Hawke awoke, sharp grit digging into her knees and palms. It was dim, just gone dark, her head was spinning and she was—naked.

She hastily looked around herself, she was outdoors and there had to be something she could use to cover herself. A piece of material hung next to her head and she reached up for it, dragging it from the top of crate it was protruding from and finding it was a shawl, large enough to fashion some kind of modesty for herself.

She pulled her legs up and tried to stand, worry darting through her thoughts when her legs gave way beneath her, unsteadily quaking and refusing to take her weight.

She wrapped the rich cloth around herself and instead dragged herself to the side, leaning against the wall of the alley she found herself in. First, she decided she had to sort through her thoughts, pull together a memory of how she had come to be here.

And that was when she saw a dark figure silhouetted by the light shining in from the street beyond, a figure that appeared to be facing her way.

Danarius.

A memory of the argument came flashing back and she recoiled sharply, grazing her shoulder against the wall and biting her lip at the raw pain. The figure took a step forward with his arm outstretched, ready for attack.

"Hey, woah there," A voice that was definitely not Danarius called out. "I'm not going to hurt you." The voice was low, gravelly but something about it sounded strangely familiar. The figure stepped forward once again, clearly approaching with caution.

"Who are you?" she demanded, and her throat protested, feeling rough as a gravel courtyard.

"Varric Tethras, at your service." He stepped forward again and once she accounted for the fact she was still crouched on the ground, she realised that he was a dwarf, a finely tailored dwarf, with his dirty blond hair neatly pulled back behind his head. He didn't seem at all perturbed by her brusqueness, and was either unaffected by or politely ignoring her lack of clothes. "That was quite a tumble I saw, I wanted to check you were still with us."

Her mind floundered still, grasping fragmented memories that seemed to stop with Danarius, and pain and hands grasping hers and shouting her name. "Where's Fenris?"

"Fenris… ah, you mean the wolf?"

"Don't call him that." She replied, without thinking, angry and surprised to hear the demeaning moniker on someone else's lips.

"Okay, whatever you say but it just seemed to fit." Before she could come up with another retort, or begin to worry that perhaps news of their escape - however that had happened - had spread into the city already, the dwarf stepped to the side. He gestured with one hand to a shape moving behind him and Riona frowned down at the silhouetted form.

It prowled closer, slunk low to the ground and brushing near enough to Varric that he shifted uneasily away. It didn't turn to look at him though, eyes fixed, she assumed although he was lit only from behind, on her.

It was a white wolf.

She frowned then, scared to look away from it in case it moved to attack but chancing a glance up at the dwarf.

"What is this?" She hissed between clenched teeth. "What is a wolf doing in the city?"

"I assumed you'd be the one telling me that, truthfully. I followed you in here because, well I don't like to miss things, and then this guy wouldn't let me leave. Just kept…herding me." He said, rubbing his neck tensely in a way that belied his jovial tone.

Riona looked up at him in bewilderment. "What would I know—?" she started, still looking at the wolf, edging closer towards her from the dwarf's side.

"Look, I think we both have a lot of questions, and my place is just around the corner. It might be a little more comfortable than this alley, unless broken glass and stale piss is your style." He suggested and stepped forward, slightly away from the wolf. Hawke gave him another wary look, but he wore an encouraging smile on his face and he was already shrugging his jacket from his shoulders, holding it out to her.

Walking her hands up the wall, Riona decided that her legs felt slightly steadier under her. She pulled his jacket around herself, huffing slightly as the garment made for his barrel shaped chest dwarfed her slight frame. With a pointed look at the dwarf, she turned her back and rearranged the shawl to cover her legs. Satisfied with the result, she turned back and looked down at her mysterious helper, trying to hide the fact her sudden spin had upset her balance.

Without a word, the dwarf reached out to take her hand and put it on his shoulder. She wanted to protest but couldn't deny that the help was appreciated and so she leaned a little more of her weight onto him. Trying to make their position look natural, she nodded down at him to move on and they headed towards the lamplit street.

"So, do you have a name I can call you?" The dwarf started conversationally.

Her suspicious mind raced through her possible options. Most people knew her as Amell here, she wasn't even sure Danarius had realised it was her name, probably just assumed it was a cover. "Hawke." What she didn't expect was for the dwarf to respond with a bark of laughter.

"Right, I get it."

"Get what?" She peered down at him in confusion, distracted with the thought that her feet seemed to be regaining their normal movement, like they were just remembering what exactly they were meant to do.

"Hawke, with the whole…" He trailed off as he looked up at her still mystified expression and he waved his hand. "Let's just get inside. Then we'll discuss things that need to be discussed."

They walked only as far as the next street when Varric turned the corner and rustled in his jacket for keys. As they navigated the turn, Riona happened to look back and in the shadows, pressed against the wall of the houses they had passed, the wolf followed them.

It's eyes were still definitely fixed on her.

Outside a small, unassuming door, Varric stopped and let them into the house. As he held the door and Hawke stepped forward, suddenly the wolf slunk past her leg and darted in before them, causing both Riona and the dwarf to let out a hasty noise of alarm. However, as soon as it was inside, the beast turned and sat down, facing them with it's head slightly cocked, expectantly.

"I hope your friend is trained." The dwarf drawled as he pulled the door closed behind them, letting Riona take in the cluttered one-room accommodation she found herself in with these two strange companions. Varric immediately headed for a wardrobe at the side of the bed, while Riona looked around.

Instead of the many items and parchments cluttering the surfaces near her, Hawke found herself looking once more at the wolf sat staring back at her. It was as big, perhaps even bigger than her own mabari at home, with a rich fur coat a ghostly white. Even as she looked it over, she felt it's own inquisitiveness, watching her, observing her every move. She took a step forward, and it gave no reaction.

She tried again and crouched slowly, not making any sudden moves, until she was on an eye level with it.

And it stared back. Intelligent eyes that seemed to be waiting for her to do something, eyes of the most intense green.

Oh.

But it couldn't be…

"So, these might be a little short, but it's warm here in the city. And I've got a belt you can cinch in to keep them up." The dwarf's voice cut across her thoughts and the deep spell between her and the wolf's gaze was broken. "Sorry, it's not the latest Tevinter fashion. The robemakers don't seem to cater to dwarves." He chuckled and returned to her as she stood to face him, thrusting a pair of trousers into her hands, along with a shirt and a couple of different leather belts.

She quickly and gratefully headed towards the screen she spotted in the corner of the room, perhaps more lacy and decorative than completely functional, but she noticed the dwarf tactfully turn the other way.

As she unfastened Varric's large jacket and let the makeshift skirt fall to the floor, she began talking out into the room.

"So, the wolf isn't yours?"

"Hmph, I'm not much for pets that could tear me open because they're having a rough day. No, it appeared as soon as I went into that alleyway."

"It did?"

"Wouldn't let me leave either. At that point I'd already seen you, becoming you." Varric let out a slight chuckle at that moment as she pondered his strange phrase. "It seemed almost as surprised at that, if I can tell what a surprised wolf looks like."

"Well, I'm grateful for the help you've given me. I would pay you for the clothes except my money was…"

She came out from behind the screen then, having arranged the shirt and used the extra belt over the top to make something halfway presentable, then she stopped when she caught sight of the wolf. It was now sat in just a few feet from the screen, as if waiting just for her, his green eyes respectfully turned down. A habit she still hadn't been able to completely break.

No. She couldn't think that, it was completely beyond reason. Still, the hasty farewell Riona had been about to make died on her lips and she focused instead on the dwarf and the feeling that she was missing something incredibly important going on. She moved to take the seat opposite the dwarf, soft footsteps padded behind her.

"The wolf led you into in that alley?"

"Not exactly, he was just there after I'd spotted you."

"And you don't know how I got there? You didn't see me go in?"

At this, Varric blinked, a strange smile touching his expression. "Well, I could take a guess."

"What? How?"

"Well, Hawke, I think you flew."

"What?" She stared at him blankly, worried that perhaps she'd willingly walked straight into the home of a lunatic.

"The thing is, you haven't actually asked me why I stayed to help you." He leaned forward with his arms on the table between them, the look on his face reminding Hawke of the expression her mother's friends had when they were about to share a particularly juicy piece of gossip. "You see, it wasn't a woman I saw in that alley. I saw a hawk. Just a garden variety, dirty brown hawk. That was, until it starting shedding feathers like a randy dowager and grew into a naked human."

Riona stared at him for a long moment, looking him up and down, trying to decide how best to respond.

"Okay, maybe you think you saw that, but you realise that's crazy talk, right?" Tactfully, as usual.

"You think I could make up something like that? I'm good, but I'm not that good."

"So you expect me to believe I was a bird? And I don't remember?"

"I'm going to guess from your reaction that you weren't expecting your Fenris to be a wolf, either." Varric nodded at her side and she looked to see that the white beast was now lying next to her chair. When their attentions turned to it, the creature looked up, straight at Hawke with those eerily familiar green eyes. "Because let me tell you, he didn't calm down like this until the moment you woke up."

More than anything else the dwarf had said, looking at the wolf by her side made her consider what she was being told. It couldn't be possible and yet, she couldn't remember how she got to the alley. She didn't know where Fenris was, or where this wolf had come from. Danarius had been so angry… she remembered pain.

"Fenris?" Her voice was uncertain but she felt something, some kind of creeping certainty as she studied him.

The wolf whined. His eyes remained steadily on hers. "Fenris!" His tail thumped encouragingly twice against the floor of the shack and he sat up. In a moment she was on the ground next to him, forgetting completely that this was a wolf, a creature that should be feared. Her hands were in his thick, pale fur, in the ruff around his neck, held his muzzle to face her and she choked out a weak sob, relief and loss tearing her thoughts apart.

"What did he do to you, Fenris? I'm sorry." Her arms looped around his neck, she buried her face into his fur, her words becoming muffled. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault."

She held him for a time like that, the wolf nuzzled against her and she felt his tongue on her back, where he could reach. Reluctantly she let her arms fall from the wolf's neck but kept one hand on him as she turned back to the dwarf, now sat fiddling at the table and unashamedly watching them.

"You think he made me a hawk, as well?"

"I don't think. I saw. And it does rather work, wouldn't you say? Certainly adds a facetious flair."

"But then why am I me again? Because knowing Danarius, it didn't just wear off." She thought out loud, turning back to look at the wolf but a sputtering noise drew her attention back to Varric.

"Danarius?" He exclaimed. "The Danarius? Huge mansion, waving his big staff all over town Danarius? Oh Hawke, what have you got yourself involved in?"

"I'm sorry. I can go, you won't see me again. I mean, that's the plan anyway."

"Hey, woah! You can't go out there magic blazing and sword half-drawn. I only asked a question, I wasn't throwing you out." Varric held out his hands pacifyingly.

"You—I mean, we're not safe to be around." She took in his nonplussed expression and sighed. "It's a long story."

"The best ones are."

Hawke smiled hesitantly up at the dwarf then, who only seemed to be more invested as the danger he was in increased.

She explained, as best as she was able, the circumstances leading up to the argument with Danarius but then her memories grew hazier.

"Fenris tried to defend me, he actually stood up to Danarius and that alone must have terrified him. The man is a tyrant, and cruel and wicked and bloodthirsty but Fenris has seen the worst of it. I don't know how I could stand to be around him for as long as I was." She paused and her hand lightly stroked where it had remained in Fenris' fur for the duration of the telling. She looked back at him, letting the intense surge of feelings she had for him overwhelm her, and her voice softened. "No, I know why."

"He's really something special to you, isn't he?"

"I love him, with everything I have." She spoke without pausing to think. As she had in front of Danarius. "Danarius couldn't recognise something like that if it bit him in the ass. No, he took it as some personal affront and he was crazed. Then Fenris called me Hawke, he thought my identity was another thing I was hiding from him."

"He wouldn't be completely wrong."

"Well…no. But it wasn't what he thought. I was never there to hurt him and maybe I figured he deserved whatever he got when I realised just what kind of man he really was, but that was never—now we're…"

"And now you're here." The dwarf summarised with a dramatic flourish. Riona gave him a steady look.

"Why are you helping me? Now you know I've got the scariest guy in town out for my…something. Surely you want me out of your life so you can pretend you never got involved?"

"Hawke, you don't know me, so let me summarise. I'm a writer, people like to hear me tell interesting stories. Now, after a few good tales, the only way you can come up with more interesting stories is when you've done interesting things. This isn't really the kind of opportunity I can pass up. Call it…living vicariously." He grinned then, and Hawke couldn't help but respond in kind, it was such an honest expression.

"So you're going to write a story about me, is that it?"

"Well, there might be something inspired by you. Nothing that might be recognisable." Varric waved a hand dismissively. She narrowed her eyes, unconvinced and he didn't acknowledge her wordless reproof.

"It might be a little difficult to make a story about someone turning into a hawk anonymous. There can't be that many around."

"I'll call her Sparrow."

"That's nowhere near majestic enough."

"You wouldn't call it majestic if you'd seen the way you crash landed in that alley." Riona couldn't help but laugh. Varric had laid out a couple of bandages and scissors on the table and Hawke finally released her hold on Fenris so that she could clean the length of grazed skin on her forearm that she had only noticed was paining her as she got changed.

As she cut a strip of fabric and started wrapping it around her arm, she looked up at Varric again, a serious expression back on her face. "I need to get out of town."

"I know."

"Danarius could have eyes anywhere. If he hasn't killed all his slaves in some kind of petty vengeance." She grimaced as the chilling thought just occurred to her. All the lives she didn't save. How selfish that just she and Fenris had got out, as far as she knew.

"I can't speak to that, but at the moment we have no idea what his plan is. We don't know what he was aiming for when he did this to you two."

"No, but there's no way he's just let us go."

"It seems unlikely based on what I've heard about him. But you're in luck. I know what just might be your best chance of a way out."

"I can't ask you to endanger yourself by helping us more than you already have." She tried to interrupt but he waved her off.

"I'm doing this for entirely selfish reasons, remember? Need to get enough inspiration to make my next paycheck." He grinned again and leaned forward on the table. "Now, early tomorrow, before the city wakes up, we need to get down to the docks."

"The docks? If you're thinking about smuggling us onto a ship, no chance. These Tevinter captains are vigilant about stowaways and will not haggle a fair price."

"Spoken from true experience, but I'm not talking just any old ship, or even anything illegal." Varric countered good-humouredly. "I wasn't going to stay in this blighted city for longer than I had to so I made sure to have a way out. And luckily there are plenty of people who owe me big so—you don't need to know the details but what I'm saying is I can get you out."

"You're from Kirkwall!" She exclaimed abruptly, the odd familiarity she had felt in the back of her mind suddenly clicking into place when she realised he wasn't from Tevinter.

"Yes I am, you know it?" Varric beamed widely. If she didn't know the city, she might even think he was proud.

"I live there." She laughed and Varric immediately gave her a curious stare.

"I don't know any Hawke's."

""Well, no. It's my father's name." She suddenly remembered her earlier hesitation. Although she already felt more comfortable with this Varric, she decided to hold back on giving him any more information than he strictly needed. She had probably already said too much. "But if you really can get me out of here, I would be in your debt." She smirked, "I guess I'd be someone else to add to your list."

The sense of relief she felt that maybe, just maybe they might get out of here was lightening her mood until she felt more like herself than she had in hours. Not surprising, since apparently some of those hours she'd spent as a bird. "Get me out of here and you can have anything."

"Any time for a fellow Kirkwaller. I'll find some way for you to repay me, you can count on it. For now though, if we want to get out of town without being seen, we need to be up early. And I need my beauty sleep. Maybe one day that'll start making me pretty."

As Hawke chuckled, the dwarf then rose and gathered away the bandages and salve from the table before heading to a cupboard, from which he drew a large, folded blanket.

"You can take the bed, sounds like you've earned it more than me." Only as he spoke did Hawke notice the lack of a second bed in what was a very small dwelling.

"You don't have to, Varric. I…"

"I insist. Your delicate sensibilities won't cope with a hard floor after the luxury I assume you've been staying in, by the looks of the rich estates at the other end of town."

"No, Varric, really." Hawke spoke resolutely and when Varric looked up at her tone she reached her hand out to the wolf beside her again. "I'd rather sleep on the floor."

Varric barely paused before nodding, then he placed the rug out on the table between them. "Okay, but don't come complaining to me when you have a stiff neck in the morning. I have far more padding me from the floor."

Hawke said nothing but was intensely grateful for the easy acceptance with which Varric seemed to understand her wishes. She retrieved the shawl she had used in the alleyway, arranged the blanket into a suitable nest on the uneven, dusty floor and then covered herself with the thin piece of material. It was a warm enough country that she didn't need to worry about getting cold in the night.

Varric climbed into his bed a little while after Riona with a quiet goodnight then blew out the candle. Hawke didn't reply, curled on her side and with her back to him, he had probably assumed she was already asleep but she felt far from the Fade at that moment. Her mind raced, finally beginning to process the revelations of the evening.

Fenris, her wonderful Fenris, was now padding around the small room on silent paws, thoroughly exploring the home of this strange, inexplicably kindhearted dwarf. He was a wolf, she had been a hawk but for some reason Danarius' spell on her seemed to have worn off.

It was certainly still affecting Fenris, however.

Hawke strained her memory as hard as she could, but her recollection remained resolutely blank from the moment she felt the magic rushing over her, the intense pain like nothing she had ever felt before saturating through her very bones. Even the thought of it now caused her to curl tighter in on herself, a harsh exhale of breath escaping her. In response the white wolf whined quietly from the other side of the room and Riona let out a sad chuckle in response, a moment of despair at the impossibility of their situation.

The thought crossed her mind that maybe Fenris' curse would expire as hers had but she quickly pushed that hope aside. Danarius had been so furious. Riona had felt the magic crackling through the air, she had seen the way he had taken the lives of those poor elves without a thought and she had been terrified by the display of his power. She had felt her own fury in the moment and how it mirrored that of the magister. His equal determination would have made him ensure that he wouldn't make a mistake like that. Fenris wouldn't be changing back.

Not unless she did something about it.

Riona sighed deeply to herself. She had no idea what she might be able to do. She had to get them out of town, as the first priority. After that, she could focus on any sort of plan. But she knew Danarius' reach was dangerously large and it would be no small feat to escape him completely.

Her mind continued to chase loops around itself as she waited in the darkness. She couldn't say how long she lay there but eventually she felt a warm weight against her back. The wolf, Fenris, had finally come to settle down and he curled alongside her, she felt herself being enveloped in his warm fur and even in this warm climate, she couldn't bear to pull away.

She had Fenris, he was here and they were out of Danarius' mansion. If they were together, she knew that they would find a way through.

With that thought finally silencing the rest of her tired mind, she slipped away to the Fade.

"Hawke—Hawke, you'd better wake up."

Riona opened her eyes to the unfamiliar golden eyes peering at her above a wide, crooked nose.

"Varric?" She mumbled, head slowly catching up to her surroundings. "Oh, here I hoped it was all a dream." She moaned and dropped her head back to her arm. There was a movement behind her, a cool draught reaching her back and then a wet nose intruded unpleasantly on her ear. She leapt forwards with a yelp and then turned back around to reach for Fenris.

"No such luck. But we need to get you out of here. It's going to be light soon." Hawke sighed in reply and sat up, holding the great white head in both hands and staring into Fenris' eyes.

"Not a dream." Riona muttered, just between them. She stood determinedly and turned to Varric. "Okay, you have a plan?"

"I didn't say that. But I have something more than you did." Varric had his head deep in the wardrobe.

"Then, you have breakfast?" Riona's stomach made itself known and Varric chuckled.

"Sure, there's some bread and fruits under the pot over there." He gestured vaguely with one hand as he withdrew from the wardrobe, something held in the other.

Riona gratefully grabbed for a sweet pear, only now realising that she hadn't eaten since breakfast the previous day. At least, that she could remember.

Meanwhile, Varric had apparently been searching for a bag and was now filling it with items from around his cabin, some clothes, a few pieces of food, a coin purse. All the time, Fenris stayed close by Riona's side, his eyes fixed on Varric bustling around the small space. In a matter of minutes, he had gathered everything he needed and Riona had replaced her belt and shoes that she had removed for bed.

At the door, Varric pressed the bag on her.

"What? No, this is yours." Riona protested immediately, hesitant to take anything more from the dwarf.

"Trust me, any hero setting off on their adventure needs supplies. And it's nothing I'm that attached to."

"I saw you put money in there."

"I can get more. Just stay quiet and take it. We need to get moving." He forced the bag into her hands again and pushed the door open.

Setting her face into an unimpressed grimace, Riona hooked the bag over her shoulder and followed him through the small entrance into the still, dark street beyond.

Their footsteps echoed back at them, making Riona obsessively check over her shoulder every few paces to see if they were being followed. The rare lantern that remained lit from the previous night threw shadows down alleyways that could be mistaken as a predator waiting to pounce.

They stepped hurriedly and silently through the streets, talking too much of a risk. Turning onto a street with a clear view to the eastern port, where Varric had been leading them, Riona could see the many ships harboured there. On the horizon beyond there was a hint of the sky lightening, the beginning of the new day inexplicably causing hope to bubble up as the colour spread across the morning haze.

They increased their pace down the street, still keeping to the shadows that in the approach of daylight would soon be gone. Then Riona heard the scratch and stumble of claws on the cobbled ground. She turned to see Fenris frozen in place in the middle of the street.

His legs were stiffened and straight, his head hung low and his ears were pulled back in distress. He let out a low whine and Riona stepped to his side, watching his eyes lift to meet hers.

"Fenris what is it?" She looked nervously around as the grey light before the dawn hung around them and the sounds of life could be heard stirring around them. As a gull called out to the morning, Riona grabbed Fenris by the scruff of his neck and tried to pull him into a smaller side alley, behind one of those well concealed entrances she had learnt to spot. "Please don't do this to me."

She could feel him breathing heavily and as she bent down she could hear the low whine he was making.

"Hawke, what's up?" Varric hissed, following them into the side street and looking over his shoulder anxiously.

She didn't answer, running her hands soothingly over Fenris, trying to feel for any obvious sign of his ailment. She stubbornly ignored the throbbing sensation that had just started at the base of her skull.

"We need to keep moving." Varric said, but tempered at her backwards glance, "Is he okay?"

"I don't know, I don't really have much experience in the whole 'looking after your wolf lover' thing." She snapped back, the pressure growing in her head because what she really needed was something else to worry about. She sat in front of him, hands on either side of his neck and trying to look into his eyes.

Fenris stepped forwards slightly, his head coming to rest on Riona's shoulder and she wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers burying into his colourless fur. She leaned her head against his own and pushed back at the persistent throbbing in her skull.

"I don't know what's happening. I can't do anything." She said weakly into his fur.

The feeling grew on her, a kind of twitching under her skin, pressing outwards like something inside her didn't fit properly. Before her attention was dragged wholly to her own problems she felt Fenris shift his head against hers and something under his skin…moved.

She began to draw back, stricken with concern.

"Fenris-Varric, what—?" For a moment there was something under her hands that felt less like fur, more like hair. Then her mind was drawn away, pulled inside herself where a conflict was occurring. She was her but something in her mind was not her, trying to take over. Her skin felt wrong, stretched and it itched.

It couldn't be that, not again.

"Oh sh-"

In her dim awareness, she heard Varric complete her sentiment before her mind was not her own.

Thanks again for reading, hope you're enjoying it