He awoke to the smell of burnt breakfast and the sounds of hungover groaning. On the other side of camp was the distinct sound of Bartrand's barking. Anders figured it must be morning, even though the roads always remained dark. The hirelings he shared a tent with were stirring irritably. The mage could not help wrinkling his nose. A night of sweaty men sharing a tent with booze on their breath left an awful stench in the air. Trying his best not to choke, Anders put on a pair of his tattered pants and left his robes on top of his bedroll as he scrambled out into the cavern.
The mood of the camp could only be described as lethargic. All the hirelings shambled around the campsite, nibbling on breakfast here and packing a few things away there. The cavern had a fair amount of light in the eating area, due to many flickering torches fastened to the wall. Anders decided to quickly pack his belongings before getting food and finding Hawke's party.
Holding his breath, Anders dipped into the tent to grab his robes and staff. When his head returned from beneath the tent's folds, he quickly stuffed his belongings into a sack and propped his staff against a wall. He slid the sack of clothes next to the staff and wandered towards the torches.
From the corner of his eye, Anders spotted Vivien and Isabela behind a tent. When he came closer, he could see that they were sitting on a blanket and admiring each others daggers. They also had a delicious looking breakfast feast spread out before them.
"Oh, that is pretty," Isabela cooed at Hawke's dagger, "Where on Earth did you get the coin for this elegant thing?"
Hawke reclaimed her dagger and looked at it proudly. She rubbed the sapphire that gleamed on the hilt as she said: "Coin? Don't you know that the best things in life are free?"
Isabela threw her head back and laughed, "Why, you naughty thing. You stole it, didn't you?"
Vivien struggled to hold back a smile as she shrugged innocently and put a grape into her mouth. Isabella warily chewed on a piece of cheese as she tried to rub the hangover headache from her temple. Anders stepped in closer to announce himself.
"Mind if I join ..."
He was cutoff in mid-sentence by the two women whistling and making delighted "Ohs and Ahs". They smiled mischievously and ogled him lustfully. Confused, Anders looked down. He realized that he had ventured from the tent shirtless. He laughed at their fawning and decided to play along. First he struck an obnoxious pose and kissed at both his forearms. Isabella cheered as Vivien pretended to fan herself.
Anders continued to strike poses and the women cheered louder for each. His final act for their entertainment consisted of him grabbing a strawberry and caressing it down from his chest to his navel. Isabela fell back from laughter as Vivien pretended to faint and made a face plant into Isabela's breasts.
Anders held his sides from laughing too hard and sat down next to them. They took a few minutes to contain themselves before they could breathe long enough to eat. As Anders spread butter over his bread he asked, "So why are we hiding behind a tent and not eating with the others?"
"Oh, trust me, you don't want to eat what they are eating", Hawke said with a grimace, "Just be thankful that the partners in this venture and their select companions get to eat well on this trip!"
Anders thought back to the unappetizing burnt smell when he woke up and silently agreed. He happily sampled all the food available while watching Vivien. She was peacefully drinking from her water-skin and eating jerky. Her leather pants and boots were already on and she leaned against cold stone while her brushed hair touched her bare shoulders. Anders saw her look up and he followed her gaze.
Varric and Fenris approached the blanket, fully dressed with their packs ready. Isabela scolded them and declared that only half dressed men were allowed at the blanket. Vivien laughed and Fenris looked at her in confusion. He then scowled when he noticed Anders sitting next to her, shirtless. Feeling cocky, Anders stretched and put his arms behind his head. As if one cue, Vivien and Isabela cooed comically and admired his chest, which aggravated the elf further.
"Giving the ladies breakfast and a show, eh Blondie?" Varric said with a chortle. "Well, I think we will be getting this show on the road soon. Bartrand is getting angsty. I'd suggest you all travel in full armor today, and have your weapons at the ready. We are going to get deep into the roads today, and the Darkspawn want their breakfast as well."
"Oh, good," Hawke said sarcastically, "I love stumbling about in the dark with scary monsters nearby!"
Vivien slowly stood up and stretched her arms and back before turning to her companions. "I figure it would be best if half of us guard the back and half lead up front."
"I volunteer to be in back!" Varric declared loudly, "I am in desperate need of a break from my brother. I may just push him towards some darkspawn if I have to listen to him bellow for another minute!"
The group laughed and then grumbled in understanding. Vivien smiled pleasantly and said, "Fine. I'll do the Bartrand baby-sitting today. Isabela, want to be up front with me?"
Anders barely noticed it, but Isabela smiled subtly. He was sure she was brewing a wicked scheme. Her eyes quickly darted from Fenris to Anders before looking back a Vivien and saying: "I'll stay in back with Varric, sweet thing. You can take the boys with you."
Vivien shrugged as Isabela and Varric wandered off to gather the Rivaini's belongings. Fenris and Anders avoided looking at each other as they helped Hawke gather up the remaining food on the blanket. She continued to seem blissfully unaware of the competition for her attention growing between the two men. Anders was certain he would never have been friends with the elf anyways, but the situation with Hawke only increased their tension.
Fenris finally stood from his gathering and gestured to Hawke's torso. "You are rather vulnerable in that, Vivien. I hope you packed something sturdier than that chemise. Uhm, not that there is anything wrong with it."
Vivien crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. A smile tugged at her lips as she said, "My eyes are up here, Fenris!" Fenris laughed nervously and coughed into his hand while Vivien lowered her arms and examined her clothing. "Of course I packed armor for my top half. Leather just isn't the most comfortable material when sleeping. Not to mention, I would have been so very over dressed at breakfast! What with Isabela's bare thighs and Anders' naked chest! Anyways, I was just about to go retrieve it from my tent."
Hawke bent to gather her daggers and Fenris approached her. "I'll walk with you to your tent. I need to gather my greatsword anyways. Not to mention, I don't like some of the looks you get from the men in our expedition." Fenris was not subtle as he shot a glare at Anders.
Vivien appeared mildly offended. "What? You mean the hirelings? I'm quite capable of handling myself you know. Coin may be the reason I am here but Varric chose me for my skills." Her features softened. "I don't think any of those men have the balls to try anything anyways. Besides, I figured you and Anders would accompany me to my tent anyways. He certainly is in need of robes before we leave."
Anders led the way to retrieve his staff and sack of belongings while Fenris quickly retrieved his sword from the hireling packing his tent. They followed Vivien into her private tent and stared dumbfounded. With her back to them, she had tugged off her chemise and dropped it on the ground before disappearing behind her elegant room divider for changing. They had only seen the small of her back and her shoulder blades, but the flash of her skin shocked them. Anders snapped out of it and began to pull on his robes over his pants. He had a fleeting thought that the pants felt a little tighter than before. By the time he finished fastening his belts, Hawke reappeared in her full leather armor with her daggers gleaming and secure.
Just as Hawke was about to gather her belongings, the cavern erupted with the unnerving sound of a man's strangled scream. His scream was followed by the unmistakable choking roar of a pack of Hurlocks, rushing towards the camp. The campsite erupted into panic. Vivien deftly spun to face Fenris and Anders. She nodded and the three of them pulled their weapons out before charging from the tent and into battle.
The hurlocks had not yet reached the camp. Anders could hear their echoing bellows in the wide corridor that led to the cavern. Vivien pulled a miasmic flask from her belt and lobbed it right into the throat of the corridor. The attackers snarled from the sting of the fluid and became briefly subdued by the fumes. Anders took the opportunity to channel his mana and sent a roaring ball of fire right into the heart of the hurlock's ranks. The spell lit up the corridor and betrayed the position of ten darkspawn. Three of them screamed in agony as the fire charred them to their deaths. Fenris glowed blue as he and Vivien charged to fight the remaining darkspawn.
Vivien Hawke leapt over the charred remains and sank a dagger deep into a hurlock's throat. She twisted the blade and pulled it away, dodging the blood that spurt from the beast's artery. She ducked low and sliced at another hurlock's heel. The creature bellowed and Fenris silenced it by removing its head with a swing from his greatsword. Her and Fenris stood back to back as the remaining five circled them.
A mangy hurlock with a blood-crusted axe lept at Vivien. As she ducked, Anders quickly hurled a stone fist from his staff. The magical fist struck the darkspawn in the chest and knocked it unconscious. Vivien flashed a quick smile at Anders before slashing gracefully at a darkspawn trying to charge Fenris. The creature fell to the ground, covered in fatal lacerations. Her daggers were ready to taste more blood, when Fenris shouted for her to duck. Vivien swiftly knelt, and the Elf spun with his greatsword, ripping deep into the darkspawn flesh surrounding them. The hurlocks clutched at their chests as their blood spilled and their life faded.
Vivien stood and smiled as she wiped the blood off her daggers with moss from the wall. "Too easy!" She said.
Fenris laughed and ignored the red and dripping mess on his sword as he strode back towards camp. Anders had just turned and was about follow when he heard Vivien gasp in shock behind him. He and Fenris whipped around wildly to see Vivien pinned to the ground by a hurlock! Anders cursed himself, remembering knocking it unconscious with a stone fist. Both men ran to assist as they watched in horror. Vivien was struggling to keep the beast's axe away from her throat. It snarled and choked her in frustration. Finally, it rose and went to swing the blade down hard on her head. Vivien closed her eyes and tried to block her face with her arms.
An arrow whizzed by Anders head and hit the ugly creature in the throat. The hurlock let out a gutteral cry and fell to the side. It died quickly as it pulled hopelessly at the arrow. Vivien carefully cracked open an eye as Fenris and Anders pulled her up and away from the awful thing. The three of them turned to see who sent the arrow.
Varric stood at the mouth of the corridor with a smug expression. Bianca looked fierce and beautiful in his arms. "First I saved your coin-purse, and now I have saved you life. Where o' where would you be without me."
Vivien smiled and blew Varric a kiss. "Oh, my hero!" She said playfully.
Anders noticed a nasty bruise starting to form on Vivien's neck. He touched it gently and she winced. "I can heal that for you," He said softly, "Wouldn't want that mark to mar your beauty."
Fenris watched uncomfortably as Vivien nodded and tilted her head and closed her eyes. Anders tenderly stroked the wound with his palm and sent soothing healing magic into her flesh. She sighed with pleasure and grasped Anders arm to keep herself steady. Anders almost felt a little sad when the wound had disappeared. He did not want to end this intimate connection. He slowly drew back the flow of magic and watched as Vivien's luminous blue eyes opened.
She smiled and tried to thank Anders, but an anxious Bartrand interrupted. While Vivien was being healed, Varric had found the man who screamed earlier. A nameless hireling who left to relieve his bladder in privacy. Bartrand stood in the middle of the darkspawn corpses. He looked unimpressed.
"I hope you had fun, wasting time and playing with these darkspawn. Time to get serious and move further in." Bartrand barked irritably.
Vivien and Varric groaned as they took their lead with the elder Tethras. The hirelings had finished packing up camp and were grouping up behind them, ready to continue on. Varric sneakily dipped back into their ranks to stand near Isabela in the back. Bartrand began to proceed down the corridor. Vivien stood slightly behind with Fenris and Anders at her side. She was too focused on keeping up with Bartrand to pay attention as the mage and the elf exchanged heated words and insults.