A prepared venture

Quaithe remembered the tale of Aerea Targaryen like she had it in front of her even if it had been decades since she had read it last. Body racked by hunger and thirst, a fever that cooked her from the inside out, and things living, moving under her skin until she eventually died in agony. Even the censored story had been harrowing to a young girl, which was to say nothing of the detailed account recorded by the Maesters in an effort to be better prepared should anything of the like ever happen again.

Sailors, even the particularly dim-witted and slow, avoided the Smoking Sea like the plague for many reasons. Where the water did not continuously boil, the strait itself was reportedly swarming with giant krakens, who had a particular taste for blood and flesh and were smart enough to understand that sinking ships would give it to them, which was to say nothing of air so hot it cooked your lungs or ash so thick it robbed you of the ability to breathe.

Even if she disregarded the danger of Valyria itself, just getting there would not be easy. Captains with a choice avoided the place at all cost and those without one would find the motivation to rebel when agonizing death by kraken, demon, or fire was the destination. The land route was not much better even if the dangers were different. The demon road was said to be aptly named and after her own experiences in Asshai and especially Stygai she would not discount the possibility of that actually being the case.

Stories of demons and all manner of hell-spawn may or may not be true but even if they were not, bandits and other human miscreants would be sitting in wait to fall on them at every chance before they ever got a whiff of volcanic ash.

She did not doubt Naruto's ability to fight and win, not even against multiple men, but he would need to sleep at some point.

The dangers were so obvious and numerous that no one with sense would seriously consider braving them, and yet…. And yet she wanted to go, had felt that way for almost as long as she could remember. She had lambasted Naruto for the idiocy earlier, but alone with her thoughts she could admit as much. It was dangerous, likely lethal, and possibly entirely pointless, but she wanted it. How could she not? Tales of the Freehold's glory, of the superiority of the dragonlords, had filled her childhood and so many secrets were yet to be uncovered.

Valyria had been a cradle for mystery and sorcery during its reign and that knowledge was still there, hidden in crumbled towers and drowned cities. Valyrian Steel, glass candles, blood magic, dragon binding, dragonstone. So many secrets, so much knowledge just waiting to be found. Quaithe just needed to reach out and grasp it.

And die in agony, she added, asserting a smidgen of good sense over her wants and wishes. Countless ships and men had been lost in the ruins of the Freehold over the centuries since the Doom. Brave or foolish, smart or stupid, strong or weak. Almost none had returned with anything to show for it if they returned at all.

She had thought that the decades had driven the childish and simple-minded determination she now felt from her, tempered long ago by the knowledge that there were certain things that were impossible no matter how much you wanted them. Exploring the ruins of Valyria was firmly positioned in that category.

Learning to control fire from Naruto could not distract her the way that her late mother's scrolls and tomes had done back then. It was too simple an exercise for that, especially now that she had made some headway already. Admittedly she had thought that the first step would be easier for her, but that difficulty alone could not dissuade her in this. The pursuit of sorcery and knowledge was the only thing that remained to her, and the opportunity to visit Old Valyria far outweighed strengthening her ability to use fire in some way.

All of this thinking in circles was not only unlike her but also incredibly pointless. She knew that she had already made a choice. What did everything else really matter?

They would need to prepare extensively. Even her knowledge of the ruins and their current hazards was limited but planning for those she did know of already would be difficult enough. Enough supplies to mount any kind of extensive investigation was among the easiest, though transporting all of those supplies would present some troubles.

Not only humans avoided that area. Most animals had abandoned the surroundings, and even a well-trained ox or horse would be difficult to handle in the conditions they could expect. The demon road was still in good condition, just like all the other Valyrian roads but as soon as they turned towards the destroyed peninsula, travel would become more difficult. The Fourteen Flames had not been shy when they erupted.

Timing was another thing to consider. Since the Doom some of volcanos that had served as lairs for the dragons of Valyria erupted every few months. Should they be caught in an eruption all preparation would be for naught, even including their magical abilities. Hopefully she would be able to get an estimate for the next eruptions in Vantyria.

Thick protective clothing to cover skin, climbing gear, salves, and ointments to treat burns. She debated whether shovel and pickaxe would be of use, to dig out doors or windows that had become covered in too much material to squeeze through, but she disregarded the idea after little thought. It would only be the two of them, making efficiency as important as being well prepared. They would have to make do with the things that they could access without digging.

Some of the supplies would be easier to acquire here than in the much smaller Vantyria but a few could wait until then. Hopefully that would cut down on the eventual travel time as well. By horse, the trip that followed the demon road alone would take about a month, which did not even include travel after that, which would be significantly slower as soon as they had to abandon using the actual roads. Oros and Tyria, each by themselves second or third in glory to Valyria itself, were said to still be inhabited but she doubted the possibility. The Lands of the Long Summer had been completely destroyed in the Doom, and that formerly fertile land was still scorched and blighted so badly that it could not support much of anything. Anybody living even closer to Valyria than those lands would starve sooner or later.

The more she considered their needs and capabilities the more the necessity of a boat became clear. More capacity for supplies, faster travelling, and no reliance on animals. It was the better way.

If they wanted to enter Valyria that was unavoidable anyways but perhaps exploring Oros, still connected by land to Volantis, would harbour less dangers without sacrificing too much of the opportunity. It was impossible that none of the mystical secrets of the Freehold had made their way to the city at some point before the Doom, and the greater distance from the centre of that catastrophe would mean reduced effects.

That approach would eliminate the need to cross the Smoking Sea, eliminating the accompanying risks as well. If the maps she had in hand were accurate, much of their trip could be made completely by boat, using the channel that connected the Summer Sea to the Sea of Sighs, and then the river that lad south-east, eventually bringing them within a hundred miles of Oros.

Certainly difficult, especially as a group of two, but she was certain that Naruto's prodigious physical capabilities were up to the task. Quaithe still wondered how he came to be the way that he was, but she had been unusually unsuccessful in figuring things out lately. The visions, the priest's advice, Naruto and his nature and abilities, and the inciting incident for all of it in the first place.

Quaithe absent-mindedly twirled the feather she had been using to approximate the necessary supplies and equipment between her fingers. The task was not far removed from managing the needs of a Lord's household as its Lady, and the lessons on the matter she had been given as a child were still fresh in her mind. Even if she was content to have avoided that fate, knowing how still had its benefits.

Lately every answer she found only revealed more questions for her to investigate. Lighting the glass candle by herself was a welcome development, only slightly marred by the apparent discrepancy between the actual experience and every single record of the process she had ever read.

The strain had been significant, similar to the effort it had taken when Naruto had been determining her affinity, and that was only for a second or two. Of course, the following experience had given another explanation for that occurrence but she was not content just accepting things like that. The Valyrian use of blood magic was a recorded fact, repeated in tales both critical of and complimentary to her distant ancestors, but she had been able to use the candle without the need of blood.

Why would any device like the glass candle allow such an approach if the intended use was blood?

There was simply too much she did not know about the candles to make accurate assessments. Some of that she could find out with experimentation in the next few days, but even that had its limits. The candle she had was not big by any means, she knew that the three in the Citadel were bigger, but that short stunt had already shown its effect on the obsidian.

If the material was eroded that quickly, a little experimentation could well leave her with some more knowledge but no candle to use it on. Naruto's blood had slowed the degradation but why exactly that was the case remained to be seen.

Getting another candle would be just another advantage to visiting the ruins, even if she could find nothing on the exact details and functionality.

Well, there was no use imagining all the shiny new things she could maybe find on this venture. Dipping the writing utensil in ink, she continued estimating figures. Better to simply prepare for it and see. It would be some weeks until they could set off in any case.

Days passed and slowly but surely the amount of leaf she could burn in one attempt increased. She had insisted on doing the training under supervision before, even after understanding the apparent simplicity of the exercise, but after explaining her thoughts to Naruto he had agreed to the need for a boat. The first step in that direction was having one of them learn how to handle one appropriately.

Naruto now joined any fisherman that would take him in the morning, helping in any way he could in exchange for learning everything necessary about handling a small boat. His Valyrian was terrible, even after more than a month of learning, but it was enough to get by. He was a determined student, but not particularly gifted and their progress was slower than she would have preferred.

There was no need for real expertise in seafaring. They would be sticking closely to the coast all the way and storms were rare in winter but having one person who knew most of the necessities would be a boon, nonetheless.

Her most conservative estimate put their whole trip at a month and a half in length. Not impossible, but certainly difficult to bring enough supplies for. The biggest problem was the uncertainty about the possibility of what supplies could be gathered on the way to, or in, Oros.

Water and food presented different challenges. Dried rations were easy enough to pack in large quantities, though their taste left something to be desired, and for some parts of the trip they would in waters that should be safe to fish. Of course, she could simply subsist on her own magic, reducing or even eliminating her need for sustenance but that practice was straining and not something she liked to rely on all the time. Doing it for too long still reduced your energy to do much of anything and if you weren't careful, you could pass the point of no return until you eventually wasted away.

Two people over about fifty days. One filled barrel should suffice for that, two would be more than enough, with silver inside to stop sickness from settling in. Mixing the water with wine would hopefully keep them healthy over the whole trip, at least where the water was concerned. She knew that those with magical abilities tended to be more resistant to disease but relying on that alone would end with you dying in a sickbed. Even magic could not make you immune to sickness.

What had happened to Aerea Targaryen, and the dangers they would face in repeating her actions, still gave her doubts, but there were a few important differences she leaned. Aerea had been a child of ten-and-four, unprepared, alone, and unsuited to the situation she ended up in. Balerion may have been closely tied to the Targaryens for generations, but a dragon was a wilful creature and Aerea had not been Balerion's bonded rider.

The exact nature of the Doom was still a mystery to the world, though certain groups claimed to have an explanation that coincidently fit their goals. Divine punishment, whether for slavery, blood magic, unjust conquest, or a combination of all of them, was the most common. There were only a few facts that everyone agreed on. The Fourteen Flames, the great volcanos scattered all over the former peninsula, and every other mountain with even a touch of fire had all erupted at once, drowning the sky over the Freehold in fire and ash for weeks on end. Earthquakes and tsunami had split and reshaped the land until all resemblance to the before was lost.

Whatever had led the volcanos to erupt all at once and with such fury no one truly knew but Quaithe thought it likely that the reason for the eruption was also the reason for the continued state of the Freehold. The Doom was almost four centuries in the past and still the sky above Valyria burned red on many a night and the earth lay blackened and poisoned.

Memories of her time in the far east came to her mind. The Shadowlands looked dark and barren, but they supported their own life, rare though it was. The Maester's account of Aerea's condition shortly before death certainly implied something similar for Valyria.

In the end perhaps it was simply pointless to wonder about the truth right now instead of getting ready for the trip that would give her at least some of those answers.

Quaithe stood up after long hours of sitting, turning her attention to the glass candle placed on another desk in the room. She had not done a lot of experimentation with it yet, mostly absorbed in the lists of supplies, and the necessary preparations, but she had some time for it now.

Judging by the light coming through the windows it was the early afternoon already, meaning that Naruto would most likely return from fishing soon.

Raising one hand above the candle Quaithe focused inwards. She had not said so to him, but the way that Naruto used magic still seemed foreign to her. It certainly fit him, but the directness and physicality involved in his approach was starkly different to the way she had learned and been taught in the past.

The stories may claim that the dragonlords lit the candles with their mind alone, but Quaithe thought it more likely that they had done what she did now, reaching out not with her body but with her magic, as if another hand grew from her outstretched one to kindle the spark dormant within the obsidian. The strain was not a surprise this time, not after underestimating it the last time, but the missing reaction from the candle was.

No light bloomed at the top, changing colours in the room. Instead, there was only the glass candle, no change in sight. She tried again, focusing harder, using more of her magic, in an effort to replicate the result she had gotten the first time.

Nothing. No spark, no light, no change.

She frowned, carefully inspecting the candle. As far as she could tell there was no difference to the candle from the last time, excluding the slightly misshapen tip, but that could not be the reason for her difficulty. Naruto had been able to light the candle with his blood after she had done so with magic.

Quaithe reached for one of the sharp edges along the body of the candle but hesitated just before touching it. Blood magic was the most powerful magic, but there was always a price. It was not a particularly powerful use of blood magic, after all she had accomplished the same task without blood just seconds before, but it was blood magic, nonetheless. Naruto had not said anything about any change in him or his magic after the incident and she had not detected anything either, but that alone did not mean that there was no cost.

Instead of cutting her finger on the edges she lightly touched the candle near the top, hoping that a physical connection may make lighting it possible again, or at least allow her to understand why she was having trouble in doing so.

The obsidian was cold and yet she felt the dormant fire frozen within, just waiting for her to grasp it as she could do with all obsidian. Quaithe tried to change her view, focusing not on the material but on the candle itself, like she was taking in all of a painting instead of just a small part of it. There was another unique sensation there, understandably reminiscent of obsidian and yet different all the same.

Learning shadowbinding had taught her to interpret magic in terms of light and dark. There was power in shadow and darkness, power that she had learned to grasp and use for her own ends. The extents of shadowbinding went far beyond just that, but that approach covered the basics.

Glass candles had no connection to shadowbinding that she knew of, but she could still interpret their magical nature in the same way. Magic was. How you viewed, interpreted, and used it, differed for everyone. She supposed that in that way magic and prophecy were the same.

Even if it was inactive, she could faintly feel the innate magic of the glass candle now that she was in direct contact. It was the equivalent of feeling an ant walk over your leg through your clothing, if she did not focus on the sensation her mind simply ignored it. Reaching for that magic, Quaithe felt herself impeded, as if something had been placed between her and the candle, preventing access.

She tried once more to light the glass candle, fighting against the resistance that had presented itself. Just as she was ready to give up, she succeeded, and magic flowed. Curiously, it seemed like the resistance had suddenly started dwindling away.

The light in the room changed, and a light bloomed near her finger. The flame's heat was low, colder even than a normal candle flame, but she still pulled her hand away, unwilling to risk any burns. With the candle burning by her will and magic, even if the reason why it was now working was unclear to her, she focused on seeing into the flame. How exactly you could use the candle to communicate was unclear to her, but the tales never mentioned needing your own candle to be communicated with.

There was also the problem of her not having a lot of people she was close enough to, to safely test the candle's function. With no real alternatives Quaithe concentrated on Naruto, trying to will him into focus in the candle's flame.

Slowly the unnaturally bright light shifted, changing into a spatter of different colours flickering and burning above the obsidian. The picture was unclear and bright, and Quaithe could already feel the strain of keeping the candle lit for this long, even as the resistance she had noticed before was lessening.

Then it snapped into focus, showing her the street outside, the people only vague shapes except for Naruto himself. He was walking right in middle of the view she was getting and not far from the building now.

Quaithe was not sure how to continue, how to go about turning this glimpse into the world into an actual communication. "Naruto?" she ventured, speaking out loud for now. The candle flickered slightly, distorting the image for a moment, but nothing else happened.

After seconds passed without change, she tried again. She would have considered stopping but the difficulty of the attempt continued decreasing with every moment. It was still exhausting, but not debilitating.

"Naruto?"

The candle flickered once more, reacting the same way it had done to her last attempt at communicating. Briefly, so briefly that she almost thought she had imagined it, Naruto seemed to flinch. He stopped and looked around, shoulders tense, until seconds later the moment passed, and he continued walking, entering the house.

She stopped picturing Naruto in her mind, and the candle followed suit, the bright light from before washing away the view of the world she had been given. Fire still bloomed above the candle, illuminating the room in that uniquely strange way, but Quaithe was ready to stop with experimentation for the day.

There were still hours of the day that could be used for careful study or planning, exhausting herself to the point that she was useless for hours because she couldn't concentrate would not be wise.

Naruto opened the room's door, the resistance around the candle crumbled, and she cut the magical connection between herself and the candle. He opened his mouth to say something but shed shushed him with a raised finger, hoping that she had not imagined what had just happened.

If her mind was not playing tricks on, her Naruto entering and the candle changing had not just coincided, something had happened between them, without any intention on his part. Fitting that piece into what she knew about him, and his magic was not easy, mostly because there was so little, she actually did know about that part of him.

He was powerful, magically, and physically, and well-versed in the use and detection of magic besides. She could still remember how quickly he seemed to have detected her glamour back in Qarth, the first time they had met. The magic in his body was potent enough to be easily detectable, to someone like her he could not truly hide what he was.

Running with the idea developing in her mind Quaithe addressed him and raised her hand to the candle once more. "Step outside." Naruto looked at her confused and made to speak but she cut him off before he could do so. "Just do it," she insisted.

Turning around he stepped outside, and she focused on the candle, paying no mind to his quiet grumbling. After a few steps she noticed the resistance in the candle returning. It was not a slow rising, but instead it simply appeared from one moment to the next.

"Stop!" Nothing changed. Quaithe looked over to where he stood outside the room. Roughly fifteen feet from the candle, she would guess, though she would have to carefully measure later.

"What exactly is this about?" he asked, though thankfully he did not move in any direction. She ignored his question.

"One step closer to me," she said.

He obeyed without complaint this time, clearly noticing that she was testing something important. As soon as his body breached the imaginary circle around the candle, the resistance disappeared again, gone from one moment to the next.

Quaithe waited for a few seconds, ready for any change to appear but it never did.

"One step back."

"I want you to know that I'm not happy about this." Despite his words he did as she said. Just as predicted the resistance returned as soon as he was too far away. Quaithe relaxed and stopped examining the candle, anymore and she really would be useless, even if she had not lit the candle again, only closely examining the magic in and around it with her own.

One of her visions came to mind, the blonde man stopping the world around him from being crushed, nine shadowy tendrils moving behind him. She had not been able to make out the man's features at the time, the image flashing before her for too short a time, but there had been nothing about it that made it impossible for it to be Naruto. Though what exactly the nine tendrils were supposed to signify she had no idea.

She had honestly hoped to just forget the visions, not knowing what to do with them or how to interpret them, but it seemed like she would not be so lucky.

"Will you tell me what you are trying to do?" Naruto asked, stepping into the room again now that she had dropped her hand away from the candle.

"I figured something out."

"Obviously. Do I have to start guessing or are you going to share?" Dread was making its way into Naruto's voice. Her lessons had clearly left a mark. Quaithe almost smiled.

Two weeks later they left Volantis on a ship headed for Vantarys and then the Sea of Sighs.

Chapter 13 is done, and you get number 11. Hope you enjoyed.

I realise that this chapter is kind of low on progression, but I wanted to show that just barging into Valyria is not only deadly but not something Quaithe would even entertain doing, so while she outlines her thoughts on preparation I tried to include some more backstory on her and in the second part a little magical discovery.

On some of the details: Silver really was used to keep water clean and drinkable aboard ships, so that part is real. Vantarys is a name I made up for the city east of Volantis and west of Mantarys that is on the official maps. We don't get an explanation for how the glass candles actually work, so Quaithe doesn't know how to use them for their original purpose quite yet, since I doubt there would be manuals for them. We know very little about Valyria's current state in the books: The sky is red above it, the sea boils there, and krakens infest the water. Aerea went there on Balerion during Jaehaerys' reign and died after returning but as I outline in this chapter, taking that for the result everyone would meet is not sensible. Right after the Doom a dragonlord with army and Dragon went to Valyria from Qohor as well and they never turned up again. That is a better benchmark but Naruto's capabilities obviously change a lot.

I am reaching ahead a little bit but I thought I would explain in this chapter what exactly I'm doing in this fic in terms of magic. Chapter 13 will contain some more clues in this direction as well and this is basically a Spoiler now. You have been warned:

Magic and Chakra are not the same thing in this fic. Naruto and Quaithe use it that way in conversation but they are not identical. They just happen to be similar enough to be useful for the same purposes. Naruto unconsciously projects a field of chakra from his body all the time, saturating the air with power, which is what Quaithe picks up on and strengthens her own magic when she is close to him. Naruto basically reduces the magical gravity around him. For that most of his and Kurama's chakra is necessary. So they are comparatively weak in this world at the moment. There are some additional facets to this that I won't go into yet or maybe ever but that is the gist of it.

Spoiler over!

I won't even try to make an accurate estimate of when we will reach Westeros, but at my current pace chapter 20 to 25 seems like an accurate call. No promises though.

Some people have been unhappy with the lack of plot in the last few chapters. As I'm always two chapters ahead of what everyone reads I can't really change much about that as soon as I read that but I have taken it into account. If you truly can't stomach it, I'm sorry and hope you find something more to your liking.

As always thanks for reading, reviewing, and everything else. Until next time.