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Chapter 49: Ch 40 The Gandpa and GranddaughterChapter Text

"Fuu... And that's the last one," Jon murmured while letting go of the string and the arrow immediately soared through the air and found its mark in the back of the last running Ironborn raider.

His quiver was nearly empty, and his hands were paying the price for his prolonged shooting. One hand throbbed with pain, while the other had gone completely numb. Despite spending long aching hours with the bow in the training field, it was the first time he had shot arrows for so long in an actual battle, which was completely different with all the adrenaline involved.

"Where next, Jon," came the eager question from his excited ride. Her head and snout bobbed just above the water's surface, and she seemed to think that it was a fun game and was having a grand time watching each arrow disappear into the Ironborn ranks.

"That's it for today, Cory," Jon smiled as he hung his bow on his shoulder and kneeled for better balance, "You were great, my friend. Thank you for helping me," Jon stroked her smooth skin gently with gratefulness. She'd been a perfect ride during the whole battle, in fact, Jon would go as far as to say that he was a better archer on her back than he was on the ships because not only was she an excellent swimmer, but she was also as stable as a rock and was able to carry him wherever he wanted to so he was able to access a lot more ships.

"No problem, Jon, It was really fun," she said, happily spraying a burst of water.

She wasn't actually saying all these things obviously instead Jon had just become so skilled at interpreting the thoughts of animals, even outside of his wargs, that it almost felt as if he was talking to a human instead of the massive killer whale.

Since Cory wasn't his warg, they didn't share the deep connection that he had with Frost or even Tweety, his new warg. With them, he could almost completely scan their mind at all moments and they would have complete access to his desires and emotions so that they are able to respond instantly.

With Cory, it was different, as he communicated to her through a complex language involving projecting and reading various thoughts, emotions, images, and sometimes even memories and then he could interpret those broken pieces into a common tongue and understand them.

*Ki*Ki*Ki*

"Eh... Who are you talking to, Cory?" Jon asked curiously as he felt Cory communicate with someone through her unique methods involving whistles and pulsed calls.

"My Mother," Cory answered casually as she slowly guided Jon toward his main ship. "She's hunting nearby with my brothers and sisters."

"Oh! Are they all down there..." Jon raised an eyebrow before a realization hit him, "Wait!—" he abruptly raised his head and looked around to find that he was surrounded on all sides by corpses littered in the sea because of the recent battle, "D-Don't tell me they are eating Humans!"

"Oh! No! Only fish," Cory replied innocently, "Humans don't taste good,"

"That is good," Jon immediately sagged in relief.

While he didn't worry too much about what happened with the Ironborn after they died. He still had no desire to be in the vicinity of killer Orcas while they were feasting on human flesh.

There are mostly two times when a predator is most difficult to control, one would be when they are on a hunt and their killer instincts take over them and the other is when they are fleeing for their lives from a bigger predator.

Suddenly sounds of jubilation and raucous cheering erupted from all the ships in the distance at the same time. It seemed the people on board finally realised that they had won the battle and completely annihilated the Ironborn.

Celebrations were rare after sea battles, given the usual high casualties and potential ship damage. but hearing the booming hoots and loud laughter coming from the ships, he was sure that there was no one alive on board who wasn't happy or relieved, and Jon was quite happy and proud to admit that he had a huge hand in it.

For the whole duration of the battle, he had tried his hardest and utilised his mind to the fullest. Using the omnipotent view he had of the whole battle, Jon hadn't let a single die person die if he could help it. Every time he came across someone who was getting ganged up or someone who was injured and was on the verge of losing, he immediately sent help in the form of his arrows and saved them.

His archery had long since left the realm of normal people and every time people saw him make those impossible tricky parabolic shots, they were left in awe, not to mention his speed and accuracy had gotten so phenomenal that he barely missed now even when he was on a wobbly ship with unpredictable sea waves.

Jon was absentmindedly watching the celebrations with a contented smile on his face when out of nowhere Cory suddenly jerked to a stop launching him straight into the frigid sea.

"What—"

He coughed and spluttered as saltwater filled his mouth. Panic gripped him for a moment, but he managed to regain his composure and when he resurfaced with a confused look on his face, it was to find his ride, Cory, running or rather rapidly swimming away in the distance and she wasn't alone as there were similar sized silhouettes along with her which he assumed were her family members.

"What in the seven hells happened?"

Jon was completely bewildered by the sudden departure of the friendly whale so he immediately tried to connect with Cory's mind to find out why she was fleeing. But the moment he touched her consciousness he was completely blasted away by the sheer amount of panic and fear she was feeling at the moment.

Her flight response had been fully triggered, her body was pumped to the brim with adrenaline, leaving no room in her mind for any thoughts other than fleeing for her life. But just before he was unceremoniously kicked out of her mind, Jon barely managed to capture a single image from her mind... an image of a large looming shadow hidden in the depth of the sea, which the Orcas associated with the ultimate invincible predator representing absolute death... that they must always flee from; it was something inherited from their ancestors and coded in their genes.

"What is it? What could the creature be?" Jon wondered aloud as he peered into the dark abyss of the unfathomable ocean with intense curiosity, "Could it be 'that' myth?"

The ocean depth was an unknown field even to a warg such as Jon. He had no idea at all as to the kinds of creatures that could be present in the sea of Planetos. And it wasn't like he hadn't tried to scout before, he did... but the results were always disappointing.

He had tried warging into all kinds of different marine species, from colourful tiny fishes to huge whales, from electric eels to killer sharks, but no matter what type of creature he used, after a certain depth all of them started losing their bodily function due to the pressure, and even if he found those rare few that could handle the pressure they would start resisting his control after a certain depth as if they weren't allowed into that part of the sea.

There seemed to be some kind of an invisible line in this world's sea that separated the ocean into two parts, the upper part belonging to the normal creatures while the lower part... well he didn't know who the other part belonged to, and he was dying to find out about it.

Floating in the same place, Jon hesitated for quite a while as his gaze alternated between the ships and the sea depth. A fierce battle was raging inside his mind between two parts of his mind, one side wanted to sate his curiosity immediately and find out about the mysterious creatures that had sent the Orcas running away while the other one was the more rational and cautious one that thought it was absurdly stupid of him to mess around looking for a dangerous predator in the sea while being surrounded on all sides by dead bodies.

"Ah! Fuck it!" Jon finally cursed to himself as curiosity and recklessness ultimately won the day. Crushing the rational part of his mind, he immediately closed his eyes and started to project his consciousness downwards.

Jon had come a long way from when he used to train with Robb and could only extend his mind a few meters at a time but now... now he didn't even know what his limits were.

As his consciousness descended into the depths, he encountered a colorful array of marine life fleeing for their lives. Gradually, the number of creatures dwindled until, just before he reached his limits, he managed to connect with a purple, thin-scaled fish longer than his own height.

He spent a few moments calming the fish's instincts, a skill he could only apply to simple-minded creatures. Then, he gently urged the gullible fish to swim deeper. Darkness enveloped him as he ventured beyond the reach of light. If he had relied on his human eyes, he would have seen nothing, but the fish's vision offered some clarity.

And then it happened.

A monstrous, tentacle-like appendage, thick and several meters long, slithered into his field of vision. Jon's mind nearly recoiled in instinctual fear, but he clung to the fish's consciousness at the last moment.

He swam around at the location where he had glimpsed that thing and before long he managed to capture it, and what he saw sent his heart beating like a drum. A tentacle, thicker than several meters, stretched towards the surface, dragging down the human corpses sinking in the water.

Jon's mind went blank as he struggled to comprehend the reality of his discovery, that his guess had actually been right and that the creatures that he had only considered myths till now actually existed.

If this one existed, then what about the others? What if the giant squid or rather the Kraken he was seeing now wasn't the only one that was real? What about leviathans? or Bloody Sea Dragons? What if all of the myths were actually true?

Greedy thoughts swirled in his mind as he started dreaming about riding Sea Dragons and commanding Krakens to pull down enemy ships for him or making them search the ocean floor for all the treasures and gold that had been sunken to the sea bed over the years.

The very idea had Jon practically drooling with excitement, and he wasted no time. He used the fish's mind as a stepping stone and swiftly sent his consciousness towards the source of the tentacle.

"WHO... IS... IT???!!!"

Out of nowhere, his mind was suddenly blasted with an immense consciousness, his sentience was like a small fishing boat caught in a fierce storm, just about to capsize from the tsunami-like waves continuously boarding him.

"STOP!!!!"

It was almost overwhelming, and he screamed unconsciously just as he was on the verge of losing his mind and somehow miraculously the consciousness battering him actually listened to him and stopped... giving him a much-needed breather.

"Who are you..." the voice repeated its question this time a bit more softly.

"I am Jon Snow, A Warg, I am here—" Jon began to answer before the haze in his mind cleared and his brain caught up with the situation and he realised that he was actually speaking in Old Tongue, "What? How can you speak?" he asked, baffled that he had found a creature using words, especially in the Old Tongue.

Even amongst his personal Wargs only Frost had begun able to speak and too was only in a somewhat broken common tongue, the language he most used. It was completely absurd that he came across a creature using words... words from the Ancient First man language that he learned from Old Nan in his childhood.

"So you're a Warg, huh..." The voice mumbled before answering his question, "Yes, I can speak the Old Tongue. You're not the first warg I've come across.," The Kraken helpfully supplied memories and thoughts along with his reply.

In those memories, Jon glimpsed a burly northern man in rugged leather clothing who had raised the Kraken from a young age. The Kraken went on a lot of adventures with that man, and the most noticeable thing about that man was the variety of animals he always brought with him. Sometimes it was a bear and sometimes it was a couple of direwolves and other times just an eagle.

Jon immediately connected the dots. "The Warg King."

"Yes, Some people did call him that," the voice replied in a musing tone, "Are you his descendent, perhaps?"

"Er... Y-Yes... Yes, I am," Jon said hesitatingly, as while it wasn't a completely truth, technically, he wasn't actually lying.

The Warg King was an ancient myth mentioned in a few dusty old texts in the library of Winterfell. He was a monarch and a skinchanger who lived in the North at an unknown point in history, ruled the Sea Dragon Point when he was alive and was said to have been an ally with the children of the forest.

But like all the other petty kings of the North, he was also defeated by the Kings of Winter of House Stark, and as was their custom at that time, the Starks killed his sons, beasts, and greenseers, but took his daughters as prizes... so in a skewed way he did share some blood with the man.

"Good... Good... How long it has been..." the voice said in a nostalgic tone as if it was remembering all the fond memories of his younger days.

"I don't know... A long long time,"

"Hmm... I know what you came to me for boy," he voice suddenly changed tone, "But you're too late now... I am old now and don't have much desire to go on adventures anymore... the only thing I can do much of now is just eat and sleep..."

Jon was immensely disappointed when he heard that, he already envisioned all kinds of scenarios in his mind about what he would do with all the gold that he would retrieve from the sea bed with the Kraken's help and now to hear that he wouldn't come with him was almost devastating.

"But—"

Thankfully the voice continued, "I have a young granddaughter who was always very interested in all the tales of adventures that I used to tell her when she was young, so I am sure that she'll be happy to accompany you for a few years,"

"Really!" Jon exclaimed, "Where is she? Where can I find her?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh! She's hunting not that far from here. Let me call her," Without waiting for Jon's response, the Kraken sent out a massive sound pulse, outside of a human's range, that Jon could only sense through the sudden waves created around his real body.

While they waited for the Kraken's granddaughter, Jon realized a crucial detail he had overlooked "Wait! You said that she's young, right? How young are we talking about?"

The Kraken replied casually, "She's just a toddler. But give her a few decades, and she'll be big enough..."

'But I don't have a few decades...' JJon's heart sank. He didn't have decades to wait. He wanted a fearsome sea creature to explore the world's seas from Bravoos to Quarth to the Sothoryos unhindered and not a baby squid that he would have to raise, "T-Then what about you son or your daughter?"

"My Son? My son is with his mate in a far far away place..." Jon immediately saw an image of a mysterious peninsula shrouded and hidden inside enormous poisonous clouds of smoke... probably the Old Valyrian stronghold, "And besides he's not much of a fan of you humans, so I don't think you should go anywhere near him if you don't want to become food—Oh, she's here,"

And indeed Jon could make out another mind approaching them at astonishing speeds. The new consciousness while still absurdly big compared to the normal living creatures he usually saw, was a lot smaller than the old Kraken's consciousness.

"Grandpa! You called?" the newcomer immediately asked her grandfather using sounds and vibrations and Jon picked up her meaning from her mind through the usual method instead of the almost human conversation he was having with the Old Kraken in Old Tongue. But that made sense as it would be too absurd for the Kraken to be able to teach Old Tongue to his Progeny.

"Remember Child, you once told me that you wanted to go on adventure like your grandpa when you were young?"

"Yes, I remember," the young lively mind replied.

"Well I found you a friend who will take you on those adventures—"

"Really! Where is he, Grandpa?" she interrupted him impatiently and immediately started searching the depths excitedly.

"He is there... on the surface,"

Not even a few seconds after that Jon felt that mind approaching him rapidly through the depths, and then instead of the baby squid that he was expecting a massive surface appeared below him and started to raise him above the surface.

"Waaa...."

An absurdly massive octopus head had suddenly appeared below him and if not for the night every single person onboard the ship would have seen her.

Jon had never seen a creature so big in his entire life, even the biggest blue whale he had seen in his previous life seemed like a small fish compared to it.

"Hello! Are you my new Friend!"

'If she's a young one,' Jon thought in horrified fascination as he looked at her massive size, 'Then how fucking big is the Old Grandpa,'

...

"Did ya finish the task?" Mance inquired without turning around.

"Aye, the fucker is dead," Tormund responded as he approached. I've brought his wives or daughters, whatever they are," he added, his face scrunching up in disgust. "Left 'em with Dalla, so now they're your problem."

"Don't fret 'bout that" Mance replied while handing the red-headed burly man the pouch of ale at his waist, "I am sure we can find work for them," he smirked while jerking his head towards the valley below them.

Both of them were standing on a small hill covered with snow, not far away from the coast, that overlooked a vast valley filled with trees. In the valley, Wildlings from various clans, men and women alike, were working together without the usual bloodshed, a sight almost miraculous.

The Freefolk were toiling with all their might on all kinds of things, some were cutting trees, others were turning them into smaller pieces for handling, some were just moving stuff from one place to another, and some more were bringing sacks on their back that were filled with metal mined from a distant mine.

"I don't know why you're doing so much for some southern shit!" Tormund grumbled after taking a hearty swig, and almost emptying the pouch, "That bastard's got our folk working like thralls here, and now he wants us to off folks like Caster. You gone all soft from your trips south, Mance?"

Jon had been pretty clear in his recent letters that Mance needed to cut off all sources of information the Night's Watch had north of the Wall. If they got word of what was happening here and snitched to the lords, All their trade plans would die in their infancy

"Slaves work on orders and they work 'cause they got no choice and get nothin' in return for it. What we are doin' here is called trade, and these people are working hard not 'cause I told them to but 'cause they want to get their hands on the food that I promised them," Mance replied patiently. He had already repeated the same words too many times when he explained to the clan leaders of all the different tribes so by now he was already used to all the questions and scepticism, "We are going to get a lot of food in exchange for anything we trade... You like food don't ya?"

"Ah! Whatever! I don't understand it, but I'll go along with it for now." Tormund grumbled. He then nodded toward another hill across from them, where clan leaders who had refused Mance's offer gathered. Among them stood the Magnar of Thenn and the Lord of Bones, also known as Rattleshirt. "But you do know that not all of them are happy with what you're doing here,"

"Don't worry 'bout them," Mance reassured Tormund. "I've talked to Styr, and he'll join once he sees the trade workin'." the Thenns were one of the most sophisticated tribes this side of walls and they also had regular deals with the Giants so if they joined in this project it would be a huge boon, "Many others are probably waitin' to see results before they make up their minds. As for the Rattleshirt... he's just a little man with some savages, he'll not be a hindrance,"

"I wouldn't be so sure 'bout that," Tormund replied with a sceptical shrug. "Heard Rattle shirt's called on Varamyr Sixskins... probably to help him loot the ships of your man from the South when he arrives,"

"Did he know... And how did he know about Jon being a warg—Ah! Ygritte!" Mance shook his ruefully as he realised who was the leak, "That girl talks too much for her own good,"

"So... Are you going to warn your southern partner 'bout this situation,"

"No need," Mance replied with a knowing smile. "If I'm right, he likely knows everything already..."

///