Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Dragon Age franchise. Excluding, of course, any OC characters and/or alterations to the story line.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Foreign Language translated into English"
Written Word
Camp 2It has been two days since the events at the Circle Tower had been resolved. The team of Wardens and co. had set up camp for the night near a set of cross roads, despite it only being four in the evening, due to indecision of which direction the group should go. The driving force behind this division is the arguing between Theron, Thorin, and Annette.
Theron is under the belief that the Wardens should search for a tribe of Dalish because they would be the hardest to find and most likely to disappear should they take to long. Despite the fact that his own clan had long since left the kingdom, and as such has little sway with any clans they do find, Theron still believes that the Dalish would be the easiest to recruit.
Thorin, meanwhile, is under the belief that trying to find the Dalish is a waste of time. With their scattered numbers, lack of military might, and notoriously little trust in humans, which comprise most of the group, he feels that even if the Dalish are found they would be of little to no help. While the dwarves of Orzammar have a standing army and real soldiers.
Annette, on the other hand, pushes the others to remember that Arl Eamon is sick and that the mages that are being sent to Redcliffe will only buy them a little time to find the Earn of Sacred Ashes. The female Cousland believes that if the Arl is not saved then the entire country may turn against them. Defeating the purpose of even building up an army.
The others, meanwhile, are staying out of it. Some of them tend to lean more towards the arguments of one or the others in the verbal duel, but keep quite as they also understand the arguments against them as well.
Aiden, throughout all of this, is standing to the side and is thinking about what they are all saying. Not supporting or dissenting any of their points as they are being made.
An hour after they stopped for the day, the trio of feuding fellows have taken a break and spread far from one another in the camp. Annette was by the fire pit, which was not yet lit, with Wynne, Michael, Leliana, and Alistair. Thorin was near some rocks and was chopping firewood while Natia boredly sat nearby. Theron was a little past the tree line and trying to calm himself. Ana and Zevran were talking/flirting by the tents were Sten stood stoically. Brutus and Nila were laying down in some grass. Aiden was walking towards Morrigan, and Shale was watching all of this and not saying a word.
Bodahn and Sandal, who had arrived ten or so minutes after the Wardens and Co had set up camp, had settled their wagon and were doing some maintenance on it. They had spent the time the Wardens had taken in the Circle Tower to peddle their wares in a near by town and had stocked up on supplies. When the Wardens left, they had passed through said hamlet and informed the duo that they were leaving.
-Small Time Skip-
At the fire, Leliana is tuning her lute, a keepsake that she brought with from her time as a Bard, while the others are keeping an amicable silence. That is until Annette starts asking Wynne and Alistair about the young dragons they saw in the tower. A topic that none of the third team's members really talked about and which Annette only found out because she overheard Theron asked Aiden about what they were going to due with the hides they took.
"Ok, so how big were the dragonlings and drakes?" Annette asked with excitement in her voice.
"Uh, I would say, for the drakes, were about the size of a horse each, and the little ones were about the size of a dog. Wouldn't you say Wynne?" Alistair answered before turning to the mage.
"Yes, I believe you are correct in your estimation young man." Wynne responded.
"Hm, then they were all juveniles then. The dragonlings probably being only a few hours old when you arrived. Maybe less, considering the size of the drake you are describing. As for the drakes themselves, I would put them down as being juvenile based on the size." Annette commented aloud to no one in particular.
"That is a very astute observation young lady." Wynne said in surprise. A bit shocked by Annette's surprising knowledge about a breed of creatures that had thought to be extinct until a few decades previously.
"Wait! Those things can get even bigger?!" Alistair asked in shock.
"Three times larger, if your estimation is accurate. Drakes are the males of the dragon species, and are therefore land bound, for the most part. In dragon breeding practices, a drake is only used as breeding stock. So, they are smaller than the females, who are considered the true dragons. In fact, a high dragon tends to keep several different drakes for either breeding or food, if need be." Annette answered to Alistair's loud question.
"You seem to know a lot about dragons, Annette. How is that?" Leliana asked, being drawn in from the topic.
"Oh, house Cousland has the some of the oldest records and text in Fereldan. In fact, my family has a history of hunting dragons when they were prevalent in our lands, and we kept a great deal of knowledge about the subject. You are unlikely to find anything more detailed about dragons outside of Tevinter." Annette said with more than a small amount of pride. "Me and Aiden were enamored with them growing up, which is why I know so much about them. Aiden was interested in the various breeds and their abilities and properties. While I was more into the personalities and intricacies of their habits."
"Speaking of your brother, are you not worried about him?" Wynne asked.
"Worried how?" Annette asked with confusion, something that was mimicked by Alistair and Leliana.
"About how closely he is interacting with the apostate." Wynne said seriously. "As the leader of this group he should be paying less attention to chasing a pretty face and more to stopping the Blight."
"Oh!" Annette said with wide eyes in realizing Wynne's mindset before schooling her features. "No, I am not. I say this for two reasons. One, he is a big boy that can, for the most part, take care of himself. He knows what is at stake and won't become blind to it. Two, me and my brothers were trained by our parents in identifying targeted seductions. We know what to look for if someone is trying to take advantage of us. In either case, however, it is not your problem Wynne, its mine." Annette said in a firm tone before her eyes get a hard glint to them while looking at the elder mage.
"Also, just because she wasn't raised or trained in a Circle doesn't mean she is a person to look upon in distaste. She is a human being, like any of us, and shouldn't be looked down upon for a lack of 'proper' training." Annette finished in a hard tone.
"I…I am sorry. I am just being cautious given the…" Wynne began to say before being cut off.
"I know what you meant Wynne…I know." Annette said sharply in interruption before taking a deep breath and calming down. "Sorry, about that. Back home, the members of the Chantry always gave me looks of disdain. I guess I have developed a bit of a snappish attitude to anyone from a Chantry background making comments about apostates."
"But Wynne's a mage, not a member of the Chantry." Leliana said in confusion. A sentiment shared by Alistair.
"Only technically, my child. Circles in Ferelden and Orlais may be considered separate institutions to the Chantry, but, as Annette also sees it, in actuality they are much more closely connected. In Orlais it is because the Empire is considered the heart of the faith. Here in Ferelden, it is because mages being a member of the Circle is not required. So, the Chantry tries to tie the two so closely together to help encourage parents to send their children instead of keeping them. Not a practice I approve of, by the way." Michael explained, as he did wonder the same thing when he read that it wasn't the case in other Circles, like in the Free Marches.
"Alright…Well since you obviously know so much about the Circles. Do you know an elven mage by the name of Fiona?" Alistair asked, an obvious attempt to steer the conversation away from the earlier subject.
"The only Fiona I know of that is in the Circle of Magi is the First Enchanter of the Montsimmard Circle in Orlais. Now that I think about it, I believe she used to be a Grey Warden. Why do you ask?" Wynne said.
Alistair didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached for his nearby bag and pulled out some pieces of paper. Paper that Annette recognized as the letters she gave him.
"She's my mother." Alistair said softly yet firmly when he finally spoke.
After a moment of stunned silence Michael spoke up, voicing what everyone else is thinking. "Wait, you're saying that your mother wasn't only an elf, but an Orlaisian elven mage…who was also, apparently, apart of the Grey Wardens. Sheesh, if that wasn't a reason for King Maric to hide you, I don't know what is." Michael commented aloud before being elbowed by Leliana.
"How did you find this out?" Leliana asked in a gentle tone.
"My parents wrote me letters. Apparently, my mother was the one to come up with the idea of hiding her identity from me, but changed her mind after she was removed from the Wardens. These letters were meant to be given to me when Arl Eamon thought I was ready." Alistair said while waving said letters for them to see.
He then hands one to Annette and the other to Wynne to read.
The one from Maric saying:
Dear Alistair,
I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I am sorry that you grew up without a true parent. That neither I nor your mother were there for you. The lives that we live would have put you at risk.
I could not raise you because of the vultures that are the politicians in Ferelden. They would have used your mere existence to try and put a wedge between myself and Eamon. Use you as a figure head to sow chaos into the kingdom for their own benefit, or worse, whisper in your or your brother's ear to have you at each other's throats.
I couldn't risk either you or the kingdom, but don't take this as me caring more about my legacy than you. I wanted you to have a good childhood. One in which you could run and play, make messes that wouldn't be misconstrued as you being a terror. So, I sent you to Eamon to be watched over, the last place anyone would think to look for you.
Whatever, you decide to do Alistair, remember that I love you. As much as I love your brother or mother, and I hope we can meat one day and embrace each other as family. If not in this life then in the next.
Sincerely,
Maric Theirin
The one from Fiona saying:
Alistair,
Oh, my boy, I truly don't know what to say. I have written at least half a dozen of these and can still not find the right words to say. But to make this introduction short, I am your mother.
Your father, or whoever your father found to watch over you, will likely have said that I am dead, but this is a lie. One that I concocted to protect you from potentially having you hurt by the truth. For you see, I am a mage. An elven mage to be precise.
You see, when me and your father were together, I was a member of the Grey Wardens, a detail that will long have since changed by the time you are reading this. During the events that we and our friends experienced at Kinloch Hold I was cleansed of the Joining ritual that all Wardens undertake.
Ever since then, after quietly giving birth to you and delivering you to your father, I have gone through dozens of tests. These tests were to see if I could successfully undergo the Joining again. The results made it clear that I could not. Because of this I was forced to return to the Circle, as I was a part of it before joining the Wardens. Even fleeing to Ferelden would not save me due to the laws and traditions that your father couldn't remove after retaking the throne.
So, to protect you, I brought you to your father. Told him to lie to you about me being a simple serving girl who died at birth. For no matter how much I wanted to hold you close and never let go, I couldn't. Even if I had stayed with the Wardens, they would have forced me to let you go. If I had kept you with me after leaving them, the Circle and Templars would have taken you, changed your name, and sent you somewhere I would never be able to find you. And all of that pails in comparison if any official of Orlais ever found out about your lineage.
I hope, one day, that we will be able to meet properly. That I can see the proud and noble man that I know you will become.
With all my love,
Your mother,
Fiona
After the letters were passed around, with clearly wet eyes from the rest of the group, Alistair took the letter back and put them away.
No one said anything for a few minutes. They were all contemplating the letters that Alistair allowed them to read. After a while, Alistair decided to break the silence.
"My entire life, I believed that I was the unwanted bastard of a serving girl and the king. Now!?...Now, I don't know what to think." Alistair said before throwing himself back so that he was laying on the ground. "On one hand, the letters tell me that they loved me, and that my father didn't keep me a secret from my brother based on what Annette has said. On the other, they did leave me to be raised by someone else. The relatives of my father's late wife no less. So, I don't know what to think. My father is dead, or at least presumed so. I obviously can't ask my brother. As for my mother, even if I take the throne, emphasis on IF, I highly doubt that anyone in Ferelden or Orlais would take kindly to the new king talking to an Orlaisian mage."
"I know this must be tough Alistair, but we can help you through this." Annette said in a soothing tone as she patted Alistair on the leg.
"How?" Alistair asked in disbelief.
"Well, I am not sure if they will respond or not, but I still have some contacts in Orlais that I can get in touch with. They are trustworthy enough and can deliver such a letter disguised as an official letter or mandate." Leliana suggested.
"Or you could ask Irving to send it for you. First Enchanters send letters between one another all the time and I am sure that he would be feeling charitable to you for helping save the tower." Michael said with some thought.
"That is quite true, but what I am really wondering about is this Joining that she was talking about." Wynne said with a hand on her chin.
"That's the final test that a prospective Warden takes before they officially join the order. We can't say much about it but what we can say is that you either survive and join or fail and die, there is no middle ground. Though, I have never heard of a person being cleansed of it before." Alistair said.
"Probably for good reason. Many who join the Wardens do so as a means of avoiding a death sentence. I would guess that the higher ups didn't want such things to spread to lead some into thinking that there was a way out of there commitment." Michael said.
"There probably wasn't much research done on the subject either, especially in recent centuries. The Wardens get so few recruits now adays that, until the current Blight, many saw them as relics. They probably didn't want people jumping ship for 'wasting their lives' or something." Annette said.
From there the conversation developed into general banter about either the Wardens, there goals, or just their general experiences until the evening.
-Scene Change-
Meanwhile, with Ana and Zevran, the two had finally with simply bantering with one another and decided to approach Sten and talk to him, though he doesn't like to talk about much of anything.
As the two got near the giant man Zevran spoke out saying. "Hello, my large strapping fellow, how are you doing this fine day?"
"Hmph." Sten grunted as he stared off stoically.
Before Zevran could say anything else he received a, somewhat, gentle nudge to his side from Ana. Who was looking at the male elf with a raised eyebrow. She then returned her attention to Sten.
"Ok, we know you don't really want to talk, but you can't go through this entire journey of ours without saying anything to anyone. What we came to ask is what path you think we should take next?" Ana asked.
Sten didn't answer immediately say anything but when he did, he spoke in a slightly more tired voice instead of his usual monotone. "It doesn't matter what I think. What ever Aiden chooses I will follow."
"That doesn't mean you don't have an opinion, my large friend. You still have a mind of your own, do you not." Zevran said, structuring his statement as a question.
Sten, again, didn't say anything to begin with but after a few moments he said steadily. "It doesn't matter what I desire…but I do have a preference for heading to this Orzammar. However, that is more because the lead we found for my Asala. I also understand the importance for healing this Arl. For a traitor makes a horrid leader. So I would be comfortable heading towards either hunting this 'earn' that is so important or the dwarves. The elves are the least helpful in our endeavor." Sten said bluntly, not even bothering to excuse any potential offense he may have caused to the two elves before him.
Luckily, not that Sten seemed to notice or care, the two elves were not insulted by the comment.
"That's fair, but what was with that tone when you were talking about the Earn?" Ana asked in confusion.
"I do not understand what is so truly important about it. I understand that it may have healing properties, but I do not understand why it was lost nor why it seems to have such a level of reverence around it." Sten said with some frustration in trying to understand the conundrum.
Ana didn't know how to respond to this. Zevran, on the other hand, had traveled around enough, and his interactions with Aidan's late wife, to give him some understanding of Qunari culture.
"Think of it like this, Sten. Mind if I call you that?" Zevran began before continuing anyway. "Your people have that philosopher priest of yours, Koswrun or something like that."
"Koslun." Sten curtly corrected.
"Yes, him." Zevran said quickly before continuing his explanation. "Well, here in the south, especially here in Fereldan and Orlais, they have Andraste. The Earn is said to hold her burned remains. Hence the reverence."
"But a body is useless after death. What use is it to anyone? My people may revere Koslun's memory, but not his body."
"Ah! But you do have a sense of respect for his books. Do you not?" Zevran said before continuing, not letting Sten answer, "and the Earn of Sacred Ashes is similar to that for Andrasteans."
"Hhm…How so?" Was Sten's only response.
"Well, your people, from my understanding, hold far more value for the books physically written by Koslun than you do for any copies, which you have many of. This is because they have a direct connection to Koslun himself, and you would do anything to stop it from falling into the hands of your enemies. Such as either destroying or hiding them." Zevran explained to the hornless giant. "The same principal applies for the Earn. The ancient followers of Andraste would have been so desperate to protect the Earn from the Tevintars, who were still at their height of power."
Sten did not respond rite away, but when he did, he nodded in acceptance. "That…makes sense, I suppose. Protecting a relic of such importance from the Imperium would be paramount, especially for such devout followers."
"Yes. We-ell…is there anything else you want to say about the plans, or heck, anything for that matter? You don't really talk much." Ana asked.
From there the conversation changed from being about the plans for the group to about their homelands and lives. Zevran talked about his life in Antiva, his experiences as an assassin (A subject that Sten did not like in the least, especially Zevran's flamboyant nature about it all.), and his childhood as a slave. A detail that seemed to surprise the other two, but was only visible from Ana. Ana spoke of her hardships growing up in the slums of Denerim and how she trained with her weapons outside of the view of the guards. Something that Sten had a bit of distaste for do to him believing that women should not be trained as such in the first place.
Ana also spoke of her wondering in the forest outside the city to gather some wild herbs and mushrooms for cooking or selling, and how she especially liked to do so on days like the one they were having. A fact that shocked Sten. With him believing that the day was quite cold and unpleasant. Sten, in turn, went on about his time in the Antaam and Par Vollen, but only briefly. Mostly, Sten complained about how cold, wet, and grey things were in the south. However, he did say he absolutely loved cookies, a minor detail that utterly floored the two elves with how absurd it sounded from the giant.
-Scene Break-
With Aidan, he is currently speaking with Morrigan in the most separated tent of the camp. Still close to the center but far enough to make it clear that she was not comfortable being close.
They are both sitting on a blanket that Morrigan pulled out for herself. The two had spent the past hour or so going over their experiences from childhood. At the moment, Morrigan had just gotten done telling Aiden a rather sad tale that involved a golden mirror she had once stolen.
"So, let me get this straight. Your mother took the mirror and broke it, without a second thought, left you on the ground crying, while your brother was out foraging, berating you as if you had done something utterly unforgiveable, and then walked away without a second thought…" Aiden said in disbelief before cooling his features. "Wow, your mother is even more of a bitch than I thought." Aiden said in a firm and calm tone.
This comment, at first, shocked the witch to her core. But after a few moments Morrigan broke out into a small chuckle. That quickly developed into full blown laughing fit that hit her so hard that she ended up rolling on the ground with tears in her eyes. "HAHA! Yes, I guess you could say that." Morrigan said after she got herself under control, but never losing the smile on her face.
Aiden, smiling at what he made Morrigan do, decided to show her what he found in the Circle Tower. Pulling it out of the satchel he got from Irving's office and turning back towards her. "Here Morrigan. I found this in the First Enchanter's quarters and noticed that it was written in some kind of combination of Chansid and Dalish…" Aiden said before stopping when he noticed the look of utter shock on Morrigan's face.
"A-Aiden, do you know what this is?" Morrigan said in utter disbelief, all traces of humor gone, at what the large human was holding. Then she reached over and opened it, looking through the pages. "This is Flemeth's grimoire."
"It is!?" Aiden said in obvious surprise. "How did the Circle get their hands on it."
"I heard from my mother muttering once that Templars once raided an old house of hers. I can only assume that it occurred when I was either to young to remember or wasn't yet born at the time." Morrigan explained before turning back to the book. "The grimoire itself seems to be written in a cypher. Likely why the First Enchanter had it, to attempt to decode it. I surmise that he had little luck considering how it is written."
"Do you think you can decode it?" Aiden asked curiously, wondering just what Morrigan could learn from the book.
"Of course!" Morrigan said as a matter of fact before turning back to the book. "It will take some time though. First, I will need to translate the specific words of the text. Then I will have to figure out which cypher my mother used. She has shown me the basics of several over the years and some are quite similar to one another."
"Then I will leave you to it. Just make sure you don't go overboard on the research." Aiden said as he stood up. "It would be terrible if such a pretty face was to get any wrinkles." Aiden said playfully as he walked away. Leaving the witch to excitedly peruse her new book.
-Scene Change-
Later that night, the entire group is huddled around the now lit fire. With the exception of Shale, who was standing a bit farther back. However, Annette, Thorin, and Theron are sitting with at least three others between them and any of the other leaders of the argument.
Aiden, who was sitting on his sister's right side, finally spoke up after a few moments of the uncomfortable silence. "Ok, we need to go over the next stage of our plans."
"I still believe we should head after the Earn. We need the Arl alive!" Annette pressed.
"And I say we need to find the Dalish. Clan's travel near constantly. Finding even one can potentially take weeks." Theron argued.
"Well, I say stone take you both. Dealing with my people would be the quickest and we have the most experience with Darkspawn!" Thorin practically shouted out.
From there the trio stood up and started bickering with each other until Aiden had enough. He stood up and yelled, "ENOUPH! All of you!"
The trio immediately quieted down. Returning to their seats as Aiden continued to stand and looked around the entire group.
"I believe that our best course of action…is to split up." Aiden said calmly, which earned shocked stairs from the others.
"Are you sure Aiden? That does not seem like a good idea. We are strongest together after all." Theron said to the leader.
"I agree with Theron in this matter. We are a strong force together, but to spread ourselves puts us at risk." Thorin stated, forgetting his previous grievances for the time being.
"Aiden, we can't separate. The Blight. The war. If we split up, we open ourselves to either the Darkspawn or to Loghain's supporters." Annette said with worry, and many of the others started mumbling amongst themselves about the matter.
"I KNOW!" Aiden shouted out before taking a calming breath. "I know. It doesn't sound like a good idea, but the three of you make good points." Aiden said while gesturing to Annette, Thorin, and Theron.
Aiden then retook his seat and looked at the others, who were staring at him with various looks. Some looked confused by Aiden's declaration. Others looked worried while thinking about the points that the aforementioned trio made. Some, Sten and Shale being the most prominent, did not have a visible reaction.
Aiden then said. "We are running out of time. The Arl is on deaths doorstep and we have no clue were the Earn could even be, we have an entire forest to search through for the Dalish, and Orzammar is so far out of the way it will likely take some time to even reach them. The Blight is not going to wait for us and the more time we waste the closer to doom we get. So, as far as I can tell, splitting up is our best option."
The others looked amongst themselves contemplating about what Aiden said. Staying together would take longer than necessary to accomplish their goals, AND the Blight is ever encroaching upon them. So they understood the argument.
After another moment Alistair spoke up and asked. "Who is going with who then?"
"I have been thinking about this for the past couple of days actually. For Orzammar, I believe the best set of options would be myself, Morrigan, Thorin, and Natia…Oh, and Shale. She should come to." Aiden explained.
"And why would I want to go there. I spent the majority of the past few hundred years in a dark cavern. Why would I want to go back to one?" Shale said in a firm and authoritative tone. Making it clear that she doesn't want to go with the Orzammar group.
"To put it simply, you are a being of dwarfish history, Shale. Your mere presence will help sooth whatever bad feelings the die-hard traditional dwarves may feel towards Thorin or Natia." Aiden said, but Shale still looked unconvinced until he also said. "Also, there won't be birds of any sort while we're down there, and likely plenty of Darkspawn to crush."
After a moment of Shale contemplating this, she finally huffed out a, "Fine."
Aiden then returned to the rest of the group, who were looking at him intently and patiently. "For the Earn of Sacred Ashes, I believe the best members to go would be Leliana, Alistair, Annette, Michael, and Sten. You lot will head towards Denerim and search for any leads on Brother Genitivi."
"Is that wise? With Loghain in power we would all have targets over our heads. Especially Alistair and Annette." Leliana asked her leader.
"Not really. The city guard is a separate entity than the military, at least for the time being. So, the risk of being caught are minimal. Especially if you add the fact that guardsmen who watch the gates are the sons of nobles who don't give a flying fuck about their duties." Aiden said in frustration when thinking about the city guards before quickly calming down. "Besides, while there Annette can get into contact with the soldiers loyal to us and send a message to our brother. Not to mention the information that can potentially be gathered from the area due to be so close to Loghain himself."
Once Aiden was done with his explanation, he turned towards Theron. "That leaves everyone else to go hunting for the Dalish."
"Why? Because all elves know each other or something?" Ana asked in a slightly angry tone.
"No. It is because you're less likely to be shot on sight with only one, much older, human than with a group consisting of mostly humans, or anyone else for that matter." Aiden said in a hard tone while giving Ana a harsh side glance for her accusation.
"He is not wrong. Many clans would kill shemlen just for drawing to near. If there are any clans in the Brecilian Forest currently, a party of mostly elves will definitely ease tensions." Theron said while glancing at the female elf.
Deciding not to pursue the topic further, Ana kept quiet. She did, however, look sheepish at the harsh response.
"There is one thing that confuses me about this plan of yours, my friend. Your dogs, from what I understand of their breed, only follow the commands of their owner. So what are you going to do with them? I highly doubt they would do well underground." Zevran asked in his thick accent.
"I have already thought of that." Aiden said before going back towards where he was sitting, which was also were his satchel was. "I got this back in Redcliffe." Aiden said before pulling out a whistle molded into the shape of a mabari head. "According to the old kennel master's notes, it is used by trainers for mabari that aren't imprinted upon them. I just need to give Brutus and Nila some instructions and you just need to blow on this to give them commands." Aiden said as he turned back around, walked over, and handed the whistle to Theron.
"What about the two of you? Where are you going to go now that we're splitting up?" Natia asked Bodahn and Sandal.
"I think me and my boy will follow the elves for a time. The Brecilian Forest is near a town that we are contracted to deliver some supplies to, and we are supposed to meet with an acquaintance of mine there. Something about an expedition or something, I wasn't really told the details." Bodahn responded.
Sandal meanwhile didn't say anything. He just looked around at everyone, occasionally scratching his ass.
"Then it is settled. We rest up tonight and go our separate ways tomorrow." Aiden said before returning to his satchel and picking it up. "Its best if we go to bed soon. We all have a long day tomorrow." He said before walking off.
Ok guys, I know this is a short chapter compared to my other ones. However, it was the best option to explain what is happening next.
As you can tell, the team is splitting up again, and for a much longer time than before. For the next six or so chapters I will be focusing on one of the groups and not others. It is hard enough just trying to keep track of 'who is who' and 'who is doing what' in this story. So, I won't be giving even a few hints on what is going on with the other groups outside of their own chapters.