Ash

Nine years passed.

This is what Dante knew after finding his bearings:

He was born in the seaside village of Passerby, located in what they call the 'Passer By Coast'. Just a day's travel to the south was a prosperous town called Kayce.

Passerby and Kayce were part of a High Lordship, the Westerlands, under Lord Tywin Lannister's command. The Westerlands were a key chunk of the Seven Kingdoms, led by a King, Robert Baratheon.

Basically, this wasn't Japan anymore. Dante made it a point that he would try to find where his beloved Japan was eventually, even if only for reference's sake. The next important thing to mention was Dante's ability to understand languages. From the moment he was born, he could tell what people were saying, despite it not being Japanese.

Sure, it would take some time for him to learn how to SPEAK the Westerosi language, but he could always understand what people what is said. Further testing required. Could he know other languages? Dante was eager to find out.

Besides that, life in Passerby during these nine years was relatively calm and by no means out of the ordinary. Dante enjoyed the quiet life with his mother, Lily, and his cousin, Dorna, who was fourteen and had moved in with them after her parents died from sickness.

The three of them contributed however they could and made a good team, forming a bond of familial love. They would go out together for the first few years and forage the surrounding area for fresh produce. Once Dante felt big and strong enough, and once he had learned everything about the herbs and edibles of the land, he wandered into the village. He befriended a fisherman named Armond, who agreed to take Dante under his wing.

From there on, Dante woke before dawn and set out with Armond each day, securing large hauls of fish and learning much about the sanctity of the ocean. There was something profound about the fisherman's relationship with the sea that had caught Dante's attention. It was a friendship, a rapport. The ocean wasn't just an endless expanse but a living thing with personality and feelings.

Dante cherished those memories with Armond. They allowed him to meditate on the Universe during those long and nothing days out at sea while also productively earning his keep and providing for his family. Dante also tried his best to find time to help those in the village of Passerby. Fixing a leaky roof here, fetching water for the elderly there, any odd job, and Dante was happy to help.

Dante had never seen a blade for all these years in his new life. But that all changed when, once again, death came knocking.

It happened when Dante and the fisherman came back with their daily haul. First, they saw the distant smoke. Then they saw the longship's on the beach.

"Not good," said Armond with a worried look as he rowed the fishing boat, "Ironborn. Those sons of bitches will destroy everything."

Passerby, the place he thought might have been his second temple, his second chance at peace… Dante watched as it burned in flames.

"Mother!"

Without hesitation, Dante dived into the ocean, swimming fast to the shore.

"Don't do it, kid!" shouted Armond, "You'll only get yourself killed!"

In the village, the dead bodies of those Dante once knew and loved soaked the dirt paths with blood. Toe-curling screams of women getting r*ped or dragged off to the longships did nothing to lighten the mortifying mood. But Dante didn't allow himself to lose calm. He kept his head down and made haste to the hut where he lived.There, Dante saw his cousin Dorna dead in the street, butchered with an axe to the chest.

"No!" said Dante, a foreign anger riling inside him.

Inside, Lily had been backed into a corner, holding out a small kitchen knife in a feeble attempt to ward off her attackers. Three Ironborn reavers laughed like hyenas as they licked their lips and slowly approached her like predators savoring the hunt. But Lily was a fighter. The moment one reaver tried grabbing the knife off her, a struggle ensued.

Dante didn't think. He picked up a knife on the counter and quickly got to work on the other two reavers distracted by the tussle. Dante stabbed the knife perfectly up a reavers anus, taking the axe strapped to his waist. Then, holding with two hands, he hacked the second reaver right in the ribs.

"Ahhhh!" the reaver with the knife up his ass screamed, causing the assailant fighting Lily to shove her and focus his attention on Dante.

But just as he was about to engage Dante in combat, Lily took her knife and stabbed him in the neck with primal fervor.

Dante gave his mother an impressed nod, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Ahhhhhh!" the reaver continued to scream, rolling on the floor in pain and clutching at his asshole.

Dante rolled his eyes before taking an axe from the ground and swinging down so hard that they would have had to bury the reaver's skull with the axe with it.

<<(Shout outs to those who got that reference)>>

"Dante…"

But it was all for nothing, for when Dante turned to his mother, he saw her rags drenched in blood, her hands clutching at her stomach.

"Mother!"

Dante held his dying mother in his arms.

"Dante… I'm sorry," said Lily weakly, with tears in her eyes.

"Don't say that," said Dante, "You did everything you could. There wasn't a day when I wasn't grateful you were my mother."

"Oh, Dante…"

Lily used all her strength to place her hand on her son's cheek, "I don't like that angry look in your eye…."

Dante's eyes flickered. He checked his feelings, and he had to admit anger surged all through his spirit.

"Please don't fall to despair, Dante," said Lily, her light beginning to fade,

"You were always such a good boy…."

Those were Lily's last words.

Dante would find out later that this attack was part of a raiding initiative by the Ironborn as they foolishly rebelled against the Crown. This conflict would be known as 'The Greyjoy Rebellion', and the village of Passerby was just one of many places along the west coast that fell victim to it. Dante grieved for all the nameless, forgotten souls from this terrible war whose pain passed absently from the histories.

Passerby was but a pile of ash when the flames finally settled. On a hill, Dante dug two graves for Lily and Dorna, collecting shells from the beach and using them to decorate their edges.

"What will you do now?" asked Armond. He and Dante seemed to be the only survivors, "you could stick with me if you like."

Dante brooded for a moment as he patted down the last bit of dirt, "Thank you, Armond. But that won't be necessary."

Dante's grip on the shovel tightened. Twice now, he had tried to live in peace. Twice, the flames still found him. Sword or no sword, the end result is ash. Then, Dante decided on something: If the world wanted to be cruel, then Dante could be cruel back to it.

Dante took a deep breath and took one last look at the remains of Passerby. "I'm heading to the capital," he said, glancing at Armond, "You?"

"Kayce," replied Armond, "Might move onto Lannisport from there."

Dante smiled and offered his hand in friendship, "Then it seems we both are going where the tide takes us."

Arnold shook Dante's hand, "Aye. What say you in King's Landing?"

"Don't worry about me," said Dante, resting the shovel on his shoulder, "I'll be fine. Until next time, Armond."

And so, the nine year old Dante left for King's Landing wearing nothing on his feet, blood-stained rags, and the shovel he used to bury his own mother. A deathly darkness kept his emerald eyes in turmoil, his salt-sprayed brown hair falling over his face. From a distance, he looked like a spawn of vengeance, a servant to death himself.

Eager to dig some graves.

><><><><><><><><><><><

Next Chapter: A Warriors Pilgrimage

Lily and Dorna: We wish you would have kept us alive longer :(

Me: Lol, I would rather move on with the story thank you very much