A quiet cough caught my attention. Without meaning to, I wandered away from Alistair and made my way toward the noise.

My stroll ended at a cage. A large cage, with a man in it. A man wearing only smallclothes.

Balking slightly, I took a step back, but he stopped me from walking away.

"Do you have any water to spare?" his voice was a mere whisper.

My mind immediately sized him up. He had probably been in there for weeks, the guards not caring if they forgot to give him rations. It was more likely he would die here than ever face a trial.

"I don't. But maybe I can get you some." I turned to the nearest soldier, putting on my best innocent child facade, "Do you have any water, ser?"

"Huh? How did a child...? Water, you say?"

I nodded, "I'm dreadfully parched. I came with one of the knights, but I can't seem to find him, and it's been a few hours since I last had anything to drink."

His eyes widened at my display, "Andraste's arse. Uh, pardon my language, little miss. Here. I was saving this for later, but you can have it."

Surprisingly, he handed me the leftovers of his dinner.

Hugging the rations to my chest, I gave a winning smile, "Oh, thank you, ser! You're so kind! I'll tell the knight about you, I promise!"

With that, I darted away and slipped behind the prisoner. Held a finger to my lips, a warning to the man. Held out the food and water.

He took it, his eyes shining with gratitude, "Thank you, miss." A soft whisper before he sipped carefully at the water.

His expression crumpled, his eyes watering. Bliss.

"Why are you in there, anyway? If you don't mind my asking."

"It's the least I could do, to tell you." He took another swig, wetting his throat, "They thought I was deserting. See, they caught me, in the middle of the night, trying to break in to the mages' camp. I couldn't tell them that, of course, so they branded me a deserter and left me in here to rot. Some days, I think they forget about me."

I tilted my head, "The mages' camp? Why?"

"There's a chest. The one that Tranquil guards. At night, they leave it unattended. I managed to nick the key to it, actually. You can have it. It's not gonna get much use with me."

I decided not to ask how he'd kept it in his possession, instead thanking him as he passed it to me and tucking it in to my pocket.

Glancing around, I spied Alistair. Watching me. He'd seen the whole exchange. It made me wonder what he thought of it all, but he didn't mention when I reached him.

By the time we made it to where Duncan waited, the sun had set, and I genuinely felt bad. I felt like crying and couldn't meet anyone's eyes. I felt like a failure. Another disappointment. I hid it easily, though. Years of practice. The older Warden paused what he was saying to the other two recruits and motioned us closer.

"Daveth, Jory. You met Anastasia earlier, yes?"

The two men nodded.

"Good. Tomorrow will be a long day, and you will need to get a feel for each other. As for tonight, you're free to go about, but remember not to leave the camp."

The warrior and rogue wandered off with a reminder to meet back at the fire pit at sunrise.

"Where are we sleeping?" I murmured, waiting until they were out of earshot.

"Wherever you can find a place. The Grey Wardens are camping there." He pointed off to the right, slightly behind us. Near the mabari hounds. I shuddered and stared at the fire.

"Can I sleep here, by the fire? Or would that not be a good idea?"

A beat of silence followed, where I'm sure Duncan and Alistair were exchanging looks.

"Of course. You can sleep here."

"Thank you." I breathed.

"Alistair will take you to get your things, so you can bring them here."

"Right. Off we go." the younger man said, a little too enthusiastically.

...

The next morning found me awake and waiting patiently. Several hours before dawn. I hadn't been able to sleep for long, sadly.

Nightmares of waking up, of knowing I was the only one alive, had plagued me all night. It was horrible.

Jory and Daveth both wound up being late, which didn't help alleviate my anxiety. I smiled through the wait, telling Duncan and Alistair that I'd slept well and was more than ready for whatever we had to do today.

When they'd finally joined us, we set out toward the Korcari Wilds. Duncan had told us what was expected; we were to fill three vials full of darkspawn blood and find a random enchanted chest in the middle of some random ruins that used to belong to the Grey Wardens. No one said it was easy becoming a Warden, right?

My first impression was that it was beautiful, in a creepy, someone-is-going-to-kill-you kind of way. Though, the picturesque view was slightly marred by the group of dead soldiers that littered the ground a little ways in.

My breath caught in my throat when I spied them. Without thinking, I took off toward them, wondering if there were any survivors.

"Hey! Where are you-Maker…." Alistair called out after me, his voice trailing off at the sight.

My eyes quickly combed over the bodies, looking for the slightest sign of life. A faint sigh caught my attention.

I knelt down beside the man, "How hurt are you? Is there anything we can do?"

His eyes popped open, and he released a deep breath, "I just need bandages, that's all."

"Do any of you have bandages?" I asked my companions.

"I might have some in my pack." Alistair dug through his bag, producing a clean wrap.

"That's perfect!" I clapped my hands, taking them from him and proceeded to help the man lift his shirt.

"There. How's that?" I murmured in no time at all, leaning back to look at my handiwork.

"I feel much better, thank you." He said, getting to his feet.

Alistair gave him directions and sent him on his way.

Turning to the three of us, Alistair mentioned something about continuing on. I wasn't paying a lick of attention, though. I muttered that I didn't think it was right to make him go alone, what with the darkspawn being nearby and asked if we could walk him back. They all three shook their heads, saying that we'd already made it this far and we shouldn't backtrack.

I looked up at Alistair, met his eyes defiantly, and walked away. Toward the soldier.

"You guys can keep going. I'm sure I'll be able to find you. It doesn't seem that difficult to navigate, to be honest." I wrapped an arm around the man's torso, letting him lean on me. "Here. Let me help."

After trekking all the way back to Ostagar and dealing with the hassle bringing in a half dead man causes, I had to sneak back into the Wilds. They wouldn't let me go back by myself. Too dangerous or something.

I stuck to the shadows as much as I could while searching for my group. Surely they couldn't be too hard to find, right?

I ran in to a bit of trouble with a pack of wolves right at the water's edge. I'd been too focused on how pretty the pond looked. Steeling myself, I drew the shadows close to me. My body shimmered, melting out of sight.

With their heightened sense of smell, though, it didn't matter. The wolves picked up my scent and circled me, ignoring the fact they couldn't see me. I tried to reach them mentally, tried to slip in and assure them I was not a threat. I couldn't find a niche, even a tiny one.

They lunged at me as one. It was as if there had been a signal, even though none of them moved. They hadn't even growled.

Jumping to the side, I managed to dodge the worst of it. The biggest wolf recovered first, launching itself at me and pinning me to the forest floor. The others circled, keeping a cautious distance between me and them. I stared up in to the eyes of the predator, no trace of fear showing. I wasn't afraid. I was more curious than anything. What had made them so feral? It was a given that animals would attack out fear or desperation, but these were probably the same wolves that had killed those soldiers. Why?

I saw the answer deep in his eyes. This was an act of desperation. A strange green glowing about the eyes. Of course. Demons were involved. How...? It didn't matter. Between the Chasind and the possibility of apostates, there were any number of ways a demon could have gotten through.

Gathering every ounce of energy I had, I pushed against the mind of the alpha. The wolves froze, their bodies shaking. Breathing a sigh of relief, I slipped free and touched the fur at the large male's neck. Down they all went. One by one, they fell asleep. Come morning, they'd be back up and attacking whatever crossed their path. I just couldn't bring myself to-a body floated up from the depths of the pond and drifted toward the "shore."

Curiosity got the better of me. The man was dead, but he could have something useful on him. It was doubtful, though, given his attire. A simple Chasind robe was his only protection out here in the Wilds. I shook my head. Shameful.

Picking through his pockets, I found a note. Somehow, it had survived the water and was legible. Barely, but I could still make out every word.

"My dear son, Jogby,

I fear this is the last letter I will write to you. I have had difficulty finding the Chasind to bring them the Maker's word. I have, however, seen evidence of their passing. They appear to have left this area in great haste, possibly fleeing the so-called "darkspawn" that are rumored to be gathering in the Wilds in ever greater numbers.

I have left you a weapon and everything else I can spare, my son. I will try to find you once I have found a safe place. I only hope that you will be safe. Within luck, we will meet again.

If you see her, tell your mother that I love her. And take care of your family.

Your loving father,

-Rigby"

I wondered if Rigby was alive. If he had met his son's fate.