Darkness crept across the sky as the sun vanished behind the mountains off in the distance. The Warden's had covered quite some distance from their last rest stop and it was about time for another. Daehyun and Youngjae had been sent to scout ahead for a decent camp site and had returned shortly after. Moving to the clearing they'd found the Warden's and Dalish dropped everything in exhaustion.

 

“Right.. Himchan, Jongup and Zelo set up the tents. Daehyun and Keo go find us some fire wood, Kai and Youngjae see if you can find us some food and Lyonna..With me.” Yongguk ordered with a glare. He was clearly shattered by the looks of him but he stood tall and remained firm.

 

Lyonna nodded and stepped beside the Berserker while the others complied obediently. “Yes? Are you alright?”

 

Yongguk cast a glance to the girl and nodded, “Course. We're on water duty though.. So be ready.”

 

“For?” Lyonna tilted her head as she followed the Warden who had unsheathed his sword. “I wasn't aware the task of water retrieval was so dangerous.” She giggled a bit.

 

Yongguk looked over his shoulder at her and faltered a little, smiling that gummy smile of his. He hadn't realised it but she cleaned up well. Now that her wounds had healed and she had changed out of the tattered clothing and into the feminine robe Zelo had accidentally bought in Orlais last year, she looked quite beautiful. He was at a bit of a loss and his nerves crept up on him. “Uh.. Bears... Stalk the..Water.”

 

Another giggle emitted from the Dalish and she clasped her hands behind her back. “Oh, in that case please protect me dear Warden.”

 

He flashed her a smile and continued on route to the nearby river, mentally kicking himself. “Of course, Milady.” That was idiotic. He knew dangers could arise from being near running water but the river they found would never be home to a bear, a fox or the odd wolf maybe but never a bear. It lacked in fish and size. Upon arrival he pulled the flasks out his pack and began filling them at the edge, the mage close by his side.

 

Lyonna tilted her head, her curls falling to one side as she watched him. When it came to humans she merely tolerated them but the Warden's seemed likeable. Especially the fearless leader she was with. She'd noticed how gentle he was despite being a monster slayer and berserker. “You don't seem the type.” She finally said, kneeling down beside him to help with the flask filling.

 

“Not the type for what?” He asked though he dared not look at her, he was still embarrassed from the last time he opened his mouth.

 

“For this life.” She shrugged. “I can just imagine you with some pretty wife and some children. A proper family man living a working life in some village. How did you end up fighting monsters? Not that I'm not grateful. You're incredibly brave and I haven't seen you falter once. But.. You have a gentle spirit.. I can sense it. So why not run away and start a family?”

 

Yongguk stopped what he was doing and found the courage to look at her, chocolate coloured optics locked on her silver ones. “Someone has to do it.” He smiled at her and began playing with the flask in his hands. “Admittedly I'd love to have a wife and kids and work for a living.. Farming seems nice but... I always hated fighting. I'd have avoided it forever if I could but life isn't like that. A fight found me and I found a reason to continue. I followed my instincts and although I still hate fighting, I know I fight for the right reasons. I fight for others rights to have a family and grow crops in peace. Besides.. It isn't ideal but I have a family.. Those boys, you girls.. You're all my family.”

 

Lyonna's gaze softened and she placed her hand over his. “You're too good of a man, Yongguk. Too good for this fate. Thank you. For everything. Truly.”

 

He let out a chuckle and lowered his head, gaze dropping as redness snuck across his cheeks. “It's a Warden's duty, Milady.” The two exchanged smiles and went back to gathering water for the camp.

 

Meanwhile in the woods Daehyun was glaring at the mage who was walking a few paces ahead of him. He was still holding onto the grudge he'd built up against her. He held the wood while she gathered and every time her back was turned he'd scowl at her. His shoulder was now scarred thanks to her suddenly lashing out at him, as if he didn't have enough scars already. He wasn't aware she had such mood swings and had he known better he wouldn’t have been nice to her.

 

Keo was well aware of the glaring but played oblivious, she wasn't sure why she was suffering his sulk but she refused to humour him. After collecting another two sticks she shuffled back to the assassin and set them in the small pile they'd gathered with a smile. She was only met with his death glare. So finally she broke. “What have I done now?” She frowned, arms crossing.

 

“Nothing. Keep gathering.” He huffed, expression sourly.

 

“No, no, Sourpuss.” She tsked. “Clearly somethings irritating you. What's wrong?”

 

Daehyun crinkled his nose up at her and shoved the firewood into her arms before stomping off to gather instead, leaving a bewildered mage in his wake. Unlike Keo he could pick up the larger branches and carry more so each time he returned to her she gradually lowered to the grass under the weight. He never gave her time to say anything, he just dropped the wood in her arms and jogged off to find more.

 

Keo struggled with the load and eventually dropped them all when he'd returned with a particularly large branch. “Right.. That one was pretty much a stump.. What's your problem?”

 

Daehyun was just standing there with his arms crossed and all he did was give her a disproving look. “Pick them up.” He ordered.

 

“No. What's wrong?” She defied him, hands going on her hips.

 

“Pick them up.” Daehyun ordered again, this time more slowly while taking a step towards her.

 

“No. What's wrong?” Keo once again defied him and pressed. In hindsight this wasn't her brightest idea.

 

He took another step closer, now towering over the elf with only inches between them. “Pick. Them. Up.” He repeated, though it sounded more like a final warning.

 

Keo gulped and peered up at him from behind her hair. She shrank back into herself and lowered her gaze to the wood. “I can't...” She mumbled reluctantly.

 

“Why not?” He asked. It was a simple question but coming from him it seemed more like an accusation. He was also yet to back away from her.

 

“They're too heavy..” Had she only looked up she'd see the smirk growing on his face and catch on to what he was doing but she was too scared to look at him.

 

“Why?” This was too much, even for him however he kept the low sound to his voice. Daehyun couldn't hold back the devilish grin. Messing with her was his only method of payback and so far it was going well.

 

Keo flinched a bit, hand moving to rub at the back of her neck. “Because I'm not as strong as yo- Hey!!” She'd glanced up to catch the grin and instantly smacked him. “You're such a !”

 

Daehyun laughed heartily as she shoved him and stormed off. “Pretty much, yeah!” He called after her, amused by himself. Shaking his head his grin grew and he jogged after her to bug her some more. “Come now, my dear. I jest, I jest. But you should have seen your face!” His laughter was quick to bubble up again.

 

Keo glared at him as he was now walking backwards in front of her. “Of course. No, it's okay. I totally get it!” She faked a smile. One thing he was forgetting was that she was a Dalish mage and that they were standing in a forest. She flicked her wrist and roots moved under the dirt below his boots. She watched as he tripped backwards and the roots shot out the ground and strung him up by his ankles so he was dangling upside down in front of her. She let the fake smile vanish and patted at his cheek roughly. “You should see yours.” It was her turn to smirk at him.

 

Daehyun grumbled and he struggled around to try and get his ankle free but to no avail. When he was sure he couldn't get out he crossed his arms and nodded in respect. “Well played, little elf. Well played. Now let me down.” Logically he could have cut himself down with his daggers but in order to do that.. He'd need them. As of now they were laying below him on the grass.

 

Keo tilted her head, grinning a grin to mimic the one he had earlier, “Nah, don't think I feel like it. I think I'll leave you here.” She giggled and her heel to skip away.

 

“Oi! Don't you dare!” Daehyun glared. All the blood was starting to rush to his head now. He needed down. “Don't you think it'd raise questions if you returned without me? Let me down, idiot.”

 

She remained facing away from him but tipped her head back to look at him. “I'll just say you got eaten by a wolf pack. There's tracks everywhere here, they'll be none-the-wiser.” Keo then twirled to face him and started bubbling up with tears to prove she could get away with it. “Guk!!” She wailed and dropped to her knees. After a few sobs she sniffled the tears back, “Daehyun!.. Oh god the wolves.. They just tore him apart! It was awful! I was too late! I'm so sorry!”

 

Daehyun watched with his mouth agape as she rose after a few more sobs and wiped away her tears only to smile at him and begin to walk away again. “Holy .. No! No come back and love me that was great! I do believe this is the start of a gorgeous friendship, Keo! You've been holding back on me, dear.”

 

Keo was suddenly inches from his face which made him jump a little at the closeness. “Why should I let you down, Daehyun? Give me one good reason.”

 

“Because.. I'm your favorite Antivan?” He tried, grinning lopsidedly at her.

 

“Nope. That's Jongup.” She smirked. “Try again.”

 

“Ouch.” He winced, putting his hand to his heart. “Why wound me like this?.. Fine. Because I'm the most handsomest man you know?”

Keo scrunched up her nose and waved her hand from side to side dismissively, “Ehh, I've seen better. I mean look at Himchan. Damn.”

 

Daehyun was staring at her with bemusement now. “I'll give you that. Fine.. What do I need to do to get you to release me?”

 

Keo tapped at her cheek in thought for awhile, purposely taking longer than needed. She knew exactly what to do but having an assassin under her mercy was too much fun.

 

He narrowed his eyes at her as he waited, knowing full well she was just making him suffer. This was ridiculous, he was supposed to be making her pay for his shoulder not the other way around. “Keo. I'm actually begging you now, my head feels like it's going to explode.”

 

“I think a man servant will be adequate.” She grinned, “I'll only let you down if you promise to be my personal .”

 

“What!? No way. Forget it. I'm not being a slave.” He growled and turned his head away from her in defiance.

 

Keo smirked and turned to skip away then. “Fine. Have fun getting down on your own.”

 

Daehyun dropped his arms in defeat, simply letting them hang. “Ugh! Fine!! I'll be your ing man servant.”

 

Once again Keo appeared out of nowhere with her lack of personal space. “Promise?” She lifted her pinky to him. “If you break it I get to burn your balls off.”

 

The disturbing thing to Daehyun was that her words didn't surprise him. No, he'd concluded she was evil awhile back. This just proved it. He sighed and hooked his pinky with hers. “I promise. I'm your man without reservation. This, I swear.” Though he lacked in enthusiasm.

 

The second he'd promised the roots shot back down into the earth, releasing him half way down. As expected he'd let out a girly sounding scream and was now on the ground glaring up at her. Keo clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet innocently. “Come, my minion. We have a duty.”

 

“Evil.” He muttered under his breath. In one fluid movement he was back on his feet and at her side, rubbing at the side of his head. “You might just be the archdemon, y'know. I should tell Guk.” Slowly the redness began to drain from his skin and he was back to being the slightly tanned assassin he knew he was.

 

“Fen'Harel, actually. Now pick up the wood and lets get back to camp.” She ordered. Surprisingly he did as he was told without much complaint. Keo wondered if he knew she was just teasing when she ordered him to do things. Something told her he was being serious about this. For now she'd play along as admittedly it was pretty fun.

 

When the two returned with the firewood the camp had been set up and everyone minus Youngjae and Kai were present in the centre. It seemed the hunters were still out getting them all food. So for now they set up the fire for warmth. Zelo was bouncing to light it though Himchan was determined to light it with flint. It was proving a challenge for the Reaver so eventually he stepped aside and Zelo blasted the wood and fire sparked into life.

 

The two in charge of gathering food had ventured some distance from the camp site. It seemed wild life was scarce here which meant they were going in the right direction. Darkspawn had scared most of the animals off, save a few. Luckily the two best hunters in the party were on the job. They had split up to cover more ground and when they met up at the rendezvous point Kai had caught a few rabbits in the traps she'd laid out while Youngjae had shot down some birds with his bow and strung them up.

 

“We're going the right way at least.” Youngjae sighed as he dropped the three birds so he could drop himself down on a rock. “Everything’s been frightened off.”

 

Kai set down the rabbits and crouched down to look through the haul. “Not everything. I saw some tracks a few clicks back but...” She frowned and ran a hand through her hair. “Keo wouldn't eat what they belonged to.”

 

“She might have to.” Youngjae retorted. “With all the mouths, the journey here used up the last of the deer you caught. We're a few days from Denerim so we can restock there but you two haven't been eating right.”

 

“Wonder why.” Kai hadn't meant it but Youngjae flinched. Ever since what happened at camp they hadn't spoken. Youngjae knew she needed time to grieve on her own so he'd left her be which she was thankful for as she probably would have snapped at him. So this was the first time they'd had a chance to talk since the dinner.

 

Youngjae remained silent for awhile, simply listening to the forest. It was quiet save for the rustling of the tree's in the wind. Finally he broke it, “If you need to talk.. I'm here.”

 

Kai looked up at him, the corner of tugging up. “Are we married now?” He'd said it so seriously so she couldn't help but mock him.

 

The brunette smiled and shook his head. “I just mean.. You can come to me about anything. I'll help however I can. I know not everyone likes to talk about their troubles..But the offers there. I'll always listen.”

 

“I'm not really one for crying to others but.. Ma serannas. The thought in itself is nice.” Kai smiled and stood to stretch. “Right, if we're done with this touching scene.. Let's try and catch a feast cause' this is pathetic.” She muttered, gesturing to the small pile of animal corpses.

 

Youngjae smirked and rose to his feet, readying his bow. “Yes, ma'am.”

 

Kai caught his arm as he went to go stalk about the forest floor. “Wait.. Where'd you learn to hunt like this?”

 

“I haven't told you?” He asked. “Back in Orlais we had this thing called a Wyrn Hunt. Wyrn's the are cousins of dragons.. But they're ugly beasts. Viscous too. I was the champion two years running.” There was obviously more to his story but it didn't feel right to tell her. After all it could potentially change how she viewed him. It usually did.

 

Kai raised an eyebrow at him, “You were a hunting champion?”

 

“Two years running.” He grinned, arms crossing. He was proud of his achievement. “If you were Orlesian you'd know that given my age it was impressive. Though.. Between you and me when a teenagers pit against old farts who just sit around eating mutton all day.. It's obvious who'd win.”

Kai laughed a bit despite how stuck up that sounded. Though he had a point. Age would determine how quickly he'd catch on to tracks and signs. “Get you.”

 

Youngjae shrugged and went to leave but stopped himself mid step. “Uh.. In case you're wondering.. I never joined the Warden's because I got scouted due to my talent. I wish that's how I joined.” He smiled. Due to the quizzical look he was receiving his smile widened. “I'll tell you the real reason another time.”

 

With that Kai watched him walk off to catch more food. “You son of a ...” A grumble went after him. She hated when people did that. Now that he was out hunting she stayed with the catch and took the liberty to skin and pluck them there. It saved Keo having to see it at camp. Though she didn't enjoy the process much herself, it had been her duty for years. Kai frowned down at the rabbit, she knew she didn't have to have these duties any more but she had convinced herself she still had to. In her odd way this was how she kept the memory for her clan mates alive. She remembered how she'd be on skinning duty with one of the boys and they'd joke and gag while doing what they had to. She remembered being told off by one of the Hahren's for chasing Lyonna with the freshly skinned pelt. She even remembered how proud Merrill was of her the first time she managed to skin her first catch, she'd cooked a special stew with the fox that day. Slowly Kai lost the ability to hold the skinning knife as depression engulfed her. “Well done, Da'len..” She mumbled to herself, her eyes starting to sting. She missed them. Merrill especially. She had been told that Merrill had gotten away but she missed her even still. The thing that had gotten her was that she knew that her favorite Hahren had been caught at the archery range. She'd found his body over one of the huntresses. By the looks of it he'd attempted to protect her. Her heart sank at the memories which haunted her.

 

The snap of a twig brought her back and she wiped her eyes, quickly finishing with the last rabbit. Youngjae emerged from the woodland with a fox and a few eggs. “I found these. Seems a shame for them to go to waste.” He smiled.

 

Kai looked up and grinned, “Eggs? Sweet. Eggs and fox stew.” She gathered the kills and stood to walk back to camp with Youngjae.

 

Youngjae was smart. In fact he'd been called a genius so he'd noticed the look on her face. He'd noticed the cover up. He would have pushed for an answer but he figured the wound was still too fresh. So he simply walked beside her and cheered her up by making her laugh to the best of his ability. He had a habit of doing something weird and walking it off. She always got a good laugh out of that.

 

The two emerged into the clearing, greeted by a bouncing Zelo who begged Himchan to start cooking immediately. His begging was joined by Daehyun which earned a laugh from the group as the boy was always hungry, his appetite was already big before he became a Warden. As requested Himchan looked over the food and picked out the best, the left overs being stored away for later.

 

The atmosphere in the camp was sombre. The elves remained quiet but occasionally joined in on the stories and laughter being shared around the fire pit. This was the start of their new lives. Now..There truly was no going back.