Chapter 34) Into the Woods

Aiden POV


"We really shouldn't be up here," I murmured. But even as I said the words, I climbed after my cousin. "Hahren is going to get mad at us." Again.

"Aiden, come on!" Neria laughed. High over my head, she hung off a branch upside down by her knees, reaching her hand out to me. "Higher! Higher!"

"I'm not covering if we get caught." Still, I climbed higher. Always did. She always pushed, and I always strove to meet her expectation. "Serious, Neria."

"Yeah, yeah!" But she kept on laughing and smiling. "Let's strive for the stars! I want to pluck them!"

"Impossible."

"Meanie!" But she was still all smiles as I came level with her, hidden from below by the leaves and branches. "Always go for the sky!"

"I like my feet on the ground." But I could maybe get used to being among the leaves for her. Maybe.


The Brecilian Forest. A place I had only heard of, and never expected to see. And yet, here I was. Sitting under the trees near where we made camp for the evening. Cleon said we were close to a Dalish Clan, so it should only be a couple more days before we got the help we needed for the Blight.

Shaking my head, I sat up from where I'd laid down and surveyed the group. Over near the tents, I watched Alistair give Lady Elspeth a flower, one she accepted with a small smile. From here, I guessed it to be a white carnation, but I wasn't quite certain. I was never expected to actually learn the names of flowers. I just picked it up after delivering so many messages involving them. And seeing such messages delivered. Regardless, Alistair looked a little shy handing it over. Was it just because of the gift or…? No, it was probably just that.

It was hard to mistake Morrigan's flirtations towards Cleon as anything but that, yet Cleon was rather good at pretending otherwise. Though, I had also seen him play back, every once in a while, to set Morrigan off-balance. I wasn't sure if he was trying to frustrate her to get her to back off, or frustrate her to make her jump him, but I really hoped he knew what he was doing. At least the two didn't let it interfere with cooking.

That left Sten, the quietest and most enigmatic of our companions. I couldn't see him at all.

"Aiden." That was apparently because he was right behind me and how did someone so large sneak up on me?! "Here." As I twisted to stare at him with wide eyes, he dropped a large pole in my lap. He carried one similar. Where did we even get one of those, much less two? "Spar with me." Wait, what?

"Sten, why do you want to spar?" He didn't answer me. He just swung down his long pole and I had to role quickly out of the way. "Hey!" He swung again and I twisted to grab the pole he'd given me and clumsily blocked his attack. "What did I do?!"

"Enough." Another swing. I dodged again, desperately looking around for help. No one was paying attention. Damn it. "Fight."

"Look, if I offended you, I'm sorry?" I blocked another attack and stumbled as he shoved me back. "Can we just talk-?" And that swing might've taken off my head if we were dealing with sharp objects. "…I guess not…" What did I miss to cause this to happen?!

"Is this all you can do?" he demanded. I just focused on not getting knocked out. "Is this all an elf can do?" I… what? "Are you like the rabbits humans call you?" That tended to be an Orlesian thing? It still pissed me off. "Prey that the rest of the world feeds on because you die from fear?" Hey! "Excelling only in living in squalor?" Enough all ready! This was pointless! "Pathetic." ENOUGH ALREADY!

"What do you know!?" The works forced themselves out in a roar and I found myself swinging the damn pole as hard as I could. Sten blocked it with a grunt, and stumbled back. "What do you know about having to swallow retorts to keep everyone alive?!" I swung again, blindly, and almost caught him in the neck. "To wonder everyday if someone was going to steal one of the children to use as a pet until they got bored?!" The next blow caught him on the arm, and I was almost sickened by how pleased I was to get the damn hit. "To know that even if something happened, you had to be damn lucky to even get a token investigation?!" The last swing snapped both poles in half, pieces flying overhead. I didn't watch as I glared at the giant, panting heavily and daring him to say another word. "You don't know a damn thing."

"No, I do not." I… what? What? Then why had he said all of that?! "But if you had fought like that from the start, then I would not have resorted to it." …I had the overwhelming urge to use the splintered piece of wood in my hand to hit him over the head. Repeatedly. "Fight like that always. Nothing comes from holding back." With those words, he walked off, leaving me to just stare as he proceeded to bully Alistair into a sparring match. I… what was… this was… Maker, above, I hated him.

"Tea?" I cautiously turned and saw Lady Elspeth standing just out of range, carrying a mug. Cleon was sitting at her feet, sipping from his own. "It's chamomile," she explained as I slowly dropped what remained of the makeshift weapon and approached her. She waited until I reached before handing me the mug. "It should help relax you." I dreaded to think of what they must've thought, watching that.

"Soup is ready, by the way," Cleon commented. He gestured for the two of us to sit, and I did only after Lady Elspeth did, as was proper. "Morrigan went to forage some berries to add to it." And probably to cool off her frustrations, if his grin meant anything. "Seems Alistair and Sten are sparring just like the Qunari wanted." I wasn't even going to look. "So, seems like the perfect time to gossip." About what? "What do you two think about Leliana and Sten?" Ah, the two newest. Leliana, who joined because of a vision I was half-certain was madness, and Sten, who was all but conscripted. I really had no idea how to answer that question.

"Leliana is interesting, for a bard." Of course, Lady Elspeth already had an answer. That said, bard? She was a storyteller? "There aren't many who would join a cloister, even to hide." Why would a bard need to hide? I was so confused. "Personally, I think Aiden has the best chance of getting her to open up." How? I decided to play along with her vision, and then we had an argument! "Sten is Qunari, who are very intriguing." She took a sip of her tea, gazing at it thoughtfully. "Among the Qunari, it seems like every person has one role, their entire lives." I… that… I wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Women are more… intellectual, compared to men who are more physically adept. At least, that is how I interpreted his words." She ducked her head. "I could be wrong, of course." At this point, even a wrong interpretation was better than what we had. "Oh, but they're scared of magic." Wasn't everyone in the world? "They view them as dangerous things. So, if he starts provoking Morrigan, it might be to reassure himself that she's properly 'leashed'." Both Cleon and I choked at the idea of Morrigan accepting any sort of tie. "Regardless, though, he is a warrior, and he will listen to orders." Why did I feel like there were qualifications to that? Probably because there always were. "He's just as curious about the culture here, though. We talk often." So I'd noticed.

"So, if I say 'jump', he'll jump, but go to you to question why?" Cleon summarized. Lady Elspeth nodded and he sighed. "Okay, but why you? No offense meant, but…"

"I, apparently, remind him most of the Qunari?" She sounded almost intrigued by it, though there was no sign of it on her face. "He mentioned I remind him of a tamassaran. I haven't yet learned what that is, of course." If it involved keeping everyone from snapping, she was doing a great job when she wasn't arguing with Cleon about Logahin. "Regardless, those are my observations on both of them."

"Thank you, Lady Elspeth," I murmured, bowing my head to her. It was only proper. "At the least, it seems like we don't have to worry about anyone but Alistair and Morrigan killing each other." Assuming Cleon didn't pull her tail too much.

"To continue that, we must elect a leader," Cleon pointed out. He stretched luxuriously, grunting in satisfaction as something popped. "Otherwise, how will we keep from pulling everyone's hair?" He smiled nostalgically, laughing at a joke only he knew. "Anyway, I vote 'Aiden'." Wait, what? "Because, Fen'harel's teeth, I don't want to." HEY!

"Yes, he is even-minded most times, and does his best to provide a neutral answer in all arguments," Lady Elspeth murmured. I could only stare in horror as she nodded. "Yes, I do agree." Did I get no say in this?!

"W-what about Alistair?" I protested, glancing over at the other Warden. He and Sten just finished their spar. "He's senior."

"Alistair has been trained to follow, not lead." For some reason, her grip on her mug tightened. "I do think he can become a good leader in time, but we must have one now, not later." I… but…

"What about me?" And there was Alistair, walking over. He winced and he rolled his shoulders. "Maker, Sten doesn't pull punches," he sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry, thought I heard my name. Should I leave you to your gossiping?"

"We were just trying to decide who would be leader," Lady Elspeth told him, bluntly. My eyes widened as I tried to figure out how to best explain this. Cleon just glowered at her, but she shrugged it off. "Your name came up." Oh, and how were we supposed to explain-?!

"Oh, come now, you don't want me leading." The easy dismissal and smile almost hid the panic I saw in his eyes. "I mean; I was raised by dogs!" What. "Devout Andrastians, and an unholy love of cheeses." I… "You didn't guess from my table manners?"

"Sometimes, I honestly wonder if you and Nuada compete for who is most annoying," Cleon growled. He leveled a baleful look at Alistair, but Alistair just took it with a smile. "Where did the dogs come from? Real answer, for once."

"Fine, fine." Alistair sighed. "You have no sense of humor." And Cleon looked three seconds away from strangling Alistair. "Well, I slept in the kennels when I lived in Redcliffe." …What? Wait, what? Not even the elves were forced to do that. "I didn't mind, though. The puppies were warm and affectionate. Not like the other servants." He made a face. "One time, I locked myself in the dungeon on accident and it took a whole day for them to find me. Ah, good times." I… Uh… "Something wrong, Aiden?" How was he smiling? How was he laughing? "Oh, look, Morrigan's back! I'm going to bother her!" And he disappeared before I could even think of an answer.

"…If that's true, then what was he thinking?" I glanced over at Lady Elspeth, but she wasn't looking at me anyway. Just the ground, with her hands in white-knuckled fists on her lap. "I don't think I'll forgive Eamon for that." For what? What did she know? I wanted to ask, but… but who was I to question a noble? I might be named leader, but I was still an elf. Trying to act outside of that got me into this mess in the first place!

I just hoped for an easy trip through this forest, and that we get help from the Dalish quickly. After Ostagar, I wasn't sure how much time we actually had left.


Author's Note: Short chapter, sorry! A few character interactions, and the start of some uneasy alliances. (and if you REALLY hate filler chapters like this, I'm sorry, but I'm writing with four POVs, and to try and push through the plot will make all the characters appear quite two dimensional, if not ONE dimensional.)

Next Chapter – Traveling to the Tower with Nuada