Fortunately, it seemed the farther they got from Lothering the thinner they were, whether that was a good or bad thing, they didn't know. They simply chose to take advantage of the instance as Lisa went off to find some more arrows to fill her quiver. "I can't believe he's gone…" Leandra cried as Bethany sniffled and rubbed at her mother's back.
"I shouldn't have run. I should've fought with father!" Carver yelled as Lisa stepped up and stabbed him in the chest with her finger.
"Father gave us the ability to out run the Darkspawn. It's selfish of you to think that adding your own death would've been more help," she growled as Carver's mouth shut but his glare grew.
"Where are we going to go," Bethany breathed, carefully setting her crying mother down on a nearby rock.
"I…I don't know," Lisa explained, unable to looked any of her family members in the eye. She needed to stay strong, to keep the tears away. But everything hurt. She was tired, scared, and devastated. Her father had been her hero, the only one that ever seemed to understand her, laugh at her jokes, and enjoy her stories. His advice was always what she needed to hear. But now…now he was no more.
"Kirkwall," Leandra answered as the three of them turned to look at her in surprise.
"Kirkwall? That…wouldn't be my first choice," Lisa remarked as her mother stood from the rock and wiped at her face.
"There's a lot of Templars in Kirkwall, mother," Bethany explained with worry.
"I know, but we have family in Kirkwall, and an estate," she explained as Lisa looked towards where we needed to go. It was a long trip to Kirkwall, a whole week at sea, but their mother was right, it was their best bet for right now.
"Then we should get moving," Lisa remarked and her family nodded in agreement. But in only about an hour of walking they came upon another pair of people looking to escape the Blight. They seemed to be married, or at least that's what Lisa assumed. The woman looked strong and confident, her ginger hair an extreme contrast from the dirt and grey rocks around her, her husband seemed injured, but that wasn't the worst part of it.
The Hawke's stepped in to help the pair, killing the Darkspawn that surrounded them. Only then the husband stepped forward, he was wearing Templar armor, something everyone in the Hawke family knew to keep away from. "Stay back mage. The 'spawn are clear in their intent, but a mage is always unknown."
"Wesley…" his wife pleaded as she put her blade away. Lisa stepped in front of her sister, glaring at the man before turning towards the ginger.
"I am Aveline and this is my husband, Wesley. Thank you for helping us…we can be at each others throats once we're free of this place." Lisa frowned, moving her gaze over to the Templar.
"Is that going to be a problem?"
"No…I suppose I will simply keep an eye on her."
"And I you," Lisa muttered before pushing past the two and onwards through the cliffs. The worst part out of all of this was the sounds. The screams and guttural roars filled the air like the dark smoke from burning homes. There was no chance of getting back to Lothering. It was gone. And the thought really started to unnerve Lisa. All of this was too much to take responsibility for. She was simple muscle in her family. Carver had taken to being a soldier, her mother was a seamstress, her sister aided her mother but mostly kept herself hidden from Templars, and her father was a carpenter. Lisa let herself be contracted and the only guideline she was given was just to get the job done. There was never someone's life on the line…but this time it was five.
They continued onward only to come up against another small group of Darkspawn. Or at least it had started small. Whether these things learned or not, Lisa didn't know. But one minute she was doing some crowd control and the next she was surrounded. "Lisa!" Bethany shrieked as her older sister whipped around just as a Darkspawn began to swing down. She held up her sword to block but then there was a sudden growl and the Darkspawn was gone.
Lisa looked down as a black wolf chewed on the creature's neck till it was still and dead. The wolf then turned and seemed to smile at Lisa as the woman smirked, "Good girl," she remarked before returning to the fight at hand. The dog's name was Clara, Lisa's right-hand partner when things got tough. She wasn't house bread, and Lisa had nothing against it. The pair had sort of just found each other a few years ago in the woods and instantly took a liking to one another. She would disappear for days and weeks at a time but in the end she would always come back and Lisa was sure she was never far. And apparently she'd been in search of them this whole time but, as always, once the fight was over and the wolf considered them safe enough, she was gone.
As they neared the plateau of the mountain they were all exhausted and had hardly made it into the Kocari Wilds. But Lisa needed to keep them moving; they didn't have the time to stop. And thankfully no one went against her. They all knew this wasn't something to argue about. It was life or death. Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse as a massive ogre hiked its way up to face them. And while Lisa was nervous, she was sure they could defeat it and keep moving…as a group. Unfortunately Carver seemed to have another idea.