A/N: Alright lets give Stafford time to travel to Storm's End and check in on Ellion. A lot when on off page with Ellion, he's spent the past 8-9 months doing mercenary work. But this is a critical chapter in his POV and will hasten some of the plot points in Essos. Ellion's story is sort of modeled after and inspired by Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, more specifically, the character two have similar personalities, they fight the same way, and they both end up helping a Princess reclaim her homeland after being in exile. He doesnt have a sister though (well...we'll cross that bridge when we get there). So some of the plot might be familiar to Fire Emblem fans reading this (Ellion being in a mercenary company, and other things). I also made some changes with chapters, the next chapter will be Daenerys first chapter, and will pick up right when A Clash of Kings starts, technically signalling the end of Act II, but we'll count Ellion's chapter which is after hers as Act II. I also changed it so that the two can meet in childhood, justifying it by the fact that Dany travelled to Volantis and stayed there when she and Viserys wandered the Free we return to Stafford and he begins mobilization. Hope y'all enjoy the chapter, and keep in mind Ellion might be paired with Daenerys, but we'll see. If you know the relationship between Ike and Elincia and how much the localized version of the game shipped the two so hard, I might have to pair them up to tribute Ike's story a little more. Thank you for all the support.

Enjoy!

Ellion

It had been almost a year since Ellion's first mission with the company. And yet, he felt as if there was more that he could accomplish than the work thrown at him. He was eager to prove himself outside of just killing bandits, clearing villages, and hunting down men with a price on their heads. Each mission gave him experience, experience he needed to get stronger, but none of them could make him prove his true worth to the company. Although, he did not care what people thought about his accomplishments, and their many rumors and stares given by them, because of his high position among the mercenaries. He was already a Lieutenant, a very high position in the company, the only higher rank being a captain. Captains were Griff's main advisors, and Ellion knew he would have to prove his worth in something to earn the namesake Captain. The job will come, no reason to get impatient.

His portion of the company had just finished two of their missions, and were taking their ease at Volantis for the time being. While the others were taking their leisure in a tavern somewhere, Ellion took a quiet walk by himself on the Long Bridge. He observed the buildings that arose on both sides of the bridge, and looked at gateway in the distance. He always liked the quiet, the peace and serenity it gave him. Ellion liked it when he was alone, because he got more things done alone. He trained alone mostly, except when he had to spar with someone else, he fought better alone, and most of all he felt better alone. It wasn't like he didn't care about other people, he did, and that was what he was trying to avoid. The more time he spent with a person, he got more attached, and he didn't want to be attached to anyone he didn't need to be attached to at all. It just felt like he needed to find a way to disassociate himself from the rest of the world around him. He just needed to breathe, and be away from people sometimes, and that is why he valued being alone. Sure, there were others around him walking doing their daily business, but he paid them no mind, and they did as well, which is what he liked.

Ellion adjusted his sleeve, which hid the scars the greyscale had left him on his arms. One of the most rare diseases had infected him as a child, and he had survived it. Ellion felt as if he was a survivor, someone who is able to withstand hardship. Whatever the world threw at him, he took and gave back in due time. Ellion felt even as a child, not even knowing what a fight was, or not even knowing the meaning of a true struggle, he still fought hard, and never gave up. Not even a debilitating disease could cause him to die, nothing would kill him without a fight.

These long walks on the Long Bridge always got him thinking about these things. He didn't care what would happen to him in the silence, he would just think about himself, and what had happened to him thus far. He also thought of what might happen to him and what type of events would happen in his life. The Long Bridge walk gave him a time to take inventory of everything about him, and he thought reflection would give him a better idea of what he could do better in the future. Though he had no intention of changing things that he felt went against his morals, personality, and beliefs with the reflection, it always gave Ellion an idea of what worked and what didn't. And somehow he had the choice of changing those things to see if they work better.

"Ellion!" He heard from behind him. Ellion turned around and saw that it was one of the mercenaries in the portion of the company. Ellion didn't know why he was here, and he didn't even know his name to be honest.

"What?" Ellion asked bluntly.

"Griff asked for all the Lieutenants to gather in the Merchant's House for an important announcement," Now that intrigued Ellion. It seemed Griff was asking for the Lieutenants, and from the language used by the mercenary in his company, it would seem the Captains weren't all present like usual. Why would he want just the Lieutenants?

Ellion looked at him, "I'll make my way there immediately then." The mercenary nodded and Ellion briskly walked for the Merchant's House. Ellion even managed to outpace the mercenary messenger.

Ellion was at the Merchant's House before he knew it. He entered and saw that he had no room to maneuver around like it had typically been in the Merchant's House. The place seemed like it was a filled tankard, no room for anything to get in. He could tell a great deal of people he ran into were sellswords, some in his company, some in others. Ellion always wore his boiled leather and chainmail armor, which protected him well enough in the battlefield. It never portrayed a shameful display either, it looked quite good. Ellion pushed his way through the crowds of people in the Merchant's House, and managed to find the meeting place where the lieutenants met. It was a private corner complete with a large table, that could be used for planning.
Griff stood over it, surrounding by two of his captains, one of the three missing, and the eleven other lieutenants surrounding the table still strapped with their weapons. Griff noticed him and took a deep breath when everyone finally stood in attention. Ellion wondered why the third Captain was missing from the group, Then he remembered that Captain Gadon was on a mission with two-thousand other troops to the Qarth.

"As you all know, Gadon began. However, we have sad news, well his group or rather what's left of his group of two thousand, came back to report that he has passed on," Griff declared. Murmurs could be heard from the rest of the captains. Ellion scoffed, there had to more to the thing. Gadon wasn't just some push over and his part of the company were one of the most seasoned he had ever known. They wouldn't just get defeated by common highwaymen.

"They stated that they were ambushed by a Dothraki Khalasar, and the five hundred men who managed to evade death or worse from the Dothraki seemed trustworthy to me," Griff stated. A Khalasar, what problem did the Dothraki have with us? The Dothraki were territorial, but the location they went to was far from the Dothraki Sea if they had followed their route.

"As far as we know they stayed en route, and were ambushed for some reason. Which is why, we need to have someone replace Gadon as captain," This sparked further quiet discussion from Ellion's peers. Ellion's eyes grew wide when he heard that Griff was appointing a new Captain. This was his chance to get his wish, to become a Captain, "I am not however, going to just hand someone this position. One must prove his worth before becoming a Captain."

"How are we going to prove our worth to you?" One of big brawny lieutenants known as Reaver Revan stated. He was the longest serving lieutenant in the company, so he probably wanted the spot of Captain as much as he would.

"I'm glad you asked Revan. You see, the mission in Qarth is still happening. Our contact there has a very interesting proposition for us. Now, if Gadon had taken my advice and just went to Qarth by sea, he probably wouldn't have died. Instead, he was afraid of going anywhere by sea, and he met his end in the overland route he trusted so much. Which is why to prove your worth as a Captain, you will lead two thousand more men, which all I can afford at the moment, and you will lead them through the overland route he took," This caused some outrage, especially with Revan.

"Gadon died taking that route! Do you plan on others getting slaughtered by Dothraki?" Revan roared.

"So I guess you don't volunteer then?" Griff stated.

"Hells no! Don't know the difference between killin' yerself and provin' worth," Revan managed to yell as he finally backed down. Silence engulfed the area, while the noise of the rest of the large inn poured in. Ellion, knew this was a dangerous mission, but this was the mission he had waited for. He can finally prove his worth, and show them that he wasn't just a lieutenant, because he was raised by Griff. So he wants to take the long overland route to Qarth, which would take a month and a half at best to more than two months if it took longer, especially with two thousand men.

"I'll go," Ellion stated much to the surprise of everyone else. Some even laughed when he said that.

"Boy, you do realize this is dangerous right?" Griff asked him puzzled by his decision to step forward, "You're the least experienced Lieutenant I have, and yet you volunteer for it? Is it stupidity or serious guts?"

"A little bit of both to be honest. But look Griff, I can do it. In fact, I can promise you we can get to Qarth safely in one and a half months," Ellion stated boldly. Everyone literally went silent, when they realized he said that. No one said another word for a minute, before Griff began to chuckle.

"You really believe, Gadon got ambushed by Dothraki? Fools, I was testing everyone to see if they would have the guts to volunteer. Gadon died of dysentery somewhere along the path, and his soldiers all returned to safety under his lieutenant, who I purposely did not make attend this meeting to test you all. And yet, the most experienced cowered like sheep, while a young man inexperienced and eager to prove himself stepped up," Griff stated turning to the rest of the now bewildered Lieutenants, "I'm sending Ellion here with all of these men by ship to get to Qarth. He will arrive there in about twenty days, and a thousand men will arrive with him. They'll stick to the coast. The real challenge for him to receive his captain position will be whether he can use these men to complete the task assigned to him." Revan sort of lost it at this point. Revan literally stormed out of the meeting and muttered obscene things along with it. Everyone else was still whispering to one another like "So the boy is his favorite" and "The boy probably knew about this and volunteered to get the job, because Griff told him too" Ellion ignored it. Cool, I don't get upset. Because it's sort of...an addiction when it comes to people wrong. Ellion felt that he contributed to a major effect in every battle he's ever been in. Sure, he wasn't the best fighter they had in it, and many even thought that he was too small to fight in his style. Before, he had decided to use a single longsword without a shield, but decided against it in favor for a two handed greatsword. As he was only five feet nine inches tall, he wasn't very tall in comparison to most bruisers, who went in with a two handed greatsword. He was an inch taller than most noble women, and even some common women, and he was more lean than muscular, making his style seem to contrast what he meant to take.

"With that you are all free to go, I'd like to see you, however, Ellion," Griff stated. Everyone quickly shuffled out of the meeting table, and even the Captains made their way out of the Meeting House, or went to the main dining area for a drink of ale or mead. Ellion approached Griff as he went his way.

"You know why I sent Gidon to Qarth?"

"No, sir, I have no idea," Ellion replied, as he adjusted his two handed greatsword resting on his shoulder, too cumbersome for a back sheath.

"Sure, a merchant there offered a job. A large one that required over two thousand men, we had to take out a group of well organized bandits, not necessarily strong ones, but definitely disruptive enough to cause a merchant company to call our company. Not any sellsword company would be commissioned by a merchant company," Great so this initiations into being a captain, might just be too easy, proving the suspicions of every single person in the company.

"So, I'm just going to be taking out a few bandits?" Ellion asked Griff bluntly.

"No, not exactly. There's also another thing I would like to personally ask you to do. I convinced a spy network to sell me intel on the city. From what I understand, Daenerys Targaryen and her entire army of Dothraki are reported to be close by. You should get to Qarth by the time she decides to enter the city, if she even decides to at all," Griff explained to Ellion.

"And what does some Targaryen potentially entering the city have to do with me?" Ellion told him. Some noble woman doesn't concern him, but he thought he had heard that name before. Of course, he had heard of her recent accomplishment, especially in the Free Cities near the Dothraki Sea. Then, it struck him, suddenly he knew where he had heard the name before earlier than that. It was still a little fuzzy, so he pondered on it while he continued listen to Griff speak.

"I want you to potentially meet her, and act as my representative asking to enter her cause," Griff stated, "I know it might be hard to get close to her, so that will be where your swords come in. I want you to eliminate the bandits, who will not pose much of a threat to your forces. Then if you can, find out where her Khalasar is. Two thousand swords and much more will prove that we can be a valuable asset in her fight to regain her birthright,"

"Understood, but may I ask, why you are so interested in the Targaryen princess?" Ellion asked Griff. Griff looked up and looked him straight in the eye.

"Because I had business with her family during the Rebellion. You remember how I'm originally from Westeros, right? I...served her father, Aerys and her brother," Ellion knew Griff was originally from Westeros, and so was he. He didn't know, who his real parents were, but he knew they were from the Seven Kingdoms.

"As a mercenary right?" Ellion told Griff.

"More of a military advisor, really, than a true mercenary…" Griff's voice sort of trailed off after that point, a twinge of regret echoing as he spoke, "Anyway, point is. I want you accomplish the mission and write to me when you have finished. Then, if it is accomplished well, I will make you the replacement, Captain, is that understood?" Griff ordered and asked him.

"Understood"

"Good. Now go get some rest for the night, I already have a room rented and prepared for you in this inn. It may be crowded, but that's the life of a wandering mercenary right?" Ellion nodded and immediately left, pondering on where, from whom, and why he had heard her name before.

Ellion ended up sitting on the bed still fully armored still pondering on the reason or origin of where he heard Daenerys Targaryen's name before. He had heard it from someone from way before she had been discovered with her dragons, which are enough to intimidate Ellion, who felt his skills in combat made him a smooth operator operating correctly on the battlefield. Ellion thought about where he might have heard the name, and realized something. Yes, something. More like a memory, that he had somehow forgotten over the years, but now it stuck out the most. It happened six years ago, when he was still a mercenary in training under Griff in the very same city he was in Volantis.

Six Years ago, Volantis

Ellion's body ached after a hard training session. He had bruises on his face with little bandages that looked like some paper stuck on his face underneath his eye. He was a small boy for his age, barely taller than five foot and a fourth inches tall. He was skinny, and even though he had learned swordplay two years ago, he was barely capable as he was now. Every training session his body was battered, and at times he felt like giving up. But he knew if he wanted to be the best swordsman in all of Essos, no not just Essos, but the entire known world. Ellion was wandering around Fishmonger Square, which was not as crowded tonight. He felt the cool night air as he perused the stall, he probably couldn't afford to buy. He still had the tourney blade he had used to practice sheathed in a makeshift elastic scabbard. His mind was wandering off, still reeling from a hard day at training.

Until he ran into someone, literally headfirst sending him reeling backward, and the person to the ground.

Ellion still dazed from a head to head collision with another human being, found a girl, who looked younger than him, but not by much. She had silvered hair and purple eyes, and those were features that struck Ellion. Those were not common features, and he couldn't recall what they were from. She definitely wasn't from Volantis. Feeling bad, he extended a hand, to help her up. She decided to take it.

"I'm sorry," she said meekly.

"You shouldn't be, I ran into you anyway," Ellion muttered, "You're not from here are you?" The girl looked shocked to hear this, and looked like she didn't know how to respond.

"I...I'm not from here. I'm not from anywhere near here actually," She responded, "Are you from Volantis?"

"No, my um… Guardian told me he brought me here from the Seven Kingdoms," Her eyes widened when she heard this.

"You were born in Westeros?" she asked him, her purple eyes sparkling. Ellion nodded and they got into a conversation. It seemed like they were standing in the square talking for hours.

"What happened to your face?" she asked him.

"I ran into a wall," Ellion lied hoping not to involve her in anything.

"Really?" she replied, "You really have a habit of running into things...or people." Ellion couldn't help, but smile, which he really didn't do much even as a child.

Suddenly, before they could continue, he heard someone yell something from across the square, but even that was a little fuzzy in Ellion's memory. The girl went to that someone, but before she got far, she called back to him, "I didn't get your name!"

"Ellion...just Ellion," Ellion stated back.

"I'm Daenerys. Daenerys Targaryen,"

Present Day

He can't believe he let a memory like this escape from him. It had been longer than he had expected it to be, since he had actually met her. But as things came back to him, they had shared more than one chance encounter with her. Yes, he had talked to her more times. And as he remember he met her more often when Fishmonger Square was not busy and they talked about things children talked about. He told her about his training, and she talked to him about what had been happening in her life. She seemed scared of something, and she seemed lost. Ellion always remembered that about her. Ellion never knew she was actually exiled royalty and it never occurred to him that they never should have even shared what he thought was fleeting friendship.

Too be honest, Ellion did not care for royalty. Their lavish lifestyle and their ignorance of the struggles that people like him had to go through made him sick. Their living in a fairytale that was tearing at the seams of life. But from what he could tell from Daenerys during the time he spent with her in Volantis, was that sometimes things could prove him wrong sometime. She seemed like any normal child, with her own needs, and being denied what she rightfully deserved by other people. Then he remembered their last ever conversation, the time he found out she was an exiled princess. Until then, she dropped hints about her past, but left him clueless when she found out he was clueless about her name or heritage. Ellion wasn't sharp in trivial matters like Lords and Ladies and did not pay attention to it as he had no interest in the people with so called titles. He remembered the last time they ever spoke to one another.

About Five Years ago, Volantis Docks:

It had been eight months since they met in Fishmonger square. Since then, Ellion grew. He was about just over five feet and a half. Volantis was the only place that he knew and he hoped to see the world when he grew up. Ellion knew that in his heart that he would be one of an explorer, someone who wanted to see everything the Gods created for him. In the seven months he had spent with her, she had helped him get out of the shell he put himself in. Besides Griff, she was the only one he could call a friend, and many times she called him one too. Now they sat near the water, on a small pier in Volantis. An empty one no one used anymore. This was a rarity in Volantis as most were usually filled with many different people. Each pier was usually busy with activity, but ever since five successive ships that originated from the pier never returned. She had matured much ever since he had met her in Fishmonger square, but she had grown a little taller, and her figure began to mature and grow curvy. Ellion had also changed. He was still skinny, but he was not did not look like a scarecrow anymore. He wasn't thin and gaunt, but instead he had put on some weight in muscle and sinwewed flesh. Ellion, now a boy of fifteen, knew that his time would soon arrive in the future. So they sat on the pier observing the sea. For some reason Daenerys seemed enthralled by the sea, which happened to scare Ellion a little. Ellion barely knew how to swim and felt boats were a watery grave. Curious girl, Ellion thought.

"I've been in Volantis for almost a year now," she told him, "And in all honesty, I'm amazed by it." Ellion sighed a little.

"When you lived in Volantis for all your life, you'd wish to be in other places," Ellion rubbed his face, his voice raspy from practice. Ellion still had bruises on his face, and of course the signature mark of his individuality. And suddenly her face and tone turned serious.

"My brother says we're leaving Volantis on the morrow," Daenerys told him directly. Now in Ellion's mind this changed a lot of things.

"Why? I understand from what you told me in other conversations with you, you don't stay in one place, but how come you have to leave now?"

"I haven't very honest with you El," she told him. El-it was the name only she had called him by. She told him his name seemed like a handful to say. He told her the same thing, but he always called her by her name, Daenerys. He felt like giving people shortened names or nicknames always meant he had something more to remember.

"What haven't you been honest about?" Ellion asked curiously.

"You see most people would know who I am, when I told them my name. Especially when I first told you my name, I expected you to know who I was," Daenerys told him.

"Well everyone has a unique name, I just can't get how your name makes you recognizable," he told her.

"Well I feel like I should just tell you now, before I go, because I would feel bad about leaving you in oblivion," she began, "I'm the Princess of Dragonstone and my brother its king. He's traveling around the free cities to gather support, because the throne of Westeros is rightfully his. I've been living in exile since I was an infant."

How about that, Ellion told himself, "Well princess, I'll just tell you it's been a pleasure having you as my only friend." Ellion adjusted his sleeve to hide the greyscale scars he had received during infancy. Luckily it had not spread to his face and it somehow only got on his arm.

"The pleasure is mine as well, Ellion of Volantis," that was the first time she called him with his first name for a while. Along with that a title, this girl was a surprise indeed. Then she handed him something a locket.

"What's this?" Ellion asked.

"It's a miniature portrait of me, I just had it made last week, sat in a studio for some time. Something to remember me by."

"Well since you gave something, I might as well give something back," Ellion stated. He loosened a the knot of his headwrap, which looked like a bandana, "Here it's not as thought out, but it's something for you…"

"I'll treasure it, I'll use it to remember all the times we spent in this city…"

Present Day

Ellion searched a chest he just pulled out after he remembered all his time with her. How did he forget about her after such little time had past? Griff always told Ellion he had known this to be his weakness. He forgot many events in his life due to his engrossment in things he did. Ellion only remembered certain events when something reminded him of it. Then he took out something that he had probably just hastily thrown into chest. It was a silver locket and when he opened it, it was a portrait of the girl he had met six years ago in fishmonger square. He was about to be twenty, and his mission to get the support the princess under the orders of Griff, might give him a chance reunite with his long lost childhood friend.