Foreigners
The White Harbor
The North's main hub for trade for the Northern men. In terms of economy, the city itself is largest in the region but relatively small for it's fellow Northern cities.
Contrary to Southern people's beliefs, the White Harbor isn't a dump. It's clean and well-ordered, as it should be when trading with other regions. Found at the eastern shore of the White Knife (River), the White Harbor is famous for its beer, shipwrights and silversmiths.
Sailors and traders across the sea frequently stop at the harbor to resupply or fix their weary ships.
So it was great surprise for all of them to see a massive ship made entirely of iron and steel slowly sail towards the city harbor causing panic and hysteria to the locals.
"What are we looking at, Captain?" Lord Wyman Manderly asked the City Guard Captain as the colossal ship slowly docks to their harbor.
"I don't know, my Lord. But if these are pirates, I already had the entire city guards and militia prepared to fight. They won't take the city easily." The Captain, an old but seasoned soldier from the days of rebellion against the0 mad king, gruffly replied.
He then gave the Lord a respective nod for once for joining in the defense.
It's because the old fat lord, known as the Lord-to-fat-to-sit-a-horse, is now decked out for war. His oversized belly is hidden behind a chainmail and armed with a sword.
The Fat lord is gone but replaced by a warrior who fought against the mad king once.
"Need a horse to rally the troops, my Lord." The captain asked in jest making the fat lord snort at the humor.
"No need, my lungs are more than enough." The Manderly Lord replied, thumping his huge chest.
It made the Captain and his men chuckle, raising the morale of the defenders against there would be attackers.
As the ship slowly enters their docks, they can see that it was heavily damaged.
It was filled with holes and burnt scars on its surface. One of its wings (as far as they can tell) were snapped and smoke is coming out of it's stern.
Are these really pirates?
Why would they attack with a damaged vessel?
They all wondered and mused as why and what happened to this vessel until finally it docked. Up close, it was massive. With its bow docked (an unusual docking as most ships dock by their sides), they can it that it's bow alone can fit about 3 or 4 ships if you cram them up.
"Alright, lads! Prepare yourselves and let's give these cunts a proper northern greeting!" The Captain rallied his guards.
Roars of agreement and enthusiasm filled the docks as the city guards prepared for a fight.
Except that they won't.
Lord Manderly raises a brow in curiosity as the ship's bow opened, allowing a ramp of steel to connect the ship to the dock.
It was here they are floored.
They expected a dirty, disease ridden looking pirates to come out of the unknown ship but to their very surprise, a never seen beauty came out.
A princess.
There's no other word to describe this child but a princess.
About ten and five summers old, the young princess walks down the ramp with grace and nobility. They breath were taken away by her youthful beauty. A hair skin to southern roses, soft lips, and unblemished porcelain skin. She was dressed in a modest black and white dress which has a window to her chest, giving them a tantalizing view of her already developing breasts.
On that day forward, if someone asks who is the most beautiful woman in Westeros, they will choose her.
"Greetings and Pardon, our intrusion. May I know whom I am addressing to?" The young Princess eloquently asked.
Our?
That's when they all noticedthem.
If you will ask a man what does a knight look like, they would answer of man being covered head to toe in armor, a sword and shield in his arms and a banner on his back.
But now?
They would point atthemtell you, this what a knight should look like.
Covered in thick layers of Armor from head to toe with no gaps or opening, they stood tall while flanking the girl.
Her knights most probably and very decorated to boot.
Two knights shared the same armor design, red and white with a red tower shield casually strapped to their arms as if they weight like paper. Their helmets are like green tinted glass.
Emotionless and stoic.
Then there's the two decorated knights.
The first one is a knight with an armor that looks like entirely made of Gold as it shines under the sun's glare.
The second one is a knight of blue and white with a massive wings made of spears.
It's arguably the most intimidating one as it casually looked at the assembled warriors at the dock before dismissing them.
They aren't seen as a threat.
"The name's Wyman Manderly, young lady. I'm the lord of this city harbor and ruler of the harbor you are intruding with your...ship." Lord Manderly stepped forward to speak.
"Greetings Lord Manderly, I apologize for our rude arrival and take over of your docks but it was absolute necessary as our vessel is badly damaged in our voyage." The Princess apologized before continuing, "Oh how rude of me, I am Princess Prim Fiorire of Ur." She courtsies.
So she is a princess like they thought.
"Well met Princess Prim." Lord Manderly courtsies in return.
"But I must inquire, you wouldn't bring harm in our Harbor?" He asked.
"I assure you my Lord, as long as our ship is in your Harbor, no harm will come to your city." She promised which are then emphasized by the winged Knight's flaring wings, glowing in unnatural blue light.
They all took a step back instinctively.
"Well... It's good to know that Princess but let's negotiate your ships stay in port first. Care for a cup of tea in this cold weather?" Lord Manderly gave her a strained smile while offering his hand to her.
"Oh, of course my Lord. Would you mind if I take two of my knights while the rest assess the damage of our ship?" She asks in return as she accepts the far lord's offer.
"Certainly so, your majesty." Wyman then turned to the Captain, "Put some guards around the ship and nothing else, join us afterwards."
"Yes, my Lord!" The Captain then went to relay the orders.
"Now, let's negotiate your entourage stay, your majesty. Preferably in private."
"Yes, let's."
Mika's POV
A frustrated sigh came out my lips through the Strike Freedom's helmet, something Arte noticed as we assess the damage of the WHITEBASE.
"Is it that bad, master?" She inquired.
I sighed even more, "Yes, it's very bad. The engine's needs replacement which is something I need to manually study and build. Then there's the numerous hull damage and broken stabilizer." I listed out the damages.
The damage is honestly pretty minimal and a miracle in itself after what we had just gone through.
Hell, he can't even believe that he is still alive.
It's been 3 days since they arrive in this world, crashing into a vast ocean before finding the mainland and finding this port before they sink by the accumulated damages.
In those 3 days, so many things happened.
Flashback
"It's your fault!" I immediately caught Alicia's punch before twisting her arm and slamming her to the table of the meeting room before she do anything more.
Arte stood up to defend me but I signaled her to stand down. I got this.
Meanwhile Claudia and Prim looks exhausted compared to Alicia's burning anger.
Celestine was a no-show, still locked in her room.
Depressed and blaming herself in Claudia's words.
"Let go of me, bastard! I'll gut you!" Alicia struggled in my grasp but I didn't let go.
"Alicia,Enough." Claudia spoke up, tired of watching her pupil futilely attack me.
Even with the GM II and her blessings, Alicia is still inexperienced in combat compared to me.
Her struggles ceased. Reluctantly, I let go of her to which she shoved me to get to her seat, sulking and glaring at me.
Claudia sighed at her before addressing me, "And there's really nothing to prevent our world's destruction at the time, nothing at all?" She asked.
I shook my head.
I have told them the truth. Of my Origins, the War, and existence of the G-systems.
Alicia didn't take likely as shown earlier.
"I see..." She looked down in misery, most likely thinking of everything they lost.
Unfortunately, we can't have our misery get to us. We are still on a badly damaged ship.
"All of you, stop with gloomy faces. We aren't out of the woods yet."
"And what makes you say that?" Alicia sneered.
"For one, we are aboard on a badly damaged ship that is barely floating with zero supplies." I laid it out of her, snuffing out her anger which is now replaced with worry.
"But don't worry, me and Arte scouted for a shore to dock and found a mainland and city harbor for us to resupply and fix the ship."
"Then I'll guess I have to steer the ship to that Harbor then."
"Wait. Stay for a while." I stopped Prim from going to the controls.
"We need a Captain of the ship first. I vote Prim." Claudia and Alicia blinked in surprise at my proposition.
"What! No! Prim can't be the captain! She's still a child!" Alicia said, voicing her concerns.
"I must agree with Alicia with this one, Prim is still too young for this responsibility." Claudia added.
I sighed. This idiots.
"Alicia, your too emotional to lead this ship." She look insulted by words.
"Claudia, your too depressed and emotionally compromised to lea this ship, just like Celestine." She looked down in guilt.
I felt bad in pointing that out. Her husband dead and her family betrayed her and most likely dead now. She had it rougher than Alicia and Prim.
"Celestine is looked up in her room and can't lead with her current state." I continued.
"And Arte's my servant, she can't lead."
"That leaves Prim as the only suitable candidate to lead us."
"What about you?" Alicia grumbles.
I sighed, "My responsibility falls under dealing with the enemy, the world system. Anything else, it will fall under Prim's jurisdiction as Captain."
"But... But..." Prim stuttered to speak up.
Claudia smiles at her, "I think his right Prim, your arguably the best leader or Captain in this ship. I failed and Alicia haven't experienced leading yet but you do."
"You'll do fine." She reassured the pink haired princess.
Prim sighed before taking a resolved look, "Alright, I'll take responsibility."
"Alright, then-"
"But first, Sir Mika and Lady Arte, kneel."
I blinked at her order and I looked at Arte in confusion. She was clueless too.
"If I will to be your captain, I need your absolute loyalty." Prim explained, "Now kneel."
I sighed and followed, going on one knee to kneel with Arte following the gesture.
"Alicia, sword." Oh! That's why! How sneaky of you, Princess.
"Prim! Are you sure this is wise?!" Even Alicia is surprised.
"Alicia, it's Prim's choice." Claudia responded in Prim's stead.
Reluctantly, the blond princess handed her steel sword to her cousin.
With sword in hand, Prim approached us.
And that's how me and Arte became her knights.
Then came the game plan.
"Me and Arte scouted the area earlier for any sign of mainland. We found two."
"At the east, Arte found a dessert city like Eldonia. It's not far away from here. The only problem is that Arte observed that they slavers." At the mention of slaves, the girls frowned.
Slavery is illegal and forbidden in the Alliance, no matter what race they are.
"At the western side, I found an ice cold tundra of another continent. It was the Northern Region and it even had a port city for us to dock and fix the WHITEBASE of its damages."
"Are the damages serious?" Prim asked as the captain of the ship.
"Not yet, we are currently floating on the water because of the backup systems but with both engines down and multiple hull breaches, it won't be long before we began to sink." I told her honestly.
Prim nodded, "Alright, we'll plot a course to the western mainland and proceed there."
"Roger, Captain." I said in jest, making the newly appointed captain blush marching away to do some rudimentary fixes.
"Wait!"
I stopped when Alicia called.
"The enemy, can we defeat them?" She glared at me.
"Yes, as long as we gather the G-system before them, we can beat them."
" Good, I want the first crack on them and you better give me a good armor for it." I snorted.
Of course I will, they are the only ones I have left and I wouldn't lose them like the others.
Flashback End
Present
"Locals are watching, master." Arte said behind me as I examine the hull.
Punctured but still serviceable. I only need to patch them up.
"Let them be, they won't be able to steal or grab anything on the ship either way. But if they do..." I let the threat hang.
Arte nodded in agreement.
Now, I hope Prim can get them a good deal with the local lord with my gift with her.
Lord Wyman Manderly's POV
This girl...is very sharp and dangerous.
"My deepest apologies for the disturbance and waste of your time, my Lord. It's not our intention to rudely arrive in such a manner but with our damages, we have to urgently dock as you may understand." Princess Prim said before taking a sip of her tea. Currently, they are his castle and his office, negotiating their ships stay in the docks.
But still, the princess is too polite. Too polite even.
The girl is fishing for a favor in this negotiation.
"No,no,no. It's our pleasure to welcome you to our humble city, Princess. You might have disturb our peace for a moment but we are Northern men, something like this won't gaze us." I replied to her with the same kindness.
"Thank you, my Lord." Prim bowed in gratefulness a sharp glint of her eye appeared.
"Then would you care for a trade in our continued stay in your docks?" She smiled.
" A trade?" I raised a curious brow.
"You see, we don't have your currency as we are foreigners to begin with. What I propose is that we pay you rent every day with raw materials to use your docks as we please to fix our ship." She laid out her proposal.
It wasn't bad, it's actually cunning albeit risky. Raw materials are either rare or limited in bulk, so trading them would net some gold.
But if this girls entourage are voyaging, they would be risking themselves by selling off their materials.
"And pray do tell what are these materials?" I asked her.
She didn't answer but instead signaled one of her knights to approach.
He stepped forward and reached underneath his shield, making the city guards joining us to tense up before the knights finally pulled out it's objective.
An ingot.
He put it down the table for all to see and went behind to his Princess' side.
"An ingot?" What's the value of this ingot?
"Yes, an ingot." Prim nodded, this time, there's a cunning smile on her lips, "This ingot is called Gundarium Alloy, an alloy that we use to make our armors, weapons and ships."
Oh, so this what are they made of...
"Well, I'm frankly surprise by this but what's the value of this, your highness?" It's still an ingot after all. What's the difference of it from Northern steel?
"I will be glad to demonstrate." She smiled and I can't help but feel like I fell on a trap.
She then turned towards the city guards, "Captain, which one is the strongest among you?"
"What?" The Captain was surprised to talk, unprepared by the sudden shift.
"Among your men, who's the strongest? Captain?" She asked again.
The stood up straighter and puffed his chest, "Certainly not to boast, but I think I'm the strongest among my lads." Oh, bragging in front of the child are we?
"Good, then would care to try in cutting one of my knights arm?" What!
"What?!" Even the city guard captain is flabbergasted.
Prim just innocently smiled as she signaled one of the knights to march forward, producing their arm for the act.
"Can you please try to lop off my knight's arm? Captain."
"Princess, surely you jest." I speak up, not wanting this to escalate further but...
"No, no, no. I assure you, my knight's armor is invulnerable to almost anything. I trust our smith. Now, please Captain. Do it."
The broke into a sweat and I shook my head to not do it. Unfortunately, with how intense the child's gaze and pressure, the captain relented.
"Alright, but I will not be held accountable if your knight loses an arm." He grumbled, before stepping forward and drawing his sword.
The knight didn't even flinch at the drawn blade, merely presenting it's arm to be cut down.
I watched closely as the Captain hesitated for a moment before lifting his sword and bring it down on the armored limb.
*Snap*
Instead of blood and a dismembered limb, a swords snapped edge flew to my face before it was caught by the second knight with a few more inches to spare.
"That was close." A melodic voice of a woman came form the knight who saved my life from the horrible accident.
"Your a woman?" I gasped.
Women aren't knighted in Westeros and it is a curious if it was.
Suddenly, both knights helmet shifted, folding into pieces into their armor, revealing two beautiful knights.
One is a young blonde with the same face as Prim, a sister or cousin probably. And the other is an older and mature woman of graceful beauty.
I can't help but be stuck their beauty. If Prim is an innocent flower then these two are are thorny beautiful roses.
Even the guards are struck by their presence.
"I apologize my Lord for the accident but as you can see the results, our little ingot have a lot of value." Prim pulled me out of my thoughts, snapping me back to reality.
Oh yes the ingot.
Looking at the struck limb, there's nary a scratch on it. No deformity upon closer look.
It did casually break a northern steel.
This...
This..is huge...
This no ordinary ingot, this metal could surpass valerian steel and she's giving this out?
Wait? She has more of this?
"I would start with 5 ingots per day in our stay." She said.
Damn, that's already too many but still reasonable for a king's ransom.
With just one ingot, they could make a sword. A sword that would sell for a king's ransom.
And they are trading out 5 per day, they could make an entire set of armor out of that.
And what's best is that he wouldn't be losing anything other than a few taxes for the docks.
It's deal in his favor.
"I think we have ourselves a deal, Princess." I offered her my hand to which she graciously accepted and shook.
"Yes, we have."
Later...
Mika's POV
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THEY TOOK THE DEAL! HAHAHAHAH!!!" I laughed out loud in the break room, our current eating area and impromptu meeting room as we ate dinner.
Arte took some precious gems and gold (the one's we looted from Eldonia), to trade among the locals for food and supplies for us to eat.
We are currently having a feast, celebrating Prim's successful scam.
"Moou! It's not funny, Sir Mika! I feel bad doing it!" Prim pouted, she was really reluctant about the scam plan but they have nothing else to trade for the WHITEBASE continued stay.
"I would admit, scamming that fat lord feels bad but it's needed. We don't have the necessary footing at this place but now, we can negotiate for a better deal." Alicia reluctantly praised my genius.
Perks of having infinite amount of con-artist on my head.
The scam is a very pretty simple affair.
We trade the Gundarium ingots for WHITEBASE's stay in the city docks until I can fix it, paying 5 ingots per day.
Then there's the kicker.
They can't melt the Gundarium.
Gundarium Alloy needs special tools and furnace in order to melt them. We are talking about an alloy capable of withstanding atmospheric reentry, it's melting point is very high.
In Eostia, people back there most likely used magic to melt Gundarium.
Without magic, melting it with whatever they have here would be impossible, which in turn will have that fat lord coming back to broker a new deal to which Prim will have the best position to resupply and add materials for the ship.
Was I ashamed?
Fuck no!
Damn proud of myself and our little princess' acting.
"Will you stop laughing and continue cooking!" Alicia impatiently roared, an empty plate being rudely shoved to him to refill.
Damned unladylike bitch! How can you call yourself a woman if you can't cook!
What am I even saying, none of the girls can cook.
Prim - Princess
Alicia - knight
Arte - prefers my cooking instead of hers
Claudi-
"Wait, where's Claudia?" I asked, looking for the older woman.
"She went to bring food to Celestine, master." Arte said to me while stealing a piece of meat from Alicia's plate, causing the blonde princess to squawk in anger.
Prim intervened before it escalates.
Meanwhile
Claudia's POV
*Knock* *knock* *knock*
I waited patiently at her door, waiting for her to answer.
Seconds pass by but nothing.
I sighed, she's had a nightmare again.
Using a card Mika made to override or whatever it is to open the door, I entered the room.
It was mess.
It was dark.
Furnitures thrown and broken in rage and misery.
And a huge lump curled under the blankets in a huge bed.
Putting down the plate of food, I took off my armor, letting it turn into it's smaller form.
A simple amulet.
I'm now in my bikini armor in contrast to my old armor being to uncomfortable to use while inside the GM II. It was just a simple cloth bikini in black and white colors.
(Go to Storynation app to see the images)
Slowly, I entered the bed and snuggled Celestine nude form, comforting her from her nightmares.
Slowly, she calmed down in her sleep.
I can't help but pity her.
Once a beautiful goddess now reduced to a wreck of a woman, blaming herself to the death of countless lives and destruction of our world.
"I'm here now. I got you." I hushed her, soothing her nerves as she slept.
And soon I joined her.
No nightmare shall claim my only dear friend.
Chapter End
Timeline
Before ep1 of GOT
There will be big changes.
And not too big. This is just a Sidestory after all, a small pitstop for the crew to prepare and arm themselves to the teeth.