"You want me to what?"
"In order to prove to Lord Harrowmont that you indeed do not work for Bhalen, you have to fight in the Provings in his name. Also, there were two fighters, Byzl and Gwydon, who have dropped out. We want you to find out why, and get them to fight again, if you can."
"Ugh. Nothing is ever simple. Fine, fine, we'll do it. When are the Provings?"
"One week from today."
"A week! *Sigh* Fine, whatever."
"So, now what? What are we gonna do for a week?" Alistair asked when Naruto got to their room at the Tapsters.
"Nothing. What can we do? Don't answer that question, Alistair, it was rhetorical." Naruto said when he saw Alistair open his mouth. "We can't leave here until we get troops. We can't get troops until we get an ass on the throne. And we can't get an ass on the throne until I fight in the Provings. And that isn't for another week."
"What of Bhelen." Morrigan suggested.
"I do not trust him to supply us with troops if we get him on the throne. Always was a sneaky little blighter. 'Sides, I have little doubt he'd ask us the same thing first, even if he ever agreed to work with me."
"So what now, oh fearless leader?" Elissa asked.
"Smartass. Have the week off, I guess. I'll be gone for a few days. You all can do whatever it is you do when you ain't Grey Wardening." Naruto said, turning to leave.
"'Grey Wardening'?" Elissa turned to Alistair, who just shrugged.
"Naruto, wait!" Morrigan called after him.
"Hm?" He turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"If you would not mind, I would like to… um… "
"You wanna go with me? Sure, let's get going."
"Now what do we do?" Leliana asked the two that where left.
"I dunno. But I'll tell you this: If either one of us asked him to go, he would've said no." Alistair said with a smirk. Hehehe. Blackmail.
The pair had traveled for two days now. Morrigan had opened up more to him during the trip, telling him some of her life.
Naruto was fully content with traveling with just Morrigan, not rushing anywhere, enjoying the company, no world to save. But in his head, he cursed. Blast it. My plans just got shot to hell. I'm falling in love with her.
The third day, they found an anxious merchant, all alone in the woods.
"What are you doing here, man? Don't you know these are dangerous times?" Naruto asked him.
"My mule ran off. I thought I could avoid the Darkspawn by going through these here mountains, but now I'm stuck here. Say, would you mind helping a fella out."
"Helping a fellow out, how exactly?"
"You see, I bought this here golem control rod. You want it?"
"What's the catch?"
"Yes, I suppose there is a catch, ain't there. I ain't got the golem. You have to go to a village to the north, called Honnleath."
"A personal golem, hm? How much do you want for it?"
"Take it. It's caused me nothing but trouble. I have to go find my mule.
"So, to Honnleath, I take it." Morrigan said.
"Yup. Let's go get us a golem."
One day of traveling later, Naruto and Morrigan were in front of the little village. Only, it was overrun by Darkspawn.
"Crap. Well, this'll be a little bit more difficult than I thought."
Fighting their way through the small host of Darkspawn was easy enough, for the well trained pair. As they cleared the village, they found the golem standing in a field, surrounded by bird seeds. Naruto approached it, and said the control words, 'dulen gar', as the merchant instructed him. And, nothing happened.
"Either the prick gave us the wrong damned rod, or he didn't know the right words himself. And I'm more inclined towards the latter."
"So now what? Do we just check random houses?"
"Hey, that's a great idea. Let's start with that one."
"Sure, why not."
As they got to the main room of the rather big building, they were greeted by yet another group of Darkspawn, and a barrier of some kind, with some people behind it.
"Oh thank the Maker you're here. Did the Arl send help?" One man, the leader by the look of things, said.
"We didn't know you were here. We came for the golem." Naruto answered.
"The golem?" The man said, tearing down the barrier. "You can have the wretched thing. I can't stand it.''
"Hm, what do you mean?" Morrigan asked.
"My father was the mage, Wilhelm, who helped the king during the Orlesian war. One day, my mother found him outside with so many broken bones she could hardly recognize him, with the golem standing over him as it is now."
"We tried activating it, but it didn't work." Naruto commented.
"When my mother sold the rod, she must've told the merchant the wrong password. Look, I'll tell you the password, but I need your help first. You saved our lives, I'm grateful for that, but my daughter, Amelia, got scared and ran away to my father's lab. We sent someone to get her, but they were killed by the defenses my father built. Please, get her back."
The defenses turned out to be dust wraiths, which were quickly dispatched with by Morrigan's magic. They found the girl playing with a cat that had glowing purple eyes.
"There you are, Amelia. Come, your father is waiting for you." Naruto called.
"Shhhh….. You should go. Kitty finds you distracting."
"The cat finds me… distracting?" Naruto asked Morrigan, who raised an eyebrow. "Anyway….. Come on, your father is very worried."
"No. You will not take her from me. No one will." The cat spoke.
"Now it talks." Morrigan dead panned.
"You're not a real cat, are you?" Naruto said, suspiciously.
"How very observant you are, mortal." The cat said sarcastically.
"I have better things to do than be insulted by a house pet, you know." Naruto commented.
"I shall make you an offer, then. I cannot leave here, nor can I change from this wreched disguise into something more…. alluring. That infernal contraption there." She pointed to a group of stone tablets. "Controls the anti-magic field. Brake the barrier, and let me have the girl, and I will fulfill your every wish." She said in the most appealing voice she could muster.
Naruto looked like he was considering the offer for a few moments, before agreeing. A horrified look flashed through Morrigan's eyes, but Naruto calmed her down when he squeezed her hand.
The puzzle was rather difficult, but not overly so. It consisted of getting a stream of fire from one end to the other through some tablets that only pointed one way, and could only be slide one space.
The demoness smiled wickedly, as she transformed to her usual form, that of a desire demon. She was a beautiful woman, despite the clearly demonic assets. Oh, and she was naked, with massive knockers and a golden chain going from one nipple to the other. Morrigan didn't know where the impulse came from, but she was both glad and relieved when Naruto reacted neither to the flirting or the looks of the demon.
"One problem though." Naruto smirked. "I lied. You ain't getting the girl." The demon hissed and charged Naruto, forgetting about the girl in the process, who ran into Morrigan's arms, scared.
Naruto drew his sword, clashing it against the demon's claws. She swiped her tail at his back, but he jumped out of the way at the last second. She then tried changing targets, going after Morrigan, who was still holding both arms around the girl, unable to defend herself. Before she could reach her target, however, Naruto elbowed her in the face, knocking her to the floor. While she was on the floor, he impaled her through the stomach. She dissolved into dust, which scattered with the wind.
"Oh my little butterfly. You're safe." Adam, the girl's father, said when they came to him. "I was so worried."
"I'm sorry I ran away, daddy, but I was so scared."
"Shhhh, it's alright, as long as you're safe now." He then turned to the two heroes. "Thank you so much. As I promised, the activation word is 'dulen harn'. You can have it, if you still want the wretched thing."
Naruto approached the golem holding the rod, and spoke the words. The runes all over its body started glowing, before it moved and spoke. "So, it has found the control rod, has it? It wouldn't happen to be another mage?" The golem spoke in a bored voice.
"Um, hello to you, too. No, I'm not a mage."
"I have stood here for years, observing these people, unable to move. Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and after so many years as a captive audience, I was as familiar with them as one could ever be."
"one would think that you would be grateful to the one who allowed you to stretch your legs then, golem." Morrigan said sourly, put off by the golem's behavior towards Naruto.
"Another mage? Wonderful. Still, even I did not wish their fate upon them, although I feel no remorse, no sorrow."
"Do you have a name?" Naruto asked.
"Perhaps. Perhaps I have forgotten, what whit all the years of being called golem. 'Golem fetch me that chair.' 'Do be a good golem and squash that insipid bandit.' And let's not forget my favorite. 'Golem, carry me, I tire of walking.'" There was a pause. "It does have the control rod, does it not? It is not broken, is it? Order me to do something."
"Alright… Um, destroy that building." The golem made short work of the wooden foundation, tearing it to bits and pieces, pounding it to the ground.
"Nothing. It has the control rod, but there is no urge to follow it's orders, no pull."
"But you destroyed the house." Morrigan pointed out.
"That was because I wanted to."
"So, you have free will now, then?"
"It would seem so. I have two options, have I not? Go with it, or….. go someplace else."
"You're welcome to come with me if you want."
"I know nothing of the world outside the village. Very well then, I shall follow it. For now." As they walked out of the village, a chicken was clucking next to Shale, as the golem had introduced herself. Shale looked at the chicken, and then stomped it. When Naruto looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she just shrugged.