After the sounds from the camp died out the silent night was soon filled with chirping and buzzing and few calls of the night bird. That didn't stop Fenris hearing the small steps of Hawke coming towards him, way before he saw her lithe form drawn against the dim shine of the moonlit hillside. Her arrival wasn't totally unexpected as she had done so occasionally before while Fenris had been in night watch. Still there was quite a while of their last night talk and they hadn't actually parted in good terms all those weeks ago. Fenris had been less than understanding when he had heard he was left out of the expedition especially in favor of Anders. He had realized only afterward how out of character it had been of him, not to mention unfair, and by then it had been too late to apologize.
Still it was Hawke who started with an apology by asking Fenris to forgive her the overtly emotional welcome she had given. Fenris told her there was nothing to forgive as it had more or less been his fault in the first place. What he wasn't going to forgive was Anders's interruption but that he didn't voice out. Instead he asked if she could tell him about their trip, why they had not been with the main group. He had already heard the main points from Varric but not near the whole story. Fenris didn't even notice how desperately he just wanted to talk with her, about anything, to hear her voice which had become part of the reality he wanted to live in the short time they had known each other.
Hawke sat on the ground leaning on the rock Fenris was sitting on and started to recall their tale from the time they had had to save Sandal, Bodahn's son. While Fenris told that Bodahn had mentioned about it she seemed clearly glad to hear that the merchant and the rest of the group had been able to return safely. Whatever feud they had towards Bartrand seemed to be personal kind and when her story reached his betrayal it was easy to understand why. But as Fenris had assumed they had been hard to kill indeed and after getting locked in they had just delved deeper into the tunnels to find another route out.
Darkspawn had been their common companions, although Hawke mentioned how Anders had had an almost unerring aptitude to tell when they'd meet them. While the mage had been mostly vague about it, it hadn't been too hard to figure out it had something to do with his greywarden past. It probably had been the reason for his nightmares too. Hawke told that Anders had hardly slept at all during the time they had been underground. And he had known it beforehand, Fenris added in his mind, hence the reason for the abominations aversion to travel to deeproads again. Fenris couldn't help but almost pity the man as a suspicion gnawed him. Would they have fared any better if it had been him instead down there.
He got his crushing answer when the story got to the part about Bethany contracting the blight disease. It had been Anders who had been able to offer hope for her survival, even if meager one. He had revealed that becoming a greywarden might save her life and had even been able to track down couple of his ex-comrades who had taken Bethany with them. Fenris would have wanted to ask why she had even taken her sister with her as it had been obvious the expedition would be dangerous. But this time Fenris knew better than to ask especially as Hawkes voice had already gotten strained out when she recalled this part. Besides he knew the answer, it had been to protect her sister from a potential fate they regarded even worse. It was only now that Fenris realized how much the mages here really dreaded the circle.
A bit after that part her story started to drop of between frequent yawns and soon Fenris noticed she had snoozed of still leaning on the rock. He went to fetch her bedding which was neatly laid out and covered her half sitting form with her blanket. Looking down at her now she seemed so vulnerable. Fenris couldn't forgive himself the anxiety he had caused her earlier and he decided not to do it again even if it meant killing all the fledgling attachment he had felt towards her. For being usefull to her he wouldn't need emotions anyway.
Thanks for the review. I was going to answer it actually but PM was not allowed :( Again apologies of slow story progress.