Jon felt the chilling cold in his bones. He felt as if his blood was getting frozen drop by drop. He couldn't move his hands no matter what he tried and the same was true for his legs. He was rooted to the spot and watched with worried eyes as the daylight began to dim even though it was noon. He could see storm clouds quickly gather around the sky out of nowhere. The snow began to fall harsher if that was at all possible because it was already past the point of harshness. He couldn't see a thing after a 100 meters distance and it was getting worse and worse.Jon strained his eyes and he saw humanoid forms emerging from the blizzard. It was the Others and unlike in the shows, Jon noticed that they had an unearthly beauty to them. Their skin was like glass and without the crystal armour around their bodies it would be hard to notice them. They had crystal blue eyes but they don't look like some rotten corpse rather their faces were smooth and crystalline. They had white hair as white as the snow that was falling around Jon. Then finally Jon noticed one among the Others had crystal spikes grow out from the head in a shape similar to a crown. The Others stopped suddenly looking intently behind Jon in almost a curious fascination. Then before Jon could turn around men charged from behind him raising weapons made out of Dragonglass. The Others never moved an inch even as the First Men charged into their ranks but when they moved they moved with a grace and speed that was unlike anything Jon had ever seen. The battle was quick and over within minutes. The First Men all laid in the ground unmoving but soon that changed as the Night King raised his hand so did the First Men rise from the eternal slumber with blue crystal eyes.Jon involuntarily took a step back as the Night King looked straight at him almost as if he was noticing Jon for the first time. Before Jon could validate the truth of this thought the Children of Forest began throwing small round rocks and on contact with the undead it exploded in a sea of fire reducing the Wights into a pile of ash. Just as the fire was starting to affect the Others a strong blizzard of snow came out of nowhere and snuffed out the flames. Jon watched in surprise as a distinctly feminine looking Other stepped into the battlefield.A great battle cry was let out by the First Men and they charged at the Others. This time Brandon Stark was leading them with Lightbringer raised in the air. The blade seemed to let out a pulse of ref energy and the chill that was almost becoming unbearable was pushed away. Jon quickly moved closer to see what was happening and he saw Brandon fighting the Night King single-handedly. The feminine Other was nowhere to be seen and Jon saw Brandon Stark stab the Lightbringer through the Night King's abdomen. There was a glass-shattering screeching sound that brought all the First Men and Children to their knees as the Night King fell to his knees. Even with the Lightbringer stabbing through his body the Night King managed to do one last thing before he died. The Night King pushed his own power over into Brandon Stark and Jon saw that the first Stark glows in a cold blue aura. Brandon let go of the Lightbringer as it burned his hand and the Night King went limp never to rise again. As the First Men celebrated the victory Jon could see Brandon looking on in horror at his own hand as if something fundamentally had changed within him.Jon saw the wife of Brandon approach the unofficial leader of the First Men. She herself took Lightbringer into her hands and they seem to have a conversation. Before Jon could hear what was being said he felt his vision go dark

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Jon blinked awake from the dream he just had only to find himself inside his cabin in the ship. He could hear shouting orders from the deck as well as the sound of the ocean. The ship had yet to reach land and already it has been six days. Captain Devon had promised the whole voyage may only take four or five days at most but unfavourable winds have pushed them to the sixth day. He got up from the bed and was out in hallway cracking up his joints. Shack had set himself up in Jon's cabin throughout the voyage but he was nowhere to be found. He was about to knock on Asher's cabin when the Forrester opened the door starting Jon.

"You are awake?" Jon said in surprise

"Your insistent knocking on my door in the last few days have made me an early riser. Besides all the running and shouting from above the deck woke me up long before you could." Asher said sleepily as he let out a tired yawn

"Let's see what the crew is so excited about." Jon and Asher climbed up a ladder to the deck and sure enough, the crew was running around the ship adjusting the sails. Some of the jibs were being lowered and wound up by the crew.

"We have arrived!" Asher whispered excitedly and Jon could make out the giant statue of the Titan of Braavos with its two gigantic legs on each of the two islands. There were small islands littered across the ocean but only the two islands were wide enough for a ship to pass through. Jon could already see the massive advantage and defensive capabilities these islands would give for the Braavosi. Any fleets that are stupid enough to attack Braavos will find themselves completely crushed before these islands.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Dacey said as she stepped beside Jon and Asher looking at the gigantic statue of the Titan

"Beautiful but dangerous. No wonder the Braavosi have never been successfully attacked by a foreign enemy through seas." Asher commented and their ship sailed right through the channel between the two islands

"Where are Nester and Shack?" Jon enquired seeing that they are not with Dacey

"They are speaking with Captain Devon. Speaking of which what have you been secretly planning with the Captain? Seeing as we are in Braavos are you going to inform us of this secret plan of yours?" Dacey asked with a frown looking at Jon. Asher also adorned a curious look on his face curious to know Jon's response who was so far right lipped on this matter.

"I was just asking about a home that we could buy for the time being as well as some information about a certain trade." Jon answered evasively

"A little more detail would be appreciated, Jon. What kind of trade are you talking about?" Dacey asked with a huff

"You are planning to join a sellsword company right?" Asher eagerly asked which earned him an incredulous stare from Jon

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Jon asked as he blinked in surprise

"What other trade do we know? We all were trained to fight so, of course, I thought that's what we are going to do in Essos." said Asher with a shrug

"No, that's not what we are going to do. We are going to trade in precious gems and trust me when I say that we are going to make a big fortune within the span of a month if we play our cards right." said Jon excitedly as he thought up plans from the information that he has so far gleaned from the Captain and all he had to do was find some select individuals who are invested in the trade of gems

"What does playing cards have to do with trade?" Asher asked confusedly

"The better question is what is this playing card and how the hell are you going to trade with gems? You have no expertise in that and most importantly you don't have any gems to trade with in the first place." Dacey asked but her eyebrows rose up as Jon just smirked at her like he knew some secret she was not privy to which was frustrating at times

"You don't have any do you?" Dacey asked uncertainly

"Don't you worry about that Dacey. Everything will be revealed in time." Jon patted on her shoulder and approached Captain Devon for a small discussion

Devon Ormys was the captain of a merchant ship owned by House Manderly. While he himself was a Northerner hailing from Ramsgate the same could not be said about his wife Phenona Ormys. She was a Braavosi goldsmith's daughter and with her marriage to Devon, the business expanded. With his connections in Westeros, his wife's family started to expand into overseas trade by crafting jewellery for the lords of Westeros. While most of that business was focused on the South the long summer enjoyed in the continent really did help to increase the market. As a result of long summers in Westeros, even some of the Free Cities of Essos were enjoying steady and profitable trade.

The only problem his wife's family faced right now was the shortage of precious gems like emeralds and rubies. Without such costly gems, they couldn't hope to break into the markets of Lorath, Myr, Tyrosh, Lys, Pentos and Volantis. The Red Priests would pay a large fortune to buy well-cut rubies but unfortunately, these stones are hard to come by. Now, if Jon Snow's claim of owning a source of emeralds then Devon's good-father would be very interested in meeting the bastard son of Lord Stark. Devon was also hoping that if this partnership flourishes then perhaps he could start his own shipping into the North independent from the Manderlys. With Jon Snow's word, Devon could theoretically sail all the way through the White Knife and broker a deal with the Lord of Winterfell. The North values food more than any other commodity and anyone contracted to deliver the goods to the North can make a huge profit. The only problem was the Manderlys played the middleman and a cut of the profits would go to them so long as the North was accessed through the Bite.

All of these plans had to wait a day because first he was supposed to let Jon Snow and his group into his new home. Even that was carefully planned by Devon at the last minute as he quickly arranged a modest manor close to his wife's home at the western bank of the Long Canal. It was previously owned by a merchant from Lys but was later sold out. Devon's good-father had the presence of mind to buy the manor hoping to rent it to someone and fortunately, that seems to have worked well. Devon had some previous dealings with the nobles of Westeros and he had found that they easily fall into the friendly category If they are shown some flattery and pandered to their ego. Even the hardened Northmen were not so different especially the Manderlys.

"Isn't this manor too extravagant?" Jon asked suspiciously as he looked around the manor which had too many artworks and furniture that just screamed costly. The entire house was also a two-story building and with a modest garden at the backyard.

"Don't you worry about that. This one is owned by my good-father and I am sure that he will be happy to have you for a moderate cost. I will speak with him and have you from all the hassle provided that you can deliver on your promise of emerald gemstones." said Devon as he looked at Jon from the corner of his eyes

"If your good-father is a merchant well versed in jewellery trade then he will have all the gemstones that he would need from me. I can deliver the stocks on time without any fail." Jon promised

"Then you have nothing to worry about. You all just relax for today and come tomorrow I will take you to the Iron Bank as well as to meet my good-father." Devon proposed but he was surprised to be on the receiving end of five confused looks

"Why would we want to go to the Iron Bank?" Asher asked curiously

"So that you can exchange the coin you have for Braavosi Iron squares." said Devon like that was obvious and he noted that only Jon Snow seems to understand what he was talking about

"We will have to exchange the gold we have for Braavosi currency." Jon explained to his four companions

"But I thought Braavos used gold dragons…?" Asher trailed off with a questioning look

"Only Braavosi merchants use the Gold Dragons of Westeros as it has the value of ten Iron Squares. This helps them to exchange large transactions simpler. That doesn't mean that Braavos uses Gold Dragons everywhere. You will need to convert the gold you have for local purposes. How are you going to buy food, wine or even clothes with just Gold Dragons?" Devon shook his head as he thought how easily ignorant Westerosi nobles are of Braavos which is one of the premier trade partners of the Seven Kingdoms. Looks like he will have to help these five out more than he imagined. He perked up at the thought as he knew from experience that helping out a Westerosi lord almost always ends up with a reward. After all, that's how he became the captain of a ship owned by House Manderly.

AN:To clear up the timeline all of this is happening in 296 AC.