Books as Whetstones

"The maintenance of ravens can therefore be considered the paramount duty of any Maester," old Walgrave concluded, his slightly disorganised and meandering lecture finally coming to a close.

Naruto wondered just how long Shiera would have put up with the endless tangents and monologues. Not long, most likely. What could have been accomplished in half an hour had dragged on for two instead.

"For any questions you may refer to Black Wings, Swift Words in the library. Now… ehm...," Walgrave trailed off, lost. One of the older acolytes under the Archmaester's direct tutelage walked over and whispered in his ear.

"Ah, yes, inspections," the old man muttered, too low for most of the other students to hear, but Naruto sat at the front and was no less alert despite the preceding boring hours. Raising his voice Walgrave addressed the room again. "Novices, collect your ravens and bring them forward for inspection."

That caused a cascade of shuffling steps and quiet conversation as the other novices began going over to the large desk holding all the bird cages and started trying to figure out which one belonged to them. Every new student of ravenry was given a bird to care for by themselves. If they could not care for one raven, having them be responsible for the care of dozens or even hundreds of birds was inviting disaster.

There was also an additional lesson intended by the practice, one no one had openly shared, though Naruto had figured it out quickly. Before every lecture on ravenry novices were asked to place their cage on a table with all the others, ostensibly so that the birds would not disturb the lecture, but in truth to make identifying the ravens a lived lesson for every student.

A few novices tried to remember the position, others marked their cage in some way, and yet others marked their raven, but after the first time most everyone had figured out some system that worked for them.

Some of the older acolytes liked to amuse themselves by switching the cages around while the novices tried to follow Walgrave's meandering explanations, leading to a strict lecture from the Archmaester upon inspection. The old man always knew which bird belonged to whom, and had no patience for mistakes in that regard.

"When your lord commands you to send a raven you cannot excuse yourself with inattentiveness," the old man in grey would say, and then ignore the sputtering of the duped novice in question.

Naruto stood as well, and picked up his cage from the place one of the acolytes had placed it after switching it with another. The young man with his small three ring chain tried to hide his frustration, but his success was rather limited. Naruto had seen the substitution happen but even had he not, picking out his own raven was no trouble for him, though he had marked neither cage nor bird.

His raven quorked in greeting and accepted a few pieces of corn, while Naruto carried the cage over to the line in front of the Archmaester.

"How can you always tell so quickly?" a young voice behind him asked curiously. He turned in the queue and quickly put a name to the face and voice. Myles, a slightly younger novice, who had marked his raven's cage with a red ribbon.

Naruto shrugged, unsure how to answer that. "I just can."

Maybe it was his Sage training or maybe he was just more used to paying attention to all the little details, but either way it never took him more than a few moments to pick out which of the ravens was the one entrusted to him.

As the line moved up a grumbling novice moved past them and left the hall, cage in one hand with a raven happily eating a few pieces of corn inside, unconcerned with its dropping splattered surroundings.

The difference between those novices that came away from Walgrave's inspection with negative feedback and those that did with positive was not primarily age, though it might as well have been. Taking responsibility seriously when you were younger was harder, and rare; Naruto knew that well himself.

Accepting his position as a jinchuriki had been a struggle at fifteen, which was nothing so say of thirteen or twelve. Some of the youngest novices just starting their studies here were that age.

Myles began to nervously tap his foot as they waited, though Naruto could see nothing wrong with his raven or cage. The line continued to move up, closer to the Archmaester and his acolytes, who opened every cage and carefully inspected the raven inside before looking at how it reacted to their intrusion and contact.

Then it was his turn.

"Your raven," the acolyte in front of him stated gruffly. Naruto obediently handed over his cage, unconcerned with the older man's reproach. It was unrequited and not even personal besides, but instead directed at novices in general.

Just because the Citadel was an institution of learning did not mean that there was no pecking order between the different groups attending lectures in Oldtown.

The acolyte opened the cage with a critical eye and beckoned for the raven inside to come to him. After being greeted with happy cawing Naruto watched him lead the black bird through a few quick exercises. Touching the legs without much complaint, tying something to them with no change in movement, and finally making the raven fly a short distance on command.

While the examination had been going on Archmaester Walgrave had walked over to look in on the proceedings. As much as the grey Maester could be distracted and scatter-brained during lectures, when it came to caring for ravens, he was uninhibited by age.

"Hmm, very good," Walgrave said, nodding to himself, as the acolyte beckoned Naruto's raven back into the cage. "I do not recall, how long have you been studying here, young man?"

"Two weeks," Naruto answered him, as other inspections continued next to them.

Walgrave nodded again, as if he had expected that answer somehow. "Yes, yes, of course. Quite deftly done. Continue as you have with your raven, and you will earn your link in no time."

With those words and no further explanation, the old Maester left again, for another inspection, where he quickly began expounding on the importance of having regular contact with the ravens, to acclimatize them to being handled when they were required.

Naruto reached for his cage; gaze fixed on the back of the grey robes. Aemon was older but from their one interaction at Castle Black, he thought him more clear-minded than Walgrave, nonetheless. The man's faculties varied from lecture to lecture, and Naruto was unsure just how to take his words.

That decision was taken out of his hands.

As his fingers closed around the iron ring at the top of the cage the acolyte in front of him grabbed for his hand and leaned in with an angry whisper on his lips. "Don't let this get to your head. Walgrave can barely tell the way here half the time, his words mean nothing. Don't think this makes you special."

With the final word the acolyte released his arm again and waved for the next novice to come forward and present his cage and raven.

As he walked away Naruto wondered if this was how Sasuke had felt back in their academy days. Then again, that had made more sense than this. Sasuke had actually been exceptional at near every subject in the academy.

Naruto had attended lectures for four different subjects until now, and ravenry was the only one he really excelled at, which was mostly on account of the easier time he had interacting with animals.

Medicine was somehow even more tedious than he had expected, herblore was interesting but involved a lot of memorisation which was the opposite of engaging, and lectures on the higher mysteries had been enough for him after the first one, when it became clear that the speaking Maester did not even believe those same mysteries were real in the first place.

A part of him had wanted to prove the man wrong right then and there, but the clear agreement of everyone else in the lecture hall had given him pause. So, he had kept his silence, and not attended another lecture, the futility of that more than obvious.

Eventually he passed the end of the queue of novices and left the lecture hall. The Citadel was a collection of courtyards and buildings on both sides of the Honeywine, stall-lined bridges connecting both sides of the river to each other inside the premises just as they did on the outside.

The occasional Oldtowner crossed the grounds towards the Scribe's Hearth while acolytes, novices, and Maesters crossed between the different buildings to search out the next assignment, lecture, or book.

Naruto walked towards exit and left the premises of the Citadel through the archway flanked by two green sphinxes, one male and one female. The streets beyond were filled with people of a hundred different stripes, making their way through the cobblestone streets to whatever goal they had for the moment.

He headed in the direction of the harbour, where a room waited for him and his raven in the Fruits of Brass, an inn frequented by locals, sailors and merchants chief among them.

Oldtown was an ancient city, much older than Volantis, though there were some similarities between the two, nonetheless. Both were important port cities, their commerce largely dominated by the shifting tides of trade and had been built at the mouth of a river, the Honeywine for one and the Rhoyne for the other.

Yet they were noticeably different places. The buildings here were older, especially in the heart of the city near the mouth of the river and Battle Isle, and where Priests of Red R'hllor dominated Volantis the Faith of the Seven was even stronger in Oldtown.

The seven-sided star decorated more than half the buildings in some shape or form, many people carried small rainbow-coloured trinkets made of stone or wood, or even glass for wealthier men, everywhere they went and especially in visits to a sept.

Naruto passed through crowds walking the city just as he did, the atmosphere light and the people unburdened. Winter had broken, even if the Citadel had not yet pronounced spring begun, and winds from the sea were losing some of the bite they had gained even this far south.

Mothers with small children were on the way to the market to use the remaining hours of daylight, young men were on the way to the nearest winesink to get a head start on the coming evening, and a few people at the docks boarded small boats that would cut across Whispering Sound to the other side of the harbour for a few coppers, shortening the time needed to get from one end of the city to the other.

Closer to the harbour, where traders from all over the world docked their ships, the seven sides and rainbow colours of the Seven were less frequent. There were still present of course, but sometimes the odd red flame of R'hllor, carved moon, or depiction of naked bodies entangled with each other, replaced them instead.

Naruto turned down a small, narrow alley from the larger harbour area, the shadows cast by the two surrounding buildings plunging him into darkness for a moment, before he reached his goal.

The Fruits of Brass was a three-storied brick building near as wide as it was tall, with a round varnished wooden sign dangling above the door, carved with a trading vessel conquering a wave.

How long ago the place had been opened nobody knew anymore but the owner still claimed descent from the original innkeep, who had studied in the Citadel himself for a time, until he had earned a brass ring to show his mastery of navigation and changed course to become a captain instead.

The fruits of that adventurous life had eventually allowed the man to open the inn, named in honour of that same brass ring, a trinket that was proudly displayed above the fireplace.

Naruto entered the homey main room, a few other people sitting inside and eating or talking with each other in the relaxed atmosphere. Come evening sailors and merchant captains would be stuffing the room, to get some final relaxation before rising early in the morning to leave for the sea again, but for now things were still calm.

"Ah, I hope your studies were fruitful," the innkeep, Wallen, called out, quickly recognising him. The man managed the building with his wife and children, the entire family working together to keep everything in order.

"No less than any other day," Naruto answered. Sometimes it felt like he couldn't even separate Ebrose's words of the day from those of the last.

"Will you have something to eat? My wife has made a wonderful stew."

"Later," he said, waving the man off. "There are some matters I have to attend to first. But thank you."

Wallen nodded, accepting that answer and leaving him to walk deeper into the room.

Before Naruto could pass fully towards the stairs Wallen's young daughter Maddy came down them instead, a woven basket filled with clothes in need of a wash in her hands.

"Oh, Ser! I did just like you asked. Put it right by your door and all," she said, excited as usual. He had been like that at her age too, he supposed, even if they spent their days on very different things.

He was long past trying to correct the title from her, after she had picked it up when he had told of his participation at Harrenhal the evening after his arrival. Giving her a smile Naruto produced the two copper stars he had promised her for the task.

"Here you are then, for honest work," Naruto said, and placed the coins on the top of the pile of clothing. "Run along now, I'm sure your mother is waiting for you."

Maddy happily did as he asked, rushing off with her prize while trying not to trip over her feet and slightly too long skirt.

Accounts settled Naruto climbed the stairs to the second floor and turned down a hallway at the top, his room located at the very end.

On the floor right in front of the room was a wide dish covered with a flat piece of wood, just as Maddy had said.

Picking the simple container up, he carefully opened the door, the water hidden under the wood covering audibly sloshing with his movements. A small moment of resistance passed, and he could enter his humble abode for his stay in Oldtown, the ninja wire he had fashioned into a simple alarm system telling him that no one had been inside after he had left in the morning.

After placing the water dish on the small table Naruto moved to the window and opened the shutters, letting in a pleasant rush of late afternoon air.

His raven began to scold him only a few moments into his enjoyment, and Naruto obligingly placed the cage on the stone sill, where the black bird could track the movement in the street below to satisfy its curiosity from the safety of the confining but protective metal home.

Taking another deep breath of the fresh air Naruto turned towards the small table and the water dish he had asked Maddy to bring, ready to get to work.

Discarding the wooden covering he extended his right hand above the liquid, palm flat and nearly close enough to be in contact with water. Feeling the natural energy of the water itself was easy enough, especially this close. When he concentrated only on his sense for nature, he could easily find water near a hundred yards away, more surely, if he trained to increase the distance.

But figuring out that he was looking at water was not the point of this. Telling one thing from another was simple enough, once he had identified it once, but telling one thing from the same slightly different thing was harder.

Maddy had two options when getting water for him, going to the next well or going to the port, but he had not asked which, only telling her that he needed some.

Naruto knew saltwater was different from fresh water but feeling and telling that difference without knowing the source or having a taste was not as easy. Unfortunately, the impression he got was either vague or incredibly detailed, depending on his experience with the thing in question.

Water, no matter what kind, just gave him the impression of water.

A minute of silent struggle later and Naruto made a decision, if not a confident one. Fresh water, surely. Dipping one finger into the liquid he had a quick taste, quickly followed by disgusted sputtering.

"Bleh." Even just that small taste was brackish and salty. Maddy had gone to the bay.

Perhaps that was the problem. The water in the bay was not fresh water, but it wasn't quite the same as salt water from the ocean either. Maybe if he tried telling the difference between those two first, he would improve faster.

Instead of dwelling on it, Naruto moved on. He had other uses for water beside trying to tell how much salt was inside. He hadn't yet succeeded at completely wetting a leaf, but he was close and now in the same situation as he had been while training Shiera. What was the next step, the way to move forward in training his nature transformation?

There were some things translating between fire and water, even if the two were each other's opposite. When there was already fire, empowering it was easier than sparking an entirely new flame from chakra. Pulling water from the air was similarly much harder than simply using an available source.

Naruto knew no hand signs for either, only the basics of elemental manipulation he had learned for wind under Kakashi.

So this was what he had settled on.

Extending his right hand again Naruto channelled his chakra. Wind was either cutting blade or pushing, even crushing, force. Water was the push and pull of the tides, the pressure surrounding you through its weight. The wind was fickle where water was constant and solid.

Yet with both water and wind, getting a small movement started was rather easy. Making that movement useful or even lethal was another matter entirely, but there was time for that when he had gotten better.

His left hand formed one half of a ram seal, assisting his focus and concentration, and Naruto tried to make the water move, the amount of chakra he was using slowly increasing. He tried to submerge his mind in the feel of water, in its coolness, its movement and flow, its shifts as he began to succeed.

Slowly but surely water began to move in the dish, languidly spiralling inwards like a small, weak, whirlpool.

Naruto's mind was on his chakra and the water, focused and attentive, but that did not mean that he was unaware of his surroundings. He snapped his head around, towards the window, where he had felt eyes watching him.

He frowned, but there was no one there, only his raven looking into the room with its beady black eyes, the sounds of the street below echoing upwards.

Taking a look out of the window revealed nothing either, only an ordinary street, and yet Naruto was sure that he had not been imagining it. There had been some additional presence watching him. There one moment and gone the next.

It oddly reminded him of the Isle of Faces.

Climbing the Hightower turned out to be a far bigger endeavour than Naruto had anticipated. When he had made the plan to visit Oldtown it had all seemed terribly simple. Get to the city, take a boat to Battle Isle, and start climbing.

Maybe it was incredibly tall, but so what? He had no fear of falling, and his stamina should more than cover even that distance.

Things turned out to be a bit more complicated, however.

Getting to Battle Isle was the least of the problems. Ferries brought people and supplies to the island in the middle of the Whispering Sound, the bay at the mouth of the Honeywine, every day and sneaking onto one of them in the dark hours of the morning was no great feat.

When the porters aboard the ferry disembarked carrying sacks filled with flour and wooden crates of vegetables or other foodstuffs Naruto quietly followed along at the back, a covered basket with loaves of bread in his arms.

Before they had even reached the gate other servants were already coming down the sloping coast to help, and no one stopped them from entering into the Hightower's smooth black foundation. Naruto kept a careful eye on his surroundings as they walked towards their destination.

He needed to get up somehow, but he had not been able to see any stairs yet. Instead of wildly running around to take a closer look Naruto simply continued playing his role, following the line of men as they carried their burdens deeper inside, until they reached a wide square wooden platform, rope and chain tethered to all sides and a big construction of weights behind it.

Positioning himself in the back to remain hidden he waited with the others as another servant in Hightower colours yelled an order and pulled on a rope off to the side. With a sudden jerk the platform started moving upwards and for a moment he thought something had gone wrong, but none of the others visibly reacted to the change.

Chains moved downwards around them, while they ascended the dark stone walls.

The elevator platform came to a jerking halt not even a minute later, and the others began moving, carrying their supplies off the platform and towards a number of large storage room, where a servant in Hightower colours waited with a scribe from the Citadel, to take an account of everything being delivered.

The men queued up, with Naruto once more at the back, while the wooden platform behind them descended again.

One by one the crates and sacks were quickly and efficiently inspected before the Hightower servant called out which room they were to be delivered to and what should be marked on the list the scribe was making.

"Two bushels of wheat. Down the hall, the last room on the right."

"Two sacks of flour. The storeroom two doors down."

On and one it went, until it was Naruto's turn. The wooden elevator had already returned to the top, bringing more men carrying more supplies. The man in charge of the coordination quickly pulled up the cloth covering the heavy basket and glanced inside.

"One basket bread. The kitchen supply, around that corner, in front of the door." With those words the man dismissed him, and Naruto obediently followed directions, for now.

Reaching the corner revealed steps leading upstairs on the other side of the kitchen supplies. Depositing the basket, he carried near the door he returned to the corner, peeking back into the hall where all the others were working. When nobody was looking towards him, he hurried to the stairs on quiet feet and began his way upwards.

The servants of House Hightower were clad in grey and green, the white tower crowned with flame of the house stitched on the upper arm. Naruto had neither sigil nor colours to match them, so he needed to avoid most contact with others, especially the higher up he got, where no outsider would pass unnoticed. This far down he may be able to weasel himself out of anything by saying he had gotten turned around.

How far up he would get this way, he did not know, but for now he took two steps at a time to advance as quickly as possible. After three stories his upwards movement ended and he was forced to look for another flight, and slowly the dark smooth stone of the lower levels gave way to a lighter coloured material, constructed much later. The stairs spiralled upwards in tight circles, with only small windows lighting the stone walls and steps around him.

The Hightower stood taller than the Wall, and he had seen the switchback stairs half built into the ice winding their way to the top back at Castle Black. He was in for quite the journey.

Fortunately, it was still very early in the morning, and those people without anything specific to do were only just waking up and beginning their day.

For minutes Naruto was unimpeded in his climb, only sounds from below him alerting him to the presence of others every now and again. But his luck had to turn eventually. Halfway up one flight he came to stop, feet scuffing the stone echoing from above and below.

With no other escape in sight Naruto went for the window and began actually climbing, finding footholds in the stone exterior of the building. The wind was stronger at this height than it had been even on the ferry, and the morning was still rather cold, the sun only beginning to warm the day as it peeked over the horizon.

Still, that bit of discomfort would not stop him now.

Windowsills, cracks in the stone, or just a rough patch of mortar, even without using his chakra he had no trouble finding handholds to ascend further and further, the distance to the ground only growing with every time he pulled himself upwards.

Iron bars covered the next window, disallowing entry or exit through it, though he had no intention of getting back inside in any case. Still, it was an anomaly in the structure, and he could not help but stop in curiosity.

Dark blinds covered the room from view, but they did not impede his ears much. A female voice drifted out from the inside, barely audible over the wind.

"They do not walk, they cannot walk, they should not walk," she said, only to repeat the words moments later. It sounded almost like a chant of some sort had there not been hysterical near mad giggling after every repetition.

Just as Naruto was about to move on again the words changed, though he could not tell what had been the cause.

"He sits and watches." The woman sounded near elated now, as if she had finally figured something out. "Too long already, too long, too long he sits. But he can only wait for the next."

The sound of a door opening was unmistakeable as were the careful words that followed. "My lady, are you ready to be dressed?" Shuffling steps followed in the quiet, barely audible, and no more words were exchanged until Naruto decided to move on again.

He was more than halfway up already, and if he hurried there would still be some sunrise to enjoy from the top. The strain developing in his arms and fingers was satisfying and a welcome change from endless books and lectures. Naruto still trained near every day, with bow or sword or just his body, but this was different. New, something he had not done yet.

Finally, he pulled himself over the edge at the very top of the tower, where the signal fire burned day and night to act as a beacon for ships leaving or arriving in port.

Stretching his fingers against the tightness in the muscles Naruto stood and took in the view. It was breathtaking.

For leagues he could see everything. Wide rivers turning into small blue lines snaking off into the distance, buildings appeared no more than specks, and hills might as well not have existed from this far up. The other side of the tower revealed Whispering Sound in its entirety, the giant bay Oldtown used for its port seeming near insignificant compared to the size in the distance. Slowly the sun fully passed the horizon, its orange rays lightening to yellow and gold.

Naruto understood why some Hightower King had built this tall hundreds of years ago.

Even if the rumours of being able to see the Wall were clear exaggeration that did not sully the experience in any way.

Standing at the edge he had to fight to keep his footing, leaning into the wind in just the right way so that he was not swayed over the edge.

Looking down at Oldtown made the city look small and even more cramped than it already was. Naruto could see the Citadel, after a moment of searching, sprawling over the Honeywine. The Starry Sept with its seven sides and black marble walls.

Naruto felt the urge to jump, to feel the wind rush past him as he fell, to right himself in the air and struggle for breath and direction, but he thought better of it. In Sage Mode or with Kurama's chakra, he could have countered the impact, but he was without both. Jumping anyway would be folly.

There was too much he still wanted to do.

I hope you enjoyed chapter 26. I am nearly done with 27 as well, which puts me back in my desired rhythm after the slight delays I had while writing this one.

Naruto in Oldtown this time, as it will be in chapter 28 as well. As I said in the notes in past chapters the important events that kick off the rebellion after Harrenhal happen quite a bit later, with months passing without much of note. I am trying to avoid unearned urgency on the part of the characters right now, since the disappearance of Lyanna is a great surprise, as are the trials of Rickard and Brandon in King's Landing.

Elia's and Rhaegar's plans for a Great Council have no exact deadline, and with Elia now pregnant with Aegon, may be delayed slightly, at least until the babe is born. This is very much the calm before the storm, and Rhaegar's actions to disrupt that are unexpected. I assume we'll get there by chapter 30 or 31.

The Eyrie has an elevator to transport supplies up the mountain, and the Wall has a winch cage to bring people to the top, so I imagine the Hightower has to have something like it as well. No way are people just carrying that shit all those stairs. The woman in the tower is Malora Hightower, eldest daughter of Lord Leyton and called the Mad Maid. What she means and why she says those things I will leave to your imaginations for now.

We have little information on the exact function of the Citadel and how learning there would function, at least until a few Sam chapters in WoW (sob), but I would imagine it to be a bit more pratically inclined than today's school system in the western world. Pate, the prologue character of Feast, is saddled with taking care of the aging and largely infirm Walgrave (obviously he is still a bit younger here). Does every novice/acolyte get those kinds of duties assigned to them, or are those a substitute for some kind of tuition? Commoners can learn in the Citadel, sometimes forging just one ring and doing those things for the rest of their life, but I can't imagine that it would just be free.

On the topic of Great Maester Conspiracies. I am of two minds on the topic. One: I can definitely believe that it exists in some shape or form, and that the STAB alliance is a result of those efforts. Two: if it indeed does exist, not every Maester is involved, much less every acolyte or novice. In the books there are two real sources, as far as I am aware. Barbrey Dustin, a bitter widow blaming someone long dead for the opportunity to marry her youthful love being taken from her, and Archmaester Marwyn, a conspiracy nut.

If it was George's intent to present the latter as a credible source for some great design for the world by the Citadel, then it was a poor choice of character. He says the Citadel/Conclave plans a world with no place for magic and yet he is part of the same Conclave, a believer and maybe practicioner of magic.

Marwyn is outright dismissive of the notion of some brave dragonslayers being responsible for the death of dragons in Westeros, something that actually did happen during the storming of the Dragon Pit, while presenting the Maester's as the true culprits. Only it turns out that there is a very good explanation for all those dragons dying more than a hundred years ago. It is called other dragons.

What he says about Aemon similarly makes little sense. Aemon isn't stuck at the Wall because the Conclave has some hate boner for Valyria and the Targaryens, he is stuck at the Wall because he took the black by choice and swore vows for life, and until Barristan there is no basis at all I am aware of to somehow make those vows null and void. Even if it was offered to him, which we have no account of, Aemon would have almost certainly refused.

All that said, that alone does not make the idea impossible. The fact that Maester's have the positions and duties that they do basically invites societal shaping through them, but I hope those readers expecting a clear contact with that sort of effort by Naruto can forgive me. There may be crumbs in the next chapter in Oldtown but my plan currently does not include war with the Citadel.

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