Chapter 4: A Youthful Flower
This is happiness. Asta sits on the ground with crossed legs tightening her hug. She has waited so long for this and will not let go. She takes a deep breath enjoying the smell of steel and oil only a well-cared for weapon gives off. One of her hands moved with its own will caressing softly over the hilt. She had missed this.
She, Asta Sand finally archived her lifelong goal. She has a sword. It's dull and only for training purposes but it doesn't matter. She has a sword. Her eyes moisten a little as the reality of it hits her again. She has an actual weapon.
She loosens her hug a little to look it over. This is her sword. There are many like it, but this one is hers. Her old Captain was right. ANBU indoctrination really does fallow you into death. Giving it in approving nod she takes it into her arms again.
"Does this happen often?" Allyria asks the group of people standing around the sword hugging girl.
Nobody is sure how to answer still stunned by the sight of the girl being handed her first weapon promptly caressing it like a newborn. Ser Waaler is the one who finally ends the moment. "No, my lady. I have trained hundreds of men to wield arms and I never witnessed someone take to their weapon quite like this."
Asta thinks they are overreacting. She is not that strange. Only to be proven wrong by the genuine concern in Evelyn's voice. "It doesn't seem healthy. Perhaps we should not have waited this long to allow her training?"
Eiric doesn't share the opinion. "All is well. She enjoys being overly dramatic"
The silver haired girl gasps in affront and is thrown out of her joyful musings. With a look of horror she throws a finger up at her uncle. "That… take that back." She will not be accused of something so Uchiha.
The Lord of Starfall ignores her terror and rolls his eyes. "If the truth causes you such discomfort my niece, it may not be too late to change your demeanor."
She wants to answer but is interrupted by Allyria. "No brother. It's most definitely too late for her."
As she stands up Asta pouts behind her scarf at the betrayal of her friends and turns to her only ally. "It seems my family has forsaken me, but you will never leave me. I know that I can place my trust in you."
Seeing the heartwarming moment between girl and sword Ser Waaler injects, "Now that I have seen before." The huge man gestures with his own training sword in hand in her direction. "Some men tend to talk to their weapons. Most commonly after being out too long in the dunes."
The young girl gives a sigh to that. It seems everyone is her enemy today. She shakes a little stiffness out of her shoulder and gives the weapon a few trial swings "Ma. They do make good company." The blade was really nothing special. The balance was a little off and it was too heavy for her still tiny body.
Seeing her trying out the weapon the master-at-arms becomes more serious and inspects her attempts with expert eye. "Your grip is fine my lady and your posture is admirable. You seem to possess some natural affinity towards the blade."
Asta did. She did so as Kakashi as well. He was quite good in his youth wielding his father's sabre. He wanted to surpass him and show the village that he was better than the failure that gave up the mission to save his team. Then came that fateful mission where he gained the sharingan but lost his friend and everything changed.
His father's blade shattered in that mission. He did too. Asta thinks it's a little symbolic while eyeing the weapon in her hands. Kakashi had tried to get the blade reforged, but it was never as good again as it once was. That, the girl muses is the difference between swords and people. Kakashi too was reforged and he too was not as he was before, but he became stronger. Maybe that is why he left the blade behind and became a ninjusu specialist.
Now Kakashi broke again, in body if not in spirit. It seems to be the natural order of things. He will break and grow stronger again. No. SHE will grow stronger again, because people grow and change. This time she leaves ninjutsu behind and picks the sword up.
The young Dayne tightens her grip around the handle a little in determination and gives her weapon another experimental swing. She grimaces as the weight strains her weak arms. Growing, Asta concedes takes a while.
Seeing her struggle the muscular giant of a man grins at her. "You have a good look about you my lady." He lifts his sword challenging in her direction "The time has come to test your mettle."
She lets out a breath and her eyes get focused. She hasn't fought in years. Her instincts might be dull but they could never leave. "Aye, Ser Waaler. Be on your guard than." She flexes her fingers one last time, steps in front of the instructor and sharpens her concentration to its limits.
Nothing happens for a few seconds, both combatants sizing each other up. Ser Waaler's grin shows Asta that she takes it more serious than him, but that is fine. She has the obvious disadvantage here. With an unseen signal she pushes the ground with all her might sprinting forward.
Her sword is low as she enters her opponents range and he swings at her with his own weapon. Seeing the apparent difference in strength she doesn't even try to block and uses one of her weaknesses in her favor, her height. In the right moment she leans forward as close to the ground as possible while remaining upright. That is what her flexibility is for. As she feels Ser Waaler's blade pass above her, she redoubles her efforts to close the distance again.
A slight widening of the experienced knights eyes is the only indication that her doge surprised him. Asta sees him shift his weight and knows the kick is coming before his foot left the ground. She rolls to the side and avoids it barely. The big man is faster than she gave him credit for. Coming out of the doge she tries to swing her sword at the leg in the same motion but she isn't fast enough and has to avoid another sweep from his sword to the side.
Seeing her chance she attacks with her own blade but is blocked effortlessly. She doesn't contest the strength of his guard and tries to take a shot at her opponent's feet. She aborts her plan fast to block the weapon coming at her.
The impact throws her back and she rolls across the ground. She jumped back a little at the moment of impact to take force of the blow but felt it through her entire body anyway. She misses chakra. With the last of the momentum and a little groan Asta rolls back on her feet sword still in hand and readies herself to make another dash, but is interrupted by her opponents deep, full bellied laughter.
"Hahahahaha." The mountain of muscle in front of her shakes and she isn't sure if she should be offended. Ser Waaler beats with one hand on his trembling belly and she decides that she lacks speed. When she has corrected the issue she will introduce her combat teacher to her most secret technique. Effective against Tailed Beasts and future Kage alike, "One Thousand Years Of Death" will strike fear into all her enemies hearts once again.
Her musings of showing a knife up her opponents arse are rudely brought to an end by him. "Forgive me, may lady. I have seen grown men take up arms, but none were this ferocious." He mustered her with a more serious look. "Yet you can barely swing that thing. I see great talent in you, but not yet the strength to wield it?"
How nice of him to point that out. It was true though. The exchange earlier lasted only a few seconds, but she was already slightly out of breath and her arms were shaking. Still, she had the burning ache to continue. "That is what training is for, is it not Ser Waaler?"
The knight grinned down at her and said, "Aye, my lady. I recommend for you to take up something lighter anyway, just for now." He lifts his sword free hand to his chin and ponders a bit. Lastly he decides, "You may find daggers or the bow suit you just as fine."
This is the moment Asta has been waiting for. She gives her very best eye smile behind her scarf and responds cheerfully. "Why, thank you for offering your service in teaching me, my kind knight. Let's do those as well then."
As the implication of her words hit him his grin falls of his face, replaced by a scandalized look. "My lady, tha…that is.." She intensifies her gaze looking up at him with wide eyes full of expectations, waiting to be thought. The experienced veteran only lasts a second before he folds with a big sigh "Just as well my lady. We will have you try them out later."
The former shinobi feels no shame. It is a proud victory. She was trained to take any advantage she can get and if the grizzled looking man is way too nice and weak to cute things on the inside it is entirely his own fault. Their spectators seem to agree with her, as their cheering was replaced by laughter. Even her uncle's reserved chuckles could be heard in the yard.
"It appears you won a battle and lost the war, Ser Waaler" Eiric says and directs his next words at her. "You did very well Asta. I'm sure you will be a fearsome warrior in time."
She guessed he was referring to her sword training and not her attempt at roping his master-at-arms into more training. Maybe both, the Lord of Starfall is a pragmatic fellow after all.
"Ma, thank you. I think I like the sword quite well."
This causes Allyria to giggle again. "We could see that as soon as you touched it. There was no need for the bout."
Eiric nods in approval and agrees, "Aye, indeed. I wonder if she will hug the bow as well."
It was rare to see her uncle in such an openly good mood. He must really enjoy the family outing. Or maybe he enjoys picking on her. Asta can understand that. Her main source of amusement is after all annoying people. She gets this slight feeling that this is revenge. Well, time to go back to the basics. Engage default defense response.
She picks her ear with one hand and gives Eiric a look that the word bored can't even begin to describe. "Hn? Did you say something?"
Evelyn sighs exasperated, shakes her head a little and gives her a genuine smile. "I'm glad you are enjoying your eighth nameday Asta."
Said girl answers, "Thank you, aunt." somehow managing to pack a lot of emotions in those short words. She then turns her attention back to the experienced knight in front of her. "Are you ready for another bout Ser Waaler? You have not bested me yet."
Her instructor quirks an eyebrow and agrees. "Aye, my lady." Following that he lifts his sword in her direction and shows teeth with his grin. "I should change that." And change it he did.
Hours later Asta was laying in the training yard, having collected a notable assemble of bruises. Her body is heavy but her mind feels light. Training was comforting. It was familiar feelings of exhaustion and content circling through her that brought about her good mood. She closed her eyes to rest and enjoy the feeling of the sunlight warming her skin.
In the end she had tried the other weapons as well. The former shinobi did best while dual wielding knifes. Her current body and experience with kunai made them optimal for now. She would continue to train with the sword of course, but before her strength and height caught up a little, efficiency with it falls behind the lighter and faster weapons.
That is why she had two simple daggers laying in the grass beside her. They are from the inventory of guard equipment. She had managed to land an attack with the dull training blades on Ser Waaler. Nothing great, just what would have been a shallow cut on the man's arm but he was sufficiently impressed.
After training he left only to reappear with the weapons now at her side in his hands. She was apparently good and mature enough to have them. He had pressed the sheathed blades into her hand and only said, "If you can cut me with them, my lady you can gut others."
It was good to have real weapons again. Asta would keep the dull knife hidden under her right boot though. You can never know. Her try with the bow was not as successful. She was never much of a long distance fighter and preferred mid to close range combat.
Allyria told her she was good for a beginner as she hit the targets, but after her show with the sword and knifes everyone, herself included was a little let down by her performance. The young Dayne had never used a bow before and so she was not sure how her attempts would fair. She lacked the strength to pull the string of the training bow and efficiently keep it steady at the same time. Her trainer hadn't expected otherwise, but she managed to hit the targets with quite some surety. If somebody asks she will just not mention how close to center those hits were.
Going by Ser Waaler's words she did have natural talent for the bow but it pales in comparison to her close combat skills. Asta was still determined to get at least moderately sufficient at using the bow. Moderately sufficient by ABNU standard of course. It would never be her main weapon, but the usefulness for hunting alone made it an essential skill.
She opens her eyes and watches the clouds go by. There's a bunny… a bunny… another bunny… and something that looks suspiciously like Madara's hair. She sighs a little in defeat. She makes a bad Nara. The weather was too nice not to try. The Citadel had send notice just the other day that summer officially began and Asta became aware again how very little sense the seasons in Westeros make.
She had asked Maester Morten, but he lacked the brass link on his chain for deeper knowledge into the weather and seasons. He knew it to be a very complicated subject though. The former shinobi can't fault the man. If she were to study she would definitely not pick meteorologie as focus either. To someone who grew up and lived their whole life with the seasons the way they are they would appear perfectly normal. She didn't question all the bullshit chakra could do either before she landed here.
The truth is she thought Morten quite reasonable with his links of black iron, copper, gold, iron and silver. They stand for ravenry, history, money, warfare and healing and would probably have been her choices as well. Maybe lead instead of gold. It's always good to be informed about poison. If not to use it on others than to stop others from using it on you. From what she could gather poison use is just as common here as it was in her past life.
Her musings are interrupted by the sound of determined steps leading up to her. Eiric stops beside her head, blocking the afternoon sun from blinding her as she looks into his eyes with unspoken question of what he is doing. He reciprocates her look and they just stare at each other for a while before Asta relents and lays bare her innermost feeling.. "The seasons don't make any sense."
Her uncle blinks. It appears the response was not as expected, but used to her as he is by now gives no other indication of surprise. "I'm sure some Maesters would disagree with you Asta. You are entitled to your own opinion however." He looks her over once more and adds, "Ser Waaler assures me that your skill with a blade is as sharp as your mind and you will do great things for House Dayne in the future. I do not doubt it. Hearing your talk though, I fear what those things might be."
Asta is a little affronted at that. It's not like she's Naruto. She always acts with caution and reason…and sometimes a healthy dose of disregard. "You can just pick all the things you like uncle the rest will be for the ever glorious and honorable House of Sand."
Sarcasms is dripping from her voice causing Eiric to huff a little in amusement. "You can change what you call yourself but not what you are, daughter of House Dayne." He pokes her a little with his foot like you would and animal to see if it was dead. "Do you require rest or will you accompany me to the crypts?"
That surprised Asta. It is not something her uncle would usually seek her out for. She has been there of course. Her family honors the dead every year on the day they died. She goes there with everyone at least four times a year, for her mother Ashara, her uncle Arthur and her grandparents. It just isn't somewhere you go casually.
Eiric must have good reason if he wants to go there and she sees no one to decline. "Rest is for the old and wary." Saying so, Asta stands up with some effort. She really is tired.
"Mhh" The Lord of Starfall hums in agreement and the corner of his mouth lifts a little smug. "Nothing for a youthful flower like yourself."
She cringes at that. It was Evelyn who noticed her aversion to being compared with flowers in her lady lessons and it was Allyria who discovered her instinctive fear of anything youthful. Only a truly evil mind like that of her uncle would conspire with both of them to bring her nightmare back to life again. He enjoys her suffering. "That is cruel and you know it."
Eiric sighs a little at her response. He does that often, she wonders why. "You fight a man three times your height for hours without complain, but are defeated by simple flattery. Maybe the future is less great, but bleaker instead."
"Ma. The future is fine how it is as long as it's not youthful." At her convincing answer and his baffled look they start their short walk to the small stone building in the corner of the yard. It has thick and heavy doors that guard the entrance to the tunnels under the island the castle is built on. She found a hidden entrance inside the main keep that is pretty useful as these doors are usually barred.
Now however the doors were wide open and a burning torch was waiting for them at the entrance. Her uncle must have prepared the trip in advance, proving her assumptions of his reasons. He takes the torch and leads her inside.
Because of the danger of the surrounding water the Starfall crypts were not very vast. They didn't need to be. The Daynes have a long and for the former shinobi very familiar tradition of burning their dead. Urns with the ashes would be placed in a special recess in the wall and a name inscribed above. It is along with other things very space saving.
They're unusual burial rites for Westeros but her family was here longer than others so in her subjective opinion they are right and the rest is doing it wrong. It has nothing to do with the familiarity and with it comfort the tradition brought. Asta doubted though that they do it here to destroy evidence and secrets.
Eiric leads her past the Daynes of old to the oldest and deepest part of the crypt where many inscriptions were no longer readable. They walked there in silence surrounded by cold stone and their ancestors' remains. As they reached the end of the tunnel a simple door to their right is reviled in the sparse light.
It looks very old, but still just as sturdy and she absentmindedly wonders what type of wood was used for it to hold up so well. Something important must be behind it if something this extraordinary is used as a door that hidden this deep in the heart of Starfall. She had thought about entering it before but didn't want to intrude where the dead rest. She figured it may be the tomb of the first Dayne. His name is lost to history like many other from the Age of Heroes. Written records only go back about 6000 years. Nobody is sure what happened before that time.
Her musings come to an end as her uncle procures the key and unlocks the door. The door opens without noise and they step inside the hidden room while her uncle comments. "Only the Lord of Starfall may open this door. It is a great honor to enter this room."
The chamber they enter is circular and bigger than she would have thought. The walls are hung with tapestry with detailed embroidery. The depictions seem to come alive in the flickering light of the torch and Asta immediately recognizes a few of them from elsewhere around the ancient castle. They show the deeds of Daynes long past.
She identifies Davos Dayne marrying Nymeria, the Rhoynar Queen that unified Dorne on one. Another shows the attack on Oldtown by Joffrey Dayne who resisted the rule of Aegon I Targaryen. Starfall was later burned for it by Visenya Targaryen and her dragon Vhagar and even later her sister Rhaenys and her dragon, Meraxes died for that. Such is the cycle of war. It's a pity, worlds may change but war stays the same.
Her fascination with the wall decoration ends abruptly as she sees the enormous banner of House Dayne at the far end of the room. It proudly displays a white sword and a curved, white shooting star crossed on royal purple background.
Eiric steps closer to it and she follows him. In front of the banner rests an ancient plate armor that is long since unusable. They come to a halt in front of it and he slowly begins to speak. "This is said to be the armor of the first Dayne. Even now protecting what its master can no longer."
He gives her a long look, deep with meaning that escapes her and takes a breath to carry on his explanation. "Every Dayne that learns the sword is brought here since ages past." He presses the torch into her hand to hold and goes past the armor to the right end of the banner. The lord fumbles a little in the dark room before he finds the rope he was looking for and pulls on it.
The banner splits down the middle and drifts apart like a curtain. Hanging on the wall behind it a beautiful sword is reviled. "They are brought here not to see his armor but his sword. Even now fighting what its creator no longer can." Eiric indicates the weapon with one hand while Asta steps closer to admire it. "This is Dawn, the ancestral blade of the House of Dayne."
And what a blade it is. Its fine craftsmanship is stunning. The elegant curve of the blade ends in an intricate star that adorns the guard. A sleek handle and a pommel inlayed with gold as an artistic representation of a sun at dawn complete the sword. The unnatural pale, milk-white color of the blade reflects the light in such a way that it almost seems like it gives of a soft glimmer of light on its own.
Asta is again reminded of the white chakra sabre she once wielded and unfortunately broke. It had almost the same luster. "Dawn, the light that fights the night." She reads aloud the inscription carved into stone above the blade. "I heard only a knight who is worthy may wield it."
Her uncle huffs a little half in affront half in amusement. "Knights would say that."
The wording catches her interest. "Is it not true then?"
Eiric steps beside her right in front of the blade to look at it. It takes a moment for him to answer and when he finally does his voice sounds far off in thought. "Asta, I think you don't understand quite yet. We are House Dayne. We have been here since the Dawn of days." His voice gains strength as he turns his gaze to her.
"We have fought the children of the forest and ruled these lands while wielding dawn for thousands of years before the first Andals came and brought with them their knights. Then we fought them too. The Rhoynar came and we fought them just like we did the Targaryen after them. For over 10000 years the House of Dayne fought. Many wanted us gone and yet here we remain."
The Lord of Starfall lays a hand on her shoulder and concludes with conviction in his eyes, "Any Dayne deemed worthy may wield Dawn. None has right nor might to tell us otherwise."
The young girl is oddly touched by his lecture. Not by the history nor by the sword, but by how much she is considered part of this family. She is still trying to get used to being part of something more. She doesn't do feelings well and yet hearing her uncle talk wakes her long dead wish that her former father had survived longer. That he had showed her more what family was like, been there more for her more, maybe even loved her more.
Asta is determined to treasure what feelings she managed to scrap out of her broken heart, to not have any regrets again. She is a Dayne now so there is really only one conclusion to answer the sentiment and with the way her life tends to go she will probably end up with it anyway.
She returns her uncle's gaze with her mismatched eyes. "It's a good sword." Her tone is soft, but with a surety that doesn't leave any room for doubt that she means the words dearly. She just hopes she doesn't end up breaking this one too.
Eiric shows that he understood more than the simple words spoken and laughs one of his rare true laughs. "Hahaha. I believe every man that walked the Seven Kingdoms knows this, as well as many more." He lifts his arm from her shoulder and takes a step back "I will tell you like my father told me before." He takes up a different rope and pulls it closing the banner in front of her. "If you want to wield it, become worthy and a new Sword of the Morning may rise"
Asta is not sure what to think about that. She never felt worthy of much of anything with all her failures in her life. Thank you survivor's guilt, poor grieve management and daddy issues. She will just dump all those trouble on the future Asta as usual. The former shinobi is not sure if her future self will be better equipped to deal with it. Her sizable amount of experience tells her she will not, but it's not her present self and that is all that matters.
The fact that 'Dawn' literally translates to her all-time favorite 'Akatsuki', as well as any implications that could mean give her the creeps down to her very soul and is promptly ignored.
Her Uncle carefully takes the torch back from her hands and starts to lead her towards the exit of the hidden chamber, but pauses a few steps to the left of the door. "These are the deeds of those who wielded Dawn and bore the title Sword of the Morning." He explains what she already guessed and points to a tapestry yet unmolested by age.
"This was my brother, your uncle, Ser Arthur Dayne. The best knight I have ever known."
She could see a man depicted with gold armor and silver cloak killing a knight that had an unnatural wide smirk on his face. She knows this story. "It's the defeat of the smiling knight and the Kingswood Brotherhood."
"Aye," Eiric responds. "It was his proudest moment. Arthur described him as a madman with cruelty and chivalry all jumbled up together that did not know the meaning of fear. By defeating him he ended a lot of suffering."
He seems a little lost in memories at the end of his retelling. Knowing the feeling Asta tries to cheer him up. "Don't worry. The space beside him will not be empty for long." Guy was always better at these kinds of things.
Her uncle shakes his head a little as if to get rid of a stuper and speaks while leaving the room. "I'm sure he would enjoy your company."
"Ma. Everybody does." With the familiar banter returned they make their way out of the crypts.
It is when they are just entering the main keep again that Maester Morten runs up to them as fast as his age allows. "My Lord, It is good I found you, a raven came from Sunspear. It appears to be urgent."
His breath is heavy from exhaustion as he holds out letter to her uncle sealed by a familiar sigil of a spear piercing a sun. Asta, having experience with matters of state she knows urgent news usually equals bad news is curious of what could have happened.
Eiric rips open the seal and reads it carefully, his face giving nothing away. He looks back up at Maester Morten and says with a serious tone, "It appears that the realm is at war again."