A/N: Hey, all! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a great New Year! Let's hope 2021 will be the best of this decade.

Sandor was about to lose his patience from the treasurer counting each silver tael slowly. If he had counted the silver taels by each sack, that would've been more tolerable, and something that this over-glorified bookkeeper did with the other soldiers at the Five Forts. For him, a white devil with a scarred face, he must've found it amusing to see him watch him count out his dues in a "deliberate manner."

It got to the point where Sandor grabbed him by the robes and pulled him up where their noses almost touched and he knew that his breath, which smelled of a bad mix of chicken broth and rice wine, would make the treasurer flinch. "Just give me the fucking money, or I will bash your skull in and throw you out the fucking window," he growled.

"Hey, what's going on here?" an officer behind him asked, startled.

"I just want what's owed me," Sandor answered gruffly.

"You have to understand. Four thousand silver taels in a single payment is a-"

Sandor grunted. "And today is payday for everyone here, meaning that all of your coin is readied. Get my silver now." And he shoved backwards, causing him to fall to the floor. The treasurer was shocked that he received such treatment, but he realized that the Hound would not get out of his face if he didn't pay quickly, and that was what he did.

Sandor tied the sacks containing his bounty to his waist and was just about to find himself a nice room at a tavern and enjoy some good food before another officer stopped him. "You there. The Guardian wants to see you."

"Why?" Sandor's grasp of guanhua had improved to where he could hold a basic conversation.

"Probably wants you to give him your account of what happened in the Grey Waste. Nothing major," the officer shrugged. Sandor learned quickly that the Guardian was not someone to trifle with, especially since his first introduction to the Guardian was to him personally caning a soldier for striking a superior officer. The Guardian obviously looked exhausted, but he kept going until he gave him the five hundred strikes as required. Five hundred… my, my, this man just takes to discipline a little too much, he thought.

Sandor found himself impressed at how well-organized the Five Forts were, as they were indeed impressive results of efforts made over many thousands of years ago. Their black-colored stonemasonry, how each fort could accommodate over ten thousand men and not waste a single inch of space, how each man went about their business and duties without missing a beat, and how tight security was. Yet another thing that the Yi-Tish had outclassed in over his brethren in Westeros, as it would take someone like Tywin Lannister to have men behave in at least half this manner.

And from what else the Hound knew of the Guardian, it was that he was not posted there because of his combat abilities, but because of his reputation as a disciplinarian. Indeed, it would take an iron-fisted leader with no toleration for lapses of any kind to command over fifty thousand men in a distant frontier. He, along with the officers and soldiers, were granted incentives for their service, but the kind of work that the men in the Five Forts did was deemed essential and therefore, discipline was paramount.

An officer told Sandor that the Guardian was in charge of a "special" provost brigade that answered only to the emperor himself. The work he did resulted in at least two war vice-ministers receiving severe punishments ranging from receiving two hundred lashes to dismemberment of their arms and the execution of several other army bureaucrats for running a scheme that involved smuggling several tons of army weaponry. Although he was praised for this good work, certain members in the capital were not pleased that someone was investigating the bureaucracy and the emperor had him appointed to the Five Forts. Of course… the Hound could only think.

Appearing in front of the Guardian, who appeared an elderly man with a balding head, Sandor waited as he filled out his remaining scrolls before setting them aside. After he was done, he looked up at the Hound from behind his table. "So, I trust you were paid properly for your dues?" the Guardian asked.

"There was a slight delay, but yes, I got what was owed to me."

The Guardian nodded. "I would ask you to excuse the behavior of my staff here, but they have only seen one other white devil this far up and that was many years ago. Also, it's unlikely that you are the type to forgive easily, so I'm not going to ask you do that."

Smart man, Sandor approved.

"However, before you do what you will with your reward, I must ask you to recount the rather ugly events regarding those deserters. I understand that it took you a few weeks to find them."

On occasion, there were those few who deserted the Five Forts because they realized the difficulties that came with serving in the vast northern frontier for the entirety of their twelve-year service oath. Whenever one of them deserted, the entire Five Forts would enter lockdown and a bounty placed on their heads for their return, dead or alive. However, should one capture a deserter alive, they would receive extra silver taels and enjoy a feast. The Hound was not interested and therefore brought back their bodies after venturing so far into the Grey Waste.

"I caught up with one of the deserters deep in that cold desert. I gave him an opportunity to surrender, but he chose to fight me and he tried to stick me in the stomach with his sword. However, before he could stab me, I pulled out my pistol and shot him in the head. However, I realized that I would not be able to make it back here without a mount to carry my bounty, so I went southwards to a place I believe was called K'Dath."

"Wait," the Guardian held up his hand. "You actually went to K'Dath?"

"I heard the rumors, and I can confirm that it is a city, but all of its underground since the people there are fearful of what is happening on the surface."

"And you actually talked to the people of K'Dath?"

"Yes." Sandor had some idea about the rumors of K'Dath, many of which said that the city didn't even exist and that its people were involved in rituals designed to sate mad deities. Partially correct.

"My gods," the Guardian was stunned. "A white devil managing to talk to those who live in K'Dath… I'm surprised that they didn't eat you."

That was another thing that Sandor could confirm was correct, that the entire underground city was filled with cannibals. "And there, I found the deserter, or what was left of him."

The Guardian sighed and shook his head. "They ate him?"

"The chief of that city brought me to the fire pit where they ate his body and he told me that he felt no remorse. He said that revenge is part of their way of life and that the deserter was inhabited by a demonic form that was only talked about in tales. Immediately, the people ate him because they believe that when they ate that man, the people were eating the demon," Sandor was at a loss himself because he couldn't believe that he actually talked to a maneater.

"And did this chief describe to you what this demon looked like?" the Guardian asked.

The Hound shrugged. "He didn't say exactly."

"But you can tell me more about their way of life, especially why they ate men," the Guardian pressed.

Sandor sighed, but he knew that he had to explain in great detail if he wanted to spend his earnings. "In their way of thinking and from experience, they told me that the flesh of a man is said to be known as a 'long pig,' because of its similar taste to pork. They of course offered me a part of the deserter's hand, which I declined, and I found it strange that the women and men eat the body while the children do not attend." There were not many things that made his skin crawl, but reliving those moments with the cannibals made the Hound shudder. "They eat everything but the bones, teeth, hair, fingernails and toenails and the cock. The chief especially likes the taste of brains."

The Guardian groaned in disgust. "Go on."

"When the demon inhabits a a member of the same family, he is bound with strong rope and taken up to a day's march away to a stream near an oasis deep within the Grey Waste," Sandor continued. "When they find that the demon inhabited the form of someone too closely related for them to eat, they bring him to the chief so that he can kill and eat him or her."

Sandor remembered the chief of K'Dath boasting that he had personally killed four demons in men's bodies.

The Guardian, his curiosity satisfied, nodded. "And they believed that the deserter had this demon and thus giving them a reason to eat him?"

"I was only able to bring back his armor, his sword, and his rings," Sandor reminded him. "Obviously, I couldn't bring you his body because there was nothing left."

"Right," the Guardian understood. "Any more information about the demon, since you couldn't get a description?"

This was the part that perplexed Sandor the most. "They told me that the demons were relics of a time long past, when the world was covered in darkness and that some evil spirit reigned from atop the world. They said that you can't really kill this spirit and the demons that they see are an… extension of his form. And that lately, they've been seeing more of these demons, with those from Bonetown being the most affected."

"Bonetown…" the Guardian muttered. "That, I know for sure exists since a few of my officers had been there. And these cannibals say to you that these demonic occurrences, and thus their feasts, have been more common recently?"

"Yes, that's what I've said," the Hound stated.

The Guardian clicked his tongue. "I might have to inform my superiors down in Yin of these developments, although I highly doubt that they will really pay much attention to rituals in a place that they don't believe exists on a map. And plus, they have bigger issues to deal with from what I've heard."

"What do you mean?" Sandor had heard of what was happening in Yin based on his letters to the physician, but much of the letters were crossed out with black ink, meaning that all written communication was being watched and so denying him details.

"Well… there is a coup going on down there and the last reports that I received show the forces aligned with Princess Khiara are on the Prime Minister's heels. I can understand why Lord Joon joined with the Princess because it's his son's life at stake, but I never thought he would go so far as to engage in revolutionary action."

Sandor took this all in. "And the dragons?"

"Causing terror among the Prime Minister's ranks," the Guardian answered. "But now, you've satisfied what I needed to know. You can leave when you want."

As Sandor left the Guardian, he had a better idea of what was going on down In Yin. And that made him… apprehensive. He was not worried about the dragon prince, but he had an idea of what Khiara was. And unlike the blonde shits in King's Landing, he couldn't tell if Khiara was evil or not, and that was frightening to him. The wolf girl and the dragon boy should sort themselves out, he pondered before he proceeded to the nearest tavern.


Jon had Meleys land in front of the retreating battalions of the Prime Minister's forces. All of them tried very hard to flee from the fires of the dragons and also from the battle-hardened cavalry forces sent by Lord Joon. Upon seeing their core units decimated by dragonfire and by the superior performance orchestrated by the Lord of Kushiro, the enemy rightly saw no more point in fighting against such overwhelming force. However, Jon wanted to ensure that that the enemy resistance would be thoroughly destroyed and not allowing them a chance to regroup. Like Lord Joon, he knew that the hostilities had to be short and contained in order to prevent an all-out civil war. So far, the fighting had been restricted to the nearby areas of Yin and they all wanted that situation to remain so.

Jon slid down Meleys, as he pulled Longclaw from the sheath strapped to his back while keeping Dark Sister at the ready. He yelled in clear guanhua, "Throw down your weapons! Hands up!", which he complemented with clear gestures. When Meleys shrieked so loud that Jon could swear that his eardrums were close to being punctured, the enemy soldiers obeyed without question. Lord Joon's cavalry rode in and secured the prisoners while Jon moved through the throngs. He directed the cavalry officers to separate the enemy officers from the regular soldiers and to turn the former over to the provosts, while he had the commissary account for every sword, pike, bow, arrow, and tanegashima.

After their display of the power wielded by Meleys and Drogon, it didn't take long for the Prime Minister's forces to collapse and force the remainder to retreat from the capital. Lord Joon volunteered to give chase, but Khiara told him to report to Yin and leave the pursuit efforts to Quartermaster Shin. Lord Joon then asked Jon on the status of his son, which he replied with, "He's safe, along with Hoon Ti."

"Then I better see for myself," Joon found a reason to follow Khiara's orders. He then looked around the tent and whispered to Jon and Daenerys. "Be careful what you say or do. You have no idea who might be feeding the princess information from here."

"I thought you could trust everyone here," Jon whispered back.

"For those that marched with me, yes. But there are some marine officers here, and they answer to Admiral Okamoto, who in turn reports to Khiara. And be careful around them, for they are like mad dogs that cannot be controlled once unleashed."

"Understood, my lord." Jon had heard nothing but praise regarding the marines' fighting abilities, for they can be counted to fight in any condition and practiced an austere lifestyle, but he could trust Lord Joon's assessment, especially after he told them of the skirmish that forced him to accelerate his tactical planning.

"But now that the both of you are here, please sit down," Lord Joon guided Daenerys to a chair next to Jon, where he sat himself, as he poured them both tea. "So, you are the famous Daenerys Targaryen, Queen of Meereen and Breaker of Chains."

"And you are the Lord of Kushiro and a great soldier," Daenerys said back.

"I am glad that Prince Daeron speaks so highly of my abilities as a leader of troops," Joon smirked. "It's only something that I had to learn over the course of ten years."

Jon was surprised, for this was the first time that Joon was displaying any semblance of humor. "I didn't know you had it in you to make jests of yourself."

"There are many things that you don't know about me, boy, but you know what you've seen from me and that's enough," Joon answered before turning back to Daenerys. "It's funny. I never thought I would see not just one, but two living members of House Targaryen. And top of that, riders of actual dragons. But I can clearly see who was more prepared to assume the reins of authority."

"You are much too kind, my lord," Daenerys raised her teacup to him.

"I might not have come from a line of rulers, but my family had long grown accustomed to ruling over many people over a vast area of the land, so we know how to deal with those who come from similar pedigrees," Joon said.

"Ah," Daenerys bobbed her head. "But have they ever rode dragons?"

Joon conceded her implication. "You have a point. Still, both of our families passed down an experience that very few people can ever comprehend, and we are all beset with the sort of burdens that no other can ever truly understand, not unless they've been in our boots. One fuckup on our part, and thousands die while centuries of tradition is torn down."

Daenerys couldn't agree more. "That's the feeling that I had when I freed those slaves from their masters."

"A noble venture. Some might criticize you for such a radical step taken, others will sing songs of praises in response to you liberating those poor souls. For me and the good people in the empire, nothing changed because we got out of the flesh business thousands of years ago, with only those frontier peoples from Hyrkoon continuing that practice."

Jon saw Daenerys raise her eyebrow at Joon describing slavery as a "flesh business." "That's a description that I never heard before, my lord."

"Nowadays, instead of trading live bodies for coin, we have bounty hunters bringing in corpses and marriages being another manifestation of financial transactions. I should know because my wife brought with her a fortune when I married her, but that was not the reason why I took her as my lady," Joon revealed to her.

Daenerys found herself more impressed with Joon. Like how Jon learned, she could see that Joon understood power and knew how to wield it effectively, but he was also frank and had little patience for useless niceties. "I must say, you are quite a refreshment from all of the fawning sorts that I had to deal with from Pentos to Meereen, although I do have a few that tell me what it is really like in the world."

"And those are the types that you must hold on to, Your Majesty, because you'll learn that many men and women come and go and those that are worth having should not be out of your sight. I know that simple fact, which was why I elected to return home rather than risk my life in the imperial court, because most of the time, you're a target and you can't really expect to live long if you are attached to power."

Jon hummed. "Well said, Lord Joon. That's something that I had to learn the hard way here."

Daenerys was further struck at Joon's honesty while also flinching at the thought of Khiara sharing the same bed as Jon. "I know you came here to support the Princess because you wanted to save your son and captain. But now that has been fulfilled and both of their safety guaranteed, what will you intend to do?"

"As you might remember, Queen Daenerys, I've been invited to assume a seat on the Armed Reconstruction Council, essentially the new government for the empire but staffed by generals and admirals. However, I do not look forward to the minutiae that comes with governance, especially when there's Lord Buko involved."

"I keep hearing his name, Lord Joon. Why do you and some of the other generals loath him? From what I hear, he seems to be against corruption in your empire," Daenerys pointed out.

"Your Majesty, I'm sure that whenever you encountered a problem, you were offered two types of solutions. One represented the hard but brute approach, and the other the soft but more gradual path," Lord Joon poured himself another cup of tea. "Lord Buko falls in the former category, but combined with his arrogance and disdain for anything less than his unreachable standards, you've got yourself a man who will treat every problem like a hammer to a nail and be willing to institute harsh measures to whenever he comes across dissent. Now, how does that make him any different than slimy types such as the Prime Minister, who also will not tolerate failure of any kind?"

Jon, at last, now understood why Lord Buko was so despised by the army. "And given his wish for an army-dominated empire, the quality of the army will decrease as ambitions will grow beyond anyone's control."

"Very correct, Daeron," Joon replied. "Although I trust the princess to deal with Lord Buko when the time is right, I don't know if his ideas will ever fade away."

Daenerys set her teacup down. "Maybe… as long as there are ways to deal with the greed of men while also showing benevolence to all, no one will ever resort to such extreme ideas as those purported by this Lord Buko. It's true that greed can never truly be quashed, as I had to learn eventually, but it can be controlled and I think it can be used for your benefit if done the right way."

"And what would you propose?" Joon leaned forward.

"From what I can gather, too much money is circulating in the court. Take away the wealthy interests, and the chances of corruption decreases," Daenerys offered. "Isn't that one of the key reasons why the situation has deteriorated so badly?"

"That might be an option," Joon accepted before he suddenly changed the subject. "Which can be approached later. From what I saw, you seem to have a good understanding of power but a queen who knows nothing of war will always be at a disadvantage."

"I learned a few aspects of the Yi-Tish fighting arts from Hoon Ti, which I intend to continue," Daenerys said.

"But to be a great fighter will take years of practice and experience. What I refer to is how to command armies, fight battles, and manipulate every environment towards victory," Joon stated.

"I usually leave that to more capable men," Daenerys answered.

"But to know nothing of the matter equates to putting too much trust on too many uncontrollable factors, which war has plenty of," Joon responded with. "The most basic rule of war is to not fight one at all, if possible."

Daenerys had never heard that before. "How can you win a war without fighting it?"

"Daeron can teach you from the book," Joon glanced at Jon and switched to nihongo. "The dragon queen might be a good handler of her mount, but she won't be utilizing the advantages gained from flying above the field of battle if she doesn't understand it."

"Give her time, and with instruction, she can be a great leader of troops," Jon answered in nihongo.

"Is she a good study at all?" Joon asked.

"She has knowledge that cannot be gained from books, if that what's you mean," Jon defended her.

"We'll see, won't we? The book is not supposed to be easy to learn, or that will defeat the entire purpose."

"What are you two talking about?" Daenerys might've learned to speak many tongues, but she knew very little of what was spoken in the Golden Empire.

"He seems to be questioning your ability to absorb the tenets from the general's book, the one studied by all of the commanders here," Jon summarized.

Daenerys was not one to shy away from a challenge. "I can prove you wrong, my lord, although I'm not sure it says much of you questioning the abilities of a dragon."

On that note, Joon pulled out his copy of the book and threw it to Jon. "Good, someone who runs forward than backward. Let's see how much she can understand, if she can make any sense of it."

Jon passed the book to Daenerys, who was just plain lost in the exotic nature of the characters. "I can't read this."

"Then learn," Joon then stood up. "I will take care of army matters from this point on. Perhaps this is a chance to really test your knowledge, Daeron, for it's harder to describe something that is not your native tongue than to just absorb it." With that, he left the tent.

Jon sighed. "Where to start? Although Lord Joon gave a good point about not fighting a war if you can help it."

"I have a feeling that a lot of the things in that book will be very counter-intuitive to what I've learned so far," Daenerys jokingly dreaded.

"Well, after you understand a bit, it becomes one of the most important things that you will ever learn, as it doesn't just talk about war," Jon explained. "Thing about the warriors here, they're great thinkers as well as good fighters."

"Hopefully, you'll be able to show some of that to me soon. Want to see if my nephew can be more interesting when not holding a sword," Daenerys poked lightly.

"By all means, dear aunt," Jon smirked.


Arya peeked over one of the many the rooftops overlooking the harbor, scanning for any sign of Yujin and his group. Her companion from the Jade Order, Namhee, was with her as she aimed her tanegashima at the docks. Although the Jade Order emphasized close combat, there was a need for a few to be trained with black powder weapons and Namhee demonstrated herself as a crack shot, able to hit her target from horseback and from over several hundred yards even though the tanegashima would normally be restricted to maximum accuracy at just over a few hundred yards. Namhee would be useful in this occasion, as both of them expected Yujin and his men to put up quite a fight in hand-to-hand combat and thus prompting both of them to find a position where they can get the drop on them. To that end, Arya already had seven other tanegashima loaded at the ready and reload the Namhee's current tanegashima in her hand. Might need to work on my aim one of these days.

"Arya," Namhee kept her focus down the barrel of her firearm. "I might need some help this time."

"With what?" Arya asked.

"I know that I'm a good shot and I can take down some of the toughest men out there, but I know who Yujin is and what he is capable of. It'll take more than one iron ball to bring him down and he won't be alone. I need you to take the other tanegashima and start firing when they give the signal," Namhee told her.

"I'm not very good at firing the tanegashima," Arya appreciated their use in war, but she preferred the katana and any other tool that allowed her to get close to her kill.

"I'm not asking you much from you, Arya. I know that you're not as a good as me, so I just need you to wound them in either the legs, the shoulders, the arms, or any other part of the body that won't kill them. I'll take care of the rest," Namhee outlined.

"Why do you want me to do that?" she inquired.

Namhee swallowed before turning her face to Arya. "I don't want to leave anything to chance. Those bastards killed the emperor and wiped out the imperial guard, so the chances of them getting either killed or wounded have to be maximized."

"Weren't we supposed to bring them in alive?" Arya was still following Khiara's orders.

"I remember. But they only concerned Yujin, not the others. And I might as well get some kills to my name," Namhee shrugged. "Plus, how else are you going to improve if you don't shoot?"

Arya conceded that, and aimed her tanegashima down the roof towards the dock.

Once the tip provided by Lieutenant Ong was confirmed to have substance, it didn't take long for Minister Zong and Admiral Okamoto to close in on the ship captain that had been bribed. But instead of arresting him, they threatened to charge him with treason and strike his name from the naval rolls if he and his crew didn't cooperate. Unsurprisingly, the captain gave in and thus setting up the trap.

The plan was to have the merchanter captain and his crew lure Yujin and the group close enough to the ship, who was already bought off by Khiara and promised land for his cooperation. There, provosts in disguise would approach the group and try to apprehend them, since Khiara wanted at least Yujin alive when they brought him to the palace. But considering that Yujin and his group were dangerous fighters, Namhee and Arya would provide backup. In the unlikely event that Yujin and his group had managed to ward off their apprehenders, two whole companies were nearby and would charge on the docks. In effect, there was no way that Yujin would escape.

For Arya, this was retribution. She didn't care what Yujin did to the emperor and the imperial guard. If anything, she was thankful, for Jon had become the new captain and was now a very powerful man in practical terms beyond his ability to ride a dragon. But ever since Yujin had tried to coerce her and even struck her, he became the fixation of her anger while she was still in Yi-Ti, alongside the others who had wronged her. But as much as she wanted to be the one to end Yujin's life, a quick death was far too merciful a fate for a man like him. The penalties that came with treason in the Golden Empire involved a lot of pain and the tribulations do not stop once Yujin was buried. In Yi-Tish custom, the skeleton would be torn apart as an expression of righteous anger. Everything that Arya had thought of in the horrible manner, the Yi-Tish had already outlined. Perhaps in another life, I would have liked to be born here, she thought.

On another note, the tide was turning in favor for Khiara. Jon and Daenerys, the dragon prince and queen as they were coming to be known amongst the people in Yin, had played a pivotal role in smashing the armies aligned with the Prime Minister while Lord Joon had once again demonstrated his mastery of war. And Arya was also surprised at how quick that turned out, even though the dragons had shown to the world once again their deadliness in battle and she was allowed to imagine her brother and his lady companion as the great dragon riders of old. Visenya or Rhaenys or Alysanne reborn, she thought with glee. The rapidness of the collapse of the Prime Minister's forces also showed that the corruption that he had so long encouraged had at last caught up with him, since the soldiers that he could amass on paper turned out to subpar compared to the experienced northern troops. And it wouldn't be long until Lord Joon would arrive in Yin with the northern provincial armies, thus becoming a force in the court.

But with the Prime Minister on the retreat, then came the time to capture Yujin and his group. And it was imperative that they were, because Khiara needed to cement her legitimacy by being the one responsible for bringing justice to her dead father. And she was going to spare no expense when it came to his trial. All about the exposure, Arya noted.

"I think I see them," Namhee caught Arya's attention as she got into her "ready" position. Arya scanned the docks and sure enough, there were five cloaked men approaching the merchanter captain and his crew, all of them believing that they were about to escape.

"Not yet," Arya said. "We need to see his face." As if the gods had heard her, one of the men turned around and despite the darkness of the night, Arya knew the facial outline of Yujin anywhere. "There you are."

As Namhee and Arya cocked their tanegashima, the disguised provosts surrounded the group.

"Who are these men?" Yujin was instantly alarmed, which Arya could hear.

"They're… my bodyguards," the captain stammered. "They're here to protect me and you."

"You never told me that you had bodyguards," a man by the name of Captain Lok put his hand on his sword.

"I just hired them for this occasion," the merchanter captain was doing a poor job with the façade because he was shaking and then sweating, but that would ultimately be irrelevant. "Please, let's get you all aboard."

Captain Lok shook his head at Yujin, and they both realized that something was terribly wrong. "No, we'll find other means of getting out of the city," Lok said to the merchanter as he, Yujin, and the others tried to walk away from the docks.

But at the moment, the provosts threw away their cloaks and attacked them with their swords. Yujin, Lok, and the others quickly responded by parrying their ambushers and kicking back while the merchanter and his crew fled back to their ship. Unsurprisingly, Yujin, Lok, and their men made quick work of the provosts, as they didn't receive the type of combat training that Yujin was afforded.

That was when Namhee and Arya fired their tanegashima, the former killing one instantly while Arya wounded another. Once they used their iron ball, they moved onto the next loaded firearm. Yujin, Lok, and the others moved about frantically, trying to avoid getting hit. However, at the sound of the shots fired, the two companies lying in wait charged at the group. Even though they were able to quickly kill the few provosts that tried to capture them, they were definitively overwhelmed since they were not only outnumbered, they were being fired upon from a superior position.

Yujin and Lok jumped around to avoid the pikes trying to pierce them, but their other men were not so fortunate. They were quickly surrounded by pikemen, which they were killing one by one. Namhee reacted by shooting Lok in his thigh, causing him to fall on his knee in pain and thus allowing the provosts to subdue him by getting a pike just short of his neck. As for Arya, she took a deep breath as she aimed for Yujin. She was not a good shot, but Namhee would take too long to reload and they needed to capture Yujin quickly.

Squeezing the trigger slowly, an iron ball exited the barrel and flew above the provosts towards Yujin. But to her surprise, Yujin was hit in the belly, which made him drop his sword but making him collapse on the group while clutching his stomach. He was bleeding profusely as the provosts were acting fast to make sure that he was not dying. "Get a physician here!" one of them shouted.

Namhee looked at Arya, surprised. "Was that intentional?"

"No," Arya shook her head.

Namhee sighed but she wasn't mad. "Well, from the looks of it, you're a better shot than you thought you were. But let's hope that Yujin is still alive before he bleeds out."

Both of them slid off of the rooftops and went towards the provosts, who had finally managed to get Yujin onto a wagon and someone with experience to temporarily stop the bleeding. They went towards Lok, who was still on his knees.

"Captain Lok, you are under arrest for treason and murder," Arya declared. Lok spat in her face, which she wiped off. Then, she raised the butt of her tanegashima and struck him in the forehead, knocking him out cold. "Take this piece of filth into chains," she ordered. However, she wasn't looking forward to explaining to Khiara how she was responsible for almost killing Yujin. Well, he was still captured, she thought.


Mingyu knew that she had to talk to Benjen, who was keeping her at a distance still. She knew that any appeals to his honor or their time together would accomplish nothing, for she could see that Benjen was barely tolerating her presence. However, it was a step in the right direction. What's more, there were bigger issues to worry about.

Every soldier and officer under Benjen's command had heard of the two dragons devastating the core forces in the Prime Minister's armies. Not even a politician like Hudam Shu had an effective countermeasure against actual fire-breathing creatures that could fly through the air, and add the fact that the northern armies under Lord Joon's leadership were essentially dominating their southern counterparts, it didn't take long for them to force the Prime Minister's forces into a general retreat from the capital, effectively changing the winds in the empire.

Mingyu knew that by not marching against the Princess Regent in Yin, both Benjen and Kaijin had ended up on the right side of the conflict, although the future looked uncertain for Prince Kaijin because she understood him to be not aligned with either the Princess Regent or the Prime Minister, and history was rarely kind to bystanders. Still, since he commanded the main firearms units in the entire army, Khiara would have to consider her approach to her half-brother carefully lest she instigate a slaughter. Nothing is ever simple, especially when her family is involved….

And that was one of the things that made her nervous. While she was glad that Benjen had not tossed her away, she was worried about showing herself in Yin, which she hadn't stepped foot in as herself in several years. From the last time that she checked, there was still an active warrant for her arrest for sedition against the Emperor and desertion from the Jade Order, both of which carried the death sentence. More importantly, the Jade Order would not treat her very well if she ever showed up in the capital, an obvious reaction to her perceived crimes. Besides the difficulties of fighting her former sisters, she wasn't sure that she could even fight them in the first place, for many of the ones she trained with were still there. Can't show my face. Not yet.

Before she could plan to negotiate that obstacle regarding the sisters of the Jade Order, she also had to deal with her former employers and her shinobi clan, the latter being the most worrisome. They had a safehouse in the outskirts of Yin and she knew that she would not be safe after protecting Benjen, not unless she found some way to satisfy her debts. Can't have shinobi coming after me when I least expect it…

She approached Lieutenant-General Lim, who had enjoyed a close friendship with Benjen and at the very least showed her no animosity. "I need a horse, General," she requested.

"Why ask me? Why not ask your lover, my commander?" Lim kept his focus on his work.

"As you might have noticed, I don't have a good relationship at this moment."

"Yes, I was able to get a sense of that when I relayed the orders from Yin for all of us to march here," Lim nodded. "But why do you need a horse? What's the reason?"

"I have to… take care of personal business in the outskirts of the capital. It won't be long."

"May I ask what this business is?" Lim put down his brush.

"Nothing that you'll have to worry about," Mingyu responded.

Lim rolled his eyes. "Right… I don't even know why you asked me, since you only requested a horse. If you wanted an armed escort, then I would have understood. But as that is not the case, there is no point for this conversation."

"General?" Mingyu crooked her head in surprise.

"What you do in your own time is really not my concern. All I know is that whatever you will do will not harm General Stark, so what worries do I have?" Lim shrugged.

Mingyu expressed her surprise. "You've become very loyal to him, haven't you?"

"I started as an average officer, and I am now one of the youngest generals currently, with only Prince Kaijin being younger than me. What other response would you have to the man who essentially resurrected and brought my time in the army to new heights?" he asked her rhetorically.

Mingyu nodded her thanks at Lim's willingness to turn a blind eye. She snatched a cavalryman's horse and rode to the safehouse of her clan. There, she found a big burly man sitting at the entrance, who noticed her presence. He immediately stood up. "You," he growled.

"Yao," Mingyu knew him as a rather simple man who liked eating but knew how to guard like any other hound. "Is Taelong inside?"

"You've got some nerve coming here after you interfered in our quarry," Yao clearly knew what had happened.

"That's why I've come here. To settle our debts and to prevent our misunderstanding from getting worse."

Yao scoffed. "You really think that's going to work?"

"Worth trying," Mingyu was not going to be denied.

Yao groaned but acquiesced by opening the door. "It's your funeral, woman."

"Much obliged, Yao," she patted his shoulder.

As expected, she found Taelong, the keeper of the safehouse and the clan's representative here gambling with some other shinobi. Besides training, this group of assassins passed the time by engaging in a game of wits, with the prize being money or whatever objects they took from their prey. Taelong raised his head, his black beard doing nothing to conceal the rage in his black eyes that was directed at Mingyu. The others turned in the direction of his gaze, and stood up while drawing their blades.

But Taelong had trained Mingyu when she was a fugitive and teachers were reluctant to harm their students, something that she had counted on. It turned out to be correct, for he gestured to the other shinobi to lower their swords.

"You better have a good reason for coming here after you pulled off that stunt and betrayed out clan," Taelong, nonetheless, looked tempted to run Mingyu through.

"I came here to say that I have something that could be of interest to you," Mingyu knew that she had to use a rather… unorthodox approach when it came to Taelong.

"What could be of more interest to us than your head for your treachery?" Taelong crossed his arms.

"How about a chance to finally become legitimate in the imperial circles?" Mingyu posed.

"What?" That was not what Taelong had anticipated.

"If you have some time, and if you are not interested in what I have to offer, then you can kill me. Otherwise, just sit down and listen."

"We'll be standing right here, but talk."

The common aspect tying all assassins together was that they were rejected by their communities and thus forced to turn to a life in the underground to survive. Taelong had been a common robber before he ended up trying to burgle the wrong lord and thus had to seek shelter with a clan member, who then taught him the very things that he had passed to Mingyu. And the life of a shinobi was a dangerous one, for assassins would rarely live to see past their thirtieth year in the world. Although they were paid handsomely for their work, Mingyu knew that Taelong sought to reenter his community again.

Mingyu explained her proposal to him, which began with "How about we go after the Prime Minister himself?"

"You're joking," Taelong chuckled derisively. But that ended upon seeing her face. "You're not joking. You're out of your mind."

"I kind of have to be in order to be here," Mingyu pointed out.

"Don't you realize that our employers, the very ones who wanted your white lover dead, are also connected to the Prime Minister in some manner?" Taelong reminded her.

"And we got what? Ten thousand silver taels? Imagine what the Princess Regent will pay us if we deliver his head."

"This is not about silver taels, Mingyu. It's about honoring a contact and maintaining the reputation of our clan," Taelong tried to explain.

"But reputation is a tricky thing, especially if it hinges on the wrong people," Mingyu stated.

"Master Taelong, why do you heed the words of this bitch?" one of the shinobi blurted out.

"What did you just say?" Mingyu turned her attention to the loudmouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I said that you and your white devil can go shove your idea up your fucking asses," he elaborated.

Taelong shook his head while Mingyu grounded her teeth. "You are going to turn down something that would change all of our fortunes?"

"No, I am telling all of my brothers here to not listen to the ramblings of a woman who had crossed the line with betrayal," the shinobi spit near her.

That, was something that Mingyu could not tolerate. She walked towards him menacingly, with the shinobi about to cut her across but Taelong blocked it. "Enough!"

"No, I do not want you to stop him because of what he did in the past," Mingyu had to correct that man. And these were words that she remembered that she had been meaning to say. "I know that I have killed our clansmen when protecting my lover, but I also want you all to acknowledge that the anger is unjustified!" Taelong, along with the others, were startled at her sudden shouting. "I want you all to acknowledge that he who fights by the sword, he will absolutely die by it. So, what, I killed fellow clansmen, did I? I was responsible for their deaths? And what fucking line am I supposed to have crossed?" Taelong blinked, even more surprised. "How many fathers, right, how many sons, yeah, have we all cut, killed, murdered, fucking butchered, innocent and guilty, to send straight to fucking hell, right?" She took a step back and looked at all of them in the eye. "You fucking stand there, you judging me, stand there and talk to me about crossing some fucking 'line.' If you decide to stick me with your blades, right, you do so and make me bleed out for a fucking honorable reason. Like men with at least an ounce of decency left in them, not like some fucking smallfolk shits who do not understand the wicked way of the world we live in."

She took a breather, and was surprised that Taelong and the shinobi, including the one who sneered at her, had become quiet. "But now," she continued. "I'm offering you all a chance to finally get out into the light and not get butchered in the process. How long can we survive like this? And the best way to do that is to deliver the Prime Minister. Once we bring him, we will never have to worry about surviving ever again. My lover, the white devil, is the uncle of the dragon prince, if you have forgotten. And with the dragon prince having the ear of the Princess Regent, we have the best possible potential to rise up and never have to step in the underground in our lives."

By how Taelong was not trying to kill her, Mingyu knew that she had got her point across and that the clansmen here were now seeing things from her point-of-view. "And why are you doing this?" he asked her.

"Let's just say that I am trying my best to step back into light again, and this is only the first step in doing so. But I would like for you all to not go after Benjen Stark ever again."

Taelong looked at the other shinobi clansmen, who were expressionless but she knew had begun to seriously consider her approach. "All right, then. But don't think for a moment that things will be fine between us. The price for betrayal is high and while you might have secured your white devil's safety, you are still to be hunted once everything settles."

"Fair enough," Mingyu agreed while she began to plan with her shinobi clan.

A/N: Sandor's travels in the Grey Waste show that what is happening north of the Wall is not unique to Westeros. Jon and Daenerys are making their mark on the short civil war that is happening, Arya plays a role in capturing Yujin, and Mingyu is trying to get back into Benjen's good graces.

For those curious about the Yi-Ti arc, I'll just say now that we have one more climax before we have our heroes return, but the effects of Yi-Ti will be seen in the latter parts.

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!