Over the next several weeks, Gale continued to travel with Varine. The night that they had met, something or someone was lurking nearby and had followed them into town after Gale and Varine took to the road. Ever since then, Gale agreed to act as Varine's bodyguard. At least until the dangers had passed. For the most part, their travels were quite, but they did run into bandits and wolves or bears along the way.

While Varine was a cheerful, happy, and friendly person, Gale still did her best not to get too close. She had left Skyhold to protect the others, especially Samuel, but Varine made it hard for Gale to keep her distance.

They travelled all over, wherever Varine's business would take her. Varine would tell Gale stories of her travels and Gale got to see a whole new side to the world through her new companion's eyes.

One night, though, when they had made camp in an area that Gale knew would be safe, Gale's hunger was beginning to grow.

'I warned you that this would happen, Gale...' Galeria said.

Gale's body began to shake with hunger, her fangs growing. 'I'll manage, just as I always have...'

'If you do not feed on something more than animal blood, you will become as my previous host did.'

'I won't let that happen... Varine needs me still...'

Gale stood, going over to the wagon to check on Varine who was sleeping peacefully. She watched her for a moment or two, but her hunger was growing stronger. She tore herself away, pushing back thoughts of how sweet Varine's blood might taste, and hurried into the woods nearby to find her next meal.

In the wagon, Varine was roused from her slumber and saw Gale hurrying off into the woods. Worried, she climbed down from the wagon and followed after her. She searched through the woods, trying to find her companion in the dark. After a while, she turned to look back the way that she had come and was relieved that she could still see the light of their fire through the thick trees.

'Thank goodness... now where could she have gone?'

A branch snapped nearby in the dark and rustle sounded behind her, causing her to turn around and scan her surroundings. When she didn't spot anything, Varine sighed and tried to remain on guard. Turning, she started to make her way back to camp and just hoped that Gale would be OK. As she made her way back through the trees though, another rustle came from behind her and a sense of fear began to rise within her.

"H-Hello?" she called. "Gale?"

No answer came.

"Where are you, Gale...?"

Another rustle sounded to her right and she spun around, but there was nothing. As her fear began to grow stronger, she backed away and tripped over an exposed root. She slammed into the soft earth, but as she tried to get back to her feet the bushes began to move and a shadow began to advance on her. She scrambled to her feet and took off running back towards camp, but the shadow was quickly upon her and had her pinned against the trunk of a tree.

Varine tried to scream, but a hand covered her mouth.

"You should know better than to go out into the woods alone with no way to defend yourself..."

Varine's eyes widen at the voice that spoke to her. 'Gale...?'

As Gale removed her hand and stepped back, Varine noticed blood trickling down her chin. She reached up and wiped the blood away. "Are you OK? You left camp so quickly, I got worried."

"You should be more worried about yourself, Rinnie. What were you thinking coming out here without any way to defend yourself?"

Varine sighed and smiled. "I knew you would be nearby if I got into any trouble."

Gale sighed, pulling her in for a hug and breathing in her scent. "Your scent is so sweet, Rinnie..."

Varine shuddered under her touch as she touched her skin lightly, her body beginning to run hot as her heart started pounding. It was a new feeling, something strange that she had never felt before- one that she noticed she was beginning to enjoy. When she looked up at Gale, the moon shined through the branches of the trees as the clouds passed by, illuminating the woods just enough for Varine to see crimson eyes bore into her hungrily.

"Gale... your eyes..."

Gale stepped back and looked away from her. "We should get back to camp."

"Gale, wait." Varine reached forward to grab Gale's hand. "Are you alright? What's going on with you?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

"You should know by now that I'm going to worry regardless of what you say." Varine tried to pull her back. "Please, tell me what's go-"

Gale turned and pinned her to the tree again, holding her hands above her head. "Do you know how difficult it is to resist you, Rinnie?"

Varine looked up at her, worry mixing with a bit of fear. She had never seen Gale like this before. As Gale talked, she noticed a pair of double fangs protruding from her gums. "Gale..." She began to feel powerless against Gale as she traced her jaw and the curves of her neck. She felt herself giving into Gale as she leaned into her, her lips grazing her neck, but suddenly Gale pulled back and stepped away from her.

When Varine looked back at her, she saw the crimson red had faded into sandy beige once more and the fangs had disappeared.

"I'm so sorry..." Gale said, turning away from Varine. "Let's get back to camp..."

Varine watched as Gale started began to make her back to their camp. 'What's going on, Gale...?' she wondered, then quickly followed after her.

When they returned to camp, Gale avoided Varine and kept her distance. Not sure what to say or do, Varine climbed back into her wagon and lay back down.

'What are you, Gale...?'