Lyrium Greed
Chapter 2: Detour.
Everyone aboard heard the warning and turned to examine the new threat. Although it appeared to be bigger than the ship they had just destroyed, their new enemy matched its speed with ease. The vessel's front cannons fired a chain shot, targeting The Revenant's masts. The majority of them missed, yet two of them tore the main sail, thus forcing her to lose speed rapidly. Unrelenting, the enemy neared their position for a second strike which was directed just above their heads. As the pirates had intended, the foremast broke down, then left The Revenant motionless, except for the gentle swing caused by sea waves. The Captain was quick to adapt to the new situation and yelled new orders.
"Prepare to be boarded! Man the swivel guns!"
Sailors moved across the decks as a response. Even in the midst of chaos, all of them were well aware of their task. Archers tightened the strings of their bows to start shooting at the enemy, who had already settled themselves to the starboard side. Throwing hooks was their second step, in order to maintain both ships close together. Aveline lunged forward in an attempt to cut the ropes from the hooks. Several foes fell to the ocean, others grabbed onto the ship's hull, then climbed aboard. She did not stay to confirm any deaths, as more of them swarmed the main deck, immediately engaging into battle.
Two pirates attacked Hawke at once, both of them wielding double swords. The mage stepped backwards before blocking the incoming blade. He kicked one of them in the stomach, then dodged the other before hitting him in the head with his staff. The pirate had no time to recover as Hawke attacked with a cone of ice. One died impaled by one of the ice spikes, the other froze. The mage hurried to finish him in a swift motion with a Golem's fist. Next, he fired chain lightning at the closest enemy he saw, in order to acquire some valuable seconds in which to locate his comrades. Aveline and Isabella watched each other's backs with professional efficiency. Varric and Bianca worked as well-oiled machine, covering anyone who had failed to keep an eye on their own six. Elora was nowhere to be seen.
An astray arrow landed close to Hawke's feet, which made him turn to track down its source. One pirate had climbed to the crow's nest to gain an advantage over the crew.
"Varric!" he called, before pointing up with a movement of his head. The dwarf moved his eyes in the direction and fired his crossbow. The pirate's dead body plummeted to the ground, landing in front of the door to the Captain's quarters. Then, without a warning, its door came crashing down, shortly followed by a body. The impact sent splinters everywhere. Elora had gone through the door and now lay on the floor, dazed. Someone else raced outside the room, back to the pirate ship, avoiding any blades which meant harm. Following after him, many of the enemies tried to flee.
"They're falling back!" someone warned over the deafening sound of battle.
"Do not let them escape!" the Captain roared.
The crew kept up the fight and gave no quarter. Countless pirates were slain when they attempted to retreat. Elora glanced around her before sitting up to clear her head now that the adrenaline rush was gone. Hawke extended his hand which she grabbed to stand up. She dusted her clothes and stretched her muscles to verify she did not sustain any lasting damage.
The enemy vessel readied their sails while the last pirates jumped aboard. At a moment's notice, the wind drove it onward before The Revenant could fire their cannons again, even leaving some of their own sailors behind. With the main sail torn and without a foremast, the ship was unable to give chase. The enemies which had been abandoned were quickly subdued and tied up. Everyone cheered for their victory raising their weapons high. Aveline stared at the defeated pirates, who kept their heads low. She have had not much experience with them, she did not usually travel by ship, but no pirate she had fought against ever retreated, much less when they already had boarded their target. They always chose death over being branded a coward. She paused for a moment, deep in thought.
"Did you find that strange or is it just me?" Hawke interrupted her mental speculations when he approached her.
"Something's definitely off."
Hawke glanced at their new prisoners as well. This whole situation smelled rotten to him.
Varric stopped short his tale. The seeker in front of him had stopped pacing around to stare into the far wall as if trapped within her own thoughts.
"It is rude not to listen when someone's talking to you." Cassandra dropped her stare and glanced in his direction "Or did you start worrying I might be lying again?"
"No. But I get the feeling you know more about those pirates that you let on"
"Of course" the dwarf smirked, amused by the tendency of the seeker to state obvious facts. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't know it all"
"Then…"
"If you want to get the whole story straight, we can't get ahead of ourselves"
"We would be wasting less time. There's a war brewing right in this instant!" she yelled angrily while pointing to the entrance of the room.
"It won't help if I tell you everything right now. Details here are very important. Things you might consider insignificant could be what triggered a disaster. That is why I can't skip anything." Cassandra narrowed her eyes, then moved her hands behind her back.
"Alright, fine. Just answer one question and I will not interrupt anymore."
"Depends on the question"
"You said the hunter was on a contract. For someone else. What did she had to find?"
Varric smiled again at the seeker's curiosity before he gave his answer.
After their fight with the pirates, The Revenant's crew immediately set to repair the damage to the ship and clear the deck from corpses and wooden debris. Their biggest issue was the foremast, since they could not replace it until getting to the closest port. It required five men to lift the mast from the floor of the main deck to its original position. It was slightly shaky when they secured it, but at least it would hold for a day or two. Next came the hull damage. Luckily for them, the hole was high enough. Even if some water slipped inside from time to time, covering it with planks was a good temporary fix. Lastly, one of the sailors patched the main sail without trouble. The ship was in no way back to its feet, far from it, but it would not crumble. At least not until they docked.
Aveline had been assigned to the cleaning crew. The battle had left behind a few dozen corpses which had spilled blood all over the wooden floor. The smell of decaying flesh was not her cup of tea, but they could not leave them for decoration. She and four other men cleared the deck from dead bodies by dumping them to water. They would drag them where the railing was destroyed, then push them overboard. A simple but tedious task which took them a few hours to complete
"That the last of them?" she asked as she heard the corpse hitting the sea water.
"Thomas is getting the last one in the captain's quarters." he answered, already retreating to the hatch to continue other duties.
The woman directed her glance back at the empty frame of the door, where a man was dragging a body outside. Even if she only had a brief look at the corpse, she would never forget how horribly disfigured the man's face was. The room itself, the captain's quarters, was a complete mess as well. Books lay scattered across the floor, some shelves had been torn off, a table had been wrecked and even a small knife lay embedded in the wall. However, on top of all that disorder, Aveline did not miss the folded piece of paper which had escaped the bloodshed. It was placed close to the exit, as if it had just fallen from the sky. She marched forward to it, picking it up while inspecting her surroundings. The man, Thomas, was threw overboard his burden without looking back, then left to perform other tasks when he was done. The paper could be his, or not.
The note in her hand was dirty, yet not from bloodstains. Aveline spread out the paper, curious about its contents. She frowned at the sight of such horrendous handwriting which took more than a few minutes to decrypt. Her eyes widened once she managed to understand what was written.
Hawke walked around the deck, headed nowhere. For the two hours he had laid down on his hammock, sleep eluded him. He had counted four times the number of cracks he could see in the deck's ceiling. Further away, water dripped from a wet hole, leaving a dark mark where it was falling. Other sailors lay asleep in their own hammocks, making the walls shake with their snoring. The mage sighed while rubbing his eyes. He was tired, yet restless at the same time. Thoughts clawed at this mind almost painfully, thoughts of his family. His heart ached with each of Bethany's memories. Then there was Carver, who had been beyond upset when Hawke decided to leave him behind. He feared what kind of reckless action he would take in his absence. At least his mother had company.
The mage threw aside his thoughts, they only stirred chaos in his mind. He made his way to the hatch after deciding to have some fresh air. The main deck was brightly lit tonight, more than usual. Extra guards had been assigned to the night shift to improve combat effectiveness in the event of another attack. Hawke surveyed his surroundings. Apart from the guards and the helmsman, the deck was empty. Elora was at her usual spot, leaning against the foremast in boredom while keeping her eyes alert. For the last few days, he had had the chance to speak with the hunter, whenever they happened to meet at breakfast. While he did not completely trust her intentions aboard their expedition, she was someone entertaining to talk to. Maybe a casual conversation was what he needed to get his thoughts to relax. She acknowledged him with a nod of her head when he approached.
"Already back in action?"
"I only have a few bruises, nothing serious." she answered. The mage sat against the wooden railing, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.
"Can't sleep?" she added, her sight still trained straight ahead. He nodded, exhaustion showing in his features.
"Varric's snoring keeps me up" she smiled slightly at his comment. They both kept silent as Elora never stopped her careful observation of the deck. Hawke stared at the sky in wonder at the sight of the stars.
"I'm curious about something"
"Aren't we all?" Hawke replied.
"I meant something related to you" she specified, watching him from the corner of her eye.
"Oh really?" he arched an eyebrow and turned his head to her.
"Everyone calls you Hawke, but it's not your name, is it? I mean, I don't really think anyone would want their child to be called Hawke Hawke…" he laughed heartedly at the statement.
"More strange things have happened in this world"
"So...?" she insisted
"I find your curiosity quite amusing."
"I find it weird no one has asked you before."
The mage paused, a smirk evident in his features "Garrett"
"Garrett Hawke?" he nodded, awaiting her reaction. The hunter stared at the man for a few seconds before continuing "It suits you"
He chuckled "That's a relief"
"I'd feared you did not want to be called by your name because it was horrible or something"
"Nah"
"Which one do you prefer?"
Hawke lifted his hand to his chin, in thought. The last time he had been called by his name, he had still been living in Lothering and his father had still been alive. Even though the fifth Blight burned his hometown, he had fond memories of Lothering.
Elora waved her hand "Nevermind, I'll just call you Garrett from now on"
"Then why did you ask for my opinion?"
"I thought you'd be faster to decide. But I did it for you. No need to strain your limited brain"
"That was offensive"
"Are you going to whine about it?"
"Maybe"
The mage glanced at the woman at his left as they fell into silence. Up until now, he had not had any chance to really take in her appearance. She was taller than the average woman, although not by much. Brown hair, dark eyes, tanned skin. Nothing out of the ordinary. She wore her usual leather armor with straps to keep pouches attached to her waist. Her choice of weapon were a pair of double swords, strapped to her back, although she could manage just fine with a bow, he had seen her practice once.
"What?" she interrupted his thoughts when she turned and saw him watching.
"I have a question for you"
"So now you want to know something about me, huh?"
"It's only fair"
"True" she admitted nodding her head.
"How long have you been working as a bounty hunter?" The hunter was taken aback by the question. She glanced forward again, to the quarterdeck of the ship, with her arms crossed.
"I'd say… ten, maybe eleven years." Hawke whistled, impressed.
"I'm surprised you've survived this long" Elora laughed at the comment
"I am, too. I prefer to think skill has kept me alive, rather than luck"
"So you were pretty young when you started, I take it?"
"16, if I remember right. But I had my brother to protect me. I was a reckless little shit back then." The hunter lowered her head with a sad smile on her face. Hawke decided not to pry any further on the matter although he was curious.
Before the conversation could get silent, they were interrupted by the voice of one of the sailors.
"Ser, the Captain wishes to speak with you in his quarters."
The mage thanked the man for delivering the message and told him he would be there shortly. He straightened and turned to the hunter for the last time in the night.
"Nice talking to you, Elora"
"Likewise, Garrett" she returned to her duty while Hawke made his way to the quarterdeck, where the Captain awaited.
Inside the cabin, he found not only the Captain himself, but Aveline, Bartrand and Varric. Judging by the wild movements of his arms, Bartrand was livid, but he managed not to be heard by the entire crew.
"…ot enough proof. Could have been anyone" Varric tried to reason with his brother, who would not relent to any logic.
"Then you must be fucking blind not to see it! She's the only one on more than one contract!"
"Yes, but that is no reason to rule out everybody else just yet. We need to-"
"What's going on?" Hawke had to interrupt before his mind could be any more confused.
Everyone in the room turned to him, Aveline and Varric exchanged quick glances. The woman offered the mage a piece paper, the same one she had found in a corpse some hours ago.
"Just like we suspected, we did not fight off pirates. They were here for something. Or someone."
"They were here because of that blasted hunter!"
What was it? Three or four months? In any case, I apologize, but this is how things are going to be from now on. I started college, and it takes priority over writing, as much as I love to do it. So, updates will come whenever I have the time. No specified date. Could be from a month to a year (I will try my damned best not to make it a year). But I will confirm that I will never abandon this story. I will try to update my profile with news of what's happening so you know when to expect a new chapter. Right now, I'm writing on paper through chapter 5. What takes me so long to do is the editing, which I have not even started to do on chapter 3. Sorry!
Anyway, I finished Dragon Age Inquisition just yesterday, and I have hundreds of ideas and concepts which I want to put down to a story. A few things about Lyrium Greed have changed. You don't need to read again the previous chapters, though. Also, I believe this story will have two sequels. One with the events between DA2 and DAI and another one with the events in DAI. The changes in Lyrium Greed due to the events in DAI will NOT spoil anything for you. These changes have just been made so you can find some rewarding surprises when I write the sequels. I will repeat it: there are NO spoilers from DAI. Obviously there can't be since this is 10 years prior, but just in case you were wondering.
Lastly, I know that the expedition to the Deep Roads as portrayed by the map in the DA website did not require any sailing, but this is fanfiction, I don't have to keep true to that kind of stuff. Besides, I should warn you this story will modify the main plot of the game. Some stuff will be the same, other will not.
Thank you for reading! As I always mention, constructive criticism is always welcome, just like enthusiastic reviews. It helps more than you may think!
To my two reviewers: Thank you so much! You can't even imagine how happy your reviews made me when I read them! I should have answered, and I'm sorry that I have not done it before. It's great to know someone is reading, no matter if it's only a few people. I try to throw important information in the form of details, so keep an eye out! I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job at it, but I'll never know if I don't try. Glad to know you like my OC! I really hope you keep enjoying this story, even if updates will not be steady.