A/N Lets see if Owen's bloodline survives...

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Fingers tight. Blood pumping. Hundreds of obstacles. One target. One chance. Bow stringed tight. Eye squeezed shut. "Focus, breath in." In goes a breath. "Breath out." The wisp of air leaves the lungs to join the gentle breeze riding through the morning air.

Erianne lets the tension leave the bow and sighs as she repositioned herself on the tree branch she chose to shoot from, high up in the air, but Darien would be on his own for a moment if she misses. It was nerve-wracking, waiting for the prey to appear from his tent, waiting for him to wake and notice she wasn't there at his side for his morning blowjob. She snarls in anger at having to deal with him for so long, be scared of him for so long, but now SHE was the one in power, SHE was going to decide his fate, and SHE wasn't going to let HIM live this time. A rustling in a bush beside the small camp alerts her to Darien's presence. Seeing Darien make Owen cower so easily, even if he hid it well, gave her the courage to defy her master. The courage to stand up and take his blows until he decided she was better alive then dead. The courage to sneak out at night and seek Darien out to plot her master's demise.

"It's time." She whispers to herself as the sun pops up over the horizon. Erianne pulls a strain of her bangs back behind her ear, she chose to cut her hair and wrap it in a small pony tail to show her defiance, Owen hated short hair, forced her to grow it out because he enjoyed it. "Not anymore." She notches the poisoned arrow and watches as Darien throws a concoction he made into the campfire. He called it a RAE potion. It shatters and surprisingly ignites in a burst of flames that lights up the area with a low boom. Erianne shakes her head clear of her surprise and focuses, one shot meant life or death to them. Owen jumps awake and runs out of his tent a moment later in his hardened leather armor, blades already at the ready, looking around at the burning campsite around him, Darien uses the distraction to knock out Aren and drag him into the bushes while Owen screams in anger at Erianne's absence. "One, you defiled the sanctity of our marriage. Two, you forced me into servitude through fear. Three, you're a disgraceful waste of flesh." She lets go of her anger and the arrow is let loose. All time slows as it catches the wind perfectly and flies directly into Owen's neck a moment later, it turns and pierces through the skin to exit and pin itself to the ground, causing a small gash on Owen's neck. The poison would work to their advantage beautifully.

"Ah!" She smiles at his pained cries before notching another arrow to cover Darien for the tough fight ahead of them.


I watch the arrow snap as it hits the ground and jump out to quickly swipe a cut into Owen's side, it connects and my poisoned Dar'Misu scrapes against his lowest rib before exiting. "Ma halam Owen!" (You are finished Owen!) I scream as he staggers back in shock and confusion.

He quickly recognizes me and recovers to jump in for a quick-jab to the gut that I barely dodge, another arrow hits him to stagger his balance and allow another of my cuts to hit him critically. The curved blade catches his shoulder, cutting through a tendon there.

Owen screams in pain but doesn't stop, nor lose mobility in that arm.

What is this guy made of?!

I cross my blades to block another jab and he kicks me back, catching me off balance just long enough to cut a gash across my breastplate, I pull back enough to avoid getting hurt but he made a chink in the armor. "Ar tu na'din!" (I will kill you!) He blinks when I shout again and I cut him deep for his distraction. He staggers back, my Dar'Misu now sticking out of his left shoulder.

"Ah!" He pulls back and rips it out, just missing getting hit by another arrow.

I draw my second dagger and duck under my first as he throws it at me. "You are a coward!" He screams.

I twirl my fresh dagger and notice he's slowing down a bit, the spindleweed and deathroot taking effect already. He lunges again in a furry of attacks and that manage to break my defense and toss my longsword out of my hands. I barely block another critical chance that just manages to slice my cheek. I wince at the wound before pulling back as an arrow misses me by an inch and hits him in the chest. He yells out and drops his daggers to clutch at the arrow buried deep withing his chest before falling to the ground and look up past me, right at where Erianne is firing from the trees. A second arrow instantly pierces through his left eye to bury deep within his skull. "Damn!" I yelp in surprise as he hits the ground with a thump. I take off a glove and check his pulse just in case before waving for Erianne to come down. Owen was dead, her tormentor was dead and she now has a new life. She starts jogging from the tree a few dozen meters away but stops and screams, "Darien!" As she notches an arrow and lets it fly. I duck instinctively and hear it sink deeply into some soft flesh behind me. I turn and see Aren, an arrow in his head, and my poisoned dagger clutched in his little fists as he fell to the ground.

No...

I catch the child of barely seven as he drops the dagger larger than his whole arm, a dead look in his eyes. "No..." I whisper in disbelief and horror.

He was protecting his father...

"Darien are you alright?" I look over my shoulder at Erianne and she has a tear running down her face as she approaches. I don't need to ask why she did it. I simply nod, even though my cheek stung from the deep cut Owen made there. I couldn't feel it though, I felt numb.

A child... a child died for me...

I shut my eyes tight as I lay Aren down and cross his arms respectfully.

Why... fucking why?

She lays a hand on my shoulder as I silently weep, "He was misguided, it wasn't our fault. We thought he was unconscious." I shake my head and look up at her to see her own eyes tearing up with remorse.

She just killed a child she raised herself to save me... why am I more important than a child's life? He could have just stabbing me! He-

I shake my head, "Why did you-? No I know why you did it, a reflex, to win the battle and save me." I mumble as I get to my feet.

She hugs me and I hug her back, just taking in the torrent of emotions that were tearing my soul apart.


We end up burning the bodies in the campfire. Aren got a proper funeral and left with his favorite toy, a dwarven puzzle box. Owen got only the flames for comfort. I manipulated the fire to burn them quickly so Erianne mourned her past life but not be forced to suffer the agony her actions brought for too long. We then raided the camp and anything that wasn't able to be sold later was thrown in as well. I made sure that we gathered every arrow and bloodied murder weapon before burying them with campfire's ashes to hide our actions.

Owen was using MY dagger during the fight. I buried it with him. No need to keep it as a tie to my past when I know I can never go back, not after how I left.

Erianne stayed silent during the work, she was smiling, but tears were in her eyes.

This is the start of her new life, but she took the life of someone she wanted to save. I can imagine the conflicted emotions fighting for control inside her.


Three hours later we pack up the cart and go into town, selling everything at half price to anyone who wants them. Of course this brought everyone in Lothering out to buy wares from the strange elves that just arrived in town. I disguised myself in a basic shirt and pants while tying back my hair. I played the merchant and introduced 'Talia' as my 'partner.' She chose to wear her armor since she refused to wear anything Owen bought her. I reluctantly agreed since it kept the customers intimidated.

By noon we sold nearly everything but a few pieces of armor and weapons. Which were the damaged armor and weapons from their failed bandit ambush. I traded up to veridium weapons and hardened leather armor since we technically owned everything in the cart. Erianne and I even found an ironbark bow for her in Owen's stash. She hugged it to her chest and said it was beautiful before firing an arrow into a nearby tree. A second later a dead bird fell out and she laughed at my shocked expression. Overall after selling the damaged armor and weapons to the blacksmith we gained just about a hundred sovereigns each from everything and another twenty from selling the cart itself to another merchant that took half our stuff.

"I think that went well." I say to Erianne when we get back to my room at the inn.

She sits down in a chair. "Yeah, I've got-" The loop holding her coin purse breaks, dropping the sack of gold and causing a huge strain on the floor boards. "Ok, I'm going to need a chest or something."

I chuckle and nod in agreement as I carefully place my own onto the table, careful not to crush any glassware with the easily fifteen pound sack of gold. The table legs creak from the strain. "It's definitely enough to start a new life."

She scoffs, "Or twelve."

I snicker and take out a handful of gold coins stamped with the Ferelden symbol, a mabari. "Yep, I'm surprised there were these many sovereigns in Lothering!"

She looks up from her own bag and scoffs, "Why did you think we came here? This is the trading center for the entire south half of the country! It links up with Gwaren to resupply half of Ferelden's southern farmland! There's A LOT of coin around here."

I shrug and pick her trunk off of the bed and set it on the floor, kicking up some dust. "There's only one bed so..." She raises an eyebrow at me as I turn to look at her, "Did you want another room or something? I can sleep on the floor if you want to save the coin." She smiles and stands up. "What do you want to do?" I watch her as she steps closer, still smiling, to trail one of her fingertips across my cheek, I wince as she touches the cut I forgot to heal.

It'll definitely scar now.

Her face goes blank as she grabs some balm and carefully re-opens the wound to dab some poultice onto it. "You are a very handsome man Darien, it'd be a shame if you let this cut scar your face."

"It would have been appropriate, giving the circumstances." I state quietly, remembering the horror of watching Aren die.

She snaps her fingers and breaks me from the memory, "Hey, you don't get to feel sorry for that, it was my call, I decided who was worth-" She takes a deep breath. "-keeping alive." I look away. "Besides, you look terrible when your sullen."

I scoff, "Is how I look all you care about?"

She looks at me and I swallow at the glint in her eye as she dabs some more salve on a cut on my left arm I didn't even know I had. "Not everything..." She says airily.

I look at her, actually at her, for the first time and see the strong yet soft features outlined in her face, the toned muscles in her arms and shoulders that make her strong enough to string any bow and fire it with precision. "You yourself are quite beautiful Erianne." I say quietly.

She stops dabbing and looks up to meet me in the eye. We stare at each other for a few moments before she steps closer so our noses were almost touching. "I've known since the moment I spotted you along the side of the main road that I'd never be free without you, never live without you." She smiles lightly, "I thought I was looking for someone to free me from Owen's wrath, but I never thought I'd find a friend as well." She looks away and bites her lower lip, "My heart wants you, but I'm unsure if it's speaking the truth. What does your heart say?"

I close my eyes and take in a deep breath, thinking about it, what I want, what I need... and she isn't it.

I'm here to stop this universe from falling apart, not start a relationship only for it to be whisked away and shattered in one fell swoop.

I sigh and open my eyes, "I do not- My heart isn't set on you alone." She stares at me intently. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now, perhaps comfort, but I cannot give my heart to someone right now."

Not again, not after- not after what happened in my last life.

She sighs, "I... I'm sorry, I feel so close to you, and I shouldn't force you to be with me." She backs up a step and I take a step towards her.

She watches me curiously as I reach up and gently cup her cheek, "If you wish for one night, I'm willing to give it to you," Her eyes light up. She goes to respond and I raise a finger to her lips to cut her off, "But, I'm NOT having sex in that bed." I point to the straw mattress in the corner. "It's full of ticks and other disgusting bugs that I don't want crawling on me in the night."

She laughs, "You? The person that devised a near-perfect plan to kill my husband within two minutes, are afraid of a few bugs?" She smirks.

I blush, but subdue it and lean closer to kiss her on the lips, she returns it gently just before I pull away. "I think making love under the moonlight is much more enjoyable don't you?" Her eyes widen and she immediately blushes. "Oh, so you do? Huh..." I place my hands at her waist. And pull her into a forceful kiss that she receives gladly, wrapping her own arms around my neck to deepen the kiss but I pull away. "Not yet." I whisper. She frowns.

"You have done this before yes?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. I roll my eyes.

I have had A LOT of experience in this type of thing in my last life, not so much in my first though. Strange.

"Yes I've done this before. Now come on, I know a good spot just outside of Lothering." I grab the bedroll I kept from the cart and throw on my armor, as well as everything I own before packing everything else up within ten minutes and heading out with Erianne, encumbered by her own trunk.

Why we took everything with us I have no idea, no wait yes I do, thieves flock to huge sacks of gold in the night.

I lead her out to the clearing where I met the wolf that understands me and we set up a tent she brought with. I throw down some branches and light them up using my magic before laying down the bedroll and setting everything off to the side, including my armor. "Oh, I forgot how... fit you are." I turn around, still in my small clothes and my heart hits the back of my sternum. Erianne steps from the darkness, wearing nothing. Not even the leather strap she used to keep her hair up is there anymore. I look her up and down, admiring how beautiful she really was before catch her staring at me, specifically my small clothes.

Awe hell with it.

I throw them off and step up to her, realizing how heavy we were breathing already. "You-" I cuts her off with a kiss as our bodies slam into each other and I lower her onto the bedroll for a night of passion I'm sure my three lifetimes of knowledge will guarantee she never forgets...


"I'm in the Fade, lovely..." I look around and sigh before stepping over to the section where the library is and taking a few books from the shelf to read for tonight. "Let's see... 'Knowledge of the Arcane Arts' nope, 'Birds: Animals or Demons in Disguise?'" I snort a laugh and file away a mental note to tell Shale about that one later. "Ok here we go, 'The Primals: Fire and Ice' this should work." I walk over to where the chair usually is and stop when I see a campfire and Erianne and myself snuggling up to each other, still naked, next to the burning campfire. I smile at the nice memory and watch as Erianne wraps an arm around me.

Wait...

I look at my face and nod in approval, "Huh, so that's what I look like. I'm actually pretty handsome, for an elf." Suddenly the entire image changes and a shadowy figure appears by my pack and literally takes all my shit while I'm laying there! "Hey!" I shout.

I know they can't here me, but god damn it the fucking thieves found us!

I growl angrily at the predicament before I see the shadow return and pick ME up and take me with them. "What?! What the hell?! God damn it!" I blink and I can see that the fire has gone out and the next day has started. Erianne wakes up and looks around worriedly, I can see the hurt in her eyes that I wasn't there when she woke up. "Ok, whoever just kidnapped me had better know I'm a mage or I'm going to burn their mother fucking entire compound down and piss on their ashes!"

I grumble as the chair comes back and I light the candle begrudgingly, knowing I'd wake up when I wake up, not before, or after. I was stuck here. "Ok, new plan. Learn how to hurl a fire ball from my hand, wake up, and slaughter every asshole in my way." I nod to my new plan and start reading up on the properties of fire magic, including how to create a fireball.


I gasp awake and wince at the burning in my eyeballs. I breath in cautiously at the weird stench of deathroot and then sigh at the feeling of being in an actual bed. "Oh... my head..." I swing my feet around blindly and plant my feet onto the cool stone floor below me.

Where am I?

I shake my head and blink until my sight returns to find I'm in a small hut. There's a pot on the fire, a library of books to the left of that, a door-

Oh no fucking way...

I stand up and look around, checking that everything was where it was. I even pick up a book and saw it was in some other language, maybe Tevinter. "Yep, every thing's here."

Well fuck me sideways... I was kidnapped by Flemeth.

You know what? I think that's actually for the best. I need to learn how to control my magic and it'll take more than just two and a half years of dream-cramming to get to the point I need to be to help the Warden, or even stand a chance against Darkspawn. Seriously, all I've fought so far is a pack of wolves, a bear, and a severely disorientated and poisoned Owen. None of them truly putting a living breathing warrior up against another on equal terms.

"Hopefully that can be rectified soon." I mutter quietly while flipping through a specific book on how to build up an Arcane shield.

"Well well, you finally awake. Mother will be pleased." I try and not jump with giddiness when I hear her voice.

"And I am quite overjoyed to be kidnapped by strangers, thankfully I'm willing to follow along with this ordeal." I turn to look at her while closing the book and resting it at my side.

Morrigan tsks, "Tis not a kidnapping if the victim is willing to leave is it not?"

I nod, "Yes, yes, my name is Darien by the way, a pleasure to meet you." I incline my head politely.

"Well that is a proper civil greeting, even here in the wilds, you may call me Morrigan." She states plainly, watching me like a hawk as she does so.

I look down and notice I'm in my small clothes, "I thank whoever was polite enough to leave me with my small clothes, though I would appreciate something to wear, as to not offend my host."

Morrigan rolls her eyes and walks over to the bed before taking a shirt and some pants from a chest and tossing them at me. I don't wait for her to turn around and put them on. "Ah, now then," I meet her golden eyes. "You said something about a mother?" She lazily nods. "Then I wish to see her and find out the terms of my captivity."

"You do not seem against the idea, curious. Most would not enjoy the idea of being enslaved." Morrigan says curiously.

I shrug and turn to walk for the door. "I'm a little over a eighty years old now, not much really surprises me anymore." I hear a slight hesitation in her footsteps as she follows me thanks to my elven ears.

Opening the door I find that the swamp smells... good. A bit earthy but overall a major improvement to Lothering. Even the woods around Lothering had an air of decay to them. I step up to the edge of the pond surrounding the hut and take in a clean un-tainted breath of fresh air. "Ah so here you are."

I turn abruptly from the swamp to come face-to-face with one of my favorite characters in all of Dragon Age. I look her up and down and tsk, "I have to say, you look dreadfully withered for the amount of power your elderly bones must muster."

Flemeth scoffs, "And you are one to talk, so young and foolish to suggest that power comes from appearances!"

I fold my hands behind my back as we are having a little bit of an insanity duel. "Let the dying fly provide the ointment for the beautiful hag, yes?" Morrigan barks out a laugh at my retort.

Flemeth frowns, "Yet what beauty is seen in an age of poverty and destruction that you might find on the tides of fate?"

Oh... good one.

I respond with, "Burning the staff on both ends without lighting the torch or crossing the sea are we?" Morrigan lifts an eyebrow and looks between us like we were both touched in the head.

Flemeth nods, "Now all are flies in the ointment, a whisper in the wind, a wave in the ocean..." She smirks at me, "You are just as insane as I am young man." She chuckles and I do the same.

"Could someone tell me what is going on?" Morrigan asks.

I meet a gaze with Flemeth and I smirk, letting her have this one for the victory. She looks at Morrigan lazily, "What you and you alone see is not what we see dear girl." Morrigan huffs and walks back to the hut.

I watch her until she disappears inside before turning to Flemeth to ask a question, "Why have you brought me here?"

She laughs, "I have not, you have." I frown. "Along the paths you have chosen, the decisions you made thus far have caused ripples across the tapestry of fate. You are no longer writhing within the ointment, you are the one that decides it's use Drifter." I close my eyes at the word, trying to remember what Pause said about the last Drifter before me, the one what failed.

'The last Drifter nearly killed herself trying to return to her own realm... She was a person of great power, but limited mental strength. One who chose to dance over the plots of her universe and not pluck the strings of fate. She was permanently scarred and as such never could survive the transfiguration process of the Fade. She instead chose to use the power of the Fade to destroy herself, rather than be forced to live with the guilt of what her desperation costed her people.'

My eyes fly open and I see Flemeth watching me, arms crossed. "Alright." She raises an eyebrow. "I am a Drifter." She smiles. "I am the one who controls the fates of the many and the choices of the few, yet sees to my own path as if it is not only fate, but chance deciding whether I begin or end at the same place."

She barks out a laugh, "Oh you I like! You may have the body of a twenty year old, but the wisdom of an age-old. Tell me, what year were you born?"

I blink lazily, "In which universe?"

She laughs before scowling deeply, "Your own!"

"1994"

She smiles, "1982, it seems we are from the same era."

I watch her for a moment before it clicks, "You're the last Drifter..." I breath in shock.

She nods, a wistful look in her eye, "Oh yes, it was quite some time ago, in this very universe actually, that I came to be my own legend."

"But... Pause told me she was from four ages ago." I say quietly.

She laughs, "Pause is simply a pawn of mine. A limb, or perhaps a finger, a foot?" I blink at her high degree of insanity, "I am as old as the first Blight, I'll say that much to you Drifter." I nod to her. "You must build your own legend, find paths you might desire and seek what you will."

I growl angrily, "Why did you bring me to your hut then? I WAS on my own path."

She shakes her head, "You were on a path of destruction, I watched you for many a day and noticed something strange... you see the fade for what it truly is... a rare magic indeed." She lobs a blast of something at me and I instantly try and block it with my hands. The weak arcane bolt bounces off a wave of green energy with ease just before both wink out of existence. I stare down at my hands in surprise.

What instinct is this?

"What possessions we grasp must not reach the rabbit hole hmm?" I find myself at a loss for words as she turns to pick up a bundle of clothes I hadn't noticed before and toss them at me. I catch them with ease. "Take these, they will help you learn to control your unique power."

I look the garments over and hold them up my the shoulders to find she gave me essentially the male version of Morrigan's robes. Black leather straps that cross over the bare chest with blood-red tipped black feathers that conceal two knife holsters and a small pouch for bottle of poison for quick application I'd guess. A wrap of thick black velvet covers most of the waist with burgundy leggings that end in flimsy cloth shoes, terrible for protection, masterful for stealth missions. A single fingerless glove to cover the right hand as well as all the way up the right arm to the neck where the last part of the black velvet lays as if it had crawled up the back and bit through the wearer's throat, forming a hood to conceal the face when need be. I can feel it pulsing to my touch with energy, like a heartbeat. I listen in and find it matches my own to a perfect tune. I look up at her and blink in surprise.

"You wanted an origin, so let's make you one." Flemeth states plainly. I nod and wonder if I'll even recognize myself after this.

'The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss...' I take the first leap and throw off my clothes to pull the robes on with relative quickness, feeling the pure power they give me surge through my veins like adrenaline. At the same time I feel a part of myself dying and realize I lost my innocence in this universe already.

About damn time.

I grin and clench my right hand to form a bright flame in my palm, I'm surprised to find it's burning green like it was fueled by the Fade itself.

This was my choice, and I'm taking it.

I pull the velvet up to form a cowl over my head and look over at Flemeth expectantly. She smirks, "You are now as you are to be..." She steps forward and hands me a pendant filled with swirling black-purple liquid that seems to be alive. I pull it on over my hood and let it rest between my collarbones. She hands me is a simple wooden staff that I recognize as my own, but as I touch it I feel the ruins activate and the top of the simple wooden pole morphs into a swirling ball of reds and blues, fire and ice, the base Primals. Morrigan steps out of the hut to see that I'm in my robes and smiles darkly as she steps up to witness the event. Flemeth's voice whispers to me, "You are a shadow in the wind, a whisper in the night, an echo of this and all worlds..." He voice grows from a whisper to a boom that shakes me to my very core, "You are a Fade Warrior." I bow to her respectfully. "Welcome to the family Darien."

A wicked smile creases my lips, "A pleasure to be here... Mother."


A/N And hellooo Flemeth! :)