When I Look at You (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Ruck

The next day, they got up and headed for the entrance to the Deep Roads. As they walked toward the guards stationed there, a red-headed dwarf who reeked of really low-quality dwarven ale stepped out in front of them. Una remembered meeting him yesterday in the tavern. He'd said his name was Oghren, and that Branka, the missing Paragon, was his wife.

"You're the Grey Warden?" he asked drunkenly.

"Don't you remember?"

"So I did talk to you yesterday? I thought that was just the drink."

"No, it was me. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yeah. Take me with you."

"Into the Deep Roads? Does that actually sound like a good idea to you?"

"She's my wife, Warden," the dwarf said angrily. "And I know what she's looking for, which should help you find her."

Una studied the dwarf intently. "Can you fight?"

"Aye!" Oghren growled. "Hand me a sword, and I'll fight like a sodding bronto."

"All right. You're in. Just ... don't breathe near me, will you?" She wrinkled her nose.

They stepped through the line of guards and started into the Deep Roads.

As they walked, the dwarf took continued slugs from a tankard in his hand. He looked around the group, finally holding the tankard out to Wynne. The mage looked at him warily. "Do you want me to ... drink that?"

"I don't want you to sodding piss in it! Try it, mage. Or are you not woman enough for dwarven ale?" Wynne took the tankard, sipping from it, then taking a healthy swig.

Oghren clapped her on the back. "Ah, Wynne, there's dwarf in you somewhere."

"That's not bad," Wynne said, taking another swallow. "What is that spice? Is that ... cloves?"

"By the Stone!" Oghren exclaimed. "A woman who knows her ale. You and me are going to have some fun together!"

Una and Alistair glanced at each other. He shook his head. "Who would have guessed?" She shrugged.

Being in the Deep Roads was as distracting as they had feared it would be. The faint tingling under Una's skin had grown more insistent. Instead of being something she noticed occasionally, it was now a constant, claiming her attention whenever she wasn't otherwise distracted. Alistair said he felt the same.

They fought their way through the ancient, crumbling Caridin's Cross area, and finally made their way to Ortan Thaig, where everyone assumed Branka would be found. She wasn't there, and the area was overrun by giant spiders. There they also found the boy Ruck. They'd met Ruck's mother in Orzammar, mourning for her lost son, and she had asked them to search for him.

Ruck was twisted and bent and made Una's skin tingle even more, so filled was he with the taint. Apparently he had been surviving by eating the darkspawn flesh. Una approached him cautiously.

"Mine!" he screamed, backing away from her. "You can't take the shinies!"

"Ruck, I don't want to take anything from you," Una said softly, persuasively. "I just want to talk."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Pretty lady," he said. "Pretty lady not take shiny things?

Pretty lady just talk?"