(Untitled)

[queen_chihuahua]

Anders knew that he should have refused to follow Hawke into the deep roads the moment the charming rouge had insisted he come. But for whatever reason he didn't, and now they were trapped in the blighted deep roads with hardly enough supplies to last them another week. If he was going to place fault in someone it should rightly be Bartrand, but he

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[queen_chihuahua]

The fight ended in minutes, but Varric was just a little wary of shouldering Bianca just yet. The woman was fierce, and there was no way to tell if she would turn her blades on them just as quickly. In favor of holding his beloved ready to fire, he set the crossbow easily against his collarbone with his hand casually on the handle.

"I hope spider blood comes out of suede," he commented to no one in particular, frowning at the nasty smear on his coat. Impending starvation and he could still worry about his coat; he scoffed to himself.

"I can only take a part of that credit," he commented, sauntering forward. He could read no aggression in the woman's stance, but he would not drop his guard completely. "I'm a great shot, but I'm nothing without Bianca here."

"Is anyone injured?" Anders spoke up, glancing about the small group. Hawke was moving with a bit of a limp but seemed otherwise okay. Without anyone to immediately worry about, he too turned his attention on the strange girl. "Who are you? How did you end up all the way down here?"

[queen_chihuahua]

"It's wonderful to be appreciated," Varric returned with a smirk, and the slightest tip of his head. If nothing else, he could appreciate the compliment. The woman seemed lucid and very un-crazy, meaning that if they were to expect any danger from her, it would be born of malicious intent and not deep road insanity. So at least there was that.

"That's funny, maybe Bartrand was in on the game," Varric hissed under his breath, unable to help the way his fingers curled around Bianca's handle. Scoundrel siblings he could relate to, and her figured this woman's brother must be pretty nasty if she would choose the deep roads over him.

"Think nothing of it; I'm only glad we arrived in time to help," as wary as Anders was, he could still manage a welcoming smile. "I wish that we could offer you an exit, but we're lost down here ourselves."

"The blind leading the blind," Varric piped up, sighing. "Still, I'd be glad for any more blades to put between us and whatever nasty creatures we might come across down here. Call me an optimist for assuming you'll agree, but you look like the kind of woman who enjoys life."

[wardennolonger]

"Flames; I was sure there was an exit that way," Varric's handsome features crumpled briefly into a scowl. "Ah well, you've saved us the trouble of discovering the painful lack of exit ourselves, I suppose..." Varric relented a sigh and slid Bianca into the strap on his shoulder, allowing the weapon to rest at his back. Decembra didn't seem as though she was awaiting a moment to gut them, at least.

"So about that game of hide and seek your mentioned; I bet your brother would never think to look for you all the way down here; you must be a champion of the game," Varric was hungry, thirsty, and most of all dying for some good conversation. The broody elf hardly ever opened his mouth, and Anders was too preoccupied with the darkspawn clawing about his head to make any good conversation.

"You've an incredible gift for stating the obvious," Anders sniped at Fenris, just because. It cut the tension a little, if nothing else. "Care to tell the color of the stone?"

[wardennolonger]

"Don't you just hate it when the losing the side just doesn't know when to concede? Honestly, it just gets embarrassing," Varric was perhaps in the mood to ear of other cases of sibling trouble, but in any mood he was always ready to hear a good story, and that is what this sounded like. It was tricky to balance charming interest and nosy curiosity, but it was a line the dwarf often comfortably straddled. "The Deep Roads make for a treacherous playground," he spoke by ways of inviting her to say more, should she see fit. "I can only imagine you somehow took the safer option by coming here, and that doesn't bode well in the least..."

"Somebody missed his afternoon nap," Anders responded offhandedly, as though the threat hardly bothered him. It was always easy to irk the elf, and at least it was one pleasure that was not yet taken from him. "Perhaps I'll remember your threat next time a hurlock comes charging through your horrendously large blind spot."

[wardennolonger]

"Not very sportsmanlike of him," Varric had muttered under his breath, just before noting the groaning of the rock. He threw himself backwards just before the first crumbling rock crashed hard into the space he'd been standing. When the dust settled, there was an ominous looking wall of stone where there had once been a clear thiag. "Perfect," Varric grunted, dusting the rubble and dust from his coat. "Hawke!" he called, though was answered bu silence. A quick glance around revealed Decembra trapped in the darkness with him, but no one else. Varric trotted over to her, offering a hand to help her stand. "You alright?" he asked, and then as an after thought. "Can anyone here me?"

"I hear you," Anders called, pushing his arms under himself; he'd fallen flat on his stomach. "I suppose that means I'm not dead..." he stood, gazing blarily through the darkness. He spotted Fenris not far off, but he was too immersed that darkness for Anders to see clear. He began to stumble his way towards the elf. Damn cave in... and his shoulder ached like hell from where Fenris had pushed him...

[wardennolonger]

Despite what had just happened, Varric managed a sparse dry laugh. "Don't worry, I'm having the same kind of day right here with you," Varric muttered. His legs ached from how hard he had throw himself back. He looked her over, just to make sure she was okay. "No broken bones, I hope? Sounds like Blondie is on the other side of that rock heap, and I don't know how well he can heal through solid stone."

And suddenly, Anders' day got a whole lot worse. He dropped to his knees before the pile of stones that domed Fenris and began to dig; no spell was delicate enough to fell the stone and leave Fenris unharmed.

"You said something-- I don't know what it meant, but it was something; that means you're still alive," Anders grumbled to himself as he peeled back stone after stone, finally managing to uncover Fenris' legs. "I suppose I can manage to be relieved," he muttered flatly, before raising his voice to call "Fenris is hurt, but I think I can heal him." He turned his amber eyes down to the damanged elf, and his expression softened just slightly with pity.

"Can you move at all?" he asked with a healer's concern.

[wardennolonger]

"Its adds a nice texture to the outfit if you ask me," Varric responded, never allowing a near death experience to ruin his good humour. "And hey, at least you're still alive enough to be optimistic." Varric tensed noticably at the mage's call, glancing back towards the wall of stone. "As much as I wish I had something useful to say, all I got is 'I hope you can manage alone, because we can't help you'". In that moment, if Decembra was paying attention, she would manage to catch Varric at one of his more vulnerable moments. Though his voice had thick with its usual rougish good humor, his expression was lined with real worry; it was a rarity he ever showed to take anything seriously.

Anders did not expect much more from his dwarfin companion. He shifted back at Fenris' growling, holding up his hands in a position of defence. His top lip curled in offense; damn wild dog, snapping out at anyone who would mean to help him. "Fine, then have it your way," he muttered, feeling as though his offering of kindness was scorned.

He had to heal the elf regardless. He wasn't going anywhere with broken legs.

"Fenris, stop," he placed a firm hand on the elf's shoulder. "You're wounded very badly, and moving will only make it worse. "Stay still, I need to heal you."

"Well, I guess we gotta let Blondie work his magic, and hope for the best. Maybe if we can find away around to them, or maybe a way out... but we are working under a strict timeline. Either way, we gotta get back to them before..." any of us starve? No, " before the two of them kill each other."

He ran a gloved hand through his stubble, sighing. "Can't say I ever enjoyed an easy job anyway," he muttered wryly.

[wardennolonger]

"Well, there is that," Varric fit comfortably back into his own good humor as though he'd never left it. "Leave a trail you two, we're pushing off," he called through the rock divide. Then peering into the dark, Varric began to grope around for where he'd dropped the torch.

"Blighted deep roads... where's a cluster of glowing lichen when you need one," he grumbled.

"Care to lend a hand, beautiful stranger?" he called, "the sooner we find the light, the sooner we start finding a way out of here." He might have been laying it on a little thick to make up for his moment of vulnerability.

~*~*~*~

Such a reaction from the elf was startling; all that rage and refusal suddenly slicked into grumbling compliance. He'd never known Fenris to react like that before, and to see him act as such now was... puzzling.

"Just... hold still," he muttered, a touch more awkwardly than he would have liked. The moment before he began to heal he called to Varric, letting him know that a trail would be left. His attention refocused sharply on Fenris as magic began to prickle in the air.

The spell was one he knew well and to it only took but minutes.

"You'll still have to mind yourself," he warned, standing. After a moment, he offered his hand to help the elf stand. "Your body hardly knows it's healed yet."