One moment, Anders is fighting beside Hawke, both of them flinging spells, and the next-

The next he is falling, surprise stealing the scream from him. 

The last thing is he hits the water, painfully, and gasps, healing himself as he flounders. Despite Hawke and Isabela’s attempts, he never learned to swim, a fact he is regretting as his clothes start to drag him down. “No- no!” He gasps helplessly, floundering. 

The ocean provides, at least, a little buoyancy from the salt.

...Something is coming up from the depths.

...Maker, let that not be some sort of mythical beast he denied existing. Please let Hawke rescue him before he gets eaten alive. 

Of all the times for Justice to go silent, this was very inopportune. He casts barrier over himself and prays. 

Something catches on the back of his collar, and starts bodily lifting him out of the water. Around him, sleek and sharp metal 'fins' are breaking the surface of the water.

“What- Maker-” is all Anders can say as he’s lifted bodily out of the water by something puncturing his favourite (and only) coat. 

The thing below him is distinctly not flesh. Some sort of dwarven creation? He sends a pulse of healing energy (from where he dangles embarrassingly), and can detect no life signs from the metal...thing. There are signs inside, however. 

Some...kind of boat? 

Indeed some kind of boat. The fins are followed by a flatter metal surface with a very gentle curve to it.

About five feet from where Anders is now hanging, a hatch opens in time with a series of vents, all of which immediately spit out smoke and steam.

And in the case of the hatch, people.

"For fuck's sake, Tana!" one is yelling. "Next time you decide to blow something up, warn us so we don't have to do an emergency breach."

A woman with a peculiar, bulky device around her legs laughs. "I'll start warning you I'm gonna blow shit up when you start warning us you're gonna get us shot at."

Anders goes to call out, but then wonders if that's the smart thing to do. He doesn't know these people, and they could be against mages.

Then again, he is hanging from a spike.

"Um, hello? I think you've both speared me and save me from drowning!"

"-Huh. Whaddaya know? We went fishing."

An overlarge dog (and had he always been among the group?) pads over to sniff at Anders feet.

The first woman saunters after the dog, hair shimmering and changing colour under the sun. "And what, pray tell, have we caught?"

“A tall, wet, grateful man.” He waves at both women and tries not to flinch away from the dog 

"Gratitude, regrettably, doesn't fill bellies."

“True, but I’ve heard human flesh does nothing good for the brain.”

The woman laughs, harsh and cynical. "Perhaps not, but sometimes: needs must."

"You're being a bitch again," the voice comes from where there was previously, the dog.

"When isn't she one?"

“I can promise I would not be a good meal. I may be tall, but very stringy. Not much meat on these bones.”

He sees the dog turn into a man, and his relief is palpable. “Thank the Maker. You must be a mage, me too. I was worried I’d fallen into the clutches of dwarven-craft-stealing-cannibal Templars.”

"-Uh. Mage? I mean, that sounds really cool, but I do large dog and that is...approximately it."

"You are a bit rangey come to think of it." The woman apparently in charge glances over her shoulder. "Deke!" she roars.

“Shapeshifting is one of the hardest schools to learn. I’ve never been able, myself,” Anders says, and he sounds truly impressed. 

He looks hopefully at the woman in charge, that he might be let down from his...perch. 

A man, a height with the woman appears, and blinks up at Anders. "Didn't know human was in season out here."

"Shut up and help me get him down. You too, Rex, don't just sit there."

Rex is abruptly a dog again.

"-How come he gets away with that?" Deke grumbles, helping the woman unhook Anders from the spike.

Anders is as helpful with the task as he can be, while also trying not to let his coat rip. 

Both of the people lifting him are strong, and lift him up far enough that they aren't tearing his coat.

"There," the woman says, as they set him on his feet.

"So...what we doing with him?"

Anders drops onto his feet, and immediately starts ringing his hair. “Hopefully not dropping me right back in the ocean? Or at least, dropping me a little closer to Kirkwall. I’m not...actually sure where this is.”

"Where the fuck is Kirkwall?"

"-Not somewhere I've heard of."

"Maybe south of the Barrier?"

"There's nothing south of the Barrier, Tana, cept more ocean."

...had he fallen unconscious? Had he actually drowned and Justice had only woken him up now? Just where in Thedas was he? 

“Ah, it’s in the Free Marches? It’s, ah...are we in the Amaranthine ocean still?”

"-You're in the Silent Ocean, neighbour, about a hundred leagues from any shore."

“...I’ve never heard of the Silent Ocean.” He’s only slightly panicking. Where’s Justice? He usually stopped Anders spiralling, even if it meant him turning blue. 

"Hey, hey," the other woman says, holding out a hand. "Just breathe."

"We can't just dump him, Circ," Deke says quietly.

Anders takes the outstretched hand, physical contact always soothing him. “Are...are we anywhere near Thedas at all?”

The woman smiles, and the answer is in that smile - she's never heard of the place.

"It'll be okay," she promises, squeezing his hand.

"No, we can't..." And 'Circ' is watching something else, something that no-one else can see. "Got a name, sharkbait?"

Where...where the Void was he?

"I'm...Anders. I'm Anders." They wouldn't even realise it wasn't his name. If they hadn't heard of Thedas, they hadn't heard of the Anderfels.

"I'm Circe, and this is my boat. You can call me Captain. Girl you're holding hands with is Tana, Deke," she points to the man who'd helped get him down. "And the shifter's Rex."

"Nice to meet you all. Thanks for fishing me out of the sea," Anders jokes weakly. Maker, when was the last time his heart beat like this?

Where was Justice?

"C'mon, figure the smoke's probably cleared out by now, you may as well come below." Her thumb strokes over the back of Anders hand gently.

“Well, being out the wind can only help,” Anders says, and his voice feels very far away. 

"We'll get you something dry as well. Deke, you got anything to spare, the deeps know my shit ain't gonna fit him."

"I'll find something," Deke says dismissively, leading the way towards the hatch.

Anders follows, somewhat automatically. He feels the way he did when he was first brought to the Circle, and that doesn't sit well on him at all. There's an odd coldness to his limbs, and he's old enough now to know what that means,

"Use the ladder," Tana warns gently. "And watch your grip."

Heedless of her own advice, she drops down through the hatch.

Circe is watching Anders thoughtfully, leaning against one of the sharp spikes that protrudes from her ship's hull.

Anders, unable to help himself, probes Tana with healing magic. He can sense the disconnect through her spine. "I can fix that, you know. It might take a while, but enough magic could reconnect it."

Tana looks at him with a startled blink. Then she laughs. "It's fine, really." Pats the contraption she wears. "Fixed it myself."

"A healer's never looked at it? I don't mean a leech purveyor. A real healer. With magic?"

"-Oh, honey. Any healer I went to wrote me off as broken." Pauses. "I- don't know where you're from, but I think our magics are different. Even the temples wrote me off."

Anders frowned at that. "I know spirit healers are rare, but are they really that rare around here? Surely there was someone at a Circle somewhere who could've at least tried?"

She shakes her head sadly. "Maybe one of them fancy doctors the rich people can afford, but even with Circe's help that's far outta reach."

Deke reappears at that point carrying a pile of clothes. "Here," he thrusts them out to Anders. "Should fit you. Give or take."

Anders, still reeling from Tana's comments, takes the clothes. "Thank you," he says, then starts to undress.

"Uh, hey, showers are just along there, mate. I mean, sure if you're fine with this, just."

Anders stops, midway through pulling his shirt off. "Ah...sorry. Circle, and Wardens, neither had a lot of focus on privacy," he says apologetically, then follows the directions to the showers.

"I mean. We're pretty relaxed here, but like. We've all known each other for years. You've barely met us." She swipes her palm over a sensor to open the door. "Showers, take your time. Water's heated by cooling the engine, so it's in plentiful supply, don't worry."

"Thanks," he says, offering Tana a smile. He then ducks inside the showers, places the clothes carefully on the nearest flat surface, then falls to his knees, his breathing suddenly sharp and hard. His skin doesn't feel right, too tight and too itchy, his blood boiling in his skin. 

The room around him is cool and quiet, except for a humming thrum, that's been echoing through the entire ship.

Then he lets himself go, sobbing, and curling in on himself. Feeling utterly wretched and more alone than he's felt in years. What happened? He'd be grateful to even see Fenris at this point.

Time passes, and he doesn't feel it, but eventually he heals his broken mind enough to calm himself, and then changes into the dry clothes, hanging his jacket over his arm. It may be odd to feel attached to a piece of clothing, but he does towards this.

Eventually Tana knocks on the door. "Hey, you okay?" she calls through it.

Anders shoves the genuine part of him away. 

"'Course! As much as someone who doesn't know where they are can be," he jokes, then realises he has no idea how to open the door. "Quick question, what the void kind of dwarven machine is this?"

Tana laughs, and obviously does something to make the door open. "I'm not sure what you mean by dwarves, but you see this panel," she leans in and points. "That'll open any room you're allowed in."

Anders watches how she does it, and keeps it in mind for future. "Dwarves? Short people? Live underground, forging fantastical things?"

He noticeably holds his sodden, feathered jacket.

"-Underground doesn't mean short," Tana says, voice dark. "I don't really know anyone by that description."

She considers the jacket. "We can wash and repair that," she assures him. "I'll show you."

"...well, I suppose the Deep Roads don't extend everywhere. And I've heard that some dwarven cities don't extend this far."

Anders smiles softly, gratefully. "Thank you. It was a gift from a friend. It matters a lot."

He can't help the small pulse of healing energy he sends towards her.

Tana breathes in and out with that. "You don't have to do that," she assures him quietly. "But thank you. C'mon. I think Deke might've started on dinner."

"I'll never say no to a meal." Justice would've said Liar, despite the fact he was the cause for missed meals.

In any case, he follows Tana.

They make a brief stop at a laundry room, and Tana eyes his jacket thoughtfully before doing something arcane to the machine in front of her.

Then she leads him further through to the ward room.

Circe looks up from her meal, and nods to the seats free at the table.

Anders watches what she does to the machine, wondering what it is and hoping that he can duplicate it, before following through to the room. 

He takes the seat nodded at him by Circe, the old itch of defying rule making it hard, but the sensible part of him taking control as he realises he's not in his element here. Until he learns how to get home, this is his normal.

Tana sits next to him, releasing herself from the device that helps her walk, and using upper body strength to shift herself into the seat.

Deke slides bowls of stew towards them. "We need to go ashore for supplies soon," he points out.

"I'll chart it," Circe assures. "Figure we could all use some downtime anyway."

Anders hovers over Tana, seeing if she needs his help, but quickly settles at seeing her settle herself. 

At Circe's words, he looks up. "Please, let me know if you need help. I need to find out how far I am from home, anyhow."

"You can come look at the maps with me later," she says, and it's not so much an offer as an order. "Maybe we just call things differently."

The relief in Anders' face is palpable. "That would make a lot of sense, actually. Who knows what other people call Thedas?"

"Exactly," Circe agrees.

A teenager appears in the door to the room, but freezes when he spots Anders.

Anders knows that look. That's the look of a new Circle mage. 

"Hey!" He says cheerfully, trying to seem nonthreatening. 

"Shard picked him up while we were surfacing," Circe says. "Anders, Mako, Mako, Anders."

Mako nods cautiously, and slinks to the seat beside Circe.

Circe takes another spoonful of stew, before speaking, definitely aimed at Anders. "Hurt him and I tear your heart out."

"I'm a healer, unhurter by trade," he says, but he understands what Circe is saying.

Hawke's little group became his family. If anyone hurt them, he would respond with fire. He respects anyone that would do the same.

That gets him a smile, and a nod of respect. "Eat your stew. Deke hasn't poisoned us yet."

He looks to the teenager first. "You should've seen me. I was strung up like a fish. You guys got me good!"

Then he tries the stew, casting a quick spell to detect human remains.

No human remains, and Deke clearly notices him doing it, and is at least a little offended.

Mako smirks a little into his own stew.

Anders notices Deke's look, and grins impishly. "Can't blame a man for being careful!"

"See, Circ, this is what happens when you scare people."

"It seemed appropriate at the time," Circe drawls. "You and Tana were the ones who made the jokes about catching him like some prize game."

"To be fair, I was dangling there like prime meat, my poor coat aside."

"Your poor coat will be fine. Even if you aren't a seamstress, I am."

"By the way, Tana, I'm telling your wife you tried to blow my ship up."

"Oooh, worst punishment, telling the wife. My...a friend, we threaten her with that."

Tana laughs. "Ri's just gonna ask what else people expected."

"Exactly what Merrill says." Anders wonders if missing them is appropriate if it's only been so long.

Tana squeezes his forearm briefly. "I miss Ri the minute I leave her," she whispers.

"Awww," Anders says, squeezing her arm right back.

"Hey, no moping at the dinner table, house rule."

"Says you," Mako mutters.

"We tried to have that for a rule, but any Wicked Grace night that didn't involve Hawke or Merrill meant one visiting the other."

"It's a little difficult to arbitrarily visit someone who's several hundred leagues away," Circe says, pushing her bowl away. "We do what we can."

"I'm not trying to insult my valiant rescuers, I swear. Hawke and Merrill lived within the same city bounds."

"Lucky them," Tana says. "Ri makes a living on the mainland, she's not one for being in a 'tin can under the water'."

"Under...the water?" Anders asks, suddenly feeling sick.

"Where did you think we came from?"

"I'm afraid being pierced didn't lead me to many logical pathways." 

Why would the dwarves ever create such a contraption?

"Ninety-six percent of the known world is flooded. And it's far easier to hide under the water than on top of it."

Anders swallows his panic, his fear, his terror at not knowing where he was. Breaking down in public was not endearing.

"Oh. Well. Going to be significantly harder to find home," he jokes.

"Hey, every time we've sunk so far has been on purpose, sharkbait."

"That joke wasn't funny the first time."

Anders doesn't mention that Kirkwall wasn't flooded, or that anywhere in Thedas was reachable by boat. He doesn't think about his spirit lodger suddenly disappearing. He falls back on his old escape: flirting.

"Oh, you're willing to sink your craft for me? Truly, I'm flattered."

She casts him a look, that tells him that he better be prepared for what he finds at the end of this road. "It's what she's designed to do. I think you should be more thankful that Tana tried to blow her up when she did."

"I said I was sorry."

"As long as theirs exit routes, I'll brace myself for explosions," Anders says good naturedly, winking at Tana.

"Follow Mak if things go wrong, he knows the quick ways out."

Mako shrugs. "Seemed sensible."

"You looked like a sensible kid, glad to know my instincts aren't wrong!" Anders says with a grin.

"...Sure."

"You about ready to look at some maps?" Circe asks, standing from the table and stretching. Her outfit is very form fitting.

Anders notices.

"Yeah, that would actually be very helpful."

"C'mon then," she says, and doesn't wait to see if he's following.

Anders gets up to follow her, and promptly bangs his head. "Ow...very dashing," he mutters, already healing the small bruise as he hurries to catch up with Circe.

She has paused, briefly, just outside the door, and then resumes her pace. She walks quickly, and navigates the ship easily. All the walls are flat, dull metal, with no immediate identifying marks.

The room she leads him to seems, at first glance, to be mostly empty, apart from an orb hanging from the ceiling.

An entirely metal ship, and apparently not made by dwarves. It’s...truly incredible. Anders doesn’t worry about hiding his wonder. 

Once they’re in the room, he squints at the orb. “Magic?” He asks, not sure if he’s ever heard of soemthing like this. 

"You could call it that," Circe agrees mildly, reaching up to tap the orb.

It clicks rapidly, and then spins, it's surface peeling open to reveal light sources. The room around them fills with images, a map that fills the entire room. There's very little in the way of landmass, and definitely nothing familiar.

"We're here," Circe points to a small dot in the centre of an ocean.

“Maker!” Anders exclaims, and shifts weirdly like he’s trying to get out of the way of the images. Once it’s clear they’re...shining? Onto the walls, he spins trying to find anything that looks like home. 

He sees Circe’s point, and confusion mounts, as well as another round of panic. “How in the bloody void did I get here?” Anders mutters, mostly to himself. His hands have started to shake, so he tucks them behind his back. 

"Have to say that's the number one question," Circe agrees. "We haven't had so much as ping contact with any other vessel in days, and yet. You appear in the middle of the Silent Ocean with no way of you getting there."

That just puzzles Anders further. “No way of getting here, no land in sight,” he says, looking around at the maps again, an almost desperate look to his eyes. He wonders what Hawke thinks happened. 

“Must’ve been a...Fade rift, or something. Though I’ve never heard of one portalling you to somewhere that isn’t the Fade.” The thought is squashed as easily as it comes up. “And this is definitely not the Fade, or...”

He hasn’t heard a thing from Justice, no thrumming in his skin or thoughts that don’t feel like his. Had his spirit friend gotten free when he popped into being here?

"And you keep using words that mean nothing here like they should mean something. 'Mage', 'the Fade'. I've travelled a lot of this world, and these aren't things I've come across."

“Well, for all I know my entire life could be a concussion dream and I’m talking nonsense. Especially if- things can’t really be this different if this is the same world.” 

"You're either lost beyond all my ability to discern." Pause, and when did Circe produce that knife? Where did she produce it from? But it is now being spun around her fingers. "Or an incredibly clever spy."

Anders snorts derisively, but keeps an eye on that knife. “Right. What a brilliant spy I am, getting punctured by your vessel and then raving about things none of you have any idea about.”

"Exactly. Who's going to believe the madman is a spy."

“Just out of curiousity, why am I spying on you?”

Circe laughs. "I'm not going to just give away my secrets."

“And I have no reason to try and get you to! Unless you’re the person who brought me here. Which I doubt.”

"If I was, we'd all have less questions." She leans back against the wall, her hair shimmering and changing colour again. "Which still doesn't tell me what I should do with you now."

“It would seem I am at your disposal. You could keep me on the boat, I’ll try and make myself useful and find a way home, or you could kill me. That way you’ll know there’s no chance I’m a spy.”

There. That proves it. Justice is not here with him. He’d never allow Anders to put himself in harm’s way like that. He feels somewhat lost without his spirit lodger now.

Circe stares at him, unnervingly intent. "My crew have soft hearts. And Tana's taken a liking to you. Rex says you smell genuine. If a little lost. I'm inclined to believe your story for now."

“Well, who wouldn’t believe a raving, sopping wet, skewered man?”

"You should count your blessings. The Lord Protector's people would've been far less forgiving than I am."

“Well. I’ve found people with titles like that aren’t generally people you want to be around. What’s his deal?”

Anders laughs slightly. “Oh, I don’t know. I could stand a little less mercy.”

"His deal is that he's the most powerful man in the world, and he doesn't like to be questioned."

“He sounds like a real swell guy,” Anders frowns. He knows this man’s type all too well. “Definitely someone you want at parties.”

Circe considers him. "On that we are agreed"

She straightens. "On this ship, my word is law. That's because I damn well know what I'm talking about. We earn a living salvaging and pirating, everyone takes an equal cut. You hurt my people, you're out. I don't give second chances."

Anders stiffens a little. Pirates like Isabela? Or like her former master? 

“You deal in slaves?” He questions. 

She moves, almost unnaturally fast, and has a hold of his collar. "If you ever imply I deal in slaves again, there won't be enough of you left to feed the sharks."

Well. He's old enough to know himself, but apparently getting a crush on women who can easily beat him up is a new revelation. 

"Then, Captain Circe, fling me overboard if you must. Your word is law."

She's astute, and probably notices his response, but something in it reassures her. "Quite." She steps back, and vanishes the knife in her hand to...somewhere. "C'mon. The others might fear I've killed you."

“A regular worry, that?” Anders says, straightening his borrowed collar. 

"Depends on whether I like the answers they're giving me."

“Thanks for the warning. I’ll try being more agreeable in the future.”

Circe smirks. "That's not what I said."

Anders taps his nose, humming in agreement. 

Tana meets then part way along a corridor. "We diving?"

"Yeah," Circe confirms. "Longer we stay up the more risk there is."

"Should I...prepare something? Or am I just bracing myself on the nearest wall?"

"You're gonna come with me. Deke's got the engines covered and Rex is currently piloting us. We're gonna sit back and enjoy the show."

Circe smirks and saunters off with a dismissive wave.

Anders watches her go. "She's...well. Very herself," he remarks to Tana, following her lead.

"You're not wrong," Tana agrees, leading the way with the same surety Circe had. "She's pretty hard, but she knows what she's doing."

"She doesn't bother much hiding it. All though, why would you?" Anders sounds impressed. Many of the most powerful people in his life had to remain hidden. He wonders again what they think happened.

"Power can be the thing that keeps you alive, and sometimes the thing that kills you. She's learned to wield her power like a fucking scalpel."

Tana steps into a room, where metal gives way to what looks like glass. "Have a seat," she gestures to the benches.

Anders somewhat identifies with that. Or at least, the part of him that used to be Justice does. It also doesn't help his tiny crush on Circe that Tana uses 'scalpel' to describe it. Power, and medical terminology? That's him done.

He peers suspiciously at the glass. "I was claustrophobic as a kid. Hope that doesn't come back to bite me." 

"It's kinda awesome being in here when the Shard dives," Tana says.

A loud klaxon sounds at that moment, in time with the engines roaring from their previous quiet idling.

“Yes, I’m sure it is. However, as someone used to being above ground, under things is something of a concern.”

He’s about to go on his usual tirade about how awful the Deep Roads are, but quickly shuts his mouth. No one here has even heard of dwarves, why would they know about the Roads?

"Circe has horror stories from underground," Tana says quietly. "Once she started talking about it. Underwater is different for her. Quiet. Peaceful."

The ship tilts slightly, heading into the depths. Light streams down through the water surface, but below them is nothing but inky black.

The inky depths do not soothe Anders. There’s no peace for him in the dark. That year in solitary confinement made sure of that. 

“You don’t have any magic or strange creation to light up the sea?” Anders says, falling back on jokes to pull through his dark mood.

Tana laughs. "Give it a bit. Once we're down far enough I'll put the beams on. S'a whole other world down here."

"Beams? Like...sunbeams?" Anders asks, very curious about the contraption that could light up the bottom of the ocean.

"Kind of. We store some energy from the sunlight while we're on the surface, but that doesn't exactly translate into light down here. And it's not quite as bright."

"That's...incredible!" Anders says on a breath. "No-one, not even the dwarves, not even mages, know how to harness sunlight. That's amazing!"

"I'll show you the kit next time we surface," Tana promises. "It is pretty neat, but it's kinda old hat around here..."

"Maker, if that's old hat, what's new?" 

"I can show you some of that too! I mean. Shard isn't breaking any records for pioneering, but we've jerry rigged most of her, and she's pretty impressive."

"For someone who's never seen a creation like this, literally anything could be new," Anders chuckles.

He's not feeling any more at ease, and there's a proper breakdown on the way, but for now he can enjoy Tana's company.

She nudges their shoulders together companionably, and after a few moments, reaches over to one wall and flips a switch.

There's a quiet clicking and then two beams of light cut through the water. Something immediately flees from in front of them.

"Huh. That was close to the surface."

"What? What was it?" 

Maker, aquatic darkspawn would be his worst nightmare.

"Razor squid unless I'm wrong. Might be spawning season actually. They come to the surface for that..." Beat. "Nothing to worry about. They're maybe...three foot long? Problem if you're in the water without protection, their bills can sheer flesh. Haven't got through metal yet."

"Well, that's not unnerving at all." He finds himself searching the water for one, out of morbid curiosity. "Do they actively attack humans?"

"Sometimes," Tana says with a shrug. "We're a food source. And if we're in the water, we're fair game."

One flits across the window, a ghostly creature that's more tentacle than body, with a razor sharp bill at its front.

"Oh, Andraste's tits that's close." Anders flinches back from the window, his face contorted in disgust.

Tana grins. "The creatures down here dislike light and are drawn by it in equal measure. The fins help dissuade some of the bigger ones from getting too frisky."

"Oh, good, they come in bigger."

"Yup. Think the largest squid I saw was...twenty feet? Circe swears they come bigger. The largest shark was near thirty."

Anders sits where Tana had told him to earlier. "Maker. I'm suddenly reminded of why I don't like small spaces. Big creatures like to corner prey in them."

Tana seems to realise the effect her words are having at that. "-You'd be wrong to write us off as prey. Main gun on this thing can slice through solid steel. And it's not our only option for fighting off those things. On the whole: there are far easier meals than us. Ones not in tin cans."

"Ah, yes, logic. The enemy of irrational fears," Anders says with a weak, but sly, grin.

She grins. "I can keep logicking at you if you want?"

"You sound like Aveline," Anders laughs.

"She sounds like a smart woman."

"Smart, definitely, but mostly the tired mother friend of Hawke's gang."

"I'm ninety percent certain every group of friends has one of those. Although I think Deke's ours..."

"Yes, he did seem rather...mum like," Anders laughs.

"You noticed that, huh? Yeah. If Circe over steps with anything, tell Deke. He'll deal with it."

"Once I find my footing, I will attempt to recognise overstepping," Anders says drily.

"It includes making you uncomfortable," Tana says carefully.

"She won't have to worry about that too much. Person to person? Hard to make me uncomfortable. Only deep dark spaces, apparently."

"You've never seen Circ on a bad day," Tana says. "She gets vicious."

Their dive levels out. "C'mon. Let's go see how your coat's doing. Unless you wanna see if any of the big boys are around?"

"I'll be sure to mind my tongue on those days," Anders says with a nod. 

"Sure. I'm at your disposal," he adds with a cheeky wink.

Tana laughs. "Happily married and hopelessly gay, Anders. You're cute, but so far from my type."

"Your wife is a very lucky woman," Anders says, nudging Tana playfully.

"She agrees with you. I think she'll like you."

"That's a lovely thought. I do quite like people liking me. Keeps me alive."

"Well. I like you. And Deke likes you well enough. Rex seems to as well. You're good here."

And now: laundry room. Someone had hung Anders' jacket over a line, and it seems to be mostly dry, only a little worse for wear.

Anders touches it gently, this piece of home. It still holds a soft smell of elfroot, despite everything, and maybe that means Anders can go home. Eventually.

"I wonder what my family thinks of my sudden disappearance."

"I'm sure they're trying to figure out what happened," Tana says quietly. "C'mon, sewing kit's in the medbay."

Anders smiles gratefully over his shoulder at Tana. He then grabs his coat and follows her out.

"So, why isn't your wife aboard?"

"Ri's people sailed the surface of the ocean. She grew up under the sun. Add to that she's nearly seven foot, and well... Subaqua ships are not really designed for people her height. And she gets flinchy away from the sun."

“So she’s my height then,” Anders says, with a grin. “I don’t blame her. I much prefer the sun myself. How did you meet?”

"Actually Ri's taller than you," Tana says off-handedly. "Met while I was still trying to fix myself. She was trying to find work on land, barely spoke the language, and was hopelessly lost. We hit it off."

"Must be hard being away from her for so long."

"It is," Tana agrees as they step into the medical bay, "but she doesn't do well under the waves, and I don't do very well on land. We make it work."

She rummages around in a cupboard.

"Very star-crossed lovers. My friend Varric would write a book about you two."

"Rii says one of the guys she travels with is. Or is trying to. Something like that."

She straightens, holding out a small case. "Sewing kit."

"He like telling grandiose stories of heroes too?" 

Anders accepts the sewing kit. "Thank you. I'd be lost without this coat."

"More like he likes penning revolutionary tales to scandalise the rich and powerful."

"He sounds so much like Varric," Anders laughs. Part of him aches to think that, but it's rather comforting to know that Varric has a sort-of twin in this world. 

Tana smiles. "Who knows? You might get to meet him and Rii. C'mon. Medbay is not a place I tend to hang out."

"I, on the other hand, live in my clinic, but you're the boss," Anders grins.

"Hey, maybe you can take over that. We don't have a medic right now. Last one...let's just say him and Circ had too many differences."

"Ah, yes. Circe did warn me about that. I'll be sure to only have minor differences with her," Anders says, only half-joking. "You all did fish me out of the ocean, anything I can do to pay you back I'll gladly do."

"I don't think you'll have the differences he did. He had no love of the Lord Protector, but damn the man was fucking devout."

She's leading the way back to the wardroom.

“I wouldn’t even know what to be devout about,” Anders muses. 

"Oh good! You won't tell Circe's she's going to burn in hell for saying the gods are dead."

“You won’t find me arguing the finer points of that with anyone. You want one about the freedom and equality of mages in Thedas, I’m your guy. Otherwise, happy to not. Out of curiousity though, dead gods?”

"The gods went to war with themselves and drowned the world," Circe says from the other side of the room. "None of them survived. Anyone who says different is deluding themselves."

Anders looks at her curiously. “What did they go to war about?”

"How to divide the world up? How they should be worshipped? Fuck knows, but the wars of gods are ten times more damaging than the wars of man and we're still paying for their ire."

“And woe to those who do not fear a god’s ire,” Anders says, nodding in agreement. 

"Quite. But. They're all dead, and we remain. Take from that what you will."

“Humans triumph over god. I find myself liking that a lot.”

For more reasons than one. 

"It's odd how many humans need the gods to be the undefeatable ones. Our last medic was one of them. And thought I was further blasphemous to say I'd already walked through hell and survived with what little sanity I can claim."

"Gosh, you're cheerful today."

"I'm not going to argue that, I can very much believe that you would survive hell," Anders says. "I happen to have some skill as a healer myself, and I can promise there will be no cries of blasphemy from me."

"We could use a medic," Circe agrees thoughtfully, leaning back in her chair so it tilts onto two legs. "I assume Tana showed you the medbay?"

"She did." Anders shows her the sewing kit. "I'm going to perform life-saving surgery on my coat."

"Good. I'd never trust a medic who can't stitch his own coat back together."

"You'll be shocked to know I don't need to stitch people back together," Anders says slyly.

"Heard weirder. We'll see whether words and actions stack up."

"You do strike me as the kind of person to respect actions more."

Circe hums her agreement and returns her attention to the...slate shaped thing in front of her?

"I'm gonna go check Deke doesn't need anything," Tana tells Anders. "If that's okay with you?"

"Please! I'm all right here. Got something to occupy me," Anders says smiling.

Tana smiles warmly at him, and leaves.

Anders finds a spot to settle down in, and gets to darning his jacket.

Circe is probably watching him, but she's doing a very good job of hiding it if she is.

How many times has Anders sat down to fix his jacket? Every sword wound, every time it ripped around a tree branch, or a clump of feathers had to be replaced-

Merrill and Varric used to make such fun of it. His heart clenches, and he can't help the wince it brings.

Circe starts humming quietly.

Anders, a little lost in his homesickness, starts to sway a little to Circe's humming.

She smiles, a small, secret smile, and her humming shifts to singing.

Anders doesn't look up, not wanting to stop the sound, but he's definitely paying attention. It's soothing, and a little sad, but he's sad himself.

She finishes the song, and goes back to the device in front of her.

Anders lays his sewing down for a moment to give her a small clap.

She smirks over at him. "Your turn."

Anders laughs. "Oh no, you're not getting a folk song out of me."

"Would you care to lay money on that?"

"Bad bet," Rex warns as he saunters in, "don't take it."

"Lady Luck has never favoured me, and I doubt she would now," Anders agrees with Rex, smiling as he comes in.

"We actually have a ship's rule 'don't bet with Circe'. Somehow we always lose, even when we win."

"Seems to be a running theme with ship's captains." Anders laughs.

"Rex, please tell me you didn't just wander away from the controls leaving us drifting?"

"...is that a bad thing? Drifting?"

"Depends. How do you feel about running into an underwater cliff?"

"Generally not fantastic."

"Relax, I'm not an idiot. Mak took over. Said he needed something to do."

"I hope my being here didn't upset him. I would leave, if I could."

"Wrong day, a stiff breeze can upset Mak. He just needs to get used to there being another person on board. That takes us all time."

Anders nods. "With any luck I'll be out of your collective hair soon enough."

"I dunno, it's nice having someone new around once in a while. -Although I suppose you wanna get home. Guessing the maps weren't helpful?"

"Thedas has disappeared, it seems," Anders says, forcing himself to concentrate on his sewing and not on how frightened he was by the idea he might never go home.

"Time travel?"

"-Why is that always your answer? I need to start censoring what you read."

Anders laughs. "I'm not sure how time travel would change the shape of continents but it's a thought."

"I mean, I figure Circ mighta filled you in on that theory of hers about a war of the gods flooding the world?"

"She has, and perhaps the war did shape the world. I don't have any other explanation!"

Circe shrugs, gets to her feet. "Need to go see if I can call Mischa. See if he can source supplies for us so we don't have to risk getting shot at."

"That something that happens a lot to you?" Anders sounds worried.

"It seems to happen more often than I'd like."

"Well. As long as they're not fatal, arrow wounds are easy enough to heal."

"Not normally bows they're shooting at us, but I can't imagine a bullet wound is much different... Except for like velocity, but-"

"I'm not sure I know what a bullet is, but I'll nod and smile and pretend to know what's going on."

"We can add weapons training to the list," Circe says casually. "Along with swimming."

"Oh, good. Swimming. Haven't done that since my fourth escape from the Circle."

"Well, we're gonna change that. If you can't swim, we got a problem."

She stalks out.

Anders watches her leave. "She's not wrong. Being in an underwater vessel does mean lack of swimming skill is a problem."

"Yeah, feels kinda weird to me not being able to? Guess it's different when there's this much water around though..."

"I never really got the chance to learn. Grew up in a Circle, that's what the people of Thedas called a mage prison."

Rex's eyes briefly go distant. "Yeah, sympathies. Well, Circe is a bloody fish, hell, even Mak can swim. You're in good hands with learning!"

"If I have to learn, better it's with the best?"

"You could do a lot worse," Rex agrees cheerfully.

"Good to hear." 

Anders keeps working on his jacket, but eventually does look up at Rex. "How did you become a shapeshifter?"

"-I mean, I've been one as long as I can remember?"

"That's really incredible. I think only the Dalish have people who can shapeshift from birth where I'm from."

"Well, we're not exactly common around here either," Rex admits. "I've met maybe...two others?"

"Did they turn into dogs, like you can?"

"One was a wolf, the other was a...really big cat."

"I love cats. I'd love to have a giant one."

"She was something else," Rex agrees. "If I knew how to track her down, I'd offer to introduce you."

"I'd probably insist on her staying in giant cat form, not the best of introductions," Anders laughs.

Anders finishes his jacket, and puts it back on. "That's better."

"That does look a whole hell of a lot better when it isn't soaked through."

"The same could probably be said about anyone," Anders says with a laugh.

"I mean, you're not wrong, but only when you're not expecting to get soaked through."

"Yes, otherwise you could probably pull it off in a not half-drowned sort of way."

"That's the spirit!" Rex bounces, and there is a distinct impression that he would be wagging his tail if he had one.

Anders laughs. "I guess you didn't chose the dog shapeshift, it chose you!"

"Something like that!" Rex agrees cheerfully. "There anything you wanna do? Now you're finished sewing?"

“You think you could give me a tour?”

"Yeah! That's definitely a good idea! So. This is the wardroom. Meals get served here, we spend downtime here if we're on ship. Galley's through there." He points to a door on the far side. "C'mon, that about exhausts the interesting facts of this room!"

Anders gets up to follow Rex.

Rex leads the way out. "This," he taps the long wall on one side with his fists. "Is a storage unit, door's round the other side. You've got cabins running up this side," he points to a wall with two doors on it. "And there's a corridor that mirrors this on the other side of the storage unit." Pauses as they come to the end of the corridor, and Rex points up at the hatch in the ceiling above them. "Access out onto the hull. Don't open it while we're under water."

"Oh, I will not be doing that. I've been soaked through once already."

"Comms room and cockpit are through there," he points to the door to one side of the hatch. "If Mako's piloting, don't go anywhere near the cockpit."

“Why’s that? He easily distracted?”

"Most places on this ship have more than one exit, or ways to not feel cornered. Cockpit isn't one of those places. He doesn't do well being cornered."

“I can understand that. Felt that way a few times myself.”

Young and trying to escape, hissing angrily at any Templar that drew near. It was amazing he was still alive at all. 

"And Circ probably wasn't joking about ripping your heart out if you hurt Mak, so. Anyway." He turns and heads in one direction down the corridor.

“I wouldn’t dream of hurting any of you. Healer’s oath and all.” He softens his words with a joke, but Rex’s words make him wonder what the rest of the crew thinks of him. Do they all think he’d harm someone? Of course they do. They don’t know him yet. 

He’s just going to have to prove he’s not a danger to Mako, or anyone. 

"You don't seem like you're lying. You smell genuine, your heart isn't skipping. I believe you don't intend harm."

“Glad I smell like something other than elfroot and body odour,” Anders laughs. “You’re able to use your heightened dog senses in your human form? That’s...incredible.”

"Perks of the shift," Rex grins and shrugs. "Normal human smells I- kinda filter out? They can get overwhelming. Speaking of. Showers," he points at the relevant door. "Laundry room, map room. Map room you'll probably need a lesson in how to use the map. If you want one that is?"

“I don’t think I’ll be looking at maps for a while, but thank you.” 

He doesn’t want to be reminded that his home won’t appear on any of them. 

-Yeah, okay, that makes sense.

He leads them to the end of the corridor, and palms open a door that opens to a set of...stairs? That has a mirror image going up the other side?

"Fun fact: The corridors in the Shard do actually all connect together. These stairs lead down to the engine room. Wanna go see?"

“Engine room? That sounds...intriguing. Lead on!”

He heads down the stairs, and opens another door at the base. The first impression, is one of noise. (Apparently those doors have some pretty impressive soundproofing in them.) Rex leads the way into a large room, that's filled with devices and machines, not all of which seem to be connected together, but a large proportion of which are.

It’s nearly overwhelming, the noise, the...things everywhere. Anders isn’t sure where to start looking. “It sounds like a stampede in here!”

"Yeah, it is pretty loud!" Rex agrees, although he seems, perhaps, surprisingly unbothered by it. "But this is what keeps us moving!"

“This is what powers this vessel?” Anders stares around in wonder. “There is nothing like this in Thedas.”

"Deke and Tana would be bored out of their skulls then," Rex says brightly. "C'mon let's see if we can-"

Deke appears at that point. "Thought I heard voices!"

“Hello! We’re exploring the wonders of the engine room!”

"It is pretty wonderful!" Deke agrees, and then starts talking a mile a minute about the Shard's technical spec.

Rex bounces, grinning.

Anders doesn’t really understand the words, but he can appreciate the enthusiasm. He nods along with the explanation. 

"He doesn't understand a word you're saying, Deke," Rex says after a bit.

"-Oh. Sorry. I am. Occasionally over enthusiastic about things."

“Oh, don’t be sorry. It’s pleasant to hear someone so enthusiastic. Friend of mine, Merrill, rambled a lot when she was explaining soemthing.”

"It seems to be a trait around here. Tana and Rex aren't much better. So sixty percent of this crew is guilty of the crime."

"Guilty," Rex agrees cheerfully. "Let's go see if Tana's lab is passable."

“I’ll feel right at home,” Anders says, and nods to Rex. “Lead on.”

And Rex does, leading him to the back - or front? Maybe? - of the engine compartment, and presses a button beside a door.

"It's clear!" Tana voice comes from a small square speaker above the button.

Rex palms the door open and steps inside.

Anders follows Rex in, looking around at the room. 

It's crowded, with half finished projects scattered around. Tana grins over at them from a workbench, a set of goggles in place over her eyes.

"Hey. Rex giving you the tour?"

"Yes! I'm finding myself quite over my head with new things."

"Yeah, I guess this place can be quite like that. You'll get used to it. It doesn't really take that long."

The idea he has to get used to it at all is foreign, but he keeps a smile on his face. “We’ll take it day by day.”

"That's the spirit!" Tana agrees happily. "I'd say you're welcome down here any time, but my lab can be a bit perilous sometimes. That's why we've got the bell on the door."

"You'll find me very able to traverse perilous ground, especially if it means seeing you."

She laughs. "Incorrigible flirt. Just ring the bell before you come in. That way we can avoid any unnecessary injuries."

"Got it, ring the bell or risk your privates."

"Honestly, your privates would be the least of your worries. Only Circe's reflexes saved her a knife to the face. We agreed on the bell after that."

“It wouldn’t do me good to lose this face, it’s quite the money maker.”

"It is very pretty," Tana agrees cheerfully.

"We have managed to avoid ruining anyone's faces. And Circe admittedly joked that if anyone could lose their face it was her."

"That wouldn't do, a captain with no face? Sound like a nightmare."

Anders looks around the room. "All of this is quite foreign to me, but it's intriguing! I don't think even the dwarves are this advanced."

Tana pushes her goggles up. "Might get you in here to teach you some if you want?"

Well, that is interesting. 

Anders takes another long look at some remarkable device, and smiles at Tana. “I think I might like that. Especially if I’m going to be here for a while.”

"Might be nice to get some company down here once in a while," Tana grins. "This one," she pokes a finger at Rex's side, "and the others are less inclined to hang out when I'm building."

"You literally just caused us to have to do an emergency breach, and you're pulling that up."

“We’ll see if my presence can temper that somewhat.”