Richard: Chapter 2
"Is Gotham as breath-taking as King's Landing father?"
John Grayson chuckled a little, "No son, Gotham is a dark place as of late. See, years ago, when I was only a little older than you, Gotham was looked over by the Waynes. They were very generous people, loved their city despite its grievances and loved their son Bruce most of all. One night however, they were killed, and the boy was left with nothing but a cold, empty castle. Less than a year later he left Westoros across the Narrow Sea, and was never heard of again. Most just assumed he had died, I don't believe anyone expected him to return, especially after this long of a time with no word.
Gotham has much to despair over Dick; the streets run rampant with crime, its heir gone for more than a decade, and the city guard I hear has withered greatly. A cloud of dark gloom hangs over the city like a plague, but the Wayne boy's return could prove to lift the city up. Bring it back into the light and peaceful times that the rest of the seven kingdoms enjoy. Perhaps we will help lift the people's spirits Hoho!" Dick's father slapped his knee lightly and chuckled.
"I would like that…" Dick said as he looked out to the countryside. Summer was nearing its end he was told, and soon autumn would begin followed by what was sure to be a very bleak winter.
The bright green leaves rattled in the wind as he looked out across the rolling hills. There were fields with farmers tending the crops, and boys and dogs running through the fields chasing each other. They passed a bright blue lake with fisherman casting out nets from their little, wooden boats. They passed through a small village where the smell of freshly baked bread lingered in Dick's nose for hours. Riding through the countryside of Westoros was one of Dick's favorite parts of being in the circus. They saw so many different places, full of different colors, sounds, smells, and people.
When they stopped for the night, Dick took to the trees to look up at the starry sky with nothing interrupting his view. Things looked so peaceful from up here. He could see the faintest glimpse of Gotham beyond the tree line. The lights from the city putting the smallest glare on the line where sky met earth and Dick wondered how a place with so much light could be so dark.
He then looked down to the many camps the circus folk had built, and heard the whinnies of the striped horses and the roars of the lions and bears. Dick felt so at home like this, on the road with his people, not living under a lord or having to do boring tasks like a life as a baker's apprentice or a smith's ward would bring. I couldn't fly if I lived within the cages of city walls for the rest of my life.
Dick thought of Bruce Wayne, the man whose return this grand celebration was dedicated to. If my parents…could I have done what he had? He did not know what Bruce Wayne had done in his absence from his home city, but he was sure that it was something that had to have changed Lord Wayne's soul. Disappearing from not only Gotham but the entirety of Westoros for over a decade was something Dick could not imagine. Leaving out of grief is one manner, but if he had left with a passion burning in his soul, that is entirely another. But why would he return to this cage of a city? Honor? Duty?
He had heard the tale of fabled knights, either living with dutiful honor for their entire life, or dying with it on the battlefield. These stories did not interest Dick in the slightest; he hated how knights could live so strictly and without ever enjoying anything in life but killing. He had heard stories of the infamous Kingslayer Jaime Lannister, who was rumored to love killing more than life itself.
What sort of man loves ending others' more than he loves his own? I will never be a knight, I will always be a free-flying robin of the circus. Spreading my wings and soaring every night. The thought always made him sleep well at night.
Selina: Chapter 3
Selina's life as a whore had come to an end, and her life as a master thief was just beginning. She had stolen from men before, but only because they generally thought with the head in their pants and not the one on their shoulders. If they brought a whore into a wealthy estate with poorly guarded but precious valuables, what did the rich bastards expect to happen? Now she was making thieving her only profession, no more having to please the pathetic excuses for men first. Oh she would tease and seduce them first to be sure, but she was done being a simple bedding trophy.
It was two nights before Bruce Wayne's grand return celebration. Selina had heard they even went as far as to get a traveling circus to come put on a show for the night. That would be her first grand heist in her new life as a master thief. Selina first needed to test herself to see how skilled of a thief she was. She was going to kindly take the new necklace Ser Jackson Drake had just bought his fair lady off their hands. They were going out to buy the lady a new dress for Wayne's night, leaving the necklace under the protection of their ten hired guards.
She had waited until the dark of night came down upon the city. She had chosen to wear a black leather coat with a hood to hide her face from any witnesses. She wore black leggings and boots, and brought along her whip, which she had always thought herself well skilled with. It was a simple bull whip, only costing her a handful of copper pieces. She had trained with it in her free time, which she had plenty of once she was established enough of a bed-warmer that she need only sleep with a man every week or so.
As she vaulted from a nearby rooftop over the wall of the Drakes' small castle she eyed the lordling's carriage pulling away down the street. She climbed up to a window on the second floor and proceeded down the corridor to the main bed chambers. Once she picked the lock with a great amount of ease, the doors opened and she eyed the golden necklace sitting upon a bedside table. She snatched it in her hands and as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone back into the night.
Ha! The fools will never even realize until it's too late to even have hope of finding the thief. They will just be chasing shadows, Selina thought to herself as she raced across the rooftops. She could get use to this, stealing from nobles and never getting caught, why have I not thought of this before? She had a long life of thieving and shadow-running ahead of her, now she just had to get back before she-.
A loose roof tile slipped from under her, causing her to lose her balance along with her feet and fall to the street below. Luckily her downward tumble was saved by a stray wagon of hay left in the alley. She disappeared into it in an explosion of hay and dust up into the air. Dammit, how could I be such a novice on my first…Selina was once again cut off from her thoughts as four muscular, brutish looking men emerged from the shadows.
"Well what do we have here boys? Looks like the poor little kitty took a fall," the one with the least unattractive face said aloud. An ugly scar cut itself across the mans face from his temple to his chin.
"What should we do with her ser?," another asked, grinning like a fool. This man had thick sideburns and was missing more than a few teeth.
"Ohh well look what the lucky lady has in that paw of hers, how much gold you think that will fetch in the underground market lads?," The supposed leader said noticing the necklace Selina foolishly left openly visible in her hand.
Selina stepped out of the wagon, dusting herself off, "Sorry gentlemen, but neither I nor the necklace is for sale."
"Well how about we take the necklace first, and then take our extra reward out of that sweet ass of yours," another of the thugs said stepping closer.
"Ha…hard path it is then," Selina kicked the scum nearest to her square in the face. She went to grab her whip from her belt, but another was upon her with unexpected speed and grabbed her arm with iron-like strength. She winced in pain as he punched her in the gut, effectively knocking her breath from her as another thug grabbed her other arm.
"Well boys, it appears we got our extra prize after all. Stuff a rag in her mouth so she doesn't scream," the leader said coldly with the most hideous of smiles across his lips.
Selina tried to fight, but her lungs were still recuperating from the strong blow she had just been dealt, and could not muster the energy yet to struggle even. Is this truly it? Am I to just end up a man's pleasure toy again, and this time not even by choice?
Selina could not answer herself, for she heard a thud from behind her assailants. The sound was followed by one of the most fearful and dark voices she had ever heard.
"Let the woman go," a gravelly, mysterious voice said from the shadows.
The leader turned around, "who goes there?" He was replied with a split-second shimmer of silver light as a small piece of metal jutted itself into his shoulder, causing the hulk of a man to cry out in pain.
"Who are you?!," he shouted back at the shadows in the direction the metal object had just flown from.
A man surrounded in a cape as black as night, wearing an odd, black-tinted helm with pointed horns protruding from it top stepped out of the shadows. He tilted his head down ever so slightly, only the whites of his eyes visible in the darkness of night. The men began to laugh, but Selina had a feeling they would soon regret that. Whoever this stranger was, laughable seemed one of the least fit descriptors of him. And here I thought chivalry was truly dead to the world.