No Rest for the Weary
The night air was a great reprieve from the cold and damp air in the fortress. After having found the sword and armor, as well as having Levi's brother fix his sword, Mark and the others in the party decided it was safe to leave the Peak.
It would take them around one and a half weeks to reach Redcliffe, and Mark wanted to get an early start. It was nice to get out into the open air. The Warden Commander liked the nights better than the daylight hours. Mostly it was due to his and Alistair's wanderings during their first few months of being Grey Wardens. The two of them always managed to get into some sort of trouble, be it with Duncan, or the other senior Wardens.
A chuckle escaped Mark as he poked at the fire with his slowly burning stick. He took notice that it was getting smaller, despite his numerous attempts at shaking the fire off of it. He shrugged and threw it into the fire, losing himself in the flames as his eyes took on that faraway look. Alistair stood off to the side over a little fire of his own, cooking. What he was cooking essentially, Mark did not want to find out. He caught the smell of it as the wind drew it over towards the main group, and he almost blanched.
He decided it was safe to go check, but he thought better of it.
"Elise, go see what our King is decided to feed us, please." Elise lifted her chin off her hand to look at him, then over to Alistair, her curiosity forming.
"Me? Why? Besides, I think it smells good." Mark almost fell off the log.
"Come again? You actually think it smells good? Did you hit your head at the Peak?"
Elise rubbed the top of her head, feeling for any contusions or bumps. "No, but I do have a big bug bite."
"Forget I asked. Just go see what Alistair is making." Elise hummed as she got up, walking over to the mentioned Grey Warden. She peered into the pot as Alistair threw ingredients into it. It looked edible at least. Elise shook her head as she dipped her finger into the concoction and sucked on the end of it. She grinned and took out a few spices from her pack, and without Alistair knowing, dumped a few pinches in.
Alistair looked back up from his pack and saw Elise standing there, peering into his stew pot.
"So what are you making, Alistair?" Alistair looked at her and smiled. "Or, do I even want to know?"
"It's stew. Simple, warm, and famous."
"Yeah, famous for making all who eat it gets sick. Maybe that should be our weapon of choice against the wolves. Just feed them stew!" Alistair shot a pointed glare at Mark, who whistled and glanced away. "Don't look at me, I didn't say it."
"Oh sod off Mark. At least someone here enjoys my cooking." He watched as Elise took a sip of the stew from the ladle she stole from Alistair's hand. She swallowed it and waited for a few seconds, before her face lit up.
"It's good!" Well, Alistair and Mark weren't expecting that. Mark got up from his spot and walked over.
"What? You actually say it's good?" He arched a brow and lifted the ladle to his lips, albeit slowly. He almost threw up as it went down his throat. "By the Maker! What did you find to put in this?"
"Well, a few potatoes, and squirrel, and hare, and cheese, and—"
"Alistair…that's like death in a pot." Elise snatched the ladle and dunked it back into the thick stew.
"Well if you don't like it, then go hunting." A grin spread on Mark's face.
"Good idea. I didn't think of that earlier. Want to join me, my liege." Alistair groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Sure, why not? It will be just like old times." With that, Elise was left in charge of the stew, under strict orders not to do anything to it to make it worse. Mark and Alistair both borrowed the Dalish elf and Shianni's bows, before heading off into the forest surrounding their camp.
~*~
Mark sat on the thick branch of a tree, whittling away at the wooden arrow in his hand with his dagger. Alistair sat across from him, about two yards away, doing the same thing. They were sitting on the outskirts of a clearing, with a pond in the middle, watching a few female deer with their offspring. A slight smile pulled on Alistair's face as he watched them, thinking of his own wife and child back home in Denerim.
Mark caught the King's faraway look and smiled, shaking his head. He was happy his friend found someone to settle down with, and it was his hell raiser of a sister to boot. He remembered when they were young, and would go through the castle stealing the guard's weapons and armor, blaming it on the other guards or the dog.
Alistair sat up straighter as he saw another animal enter the clearing. It was a male deer. And an old, giant one by the look of it. The sky was just turning to night, so you could still see. He motioned to Mark, who took out his bow and notched his arrow. He stopped his pullback as he looked up. Another buck came into the clearing just underneath them, and he motioned to Alistair silently to hold. He dug in his pack, and pulled out some berries he picked earlier for Shianni to use for poultices.
He set the bow down and crouched, jumping off the branch and landing silently on the ground. He stood and held the berries lightly in his hand as he walked slowly out into the clearing. He stopped as the female deer shot her head up and looked at him. He held the berries out in his hand as he walked ever so slowly towards them.
Alistair stared down at the scene with slight awe. He always knew Mark, despite his tough appearance, was an animal lover. It was how he found Lokin. Alistair had learned, on numerous occasions, to trust him when it came to dealing with animals.
The female deer stared with her wide eyes into Mark's own, and she lowered her head, walking slowly to Mark's outstretched hand. The doe nibbled on the berries and pushed her head into Mark's hand as he petted it. Mark smiled as the two offspring walked up to him and ate the berries that the Warden gave them. Mark was slightly surprised that the deer felt safe enough to approach him at all, with the darkspawn taint running through his veins. He did not let it show however. He turned his head slightly and glanced at the big male deer as it pawed the ground. It bent its head and snorted. He cast a quick glance to Alistair, who did not miss it as he raised his bow in anticipation. Mark continued stroking the doe's fur, while feeding it berries.
The buck seemed to think that the Warden was a danger, and decided it would charge at that moment. It did not get far however, as Alistair let loose the arrow. It hit its mark as the deer plunged to the ground on impact. Mark kept a firm steady hand on the deer, standing in front of it so it wouldn't see the other deer's fate. A part of the Warden felt guilty for taking away the doe's mate. The doe seemed to pick up on this, as she nudged his hand again.
Amazing how animals seem so in tune to our feelings. No wonder the Dalish are so good with them. Alistair jumped from the tree and fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Mark groaned as the family of deer heard, and sprinted away from the noise. He cursed under his breath slightly, before walking over to the downed buck.
"Geez Alistair, I don't think even the animals like you." Alistair walked into the clearing, rubbing his sore back.
"Oh bite me."
"No thank you. Lokin already tried, and I think he got sick." Mark laughed at his friend's expression. Alistair glared at Mark before sighing and chuckling as well. He bent down and helped Mark gut the animal, before helping him take it back to camp.
"Doesn't this bring back good memories?" Mark tilted his head skyward as he watched the stars and thought about Alistair's question. He grinned.
"You mean the time when you got lost and Duncan and I spent three day's searching for you, only to find you lost in a ditch with a pack of wolves surrounding you?" Alistair laughed and shook his head. "Don't tell me you actually used the 'raised by wolves' story on my sister. You didn't!"
"Yes I did, and she played right along with it. It was classic." Mark rolled his eyes and shook his head, seeing the light of the fire from their camp.
"Let's hurry up and clean this, it's getting heavy. And I want to eat it before it goes rank."
"Well Lokin will sure be happy about it."
Mark stopped so suddenly that Alistair almost crashed into him, and lost grip on the deer. He glanced up at Mark as the Commander's face hardened. Something was wrong. "What's wrong Mark?"
"Darkspawn." His eyes glanced around as he dropped the deer and instinctively went for his sword, to find it was not there. "Crap. It's still at camp. And we won't make it in time to get it."
"I'm sure Elise and Shianni have already sensed them, and are planning something." Mark nodded and licked his lips. He was ready for them. It was a good thing he sensed them before the ambush came on them. He glanced up at the trees and then back to Alistair.
"Come on, let's get to the high ground and see if we can spring our own ambush for once."
~*~
From their height in the trees Mark and Alistair could see the camp. Elise and Shianni and the elf had already taken to trees and found them easily. Lokin lay somewhere hunched in the grass. That was when he saw them. Four hurlocks and an ogre stalked out of the woods into the camp. One of the hurlocks stood over the pot and leaned over it. Mark looked at Alistair as he arched his eyebrow, Alistair giving a shrug. Elise tapped her mentor on the shoulder and pointed to his tent, where he saw his two swords sitting in the sacks. The darkspawn had not noticed them yet, and he was not going to give them the chance to. Mark grabbed Alistair's sword and unsheathed it, much to his protests. He jumped off the branch and took off towards the camp, coming up behind a Hurlock and cleaving its head clean off. He shouted to get the others attention, and was instantly charged by the ogre.
"Shitshitshit!" He dove out of the way as the ogre barreled past him. He heard the arrows whistle through the air as the hit the ogre in its arms, making it cry out. Mark spun out of the way of an approaching Hurlock, grabbing it by the neck and slamming it to the ground. Lying dazed on the ground, Mark turned his attention to the last Hurlock and the ogre. Without looking, he plunged Alistair's sword into the skull of the downed Hurlock, before running and snatching the Sword of Shadows from its' resting place. He ran as fast as he could and planted his foot on the Hurlock's chest, jumping up. The ogre turned just in time to see the Warden come down with his sword into the monster's arm, slicing it clean off. Mark landed and rolled a few feet before looking from the ogre back to his sword, then back to the ogre, with a dumbstruck look on his face.
"Well that was unexpected." Another three arrows flew from the tree line and struck the monsters head and chest. It feel to the ground with a dull thud as Mark stood up and spotted the Hurlock he jumped over trying to get up. He ran and used the ogre's body like a spring, jumping and slamming his knee into the Hurlock's head with a sickening crack. Mark viciously twisted his knee, cracking the darkspawn's skull under his weight.
With the 'ambush' cleaned up, Mark swiped his sword and cleaned the tainted blood from it. He stared at the giant arm then back to the black sword he held. "Very interesting…"
Alistair and the others walked out from the tree line and Alistair picked up his sword, cleaning it off. He sheathed it and turned back to Mark.
"I've never seen a blade to that before." Mark snorted and nodded in agreement. He stared at the sword, a deep expression on his face. "Now we better get that deer before the wolf sinks his happy fangs in it." That seemed to snap Mark out of his musings, as his eyes widened.
"Shit! I forgot about the deer. You're right!" He took off for the deer, Alistair slapping his forehead and following the Warden Commander.
"Good to know he's back to his old self."
So here you get a bit more on Mark's background. I plan on slowly unraveling the complexity that is the Warden Commander through out the story, as well as put a few of the next chapters toward Elise's own story. I also decided to put some light on the extent of MArk and Alistair's friendship, so I hope you enjoy it! =)
R&R!