As word slowly spread amongst Hawke's closest friends, they began to come to the Bone Pit to pay their respects. It was as close to a last resting place as their friend would have. Though the place was still dangerous, Hawke deserved no less from them.

Sebastian Vael was the one to tell Hawke's sister, Bethany. Reaching her in the Gallows had been tricky. Clearly she had to know, but all communications to the Circle mages were monitored by the increasingly paranoid Knight-Commander Meredith. Sebastian had to use his connection to the Grand Cleric (who mercifully did not question Sebastian's urgent need to contact Bethany) to be allowed to speak with the mage on "Chantry Business."

Somehow he was able, on "Chantry Business", and with the sympathy of Cullen - who had grown fond of Bethany and could see she was clearly upset - to get a bare few hours' leave for her to make her own pilgrimage to the spot, before the news spread to the rest of the city.

When Sebastian and Bethany came to the Bone Pit, the day after the accident, they found Fenris climbing down into the pit.

"What on earth are you doing?" Bethany shouted down the cliff.

In fact, he was stuck. He had gotten some distance down but run into a sheer drop where the cliffside jutted out abruptly and left nothing immediately below him to grab onto. Which left him clinging to the rock face in a very precarious spot, his bare feet balanced carefully in a barely adequate toe-hold. He had neither the equipment nor the expertise to venture further.

At the very moment they arrived, he was debating with himself whether to climb back up or simply let himself drop and see if he could catch onto the next ledge. Clearly a foolish idea, but he couldn't see any other way to continue and he was not about to give up.

"Fenris!" Sebastian shouted. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? By the Maker, you need rope, and, and shoes for that! Come back up, perhaps we can help!"

Fenris looked up at the Starkhaven prince thoughtfully. That seemed sensible. He was clearly going to need assistance for this. And he would not be much help to Hawke if he plunged to his doom.

He was pleased to see Sebastian here, who had always been friendly to him, and was a reliable, responsible person. Surely he could be counted on to help.

Slowly, he made his way up and out of the pit, accepting Sebastian's extended hand to pull himself over the top.

His hopes faded, however, when he saw the expression on the princeling's face.

"Have you lost your bloody mind?" Sebastian scolded him, his face incredulous and concerned.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"What could you possibly have been thinking?"

"Someone needs to go down there," Fenris explained patiently. "Hawke needs our help."

Bethany, standing some distance away, snapped suddenly to attention. With sudden quick strides, she came to his side.

"Did you see something?" she asked him fervently. "Did you hear her voice? Any sign of her?"

"No," Fenris replied, a little reluctantly. "But she is alive. I know it."

Bethany sniffled and brought one hand to her face, to catch the tears that were starting to fall. "How?"

"Because... this is Hawke," he told her, as if it explained everything. "She survived the Deep Roads. She survived the Qunari invasion and the duel with the Arishok. She survived Danarius's ambush. She survived the High Dragon. She would not be killed by a... a hole in the ground... it simply isn't possible."

Bethany buried her face in her hands and began to sob. "Damn you," she cried. "For a moment, I thought..."

Sebastian put a protective arm around the crying mage (a sight Fenris had never expected to see in this world) and glared at him.

Fenris glowered right back, impatience shortening his temper even further. Who knew what was happening to Hawke at that very moment, while they stood there and jabbered?

"Never mind," he said shortly. "I will find a way to her on my own."

Sebastian's expression softened, as he reached his hand out to him, to clasp his shoulder. "Fenris, Hawke is dead."

Stubbornly, he shook his head. "No. She isn't."

"There is no way for her to survive that fall. Look at it. Have you looked?"

"I have looked a great deal," he answered, unphased. "She fell right at the side of the cliff; you can even see where she dislodged the rocks on the way down." (This description loosened another sob from Bethany, which he had to ignore.) "She could have grabbed hold further down, or fallen onto a ledge somewhere. She could be laying unconscious somewhere right now. Or she may be scaling the cliff as we speak. But she won't be able to reach the top without aid. We have to help her."

"But you have seen or heard no sign of her, all these hours later," Sebastian pointed out, with a gentleness that grated at Fenris's frayed nerves.

"Hawke is alive," he repeated. "She has to be."

"Shut up!" Bethany screeched at him suddenly. "How can you be so heartless? You have no right! You were nothing to her, nothing! She was MY SISTER! My only family left! And now she's DEAD and I'm the only one left!" She choked on the words, through her tears, but pulled herself together just long enough to finish. "It's hard enough to accept that she's gone without your stupid nonsense! Shut up!"

Fenris recoiled from her, stepping back until he was pressed to the wall of the cavern.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

Bethany buried her face in her hands again, her heart-rending sobs echoing through the Bone Pit. "I should never have come here. Sebastian, take me back to the Gallows."

Sebastian took her by the shoulders and led her away. And Fenris was alone again.

The next expedition to the Bone Pit found Fenris still sitting on the cold stone, lost in thought. The elf was parked against a wall not far from the chasm where Hawke had disappeared. He looked awful.

He had spent hours after Bethany and Sebastian's departure searching for another way into the pit, checking those tunnels that had not yet collapsed for an alternate route into the pit, one where Hawke might be reachable. It had been fruitless, and in the dim torchlight that remained he had to fend off several swarms of dragonlings that had come scrambling out of the dark for their next meal. He had a number of wounds that would probably need healing, eventually.

With some of the Qunari blackpowder he could perhaps blast open some of these collapsed tunnels. But he had none of it and no way to get it. And it could just as easily bring down the fragile passages that remained and eliminate any chance of getting Hawke out alive.

He wondered if he could phase through them, or through the floor. He didn't know how he would bring her back up when he found her, but at least he would be able to locate her. Passing through solid objects was agony for him, but he could do it. He just didn't know how long he could maintain it, or what would happen if he were caught in between somewhere when he solidified. It was a frightening thought. If only he had tried this before, developed some kind of mastery over his phasing abilities... but he had always been reluctant to use his lyrium any more than he had to. No, his phasing abilities would be no use if he did not know where to go. Trapping himself in a stone mountain by phasing aimlessly through it would not help Hawke.

There was nothing he could do but wait. If Hawke was indeed scaling the chasm, as he felt certain she was, he would see or hear her coming and offer some sort of aid over the gap he had encountered. The only other option was to make another attempt to climb into the pit. He was going to need rope for that. Strong, thick rope.

But he could not bring himself to leave the Bone Pit to get it. If Hawke called for help, he needed to be here to answer her. He imagined her shouting for aid with no one responding, slowly realizing they had left her there all alone. The thought left an icy pit in his chest, as though he were feeling the space where his heart had been torn from his chest the day before.

No, he would not let that happen. He would stay. Until she returned.

Just one word, he silently pleaded, resting his forehead against his knees. Just one word, Hawke, so I know that you're coming. Please, give me something.

This was how Aveline found him.

She was escorting Hawke's household, who had quietly insisted on paying their respects. Bodhan, Orana, and Sandal filed in quietly, with two city guards at their backs. The guards stayed outside, ready to rush in at the first sign of trouble. Aveline stood over her charges like the mother hen she was born to be, looking anxious that they would follow Hawke right over the edge of the abyss.

With Sandal, this was entirely possible. Though subdued, the young dwarf was always unpredictable. Bodhan had a good grip on him, but the fatherly dwarf was looking a little wobbly himself. He held a handkerchief to his face and dabbed perpetually at his eyes.

Orana was silent and wide-eyed, carrying an armful of white flowers with a look of resigned bewilderment.

Aveline stopped short when she saw the figure huddled against the wall.

"Fenris? Is that you?"

He lifted his head and leaned back against the wall. "Hello, Aveline."

"What are you doing sitting here in the dark?"

Sandal broke in, abruptly. "Enchantment?"

Sandal would have walked over to Fenris had Bodhan not held a death-grip on his arm. It wasn't at all clear how much he understood of what was going on, but one could be forgiven for imagining a note of sadness in the dwarf's voice.

"No, thank you," Fenris answered him hoarsely, and rubbed at his eyes. The torchlight was awfully bright after a full day with nothing but the lyrium to light his way.

Bodhan started talking to Aveline about what a tragedy it was to lose Messere Hawke, and so young, and Fenris had to stop listening. He watched Orana walk silently to the cliff's edge with her flowers. Fenris recognized them; they came from the Hawke estate, from the garden in the back that she had so proudly tended. She had probably picked every last one.

Slowly she let the flowers fall from her hands, and drift softly into the hole in the ground where Hawke had vanished.

Fenris's vision blurred at that. He had to close his eyes and hold very still for several moments.

Aveline watched him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Master Anders will inherit the estate, I imagine," Bodhan went on. "It's what she would have wanted. I can't imagine him living in it, though, he's hardly ever there. Perhaps he will hold it for Bethany or Charade to live in one day. Master Anders hasn't come to the estate once since it happened. I'm sure he's thrown himself into his work. Works too hard, he does."

Bodhan dabbed at his face some more, sniffling.

"I'm going to miss her," he said. "She wasn't just an employer. She was a friend."

"Hawke had a great many friends," Aveline said.

When Fenris opened his eyes again he saw Sandal peering down into the abyss with great interest. He wondered if the strange dwarf may have seen something that he could not.

"Come away from there, my boy," Bodhan said, still sniffling. "We need to go back to the estate and ready it for a wake."

Agreeably, Sandal came away from the cliff, and Orana too.

"You'll come too, Master Fenris?" Bodhan asked, suddenly taking notice of his presence. "The city does not know of this tragedy yet, but it's only a matter of time before people come to call. I thought we'd have something small and private for her dearest friends. Orana is already planning a feast."

"Perhaps," he answered weakly.

"Come along," Aveline commanded him, "we're going back to Kirkwall."

Aveline was a formidable woman, strong and reliable, but Fenris had a sudden instinct that the Guard Captain would consider his plans so much stuff and nonsense and bodily drag him out if he told her he intended to stay.

"I shall follow later," he told her. "I... wanted to spend some time here."

Aveline looked skeptical, and would have spoken with him further, but Sandal was walking off down an adjacent tunnel saying something about enchantments and Bodhan was still talking to Orana about the menu and nearly walked into a wall and she had to run to look after them.

When Aveline returned to Kirkwall, and had deposited her charges at the Hawke estate, she made her way to the Hanged Man and found Sebastian already there in Varric's quarters.

"I fear he's gone mad," he was saying when she walked in.

"That's a short trip from here," Varric joked weakly. "Ah, Red, there you are. Have you seen Fenris?"

"Yes, at the Bone Pit. Actually I was hoping to talk to someone about him."

"He was still there? When?" Sebastian exclaimed.

"Still is, probably. I just came from there."

"Dammit." Varric's fist collided with the table, making everyone jump. "I should have known. He never left."

"What do you mean?"

"He was there when Hawke fell, he was still there this morning, and he's there now. He never left the Bone Pit." Varric stood up and started grabbing things, reaching for Bianca on her perch above him.

"Did he tell you why?" Sebastian asked. When Aveline shook her head, he continued. "He thinks Hawke is still alive down there. He was trying to climb down the gap this morning."

"Oh for fuck's sake." Aveline started towards the door.

"Wait just a minute, Red." Varric stopped her. "You're not going after him."

"Like hell I'm not. I'll throw him over my shoulder and carry him if I have to."

"And he'll go right back. You know he will. Look, it's after nightfall. Go home to your husband. I'm going to the Bone Pit, you can relieve me in the morning."

"Relieve?" she asked.

"One of us has got to stay with him, to make sure he doesn't go over the edge. Literally."

"I'm coming too," Sebastian said. "I shouldn't have left him there alone."

"Okay choir-boy, you can come."

They set out for the Bone Pit well after sundown, hoping it wasn't too late.