Training Fit For a Guard
It was two hours before sunset, and while the sun stood low on the sky it had yet to change colours into the radiant spectacle that accompanied it actually setting.
Danny followed Anders into a training ground at the outskirts of Kirkwall.
It was a field, where trampled grass shared the ground with packed dirt. There was a low stone wall around the grounds, but not enough to keep anybody out if they had even a smidgen of determination.
There were several wooden training dummies, wrapped in burlap, that seemed to be meant for sword practice.
Why Anders, a mage in hiding, had decided to take Danny there, was yet to be explained.
"Danny." Anders was visibly nervous, which only made matters worse. "You know how Hawke... doesn't exactly have high standards for friends."
Danny frowned, trying to figure out where the conversation was going. True, Hawke's friends were an eccentric bunch. The only thing the people Danny had met had in common were that they were interesting and that they could fight... and that they could put up with Hawke.
"You haven't exactly met all of us."
Danny shrugged. There were plenty of people he hadn't met.
"Today, Aveline is going to teach us sword techniques."
"But you're a mage." Danny wanted to add that he had met Aveline, however briefly, but decided not to. Anders probably wasn't referring to her. "You don't carry a sword."
"She thinks it might one day save our lives." Anders' lips thinned. "She's very persistent about it. She puts all of Hawke's... companions through training at least twice a month."
Danny nodded.
"That means that, today, you're going to meet Fenris." Anders looked like he had bitten into something sour. "Don't let him know you're a mage."
"That... I can do."
A voice behind him chuckled, and Danny had to stop himself from jumping. Varric appeared from the shadows, with the confidence of someone who hadn't just listened in on a private conversation.
"I'm sure Softy thinks pretending not to be a mage is easy." Varric had the gall to wink at Danny, who frowned with suspicion.
Anders didn't appear to notice the implications of that statement.
"Yeah." Danny got the word out through clenched teeth. For now, it was best to keep the act up. Even if Varric suspected something, Anders didn't. Out of the two, Anders was more important, since he provided Danny with food and housing - albeit in exchange for help around the Clinic. "You know, Templar parents and all. I'm used to this."
If anything, that only made Anders scowl harder.
"Relax, Blondie." Varric smirked. "I'm sure it will all work out. And if it doesn't... that makes a more interesting story."
"You're not helping." Anders practically sang the words.
"Not helping with what?" Merrill came around a corner, accompanied by Isabela.
Danny shrugged, like he had no idea what was going on.
Varric grinned, but didn't comment.
A few minutes later, Hawke and her sister Bethany walked into the training grounds.
A few minutes after that, a man Danny had never seen before joined them.
Anders helpfully leaned over and whispered "Fenris" from the corner of his mouth.
At first glance, Fenris looked like a grown-up Phantom. White hair, dark eyebrows, slim build. The only thing Fenris lacked was the glowing aura and eyes. A laughably big sword was strapped to his back, and there seemed to be a permanent scowl etched onto his face.
Danny tried not to stare at the tattoos running over Fenris' exposed arms and face.
Fenris sent one glare in Danny's general direction, which might actually have been aimed for Anders, before ignoring them. Isabela pulled him into conversation, while Merrill talked to Hawke.
Bethany walked over to them. Danny couldn't remember if he'd met her as Fenton or Phantom, so he merely gave her a nod in greeting.
Varric took pity on him. "Danny, this is Bethany. Bethany, Danny."
"Nice to meet you." She smiled like she meant it.
"Yeah, you too."
"So, I heard that you're a noble..." She seemed hesitant to ask. "What's it like?"
Danny blinked. "Why?"
"My mother's family, the Amells, were nobles here in Kirkwall." Bethany added as explanation. "I guess I'd just like to know what could have been, if we'd stayed."
"Okay." Danny frowned, buying himself time to actually come up with something. "Well... I think nobility back home and nobility here are a bit different."
Bethany nodded, and turned the motion into a shrug.
"When I'm visiting other nobles, they always throw a party. I can never just casually visit anybody, not even my closest friends. And nobody calls me by name." Danny's voice took the timbre of a rant long repeated. "It's always Sir Ph-Fenton or Great One or Pr- erm. Or stuff like that. It gets annoying after a while."
"What was that last one?" Varric's eyes twinkled with mirth.
"Protector of the Realm. You know, because I'm a knight." Danny got the words out fast enough that they slurred together. "But nobody really calls me that, since it's such a mouthful."
Before anyone could ask Danny to elaborate, Aveline joined the group. She was carrying a pile of practice swords and somehow seemed scarier than ever before, including the times she'd had her sword pointed at Phantom. "What are you lot standing around for!? Give me ten laps!"
Aveline's drill sergeant routine was harsh, but effective. Her training was much better than PE, if only because Danny didn't have to hide his capabilities.
The clouds in the sky had turned a bright pink. All of the mages were sitting on the sidelines, breathing heavily. Varric and Isabela weren't quite as badly off, but it was clear neither of them had put much time into building stamina.
Aveline looked at them with a fond sort of contempt, like a disappointed mother.
"I guess it's just us left. Again." She turned towards the ones still standing, and looked a bit surprised to see Danny there. He waved at her.
"I can still go on." Danny smiled and shrugged. "I need the practice."
"I don't think we've been introduced." Fenris inclined his head. "I am Fenris."
"Danny Fenton."
Something akin to worry flashed over Aveline's face as she watched the interaction.
Danny was about to suggest a friendly spar when bandits attacked.
What the bandits thought they'd get out of the situation was questionable, but for some reason they must have felt that attacking a group of obviously armed people would be worth it.
"Hawke, is there money on your head or something?" Danny frowned as he dodged a pair of daggers.
"Probably." Hawke sounded way too cheerful while admitting that. "I've pissed off a lot of rich people. And crime syndicates."
"Lovely." Danny used both hands to swing the pommel of his sword into the back of someone's head.
Another bandit attacked, giving Danny barely enough time to parry her first attack and not enough to block her second.
The bandit raised her sword.
Danny stumbled. He wouldn't be able to get his sword up in time.
The bandit grinned.
The bandit stopped. Blood leaked from her mouth as she coughed. There were a few seconds of stillness and she fell, revealing Fenris standing behind her. His tattoos were faintly glowing. He was holding onto her heart.
Danny felt sick.
Frozen in shock as he was, he didn't notice yet another bandit coming at him until it was too late.
On instinct, Danny turned intangible as the sword swung through him.
The bandit stumbled, completely unbalanced as his sword didn't hit its target.
Fenris took the opportunity to cut his head off.
With the last bandit dead, Fenris turned towards Danny. "How did you do that?"
"I plead the fifth." Danny's mouth answered before his brain could add any input.
"I have no idea what that means."
"Considering how I'm not at home anymore... nothing. It means absolutely nothing."
Fenris' eyes narrowed with suspicion. "These lyrium markings grant me the ability to pass through things, but no more than an arm at a time."
"That's how you-" Danny gestured vaguely towards the pulled out heart lying abandoned on the ground.
Fenris nodded.
"Interesting. Terrifying, but interesting." Danny put his hand to his chin. "I didn't know it was possible to replicate. I suppose these markings have something to do with the Fade?"
"You are a mage." Fenris sounded thoroughly disappointed. Like he had been holding out hope that there was some other explanation for recent events.
"Yeah." Danny shrugged. The cat was well and out of the bag, no point in pretending otherwise.
Fenris scowled in Hawke's general direction.
She gave him a thumbs-up.
AN: I found some NaNoWriMo advice that said "If stuck, have ninjas attack." Thanks to that advice, this chapter actually ended up finished. Praise be random encounters and me already writing with just enough comedic elements that this doesn't feel completely out of place.
I'll try to get back to regular Friday updates now that I've overcome this hurdle, but I make no promises.
