A/N: Sorry for the minor delay, my computer is whack with poobrain at the moment! Thanks for reading, and an extra big thank you to my reviewers and followers. You guys rock!

Enchantment!

I instinctively drew my bow and aimed it at my attackers, giving them reason to pause. Darrian and Alistair were both at my side with weapons at the ready, and for several moments we stood there in waiting.

The leader looked around at his comrades, attempting to coax them into an assault. "What are we waiting for! That damn bastard killed his own mother! GET HIM!"

I almost dropped my bow when I had heard that. I was shocked. What had happened to my mother, I thought? My mouth hung open, unable to produce a solid response.

Darrian looked at me, eyes gentle and in no way judging. "Is he speaking the truth?" he asked.

I had to think… I just stood there, completely gobsmacked at the accusation. The elf just nodded at me, gathering that I had done nothing of the sort – all from my shocked expression. "When did this happen?" shouted Darrian, his smooth voice silencing every angry 'vigilante' at the bottom of the hill.

"Nigh on two days ago," the leader replied.

Darrian gave me a reassuring smile. "Then you have the wrong man. He has been travelling with me for some time now, and with my friend," he indicated Morrigan, "for longer still."

Most of the civilians relaxed and lowered their weapons, much to my relief. The rest of them cast wary glances at us. A woman of about my mother's age stepped forward. "What reason do we have to trust you? Could you not be just accomplices to the crime?"

"I am a Grey Warden," stated Darrian. He said it so resolutely, so… passionately, you could say. I had no idea why he was defending me with such vigour, but I was glad that he was on my side.

The response of the crowd was mixed: some apologised, even bowing in respect, while others grew angrier still, but not at me. The heat of anger was now shifting to Darrian.

Then I remembered that it was the Grey Wardens copping the blame for the King's death and the defeat at Ostagar. The tension in the air was palpable, leading me to believe that a fight was imminent. Morrigan and I exchanged sideways glances, silently wishing that we could continue without any more trouble.

Minutes passed in silence while the decision to fight hung in limbo. I sighed in relief when the pack decided to disperse and we were able to sheathe our weapons.

Once it was safe, that was when everything that I had just heard actually made full sense to me. My mother was dead, killed at the hands of an assailant presumed to be me. I had no idea who, or why or… unless – and I couldn't see this happening – it was my father, done as an act of revenge to me.

I felt sick. Could he have murdered my mother purely out of spite? Or was there another reason for it, one that was not entirely my fault? My head was spinning as a million ideas swirled around inside my head, each one worse than the next.

Maybe… maybe he wasn't really my father? That would surely explain a lot about me, and why I never really felt as though I were a valued member of the family. I didn't even look like my father. There was so much going on inside my mind that I begun to feel a little light-headed and wobbly on my feet.

The next thing I knew, I was lying down on a small bed in the Chantry, staring into the bright blue eyes of a woman I had never met. She had short red hair with a small plat to the side of her head, giving her a very very cute appearance. Of course, her unassuming smile helped too.

She waved a hand in front of my face, trying to lure me out of my semi-catatonic state. I took a few moments, but I finally snapped out of it. Her smile widened.

"Hello! I'm Leliana," she said, patting me on the head. "You apparently took quite a fall back there."

I'd fallen? "I'm V – Fox. And… I did?"

I'd almost spoken my real name, but I caught myself before I did, and I don't think that Leliana picked up on it. The woman in front of me chuckled gently. "You did. Your friends brought you here, and left you in the company of the Sisters."

Leliana graciously extended her hand and helped me into an upright position. I took a good look at her clothing, and noticed that she was covered in little smatterings of blood. It looked pretty fresh, too.

I opened my mouth to question her cleanliness, but no words came out. Instead, I looked back and forth between her eyes and the blood on her Chantry robe.

She laughed again. "You are concerned about the blood?"

I nodded.

"Your friends, they got into a spot of trouble at the local tavern… So I helped them!"

"Are they okay?" I asked.

"Yes, for the most part they are fine," she replied, not entirely reassuringly.

"What about Morrigan?"

Leliana thought for a moment. "Morrigan? You mean the bitc- uhh, witch? She came out of it better than anyone else, including myself. She wasn't too happy about you coming to the Chantry."

Morrigan entered the room, waving her hands in dismissal. "Your concern is touching, but you needn't worry about me. 'Tis Alistair you should be concerned for. The fool slipped on some blood and cracked his skull on the counter."

The dark haired beauty stepped in front of Leliana and eyed me curiously, presumably checking for damage.

"I'm fine, really," I said.

"Did you get poisoned? Some kind of insect bite perhaps?" asked Morrigan.

Shame laced my voice, and I was barely able to admit it to Morrigan. "I… no. I just sorta… passed out."

She wore a strange expression on her face, one I took for distaste. Shaking her head was a pretty strong indication of that as well. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

I think that that was the point where I had fully realised everything that had happened to me. I literally had nothing left, save for what I carried with me when I left from home. No friends, no family… just myself. And Franklin.

"Where's Franklin?" I asked, somewhat urgently. I needed to see him right now.

"Outside. Dogs are not permitted within the Chantry walls, I'm afraid," muttered Darrian.

I turned around to see that Alistair and the elf had entered the room too, now. Just as Morrigan had said, Alistair was wearing a tightly wrapped bandage around the side of his head to slow the bleeding. I didn't want to say anything, but I suspected that Morrigan could heal his wound, but she merely chose not to. He was a Templar, after all, and I'd have done the same thing.

We waited around inside for a while until I was well enough to stand, though my legs were still a tiny bit shaky. Leliana slipped through the gap between Morrigan and I, then pulled me over so she could support me. Darrian wormed his way over to my other side and wrapped one arm around my back (and suspiciously close to my backside, I might add) in another gesture of support. Morrigan snickered in irritation.

Thankfully, I only needed their help for a few steps and was walking by myself again in no time at all. The Chantry was crowded with refugees, each and every one of them looking as devastated as each other. Sadness and despair hung thick in the air, making me feel worse with each step I took. I was looking forward to being out of here and with Franklin at my side.

I asked Darrian if we had anything more to do in town, of which there was actually nothing. He'd been shopping with everyone else while I was under Leliana's care, as well as taking care of a few other random jobs that people had needed doing. By the Maker, Darrian seemed like such a great person. Even Morrigan could not deny the effect he immediately had on people, lightening up the mood no matter how grim.

Perceptions of people can change pretty quickly, I was beginning to learn.

Way down at the back of the village and past the windmill was the way we needed to go. I looked at the map of Ferelden, tracing my fingers over our current location and estimating the distance to the Brecilian Forest.

We made our way up the sloping path that led us out of the village. On the approach we heard someone shouting for help, and the familiar cry that could only mean one thing: Darkspawn.

Two dwarven men were cowering in fear, ducking and diving from heavy blows by a small pack of Darkspawn. They were nothing we couldn't handle though, and in a short amount of time the Darkspawn were reduced to piles of… well, bits.

The older, bearded dwarf hurried over to us, thankfulness expressed clearly by his expression. "Mighty timely arrival, my friends. I'm much obliged."

Darrian bowed slightly. "You are quite welcome."

"The name is Bodahn Feddic, merchant and entrepreneur. This here is my son, Sandal. Say hello, my boy," he replied, very courteously.

Sandal bore a vacant expression and his eyes seemed to be just a tad askew. He looked very cute though, I kinda just wanted to give him a hug. "Hello," he said.

The dwarf suggested that we travel together for a time, but he quickly changed his tune once he realised that that would mean travelling with some Grey Wardens and a potentially wanted mage or two. Damn, I thought to myself. It would have been fun to travel with them. Sandal looks like he gets into all sorts of mischief.

They bode us farewell, and set off, wanting to get as far from this town as I did.

For the rest of the day, and part of the night, we soldiered on toward the Brecilian Forest, hoping to make up as much time as we could before we stopped to rest. Darrian did not feel comfortable camping out so close to the Darkspawn horde, and, come to think of it, neither did I. We were about to stop at last when we noticed a suspiciously colored smoke billowing up in the distance. A greenish blue haze was covering the treetops, and the smell that accompanied it was not exactly what you would call pleasant.

"Darkspawn?" Darrian asked quietly.

Alistair shook his head. "I… don't think so. It doesn't look – nor smell – like something that I've seen them do before. Still, it can't hurt to be cautious."

"'Tis a strange sight indeed," added Morrigan, holding her nose in the air for a cautionary sniff.

Darrian slowly moved toward the source of the smoke, stopping very abruptly and causing us all to bump into one another.

A somewhat familiar sounding voice ran gout from the clearing up ahead, but I couldn't see who it was as Alistair was blocking my view.

There was a loud fizzling sound, followed by an even louder bang. "ENCHANTMENT!" shouted the voice.

"Was that… Sandal?" Leliana asked.

I nodded slowly, matching up the voice in my head. "Yes, I think it is."

Darrian gave us the all clear and we marched out into the clearing, to find that it was indeed Sandal. Both he and his father had been sent flying backward by the blast, and part of Bodahn's beard had been burnt off.

What a shame. It was such an epic beard.

"Are you alright!" shouted Leliana as she rushed to their side.

"Yes, we're fine. Little Sandal here was playing with his enchanting equipment again. Got into a small accident, didn't we my boy?" he said, patting Sandal on the head.

"Enchantment!" he replied.

"You know, Bodahn, there could be more Darkspawn around here. We were stopping for the night, so do you mind if we join you here? We can sense the Darkspawn, you know, so we will be able to see if they are nearby and get you and your son out of here," said Darrian, helpfully.

Bodahn stood still as he mulled the idea over in his head. "Yes, I think that would be best. Please, browse my wares. If there's something you need, I'm sure either my boy or I can help you out. Aaaand with your discount!"

Darrian seemed quite eager to show me all of the things he had bought, including several tents and some very comfy bed rolls that I looked forward to using. The stars were shining brightly overhead, reminding me of times when I used to take Franklin out hunting at night and we would camp out together, sometimes for days on end. Father always hated it when I did that, especially when I never told them about it.

Morrigan took her sleeping gear all the way over to the far side of the camp and lit a smaller fire for herself. Once I had set up my stuff next to Darrian's tent (with Leliana setting hers up by mine) I walked over to Morrigan with two bowls of some kind of animal stew that Bodahn had prepared.

She was sitting with her back to everyone, fidgeting with something in her lap. She did not hear me approaching either, and jumped up when I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

She took the bowl and nodded thanks, offering me a place at her side to sit down.

"I… I am sorry if I seemed uncaring before," stuttered Morrigan. "I am not used to dealing with such situations, so I could never know how you were feeling."

Huh. Morrigan startled me with her 'heartfelt' apology. Not that I minded how she acted, but it was nice to know she cared, at least a little bit. "Not… to worry," I replied, the tiniest ounce of confusion slipping out through my tone.

We sat in an awkward silence for some time, both of us thinking of many things to say, but neither one of us actually saying them. It was weird to think that Morrigan had grown up without knowing the comfort of friendship, or a community, or even a family (though now that I think of it, I'm not sure how much of that I had either).

I looked up to her eyes to find her staring back at me. "So, life in the wilds must have been very lonely."

She took a few moments to respond, perhaps taking time to formulate a response. "At times, perhaps," she replied. "A world full of people and buildings and things was all very foreign to me. If I wished companionship, I rand with the wolves and flew with the birds. If I spoke, 'twas to the trees."

To me, that sounded like one of the most amazing things one could experience. The complete freedom to run around through a forest at high speeds, not having to worry about going back home by a certain time so as not to miss an archery session, and basically, just being away from people. "That sounds wonderful," I replied, somewhat vaguely. I was still picturing myself flying around.

"For a time. But one can only remain a child for so long. I recall the first time I crept beyond the edge of the Wilds. I did so in animal form, remaining in the shadows and watching these strange townsfolk from afar. I happened upon a noblewoman by her carriage, adorned in sparkling garments the likes of which I had never before seen. I was dazzled. This, to me, seemed what true wealth and beauty must be. I snuck up behind her, and stole a hand mirror from the carriage. 'Twas encrusted in gold and crystalline gemstones and I hugged it to my chest with delight as I sped back to the Wilds."

I snickered. "I can't imagine Flemeth was pleased."

Morrigan gave a small smile that was tinged with a bit of sadness, or regret. I couldn't tell which she was feeling. "She… was not. Flemeth was furious with me. I was a child and had not yet come into my full power, and I had risked discovery for the sake of a pretty bauble. To teach me a lesson, Flemeth took the mirror and smashed it upon the ground. I was heartbroken."

I opened my mouth to speak, but Darrian called me over to help get the main fire going again. Alistair had tripped over Bodahn's food pot and spilt it all over the fire, wasting the food and putting out the warming blaze.

I stood up to go over, but then I remembered that I had my bow nearby. I reached for that, and took aim at the ring where Darrian needed the fire to be lit.

I went through my usual motions, breathing deeply and visualising the magic. The arrow cut through the air and hit the target spot on. The earth around the arrow burst to life, blazing with an intensity that was absent from the fire that burned there only minutes ago.

"You are getting better," said Morrigan.

I turned to thank her, but she had already slipped into the covers of her tent and out of sight. I spoke in an awkward way, cutting myself off halfway through the word when I realised she wasn't there.

"Goodnight," I said.

Bodahn and Sandal had retired to their caravan, and Leliana was getting ready to go to sleep too. Darrian and Alistair were sitting together talking about general Grey-Wardening, so I thought it best if I left them to it. It sounded like some pretty intense stuff anyway.

Right at this moment, my bed looked more beautiful than Morrigan. If you didn't count my fainting sleep, I hadn't rested properly for many hours, and it was catching up to me right now. I climbed in and pulled the flaps shut. I wish I could see through the roof.

"Goodnight, Fox," whispered Leliana. It was so quiet that I was unsure if I were meant to hear it.

"Oh. Night," I said back.