Sorry this has been so long... laptop died :( Hope this is worth the wait

"I was young, then. Not half the dwarf you see before you now. It was the first time I'd worked with the Carta. Of course we'd had dealings, but it was the first time I'd been sent on an assignment with them. So there we were, dragging our arses up Sundermount… We weren't expecting much resistance; it was long before Daisy's clan came from Ferelden…"

"Hurry up, Short Arse; we'll never get to the top with all the stopping!"

Varric grunted irately, "I'm only stopping to pick up everything you keep dropping." He tossed the compass back to the older dwarf with a little more force than was probably necessary. If Bellam noticed, he didn't show it, just caught it and stuffed it in the same goddam pocket that everything else fell out of.

"That's enough from you. Why did I have to get stuck with the newbie?"

"I don't think it's you who pulled the short straw, Wrinkles…"

"I heard that, I'm not deaf you know…."

"Of course not… just senile…"

"Would you two keep your voices down?" Varric's eyes followed the voice to find a shadowy figure approaching from the trees. He hadn't even noticed the dark-haired swordsman's presence until he had spoken… an impressive feat given the size of his armour… but nevertheless he was a welcome sight.

"Ferdinand! Any sign of our missing damsel?"

"Missing damsel?" The warrior snorted, "If we're not finding Bianca, it's because she doesn't want to be found, not because she's gotten lost."

"Quite a girl, that one," Bellam agreed. "If I were ten years younger…"

"And ten times better looking..," cut in the newcomer.

"I'm not taking that from you, Ferdinand, you ugly bastard…"

"So why are we looking for this broad if she doesn't want to be found?" Varric asked, confused.

"Well, it seems that something went wrong with the job. Bianca came up here to make sure everything went smooth like, but something's gone bad. Cargo escaped, clients not being true to their word… it could be anything…"

It was a long time before Varric said anything. He turned the concept over in his mind, not quite believing he'd heard right. "Cargo escaped…?! What the hell, are you packing nugs into barrels or something?"

"Nugs?" Bellam's wry laughter gave Varric pause. "You wish, kid."

"Anyway," said Ferdinand, stamping his foot against the cold. "We need to keep moving. Bianca will find us when she wants us."

Varric glanced longingly at the dwindling embers of their cook-fire. "Why do we need to keep moving?" he asked. "She can find us just as easily here as anywhere else, surely."

Bellam gave him a weighted look that made the hairs on his neck stand on end. The lengthening shadows lent him a menacing air as he leaned closer. "Because, boy, if Bianca is hiding, then she's hiding from something…"

…..

Varric lay on the ground, nothing but a thin blanket between him and the chill air. Despite his exhaustion from the hard day's travel, he'd been frustratingly awake for what seemed like hours. Counting nugs hadn't been much use, though he'd never really expected that old wives' trick to work.

Not for the first time, he began to regret his decision to join the expedition. Of course, it hadn't really been his to make. Bartrand had volunteered him, as he was so inclined to do.

"You're the talker, Brother, go make nice with the high-strung bitch… we'll be rich for sure if we can pull this one off…"

"I thought I was just going to make nice?"

"Well whatever… just get her round to our way of thinking, if we want to make it in this pustule of a city we better get the right connections!"

Varric sighed, not for the first time, as he realised the night had grown a little less dark. If yesterday had been tough going, the same again on no sleep was not a happy thought. Dammit Bartrand!

He had no idea what 'Bianca' might be like. Her reputation as a ball-buster preceded her, as did her status as one of the more astute members of the Carta. Either way, he needed to make an impression, and what better way than dragging his arse up Sundermount to prove his mettle. He was no fool though; he knew there was a chance that she'd see right through him… and see Bartrand's sticky fingers everywhere. It wasn't like his brother didn't have a reputation of his own…

A rustle in the grass made Varric tense, and his senses rush into action. There was something out there, though he wasn't sure what. It was obviously trying to move quietly, though judging by the amount of noise it was either very bad at it, or very big. His hand moved slowly to the crossbow at his side, as he struggled to control his breathing. He was no outdoorsman, but he knew that creatures didn't stay alive by being bad at sneaking around.

The wooden stock felt reassuringly solid in his hands, and his nerves slowly calmed. A heavy thud behind him announced the presence of one of his companions. He'd been so focused on the animal out there that he hadn't noticed anything else.

"Don't move," Bellam hissed quietly. "Whatever it is, it is too close now, boy. Just lay low and let it pass."

Varric obeyed, though he found his grip tightening around the trigger. He could hear footsteps now. Heavy thuds in quick succession, as though some giant insect were scurrying through the undergrowth. Several times, he expected to see the creature burst from the treeline into their clearing, but the steps just increased in volume. Had it been so far away? How big was the damn bastard? The young dwarf felt a cold chill cling to his skin and he closed his eyes tightly. Surely you couldn't fight something like this.

He lay there for the longest time, listening to his death rapidly approaching. The earth shook beneath him, and then suddenly it stopped. Varric hesitantly opened his eyes, and felt a horrific stab of fear to find a huge shadowy form hanging overhead. He couldn't tell how high up it was, in the gloom, but the massive arches of its five legs gave an impressive sense of scale.

The creature seemed to investigate the camp, using its legs to probe tentatively around, but evidently found nothing of interest. After a heart stopping moment, it gathered itself up and scuttled back into the trees at an alarming speed.

After a while, the thundering footsteps began to fade, moving further into the distance, and Varric let out a long rattling breath.

"What was that?" He asked aloud.

"Something that you're not ready for, lad," answered Bellam. "Doubt even I could take down something that size from so short a distance."

"That thing was miles away when we heard it!"

"Now that depends on how fast it was moving and how long its stride is, doesn't it?"

It was a sobering thought. Did Bellam know what that thing was? Was that what was 'chasing' them?

A roaring snore to his left, however, ripped such insecurities from his mind and he heard a nervous snicker escape from his own mouth.

"Has that bastard slept through all that?"

Bellam grunted. "That nug-humper would sleep through a sodding dragon attack."

"Or a Blight…"

A sudden laugh from the treeline startled them. "Either way," a female voice said, "He's not going to be sleeping much longer."

Varric cursed to himself, embarrassed. This was the second time in twenty-four hours that he'd been snuck up on. He shot to his feet, crossbow still in hand. The newcomer was obviously a fellow dwarf, though the traditional forged armour had been replaced with jet black cloth and leather. Her head and lower face were covered with a hood and mask, which cast a dark shadow over her eyes.

Bellam seemed to relax, giving a throaty chuckle that made his grey beard wobble comically in the gloom. "Dammit, Kiddo, you're getting good."

"And you're getting sloppy," she replied, though the lightness in her voice betrayed her humour. "Setting up camp in the path of a damned varterral, and falling asleep of all things…" She paused for effect. "And how many times have I asked you not to call me that, Bellam?" She pulled away the cloth and pushed her hood back, revealing a mischievous grin.

…"That was the first time I saw her. She wasn't what you'd call a 'graceful beauty' that's for sure…" Varric chortled, "but there was something about her that made me take her in. She was steady, that I could tell from just looking at her, and she was confident…. And the way she booted Ferdinand to his feet made me realise where she had gotten her reputation from…"

"He did not fight back?" Fenris queried.

"Nope. Man took it like a school boy being caned." The merchant chuckled, taking yet another swig from his tankard.

"He respected her authority, clearly."

"Maybe, I think he was just grateful she didn't aim for the balls."

The swordsman smiled wistfully and fondly.

"What?"

"She sounds like Hawke."

Varric shifted uncomfortably in his seat, it wasn't a comparison that he really wanted his 'captive audience' to make. "Anyway, I'll continue… unless you've any other interruptions?"

"Actually, I have."

"You're not a very good listener, you know that? What is it?" The dwarf sighed with irritation, clearly eager to continue with the tale.

"You knew of the vartarrel? Yet you said nothing when we faced it."

"What's there to tell? I fought it before, it came back, and by now it'll probably be there again."

"You could have been a little more forthcoming with this information."

"And face the million questions from Daisy? Don't think so. Anyway…"

"You're being very evasive…"

"… Elf, do you want to hear this story or not?"

"I'm listening."

"Good."