A/N: Please read this note, would you kindly?
Elden Ring updates are coming soon, they just need time.
...a man returns.
It shames me to say the god-awful ending of Season 8 back in 2019 drove me away from Game of Thrones and put me off the franchise for a while. A long while.
House of the Dragon/the other Seven Seasons finally brought me back into the fold. Of course it helps that someone got me the box sets.
I'm also a fair bit older now, wiser, and hopefully a better writer.
As my fifteen year anniversary on this site draws near, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. The recent earthquake in Turkey/Syria serves as a terrible example. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
No questions this time. I think I've kept you waiting long enough.
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; holidays are HERE 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.
Alright, I've kept you waiting long enough, methinks. Enough of this old man's rambling; you're here for a story, and a timeskip at that. Hope you're prepared.
Once more, I own nooooo references, quotes, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one. Nope. They're simply tributes to legends far greater than I.
Last but not least, a reminder to all. Naruto's Westerosi name remains Nathaniel.
Joanna prefers to call him Naruto, but she's the only one who truly does.
Timeline is a little skewed here, but hey, that makes things...fun.
"Family is everything."
"With a family like this, who needs enemies?"
"Careful now, boy. I enjoy your wit, but you tread on thin ice."
~Tywin and Naruto.
The Golden Sons
His little brother was a vicious fighter.
Jaime Lannister realized this terrible truth relatively late in his childhood and that was his mistake; by the time he understood what Nathaniel -Naruto!- truly was, the boy had nearly become his equal in the art of the blade. Oh yes, his baby brother was good. Very good. Better than good even, he had the potential to be something extraordinary...and dangerous. The great ones always were. Some were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Others...
.
..
...others were good at fighting.
Steel sang in a clenched fist hand and daggers danced in another, a deadly dervish of death in which Jamie found himself the center of. Sparks flew through the air as their weapons collided. Once. Twice. Thrice, now. Parry. Riposte. Thrust. He could scarcely deflect, much less evade those nasty little knives. Nathaniel drove at him again and again and again, keeping him on the back foot, forcing him d a corner. They were using live steel today and he almost found himself regretting it; if only because his dear sibling wasn't afraid to take a few nicks to face for a win. He'd done it before.
Ladies liked scars. Naruto would have more than a few by the time he reached adulthood.
Blast, but those daggers were quick. He shunted one aside, hissed as his brother cut his shoulder beneath his tunic and lashed out, delivering a brutal right hook in rebuttal. Naruto took it with a grunt, stepped back, wiped a thin line of blood from his lip and grinned. Then he came at him again. Bloody relentless!
Jamie considered himself no slouch with the sword. He was skilled himself, but swordsmanship was were his martial talents both began and ended. His baby brother didn't just train with the sword; no, you see, Nathaniel was the second son. The spare, not the heir, given nothing he couldn't grasp for himself. And so he trained with whatever he could get his grubby little mitts on.
Yesterday, it had been an awful ax.
Today, it was those damnable dancing daggers.
Tomorrow he suspected it would be a spear, one of Dornish make. Cersei had see him drilling with it.
A fist slammed into his side, shattering his thoughts and rattling his ribs through the armor he wore. "Pay attention, brother~!"
He sighed. "I am, Nathaniel."
His sibling scowled. "Don't like being called that...
"Its just a name. Your name," he tutted back with a grin "Easy burden to bear-ow!"
Nathaniel must've took issue with it, because he crashed into him like a falling star. A knee surged up into his groin, rendering the world white and doubling him over. A hammerfist rang his blade like a bell. In came the daggers again as he staggered. Jamie tried to parry, only to see the feint too late. His beloved brother reversed course at the last instant and gave his face an open-palmed smack in return for that right hook he'd taken earlier. Jamie recoiled with a hiss.
"Gods you're a sharp little thing." he muttered, rubbing his aching cheek, Daggers in the dark won't get you get you everywhere, brother."
"I disagree." Naruto grinned slid them up his sleeves, eliciting a brief lull in their little duel. "They've gotten me precisely where I want to be. As for you-
He was still speaking when he whirled. A boot swept Jamie's legs and knocked him to the ground. He landed hard on his back. The moment he did it, Naruto jumped him. Twin daggers crossed over his throat.
-time to yield, bit brother."
Another loss to his little brother. How galling. "I...give."
Nathaniel -Naruto!- grinned down at him, hopped off his chest, and offered his hand. Jaime clasped it with his right and let himself be hauled upright. Stronger than he looked, this little brother of his. He stood a good head taller than him, yet his sibling hoisted him to his feet with ease.
There were time when he worried about his brother. Naruto was more than he appeared; most of Casterly Rock knew that, but it was tiny, subtle displays like this that truly concerned him. He didn't make any secret of his strength and speed, nor his healing touch; not these days. Second son though he might be, he couldn't help but wonder what his little brother would be like when he was older.
Naruto touched a hand to his forehead and grimaced.
Jaime saw it and guided him down to a stone bench. "Headaches again?"
"A little." He clicked his tongue in mild irritation. "Feels almost...familiar."
Jaime turned a keen eye turned on him. "Don't go mad on me now. Whatever would I do without you?"
A blond brow quirked. "Live a better life?"
"Don't say such things.
"Hrmph." his brother grunted. "Enough about me. You NEED to pay attention in a fight. See?" Naruto tapped a dagger to his wrist. That's you disarmed. Literally. What would you do if you lost this hand?"
"I expect I'd have to learn to use my left."
An elbow ribbed him good and proper. "You're shit with your left.
"Honest to a fault." A wry chuckle escaped him. "You really don't fight with honor, do you?"
"Honor doesn't win wars. It gets men killed. Victory is all that matters."
The faint sound of clapping filled the yard.
"Well said."
Jaimie whirled, and Naruto with him.
Much to his surprise, he found their lord father waiting for them. He looked pleased, almost grimly so, and it was that expression that set off all manner of bells in Jaime's head. "When did you arrive?
"Just this morning." Father approached them, hands clasped before him. "Your mother's due to give birth any day now. Did you think I would miss it?"
He had thought so, yes. The King was...increasingly erratic these days.
Father was seldom the sort to smile when he returned from the Capital, but he did sometimes.
Jamie had learned to savor those rare moments. Tywin Lannister almost looked human when he smiled. Almost.
Theirs was a powerful house, but they did not rule, no, that right fell to the dragons-the Targaryens and a king who may or may not be mad. Just as well. Jamie had no interest in theIron Throne. He knew well the rules of succession. Casterly Rock would be his one day. Cersei would likely marry Rhaegar, and Nathaniel...well. Father would doubtlessly try to throw him at some crazed Targaryen wench down the line, or maybe some other highborn lady whenever one came of age. His brother had complained rather loudly about that.
He looked fit to complain again right now, given the letter Father was now dangling before him.
Jaime squinted at it. Curious. He recognized that seal. Didn't it come from-
"This came from the Capital." Father answered for him. "For you."
Nathaniel perked up and reached for it.
Tywin tugged it out of his reach. "I thought we had quashed this folly of yours by now, Nathaniel. You play a dangerous game."
Jaime perked up. Girl? Father had taken him to King's Landing a fortnight past. Had his little brother met someone? Who, then? It didn't make a lick of sense. The only family of any real import in the Capital were the Targaryens and...
.
..
...gods be good. Surely his little brother wasn't that foolish.
"How would you know?" Naruto adopted a rather mulish expression. "If you'd just give her a chance you'd see she's suffering-"
"You are my son." Twyin spoke over him, appearing to loom larger every moment. "A Lannister. When you marry it will be for the benefit of this family, not yourself, and certainly not for a foolish scheme such as this." he spun on one heel, eyed a nearby brazier then flung the tiny scroll into it, heedless of the outraged noise Naruto made. "You will cease this foolish pursuit and we will speak no more of this." his eyes could've made a north-man shiver in that instant. "Do you understand?"
"Father," Jaime forced himself to rally. He had to know. "Who was that letter from?"
...it matters not." he said at length. "Family is everything and I will not allow either of you to drag our name through the mud."
Naruto scoffed at him. "With a family like this, who needs enemies?"
"Careful now, boy. I enjoy your wit, but you tread on thin ice."
Naruto lifted his chin to stare father down. Oh, dear. Jaime knew that look and it was nothing good. This could only end poorly.
A distant scream pierced the tension.
Cersei came hurtling around the corner, face absolutely ashen. "Mother's gone into labor!"
In an instant, any such thoughts of the future courtships were summarily forgotten.
Nathaniel didn't walk, he all but sprinted past Cersei; practically bowling her over as he raced for the bedchamber.
Jaime followed a more sedate pace.
What was the rush? The babe would come when it came.
Would it be a girl? her wondered? Or were they to have another brother...?
(.0.0.0.)
When her labors began, Joanna Lannister she welcomed them wholeheartedly.
It was as a difficult, birth, one that nearly killed her.
...all to bring a dwarf into the world.
With his birth, she became possessed of the belief that her middle son wasn't normal. Naruto didn't left her side the entire time. Whatever he'd done had healed her; prevented her from bleeding out. Most mothers would've balked at such a display. Not Joanna. She'd sworn to love all her children, and she resolved to love this one, imperfections and all.
And so she named their newest son Tyrion. She'd never forget the look on Tywin's face when he saw him...
Nor Jaimie or Cersei.
...or Naruto.
"Hello, Tyrion." she'd always remember the way her second son crooned over the mewling babe in her arms. "Welcome to the world...
A/N: Aaaand scene.
I'll let you guess who Naruto/Nathaniel wrote to.
Well, should this remain a story? Or should it fade back into oblivion?
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; holidays are HERE 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...
...and a VERY tentative one.
(Preview)
"Mad king indeed!" he scoffed and spat a this feet. "I've seen far worse things than you, Aerys Targaryen, horrors that would make you seem SANE! You won't kill me. You can't. You're weak."
"A dragon egg? Now wherever did you find that? It looks like a stone to me." he knocked his knuckles against it. "Certainly sounds like one."
"Oh ye of little faith, Tyrion...
"I have plenty of faith. Just as I have faith that merchant swindled you out of a great deal of gold. Its certainly very...red."
"There's nothing more hateful in this world than failing to protect the one you love."
"When did you start sharing correspondence with a kennelmaster's daughter?"
"When did you care?"
Naruto pushed her away. Off him. "OUT!"
Cersei stumbled back, gaping girlishly at him as she clutched at her face. "Brother...you...you hit me! How dare you?!"
His words cracked out again like a whip. "I'll do worse than that if you touch me again!"
"Father will punish you!" she shrieked! "Just wait until I tell him!"
"Go ahead! See if I care! Spoiled sow!"
Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Don't wanna be a kingsguard. Too many oaths."
Father actually laughed at that, a rare bark of genuine laughter that echoed through the keep.
"Good!" he chuckled ruefully. "Then you've more sense in your head than Jaime. Now, onto your next letter...
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&R! =D