"I knew you were a filthy traitor, the moment I laid eyes on you."

Hawke glanced as a man emerged in front of their group, then his eyes moved around even as he stood his ground. There were chevaliers in full armor surrounding them on all sides.

"Baron Arlange?" Hawke asked in annoyance. "Are you certain you want to do this- again?"

"Our numbers are very different this time," the Baron said with disgust. "We shall have no trouble."

Hawke didn't bother speaking that time, he just pulled his staff out. One thing he knew about full armor… lightning spells would simply cooked the men inside, and then he could move on.

He didn't bother to play nice, he had better things to do. And it seemed that the four people with him felt the same. Even Tallis didn't bother to speak to him of mercy, she simply finished it by stabbing the Baron, and the crew moved on- leaving the bodies of the men behind them- not caring enough to even check their pockets.

"There Hawke," Aveline said as the ruins came into view from a distance. "That's where we're meeting."

"All right, let's go," he said, and though Tallis frowned, he noted that she followed along willingly. Somehow, that rubbed him the wrong way, though he didn't understand why.

He took a right at the next fork in the path, heading upwards, and glanced over to Tallis at his side as she spoke.

"Thank you, by the way," she said quietly. "For deciding to help me."

"That's what friends do," he replied. "Not that we are… yet."

"It's all right, I know I don't inspire trust- what with all the secrets."

He glanced at her again, signaling to stop. He turned to her, feeling that for once… she was being open with him. "That's not what friendship is Tallis," he said, and she looked up in confusion. "Friendship doesn't mean having no secrets. Friendship means trusting despite those secrets, and knowing that the other person won't let those secrets harm you."

"And… if they do?" she asked, uncertain.

"Then you do everything you can to fix it," Varric spoke up. "You think none of us have secrets?" he said gesturing to Aveline and Anders on either side of him. "Or have made mistakes?"

"I… see," she said, thinking it through.

"I just hope," Hawke began, and Tallis faced him again. "For your sake… that this isn't another trick," he said with a half smile. And she could tell that he was deadly serious with his threat, but giving a part smile as an offer of said friendship.

"Is there something else I could trick you with?" she asked with a smirk.

He shrugged. "The day is still young." She cracked first and gave a small smile, which made him smile in turn.

"That smile is deadly, I'm surprised you don't use it more," she said as they began walking again.

His eyebrow rose, but he didn't reply, and she nodded.

"I'm a little jealous," she said in amusement. "Though if you tell her that, I'll have to kill you all."

She heard the quiet chuckles behind her, and she felt suddenly lighter at Hawke's baffled expression.

"I have no idea what you mean," he said brusquely.

"You hide it well…" she offered, "until you are around her. Then your emotions are as plain as day." She glanced to him with a grin. "Don't feel bad Hawke, I am Ben-Hassrath after all. It's sort of my job to read people."

He grunted at her, but didn't get a chance to speak, as Qunari- or was it Tal Vashoth? Not that he cared- littered the path ahead. He simply pulled out his staff, and threw his hands up to call down a blizzard.

"So… what should we call you?" Leliana asked as the pair made their way down the mountain. "It should be something you are comfortable with, and will answer easily to."

Cat glanced over, then back down to her feet, so that she wouldn't trip. "The only thing I can think of is Rina. I mean, I did answer to it for most of my life."

"Hmm," came the reply. "It is somewhat obvious for those that will be looking for you, but since it is just for our travels it will do well enough I suppose. Perhaps they will not be aware of your full name."

"So what's the plan then, just sneak back to Orlais with you?" Cat asked.

"No, Rina," she answered. "Ugh, that doesn't feel right at all, does it?" Leliana said with a scrunch of her nose, and Cat wondered how she could still look beautiful doing it.

"But still, no." Leliana continued to move purposefully through the terrain. "I am hoping your friends will be able to kill all those that followed you here, but we must be prepared in case that does not happen."

"Okay, so… do you even have a plan?" Cat asked wryly.

"Several," Leliana answered with a smug smile. "Do you?"

"Do I what?" Cat asked, still maneuvering over branches.

"Have a plan, silly. I thought since you resolutely cut off all your beautiful hair, that you must have had a plan of some sort."

Cat reached up to feel her hair. "How bad does it look really?" she asked, dreading the answer. Her head still felt too light, and she was somewhat sick at the feeling of it still being there, but not being able to touch it when she lifted her hand. Almost like a phantom limb.

"It isn't bad," Leliana answered. "Different, but it helps you to blend in better."

"I know I am going to need help to shape it. I can't believe he cut it right at my head," Cat complained, though she knew she couldn't blame Fenris. She just thought he would slice it right above where he held it, more like at her shoulders.

But he had grabbed the tail, and sliced at the back of her skull. Now she had some sort of weird mop looking thing- the front and sides at her jawline, and the back extremely short. It had been at her waist, and the only reason she wasn't sobbing over the loss was her focus on getting away.

"I'll help you when we stop for the night," Leliana offered. "I will admit, I wasn't expecting you to climb a tree in order to hide it."

"Well if they knew I cut it off, then it was all for nothing, and it's been too painful to be all for nothing," Cat said miserably. "Hawke's not going to be happy."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"He loved it," Cat answered, deflating a little. "And… I don't know, it made me feel beautiful I guess, that he always needed to be touching it. And now… it's gone."

"And you worry, why? That the only explanation to why he was always touching was because of your hair?" Leliana asked, somewhat exasperated. "I swear Rina," this time Cat was the one to scrunch her nose in distaste, "that you can be so blind to the simplest things."

Cat rolled her eyes. "I've heard that before."

"Can I give you some advice?" Leliana asked.

"I may not take it, but sure," Cat replied with a grin.

"Just by that, I can see how much you have changed," Leliana answered with a smile of her own. "It is this. Don't let your mind talk your heart out of what it knows."

Cat didn't speak for a time, and as the path became flat once again, and they exited the forest, she finally answered.

"Thanks, Leli."

"Fenris?" Hawke asked, even as Fenris and Cat ran to join them. Fenris shushed the group as they came up behind them, and Hawke lowered his voice. "Where's Isabela?" he asked, wondering at the same time what was going on with Cat. It appeared they were being followed by how she was facing away to search the forest around them.

"There are Crows, surrounding the path," Fenris stated quietly. "Isabela is trying to take them out silently, one at a time, and could use some help." He glanced over to Varric in question.

"On it," Varric said, taking off his coat, and gently laying his crossbow on it. "Blondie, I need you to guard her with your life."

"I won't let anyone or anything touch her," Anders replied seriously, and Varric nodded as he pulled several pouches from his belt, and laid them on the ground next to his coat.

"What are you doing?" Aveline asked, not certain she wanted to know.

"If I'm going to be silent, I need to not take things that make noise when I walk," Varric stated, looking at her as if explaining to a child.

Tallis smiled, and put a hand on Varric's shoulder, which had Fenris narrowing his eyes. "I'll help," she offered.

"You sure, Shivs?" Varric asked.

"It's the least I can do," she replied. "Besides, I doubt any of us want a dagger in the back."

"Aveline and I will start slowly up the path with you, as a distraction," Hawke said. He glanced over as Aveline came to stand behind him. "You can break off from us at the tree line. Varric, you go left; Tallis, you go right, and circle around until you meet each other."

He saw them nod, and get into position. "Fenris-"

"I'll keep Cat safe," Fenris interrupted. "We saw seven of them go into the trees originally, I think."

"Meaning there could be more," Varric said with a nod.

"Very well," Hawke replied, feeling as though something was amiss, but decided to wait until the danger was handled before getting into it. "Let's go."

He glanced back as they walked off, seeing that Cat was still facing away. He wondered again what had happened back at the chateau, but then focused on the task at hand. He'd find out one way or the other, once all of it was over.

He sighed heavily, as he placed a barrier on himself and Aveline. He knew that most of their plans went to hell before they even started- but for some reason he had thought that this trip would be an exception. Should have known better, he thought wryly.

Aveline spoke to him of inconsequential things- guard rotations, or politics- anything to keep the attention of the assassins around them. She mentioned Cat a few times, though said nothing of import. Hawke replied, glancing around as they walked slowly up the path.

He didn't doubt the rogues that were with him, though with only seven men, he was a little surprised that Isabela hadn't taken care of them yet. They kept their pace slow, in order to get to all of them before crashing the duke's party. It was obvious now that they had managed to make their meeting place the same as Tallis' objective. But of course, he thought.

Once they got rid of the Crows, and stopped the duke… they could finally,finally go home.

Hawke was pulled out of his thoughts as Tallis and Varric stepped onto the path in front of them. "I found three," Tallis said quietly.

"Five for me Shivs," Varric said with a smirk. "What happened?"

"Squirrel gave me away," Tallis grumbled. "Crow looked up just as I jumped, so we had to duel it out. Took longer than I thought it would."

Varric patted her shoulder. "Ah, you'll feel better once we get that weapon of yours." He turned to Hawke. "I need to get Bianca, so I'll bring the others back with me," he said as he took off at a jog.

"Where's Isabela?" Hawke asked Tallis.

"Didn't see any sign of her," Tallis replied.

"You don't think they got to her, do you?" Aveline asked, trying not to sound concerned.

"Knowing her?" Hawke responded, though he was a little worried. "She probably followed the duke to get there first." He saw the others hurrying to catch up, and he turned, giving Tallis a nod. "We'll cause a distraction. You get into position to take the weapon."

Tallis nodded, and let them pass, Hawke leading the others up the path. "Oh, and Tallis?" Hawke said, as he stopped and looked back. "Find somewhere for Cat too, will you?" he asked, seeing Cat- still wrapped up in her hooded cloak- stop and stand by the elf.

Hawke nodded, gesturing the others onward. He couldn't help but be grateful that Cat was finally listening to him, he had fully expected an argument. Why does that thought not sit well? he wondered, as he looked back once again.

"Champion. I should have known you would turn up," Duke Prosper said pithily.

"I have a keen sense of dramatic timing," Hawke replied, ensuring all eyes were on him. "And great hair," he added while brushing his hand over it.

"Joke while you can," the duke sneered. "You will not find it funny for long."

"Shows how little he knows you," Varric said quietly, as Tallis made her move. Hawke noted with surprise that Isabela was helping her, and he gave a nod, grateful she had turned up. And that Cat was staying back.

With the scroll that the duke had now in her hands, Tallis threw a smoke bomb and jumped out of the way, climbing to the top of a broken ruin.

"I told you I would stop you Salit," Tallis said angrily.

"And I told you that I would slay you if you tried," the huge Tal Vashoth replied.

"If anyone is to do any slaying, it will be me!" Duke Prosper shouted, shooting something at Salit. He looked stunned for a moment, putting his hand into the jelly-like substance that was now splattered on his chest, and looking at his hand in confusion.

"What is it, poison?" Anders asked no one in particular.

Everyone turned at a loud roar, seeing the alpha wyvern that had been caged in the duke's garden appear in the ruins. It looked at the group gathered, and came barreling towards them, ignoring those that scattered from it and leaped for Salit.

It didn't bother to eat him, simply bit him in two before spitting him out on the ground. Everyone glanced over, somewhat in shock at the abrupt death, but came to their senses as the duke shouted, "kill them all!"

Hawke's crew turned their backs to each other, uncertain of where the attack would come from before moving out to meet their foes.

"One would think the Tal Vashoth would fight with us against the duke," Varric called to Hawke as he shot his crossbow.

"Why is that?" Hawke replied, as he cast a gravity spell, slowing down the duke's men that were surrounding Tallis.

"I don't know Hawke… enemy of my enemy or whatever?" Varric retorted.

"For them it seems more like everyone is my enemy!" Hawke laughed, as he continued to throw spells to protect his people.

He looked around, seeing that the duke's guards were focusing on the Tal Vashoth first, and wondered what their game was. Hearing a shout for him to move, he jumped back and moved to the left, as something exploded on the ground in front of him.

"Hawke, you okay?" he heard Anders call. "Watch out! That wyvern is spitting its poison!"

Hawke glanced down, seeing the nasty stuff on his greaves, and looking up to where the wyvern was perched on the ruins. He'd need to keep an eye on the beast in order to dodge any more attacks.

He happened to glance down then, below the wyvern, and saw the duke aiming for him, and he threw himself to the side. He looked back, seeing the jelly junk hitting a man behind him in the back- and hearing the roar of the wyvern, he moved as quickly as he could.

"Leopold, to me!" the duke shouted, after seeing his pet rip one of his guards apart- disappointed that he hadn't gotten the Champion, but no matter. He still had the advantage.

The Kirkwall crew watched with wide eyes as the huge creature moved back to the duke, who had climbed a little way up the ruins. It stood still as the duke jumped on its back and it roared.

"He's actually riding it," Aveline voiced all their unbelief.

"Let's end this!" Hawke shouted.

They fought as best they could as they dodged both the wyvern's poison, and its jaws as it leaped and spit at them. They made somewhat of a circle around it, finding themselves running and dodging most of the time as it sprang from one side of the clearing to the other.

They were getting tired, Hawke could see it, and his mind whirled as he tried to think of a way to get the duke off his beast. Seeing Fenris dodge it at the last moment, and the creature skidding across the stone pathway into the ruin as it tried to stop gave him an idea. A risky, practically insane idea.

Not caring at that particular moment, he shot an arcane bolt at the duke, determined to get his attention. He smirked at the man as he turned in fury, and pretended to try to dodge as he shot the wyvern bait, letting the stuff hit him in the shoulder.

The wyvern roared, and changed direction, getting Hawke in its sights. Hawke stepped back, but only a couple of steps, knowing he was close to the cliff edge. He readied his staff as the beast came charging, aiming his telekinetic burst, and letting it go, then jumping away.

The beast's claws grazed him on the arm, and he grunted as he fell. He watched from the ground as the wyvern tried to find purchase on the cliff edge, only to have the telekinetic burst go off behind it, pushing it further and over the ledge.

He smiled as the beast fell, and he moved to stand, happy that it had worked.

Hearing some colorful swearing, which he wasn't expecting, he grabbed his arm and moved over to the cliff, as his friends came to join him. Looking over, they saw the duke- barely hanging on, cursing them.

"The empress will hear of this! Orlais will burn Kirkwall to the ground, and ALL of you will DIE SCREAMING! I SWEAR IT!" he shouted.

Hawke looked down at him, wondering if the man was even strong enough to pull himself up- since he wasn't going to offer help. As the duke couldn't seem to even get a second hand on the ledge, he doubted it.

"I would have gone for begging for mercy…" Hawke said, his head tilted as he looked down at the duke, and then he smirked. "But that's just me."

He turned and walked away, and the others looked at him, then to the cliff as they heard the screaming and the silence as the scream was suddenly cut off.

Hawke looked around at his friends. "It seems the duke has… fallen from grace," he said with his eyebrows wiggling up and down.

The others groaned and rolled their eyes. "Hey, come on, that was pretty good!" he complained, as they shot him down. "Seriously? Like you could come up with better!" Hawke said as they found a relatively clean place to sit down and tend their wounds.

He shrugged their lack of humor off, as he too sat, even as they heard someone shouting his name. They turned to see Merrill and Sebastian coming into the clearing, carting several packs each.

"Glad you could make it!" Hakwe said happily. He glanced around again. "Wait, where's Cat?" he asked. Seeing the others glance around as well, and noting that Isabela and Fenris were looking at each other tensely.

"Fenris? Isabela?" he demanded. "What the hell's going on?!" The tight ball churning in his belly hadn't gone away this entire time, and now he knew why.

He felt sick as the two of them looked to him, and he saw something in their faces. "TELL ME!" he said as he rose to his feet, moving over to them. "NOW!"

"Are we alone enough now?!" Hawke growled, his patience at its limit.

Isabela looked around, before sighing, and looking at Fenris. He lowered his pack and sword to the ground, and sank down to sit, the others following his example.

"Sit down Hawke," he said wearily.

"Look you guys," Hawke said, trying to keep his anger in check. "All I get is a whisper that Cat is safe, and we can't talk about it in front of others. So we said goodbye to Tallis and left. Now here we are, all alone. But if you think I'm going to relax when I have no idea where she is, you're very, very wrong."

Isabela looked around before turning back to Hawke. The others started to get some semblance of a camp set up, though they were all listening. "How much do you know about Kitty's time in Ferelden?" she asked Hawke.

"Not as much as I should, I think, since you ask me that," Hawke said, frowning.

"You weren't there Rivaini, but during the whole Qunari attack, we ran into a few of the Little Dove's warden friends. Alistair, and Nathaniel. And they had Carver with them."

"Cat will bring news of Carver sometimes with the letters she gets from the wardens," Hawke added.

"Right," Isabela said with a sigh. "Look, just so I can say that I said it, this can't go beyond us, understand?" she said as she looked around. "Kitty has a habit of making friends with important people before they become important, and she doesn't talk about it because she doesn't want to cause problems for those friends."

"I guess that includes us, huh?" Sebastian said, trying to negate the tenseness in the group.

"Right," Fenris answered. "Remember how we thought the Crows were targeting Cat because of Hawke? Well, they honestly could have been targeting her because of any of her friends in Ferelden, as well as Hawke."

"The Hero of Ferelden," Hawke said tightly. "That's how she knows the highest ranking wardens, and why the warden commander offered to have her taken back to Ferelden." He looked to Fenris and Isabela for confirmation, and was surprised to see Anders nodding too. He glared at his friend angrily.

"Duran, the warden commander, was the reason I was recruited into the wardens," Anders said in response to the look. "He conscripted me in order to save me from the templars, and I was with them for several months. I had heard a few stories about Cat, and finally discovered that she was the same Cat. We talked a little about our mutual friends, but it is just natural to not speak of it," he explained.

"But why?" Hawke asked, frustrated. "No, never mind," he said before Anders could answer. "What does this have to do with where Cat is?" he asked Isabela. "Did the wardens come to take her again?"

Isabela sighed again. "Have you heard the stories?" she asked. "Of all those that traveled with the Hero?"

"Some," Hawke admitted impatiently.

"It was quite the rag tag crew," Varric spoke up. "Two junior wardens left in all of Ferelden against the blight. From what I heard, they took any help they could. Mages, qunari, dwarves, elves… if the stories are to be believed."

"Well… yes," Isabela replied. "Kitty was traveling with them, for a short time anyway. Among them was an assassin that was an Antivan Crow- formerly- who had sworn to protect Kitty. I also happened to owe him a favor, and when our paths crossed in Ferelden, he asked me to take Kitty along- get her safe from the blight."

"Ah, so that's why she wasn't with her hero anymore," Varric said, his eyes bright with curiosity.

"He's the reason, isn't he," Hawke said as he rubbed his temples. "Why the Crows are after her."

"Yes," Fenris picked it up, knowing Isabela was about at her limit for such serious talk. "They want him dead and are having difficulty in getting to him, and somehow found out about her. They want to use her to get to him."

"So she left," Hawke said, his voice cracking. "With this... assassin?"

"No," Fenris answered. "Leliana, another of those friends, was here at the duke's party. She offered to help Cat disappear until the Crows were dealt with." He looked around now, seeing the disappointment on several faces. "Cat accepted. She and Isabela switched clothes, and they left while we made sure our double was seen. They may continue to try to find her with us, but they will not be able to."

"And what is to stop them from grabbing and torturing one of us, to get her location?" Hawke asked, still angry, but his voice now sounding pained. He started pacing back and and forth in front of them.

"They can try, but we don't know," Isabela said. "Leliana is our only connection now, and she has many friends in high places. They won't be able to get to her, even if they were to somehow get that information from us."

"So… we don't know where Cat is, or when we'll even see her again?" Merrill asked quietly.

"She chose this?" Hawke interrupted sternly. "The three of you didn't convince her it was the right thing to do?"

"She accepted the suggestion," Fenris replied. "She asked for our opinions and we gave them, but we didn't force it upon her if that is what you are asking."

"I don't know what I'm asking," Hawke said as he stopping his pacing. "I'm going for a walk," he said as he turned.

"Hawke…" several of them started.

"I'll stay within shouting distance," he continued, interrupting them. "So just let me be."

He walked away, the others watching him go as he disappeared into the trees.

The group was quiet for some time, before Varric spoke. "That must have been hard, letting her go," he said to Fenris and Isabela.

"It was," Fenris replied. "As we were joining them, we heard Cat say how she couldn't keep living like this anymore. I don't know about Isabela, but that was the deciding factor for me. It's been hard on all of us, but especially for Cat and Hawke."

The group was silenced as they heard Hawke roar in anger. They listened for a moment for a sign that he was in trouble, but hearing none, left him alone.

"You should have seen Kitty in my outfit," Isabela said with a smirk, wanting to change the subject. "I'm tempted to have her keep it for when she comes back, but I worry that Hawke may have strange fantasies about the both of us."

Aveline made a "pfft" noise, causing Isabela to turn to her. "You don't think so?" she asked the guard captain.

"He's gone for her, no matter what she's wearing, he'll only see her," Aveline replied with a small smile. "This is probably agonizing, feeling like he can't protect her, not knowing where or how she is." She looked off to where Hawke had disappeared.

"Maybe the Maker will smile on us, and give us the way to get rid of these Crows once and for all," Sebastian said as he began working on getting a campfire lit. "The sooner they are gone, the sooner she can come home."

"That's a good thought," Anders said. "Maybe instead of waiting for them to come looking for her, we turn the tables and start looking for them."

"That's got to be one of your better ideas, Blondie," Varric said with a rogue-ish grin. "We can start gathering information once we get back to Kirkwall."

"Let's find what we can before we take it to Hawke," Fenris spoke up, still looking grim. "I don't want to get his hopes up, and he's got enough on his shoulders. I doubt the city will let him be once we return either."

"True," Aveline agreed. "Everyone agreed then?" she asked, her eyes looking at each of them in turn, and getting nods in reply. "Good." She moved to open the pack she had been carrying. "Let's start dinner," she said, looking in the bag.

She glanced over to the waif-like elf. "Merrill?" she asked. "What is all this?"

Merrill looked over, and her face fell into a pout. "It was for Cat's name day celebration, remember? Hawke said after the work was done, we would celebrate? I didn't know Cat wasn't here, so Sebastian and I grabbed the presents and all the food we could swipe from the kitchen."

"That was sweet, kitten," Isabela said in comfort. "I bet Kitty will be moved that you thought of her, even though she wasn't here."

"Do you really think so?" Merrill asked.

"Yes," several of them replied, and then smiled.

"Let's save the presents for when she returns, shall we?" Anders suggested. "But I think we should go ahead with the food."

They went ahead with the normal tasks of making camp, no one commenting on Hawke's appearance when he finally returned, or his severely bleeding knuckles. Knowing he could heal them himself if he wanted, they simply tried to silently support their friend and leader through the night, and the trip back to Kirkwall.