To track a legend...

The forest was cool and the soft noise of horse hooves could be heard. Two sets and Katrina looked around at the trees around her. Her mount was a quarter horse with a black swishing mane and tail, swatting at flys. The second was trailing behind completely black, with white socks. It had been two thousand years since she had been in this part of the world but this time she was returning with a purpose. The iron key around the base of her neck showed this, it was cool against her skin… not that her skin gave off any heat. It was snowing slightly, settling on her white hair and skin, not melting upon contact.

Her clothing was a pair of jeans, black boots, long sleeved purple shirt, and a heavy coat. Across her back however was a pair of swords, the metal glinted and seemed to be pulsing against her. Then there was the fog, thick and swirling. Her horse balked, ears flattening against his head. Wordlessly, Katrina slid off her mount. Leading the two over to a tree and tying the two to a branch. She then moved over to the second horse and removed a back pack before striding into the fog. The fog itself made her hair stand on end… she stopped several times, head whipping over her shoulder as if imagining something waiting to attack her.

But in the end Katrina made it to the cave… it was old and black symbols were carved into the cave, black magic… If she were still human Katrina would have shuddered but she strode right on him. Pulling out a flash light she looked around. Her eyes rested on a box of stone… chained shut with many more faintly glowing markings. Inside the stone box was another box but this one was made of wood… protected by the stone box. Katrina knelt by the box and pulled the key from her neck, fitting it into the lock. A blast of cold air hit her in the face as the lid creaked open. She felt like her heart beat would speed up if she had one, from anxiety, fear, excitement… Varric… Tentatively she reached in and pulled out the much smaller and wooden box. It felt fragile in her hand… then she opened it…

"Ever been stuck in a box? Yeah I thought so. Not a fun experience let me tell you. Because the box I'm in is magical. You see this box continuous tortures me, physically and mentally. I'm not even sure if I am even talking to anyone right now, or if I am even talking. I mean I can't even see or hear in this box. Hell I don't even know how long I have been in here." said Varric to himself, or so he thought, he wasn't one hundred percent sure if he was even saying anything. It was one of the few times the box was healing him so it can torture him some more. Did he ever mention how much he loved being healed? Yeah it just meant more torture later, but it meant no torture now. Which was a plus. And then it started up again. Varric would of let out painful screams if this box didn't nullify all sound.

Who knew how long that torture session had lasted, but now he was being healed up again. But then something strange happened. There was sound. Varric's heart skipped a beat. Sound? No it couldn't be. But then another change happened. There was light. But before he could wonder what it meant he was catapulted from the box. Next thing he new he slammed against a rock wall. He fell to the ground and moaned, it hurt. But then something clicked in his mind. He heard himself moan. He flickered his eyes opened but he squinted before of the light. There was light. Varric burst out into uncontrollable laughter. He was free, he was out of the damn box. Unless this was just another form of demented torture. He wiped the tears from his eyes and forced himself to stop laughing. He looked around, he wanted to know who saved him from that damned box.

His heart skipped a beat. He had no idea what the hell she was wearing but there was a room and she looked just like... "Kat..." said Varric, shocked. He scrambled to his feet and ran to her, pulling her into a hug and planting a kiss right on her lips. "Oh god Kat, please tell me that it's you and this isn't some messed up illusion." asked Varric, his voice shaking from surprise.

He felt warm… or she guessed it was warm, it was kind of hard to tell when she was dead… it still was. At his kiss she murmured their old joke.

“What was that for?” Katrina asked gently before saying. “Hello Varric.”

Her voice still held the old English accent, it was quieter though and a little rougher. “You've been gone for a long time. A lot has changed.”

Katrina’s grey eyes searched his face while a cool breeze blew through the tunnel, raising the white hair lying against her neck. It was long and loose, not really the coloring he would remember. Opening the backpack she pulled out a thicker coat, guessing he was cold. Katrina wordlessly handed it to him, helping him pull it on.

Then she reached over and shut the wooden box, placing it back inside the stone box, and chained it shut in case someone came looking. Then she turned back to Varric, eyes searching his face once more. It seemed gaunt, like he had been tortured for a long time. Which he had been… but Katrina was not going to ask about it.

"The same as always, your lips were empty." joked Varric softly. He noticed that she was cold. He wondered if it was just because the air was cold. Speaking of which it was cold. Varric smiled as he shivered. It was really her, he didn't know how it was her but it was, he could brave the cold just a bit longer if it meant spending more time with her. He was handed what looked like a jacket. It was stranger then any he had seen before but regardless he slipped it on. When he was stuffed it that box it had been early spring. But now it was cold, like late fall or early winter.

"How long as it been? How did you escape them?" asked Varric. He hoped it had only been a few month. But deep within that felt wrong.

“Varric,” She said in a low voice. “I didn’t escape.”
Katrina picked up the flashlight lying on the stone floor next to her knee and directed the beam over to a corner… there were the remnants of a pyre and a forge; even more black symbols were carved into the stone of the pyre. The bones had been added to the sword so they no longer existed.

“They did the ritual minutes after you were stuffed into the box.” Katrina closed her eyes as if in pain remembering… indeed she was in a lot of pain remembering. Black magic generally didn’t exclude pain. “They did things-horrible things. They saw fit to lock you in the place where I had been killed for magic.”
Her voice cracked, “Varric, you have been locked up for over two thousand years. You have existed for 2,700 years… 2,678 of those years were in that box.”

Katrina bowed her head in sorrow, “I’m sorry I couldn’t have come sooner. The key was harder to find than expected.”

Indeed it had been, they had given it to a dragon and that dragon had eventually died of old age leaving the horde exposed. Then getting it was easy… but it had left Katrina tired and she had fallen asleep longer than she had estimated.

Varric was speechless, he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He just listened to Kat's tale. He followed the light that came out of the weird device she was using. The marks that where carved into the wall seemed old, but her tale seemed so hard to beleive. He got back up and pulled Kat into a tight hug.

"I-I'm so sorry Kat, I failed you. If I had be there they wouldn't of captured you." He pulled away slightly, a look of confusion on his face. "But if it really has been so long and you didn't escape, how is it that you are alive? I'm sorry for putting you through so much."

Kat stiffened upon being hugged; no one had touched her like this in a long time. But after a millisecond she relaxed into his arms and buried her face into the crook of his shoulder before pulling away.

“You didn’t fail me Varric, I was stupid.” Katrina said softly, pressing her lips to his forehead for a few moments before looking him in the eye.

“The turned me into something different. A weapon,” Then she moved away, showing him. Her form blurred and her form shrinking and turning sleek. What sat in her place was a sword, razor sharp. If Varric moved forward and retrieved Katrina the weapon he would feel power course through his veins as well as strength (up to +5 in abi or/and strength). The handle was smooth leather and the make of the sword was the type Varric preferred wielding.

"A weapon?" said Varric confused as Kat pulled away from him. With in a matter of moments a sword appeared were his friend once stood. Varric, didn't exactly know how to react to this. He picked up the the sword. He mentally corrected himself. This was Kat, not some random sword. Power seemed to pulse through blade. He spun the blade habitually, before realizing what he was doing.

"Sorry." said Varric quickly, holding his friend what he believed to be upright. Although he wasn't sure if Kat could hear him while sh was like this. Kat seemed to be perfect a perfect sword. The weight was perfectly balanced and the blade looked like it could split a hair. Varric awkwardly place Kat on the ground, waiting for her to turn back into a human.

Well it explained why she felt cold, and it was an adjustment he would have to get used to. "So magic turned you into a living weapon... remind me to always agree with you in the future." said Varric. "I also hope you don't mind me asking you to stay looking like your old self. Don't get me wrong, I like a finely crafted blade as much as the next guy but when it's made out of someone you are close to it just gets awkward."

Katrina’s voice echoed through Varric’s mind, don’t be. I was created for this purpose.

After being set on the ground the metal seemed to bulge and expand, taking a human shape and then there sat Katrina. She unwound slowly from her sitting position, much like a snake.

“But enough of what happened; let’s get you out of here before anyone notices you’re missing.” Katrina picked up her flashlight and began to move forward, grinning at what Varric had to say about her sword ability.

“You will come to appreciate it eventually.” Katrina offered a smile, showing her teeth and the slight gap in the front. It was an endearing smile, slightly shy but confident at the same time.

So so she could hear him and speak to him mentally. Or maybe Varric spent one to many years in the fun torture box. If he hadn't seen Kat turn into the sword he probably would of thought it was because of the box, but hey today has been a good day. A bit strange, but he was out of a box he never thought he would get out of, so he wasn't going question his luck to much. Kat had turned back into a human and stood back up. She seemed in a bit of a rush to leave.

"Why like you said it had been two thousand something years. They where a cult that long ago I doubt they would of lasted this long." said Varric, scanning the room. The room seemed kinda run down. Or at least the runes burnt into the cave walls seemed old. It sent chills down his spine. As much as he would like to talk to Kat, they could do it on the rode. He had no particular attachment to this place. "One second thought... you have a point lets get out of here." He smiled at Kat but still was unsure about the whole 'You'll come to appreciate it thing.' One one hand, she was technically dead and now a weapon. But on the other hand, he was out of the box and she had saved him. And he rather go through whatever time period this is with a friend rather then a total stranger. Varric made a simple after you gesture, ready to follow Kat out of the cave.

“Just because they died out,” Rather Katrina killed them but that was another story entirely. “Doesn’t mean that people won’t come looking for you… our story kind of faded into myth and there are people hunting us for the fun of it.”

The fog had thinned, not that Katrina didn’t expect this; the source of the magic had gone and the stone box no longer needed protection. Within fifteen minutes they were at the horses.

“You do remember how to ride,” Katrina asked teasingly, recalling all the awkward horse incidents that had occurred back in the hamlet. The quarter horse sniffed her head and sneezed while the other one looked at Varric. She ran her fingers through her long white hair, so different from her long dark locks Varric would remember. Katrina then mounted her horse.

The cave wasn't that long and shortly they where out of the cave. Varric covered his eyes, despite there being a light fog it was bright out here. In side the cave Kat was holding some sort of magic device or something that gave light. A smile was on Varric's face as he looked around the lush landscape. He followed Kat, in the back of his head wondering where they were going. He stared at the back of her head. He felt a bit let on the upkeep but he just noticed that Kat's hair was a pure white color. It didn't look bad, but he missed the darker hair. After about 15 minutes the arrived at a pair of horses. Kat make a crack at him, asking if he remembered how to ride.

"Hey, you know what they say... once you can ride a horse you don't forget." said Varric, his voice kinda uneasy near the ending. He had a lot of still very vivid memories of Kat teaching him how to ride and getting continuous bucked off. He regained his confidence after a few seconds and hoped up on the horse. However he got bucked off the horse and slammed onto the ground, groaning in pain. "Are you sure this isn't the same horse you trained me on. He seems to hate me." groaned Varric. He stood up painfully and walked back over to the horse. He saw Kat let the horse sniff her, so he copied her. The horse get out an annoyed grunt, but when Varric attempted to climb back on he didn't get bucked off.

Katrina made a breathy noise, a laugh. “Yes, I do remember quite clearly. You were quite the baby about it.” Katrina bent over the horse’s head and untied the reigns from the branch, holding then in one hand. “Yes I’m positive, no horse can live that long. Get on.”

She nudged her horse over and the tiny woman took Varric’s reigns off the branch before handing them back to him. Her breath floated towards the evening sky in puffs and she tilted her head back at the stars. They were so vivid and bright away from the city. Katrina seemed to be following some invisible path and she gave Varric a description of what he would be encountering within the next twenty four hours so he wouldn’t freak out.
“How much do you remember Varric?” She finally asked…

Varric uncomfortably shifted on his horse. He rode next to Kat so they could still talk, he was having some slight problems with control his horse, but he managed to keep up. His face was in utter disbelief as Kat explained the changes of the world. Once he had time to process the information and ask a billion stupid questions, Kat asked him what he remembered.

"Well I couldn't really keep track of time in the box and memories kept me from going insane. So I remember everything, right up to the point of seeing you chained up before being kicked into a tiny box. After that it was just pain and darkness."

Katrina bit her lip, an old human habit, and chewed it thoughtfully. Toying with the horse reigns in her hands she opened her mouth to ask, “Do you-“ BANG!
Katrina’s horse reared, sending her back off the horse landing flat on her back before bolting, leaving her to scramble to her feet.

“RUN!” She yelled, smacking the rump of Varric’s horse, “I’ll catch up!”

She pulled the twin broadswords out of her sheath slung across her back, looking into the dark forest for the attacker. Her skin stung were the bullet struck but it hadn’t done any damage as her skin was too tough. With unnatural grace that she didn’t have before she ran over to the trees were the attacker had been. Two deep boot prints had sat there in the dirt… Katrina growled faintly, the attacker was gone for now… but who would know when he would return.