Chapter 8:

It hadn't taken them long to get back to Bartrand, there were a few stragglers of Darkspawn on their way but nothing they couldn't make quick work of. Varric had a large, stupid smile on his face as he approached Bartrand. "Looks like we've found a way around your cave in, Brother! You can run back to her if you want, Broody. I know you're dying to be around her." There was something in the way he looked at her, the way it was some type of quip at him. Fenris growled slightly before turning to walk back to Hawke. He thought he had kept his admiration of her to himself, but I guess it was hard to hide… Merrill had made some comment about "puppy eyes" while they were on the wounded cost once and he had snapped at her. He didn't make "puppy eyes" at anyone, not even Hawke. He had withdrawn into himself though, making it a point to not look at Hawke even when she spoke directly to him. Hawke had seemed hurt when he did that, he was careless of his actions but he had never been so close to someone, told them as much as he did Hawke. It was a trial and error where he just seemed to always err.

He was rushing down the passageways back to her. He didn't want to leave her side, he wished he could have said that out loud but it was enough to feel it he thought. She saw the way she smiled at him, the way her eyes lit up when she caught his glances. She knew, she had to.

His stomach turned as he came upon her though. She was sitting with that abomination's head in her lap, tilting some vial so he could drink it. He saw a blue liquid run out of the corner of his mouth and she laughed to wipe it clean. She was saying something to him and Anders half smiled back at her. He bristled, slowing his pace to walk over with a pace that seemed deliberate in every step. He wished he hadn't come down here.

"I'm sorry I'm intruding on your little moment." His words dripped with venom and a rage that was bubbling up in his chest. She tilted her head to look up at him slowly, her blue eyes holding his gaze in what he thought was a medium between rage and humor. Anders didn't move though, and neither did Hawke except for her attention. Anders found this whole thing funny, he could see it in his eyes, but he didn't dare to speak up.

"He couldn't drink the Lyrium by himself…"

"I should use that line next time then." His insolence was making her angrier, he wondered if she would rip him through like that Ogre. The way her mouth tightened into a line he assumed she was close to it.

"The next time you are incapacitated because you deplete all your energy I will be sure to leave a vial next to you and tell you to drink it like a big boy then." She brushed some strands of her short black hair out of her face before helping Anders to his feet. "You truly understand nothing and I think that is where all your hatred stems from… ignorance."

"Thank you, Hawke… and don't try to teach him. He is too narrow-minded to understand." He leaned on her slightly before straightening himself. Fenris didn't know if he wanted to shout back at Hawke or attack Anders. It seemed like either one was a good option.

She rounded her attention to Anders then. "Don't even start. I am tired of you two bickering all the time. Is there ANYTHING you agree on?" They both gave each other one last long look before turning their attentions elsewhere, knowing it was smarter to not reply to Hawke's question. If they said no, the truth of the matter, she was likely to flay them.

The time until Varric arrived seemed to drag on forever in the awkward silence. Fenris saw that Hawke's bandages were stained with less blood, and that she didn't seem to favor her one foot. It was easy to assume the filthy mages hands had been on her, touching her and saying it was necessary to heal her. He couldn't fault her that though, but he faulted her allowing Anders so close when she didn't need his healing. She seemed to be so weak to his lies and his excuses.

"It seems like your great warrior is broken, Varric."Bartrand had some satisfied expression on his face. She remembered how he hadn't wanted her coming on this expedition, and how he had mocked her when she had said that he needed her.

"It's only a little cut…"She pointed over to the dragon corpse. "I'd like to see you fight that and come out alright."

The exploration group stared in awe as they beheld the dragon, even Bartrand's mouth fell open. "Well I'll be damned. I thought the Ogre was something but this…" He shook his head. "It took you long enough though."

She shrugged it off before walking forward. Dwarf humor was not something she enjoyed, though Varric did have some good ones every now and then. Bartrand and Varric came up on her heels. "Brother this is the path we will want to continue on I'm sure." They all nodded in agreement as they went forward into the cave, coming upon a thaig that seemed abandoned for centuries.

"This is remarkable… I thought we'd just come upon some old noble's thaig… but this.. these were no ordinary dwarves."

"You act like dwarves haven't change."

"Our dwarven culture is mired in tradition. These Dwarves were different from us."

She didn't bother to push the subject, she didn't truly care. She cared about getting out of this hole in the ground and seeing sunlight. She cared about tending to her wounds away from the tainted darkspawn area… she was likely to catch the blight if she got into one more fight with the Darkspawn. They decided to set up camp in the thaig, allowing them shelter and time to search the area for any treasures. She didn't feel like resting just yet, her wounds pained her when she sat just as much as they did when she walked.

"Hawke this way, look what I've found." Varric had that stupid grin on his face, she wanted to grin like that but she saw nothing interesting about this place. The energy was dark, and it seemed to be much older than anything history she had a grasp on. "You won't believe it. It's a statue made completely out of lyrium."

"Well it would make sense… the fact that these caves are mostly lyrium." She held her side as she walked up the steps. She looked back to see Fenris and Anders following Varric and her up the stairs. They still seemed to be in their funk. She couldn't even look at one without the other getting offended. She didn't truly care how Anders felt, but she couldn't hate Anders like Fenris seemed to want.

"Isn't it beautiful? We'll make a fortune off of it." She had to admit it was beautiful. It was so ornate. She didn't even know that someone could carve lyrium this way, but seeing as this place was so old it had to be a lost art. She reached out to touch it and it felt like it reacted to her and she pulled her hand away.

"Yeah… it's something alright." She turned around as she heard the door open. Bartrand was walking towards them and she couldn't help to see how proud Varric was to show his find to his brother.

"Check this out, Bartrand." He threw the statue at Bartrand, which to her didn't seem the smartest move but Bartrand caught it. Bartrand whistled his approval. "This is going to make us a fine penny." Varric was beaming, proud of himself, but all Bartrand did was walk back to the door with the idol. She started to make a run for it, darting past Fenris and Anders as a horrible feeling engulfed her. They watched her run past but it was too late the door slammed shut as soon as Bartrand exited. Varric was racing forward, seeing what happened. He pounded on the door as she tried to search for a way to open it. It had no handle, no way to open it from their side.

"BARTRAND WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Varric was pounding, furious at the betrayal.

"This way I don't have to split it three ways…I'm tired of living in your shadow, Varric."

"You're going to screw me over for an idol?"

The silence was deafening. She turned and started to walk up the stairs to the other side of the room. "There has to be another way out…"

"I can't believe that, bastard… leaving me to die in the deep roads for a stupid idol… but you're right… we have to continue on."

She let the silence linger as they walked forward, glad for some respite from the ever heated debates of Fenris and Anders and the jokes from Varric. She didn't like this place at all. "How long will it take us to get back?"

"The worst case scenario it takes us two weeks…"

"What is the good one then?"

"We trip over Bartrand's corpse on the way out…" She gave a slight chuckle at that before allowing Varric to take the lead out of the Deep Roads.