Aaah, this was such a pain. I've had this completed for quite a bit but I kept from posting it since I couldn't shake this feeling of dissatisfaction I got from it. Mostly just ended up editing small bits of if before finally deciding it's fine lol. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this next part.

*4.1.21: retyped edited to fix mistakes, update writing style, and add to the story. *

Disclaimer: Obviously, neither Dragon Age or Inuyasha belong to me.

Part III

"What is it you miss most from home?"

"…"

"I… Forgive me, that was insensitive — you do not—"

"It was, just a little. But mostly, I was thinking… I was thinking what home was, exactly…"

When Kagome awoke, it was to the sight of darkness swallowing her whole, a wild gasp flung from her lips, a frenzied look to her eyes, a single word, a name, at the forefront of her mind.

"Fenris?!"

Silence was all that answered. Kagome surged upright, crying out when pain rocked through her very bones in wave after agonizing wave. Her hands darted to her waist, fingers gingerly brushing against leather charred thin and hyper-sensitive skin before she flinched away with a whimpered hiss.

"Gods, that hurts," she gritted out, trembling, her breaths a series of shallow whimpers as she waited for the pain to abate.

Cradling her side, Kagome carefully glanced about, only to blink. Then blinked again just to double-check that her eyes were opened.

It was dark. Wherever she was, she couldn't see a thing. Even waving her hand in front of her face, she could barely make out the dark blur of its amorphous shape as it passed.

Blindly, Kagome reached out with her hands. "Fenris?" she called out, confused. Hard dirt met her fingers and she spread them outwards, wincing as the knuckles of her right knocked hard and scraped against uneven rock.

She pulled her hands back with a bemused murmur, before reaching out again with her palms. She was met with a wall.

A wall?

Grunting as she shifted, Kagome focused her abilities, directing spiritual energy to gather into her hands. A pale lilac glow dimly began to light up the area.

Wherever she'd ended up, it was narrow and deep, the rocks rough and jagged as they continued at length in front, and, after a very careful turn to look, behind as well. She moved her hands higher, pushing through the ensuing pain with a breathless grunt, and saw what looked to be an opening just over ten feet above her head, covered with…

Kagome squinted and thought she could make out leaves.

She lowered her hands, mindful of her injuries, as she stared. "How'd I end up here...?" she muttered to herself and scratched at her cheek with a still-glowing finger. "Fenris?" she called out again, louder than the last time, "You here?"

No answer.

"Damn it…" Kagome huffed out a rough exhale, before going through the painstaking motion of dragging herself to the wall nearest to her. Harsh grunts filled the silence as she slowly made the crawl over to the wall. Once finished, she took a moment to rest, listening to the sound of her own heavy pants from the exertion.

The last thing she remembered was… The hunters. They'd been ambushed, had thought they were fighting the usual group of run-of-the-mill bandits when reinforcements came, this time dressed in Tevinter-style garb and armor.

They kept fighting, of course, but then…

An explosion?

A magical explosion, Kagome remembered suddenly, eyes shooting open. She'd seen it at the last second, or rather, felt the building pressure that was the telltale sign of a brewing potent spell in the works, as well as the sharp, chaotic trembling in the air that signaled whoever was casting it was losing control of it fast.

Too late to warn Fenris of the threat and too far away to do anything, Kagome remembered casting up two shields around them at once just before it happened.

She also remembered concentrating more on the barrier protecting Fenris. He'd been far closer to the source of the impending explosion, and the barriers were conjured simultaneously and hastily so, that there just wasn't any time to solidify and ensure they'd both hold…

The blast must have broken through hers and thrown her over… to wherever she was now.

Kagome sighed, weary and pained, letting her head tip back against the stone and shutting her eyes.

She only hoped the barrier protecting Fenris had held well enough against the explosion.

"Again?" Kagome laughed, pulling her bow from its strap across her back, nocking an arrow and releasing it at a bandit before Fenris could even palm his daggers—

—Fenris let loose a string of curses, venom spat off the tip of his tongue as he realized, "There are more of them! It's an ambush!" he warned. His markings flared, blinding and bright with the ferocity of his anger, casting twisted, menacing shadows about where he stood. "These are no ordinary bandits — they're hunters!"—

— Kagome panted heavily; her quiver dangerously low on arrows, she'd taken to a pair of daggers and bore both the exhaustion and wounds that came with nonstop, close-ranged combat with multiple opponents coming at her at once.

Blood left a sluggish trail down the length of her arm from a weeping wound curling around her bicep, the leather torn from where a sword had caught her unawares; another, more shallow, traced diagonally along the left side of her ribs, her tunic clinging where it became soaked with her blood; and she was favoring her right leg, where a metal-booted foot had grazed her close enough to make her lose her footing and strain her ankle.

Fenris on the other hand was faring considerably better than her, his armor and fighting style better suited to take the hits they'd spent the greater part of an hour enduring.

Though the conflicts with the hunters were growing farther and fewer in between, they also grew more vicious. Perhaps it was time for her to take up proper armor suited for this sort of battling.

Not perhaps, Kagome thought, hissing a curse after another particularly close call. Definitely. She danced around the swipes and jabs from the duel-wielding rogue facing her, feinting left and spinning right, darting in when she finally saw an opening. Her blade slid clean in the gap of the other woman's leather armor, between the ribs high up under her left side.

Kagome yanked her blade, leaping back as the woman fell to ground, pausing only long enough to ensure she wouldn't be getting back up. Once sure, she made her way back to Fenris, sliding in at his back and facing off with one of the two hunters that were teaming up against him.

"They really pulled out the stops this time," Kagome remarked, pressing her leather-clad back against his while she caught her breath. The material of his leather tunic was thin enough that she could feel the heat radiating through it from his back.

Genuine concern belied her offhand remark, and Fenris shifted closer — pressed firmer — against her. "We will be fine," he assured, and the confidence in his words served to settle her. He was pleased to then hear her give a breathy, wry laugh.

"Yeah," and a quick glance around saw Kagome grinning back at him, eyes bright and dancing. "We can take them."

Fenris stood in the shade, absently biting into an apple as he gazed up at the city ahead in the distance.

Kirkwall, he mused as he languidly chewed his mouthful. He swallowed, a swipe of his tongue along his bottom lip chasing the lingering burst of flavor left from the fruit around his mouth. "The city of chains," he then said aloud to himself, before pressing his lips together in a thin, pale line.

Doubtless it is a trap, immediately came the thought, laced with the bitterness and contempt of previous experience. One last snap of his teeth around what was left of the apple, he chucked aside the core, flicking residual juices from his fingertips. There is precious little that would entice Danarius to leave the lavish comfort and security of his fortress, and to a city such as this.

If what he heard was correct, Kirkwall, rife with refugees from the Blight and its Templars that enjoyed a great deal of influence in the city, was the only place worse in their treatment of mages other than in Par Vollen itself with the Qunari.

Such a fact soothed him, and oh, he'd be lying if the thought of Danarius, rounded up and thrown into the Gallows, feet and wrists heavy with the chains he so happily endowed his many slaves, did not bring even the slightest twitch to his mouth.

But what if? His traitorous mind beckoned, and Fenris cursed under his breath, trying to ignore how the optimism that still lingered in it brought back images of bright, blue-grey eyes and long hair as dark as the night sky itself.

Yet, it was enough to steel himself, to start down the winding path that led into the city, his frown dark enough to make those passing by skittish at the mere sight of him.

Perhaps it would be a trap, but in light of even the smallest chance for the opportunity to bring his blade to his former master's throat, his fingers around that bastard's cold, shriveled, dark heart, oh, he would gladly take it. And if not, then at the very least he'd be granted the chance to cull down the hunters at his back.

Either scenario would be immensely therapeutic, he was sure.

Fenris reached down to his belt, idly weighing the small pouch at his hip. A grim scowl twisted his lips.

He had let his guard down once already; he refused to walk into another one of Danarius's ambushes unprepared.

He would not make the same mistake twice.

Kagome leaned heavily against the railing, ignoring the fierce wind whipping through her hair, and the spray of mist against her face, like thousands of needles pricking against her skin. The ground beneath her feet rocked in a steady sway back and forth, a remarkable change from just a few days ago.

"Jus' another day or so until we reach home, I'd wager."

Kagome hummed, turning to the sailor beside her — a tall woman, with a foot over Kagome. Her light brown hair was streaked liberally with highlights borne only from a great deal of time spent beneath an unrelenting sun, and her dark skin roughened in a way in which that very time was often spent on the sea. Her arms, taut with lean muscle developed from the rigorous work of sailing a ship, were crossed beneath her chest as she squinted dark eyes out at the horizon.

The woman, the Captain's first mate who went by the name of Caralina, glanced over and regarded Kagome with quiet curiosity. "You ever been to Estwatch before?"

Kagome nodded, tapping her fingers against the weathered wood she rested against. "Lived there for a couple years," she replied over the roar of the waves, "But I only visit once in a while nowadays."

The sailor gave a murmur, soft enough that Kagome had to strain to catch it. "Thought so — you didn't look very surprised when we sailed into that storm," she said by way of explanation at Kagome's own curious look.

The route to Estwatch by boat, the only way to get to the small island located a ways off the western coast of Thedas, was often one complicated by vicious, tumultuous storms capable of sinking a ship unprepared and inexperienced.

As one of the few having boarded the ship as a passenger, Kagome was ordered to stay below deck and out of the way with the others until the storm cleared. She, however, was also the first one to venture back topside once the worst had subsided and she was granted permission.

It wasn't the first storm she'd sailed through on a boat coming to or from Estwatch; doubtful it'd be the last. And Caralina's ship was one of the few Kagome recognized as a frequent visitor to the island's docks.

Mostly, though, she wanted to get away from the scent of nervous sweat from unwashed bodies in such close quarters. It didn't mix well with the humid, musty damp trapped down there with them.

They chatted for a few moments longer until the Captain eventually called Caralina's attention with a shout. Left alone, Kagome stared out into the sea once more, mouth curled into a pensive, melancholy frown.

"If distancing yourself from Danarius is your goal, why not take to a ship? Surely it would be quicker?"

Fenris ripped the bread roll in his hands in two, passing the other half to Kagome as they sat sharing in the shade of the large oak tree towering above them. "It would not have been impossible to smuggle myself onboard a vessel, perhaps even strike a deal to gain passage in secret," he admitted, though a touch reluctant.

She could see it in his eyes, in the way they avoided meeting her own, and watched as he tore a piece from his own roll with his teeth, chewing and swallowing before speaking once more.

His voice this time was much quieter.

"But being trapped on a ship for weeks, with no avenue of escape if pressed… It did not sit well with me. I… I couldn't."

Kagome peered over at Fenris, at the way he now glared at the remains of the roll in his hands. She gave a hum, a small grin, as she said lightly to break his sudden turn to glum, "That, and on a ship, you might have no choice but to eat a bunch of fish, right?"

It startled a snort from the man, as well as a wry smirk when he glanced up to regard her. "There is that as well," he conceded, his tone genial.

Kagome sighed at the memory, and, with her arms still braced against the railing, she shut her eyes and rested her forehead against them, surrendering herself to the rhythmic rock of the ship beneath her feet as it sailed along the undulating waves of the Amaranthine Ocean.

—The hunters' numbers were thinning down, and thankfully so. Less than a dozen remained, and the pair of them were on their last dregs of stamina with how long the battle had stretched. They rushed in, wave after wave, and their intent became clear after the third had come down on them: to wear them out.

And admittedly, it almost worked.

But in the end, all that was left was a warrior who towered over them both and armed with a battle axe that rivaled the size of Fenris's sword, a young mage smart enough to keep his distance and then some, and a few rogues almost nimble enough to weave in and out of their array attacks.

—Almost being the key word, as Fenris watched Kagome bring one down with ease and a rather impressive battle-cry.

More than manageable, he thought.

But then he felt it. A pressure building at the back of his mind, the fine hairs at the nape of his neck rising, his markings pulsing wildly of their own volition—

—The mage—

—Kagome's voice screamed at him; his heart leapt up in his throat at the sound of it, at the sound of pure, unadulterated fear saturating it, cracking in its haste to shout, to warn him.

"Fenris!"—

—He turned, and the world exploded into a flurry of reds and oranges, the lyrium in his veins burning, searing, and then—

Darkness.

"You needn't lie to get my help."

Could I…?

Fenris studied the unusual group before him — a dwarf, an elf, and two humans.

It sounds like the beginnings of a terrible joke, Fenris balefully thought, Two humans, a dwarf, and an elf walk into an alienage…

Fenris left the punchline to hang as he turned to the woman he assumed to be in charge and found her to be staring back at him in open curiosity. She stood standing tall, chin jutted out proud, and a hand propped as she waited to hear him out.

But they look competent. And there is strength in numbers, this I know too well…

They were poorly armored, but their weapons — though worn from age and use — were clearly taken well care of, a telling sign of fights past won. And they had held their own against the two groups of slavers that ambushed them in his stead.

The woman, the leader, remained staring as he conducted his survey. While he found her clear grey gaze fixed upon him a bit unsettling, there was a certain look in them…

Perhaps…

"That remains to be seen," he eventually replied, his reserved voice breaking the silence between them at last. He turned back to the dead hunter, whose blood still dripped readily from the tips of his gauntleted fingers, and crouched to investigate his belongings.

Moments later and done with his rooting, Fenris straightened. "It's as I thought," he sharply bit out, "My former master—" and here he spat the title with a scathing disgust, "—has accompanied them to the city. I know you have questions, but I must confront him before he flees." He paused for a beat, gaze flickering away as the awkwardness of what he was about to request crept up along his neck with the heat of embarrassment.

"I… will need your help."

The woman's lips, painted a dark rouge, quirked. "It sounds like you intend to do more than just talk," she commented, an air of insouciance with just a hint of wry amusement about her.

Unbridled rage licked under his skin, and Fenris had to reign in the shudder of anticipation his markings gave as they were agitated by the intensity of it. "Danarius wants to strip the flesh from my bones," he began, his voice a low rumble, and the sound of it lethal to even his ears, "He has sent so many hunters that I have long lost count."

His hand rose to cover the pouch at his hip, an unconscious action he did not realize until he felt his fingers brush against the leather. It was all he could do to keep his burgeoning fury at bay.

Hunters which have dogged me at every step; which have taken blood and time and life, a life, from me.

"And before that," Fenris's growled, deep in his chest, nostrils flaring as his jaw clenched so tight pain radiated at the back of his grounded teeth, "He kept me on a leash like a Qunari mage, a personal pet to mock Qunari custom. So, yes," he spat the words, taking a step forward, a furious scowl twisting his mouth something caustic, "I intended to do more than just talk."

It was almost a surprise that in the face of his acerbic ranting, the woman did not turn on her heel and leave him and his problems to himself — instead, her eyes darkened as she regarded him with contemplative silence, appraising him almost, before she lifted her chin.

A slow smile curled at the edges of her mouth — one that betrayed the danger lurking within.

"If it means fighting more slavers," she murmured, tone light, too light in fact, that instinct was warning him to keep an eye on her, "I'll help you."

But Fenris couldn't deny the swell of relief he felt at agreement, soothing both his anger and his suspicion. "I will find a way to repay you, I swear it," he vowed. "The magister is staying in an estate in Hightown. Meet me there as soon as you are able," he requested, turning on his heel to stalk off, his parting words a warning, "We must enter before morning."

I will repay Danarius for what he has done, Kagome.

I promise.

I will not allow your death to be left unavenged.

Sparse light filtered through a spiderweb of cracks lacing across the ruins' corroded stone ceiling. A mirror stood tall in the middle of the chamber, at the top of a round altar, its steps shaped to form around it, like flat circles stacked atop one another.

The mirror itself glimmered a faint sheen across its plane of deep violet glass, sending flickers of light about the chamber. Kagome ran her gaze over the twisting stone that encased the darkened glass she'd spent the past decade researching for the past decade, before allowing her eyes to slide shut as she exhaled slowly.

She could feel it; power — great, potent power thrumming through the mirror, pooled just beneath the surface of its glass, bleeding faintly through its stony frame. Muted.

A communication device, she recalled reading in one of the few tomes that spoke of the mirrors, and even in that it was only in passing. Nothing in her research in Tevinter, nor in any of the other libraries she'd finagled access to — through means both granted and not — could explain how or why the mirror opened up as a portal from her world into one so different at the exact moment she fell against it, or how it could even come to be in her own world in the first place.

Countless others must have touched the object before, she was sure, but there had been no rumors about its hidden abilities or of any strange, sudden disappearances linked to or around it before.

It had been shoved to the corner of a storage room, a stained, dusty sheet draped over in a haphazard attempt of protecting it. The dust itself looked like it hadn't been disturbed in years. It wasn't even the reason she and her friends were in the village, checking out the same storage room it had been kept in.

Was she somehow the catalyst to triggering the mirror's reaction? She wondered. Could it have been her own abilities as a miko? Her connection to the Shikon? Her displacement in a time not her own?

Or perhaps the mirror did open to any that pressed against its gleaming surface, but with its victims vanished and no witnesses to see it, no one knew what happened? Who would suspect a simple mirror covered in dust and grime? Easier to assume that those same people could've picked up and left, or ran afoul of trouble in the wilderness.

Which brought up another question — if others had fallen in like her, did they also arrive through the same mirror? Into the same world, the same time period corresponding to the one back in her old world? Or was it a pathway to countless other worlds in which mirrors similar to it existed?

So many questions, with answers she knew nothing of.

And now… and now, after nearly seven years of searching and little to show for it, Kagome was left to wonder if there was even a point to returning.

Who knew how time passed on the other side; who knew, even if she somehow managed to reactivate the mirror, if it would even open passage back to her world and not a different one entirely. Who knew how it worked other than the ancient elves themselves who created and utilized it in the first place.

And then, there was Fenris…

Kagome's jaw clenched, gritting her teeth. In her lap her fingers curled into a fist. Even if she discovered a way to return to her world, leaving without seeing Fenris one final time, without making sure he was safe and out of the clutches of his ex-master's hands, did not sit well with her.

Fenris was alive, this much she knew, but where he was, whether the hunters that had ambushed them had managed to capture and take him back to Tevinter, Kagome didn't know.

She doubted it, though, if she was being honest. The blast that knocked her out and cleared her off her feet was an uncontrolled one; only a mage with a sufficient barrier would be able to survive such an intense explosion, and the one who orchestrated it was the only mage still alive.

And when she managed to climb her way out of the gorge and survey the remains of their fight, none wore armor similar to that of Fenris's unique style, nor did she catch sight of his blade. Her barrier held, she was relieved to find; some way or another Fenris had walked away from the clearing.

Whether it was by his own two feet or with the help of other hunters, Kagome couldn't be sure, but she had retraced their tracks to the last village they had passed through, and the one after that, sure that the hunters would have passed through if they had him. Even slavers needed supplies at some point, and they would have been quick to send back word of their success.

But nothing. No one suspicious had passed through, no sign of an elf bound in chains or unconscious, no one sending a missive out to Tevinter.

The only way to be sure was to go to Danarius herself, to Castellum Tenebris. She had no idea how she would even begin to help him escape once more — Fenris mentioned how Danarius would tout the impregnable security his fortress afforded.

Kagome only knew that if it indeed came to that, she would need help…

A tingle in the back of her mind stirred her from such thoughts and away from her meditation.

Her eyes were still closed when she caught ear of the soft footsteps approaching her.

"Shippo," she murmured in greeting, over the faint echoes of spiders skittering through the ruins in the distance. She recognized the familiar aura belonging to her friend with ease.

It was the other she was unfamiliar with.

"You've brought a friend?"

"Yeah." Kagome listened as the kitsune took a seat beside her — the scruff of leather boots against stone, the clink of metal of his armor, his weapons, the rustle of it as he sat, jostling something, in a pack, perhaps.

Kagome raised an eyebrow as she turned to Shippo — gone was the young child Inuyasha and she first stumbled upon. In his place was a young adult, maturity displayed in the defined slope of his narrow jawline and the high arch of his cheeks, slimmed down over the last few years once the baby fat of his youth faded away.

Unsurprisingly, his features had become more vulpine as he grew, but nothing made it more evident than his eyes, a stunning, otherworldly green that hid something sly behind the mischief they often danced with. He was dressed in dark leathers, a slim, curved longsword strapped to his back, and a trio of daggers sheathed across his chest. A pack sat neatly in his cross-crossed lap.

Looking at him made her feel old…

Shippo also wore a sheepish grin on his face to greet her, and that was when she decided to turn and see who he'd brought.

Kagome's shifting spurred Shippo's companion to step out of the shadows and into the light, footsteps light and slow as they drew closer — not unlike a prowl.

The first to draw her attention were a pair of striking gold eyes, sharp and wary as they eyed the pair sitting together on the stone, lined with charcoal and dark purple. Inky, shiny hair was coiled into a loose bun, wispy long bangs framing an angular face, slim and pale but features severe. Many would describe her as hauntingly beautiful.

Kagome would agree; she would also posit that behind the woman's dark allure lurked power. Incredible, unknown power. Danger as well, but from where she sat, Kagome could sense the other woman was not a threat to her, or at least, not at the moment.

"Greetings," the woman eventually offered. She spoke with a brisk curtness, her voice accented and firm, and strode forward a few more steps. "I am Morrigan."

And she's alive! Though they're still separated; the reunion will be something else, I imagine.

Like always, feel free to hit me up at my tumblr with some prompts!

Till next time!

RainLily^^