Finally, schools out and six weeks for me to get some chapters up. God, when I was writing this, I feel awfully rusty. It has been a bit since I actually wrote but I guess this is better than nothing.
So, here it is, my extremely poorly written chapter.

It wasn't much but it was better than nothing. With what she had, Hawke rationed her food carefully, stuffing a small piece of stale bread into her mouth. It almost did nothing to subside her hunger. It only made her want to eat more, but she knew she couldn't despite having fewer mouths to feed. None of them knew how long they were going to be in the Deep Roads before they reached the thugs and make the long trek home again. It didn't help Hawke's annoyance that they when they did start going home, they would need to find another route through the caverns thanks to the blasted cave in. Just the luck they needed right now.

Hawke was still stiff and sore, yet she couldn't afford to rest any longer, and the brief nap she had just made her feel even more exhausted. She tucked the remaining piece of bread back into its little sack and placed it into the rucksack she was carrying, which pressed against the daggers she had on her back, further irritating her. At least they hadn't bumped into any darkspawn yet, much to her relief. No one was in any condition to fight, and Anders could only do so much to help everyone. Hawke's arm was throbbing painfully, Varric wasn't walking right, Merrill still seemed to not have noticed she was wounded in the first place, Fenris was doing far better now since he had a fairly decent rest, Isabela was still holding her stomach in pain, Aveline masked her pain but Hawke could see she was uncomfortable with each step, and Anders glanced over everyone with each passing second, checking their state.

The Champion shook her head slowly. She was just hoping they would find the mercenaries sooner rather than later, for the benefit of the whole team. Her thoughts then trailed to the soldiers who were now dead. She was going to have fun telling their families what happened to them. She just prayed to the Maker that she would be able to get it over and done with as soon as she got back home.

They passed another section of red lyrium, both Hawke and Anders keeping a close eye on Fenris as they did. Thankfully, he didn't react to it, but Hawke still worried that it could happen again. The whispers were almost inaudible now, but could just be heard if she focussed on the noise through the clatter of metal against metal and feet to dirt. They were mysterious, yet daunting at the same time. Hawke didn't know what was causing those voices but she knew for sure that it was unnatural. The lyrium must slowly be corrupting her mind, all their minds until they went insane. She was just glad the cursed crystals decided to reside in here, and not on the surface.

Climbing up a small mound of rocks, Hawke and her team reached another wide room, a large pit of lava in its centre and the dreaded lyrium spiking out from the walls. A body layed half dangling over the edge of the lava pit and Aveline wasted no time into checking who or what it was. She walked over to it, leaving the rest of the team behind her as she pulled the fairly scorched body from the pit by its legs and turned it over, revealing a blistered face with his eyes rolled into the back of his head and mouth agape. His hair was so singed, it was shrivelled and black. Only a few small patches of brown hair were visible. Hawke grimaced at the sight as she walked to Aveline's side, waiting for her to speak.

"He's very disfigured to make out exactly who he was," Aveline stated, giving the body another glance. "But from what I can make out, he's one of the three thugs we are after." Hawke too, looked the body over, but couldn't see a single stab wound or laceration on his body. His neck however, was severely bruised.

"It seems he was strangled," Hawke pointed out, which made Aveline also look at his neck.

"I guess he was tortured, possibly by burning him with magic or the mere heat coming from this pit, then strangled to death and left here to burn." Varric chuckled.

"And since when were you into murder cases Red?" he asked, folding his arms. Aveline, who furrowed her brows at the nickname, looked at the dwarf.

"It's part of my job Varric," she said. "If a criminal dies before they are apprehended, I must predict what caused their death and file it for future use." Varric simply rolled his eyes.

"He couldn't have possibly been killed by his allies. None of them were mages."

"So? That doesn't mean they didn't kill him. Greed could have caused their actions. Sooner or later, the other two are going to fight over the rest of their prize, making our job much easier."

"And the reason why we don't leave them to just take the stuff is…?"

"Umm… hello? You two aren't the only living things on Thedas," Hawke interrupted, her hands on her hips. Aveline cleared her throat.

"My apologies Hawke," she replied. "I get much too engrossed in my job, don't I?" Hawke nodded slightly, her arms folded across her chest. The red-haired warrior sighed to herself with a small smile. 'Besides, I don't think the information will arrive back at the Viscountess' Keep in short time. We have already journeyed far into the Deep Roads and the pathways are continuously being blocked off by the whole cavern collapsing. Who knows if there's even a route back home.' Aveline thought. 'If… we are lucky enough to survive this mess.'

Aveline moved away from the charred and shrivelled body that lay at her feet and moved towards the door on the other side of the one they came out of. She pushed it open and was welcomed my more hot air and the smell of death. The stench wafted through the room, earning displeased from the team as they either wrinkled their noses in disgust or held them to ward it off as much as they could. It took Aveline a moment to examine the area they were about to venture into, and another moment to believe what she was actually seeing.

"Maker's breath. I cannot believe what I'm seeing right now," she breathed, both awe and fear audible in her tone of voice.

Isabela was quick to be behind her, eyes gleaming. "Please tell me there's something decent through these doors. Perhaps some ancient loot?" The injured pirate didn't wait for Aveline to answer and she nudged her out of the way, eager to see what had stopped the brave hearted knight captain.

"Rivaini, hold on a second!" Varric called to his friend, but it was too late. She vanished out of both Varric's and Aveline's sight as she ventured further into the room, muttering words under her breath. For an injured person, she was still quick on her feet. Varric quickly turned to Hawke.

"We can't just simply let her wander in there by herself!" he said aloud, getting everyone's attention. He drew his crossbow and held it firmly; ready to fire at anything that appeared or was threatening. "While we were here, I promised that no one would die on my watch, and that's come back to bite me in the ass. I'm not losing any of my friends, despite how deranged we all are. To me, you all are my family and I can't afford for it to fall apart."

Hawke nodded in agreement. "That's why I'm going in there by myself" she declared with a determined expression, earning horrified glances from everyone.

"Now do you see what I mean by deranged?!" Varric yelled. "Hawke, are you out of your bloody mind. We don't even know what's in there. For all we know, there could be a horde of darkspawn in there. You couldn't possibly take them on with only you and Rivaini. It's suicidal!"

Fenris, the most shocked out of the group, grasped Hawke's hands in his and squeezed them tightly. "No! I will not allow it!" He yelled, ignoring the pain he earned from the movement. He looked into her eyes, seeing the determination that masked what fear was visible in her eyes. "It is my job to protect you, and that I will. I'm not letting you go in there without me or anyone else!"

Hawke looked at him for a second, and then glanced at everyone else. "If you guys don't know it yet, it was my fault that we are here in the first place. And I'm going to make this right." She said, pulling away from Fenris' grip, leaving him staring at the ground in pure shock. Varric slowly lowered Bianca, an angry look on his face.

"Andraste's ass Hawke, what the hell are you talking about?! They are nothing but simple thugs messing with the law," he growled. Hawke stood at the door with her daggers in her grasp, Aveline just to her left. The rogue swivelled around, tears running down her face.

"Don't you understand? All the people that were killed during the war, their families, blamed me for their deaths. Even my own Uncle blamed me for the death of mother when it wasn't even my fault! Those thugs, are what remains of their families, and they risk their own lives just to see me and the people I care about perish." Hawke cried out. She turned around again and took a few steps into the next room. "No matter what you guys do, it is always my responsibility to take care of you guys. And if that means I die, then so be it. But I'm going to get Isabela without you guys. I'm not going to risk losing any of you." With those words spilt, she ran into the dreaded room and slamming the door behind her, leaving everyone too shocked to move.

Fenris slumped to his knees, his arms hanging limply at his side. The unfamiliar feeling of crying overwhelming his body as a single tear slid down his cheek.

Nope, don't really like this one. I feel as if everyone is out of character, and I've just made Hawke a depressed jerk. What do I do now?! Hopefully I can try to fix it. If I can't then there goes all my hard work -_-
I hoped you guys have enjoyed it as much as you can. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take all my rage out on Darks Souls 2.
Until next time guys.