Hey guys
I've been having trouble writing this Chapter for some reason
Anyway here it is enjoy

"Loyalty in people is an odd thing...

One day a person could lie to you or pick your pocket for fun...

They could always joke and rarely take anything seriously...

But others days they'll back you up when needed...

Standing by your side ready to duel anyone" - excerpt from the Tales of Varric

The Hanged Man

Varric's Private Suite

"Are you really sure Hawke? I mean the guys seems kinda on the brooding side and kinda mean... especially towards Bethany" Varric said stunned at Garrett's idea. "Varric he could use it better then we could and I'm pretty sure he needs it more than we do right now" Garrett replied as Varric held the coin gained from selling all the valuables from Danarius's Mansion.

"Fine Hawke but we really need to gather some coin here or we'll never reach fifty Sovereigns" Varric replied joking but a hint of seriousness. Varric handed the coin to Garrett, Garrett grabbed it but Varric still held on to it with a humorously pained face. "Varric" Garrett said, "you sure you want to-" Varric began was stopped by Garrett nodding yes.

Sighing Varric let go of the coin filled pouch saying "Hawke you really are a boyscout." "That's me the lone boyscout in a town of misfits" Garrett said smirking as he grabbed the pouch from Varric and left the suite and exited the Hanged Man waving goodbye to Norah.

As Garrett walked through Lowtown he waved and exchanged the usually pleasantries with some of the Merchants and acquaintances of his such as Lady Elegant and the Lowtown Cheese Maker. Upon arriving in Hightown Garrett did the same for there but some of the higher class people and Nobles looked down on him called him names such as "Ferelden riff raff" or "Dog Man" etc but Garrett just shrugged it off like usual thinking Bethany was right about the Nobles only caring about Fereldens on the so called Ferelden day.

As Garrett reached the estates of Hightown some of the Nobles whom were outside gave him odd looks, knowing by the look of him that didn't belong there in the Hightown estates. As Garrett found the Mansion which now only Fenris resided in, he noticed how the outside looked more or less normal and thought Fenris can hide out here for awhile if he plays his cards right. Nobles like their privacy and don't usually bother neighbors.Garrett, now standing at the front door, knocked three times, nothing, Garrett knocked again getting the same result.

"Uh Hey! It's me Garret" Garrett called as he waited; a moment later the door opened and Fenris stood inside beckoning Garrett to come inside; Once inside Fenris and Garrett stood in the main room of Mansion, Fenris began by saying "Hawke? Did you need something?" "No that's not why I came here. Look I know you can hide pretty well inside this Mansion but I think you should have other resources at your disposal if you need them... you know if you need to maybe grease some palms," Garrett replied to Fenris. Looking confused Fenris said "Hawke if I need to leave then I'll leave... I don't have resources to grease any palms if need be. When the time comes I'll stay elsewhere as I have before."

Garrett pulled out the pouch carrying the coin Varric got from selling the valuables from Mansion; and handed it out for Fenris to grab saying "here." "What's that?" asked Fenris studying the pouch and Garrett with confusion. "It's all the money Varric could get from the valuables you let us take from here... there yours now since you live here and like I said you could use them more than me" Garrett said to the astounded Fenris as he took the pouch.

"I... thank you... you've done me a kindness I did not expect; whatever jobs you do today I will accompany you" Fenris said as he attached the money pouch to his belt tightly. "You don't have to that" Garrett began but was stopped by Fenris cutting in "no I insist... were you going to do a job now?" "I few small ones, nothing big yet" Garrett answered as Fenris stepped to the wall to the right of the front door and grabbed the 'other' Greatsword, the one he always used when he fought while the other Greatsword was still wrapped up and sheathed on Fenris's back. Picking up the Greatsword with his left hand, Fenris sheathed it in such a way that that Greatsword was diagonal to the wrapped up Greatsword.

"We should get started then" Fenris said stepping out with both his Greatswords sheathed as Garrett followed, "my sister is probably going to come with us and possibly another Mage, Anders, as well... that's not going to be a problem is it?" Garrett asked. "Hawke it won't be a problem but I will watch them carefully" Fenris replied after a moment of thinking as they walked out of the Hightown Estates area, while some of the Nobles glanced at them oddly.

As Garrett and Fenris walked through Hightown and headed towards the Marketplace Fenris asked "do you never worry of the temptation your sister faces everyday?" "No our Father was Mage too and trained Bethany very well... besides Bethany never really wanted Magic and would live a normal life if she could" Garrett replied.

At Garrett's response Fenris halted and looked thoughtful while Garrett kept walking; stopping and turning around Garrett asked "Fenris... are you alright?" Fenris looked confused then said "I did not... she, your sister doesn't want Magic... that's odd," then Fenris continued walking and kept pace with Garrett.

Upon reaching the Marketplace and seeing the Hightown Merchants Garrett looked for his family and spotted them talking to a waiter and ordering food. Garrett and Fenris walked to them as Leandra, Bethany, Gamlen, and Kane sat a table with their food; Gamlen saw them heading towards them first. Upon seeing Fenris Gamlen looked nervous because of the two Greatswords and strange markings but Garrett just walked to his family as Fenris followed. "Happy Birthday mother" Garrett said as he stood next to Leandra at the table as Kane went forward and barked happily at Garrett.

"Hello dear" Leandra said standing up and hugging Garrett as Bethany glanced at Fenris, Bethany knows Fenris doesn't like her and looks at her warily. Letting go of Garrett and glancing at Fenris, whom was standing back giving the Hawke family their space, and said "Garrett who's your friend?" "This is Fenris, the elf we meet two days ago" Garrett said showing Fenris to Leandra and Gamlen; Leandra held her hand to Fenris saying "pleasure to meet you."

Fenris awkwardly shook Leandra's hand saying "eh hello," Leandra smiled politely at Fenris as Gamlen glanced at Fenris's steel Gauntlets. "Garrett you don't have to work today, enjoy Hightown with us, take a break" Leandra complained to Garrett, knowing that he planned to work and join up with them later. "No no, it's okay I'll meet with you later enjoy Hightown" Garrett said holding his hands to emphasize his words, as Bethany stood up to join her brother. But Garrett stopped Bethany, saying "It's okay enjoy the day with mother... Varric, Fenris, Anders, and I got this."

Bethany frowned saying "I can help I don't mind," "Bethany spend the day with mother, she can't have both her children not with her" Garrett replied as Leandra suddenly grabbed Bethany's arm. "Your brothers right I won't have both my children working on my Birthday" Leandra said making Bethany sit down on table next to her as Bethany looked at her mother and brother defeated.

Kane went to stand next to Fenris smelling him, Fenris looked at Kane with amusement and pet him.

"Why do you carry two Greatswords, and why is one wrapped up?" Gamlen asked as he looked at Fenris, Garrett and Bethany turned to Fenris wondering the same thing. Fenris looked uneasy then said "a promise," Garrett frowned thinking a promise... a promise for what? Gamlen, not taking the hint that Fenris didn't want to talk about, asked "a promise... what promise?"

Fenris suddenly got a cold look in his face then turned to Gamlen saying "a private one."

Gamlen just shrugged and returned to his eating understanding that Fenris wasn't going to elaborate, Garrett talked with his family for a bit then departed with Fenris to do some of the odd jobs until they'd meet up with Varric later on.

Six and half hours later...

The Hanged Man

Garrett and Fenris had spent the last six and half hours doing odd jobs, escorting a Noble's mistress into Kirkwall from Sundermount, collecting ingredients from the outskirts of Kirkwall for the Merchant Solivitus in the Gallows; and guarding Worthy while he collected his new runes from free-lance Smugglers. Fenris was particularly good at stopping people from robbing them whenever they were doing a job that had valuables involved. Now after about four jobs that earned them four Sovereigns for the both of them, Fenris and Garrett were meeting up with Varric and Anders in the Hanged Man to see what special jobs Varric could get them.

As they walked in Norah the waitress waved at Garrett and eyed Fenris's markings with curiosity, Fenris glanced around the place seemingly bored after finishing the jobs he and Garrett and done, but followed Garrett none the less. Garrett finally found Varric and Anders at a table near the bar talking with a strange tanned woman with dark hair. Varric waved them over when they made eye contact, Garrett and Fenris reached the table as Anders pulled two chairs for them.

Sitting down with the rest of them Varric introduced the woman sitting with them as Fenris coldly eyed Anders. "Hawke, Fenris this Isabela, she has a job opportunity for us if your interested" Varric said as he pointed at Isabela with his thumb.

Isabela was strange woman, she wore a blue bandana over her long black hair; golden coins she wore as earrings with a necklace also made of golden coins, an armored shoulder pad on her right arm with extended light armor on her arm leading to her right dueling glove. She also wear a VERY revealing white tunic with a belt that matched her bandanna with thick leather boots that reached up to her thighs with two special Daggers sheathed on her back.

"So your Hawke... I'd pictured you differently the way Varric speaks of you, I like the real you better" Isabela said looking at Garrett then turning to look at Fenris. "Really, Varric been telling tales about me again" Garrett said humorously as he glanced at Varric, whom simply shrugged saying "I know how to tell a story." Anders looked back at Fenris noticing his cold glance and asked "have I offended you or something?" "No you haven't offended me but I know what you are" Fenris replied just as cold as before if not more, Anders was about to speak but Garrett stopped them both.

"Fenris! Leave it be, you gave me your word it wouldn't be issue," stunned Fenris nodded then looked away from Anders. Sighing Garrett looked back at Anders saying "sorry about that Anders... Varric told about Fenris right?" "Yeah he really hates my kind" Anders said as Isabela watched curiously. "Looks like their some tension here huh" Isabela said as Varric said "that's putting it lightly" Garrett turned towards Isabela saying "Varric said you might have a job for us."

"Yes I do... I'm Isabela, previously Captain Isabela, but without my ship the title rings a bit hollow. Basically someone from my past has been pestering me, I've arranged for a duel, I win he leaves me be, I lose... well then I lose... only thing is I don't trust him to play fair. I need some back up if anything serious happens outside of the plan" Isabela said as she finished taking a drink of Ale.

Fenris suddenly stirred saying "a duel where the enemy is probably going to cheat; how very... Tevinter." Isabela smirked saying "for Mage Duels that's for Tevinter... this is actually more of an Orlesian or Antivan thing to do and what can I say I like duels. Anyway I already had some people check in to this matter but they were horrible at it and the info they gave me was useless."

"They even came here looking for her to pay for that useless information, Isabela cleaned the floor with the four of them" Varric said laughing at the memory as Isabela smirked. Anders grinned saying "I wise man knows to pick his battles... and not to be fool." "Who is this person your going to duel?" Garrett asked wanting to know more of the job; "names Hayder, we worked together way back in Antiva, he never like me and the feeling's mutual. He's been asking about me all around Kirkwall, might as well get it over with and meet face to face" Isabela said.

"There any particular reason you wanted us for this... no offense to you Varric" Anders said as Varric jokingly looked hurt at Anders's words. Isabela glanced at Varric saying "Varric did a good job promoting your little group, plus I can't even trust the Riff Raff here to do some little information gather. But from I hear of you Hawk, escaping the Blight and getting out of the Smuggling service without permission and surviving, you can do things other can't, that could be useful if something goes wrong."

"Alright then, looks like you have your back up, so what's the plan" Garrett said as Varric finished his Ale and Isabela smiled. "I've arranged to meet Hayder in Hightown, go from the back entrance leading up to the higher level and I'll be at a lower level where you can see me" Isabela said standing up and leaving the Hanged Man.

Hightown

A back alley away from the City Guard's patrol

Garrett, Anders, Fenris, and Varric stood above the alley where Isabela was waiting and noticed that Isabela gave them the warning signal, saying something wrong be ready. When suddenly an armored woman followed by two armored men showed up in front of Isabela, "there she is, gut her!" the armored woman yelled at Isabela. Drawing her twin Dagger Isabela stood ready to fight as more armored man showed up from the back of the alley underneath the level where Garrett's group was attempting to ambush Isabela.

"Varric, Anders do what you can from here... Fenris with me" Garrett called as stood up grabbed the edge of the level where they were, timed it then leaped off the level to Isabela's level; Garrett, landing right on top of a rushing enemy, cushioning his fall and knocking the armored man out. Quickly getting up Garrett finished off the knocked out man with his knife as the stunned enemies saw Fenris land and roll to help his fall. Unsheathing his Longsword and Shield Garrett went to help Isabela as Fenris unsheathed the unwrapped Greatsword with his left hand.

As Garrett and Fenris helped Isabela from the same level as her, Anders and Varric sniped and did damage from above. Varric took out two of the armored man by shooting them through their visors while Anders used Chain Lightning then a Fireball, taking out three of the armored men leaving only six left.

Isabela was handling herself pretty well by using her superior speed to overcome the heavier armored men's defense, by the time Garrett and Fenris reached Isabela to help, she already taken down two of them with her Daggers. Garrett slammed his Shield into the back of one of the armored men then stabbed the man as he stumbled over, Fenris slashed an enemy in the chest bypassing the man's armor and cutting deep, then Fenris repeated the slash killing the man. Isabela dodge a slash from a Longsword then served around the man and slit his throat with her Dagger.

Fenris fought the armored woman and used his Greatsword to push her back, allowing Garrett finish her with stab in the back;Isabela killed the last man by stabbing him with both her Daggers straight in his chest. With the area now clear Varric and Anders went down the stairs and regrouped with them as Isabela searched the bodies of the men sent to ambush them.

After regrouping, Isabela held up a note she picked up from one of the bodies saying "Hayder is in the Chantry... sending thugs to finish me off? Coward. He'll not get with away with come on," nodding the group including Isabela headed for the Chantry. As they headed for the Chantry the group heard Anders mumble "why does it have to be the Chantry again," bad memories for him... Karl Garrett thought as they moved on.

As the group stood outside the Chantry Anders still looked as if he'd rather not be there while Isabela opened the doors and walked in followed by the group. As the group walked into the Chantry and stepped into the center they heard footsteps from above, stopping, the group noticed an armored man, probably Hayder, walking toward them followed by a female guard. "Isabela... should have known you'd find me here" Hayder called as he moved to meet them in the center of the Chantry; "tell your men to burn the letters next time" Isabela replied coldly.

Now standing directly in front of them Hayder said "Castillon was heartbroken when he heard about the shipwreck; you should have let him know you survived it," Isabela shrugged saying "it must have slipped my mind." Chuckling Hayder asked "okay now where's the Relic?" Isabela, looking mad, replied "I lost it; Castillon's just going to have to do without it." Hayder looking equally as mad and said "lost it? Just like you 'lost' a ship full of valuable cargo?" "They weren't cargo, Hayder they were people!" Isabela angrily yelled, Fenris suddenly take a step forward looking angry, slaves... Fenris hates Slavers more than anyone else I knowGarrett thought as he noticed how Fenris reacted.

Hayder just continued oblivious to Fenris and Isabela's anger, "those slaves were worth a hundred Sovereigns and you let them scurry off into the wilds. And now the Relic's gone too; Castillon won't be happy to hear that, I promise you... you've ruined a perfect business deal and then ran away."

"Ran away! You're the one ran away, I arranged for a duel and you set up an ambush then didn't even show up yourself" Isabela replied coldly. Garrett sighed as looked around the Chantry thinking I don't want to have more blood shed here... it draws a lot of unwanted attention, these people aren't Templars the Chantry won't be embarrassed to go public with this. Holding up his hands to try and calm everyone down Garrett said "look you don't have to tell Castillon about Isabela... just say she died or that you couldn't find her and you'll can both go your separate ways."

Hayder scoffed saying "If I cross Castillon he'll have me killed, and my life's worth more than hers," Isabela got a determined look on her face saying "thanks for trying Hawke but there's only one way to settle this;" then Isabela quickly pulled one of her spare Daggers out and threw at Hayder. Hayder moved out of the way dodging it, but the Dagger hit his female guard right in the heart, killing her.

Suddenly more armored men appeared from the stairs and went to join the fight, Anders moaned "here we go again" as Fenris rushed forward to fight. Isabela went forth and fought Hayder one on one as Fenris took out one armored man with a heavy two handed slash, Garrett rushed forward and cover Isabela's flank from the other armored men. Varric used his crossbow to kill one by sniping the man in the throat, Anders used Chain Lightning to wound three of them. Fenris's markings started to glow and stuck his right hand into the chest of one very unlucky man; the man cried out in a mixture horror and agony as Fenris crushed the man's internal organs.

A lot of the less disciplined men stared in shock at what Fenris did, Garrett took the advantage to rush forward and slash two of the men's throats with his Longsword while blocking a downward slash with Shield. As Garrett blocked that slash Varric sniped the armored man in the throat killing him, Garrett quickly nodded at Varric expressing his gratitude.

Anders used a Fireball to take out two of the weakened armored men from his earlier Chain Lightning; Isabela weaved in and out of Hayder's Greatsword slashes then ducked under a slash and stabbed him in upper left thigh with one of her Daggers.

Hayder yelled in anger and pain as Isabela's Dagger bypassed his armor and cut deep into his flesh causing him to kneel down; Isabela darted forward and stabbed her remaining Dagger into Hayder's chest. Once again Hayder cried out in anger and pain, Isabela, still holding onto Dagger pulled it up, cutting through Hayder's chest and killing him. Fenris having killed another two men with his Lyrium Talents stood next to Garrett having cleared the area of enemies and watched as Isabela killed Hayder, the last man left in the room.

Anders dispelled the remnants of Magic left over from his spells and cleaned everyone's weapons with Magic; Isabela looked at Fenris with interest saying "what was that thing you did?" "It's a long story" Garrett said knowing Fenris probably didn't want to tell the whole story right now, "my markings are made of Lyrium and give me powers" Fenris replied quickly. "So do those markings cover your whole body" Isabela said suggestively causing Fenris to laugh awkwardly, Varric looked around the room saying "we can't have another Chantry incident... we need to clean this up."

"Oh I already got that covered, I hired a clean up crew to roughly follow me in case they were needed... but there clean up guys not really the fighting type that's way you need all of you" Isabela called as Fenris and Garrett check the men's pockets for coin. Varric smiled saying "glad you thought ahead oh Captain," "A Captain with no ship to sail upon" Isabela said smirking with humor as she picked up her spare Dagger from Hayder's female Guard. Ten Sovereigns, that was the total amount coin from all the armored men, Garrett set about dividing the coin for everyone in the group as Anders glanced at Fenris.

"I may need some more of your help Hawke; Castillon won't hear about me form Hayder but he'll find me eventually, I just have to get him the relic" Isabela said to the group. Garrett nodded saying "we'll help you, but what exactly is this relic?" "Honestly I'm not really sure but I know it's worth my weight in gold. Castillon has me chasing it down as payback for freeing his slaves" Isabela said causally. Sighing Isabela continued "I think Castillon just wants me dead... but that would be letting me off easy" "So how did you end up ship wrecked here in Kirkwall anyway?" Garrett asked a little curious, Isabela shrugged saying "there was a storm, my Ship ran aground on the reefs near the city and I managed to make it to shore."

Suddenly Fenris spoke up saying "a storm brought you into Kirkwall... would that be the same storm that brought the Qunari here as well?"

Isabela looked surprised that Fenris had guessed that and replied "yes actually. I was asked to escort Castillon's cargo ship, but I got a bad feeling half way through the job so I checked it out and saw that the cargo were Slaves... nearly two hundred of them. Elves, Human, children even... it was pretty bad so I made an unexpected landing at Ostwick's port and set them free. Unfortunately I got caught up in the same storm that the Qunari fell into on my way back out."

"Ostwick that's a good spot to land them there's no slavery there and plenty of places the roads lead into from there" Anders said as Varric put in "smart move." "So who exactly is Castillon anyway, we ought to know what we're facing that if he shows up here" Varric asked. "He's a powerful Merchant based in Antiva but I believe he has ties to the Felicisima Armada. I did some jobs for him in the past, usually involved smuggling Lyrium, Jewels or the occasional criminal acquaintance... he paid well" Isabela replied crossing her arms.

"Eh who or what's the Felicisima Armada?" Garrett asked not knowing what that was, "you've never heard of the Felicisima Armada?" Isabela, Varric, and Anders said in unison. "Nor have I" Fenris said as both he and Garrett waited for an answer, in the end Anders informed them.

"The Felicisima Armada is more commonly known as the Raiders of the Waking Sea, they started off as opportunists, individual ships based out of the coastal city of Llomerryn that preyed on sea traffic and were frequently targeted by the concerted efforts of Orlais and some of the City Sates in the Free Marches." Isabela cut in saying "Some times those City Sates and Orlais would destroy the pirates but eventually more pirates would come and start it up again it's a cycle that repeated for quite a while."

Anders nodded at Isabela as Varric continued the story smiling that smile he uses what telling a good Tale saying "But when the New Exalted Marches sprang up and the Nations of Thedas were at war with Qunari the Felicisima Armada were having the same problem as the all the others fleets, fighting the Qunari. So the Felicisima Armada joined together under a single flag and fought alongside their former enemies to fight their new ones, namely the Qunari. Anyway after that war ended everyone just assumed that the Felicisima Armada would fall apart but it didn't, they stuck together and remained very powerful even to this day."

"I knew the Qunari fought a lot of Nations in that March but I never knew they fought Pirates as well" Garrett said as Fenris and he absorbed the story. "Not a lot of Nation like to admit it but without the Felicisima Armada the war could have lasted a lot longer than it did so it's not talked about much even in the history books" Anders replied.

Fenris looked coldly Anders again as he finished talking, Still some tension from those two Garrett thought as he noticed Fenris's look. "Anyway that's the story and we should probably leave so my clean up crew and 'clean up' come on" Isabela said; Varric shook hands with Isabela as the group departed. Upon exiting the Chantry the group noticed Isabela's clean up crew was waiting outside to the far right, Isabela nodded at them and pointed to the Chantry, she came prepared for anything Garrett thought as the clean up crew climbed the stairs to the Chantry to do their work.

As the group left Hightown Isabela said "thanks for the promise of continued help Hawke, you ever need a favor I'll be in the Hanged Man," Varric smirked saying "what do you know, another worker." Garrett nodded as he noticed that Fenris and Anders walked as far away from each other as possible on opposite ends of the group.

"Hawke this where I take my leave of you" Fenris said as he turned and headed for his Mansion, "thanks Fenris" Garrett called as he waved goodbye to Fenris. "I think he hates Slavers more than Mages... I not sure if that's better or worse" Anders said as watched Fenris go, "sorry about before Anders, Varric told you of his past right" Garrett said as Varric called "I told Anders about Fenris, he know everything Hawke."

Anders shrugged saying "it's okay I've seen worse, especially in my time on on the run from the Circle," Isabela cut in saying "this sounds like an interesting story, care to tell it." Varric scoffed saying "I'm the only story teller here, no offense Blondie but that's a tale that needs to be told by a professional," Anders frowned saying "I haven't even told you the story... how could tell the story at all?" Varric smirked saying "Doesn't mean I can't tell the story without finesse and I don't need to know everything I'll fill in the blanks when I need to," Anders looked confused saying "but you don't really know anything about it... the whole tale would be fictional."

"That's fine by me, my version will be better" Varric replied smirking, Anders was about to say something but Garrett stopped him, "Anders just let it go... Varric's gonna tell Tales anyway." Anders sighed said "yes I see your point," Isabela chuckled at Anders frustration saying "cheer up Anders... Varric will make you most desired rebel in Kirkwall," causing Anders to chuckle a bit.

"Sorry to cut this short but I gotta get home for something personal" Garrett called as he left the group heading for Gamlen's home. Isabela and Varric waved goodbye as they headed for the Hanged man and Anders walked off heading towards Darktown.

As Garrett reached Gamlen's home and opened the door he noticed Bethany waving him over giving him a look that said what took you saw long. Garrett mouthed "sorry" then walked forward and found Mother and Gamlen waiting for him with the cake for mother's birthday; "we've been waiting for awhile you know" Gamlen complained.

"I was busy... anyone I got six and half Sovereigns from today's jobs and a new partner to help us if needed" Garrett called as Leandra hugged her son looking thankful he'd returned in time to celebrate her birthday with the family. Gamlen was about to scowled but a look from Bethany stopped him, instead Gamlen calmed down and said "look partners are good and all but you should get too many, the more partners the more the division of the coin."

"Alright I get the point Gamlen" Garrett said as he sat down with Leandra and Bethany as Gamlen began to cut Leandra's cake.

"Happy birthday mom" Garrett called as the Hawke family each got a piece of cake and gave a toast to Leandra, Kane barked happily as he watched them eat and ran around the table looking for scraps.

I wasn't too happy with how I ended up writing this Chapter

This is the closest I could get to being happy with it... but I digress

Thanks for reading and please review!