A/N: Not much to say about this chapter, except... just forget about tents. Seriously. Let's just pretend that Tanya and Co. use fancy modern day tents that are waterproof and have the nice little ground cover.
We'll be at Orzammar soon enough; my poor Aeducan is going to throw a fit it I wait any longer to introduce her!
Anyway, reviews are loved and appreciated!
Fiah jabbed her dagger angrily into the ground, peeking up at Alistair as she tugged it out of the loose dirt. "Why aren't we still searching?"
"We went halfway back to Redcliffe and found nothing." Alistair prodded at the dying fire with a stick. "You tell me where to search that we haven't yet, and I'll be the first to volunteer to go."
Gritting her teeth, Fiah mumbled that he had a point, and went back to attacking the ground with her dagger. She was restless, and the sun had finally crept over the horizon; it was time to do something, she decided. "I'm going to take one more look and see if I can't track her a bit. You start picking up camp." She slung her quiver over her shoulder, leaving the dagger in the ground but grabbing her bow. "I'm going to need someone to come with me, probably."
"I'll go." Landon and Leliana volunteered at the same time.
"Ahh—" Fiah stuttered.
Alistair shook his head. "I'll come with you."
"No offense, but I need someone a bit…" Fiah paused, considering her next words carefully. "Lighter on their feet. Like Leliana." Maybe I can figure out what her problem is, now.
The bard looked confused for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Let's go. We'll be back soon, then… I suppose we have no choice but to pack up and continue on. The Blight will not wait for us to find Tanya."
As the pair headed off back into the woods, Fiah caught sight of Morrigan peering over her fire. "Want to come, Morrigan?" she called. "Get out of camp for a while?"
If Fiah hadn't known better, she would've thought that she'd seen relief flash in the witch's eyes. It was gone in a moment though, replaced by the familiar judgmental caution that seemed to define her. "I suppose," she sighed, grabbing her staff and joining them. "It will get us moving again."
From behind Fiah, Leliana let out a small sigh of disapproval. "Are you not even the smallest bit concerned for Tanya?"
Morrigan didn't respond, but Fiah could imagine the icy glare she was sporting. Of course she cares, she wanted to point out. She's just as worried as the rest of us, but not even Andraste could make that woman admit it. That was part of what she liked about Morrigan, honestly; her unwavering ability to make everyone think she was scary and heartless.
Ohhh, I am so jealous. I wish people looked at me like they do Morrigan. Just full of… fear. Raw, primal fear.
At the same time, though, Fiah caught glimpses of loneliness behind Morrigan's scowl. She wasn't sure if no one else paid enough attention to Morrigan to see, or if Morrigan didn't allow anyone else to see. Either way, Fiah was more determined than ever to befriend her.
Fiah, lost in her thoughts, had overlooked a critical sign; something she realized very quickly once Leliana reached out to pull her backwards. The elf's slight frame rocked back unsteadily, and Fiah tumbled to the ground, taking the bard with her. A tripwire.
From beyond the trap, there was a slight commotion that Fiah recognized as a whole camp scrambling to grab weapons. She shot a panicked look at Morrigan, who simply smirked and disappeared in the direction of the camp. Once Fiah had regained her composure, she stepped carefully over the tripwire and peered into the camp, to see a bear dashing through the campsite.
Yes! Thank you, Morrigan! I owe you—shit.
Leliana seemed to be following the same train of thought, and readied her daggers. She led the way down to the camp, where the bandits—soldiers, Fiah amended as they got closer—had assembled enough to corner Morrigan.
All it took was a single arrow in the back of a soldier's skull for their focus to shift from Morrigan to the two rogues up on a ridge. Leliana dashed into the fray, and Fiah did her best to pick off the soldiers from afar. Morrigan transformed back into a human, causing a momentary panic among the soldiers. Stifling a grin, Fiah continued raining arrows down into the camp.
Fiah was so intently focused on the camp below that she missed the soldier that came up behind her. Covering her mouth with a gloved hand, he dragged her back behind the tree line.
"You listen to me," he growled into her ear, "and I'll let you and your friend live. You work with Loghain, spying on the Wardens, right?"
Tugging herself free of his grasp, Fiah demanded, "And you?"
Without a word, the soldier held up Alistair's pendant, the one Tanya had found in Arl Eamon's study.
"I was told the Wardens would be safe!" Fiah struggled to get away, but her arms were pinned to her side and she couldn't free herself. "Loghain promised."
"And I was told to capture one of the Wardens," the soldier shot back. "She'll be safe, if you listen to me."
Momentarily giving up her struggle for freedom, Fiah gave in. "Okay. What do you want?"
The soldier gave a throaty chuckle. "That's a good girl. Now, for your little Warden to be kept alive, I need you to cooperate. We know the Wardens are headed for Orzammar. When you get there, we'll have a contact from Loghain waiting for you, and you'll tell him the Wardens' plans. You cooperate, you get your Warden back, safe and sound."
"And if I kill you now?"
"No Warden. She's not here anymore, and you won't get her back unless you go to Orzammar like Loghain wants."
Fiah remained silent for a moment, contemplating how far she could push for information without ending up dead. For some reason, Loghain seemed to think she was a valuable informant, so she decided to try one last question. "Why would Loghain give her back? Why not just keep her hostage, or kill her?"
"I don't make the rules, I just carry them out, sweetheart." With a rough shove, he released Fiah. "Now, you and your merry little band better head on towards Orzammar. The longer you wait, the less chance you've got of seeing your Warden alive again."
Grabbing her bow and shoving the unused arrow back into her quiver, Fiah gave a short nod. "Fine." Her mind was spinning, working furiously to try and figure out some scenario where she could lie to Loghain and still get Tanya back. It seemed like a longshot, though; despite his apparent need for someone on the inside like Fiah, Loghain always seemed to know what the Wardens were up to, anyway. Mumbling curses under her breath, she made her way back up to the ridge, where Leliana and Morrigan had nearly finished off the other soldiers. The one who'd grabbed Fiah called for them to fall back, and the group retreated back into the forest. Leliana and Morrigan began to follow, but Fiah told them to wait.
"Why?" Leliana asked. "Have you found something?"
Shoving the pendant in her pack, Fiah shook her head. "They don't have Tanya. There's no point in wasting time and energy. Let's just get back to camp and… and leave for Orzammar."
When they got back to camp, Fiah called out for everyone to pack up. "We're running out of time, and Loghain and the Blight aren't going to wait around forever. We'll find Tanya, but right now we need to focus on getting help from the dwarves.
"Fiah," Wynne spoke up, "it's late, and we all need our rest. We—"
"We're leaving." Fiah cut the mage off with a stern glare. "We're running out of time." She grabbed the dagger from where she'd left it by the fire, then slung her pack over her shoulder. Without waiting for anyone else, she set off towards the forest.
If anyone was tired by the following day, they didn't show it. The group had kept up a grueling pace for hours, stopping only a handful of times, and had been walking for nearly an entire day before Fiah relented and allowed camp to be set up.
Leliana and Alistair both tried asking if something was wrong, but Fiah ignored them. She was grateful when it began to rain; though their fire was put out, the rest of the group retreated to their tents, allowing Fiah some silence.
Not long after, though, Landon poked his head out of his tent, searching for something. When he spotted Fiah, taking refuge in a nearby tree branch, he called out to her. She ignored him at first, but finally gave in and went to see what he wanted. As she approached, he shook his head. "You're soaking wet."
"It's raining."
"That doesn't mean you have to be soaking wet."
"I don't have a tent."
"Well," Landon shrugged, "I do. And it's… roomy enough. You can't stay out there all night," he sighed. "We've been doing a lot of walking, and you're bound to be exhausted, and—and you just can't stay out in the rain all night. You'll get sick."
"That's what we have healers for."
"And this healer says you're not allowed to stay out in the rain all night."
Fiah crossed her arms. "I'll go to Wynne."
Landon shot her a look that said no, you won't and moved to the side, motioning for her to join him.
With a heavy sigh, Fiah left her waterlogged, mud-covered boots outside, trailing water in the tent as she dug out her still-mostly-dry bed roll and spread it next to Landon's; the tent wasn't quite large enough for both, and the bed rolls overlapped just a bit in the middle. Exhaustion rolled over Fiah, and she pulled off her armor piece by piece, until only her worn tunic was left, and shoved the armor outside—it was getting worn anyway, and she didn't want to wake up to the smell of musty leather.
Too tired and worn to be self-conscious, Fiah curled up on her own bedroll, not certain whether or not she bothered with a "good night" or even "thank you" before falling asleep.