They reached the Wounded Coast by mid-afternoon after only a few minor brushes with death; a band of raiders jumped them while they finished their lunch, but were quickly dispatched. At a fork in the road, a desire demon had tried to lure Varric into a tryst but he let Bianca do the talking for him. Afterward, he quipped, "Hell hath no fury like my Bianca scorned," which elicited giggles from Daisy. There had been no sign of any Qunari, but Hawke was certain they'd find the missing detail once they were closer to the coastline. She just 'felt' it.
They continued onward, down the narrow trail meandering around the south face of the cliffs. It was eerily quiet with only the plaintive sound of gulls and the distant surf pounding the shore disturbing their thoughts. Hawke senses pricked and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. It felt… wrong. She sensed blood magic somewhere close.
"Is the coast really wounded? Can't it be healed?" Merrill chirped, breaking up the nervous tension. Hawke giggled while Varric rolled his eyes.
They were rounding a bend in the path leading closer to the shore when Hawke spotted the first Qunari body. Before she had a chance to motion a halt to the rest of the team, they were set upon by four putrid and rotting shades and an abomination spewing fireballs. They made swift work of cutting down the minions with only Merrill suffering a slight burn from a fireball.
"Varric, I'm fine. It's just a little singe. I assure you, it doesn't hurt… very much." Merrill demured.
"Sit, Daisy, and let me have a look at it. I can't have my favorite mage getting a nasty infection, Bianca would never forgive me." Varric softly muttered a worried curse while pulling an injury kit from his pack.
"Do you mean, Bianca likes me? I thought she'd be terribly jealous!" Merrill exclaimed, then hesitated "Oh, I shouldn't have said that, right? I'll shut up, now."
Varric simply sighed then looked over to Hawke then at Fenris to see if they'd caught Merrill's slip. Hawke winked at him and Fenris simply continued to stand there and brood. Varric thought he'd made it through that one unscathed. If it had been Aveline or Isabella that had heard Merrill, he'd never live it down. They'd have to learn of his burgeoning affection for Merrill eventually, just not quite yet.
"Let's take a look at that Qunari." Hawke ordered as Varric finished up the bandage for Merrill's burn.
As they neared the Qunari corpse, they noticed several more Qunari bodies further down the path. "This must be the missing patrol. There's no sign of who their attackers were, but it looks like they put up quite a fight." Hawke observed. It appeared that the last two surviving Qunari had tried to take up a fortified position behind a nearby wagon, but to no avail.
"I'll collect their swords. Our Qunari contact will want them returned. We can put the bodies there," Fenris pointed to a small cave above an outcropping near the path. "The Qunari do not believe in any sanctity for the bodies of the fallen, they do not bury their dead. Discarding them into the cave should prevent them from rotting in the sun and attracting carrion while we camp nearby."
"Good idea. Let's get this over with so I can get down to that beach." Hawke emphatically enthused, "I want sun, sand and surf and I want it now!" She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows that seemed terminally tense lately.
"You got it, boss!" Varric chimed in, "Come on, Daisy. Do you think you can hold Bianca for me while I wrangle some Qunari corpses?"
"Of course, Varric." Merrill blushed prettily, "Don't hurt yourself." Varric gave her a quick wink and walked to where Fenris was hefting the first Qunari towards the cave. They had the path cleared of corpses in just a few minutes and set off again for the coastline further West down the path.
Hawke had the perfect spot in mind for their beach camp. She had scouted it out on another mission to the area to rescue the Viscount's son. She didn't remember how many mercenaries they'd had to kill that day, they'd poured out in droves from every vantage point for what felt like hours. Hacking, slashing, and springing a trap here and there but mostly just slicing and dicing rookie mercenaries, one after the other. It had been a total blood bath and a waste. They'd managed to save the Viscount's son, but not his Qunari companion. Hawke wondered how the boy was doing and imagined he was probably locking horns with his Father, as usual. Politics and parenthood made very ill bedfellows.
"This is it!" Hawke declared. She had been looking forward to this for weeks. Finally, she'd have a chance to relax and get away from her Mother's meddling and a few glorious days free from having to kill anything bigger than a rabbit or a wild bird. "Merrill, can you round up some wood and make a fire for cooking?" Hawke asked.
"Certainly, Hawke!" Merrill began gathering driftwood from around the perimeter of the camp. Varric kept a close eye on Merrill while setting up his tent nearby. Fenris was already off securing the area, as he usually did when they made camp. He'd probably come back with several rabbits or birds for dinner. "He's always showing off," she muttered to herself as she set up her own tent.
She kicked a rock out of her way and got down on all fours to place her bed roll inside her tent. Her blanket got stuck on a twig, so she yanked it hard. It gave and she lost her balance, nearly dislodging the tent support as she caught herself. She crawled out of her tent and stood, muttered a curse under her breath and brushed the sand off her trousers. She raised her head at Varric's snicker to see them all standing around the now roaring fire, staring at her.
"What?" Hawke asked her audience of rapt onlookers.
"Just enjoying the view, Hawke!" Varric replied. Varric and Hawke both glanced at Fenris. "Quite fascinating." was all he replied.
"Ugh, insufferable!" Hawke grumbled and turned to grab her pack and retire to her tent.
Hawke was ready to hit the beach. She quickly changed out of her armor and into the swimming outfit her mother had newly created for her upon hearing her plans to camp out at the beach. It was a thin, sleeveless tunic and a pair of breeches that had the legs lopped off and hemmed up very short. She had joked with her Mother about just how short, they were practically indecent. "Yes, but I know you'll only be wearing them out there with your friends. It's not like you'll wear them while traipsing around the Hightown Market or anything. I think they're rather fetching." her Mother beamed at her own creation.
Hawke had to admit the skimpy outfit certainly was comfortable. She left the tent, ignoring everyone and headed down to the water. She spread her blanket, tossed her book down and walked over to the edge of the water to dip her toe in. It was incredibly warm, so she started walking in deeper. The sand beneath her feet and the flow of the water around her legs felt divine. Almost immediately, she allowed the cares and worries that had been plaguing her to drop away. The surf was mild, so it was easy for Hawke to leisurely swim without worry of crashing into the shore or being sucked under the water. She rolled onto her back and floated, staring up into the clear blue sky as a flock of gulls flew in formation overhead.
She was finally able to relax and enjoy a bit of freedom from the responsibilities that constantly drove her. She could just be. She let her worries roll away, her Mother's constant nagging for her to find a suitor, fears for her sister Bethany living in the Circle, the tensions building in Kirkwall surrounding the Viscount and Qunari relations, her weasel of an Uncle racking up debt in her name. It all evaporated as she drifted in the water. Her mind was peaceful and she felt the tension leaving her shoulders and that nagging spot between her eyebrows as she closed her eyes.
Seemingly all at once, a vision of delicate white swirled lines and olive skin rose unbidden to her mind. His high cheekbones and that sardonic smirk tempted her from her reverie. She recalled the feel of his hands digging into her long red tresses as he brought his sensuous lips to hers for that first passionate kiss. An ache came unbidden to her loins and fired her blood, as it usually did when she thought of him. The simplest of utterances could undo her. The molten passion in his eyes that lone night when he had said, "I've been thinking of you. In fact, I've been able to think of little else. Command me to go and I shall." That was the moment she had given him her heart, only for him to trample all over it.
"Andraste's flaming arsehole! Can't I have one moment's peace without you constantly plaguing me?" She screamed to the sky, her eyes still closed.
"I...apologize. I did not know you wished to be alone. I'll return to camp, I did not mean to offend." Fenris said as he turned to swim back to shore.
"Maker," Hawke muttered as she opened her eyes and realized he thought she was cursing at him, not the imagined Fenris torturing her private thoughts. "I didn't know you… I mean, I was thinking of… shit, come back, Fenris."
"I understand if you'd like to be alone. I just thought it might be safer if I swam with you. I have no idea what matter of creatures inhabits these oceans." Fenris stated cautiously.
"Nothing dangerous ventures into the shallows, otherwise I would have brought my daggers." Hawke replied.
"Oh, well, that's good to know." Fenris looked at her quizzically. She had a strange flush to her cheeks and her breathing seemed a bit shallow. "Are you well? If you're too tired to swim back, I can help you back to shore." He offered, wondering that perhaps moving the heavy Qunari had overly taxed her strength.
"I'm fine, I just got lost in my thoughts. They went way off track and I was irritated, no big deal." She responded.
"I see." He stated. They continued to tread water together, staring at one another. It was as if there was a question in his eyes, the way he was looking at her with that penetrating green gaze. She had the strength to swim for hours in the ocean they currently shared, but when she was sucked into the pools of his eyes, she drowned.
"Hey, Broody!" Varric shouted to them from the shore, "Daisy and I are starving and these rabbits aren't going to cook themselves! Could you help us out, here?"
Merrill strode up to stand beside Varric, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. "Rabbits can cook themselves? How awful for them! Doesn't it hurt?" she exclaimed in wonder.
"No, Daisy, rabbits can't cook themselves. It's just an expression." Varric replied, wrapping his arm around Merrill's waist.
"You go ahead, I'll be right behind you. Just give me a minute." Hawke said to Fenris.
"As you wish," he replied and began swimming for shore.
She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun to absorb the last few lingering rays before swimming back toward land. When she finally touched sand and began walking towards the group, they all turned to look at her. One by one, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.
"What now? Have I grown horns or something?" Hawke asked, frustrated.
"Um, Hawke… You can… Oh, my..." Merrill squeaked and spun around.
Fenris simply stared at her. Varric let loose a whistle and shaking his head, said "Damn, Hawke, you really do know how to make an entrance. Where on Thedas did you get that… ensemble?"
She glanced down at her new swimming outfit. " Andraste's flaming ass! Mother, what the hell did you make this out of?" Hawke exclaimed upon realizing that both her tunic and swimming breeches were, in their entirety, transparent. There was absolutely nothing left to the imagination and she was standing there virtually naked in front of her friends, in front of him.
She quickly spun around, "Somebody hand me my blanket, please?" she pleaded. Great, she thought, just great.