Trashbird: Thankyou for your review! I'm glad to know that it's something different that you're enjoying, here's hoping I don't disappoint in further chapters!

Moonpriestess30: We're suffering from the dreaded back to school cold, it's killing meee, especially as I work night shifts. I hope you like this chapter, I'm actually really excited for this story, though my memory is crap and I keep forgetting to just post chapters XD

Chapter 3

A couple of weeks had passed in the Deep roads, Mena was... cautious. She didn't trust any of the men that were travelling with them but she had relaxed a little more around Varric, Fenris and Hawke. Merrill had taken it upon herself to sort out her hair, it was incredibly matted and only some parts could be salvaged. She took the time to pick through Mena's dreadlocks, only resorting to cutting off what she had to. They had discovered that her some of her clothing was made out of deepstalker and spider hide, something that contributed to the smell that lingered around her. Varric had salvaged some spare clothing and Merrill had convinced her to wear it, for a time. Nothing more was mentioned about the half conversation that Mena had had with Fenris, surprisingly. Fenris thought that Merrill would have told Hawke the first chance she got.

Teaching her to speak was going well, the Dalish she picked up easily. The more common tongue was a little harder but she was getting there. Her maturity was that of a child, she was very enthusiastic when it came to praise and showing Merrill things from the caves around them. Peaches scared her at one point, appearing too close to her too suddenly and she went to lash out in defence making several of them shout ''no'' at her. Mena's lip actually trembled and she hid herself from them all for several hours, only returning with a bone for the Mabari and red rimmed eyes from crying. Encouraging Mena to eat normal food was proving difficult; she would taste anything that Merrill showed her was safe to eat but as her system wasn't used to the heavy carbohydrates and fat, she felt unwell for a few days. After that she refused to eat anything she was offered.

The most common complaint in the expedition was her sleeping habits. Varric had given Mena a blanket and pillow, each night they would insist that she take them to keep warm and comfortable. They didn't fight the fact that she would find a suitable ledge or crevice to sleep on, it's just that after an hour or two Mena would throw the pillow from her sleeping area. She would literally just cast the pillow aside causing it to land in the camp randomly. Several people had been hit over the last few nights; one time it landed on Peaches, scaring the hound and making her howl and waking everyone. Trying to explain why she couldn't do that didn't go down well and people would actually wait until the pillow appeared before trying to get some sleep.

Once Bartrand's betrayal had been revealed it was Mena who managed to help them through the early tunnels. They were able to avoid the small patrols of darkspawn and spiders, and minimise harm that could befall them. Hawke did get hurt at one point, his arm getting caught by a spider's fang causing a nasty slash. Once the threat had been dealt with Mena appeared at his side. Hawke didn't mind her; he was careful around her though. She grabbed his arm and clamped her mouth down on the cut making him widen his eyes in confusion and horror.

'Uh, Merrill?' Hawke said as he grabbed Varric by the collar and turned him to witness what the strange cave elf was doing. 'What do I do?!' He whispered to the dwarf who shrugged his shoulders, not knowing.

'Mena?' Merrill asked as she walks over to see what she's doing. 'You helping?'

Mena lifts her head, spitting some of the blood from the wound. 'Bad,' she stated simply. 'Bad, bad. Make good. Eth.'

She reaches down into her pouch and pulls out a small leather bag that had a paste inside. Scooping some out with her finger she wipes it on the cut making Hawke hiss in pain. He tries to pull his arm away from her but she slaps his chest a couple of times grabbing his elbow and holding him in place. She roots around in another pouch pulling out a strip of cloth that looked like it had seen better days. Fenris cleared his throat gaining her attention as he holds out a roll of clean linen. Mena grins at him and wraps it around Hawke's forearm, keeping the paste in place. 'Better?' Merrill asks looking at the rather neat knot that Mena had tied.

The cut was going numb and as far as evidence showed by the scars on Mena's body it probably worked. 'Seems to be?' Garrett said giving Mena a weak smile and nod.

She pats him on the head, 'eth, make eth,' Mena said simply as she walks off.

Varric chuckles and takes out his notepad and makes a note. 'She's quite a character, huh,' he smirked as he looked at Hawke.

'Remind me to have Anders look at this when we get back,' Garrett whispered as he looks at his arm. The pain was gone so he was content to leave it be for the moment. He didn't want to think about what was even in the paste she smeared on him.

'If we get back,' Fenris said simply as he scrapes whatever he'd stepped in off on a stone with a look of disgust on his face.

Garrett glared at the elf and rolled his eyes, 'and there you are being a ray of fucking sunshine as usual,' Hawke said sarcastically.

'I am simply being realistic-' Fenris began.

'Here's a realistic train of thought. You're an ass,' Garrett snapped making Fenris smirk as he knew that he had gotten under the warrior's skin. 'Zip it unless you're gonna say something constructive. The last thing I need is you freaking out Merrill,' Hawke said with a frown. Fenris' expression went blank, he was annoyed but he knew Garrett well enough that he wasn't being spiteful, just stressed. Shrugging a shoulder, he began to walk over to where Mena and Merrill were waiting at the end of the tunnel. Mena was halfway up the wall having spotted some mushrooms growing out a cracked decorative tile. Hawke mentally swears at himself and looks at Varric who was stroking Peaches. 'I'm the ass, aren't I?' Hawke muttered.

Varric grins, 'no more than Broody over there,' he teased. 'Come on, the sooner we get out of this Ancestors forsaken place the happier I'll be,' he said with a sigh.

The party travelled down a few corridors before coming across rock wraiths that weren't happy that their solitude had been disturbed. Mena vanished in an instant, she hadn't ever come across such creatures and so she would rather flee than fight. The rest of them didn't have that option so they had to take the time to destroy them before moving forward. Merrill began to panic as to where Mena had run off to but when the last rock wraith fell, she reappeared within minutes. 'At least we don't have to worry about her being a liability,' Garrett muttered as he sheathed his sword and swung his shield over his back.

A demon tried to make a deal with Hawke when they entered a large chamber but Hawke being who he was had punched the creature in the face before it even finished speaking. It had said something about there being a way out of the current predicament they were in, so Garrett had taken that as a positive sign before attacking. Mena had clearly been watching them fight and had learned to target the weak points that they had exposed so this time she joined in. It was a learning experience for everyone involved. More than once she jumped on their shoulders, using them as springboards before leaping off to land on whatever she was targeting at the time. Having to adapt in the middle of a fight was something that they were all used to, so when Varric pointed out that she would make a certain sort of clicking noise before she landed on them was invaluable. Garrett learned to raise his shield and she would bounce off that instead, Fenris knew to simply widen his stance to account for her weight. Merrill held her staff over her head horizontally and Varric was often avoided anyway because he didn't really provide any height advantage.

Mena's fighting style was more crippling than anything. She rarely dealt the death blow and would simply focus on incapacitating them for someone else to then finish off. Her targets seemed random at first but then Fenris realised that she would simply aim for the creature that was the most imminent threat at the time. Merrill took priority, Mena had learned that her clothing wasn't protective at all. Then it was Peaches and Varric, Hawke if he was fighting multiple enemies and then himself if he was being flanked. It was a realisation to her intelligence if anything, knowing there was more to her actions than just instinct. He could see her actually strategizing and contemplating the next best move. Her maturity may be that of a child but she was clever. Her assistance definitely helped turn the tide of the fight as they didn't have to worry about working down the enemy's defences as she was able to strike at them with pinpoint accuracy.

Mena hung from a brazier fixture, breathing heavily as the last creature fell to the floor, dead. It had been a long fight and more than she had ever let herself encounter. Her muscles burned with the exertion and her mouth felt dry. Once her heart had calmed down, she dropped down onto the floor and walked over to the others who were scavenging the bodies. Merrill bounced over to her and praised her heavily making her smile and happy squeaks to appear without her meaning for them to slip. 'Ya were great, Mena! Ne halani, you helped!' Merrill says giving her a hug.

'That you were, Mouse,' Varric smiled as he walked over to her and held out a high-quality dagger that they had found in one of the chests. Mena tilted her head and took it gingerly from his hand and after a pause gave him her original making him chuckle.

'Mena's?' She asked as she looked at the blade, noticing how sharp and fine the metal was.

'Yeah, you deserve a decent weapon if you're gonna be leaping about and stabbing things,' Varric said as he tactfully threw her other dagger to one side. Mena gave the weapon to Merrill as she bent down and hugged Varric's head hard, smushing his face into her chest. Garrett and Fenris exchange an amused look and Merrill covers her mouth to hide her giggle. Mena clicks and squeaks as she sways from side to side while holding him hostage. Frantically he patted her on the hip trying to get her to let go of him. Once released he breathed heavily and his face was a slight flush of pink. Clearing his throat, he nods, 'ah, yeah so... uh, let's keep moving,' he said brushing back his hair once more.

Garrett slowly walks over as Merrill and Mena wander off looking at the new weapon in excitement. 'Soooo, that was something,' the warrior teased.

'Ancestors, I thought I was going to die,' Varric coughed. Fenris pats him on the shoulder to help him clear his chest. 'That was both quite pleasant and foul at the same time. Soft, and ample yet smelling like spider and deepstalker, Andraste's knickers knows what else.'

'Sounds like something you'd write. A seductress of a spider or something,' Garrett laughed as they continued to walk.

Varric winced, 'Ancestors, Hawke, leave the writing to me, yeah?' Even Fenris laughed a little at that and they continued to catch up with the women.