A/N: This chapter didnt get much feedback compared to the last: I genuinely don't know what's going on here and it's saddens me. Lack of feedback really cuts down on my drive to update...T_T
Apologies for the shorter chapter snd sorry for the delay. I am not well...at all.
As always, I wanted this to feel like a proper Game of Thrones episode! Hopefully I succeeded~!
Alright, I've kept you waiting long enough, methinks. Enough of this old man's rambling; you're here for a story. Hope you're prepared for the chaos to come. Once more, I own no references, quotes, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one. Nope. They're simply tributes to legends far greater than I.
Lastly, a reminder to one and all. Naruto's Westerosi name remains Nathaniel.
Joanna prefers to call him Naruto, yet she's the only one who truly does.
Timeline is still a little skewed here, but hey, that makes things...fun.
References and verbatim from Game of Thrones below.
Chapter title says it all. Watch out. You're not ready.
"Time for a story! Because sometimes, people need reminding of things...
~An excerpt.
The Gods are Cruel
Two weeks passed.
Naruto became keenly aware of that particular passage of time; if only because things had changed and not all of it in a good way.
Credit where credit might be due, Cersei was a woman of her word; she not entered his chambers since that night and hadn't broach the subject of them being...intimate again.
She didn't have to. Oh, no.
His dear sister tormented him in other ways.
Lingering touches here, a laugh there, and hugs. Lots of hugs.
Did he mention the hugs? To say nothing of the host of temptations she lavished upon him.
As he looked on Cersei swung her arms around, clasped both hands behind her back, and swayed in place. Her shoulders swung to and fro unapologetically, and her bosom with them. Her eyes met his as caught him staring his and flashed with triumph She moved to embrace him and er body pressed against his, he could feel the fullness of her breasts nudging his chest, her lips ghosting across his forehead-gah!
Shaking his head, he returned his focus to the matter at hand.
Today was a rare day without training, used not to practice, but to study.
As the days passed, he began to measure Kurama's growth by the day. Well-fed and cared for, secure in the Stone Garden, he had all the room in the world to feed and fly until he grew gargantuan; once he did, he would have an easy escape to the sea to forage and feast to his heart's content.
And feast he did; he'd already caught a mighty hawk just the other day; feasting upon the foolish fowl when it dared try and roost in his Weirwood tree, ignorant to the greater danger lurking nearby. He had devoured a number of seagulls before that. No, he was not contained and corralled like the dragons of old and a result; he soon began to surpass his every expectation-and they'd been high to begin with!
Little bastard was gonna be biiiiiig.
Perhaps not quite the level of Balerion himself, but did dragons ever truly stop growing? The Maester of Oldtown said yes, but he had good reason to take their stories with a grain of salt these days. Hells, they might be the reason the Dragons never made a resurgence after the Dance; he'd always found their decline suspicious and so, naturally, conducted research of his own. He'd read the histories and studied the legends; the Black Dread himself had stopped growing shortly before his death, yes, but that had only been after Aerea Targaryen flew him to Old Valyria and returned with grievous wounds.
Old Valyria. It had been haunting his dreams as of late; he could feel something calling to him there.
Brightroar, perhaps?
The Lannisters had lost it when King Tommen II sailed with a great many to those haunted ruins in search of treasure...and never returned.
He found himself thinking of it often these days, not just the sort
A Valyrian steel sword from Old Valyria would be a fine prize, but so too would any eggs there.
Perhaps that was greedy of him. Kurama was already miracle enough, a one in a million
But his vision had shown him at least a dozen dragons raging against the Night. Kurama was but one. Unless he started laying eggs -unlikely!- then
He didn't like the idea of believing in fate or visions, or any such thing, but if there was a greater threat coming to Westeros...
Shaking his head, he jotted down another note in his journal and chuckled ruefully as Kurama preened ahead of him.
"That's right, foolish girls! Bow before your god! All shall love me and despair!"
"Goodness, he's rather noisy today, isn't he?"
"No louder than that pup of yours."
"A girl agrees."
Kurama, of course, was delighted by it all; he couldn't get enough of the ladies and their attention...or could he? By this point, he wasn't sure if his old friend was having them on or genuinely enjoying himself. He'd always enjoyed being the center of attention, but this was a little ridiculous, even for him.
Case in point, today Kurama seemed to favor Nymeria, who for all her skills at slaughter and slaying, had no IDEA what to do with a chirpy baby dragon.
"Ack! Careful!" he looked up just in time to see the reborn dragon leap onto her back, causing her to stumble with a startled squawk. "A girl, erm-I do not wish to drop you!"
In a rare moment of solidarity, Cersei and Lyanna laughed at her plight.
Kurama, being, well, Kurama responded as only a former tailed beast could; ergo by curling around her neck -he really was getting too big for that- and laying his head on her shoulder. From there, his nine scaly tales curled over her like some sort of scarf, warming her against the morning chill as he released a pleased huff.
A shaky little laugh fled from Nymeria's lips as she reached back to stroke his horned head. "Nice dragon. Good dragon. Please do not burn a girl."
Lyanna sulked when it became apparent that Kurama was in no hurry to leave his perch. "I wonder why he favors her so?"
Naruto bit his lip to stifle a laugh.
Why?
Because she was a Blackfyre. Because she had Targaryen blood. Because Kurama was a fickle creature who could sense negativity a mile off and gravitated toward whomever was feeling worst at the moment. Probably the last one. He might act tough but at the end of the day he was just a big softy.
"Curious little half-blood." his old partner remarked with a jaw-popping yawn. "Loyal, too. That's rare these days; you should pay more attention to her, lest said loyalty falter."
Naruto winced at the unsubtle rebuke, though only he could hear it. He really hadn't spent all that much time with Nymeria as of late, has he?
He'd remedy that.
"Nymeria."
The faceless girl perked up as he beckoned her over; she promptly strode to his side, taking great care not to dislodge the still-sleepy Kurama from his perch. He hesitated for a moment as she looked up at, not quite sure what to say, or how to say it, or even what to do.
In the end, he settled for what he knew best; he patted her head, idly noting he didn't have to reach down so far as he once had-she'd grown up. For all her insistence upon calling herself "a girl" she was just as much a young woman as Lyanna and Cersei. How had he been so blind as to miss that?
Stiffly, he congratulated her as he tousled her hair. "Well done."
Her face absolutely lit up with radiant joy at the simple gesture and the praise conveyed therein, she leaned into his hand with a pleased sigh. "A girl lives to serve."
Naruto noticed; it hurt him to see just how easiyshe was to please. She was one of his very first followers, if not quite the strongest, then undoubtedly the most lethal. He could've sent her on a slaughter spree against his enemies, and with her faces, none would know. Granted, he'd never once thought of using her as such-to do so would regulate her back to being a tool-but he'd taken her for granted as of late all the same.
Maybe he ought to do something nicer for her in the future...
Cersei looked away with a rueful sigh, only to note someone's absence. "Wherever is Tyrion? I thought he'd be here for this?"
Lyanna preened. "Off with the Hound's sister."
Realization dawned. "Little Selene?"
The Stark girl grinned. "Not so little now, I suppose. She's grown up."
Cersei looked scandalized, but not at all in a bad way.
"As have we all." A rare, genuine grin split Naruto's face as he slipped back into his Lannister facade and deigned to join the conversation at last. "Does Clegane know Tyrion's sweet on his sister?"
"He does!" Lyanna clapped her hands in a rare burst of joy. "He's been watching them like a hawk ever since they started courting. Isn't that sweet?"
"No." Nymeria clicked her tongue and glared her way, mildly irritated by such a notion. "A lion should not lay with a dog. Such is beneath him."
Naruto rubbed her head again, drawing an annoyed noise from her as he ruined her pale hair. "What does it matter, so long as he's happy?
The Faceless Girl -Woman!- looked down and chewed at her lip. "Happiness won't save him from a dagger in the dark."
Naruto forced a smile for her sake. "Then its a good thing we have you around, isn't it?"
For some reason he couldn't fathom, her expression hardened. "...it is not proper."
He frowned. "Since when do you care about proper?"
"But if a lion can court a dog, then what of a...
"Say again?"
Nymeria tucked her head into his chin and stubbornly refused to look at him. Her face was terribly red. He was missing something here, he just knew it-but what?
Kurama creaked an eye open from his perch around her shoulders. "You cannot be that dense...
Cersei tutted. "Someone's cross today."
The assassins stomped a foot. "A girl is not!"
Liar. If Kurama clinging to her wasn't indication enough, he didn't know what was.
Nymeria surprised him abruptly by shaking herself free from his hand and stepping back. Irritated by the sudden movement, Kurama growled angrily, only to subside as she touched his head. After a moment's pause he roused himself and let the Blackfyre shoo him off her shoulders. With a sullen grumble, he spread his wings and took flight, winging back toward the Weirwood tree to rest. Lyanna's direwolf pup loped after him at a lazy gait, made curious by his sudden display, but he scarcely noticed.
...a girl has duties to attend." because now Nymeria turned to him and bowed stiffly. "May she be excused?"
He didn't exactly want to let her go for the day, but he could sense the burning need in her to be anywhere else right now and granted her request.
"...I suppose."
Cersei sighed. "You should be more honest with yourself, girl."
"I agree." Lyanna nodded her way. "It'll save you a great deal of pain in the future."
Nymeria sputtered at their words; the faceless girl didn't so much leave as she did flee, her retreat became a full blown rout as she raced up the stone steps, taking them two at a time, nearly tripping in her haste to get away. He heard the wooden door slam solidly above them and winced a little, baffled by her behavior.
"What was that about?"
Stranger still, when he looked back, he found Lyanna and Cersei staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
"Brother," his sister sighed, "For all your brilliance, you can be a bit of a dimwit at times."
Lyanna shook her head in faux despair. "Best let him remain ignorant."
"I think not." she looked back to him. "Have you not noticed anything about Nymeria as of late?" when he made a confused noise, she slapped a hand to her forehead. "She's more than a girl now, for one, though I'm sure you failed to notice these." she made a less than subtle gesture across her body, or rather her bosom. "You've been distracted as of late. Small wonder you haven't noticed her figure."
Naruto blinked.
He blinked oh so hard.
But that would mean...oh.
He had not thought of that. Hadn't even considered it.
Heat spiked through his cheeks and he studiously averted his gaze. "Stop."
Cersei most assuredly did not. "Whatever do you mean?
"You know full well what I mean!"
"Do I? she touched a finger to her lips and feigned innocence. "I haven't the foggiest idea...
He could feel Lyanna glaring at him, trying to puzzle out this latest development.
Cersei grinned and he could just imagine her thoughts, preening in triumph.
In the end, he flung up his arms and left them in the Stone Garden.
Sage save him from wild, wanton women.
(.0.0.0.)
Lyanna waited until Nathaniel departed.
She counted the moments, the seconds, minutes now, just to be certain
Taking a breath, she ran a hand through her dark hair, pivoted...and whirled to face Cersei. "What have you done to my betrothed?"
Nathaniel's sister barely batted a blink. "I?" she offered a languid frown instead. "I have done nothing."
"No?" she glowered at her. "It seems to me you've been doing an awful lot of something as of late."
"I am not your enemy, strange as that might sound...
"Aren't you?" She planted a hand on her hip and glared her down. "You've been glaring at me from the moment I arrived. Now here you are stirring up trouble where there's none to be had." Nymeria was a good girl, she LIKED Nymeria, but even a blind man could see how fond she was of Nathaniel. "Why do this?"
She expected an argument, denial at the very least.
Imagine her surprise then, when the Lady Lannister let her shoulders droop with a sigh. "My earlier behavior was...uncouth of me. As to my actions just now, I am only trying to help-
"How?" she challenged. "By fomenting unrest in Nathaniel's heart?"
"By making certain my precious brother is happy in all things." her counter was steely, her green eyes sharper than cut emeralds. "Nothing more."
Lyanna eyed her warily. Who was this Cersei Lannister and where was the broody bitch Nathaniel had told her off? He'd described an awful spoiled sow who threw fits and tantrums when she didn't get what she wanted. A vicious, venomous girl who lashed out at anyone and everything that wronged her. Who, then, was this temperate blond who weathered her anger with such ease?
Had his time away truly changed her so?
"I see the way you look at me," Cersei said. "You think you know me, that I seek to lead Nathaniel to ruin. I do not begrudge you for thinking such. I used to hate him, did you know that?" the sudden admission startled her and gave the older girl a chance to barrel on. " When we were younger, before Nathaniel left for the North, before he...
Lyanna gulped, words sticking in her throat like so much taffy. "Nearly what?"
Cersei regarded her gravely, almost pitiably, even. "Died."
The word stung Lyanna like nothing else. "...what?"
Her soon to be sister-in-law tilted her head, golden curls falling to one side. "You didn't know. He never told you?
Her mouth had gone dry, making it hard to speak. "I know enough."
Cersei's smile thinned. "But not the full story."
"Do you?" she challenged.
Mistakes were made.
"I remember it like it was yesterday." A dark, haunted look flashed across her face as she recounted the tale. "It happened shortly after Tyrion was born, you see. Jamie was still in the Rock then, still the heir, before he gave all that up. Before assassins snuck into the castle. Before everything changed.
Taking a deep breath, she barreled on.
"Nymeria was one of them. Nathaniel fought his attackers off, even killed one, but he paid a price for it. He was poisoned. Pycelle said he might not survive the night. I sat with him. Listened to his heartbeat. Heard it stop beating." A little shiver shook Cersei's shoulders and for all her ire, Lyanna believed her. "I prayed then, swore a vow before the old gods and the new to be a better person. And the gods answered. They brought him back to me. Nymeria turned her cloak, or her face, I suppose, in order to live. I wanted to kill her at the time, but thought better of it. Now I save my ire for our true enemies, my venom for worthy foes.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"So we can understand one another, you and I." Fetching a pitcher of whine from a nearby table in the cavern, she poured herself a glass and drank deeply to steady her nerves before offering a second cup to her, which she reluctantly accepted. "Nathaniel has a a habit of making allies out of enemies. He's very good at it. Its that silver tongue of his." A little laugh escaped her, broken by another sip of wine. "And they say we Lannisters deal only in gold. We will have many enemies in the wars to come. I would not have us quarrel needlessly with one another."
Lyanna hesitated. "I still fail to see-
Kurama chirped indignantly in his tree suddenly, crimson wings flaring wide.
Lyanna almost smiled when she saw the source of his ire.
Shadow was trying to get at him again.
"You're very lucky to have a wolf pup." Cersei almost sounded wistful as they watched the black pup claw at the Weirwood bark, to no avail. A trick of some sort, no doubt. "I wish I had a lion cub of my own. Lions are rare in the Westerlands these days? Nearly as rare as Direwolves south of the wall...
Was that a threat?
It rather sounded like one.
She scowled at her. "What are you implying?"
"Nothing."
"If this is a game-
"Sister, please. We are to be sisters soon are we not? I love my brother." Cersei took another sip of her wine, and idly, she noted her fierce expression. "I love him very, very much. Just as I know you do. At the end of the day no matter or quibbles and quarrels, hes family to me. I would do terrible things for my family. Unspeakable things. But you are to be a part of my family as well. So I would offer you my aid."
Lyanna frowned. "What manner of help would that be?
Cersei beckoned her closer.
Whispered in her ear.
(.0.0.0.)
There was smoke on the horizon.
Oberyn wasn't particularly eager to meet its source; not when he and Ellia were making such good time. He was rather proud of that fact; They had made good time into the Westerlands. It was no mean feat to ride all the way from Sunspear to Casterly Rock, least of all in disguise. They could not afford to push their horses too hard, as they had no replacements, and with no guards to accompany them they were rather vulnerable to bandits.
Alas, his sister was ever eager to push on and bring her "gift" to the young lion, so push on they did...
.
..
... until he wished they hadn't.
They crested a hill on the Sea Road and blanched at what they found there.
A castle was burning, beset by many men and ships from the sea.
He could hear the screams from here; they chilled his blood.
"That is Castle Crakehall, is it not?" Ellia reared back, appalled at the site taking place below them. "Why would anyone attack it? Who would be foolish enough to even dare?
They soon had their answer as they spied the flags and ships on the coast.
Each bore the sigil of the Kraken.
Oberyn vaguely remembered the banners of Crakehall. Their sigil was a tusked boar, was it not? Well, it seemed the Kraken had caught the boar in its grasp.
Concerning.
Ellia looked like she wanted nothing more than to ride down there and aid those poor people.
Oberyn grabbed the reigns of her steed to stop her. "They'll be sailing North next."
She turned a baffled look his way. "But north of here is...
Oberyn had a keen mind. He'd studied with the Maesters of Oldtown for a time, learning much from them before he decided such was not for him. Poisons had been chief among his studies, but also the great maps of Westeros, their families and likewise their keeps. He knew well what was North of this castle.
Lannisport.
And above it, Casterly Rock.
they were going after the Lannisters.
All the color drained from Ellis's face. "Have the Greyjoys gone mad?! They'll burn for this!"
Oberyn wondered about tha. the timing was suspect to say nothing of the foolishness of attacking here first. "Perhaps? Perhaps not." he nudged her norse with his. "We must go. The Lannisters need to be warned."
She blanched. "But the people...!"
"Listen to me." He took her by the face and steered her back to him. "They will stop to raid and reave every hamlet and village they encounter, we will not. We shall beat them to the Rock, I think, but only if we make good time-
She tried to tear away from him and he yanked her back.
-which we will not if we ride down there and get ourselves killed!" he snapped at her. "We have no guards. No escort. None know we are here. If we perish, no one will know until it is too late." he looked back to the burning keep and grimaced. "We will avenge them. But for now, we must do what it takes to survive. Can you do that for me?"
Ellia looked mutinous, but she didn't deny him.
"You and I do not die here, sister." He kissed her forehead. "This is not the place of our death."
His peace said, Oberyn cracked the reins of his horse like a whip and spurred his steed on
After only a moment, he heard Ellia followed.
They could but do three things.
Ride fast.
Ride harder still.
Ride with vengeance in their hearts.
A/N: SURPRISE. We hinted at it last chapter, after all.
We'll cut it here for now, work is calling my name...
Next chapter title is up in the air. Thoughts?
Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. Well, should this remain a story? Would you like weekly updates? I've got five slots left. Or should it remain monthly? By all means, speak up.
As ever, the Embers rule remains: If people don't like this story? If they don't enjoy it? Well...I won't be able to continue it. That's no joke, folks. I'm so busy these days with two jobs; and basically, I don't have time off. Not anymore. My free time is limited and as such, I can't afford to focus on something folks don't like. Reviews keep me writing in these times, and keep the daily updates flowing. Silence...silence only hurts. I hate having to beg for feedback, but without it...well, it feels like I'm not making an impact.
So...in the immortal words of Atlas...
...Review...Would Ya Kindly? And of course, Enjoy the previews. Potential ones...
Previews are -mostly!- the same this time. Didn't want to spoil the upcoming chapters.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
SPOILERS LAY AHEAD!
YE BE WARNED~!
(PREVIEWS)
Ellia?!
Tywin was furious.
was this some new scheme of the mad king, or were the Greyjoys truly this foolish?
Either way, the result will be the same.
And now the rains will weep over their halls...
Ellia stared. She stared hard. "is that what I think it is?
Kurama raised his wings with a defiant cry.
EDIT: Hey, you made it! I do hope this chapter lived up to your expectations. By all means, feel free to let me know what you think!
Looking forward to reading your feedback/chatting with you when I get back from work!
Hope you have a great day!
R ~! =D