I got a lion this weekend!

Ok maybe I actually got a cat but he looks like a lion…. A mini lion. Do you see my new avatar (the site says it might take up to 24 hours, so when you see an orange kitty its the new one)? That's my new lion.

As always, a thank you goes to my special fishy. She threw her back out this weekend so I've been lacing her fishy food with pain medication. ;)

And of course, thanks to my reviewers Bingham Vance and Judy. Remebered to review (those of you who've been forgetting... that's right. You. The one sitting in front of the computer hehehe)

And on with the latest edition of Stars!

.oO***Oo.

Their hodge-podge group found a nice stream to camp by for the night when Bodahn (the same Bodahn that had specifically said their journey might be a bit too "complicated" for him) had shown up. Alistair wasn't really surprised when Kallia said they could stay, he saw the way her face lit up when the young dwarven when she wanted an enchantment done. Alistair might not be the most observant of their group but even he was noticing Kallia's weak spot for children.

They were going to be royally screwed if the darkspawn had children.

Oh that was a thought… Do darkspawn have children or do they just pop out somewhere fully grown? Maybe they even popped out with armor and weapons too… That was a disturbing thought and Alistair decided he was done thinking about that.

With good timing too, Kallia was struggling to set up her tent. Sten seemed disinclined to help, Morrigan had gone off to her own fire, and Leliana was preoccupied with her own tent, so that meant it fell to him to help her. Not that he minded. After setting the tent up for her (no matter how hard she tried, it seemed Kallia simply couldn't figure it out) Alistair watched with a mixture of amusement and mild confusion as she set her bedroll up in front of the tent (not in the tent, in front of).

"I realize you're new to the whole camping with a tent thing," he finally started, "but the bedroll usually goes in the tent. It's rather the point. Of the tent, I mean."

Kallia looked up at him and gave him a smirk, "But I'm not tired of sleeping under the stars yet."

That night as they ate they waited for Leliana to begin one of her stories but instead she looked to Kallia. "I don't know a lot about growing up in the Tower. Why don't you tell us about that?"

Kallia was quiet for a moment, "I doubt you're interested. The only stories I know worth telling are the bedtime stories for the children."

"Ohh but we'd love to hear them!" Leliana exclaimed with a giggle and began clapping her hands like an excitable child.

Kallia sighed, "Alright, I haven't done this in a while so I'm a bit rusty but I'll try… Oh, I know. The Catching of Senior Enchanter Jess, it was a favorite amongst the children. Jess was a kind mage, but she was also very powerful. From the day she was brought to the Tower it was known she would be a great influence in the days to come.

"As she grew older, however, though Jess' power grew her body became frail, as all humans do. She knew her time was coming and she wished to see if she had any family left, but it is known that when you join the Tower you leave all family ties behind you, so she could not get permission to say goodbye to those that were once her family.

"No one knows how the old mage managed to sneak out of the Tower and across the lake, but she managed it somehow. It took her weeks to make her way to Denerim, where she found that much had changed. Her family no longer lived where they once had and she had no way of finding them. She was walking in the Market when she noticed the Templars Kalus and Darrion. Jess was about to turn herself into them when a terrible accident happened right in front of her.

"A young human boy, the son of the Arl of Denerim, was playing in the streets when he didn't notice a carriage coming right at him. The daughter of one of the servants had wandered off from her mother's side. She did see the carriage. The young girl never liked to see anyone get hurt, so she ran forward and shoved the young boy out of the way and she was run over instead. Jess felt the magic in the air just before the carriage ran the girl over however.

"The young girl was a mage and, though the Arcane Shield she summoned did not prevent her from getting hurt, it likely saved her from an instant death even though it was clear without help the girl would be dead soon anyway. It is said that the boy screamed and accused the young girl, for when she had pushed him out of the way he had scraped his knee and dirtied his clothes. But the young girl heard none of this, all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears. All she knew in those moments was immense pain. A broken arm, a concussion, three cracked ribs and two broken, one of those broken ribs punctured her lung so no matter how hard she tried to breathe she could not.

"Kalus and Darrion were in the crowd and though Kalus wanted to help the girl, he knew little of healing and Darrion convinced him to leave her to her death. They were hot on Jess' trail and Darrion didn't want to lose her.

"Jess waited until the two Templars had left before breaking out of the crowd and running to the girl's side. She did what she could to heal the girl, likely saving the girl's life. As she healed she whispered in the girl's ear, 'We mages have few allies and even fewer friends. We must protect and preserve each other whenever possible.'

"Darrion and Kalus felt the magic in the air again and Kalus convinced Darrion to go back to check if the girl had managed to heal herself. When they returned to see Jess kneeling over the young girl, her hands glowing blue, Darrion drew his sword. Kalus told him to stay his hand until the girl was healed, but Darrion would have none of it. 'If the girl survives then we have to take her back,' he complained. Kalus could do nothing as Darrion came up behind Jess and trust his sword through her chest.

"Jess died with a smile on her face, knowing her final act had been to save the young girl. Kalus grabbed the girls hand and explained to her that they were taking her to her new home. Darrion grabbed the body of the elder mage, but did nothing to stop Kalus. The young girl made it to the Tower safely under the watchful gaze of Kalus."

As she finished her story, Kallia looked at her companions to see Leliana and Alistair giving her horrified looks. "They...They tell that story to children?" Leliana asked in disbelief.

Kallia nodded, "It's one of their favorites because of the happy ending."

"What happy ending?" the bard asked. Kallia didn't understand their reactions, so she frowned.

"The little girl survived."

"But they slaughtered the woman who saved her right in front of her!"

"But... the little girl survived..." Kallia repeated.

"A happy ending is usually where all of the good guys survive, not just one little girl," Leliana explained. "A good happy ending for that story would have been Jess killing Darrion to defend herself and then she and Kalus fall in love and run away together to raise the little girl as their own," the bard sighed dramatically as she imagined it in her head.

"But that isn't how it happened. Jess didn't kill Darrion, Darrion killed her..."

"You mean that's a true story?" Leliana wondered, again Kallia frowned in confusion.

"Of course it's a true story. Jowan and I heard it from Kalus himself."

"Oh… So if it was true, did you know the little girl then?"

"I... in a way I did," Kallia responded hesitantly. "Jowan did, they were close friends."

"And who is Jowan?" Leliana wondered with a smirk. Oh did Kallia recognize that look, it was girly-gossip time. She held back a groan.

"Jowan was my best friend at the Tower."

"And did you and Jowan ever-"

"Firewood!" Alistair yelled suddenly catching both girls attention. He was standing and even in the dim light of the fire they could tell he had gone bright red.

"But we have plen-" Kallia started before he interrupted again.

"I'll get more," his voice was a tad louder than necessary and the longer he stood there the higher pitched it became. Without waiting for another answer he turned suddenly and left.

Leliana giggled. "It looks like your Templar doesn't want to hear about your sexual exploits."

"He's not my Templar and I doubt it has anything to do with me specifically. I'm sure this is just a topic he prefers to avoid in general. Templars are like that," Kallia told her. It reminded her of the way Cullen would always sputter when she flirted with him. Alistair would undoubtedly be embarrassed when he returned. "Leliana, why don't we go take a bath? I want to try heating the water," she suggested. When Leliana jumped up to grab towels Kallia couldn't help but sigh slightly. Leliana was just like an excitable child. Kallia called out to invite Morrigan, but the witch wasn't at her fire so Kallia simply ignored it.

The pond was rather small, barely more than a stream, but it was big enough for the two women. Kallia's control over her fire magic was tentative at best, so she ended up boiling the water but a bit of ice magic put the water was at pleasantly stinging temperature.

"So you never answered," Leliana started. "Did you and Jowan ever…"

Kallia laughed. "No, not with Jowan, that would have just been… creepy."

"Oh, why?"

"Jowan was always just… Jowan. I never saw him that way, I don't think I could have."

"Did you love him?" Leliana wondered, hearing how Kallia's voice had softened.

The mage smiled softly. "I did, but not in the way you're asking. Jowan was always there. I can't remember my life before the Tower and he had already been at the Tower a year before I arrived. I used to have to stay up late with him to help him study." She laughed sadly, "I remember one time, he was practicing… what was it… I think it was an arcane bolt. It backfired just as Irving came in. They were fine but I ended up being thrown across the room and cutting open my arm."

Kallia brought her arm out of the water to show the bard a jagged scar that ran across her inner forearm. "Irving rushed to heal me, it was quite deep, but I wouldn't let him. I told him I was going to sit there until Jowan healed me. Jowan, of course, protested but I told him every second he argued was a second less he had to heal me. He might not do well under pressure but I knew he wouldn't let anything happen to me." Her hand came up to trace along the scar, but then her words sunk in. "Though he had no problem leaving Lily and I to our fates..." The mage's eyes hardened as she remembered Jowan's betrayal. "I'm going to head back, enjoy the bath."

.oO***Oo.

It was their second night camping when Alistair felt the tug at the back of his mind. The one that signaled the archdemon was "talking" to the horde. He was awake at the time on watch but Kallia was asleep, not only that but she had yet to learn how to block the nightmares out. Seconds later he saw her twitch, then her face contorted into a painful grimace and within minutes she was thrashing around.

He called out to waken her, but didn't go near her. He'd learned from experience you don't actually want to be near a Grey Warden when they wake up after one of the nightmares, particularly their first one. Sure enough, Kallia's first reaction after bolting upright in her bedroll was the Mind Blast spell she'd taught herself when the villagers attacked them at Lothering. Thankfully no one else's bedrolls were near hers (as they actually slept in their tents) and Mangy seemed unaffected as he continued to sleep.

He watched her look around with a wild sort of fear he'd never seen in her eyes before. She recovered herself quickly though, he was impressed, actually, on how quickly she'd composed herself. He'd fought tooth and nail (the other Grey Wardens had had the foresight to take away his sword and shield every night before bed) for nearly five minutes before he'd managed to calm down after his first Warden Nightmare.

"It was so real..." Alistair heard her mutter to herself, she hadn't even noticed him yet it seemed.

He waited for her eyes to settle on him before speaking, not wanting to startle her. "Well it is real... Sort of. Grey Wardens can hear the darkspawn. We tap into their group mind. That's what your dream was: hearing them. The archdemon 'talks' to the horde. That's how we know this is a true Blight."

"The archdemon is the dragon, then?" Kallia asked him.

"Well I'm not sure if it's actually a dragon, but it certainly looks like one yes. Anyway, I saw you thrashing around and figured I should wake you."

"I appreciate it."

Alistair chuckled. "That's what I'm here for. To deliver bad news and witty one-liners."

"I... Can I sleep now? Is the archdemon done... 'talking'?" Kallia asked and Alistair shook his head.

"Do you feel a sort of tug at the back of your mind?" He waited for Kallia to nod, "That's the archdemon trying to pull you in. I wouldn't go to sleep until that feeling's gone, or you'll just have another nightmare."

Kallia made no reply as she took the top blanket off her bedroll, wrapped it around herself, and went to sit across from him by the fire. Alistair expected her to begin practicing her control of fire as he knew she did during her watch when everyone else was asleep, but was surprised when instead she just looked up at the stars.

She was quiet for several minutes before she frowned, her eyes never leaving the stars."Do you believe magic is a curse?" she wondered. Alistair blinked at the topic change, but she didn't appear to be wanting an answer. "Do you think that the Maker gave mages magic as a punishment or a gift?"

"I-"

"There was one girl at the Tower that prayed to the Maker everyday to forgive her for whatever sin she'd committed that caused Him to curse her with magic. I can't remember her name any more. I should. I should remember her name. I grew up with her, spent years with her there… I only left the Tower a month ago but I can't remember her name. I can't believe it's only been a month, it feels like a lifetime has passed..." Kallia sighed. "I have always thought it was a gift. I can do things most humans and elves can't, why should I not be grateful for that? What do you think? Gift or curse?"

Alistair was quiet for a minute. "I think magic is what you make it to be. I trust you with magic, but Morrigan? Or a Blood Mage?"

"Why do you hate her so much?" Kallia wondered. There was no emotion in her tone, she wasn't accusing him she was simply wondering.

"She's mean and evil and-"

"She picks on you because you give her the reaction she wants. You make it fun to pick on you," Kallia informed him. She had seen it often enough with the children at the Tower.

"But she wouldn't find it fun to pick on me if she wasn't mean," he told her petulantly.

Kallia just sighed, a sodding mother…