A/N: Not a very good start with Cassandra or Cullen. Maybe Mina will have better luck being friends with Josephine? Probably not Leliana… She scares me now. :I OH~ just wanted to tell you lot about one of my headcannons! So, Iron Bull has a theme song: Jack Sparrow's theme form Pirates of the Carribean. The iconic violin and cello, but backed up by a bit of dark orchestra! Also, I'm uploading 2 chapters this week because I work in retail, and next week is going to be hell for me. Enjoy the bonus chapter!

There was a firm knock at Mina's door. She'd taken a warm bath and changed her clothes by then. The cold walk through Haven's surrounding area had taken more of a toll on her than she'd thought. Plus, after trying to talk to Cullen, she felt awful. At least she'd gotten to change out of those dreadful looking white pajama looking things. Instead, Mina now donned soft dark brown sheepskin shoes, brown pants, and a grey wool shirt. It was warm, and dry.

She marched over to the door, sour look on her face and opened the door. It was Cassandra, much to her surprise. The Seeker had a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh… Hi Cassandra. What can I do for you?" Mina asked grumpily.

Cassandra cleared her throat and stood at attention, "I came to inform you that the plans forward are ready to be discussed. The Commander was supposed to come get you, but…" A flash of anger crossed Cassandra's face. Mina braced herself and got ready to argue if need be. But, Cassandra didn't yell or raise her voice at all.

She simply asked, "What in the Maker's name did he say to you?"

Mina diffused with a long breath out, "How did you know?"

"Well, you came stomping into camp, practically charged with magic, and he came running, maybe five minutes after looking like a horrified school boy that got scolded by his teacher. I had guessed something happened. It was obvious to every—Um. I mean to say, are you ok?" she shuffled nervously, embarrassed to be caught babbling.

Mina smiled tiredly. It was amusing that he ended up so frightened. She answered a little irritably, "It's not what he said exactly. It's what was not said, but hinted at. If one believes that another will act a certain way just because they are a certain race or, a mage, or even a certain class, it is offensive. I am not some wild Dalish Elf. I did not grow up in a Clan, serah. Nor, will I run off and start making deals with demons just because I am a mage! This is where I want to be. I am not being kept here by chains or threats, and I will not be talked down to just because I was born a certain way!" By the end of it, she had to calm herself because she was almost yelling. It was bad enough that everyone saw her get really angry.

Cassandra looked absolutely confounded at what had transpired. She motioned for Mina to follow and began walking towards the Chantry.

"Cullen said this to you? That is, ah… unusual for him. He's not very good at talking to others, believe me, but he is a very good man. It is very hard for me to think that he would say such things to you. Maybe… there was a misunderstanding?"

Mina shrugged. It sounded like he didn't expect her to stay, that was for sure. 'I'm probably being too hard on him since he's a Templar. I should take my own advice…' she thought regretfully, 'I'll just apologize for over reacting and everything will be okay.'

They entered the Chantry to find Josephine and Leliana talking, and Cullen staring at a candelabra, deep in thought. Mina winced at how sad he looked. It was almost like looking at a wounded puppy. He seemed rather soft for a Templar. They all looked up as Cassandra and Mina drew closer.

"Are we all ready?" asked Josephine cheerfully.

"Yes, I think we've figured everything out," added Leliana.

Cassandra nodded as did Cullen, not looking her way.

Mina straightened her back and clasped her hands behind her back, "Let's hear it then."

Word traveled fast around Thedas. People were already calling the newly formed Inquisition 'heretical' and spitting on their name. The Chantry had already denounced them internally and were preparing to do so publicly. However, it seemed that there was a Revered Mother in the Hinterlands that requested to speak with The Herald of Andraste personally. This worried Mina, but there were people there that she could, and would, help. It seemed that was the place that the Templar-Mage fighting had restarted and grown way out of control. Mina agreed to go talk to this Mother, and Cassandra would accompany her. She felt like they could handle things if it were a trap. Mina, on the other hand, had some ideas. She requested that Solas and Varric go with her as well. That got a little argument from them all, except for Cullen, who had little to no input throughout the meeting. Mina's eyes shot over to him on occasion.

If they had to work together, it might as well be bearable. She hated to be around someone when things were awkward or tense.

The meeting drew to a close, some hours later, and Mina had her team, her mission, and a sore back. Everyone filed out except Mina, who watched the Commander walk out, coldly. She closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists.

"Commander Cullen," she called softly. She didn't think he'd heard her until she noticed the thunk of heavy boots had stopped. She opened her eyes to see that he'd stopped and turned to look at her with a guarded expression.

"Yes, Herald?" he said when she didn't say anything.

"Could I… maybe, talk to you for a moment?" she answered shyly.

His expression turned from one of stone to one of worry immediately, "Of course. Is there some detail you'd wish to discuss with me?" He took a half dozen steps closer to her before he stopped.

Mina felt her face fall. She didn't know exactly what to say, so she just went for it.

"No. Actually, I'd like to apologize for earlier today. I was acting irrationally, and thinking that just because you were a Templar, you'd dislike me because I am a Mage. Just as I had become accustomed to humans looking down on me because I am an Elf. I truly am sorry. I must've caused you much embarrassment."

His eyes lit up and he rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks turning pink. "I thank you, Herald. I should've worded what I said more carefully. How did you know I was a Templar though? I don't remember ever saying anything."

Her heart just about stopped. Oh shit. She didn't want to tell him that she had been in Kirkwall. That would surely end badly. Especially if he told Cassandra. She would question Varric and Varric wouldn't say anything. Mina would then be questioned, and admit that she'd known the Champion, and… and… She had no idea where Hawke was! Why would they believe her then? She'd lied to them before.

She smiled, shakily and said, "You have that something in your walk, and a look in your eyes. I've come across Templars in my travels, and they all have somewhat of an air of vigilance about them. They're always trying to observe everything around them." It wasn't a lie. They really all did have that intense look in their eyes, and confident walk that usually scared Mages shitless. That's why they were so powerful in Kirkwall. Well, one reason anyway.

He nodded and crossed his arms. He didn't seem suspicious. At least, Mina hoped he wasn't acting like he didn't know something was up. That'd be terrible.

"You've traveled a lot then? I mean, I knew the Dalish moved across the forests and a few plains," he said. His tone was light and friendly. A good sign.

Mina's fake smile dropped, and became a genuine smirk, "Yeah, I've traveled a lot. I didn't actually grow up in Clan Lavellan. I was born far, far away from here. Not even on Thedas, believe it or not. This world is far bigger than you'd think. But, that's an entire story for another time. And, you'd never believe me."

Cullen chuckled and sat on the table they'd used for the map. He seemed to be relaxing a little. This was good! Maybe she could salvage this whole thing. It would be nice to be able to get along with her fellow Inquisition members if at all possible.

They talked a bit, and left on a good note. Cullen had told her about growing up in the Templar Order and how his favorite memories were going fishing with his mentor. He'd been sent there by his family when he was quite young, and he'd resented them for it for some time, but he'd gotten over it. Mina told him about how she was a homeless vagrant for most of her life and found home in the unlikeliest of places. She didn't tell him where, and he'd apparently assumed it was with the Dalish.

Mina had since left the Commander and wandered off into the woods once more, to think. She liked the peace of it all. You could see the stars go on forever. All of a sudden, she felt quite small, and insignificant. Her problems and those of the world weren't, ironically, everything in the world. There was so much more going on in that universe than they realized. If they had a Maker, he was probably too busy doing other things to babysit them. He probably thought 'These guys are intelligent enough to do things on their own, I don't need to watch them all the time!' Oh, was he wrong. That is, if he truly did exist. The whole thing was very humbling. To ease her overload of thoughts, she decided to play with her music a while.

She ended up singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen, one of her favorites.

Nothing really matters

Anyone can see

Nothing really matters…

Nothing really matters to me

Any way the wind blows…

Mina was twirling around to it and by the end, she was laughing. That is, until she saw the fantastically huge wolf watching her. She stopped and looked at it, heart jumping in her chest. Keter wasn't like other wolves, because he trusted Ceras and her. He knew better, but other wolves were… not dangerous, but you had to be very cautious and respectful.

This one, though, had familiar green eyes. They weren't Fade green; more of a jade green. Just like—

"Fen'Harel?" she breathed. He was a spitting image of her Wolf. It had to be him! Except, how did he get out of the Fade? Unless, he had been dreaming as well. The wolf's eyes lit up in recognition and he sat down, still staring at Mina. Almost expectantly.

She took a few steps closer to him, but he growled softly and shook his head. Odd.

"You're grouchy today. How come you haven't been visiting me lately?" she asked. He lowered his head in response. He understood what she said, but he wasn't answering her. Maybe he couldn't talk in the waking world. She opened her mouth to say something else, but he stopped her.

He began to howl. The sound was that of a sad song, like one you'd hear as a funeral song or of a final farewell before someone died. His voice faded into the quiet that was the Frostback Mountains. Mina wiped her watery eyes. It was a beautiful song. She knew he'd been listening to her play and sing before and wanted to exchange a song with her.

A song formed in her head. It was one she'd heard a few times on the radio at the shelter. It had caught her attention, and sort of stuck with her. She felt like he'd like this one…

Don't cry my love, don't cry no more

A crashing sky; a rolling screen

A city drowning god's black tears

I cannot bear to see it

She lay under the midnight moon

Her restless body stirring

Until the magic morning hour

Like poison, it succumbs her

It was a song called 'Heron Blue'. The wolf sat there and listened to the whole song; just watching her sway and sing.

The song ended and Mina waited to see what the wolf would do. She wanted so much to go over and pet him like she used to. Instead of continuing their song exchange, he shook the frost from his fur and trotted away. Mina ran after him. He wasn't getting away so easily! After months of not showing his face, he appeared out of nowhere, in the real world, and then walked away? That was not ok.

The Elf ran and ran and ran, but she didn't see him. She didn't see his footprints. She heard no howl. She saw no glowing green eyes. He was gone again. She was angry at him. After all the times they'd talked and all the times they laughed, he was just… gone. Her body felt the weariness and the cold then. They hit her like a lightning bolt; quick and painfully.

She felt as if she would fall over if she didn't get to sleep soon. But, where was she? She'd wandered away from Haven for at least 20 minutes, and after chasing the wolf for a while, she had to have been a ways away.

She picked a direction and began to walk. It was as good a place to start as any. She trudged on through the snow that was ankle deep, and tried to avoid the parts that were any deeper.

Not but a few moments later did Mina see the outline of Haven. She furrowed her brows because she had thought she was farther away from camp. Quietly, she made her way back into the sleeping village, nodding at the night guards at the front. It had been a strange and tiring day. She needed sleep more than she needed to think about Fen'Harel.

Mina did not enter the Fade that night like she usually did. She wasn't able to control it like she had in the past. This was like a regular dream. There was something picking away at her; stealing her memories, and she had to get away from it. But, she didn't know how, because she couldn't actually see it. She had to get away. She had to tell everyone… something.

Mina woke up the next morning drenched in a cold sweat and feeling uneasy. The dream she had was really getting to her. She tried to tell herself that it was nothing, and she was just worrying too much about the memories she lost, not to mention that it seemed to be heavily influenced by the vision they had in the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

Mina decided to inspect the camp once more, trying to remember the few names she'd picked up the day before. There was quartermaster Threnn, the apothecary… oh what was his name? Adam? Adan? Yes! That was it. Adan. Then, there was the irritating merchant, Seggrit. Of course, Mina's favorite person was the blacksmith, Harritt. Mina had stopped in to check on her armor, which he said was almost done. He worked really fast, even if he was just modifying armor they already had lying around.

A few feet away, she saw Cassandra swinging at some practice dummies, practically knocking their poles out of the ground. The Seeker was worked up about something. Mina decided to go and find out what it was. She kind of liked the bristly woman. Almost reminded Mina of the way Fenris was when she first met him. She stifled a pang of sadness for her wayward brother. He was out there doing what he did best; fighting and killing slavers. At least, that's what Varric had told her.

Cassandra's grunt of frustration brought her out of her thoughts. Cassandra had cut one of the dummies in half diagonally. The Elf couldn't help but laugh.

"They need to make those things stronger. Maybe something like… steel? Or Dragon Scale? Nope! Those are both too weak!" Mina teased.

Cassandra shot Mina a look and threw her sword on the ground. "I'm just… not sure if I made the right decision."

Mina shrugged, "You never know until you try. Plus, it's a little too late to go back now. Cheer up, Cass. I think fixing the giant hole in the sky that spits out demons is an admirable thing to aim for!" Mina plopped down on a box that was sitting nearby. Cass pulled up her own and sighed deeply.

"Easy enough to say. It is reassuring, however, that you think so positively about this whole mess. Speaking of, I have a few questions for you."

Mina raised an eyebrow, "Go ahead. I'll tell you anything you want to know." Her heart was thudding in her chest. She hoped the short tempered woman wouldn't ask her about Hawke. Mina hated to lie when she didn't have to. Varric was withholding this information for a reason, and Mina wasn't about to mess that up.

The Seeker's eyes bored into Mina as if she dared her to try to lie. Mina swallowed and smiled, trying to disarm Cassandra at least a little bit.

"When we were fighting to close the Breach, you did something that none of our Mages had ever seen. Solas said he'd never seen it either. You used sound. How did you do that?" she asked curiously.

Mina let out a sigh of relief. That was an easy thing to answer! Especially since Cassandra seemed more curious than angry.

"I'm not really sure what it was. I didn't know I could do that until the Keeper of my Clan showed me. Apparently, my mother had been able to do it as well. We call it Siren magic. We do not need an instrument like the virtuoso. We mostly use the vibrations in the air and manipulate them so that they make the sounds we want. It's an instinctual thing, really," Mina answered honestly.

Cassandra nodded, concentrating as if she could use this trick herself. It was fantastic to have someone actually listen to the mechanics of it rather than just want to hear a song. Mina explained to Cass that it was fine to use on a small scale like to play a song or to disorient someone in a quick flash, but to use it in such a concentrated way like Mina had before, it was very taxing. If one held on to a frequency for too long, it would drain them immensely. Switching between the tones, pitches, and frequencies didn't allow for the magic to take hold of you so much. That's what caused other spells to drain so much of a Mage's mana.

Cassandra nodded and waited for Mina to finish before asking another question, "Is that why you collapsed? We weren't sure if it was the mark or something else."

"That's exactly why. I'm sure the mark had something to do with it as well, because closing that Rift hurt something fierce," Mina said eyeballing her hand. It didn't hurt like it used to; it was more like a fresh bruise that someone was poking.

"Good to know," the Seeker said, "I'm sorry to cut this short, Herald, but we need to be leaving for the Hinterlands soon."

"Of course. I'll go pack a couple of essentials and get Varric."

"I'll notify Solas that we're leaving. We'll meet at the gates in twenty minutes."

-A Week Later-

The group was winding their way through the hills of the Hinterlands, trying to find someone. Leliana had sent a letter informing Mina that she'd heard about a Grey Warden. The Spymaster had said that she wanted to look into the disappearances of the Wardens, mostly because she had been friends with the Hero of Ferelden, who was now the Warden Commander, best friend and adviser to King Alistair. Though, Mina suspected there was some kind of unspoken attraction Leliana had for the Hero.

For the hundredth time, Varric muttered about mud getting on his boots. Mina had tried to explain to him that far worse things were in cities; especially the slums. She'd almost slipped up and said Darktown, but she'd caught herself and shot a quick glance at Cassandra, who didn't seem to catch the almost slip-up. Solas on the other hand raised an eyebrow and looked between the two.

Mina turned her attention back towards the path. They'd gotten a lead that there was a fishing hut that someone had been taking farmers to. The source had claimed that this person had been teaching these simple farmers how to fight. A curious thing in and of itself. Sure enough, at the top of the hill right by a swampy lake was a hut. Outside of it, just under the trees stood a line of five men looking at someone that Mina couldn't see.

"Looks like that's our guy. What was his name?" Mina asked.

"Leliana said his name was 'Blackwall' I think," answered Solas.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "I told Leliana that this wasn't of importance. The Wardens are not connected to the Breach."

"But, they might now a better way of taking care of the demon problem we have," added Varric.

Mina snorted, holding back a laugh. He had the wrong horror in mind. Darkspawn weren't like demons. However, if she remembered right, the Warden Queen had fought her fair share of them during the Blight.

They slowly approached the men, catching the end of what seemed like a speech.

"—and use your shields! It doesn't hurt the wood when you yank an arrow out of it, but it will if it gets in your arm. Use. Your. Shield," said a deep, commanding voice. The man who belonged to the voice was a black-haired aging, but well fit man with deep set and tired eyes. They held a will of iron in them. Plus, Mina liked his fantastic beard! It was long but well kept, and it split into two points. Not a common look, nor one many people could pull off.

"Warden Blackwall?" called Mina.

The man spun around and glared at her furiously. "What? You're not a farmer. Who sent you?"

He got cut off by an arrow whizzing past his face. "Here they come! Be ready!" he ordered.

A wave of what looked like bandits came running at them from behind the run-down dwelling, yelling and swinging weapons of all kinds. Mina figured that if a Warden was fighting them, he had a good reason to.

Mina started out with a wall of ice to shield them from the arrows, followed by a stone fist in the face of one of the guys with an axe.

It turned out to be a relatively quick fight even though they were outnumbered. The Warden dismissed the farmers, saying they'd learned enough to defend themselves and turned his attention to Mina and her group.

"Who the blazes are you?" he asked, slightly hostile.

Mina smiled, "I'm an agent of the Inquisition. One of ours has asked me to find a Warden and ask if you lot know anything about the Divine's murder."

Blackwall's frown deepened, "You can't be serious! You have to know that the Wardens aren't involved," he paused and studied Mina's face, "The fact that you're asking disproves that though. Look, when the Blight ends, the Wardens are the first things forgotten. We scatter to the winds, and there's not much use of making more. They've disappeared. We do that, right?" He shifted nervously.

Mina narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to the big man.

"Something you're not telling me, Warden Blackwall?"

"I wasn't aware that they had gone missing. I've been on my own for quite some time, actually. That's all the information I have."

Mina shrugged and turned away, "That's all I needed to know then. The Wardens will remain missing…"

She walked away slowly, signaling with her eyes for the others to follow her. If she was right, he'd want to find his brothers in arms just as much as Leliana did. She hoped he'd fall for it.

"Inquisition… Agent, you said? I might be of service helping find them. It takes a Warden to find a Warden," Blackwall said uncertainly.

Mina turned around and held out her hand, "You're welcome in the Inquisition, Warden Blackwall. I'm Mina Lavellan. This is Cassandra Pentaghast, Varric Tethras, and Solas."