Ping!
Title Unlocked: Father of Dragons!
Father of Dragons!
You have brought dragons back into the world, and with them magic will flow again. Dragons will instinctively listen to you, although not with absolution. Fire immunity attained!
Skill Level Up!
Greenseeing Lvl 98.
Present: Range over Westeros.
Gathering Lvl 96!
Healing Lvl 4!
The Eye of the Past Unlocked!
Greenseeing Lvl 98.
Present: Range over Westeros.
Gathering Lvl 96!
Healing Lvl 4!
Past: Unlocked
Range of 'Present' applied.
"My Lord!"
"Petyr!"
It was hard for me to concentrate on the voices. I was too busy reading the prompts again and again. Somehow, I had birthed dragons, and unlocked 'Father of Dragons'. That was apparently the catalyst to unlocking the 'Past' aspect of 'Greenseeing'.
Was it the extra magic in the world, now that the dragons were alive? That was an entire season of Dany's after all. The weird men with purple mouths tried to kidnap the dragons because of their magic. The game was proving that aspect of this world to be true.
"RRaaahhh!"
The small cry alerted me to the extra weight on my shoulders. I tore my eyes away from reading the prompts over and over again. Finally I could see the world, beyond the game. It was like my eyes were closed to everything but the game that ruled my life. I winced, and squinted, as the sun shone into my eyes.
I was standing up, and all around me were charred pieces of wood spread around the sand. The wind cut at my skin, and brought sand with it. I ignored the world around me for a moment and turned my head to my left shoulder.
Even though I had read the prompts, even though I remembered the ritual, even though I remember the pyres catching flame, I wasn't ready for the sight of the dragon sitting on my shoulder.
It was tiny, no bigger than a small dog. It's scales were a pale white and covered it's entire frame. It didn't look nearly as mean as Dany's dragons. It looked much more majestic and noble than hers. Why was that? Genetic's? Had the Valyrian lords of old bred different looks into the dragons? With my new Greenseeing ability, I would find out.
There were two small buds at the top of it's head that I knew would someday be horns. More small buds framed it's jaw, spaced out almost perfectly. It was a very symmetrically pleasing look, and I interpreted that as a future beauty. Whereas Drogon was a massive ugly, scary, dragon, mine would be beautiful and majestic. I loved that idea.
The dragon turned it's head to me, and it's eyes met mine. Red eyes, a near perfect copy of my own, stared into me.
Ping!
Dragon Bond Initiated!
This dragon has chosen you, and you have chosen it. You will have a deeper connection with it than any other you will encounter. It will kill for you, it will die for you. Cherish it, and it will bring fortune to you and your family for generations to come.
"Rah!"
I smiled as I heard the small cry. It seemed happy that the bond had been initiated. I could feel the joy emanate from it. It wasn't in my mind, but I could feel it coming from the small dragon. It was very difficult to describe but it was definitely directional, and it was definitely coming from the small dragon.
"My Lord!" A hand touched my right shoulder.
The joy turned to fear for a moment, and then a protective anger overtook that. "Rah!" The small dragon roared as best it could. My own eyes snapped to the person who dared to touch me.
Davos stared at me, and the anger fell from my mind. "Are you alright!?" Davos asked as his hands roamed over my form, my naked form. There were char marks all around my frame and he checked every single one. Eventually, I had to stop him.
"I am fine, Davos." I told my loyal friend. At the same time, his hand had roamed too close to my new dragon, and the tiny little thing decided to snap at him. Davos' hand tore away from my frame in shock and fear at the tiny dragon.
I reacted instinctively and my right hand reached out and lightly smacked the top of the dragon's head. "Do not snap at people! Davos is a friend, and you will treat him as such." I told it clearly, while trying to project a reprimand.
It worked quickly and the dragon's head lowered, much like a dog's when it was in trouble. It crooned a sad croon, thinking I was disappointed in it. It was natural for me to switch from a reprimand, to a comforting feeling for the dragon. I was still trying to get a hold of the method, but I knew that this was how I would train my dragon from now on. This bond would be the most effective way, without question. Had Dany had this ability?
The dragon curled up closer to me once it realized I was not disappointed anymore.
"Sorry, Ser Davos. There will be some growing pains, and learning periods. I hope you don't hold it against her." I told him, now that my mind was coming to terms with the fact that I had a dragon perched on my shoulder.
"Her?!" Davos asked intensely. "How do you know it is her?" Davos asked as he lowered his head and turned, trying to get a look at her anatomy.
I smiled and laughed a bit as she glared at the man. "I'm not sure, it's just a feeling." I told my shipmaster.
A name popped in my head, without much thought. It wasn't from the dragon itself, but me looking at the colors of her scales and eyes. It reminded me of weirwood too much, which also happened to be how I got her at Summerhall.
"Weirña." I breathed out and looked at her. The dragon's eyes turned to me, and acceptance poured through our bond.
"Ser Davos, meet Weirña." I told the man as I gestured to my new dragon.
"It is a pleasure." Davos said, without skipping a beat. "Now would you get dressed, we still have to snap Ser Rivers out of his trance." Davos said as he turned and started walking another direction.
I had forgotten about Ben, and the other dragon.
I turned to see my friend sitting down with his dragon in his lap. The red dragon was curled up in his lap looking up at him. Ben did indeed look like he was in a trance, only staring at the dragon. Perhaps he had also bonded to it, and was exploring what it meant to be bonded. I began to walk over to where he sat, which was only about twenty feet away.
Weirña barked at seeing the other dragon. That got it's attention, and it looked at her. Once it saw her, it barked back in happiness. I was happy to see that as I did not need two dragons that did not like each other. They could fight, but there shouldn't be any resentment. A real fight to the death between dragons would be disastrous.
The sand beneath my feet felt smoother than normal. The sun on my skin was a very small warmth, but it did not feel as oppressive as the Dornish sun in the stories. Nor did it feel the same as yesterday.
"Ben." I called out as I reached my friend.
He did not react in any meaningful way. My hand moved toward his shoulder, and just as I expected, the scarlet colored dragon snapped at me as Weirña had towards Davos. Although, unlike Davos I did not pull my hand back and the tiny teeth of the dragon touched, but did not break, my skin.
When my hand touched Ben's shoulder, it broke him out of his trance. He shook his head for a moment, before looking at my hand and then tracing my arm back up to my face.
"Ben." I said. "Are you alright?" I asked, knowing that he would be in time. The bond seemed to have a more profound affect on him than it did me.
"Petyr?" Ben asked, breaking tradition for a moment and not calling me Lord Baelish. "What happened?" He asked as he looked around. He seemed confused about everything BUT the dragon in his lap.
"We resurrected the dragon's Ben." I told him bluntly. It was impossible to dance around the topic, now that we both had dragons attached to us, physically and mentally.
Ben, still in a trance, could only respond in one way.
"Oh…"
"What's wrong with them?" Ben asked.
We stood next to each other in my quarters on the ship. Both of us were looking downwards on to the ground where our dragons sniffed two redfish. They both hissed at the fish and turned away from it before looking up to us and whining.
All of a sudden, a deep hunger settled into my stomach.
"Maybe they do need milk…" I said as I looked at them.
"Or it could just be us that are hungry." Ben offered as he gripped his stomach. His unnamed dragon was projecting its hunger just as Weirña did.
"We just ate a full meal, Ben. We cannot be hungry." I told him, shooting that thought down. "They are projecting their hunger through the bond." I elaborated.
"Maybe they do not like fish?" Ben asked, continuing to ask completely valid questions.
I did not answer. Instead, I racked my memory, trying to find a reason that they were not eating. The only thing I could think of was milk. Most animals sustained off of milk upon being born.
But birds did not, and they were born from eggs yea?
I looked up, and a torch on the wall of my cabin caught my eye. Dragons were creatures of fire, right?
My palm smacked my forehead. "Of course…" I said turning to my friend. "They need to be cooked, burnt almost." I told him as I bent down and grabbed the redfish. At the same time I subconsciously told Weirña to grab onto my arm and crawl up my neck. It was her favorite spot.
"Follow me."
Twenty minutes, and the cook handed me a cast iron skillet with two blackened remains of what used to be a redfish. Weirña sniffed the air and followed the smell to the skillet in my hand. Her and Ben's dragon leapt at the burnt fish immediately.
The relief I felt at them eating can not be stated.
"Rahhh."
"Braaahhhh!"
My eyes, which were glued to the 8x8 board in front of me, tore to the sky. Anger, that was obviously mine, ran through my system. Weirña's cry had slowly begun turning to a mini-roar. And she used that tone very rarely on the open seas. Mainly to the fish that she swooped down and caught out of the ocean.
It had taken me a long time to allow her to start hunting for herself. The only place for her to hunt was in the water, and she was a creature of fire. It did not make sense to me that she could submerge herself fully and still come out and fly.
It turns out I was an idiot. Dragons are THE apex predator of this world. Once I finally allowed her to start hunting the creatures in the ocean, her tiny 4 foot frame became a menace to the local fish population. She would fly high before spotting prey, and then dive bombing into the ocean without slowing down at all.
Ten seconds later you would see her emerge with a fish in her mouth before taking to the skies. She would flip it into the air, burn it with the fire she could already command, and swallow the fish whole. This was a daily occurrence.
Well apparently Ben's STILL unnamed dragon had tried to steal her kill, and she was not having it.
Ben and I caught the tail end of their little skirmish, and all I could see was the talon on her feet raking across the other dragons face. It was so close to the left eye that I was almost certain I just watched her blind him.
"Weirña!" I roared, while thoroughly berated her though our bond. My own anger overrode hers and she disengaged from Ben's dragon.
A deep whining sound from Ben's dragon tore across the ship and the ocean, causing sailors to turn to the wailing voice. She had fucked the other dragon up, and it hurt. Weirña projected dominance, and satisfaction from the victory of the other dragon, while my heart hurt for the sounds it was making.
It was like hearing a dog that had just got seriously injured whine over and over. You couldn't help but be worried.
The hurt dragon dropped out of the sky, already bigger than most dogs, and headed straight for Ben. We were long past the two dragons landing on our shoulders. We had been unable to hold their weight after the first two weeks. After two months on the open sea, they had grown tremendously.
Ben's dragon landed on the ship, and began shaking its head trying to get the pain to go away. After a few moments when it realized it couldn't, it looked to Ben for help.
Ben's face was pale, but he still kept it together and approached the unnamed dragon, grabbing it's jaw and head and holding it still. It struggled for a bit, but we could both see the damage.
3 decently deep cuts had been gouged out of its face, with two of them framing the eye and eyelid. I was very relieved that it hadn't lost its eye. It would scar, but it would definitely survive and still be able to see.
Eventually, the pain faded from the dragon, and it took to the skies again while Ben and I sat down at our table and continued our chess game. The pieces were small and my whittling skills weren't that great but I could still make out the different pieces.
Ben's pale face soon turned red, and I deduced that the anger and resentment from his dragon was bleeding over.
"I reprimanded her." I told him as I moved a piece.
"Thank you." Ben gritted out, while also moving a piece, and leaving him extremely vulnerable.
I moved my bishop, threatening a whole host of problems should he not make the correct moves. "Weirña will not do it again, I promise." I continued, trying to get him to calm down.
"Yes she will." Ben corrected. "Such is the way of the world. Common folk are pawns to the ruling class, you taught me that." Ben said as he gestured to the board.
"I know you feel his resentment Ben. It's probably angry as well. You have to learn to separate it from your own thoughts." I told him truthfully.
Ben had been having a lot of troubles with the Bond. I could never know for sure, but I wondered if the Game was protecting me from the influence of my own Bond. It didn't seem like it, as I did not have the famed 'Gamers Mind'. Nor did I have a skill that appeared for resisting it. I would really never know.
"It has already forgotten about it." Ben retorted, almost snarling. "All it feels is the stinging pain!" Ben continued, and he brought his hand to his face. Three fingers framed the same injury his dragon had. "It is my own resentment, not his." Ben said.
We had become even closer friends since the ritual and the Red Comet. I had all but commanded him to call me by Petyr and to treat me as if we were of the same status. He deserved it, to be honest.
It had taken a while, but he had come around to speaking his mind as if he was a Lord. I had a running theory that the dragon had accelerated this process. It was a free creature, and a creature of domination. This was bound to have an affect on my friend.
"Do you resent me?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
"Yes." Ben said. "But mostly I resent our new King and his Hand."
"Without them, I might not have gotten Weirña." I told him, trying to get him to release his resentment. It was good for absolutely nothing.
"Yes you would have. You already told me you have had them since Summerhall." Ben said as he moved a piece on the board, one that I hadn't considered and threatened more than my bishop did.
I pondered the board in front of me, and the man in front of me. He was not the same person he was when we met, and neither was I. We had accomplished a lot together, and we had a lot taken from us.
"Resentment is a parasite in the mind, Ben. Let it go. Forgive, do not forget." I told him as I saw a forced checkmate in four. I made the first move, and Ben immediately saw it as well. He tipped his king over, resigning and not allowing me to play the sequence out.
"I will try, Petyr." Ben said as he stood up, hopefully to walk off his anger and think through his resentment.
"Two months is a long voyage from Sunspear, Lord Baelish."
I smiled at the elderly man. Lord Dayne had hair as white as snow that fell to his shoulders, and a beard that was to be envied. It did not reach his waist, but it did drop to the top of his chest. He was still handsome. As in movie star handsome, much like his daughter.
"We took our time. It has been a nice vacation after the war." I answered as I walked with the man on the docks of Starfall.
The massive Palestone Sword rose into the air above us. I hadn't actually realized that Starfall was on an island in the Torentine. It was a beautiful place, with both the ocean and mountains around it.
"Ah yes… it has taken much from us." Lord Dayne said as his eyes hardened slightly.
"I take it your son…" I said, not having the heart to finish the words.
"Arthur died a Kingsguard, and he will be honored in our halls." Lord Dayne said neutrally. "Lord Eddard Stark returned Dawn no more than five nights ago."
Shit, is Ashara still alive?
"Your wife to be is still in mourning, Lord Baelish, but she will continue with the marriage, as is expected of her." Lord Dayne said, thinking he had read my mind. It would be natural for a Lord to be sad for his soon to be bride.
My unasked question was answered with the statement. "Should she wish, we can push the ceremony back for a bit. I am sure you wish to mourn as well. A father should never bury his children." I offered, trying to earn some brownie points.
"No Lord Baelish, they shouldn't. But life continues, and so will we, the ceremony will commence uninhibited in two days as agreed." Lord Dayne said. "Should you still want it to after tonight."
That raised alarms in my head. "What happens tonight?" I asked as my hand dipped to my waist.
"That will not be necessary, Lord Baelish." Lord Dayne said, noticing my hand, with an outstretched hand of his own.
"Follow me."
The sounds of children playing were the first thing I heard as we walked into the courtyard. There were two of them, one had dark hair and even where I stood I could see the same eyes that Ashara and her father had. The boy was probably five years old, and full of laughing energy.
The other however, gave away the entire ruse immediately.
Silver hair curled up on its head. The child could not be much older than a year old, perhaps a year and a half. And when I walked into the courtyard, I did not see the laughing purple eyes of Ashara and her father.
Instead I saw the dangerous glint of violet.
All of a sudden, I remembered my first meeting with Ashara, Elia, and Rhaegar. I hadn't thought it odd how close the three were. Ashara was Elia's friend and glorified servant.
Or was she more?
I pictured her hand, grazing against Rhaegar's and then her looking into his eyes. The same eyes that shone in the young boy running around the courtyard. I could see Rhaegar's silver hair, the same hair that the sun glinted off of the child's head.
Jon was not the only bastard fathered from Rhaegar…
"Damn you Rhaegar…" I whispered as my soon to be wife turned around to the newcomers in the courtyard.
I met her eyes, and I knew my face gave it away. My eyes moved between her and the child quickly. The cheekbones of Ashara, the jaw of Lord Dayne beside me, but the eyes, the hair, the lips, and nose of Rhaegar.
Ashara's face fell, as she deduced what I was thinking. Or was she disappointed to see me.
Doran knows, this is what he hinted at.
I moved forward, and my hands dipped to my sword belt. I did not draw my weapon, no. I undid the clasps methodically, letting it fall to the ground. I knew what I had to do now. This child could not grow up here, it would be too obvious who he was. Lord Dayne was hiding a potential king in Starfall, and the truth would come out eventually.
I only saw one way that saved the child from the sins of his father. It was the same route that Ned Stark saw.
The child saw me coming, and inched closer to his mother to hide behind her legs. I dropped down to his level, curious about the child. Could he speak yet?
"What is your name, child?" I asked as he reached the dress of his mother, who had yet to speak.
He looked up to her and she looked down to him. Once it was obvious he was waiting for her to reply. "Tell him." She said sweetly. "Your name is…"
Ashara pronounced it slowly so the child could keep up.
"Vorian." They said almost in tandem. "..San.."
I held a hand up to them, and they both stopped the last name. They were about to call him a Sand… a telltale sign that he was a bastard. He could not be a bastard with his looks. He would be hunted with the last name of Sand.
"It's nice to meet you, Vorian." I told the child before looking up to his mother.
"It's been a while, Ashara." I said, turning my attention to her. She had changed since the last time I saw her. Her eyes did not dance and laugh as they once had. They were hardened, although it wasn't the same look that Ben and I carried. It spoke of hardship and stress, but not of danger.
"It feels like a lifetime ago." Ashara agreed. I stood up and so did she.
"It was." I told her before turning to Lord Dayne. "I believe we should talk in private." I said as I processed this new development.
"About the wedding, of course."