah, he's yours!"

"He sure is!" I smiled at the man.

"Come boy. Let's go explore this camp." Dantos gave a single bark and immediately started running around me. I thanked the man for taking care of him and walked past a cage which a guard was obviously guarding. I looked at the man who was in it. He was stripped until his under garments and looked so hungry. When he caught me looking at him he motioned me to come. I walked towards his cage and checked the guard. The guard wasn't paying attention so I turned so the man.

"Ha, someone finally comes and talk to the lone prisoner. You're not the one to sentence me right?"

"No, I'm not. Don't worry." I softly replied.

"I don't suppose you have a bit of kindness in you? All I want is food and water. They haven't fed me since I was locked up, and I'm starving!"

"Why would they keep food from you? What did you do to end up here?" I wondered to the man.

"I... wasn't deserting! I was out of my tent at night and they thought I was deserting while I was actually stealing." That doesn't make it better, I thought.

"I'll go ask the guard if he has some food for you." I promised. I couldn't let a man starve to death, especially not with the upcoming battle. When I walked to the guard he still stood still. He looked like he was sleeping, but with his eyes open. Maybe he had a daydream which kept him occupied enough not to notice I was standing right in front of him. When I coughed a bit he startled and snapped back to reality.

"How can I help you, my Lady." he seriously said.

"Do you have food for that prisoner behind you?"

"He's been pestering you? He should be convicted already."

"He hasn't been pestering me at all. Please just give him some food. Keeping him in the cell is cruel enough." I said hoping to persuade the guard of giving me some food. The guard sighed and gave in. He gave me some of his lunch and I kindly thanked the man for it. I walked up to the man in the cell and gave him the food.

"Thank you kind lady! May Andraste herself rain blessings upon you!" he said as he eagerly grabbed the food. While he starting eating he continued. "You might want something I don't need. Them Circle wizards got a chest where they keep magical things. I... stole the key." he said as he handed me the golden colored key. "Use it in good health!" he grinned. I nodded and walked away from the man. I wish I could have done more for him, but he seemed happy enough with the food he just got. I slowly walked to the meeting point where the King was and stopped far enough to see them properly. I hid myself so they wouldn't see me spying on them. I recognized the King, he was standing next to Teyrn Loghain and he had his golden armor on. It suited him. Across them were Duncan and Aedan. My brother looked annoyed while I could barely read anything of Duncan his face. It did seem like he wanted to say something.

Teyrn Loghain suddenly turned around with a large frown and I stepped back a bit. He mumbled something to himself and I wasn't sure what to make of it. My brother had his arms crossed and shook his head slightly when the King talked to him. I could see the battleplans on the table. Maybe things didn't go as he wanted? I walked away from the scene as Duncan and Aedan walked off to the fire in the middle of the camp. This didn't feel right at all. I decided to get a bow and some arrows while I still could. I had a feeling things were starting to change soon.