The walk on the main road to Redcliffe was mostly uneventful, being in the Hinterlands the lands were lush and green and mountainous, this was arguably Sunny's favourite part of Ferelden. She had spent much time here with Maric when she finally found him after his mother was betrayed and murdered, she wouldn't forget the pain on his face and in his eyes, but it had made him grow up very fast into the man he needed to be, into the man Ferelden needed. It seemed something like this was needed to kick Alistair up the arse, to get him to accept what he was. She only hoped he would not have to lose anyone to give him that kick, she hoped he would grow up before he lost someone and save them. she was still fuming at his order, she had been lenient though she told herself. Maric, she had punched in the face before telling him such orders would not be tolerated, Alistair she told him and left before she did punch him. Maybe she had a soft spot for blonde, broad-chest, ex-Templars with a Ferelden accent. She found she enjoyed a Ferelden accent much more than orlesian and nevarren, the words spoken in a Ferelden tongue were crisp and clear there were no hidden meanings in a lilt of the tongue, and a Ferelden looked you in the eye when they spoke to you. no hidden meanings, and a Ferelden wouldn't stab you in the back like an orlesian, they would stab you in the front, something Sunny appreciated and could easily defend against. Fereldens were about honour.
Sunny had fought only a few pockets of Darkspawn, nothing she couldn't handle alone but she had travelled quite far now and evening was drawing near. She could see smoke rising above the trees, and knew this could also just be refugees, but she had been in these situations before and it was never just a group of refugees. She moved to the trees and decided she would find the source of the fire, if not just to put her mind at ease. Sunny enjoyed moving through the woods, the smells reminded her of the home she no longer had. Just moving through the trees as she used to on a hunt was elating, the earth moving under her soundless steps, the birds tweeting around her, all these were things she loved and had forgotten she enjoyed. She could hear talking up ahead and that had snapped her back, she could tell they were more than refugees straight away, they were well armoured and were all armed with good quality gear, only two people stood out from the group surrounded by upturned carts one was a woman, obviously the bait to their trap, the other was an Elf, but one like she had never crossed, he wore no Vallaslin, so he wasn't Dalish. Although a tattoo did adorn his face, he was not meek like other city elves, and he carried daggers so he was not a circle mage. She moved ever so slightly closer just to hear his voice she caught a wisp of it but he stopped talking to look in the wood toward her, though he had not seen her, she had deduced that his accent was Antivan. Also that if he could nearly spot her at this distance, he was a well trained spy or assassin and that meant he could very likely be a Crow.
The question was now, who had he been hired to kill? she had come across no other person on her way to Redcliffe, so that meant most of the refugees had already moved, Redcliffe was also too far south to be deigned safe to travel now the Darkspawn were here. So they could only be waiting for someone in the Grey Wardens group, it could be for Alistair if anyone else knew of him, or Elissa if Howe realised she lived, for she had heard the rumours of the Couslands tragic accident which was why she was so surprised to have seen Elissa, Loghain would want the next strong family gone too. and the Bard Leliana would be the next choice if she had killed someone too important and someone had paid a hell of a lot of money to find out who. She could hear murmurs from another part of the group and 'Grey Warden' popped up a few times, so it could be for Elissa or Alistair, and if these people were hired by Loghain it could very well be for both of them. She would just have to wait and see, when her companions arrived who they went for. Night had almost fallen by the time her new comrades started to near, and sunny kept her eye on the Elf as he posed the most danger.
As if on cue the woman ran out the group screaming about bandits when the group charged up the hill into the small valley, Alistair Charging head first, Sunny could almost facepalm at the inability to spot a ruse when this so obviously was one, she nocked an arrow and waited for the woman to draw the dagger at her back ready to stab Alistair who was holding her shoulders trying to get her to calm down before she let it fly with a small outlet of breath, the rest of the bandits began their attack on the group just as the arrow pierced through the back of the woman's head and out of her throat, blood spurted over Alistair's face and he was in shock before he realised the rest of his companions were fighting for their lives and he had to join the fray.
The battle was hard going; they seemed to be appearing from the wood like rats from a burning barn. Though he noticed the archers on the rocks had fallen in quick succession and he couldn't tell who was killing them that was until he came face to face with a Blonde haired elf not a foot away and a blade aimed at his throat caught in a three pronged blade, one he had recently been on the end of, over his shoulder, the Elf before him looked startled. Alistair could feel Sunny's soft fingers graze the back of his neck on his hairline as she used him to vault over kicking the elf in the side of the head. She turned to look at Alistair with a wave of her hand he felt rejuvenated all the little nicks and cuts on his skin were healed, he was caught in her eyes for a second, he knew she said she would protect him, that she was his sword and his shield, but for someone to actually do something selfless for him... he just couldn't believe there were still people like it. There was worry in her eyes as well as excitement and he felt himself get excited as well. The battle continued with him and his companions killing the rest of the mercenaries as Sunny took on the Blonde elf.
After much deflection and parrying blows the blonde elf realised the Auburn one was playing with him. His chest was heaving, barely able to keep up with her movements and blows while she seemed to flow effortlessly like water down a stream, she didn't even seem to be fatigued at all, while he was gasping for air at every given second, gawping like a fish with his mouth open, she wasn't even panting, he just couldn't keep up, he couldn't believe he would fall here, to this woman who had such a fierce look in her eyes. Despite the coldness radiating from them, the colour reminded him of the warmth of his homeland, of Antiva, the gold around her pupils of the sun and the green of the vineyards across the country for her bustling wine trade.
The next thing he knew he was on his knees and she was walking away leaving him worn out and with nothing but superficial wounds, she wasn't even intending to kill him and he was annoyed to no end that she had the gall to show him her back, which he was certain was an underlying insult to his prowess as an assassin. His Target, the female Warden, Lady Elissa Cousland, began talking to him, drawing his eyes away from the elf who was now talking to the other Warden.
Alistair couldn't believe it, she had left them many hours before they even left camp, so she must have lain in wait for them so she could be here for when the bandits attacked and she had remained hidden for them, sitting alone in the wood for hours just waiting, he didn't think his patience could stretch that far. She stood before him, his heart pumping with adrenaline and exertion and she looked as though she had done nothing but watch, and he felt very intimidated.
"You... waited." he said quietly, as soon as it left his lips he knew it was inadequate for what he wanted to say and probably inadequate for what she needed to hear, he probably should have said 'thank you'. Though he was certain a smile quirked at her lips.
"I am your sword and shield, of course I waited." she said almost whispering back, the images of her behind him flashed through his mind, her blade level with the one at his throat, he may have been killed in that fight and she just acted like it was her job to stop that from happening no matter the cost. He wanted to say something to Sunny when he heard Elissa ask the assassin to join them, he couldn't believe it and his reaction showed it, he shouted over to her that he didn't want him to come along, the man was trying to kill them, why on earth did she think he wouldn't try it at night, when they were sleeping? He saw in the corner of his eye that Sunny was turning to leave, to head on to Redcliffe on her own again, if he was to travel with the assassin he wanted her to stay with him. He grabbed the arm that was holding her waist and heard a soft moan of pain. He turned to look at her and realised that it was accompanied by the slap of liquid hitting the floor he looked at her feet and saw the blood dripping from her hand, from her side, his head whipped around to look at the assassin and saw that he was covered in too much blood to be from his own injuries.
"Wynne!" He almost squeaked, he knew he should have been embarrassed but he found he was too worried to care, he knew he had barely known her for 48 hours but she was more than willing to throw away her life for him. Because he was next in line as king his mind shouted at him unhelpfully, but even so, there was saying you would give your life for someone and then there was actually giving your life for someone and he found he didn't like the feeling of responsibility or the feeling of guilt that came with almost losing that person. Wynne looked worried as she came over which seemed to anger Sunny more.
"I am more than capable." Sunny hissed as she yanked her arm from his grasp, to place her hand over the gushing wound, Alistair was ushering her to sit down as Wynne was preparing a spell. Sunny wanted to yell at him, to get him to get a hold of himself, but he looked just like Maric did the first time she had injured herself badly protecting him.
"When?" Alistair asked as he managed her to sit down on a log, more by force than by her cooperating. She felt the mages spell wash over her and was almost thankful for the relief but her frown remained on her face, she was more than capable of healing herself.
"When the assassin, Zevran, tried to attack you, it was either deflect the sword of the bandit I was fighting and risk losing you or run into the blade so I knew I could reach you in time." Her brow furrowed as she spoke, looking at him and using a tone of voice that was confused, almost like she was wondering why she needed to explain this? The new recruit of the motley crew chuckled at this.
"You are lucky to have someone with such a strong sense of purpose at your side." He said this and his eyes met Sunny's under Alistair's arm. Anyone could feel the tension between the two, the pure dislike for the other.
"I'd much prefer to have a purpose of honour rather than where my next payday came from." The two sneered at each other. "I can kill him if you tell me to." Sunny spoke to Alistair but her eyes didn't leave Zevran, they continued to stare each other down. The fact that the Antivan Crow managed to hold her gaze as long as he did surprised Alistair but he still looked away with a feigned cough. Alistair looked over to Elissa who was fuming that one word from Alistair and Sunny would kill the person she had just assured would have his life were he to help with the Blight. Elissa's eyes turned to him, he could hear her argument now 'You didn't want to lead, so don't second guess my decisions' but before she had a chance to voice it he cut her off.
"Don't worry Sunny, I trust Elissa's judgement." Elissa beamed at him and he felt his heart stutter, and blush came to his cheeks, but he noticed Sunny's face didn't change she simply nodded and rose to her feet.
"The night is now drawing in, I would suggest that we set up camp for tonight, there is a stream for fishing nearby and the gulley of the cliffs mean we can only be attacked from the path if we move further up" she pointed further in to the gulley, away from the wooded area and turned to look at the elf. "I assume our assassin is presumptuous enough not to have a secondary group ready to approach us." Zevran grinned at her.
"What can I say, I never fail to please."
"Then we should be safe enough." She turned to Elissa. "This is okay?" Elissa smiled and nodded, she couldn't have said better herself, though she was still reeling from the blush that washed and was still on Alistair's cheeks when she smiled at him, he was still avoiding looking at her and stepped behind Sunny, whom was now looking even more confused than when he had asked her why she was hurt. Elissa couldn't help but laugh when Sunny asked him if he had a fever. Alistair stumbled over his words and exclaimed that he would get firewood.