Later that evening, I found myself sitting in front of the Warden's fire, a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, and a cup of hot soup in my hands. The rest of the Wardens were there, including Duncan and Alistair, who had finished with their meeting. Everyone was enjoying the late evening together, eating or playing cards. It almost felt like a large family. A family that I may be joining.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked up to see the elderly mage, Wynne. "May I sit with you?" she asked.

I scooted on the log to give her room. "Of course." She sat down as one of the other Wardens gave her a cup of soup as well. She took a sip of it before speaking.

"So, I see you found Alistair."

I nodded. "Yes, he wasn't hard to find after you pointed me in the right direction."

I felt a nudge on my other shoulder, and looked up to see said Warden. "Am I that easy to find?"

"Well, I don't see any other Wardens who are huge beyond belief but are soft and cuddly, like a giant teddy bear." Wynne laughed at that as did Alistair.

He threw his large arm around my shoulder. "I think you and I are going to get along just fine." He then noticed the heavy wool blanket wrapped around me. "You're not cold, are you?"

I nodded. "I didn't inherit my father's inner furnace, and get cold really easily. So, yes. I'm freezing."

"Awe," Alistair said, speaking to me as if I was a child. "Do you need a cuddle from the giant teddy bear?" Now both arms, which were as big as my waist, were wrapped around me.

The look I gave him made him laugh and let go of me.

Wynne spoke up then. "Darrian, I was wondering something."

"Oh?" I asked, bringing the cup of soup up to my lips and taking in a swallow.

"What is your opinion on magic?"

That was something I wasn't expecting. I truly never thought much about it. I knew what the Chantry taught, but I didn't know if I agreed with everything they taught. "I truly don't have an opinion on the matter."

"What?" Alistair exclaimed. "How do you 'not have an opinion?' Have you not heard what people can do with it?"

I was kind of surprised by his sudden outburst. I wasn't even sure if he thought on the subject positively or not. "Well, yes, I've heard stories. But that's all they are to me. Stories. How can I form an opinion on something when I haven't seen it or the effects of it for myself?"

"I think that is very wise of you, Darrian," Wynne said. The two of us turned to her, both of us with questioning looks. "Most people would see what you just said as naive, but there is truth behind it. One cannot truly believe in something without experiencing it in one way or another first."

"Thank you, Wynne," I said, encouraged by her words.

"But," Alistair began. "From what you've heard, what do you think of it?"

I smirked at him. "From what I've heard, I think I want to see it in action before I make an opinion on it."

At that moment, he gave me an annoyed look. "Really?"

I smiled at him innocently. "Yes." All Alistair did was shake his head. I chuckled and turned bak to Wynne. "So, what's it like, being out of the Circle?"

Wynne smiled. "It's nice not having stone walls surrounding you. And just being surrounded by nature makes one feel free."

"Have you been in the Circle for long?"

"I wasn't admitted until I was about seven years old."

"So, wait," Alistair cut in. "How long have you been in there for?"

I elbowed him in the gut, which probably didn't do much but tickle him a bit. "Al! That's just as bad as asking a lady how old she is!"

"It's alright, Darrian," Wynne replied, chuckling at my reaction. "I do appreciate the curtesy though."

"No, he's right," Alistair said. "I'm sorry. It was rude of me."

"Thank you, Alistair. And just to answer the question, I've been there for a very, very long time."

I could feel my eyelids drooping a bit and I tried to hold in a yawn. "Excuse me. I'm sorry Wynne, but-"

"You've had a long journey," she finished for me. "I understand. You go ahead."

"Thank you, Wynne." I stood up and looked around. "Now, if only I knew which tent is mine..."

"Oh," Alistair announced. "You're sharing a tent with me." He pointed in the direction of our tent. "I hope you don't mind. You're bed roll is already set up."

"Oh, no. I don't mind. I do, rather, prefer sharing one with someone I sort of know," I hesitated at the end.

He chuckled. "That's what Duncan and I thought."

"Thank you, Al," I said, then turned to the mage. "Thank you for coming to chat. I know it was short, but I enjoyed it."

"As did I," she replied. "Sleep well, Darrian." She stood up and turned to Alistair, who had also stood. "Good night to the both of you."

"Good night," Alistair and I said in sync.

Alistair showed me to our tent and opened the flap, allowing me to enter first. He followed me in and closed the flap again, and started taking his armor off. "So, when will your armor be ready?" he asked as I unwrapped my blanket and lay it across my bed roll.

"The armorer said either tonight or in the morning."

He looked up at me in shock. "Really? That's fast."

"Well," I continued, "he said that making armor for elves was easier than humans or dwarves."

"Hmm, I guess. Probably because ours is so heavy you wouldn't be able to move," he joked. I guess it was true. Us elves were much smaller than humans, and not nearly as strong as dwarves.

I lay down on my bed roll and wrapped the blanket around me. Alistair, after he had removed all his armor, did the same. "By the way," he started. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to be taking you and the other two recruits out into the Kokari Wilds."

I looked at him, puzzlingly. "The Wilds? What for?"

"Well," he began. "Duncan has given me the task of leading the three of you on your first mission. First, the three of you need to kill your first Darkspawn, and we're going to be taking vials of their blood. We'll need it for the ritual."

"Ritual?" This was the first time I had heard of such a thing. "What ritual?"

"Oh, uh..." Alistair stuttered. "I meant in...initiation. The initiation. Sorry, slip of the tongue."

I raised an eyebrow at him, but dropped it.

"After that, we need to find the old Grey Wardens outpost. There used to be one out there, but it's ruins now. There are some treaties there that need to be returned to Duncan."

"Treaties? what for?"

"I think they're so that we can unite all of Ferelden to fight the Darkspawn incase something goes wrong."

"Hm. Well, with people like King Cailan and Duncan, I highly doubt that we'll need them."

"Yeah, but he wants them all the same." Now it was his turn to yawn. "Well, we'd better get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us."