Solona Amell

She looks at him and can see the concern on his face, mixed in with the fear. At that point, Solona can't seem to hold herself together anymore. She bursts into tears.

"Maker, Anders, what's going to happen to us? What am I going to tell Nellie?"

From:

Anders pulls Solona into a hug, holding her tight, gently stroking her back.

"It's going to be all right, Sol...we'll figure this out, it'll be okay..."

He sighs quietly, kissing her forehead. He's got to be strong, even though he's just as terrified as she is.

"We'll just have to tell Nellie the truth..."

From:

"Maker!" Solona pulls back again. "What about Cullen? He'll be furious!"

From:

Anders frowns, shaking his head.

"That's too bad, then. He'll just have to deal with it, won't he."

He hugs he again, tightly.

"He'll understand. I mean, this isn't the worst thing that could happen to us..."

From:

But when Cullen arrives home with Nellie, Solona's expectations of his reaction fit perfectly.

"What were you two thinking? Do you know how dangerous this is for us all? For the child?" He's trying his hardest not to raise his voice. "I thought you were both careful!"

From:

Nellie puts her hand on Cullen's shoulder, trying to calm him down. Yes, this is a dangerous situation for all of them...but at the same time, it's also a blessing. A child! A little Solona, with some of Anders mixed in!

Nellie's scared, and a bit upset...but she's also happy.

Anders, meanwhile, has no qualms raising his voice to Cullen.

"We were careful! These things happen, and what do you want us to do, get rid of it? That's NOT going to happen, Cullen."

From:

Cullen runs a hand through his hair, which has been becoming dangerously long over the past few weeks. He never really has the time to cut it anymore.

"I'm not asking you to abort it, for the Maker's sake!" He groans. Usually, when mages are found to be pregnant, the templars immediately take the babe away after birth to be sent to a different Circle away from the mother. Obviously, in this situation, that was not in the cards. "What do you plan on doing then? What if the babe exhibits magical abilities? What if the babe can't control his powers?"

Solona decides to speak up. "That's why the baby has us, Cullen." She glares at him and Cullen swears he could feel it piercing him like daggers. "Anders and I will teach the baby how to use magic properly. Besides, we have you here, templar. I don't think having this child is such a bad idea." She looks at Anders with a weak smile.

From:

Nellie nods quietly, squeezing Cullen's shoulder.

"She's got a point, Cullen...we're three Circle trained, Harrowed mages. It's not like the baby won't have teachers, or somebody to make sure that it doesn't lose control...it could be a lot worse."

Anders nods, glaring at Cullen, taking Solona's hand.

"Exactly. We'll make sure the baby knows the risks of magic, and we'll train it properly. I think it's a great idea."

It still hasn't fully hit him that he's going to be a father, but he's going to protect this child, no matter what, that much is clear.

From:

"It's three against one, Cullen," Solona smiles innocently at him. "I'm sure you don't have it in your heart to," she hesitates, "rid ourselves of it either."

Cullen's gaze falters to the floor. He clenches his fist. He points a finger at Solona. "You better not screw this up, Sol." He shifts that finger Anders' way. "And you better straighten up. This is a child, for crying out loud, we can't have you fucking everything up, especially for the child." He turns around with a huff, finding himself a chair and slumping down on it with a grunt. "Maker's breath, of all the things--!"

Suddenly, a scream sounds from outside.

From:

Nellie moves to wrap an arm around Cullen, to tell him that this is going to be okay, they can all make this work somehow...when there's a scream from outside.

She's on her feet already, and she moves faster than the others do.

"Stay here. I'll go see what's going on."

She's out of the small house before anybody can stop her.

From:

"Nellie!" Solona cries out worriedly, working herself to stand up and run after her. Cullen manages to stand even quicker, making his way outside the cottage before Solona or Anders could. And then he sees it. Smoke rising in the distance. He turns to Nellie worriedly.

"We have to leave. Now."

From:

Nellie frowns and nods at Cullen.

"You guys start packing up. I'm going to go and see if I can find out what's going on."

Before he can do anything beyond protesting, Nellie kisses him on the cheek and runs off.

From:

"B-but Nellie, I--!" And she's off. He turns to Solona who ushers him off with urgency written all over her face. "Go after her! Anders and I will gather the things," she calls out to him.

Cullen purses his lips and nods, running into the village in Nellie's direction. People screaming, gathering their things and running the opposite direction.

"What in Andraste's name is happening?" His voice quivers as he scans the area. Nellie. Maker's breath, where was she? "Nellie!" He calls out. "Nellie!"

From:

Nellie's in front of the Chantry, talking to one of the sisters, who looks nervous, like she wants to get out of there.

Once she hears Cullen, she nods at the sister quietly, grimly, before running over to him.

"Cullen...!"

She hugs him tightly.

"We need to go. Ostagar...the battle...they lost, all the Grey Wardens are dead, the King is dead...the Darkspawn are coming!"

She looks terrified now, as if this is just fully washing over her.

From:

"Maker have mercy on us all," Cullen mutters under his breath, taking Nellie's hand in his and tugging her in the direction of the cottage. They had to get back there as soon as possible. They had to leave, and quickly.

At the cottage, Solona immediately rushes to the kitchen to gather all the food she could into a pack. "Anders! We have to leave! Now!"

From:

Nellie nods quietly.

"That's why there were all the refugees coming in from the south...it really is a Blight, Cullen..."

Anders, back at the cottage, swears to himself, nodding and gathering up everything he could. This includes Ser Pounce-a-lot and their 2 other cats, Wiggums the Second and Isadora, who are unceremoniously scooped up and placed in a bag filled with clothes and sheets.

From:

"If it really is a Blight, then we have to get out of Lothering quickly," he growls, entering the cottage only to be greeted by Solona carrying a few packs in her hands.

"You're here!" she exclaims, handing the bags to Cullen. "Anders is gathering the clothes. I'll go help him. Cullen, I suggest you get some weapons." Solona turns to Nellie. "Nel, get your important things and the books. The important ones only." With that, she disappears into her bedroom."

From:

"Right." Nellie rushes up to her room, packing up her bag. She's got her book of fairy takes, another book of short stories, a diary, and her book of herbalist recipes. Those all go in her bag, along with the letters from her mother, the doll Solona gave her years ago, and anything else important she can find. She rejoins them at the front of the cottage as soon as she's packed.

Anders has the clothes and the cats all secured, and is doing a last minute check when Nellie returns.

"Has Cullen filled you and Solona in yet...?"

From:

"Yes, he has," Solona says in a rushed tone. She secures her pack over her shoulder and looks to Cullen for directions. "Where do we go now? Is there anywhere near here you might know?" She then turns to Anders. "Anywhere?"

Cullen scowls. It'll be hard to evade the Blight but maybe-- "We travel around the horde," he says simply.

"Maker, you have to be kidding me," Solona groans.

From:

"We don't have much of a choice, Solona."

Anders sighs, shaking his head.

"Nothing large enough to withstand the horde. And it's spreading, so we need to move fast, and as far as possible...possibly out of Ferelden altogether."

From:

"That would mean we'd have to head for the docks," Cullen looks at Anders incredulously. Was the man actually thinking straight for once?

"This all sounds like a grand idea," Solona starts, "but shouldn't we be focusing on getting our asses out of Lothering first?"

From:

Anders nods at Cullen, a grim look on his face.

"If the docks aren't already full of people, that is. If they are, we'll need to find our way to another port and take ship out of here. I think the closest is Gwaren...and if it's not the closest, it's certainly the largest."

Nellie nods and tugs at Solona's sleeve quietly.

"We really, really should move, now. There are more people trying to get out of here, and if we just keep arguing, we won't make it..."

From:

"You're right, Nel," Solona replies sullenly.

Their attention though is slightly caught by a large explosion in the distance.

Cullen turns to the rest of them. "We better run, now!" he says with utmost urgency.

From:

Anders swears and nods, grabbing Solona's hand without a second thought.

"Let's move."

And without looking back, they're on the run, once again.

From: