The next morning came sooner than Cat wanted, and she and Isabela continuously yawned as they waited in front of the Viscount's Keep for Hawke.
"Why'd we agree to this again?" Cat asked sleepily.
"Because afterwards, we're going to find your stolen cargo."
Cat jumped, the deep voice startling her.
"Long night?" Garrett continued with a grin. Cat eyes narrowed as she took in the smiles on everyone's faces. Well, except for Fenris.
"It was very, lucrative," Isabela drawled, and Cat gave her a withering look. She just loved to get her riled up, so Cat played her best defense. She flipped her braid over her shoulder, and started walking to the Keep. "It's all about the Benjamins, after all."
Cat giggled as she walked, knowing that everyone would undoubtedly be trying to figure that one out. It was also the perfect comeback for Isabela, as she hated being left out of the joke.
"Who is Benjamin?" she heard Carver ask Isabela, and she stifled another laugh.
A couple of boring hours later, the guard captain- or rather, former guard captain- was taken to the prison, and Aveline was given the position. Although there was training and other such formalities, everyone gave her pats on the back, and congratulations. Aveline tried to remain stoic, but Cat could see the slight hint of pink on her cheeks, and knew that this was a big deal for her.
"Oy! Hawke!" Isabela called out, ruining the moment, most likely on purpose. "You said we were going to the docks, right?"
"That's true, I did. Aveline, I'm sure you've got things to do here?" She nodded. "Very well, we'd better take our leave."
With that, Hawke's group, minus Aveline, made their way out the door and back onto the streets.
"Whew, thought I'd never escape," Isabela said to Hawke.
"It wouldn't have hurt to let her have her moment to shine," Cat said with a eye roll. "That's what friends do after all."
"What friend?" Isabela countered. "Kitty, I promise if you ever become guard captain, I'll let you shine all day long, all right?"
Hawke snorted. "When mabari fly."
Cat gave him a sideways look, with a single eyebrow raised. She kept it up until he began to look uncomfortable. "I'd prove you wrong, but I have no desire to be a guard, let alone guard captain."
"Really?" Varric asked from behind her. "And what DO you desire, as it were?"
Cat tried for oh, thirty seconds, but she just had to say it. "Why YOU, Varric, of course."
Everyone was quiet, until Cat couldn't hold it in any longer, and a giggle escaped. Then Isabela's full-body laugh boomed out, and Hawke and Carver joined in. Cat thought she saw the corner of Fenris' mouth twitch upwards, but she may have been mistaken. Varric however, was smirking.
"You could do much worse than a handsome dwarf, Miss Catarina, I assure you," He walked past her, and added quietly, "and you can't dodge my questions forever."
The group continued to chat among themselves, and Cat walked next to Fenris, mainly because he was up in front, and Isabela was being kind and keeping Carver preoccupied in the back. They were almost out of Hightown when a couple of guards passed them, and a man came chasing after them.
"So you won't do anything! She didn't run away, something HAPPENED TO HER!"
Cat didn't think, she just stopped, and reached out, grabbing Fenris' arm. Hawke, who was behind them, stopped as well, noting her action and his reaction. Cat seemed oblivious, but Fenris seemed ready to attack, then noting her attention elsewhere, was able to calm himself. Hawke watched as Fenris tried to reclaim his arm, without success, so he stepped up to help.
"Cat? What's the problem?" Hawke asked, as he stepped up to her other side. He followed her gaze, noting the man who was yelling was coming straight for them. "Whoa friend," he said as he put his hand up to stop the man. "What's the problem?"
Cat listened dispassionately, hearing about Ninette, and how she had gone missing. She felt nothing for the man in front of her, and when he mentioned how his wife spent time with whores, her head snapped up.
"Perhaps, if you treated your wife as a person, and not a bauble, she would not seek friendship elsewhere."
"Friendship? Are you stupid?" The man said derisively. "One does not spend time with a whore to be their friend."
Cat stared seeing red, and reached out to do something- punch him, gouge his eyes out, she didn't know for sure. However Isabela was standing in front of her, and Fenris was gripping her arm.
"You've got five seconds before I let my friend disembowel you, you piece of slime." Isabela said flatly. Hawke could see this was turning into a "situation" and pulled the man away from the group.
Isabela glared after them for a moment, before turning around to help Cat calm down. She was too late, as Cat had gone from livid to morose quicker than she could blink.
"Kitty?"
Cat looked up, meeting Isabela's eyes. "I didn't even get to meet her, and now she's dead."
"Try not to think of the worst case scenario, Cat. She may actually have left the bastard." Varric pointed out.
"Right, of course." Cat replied.
Hawke reappeared that moment, explaining that the man didn't actually have any evidence that his wife was missing, and agreed with the guard that she had most likely simply left him. Cat knew better, but nodded anyway. The group continued towards the docks, and Cat noted that Varric handed Hawke a flyer about a reward for the return of the Viscount's missing son. "Docks first," Hawke said, and handed it back to Varric.
"Martin gave us all the info we need about the cargo, now we just need to talk to the Harbormaster about where his crates are." Isabela informed Hawke, as they walked over to the Harbormaster's office.
Cat was bringing up the rear this time, Carver next to her. He was talking about some sort of fight they had been in, and she was having a hard time not feeling bad for him. It would be difficult having Garrett as an older sibling after all, especially when trying to compare yourself to him. He was a natural leader, full of charm and charisma when he wanted to, and causing fear when he chose. Carver, for all he tried, was a good fighter, and a nice guy… but he wasn't Garrett. Cat wondered if he even really wanted to be, or if he just thought he needed to compete.
After Isabela "charmed" the Harbormaster's assistant into disclosing the cargo's whereabouts, the group headed to the far east side of the docks, near the warehouse district. Cat felt uneasy passing by the Qunari compound, but renewed her conversation with Carver as a distraction. The Qunari warriors were very observant, and she didn't want to actually look nervous, even if she felt that way.
The hustle of the crowds dwindled as they continued to make their way to the warehouse. Cat looked around, taking in the area. It was strange to her, that the bad side of town actually looked bad. The buildings here weren't crumbling apart or falling down, but everything looked as if it wasn't taken care of. It was interesting how similar the two worlds were, in the little things.
"Excuse me"
Cat looked to where the unfamiliar voice had sounded, her hand automatically going to her back, although her crossbow wasn't there of course. She looked at the armored dwarf behind her, turning to face him. She noted that there were several more dwarves about ten feet behind him, and while they were all armored, they were not holding weapons. She glanced over her shoulder to see her group was far ahead. She must have fallen behind as she was taking in the scenery. Stupid move Cat, she berated herself.
"Yes?" she finally responded to the dwarf, pasting a smile on her face. She heard a yell behind her, and turned to hold up her hands as Carver came barreling over, maul in hand. The others followed, and Cat noted with a smirk that the rest of them walked over, no worry showing in their faces.
"My name is Sutton," the dwarf continued, speaking louder so that everyone could hear. "We are escorting our lord to his ship, but the Carta has laid a trap for us. We do not have enough men to push through their ranks, and I worry for my lord's safety. Please, can you help us?"
Cat knew better than to answer for the entire group, so she did as everyone else and looked at Hawke.
"Who is your lord?" Hawke asked.
"Lord Renvil Harrowmont," Sutton replied.
Hawke looked at Varric, who nodded. "I don't know him personally, but I know of the family."
"Very well, we will help you," Hawke said.
"Thank you, thank you!" Sutton's face was still a stern warrior's face, but his eyes conveyed the gratitude he felt. "We will go get our lord, and meet you back here, then we must escort him to his ship, over at the dock there," he said pointing.
Cat watched as the group hurried off. Everyone moved over towards the wall, taking positions leaning against it while they waited, but Cat was pacing. Duran had told them that even though Bhelen had betrayed him, and killed their brother, Duran had chosen him as king because he would bring the much needed change to Orzammar. He had told them of the strict agreement Duran had made with Bhelen, including how he was not to take revenge on the Harrowmont family. Cat wasn't surprised to hear that Bhelen was a liar, but now she wondered if she should try to let Duran know.
"Stupid Bhelen, with his stupid… face." Cat was annoyed that she couldn't even think of a good insult, but she didn't want to insult Duran at the same time. The others looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she was upset.
"Catarina, do you know the king of Orzammar?" Varric asked, eyes lit in curiosity.
Cat froze in her tracks. At least about this, she could be honest. "No."
"So, you're just well versed in dwarven politics?
"Not really." Cat racked her brain, looking around for the dwarves to return as a distraction, but saw nothing. An idea popped into her head, so she ran with it. "You know Varric, I'm a little surprised that you use my full name, when everyone else has a nickname."
Varric smirked at her, knowing full well what she was doing. "Haven't thought of a good one yet. Besides, I use Hawke's name."
"Sorry, still counts as a nickname since we have more than one Hawke. And do you even know Hawke's name?"
Hawke took this moment to butt in, asking "Do you?" to Cat.
"Of course," she said, glancing at him, and then back to Varric. She smirked at the dwarf and said innocently, "It's Gary."
"No, no, Cat. That's not right." Varric replied, hiding his own smile. "It's obviously Gehrad."
"That's can't be right Varric," Cat said "It's Gavin, or was it Grover?" They heard Hawke's noise of protest, and turned to look at him. The shocked look of insult on his face was enough to break the hold Cat had on her laughter, and it spilled out of her mouth. Isabela and Carver were quick to join, and Cat couldn't tell if Fenris enjoyed the joke as he was facing away from them on lookout.
"Hawke," Fenris said, breaking the moment and putting everyone on guard. There were a dozen dwarves heading towards them from all directions, easily surrounding them.
"Carta," Varric said quietly to Hawke, and all hands went directly to weapon hilts.
"Easy, friend." The dwarf in charge spoke to Hawke. "We simply came with a proposition."
"And that is?" Hawke asked, crossing his arms in front of him.
"We're getting paid handsomely for the noble bastard's head, and if you help us get him, we'll share the spoils." Cat made a disgusted sound, and he turned to look at her, then back to Hawke. "How does five sovereigns sound?"
Cat knew she wouldn't be a part of helping the carta, but she actually wondered what Hawke would say. Was he actually a good man, or was he just taking any job for the money?
Hawke glanced back at his group, taking in their thoughts on the matter. Cat, being in the front, simply saw him look at her, and shook her head, while pleading with her eyes.
"Sorry," Hawke said, not sounding sorry at all. "We're here to save him, not kill him.
"Bad move. Kill them!"
Cat grabbed her daggers, blocking a stab from a dwarf that appeared in front of her. But before she could counter attack, Isabela appeared as if from a shadow, and stabbed both of her daggers into the dwarf's back, twisting and pulling them back out quickly.
"Issy! I've got this!"
Isabela simply smirked, and thrust her daggers behind her, while keeping her eyes on Cat. Cat looked as a dwarf lost his stealth cover as he fell to the ground, and Isabela flicked her wrists to get rid of the excess blood on her knives.
Cat tried not smile, then outright frowned as a shimmering barrier came around her. She glared over at Hawke, because she was well aware of this type of magic. In her first few months, Wynne was constantly putting barriers around her to protect her from the fighting. While she had appreciated it then, now it seemed almost like an insult, that she was the weak link in their group. Cat swallowed her anger, scanning for a target. She raced over to put herself at Carver's back, since he was too busy yelling to notice the dwarf coming at his flank.
Cat did a slide tackle, knocking the dwarf off his feet, only to have Isabela crouch down and slit his throat.
"Issy! Stop stealing my kills." Cat rounded on her, noted her smirk was still in place.
"I didn't see your name on them," Isabela replied.
"Thank you friends." The new voice stopped argument, though Cat knew she was not finished ranting. Her adrenaline was up, and she hadn't done anything besides tackle a dwarf.
Hawke spoke with Renvil Harrowmont, and the group watched as the dwarves ran for thier ship, quickly setting sail.
Hawke led his group back towards the warehouse, listening to Cat berate Isabela, smiling, until she turned her wrath on him.
"And you, Garrett Hawke! What was the meaning of that barrier!"
He had only thought to give her some added protection, but was wise enough not to say so. "Oh, so you DO know my name!"
"Ugh!" Cat grumbled in annoyance as the group came to a stop. Hawke peeked around the corner.
"Five men, all guarding a warehouse? Very odd. This cargo must be something good."
"Just five? I'll handle them," Fenris stated.
"No," Isabela said. "Kitty's got this."
"What?" Cat and Hawke asked together.
"Show them what you can do Kitty," Isabela replied. Cat thought for a moment, remembering how it was done in the game, and her mouth twisted in to an evil looking smile before she trotted away from the warehouse.
"Are you sure about this?" Hawke asked quietly.
"Yes," Isabela replied. "While I enjoy stealing her kills and riling her up, you need to know what she's capable of. I don't want you to underestimate her."
They watched as Cat came running past them, heading straight for the guards.
"Whoa there!"
"Stop!"
Cat stopped quickly, holding a hand to her chest and panting, more than was actually needed. The men looked at her suspiciously, and she concentrated to keep from grinning. This was actually going to be a lot of fun!
"Fire! There's a fire! Around the corner at the dock!"
"What?" a man asked. "I don't see anything."
"Please! Help them!" Cat put a terrified note in her voice, grabbing onto the nearest man, and covering her face with her other hand. "Can't you hear the screaming?" She fell to her knees and started rocking back and forth and sobbing, covering her eyes so that they couldn't see her lack of tears.
She could hear the indecision in their voices as the debated, until finally one man said, "We'd better check it out." She glanced through her fingers, noted that they didn't even leave one man behind to watch her. She stood up, and made a cooing sound, her bird call sounding much more like a dove than a wookie these days.
Less than a minute later,her group came into view, Isabela in the lead.
"Nice work," Varric said. "they had no idea what hit them."
"You should have just killed them, it would have been faster," Fenris said as he walked past her.
"But not as fun," she replied.
They made their way into the warehouse, killing the few that were guarding, and finding Martin's cargo of poisons. Isabela was tempted to keep a little for herself, but Cat reminded her of how Martin had helped them, and she kept her hands to herself after that.
"I don't need a conscience," Isabela told her as they were leaving.
Cat smirked. "Perhaps when you stop stealing my kills, I'll stop stealing your buzz."
Isabela laughed and put her arm over Cat's shoulder. "Oh, and by the way," Isabela murmured in her ear. "Who's Benjamin?"