9:30 Wintermarch 23rd
"We might as well burn the bodies and set camp here. It will burn into our time but those are storm clouds. The wagons will give us more protection than out in the wild." Eren said. So we got down to it and started to gather the bodies to burn them.
"You feel no remorse for doing this to your compatriots?" Wynne asked.
"Why?" Zevran scoffed. "These people knew the risk of what could happen should their mission fail and it was the first time I worked with them. It's a shame but that is death, yes?"
"How can you be so disconnected? They had lives just like everyone else." Wynne countered.
"And we attacked you and your group killed them. I don't see why you have a problem. Would you have rather we succeeded?" Zevran asked. Wynne did a disgruntled grunt and turned away. I dragged the last one to the pile and Talen came up. He made a scorching flame to cover everyone.
"May Andraste guide them." Leliana prayed.
"So let it be." Talen ended the prayer. She gave him a small smile while I left to go and prepare the carriages.
"I must admit, I didn't think anyone would support me. You have my gratitude." Zevran came up to me.
"Don't worry about it." I shook my head, getting a few blankets to cover the openings of the wagons.
"I insist." Zevran winked.
"The only thing you're getting out of me is most likely a kick on your butt. Now, make yourself useful and help me cover this." I said, flinging a part of the blanket over to him. He chuckled. We wrapped it up nice and tight. We covered two wagons, one for the women and other for the guys.
"Why did you support the notion of having me alive? I am rather curious about it." Zevran asked after he finished helping me.
"Because I have faith that you'll help us. We don't come across people that are good at fighting like you every day you know?" I shrugged.
"I must praise at your own tactics as crude as they were." Zevran said.
"I fight dirty because I'm short and I'm not as strong as everyone else." I reasoned.
"If you would like me to show you some moves to better your fighting, I would. I am in your debt." Zevran nodded.
"If we have time but for now, I have to help with food." I said, going over to the fire with Leliana.
"I found some fresh meat so we can have a good stew. I also found spices though I don't know which ones to use." Leliana said as she was going through small bottles filled with dried spices and herbs.
"It depends on what you want in a stew. What meat did you find?" I asked.
"It seems they carried a few hens as well as smoked meat and fresh beef. They were very well stocked." Leliana smiled.
"Hmm chicken huh? Is that it?" I asked.
"Vegetables are difficult to come across unless they've been pickled during these times." Leliana said.
"Good point. No potatoes though?" I asked.
"A few." Leliana showed me. Wynne sat with us and helped us peel the potatoes as the chicken was boiling. I went through the various herbs and got some oregano to add. It was a light spice and enough to make it taste good and not drab.
"So is it almost done?" Alistair came up.
"It still needs time." I said, poking the potatoes and chicken with a small knife that Leliana also found. My daggers were for enemies not for cooking.
"Ok good now, why did you defend the assassin!?" Alistair put his foot down.
"Why is everyone going on about that? We got good help and something to pin on Loghain. If we killed him, we wouldn't have any of that. I was thinking logically." I explained.
"I still don't like him." Alistair huffed.
"You don't have to." I shrugged.
"You are too nonchalant about this." Wynne said. "Have you forgotten he nearly killed Eren?"
"And I saved him." I shot back.
"But what if-" Wynne started.
"There are no 'what ifs.' What happened, happened. There's no point in thinking about what could have happened. We need to focus on the present besides, you keep on going like Zevran is like my best friend or something. I'm keeping a close eye on him too so try not to put me on the chopping block alright?" I snapped. "Whatever, give the chicken another 45 minutes and it should be done." I got up and walked toward the hills around us. Alfred barked as he circled my feet. I smooshed his face but kept on going until I was at a boulder.
I sat down and breathed. Was it that wrong to want to save a life every once in a while? Besides, as long as we got Zevran's trust, everything would be fine. But they didn't know that. We didn't have trust yet. How could we? We're all a bunch of misfits trying to save the world.
"You ok?" Talen came around. Alfred had nestled right next to me. I shrugged.
"I'm bleh." I huffed. Talen chuckled and leaned against the boulder next to where I was sitting.
"I overheard what you guys were talking about. It does seem weird that you wanted Zevran with us." Talen said.
"I just didn't want to kill anymore." I mumbled.
"Yeah, I kinda know that feeling too." Talen sat down. "But there's nothing we can do. We have to survive. Like you said, he isn't going to be the only one that is going to try. At this point, we'll have to be more careful when we're traveling. Or at least make sure that no one can spread where we're going."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it. You know I only knocked out a few of those assassins right?" I said.
"You did? Even though they most likely would try to kill us again?" Talen said.
"Well when you put it that way…" I mumbled.
"Nia, I understand that you're not used to this. I'm not either. The thing is, I saw what darkspawn are able to do. I saw…messes of patrols out when we were in the Korcari Wilds. I fought against those things even before I got to sense them. I get pissed when I realize that these people don't realize what we're up against. We only fought the scouts and a small horde. Imagine when the Archdemon finally appears, then what? We don't have griffons to fly on. How in the world are we even going to kill it?" Talen explained while I listened to him.
"We won't be able to get to the Archdemon in the first place if these guys won't let us though. They're stopping us from trying to save them. If they don't want to be saved and want to get killed by us then that's their choice. We can't do anything more than that." Talen laid it out. He had a point and it was something I had to think about.
"I understand. That doesn't mean I have to like it though." I repeated.
"I don't think anyone likes killing anyone but we have to do it if we're going to get to the Archdemon in the first place though." Talen said.
"You're so mature Talen. It's cute." I chuckled. Talen blushed.
"I-I just saw how they were hounding you! It w-was the least I could do for what you did for me at the Circle." Talen pouted.
"Thank you." I giggled. "I was never a fighter you know?"
"Could have fooled me." Talen mumbled.
"The only blades I picked up were sets of kitchen knives. I never wore armor or did anything like this. Even after a few years dealing with people as a guard, this is something very new. I'm still trying to get used to everything." I sighed.
"You and me both but…I can be there to talk to you at least. You shouldn't shut yourself off. We're a team!" Talen announced with a red face.
"You're so cute Talen." I laughed. He pouted but blushed nonetheless. I shivered as I saw a few snowflakes fall from the sky. Talen conjured up flame in his palm and the warmth soothed me.
"You want to see something awesome?" Talen suddenly asked.
"Sure?" I shrugged. Talen got up and conjured another flame. Now he was holding onto two then he started to juggle.
"I used to do this for the kids back in the Circle when they first joined. A lot of the older Senior Enchanters and Chantry people always tried to tell us to be scared of magic. I never was though." He did a series of tricks using the flames. Alfred jumped at the flickers that fell on the ground. I laughed wholeheartedly as Talen did a few silly faces with his routine.
"You should have been a comedian instead of a mage." I laughed.
"What's going on here?" Leliana asked and Talen squeaked in surprise, letting the flames fall.
"Andraste's mercy, don't sneak up on me like that!" Talen cleared his throat. Leliana saw me and then Talen then at me again.
"You were cheering her up weren't you." She stated. Talen crossed his arms.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Talen denied it.
"You should have seen it Leliana. He was doing all sorts of tricks with his flames." I said, standing up.
"Can I see?" Leliana smiled. Talen grew two shades red.
"It's nothing really!" He said, flustered. He pouted but still got the flames. "I-It's nothing fancy really." He juggled slightly and then stopped and Leliana laughed.
"That was nice. It's getting cold though so wouldn't you like to come to the fire?" Leliana asked.
"Yeah that's fine." Talen shrugged and went toward the campfire.
"Also I agree with you Nia." Leliana winked before following Talen.
"I'm really starting to miss my privacy." I mumbled before Alfred whined at me. We went over to the campfire but I sat near the edge while the others were gathered. I saw Zevran tending to his weapon. He caught me staring and smiled at me. I got up to sit next to Eren.
"How are you doing?" I asked.
"Besides having the assassin that tried killing me sitting near me? Fantastic." Eren grumbled. "Morrigan was explaining what magic she's seen her mother use so we can plan ahead."
"Are you mad at me too?" I asked. Eren sighed and rubbed his face.
"You're making me place a lot of faith in you." Eren stared.
"Sorry." I said. Eren patted my head.
"Don't be. I do trust you. I just don't trust him. Let's hope this doesn't end with a dagger in my back. Otherwise, I'll come back from the Maker's bosom just to haunt you." Eren chuckled.
"Oh no, I would not want that." I said in mock horror.
"I've come here to tell you that I blame you!" Eren did a spooky face and shook me a little in a mock choking.
"Oh the pain!" I laughed which made him laugh too.
"This is nice." He sighed at the end of it.
"Yeah." I agreed. Eventually the simple soup was done. We all just talked about minor things. Mostly our travel times. If this snow turned into a blizzard, we'd be stuck. If it snowed too much, our travel time would be doubled. There wasn't much we can do to combat mother nature. Once the food was done and the few dishes washed, we went to our respective places. Morrigan sneered at Wynne when she came in to stay with the girls.
I was the only one up writing everything down. Zevran was a good guy. I know this from various playthroughs but what if I was wrong? So far everything seemed to be fitting but I couldn't always take faith that this would play out like in the games. This was real life, not a game. That was proven to me earlier in the day.
9:30 Wintermarch 24th
It snowed heavily last night. We couldn't even reach Lothering when the weather took the turn for the worse.
After we had gathered everything up, we began on our trip again. The snow was falling lightly in the morning. I kept on playing with my breath.
"Winter wonderland." I mumbled.
"Indeed. The cold is extremely harsh. How can you Fereldens survive this?" Zevran shivered. Out of all our armors, his was the most open. He had on no stockings or pants underneath his leather skirt. Parts of his arms were also visible.
"Didn't you at least expect the cold?" Sten asked.
"Honestly? I thought I would either complete the job and head back to Antiva or die. Living is good the cold is a harsh mistress." Zevran shivered again.
"Must be rough for an assassin like you." Alistair glared.
"Ah is this the part where you bully me my good Ser?" Zevran commented.
"What? I'm not a bully. You tried to kill us so forgive me if I'm not all forgiving." Alistair said.
"It was merely an assignment. Now that I am serving you, I will not put that dagger in your back." Zevran tried reassuring him.
"Sure." Alistair rolled his eyes.
"Please ignore him Zevran. I, for one, am glad you are part of this group." Leliana mentioned.
"Oh? Then camping should be more interesting, wouldn't you say?" Zevran flirted.
"Or maybe not." Leliana scoffed.
"Ha! I have to give you points for tenacity elf." Derek laughed.
"It is in my nature to admire the beautiful and dangerous." Zevran chuckled. He immediately looked at me and winked. Eren got in front of us.
"How about you stop flirting and start walking?" Eren mentioned. I gave Eren a flat stare when he turned to me. "What?"
"Really? Come on Eren, back to the front." I shooed him. He scowled but did it anyway. Morrigan chuckled.
"You have him on a leash, very impressive." Morrigan said.
"I am not on a leash!" Eren shouted back. Alfred barked in agreement, I think.
"He's his own man Morrigan. Take him if you'd like." I offered. Morrigan chuckled before smirking.
"This is why I like you." Morrigan said.
"Be careful, first it's 'I like you,' and then zap." Alistair mentioned.
"Did I not mention that I cannot turn anyone into a toad? Though for you, I might as well make a spell for that just for imbeciles like you." Morrigan snapped. 'Burn.' Is what I thought.
"That severely hurt my feelings, all one of them." Alistair said sarcastically.
"How devastating." Morrigan snapped back.
"Is it like this all the time?" Zevran asked me.
"Only on our good days." I chuckled. Then a blast of wind came on by and everyone felt the cold then.
"It seems we are on a path to a storm." Sten grumbled.
"Big guy is right. Snow is coming in a lot harder. We're going to need to find an area to camp and fast." Derek mentioned.
"There is nowhere to camp. There aren't even any trees!" Talen mentioned.
"Then we keep power walking until we find something." Wynne said. She out of everything didn't want to be vocal. She really didn't like Zevran. At that point, all we did was power walk, nearly jog, to find some sort of shelter. Then all four of the GWs stopped. I heard a guttural growl before Talen sent off a searing hot fireball over my head. I heard the scream and I turned back. It was a monstrous genlock.
"Darkspawn!" Derek warned. We all got into our fighting positions as darkspawn came out of an underground passage. Three Hurlocks came out then one towering Hurlock Alpha came out after them.
"Holy Jesus Christ." I gasped and instinctively took a step back. Then Zevran grabbed my arm and pushed both of us to the ground as the burning genlock rushed past us.
"It was still alive!" Zevran shouted as we both got up from the snow.
"Less talking, more killing!" Derek ran past us. The other went for the Hurlocks. I grabbed my daggers and followed Derek. The genlock roared and it was hard to breathe. I was terrified of it. It pounded the ground and charged at Derek. He quickly evaded it and pounded the genlock's back. My hands were shaking and my throat was dry. I was trying to tell my feet to move.
The genlock charged again at Derek and he evaded it quickly. Zevran ran past me and quickly stabbed the genlock in the back in quick succession before running away. The genlock roared and looked toward Zevran before Derek clocked it in its face. Then they were both grappling each other. Derek roared as he was trying to overpower the genlock.
"Stab it!" Derek ordered. I growled and ran toward the genlock. I couldn't be a hindrance. Zevran and I stabbed it multiple times as it roared in pain. Derek got a good grip on it and tossed it before grabbing his hammer that fell. The genlock was having difficulty getting up so Zevran and I took the initiative and kept on stabbing. It swung its fist and we both backed off until Derek came in with his hammer. The genlock roared at him before Derek slammed his hammer on its head, crushing it.
Some of the blood splattered on my face. I made sure to keep my eyes and mouth closed though. I felt like my heart was about to burst from my chest and I felt dizzy. This was a darkspawn. The first one I ever fought. I cleaned off some of the blood from my face. It felt like sticky tar and the smell. The smell. It was going to stay with me forever.
It was a mix of rotten flesh, sewage, and that odd metallic smell that lingered at the back of your throat with the hint of rotten milk. I immediately got sick to my stomach. My saliva suddenly increased and I knew was going to happen next. I turned away from Derek and Zevran and threw up in the snow. I heard someone coming toward me as I was heaving out my breakfast. Someone's hand was rubbing my back.
"Yeah, I know. It takes some time to get used to the smell. Let it out." Derek said in a soft voice.
"Is everyone alright?" Alistair came over. He also had darkspawn blood over himself.
"We're good over here! You didn't get any in your mouth right?" Derek asked. I shook my head no as I got clean snow to wash away the taste of vomit from my mouth. I wiped my eyes and my body shivered.
"I can say this: I'm frigging glad I'm not a Grey Warden." I stated. Derek laughed as he helped me up. I let out a long breath as we all gathered back on the road.
"It's starting to snow more heavily." Talen said.
"And we found a place to stay." Eren said as he followed where the darkspawn came through.
"Are we going to stay where they came from? What if more come along?" Wynne voiced. I nodded in agreement.
"Unless you have somewhere else in mind?" Eren shot back. Wynne pursed her lips. "Besides, it's not like we can't fortify ourselves."
We ended up in an entrance underground. It wasn't a wide chasm but big enough to house everyone. Talen grabbed some dry wood that was in the cave and lit up for a torch.
"Priss, Senior, Witch, it's best if we cave in this spot in the back. At least this way, the darkspawn would have to dig to get to us." Derek mentioned. They followed him toward the back while I sat on the floor and tried to breath. Alfred came and whined. I patted his head.
"I'm just a little shaken Alfred, don't worry." I reassured him. I was trying to believe it myself. I heard a low rumble and some dirt wind came toward our group. That meant they closed the way further in. Sten was already making the fire ready. I didn't want to do anything but I couldn't stay the way I was right now. I set up the pot while Derek and the others came back.
"Now the dusters will have to work to get to us." Derek chuckled darkly.
Beta'd by FearaNightmare and Syutaku.
For once I'm actually catching up in my chapters, yay for week long vacation! Nothing to say here other than I love your continued support!
Thank you The Invisible Pretender and Fujimaru24 for follwing! Thank you WindBear47, Chimera Spyke, Guest (I'm glad I updated then!), Undeadhero143, and Syutaku for reviewing! Please Review!