Cat slowly woke up, hearing some exciting voices in the other room. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, opening them to find she was sleeping on the couch.
"Merry Christmas!" Her mom called as she sailed by into the kitchen.
"Right, Christmas…" Cat couldn't help but feel somewhat out of place, but shrugged it off. She had the craziest dream after all, so vivid and adventurous.
"Better hurry up sleepyhead!" she heard her mom call again. "Steven said he was coming early, right?" Cat jumped up from the couch at that, she'd better get herself looking presentable! She cleaned up her impromptu bedding and headed for the bathroom.
She quickly made herself ready for the day, though she continued to have a nagging feeling that something was not right. She should be ecstatic! This was the day Steven had proposed to her after all, and… she stopped as she realized what had just gone through her head. HAD proposed, now why had she thought that? She meant WILL propose, right?
She went into the kitchen, still feeling odd and uncertain. As she helped her mom prepare breakfast, she could swear she felt eyes on her, and even looked around a few times to ensure there were not.
"You okay honey?" her mom asked.
"I think so, just feeling a little off I guess." Cat replied.
"Well, the obvious cure is to open some presents!" Her mom exclaimed, and pulled her into the living room.
Cat smiled as she saw her dad, digging into his stocking for the chocolate orange that was there every year. He claimed it was his first breakfast each year, and it always brought a smile to her face.
"Hey sweetie," her mom said to her dad. "Find Rina a present to open, will you?" She left to go check the food, and Cat found herself feeling odd again.
"Rina?" she questioned.
"That's your name, isn't it?" her dad chuckled at her. "Or has that changed since last night?"
"Right. I mean, no, it hasn't changed. Sorry," she said as she went over to sit by him. "Just a strange dream, where everyone was calling me Cat" she said.
"Ha ha!" Her dad laughed. "Well in that case, I'll call you Kitty cat."
"Ugh, no thanks" she said with a smile. He was always teasing her. She leaned into him and cuddled. It had felt like forever since she had a good cuddle!
The doorbell rang, and her dad gave her a nudge. "I think you'd better get it" he said with a wink.
The smile she had, fell as she opened the door to reveal Steven.
"Hey babe, I've missed you!" He said, as he pulled her into a hug and kiss. She smiled uncertainly up at him as he shrugged out of his jacket and put his arm around her, holding her close. "You okay?" he asked.
"Um, yeah" she answered, though she was far from it. She felt as if maybe she was going crazy. Every part of her screamed to get away from him, but she couldn't figure out why. This was the guy she was madly in love with, right? The feeling wouldn't go away however, and the more she examined it, the more she realized it wasn't fear, it was disgust mixed with sadness. But why?
They walked into the kitchen, to find her mom and dad, but also her brother and sister and their spouses. She watched as Steven made his way around, giving hugs and kissing cheeks. It gave her the oddest feeling, as if now she was dreaming. Steven hated hugging, or affection of any kind, in fact, she hadn't found that out until after the wedding…
Cat stopped again. Something was wrong, and she could no longer ignore it. She returned to the living room, hoping that the quiet would help her think. What was the last thing she remembered, before waking up this morning?
"I traded my necklace for a crossbow," she murmured to herself. "The circle tower? But that was a dream?"
"Glad I didn't have to intervene on this one."
Cat whirled around, and saw a very short man in what looked like armor standing in front of her fireplace gazing at the Christmas tree.
"Duran?" she asked, flabbergasted. "It wasn't a dream? You and Zev and Alistair and everyone?"
"Nope," he said smiling at her, though it quickly turned upside down. "Mind telling me how the sloth demon got a hold of you, when you are back with the templars?"
"Uh, no not really," she stammered back.
"Rina? Love?" Steven came into the room, startled to find her not alone. "Who's this?" he asked.
"Like you don't know," she said, her eyes narrowed and angry as she realized what this meant for her "family".
"Great news, I asked your dad, and he gave us his blessings," he continued as if she hadn't said anything. "We're getting married!" he exclaimed pulling her into a hug that felt suffocating.
She squirmed until she had some leverage, and pushed him away. "No means no!" She heard a chuckle and turned to smile at Duran. She turned back just in time to avoid another death grip hug from demon Steven. "I wish you, those mercenaries, and the freaking templars would understand! I'm not interested!" She punctuated her final word with another shove, pushing demon Steven further away.
"Wait, what?!" Duran yelled as he rushed forwards to take care of the man turned demon.
"What?" Cat asked confused. "There may be more in the kitchen!" she called as she searched for a weapon, finding her crossbow under the tree. "Merry Christmas to me!" she said, before giving herself a face palm. "That was awful" she muttered. "Good thing no one heard it."
"Heard what?" Duran asked as he came back from the other room.
"Nothing!" she said quickly, as she felt herself being moved and everything around her disappeared.
It seemed to happen quickly, but it was still disconcerting to disappear from one area, and reappear in another. She saw Oghren, Alistair, Zevran and Wynne in front of her, though they were focused on Duran standing in front of them.
"You made it back, is everything all right?" Wynne asked.
"Yes," he answered. "It appears I had merely forgotten someone," he drawled nodding towards Cat. They all looked behind them, and she received four shocked stares and one smirk as she gave a little wave with her fingers.
"Hi guys," Cat said, then winced as the yelling started. Alistair sounded appalled, Zevran was concerned and then furious, Oghren was happily greeting her like long lost cousins, and Wynne looked confused.
It didn't last long, as the sloth demon's voice overpowered theirs, and they all went silent.
Duran didn't even converse with it, he simply gave out instructions "Cat, stay back with Wynne, the rest of you, let's kill this thing." Then with a shout, he raised his arms and transformed into his Golem form.
Cat ran back with Wynne, though she couldn't stop staring at Duran. The golem form was amazing, but that wasn't all. As the sloth demon took other forms, Duran changed as well, keeping the demon in place for the others to hack and slash at.
Cat was slow on the uptake, but quickly raised her crossbow and began firing at the demon's face. The smaller crossbow may have not done as much damage, but she was able to fire it quickly and accurately, and reload within an acceptable space of time. She finally felt like she was contributing.
After a time the demon finally fell and Cat felt like cheering, but before she could, everything went white. She knew she was lying down, but she felt like she wasn't ready to open her eyes. She could feel the cold stone floor on her face, and simply laid there resting. Though this had happened in the fade, she was exhausted!
She heard some muffled laughter, and decided she'd better find out what was going on. Her eyes flew open as the ground moaned and moved, taking her with it! She was rolled onto her back, and found herself draped across Alistair's legs.
She immediately turned red, and looked up to see that Alistair was also. Her mouth opened and closed, then opened again as she tried to apologize, but nothing would come out.
Zevran, though still chuckling at their discomfort, helped her extract herself from Alistair's lap. "Not only finding us, but falling head over heels as it were," he teased her, watching the blush extend to her neck and ears.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she managed to eke out. "I thought at first you all were dead, and I ran in to check your pulses, and I was checking Alistair's when the sloth demon got me… I must have fallen right on top of you," She looked at Alistair, but found that he was looking anywhere else. "I'm really sorry."
"No harm done toots, I keep telling him to get a girl on top of him, ha ha!" Oghren belched out, and Alistair turned an even darker shade.
But then Alistair spoke up. "I'd like to know what Cat is doing here," he said in a rush. She whirled on him, and he gave her a sheepish look. Throwing her to the wolves like that… Cat decided he would have to pay!
"I would like to know that as well," Zevran said icily to Cat as she hung her head. "It was extremely reckless, just like the trap for the wardens!"
"Wha-?" Wynne gasped.
"You cannot keep doing this, you promised you would be more careful!" he continued as if Wynne hadn't interrupted.
Cat's head came back up slowly, eyes glittering dangerously. She knew she needed to nip this in the bud, or else he would be using these examples against her forever.
"First off, I didn't do it on purpose. I am not reckless, I am simply pushed farther than I am willing to take!" Her voice didn't raise in volume, but they could all hear the strength behind her words.
"Pushed." Zevran said disbelievingly. Duran had to admit, Zevran had guts. It was obvious that Cat was angry, yet he continued to rile her even further.
"Yes pushed," she snarled. "I'm sorry that your precious trap was ruined, but I'm not going to sit there and get manhandled by a disgusting man. Then the templars, trying to console me now that my rabbit is dead-"
"MANHANDLED?!"
"CONSOLE?!"
She wasn't exactly sure who had yelled what, but all four males looked at her with righteous fury on their faces, and it was so intense, she took a step back. The action snapped them out of it, though the anger remained.
Zevran stepped forward, hand outstretched for hers, and she placed hers in his. He spoke softly, but she could tell he was still angry. "One of the mercenaries I hired… tried to…"
"Yes," she replied just as softly. "But I got away, and I am fine. But that is why I was running, I just didn't know that it was the direction of the trap. I'm sorry."
"No, I am sorry" he replied. "Although, things have turned out for the better, have they not?" he asked with a small smile.
"I think so," she said with a squeeze she pulled back her hand.
"About those templars," Alistair began.
"It's nothing, just crude offers since they believed all my companions to be dead" Cat said, turning to the rest of the group. "I finally couldn't take it anymore. I didn't think you were dead, but I knew I'd rather be facing death with you, than staying safely alone."
"I appreciate the sentiment Cat," Duran spoke up. "But you can't blame us for wanting to keep you safe."
"No," she replied. "I can't. And to be honest, I'm glad I didn't have to fight all of that" pointing to the stairs down.
"But now, we have battle stories to share!" Zevran added, coming up and putting his arm around her. "As well as wounds that need kisses-"
"Ugh! Zev!" She pushed him away from her, trying to keep from smiling. "Not a chance!"
"Does that mean no more good luck battle hugs?" Alistair asked.
"Good luck battle hugs?" Cat looked to him, sure she hadn't heard him correctly.
"Yes, remember my dove? Hugs before battle to ensure good luck, like you gave to me before we parted?"
Cat smiled as she understood, "Hugs are ongoing," she said with a grin, and received several back in return.
"Battle hugs?" Cat heard Wynne mutter.