The Dragon and the Hawke 2
Marian had always liked riding on ships. She liked big ones, small ones, and any type in between. She had that advantage over Dany's men. While they were getting sick over the sides of their ships, she was happily skipping along the decks and putting all of Isabela's many lessons to good use.
Watching all of this, with a mixture of caution and curiosity, were Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal. They watched the woman whose leathers smelt of long dead dragon move from one end of the small wooden island to the other, doing strange things at every point. At some point, as the constant motion of the sea and the woman's pacing got to them, they each in their own pace would fall asleep.
Upon waking, they would again sight the strange woman whom their mother had become so fond of following the death of the other women. The strange woman who smelt of dead dragons would every now and then look in their direction with the same level of curiosity that they showed her. Eventually their each party's interest in the other boiled over until there was nothing to do but actually interact.
Marian decided to fish, and she had set up the nets, cast out lines, and after a week of waiting, pulled in a large pile of both fresh and rotted fish. The mage used the rotted fish for new bait, and set about organizing the fresher kills. The fish were placed in barrels that had already been picked clean of food, and most had been sent to each of Dany's ships for the cooks to make very large servings of fish filet for dinner. One bucket though, Marian saved for the Dragons.
The woman who smelt of dead dragon now smelt of dead fish, and the Dragons looked at her curiously as she dragged a large barrel smelling even more strongly of dead fish over to them. After setting the barrel a few feet from them, the woman reached inside and after a second pulled out a fish. The dragons stared at it curiously, waiting for the trick, or for the fish to be cooked. The woman clearly intended to feed them, though she did not have a pit or stove like the other humans did. Instead, what she did, was hold the fish out to them, and it burst into flames.
The dragons watched, each with some degree of awe as the human displayed their own power to them. The flames were their domain, and this human who smelled of dead dragons and fish was claiming that she was on their level. The woman who smelt of dead dragons was declaring herself a dragon by right of fire.
Marian, naturally, had no idea the philosophical shit storm that she had created in the minds of the dragons, and instead held out the now cooked fish for them to eat. Eventually, one of the dragons snapped the fish from her hand. She smiled as she watched it eat, then she took out two more fish and cooked them for the other two dragons.
"What are you doing?" Dany asks from behind her, causing the mage to jump in startled fright and throw the fish into the air.
Viserion and Rhaegal snapped up their own fish from the air before settling down with their brother to watch their mother and the newly declared dragon converse. The mother was clearly the more powerful of the two, if the sudden scent of fear that erupted from the newly declared dragon was any indication. The dragons had known that their mother was one of them, had known that she had birthed them and that she was to be guarded at all costs, but they had thought her weak. If the new dragon was afraid of their mother, or at least cautious, then that meant that they should be as well.
"I'm feeding the boys," Marian replies nervously to her friend, "They looked bored and hungry, so I thought I'd fix that. Plus, they've been kinda edgy around me, so I thought a little bribery would make them like me."
"It seems you were right," Dany nods, stepping up next to her, "Could you hand me a fish?"
Marian smiles and grabs another fish, cooks it, then hands it to her friend. Dany smiles and for the next hour, the pair feed her children.
To the Dragons, a clear hierarchy had been created with the simple feeding ritual. They were at the bottom of the pole, as sons. The Human Dragon of the name Marian Hawke was next, for she carried in her the power of the dragons, and had slain one older and more powerful than they. At the top of the hierarchy lay their mother, for Daenerys was served by the Hawke, and the Hawke's power served their mother as easily as it killed others of their kind.
To the humans, all that they could see was that the dragons warmed up to Marian, and that for some reason they were far more accepting of Dany's orders than they had been in the past. When she was trying to figure out what could possibly have caused the change in their attitude, Marian had laughed.
"It's obvious isn't it!?"
"What is obvious?"
"Why they're so much nicer!"
"Not to me, tell me."
"You ever heard the old saying: the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach?"
"I haven't…"
"Well, we just got to see it in practice!"
Marian had dissolved into a fit of giggles at that, and Dany had rolled her eyes and smiled indulgently at her friend's casual attitude. As important a it was that she remain proper and stood in power as the queen she was, she was also glad that she had someone who cared so little for propriety.
Jorah had tried to bring up the issue to them both at the start of their excursion, but Marian had swiftly shut him down, declaring that she had been sent from a dream to help Daenerys, so she damn well better act the way she was. Somebody else would have been sent if they wanted somebody else. If it was her that got sent to help out the Mother of Dragons, she was going to act like herself.
Plus, she could throw lightning, so she didn't take shit from anyone.
It was weeks later, after another feeding session with the dragons, that the shout that they were approaching the city of Astapor was called. Looking around in curiosity, Marian stands and strides over to the boat's stern and peers over the waves.
Sure enough, a large city stands tall in the distance, and they are sailing straight towards it. Turning to Dany, who had joined taken a spot beside her, she asks, "So, I probably should have asked about this earlier, but what are we getting in Astapor?"
"An army," Jorah tells her, leaning against the railing on Dany's other side, "Astapor is where the Unsullied are trained, and sold."
"The Unsullied?"
"An army of men trained from boyhood in the art of war," Jorah tells her, "They have never been defeated."
"They are also an army of slaves," Dany tells her with a frown of disgust
Marian furrows her brow, blinking a few times, then leans her back against the railing and asks, "So… we're buying slaves? I'm gonna go right out and say it… that is a shit plan."
"Yes, thank you, I know," Dany sighs, "But if I am to retake my homeland, I must be strong, and I must have an army."
"Well, why don't you try and get more bloodriders? They seem like a decent bunch," Hawke waves her hand at one of Dany's men, currently vomiting over the edge of the boat.
"The Dothraki only respect strength," Jorah tells her, "And they practice slavery as well."
"Maker, it's like I'm stuck in Tevinter!" Marian shudders.
Rubbing her eyes, Dany tells her, "I know this is not the best option, but it is the only option that I can see. I do not know how where else to go to collect an army."
Marian frowns, "I'm… I'm really not okay with this. I'm not going to stop you, but I do want you to know that I am probably not gonna want to talk to you for a while. Also… I'm probably going to kill a lot of people if they try and get their grubby slaver hands on me."
"I take it you have personal experience?" Jorah asks
"Yeah," Marian nods, "A friend of mine, Fenris, was a slave for most of his life. I helped him slaughter his old master and literally everyone who was even remotely related to the guy. Good times."
Dany lays her hand on Marian's shoulder and tells her, "I intend to free them."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I don't know, but I'll think of something."
Marian looks into her friend's eyes, narrows her own as she regards the deep violet of Dany's irises, and then nods, "Okay, I'll help."