Ferelden,Gwaren, Kleinszen 11:14 am, Wintermarch 2012
The two clung together as much as it was possible in the rather narrow passage, doing their best to be silent. They had to crawl on their hands and knees, one after the other, to fit. Falcor's now golden feline eye adjusted to the darkness in no time. From what he could see they were in some kind of a long pipe made of old bricks and rusty metal; it was too dark to see where it ended.
From the faint smell spreading in the thick air, he could tell they were in sewers or at least close to them. The mutant wrinkled his nose in disgust. A sensitive sense of smell could be such a burden sometimes.
He stopped and half turned his head back, listening. Voices could be heard through the masked entrance since they were still close to it. Anders hoped they would be able to until the unwanted guests were gone. The voices were too muffled to understand what they were saying yet the tones made it quite clear; the templars were loud and demanding against the soft explanations of the old woman.
Anders was still, one hand covering his lover's reassuringly. It wasn't the first time Merissa had hidden him. It had become quite a reliable shelter, never discovered till now. Who would suspect a hidden door to the sewers in the wall of an old apartment? He hadn't been the first mutant to hide in there and probably wouldn't be the last.
On the other hand, Falcor, always the pessimist, was nervous. He found it difficult to trust the woman. The redhead could only hope their luck wouldn't run out this time.
A minute passed and then another. Neither of them dared to move. Maybe it would end peacefully this time. Without any complications.
The barking was completely unexpected. He could feel Falcor twitching and gasping, a soft noise of distress. Anders knew that his lover and dogs had a long history; his usually brave redhead could panic in sight of one. Even a puppy could scare him sometimes. Anders could only guess it was connected to his past. Falcor didn't like to talk about it.
Indeed, the redhead began to shiver almost instantly. They weren't safe here. If not for the damn dog they would be able to go undiscovered but no, those bastards had to bring a dog along. It would be able to pick up his smell which was probably the purpose. They had to get away, immediately.
He began to push Anders further into the darkness of the rusty pipe; his frantic movements giving away his rising panic.
Anders didn't expect to be pushed forward and hit his shoulder, hissing in pain. "I'm moving, stop pushing me."
He frowned but moved forward. Since the space grew even narrower he had to half-crawl on his stomach, one hand pushing his backpack before him. He didn't want to lose it. Falcor quietly pleaded him to hurry up in a scared voice.
The voices became louder, getting closer to the masked hide's entrance, the anger clearly heard in the templars' shouts.
Both of them froze in mid-movement when a sudden shot ripped through the argument, followed by a sound of a body hitting the ground and then a childish squeal, abruptly cut short by another shot.
Anders cried out their names and hesitated, torn between the healer's impulse to go back to check if one of them was still alive and the urge to run away before he'd be next.
Falcor solved it for him, just pushing him forward forcefully. The one-eyed mutant knew there was nothing they could do, not anymore. They had to move away from the entrance which he just heard being opened and two intense flashlights pierced the darkness a few breaths later.
Anders tried to look back, startled by the blinding lights out of nowhere. The Templars ordered them to surrender, the dog barked, and Falcor crawled faster which led to Anders being forced to crawl forward faster too, scratching his hands and knees over sharp stony shards he could barely see.
One of the flashlights managed to capture the quickly retreating figures of the escapees. The dog made a growling sound somewhere from behind. Falcor yelped in growing distress, bumping into Anders in his rush to get away. The Templars decided it was a time for action and raised their guns in their direction. One of the poorly aimed shots hit a spot near Falcor's left foot. He cursed in Nevarran. To die here, in this stinky, dark piece of sewage wasn't an ending he'd imagined for himself.
Neither of the mutants expected the angle of the pipe to drastically change downwards and suddenly Anders was helplessly sliding down. Falcor came shortly after him; his eye wide with surprise. It happened so fast that they had no time to react.
Even more suddenly, there was no solid surface under them and they were falling.
Luckily the fall was short enough to prevent any broken bones, but not the bruises they'd probably have. It hurt.
The dazed healer groaned. He was lying on his stomach, half pinned to the ground by something heavy. Not very comfortable, he had to say.
For a moment he wasn't sure why he was there, wherever "there" was. But very soon the memory of the last events came back to him. Anders dared to move, very carefully, pushing at the panting body above him. He could feel Falcor stirring as the other removed himself from his form; the redhead's breathing was heavy upon his neck. He nimbly scanned Falcor's limbs, just to see if there was some damage and then did the same examination on himself. Again, they were lucky, all the bullets missed them.
Lena and Merissa weren't. Their luck had run out. Grief washed through him like a freezing wave. He hadn't known them for long, but they were friends. They had risked their lives helping mutants like him for a long time. Heck, Lena's parents had been mutants, who were shot before her eyes. Hadn't she seen enough horrors in her short life!?
He knew what templars did with people like Merissa or Lena. Some part of him was grateful he wouldn't be there to see their cold corpses dragged to the main square, tied to the special columns that were made for that purpose and left to rot with a large sign above them calling them traitors and mutant lovers.
They didn't deserve it.
Meanwhile Falcor looked around, his feline golden eye glowing in the dark. They were indeed in the sewage. His nose wasn't wrong. At least it was a dry part of it, no unidentified liquids and half-liquid substances to fall face-first into. He took one look at the pained expression of his lover and looked away. It was his fault. All of it.
Silently the redhead stood up and helped his lover up. Anders said no word as he followed Falcor. His movements were stiff; almost mechanical. Falcor scowled.
What could he say? Look Anders, I am sorry that because of me those people are dead? Would it change a thing? Falcor doubted it. They were innocent and now they were dead and their bodies were about to be humiliated. And there was nothing any of them could do to change it.
It was almost funny how much thought was dedicated to those people's destiny. They were no more than strangers, friendly but strangers. A few years ago he wouldn't have spared so much time to those thoughts. But meeting Anders, being with him had changed something at Falcor's core.
He didn't believe himself a heartless person. Yet more often than not he had to push aside any emotions or feelings that could sabotage his safe being. He was a hardened survivor, forced to do whatever he needed to just to stay alive. He wasn't proud of things he did. But he was a different man now. Anders didn't make him weaker, Falcor mused, but more human.
Yes, that was the right way to describe it. Falcor had learned how to connect with his emotions. Anders showed him that being compassionate and caring wasn't a luxury.
But it wasn't the right time or place to get sentimental. While they weren't being chased by templars at the moment, the mutant hunters were hot on their tails. Although in reality the whirlwind of his thoughts took less than a minute, every second counted. They had to find their way out.
As if hearing his thoughts Anders voiced them aloud. He still had the same expression of pain on his handsome face, but at least he wasn't drowning in it anymore.
Their faces marked by the grim determination they shared, the two mutants disappeared into one of the dark passages. Still alive. Still together.