Moonlight

It was nice, the quiet. The silence.

Calliara looked back, and smiled seeing the light of the biggest firepit, and the smaller lights of the other two. From where she was, sitting on a rock close to a small lake that the river made, she could see the whole camp, being a bit upper than the place where they all were resting.

It was her turn on watch in that place, and she was enjoying it greatly. Well, to be honest, it wasn't a place to be on watch. The watch places were already occupied by the people who were actually on watch (it wasn't that long ago that she passed the turn to Gunnar. Everything was better than hear him snoring)

But the view was nice, the sound of the water was pleasant, she couldn't be seen from there, the sky was bright with the full moon, and the pain wasn't too much. Lovely.

Fenrir was sleeping with the other mabari, enjoying the warmth. She was happy that the little pup had others like him to learn from.

The cubs were sleeping and taken care of. The not-so-cubs, the same.

Sighing with contentment, she leaned her back against the rock, her bow on her lap just in case.

The Shadow watched the Wolf woman from a distance. She was afraid of it so it stayed away from her for some time now. Somehow its words got misinterpreted by her and thus, it wanted to reconcile with her. It approached her from the front, not sneaking up on her. It was still wearing the featureless white porcelain mask on its face to hide its disagreeable appearance. "This one be wishing to apologize to the Wolf woman." It said, showing its open hands. It was also unarmed for now. If she wanted to kill it, it wouldn't object. It accepted it was a political prisoner.

"This one's words may have been twisted the last time we be speaking. This one be seeing the fear in your eyes. There be no need to be afraid." It said, kneeling down in the grass.

When she saw the darkspawn coming, she almost lifted her bow. Almost. She remained still, her unblinking gaze directed to him, and listened in silence every word. It made her feel sick. Corrupted. Scared.

The Wolf breathed deeply.

''Alright. You don't have to explain me anything. You should be aware that seeing you makes me uneasy and sick. It's... not you, it's what you are. So you don't have to apologize. The problem... is in me. You just don't realize that every time I see you, I see what I may had become, and that scares the hell out of me''

The hawk sat in a branch very close to Calliara as it had flown in directly looking for her but had not expected the Shadow to be there speaking to her. He ambled across the limb, waiting, watching and analyzing every move feeling frustrated that this being was wasting the time he could be spending with his love.

The Shadow listened to Calliara's short speech, and nodded, though visibly caught off guard by her not blaming it. "You not be becoming a Broodmother. The Father wishes to help both Grey Wardens and free brothers. He be able to cure your darkness." It said behind its mask, in its quiet whisper of a voice. "This one be seeing the darkness in you. It be different from the others. This can be removed if you be helping The Father."

Broodmother

Calliara shivered, and embraced herself better with her blue cloak. ''Please don't say that word''

Creators above, but she was starting to feel deathly sick having it close.

''I... give you my thanks for your words. I must speak about this with my Commander. I am sorry to say this, but you should know that I'm not feeling like helping any darkspawn in anything, 'free' or not. You may not be aware of it, but you... all of you, are things that shouldn't exist. You exist by the massive killing of others. You told me before that you were born to a mother's womb, but what you didn't say was that the 'mother' once was a woman, dwarf, elf, human or qunari, kidnapped, raped and transformed, forced to give birth to countless creatures. That's not a mother. Darkspawn are not a race that can live free and unharmed just because, Archdemon or not''

Its brow furrowed. "Just because I be not elf, man or dwarf, does that be making me a lesser being? I be having feelings, purposes and dreams like others. I be as mortal as any of you." It said, lowering its bloodshot gold eyes to the ground. "You be calling me and mine a mistake, a stain on creation. We be all here for a reason. I be not knowing who I be born from, but I be Hurlock, which makes this one's mother a human."

Please don't play with me. Don't play with my pity for other creatures, for my fear, my desprate need to believe that I won't become a monster. Just don't do it. Please

Calliara sighed

''You still don't understand. But it's natural. You think about your kind as your own race. You can't see that everyone else see your kind with fear. But don't say that you were born from a mother. A human kidnapped, transformed and raped against her will and forced to give birth to endless creatures is not a mother. Please, it's not my wish to argue with you''

The Shadow tilted its head at Calliara's description. "It not be my fault. The song be making the darkspawn do those things. The Father be looking for other means of reproducing without the capturing of others. He be brilliant." It said with much conviction. It was truly in awe of the creature that freed it from the Old Gods' control. "Then you no longer be needing to fear us."

''And where are you all going to live? Certainly you can't live with other people. There had been many centuries fearing your kind that can't be erased that easily'' Calliara sighed once again. ''I must say that the thought of your kind reproducing even free of the Archdemon creeps me out. Sorry. I guess it's just business''

What the hell, now you're trying to make a joke?

''In any case, it would be the Commander's decission to speak with that... Father or not''

The Shadow sighed behind its mask and nodded. "You be right, but we can be living apart from others like the painted elves. There be some places that be taking us in, as well. But we be wishing to live away from the Deep Roads, to be living away from the song." He said and stood up again. "You be meeting The Father soon... if Commander-Warden Nygozy be keeping her word. He will help you." It said and then turned away and left into the night, so shockingly sudden was its disappearance that it seemed like it was never there to begin with.

Calliara just nodded, watching it go and disappear in the night, and embraced herself better with her cloak, shivering. Now that she was alone, she let herself to panick, her breathing quickened as did her heartbeat, but she tried hard to stay calm and not run away.

Everything is alright, it is gone, and you managed to not scream like a child and even talk with it

Strong arms wrapped around her waist and lips brushed across her flesh just under her earlobe before a husky voice whispered, "You stood up well under that one, emma fen lath (my wolf love). It was hard to wait and not come down, tearing him limb from limb but Nygozy would not have appreciated that. How are you holding up?"

Calliara sighed with relief and turned a bit to almost hide against his chest, feeling safe in his arms. ''Thank you, thank you, thank you...'' She muttered

"You stood up well under that one, emma fen lath (my wolf love). It was hard to wait and not come down, tearing him limb from limb but Nygozy would not have appreciated that. How are you holding up?"

''It didn't mean to hurt me or anything... it just wished to speak. I feel difficult to not feel sorry for it, and its lack of understanding... But at the same time, it scares me, it's a constant reminder of...'' The Wolf shivered, feeling chilly. ''Just hold me, will you? Please, just hold me''

"I know it did not mean to upset or hurt you but it did, no matter how unintentional it is. That makes me snarly and protective even though he does not deserve that but damn he'd probably react the same way if someone made his 'Father' feel ill and upset."

He pulled her closer and kissed her neck, "Of course I will hold you. Forever."

Calliara smiled weakly, and nudged his neck with her nose. ''I am glad you're here. I was feeling a bit lonely because the Shadow came, and then I wasn't feeling lonely but sick''

Humming happily, she leaned her back against his chest, feeling warm and safe. Now that was nice. Way too nice to be real, or even to last.

"I just got away from my own duties and saw what was going on. Hawks are seldom noticed." He chuckled, "Come. I set everything up before all the fun at camp began. You'll love this."

He kissed her then and smiled as he lifted her up, carried her over some dead fall then let her down on her feet. Drake took her hand and walked into the woods with a pleased expression on his countenance.

''What have you done?'' Calliara asked curiously, but trusting him, letting Drake take her hand and guide her into the woods

Drake led her to a large bramble bush and around it to where there was a hole large enough for a person to go in. He let her go first into what was a large, hollowed out section as if a huge turtle had grown in there but there were vines and flowers intertwined in the brambles, cushioning it so that a person would not injure themselves. The hollow was big enough for them to almost stand up. There was a crevasse with a small fire and the smoke was billowing out a hole that looked like an exhaust. On the ground was their sleeping gear set out and a basket beside it.

"We have not been able to have any romantic time for a while so I thought you would appreciate this."

Calliara smiled, and turned to wrap her arms around his waist.

''You... you thought about this? I... Of course I like it. I've been missing spending some time alone with you''

Shyly, she studied the place and left her bow, quiver and swords on the ground, close to where they were going to sleep

''So... what we are suppossed to do now?'' She teased, looking at him with the corner of her eye

Drake grinned as she put her arms around his waist and kissed her cheeks, "I figured you would want some time just to me. And guess what ... we have lots of time for ourselves. We are now in the fade, emma fen lath (my wolf love), courtesy of a friend of mine."

He smirked, "Don't worry. This whole area is protected so nothing can get in. We can do whatever we like, however long we like, and be back before anyone even realizes we were gone."

Calliara's eyes went wide, and then looked around, amazed, then back to Drake. ''Are you serious? How is this possible? Is this a Sethenera? How...?''

Suddenly her gaze turned to a suspicious one. ''A friend? Which friend?''

"Not a Sethenera." He sighed and brushed his hair back with his fingers, "My life is governed and bound by three guides."

Drake kissed her hand, holding her close, "You are my personal wish and guide for my heart. When I met you I knew who you were and what our fates were, that they were to be together and I embrace that with all my soul."

He kissed the tip of her nose, "Nygozy is my guide to battle. She is the one who roots out situations without trying and brings the means to deal with them. She is also my friend and my charge."

The shifter kissed the wolf and gave her an awkward smile, "My first guide; however, is one of the fade. She is Branchel, a shifter seer who is my life guide. Branchel is a figurehead of my race and I was chosen for a mission which is mine alone. This gives me perks, one of which is the ability to do this."

Calliara listened in silence, trying to understand what he was trying to say without revealing too much.

''Alright, I... I want to ask so many things, but I respect that maybe you can't, so I won't. But... what do you mean with what you said, that when you met me you knew who I was and our fates?'' She looked truly confused

It was only natural that she would have questions and he was ready for almost anything. He kissed her cheeks then looked into her eyes, calmly assessing her curiosity, "You may ask questions, emma fen lath (my wolf love). If I cannot answer something then I will not, that is all. As for how I knew you ... that was a simple metaphor. When we met I knew we would be together as I could feel your soul and how we fit together. It was our fate to be together."