Touching Minds

"Do you believe in magic, Ashara?" Naruto asked a few days after arriving on Dragonstone, when they were in the privacy of her chambers. He had been thinking of how to broach the subject with her and had finally settled on this.

"What are you saying?" she replied, with a smile that slowly dropped when she seemed to realise that this was no attempt at japing.

He felt what he needed in the room and walked over to a small table, barely hidden from view from the door. The pitcher of water was just where he expected it to be, and Naruto quickly filled a nearby cup before turning towards Ashara again. She looked confused and hesitant but waited for him to go ahead, nonetheless.

Chakra answered his call as easily as it always did. Water did not act as wind did, when you tried to control it, but he had practised this as much as he could with his limited knowledge.

Fingers beckoned a tendril of liquid to rise, water wobbling slightly under his unmastered control.

Ashara released a shocked gasp but Naruto's focus remained on the water, completely committed to the simple yet taxing exercise, to the water slowly trailing along his palm.

On a breath out he released the hold on his chakra and the water as one, letting it wet his hand as the liquid slid back down into the cup. Flicking away the remaining droplets he raised his head to face her.

She looked at him in amazement and surprise.

"What… how…" she trailed off before visibly focusing her thoughts. "What was that just now? You can control the water?"

"In certain ways, yes." Without shadow clones to cut down the process his progress was slow if steady. Nothing compared to his time mastering wind, but Kakashi had mentioned that moving on from your affinity usually took a long time.

Stepping closer to him and the cup filled with water that was behaving in an entirely ordinary manner again, Ashara seemed unsure just what to focus on.

"Could you show me again?"

"Of course." Replicating the feat a second time was slightly easier since he had worked with this exact situation just moments before. Water rose to his chakra's beckoning, twisting in a slow, relaxed pattern.

Ashara's fingers quested towards the liquid, hovering just slightly above it as it moved, unwilling to touch the water. Then, just as the last time, Naruto allowed the water to drop again, releasing it from his control.

"Incredible." Her words were a whisper filled with wonder. Ashara turned her gaze on him, purple eyes bright and twinkling. "Did you learn this in the East?"

"No," Naruto answered, shaking his head. "This part I figured out once I came here."

He watched Ashara reach for the water in the cup and slowly, carefully dip the tips of her fingers into the liquid, as if at any moment it would rise up again to meet her halfway there. Instead, it reacted as any normal bit of water would, ripples moving outward as her fingers breached the surface.

"This part?" Ashara asked, and seemed to come to another realisation, eyes widening as unseen pieces fit into a place. "The pitcher. You knew where it was, even without seeing it."

"Yes," Naruto nodded. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, unsure whether to be confused or impressed. It seemed like she had half expected him to be capable of that feat, though he could not imagine why. "I can feel it, I guess."

"Princess Nymeria, the desert witch," Ashara said absently, as if she was thinking aloud. Naruto tried to remember what he had learned about the historical figure from Shiera, but there had not been much and of that nothing connected her to the title Ashara had just given her.

Being driven from the Rhoyne with her people, eventually landing in Dorne, Ten Thousand Ships, those parts he knew but that didn't help. "Princess Nymeria?"

"She was of the Rhoynar, and when she landed in Dorne the Martells were only petty lords ruling over poor, barren lands from the Sandship. After the wars that unified Dorne under the Sun and Spear of the new House Nymeros Martell, Sunspear began developing more and more as other water sources were found nearby. Some stories claimed it was Nymeria herself who made the springs appear to water the land. Until now, I had thought it nothing but attempts to label the new Princess of Dorne a witch by those unhappy with her rule."

"You believe she could do what I can?" Naruto asked. He knew nothing to dispute the idea, but that wasn't saying much. The events Ashara was speaking of were a thousand years in the past and nothing but a few written records and stories still survived from so long ago.

"If she could, would that not explain everything? All the prosperity her arrival brought to Dorne, beyond just the wisdom of the Rhoyne her people began to share freely with their new neighbours?"

Naruto could have listened to her talk for days, the intensity she displayed incredibly enchanting, but his purpose in talking of magic had been an entirely different one. He could have dismissed the event entirely, chalk the encounter up to chance and his perception up to tiredness or a simple mistake, or even madness. But he knew better.

He didn't know what it had been he had felt. Not exactly, at least. But that there had been something was beyond doubt. Something connected to Ashara.

His senses Naruto could trust above all else.

"If you are capable of the same magic..." Ashara trailed off, with a far off look in her eyes, giving him the opportunity to interject, much as he would joy in continuing to listen to her.

"In truth, it wasn't any magic of mine I wanted to talk about, Ashara." It had only been a fleeting moment, gone as soon as he had noticed it, and there was the possibility that she wasn't really aware of it herself, but that gold-rimmed black gaze had watched him with entirely human awareness.

Engrossed as she was, Ashara still clearly understood the implication of his words. She recoiled slightly, shaking her head. "Surely not."

"When I was near Duskendale I encountered a beautiful eagle that landed on my arm. There was something strange about the encounter, beyond just the fact that the bird had no fear of me. And I think it had something to do with you."

"But... that was just a dream," Ashara insisted weakly.

Perhaps it had been unconscious action on her part, the ability entirely undeveloped and untrained.

"I don't think it was." Naruto tried for a supportive smile, noting her suddenly tense shoulders.

Ashara sat on one of the nearby chairs and spent a few seconds in silent contemplation, simply staring at the wardrobe ahead without seeming to truly see.

Some apprehension was to be expected, Naruto supposed. Even in the stories of the distant past he had encountered, those capable of controlling beasts were generally the villains. Then again, it could just be the thought of a possessing such an ability without foreknowledge or control that was affecting her.

Having a power you had unknowingly carried for so long suddenly explained had been quite a shock to him too, though he had been far younger then.

Ashara visibly gathered herself, hands in her lap, her moment of hesitation and indecision left behind. "Do you know? What this is, I mean?"

"Only from the stories, I'm afraid." Naruto shrugged and gave her an apologetic smile. "Rose of Red Lake and the Warg King of Sea Dragon Point." Most of the stories he knew were very old, indeed. From the Age of Heroes, as the Maesters called it.

"You believe me a skinchanger commanding beasts to do my bidding?"

A snort escaped Naruto's nose, half mortification and half amusement. Jiraiya would have slapped him upside the head for putting his foot in his mouth. He shook his head and tried to make Ashara see his sincerity. "Not in nature, no, but in ability. At least once you have trained."

"Does that knowledge not cause you any concern?" she asked him quietly, her purple eyes fixed on his own. The small undercurrent of uneasiness in her expression and tone tugged at him.

Naruto crouched in front of her and reached out with his right to squeeze one of her hands in support, lips stretching into a smile. "No."

He earned the reaction he had hoped for, an answering smile appearing on her own face a few moments later. She shook her head, a note of amusement moving into her expression. "Of course not."

They remained as they were for a few seconds, until their touching hands attracted their attention again, both of their gazes dropping to the spot of contact.

Naruto could admit to himself that he had not always acted in a way to hinder accusations of idiocy from others, but he was not completely oblivious. Strange as certain social conventions here were to him, the inappropriateness of this situation did not escape his notice.

Slowly retracting his hand, Naruto felt heat crawl up his neck. A bit of skin contact and he grew red in the face. That was somehow more embarrassing than the whole situation in general.

Their fingers lingered in fleeting contact for a moment longer before separating completely, which only invoked a spark of dissatisfaction from inside him.

Naruto rose again, his eyes avoiding hers, half a step more distance between them now. A quick glance revealed her own face flushed prettily as well, and her hands folded tightly in her lap.

Clearing his throat he broke the awkward silence that had settled in. "I don't know how much I can do, but I'll help you. With learning, I mean."

Naruto knew nothing of skinchanging, and the stories were like to contain as much falsehood as they did truth, but animals did like him, and he had seen Yamanakas work their craft in the past. If it worked the same way he could not say yet, but it seemed as fitting a place to begin their attempts as any other.

Focusing on that was also an appropriate way to distract his wandering mind.

He saw Ashara stand and smooth down the front of her dress from the corner of his eye. She stepped close, and then her fingers were a soft pressure on his arm as she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I look forward to it."

The heat that had been on a slow downward retreat instantly returned, overwhelming any attempts at personal control. His head snapped around, focused her back as she hurried to the door.

Ashara pulled open the heavy oak, still not turning to face him again.

"I will get Morning," she said, her voice a slightly higher pitch, and closed the door behind herself. He heard nothing for a few moments and then her steps reached his sharp ears, slowly fading away as they continued down the hallway.

Naruto slapped himself.

"Calm down, Naruto. You are not fifteen anymore."

When Ashara returned wearing a thick leather glove and the same eagle Naruto remembered from days ago clutching onto her arm, it was no longer time for his personal deliberations, but training instead.

"How do we do this?" she asked after settling down, Morning still calmly gripping onto the heavy leather.

Naruto sat down opposite her and reached out a finger to run along the brown plumage. Morning cocked her head, gold-rimmed black eyes tracking every little motion but never changing to indicate any kind of aggression. "I can only guess, but there must be some connection between you that you can use. Some thread connecting you to Morning."

Ashara looked at him sceptically, and Morning mimicked her focus on his face in a display of unnatural synchronisation that somehow seemed entirely fitting.

Naruto tapped the fingers of his free left hand on his leg, thinking on what exactly to do. He wanted to take out a kunai to flip in his hand and fiddle with, but he controlled himself.

Ino had always made a special handsign to focus her target with, and maybe it was a little like entering his own mind to meet Kurama, too.

"Try to be calm, relaxed. Look at Morning and try to reach for her, for the bond you share. You did this before, even if you didn't know it at the time."

Ashara closed her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, before opening them again to look at Morning. He could see her focus, and the small twitches shared between her and her eagle as the minutes passed without any change.

There was precious little Naruto could do for the actual training, at least as far as he knew. Guiding her along the path might have been possible were he capable of the same feat in the first place, but he was not.

His own senses told him little. Without other eagles to compare against Naruto could not say whether what he was feeling was unnatural for an eagle of Morning's kind and size.

Ashara exhaled deeply, breaking from her attempt. She reached out with her free hand and gently stroked the feathers along Morning's back. "This seems entirely pointless. I know not where to even truly begin."

"I cannot guarantee you success or give you an easy answer. But hard work and consistency have never led me astray," Naruto said and smiled at her in encouragement. If it was only motivation he could offer, then that would have to suffice.

Ashara nodded resolutely and repeated her same approach from before.

Nearly an entire week passed them by like that, without any visible success.

On the sixth day of training Naruto watched her quietly focus on Morning for minutes, and then her purple eyes lost their lustre and her head dipped forward slightly, as if she had succumbed to sleep unintentionally.

He stood and carefully reached for her shoulder, but that changed nothing. Looking at Morning revealed the same abnormally human comprehension and awareness that he remembered.

Then the moment was gone. Morning shook her head, looking curiously around the room, while Ashara groaned and stretched her neck, her eyes screwed shut. When she opened them again they were unfocused, not quite seeing him even though he was crouching only inches away.

Ashara rubbed her eyes and Morning flapped her wings without truly pulling on the leather jesse tying her legs to each other. Both of them seemed unsettled by the experience, which he supposed was only to be expected.

"Ashara? Is everything alright?"

There was a satisfied smile growing on her face as she looked at him, still slightly bleary eyed. "Yes. It worked, if only for a moment."

A servant found him as Naruto was languidly traversing the halls on the way to see Ashara as he usually did.

"I was asked to bring you, Ser," the older man said with a bowed head before turning around and walking away, clearly expecting him to follow.

Thinking for a moment Naruto went along. There would be no harm in showing up a bit later and he was sure Ashara would understand. He could always find something to make it up to her later.

The servant ignored any of his attempts at questioning as they walked, simply leading him through the old castle at a brisk pace.

They passed pictures of many Targaryens of old proudly displayed in the hallways, and tapestries showing hunts or some of the many dragons that had been ridden more than a century ago.

Leaving the main keep they walked a bit longer before finally coming to a small, tucked-away courtyard. It was well taken care off but had clearly not seen a lot of use in recent times.

Right in the middle was Arthur Dayne, Ashara's brother. Clad in armour and with Dawn unsheathed and casually placed tip-first in the ground, as if he was standing guard. A silent sentinel. Waiting.

Naruto remembered seeing him at Harrenhal, and the rare glimpse he had caught of the white knight in these weeks on Dragonstone, but they had never really met properly.

With a quick "Sers." and a bow of his head, the servant turned and left again, gone to fulfil whatever other duty was expected of him and leaving the two of them alone in the courtyard.

"I do not think it requires saying, but I am Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning and the older brother to Ashara."

"I am well aware," Naruto said and inclined his head in greeting. Arthur returned the gesture, what could be seen of his expression through the helmet polite but neutral.

Gauntleted hands moving from where they had rested on Dawn's rounded pommel, Arthur picked up the weapon of his position and title, milk glass steel bracing against one relaxed, armoured shoulder. Dawn was not a blade of normal metal, forged centuries ago from the heart of a fallen star, but it behaved much like Valyrian Steel. Lighter, stronger, and sharper than even the best of ordinary metal.

Sorcerous in origin and inherently magical.

"In the same vein, I believe it to be understood that as her brother I care for my sister and her well-being. That includes a certain investment in the company she keeps, even of her own choice," Arthur continued. The early morning played across the clear edge of Dawn, reflecting the sun shining down from above in a muted array of colours.

Naruto was armed himself, of course. His Valyrian Steel dagger he carried openly at his belt, but half a dozen kunai were scattered around his body as well, joined by a few shuriken in a small pouch at his side.

"It is."

"Good." Arthur nodded. "Naruto, was it not? Are you an honest man, and a true one?"

Naruto quietly considered the knight of the Kingsguard for a moment. The even stance, the measured gaze, and the polished white armour with not a scratch in sight. Despite that, he was sure that Arthur had seen battle before.

There had been no clear threat spoken, but the implication was heard loud and clear. Arthur would not shy from violence, if necessary.

"I try to be as much as I can."

Being true to himself was the easier of the two, but honesty was not always in great supply for him. He was a Shinobi still, even without a village to call his own.

Arthur nodded again, accepting his answer for what it was. Still shouldering Dawn he walked towards one side of the courtyard, where a wooden stand held a scabbard of white and gold and silver, and two simple steel blades.

After Dawn's unique blade had been hidden away, Arthur took up the two other swords, gauntlets closing around the blades just below the guard. They were roughly identical, and both shorter in the blade than Dawn, though the hilt still allowed enough space for two hands to be used.

Naruto accepted one of the weapons, quickly noting both its weight and feel, and the blunt edge. That was another similarity between the two simple armaments. They would not cut or pierce, but the force imparted by a hit would still hurt, though Arthur not half as much as him, on account of the other man's armour.

Arthur reached his former position in the centre of the courtyard, leaving a few feet between the two of them and more than enough room to manoeuvre to either side. Weapon in both hands he adopted a simple guard position, hilt raised next to his head with the tip pointing at the sky. "I would see for myself. In the song of steel, men oft reveal their true colours."

"Very well," Naruto said, accepting the situation. The weapon was longer and slightly heavier than his own sword, but if he wanted, using it with only one hand would not present an issue. That he was at a disadvantage was more than clear: the lack of armour, the unfamiliar weapon, but he had no fear of bruises.

Once he had adopted a guard of his own Arthur stepped forward. The bout had begun.

Naruto waited for the other man to come to him. Aggression was usually his way, when he had no clear plans at least, but there was value in defending as well. The two-handed grip made leverage for more relevant than it ever was for him with his other weapons, and making that adjustment quickly was no easy thing for him.

The sword may not be a polearm exactly, but in that way it behaved like one. The only time he had ever used weapons like that was at Harrenhal, more than half a year ago.

On the final step forward Arthur brought his own blade down in a fast cut. Naruto side-stepped the attack aimed at his shoulder and swept his blade out, pushing against the offending sword and forcing it the side.

Arthur allowed his blade to move with the push and leveraged that force to spin the sword in a tight circle, freeing it to move into a short forward stab.

Naruto countered by raising the hilt, so that the coming steel tip moved between blade and crossguard and could be forced away from his body.

The position of his arms wasn't as natural as it should have been, reducing his available strength and the options for following movements. Arthur could have likely pushed right on through the unpractised block, but he took a step back instead, disengaging their weapons, and assumed his guard again without any further aggression.

When a moment had passed in stillness, Arthur replicated the exact position Naruto had been in with his sword and then demonstrated the proper turn of the hilt to move into a block for an incoming stab.

Correction shown, they continued again. This time their exchange did not end so quickly, steel meeting steel again and again, but when it did they began another right away. Slowly, Naruto found his feet with the weapon, and he moved for aggression of his own instead of his formerly defensive approach.

He could not overwhelm his opposite with technique, the difference in skill between them a yawning chasm, but strength and speed could make up for that deficiency in many cases. Still, Arthur's defence was a steel wall, with no easy gaps to exploit. Fortunately, Naruto had no need for easy.

Near an hour passed without a word spoken between them, and by the end Naruto had not kept track of how many bouts exactly had started and ended in that time.

Most he had lost, even if his own blunted sword was not shy in finding Arthur's white armour during them, but more than a dozen had found him the victor as well, with Valyrian Steel hovering above the downed knight's neck or eye forcing a submission.

Regardless of the armour, when things moved beyond just the measured swinging of weapons, that was where he could use his own expertise: grappling and pulling and kicking and punching.

It had made him appreciate once more how much plate complicated fighting for him, so long as he did not intend on killing his opponent. Wind would cut even that steel, but it would not stop there if he was inattentive for even a moment.

The armour had gaps of course, but Arthur was as aware of those weak spots as he was and guarded the areas with particular attention. With a sword Naruto was not capable of overcoming that careful guard, unless he had the intention of going all-out, which he did not.

The earliest bruises Naruto had earned when his defence failed despite his best attempts had already disappeared again when they finished, and those that remained went entirely ignored. He had enjoyed himself, satisfaction rising from inside him.

Sometimes, often, there was nothing better than training.

Arthur seemed to agree, a content smile of his own visible now that he had taken off the helmet, revealing sharp features, and dark hair he shared with Ashara just as much as his eyes.

Calming his breathing from its quickened state Naruto walked over to the wooden stand at the side of the courtyard and placed the sword he had been using back into its former place. Then he waited, confident that there was something else yet to be said between them.

Sweat slicked Arthur's hair and brow, the cool air clearly not enough to keep him from growing hot under the layers of armour. Taking a few deep breaths he walked over and placed his own blunted blade back on the stand.

Naruto watched him as he considered the stone wall of the courtyard for a moment, one hand playing over Dawn's intricate pommel marked with an image of the rising sun.

"We Daynes are proud, and for now my sister stands as heir to that pride and our noble heritage. That may change, but the reality of her position as a woman of noble blood will not. I believe you understand?"

Arthur glanced over to him, and Naruto nodded his head. He wasn't unaware of the societal conventions that surrounded him, much as some of them still tended to feel a bit foreign.

There was something else he had just noticed, however.

"It seems to me that you care little about it," Naruto said, his question obvious. Arthur seemed to understand, and flashed him an easy smile.

"I am a knight of the Kingsguard and my only duty is guarding the true King of the Seven Kingdoms. What alliance is forged or benefit gained through my sister's hand is of no concern to me anymore." He shrugged his armoured shoulders, clearly not particularly broken up about his lot in life. "Those are considerations for my brother and Princess Elia. So long as Ashara finds some happiness in their choice I will have no complaints."

Naruto wondered if this was what having an older brother was usually like, at least for people not as messed up as Sasuke and Itachi. Having someone there that looked out for you sometimes, even if they didn't have to.

"I'll keep it in mind."

Grabbing the sheathed Dawn Arthur gave him a nod and turned to walk away, leaving Naruto alone in the small courtyard a few moments later.

Whether Arthur had slipped up unintentionally or fully intended to include that small nugget of information, Naruto could not say, but it had been spoken all the same.

At Harrenhal he had wondered at the different motivations and plots hiding beneath the surface, and now it seemed like he was right in the middle of them.

I hope you enjoyed chapter 30. I am about to be done with 31 as well, which will finally bring us to the real meat of this part of the story.

Skinchanging is a curious subject in the books. There seem to be a lot of stories about wargs/beastlings/skinchangers, especially in the North, and the main books make it out to be some old forgotten thing that only the North really thinks ever existed. But then the world book introduces additional tales like Rose of the Red Lake, who could turn into a crane and supposedly founded House Crane and was a daughter of Garth Greenhand, which throws that into question again.

It all ties into the trend of later books/information slightly changing world building from especially the first book over time. That can also be seen in the presence of weirwoods all over Westeros and the fact that most Houses are actually descendants of First Men, and not only those in the North, Iron Islands, and some in the Vale.

Ashara is not as strong a skinchanger as Bran, Arya, and Jon, and presumably Robb, Sansa, and Rickon too. But she has the advantage of being an adult and specifically working in that direction. Her abilities will be deep not wide in that regard. The white eyes are a feature of the show, and never mentioned in the books if I remember correctly, so I didn't include them here.

The conversation between them also sets up just what Naruto's greater outward value will be. Nymeria was a Warrior Princess, and the Rhoyne housed water wizards. If the priests of the Greenblood preserved that secret between them or not, Naruto is capable of similar enough feats, in addition to other means of using his abilities to transform Dorne. The value he could bring to Dorne in that way does definitely outstrip the allegiance of some lord, which is to say nothing of his combat potential.

Arthur always came across as serious and dutiful in the few tidbits we know, so I tried to bring that across while giving him a bit of light-heartedness. As a Kingsguard he is basically completely removed from the considerations of the other nobles around him, which he does not regret.

Real longswords, what George terms Greatswords, are not necessarily longer than a one-handed arming sword. The important part is the two-handed grip, not the length of the blade. Admittedly, they did tend to be longer in the blade aswell. Naruto is not trained with these weapons, which means Arthur can beat him in a sparring environment, but he has sharp instincts and strength and speed to make up for his lack in skill so he can turn things around sometimes. He is obviously not going all-out here.

After taking a look at the WOIAF again, the chapter on the Year of the False Spring specifically mentions that the spring lasted two turns, before winter returned in the last days of the year. I must have forgotten that detail, since it means that Harrenhal would have to happen in November/December of 281 if it didn't happen in winter, so Elia is visibly highly pregnant and that is just never mentioned by Barristan or any of the others. That version of events also manages to make Rhaegar out to be an even bigger ass than how I presented it.

George has mentioned that he is not a timeline guy, and he did not personally write World of Ice and Fire. In the end I'm sticking with my own version.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. It really does motivate me every time. Until next time.