Chapter 7

"Andraste's ass! Stone take it! It hurts! Are we there yet?" Hawke exclaimed as they climbed up a likely looking trail. She had just lost her footing briefly and jarred her broken leg very painfully. Merrill gave her an understanding look.

"I have to give you a few curses in Arcanum to fit into your repertoire. You're running out of deities." Fenris said imperturbably as he doubled back towards the women. "Still no natural light. I dispatched a lone spider, not very large. I hope that means we closer to the surface."

They had decided that the best way to the surface was up. They had little choice as to what path, since it was a few hours walking until there was a fork on the tunnel. They chose the path that tilted upwards. However, the Wounded Coast had the infuriating tendency to have paths that kept doubling back onto themselves. They had already escaped one loop and were now assiduously marking their paths in order to avoid that again.

"Why hasn't anyone come for us? We have to have been gone for more than a full day." Merrill said quietly, her brow furrowed.

Hawke was afraid for the young mage. She kept a happy face on, but Hawke could see that she was in more pain than she let on. Hawke suspected that she felt guilty for having use of all her limbs, unlike the two warriors. Hawke knew that head wounds could be serious, but they were all doing what had to be done. They were all very thirsty and hungry. The need for water was becoming a more pressing matter than their injuries.

"I imagine they're doing all they can. The avalanche probably has them as stumped as us. Somebody is probably bagging their head against that wall of rocks we left behind." Hawke said lightly for Merrill's sake, but she was getting worried as well.

Hawke hoped that a search party was looking for them. She would be perfectly happy to play the damsel in distress and let someone rescue her right now. She couldn't imagine that Aveline or Varric would leave them to their own devices this long. Something had to be keeping them.

It was slow going for the party, which was tiring on its own.

Merrill and Hawke hobbled slowly onwards. Fenris scouted ahead and kept a lookout. He was effectively walking twice the distance the women were. He'd move ahead and then double back to check on them, tell them any pertinent details.

Every time they took a break, it became harder and harder to get up and move again. At every rest spot, Hawke would scratch their initials in the wall and draw an arrow pointing towards where they were heading. Merrill had taken to leaving a mote of light on each mark. She's explained that they would burn out in a day or two, but it would help tremendously to keep them from going in circles, as well as show any would-be rescuers where they had been and gone.

After walking what they estimated to be about five or six hours, Hawke proposed they stop and have a sleep break. Neither companion disagreed, which in and of itself made Hawke feel bad. Fenris and Merrill readily agreeing on anything gave Hawke the willies.

"I'll take first watch kids. You two are doing all the serious work, so get some rest. Not-Bianca and I will keep us safe." Hawke said with more enthusiasm than she really felt.

Merrill didn't say anything, but simply found a likely spot, curled up and fell almost instantly asleep. Fenris leaned languidly against a tunnel wall, making Hawke remember that first real conversation with him after fighting Danarius' shades in what would become his mansion.

'He was so dramatic then. I'm glad he has toned it down since then. Still looks like he's posing half the time though.' She thought with a half smile.

Fenris caught her eye. "What are you smiling about? In Tevinter we have a saying: qui ridet solus memor eius iniquitates.* It means 'He who laughs alone, recalls his wicked deeds." He said to Hawke with a raised eyebrow. He lowered himself awkwardly and sat near her.

"Nothing as drastic as all that! I'm just remembering when we first met. You were so serious back then. I can hardly believe it's been less than a year since then." She said, still remembering that night in the Alienage. Talk about a dramatic entrance!

"I never did get to thank Anso for contracting you. I don't know what I would be doing if I hadn't fallen in with your merry band of misfits. There's not a lot of money in revenge." He said ruefully. "I enjoy following you." A half smile graced his full lips.

"You can't beat this. I bring the glamour into adventuring." Hawke responded cheekily, gesturing grandly at their surroundings.

This is when he made her nervous. Was he being blatantly honest, or was he flirting with her? He certainly wasn't hard on the eyes. Even bedraggled and bruised, he still looked attractive. Hawke was fairly certain that the same didn't hold true for her. She decided that once they were clean and safe she might take another stab at this possibility. For now, she just wanted to get out of this Maker-forsaken cave!

"You should be sleeping. You've got to be tired." she said half heartedly. She kind of wanted him to keep talking to her.

He shook his head. "I'm not tired like that. This is enough for now. Would you prefer that I leave you alone?" he said, giving her that looking-up-from-under-his-hair look that made Merrill giggle whenever she saw it. 'Puppy-dog eyes, indeed! My mabari does the same thing. Damn if it doesn't work for both of them!'

"No, no! I'm happy to have you here. I've kind of missed you today." She admitted. She was very fond of Merrill, but conversations with her were exhausting. Following Merrill's train of thought was akin to chasing hummingbirds.

He leaned his head back against the wall, giving Hawke a full view of the tattoos on his neck and chin and she idly traced the pattern into his chest piece with her eyes. 'Wonder what the design on his chest looks like?' a stray thought dropped into her mind. 'No! Would I want my friends undressing me with their eyes? For shame!' she chided herself despite the tiny inner voice that croaked 'maybe' from a dusty part of her psyche.

"What do you imagine is the holdup with our rescue? I can't imagine a force strong enough to keep Aveline away from helping someone in need, especially a friend." Fenris said with his eyes closed.

Hawke tore her eyes away from his tattoos which were now hypnotizing her. 'Behave'

"I don't know, but I think we'll need help very soon. Merrill has been disoriented a few times and nauseous. I think her head injury might be more severe than she's letting on. If nothing else, I don't think I would ask her to do any spells more complicated than this light summon. We need a healer sooner rather than later." Hawke bit her lower lip in consternation.

"I'm worried about your leg too. By all rights, you should be sitting still, not walking on a fracture." he said bleakly.

Suddenly Fenris sat up straight, frowning as he cocked his head to the side, listening.

'Maker, what now?' Hawke thought. "Spiders?" she asked with mixed feelings. The could handle spiders...barely.

"No...it's voices!" He said, surprise plain on his face.

* "El que ríe solo se acuerda de sus maldades"- Maybe not in Tevinter per se, but it certainly does the rounds hereabouts. Write what you know and all that. Translation to Latin thanks to Google Translate. ~Penguin Regina