When Cat, Isabela, Varric and Anders arrived at the Hanged Man, they found the rest of their group in the middle of dinner.
"Hawke, I'm so hurt you didn't wait for me," Isabela said sadly as she sat next to him.
"Why?" he asked with a smirk. "Because now you can't add your meal to my tab?"
"Oh Hawke, don't be so cynical." Cat added, winking at Isabela. "She'll easily add her food to your tab anyway." Isabela simply shrugged daintily and Hawke sighed in resignation, waving Norah over.
"Looks like I'll need to add another four bowls," he said, ignoring Anders' protesting. Varric sat himself in his usual spot at the head of the table, with Hawke on his right, and Aveline on his left. Cat had begun to think of these as their spots, and wouldn't sit there even if one of them were missing.
Fenris usually sat on Hawke's right, with Carver next to Aveline, and Anders next to Carver, though they sometimes changed seats depending on who was there when they came in, and who joined up later. Cat would take whatever was available, but Isabela would always go to Hawke's left side. At first he was stubborn about it, but once she demonstrated she would sit in his lap, he now would scoot over and make room, causing those next to him to move down as well.
Cat and Anders were standing near Aveline and Carver, so Cat skirted quickly around the table to sit next to Fenris. It usually came down to a choice of sitting by Fenris or Carver, and Fenris always won. She almost felt bad about it, since Carver never did anything that she could qualify as creepy or disrespectful… but each time she did the same, making Anders sit next to Carver. But that meant that she and Anders were usually across from each other, and far enough from Hawke and Varric to have their own conversations.
The more she got to know Anders, the more she felt a connection with him. It was almost like having her brother with her, but a brother who understood her just a little bit better. She wondered momentarily how her family was doing, then shook herself from her memories, before they became painful.
"Are you all right?" Fenris asked beside her. It took a moment to realize he was speaking to her, as he merely glanced her way, but didn't even turn his head to look at her.
"Yes, thank you," she replied. "We got some information on the missing woman, but it seems that the templar who was investigating thinks that there are other disappearances that may be connected."
"Hmm, that does not bode well." Fenris kept eating, his voice nor features changing in the slightest. She almost wanted to tell a joke, to see if she could break through his stoic expression, but she couldn't think of a good one, and thought it was hardly the time.
"Cat?" Varric said. "You want to tell Hawke what we found?"
"You go ahead Varric, I'm going to eat. But I'll be sure to correct anything you get wrong," she said with a smirk.
"Critics everywhere," Varric teasingly grumbled. "All right Hawke, here's what happened."
Cat listened to Varric retell their short adventure from the Rose to Darktown, noticing that he omitted not only their conversation about her job, but also their argument about whether or not they should go to Darktown without Hawke. She gave him a grateful smile as he finished, and he gave a small nod in return.
"Sounds like this foundry is the only lead the templar was able to come up with?" Hawke asked us all.
"Looks that way, though there isn't much evidence as to why," Aveline replied, scanning through the notes. "It's almost as if it's just a hunch. He thought he saw one of the women go in the foundry, though even in his own words, he isn't certain."
Cat gave Isabela a pointed look. "It couldn't hurt to check it out then. It would be pretty obvious is someone was staying there with kidnapped women," Isabela said.
"True," Hawke replied. He thought for a few more minutes, then said, "Okay, we'll do that tonight. We can head to Sundermount tomorrow morning."
Cat breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that this wasn't going to be overlooked. Anders patted her hand on the table, and gave a smile. "Don't worry Cat, we'll find them." Cat tried to smile in return, but was sure she didn't quite succeed. She was worried, just about a different woman than he thought. Cat glanced over at Hawke, and then at Carver. If there was one thing she had to try and change, it was Leandra's fate.
It was fully dark by the time we left the Hanged Man. Aveline had guard duty so she left, wishing us luck, and Maker's blessings. Cat smirked, as a memory of her Ferelden friends came to mind. Leliana nagged so much about not using the Maker in their curses, that even Alistair had begun to copy Duran and Oghren. Hearing Alistair mutter "ancestors' hairy knuckles!" was something she could never forget, and still made her laugh.
Of course, as Cat remembered that, she started laughing, and tried to pass it off as a cough. Anders and Hawke gave her strange looks, and Isabela just grinned. Cat wasn't going to try to explain, so just kept up the pretense of coughing, patting her chest. "Oh, sorry about that," Cat said lamely.
"Let's get going," Hawke said, ignoring her interruption, and they all started off. The streets were quiet now that Hawke had gotten rid of several of the street gangs, and it was a nice night, albeit quiet.
As they neared the foundry, they came across a woman who looked like a chantry priest speaking with a mercenary. She let him lead her into an alley, to speak about payment, and we all looked at each other in disbelief.
"She is foolish," Fenris said.
"That's obvious," Anders retorted. "Can we save such people from themselves? Or more appropriately, should we?" he asked Hawke.
"We'd better help her," Hawke said, pulling out his staff. "She is obviously ignorant of Lowtown's nature."
"She's fine," Cat muttered as she glanced back at the foundry's courtyard. It had definitely looked like Sister Petrice, so she wasn't very gung-ho about helping.
"C'mon Kitty," Isabela said with a shoulder nudge. "Fighting mercs is the best, because no one cares when they die."
"Technically we're mercs Issy," Cat replied. "I would care if we died."
"If we died, you'd be with the Maker, and wouldn't even think about all of us."
"Wait, in this scenario I'm the one going up, and you all are going down?" Cat said with a grin.
"No, you'd be in hell with all of us," Carver snarked. Cat glanced over, giving him a look.
"What are you trying to say Carver?" she asked sweetly. He tried to answer several times, but changed his mind each time and closed his mouth again. "As I thought," Cat said.
"Let's go... quietly." Hawke said. They were already close to their target, so everyone readied their weapons. Cat looked around the others to see what they were up against, and saw several mercs all standing together while their leader spoke to the sister several feet away.
"Just throw a fireball or something," Isabela whispered. "They gathered together so nicely after all."
Hawke started to shush her, but saw that she was right. He could easily dispatch almost of them with one shot. He gestured them back and released his mana, gathering it into his palm, adding the heat so that the ball burst into flame. He released more mana, so that it would continue to grow as he hurled it, becoming large enough to encompass the five men, but not large enough to hurt the sister.
Cat watched with a smile as the blue orb suspended above Hawke's palm became orange and red, then flaming fire, circling rapidly in the air. He moved his arm back slightly, then pushed forward. If he had been throwing a baseball, the ball would have probably dropped a foot in front of him. But the ball of fire sailed over twenty feet, growing as it went until it crashed into the unaware men, who were suddenly ablaze. Their screams didn't last for long, as the fire engulfed them and receded, finally dying out with all five men charred and prone on the ground. She looked back at Hawke, impressed.
Hawke felt her eyes, and turned to see Cat looking at him, or rather, the staff. There was wonder in her gaze, and she was biting her bottom lip, probably in an effort to stay quiet, and he thought again how innocent she seemed in these moments. He knew she was anything but, however he felt himself wanting to show her more magic, to see that look again. She looked away, and he shook his head. Get a grip Garrett, he told himself. Don't even go there. He squared his shoulders, and surged forward, eager to finish what he started.
"But we were going to the foundry!" Cat seethed. They were grouped together, Sister Petrice and her templar in the other room waiting to hear the answer to their proposition.
"Cat, there is nothing to suggest that there is actually anything or anyone at that foundry. It will still be there in a few days."
"What?!"
"Well, we have Sundermount on the schedule for tomorrow… I guess I could rework some things." Hawke trailed off. "This will probably take until the morning anyway…"
Cat watched in disbelief as Hawke paced around their group, worrying about his schedules. She gave Isabela a questioning look and gestured towards the door, and after a moment received a nod.
"All right then Hawke, you let us know when you're heading to the foundry then," Isabela said, and she and Cat began to walk out.
"Wait, wait." Hawke rushed over to block their path. "Is it always going to be some sort of deal with you two?" he muttered, though they simply looked at him, unmoved.
"No, this is about you only changing your precious schedule when it suits you," Cat replied, trying to keep her annoyance in check. She really didn't want to start ranting, because who knew what she would say.
"That's not what this is." Hawke snapped, obviously annoyed himself.
"We have to help him Cat," Anders added, trying to make her see their point of view. "As a mage, it's our responsibility to help each other, because Maker knows no one else will."
"I get that Anders-"
A snort from Hawke had Cat stopping mid sentence, and glancing over at him. She tried a deep breath herself, but she knew it wouldn't really help.
"YOU are not a mage, you couldn't possibly understand what it is like," Hawke snapped at her. "You are like a child, seeing the wonders of magic for the first time. You have no idea what true horrors every mage has to contend with."
Cat look down at her arm, seeing Isabela's hand gripping her, and following the arm up to her face. Looking in her eyes, Isabela could see that Cat's temper had snapped, and she released her.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Cat's voice was icy and quiet, and Anders found himself giving a shudder at the coldness he felt. He tried to diffuse the situation, and took a step forward, but before he could say anything, Cat's gaze snapped to him, and though he searched for words, he had none. "You may be a mage, but you don't know Qunari. THAT mage," she said as she pointed into the other room, "would kill himself before being free."
"That's absurd!" Hawke replied, his annoyance building as well, though his voice was hot and bright as his fire had been. He looked back as Anders gripped his shoulder, then looked around at the rest of his friends. He could feel their disapproval, though they said nothing. He sighed, letting go of his anger. He should know better, be better. Nothing good ever came from losing his temper.
Hawke gave a nod, and Anders stepped back. Hawke looked between Cat and Isabela, and sighed again. "Perhaps, we can make a compromise," he said, voice dropped back to normal.
Cat was envious of how he was able to reign in his anger, and though she wasn't able to let go completely, she tried to speak normally. "How?" she asked tightly.
"We do this, because it is time sensitive, but we go to the foundry tomorrow once we return to the city."
"In the daytime?" Isabela clarified.
"Yes."
"Everyone." Cat added, and Hawke looked at her questioningly, before looking to his other companions. They all gave assenting nods, so he turned back and agreed.
Cat and Isabela looked at each other, communicating silently, and Hawke determined he needed to learn to read their signals to each other. It would help him immensely if he could understand their silent "talks".
"Fine." Cat said.
"We're in." Isabela added, and the two of them turned to head back into the room with the sister and templar.
Hawke let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He wondered when these two women would start following him as their leader like the rest of the group. He was realizing that getting them to that point would be more difficult than all the others combined.
Challenge accepted you two… he thought, and followed his crew to the negotiations.
"This place is disgusting," Cat said as she looked around for a place to sit.
"We are in the sewers Cat," Anders replied. He continued to gather whatever he could from the supplies of the men who had tried to kill them. How men could choose to live down here, Cat could only guess.
After a time, Anders found enough to make a makeshift camp, including a fire, and the group took places around it. Cat looked over at Hawke, who was still trying to have a conversation with the Quanri mage that they were taking out of the city. She wondered if she should ask specific questions in order for Fenris to explain more about the Qun to Hawke. He obviously did not know about their culture, as he continued to ask the mage what he would like to do.
Cat could tell that Hawke was getting frustrated, and decided to help, to make up for their argument earlier. "Ketojan! Come sit here," she called out. Hawke looked gobsmacked, as the mage immediately did as she said, and Cat pasted a surprised look on her face.
"Wow, didn't think that would work," she said.
"Indeed," Fenris replied, which had her looking around the fire for a place to settle, rather than meeting his gaze. She found a relatively clean place near Anders, and sat down, leaning back against the wall.
"So what's our next move?" Anders asked Hawke as he came to settle near the fire.
Hawke wanted to ask Cat about what just happened, but saw that she had her eyes closed. He looked at Anders and replied, "I think we should get some sleep. We're almost to the edge of the city, and it would be wiser to leave at daybreak."
"Good idea," Isabela said as she settled down next to Hawke.
"Do you know what that was about?" he asked her, nodding to Cat. "Why did he listen to her?"
"I couldn't tell you why Qunari do anything," Isabela replied with a smirk.
"Because it was an order," Fenris said, not waiting to be asked. "The mage has always been led."
"But you were a slave," Hawke said, confused. "And you were able to change once you were free."
"It is not the same…" Fenris said, staring into the fire. Everyone was quiet, contemplating the situation they were in.
"But," Varric broke the silence. "Doesn't every slave want to be free?"
"Unfortunately that is not always the case," Fenris said, though he didn't elaborate.
"Is she okay?" Carver asked suddenly eyes focused on Cat. They all turned to her, watching as she rolled left then right, mumbling something that they couldn't hear.
"I think she's asleep," Anders said. He held out his hand, it glowing as he released his mana to try to help deepen her sleep. As soon as he touched her, she froze and began to scream.