A/N: Okay, so my absence can be explained by this: graduating from college, moving, finding a full-time job, getting that full-time job, working, fiancé going back to school, more working, fiancé graduating, me getting a promotion, nephew being born, finishing writing my novel.
That has been my year. Enjoy! ---
JOINING
Chapter 5
They had not counted on Arl Eamon being close to death, nor his son Connor being possessed and the reason for the attacks at night.
They also hadn’t counted on having to trek back to the Circle for help. But, Elissa had realized there was no other choice. There was no way they were going to kill a child, and she certainly couldn’t ask Isolde to sacrifice her own life. Going back to the Circle and asking for help was the best outcome. Elissa was sure of it. She, Alistair, and Wynne had volunteered to make the trip back. Hermes would come with them, while the others would remain behind in order to keep an eye on things and step in, should the town need to be defended once more.
Elissa figured the small group would move faster, and she was right. They made excellent time, yet they still had to stop for the night. They hadn’t brought much with them, not wanting to be weighed down, but Elissa had insisted they only needed two tents. She figured Alistair would use the one they shared since, per their agreement, it was his turn, and Wynne would use the other one. She figured they were safe enough not to have to take turns keeping watch. Without a tent, she would be able to manage just fine.
She also wanted to keep watch to ensure Alistair kept up his end of the agreement. She did the math and realized she was spending more nights in the tent then he was, and she was determined to have the time be equal.
She was not counting on the fact that the night was unusually cold.
In order to not attract attention, their campfire was small. Elissa huddled near it, her legs drawn up under her chin as she lay curled in a ball on her side. Hermes was pacing around the camp, helping her keep watch. As the night went on, it became harder and harder for Elissa to pay attention as her body shook horribly due to the coldness of the evening. The blanket she was wrapped in barely helped and not even the warmth of the fire could chase away the chill.
She felt her teeth chattering when suddenly there were footsteps behind her. Too cold to sit up fully, she turned to look over her shoulder. Alistair stood behind her, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before hugging himself and shivering.
“Maker’s breath it’s cold!” he exclaimed.
Elissa nodded in agreement, too cold to be able to say anything. Alistair knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. It was incredibly warm and Elissa pressed her cold cheek to it instinctively.
“Elissa! You’re freezing!” he exclaimed. Before she could protest, he gathered her in his arms and scooped her up. “Come! You’re sleeping in the tent.”
“N…n-n-n…n-n-noo,” Elissa managed to protest. “I-t-t-t-ts….it’s your t-t-t-t-uuurrnnn…”
“Rubbish, woman,” Alistair scoffed, walking towards the tent. “I don’t care whose turn it is. I’m not letting you freeze to death because you’re stubborn. I’ll keep watch the rest of the night.”
Elissa tried to protest, but every time she tried her teeth chattered loudly. Alistair carried her into the tent and set her down on his bedroll, which was still warm from his own body. He wrapped her in his blankets, but while it helped slightly, she was still shaking and trembling. Alistair pressed his hand to her cheek and sighed heavily when he realized how cold she truly was. He knelt next to her for a few moments, seeming to contemplate something. She was surprised when he closed the flap of the tent and came back to her side.
Carefully he peeled back the blankets and slid under them, next to her on the bedroll. Tucking himself in, Elissa realized his body was hot against hers and she immediately snuggled against him. He wrapped his arms around her, gently rubbing some warmth back into her arms.
I’m sorry if this it crossing the line,” he said softly, his breath tickling her ear as he held her closer. “But you won’t warm up quick enough otherwise. What were you thinking? Why didn’t you come to me if you were this cold?”
“It’s…it’s your-r-r t-t-t-tent,” she said.
Alistair sighed and shook his head. “Crazy woman,” he muttered, pulling her closer. She grabbed his arms and held them tightly, snuggled against him as much as she could. Already she was feeling much warmer and her eyes began to grow heavy now that she was warm enough to even consider sleeping. She shifted slightly, turning around so she was facing him. His eyes were wide and filled with nervousness, but also disbelief at her stubbornness. She snuggled against him, her arms trapped between them as she buried her face in his chest. Alistair stiffened for a moment, before hugging her closer to him, his chin resting on the top of her head.
“Warm enough yet?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
She hummed in satisfaction and nodded.
She felt him carefully remove her hair pins before her tight bun was undone. She sighed as he ran his hands through the long, red strands, massaging her scalp. If she was a kitten, she would be purring. She figured he had done it because her bun was jabbing him in the face. Whatever the reason, she was perfectly okay with it.
“I don’t understand why you keeping refusing to just take the damn tent,” Alistair mumbled, his finger gently combing through the knots in her hair.
Elissa bit back a sigh and the usual response she had to his question. “I…I was teased a lot when I was younger,” she said softly, only slightly happy that she was now able to speak without her teeth chattering.
“Who would dare tease you?” Alistair asked. She could hear the soft smile in his voice.
“Well, my parents wanted to me have the same education as every child. It wasn’t to learn true noble educate until I was at least twelve. I was schooled with every other child, except they all knew who I was and my family,” she said. “They would always talk about how I got everything I wanted and since I was a Cousland everyone just gave me stuff without me having to earn it.” She shrugged. “It left an impression.” She fought back a yawn, but eventually it escaped
Alistair made an “ahh” of understanding. “Hence the reluctance to even accept the tiniest gift,” he said, yawning as well.
Elissa nodded. Her eyes began to grow heavier and she knew she would be asleep within moments. Alistair’s breathing was slowing down now as well and he sounded like he would soon follow her.
“There is a problem with your logic,” Alistair said, his voice thick with sleep.
Even through her sleep addled brain Elissa registered what he was saying. “Hmm?” she asked, pulling away slightly to look up at him. It took him a minute to answer.
“My rose.”
Elissa realized he was right. Alistair’s rose was the first gift she had even accepted without protest. It had been one that had truly come from the heart and she hadn’t even thought twice about taking it from him. She smiled slightly and shifted closer to that their noses were almost touching. She was finding it harder to keep her eyes open and it seemed Alistair was having the same problem she was. He shifted as he began to drift off as well, causing his forehead to touch hers slightly.
As the two drifted off to sleep, their lips brushed softly and both instinctively leaned into each other, sharing a brief, yet simple kiss.
Neither would remember it in the morning.
--- “But that still doesn’t make me feel any safer!” Jory explained. “I mean, how much warning will we get? What if they’re watching us right now?” When he and Daveth began to bicker back and forth, Alistair looked over at Elissa and he could tell she was getting annoyed. “Look,” she said, rounding on the two men. “Getting past these dangers is part of our test. You want to be Grey Wardens? Then quit your bitching and keep moving. Like Alistair said, we’ll have the advantage these men didn’t have. We’ll know when they’re coming.” She marched past the men and continued on the path they had been taking. Alistair found himself looking at with a mixture of surprise and appreciation. She had a mind of her own that was for sure. “You heard the woman,” he said to Jory and Daveth and began to follow her lead. Alistair didn’t hear so much as a peep out of the other recruits for awhile. Either they were silent because of her words, or they were still too worried and frightened to speak. Either way, Elissa seemed to welcome the silence. Alistair was finding it very hard to remain silent. He was intrigued by Elissa. She wasn’t anything like he imagined she would be. He quickened his steps to match hers. “Do you think that man is alright?” he asked her. “I think we should have escorted him anyway,” she said, looking at Alistair worriedly. “He was in pretty bad shape.” Her large, blue eyes were soft as she glanced back in the direction they had just come and where the wounded man had been. “I think he’ll be alright,” Alistair assured her. “The darkspawn have rarely attacked very close to camp. I’m just amazed he survived.” “That amazes me too,” Elissa said, more to herself then to him. “I wonder what drove them off.” They began to smell blood again and Alistair put his hand out to stop them, feeling the familiar nausea and headache that let him know darkspawn were near. He looked at Elissa and she seemed like she sensed it to. Her head was tilted to the side and she was absolutely still. The air had shifted suddenly. It felt heavier and fouler. The smell of blood was also different than it had been in the clearing where they had found the dead soldiers. It didn’t smell like fresh blood. It smelt old and seemed to be mixed with dirt and death. The Wilds were no longer silent. Alistair could hear whispers and growling noises. Elissa drew her daggers just as Alistair drew his sword. “What’s that noise?” Jory asked in a scared whisper. Daveth looked confused. “What noise? I don’t hear anything,” he said. Alistair made a movement for them to be silent and they obeyed, creeping forward. Through the thicket of trees in front of them, the recruits saw their first darkspawn. Alistair had them duck down as the creature looked around. It seemed to be scouting and hadn’t realized they were nearby. “That’s a genlock,” Alistair softly whispered, his voice barely audible. He was so close to Elissa that her hair brushed against his cheek. It was soft and smelt of something flowery; roses maybe? “One of the more common darkspawn. This one seems to be an archer.” Indeed, there was a bow in its hand and a quiver attached to its back. It wore heavy, spiky armor and its bald head had flesh, but it was rotting. They could see the outline of its skull and the flesh around its eyes was almost completely gone. The sockets were dark holes with held a pair of bloodshot, evil eyes and its face was drawn into a skeletal grin, sharp teeth protruding from his lipless mouth. “What do we do?” Jory asked. It was clear he was shaking. To Alistair’s surprise, Elissa stood, her daggers ready. “We kill it,” she said simply. Dodging behind the bushes in front of them, she disappeared into the trees before he could stop her. The other two recruits gasped slightly. She looked back at them in time to see them motioning for her to come back. “We need to stop her!” Daveth hissed, getting ready to stand. But Alistair grabbed his arm to stop him. “Hold on,” he said, the boyish sparkle returning to his eye. He gave Elissa a reassuring smirk and nod. “Let’s see what she does.” With her senior Warden’s permission, and a smirk of her own, Elissa crept through the trees and bushes, making as little noise as she possibly could. The genlock was pacing slightly, its eyes constantly roaming the area around it. Alistair watched as twice they stopped in her general direction, causing her to freeze in her spot. But it made no warning noise and didn’t fire an arrow, so Alistair knew she was safe. The second the genlock turned its back, Alistair knew it was done for. Swiftly, Elissa sprang out of the bushes. She placed her hand over its mouth and slit its throat. The thing didn’t even have a chance to blink. It took some maneuvering, but she was able to drag it back into the bushes where the men were hidden, where she pulled out her empty vial and let the blood from its neck, run into the glass tube. “I got mine,” she announced, holding up the full bottle. She was met by amazed looks and wide eyes. “What?” Alistair heard the arrow before he saw it and he knocked Elissa to the ground just as the arrow hit the tree next to her. It would have speared her through the skull. “I thought you were stealthy,” he smirked down at her. “You’re…crushing…me.” “Oh! Sorry!” The three men sprang into action, while Elissa tried to catch her breath. They charged the group, which was taken by surprise. They had seen Elissa, not the others. Alistair was all warrior as he cut down multiple enemies with his blade. He was spattered in blood within seconds and had taken down the genlocks with bows. Using his shield, he bashed a genlock in the chest, knocking it backwards, before swinging his sword to slice another in half. He glanced over and realized Elissa was staring at him, which caused him to smirk. Ser Jory and Daveth were too busy with their one darkspawn to realize Alistair was quickly being surrounded. Elissa sprang to her feet and charged. One genlock stood behind Alistair, ready to strike, but she stabbed him under his arm, where his flesh had been exposed. He fell with a thud. Two of the darkspawn who had flanked Alistair turned to her now. Out of the corner of his eye he was able to see a mace came swinging towards her head, which she easily ducked. Still kneeling, she stabbed the genlock in the foot with one dagger, while she reached behind her to stab the other, who was charging her, in the gut. The genlock she had gotten in the foot was shoved away, as a much larger darkspawn took its place. It looked almost exactly like the genlock. The only difference was the size. It reached down and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her into the air. Daveth and Jory had taken down their joint darkspawn and had finally separated and began helping with the rest of the ambush, but neither of them could see her struggling. Elissa kicked and flailed, but the larger darkspawn seem to merely chuckle at her struggle. Alistair was fighting to get through the swarm around him, trying desperately to get to her. The large darkspawn unsheathed a long, ridged sword and pulled its arm back, ready to stab her in the gut. Alistair managed to break through the genlocks just in time to let out a vicious yell and hack off the darkspawn’s head, causing blood to spray across Elissa’s face as she fell to the ground. Rubbing her scalp, Elissa took Alistair’s offered hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. “And that, was a hurlock,” he said. “Much more vicious then genlocks.” “Yeah, I guessed the vicious part.” Alistair’s eyes dragged open as he was pulled away from the dream of the first time he and Elissa fought together. He remembered it with such clarity. She had been so graceful and fierce that he had almost taken a sword to the gut because he couldn’t help staring. He blinked away the sleep from his eyes, only to realize Elissa was curled against him, her hand resting on his chest and her head resting on his shoulder. His own arms were around her tightly and he smiled slightly.
Looking down at her sleeping form, he allowed himself to study her delicate, almost feline-like features, his thumb absentmindedly stroking her full, red lips. Maker was he in trouble. He was falling hard for this beautiful, strong woman and he knew there was nothing he could do to stop it.
She shifted at his touch and he pulled his hand away immediately as her eyes fluttered open.
“Ugh, it’s morning,” she drawled sleepily, burying her face in Alistair’s neck. He chuckled.
“Indeed it is, my lady,” he said, shifting so he could move his arm out from under her. It was asleep and tingled painfully when she moved. “We should really get a move on. We need to reach the Circle and back before next nightfall.”
Elissa pouted, which Alistair found incredibly enduring and made his head spin with less than gentlemanly thoughts about her lips. She sat up and stretched, causing Alistair’s eyes to be drawn to her curvy frame, which her leather armor outlined perfectly. “You’re right, of course,” she said with a sigh, moving to leave the tent. Alistair followed her out, blinking in the light of the early morning sun.
“I’m going to find a spring to wash up and then we can be off.” Elissa strolled into the nearby trees, waving to Wynne as Hermes following close behind.
Alistair watched her swaying hips move as she walked away.
Maker he was in
so much trouble.
---
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I really wanted to throw their first meeting in there because the scene comes from an old fanfic I wrote before that this story is now taking the place of. I loved the scene too much to let it rot in some lost folder on my computer. Please review!
