Game Of Thrones: The Lion With Antlers And Scales

I lived a good life. I was born to two parents who had the backing of rich families. I had everything I could ever want - except excitement.

When everything is within reach, it loses it's meaning. I could hike Mount Everest - except with the money I had at my disposal, what was the point? I could buy the best gear. I could hire the best guides. I could get the best training beforehand. Money, while great, comes with a burden of making things too easy.

Though, to those who aren't filthy rich, such a sentiment probably only shows my utter privilege in this world. And I won't deny it. I was privileged beyond what should be possible. It's a wonder I grew up to be a somewhat polite individual when everyone of my troubles could be swept under the rug with money.

Alas, privilege or not, life grew boring. So, I began to take risks.

It started somewhat tame. Hiking on my own. Camping in the wilderness on my own and with the barest of supplies. But soon, such risks weren't enough. Hunting wild predators which were infamously dangerous, on my own. Climbing deadly mountains without guides and on my own. Rock climbing without any safety harnesses and getting to heights that would lead to instant death at worst and lifelong crippling at best if I were to fall.

I even, at one point, went sky-diving. I threw the parachute out of the plane and jumped out after it. If I didn't catch the parachute and put it on in time...I'd have died. No two ways about it.

The extent of my hedonism and thrill-seeking knew no ends.

Which is why, on my 21st birthday, it got too much and I died. All alone, freezing to death on Mount Everest's peak. It wasn't because I wasn't skilled enough - no, this...this was an elaborate suicide.

But let's not jump into that too far. There is something of far more importance than a bored man's suicide. What could it be? Well, it would have to be a bored man's reincarnation.

Right now...I was being birthed, for Christ's sake.

Everything was blurry, but I wouldn't mistake a woman's thighs even if I were half-blind. The problem is, the way I was seeing them - it instantly told me that I was being birthed. Either that, or I was in hell and undergoing some very obscure torture and body horror. But I wasn't. Even as I could barely see a few feet in front of me, I could see the midwife in front of me, supporting my head and gently leading my body out of my would-be mother.

...This was all very surreal. Very, very surreal.

My ears were blocked with liquid, yet I could still hear the screams of my mother. They echoed and tore through the surroundings and I sued my meager control over my body to try and wiggle out of the tunnel most of my body was still in.

With the added help, which seemed to surprise the midwife, the whole thing took very little time before I was out and in the midwife's arms as the umbilical cord was cut and tied off. I was cleaned of whatever was on me and something was put into my ears, cleaning them. The sensation jolted me and I let out a cry of surprise.

A baby's cry, which was of no surprise by this point.

My hearing picked up after they cleaned my ears of the liquid and gunk inside them. Though the sense itself was still a little patchy and everything still sounded a little faded. But that didn't stop me from hearing what came next.

"My Queen," the midwife spoke, her voice full of caution and her tone subdued as if scared, "You've given birth to a healthy boy. Would you like to hold him--" she was, however, cut off by the Queen she was speaking to.

"Just give me my child!" the hoarse voice screeched, her anger coming across like that of a lioness' when someone was putting her cubs at danger.

The midwife, thoroughly cowed by the anger in the Queen's voice, handed me toward the bed-ridden Queen. Which is when I got a chance to see the woman who'd birthed me. In short, she was beautiful. She had long blonde hair, though it was currently sticking to her forehead and face because of how sweaty she'd been after giving birth to me yet that didn't hide the beauty that was there. She had unblemished and fair skin, a straight nose, full lips that were spread in a loving smile and brilliant emerald eyes that seemed like shining gems.

Oblivious to my thoughts about her, the woman smiled showcasing her pearly white teeth, "...You shall be named Leo, Leo Baratheon, first of his name."

...Huh?

The door was burst open and an utterly massive man barged into the room. He must've been six and a half feet tall, and his body was well-built and covered in muscle - obvious even through the fine silks he was wearing.

"Where is my child? Let me see my bloody heir!" he boomed, his voice deep and filled with bass as it ripped through the room, even hurting my ears a little. His bright blue eyes searched around the room before they finally met my own. We just looked at each other until the man's knees buckled and he stumbled a little. Two knights who'd followed him in, one stunningly similar in appearance to the woman who'd just given birth to me, steadied the man as he continued looking at me.

This staring continued until he burst into laughter. A proper 'hands on his stomach' belly laugh, his head rearing backwards as his booming laughter echoed through the room, his thick black beard jostling as he laughed.

As his laughter came to an end, he looked back down at me and took a step forward, "Look at the size of him! Built like his father no bloody doubt!" he laughed again. But this time, the laughter was cut off abruptly, the massive man staring a little above my eyes - seemingly at my hair. His bright blue eyes, full of fatherly excitement instantly switched.

They went from jovial to utterly furious within a mere moment.

He lifted a massive hand and pointed a meaty finger at me, "...What the fuck is that?" he asked, his voice tittering on the edge of an outburst. He didn't get a reply, everyone seemed shocked by his sudden change before something dawned on them. "Your king asked, what the fuck is that?!" he roared in anger and not a second later, he made a mad dash toward me and the person holding me. My mother curled away, shielding me with her body, seemingly understanding what had happened with the massive man who seemed to be my father.

The massive man was stopped, however, by the two knights following behind him. Despite them being smaller and therefore weaker than the man, they managed to stop him long enough for him to gain some semblance of composure. This didn't stop him from shouting, however.

"Silver-gold hair?" he questioned in a growl, "Silver-gold fucking hair?!" he questioned again, louder this time. "Did you fuck that Targaryen as well? Huh?! Answer me, you fucking whore!"

...I was admittedly coming to a rather grim conclusion about my reincarnation.

'Baratheon', 'Targaryen', a woman with blonde hair and green eyes who was married to a massive man who called himself King. Said man also being massive, having a beard, black hair and bright blue eyes. It all just led to one conclusion.

I was in Westeros, the land where the hit show and book series 'Game of Thrones' takes place. Though the book series is admittedly under a different name.

"My King, please, let me explain," an old man is robes put himself between myself and the King, and though the old man was shaking in fear and looked a few steps away from a heart attack, he still spoke up, "Your grandmother was a Targaryen, this is simply your child inheriting your grandmother's hair! He is still your child--just look at his eyes and his size. He is a Baratheon without a doubt! So please, calm yourself, my King!" the old man, presumably a Maester, seemed to get some sense through the King's thick skull as the aggression instantly left the King's body.

Though the subtle hatred in his eyes didn't leave his eyes whenever he looked at my hair.

Instead, he turned around, roughly shrugging off the knights holding him back as he marched out of the room. Not before he gave one last look at me - though this one wasn't one of anger or hatred. It just looked...sad.

And then he was gone.

One of the knights quickly followed after him, and the one who looked like a male version of the woman who birthed me just looked at my mother with worry before he himself turned away and left. I was pretty sure on who my mother was and who the knight was. He was my uncle, and my mother's incestuous lover.

I'm pretty sure my mom's Cersei Lannister. Which, surprisingly, doesn't seem to suck as badly as you'd think it would. For now, anyway.

The room went eerily silent after the King left, leaving Cersei holding me tight and the rest of the people in the room to just mill around awkwardly. That was until Cersei gave them all a pretty stern glare which sent them all scuttling away.

That's when it began to happen.

"You must be hungry, my little Lion," Cersei propped herself up, despite her weakness from childbirth and pulled me toward her chest.

I'd rather not go into the details of an incredibly embarrassing situation, so let's just say I reluctantly drank what was put in front of me. After this, she called for the midwife who took me to the side and placed me in a crib while Cersei slept. Overrun by fatigue despite having done literally nothing other than drink from my mother's teat, I fell asleep pretty quickly while snuggled comfortably in high-quality silks and fabrics.

. . .

When I awoke, it was the middle of the night. Completely dark. I doubt even if I had my adult eyes I'd be able to see more than a few feet in front of me.

Which is why it was weird.

Because I could see something right in front of me. A textbox. It was perfectly clear, yet I could see that it didn't light up it's surroundings despite having some sort of light source. Or, that's what I thought, because I could see it clearly. In such a dark room, for me to see it, it should be putting out some level of light.

Yet it wasn't.

Neither did I have the time to really ponder on why I could see it without it putting out any light. Because text was coming into existence inside the box at a slow and steady pace.

[Hero Lineage Detected...]

[Awakening Lineage...]

That's when I felt a subtle heat flow through my body. It didn't hurt per se. It just felt...odd. Itchy, if I had to put a word to the feeling. Yet it also felt like my muscles were twitching and moving on their own. Like something inside of me was...changing.

It was just a weird feeling. But it was also somewhat comfortable. Like I was lying in a warm hot tub and the bubbles were running across my skin.

This continued for what felt like a few minutes before another textbox appeared.

[Lineages Awakened...]

[Three Lineages Awakened: Lannister, Targaryen and Baratheon.]

[Applying Hero Lineage Starter Pack...Applying Set Physical Changes...Applying Random Physical Changes...]

The heat continued and suddenly, everything went black. Not just 'dark of the night' black but completely devoid of light. I lost consciousness. The next time I opened my eyes, the textbox had changed yet again. This time it had a lot of confusing information inside of it.

[Physical Changes Applies To The Hero: Enhanced Natural Reflexes, Enhanced Natural Athleticism, 100% Muscle Usage, Enhanced Health, Enhanced Bone and Skin Durability (Random Gain), Muscle Density Eight Times Beyond The Norm (Random Gain).]

Before I could even begin to try and understand this information, two more textboxes appeared underneath the one I was just reading.

[Lineage Unlocked Physical Changes: Enhanced Attractiveness (Lannister), Fire Immunity (Targaryen) and Natural Combatant* (Baratheon)]

(*A/N - He's a talented fighter, basically.)

[The Lineages Have Been Awakened. Hero's Possible Physical Deformities...Erased. Hero's Possible Mental Deformities...Erased. Physical Changes...Set. Job...Successful. Good Luck, Hero.]

...Then the textbox disappeared. I was just left...staring into nothingness. I wasn't completely lost - I could feel the changes in my body. I felt remarkably more in control of my body after the textboxes appeared and I could feel a subtle power in each of my short, stumpy limbs. More power than a baby who'd just been born should have.

But why? Why was I suddenly given these powers? Well, I assume whoever reincarnated me here sent me here for a reason. The textboxes did mention a hero. So...is that supposed to be me?

I nearly let out a giggling baby laugh as I thought about that.

Me? A Hero? I was unsure whether or not the person (or God) who sent me here had made a mistake. I was a decent enough person...but a hero? I wouldn't go that far. Yet, thinking of the people in Westeros, I kind of was a Saint in comparison to some of the shitty people in this cruel world I now find myself in.

In the end, I forced myself back to sleep. The last part of that textbox frightened me somewhat.

'Good Luck, Hero'. It implies something beyond the norm is coming and that I'm here to stop it. So, uh, no pressure at all. Yeah, I'm feeling...kinda excited, actually. I had been searching for that next thrill before I finally decided to end it.

Maybe saving the world would help sate that adrenaline junkie inside me?

. . .

"Do it again!" I hoisted the oversized wooden sword up again, the practice sword being deceptively heavy, and swung it back down with practiced grace and finesse most would be unable to match while perfectly fine, let alone worn out like I am.

Jaime, my uncle, shrugged to the side of me, "I know you can do better, Leo! Where's that brute strength you were so proud of?" he smirked his usual smirk, looking reminiscent of a cat playing with a mouse. Though, from my perspective, it was like the smirk of a tireless demon who lived only to push people beyond their limits.

...I was beginning to regret my hubris of trying to make a bet with him, if I'm going to be perfectly honest.

Lifting the sword once more, I took in a great breath of air, filling my lungs completely as I swung down at the dummy in front of me. Said dummy was made of ironwood, making it incredibly hard to even scratch, let alone break. Which is why when I flung the practice sword down with all my might, the wooden sword exploded into splinters revealing the dense metal rod at the center of the sword - the thing that gave it it's heavy weight.

The ironwood, despite the tremendous force I'd put it under, was barely even scratched. Sighing, I threw the practice sword to the side, the broken thing landing alongside other broken practice swords just like it.

Looking over to Jaime, I gave a grumpy expression as his smirk split wider into a full-blown smile, "What's this? The little Auroch Prince is giving up? I thought - and stop me if I'm wrong," he gestured to me, keeping this whole ruse going as he stifled his laughter, " 'I have enough strength to split two of those dummies in half, let alone one'? Was the great Auroch Prince wrong?" he asked in mock disbelief.

Rolling my eyes at him, I smirked as I replied, "I'm not the one who banned me from using my hammer. I'd have split the dummy in half if you'd let me."

"You and your bloody hammer," Jaime lost his smile as he frowned, "What's so bad about a sword? Or an axe? Your hammer--more like an oversized warhammer*--is a brutish weapon. No knight in the Seven Kingdoms uses a maul as their main weapon. Your talent with the sword is just as good as mine, Leo, to not use a sword is just..." he trailed off, seemingly annoyed by my constant disregard for using swords.

(A/N - A warhammer is usually a one-handed weapon while the MC's warhammer is two-handed weapon with a heavier head, like a Maul's. Still, it looks the same as a normal warhammer if you disregard the bigger size.)

I mean, I train in them, don't I? Just because I prefer blunt weapons he always gets his panties in a twist.

Smiling up at him, I brought an arm up and flexed, "And not use my brute strength?" I questioned rhetorically, lowering my arm as I continued, "I use a weapon that suits me, uncle, not the weapon that others want me to use. Grandfather taught me that," I said before erring for a second, "Or, uh, something along those lines."

Jaime just looked at me for a second before he burst out laughing.

He walked over to me and ruffled my silver-gold hair, "You're truly like a little version of me. Nearly as handsome and half as dashing, but the resemblance is there, nephew," he joked and I rolled my eyes once more, slapping his hand away. While he was chuckling at my reaction, something dawned to him as he stopped and spoke, "Ah, there's actually something the two of us have to do today."

I looked up at him, curious by what he meant, and seeing he had my attention, he continued, "Well, I say the two of us, but it's really just my job. Yet, the loving uncle that I am, I thought I'd ask if my brutish nephew would like to come with me on a mission outside the Red Keep."

Instantly, excitement began flooding through me alongside a little worry.

Outside the Red Keep implied outside of King's Landing. I'd been into King's Landing before and frankly, I never want to go again. Every where stunk like shit, piss, vomit or an unholy concoction of all three.

But outside of King's Landing...I'd never been allowed outside the walls. Both because, you know, I'm a Prince and securities gotta be pretty high around me.

But also because I had a, frankly, crazy helicopter parent for a mother. She still, to this day, wants me to bathe with her, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen despite me being 13-years-old. And knowing how my HALF-siblings were made, that's cause for concern, honestly. Though I do have some faith that my mother won't try and molest me, I'd rather not bathe with her - it's just weird and as soon as I turned six, I began to bathe on my own.

--Ahem, anyway, crazy overprotective mother basically means any proposition of going outside King's Landing would be shot down instantly. No matter who suggested it.

In fact, certain people suggesting it has had them be punished.

Yet now, I have a secret weapon. My uncle Jaime. The only person besides my grandfather Tywin bloody Lannister, who can get my mother to do something she doesn't want to do. Besides, if she'd trust anyone with my well-being, it'd be Jaime.

She has an unhealthy amount of trust in him despite him being an arrogant arse most of the time. Still, he is kind of an endearing arrogant arse, so I guess I gotta let it pass.

"Where?!" I asked, following it up near instantly in my excitement that maybe I'd be able to exit this place and go about the world a little, "What are we doing?!"

Looking somewhat surprised by my excitement, Jaime settled back into his smug expression, knowing these types of chances to act like an actual uncle could be counted on one hand. Though, what he said next turned all of my excitement into confusion.

"Well, of course, we'll be going Troll hunting."

...Eh? I...I thought those books were fairy tales but they were, like, real? Ah, shit. This entire world just got, like, ten times more dangerous.