Part Two
Chapter 10
Heavily Broken

When dawn crept over the camp, Aerianes crawled out from her tent, smelling the sweet dew as it began to evaporate over the grass. Winter was on its way, she could feel it and smell it on the wind. The thought of camping in the wintertime made her cringe inwardly. Her clan always moved north months before the frost was about to settle in, and she had never actually experienced a snowfall since childhood.

'How long it's been since then...'

She looked about the camp, and all was still silent. The cart and horse that the dwarves had arrived in was gone, as they had promised. Ahead of her, Sten was sharpening his blade in silence, finishing the remainder of his night watch in reverie. Aerianes was tempted to go and chat, but opted out for simply readying the pots for breakfast. Sten was not someone she seemed to be able to cuddle up to too quickly, and she was still a little unsure of the qunari's true intentions.

So she simply walked to the fire, nodded to her newest comrade, and grabbed the large pot. She began to make her way to the river, when she heard Daugion bark after her. She turned, smiled, and motioned for him to follow her. He barked again and trotted beside her through the bushes, sniffing random trees as he went.

Aerianes pushed the branches out of her way as she went, careful not to trip over loose roots, and made it to the bank. Daugion immediately ran to the river, splashing about and barking happily. The elf smiled and looked upward, the sky clear and beginning to turn a pale blue as the night was banished for another day. She walked to the water and began to dip the pot lengthwise into the current. Daugion ran to her and tried to nudge her, trying to get her attention.

"Hey, boy," Aerianes laughed as he licked her face. "Come on, we have to get this back to our friends! It won't do any good to return with a sandy pot and dirty water!"

He was relentless though, and finally Aerianes was forced to set the pot down and tackle her hound. Daugion growled playfully and dodged the grip of his master, amused as she tumbled into the water.

"Daugion!"

He barked again, lowering onto his front haunches and wagging his backside in the air. He was having fun with her, and that was really what mattered. However, now her tunic was soaked through, and the morning chill was still about.

Aerianes stood up in the water and shook her body exactly as her hound would. Daugion barked again, pleased with their quick playtime. He trotted up to the elf and stood on his back legs, trying to embrace her in an awkward hug. Aerianes laughed and stroked in between his ears, grinning when she heard the pleased whine from her hound.

"Okay, we can't play all day now, can we? We have a meal to eat, and darkspawn to slay!"

As they reentered the camp, Aerianes was pleased to see everyone rising from their own slumber. Leliana was readying the grain and few berries they had picked along the was for breakfast, while the others began packing their tents and bedrolls.

"Ah! You have returned!" Leliana exclaimed, waving her hand as Aerianes neared the fire. She raised her eyebrows quizzically at her, noting her soaking clothing. "My friend, what has happened? Why are you soaked to the bone?"

As she dropped the pot next to her, Aerianes sighed and ruffled her hound's ears again. "This one just won't leave well enough alone, I'm afraid." She pulled the fabric away from her body, allowing a cold draft to rise up through her tunic, making her shiver. "I suppose I best go and dry off. Can you keep him company for now?"

Leliana looked to the hound, crinkled her nose slightly, but smiled. "I suppose, so long as he keeps a fair distance from my nose."

He whimpered in response.

"Thanks, Leliana," Aerianes laughed and strode off towards her tent. She thought she could see Alistair giving her a second glance on her way by. By the way her wet tunic clung to her curves, it made his face flush and he quickly turned away again. That was when she noticed how revealing the wet cloth actually was, and she blushed a bright crimson, rushing into her tent to hide her embarrassment.

Alistair winced, thinking he had turned his head quick enough to hide his awkwardness. He couldn't help but redden when she walked past him like that. Even from the distance, the wet tunic she sported left very little to the imagination, and the was she was oblivious to it was just so...

'Cute.'

No, not cute. Something a little more racy.

'We're in the middle of a Blight, you idiot! And you're making eyes at your leader like a schoolboy does to his crush! Snap out of it!'

The truth was, however, that it was difficult to snap out of it. He wasn't the best with first impressions and words, but it seemed whenever they were alone together, he could hardly form a sentence, let alone an entire conversation! He functioned so much better in their entire group, where others could join in on their conversations at anytime, and it felt more like a group of travelers than just...a boy and a girl.

He sighed and shook his head. He knew he was being silly, but he had to get at least a little more insight. If anything, all of this would be a good learning experience for him. So after he finished packing the tent he and Sten shared, he strapped them to their horse and walked over to the fire, where Leliana and Sten sat quietly eating their breakfast. He checked back over his shoulder as he sat on the ground. Morrigan was on her own, as per usual, packing her own things, eating her own food; and Aerianes was still in her tent. He sighed with relief and grabbed a bowl, scooping his share of the bland gruel that was ready.

"So..." he began, clearing his throat and turning to the woman. "You're female, Leliana, right?"

She had her spoon almost to her mouth when this statement was heard. She stopped her hand, turned her gaze over to the templar, and smirked. "I am? That's news. When did this happen?"

Alistair's face began to flush already. "I just wanted some advice." He took a large spoonful of gruel and forced it down into his stomach. For some reason, eating was a little more difficult when talking about this. He cleared his throat again and continued. "What should I do if... if I think a woman is special and-"

"You want to woo her?" she cut him off rather excitedly. When his face looked as if he was choking, she calmed herself and waited for his moment of anxiety to pass. "Here's a good tip: You shouldn't question her about her female-ness."

He nodded to her. "All right, yes. Good point."

She couldn't help the grin that was forming on her face. Through the short amount of time she knew her companions, she could sense the feelings between the two Wardens, even if they were completely oblivious to it at this point. She always loved a good love story, and watching it unfold and bloom in front of her eyes was only an added bonus. She didn't want to push them, though. No, Alistair and Aerianes would have to fall upon this themselves. But maybe...she could nudge?

"Why do you ask? Are you afraid things will not proceed naturally?"

Alistair scoffed. "Why would they? Especially when I do things like ask women if they're female?"

Leliana's face softened. "It's part of your charm, Alistair. You are a little awkward. It is endearing."

"So I should be awkward? Didn't you just say not to do things like that?"

"Just be yourself!" she exclaimed. "You know how to do that, don't you?"

Alistair turned when he heard the soft footsteps of his elven companion. He turned his full attention to his bowl and mumbled under his breath, "All right, forget I asked."

"What's everyone talking about?" Aerianes asked as she plopped down across from the three warriors. She was dry once again, dressed in her armor with her hair pulled back. Leliana handed her a bowl, which she took happily, and began to shovel the slop into her mouth. Her appetite had been ravenous lately, and she was glad even for tasteless gruel to ingest.

"We are simply getting to know our newest member a little better," Leliana said, turning to Sten, smiling. "I've heard stories about the qunari, you know."

Sten turned. "Oh?"

"They conquered nearly all of the north. Tevinter, Rivain, Antiva," she explained. "Much of the land was laid waste. In the northern kingdoms, they say the qunari are implacable, relentless. More like a landslide than an invasion," she turned to Aerianes, noticing how she had so easily captured her attention. "It took three Exalted Marches to drive them back to the sea!"

Sten huffed. "We'll do better next time." He stared into the fire and then looked from Aerianes to Leliana. His brows furrowed and he turned again to the red head. "Why are you here?"

She seemed taken back by his blunt question. Her gaze shifted slightly, which Aerianes caught right away.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Women are priests, artisans, farmers or shopkeepers."

Aerianes rolled her eyes. "Oh, here we go."

Sten ignored the elf and continued, unaffected by her interruption. "None of them have any place in fighting."

Leliana sighed and rose to her feet. "I have no idea how to answer this..." She lowered her hands and began to gather the bowls and spoons, hoping the conversation would end with her being silent and leaving.

"It is not done," Sten continued. "There is no more to it."

She turned, arms full of dishes and narrowed her gaze to the gruff man. "Do you mean your people have no female mages or warriors?"

"Of course not. Why would our women wish to be men?"

"What are you talking about?" she fumed, her patience running thin. "They don't wish to be men!"

Aerianes lowered her eyes to the ground, motioning for Alistair to do the same. They were not getting into the middle of this.

But Sten only nodded, folding his arms as if he had won the debate. "They shouldn't. That can only lead to frustration."

Leliana sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Sten...no, never mind. Let's drop this."

"As you wish."

As Leliana trumped down to the river to quickly wash, Aerianes stood and stretched. She noticed Alistair out of the corner of her eye, again seeming to keep his gaze away from her. She felt bad. He seemed the kind of man who would fumble if a woman so much as bared her ankle to him, and there she had been, unintentionally baring her entire being to the world. She had to do something to say she was sorry.

"Alistair, would you help me pack my camp?" She asked. "I never could figure out human tents, and it bunches all wrong when I do it."

Without a word or a glance, he nodded and marched over to the assembled tent. Aerianes practically had to run to keep up with him.

As they began to take down the few poles and tarps, Aerianes cleared her throat, hoping to drive his attention away from the awkwardness of this morning.

"So," she began, folding the tarp as he untied the poles. "How did you become a Grey Warden?"

This topic, he would always be happy to open up about.

Alistair shrugged, still not looking her way. "Same way you did. You drink some blood, you choke on it, you pass out. You haven't forgotten already, have you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny."

He shrugged again, as if trying to rid himself of his anxiety. "I do my best. What can I say?" He seemed to ponder his answer for a moment; then, as he began to tie up the poles, he continued. "Let's see, I was in the Chantry before. I trained for many years to become a templar, in fact. That's where I learned most of my skills."

Aerianes laughed. "You don't seem the religious type."

"You're telling me," he chuckled, finally looking at her, his nerves put to ease. "I was banished to the kitchen to scour the pots more time then I can count. And that a lot," he added quickly. "I can count pretty high.

"The Grand Cleric didn't want to let me go. Duncan was forced to conscript me, actually; and was she ever furious when he did. I thought she was going to have us both arrested. I was lucky."

He was helping her fold up the remainder of the tent, the two of them meeting at the middle as they met the corners of the folds. Aerianes tried to grab hold of the corners just as Alistair did, their fingers intertwining for a quick moment. She shot Alistair a glance, as did he. Both stayed there for a time, not saying anything. She could feel Alistair's breath on her face and her own seemed to catch in her throat.

'What's wrong with me?'

Suddenly, a clatter was heard behind them. They both turned to see Daugion running away, Morrigan making chase as he bounded about with her staff in hand. She was yelling for him to stop, while Leliana giggled and Sten merely watched, as silent as ever.

She heard Alistair cough from her other side and she turned quickly to see he was trying to grab the fabric from her fingers. Aerianes dropped her hands as if his were suddenly on fire. She smiled and caught him doing the same as he walked towards the horse to pack the tent. The elf quickly picked up her weapons and travel pack, running after the templar.

"Why did the Grand Cleric want to keep you?" she asked, trying to keep up their conversation.

As Alistair finished packing and reining the horse, he turned to her and smirked. "I wondered that myself. It's not as if she valued me highly." He grabbed onto the horse's reins and began to walk towards their group, the elf following suit. "I think she just didn't want to give anything to the Grey Wardens, is all. The Chantry didn't lose men; and I think I can do more fighting the Blight anyhow, rather than sitting in a temple somewhere.

"I'll always be thankful to Duncan for recruiting me. If it hadn't been for him, you know, I would never...I wouldn't have..."

His face dropped then, and Aerianes felt the pang of his loss reflected in his eyes. He looked towards the ground, his words halted.

"I'm sorry," she said, mentally hitting herself for bringing up the topic. She knew talking of lost loved ones was always hard; she herself didn't want to talk of Tamlen for a long time, if she could avoid it. However, being a Grey Warden and not thinking of Duncan would be a difficult task.

"No," Alistair insisted. "It's...I'm sorry. I shouldn't be..." He tried to find the words to make her feel better, but couldn't. He sighed, "...it's fine. He died a hero. They all did. Come on," he picked up the pace as they reached the others. "Let's go. I think I'm done talking."

"Down trodden again, Alistair? My, 'tis going to be a long journey if you continue this trend." Morrigan mused, finally grabbing her staff back from the Mabari, grimacing at the drool that came off in threads.

"Okay, let's all just get going. Alistair said we should be at Redcliffe by noon, if we hurry." Aerianes sighed and motioned for her party to venture forth. Morrigan simply rolled her eyes and obeyed the order, taking up the rear as the others passed by.

"I'm sorry, Alistair. I know you don't much care for her," Aerianes apologized, feeling even worse now. She knew that Morrigan did not take well to emotions and those who expressed them openly. It was too bad for Alistair that it was the exact kind of person he was. Again, she mentally kicked herself...until she saw him smiling at her, in thanks.

The sun had already made its way to high noon when Aerianes could see the distant and lazy spin of the windmill. She grinned. Alistair was almost dead on about when they would reach Redcliffe, and it was about time; her stomach was practically begging for nourishment.

"Alistair!" she called from the front of their group. "Alistair! Come here!"

He met her at the front of the line and stared off to where she pointed. She smiled and stretched out her body, hands high above her head.

"You were right," she said. "We made it right around lunch time. Good thing, too, because I'm about to pass out from hunger!"

She was expecting a sarcastic jab to be said, some sort of joke or remark, but none came. Aerianes turned to Alistair and saw that his face had hardened, his hands clenched tightly into hard fists. He seemed troubled by the sight of the town, and Aerianes found herself wary of this reaction. Hadn't it been his idea to go to Redcliffe in the first place? He was still relatively quiet on their walks, but he wasn't so...anxious? Was that the word she was looking for?

Alistair cleared his throat. "Look, Aerianes, there's something that I-"

"Darkspawn! Behind us!"

Leliana's cry drew the Warden's attentions away from each other. Alistair immediately armed himself, and Aerianes quickly drew her bow. As they turned, they saw the approach of the things. The elf counted roughly ten and they were close enough to be a threat to their horse and belongings; never mind themselves. Aerianes knocked her arrows and focused.

"Leliana! Morrigan! Get the horse away from them!" she yelled over the horse's whinnies. "Alistair, let's go. Sten and Daugion will need our help!"

Alistair nodded and charged ahead, the elf following behind as she let her arrows fly.

Sten had already gotten to the midst of the group and held his two handed battle axe in front of him, trying to knock the creature's off of their feet. Three went down from the qunari warrior's immense strength and he was quick to sweep the weapon above him, bringing the large blade over the necks of two darkspawn. As he tried to pry the blade from the bodies, the third had gotten to its feet and charged at Sten, sword flailing and teeth snarling. The qunari braced himself for the attack, feeling no fear as his assailant came close.

A blur of grey suddenly burst into Sten's vision, and the darkspawn fell. Alistair quickly retracted his shield and drove his sword into the monster's skull, wincing slightly at the sickening noise it made. He looked up, nodding to Sten, motioning to the axe. Sten put his attention back on his weapon and was able to pull it free.

An arrow whizzed by their heads, and the two men were quick to draw their attention back to the battlefield. They saw Daugion dragging a smaller beast away to destroy on his own, the darkspawn trying desperately to kick the dog's muzzle to be freed, and failing miserably. Alistair noted the four remaining darkspawn and they charged.

Aerianes watched from a distance through her bow as she had released her arrows. The darkspawn had two archers on their side, and she had to deal with them before she could monitor what Sten and Alistair were doing. The first two arrows had cleared too far east, she had misjudged the wind in her panic to get them down quick. With their archers aware of her presence, they let their arrows go to her. She was able to quickly dodge and roll out of their way; but the arrows came quick, the moment one landed, the next followed suite a foot away. Aerianes had to be swift, and she gained her footing again as she rain through the grassy plain, hearing the soft thump behind her as the arrows tried to make contact.

Somehow, she managed to fumble for a new arrow and she set her gaze on the left archer. She let out a labored breath as she moved, and released the arrow into the air. It made contact into the darkspawn's neck, and she watched it dance momentarily until it fell to the ground.

She felt a sharp pain on the side of her arm and she saw that one of the archer's arrows had grazed her flesh, leaving a small, but painful gash. She cringed, but quickly looked up to be ready for the other archer's arrows.

However, when she looked up, the battle was over. The darkspawn all lay dead, and the two men were walking back to their group, Daugion trotting along happily behind, blood dripping from his jowls. He barked and ran over to Aerianes as she started towards them, confusion written on her face.

"Are you all right?" she asked the two warriors as they neared each other. "What happened to the other archer?"

"Oh, we took care of him," Leliana called from close behind. Aerianes turned and saw the two women looking rather smugly at her. Aerianes smiled back at the red head.

"I was able to freeze said darkspawn, and Leliana shattered the thing with her arrows." Morrigan explained.

Aerianes nodded. "And you two?" she asked, turning to Sten and Alistair.

Alistair grinned. "Oh, you know nothing can stop me, or this one man army beside me," he laughed and clapped Sten on the shoulder. However, when the qunari merely narrowed his gaze onto the templar, Alistair was quick to withdraw.

"You did not see the battle?" Sten asked, an eyebrow cocked accusingly.

Aerianes found herself at a loss for words under that gaze. The man commanded such respect and was ever intimidating; but she was trying hard not to be affected by it. She dug into her brain to recall the last literal five minutes, but suddenly drew a blank under his stare. She eyed the people around her and suddenly felt very lost and alone...and wishing Tamlen was there to help her.

"I...I-I um..."

"Perhaps you best hone your skills with your weapons before you step into danger," Sten said, walking past her and heading again towards the windmill. "I would hate to be following a leader who can hardly lead her arrow or blade into an enemy's vitals, much less lead us into a war with the archdemon."

"Hey, give her a rest," Alistair warned, edging closer to the elf. He turned to her to give her a slight nudge. "Let's get a move on. Redcliffe can't be but an hour or so away."

"How could you drop this discussion so easily? Your so named leader was unable to keep her head in the midst of battle. Such actions are punishable by death in our clans. The slightest mistakes can kill us all, and you can shrug them off so easily?"

"Drop it, Sten!" The templar's voice gained an edge as he saw the tremors rise through Aerianes' arms. He wasn't about to let this man talk down to her like this. He would see to that personally, if need be.

Sten scoffed, but said no more. He turned and led on, taking the horse's reins.

Leliana and Morrigan waited until the two Warden's caught up, moving only when the four were together. Aerianes kept her gaze to the ground, allowing Alistair to lead her through the tall blades of grass. She suddenly felt very disconnected from it all. Her feelings and thoughts of abandoning this quest rushed to the front of her mind again, and she wondered just how far north her clan could have gotten.

'Come off it. It's been almost two months. They are long gone.'

Which was true. Her clan was fast. Most likely, they had made their way across the Waking Sea and more than halfway through the Green Dales. With any luck, they would be settling within the Arlathan Forest within the month. At that moment, she would have given anything to feel the soft fur of the halla beneath her hand, the rough bark of the trees as she climbed through, scouting with her clan mates. So many times they had moved, and Tamlen and herself would race through the treetops, bounding from branch to branch, trying to beat each other to the next clearing.

She would have given anything at that moment to simply drop her daggers and run as far as her feet could take her.

But she was here, and there was nowhere else to go but forward.