Chapter the Eighth: Quail Eggs and Nug-capades
Rated: E for Everyone
They awoke and dressed without speaking. Megara couldn't look at Zevran and he seemed to be of like mind. She left the charred chest in the room and tipped the cleaning wench a silver to dispose of the contents. Shortly after dawn they met the Wardens and Morrigan at the gates of Denerim. It was an uneventful walk back to the camp where Sten and Leliana were waiting.
Leliana's screams, coupled with Grey's frantic howling could be heard well before they reached the camp. All five broke into a run, pounding the frozen dirt road to reach the camp. Weapons drawn, no one could have anticipated the scene which awaited them. Standing atop a rotted log, throwing random sticks and pinecones, was a terrified Leliana. An equally frantic Grey, Tara's mabari hound, was huddled onto the log, whining and howling at something on the ground.
Morrigan and Megara walked up to the log to see what all the commotion was about. Both mages dissolved into fits of laughter upon discovering a small, common nug trying to claw its way up the log. Megara's side hurt from laughing so hard. Sten chose that moment to appear, a string of fish slung over his broad shoulders. Even he managed a slight smile.
"You have chased down and torn the throats of Darkspawn but you are terrified of an overgrown rat, you mangy beast!?" Morrigan quipped, shaking her head and walking to her tent.
Tara went to help Sten and Alistair to tend the animals. Megara and Zevran locked eyes, grinning maliciously at one another. Zevran picked up the squeaking nug and made to leave with it while Megara helped the shrieking priestess down. After everyone had stopped giggling and settled, they crowded around the main campfire for a large breakfast of wild quail eggs, fried fish and milk, the latter of which Tara had purchased that morning in Denerim. Everyone ate in good natured comradery, cracking an occasional joke or trying to steal food from one another's plates. Tara mentioned to Alistair that she'd found a book on the Joining at Brother Genitivi's. Megara even found herself joining that discussion in earnest, even after Tara had finished her food and left to tear down her unused tent. She & Alistair were animatedly discussing the possibilities of rebuilding the Grey Wardens when a piercing wail broke the quiet.
Megara had nearly forgotten, so engrossed was she in her talk with a man who seemed to loathe her. Kicking back her feet, she shuffled over to allow Zevran a prime seat to watch the chaos unfold as he approached and Alistair scrambled to find the source of distress.
"What did you two do now?" Morrigan asked, leading her already packed horse up behind the two conspirators.
Suddenly, an animated tent with a flailing and screaming Leliana trapped inside stumbled into the clearing. Close behind her, the little nug was hopping about. Tara was trying to catch the nug and Alistair the tent. Grey ripped past them all, howling and knocking all three over. Tara and Alistair tangled in the tent in the confusion. Zevran let loose a throaty chuckle and Megara could not contain her mirth, falling backwards off the log, laughing. The tangled trio took ages to sort themselves out.
"Where did you find a nug in Denerim, anyways?" she mused to Zevran as he helped her up. Sten and Morrigan headed off, impatient to be gone. Stretching, he looked at her with a sad sort of grin. "I'll tell you if you tell me where the large bruise on your thigh came from."
*Apologies for the delay in posting, I have been ill and out of sorts. Wanted to break the dark pattern with some fun. Megara and Zevran can both communicate without speaking, but also have an extreme communication barrier in Megara's unwillingness to unburden herself from her past. How much trouble do you think they'll be in?
