Riverlands- In an unnamed road
The wolves, the krakens, and the lizards kept on their way through the Riverlands, finally free from the influence of Walder Frey.
"AAAAAAAAAA!" screamed Meera in frustration, while Jojen and Domeric held her back.
"LET ME GO! I WANT TO KILL THAT PIG!" she exclaimed.
Domeric sighed and responded.
"Believe me, dear, if I could, I would have shoved a lance into his Y#ll%w t%#th c%rp$ f%ndl%r, w%#s%l f%c%d, m%ldy—"
The group stopped in their tracks while a gallant Domeric recited the worst profanities with a smile. Meera looked at the group, silently asking if this was usual, while Sebastian sipped some tea on the side, enjoying the show. She was now flabbergasted by both things happening, while Theon shrugged at Sebastian's shenanigans.
"—C%rr%%n-h%#rt%d t%ll th%%f, gr%y-g%mm%d daughter-haggler."
Domeric took a moment to recompose himself while Ser Cassel warned Robb and Jon with a menacing look, forbidding them from using the new flowery vocabulary they had just heard.
"Now I feel much better," said Domeric while asking Sebastian for some tea. Sebastian passed him some tea to quench Domeric's thirst while Jojen finally asked,
"Wait, where did you get tea in the middle of nowhere?"
Sebastian shrugged in response, while the rest of the group ignored the question.
The silence finally broke when a confused Robb asked a question.
"Are we going to visit my grandfather, Lord Hoster Tully?"
They were in all purposes on the Riverlands, and House Tully was the logical choice.For while the intention for this trip had been made clear for him, the path they would take had not been known to him.
"I am afraid not, Robb. We are heading to King's Landing, bearing a letter for the king," replied Sebastian, as Robb accepted grimly.
"But—" continued Sebastian while Robb looked expectantly.
"—on our return, you will reunite with Lady Catelyn to see your grandfather in the Riverlands," explained Sebastian, while Robb's face showed his happiness with a big smile.
"So, we are going to see a king… and you never thought of, I don't know, telling us" asked Theon pointedly.
"Well, for starters, you never asked. You were all too busy awing yourselves in complete bliss and ignorance," Sebastian answered while looking at the group of heirs as if they were no more than a bunch of fools. A mask was no impediment to his contempt.
"Can I punch him?" asked Jojen in a loud whisper.
"We already tried and failed…" answered Jon, while Theon, Domeric, and Meera ground their teeth in annoyance. Robb was just happy at the idea of finally meeting his grandfather for the first time at the end of their journey.
"How about…"
And the group of heirs once again isolated themselves from the main group, planning, scheming, and deciding on revenge against Sebastian.
"Oh yes, nothing better than watching the struggle of such a hardworking group of heirs in a cause in common… only to repeatedly trip and tumble down into the fiery pit of failure—" expressed menacingly Sebastian.
"—Good luck!" he finally said merrily.
The group now had to restrain Jojen and Theon, with the whole group falling into nearby mud by accident while Sebastian released his hands from the hidden hand sign.
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"Ser Cassel, please check on the boys," Sebastian asked politely of the knight, who offered a grunt in response.
Sebastian left the camp, feeling how the sounds of wood clashing diminished with each step.
He reached a small clearing, trees surrounding it and small animals interacting with each other, as if survival was merely a suggestion. In the middle of everything, Jojen slept by a tree while Meera watched over him.
"Hello, Meera," interrupted Sebastian.
Meera finally realized they were not alone. She looked at him, then pointed to a nearby tree, far enough to talk without interrupting Jojen's nap.
"How is he?" asked Sebastian.
"He is just tired," replied Meera, while Sebastian nodded.
"I thought you would ask me about the small mud field that appeared out of nowhere" said a nonchalant Sebastian.
Meera, surprised, opened her eyes wide before sighing.
"Father?" she asked, to which Sebastian assented.
"There is a reason why Lord Howland Reed would send his heirs with me to the dangers of the south. Now, would you please answer my question?" Sebastian said, referring to Jojen.
"He… he has always been more sensitive than most of us. Father says that Jojen will surpass him in due time, but the burden will be much heavier," Meera shared, remembering her father's words about how they could trust this man.
"We are far from nature. The swamps are ours, they always have been, but not here. It makes us more tired than usual, especially Jojen" explained Meera.
Sebastian took a moment to think.
"Your flow is not optimal. Where I come from, we gather an energy based on both our spirits and our bodies, mixing them to do miracles similar to magic. It's not the same, but I think we could try something…"
Sebastian stood up, grabbed a leaf, and placed it on his forehead, or where his forehead would be.
"Breathe in and out. Feel the energy flowing through your veins. Focus it on the middle of your forehead and make the leaf stick there," he said while giving a leaf to Meera.
Her face scrunched her face in confusion at the order
Sebastian openly ignored her.
"I've had exchanges with Lord Reed about the mystical before" explained Sebastian patiently.
"Jojen here is more sensitive than you are, but I am sure you will feel the same as we continue south. Where I come from, it's called chakra overflow. The body does not regulate how much energy it releases, causing exhaustion. From what I learned about magic from Lord Howland, you both replenished it constantly while being in the swamp surrounded by it. You both need to restrain it. Practice, and once he wakes up, I will teach him too," explained Sebastian.
For while magic was not chakra, in his experience they shared some principles.
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Eastern Continent — Essos
Braavos — Market of Silks
In a small secluded section, away from prying eyes, lay a crying little girl with violet eyes, pale skin, and long pale silver-gold hair.
She had been sick from the water she consumed, and when she recovered a little, her brother had sold some jewelry to buy her a dress, to Ser Willem's disagreement.
They had been walking among the silks in the middle of a crowd, when the girl got separated from them.
Lost, she wandered until a boy of roughly the same age took her hand and led her to his hiding place.
A small ruined building, where some curtains served as a roof, and inside there was a small but clean room.
"Drink," he said while offering her something that smelled like freshly squeezed lemons and sugar.
She took a sip and marveled at the flavor dancing on her palate, much better than the juices the servants usually prepared.
Now calmer, she looked at the boy in question. A small boy, maybe a year older than her, lean and fair skinned, short and unkempt dark-colored hair, and more importantly on his face a small bandage covered both his eyes.
Daenerys's eyes started to get teary.
"Yo… your eyes… does… does it hurt?" she asked, trying to stop the tears from falling.
The boy panicked slightly, unused to such a reaction. He sighed while trying to coax the girl.
"Not anymore… thanks… thanks for asking," he replied, for it had been a lifetime since someone asked him that.
Then he did what he remembered from advice he had heard a lifetime ago.
First you eat, then you talk.
He offered her the only thing fresh at hand, a tomato.
'Sasuke's favorite' he remembered fondly, about the small kid who hated his guts no matter what he did.
Daenerys was flabbergasted, but unaware of much of Braavosi culture, she took the tomato and took a bite.
"Juicy," she smiled.
The boy beside her finally asked.
"You got separated from your group. Where do you live?"
To which an oblivious Daenerys said,
"The House with the Red Door."
He discretly sniffed the air.
The boy looked at her and realized where it was, for he had mapped out the whole city before.
"Come on, I will take you there," he said.
And just as promised, he left her at the house. He knocked, and when someone opened the door, the boy beside her had mysteriously disappeared.
"But-where-the boy-" she asked in bewilderment while Viserys shouted at her for leaving on her own. Meanwhile all she could think about was how she never shared names with the mysterious boy.
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A/N: I wanted to jump to king's landing, but I needed to deepen Jojen and Meera's reasons to travel along. I also introduced to our second reincarnator (besides Sebastian) in Essos. I wanted to introduced our third (and last one, the one leading the free folk) but I will leave it for later. I also wrote the chapter, and later found out about danny's missing the lemon tree. I think I left enough clues about the boy in essos (regarding his identity, if not, tell me and I will write it in the comments). , Hope you like it, leave stones, reviews, comments, or not.
A/N2: One of you had made a great suggestion about the identity of the mysterious boy, and you know what? it makes much, much more sense for the story I had in mind.