Hi guys. So sorry I haven't been updating this (in well over a year), just been busy with everything else and honestly lost the love for Fable II and Dragon Age. I was promptly smacked in the head and am now recovered. So without more babbling lets move it on. MOVING ON...
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.
The Crucible 2...
Third wave, and the battle seemed to be favoring Alistair. His fatigue once more started catching up with him as the final great white balverine readied itself to spring at Alistair. He just barely dove out of the way in time, and was quickly on his feet again. His limbs felt ready to fall off after being torn at and sliced. Everything hurt, but the hurting gave Alistair something to hold on to. If he was still feeling pain, he was still alive and that was good enough. He tried to flash back to the image of Sparrow screaming and possibly dying on the floor, but that only made him more tired.
A random thought popped in his head of Ferelden, the werewolves that ordered Audrea to whipe out the Dalish elves because one man was stubborn, just like another stubborn man had been responsible for the deaths of Alistair's brother and his father figure. That same man, Audrea had spared, despite Alistair's protests which only earned him a death sentence. It made no sense, it hurt worse that any stab, slice, or hangover he'd ever encountered to this point.
The cold look in her eyes, like she'd been using him since she found out he was next in line for the throne. 'Everyone is only out for themselves,' she had told him. 'You should learn that.' Alistair didn't think to ask what that meant about Audrea. Was she out for herself with Alistair? She really didn't seem interested in him until he'd mention that he was Marric's hidden bastard. He was interesting. Interesting! What was that even suppose to mean?
The Balverine stalked closer to Alistair, as though it were toying with him. Trying to breath at a steady pace, Alistair could only feel the room close on him as his anger turned to rage. He wanted to hurt something in all the ways he'd been hurt. For his betrayal, for Loghain dying by anything aside from his own hand, for every broken promise from a woman who claimed to love him, for being forced to run from his home, for a year of self loathing, and for letting this Balverine stare him down like he was dinner.
Alistair gripped his sword tighter as the aches and pains in his limbs faded to numbness. He had nothing to hold on to, and that was just right for Alistair. He didn't want to feel right now. All he wanted was that damn Balverine to die, and he was going to get what he wanted for once.
The Balverine had decided it had waited long enough, Alistair seemed to be looking through the beast than at it anyway. The smell of fresh blood taunted the creature with each step. The fury in the eyes of its opponent, it made this kill all the sweeter. With a loud screeching cry, the Balverine jumped. Alistair didn't bother moving, as long as the thing didn't land on his head he should have been relatively safe.
He listened intently, the sound of feet meeting stone roughly ten feet behind him. Claws scratched at the floor as the creature pushed off and lunged straight for the man facing opposite of the Balverine. The sound of fleshy pads got closer to Alistair and he knew he only had one opportunity to get this right and he wasn't about to mess this up.
He spun on his heel quickly, using all his momentum to swing his sword right into the Balverine's neck its head rolled in a different direction as the rest of its body. Alistair collected the bag of coin from the floor before he faced his final challenge.
Meanwhile...
Sparrow raked her fingers through her hair for the fifth time. Her arguing with the doorman only seemed to make things worse, as they would not let her inside if she were the last woman in all of Albion. Now she was stuck at the steps of the Crucible pacing back and forth listening as Alistair was forced to take on a rock troll by himself.
"He's going to get killed," she kept saying frantically. Hammer opened her mouth to speak but it seemed every time she did the commentators would shout how, whatever was happening in that arena did not look good. Even one scare that he wasn't getting up. Sparrow had bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. "Please be safe Alistair." She didn't know if she could stand to lose anyone else.
Meanwhile...
Rock troll. A large, rocky, trolly, rock troll. Alistair couldn't help but wonder how in the Maker he was standing face to... Crotch with a rock troll. Sure he'd run into the troll at Hero Hill, but it was Sparrow who dispatched him. Killing the large monstrosity would take a weapon of the ranged variety, which Alistair was so unfortunate as to not have on him.
It was moments like these that he just wanted to smack himself in the head. His dodging seemed to only go so far, as a particular rock to the head made him see stars. Now that he was trying to shake it off he started calculating ways he could reach those tendrils without getting his head torn off. He thought about approaching the troll from the back. But a toss across the room rewarded his efforts. He landed hard on his shoulder, this time not bothering to stand back up immediately. The floor was so nice, so inviting. Just as the snowy ground had been after slaying the High Dragon in Haven. But Alistair wasn't allowed to rest on the snowy ground in Haven, there was a battle to be won, lives to be saved. He pushed his self back up on his feet, this was no different he had to continue.
The tendrils looked about the same as the ones he had seen on the troll they had come across in Bower Lake. Alistair knew there would only be one way to defeat the monster – or get his head smashed in – and that was to charge the troll with the last remnants of strength he had in him. He waited until the opportunity presented itself, which it almost never did and so Alistair found himself taking Hammer's advice and just going for him before the hobbes decided to catch up with him.
Wait a second, hobbes? When did they enter the fray? Alistair considered turning around and finishing the hobbes first, but with that troll in the way, there was no way he'd get out of there alive and so he pushed on forward.
The troll saw the on-coming attack and swung its mighty fist in an attempt to take Alistair's head off, he quickly ducked the near-fatal blow and continued his charge. He lunged and the first few tendrils on the large rock's chest. He started climbing up higher onto the troll until he was soon on it's oversized shoulder so he could make his move on the back and arms. The arms were easier than Alistair had imagined they would be. It became a matter of timing and not just swinging wildly like a madman.
The troll swung its arm up for the final time to smash Alistair into a small stain on its body, Alistair quickly leaped off the troll and tumbled before landing on his feet. If he had timed the swing carefully, them the troll would hit itself in the head. For once, luck was on Alistair as the monster smacked itself on the head disorienting itself for a moment, giving Alistair all the time he needed to take out a few hobbes standing in his way and finally finish the last creature and end the Crucible challenge.
Meanwhile...
Sparrow bit her nails as far down as she could and had now taken to sitting with Roofus anxiously awaiting Alistair's victory, or untimely death. The chant of 'please be okay,' continued on in her head so much that she almost didn't hear the commentator's loudly and excitedly exclaiming that the Crucible had a new champion. Roofus barked happily, even Hammer jumped to her feet with her fist balled up with a loud "YEAH!"
"Unbelievable," cried Murray. "Incredible! It's an extraordinary super human feat of inconceivably proportions! Unprecedented some might say, if they were unaware of the precedence."
Sparrow felt a wave of relieve wash over her. Alistair had made it, he was alive, and he had succeeded in taking them one step closer to foiling Lucien's plan.
"See I told you he could do it," cheered Hammer. "He was amazing. Come on, he can probably greet wait for him by the bottom of the steps. I'm sure he'd be glad to see you up and about."
"He's as worthy a competitor," continued Mad Dog as they waited for their friend. "As ever competed in this competition!"
Murray continued on about congratulating the winner, and they hurried their strides, Hammer half carried Sparrow, while Roofus ran ahead. At the bottom of the steps, Sparrow felt her pulse rushing faster than it ever had. A large crowd began forming by the steps shortly after Hammer and Sparrow arrived. Sparrow overheard women still arguing over who would take him home, and she was half tempted to tell those ladies that it would be she who would take him home... After a long, long nap.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Murray announced. "Three cheers for the new Crucible Champion!" The ground erupted in a loud chorus of cheers. Sparrow could only barely see the top of his head, but there he was. Alive, and for the most part, unharmed.
Alistair began to descend the stairs slowly one by one until he found himself at the bottom facing Sparrow and Hammer. "That was fantastic," complimented Hammer. "We listened to the commentaries every step of the way. I even got in to see a couple rounds. That one with the hobbes, bloody brilliant. Really makes me want to have a go myself." Alistair gave her a polite smile, before his eyes focused on Sparrow.
"You're awake," was all he said. The sound of his voice was rough from the overpowering fatigue. He lifted his right arm to very gently cup her face before taking a step forward and pressing his lips to her.
Sparrow's eyes widened at the sudden pressure against her lips and gasped. She'd certainly not seen that coming, she didn't resist however. The kiss was gentle and sweet, but ended far too soon when Alistair finally backed away, and dropped limply to the ground.
Sparrow let out a cry of surprise and attempted to catch the larger man. She only managed to slow his fall, being not quite yet back at full strength. She placed her fingers to his neck, relieved to find he still had a pulse and his breathing was deep and full. Exhaustion had claimed him, and so with great effort, Hammer and Sparrow managed to move him to their secluded spot.
"What do you think that was about," asked Hammer finally after they had laid Alistair down. Sparrow simply shrugged, pretending like she didn't know what Hammer was talking about. "Oh come on! You can't say you were expecting him to act like that! He just came up to you and kissed you!"
"I know Hammer I know," sighed Sparrow. "I don't know why he did it! But he did. Maybe he thought I was someone else." She thought bitterly of Audrea, the woman Alistair had loved before he fled from Ferelden. Could that be who he thought Sparrow was at the bottom of the steps? Had he faced death so close that he thought he had seen her again? Sparrow wasn't so sure she wanted to know truthfully. She raised her hand to her lips and thought of that kiss again.
"Do you really think that's all there is," prodded Hammer. "You should have seen him when we were passing through those ruins just before we arrived here. The way he was so protective of you. Maybe he took a knock in the head that made him realize he was in love with you?"
Sparrow furrowed her eyebrows at the thought. Alistair, in love with her? There was so much they didn't know about each other. Sure they'd traveled together for the past week or so together, but was that enough time to fall in love? But then, the way he looked at her just before he kissed her, there was something going on in his head. Sparrow growled annoyed by one question leading to a thousand more.
'Okay,' she reasoned with herself. 'Maybe he is in love with me. Why is that such a bad thing?' In truth, she couldn't find a single answer. All she could find where reason why this was actually a good thing. She liked him, he made her laugh, he was certainly handsome, and if Rose were still alive she'd be shaking her younger sister over the fact that a secret prince had fallen in love with her. 'I swear Rose,' she shook her head. 'You're doing this from where ever you are!'
"Don't think too much about it," comforted Hammer. "Maybe you two should get some sleep. I'm too excited over today to sleep! I'm sure Alistair will be more than happy to offer you an explanation tomorrow."
"Erm... Yeah," reluctantly agreed Sparrow. "Maybe you're right. Wake me in a few hours and I'll take the next watch. I think I'm going to let him sleep the night through, he's probably deserved it." She curled up next to Alistair, careful not to aggravate her own wounds from the previous night, which was made extra difficult due to her newest... Excuse for a shirt. Hammer had apologized profusely that the corset was all she could find. Sparrow just shrugged it off, at least the larger woman hadn't left her naked. That would have made Alistair's descend even more awkward.
She watched Alistair sleep for a brief moment before succumbing herself to sleep's alluring call.
(A/N: HA two out in one day. God damn I'm good. Anywho, hooray for romancey bits! I don't know how I feel about it, I like it, but then I don't. Well that's my opion anyway but hell what do I know. So children you all know the deal. Read, review, and remember: I love you!)
