~Fanboy

"No alerting the nobility and such of course!" Valera swore as she and Fenris rushed down the carpeted hallways that led to the dungeons. Hawke and Talis hadn't shown up at the meeting point and she and Fenris had decided that if they hadn't returned in an hour that they had probably been captured. Therefore, the two were off to save them.

"It's Hawke. Nothing goes right and yet everything ends up just perfect for him in the end." Fenris grumbled, as the pair stopped at a crossroads. "Where to now?"

"I have no idea." Valera answered honestly. They had been lucky enough to avoid the guard for so long.

Speaking of…

"You there!" A voice hailed them, as a guard ran around the corner and up to the pair of companions. "This is a restricted area! Only authorized individuals are allowed… wait…" His eyes grew wide from beneath the helmet. "Aren't you the Valera? Chaser from the Ferelden Circle!?"

Valera blinked unsurely, her hand leaving Fenris's, which she had grabbed to prevent him from drawing his sword on the unfortunate man. "Yes..?"

"I am such a fan!" The fan boy guard squealed in a very unmanish way. "The rumors about you being the best Chaser the world has seen are so true in my opinion!"

Valera looked to Fenris who looked back at her with the same 'what the fu-' expression. She coughed politely before leaping into an epic triad. "Well of course they are!" She preened, hands planted on her hips. "I have been dubbed the best Chaser the Chantry has ever seen! And you know why?"

"Because you can catch apostates without their phylacteries!" The guard supplied helpfully, before peeking around her shoulder to look at the fair elf. "And whose this?"

"My partner of course! Hates them dirty mages as much as I do!"

"I didn't know elves were allowed in the templars…"

"I'm not a templar." Fenris rumbled, wrapping an arm around Val's shoulders and giving them a squeeze. He pulled her close and ran a tanned tattooed finger down her cheek sensuously. "But I am her partner. Not only in combat, but in other ways."

"Oh so he's your sex slave!" The guard smiled widely, thinking he had finally figured it out.

Valera face palmed, as Fenris's plated fist plowed into the guards face who instantly fell unconscious. "I've been called a slave enough times today."

"Moron." Val sighed, before taking point down the hall once more.

BREAK

~Missed You

"Cullen!" Val cried, as she quickly pulled away from the Warden's party to embrace the templar who had been her best friend and lover for the last several years. He caught her in his armored arms and held her tightly to him.

"I'm so sorry what I said to you in the tower." He whispered fiercely, his stubble cheek brushing her own, his grip nearing the point of painful. "I was confused by that she-witch, I would have never…"

Val put an armored finger to his lips. "Shh shh." She cupped his face and kissed him firmly, not caring who saw. Resting her forehead to his own, his face held in her hands, Val simply closed her eyes and relaxed in the scent that was her best friend. "It doesn't matter anymore. You're safe. The maleficar won't be hurting anyone anymore."

"You mean?" Cullen asked suddenly, his hands gripping her upper arms firmly.

Val squeezed her eyes shut tightly to stop the sudden flow of tears. "Yes." They had murdered each and every last mage in the tower. The Right of Annulment had been decided by the Warden and Val could only do as Gregior commanded and follow along with the slaughter.

BREAK

~Afterstory

She paces a mere five feet away, the same and yet wholly different. If anyone were to look at her they wouldn't be able to hardly recall the vibrant person she had been just a year before.

But Anders remembers.

Where her tone had been a pale, healthy cream it was now a harsh, stark white. The light of the sun not having touched her being since their fleeing. The firm tone of her muscled form is now so thin, the muscle still present but the skin stretched so tight it looks painted on. The plush of her body now gone and starved away.

The luscious golden curl of her long silky hair is now hacked short. Nearly shorn, short as a boys to hide her identity from the Seekers always on their tails. Her once bicolored eyes are hidden behind a strip of long cloth and Anders knows that if she were to removed it there would be no blue and green to meet him. Instead, there is nothing but a black, soulless shadow to her eyes. The ultimate price that she had paid to bring him back from the dead.

She continues to pace, muttering so quietly he can't hear the words from her lips.

Her heavily armored form makes not a whisper of sound. Growing up with metal as a second skin has taught her ultimate stealth in her gear. The black armor has no shine and is purposely kept dull to protect them from the glare of torch and city lights. Violet adorns the rest of the armor, along with a short violet cape that helps to keep her warm against the chill.

~END