The Known World

The crowd cheered for Jack, mostly women as they cooed like mares in heat. Jinn found the whole thing rather amusing. Jack would have made an odd Dothraki rider to say the least. Jack was kind, quick witted and valued the adoration of woman. Dothraki only cared to ride and to kill, the praised of others be that women or fellow riders were inconsequential. Any man who could not ride or carry an arakh was no man at all. Jinn had seen the boy from the pits fight before, he knew he was a gifted killer. What he wasn't sure of was whether or not the boy would have earned a braid were he in his Khalasar. Jinn pondered the prospect as Jack Dandy as a Dothraki rider as he stepped into the arena. The cheers shifted in an instant.

The woman's screams were drowned out by the men. Bellowing and chanting for the mighty Khal Jinn. Jinn strode onto the sands, an arakh in either hand as women bore their breasts at him and men beat their chests in tribute. He was a crowd favorite, the skill and savagery at which he dealt death had won him their favor. Jinn however could not have cared less, as always he ignored them all. This time he spun his arakhs casually, as easily as if he were born with them in his hands. The arena was empty, save for the two of them as they were pelted with cheers from the crowd. Jinn's eyes were fixed on the gate on the opposing side, waiting for his opponent to greet them. The gate opened and six men, as had come for Jon and Tenanye, stepped out into the open sun but this time they had something extra.



A tiger, massive and stocky with thick muscle stalked out with the men. It's feline eyes hungry and calculating, too calculating for any normal jungle cat. Jinn's eyes scanned the men, warriors all but one stood out. Coated in thick iron armor he carried no weapon, only a shield. Jinn could just make out their eyes behind the helm, white and milky, no longer seeing through the eyes of a man but a beast.

"A warg..."

Jinn grunted to Jack as the tiger paced on the other side of the arena. Five men and a warg tiger, an interesting combination. Jinn expected to heft the bulk of the numbers and allow Jack his choice of opponents. The tiger changed things, he valued his chances against the beast higher but did not lament Jack fighting alone against five men.

"The tiger needs to die first, kill the man and his soul will be locked in the beast and they'll come for you with everything. One of us needs to deal with the warg. What will it be Jack Dandy? The men or the beast?"

"What was it like?"

She asked and Flint blinked, unsure where she was leading him.

"T-...To have..."

Her voice trailed off, her mind grappling with itself to find the words. Flint was silent and gave her the time she needed to find her voice.

"to have a family..."

She said suddenly, as if in relief. Flint blinked again, he'd never truly thought about what it was like to have them. He'd spent many long hours, days and weeks even years thinking about what it meant to lose them but not to hold them.

"All my life, I wondered, who my parents were, where they were from, did I look my mother or my father...? There was a man once, His name was Davos, and he was the closest thing I had to a father, he even named me...but he died in war when I was still small, You had once, what I always wanted....What was that like?"

Flint was silent for a few moments, as Robyn had earlier now he needed time to find the words he needed. How could he explain his father or mother and what it meant to have them? How could he explain the kinship he felt with Jon, that brotherhood that was born the day they came screaming into the world. How could he tell her of Sansa and the pride he had at watching her grow into a beautiful woman. What words were there to describe Arya and every foul word she learned or the joy he got at watching her use them at some important dinner. He had no words to tell her of Bran and Rickon, the youngest of them all.

"A family is like..."

Flint tried but his voice faltered, his northern accent came thicker all of the sudden and he knew why. It was his fathers voice he was using, his words he was about to say. He almost shed a tear right there. He took a moment and continued, letting his father and those famous words remain at rest.

"It's hard to explain Robyn, I fear I'm a poor wordsmith but I'll do my best. Family is... imagine a ship, a vessel that you love, that protects you and keeps you afloat no matter the storm. That was Winterfell, that was home. It seemed unsinkable."

He said with in lament, a sad smile playing across his sharp features for a moment before he continued. The light as the Grey Keep went up in flames still fresh in his mind.

"Now imagine a crew that you trust more than yourself. That have been with you for as long as you can remember. They would never betray you. They would die for you in a heart beat out of love, not fear or respect. You fight with them, laugh with them, mourn with them, but that love always burns bright."

He could see them again and he smiled. Sansa danced before his eyes, a magnificent ball hosted all the Lords and Ladies of The North and Sansa was the light of the event. Arya was chasing Nymeria through the woods, a stick in her hand playing as a make believe sword as she hunted trolls in the trees. Bran and Rickon laughed together as they listened to one of mothers stories in front of a fire. Jon stood solem and grim as always, his hand on his sword as his great white direwolf Ghost stood at his side, both starnding on the wall of Winterfell looking out into the Wolfswood. His father sat in the high seat, the crown of Winter atop his head, he seemed proud of his children.

"It's only through them that you learn that you cannot live in this world alone. You think you can, you grow up imagining yourself becoming so strong you don't need anyone. That you could go off alone and survive but you can't, no one can. It's in the winter that you learn that, it's your family that provides the teaching. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."

Robb looked up and barely noticed the shift in his accent at the end. His father had proven right again, as always. He got his point across despite Robb trying to hide it. Robyn was staring at him, an odd look on her face. He blinked and Flint tilted his head.

"As I said, I'm a shit wordsmith."

Arya could hear each gulp as it went down The Hounds gullet, he drank like a beast but at this point she was used to it, he'd been around her long enough. The two of them were seated at a table in Winterfells great hall breaking their lunch on mutton, potatoes, brown bread and ale. Ale for The Hound at least, he wouldn't permit her ale because Jon wouldn't have permitted her ale. She had milk instead. She tore off a piece of bread and as she munched away her mind drifted back to Dae, as it so often had the last few days.

"You think she's alright?"

Arya mumbled behind a mouthful of food. The Hound just burped, ale dripping into his beard.

"Who?"

"Dae?"

"Aye, I imagine so. She don't go nowhere with your brothers wolf. You'd have to be a fucking idiot to try her now."

Arya nodded as she popped a bit of mutton in her mouth and chewed. Ghost had been, well as his namesake implied, a Ghost since Jon left. Then out of no where he appeared and saved Dae's life from an assassin, after that he rarely left her side. It made Arya feel good. Dae was protected and Ghost was a part of the family again.

"I told her you could have protected her, I knew you wouldn't mind."

Arya said casually before sipping some milk. Sandor merely grunted in his cup.

"If you think there's another Stark in the world who'd put up with my ugly face every day, you're drunk."



Arya chuckled. She didn't often admit it but she rather liked Sandor. He may have been gruff, foul mouthed and surly but she liked those qualities in him. He'd told her once, when he'd first been named her sworn shield by Jon. A dog will kill for you, die for you if he has to. But he'll never lie to you." The next few years had proven him right. He never coddled her, never treated her any different than he'd treat an adult and he never once lied to her. She got to her feet as did Sandor after downing the last of his cup.

"I want to check on Dae."

She said. The Hound nodded.

"After you, Wolf Girl."

She led the way, through the Grey Keep and up the stairs to the private quarters. No one stopped them, or even pestered them. She was the only living princess of House Stark and with the fearsome looking Hound at her back no one much lamented the idea of inconveniencing her. She reached Jons room quickly.

"You wait out here."

Sandor nodded and took up position by the door, looking grim and stoic. No one would bother her and Dae with her guard Dog protecting her. She walked inside, failing to knock. She found Dae hard at work at the desk. Working by candle light she was scribbling on a piece of parchment, only stopping to dip her quill in the ink well before continuing. She didn't even notice Arya walk in. Ghost did however. The massive white direwolf had been laying on the bed, Arya had thought him asleep but one step in the room and those blood red eyes were on her. He made no sound, nor did he move at all but she knew he was watching her. Arya decided to greet him first before Dae who was hard at work. After rubbing Ghost behind the ears she made her way over to Dae, working to crane her neck in hopes of seeing what she was writing.

"Who you writing to? Rhaegar Targaryen?"

Arya asked hopefully.

"My power..."

Jon began and Tenanye looked on him with sad eyes. She could see it, playing in his mind, whatever event prevented him from using it now, was dancing in his head and it was not something he wanted to relive.

"My curse... They call it The Hand of Winter, only members of the Stark line ever have it. From what I know it was given to us by The Children of The Forest during the Age of Heroes to help beat back The Others during The Long Night. Since then the power remained, one in every thousand or so Starks are born with it. I lived in fear of it my whole life... I only ever used it during the war. It isn't... something I use lightly Empress."

He said, and Tenanye smiled, The Children. She'd heard of such creatures, wingless pixies, the size of a children, Seelie in nature for their kindness toward mortals but the Others, Unseelie in nature, manipulators of the dead, fierce creatures who grew their army with every life they took.

"This is war, Jon Stark." Tenanye said. "You are now fighting for your life, and the lives of others, the scale may be smaller, but the truth of it remains the same. You're power is as frightening as it is beautiful, yes, but you, yourself have nothing to fear from it, your power is just that, your power." She told him, just as she noticed Jack and Jinn's match begin.

"Trust yourself, Jon Stark, the power is in you, not the other way around." She told him, just before the guards ushered them into their respective cells. Tenanye could sense the magic from fight, and her heart raced, it was only made worse from the sound of the roar.

Jack was still enjoying the cheers when their opponents showed up. The dashing smile that he wore faded, as a tiger appeared from the gate.
"A warg..."
the Khal said as the tiger rounded the arena. The odds were interesting, Jack could say that. He'd faced a warg before, but never a warg and five other men.

"The tiger needs to die first, kill the man and his soul will be locked in the beast and they'll come for you with everything. One of us needs to deal with the warg. What will it be Jack Dandy? The men or the beast?"

"The Men, " Jack said, a dark grin curling his lips. Jack during the fights was alike a different person, feral, and violent, wanting nothing but blood,He'd learned to control it mostly, guide the rage, but sometimes it didn't always work. Right now though, he was in control.


Jack stepped up, aiming his blade at the largest man of the five, wearing a rusty looking helm, and not much body armor and shield and a large staff

The large man swaggered up to him, and soon the match began. Jack braced himself with his shield, parring each massive swing of the large man's staff and he came down with his own sword, but it too was parred. The man came up, and cracked Jack hard in the face with his shield. Jack stumbled back, and shook it off, but not before tasting the all too familiar taste of copper in his mouth. Jack pressed two fingers inside his mouth and his fingers came away red.

Then it happened. Jack's body went still, dangerously still, he dropped his sword and his shield.

Jack's eyes had gone still, dark, they remained their steely grey, but there was no life in them, no sign of the Jack most loved. Something else played behind his eyes, something almost inhuman.

With a fearsome roar, Jack launched himself, toward the man, like a pirates bullet, his shoulder surged into the man's chest, only blocked by the shield, but it didn't matter as Jack still knocked him clean off his feet. Before the man had time to recover, Jack was on him, his fists came down, over and over, spraying blood, up into Jack's handsome face, which was now twisted in rage and fury, inhuman roars came from his chest, as he kept going, fist over fist, until nothing was left but bone and brain matter.

Jack wasn't done there, not even close.

"A family is like..."
He began, his northern accent stronger now then it had been in a long while, it hadn't been this strong since the day they met in Eleanor's office.

"It's hard to explain Robyn, I fear I'm a poor wordsmith but I'll do my best. Family is... imagine a ship, a vessel that you love, that protects you and keeps you afloat no matter the storm. That was Winterfell, that was home. It seemed unsinkable." He said, and Robyn clung to his words, trying to imagine things as he spoke them.
His words were sad, as was his smile.

"Now imagine a crew that you trust more than yourself. That have been with you for as long as you can remember. They would never betray you. They would die for you in a heart beat out of love, not fear or respect. You fight with them, laugh with them, mourn with them, but that love always burns bright." He said, and Robyn imagined it. The way she felt for Davos, if she could find him again, she would fight for him, kill for him, die for him, for her love for him, it was how she felt for Casey, before his betrayal....but then what he said, breathed true, if she had a real family, in Casey, he wouldn't have betrayed her...no, she never had family, besides Davos, and he was gone, gone in a way that she would never know how much he loved her, if he did at all.

"It's only through them that you learn that you cannot live in this world alone. You think you can, you grow up imagining yourself becoming so strong you don't need anyone. That you could go off alone and survive but you can't, no one can. It's in the winter that you learn that, it's your family that provides the teaching. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." He said, and Robyn looked at him, but she wasn't Robyn the woman, she was Robyn the orphan, clinging to the stories of ships and sailors, knights and pirates. She was a child listening to his words, taking them to heart. A lone tear touched her eye as she looked at him.


"As I said, I'm a shit wordsmith."

Robyn snapped out of it, looking at him, with a twitch of a smirk. blinking back the unfallen tears. "You did fine." She said, brushing her tears that had fallen away with a rough hand, and cold chill shook her spine. She didn't like feeling so vulnerable, she wanted that feeling of safety, but she wasn't sure if she was allowed such a thing. She had him, but for how long? How long would this last, this semblance of happiness.

As always, Robyn retreated into herself, not wanting to deal with the thoughts that plagued her. The confusion, the fear. She'd rather just forget it all then to deal with it but she started already, and she knew that Flint would not let her dive back into herself, he never did but did that stop her..... Of course not.

"If you tell anyone about all of that, I'll cut you in a place, we'll both regret later." She said, with a halfhearted smirk, unsure of where to go from there.

"Who you writing to? Rhaegar Targaryen?'
Dae jumped a little, her heart racing. "Gods, Arya..."She said a hand on her chest but smiled."You startled me..." She said, remembering how Jon mentioned that he used to call her Arya Underfoot for her fleet feet. Dae was glad for Arya, she'd been the only thing that was able to put a smile on her face since the moment she found Jon missing.

She shifted some, giving her space so she can read, trying not to think of that now, though it was never far from her mind.

She'd woken up, finding him not beside her in bed. She found it odd, but she got ready for the day, and shortly after she walked about the keep, expecting to find him in the throne room, or in a small council meeting. When she hadn't been able to find him there, she thought he'd was out hunting but Ghost was inside, and Longclaw was still hanging on the side of the bed. It was the fact that Longclaw wasn't with him did she realize something horrible had happened. He would never leave without it, It was the power of Longclaw that broke her curse, nearly relieving V'lane of his head, but instead Jon showed him mercy in exchange for permanent power in her legs. No, Jon would not leave without Longclaw, yet it was here and he was. She was in near panic, as she asked all the Kingsguard, servants, stewards, she even made her way to the Wall, and questioned the Night's Watch. All the same question.
"Where is he?"

"Yes, I am." She told her, blinking the thoughts away and the tears that came with it. "I just finished, Would you like to see?" She asked her and lifted the page for the girl to see. On the page, was written in delicate script.

King Targareyn,
The North thanks you for the warning, we are fortifying our Keep as I write this letter.
I must say, You're interest in the North, came as a surprised to me, but a warning to my small council. I am a new Queen, I know little of such matters, but I shutter to think ill of you, Your Grace.
So I have to ask, Why have you taken such interest in Northern affairs and how did you know of the invaders, to which none of my council had any knowledge of, when you are leagues away in Meereen?

-Dae Missan-Stark, Wife of King Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell, King of the North

"I don't like 'em."
the surly cook drawled, his voice, like the protest of wood.
"You don't like who, Randell?" Clara Snow asked, watching him as he stirred an indiscernible pot of hot slop. "I don't like 'em." He said, and it was at the moment, one of the crew, who eyed Clara Snow unabashed as he came up, looking for something to eat. "What's taken you so long, Randell?" he snapped and Randell just looked at him. "You'll get it when he's ready." Clara Snow said, and he looked at her then back at Randell."You spittin' in the food again....I know you are, Don't spit in my food, I'll know." He warned and walked off. Clara Snow shook her head as Randell unceremoniously did what he was told not to do.

"Oh Randell..."Clara Snow shook her head. There was no way in seven hells was she eating any of that, even if he didn't spit in her bowl. It was amazing the people on the ship ever ate. What did Robb and the Captain eat?

"Randell, Can I take some food." She asked sweetly and Randell gave her a toothless grin. He liked her...go figure.

With that, Clara Snow got to work looking for something edible, and came up with some fruit There wasn't a lot, but it was something. Randell wouldn't spit in her foot, but...still. No.

She made her way out of the kitchen only to find Randell's new friend blocking her path.

"Something sweet, for the sweet?" He asked, gesturing to the orange in her hand and snatched it from her. Max was not impressed. "Didn't you take over Noonan's?"

"Give it back." She said, with a roll of her eyes and he shrugged. "I'll give this back, if you do what you do best... "He said, looked south, and raising his brow. She huffed. "Give it back..." She said again. "Oh, give us a kiss, or how about a touch?" He said, pointing down with the hand the orange was in.

Was he serious right now?

Max gave him a sweet grin, and walked up to him, raising her chin, as if she was actually going to kiss him and in a swift move, she kneed him hard where he wanted her lips to be.

"There, you wanted a touch..." She said, and snatched her orange back.

"I don't like 'em." she heard Randell croon and Max agreed. "I don't like em either...." She said and stepped over the fool.

"Oh and Supper's ready. Randell made yours special..." She added as she made her way to the top deck.