This started as a question posted on Twitter: "If you were stranded on a desert island with two DA characters, who would be the best and the worst to be stuck with?" The characters of Anders and Fenris are from Dragon Age 2 but they will be different for this story. Mage Hawke has abilities that are not from the game as you've noticed so far. I'm trying to see how this goes and decided to post a few chapters anyways. My partner in crime for this is KrisJFern. All comments are welcome.
A/N: Because the events of the last chapter, this chapter will also be in Anders POV. I would love to have it all in my Hawke's POV but there's no way that can happen. I know it's odd to switch perspectives but there was no other way. Sorry Brenna...I know I'm evil!
As always: thanks to Kris for being a great sounding board in all things Stranded. Thanks to Brenna and Lyall for being such great supporters of my craziness.
Fabulous fan art I'd like to mention for this chapter is called Anders Love Story by Xellsakura from Deviant Art.
Stranded
What Does Not Kill Us
Damn him! I thought as I turned and continued the way I was headed. I will find her myself! I stumbled along in the dark, hating that I had not found Inara sooner and cursing Fenris for his stubbornness. I knew that he would not see reason but here and now was not the time for these foolish games!
I came upon a path and realized that I was once again back at the coastline. I pushed through the dense underbrush and stumbled into a clearing. I groaned as I looked around, having recognized the Qunari campsite that Inara had avoided since we first discovered it weeks ago. I got slowly to my feet and was about to turn back when I spotted something out of place on the ground several feet away from me. It took me a few moments to realize that it was Inara's robes and I quickly made my way to them.
I knelt down to inspect the wet garment, immediately seeing the long tear on the back. She was here! I thought as I looked around, hoping to find some indicator of where she had gone to next when a sound pierced the night. I reacted when I recognized that it was Inara's voice, frantically turning round and round until I located where her screams were coming from. I dropped the torn robes when I noticed the path leading away from the campsite, heading in the direction of her voice.
My heart beat faster the louder her screams became as I rushed up the path, knowing there was no time to locate Fenris. I ran faster to an unknown cave that we missed the times Fenris and I had been back to the abandoned camp. I knew of only one thing could have kept it hidden all this time.
My heart clenched once I realized that Inara had stopped screaming.
I almost passed the entrance but stopped once I spotted the faint light coming from within and made my way cautiously inside. I held out the staff and willed the tip of the spear to glow, casting it so that it shone light on everything within the cave. I looked around frantically until I spotted her still form lying on her side and I made my way quickly to her.
"Inara!" I called out to her but she did not stir. I knelt beside her and moved closer to her cautiously. Please…be alright, I thought as I set the staff down, leaving a bit of my magic with it to keep the sphere alight. I could see she was shaking and I immediately called healing magic to my hands as I reached out to her. An uneasy feeling stopped me when I noticed a low sound was now coming from her. I almost didn't hear it so I leaned closer to her. I then realized what the sound was and it chilled me to bone.
She was laughing!
I moved back only slightly as I reached her, seeing too late her hand come up towards my face and felt her power as I was thrown back from her by a force I knew could not come from her. I knew Inara's magic and this was not it but somehow, it was coming from her. I slammed into the far back of the cave wall, crying out from the impact before I slid down to the floor. I was dizzy as I struggled to raise my head to watch as she easily stood up and turned towards me. I had my first glimpse her, at the strangeness of her movements, deliberate and almost sensual. Looking at her, I lost all concentration and the staff no longer provided the light I needed. It was then that I realized that what light I was seeing came from her. I reached out weakly but it was now too far from me and the light it provided was dim.
"You're too late," she laughed. It used Inara's voice but it was no longer her. "This one is mine."
I grimaced at the strange, lilting sound of her voice as I reached up briefly to touch my forehead and found that I was bleeding. I looked up and saw that she was now closer to me. She moves so fast! I thought as I tried to move away but in a blink of an eye, she was on me, straddling my lap and leaning forward, merely inches away from me.
"You can't have her, demon!" I yelled up at her and she tilted her head away from me. The demon tsk-d as she shook her head, smiling down at me, the face undeniably still Inara's but the shine in her eyes marked her for what she truly was.
"Oh, but I already have her," it said and lifted her arms, examining the body it was now possessing. "Even now, she fights me but the more she struggles, the more time I have to control her," it said and looked down at me. "Do you realize what a rare find this one is, mage?" she asked.
No! I suddenly reached up with both hands, calling fire but she caught my hands easily and pushed them down above my head. "You will not have her," I said as she smiled down at me. "Inara will fight you!"
"Now you're just being rude, mage," she said as I struggled to free my hands as she leaned even closer to me. I moved my face away as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of my skin. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye as she leaned even closer and rubbed her cheek against mine. What I felt next was something so close to Inara's spirit power only stronger and somehow perverted.
"Do you know what I am now?" she whispered in my ear.
My back arched up as the full effects hit me, sending chills running up and down my spine as her power reached out to me and I could not stop myself as I gasped out loud. "Desire…demon!" I finally responded when I finally regained control of myself.
She chuckled as I looked up at her once I realized why she wanted Inara. "I see you realize why I desire this one, mage," she said, trailing her free hand down my cheek and sending more of her power into me until I stopped struggling against her. "This one can manipulate the desires in others," she continued as she trailed her hands down to my chest, working on the ties to my coat. "And there is no denying that what you desire most is her." She pulled open my coat and began pulling up my shirt to trail her cool fingers on my bare skin.
"I've watched this one patiently and I've seen what she does with her magic." she said, moving her hips against me and I groaned as my body responded to her. "Her magic called out to me, even from deep within the Fade."
"From the Fade?" I gasped as her hands reached up to my chest, still using a hint of the magic she had been using but it was enough to make it difficult for me to think.
"This one has the power to pull more from the Fade than she needs and uses it to share with others. This one is the perfect conduit between your world and the Fade," she explained as she leaned down and kissed my neck gently. My skin tingled where her lips touched and try as I might, I found myself unable to resist her but she deliberately kept her mouth out of my reach.
"It is a rare thing for any mage to do without the help of others and makes it them shine out like a beacon to all of my kind," she continued. "I've felt others just as powerful as this one many times before and eventually, they succumb to the madness of the Fade. But this one is strong, her powers so like my own and I will have all of it."
I reached up and grabbed her shoulders, drawing her down and kissing her fiercely. She responded with an urgent passion similar to Inara that I forgot for a moment that the lips pressed against mine were not hers. I was so lost in my desire for her that I forgot my reasoning for responding to her. A distraction…
She pulled away so suddenly that I was left gasping, my eyes adjusting as I looked up at her. "If you're waiting for help to come," she said as she was instantly on her feet. "You're sadly mistaken, mage. You only found this cave because I allowed you."
"What do you want?" I asked as I stood up unsteadily.
"Just a bit of fun, until it's time to leave this dreadful place," she said and she walked back to me, tilting her head as she reached out and touched my cheek before lightly scratching her nails down my throat. "I promise you won't regret it."
I laughed at what she suggested. "Leave? What makes you think you can leave here?"
She turned and looked at me. "This one always has a plan, mage."
Inara was always resourceful, I thought, but surely…
"And if I refuse?"
"How do you plan to do that?" she asked. "You cannot harm me without hurting her."
I hung my head down, knowing that what she said was true.
"Would it break you, mage, knowing that now that you can have her, she is still out of your reach?" she asked as she circled me. I watched her for a moment until once again she stopped in front of me. "Would it really make much of a difference who it is?" she whispered and I shivered.
"Fenris…"
"Like you, he will never chance hurting her." She laughed. "You're really not so different," she said.
"We are nothing alike," I insisted.
"You both believe you are unworthy of love, even when this one has done everything she can to show you otherwise," she said. For a moment, I could see that she was puzzled, shaking her head before turning to me once more. "And yet you still fight for her."
"How could something like you ever understand?"
"I understand many things, mortal," she said, reaching up and brushing her fingers just over my eyes. "There's something that keeps you just out of my reach, mage. I must know what it is."
Justice is somehow keeping her at bay, I realized. I must find a way to free her!
Maker, help me, I thought.
Seeing no other way, I gave in and drew her into my arms to kiss her once more.
Thanks to everyone who has been following this crazy story. If you have any questions about this, please be sure to have your PM's enabled so I can answer back!