When Country Meets Thedas

Day Before The Crossroads

Reagan took aim at the bandit slipping in between the foliage of the bushes and waited until she had a clear shot and let the arrow fly, piercing him through the throat. Her eye caught another trying to sneak up behind her and just as he got close enough, she grabbed his wrist hitting the pressure point that would instantly make his hand go numb, and he dropped his knife with a grunt.

The bandit brought down the second hand holding another knife and Reagan flipped him over her shoulder stunning him and knocking the wind out of him. Pressing her knee into his chest hard, she directed the knife in his hand just under his chin into the soft skin of his chin, and with a hard slam of the palm of her hand to the hilt of it, the blade slid into his brain, killing him instantly.

Rolling from the dead man, her hands covered in blood, she grabbed her bow off of the ground where she'd dropped it and jogged towards Varric, keeping herself on adrenaline autopilot. I will think about all of this later. Keeping her back pressed to his, she scanned the forest for any more of the bandits. They slowly made their way towards Solas where he stood alone focused on Cassandra fighting another bandit with a shield. Reagan barely caught the glint of metal from the dense foliage from behind him just as the archer shot. She saw where the arrow was going to and that it was aimed at Solas' back. Without thinking, she quickly ran for him. Reaching him just before the arrow embedded into the center of his back, she shoved him out of the way, taking the arrow in the middle of her arm.

"Fen'edhis," he growled seeing the arrow in Reagan's arm from his place on the ground.

Varric shot a bolt into the archer dropping him from his perch in the tree before he could loose another arrow, while Solas put a barrier around them looking over her arm from where he sat on the ground.

Cassandra ran her gaze down the treeline and found no more bandits after she finished the one she had been fighting with the shield. Motioning for everyone to move, Solas grabbed Reagan's good arm she held down for him pulling him up from the ground.

"You shouldn't have..." He began and she pressed her good hand to his arm.

"Shush Solas," she said quickly before he could say any more, feeling her urgency for silence as they continued to move.

He was angry that she had risked herself like that to save him. He could see she was in pain, and yet was not complaining as they made their way back towards their campsite and even that seemed to anger him even further. Glancing at her as she walked silently beside him, he observed her clenched jaw as blood trailed down her arm dripping onto the ground as they walked and he knew she was in this pain because of protecting him.

He observed her eyes fixed and set forward, her lips in a flat line, her jaw clench and she would not even look at him. That was when he realized that she was angrily staring at the back of the Seeker. Well, that wasn't surprising. Had the Seeker observed the original plan, none of this would have had to happen.

Finally reaching the camp, Solas activated the wards that he had set up earlier and moved towards Reagan who sat down on a fallen log near her tent, cradling her wounded arm.

"May I?"

Reagan gave him a curt nod while she watched Cassandra sit next to the campfire unwilling to look at anyone but her. Varric was preparing their stew for dinner quietly with some leftover rabbit.

"I apologize, this will not be pleasant," Solas advised her and received another curt nod.

Breaking the shaft of the arrow, he observed the only reaction she made was to close her eyes tightly and let a few tears of pain slip out of the corners while clenching her jaw, breathing heavily. He was pleased that the arrow had missed the bone and went straight through the muscle tissue that he could heal quite simply as he pulled the bolt of the arrow and the rest of the shaft from the other side of her arm.