Alistair could honestly say he hated the Korcari Wilds. He always felt the vague pressure that came with the presence of darkspawn, that coupled with a distinct feeling that the veil was particularly thin here made him extremely uneasy. On top of all that, he had recruits to look after. This was the first real responsibility that Duncan had given him since he joined the ranks of the Grey Wardens only six months ago. He was to evaluate and assist the three new recruits as they encountered their darkspawn first, but just before they left camp, Duncan had informed Alistair of a second responsibility.

As they were turning to leave camp, Duncan had held Alistair back momentarily. "I want you to keep an eye on Daveth and the girl. I have an uneasy feeling about her and the thief, so watch out for her."

"Do you think that they are trying to escape?" Alistair had heard how Duncan had conscripted both of them, saving them from the city guards; he wouldn't be surprised if they tried to disappear amid the bustle of the army.

"No, I'm just uncomfortable about how he keeps eyeing her. There's something there, I'm sure of it."

"Has she said anything?"

Duncan shook his head, "But I doubt she would. She seems the type to want to take care of it herself. Even if he has done something, I doubt she would come to me, so just keep an eye on him. With me out of the picture, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried something.

Alistair had a feeling that all of this was going to give him a head ache before all was said and done. Mulling over Duncan's words over in his head, Alistair groaned when he felt a familiar sensation coursing through his body. Darkspawn, close. "Be ready," he cautioned the recruits, "we're coming up on a small band, four, maybe five at most, so be ready."

Yep, it was darkspawn, just as disgusting and frightening as Alistair had remembered. He, Daveth, and Jory charged the main bulk of the group with Eriana dropped back, pulling out a longbow. He was impressed with the accuracy and speed with which she leveled shot after shot at the darkspawn. He mustered his strength and slammed, shield first, into the largest Hurlock, knocking him backward a few feet before taking him out with his sword. Daveth and Jory were finishing off genlocks when Alistair noticed that two of the darkspawn had broken from the group and were heading toward Eriana. Alistair took off after them as quickly as he could in his bulky chainmail armor. There was no way he would beat them to the elf, and he was afraid she would be overwhelmed before he could reach her.

Eriana was calmly leveling shot after shot at the approaching darkspawn, trying to take them down before they got to her. As they approached, she suddenly dropped her bow and quickly pulled out the two daggers that were also strapped to her back. Taking a defensive stance, she stunned the larger hurlock and turned her attention to the genlock approaching from behind it. Spinning out of the way of its sword, Eriana sliced open the creature's side before trying to maneuver behind it. She sunk her first dagger deep into its shoulder, and using it as leverage, pulled the genlock across the second dagger at its throat. The genlock stumbled and fell at her feet, but the elf barely noticed it as she turned her attention to the hurlock that was beginning to come toward her. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get her dagger out of the fallen genlock quickly enough, and the towering Hurlock slammed into her, knocking her other dagger out of her hand. Alistair reached the pair just as the hurlock was about to bring his sword down on the dazed elf. He slammed into the darkpsawn, sending him careening away from the girl and drove his sword deep into the hurlock's chest. With a sigh of relief, Alistair turned to help Eriana up.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry; I didn't notice that they were past us until they were almost on you." Alistair said as he reached down to pull her up. He wasn't prepared for how light she was or how easily he is able to lift her up. In fact, he pulled her so hard that she left her feet and ended up in his arms for a moment.

"Maker, Alistair, I think you nearly pulled my arm out of socket," she said with a slight laugh as she rubbed her shoulder. "I think you have me confused with Ser Jory up there," she added with a sly grin.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I am impressed though; you handled those darkspawn like it was nothing. I think Jory nearly soiled his armor when they showed up."

Eriana shrugged and started walking toward the other two recruits. "Here Jory," she said, tossing him a small vile, "fill this up with some blood from that darkspawn. Duncan said we need their blood for our joining, remember."

As Jory went to work collecting the blood, Alistair began cleaning the blood off his sword. As he was trying to get his weapon clean, he heard a loud crash and looked up to see Eriana pinning Daveth against a tree, her gauntlet at his throat, brandishing a dagger with the other hand.

"Touch me again, you snake, and I will cut off your balls and feed them to the darkspawn," she growled at him. "I am not here for your entertainment," and with that she slammed him back against the tree and walked away from the group, leaving behind a stunned Jory and Alistair behind.

The rest of the trip into the wilds was done in relative silence, Eriana and Daveth fuming, shooting venomous looks at one another, and Alistair and Jory too uncomfortable to say anything. Though he hadn't seen exactly what happened between the two, Alistair guessed that Duncan had been right. The thief had tried something with the elf, and she didn't respond too well.

Eriana handed Duncan the treaties and darkspawn blood after returning to the camp just as the sun started to set. Alistair hung back a bit, waiting for Duncan to finish with the recruits. "Tomorrow morning, we will conduct the joining ritual, and the three of you will officially become Grey Wardens. Until then, get some rest," Duncan said as he finally dismissed the recruits. Daveth and Jory headed into one of the tents while Eriana turned to walk toward the kennels.

Alistair caught up to her before she could get very far. "We need to talk," he said softly, leading her away from the group. "Care to explain what that was all about back there?"

"I don't see how it is any of your business," she snapped back at him. Alistair sternly glared at her. "Fine, when we were getting the darkspawn blood, Daveth seemed to think it was a good time to get grabby."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he slid his hand up my thigh and tried to, well you can guess what he was trying to grab," she said, crossing her arms in front of herself. "Then he said something about Daddy Duncan not being there to protect me, and that I should watch myself back at camp; that he needed to relieve some pent up aggression."

Alistair looked aghast. "Why didn't you just tell me; I could have put a stop to it. You didn't need to go at him like that by yourself."

"Going to you would have been the worst thing I could have done, Alistair."

"And why, may I ask, is that"

"Because you won't always be there. If I go to you and get you to make that creep stop, then it's like me saying 'Daveth, I'm too weak to take care of myself, and I need this big, strong man to take care of me.' If I do that, he has the power because it looks like I'm scared and can't take care of myself. It would only be a matter of time before he decided to take advantage of that. The moment that I was alone; he would have the power."

"So this was about looking strong, then."

"No, it was about being strong. It's about standing up for myself and not relying on anyone else to take care of me because no one ever does." Eriana then added, almost to herself, "and those who try always get hurt."

"Eriana," Alistair said gently, "there is no reason for you to be afraid. We look out for each other in the Grey Wardens. We fight side by side against true horrors in this world, and we have to trust one another implicitly. If you can't trust us to have you back off the battlefield, then how can you trust us on it?" He reached out to touch her arm, but she jerked away and out of his reach.

"I appreciate your concern; I truly do, but you don't know how the world works out of chantry walls. I can take care of myself," she said as she spun on her heel to storm away. After taking a few steps, she turned back to Alistair. "But thank you for trying."

Alistair shook his head as she took off through the camp. As he watched her go, he vowed to himself that he was going to look out for her and prove her wrong. "I will make her trust me before all is said and done."