This took longer to update then I thought it would, mostly because this chapter kept giving me problems -_- Which is why, it is amazingly smaller then the rest of the other chapters D: Trust me, you'll see why it is as such.
This chapter is told from Clare's POV again. So, read on ~ (and yes - the lyrics are from Shrek. I always have the song in my head when characters go on an adventure, lol).
IF WE EVER MEET AGAIN
0:7
"I'm on my way from misery to happiness today.
I'm on my way to what I want from this world,
and years from now you'll make it to the next world.
And everything that you receive up yonder,
is what you gave to me the day I wandered"
-
"We'll make camp here for the night," Clare said suddenly, after the group had stopped walking for a few moments. She was too busy looking up at the sky to notice Alistair's confused expression behind her.
"We're camping? Now?"
Clare turned around when she heard him questioning her, a look of annoyance on her face. Why would she say they were camping, if they weren't going to do exactly that? And more importantly, why was he even questioning her decision? A small frown appeared on her face.
"Yes, that's what I said. We'll camp here, and then carry on our journey tomorrow."
Still, that reply didn't seem enough to throw him off whatever point he was trying to make. Clare should have guessed, they'd been travelling for a week and the little conversations the two had shared would often end in some sort of disagreement.
"But – the wilds aren't even that far away. If we continue walking, we should be able to reach their in only a few hours."
"Ah so, your map reading skills have improved since the last time we all travelled together," came Zevran's voice from beside Clare.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see the rest of their group around her putting their belongings on the ground, some already beginning to prepare their tents. At least they were following orders, unlike a certain someone.
"The last time I remember we followed your map reading skills, we took a wrong turning and ended up walking straight into a rather large dragon's lair. And it was not a pretty situation to remember."
Clare remembered the experience that Zevran was talking about. When they were searching for the urn of sacred ashes, the group had met a maze of underground tunnels buried within the small village of Haven. Alistair had believed that his instincts were telling them to go down one certain tunnel – one that wasn't marked on the not so useful map they had been provided. Still, they had agreed to take his advice, but soon found themselves in a dead end; with dragons. Lots of dragons. It really wasn't an experience that Clare herself wanted to relive, and just thinking back to that whole situation, she mentally told herself that they were not to trust Alistair's instincts within the wilds. Maker knows what kind of nightmarish disaster they'd walk into if they did.
"Yes well, that's not the point. In fact – I'm not even sure what prompted the dragon cave adventure topic to be brought up." Clare noticed as Alistair shot a glare at Zevran, who in return merely shrugged before he walked off. "Anyway-" he turned back to Clare then, continuing on from whatever it was he was trying to say beforehand. "The point is you wanted to reach the wilds as quickly as possible, so why are we camping when we can get to the wilds today?"
Well, Clare couldn't deny that Alistair was partly right there. She did want this 'adventure' to be over as quickly as possible, but as a leader – she knew that it would be unwise for them to enter the wilds right away. In reply, she rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms.
"Because, your highness, it would be unwise. We've been walking for a number of hours today as it is, and the group is fatigued enough as it is. It would be much wiser to make camp here and now, and recuperate our energy, then to carry on walking only to then walk into the danger that is the wilds. You know as well as I do how dangerous a place it is even when you aren't tired, so think about how worse it would be if we just blindly walk in their as we are now. We don't know what else lurks there for starters, and if that wasn't enough of a reason to camp now-" Claire turned slightly and pointed to the sky, where a dark blob of clouds could be seen from the distance. "Then that should be. By my calculations, the rain will reach us in an hour or two. I'm not sure about you, but I don't really want to continue travelling to such an unpredictable place in such weather, not when we could put it off till tomorrow."
Clare watched Alistair's expression as he thought about all she had just told him. She couldn't help but admit to herself that she wished that they could just make it to the wilds that day, but at the same time Clare couldn't ignore what was best for the others in her group. Even with experience, the other grey wardens were less experienced then the both her and Alistair, and part of her anticipated that the wilds would be a rather larger test for them. Her own instincts told her that stopping now would be a good idea, and probably more beneficial as it would provide a night for them to prepare themselves for any combat they were likely to encounter.
Clare was so deep in thought then that she almost missed Alistair's nod in agreement, and only noticed when he was continuing to speak.
"Yes of course, I – didn't even think about it like that."
Of course he didn't Clare heard her mind say. He always decided that running headfirst into trouble was better than waiting around 90% of the time. Instead of voicing her thoughts however, she merely sighed and turned her back to him.
"Good, well now that you see it from my point of view – get yourself sorted and help with preparing the camp. And don't question what I think is best for this group again."
Clare didn't wait for a reply, and instead walked off to help set up camp herself. There was still a lot for them to sort out even if they weren't entering the wilds till the next day, such as finding firewood to create a fire, and finding some source of food for that night's meal. Not to mention she'd want to look over her plans and prepare herself for when they did enter the wilds the next day.
She didn't catch Alistair's sigh of defeat as she walked off, nor did she catch Teresa walking over to him soon after, although she did hear them murmuring about something. Deciding she wasn't interested in finding out, Clare decided to turn and talk to one of the other wardens instead, giving them instructions to search for some firewood.
Chapter 8 will be up - much quicker than this chapter was. ( by that I mean tomorrow ). And, I think you guys might like that chapter alot more. ;)
Feel free to review this chapter if you liked it, reviews are like cookies to me.
