I wake up in a strange bed and I look around my surroundings. I see two piles of sacks and a barrel just behind the sacks to the left. Continuing to look around, I graze past the door and my attention is now caught on poorly stacked bookshelves with most of the books scattered on the floor, a hide that looked to come from a wolf, and a desk just beside the bookshelves. The desk itself also had books both stacked and scattered around it. There were also some… potions, I believe, on the desk and bookshelves. There was a rusted chest in front of me and a fireplace just behind that. As I am about to continue to look, I blink and start looking at my surroundings even closer. I notice that everything is seen with absolute clarity, like when I am in the Fade. I am confused about how I can now see everything with absolute clarity.

I rub my eyes and stare at the fireplace directly in front of the bed. Watching the flames closely, I no longer see the blurred flickerings of crackling flames. In fact I don't even see two versions of the flames; it's a singular version of unblurred flames, something I would only see with glasses… minus the singular version at least. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I force them back, refusing to cry at the ability to see. Instead, I become memorized within the flames that crackle and flicker in front of me. My eyes follow each and every flicker, following the escaping embers that occasionally fall to the ground.

"Ah, your eyes finally open. Mother shall be pleased," a voice startles me out of the enchanting heat of the flames.

I turn to face her and I am stunned by her beauty. Of course I already knew she was beautiful, but being able to finally see her through clear eyes was… magical. Her clear skin was something I was truly envious of, it seemed to have been untouched by any forms of acne or scars. Her bright amber eyes were emphasised by the purple eyeshadow and eyeliner surrounding it. She was wearing a similar shade of purple on lips that matched her outfit and eyeshadow, which screamed, "I'm a witch in the woods!" I sat there gaping at her, not even realising I hadn't responded to her statement. This obvious ignoring, unintentional it may have been but obvious still, caused her to arch a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and cross her arms.

"'Twas your head more injured than Mother thought?"

"Uh…. no," I quickly say, trying to focus my attention and, albeit foggy, brain on the conversation.

"Right," Morrigan trails off, not believing me one bit. "You're back in the Wild, and I am Morrigan, lest you have forgotten. I have just bandaged your wounds, you're welcome by the way."

"Thank you," I mumble quietly, hoping to not interrupt her.

"How does your memory fare? Do you remember Mother's rescue?"

I shake my head, and wince slightly at the movement, "Not really… all I remember is being attacked by darkspawn."

Morrigan nods, "Mother managed to save you and your friend, though 'twas a close call. What is important is that you both live."

I put my head down and slowly swing my legs over the side of the bed so my feet are barely dangling over the grey stone floor.

"The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The darkspawn won your battle." Morrigan says this hesitantly as if she is afraid of upsetting me with knowledge I already have. "Those he abandoned were massacred. Your friend… he is not taking it well."

I nod slowly and rest my head in my hands, "Alistair?"

"The suspicious, dim-witted one who was with you before, yes. He is outside by the fire. Mother asked to see you when you awoke."

"Are there any clothes for me to wear? Non-warden clothes, of course." I ask, as I stand. I try to focus on the feeling on the cold stone on my bare feet, trying to ground myself and ignore the uneasiness.

"Yes, Mother thought it'd be wise to not have two Wardens so obviously walking around. So, we were able to provide some alternative clothing," Morrigan hands me folded leather breeches, an oversized white blouse, a pair of socks, and leather breastplate. I grab the clothes from her and stare down at the floor.

"Thank you, Morrigan… for everything," thanking her meant little, but her mother and herself saved us. It's a debt I will never be able to repay, and hope as I may for the others to have survived the massacre, I know they most likely wouldn't have. When I look at her, she seems taken aback and at a loss for words.

"I… you are welcome, though Mother did most of the work. I am no healer."

I give a small smile, "Still thank you."

She nods, "I will stay and make something to eat. Your staff is over there, if you should need it."

After getting dressed and grabbing my staff, I make my way to the door. Looking back over my shoulder, I see Morrigan chopping lettuce into smaller pieces. Shaking my head, I know once I open the door, the world is not going to stop hurdling shit at us and that I am going to have to save the world as the last of two.

The first thing I see after my eyes adjust to the brightness of the sun reflecting off of the pond is Alistair standing there in rusted mail armor. I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was knee-deep in his grief and lost in the maze of never ending thoughts. I wanted to go over and comfort him, but at the same time, I wasn't ready to face him because I knew what was coming next.

"See? Here is your fellow Grey Warden. You worry too much, young man," I hear Morrigan's mother say.

When Alistair turns around, my breath catches and all I can focus on is him. My God, he is a beautiful- and I mean beautiful man. I can feel myself flushing while he looks at me, his eyes on me causing mine to avert away and stare at the ground. After everything, I'm not ready. I can't face him, not after confessing that I knew how Ostagar was going to end and then everyone dying, but us. It is just too much to handle all at once.

"You… you're alive! I thought you were dead for sure," Alistair exclaims. With relief, anger, confusion, or something else… I have no idea. Does he even want me alive? The thoughts in my head are becoming too much to handle.

"This doesn't seem real. If it weren't for Morrigan's mother, we'd be dead on top of that tower," I know he is upset due to his voice thickening with the anguish of losing everyone he knows. I can feel my heart filling with empathy for him and I finally make eye contact with him again. When I look at his face, his eyes are closed and I notice dried tears on the corner of his eyes. I want to comfort him, but I feel as if I'm to blame for all of this.

Morrigan's mother snorts and looks at Alistair, "Do not talk about me as if I'm not present, lad."

"I didn't mean… but what do we call you? You never told us your name," Alistair snaps his head towards her.

"Names are pretty, but useless. The Chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose it will do."

"The Flemeth from the legends?" Alistair looks shocked looking at Flemeth. I mean I would have if I hadn't known who she was already. "Daveth was right- you're the Witch of the Wilds, aren't you?"

The older woman with her wild hair and wrinkles gives Alistair a glare, "And what does that mean? I know a bit of magic, and it has served you both well, has it not?"

Before Alistair gets himself lit on fire by the ancient mage I jump in and try to diffuse the situation, "And we are eternally grateful for that, so we should thank you."

Flemeth looks at me and again I'm trapped with her piercing gaze, "If you know what is good for you, I suppose you should!"

"Why did you save us, Flemeth?" More specifically, why me? Is what I truly want to ask, but stick with what's already been said.

"Well we cannot have all the Grey wardens dying at once, can we? Someone has to deal with these darkspawn," She crosses her arms and stares me down. "It has always been the Grey Wardens' duty to unite the lands against the Blight. Or did that change when I wasn't looking?"

This causes Alistair to jump in and shout, "But we were fighting the darkspawn! The king had nearly defeated them! Why would Loghain do this?"

At the end of this, Alistair looks towards me, but Flemeth is the one to respond instead of me, "Now that is a good question. Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature."

Flemeth shrugs and glances towards me before looking back at Alistair, continuing to talk, "Perhaps he believes the Blight is an army he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat. The archdemon."

"Does Loghain think that he will get something from the throne?" I ask, scarcely believing that I am able to speak.

This causes me to look towards Alistair as he speaks, "The throne? He's the queen's father. Still, I can't see how he'll get away with murder."

"You speak as if he would be the first king to gain his throne that way. Grow up, boy!" Flemeth retorts, half-amused and half-annoyed seemingly.

"If Arl Eamon knew what he did, he would never stand for it!" Alistair slightly glares at Flemeth, but stops quickly not wanting to upset her. "The Landsmeet would never stand for it! There would be a civil war!"

"Then we need to go to Arl Eamon," I quickly say to Alistair, hoping to speed this piece of dialogue up.

"I… Arl Eamon wasn't at Ostagar, so he would still have all of his men. And he was Cailan's uncle," Alistair responds, obviously hesitant of going to Arl Eamon. "I know him. He's a good man, respected in the Landsmeet. Of course! We could go to Redcliffe and appeal to him for help!"

Flemeth steps in, "You have more at your disposal than merely old friends."

This causes Alistair to have a lightbulb moment and look at me excitedly, "Of course! The treaties! Grey Wardens can demand aid from dwarves, elves, mages, and other places! They are obligated to help us during a Blight!"

"I may be old, but dwarves, elves, mages, this Arl Eamon, and who knows what else… this sounds like an army to me," Flemeth comments, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"So can we do this? Go to Redcliffe and these other places and… build an army?" Alistair asks, looking hopeful. I, on the other hand, am on the verge of a complete panic attack. I did not sign up to become a Warden nor did I sign up to create an army. Even though I am on the edge of a mental breakdown, I somehow managed to school my face and breathe to keep a completely relaxed face. I let out a shaky breath and closed my eyes.

"Sure."

And that is how I found my way to Lothering with Alistair and our newest companion, Morrigan. We have been walking for hours now, weaving and dodging past small packs of darkspawn. Not only do I have to deal with the stress of avoiding darkspawn, but now I have to deal with the… bickering of Morrigan, who is not happy to be here, and Alistair, who is not happy that Morrigan is here. Hearing it through a screen is amusing, you aren't having to deal with the real stress of a Blight, but it is not through a screen. I am both freezing and sweating my ass off right now, my feet are killing me from the amount of walking I have done thus far, my throat is burning, and I am still sore from the injuries I have suffered from. I am about to lose my mind and just scream, and have a complete breakdown in front of the two.

Before I can do so, I see something run towards me. Watching it closely, I see the same mabari that I had saved at Ostagar running towards me. I let out a breath, glad that one thing had stayed the same that was positive. I leaned down towards him, until I heard him start to growl. I look up and see darkspawn running after the dog.

"For fuck's sake!" I yell and hurl a spell towards one of the darkspawn, killing it instantly. This causes another spell to fly past me and Alistair to attack the last two remaining darkspawn with the mabari.

Somehow, we managed to defeat the four darkspawn quickly and while Alistair was walking back towards us, I was tackled by a muscled brindle dog. He was licking me feverishly, which was making me cringe internally. I laughed, finally feeling joy within this horribly somber day. When I managed to push him off of me and lift myself into a sitting position. I let the smile stay on my face while I pet the dog's face. His short tail was wagging furiously and he bounced around me, panting.

"Aww, you're so cute! The darkspawn didn't hurt you, did they?" I say, briefly checking over him to make sure he isn't hurt.

Alistair bends down and starts petting the mabari, while looking at me, "I think he was out there looking for you. He's… chosen you. Mabari are like that. They call it imprinting."

"Does this mean we're going to have this mangy beast following us about now?" Morrigan scoffs, crossing her arms and obviously displeased with him following us. "Wonderful."

"He's not mangy," Alistair coos, with the large dog pants on his face, to which he makes a gross reaction to the dog's breath.

"He's coming with us," I state, not letting any discussion happen from either Alistair or Morrigan. The mabari barks back at me, obviously happy that I'm bringing him along with us. I stand on my two feet and look down to see him staring up at me, panting. I want to coo and squish his cheeks because it looks like he has the biggest and goofiest smile on his face. He is positively adorable and I shall make him mine. I wonder what I should call him while we continue on our journey to Lothering. And while thinking of a perfect name, I start thinking about beans.

That's it, I'm naming him Bean.

"Wake up, gentlemen! More travelers to attend to. Led by an elf, of all things!" The man shouts gleefully, obviously excited to see us. The tan man with black hair stood in the middle and was flanked by one being an awkward looking brunet man, and another brunet, the other looking like he had seen the world's shit. The awkward man looked at us hesitantly, obviously not wanting to mess with us. He turns towards the middle man, obviously the leader, to speak to him, but still keeps his nervous eyes on us.

"Err… they don't look much like them others, you know. Uh… maybe we should just let these ones pass…"

The tan man keeps the smile on his face and ignores the other man's nervousness, "Nonsense! Greetings, travelers!"

"Highwaymen. Preying on those fleeting the darkspawn, I suppose," Alistair whispers disgusted with the men standing in front of us.

Morrigan, also disgusted with the men, states quite plainly, "They are fools to get in our way. I say teach them a lesson."

The leader shakes his hands furiously and laughs relaxed, "Now is that any way to greet someone? Tsk, tsk, tsk. A simple ten silvers and you're free to move on."

"You're not really toll collectors," I bluntly say, not wanting to deal with their bullshit. I cross my arms and stare them down.

He gives me a shocked look and then laughs, shaking his head, "Not much gets past you, I see."

"It's not really a toll. We're just robbing you, see?" The awkward looking man says, not obviously understanding the secrecy behind this operation.

The leader hits the man behind the head and glares at him, "Do shut up! Even a genlock would have understood that."

"We're not paying that," I state and interrupt the man before he continues on with his speech. "And before you say anything, do you want to fight a mage?"

The awkward looking man gets scared and backs up, "A mage? Ahh! I don't want to be a toad!"

"Nobody's turning you into a toad, you sniveling bastard!" The leader shouts before looking back at me, an awkward smile on his face suddenly comes up. "But… we'll, ah… let the toll go. Just this once."

I placed a strained smile on my face and put the coldest look on my face, before threatening, "Aww, well thank you. However, I need you and your buddies to get the fuck out of here… now."

The leader lets fear bleed into his eyes and speaks with a slight shake, "Well… we don't want trouble, so… yes, we'll do that. Thank you for sparing us."

"But you said these refugee types was easy pickings!" The awkward man says, almost in a whining tone.

The leader hits him again and starts to leave, "There are better pastures elsewhere, you fool! Time to go!"

I sigh and walk towards the slope down to head into Lothering. I reach down and let my fingers run through the striped fur of Bean. Looking up into the fields of Lothering, there are many pitched tents, some of the same which we have, and bustling crowds of people and animals alike. Hearing clanking metal come up from behind me, I simply let the coversation of both Morrigan and Alistair play out. I simply let my mind wander over the past days I have been through. I thought traveling was over with, I would've happily accepted dying there, if it gave me the chance to go home. Running for my life on multiple occasions, and for days now, was not my strong suit. I wish I had never survived the Joining.

"Well there it is. Lothering. Pretty as a painting," Alistair speaks wistfully, most likely a fake wistful, but I try not to dwell on it.

Morrigan snorts and starts to speak, "Ah. So you have finally decided to rejoin us, have you? Falling on your blade in grief seemed like too much trouble, I take it?"

Alistair snaps back at Morrigan, "Is my being upset so hard to understand? Have you never lost someone important to you? Just what would you do if your mother died?

"Before or after I stopped laughing?"

"Right. Very creepy. Forget I asked," I can hear Alistair squirming in the back, not used to that kind of… dark humor?

I don't even look at him when I speak, "Alistair, you have been quiet."

Feeling his eyes on me was very unsettling, "Yes, I know. I was just… thinking."

"No wonder it took so long, then," Morrrigan deadpans, and it almost brings a smile to my face. I turn to look over my shoulder at them to watch them pettily argue.

"Oh, I get it. This is the part where we're shocked to discover how you've never had a friend your entire life," Alistair dryly says, trying to ruffle Morrigan's feathers.

"I can be friendly when I desire to," Morrigan starts off and obviously her feather's have been ruffled. "Alas, desiring to be more intelligent does not make it so."

Alistair scoffs and then turns his eyes back towards me, "Anyway… I thought we should talk about where we intend to go, first."

I shrug, "We need to hear some news first before going somewhere."

"But we need to decide what our general plan is for afterwards, don't we?" Alistair questions me and before letting me answer, he says something else. "I think what Flemeth suggested is the best idea. These treaties… have you looked at them?"

"Yes, I have," I really haven't.

Alistair nods, "I think that Arl Eamon is our best bet for help. We might even want to go to him first."

"Morrigan, what do you think?"

Morrigan's eyes are now on me, "Go after your enemy directly. Find this man, Loghain, and kill him. The rest of this business with the treaties can then be done in safety."

"Yes, he certainly wouldn't see that coming! And it's not like has the advantage of an army and experience and-" Alistair starts going on a tangent, but is interrupted by Morrigan.

"I was asked for my opinion and I gave it. If your wish is to come up with reasons why something cannot be done, we will stand here until the darkspawn are upon us."

I sigh and shake my head, finally turning around to face the two, "Why is this all left up to me?"
Alistair shrugs, "Well, I don't know where we should go. I'll do whatever you decide."

"Now that is unsurprising," Morrigan snorts.

"Arl Eamon is a good man, but I don't know for sure he's where we should go. I'm not going to fight about it," Alistair quickly glares at Morrigan before looking at me.

"I'm ready to get going," I quickly say before they can start arguing more.

Alistair nods, "Fair enough. Let's head into the village whenever you're ready. You know, it's just a guess, but I think everyone in Lothering is aware of the approaching darkspawn horde."

I crack a small smile, but turn around quickly and head into the village. Now usually if I was playing the game, I would talk to everyone I possibly could, but this is not a game. I can't just walk up to someone and expect them to not figure out that Alistair and I are Wardens. I simply decide to keep my head down, opting to only talk to people that will get me money. Before I can even make it past the group of tents littering the emptiest part of the village, I hear a shout.

"Caerlion? Caerlion!"

I look towards the shouting, I see a short woman with flaming red hair flying behind her running towards me. I immediately recognized the woman as Brali.

"Holy shit… Brali!" I shout back and start running towards her. When we get close, I wrap my arms around her and feel her wrap around me tightly as well. I'm panting, sweaty, absolutely filthy, and near tears, but she is as well. I am beyond ecstatic and relieved to see her alive. "I… we thought you had died at Ostagar!"

"We thought you did as well, salroka! I am so glad that you and Alistair were able to survive," she exclaims, pulling back from the hug, I see tears rolling down her pale face from her bright green eyes, this makes the tears escape from mine as well. I didn't even care what she called me, not that I understood, I was just glad to see her alive.

I finally let go of her and stood fully up, wiping the tears from my eyes, "Wait… we? Who else escaped?"

"Adalwin and Revas," She hesitates to say Revas' name, probably considering that the last time we spoke in front of everyone, it was an argument. I sniffle and can honestly say that while the guy is a complete and utter ass, I'm glad he's alive. This makes the horribly weighing guilt on my heart and mind ease considerably, although I still feel terribly guilty about not being able to save King Calian or Duncan.

"Where are the assholes?" I laugh shakily, still not able to fathom that they are alive. I look back to see Alistair just as shocked as I am at seeing Brali alive, and possibly from hearing that the Revas and Adalwin were alive as well.

"They were headed to the Chantry, saying something about getting some jobs?" Brali obviously confused on why they were going to the Chantry. I let a relaxed smile make its way on my face and wrap my arm around her shoulders.

"Well then! Off to the Chantry!" I exclaim before marching off to find the others. Alistair and Bean hot on my heels, with Morrigan walking behind them much slower.

Alistair muttering, "The Chantry is still running the Chanter's board? Now THAT'S dedication."

We finally make it to the Chantry and I make quick notice of the Chasind man not being there scaring people, in fact anything that would have been handled by me has not been shown; besides the highwaymen. This quickens my steps to the Chantry stairs and eventually up them leading me straight to the large looming doors of the Chantry. My heart quickens and I feel breathless all of sudden, the pounding beat of my heart drowns out the conversation of Brali confirming that the two are inside and she is not making it up. Three more wardens, meaning there are five of us to the Blight. Worry starts to flood my mind as I wonder what else has begun to change. What if I don't know what to expect anymore? I shut down the wanderings of my mind, too many what ifs to deal with. Alistair brushes past me and opens the doors.

Following behind him, I hear Brali point out the two talking to Ser Bryant, the templar in charge of the Chantry here in Lothering. I am completely immobilized at seeing the two, alive, breathing, walking, talking, simply… being. Alistair lets out a surprised laugh and sounds like he is nearly about to cry when he says, "By the Maker, am I glad to see you two!"

Adalwin is the first to turn, and I can see the noble aura that protrudes from him, his icy blue eyes first looking at Alistair then me. They start swimming in shock and his thin lips part slightly, he starts trying to get attention from Revas, who seems more hesitant to turn. But he does eventually and I'm the first he looks at. It seems we are all stunned at seeing the others alive, a good stunned, but stunned nonetheless. I start to feel the contempt ebb and relief fills it instead. I slowly start to move towards them. Alistair grabs Revas in a tight hug and Adalwin comes up to me.

"By the Stone, it is good to see you!" Adalwin wraps his arms around my waist and I hug him back just as tightly. I feel laughter build up in my chest, and let out a small laugh so as to not sound rude but more of a relief excitement. After giving him one more squeeze, I let him go and step back. I really look at him and see the intricately detailed braided beard, his pale hair that used to be long and braided back into a ponytail is now short and shaped in a mohawk. He was handsome, his pale blue eyes shone brightly, but not my type.

"It really is! I am so glad everyone is alive," I honestly say. I truly mean it, my heart feels completely filled to the brim with warmth and happiness due to them all being alive. Adalwin and Alistair go into a hug and begin quickly talking to each other, obviously excited to see the other. I feel Revas come to stand next to me and I stare at his side profile. He was very handsome, he had beautiful tanned skin, dark brown almost onyx eyes, a straight nose, curly black hair, and full lips. Again, a very handsome man, but almost every person I have spent more than 5 minutes with has been handsome and/or beautiful.

Revas suddenly turns to look at me and our eyes meet. I am stunned and begin to flush intensely at being caught. I want to say something, but the words get caught in my throat.

"Uh…" I trail off, clearing my throat, I stare intensely at the ground.

"Caerlion…" Revas starts, causing me to look at him with furrowed eyebrows. "I… am glad you are alive."

A small smile paints his face and I return one towards him. I quietly respond, "Me too, you're an ass, but it'd suck if you died."

He snorts and quirks an eyebrow, "Oh? Why's that?"

"Because then I'd have no one else to argue with," I shrug.

We are now sitting in the overcrowded tavern and discussing what we have learned from inside the Chantry. I look down into the sea of people and spot another familiar redhead, before turning back to the conversation.

"I can't believe Loghain would poison Earl Eamon!" Alistair exclaims… for the eighth hundred time this afternoon.

"And 'tis why I said you must go after this Loghain," Morrigan simply states, and before Alistair can snap back, Brali jumps in.

"Then we go to Redcliffe first and help them out," she states, looking around at the rest of us for confirmation. I hesitate to nod, I really don't want to do anything except hide but I can't do that. I am one of the last people to nod, along with Revas, which was odd.

"Well, I'm going to buy some more ale, would anyone else like some?" Adalwin sighs while slapping his hands on the wooden circle table and standing up. Alistair, Brali, and Revas raise their hands. Leaving Morrigan and I are the only ones who didn't raise their hands.

"This ale was not very good, I refuse to partake in it again," Morrigan scrunches her nose and glares down at her half empty mug. When the others turn to look at why I have barely touched my drink.

"I agree, it's really not that good," I quickly said.

Adalwin nods and heads downstairs to the tavern owner to get more ale. I sigh and watch as he heads down the stairs. Just as he is about to get to the bar, the door swings open and I see a group of men, with various weapons, walk in. I see that they are looking at Adalwin, with him looking back, and discussing something before the redheaded woman in the Chantry garb from before walking up to them. This causes me to stand up and start to slowly head down, with the others following suit behind.

All of a sudden the men pull out their weapons and begin to attack. The others run down the stairs while Morrigan and Brali stay behind to attack with a combination of spells and arrows. I can only stand to watch, hesitating to attack the men. Fighting wolves and darkspawn are one thing, but human beings? This is completely different. They have families, probably, and people who care about them, hopefully. I don't know if I could handle accidentally killing a human being.

After a while, not with any help from me, the men are defeated and are sent back to Loghain with a message about how we know the truth and shit like that.

The short redhead lady stepped in front of Alistair and Revas, while Brali, Morrigan, and I all made our way up to the rest of the group. I look at her closely and become slightly jealous of how pretty she is. She has pale skin, not as pale as me though, baby blue eyes, a rounded nose, and thin lips. Just like Morrigan and Brali, she looked absolutely perfect.

"I apologize for interfering, but I just couldn't sit by and not help," she says, and it seems like she has a slight French… Orleasian accent?

Revas crosses his arms, "And who are you, anyways?"

"Let me introduce myself. I am Leliana, one of the lay sisters of the chantry here in Lothering. Or I was."

"What does that mean?" Adalwin asks, pushing himself to the front of the pack, making Revas stand next to me. I merely glance at him before turning back to Leliana.

She looks down towards him, "I joined the Chantry to live a life of religious contemplation, but I am no priest, not even an initiate."

I roll my eyes and smile at her, "I am Caerlion, it's nice to meet you, Leliana!"

She smiles back and nods towards me, obviously grateful for the lack of hostility towards her. She then looks back at Adalwin with furrowed eyebrows and says, "Those men said you're a Grey Warden. You will be battling darkspawn, yes? That is what Grey Wardens do?"

"We are Grey Wardens," I answered him, sensing the hesitation. "Would you like to come along and help us?"

I feel everyone's eyes shoot towards me in shock. I merely ignore them and continue to smile at Leliana waiting for an answer. I know I can trust her, so there is no need for the unnecessary hesitation these idiots are giving. I will merely explain it to them later… maybe.

"Perhaps your skull was cracked worse than Mother thought," Morrigan mutters underneath her breath.

"More crazy? I thought we were all full up," Alistair says with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Leliana's smile returns, even wider than before, her blue eyes sparkle and she nods eagerly, "Thank you! I appreciate being given this chance. I will not let you down."

"What were you thinking?" Adalwin shouts at me as soon as we split up from the rest of the group. We had decided to split into two groups and I had gotten Revas, Adalwin, and Alistair to get some of the Chantry jobs done.

"She's a good person, we can trust her," I simply shrug, not wanting to get in an argument just yet.

Adalwin sputters, "Oh, is she? We just met her! By the Stone, are you crazy or are you full of sod!"

"Yes," I start to walk faster to get out of this.

"We are talking about this later!"

"No, we aren't!" I shout back at Adalwin. I huff and start to look for that poor boy's mother. I hear a clearing of a throat beside me and look up to see Alistair.

He looks nervous and like he doesn't want to be doing this right now. From his face, it seems as though he's been forced to do this by Adalwin. I stop walking and stare at him, obviously waiting for him to start talking; I ignore the fluttering of butterfly wings in my stomach. He clears his throat and starts to rub the back of his neck, "You know… Adalwin was right. It was really dangerous to let her join without any prior sort of questioning."

That's it. I'm done with everyone doubting my decisions, albeit it's justified, but still I'm done. So, I sigh and rub my forehead, "Listen, I know, but you have to trust me. I will explain everything later, I promise. Does everyone understand?"

I look around at everyone staring, and their responses are just nods.

"Great!" I clap my hands together and put a fake smile on my face. "Can we continue on with the job? I am starving and would like to get this show on the road!"

I am unbelievably stressed out. We have finally finished all of the Chantry jobs and other odd jobs, freed Sten (the Qunari that doesn't look like a Qunari), and are heading towards where we get to the camp. Where I am going to reveal all of my nasty secrets, maybe. Great, right?

I'm at the end of the group and just watching everyone go towards the ruined bridge. Slowly following them, I nervously chew on my bottom lip. I don't really know what to say, I mean I do, but I don't. I watch as Revas stops walking while looking at me and I barely glance at him as he walks next to me.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked me about Ostagar yet," his Scottish accent barely even loud enough for me to hear.

I snap my eyes towards him and completely stop walking, "What…? What do you me-"

Immediately I am reminded of what he said at Ostagar towards me before we separated.

Before they get too far, I grab Revas' arm and pull him to the side making sure that the others cannot hear us. I know he is staring at me confused and I am sure my frantic expression is not helping matters at all, but I ignore it all.

"Revas, I know you don't like me, but you have to listen. The battle is not going to go exactly to plan. Loghain-"

He interrupts me, "Caerlion, I know."

"Revas, how did you know?" I question, my eyebrows furrowed and there is probably an accusing glimmer too.

Not walking as well, he gives me a sad look, "I don't know how long I have been here from Earth, but it has been 14 years here."

I gape at him shocked, "You're… I… what…?"

I was at a loss for words, Revas was from Earth? What the fuck? I don't know how to feel, all I can do is just stare at him. Out of nowhere I am filled with emotion and don't know how to feel really. I am shocked, relieved, happy, sad, and numb all at once. It feels good to have someone understand what it is like to be stuck here. I don't know what the others are doing, perhaps they have already started fighting the darkspawn on the road attacking Bodahn and Sandal. Frankly, I don't care either, they could turn back and see us hanging behind, it wouldn't matter. I am finally not alone in this situation, in this world.

"What do you know?" Is the first thing that escapes me when I manage to find the words.

"I know what happens in this game, but I don't know the other ones. I only just finished this one," He replies quietly. The feeling of having the world on my shoulders starts to ebb slowly. I'm not alone and I'm not the only one that knows what is going to happen.

I looked up at him, "Did Duncan…?"

He shakes his head, "I never got the chance."

We start to walk towards the rest of the group, we see that they indeed were attacking the darkspawn on the road, but they were already talking to Bodahn and Sandal. I share a confused glance with Revas and jog up to the huddled group. I barely glance at the two dwarven men, one copper haired and one almost as blonde as Adalwin, before I start healing the group. When I get to Alistair, I start healing his wrist, which is swollen and I can see bruising.

"Where were you and Revas?" I quickly glance up into his eyes, feeling the butterflies, I focus back on his wrist and quietly answer.

"He wanted me to heal his arm, it was horribly broken."

"Oh," he quietly responds. I can tell he doesn't really believe me, but I am not exactly ready to tell him. I will tell him tonight when we get to the camp… maybe. Or maybe I will let Revas handle it.

After I finished healing everyone, I turned around to see Bodahn and Sandal standing next to them discussing quietly to themselves, talking to Revas. I walk up to them and hear the conversation.

"As I was telling your friends, the name's Bodahn Feddic, merchant and entrepreneur. This here is my son, Sandal," Bodahn looks towards the pale blonde young boy next to him. "Say hello, my boy."

The smiling boy, Sandal, looks at us, "Hello."

I let Revas handle the rest of the formalities with Bodahn and Sandal, knowing that no matter what is said right now we will eventually meet back up with them on the road… in about five hours. I would like to say an exact number, but the exact number was never stated when playing. However, when looking at the setting sun, the warm orange glow radiating over the rustic town. Everyone has a warm glow about them due to the sun saying it's goodnights. The inhabitants of this town look as though they are preparing for another restless night, one I can most definitely relate too. It makes me quite sad to think about how these people are going to be greatly impacted by the darkspawn ravaging and destroying the beautiful scenery in front of me. I reluctantly tear my eyes away from the scenery, not wanting to feel the despair and grief anymore.

"Complicated?" Bodhan laughs loudly. "Somehow, I imagine that only says half of it."

He has no idea how his statement is true.