10

The journey to Ramsgate was filled with many a silent days and nights. I knew Wogam, one of the veterans with a wife at home, had been good friends with Ain. The lack of a burial had left many of the men disgruntled. It had left me disgruntled. I could tell that Amarka was trying to show it didn't bother her also, but it was difficult.

Bekkar had managed to shoot down a few squirrels for dinner. Most of the bigger prey in the area had been scared off by the sounds of war.

I bite into the fresh squirrel meat, gnawing on it until only the bones were left. Skad was sitting next to me, laying back and perusing one of the many books he felt the need to bring on the journey.

"So why did you decide to become a scholar?"

He looked up at me, startled by my sudden question. "Huh?"

"You put all that work into being a warrior, and then suddenly changed to a scholar. Why?"

The other men appeared curious about this also, taking small glances at them from the corner of their eyes.

Skad stared at her for a moment, before flipping to a different page. "All of my family are warriors. I wanted something more from my lot in life. Something different."

"What's wrong with being a warrior?"

Skad blinked rapidly a few times, turning to her. "Nothing at all. It is a venerable position, but there is more than just that in life. I really only went into that profession because my family wished for me to. When I realized I was completely miserable I knew I had to make a change and do something I loved and enjoyed… and now I am very happy."

I could understand that, although our thoughts on being a warrior were polar opposites. I had wished to be one with all of my being. But alas, it was not meant for me.

"You have a big family. Tell me of them," Skad asked calmly, running his fingers across the words in his book.

I cleared my throat. "I have ten siblings, twelve if you count my father's bastards. My oldest brother has already married. He stays on the north side of the island and his wife just birthed a baby girl. The second oldest, Marak, died a few years back on a skirmish on the coast. Then there's the bastard. Him and Marak were close as they were the same age. He has taken his mother's profession, forging."

Then there is my sister, who decided to be a scholar much to my parent's chagrin. A brother, and then a sister who has already married. Tarmarna never liked much of anything but children, so she skipped training and helped Ma with the babies. She has her own family now though. A little boy with another on the way. Then there's Lana, Ama, and then me. My little sister Anya who is the only warrior of us girls. My brother and then a bastard, Nir. His Ma is Master Kanya. Ma takes care of him like her own."

Some of the warriors whistled at the respected name. All the master's names on the island were known by all, but Master Kanya was the fiercest of warriors. She'd had songs written about her ferociousness. Ma had taken over rearing Nir as Master Kanya would not have to the time. Mother had been overjoyed to take care of the babe.

"The last of us was Manark, but he died of the bloody flux many moons back."

My mind's eye came alive and I took a deep breath in an attempt to steady myself. When I opened my eyes I was once again home. I could hear the boys playing from outside, the clash of their wooden swords loud and joyous. Mother say in her wooden chair in the corner, sewing a pair of plain linen booties. She reached down to rub at her slightly rounded stomach with a smile, and I was thrown abruptly into the present.

"Well," I said after becoming oriented. "It seems there will be another Crowl walking about in a few moon's time."

The men guffawed, shouting out a few words of congratulations.

"Yer Pa as' made more warriors than most, eh? Five if ah em' right. They're all fierce ta boot."

My brothers were out making a name for themselves. Word has spread around that my oldest brother was even attempting to get a Master's. My family's name was well known for making warriors because of that. At least when it came to the boys. My oldest sister could have been a warrior, she was large enough for it, but for some reason she was adamant on being a scholar. The other of my sisters were more like Ma, more interesting in making a family than anything. Only Anya was in training to become a warrior.

When they woke the next morning I had the realization that we did not have a boat to get to where we needed, which was across the Narrow Sea. We have no boat, no captain, and every single one of these soldiers were green when it came to the workings of a ship. It would be really great to get a vision of what we needed to do in order to accomplish all of this, but unfortunately the gods had decided to be silent.

When I asked Skad about this apparently they were planning to wing it, hoping some captain would take pity on us and take us to our destination. To be carted over the Narrow Sea would take most of our commerce, but we would pass that bridge when we got to it.

We stuck to the edge of the forest as Amarka and Skad attempted to negotiate with the only two captains in Ramsgate. Soon enough Amarka came marching back, her fist balled tightly in anger.

"They're tryin' ta cheat us!" she burst. "They took one look at us en' decided we were savages!" She growled lowly, rubbing her hand across her face. "There's no hope for one a' them. He's goin ta Dorne, nawt across tha ocean. The other is intent on goin' ta Braavos."

"Then take it," I demanded, staring at Amarka unblinking. "Sure, it will be a lot more walking, but at least we will be across."

Amarka grumbled under her breath but stomped back over where Skad was still attempting to gain us passage.

A few minutes later and both of them made their way back to us, Skad appearing troubled. "Well, we have a ride there," he said with a sigh. "But we have to work for our keep… and we had to pay a price. It was… a lot. We're going to struggle."

"We already knew we would," I say calmly. "This trip is not going to be easy. We all knew this when we agreed to it."

All the men nodded their agreement, a few voicing it.

"We're no soft bellied mainlander's," Daishar said loudly, swinging his bat about a few times.

It seemed that was all they needed to hear. A few hours later we were boarded, the animals taken below. I watched the coast disappear from view, hoping it would not be the last time.

I've finally picked this story back up again. It's been a few months but I just became really disenchanted with this fanfic. I felt like things were moving too fast and a lot editing was needed to continue. Hopefully it's better and more cohesive than it was before.

There wasn't much going on in this chapter. I was trying to get my groove back after letting this be for almost six months. I finished my re-edits, as you all can probably tell. This will be a slow WIP though, as I'm writing three fanfic's at the moment and the HP one has taken my priority.

There's a few names in here I ripped from another, less known published series. Props if you can guess the author and/or series. :P