Disclaimer: All Dragon Age:Origins characters, scenarios, locations, and dialog belongs to EA and/Bioware and are in no way mine.

Author's Note: If you think maybe Joseph is falling for Morrigan a little too fast, you'd be right. And that's why he's so confused. This installment was a tad bit rushed, and I'm sorry if that shows in the writing.

It had taken them nearly half the day to search for armor for Sten. In the end they had been unsuccessful in finding anything that could fit the behemoth, let alone a weapon to fight with. Joseph did find some metal plates laying around behind a few of the shops and resolved to have the local blacksmith put a few holes in them. Soon Sten was wearing two bits of metal tied to his body with rope. However frustrated the qunari looked mirrored how proud Joseph was for thinking of the idea. The warden then handed Sten the only weapon he managed to find; A long dagger. Sten stared at his new weapon with disdain, but took it without question. It was all Alistair could do to stop himself from laughing for fear his head would soon be soup for the poor folk. Satisfied, for the most part, with Sten's attire, Joseph decided it was time to find Morrigan and leave. "Where did she say she was going again?" asked Joseph after an hour of looking for her in the miserable village.

Alistair only shrugged and looked about lazily. "No idea, just said she wasn't going to run around with our lot. Too bad to, I just love her company."

Joseph chuckled and headed for the last place to be checked aside from the Chantry, though he hardly expected to find her there of all places. The tavern door looked so out of place in Lothering. It was new, or looked new anyway, with a stained finish and a fine metal handle on it's front. Even the building around it looked like it was made from garbage in comparison. He carefully opened the door as if it were a relic that would crumble if handled to harshly and they stepped inside the tavern. Joseph wanted to look around for Morrigan immediately but was distracted by the soldiers converging on him and his companions.

"Loghain's men...this can't be good." whispered Alistair

"Well look here, men!" said one of the soldiers who looked like he might be the commander "I think we've just been blessed."

"Didn't we spend all morning asking for a pair of men by these descriptions and everyone told us they hadn't seen them?" piped up another next to the previous one.

The commander frowned "It seems we were lied to."

Joseph stared at the soldier's dimly for a moment and before he could open his mouth to respond, a silken voice came from the crowd "Gentlemen, surely there is no need for trouble. These are no doubt simply more poor souls seeking refuge." The voice belonged to a Chantry Sister with firey red hair and a pleasant smile who had now placed herself between them.

"Stay out of this, Sister" barked the leader "If you protect these traitors you'll get the same as them!"

Joseph took a step forward with his hand out "Come now, let's talk about this before things get out of hand."

"I doubt he would listen," piped the Sister "He blindly follows his master's commands."

"I am not the blind one!" roared the commander again "I was there at Ostagar, Teryn Loghain pulled us out of the trap the treacherous Grey Wardens had laid for our king!"

It was Alistair's turn to step forward to defend the Wardens, clearly infuriated at the dirtying of the Grey Warden name. "The Grey Wardens did not betray the King! Loghain did!"

The commander growled and withdrew his sword "Enough talk. Take the Wardens into custody, kill the sister and anyone else who gets in your way." The rest of the soldier's followed suit as they took in his orders, drawing their weapons and stepping forward. It all happened so fast then that Joseph could barely recall what occurred. Two of the soldiers had suddenly been incased in ice as he moved forward to the commander, placing his boot in the man's chest and kicking with all the strength he had and sending him through a table. He unsheathed his Great sword and charged forward and noticed to his right that Alistair had taken on two of the soldiers himself, dispatching one easily with a few blows of his shield. Joseph leapt onto the commander's chest before he had time to get up, pressing the blade of his weapon against his neck "Enough! I surrender! WE surrender!"

Joseph removed himself from the commander, resheathing his sword and looking around. The two soldiers had begun to melt out of their casings and the rest seemed alive, if bloody. Sten hadn't moved from his spot, glaring down at his dagger. Alistair and the Chantry Sister made their way back over to Joseph, Alistair panting from excitement. From the corner of his eye he could see Morrigan making her way down the stairs and it suddenly became clear to him that she had incased the two soldiers from before, he'd have to thank her later. The commander stood defeated in front of his bloodied soldiers and spat on the ground at their feet "Do not think that because you have won here that we will stop hunting you. You Grey Wardens will pay for the murder of the king!"

Joseph was the one who lost his temper then, stepping forward and grabbing the commander's neck in one hand. It was surprisingly small, weak, he could feel the man's muscles strain under his armored hand. Joseph squeezed as he growled his next words "I want you to take a message to your false king. Tell him the Grey Wardens know what really happened at the battle of Ostagar. Got it?" All he got from the commander was a rapid nod and he dropped him, watching as he and his soldiers scurried out of the bar.

"I am glad you found it in your heart to show them mercy, warden." said the Sister from behind him, causing Joseph to jump though he did not know why.

"Oh, um, thanks for what you tried to do sister." He held out his hand "Joseph Cousland, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The Sister took it and shook gladly "I am Leliana, one of the lay sisters of the chantry here in Lothering. Or I was," Her grin widened after dropping the handshake "I know that you Grey Wardens will be needing help fighting the Blight, no? That is why I am coming with you."

Joseph's and Alistair's faces mimicked each other in the form of a raised eyebrow while Morrigan rolled her eyes. Joseph rubbed the back of his neck nervously, looking Leliana up and down "Um, I don't know if a clergy sister would be well suited to, ah..." While he searched for the right words Leliana had already drawn weapons from under her robes and held them out, pommel first.

"Not all of us sisters were born into it, Warden." she said with a grin, Joseph let loose a whistle

"Point taken. Why are you so eager to join us though?"

"The Maker told me to."

Joseph smirked, taking this as humor "So the Maker's on my side then? Welcome aboard!" his chuckle was stopped short when her face brightened into one of hope instead of laughter.

"You believe me then?" She asked softly. Joseph could only open and close his mouth like some dumbstruck fish "Oh, I knew the Maker had sent a true dream! A vision, that by serving you, I serve His holy plan."

"More crazy? I thought we were all full up." chuckled Alistair

"Right..." Joseph laughed uneasily "This is where I start backing away, slowly"

The look she gave him after that almost made Joseph change his mind, almost. She sighed and hung her head "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true!"

The warden nodded, backing into the rest of his group with a nervous smile "Well, I'm sorry to say, Leliana, that we don't...actually, need you. We need to, um, be on our way."

"Will you at least think about it?" she called after them as Joseph tried to hurry his companions out the door

"Yea! Sure! Thinking right now! Bye!" He called, shutting the door behind him and breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

After reaching the edge of Lothering, Alistair smirked and turned on Joseph "A little extreme in your reaction to her, don't you think Joe?"

He rolled his eyes "Alistair, she's one Archdemon short of a Blight."

Alistair nodded, his grin getting wider "Yes, but she seems more 'OH! Pretty colors!' than 'Muhahahaha! I am Princess Stabbity! Stab! Kill! Kill!'" Joseph laughed aloud with his friend, clapping him on the shoulder. Once the humor had died down, he shook his head.

"I guess maybe I judged too fast, but it's too late now. We need to get going. Time is not our friend, and I doubt the Archdemon is going to take a vacation any time soon."

Alistair nodded in agreement, though his smirk was still present as the five of them made their way into the fields. Not long after that he caught the sight of at least two dozen villagers standing around on the path leading outside Lothering. Some carried torches, the others had farm equipment and just about all of them looked like they would rather be somewhere else. As the five of them approached, one farmer clutching a pitch fork spoke up.

"There they are!" his yell caused the rest of the villagers to turn around and converge, their nervous looks turned to angry, desperate ones. "We heard what they've been saying about you folks. You're Grey Wardens, no doubt about it." He swallowed hard. "I don't know if you killed King Cailan and - Maker forgive me - I don't care. But that bounty on your head could feed a lot of hungry bellies. Please...do not resist."

Joseph rolled his eyes at yet another group of people trying to 'arrest' him. "Don't be so stupid, of course we intend to resist. Just give us a moment alright?" This seemed to stun them enough to actually listen to what he told them to do, they didn't move from the spot even when Joseph turned his back to address his companions. "So, the plan..." he started in a whisper

"I say kill them, they wish to fight for their home, then fight they shall." said Morrigan airily and Sten nodded in approval but Alistair was shaking his head.

"They're just desperate, and barely armed."

Joseph nodded at this, gathering a frown from Morrigan and a bark from Dog. "Alright, so stun them, knock them out. Put them to sleep with magic, just don't kill them." He reached around and unhooked his blade, holding it out for Sten "Here, give me the dagger. You look silly with that thing." Though his face hadn't changed, the speed at which he exchanged the weapons told Joseph that he had been more than happy to take the great sword from him. Joe flipped the dagger easily in his hand and looked at his comrades "So, everyone know the plan?" Everyone nodded in unison, Morrigan scoffed while she did so. Joseph stood and turned around to face the villagers, holding his dagger aloft "Now, we're prepared to resist you."

"Attack!" screamed the farmer and the entire mob charged the group, brandishing their weapons with empty stomachs. Joseph felt pity for them and quickly ducked the first swing, bringing the ringleader down with a heavy clothesline and moving on to the next. Like a flash of deja vu, two more men were incased in ice on either side of him, letting him focus on the one in front of him. One well aimed fist to the face and the man was on the ground, clutching his nose. Joseph turned around to see a two men fly over his head and Alistair ducking to the side and ramming a man in the gut with his shoulder. "Sten! Be careful!"

"They will live." His voice was so deep he did not need to shout for Joseph to hear him over the commotion.

It was not long before every villager that was present was either incapacitated or preoccupied with injuries. These villagers, in their desperation, had shown more bravery than most men in the armies of Ferelden ever had, as far as Joseph knew. If only times weren't as bad as they were, he might have tried to conscript them. He knew as they were walking away that he'd likely never see them again. The horde was marching north to Lothering, everyone in this place would die in a night or two. They continued forward with a silence that said more in it than what it didn't. This was for real, it was time to save the world.

They had not been five minutes from where the villagers had attempted an ambush did Joseph catch a glimpse of the firey red hair of Leliana. He just noticed how beautiful she actually was, standing there in her chantry robes. It had a sense of simplicity about it and it intrigued him. She caught sight of them as well it seemed, she was waving at them and sprinting towards them. "Why, hello again! Have you changed your mind? Can I come with you?" She asked, her face bright with hope.

Joseph rubbed the back of his neck, searching for the words to say in a sort of apology. He was only too happy when Alistair put in his two cents. "She seems earnest in her desire to help. I vote to let her join us!"

Joseph chuckled, nodding and holding his hand out for her "Yes, welcome Leliana. I'm sorry about before."

Leliana grinned even more brightly if it was even possible, grasping his hand in both of her's and nearly jumping up and down in joy "Think nothing of it! I am used to it. I will not let you down in this, you can trust me!" She immediately turned and ran behind a large stone pillar, extracting a pack that was filled with Maker only knew what. She was expecting them. Joseph couldn't help but laugh at this, looking back at Alistair who looked very proud of himself.

Nothing could have told Joseph that they would be stopped for a third time on their way out of Lothering. This time by Darkspawn that were terrorizing a pair of dwarves. Sten had been the first to charge in, killing the beasts with only two swings of the great sword. The dwarves stared up at him, one looking rather shocked and the other with a goofy smile on his face. After a short exchange of words Joseph learned that they were father and son, and at the very least the father was a merchant. He offered a discount in his wares if he and his son could travel with them for protection. Joseph readily agreed, much to Morrigan's chagrin. She called it "adding baggage".

They continued onwards in mostly silence, only broken by Leliana's occasional musical humming. When they got to a crossroads they set up camp in a clearing nearby. Joseph volunteered to go and gather wood and Alistair readily joined him in venturing out into the wilderness. The two joked back and forth while gathering, mostly about Sten and his apparent inability to show any emotion other than frustrated, but Joseph did get a laugh when a bird or bat, he did not know which, flew too close to Alistair's head. The Templar nearly jumped out of his skin and dropped his bundle with a yelp, hands going up over his head as he pleaded for his hair's safety. After a few minutes of Joseph's taunting, Alistair spoke up in an attempt to guide the attention away from himself. "So, I wanted to ask your opinion about some of our...companions." He said with a casual air.

Joseph chuckled, stopping in front of a dead log and taking a seat "Gossip time I take it?"

"Well, you see, I have this nefarious plan..." Alistair started, taking a spot next to his fellow warden with a grin "I'm going to go around and tell them all the nasty things you said about them and cause a mutiny. Then I will become the group leader! Muahahaha!"

Joseph couldn't help but laugh, leaning back on the log "Look, if you want to lead all you have to do is ask, Alistair."

The Templar made a face of mock shock "ME! Lead? No, no no no. Bad things happen when I lead. We get lost, people die and the next thing you know I'm stranded somewhere, without any pants!"

"Depending on where your stranded, having no pants might not be such a bad thing."

"Maybe." chuckled Alistair "But seriously, what do you think of them?"

Joseph shrugged "We've not been together all that long at all, Sten and Leliana just joined us today and we've been with Morrigan for less than a week. You are the only one I've been with long enough to form any sort of opinion of."

Alistair nodded, rubbing the back of his neck "I guess you're right..."

"Well, what about you? Do you have opinions about them?" Joseph asked curiously, but Alistair looked suddenly unsure of himself and shrugged

"I thought I did, but after what you said I don't think I should be so quick to judge, especially of the people who are supposed to be helping us."

Joseph patted Alistair on the shoulder for what seemed like the millionth time today. The two had begun to grow closer by the minute it seemed. Perhaps it was the taint in their blood that bound them, or it was the battles they fought together. The very fact that, out of everyone, Joseph and Alistair were left. Through every obstacle that had been thrown at them in the short time they had been comrades in arms, they had been triumphant. As he looked upon his friend now in the forest, he could think of no other person he'd rather be stuck with in an all out war against the demons of their world. Joseph broke the silence between them with a smile "C'mon Alistair, they're waiting for us back at camp." He stood, picking up his bundle and waited for Alistair to do the same. Leliana greeted them warmly upon their return to camp, though she was the only one. Sten was staring so intently at the small fire they had managed to built one would think it was his glare that made the fire die down as far as it did. Morrigan, of course, had made her tent far from anyone elses and had a fire all her own blazing before it. Joseph left Alistair and Leliana to tending the fire and made his way over to the witch's resting place.

Morrigan raised an eyebrow as Joseph made his way to her, crossing her arms and flashing him a malevolent grin with her violet lips that made his heart skip a beat. "It looks like our fearless leader has decided to grace me with his presence, such an honor it is." Her voice was as velvety as ever. Why he was so enthralled with her, he had no idea, but sometimes he didn't care. He smirked, trying to act as in control as he could.

"I just thought I'd come over and give you some company, maybe get to know you a little better."

"What purpose could that possibly serve?" She asked, staring at him with a captious stare

Joseph shrugged. "None, really. I just want to know you, Morrigan. How did you grow up? What was it like living with Flemeth? Anything..."

Morrigan's grin grew wickedly and a tiny voice in the back of Joseph's mind told him to be wary while the rest of him wondered what they tasted like. "You want to hear tales of my childhood? Stories of the wilds that I lived? Or perhaps you would like to hear how my mother cast spells of love and captivated men, convinced them to her bed and murdered the fools in their blind lust? These I could tell you, if you so desire."

"Spells of...love?" Something in his head clicked when he heard that. Would she, DID she? It would certainly explain why he felt so much so soon, but at the same time he didn't want to believe it. Morrigan, however, only continued to smile.

"Ah, so you do want to hear-"

"No! No...I, um, I just remembered something." He chuckled nervously "I'll get back to you on that though." Joseph turned slowly and headed back towards the others with the Witch watching him leave, looking pleased with herself.

Alistair jumped a little when Joseph whispered in his ear "I need to talk to you." The Templar raised an eyebrow but didn't protest and followed Joseph away from the others.

"What is this about?" asked Alistair after hey had put a fair distance between themselves and the warmth of the camp fire.

"You're a Templar, right? A mage hunter?"

"Well, technically speaking, yes. Why?"

"So, you're immune to magic?"

Alistair was beginning to pick up a tinge of desperation in Joseph's voice, but he looked otherwise normal as ever. "Not immune, but we can fight it, negate it."

"So, others could learn these talents?" His voice broke character slightly when asking this question.

Alistair placed his hands on either side of Joseph and shook him "Joseph! What is the matter? Why are you asking all these questions?"

Joseph sighed, his head drooped and rested on Alistair's shoulder, causing the Templar to tense slightly. "I...It's Morrigan." Alistair eased up after hearing Joseph speak, looking down at the back of his head. "I think she may have cast a spell on me," he continued softly as he raised his head "I don't want to believe it, but it's a possibility, please Alistair...help me?" Immediately there was a wave of soft light that flowed from the Templar, but Joseph didn't feel any different. He looked up at Alistair with a puzzled stare.

"There, that should take care of any hexes or the like. Feel any different?" He asked while managing to sound as if this were an every day occurrence

"N-no...still feel the same." Joseph let out a sigh of relief. Morrigan was only trying to scare him, it seemed. It worked, obviously, but he put that from his mind for now. "So, can you teach me?"

Alistair raised an eyebrow "You still want to learn?" Joseph quickly nodded, his eyes had gone slightly wider with silent pleading. The Templar chuckled and shrugged "Well, I guess I could. The Chantry doesn't usually let their Templars get away or reveal their secrets. I'm the exception. Lucky me." He grinned when Joseph laughed at his joke and clapped his hands together "Alright! Starting tonight, you are my Templar apprentice! Rule one: Discipline..."