I am but your Humble Servant *a Dragon Age: Inquisition Fanfic*

Chapter VI: Terror, Fear and a Cold Embrace

Artemis was jolted awake as she felt herself being dragged off her bedroll and across the cold cavern ground. She squirmed, trying to rid herself of whatever had caught her, but the grasp on her ankle was strong. Just then, a voice too loud and low to be enjoyed at this time of morning sliced through the cold air. "Rise and shine Boss. Well, rise at least, we've a big day ahead of us. You know, rips and drapes and stuff."

Dorian's scoffing remark followed quickly, "they're rifts, Bull. And it's the Veil, not some gaudy Orlesian window coverings. Now let the Inquisitor go."

Artemis' leg was dropped and she rose to her feet slowly, rubbing her eyes and taking in her surroundings. The rest of the camp was up and sitting around the fire, occupied by a variety of tasks. Varric was crafting some caltrop traps from various things he'd gathered the day before and Sera was checking the consistency of some of her poisons. Cole was checking the weight and balance of his knives and daggers, tossing a few into the air much to the anxiety of the others, before buckling them in various places over his body.

Artemis returned to her sleeping mat and gathered her things, retying them together messily. "Right, well we'd better get a move on. We have to try and get this thing closed as quickly as we can before anything nasty comes through. Sera, what's the weather doing outside?"

Sera snorted and the Inquisitor turned around to face her, wondering why her question had garnered such a response. Before she had the chance to say anything however, her gaze was drawn past the group and out the mouth of the cave. The morning was a mixture of different shades of grey, and there was a light dusting of snow covering the ground. She strode to the opening and leant out, looking around. She felt the cool caress of snowflakes across her face, blinking them out of her eyes before sneezing. Her nose began to itch so she withdrew herself and faced the group, donning an awkward expression. "Who cares if it's snowing...right?"

She was met with grumbles from her companions, wordless objections to the idea of travelling through snowy and windy weather. She sighed, not particularly looking forward to the day's journey ahead, but with any luck, she figured they could be there before nightfall. "Come on guys, it's only barely snowing. Think of it as an adventure. It'll be fun."

Sera tapped her finger to her chin as she spoke. "Hmm, those are the exact words you said before we trudged through that tunnel full of deepstalkers on the coast. Shall I remind you how much fun we didn't have that day?"

Varric laughed heartily, eyeing one of his finished traps. "Boy am I glad I wasn't with you that day Moony. Deepstalkers are creepy..."

Artemis hushed the group before convincing them to gather their things and mount up. They ventured out of the cave as the trail of smoke from the exhausted fire drifted up and merged with the grey sky above. As planned the night before, Artemis stayed by Sera's side, chatting with the elf about their various trips across Ferelden. Cole had began the morning behind the elven pair, but before long he slowed down and fell into stride with Varric's smaller horse. Varric picked up on the boy's air of sadness and wondered what was playing on his mind.

"What's up Kid? Not a fan of snow?"

Cole didn't turn his head to look at the dwarf while he spoke, rather keeping his eyes trained on the elf in front of him, but emotionless and unseeing. "The snow, cold yet calming. So pale, pristine, perfect. Each snowflake is unique, perfect in every sense of the word. I like the snow." Her hair which is so long and so white flows behind her like a blanket of snow itself. Each individual speck is lost in it's depths, encompassed by the silken threads.

"Then why the gloomy face? Cheer up before I start thinking I'm back in Kirkwall with that broody elf." Varric rolled his eyes, remembering how Hawke just had to bring Fenris along every time they went anywhere.