Dragon Age: Inquisition: Behind the Scenes

Warden Grey

Following them had been a terrible idea. He knew that from the start. Yet, he pursued all the same.

He was a deer today, occasional white spots dotting his golden brown fur. He decided to skip out of the horns, settling for little stubs of horns-to-be, pretending to be an adolescent of the deer variety. The Hero of Ferelden was silently amazed he hadn't been spotted beyond passing glances at the oh-so-obvious presence following the Herald's band of followers. Still, he had to see them for his own eyes. If Leliana's letter to him was true, this woman was the last remaining hope for Thedas. The thought naturally made him uneasy.

The dark-haired, gruff-looking man next to the Herald shot a look behind him, and Xair did not manage to escape his notice. Thankfully, it was early afternoon still, so he did not pursue the deer. The Warden-Commander had always preferred flying animals. It was much easier to dodge arrows in a three-dimensional space than only two. Unfortunately, the dense crowd of trees around them made that difficult, so he had been left to stalk the group of travelers like a sex-driven teenager. They were reaching the edge of the forest, and the Grey Warden began looking for ways to escape the notice of the group long enough to change into something more navigable. Suddenly, the man whirled around, greatsword drawn in an instant.

"That thing's been following us for the past hour."

So much for that. He froze, remembering how deer tended to freeze when exposed by humans. The red-headed woman gave the man a curious, almost exasperated expression.

"Deer don't follow people through the woods, Blackwall," she replied carefully. "I think you might be overreacting."

"I recognize this one," the man named Blackwall replied. I've heard that name somewhere... "We saw it when we entered these woods, and now it's here as we're leaving it. That's not a coincidence."

Xair bent down with his head, taking a bite of the grass as convincingly as possible. The Inquisitor seemed to buy it.

"Scared of a young deer?" she teased. "After all you've been through in the Iquisition?"

"Don't mock me, Vida," he replied curtly. "This one is still pretty young. Why hasn't it fled from the mere proximity of people near it?"

He quit eating the grass (it still tasted as horrible as grass tasted to a human), giving Blackwall a hard stare.

"Come on, he's friendly!" exclaimed the elf. "Don't be all grouchy-Warden on us. He's not afraid of these nasty people hunting his kin. Good on 'im!"

The Herald approached him cautiously, reaching a hand as if to pet the deer. For two seconds, Xair debated how he would react. Against his better judgment, he merely took a few hesitant steps back.

"It's ok," she cooed. "I'm not going to hurt you, especially not that grumpy Grey Warden behind me." Slowly, he stopped inching away from her, letting the Herald place her hand behind his ears. "That's it... Good boy." She began to rub the top of his head. "You're not scared, are you?"

By the Maker, that felt amazing. His senses started dulling as the pleasure centers in his deer brain went crazy. What was he, a Mabari? Not that he minded being a Mabari sometimes, but...

"I wish I could take you back to Skyhold with me," she mused, "but Cullen wouldn't possibly let me keep a pet as unique as you."

"Cullen won't even let you keep a Mabari around the fortress," replied the elf wistfully. "Why would he let a wild deer run around the place? Though it would be pretty funny..."

The Inquisitor and the Warden met gazes for the briefest of moments. She froze, and the lack of movement gave Xair the chance to escape her grip. He bolted back into the forest, quickly lost to Vida's view behind all the trees.

Once he was far enough away from the group, he reverted to his human state, giving himself a chance to rest. She was an interesting one, to be sure. For now, his curiosity had been sated. He felt it when their eyes met, and not just because she had turned his brain to mush with each affectionate pet. He could trust her to hold the world together until he could return for real. He was close to his prize, he could feel it.