Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Age, any OC's are mine. No beta, any and all mistakes are mine.
Angel woke up with a splitting headache and a sore body. She tried to move her feet, only to feel a heavy weight on them. Confused and curious, she lifted herself up with a grunt, only to see Ares laying on her feet. She smiled at the sight.
It took her a moment to realize she was in someone's house. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Ah, it seems your friend here is awake," she heard Dennet say.
Oh. Well, that answered that.
Ares woke up a moment later, stretching and hopping off the bed. Angel noticed that the gashes she'd seen earlier had begun healing quite well.
How long was she out this time?
"One of your friends asked for some healing poultice for the dog. She put it on him while you were out," Dennet said. "They're all outside waiting for you."
Angel sighed. Great. Now she felt like a bother.
"Thanks," she said regardless, groaning in pain as she lifted herself up off the bed and walked outside. She found the rest of the group standing near the door, talking amongst themselves.
Edric noticed Angel at the door, "Well, good morning, sunshine!" He said with a smile.
"'Super fine', huh?" Varric asked, grinning.
"Well, I may have exaggerated a bit. How long was I—"
"Only a few hours," Edric answered.
"Ah. Could have been worse, I guess."
"You shouldn't push yourself so hard," Cassandra chastised. "You should have told us how much the rift had affected you."
"Sorry," Angel immediately said, slumping her shoulders – the action actually hurting. She thought back to what Dennet had said. "Oh, and thanks for taking care of Ares for me."
"You're welcome."
"She also carried you here," Edric supplied.
"Oh," Angel said. For some reason the thought of being carried by Cassandra nearly made her blush. She ignored it. "Well then, thank you… again."
"You're welcome, again," Cassandra replied with a hint of a smile on her face, and for once she didn't look annoyed. "Dennet has agreed to supply the Inquisition with horses. He's also agreed to be our horsemaster."
Angel nodded. "Cool. So we're going back to Haven?" She asked, hopeful.
"Dennet will be. We still have the Mages to deal with," Edric answered.
"Oh. Yeah."
"We're done for the day, however. I think we've accomplished enough for one day. We need to rest," Cassandra said.
Angel felt like they were stopping just for her, but she was nonetheless grateful.
After they walked (more like hobbling for Angel, really) to camp, Angel made her way to her designated tent.
"Going to bed already?" She heard Edric ask.
"I feel awful. So yes."
"The sun isn't even down," he pointed out.
"Again with the feeling awful."
Edric laughed to himself as she entered her tent.
Angel fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
XXX
The next morning, she woke up before dawn (and really, what else should she have expected?) but she wasn't too upset over it, as she felt much better than the night before. With her headache gone, though her muscles still ached (which she assumed was going to be a permanent thing while she was in Thedas), she exited her tent. She was surprised to see Cassandra sitting around the campfire, reading a book.
Angel made a face showing her curiosity, wondering why the older woman was up so early.
"You know, it's bad for your eyes to read in the dark."
Cassandra jumped in her seat.
Jumped.
Angel somehow managed not to laugh.
"What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?" Cassandra nearly screeched, slamming the book shut.
"I wasn't sneaking?" Angel asked more than answered. Cassandra just glared, which only proved to amuse Angel. "What're you reading?" She asked with a smirk.
"Nothing," Cassandra said. "It's not important."
Angel's smirk turned into a full-blown grin. "Alright then," she said as she watched Cassandra get up from her seat with a humph and all but throw the book into her tent before returning to her seat. There she sat, irritated, while Angel stood in her spot, amused. A few moments later Angel piped back up. "I was serious about the reading in the dark thing."
"There was plenty of light from the fire," Cassandra informed.
"Ah," Angel said, mirth still in her voice. "I see."
A few more minutes of silence passed, and Angel thought that was how the rest of the morning was going to go before, before Cassandra mumbled, "Please don't tell anyone."
Angel's face scrunched up in confusion. "You don't want people to know that you read?" She asked, causing Cassandra to just give her a blank look. "Right," Angel said, before she began to fake mulling it over. "I don't know, I guess I could let this one slide. You owe me, though," she said with a grin.
"One would think you owe me for carrying you to Dennet's, and taking care of your dog."
That left Angel speechless for a moment.
She made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Touché."
Cassandra sighed. "I didn't mean that," she said. "You don't owe me anything. But..."
Angel grinned for a moment before replying. "I won't tell anyone."
Cassandra nodded once in thanks.
They spent the rest of the morning to themselves in idle conversation until the rest of the gang woke up. After they ate, they immediately set out to find the Mages.
XXX
The journey itself was pretty quiet, until, "Alright, I give up. What happened?" Varric asked.
"What?" Angel asked back, confused.
"Between you and the Seeker."
"What?" She repeated.
"You keep smiling at her. And she keeps glaring at you when she catches you smiling. You're both in on something, and I want to know what."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Angel said, though she couldn't hold back another smile. Cassandra caught it and glared at her.
"There! See, again!" Varric said. He paused, mostly for dramatic effect, Angel was sure, before speaking back up. "Did you two kiss or something?"
"What?" Angel asked for the third time, frowning. "Where did that even come from?"
"Why does everything with you always have to be so dramatic?" Cassandra asked.
"Hey, I've written enough books to know where this goes," Varric said.
"You write?" Angel asked.
"Don't change the subject—"
"Do your books also make such long reaches?"
Cassandra snorted at that.
"Alright, alright," Edric piped in, "I don't know about the whole kissing thing, but I agree with Varric that something had to have happened."
Angel held back a smile. "I have sworn myself to secrecy," she said, mock solemnly. Cassandra managed to send the girl a look that just said, 'really?'
"Now who's being dramatic?" Varric asked with a sigh.
Angel laughed. "No, really. It's nothing, anyway."
"If it's nothing then why can't you tell me?"
"Well—"
Angel was interrupted by Solas. "In any case, I sense magic in the area. The Mages cannot be far."
Varric squinted his eyes, glaring at Angel in a half-serious-half-joking way. "You win this round, Freckles."
Angel gave him a smile in response.
They found the Mages in a cave. There was a barrier keeping anyone out, but Solas quickly took care of it. Inside, they found more Mages than Angel was ready for, though the Mages were clearly caught off guard by the Inquisition's presence in their hideout.
The fight was more complicated than the Templars', if only because all of the Mages could attack from afar. With the Templars it was easier to funnel them all into one location. Cassandra taunted the few that were closest to her with a battle cry, causing them to all attack her. That left the rest of the Mages that were farther away up to the rest of the group.
There was a man in the middle who was obviously the leader of the group. Angel focused her attacks on him, causing him to attack her in return. He threw bolts of ice at her, and she managed to dodge a few before finally being hit by one.
It knocked her over, but she quickly stood back up, renewing her attack on the man. Solas finished off his battle with one of the Mages and began attacking the leader as well. With the two of them it didn't take long to defeat him. The rest of the Mages panicked at their leader being killed, causing them to become less organized. The rest of the Mages were short work.
"I guess that takes care of the Mages," Edric said.
"Now we go back to Haven?" Angel asked, sounding hopeful.
Cassandra merely nodded in response.
XXX
The trip back to Haven seemed shorter than the trip out. As soon as Angel saw Haven in the distance she felt relieved.
The relief didn't last long, however.
"Now we're going to Val Royleaux?" She asked, though it sounded more like a whine.
"I'm not sure you understand the road ahead of us," Cullen said. "We've a long way to go."
"Meh."
"We'll leave at dawn," Cassandra informed in her authoritative tone.
"Okay," Angel said in a sigh, sounding like a child who was just told to go to bed.
"At least there won't be any fighting there," Cullen said, trying to cheer the younger girl up.
"Physical fights, anyhow," Josephine interjected. "A battle of words can be just as tiring," she continued as she looked to Angel. "I apologize if you find that discouraging."
Angel gave a half-shrug in response. "I don't know what else I was expecting."
A/N: *more awkward laughter* what do you mean it's been a year since I last updated?
But no really I'm going to try and get on it.
