xXXXx
Gwen and Alistair strode up to the camp confidently and washed the rest of the dried blood from their hands as they stood at the edge of the camp.
When she finished drying her hands, the Inquisitor began talking to the soldiers, placing a friendly hand on each of their shoulders. Alistair watched her from a short distance, admiring her. She handed the waxed canvas bag to the officer at the camp and shook the woman's hand. She then walked over to another soldier and spoke with him, handing off the sack of furs. Afterwards, she came walking slowly back to Alistair.
"It's done. The correspondence will leave for Skyhold within the hour with the courier and my furs will be tanned there." She grinned.
"Excellent."
"Now, you're hungry, I know. I'm actually quite famished myself. I propose we eat and then travel to meet with our companions.
"Sounds good. What did your soldiers have prepared?" Alistair sniffed the air.
Gwen ducked under a canopy and walked over to a bubbling pot full of stew sitting atop a small stove. "Looks like stew."
"Rabbit stew, your worship!" Called one of the soldiers. "Care for a couple bowls?"
"Yes, thank you Denholm, that would be lovely."
The man cleared away some papers from the requisition table and sat two steaming bowls of stew with bread and ale for the Inquisitor and her companion. Another female soldier brought two stools out of one of the thick canvas tents. Alistair and Gwen sat down, thanking the soldiers for their hospitality before beginning to eat. Both were hungry, so they began to eat in silence.
Alistair stopped eating a moment later, his spoon still in his hand, and looked into Gwen's sage-green eyes, "Thank you, for today. For your kindness and conversation. This was a good diversion from my normal day-to-day."
"You're welcome. I enjoyed myself as well, despite our run-in with the wolves."
They laughed together and she continued. "I'm glad we had a chance to travel together at our own pace. It was a much needed break for me too. Since the days ahead are going to be intense, it was worth the morning's change of pace." She lifted her mug and thunked it against his as he lifted it. "To new friends."
"To new friends." Alistair hummed and held her eyes as he took a sip of ale.
Gwen smiled shyly at him, and they both continued eating.
The Inquisitor finished her stew and picked at her bread, absentmindedly. She looked out to the south and wondered how the rest of the group was faring. The scraping of wood against wood brought her out of her thoughts.
Alistair looked up from his task of removing every last drop of stew from the bowl. "What?"
"I'm surprised you aren't licking the bowl clean."
"I do have some reservation."
Gwen laughed. "Do you want another bowl?"
"Could I? You... you don't think that would be asking too much?" He asked, almost pathetically.
She grabbed his empty bowl with a mock scowl and went over to the pot of stew, spooning it in until it was almost too full to carry back to the table. He looked up at her from the table as she placed it in front of him, his eyes gleaming as if she was giving him a bowl full of gold coins. A warmth spread across her chest and she blushed at him. The Warden didn't notice because he was too busy consuming the latest bowl of stew.
Gwen brought out her personal journal, pen and ink and she started writing to organize her thoughts.
...
11 Cloudsreach 9:41 Dragon
Crestwood, Southeastern Camp
Yesterday I had some doubts about this all, but today- I'm sure this was the right thing to do, in more than one way.
We spent the morning together. There was talk of cheese, fights with wolves, healing, and now, stew. He just gave me this look that melted my heart. So pure and innocent, like Leliana described him in her stories. There is something underneath his hard exterior, something I find very endearing. I know he's been through so much and quite far removed from that boy on the outside, but could he still be there at his heart?
…
Gwen put her pen and ink down when she was approached by Denholm again. This time he carried another small wooden bowl with him. He placed it in front of the Inquisitor.
"Your worship, we found these at an abandoned farm nearby. Had to harvest them all before they turned to mush in this rain. We've all had our fill and would like you have them."
Gwen looked down at the bowl that held about a dozen small, red, heart shaped fruits. She gasped. "Strawberries?" She reached out her hand and touched Denholm's forearm gently. "Thank you. You have no idea how this warms my heart."
He blushed at the sentiment he was given and gracefully bowed and backed away. She popped one whole into her mouth, relishing at its freshness. Her eyes rolling back into her head slightly, she chanced a glance over to Alistair. He had finished his stew and was silently begging her for one of the small fruits.
"Oh." She muffled, her mouth still filled with the fruit. "You want one of these, I take it?"
"You're not going to share?" He scoffed at her jovially. "Then don't eat them in front of me; it's torture."
Gwen nudged the bowl over to him. "Just don't gobble them all up before I get another."
.
The clouded sun rose to its peak in the sky as they finished their meal. With haste, Gwen packed her things into her knapsack.
She spoke with irritation. "We took too long to eat. Blasted strawberries... I wanted to be with them by midday. We need to head out immediately."
"I agree. Those berries were nice though, I'm going to go thank Denholm personally."
"Alright, I'll be here waiting." She shook her head as the Warden walked over to the soldier and it wasn't long before the two men were sharing a laugh and a hearty handshake of farewell. Gwen watched their interaction with interest as he surprised her again with this display of humility and respect. She smiled to herself, knowing that it wouldn't be the last time.
.
Making their way southward, they came across a few dead bandits. They shared a knowing glance and pushed on with more speed, hoping to shorten their travels to the homestead. They stuck to the South road, seeing another pair of bodies slumped against a boulder, one with Varric's crossbow arrow fixed neatly into his eye socket. Bandits were certainly plentiful in this area.
A few moments later they had climbed a hill in the road and were greeted by a perturbed Cassandra.
"Where in the Maker's name have you been?!" She ushered them to the door of a modest farmhouse at the precipice of the hill.
"We ran into some trouble. I noticed you did too. We're going to have to be careful with so much activity on these roads."
"That's not the worst of it, Inquisitor. Come inside, warm yourselves. We need to talk."
Upon opening the door, they were barraged with voices of concern and question. Gwen placated her worrisome companions as best as she could and settled near the fire for warmth. Alistair stood behind her and the rest of the group crowded around the small hearth for deliberation.
Cassandra introduced the woman named Judith who gave the travelers information regarding the dam, amongst other things. She was more than happy to lend her house to the Inquisition for a time, and she stood at a table in an adjacent room, crushing herbs with a mortar and pestle.
Cassandra spoke first. "The bandits are holed up in Caer Bronach, a fortress about five miles to the Northwest. If you recall, that's the only way to get to the dam controls. There is an old tavern on a bridge. I have made a notation on our map."
"Alright. What kind of numbers do they have?" The Inquisitor asked, looking around at her companions.
Hawke spoke up first. "We can't be sure. These hills are crawling with them, so I'd imagine that they have a sizable force."
Gwen sighed, rubbing her temples with her hand. "We need to get to that dam. Suggestions?"
Alistair's voice called out from behind the Inquisitor and she turned her attention to him. "Our band is small enough to sneak up to the gates and walk right in. I've done it a hundred times with a small strike force similar to ours. They'll never expect it. From there we pick off the watchmen and make our way through the entire keep. We have two archers. Position them high, as the rest of us make our way through."
Gwen looked around to find all faces intently listening to his proposal.
He continued. "Warrior's at the front, mages to follow. It won't be quick or easy, but it can be done."
Cassandra added, "If we're going to do this, we best move as soon as possible. By nightfall, the scouts will be back and the fortress stocked for the night."
Varric reluctantly responded, "I don't like it. We should have more people, Trev."
Gwen looked at Alistair and considered her firsthand experience with the battle-worn warrior. He knew how to fight with a strike force and organize the players on the field, and it was time to trust him. Alistair was stifling an irritated expression, until her words left her mouth.
"It's a sound plan. Even if we wanted more people, we can't afford to wait for reinforcements. We need to drain the lake to get to the rift. Alistair's plan is good. I know that if we focus and work together, this can be done."
She glanced at the Warden to see his face relaxing at her words.
"I still don't like it, but what choice do we have." Varric slumped slightly against the wall, resigned. "Better give Bianca a tune-up."
"Yes. Everyone prepare yourselves and give me all your potions. I need to inventory what we have." She clapped her hands together once. "Be ready within the hour."
The Seeker spoke up, "Gwen, there's one more thing we need to discuss."
"What is it?" She replied, dismayed.
"Come, see for yourselves."
She led Alistair and Gwen out to a wall beyond Judith's garden. They stood there peering into the fog that lay in the valley before them. Cassandra handed Gwen a spyglass.
"Focus, at the far wall of the ruins."
Gwen held the glass up, scanning left and right slowly until she saw it. A large reptilian wing flapped once, then another time before it settled against its owner's massive scaled body.
"Bloody hell." She said dropping the instrument into Alistair's waiting hand.
He too peered out and saw the gigantic beast moving slowly through the fog. "High Dragon. Perfect."
"She is apparently terrorizing the locals… and will need to be eliminated." The Seeker's tone was impassive.
"This place is abysmally horrid." Gwen said venomously, receiving a rather amusing chuckle from her Warden friend.
"You've never been to the Deep Roads, I take it?" He asked, knowing full well the answer.
She glanced up at him as he stood along the wall, arms folded across his chest. "I'm so glad you're with us."
Alistair looked down at her, bemused, "Why?"
"Because you seem to have been to the worst places and had the worst experiences of anyone in the whole of Thedas and that makes me feel better about our travels and our journey thus far. Thank you." She smiled at him.
He nodded back, smirking, "I aim to please."
.
Back inside the hut, the Inquisitor glanced around the room until her eyes found Solas. He was fishing through his pack, pulling out an array of potions. She walked over to him. "Solas, Alistair was bitten by a wolf on our short walk here, could you examine him?"
Gwen could have sworn she saw him smirk at the mention of the wolf bite, but his emotion was so fleeting that she couldn't be sure.
"Of course, I'll look at it. I'd like to see how your skills are progressing. I should also mend the rest of his ailing muscles if he is to be of any help to us in battle."
"Please do." Together they strode over to where Alistair stood by the fire and Gwen reached out for his hand and began pulling off his glove, finger by finger. The Warden tensed at her proximity and her seemingly intimate action until he realized they were playing at healer and patient, nothing more.
Solas took over the examination, rolling Alistair's arm around in his grip. "This is satisfactory."
"Satisfactory?" Gwen scoffed. "Why do you say that?" She took Alistair's arm in her hands again and held it up so that she could inspect the skin herself. She ran her fingers over the place she healed, noticing that she was producing goosebumps on the man's skin. Her eyes met his for a moment.
The Warden broke their fixation when Solas ran his finger down the Warden's wrist. "He will have a scar here: this white line will never heal. You sealed him up too quickly."
With a little more than agitation, Alistair pulled his arm away from them. "I think my wrist is fine and besides, scars are manly." He winked at Gwen.
Solas narrowed his eyes at the Warden, his voice harsher than his previous comment. "If I'm to restore your muscles to their full health, we should begin immediately."
Alistair nodded and followed Solas who directed him to a cot in an adjacent room. "Off with the armor then. We only have an hour." Solas began to pull at buckle on the Grey Warden's chest piece but Alistair jerked away, insisting that he could shed his own armor without the elf's help.
The Inquisitor laughed and turned her attention to her own pack, searching through it and pulling out supplies for their battle.
.
Gathering all of their resources together, along with a generous donation from Judith, the Inquisitor divided the potions up and placed them into the open packs on the table. She let out a great breath and opened the map that Cassandra had given her. Plotting a route along the ridge of a cliff rather than the road itself seemed a better idea with all of the pockets of bandits in the area. It may have been rougher terrain, but it decreased the chances of encountering resistance and getting injured before their big brawl. She rolled up the map neatly and placed it back in its case with Cassandra's belongings. Gwen sat on the surface of the table, her fingers drumming.
Alistair came to stand next to her, newly healed. "Are you ready?"
"Yes." Gwen nodded confidently.
Gwen turned to gather the rest of the group and summarized the tactics again and she told them which route she intended to take. With everyone in agreement, the companions were on their way before too long.
The sun was barely in the western sky as they set off. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, which somehow seemed more irritating than the heavy downpour she'd experienced that morning. Tension was high, but Gwen did her best to reassure her people that they would prevail. Together they could do it and she knew that, she just hoped her companions had the same confidence in themselves as she had in them.