Hello Nuggies! Welcome to my first GOT/ASOIAF fic. I will be changing things with the history and biology and stuff, but that's fanfic for y'all, if you have an issue with it you don't have to read this. Otherwise, I do hope you enjoy this fic! This fic will be posted on both FFN and Ao3, but of course any spicy scenes will have to be pulled from FFN and so y'all can read that on Ao3. I will warn y'all this fic will have M!Preg and therefore Slash (male pregnancy for those that don't know what mpreg is). Now that those warnings are out of the way, please enjoy.
Pair: Jon/Oberyn
Chapter Warning(s): description of a dead body
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to the GOT/ASOIAF franchises. They belong to their rightful owners, I write this for entertainment, not profit. I make no money from writing this.
A/N: Please forgive me for the short chapter. Where I live got hit with a hard storm that knocked the power out and my laptop only gives me a 3-4 hour window to write. Hopefully we should get power again soon.
Enjoy!
The years flew by quickly in Jaevon's opinion, but he supposed that was because he wasn't sure how long they had been hiding until he was finally able to get close to civilization again. Carris had taken him to Essos like his mother had wanted, but instead of finding their home in one of the cities, like he assumed they would have, the nursemaid had found them a small wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere for them to stay in. The cabin had been well hidden by the natural foliage that had taken it over making it look like there wasn't a cabin to begin with. It had taken them a long time to get there too. They sailed from King's Landing where it took two months to get to Essos near Braavos. From there Carris had them travel in any way they could get their hands, or coin on, until they finally made it somewhere south of the country where Jaevon had been able to see some ruins in the far distance.
Before he knew it six years had passed and he was once again alone. Carris had left him in the cabin one night to set more traps for their next meals, but when he woke up the next morn she was nowhere to be found. Jaevon knew the route she had made for their traps and so with a bag in hand, a knife in his boot, and a sense of urgency to find her the eight year old had set out to find his wayward caretaker. The first few traps yielded nothing, but there was a rabbit near one of the ones near a cave Carris had discovered. Seeing how disturbed the ground was, the broken sticks and gouges in the dirt, Jaevon cautiously made it inside of the cave only to be met with the cold rigid body of Carris.
He could tell that she had been violated if the dried and congealed blood between her legs gave any indication of it. Her clothing was gone leaving her pale skin exposed to whatever had wanted to get to it and it seemed like some had as Carssi's breasts had been chewed off and the inside of her chest had been exposed. There were knife marks along her skin and hand shaped bruises curling around her arms and legs. Human shaped bite marks dug into her skin leaving their own bruises and bits of dried blood from where their teeth had pierced her skin. Her usual kind brown eyes stared up at him, dull to the world.
Jaevon had seen his fair share of dead bodies, but none of those that he actually cared for. All he remembered of the day was him stumbling through the forest and getting home, to that cabin Carris had taken care of him in, and collapsing on the ground.
But all that led him to today.
Upon finding Carris, Jaevon had decided to move. The two hadn't realized how close people had actually gotten to their hiding place and it was only because they never stuck to routine and the foliage that they had never been found. So Jaevon packed what he thought he could carry, leaving nothing he didn't think he would miss and made sure there was nothing left that could give anyone any indication to who had stayed there if they found the cabin. That had meant looking through Carris's bag and to his shock he found what his mother had given Carris to give him.
A thick letter to him telling Jaevon why he had to be taken away, where he could find money if he needed it, and that one day she hoped to see him again. There was a ring with their House Sigil on it that didn't fit any of his fingers quite yet, and a thick black cloak that had been wrapped around a dragon egg of all things. It was about the size of his head and pretty heavy when he picked it up, but so very warm to his touch telling him that the young dragon inside was still thriving. Fully unraveling the cloak let him see the egg better and taking it to the sun spot on the floor let him see it in all its gorgeous colors. The egg itself was such a deep sapphire that it looked black with silver streaks running across the thick hide of the egg. There were also speckles of a darker color, but Jaevon wasn't sure if it were a dark gray or black. Either way the egg was beautiful and something he would need to hide away until he could find a safer place for it. Jaevon wasn't sure if he could even hatch it, not knowing how, or perhaps not wanting to bring attention to him and the dragon too soon.
So for now the egg will rest in the cloak as it had been for the past few years.
He had made his new home within the ruins he had seen from a distance so long ago. As he poked around he found out that the place was actually the most northern part of Old Valyria. It was far enough that the Stone Men, if he remembered that they were called, should not notice him. The air around his hiding spot was clear of the thick mists that covered most of the ruins, but it was close enough that it deterred anyone from getting too close in case the Stone Men got them. He made sure his face, nose and mouth were completely covered just to make sure he wouldn't breathe in anything that could give him greyscale. He had seen the after effects from a couple of survivors, and he didn't want that for himself. Jaevon also didn't want to think about the very low survival rate.
That led him to having to travel a fair bit for food since he didn't want to eat any creature around the greyscale infection. Upon his travel to one of the spots he had found that hosted quite a few rabbits, he came across a settlement that had a large market. Taking a few pelts the next time he came that way, Jaevon bartered his way into getting a bit of gold honors for them, and worked his way through the markets. He managed to pass himself as a farmer's child of an older couple who needed him to run to the markets for them. It managed to throw any suspicious looks his way for the moment and he was free to wander the markets as he pleased without too much trouble. He even earned a few more gold honors by running things between stalls and ended up earning a reputation as a kind, soft spoken, and helpful boy.
Another year had passed and Jaevon was nine when his silent lonely home had gained another companion. He was once again at the market after having to move his home again as he noticed the Stone Men getting closer to his hiding spot. He decided to take his chances and moved closer to the settlement where he managed to find a cave that he could easily be able to hide the entrance of. There was even a river near that he could get fresh water from or bathe. Soon enough though there was word in the market that there would be a flood of travelers coming through.
"Why are there so many people coming here?" Jaevon asked Miss Serella, the older owner of a stall that sold wonderful smelling soaps she and her daughter make from goat's milk of all things.
"Oh, right dear. You weren't here during the summer last year weren't you?" Serella said as she packed another soap bar into a basket that he was taking nine stalls down to a mother who just had a child, "Every year around this time after the cold settles and the air starts to warm up, traveling merchants make their way through Essos selling their goods and trading with other merchants. When they come, those in the settlements closest to us come to buy and barter until they leave. It is our busiest time of the year, but also the most fruitful."
Jaevon nodded and took the basket to take to the woman down the way. Perhaps he would have to come by during that time and look at what was being sold. With that thought, he spent the next couple of weeks gathering pelts, bones, teeth, and preserving meats that he could sell. He even managed to fell a large elk with a well placed arrow. The antlers would fetch a good price and the meat could go a long way for him to sell. There were of course the marmots, rabbits, and birds he usually went after that he could take as well. With everything he had, Jaevon had to ask to borrow a wagon to pull everything to the markets, and Mr. Horeo, who lent him the wagon, let him have a part of his stall to sell his things since he had the largest stall. He even gathered some farm foods like carrots and potatoes to sell so that it wouldn't look suspicious. He was posing as a farmer's child after all.
Since Jaevon didn't have too much it all sold pretty quickly leaving him some time to explore the extra stalls there. There were fabrics from many places, of which he had taken some since he was growing out of his clothing quickly, there were weapon stalls where he managed to talk the man running it to let him buy a new knife. There were jewelers and those that made tapestries and clay items. One stall solely sold spices that came from Dorne and the Seven Kingdoms, there were even some from the North that he snatched up quickly. He liked a lot of the stalls around, but the one he was more interested in was at the very end.
A man and woman, who Jaevon assumed was a couple, ran the stall. The two had set up a large tent behind their stall, where they sold many animals. He heard talk from a few people that they were interested in one animal in particular, a wolf pup that came from the north. Jaevon didn't hear anything extra about it from the people, but it only helped into making him more and more curious. He could feel his chest warm as he neared the tent, his head throbbed for a moment, but in the blink of an eye the pain was gone. Jaevon had only felt this once before.
When he first met his beloved friend, Ghost.
Jaevon hurried his steps, but tried to not draw attention to what he was doing. He needed to see him. His Ghost. He joined the line entering the tent and it didn't take long to go in. Inside there were cages lining the walls and placed on tables in the center. Glass tanks under patches of sun were the first to catch his eye and inside were curious little creatures that he recognized as Basilisks, the scorpion-like insects from Dorne, and actual Scorpions from the Red Wastes. Other tanks held lizards, snakes, and large spiders while others stood empty signaling that some of the creatures were bought. The cages closest to him had domesticated dogs and cats, a few of which were classified as hunting dogs and barn cats. There were several bird cages that held owls, falcons and the odd chicken or two, but none of those interested him.
The cage he was looking for stood in the back, it was large and covered in a dark sheet with an older teen, perhaps the son of the couple manning the stall, standing in front of it. Jaevon watched as another man approached the first and asked to see what was under the sheet only for the man to just barely pull the sheet up a bit, but it was enough for Jaevon to see what the cage held. Bright red eyes and fur as white as Northern snow.
It was Ghost.
Jaevon held back a gasp as those bright red eyes looked back at him and instantly that bond they had in their previous life reformed. For a moment he was in Ghost's body looking back at him and in the next moment he was back in his body looking at Ghost. Jaevon let a rare smile grace his lips as he saw the small flutter of Ghost's tail. Jaevon looked at the price they were selling Ghost for and winced when he realized that he didn't even have a third of what they were asking. He stood there, pretending to look at other animals, and saw that there were several people turning away from Ghost. Even though it made him happy it did hurt knowing that he couldn't afford to buy his best friend. Looking at the back of the tent wall, Jaevon did notice that the fabric behind the cage wasn't as secured down like most of the tent. A plan started forming in his head and made a silent promise to Ghost that he would be back.
A couple of days later Jaevon was finally going to free Ghost. He spent the last day or two watching the tent to see what kind of guard it had, and warged with Ghost just to see what the inside was like during the night. Thankfully around the time the moon was at its highest was when there was less movement in and around the tent. He had seen that the older teenager would leave about that time to go to the small tavern in the town to have a few drinks leaving the tent guard free. The older couple would leave much earlier to presumably sleep until they had to open their menagerie once more in the morn.
He took the time to make sure he was ready and even had Ghost warg with him to show the direwolf how to get to the cave he called home for the moment. He supposed he would have to leave the area after this, and as sad as he was to, he would do it if it meant that he would have Ghost at his side once more. So without any fanfare he secured his newest knife in his boot alongside the lockpicking set he had made himself out of sturdy pieces of wood. He didn't know much about lockpicking, Arya had known more than he, but he did pay attention to what she was doing when they raided a pantry during the night. Jaevon was confident he would be able to lockpick the cage holding Ghost.
He quietly ventured out of the tree line and made his way through the silent market. Seeing as this would most likely be his last time there Jaevon decided to take a few things from some of the stalls, but none from the permanent stalls, just the traveling ones. Since the ones he had been frequent at knew his face and the traveling ones didn't he thought he could get away with it. There were a few that had preserved foods like meats and dried fruits that he had taken some from and the fabrics stalls he had also taken a bit from. He knew he would be glad for the little odds and ends from those stalls once he knew how to properly fasten them to his clothing.
With his small bit of raiding done with, Jaevon turned his eyes to the real prize, the large tent at the end of the road. As he neared the structure he crouched behind a nearby stall to watch and make sure there wasn't anyone there before making his move. He crouched there for maybe five minutes before deciding that he needed to go now or he would never have another chance seeing as the traveling market was leaving the next day. Quickly, but quietly, Jaevon walked towards the tent and opened the flap that held the tent closed.
There was just a single lit lantern casting a low glow and dark shadows over the creatures in the tent. Most of the creatures were slumbering, but there were a few that watched his every move. Thankfully they didn't make a sound as he walked around cages until he stood at the one in the back holding his best friend. Jaevon knelt in front of the locked door and pulled his wooden set out of his boot to use while making sure not to clang the metal bits together. The last thing he needed was for someone to walk in and investigate the noise. It took a bit, and a few tries, but soon enough Ghost was jumping out of the cage and pressing against him. Jaevon clutched the puppy soft fur in his hands as he pressed his face in warm fur to hold back his tears. Ghost still had his puppy scent sending Jaevon back to when they first met.
"I missed you, Ghost. So much," Jaevon whispered and was met with a warm wet tongue on his cheek catching a stray tear that managed to escape. "Let's get out of here, why don't we?"
He was answered with an enthusiastic tail wag.
Jaevon and Ghost spent the rest of the night putting as much distance as they could between them and the traveling market. He of course had gone back to the cave and gathered everything he needed to before booking it through the trees. He knew the woods by now, having lived in them for the last few months. He didn't know where he was going, but at least he had Ghost at his side.