Chapter 45
Within a large wooded area a portal opens and a small group of 15 people walk out. Looking around and seeing the large trees with trucks the size of city gates giving off a golden hue in the sunlight, everyone took in the beautiful sight.
"Where are we?" Arya asked as she studied the forest. It was very different from the forests of Westeros.
"We are in the Forest of Qohor. It's the closest to Slavers Bay I've been so figured we can head east southeast to Meereen then south to Yonkai then Astapor. I figured Ygritte Tommen wanted a new pet so we could find one on the way rather than taking a ship from Lys. Plus there's an animal I've heard can be found here I may wanna take home." Cyrus answered back.
"What animals are here, what are my options?" Ygritte asked excitedly, she just had the one shadowcat, who wouldn't want an assortment of options. Each animal had its own traits and talent tree. Bears and boars were more tank class, cats and dogs were your damage and the rest varied depending on the breed. Deer and birds were more of a supportive type pet than anything.
"Well there's Great Elk, spotted tigers, wolves, tree cats, monstrously huge boars, spotted bears and I'm looking for the famed Little Valyrians that can be found here. It's a type of lemur that has silver fur and large purple eyes. They can only be found here and are rare." Cyrus answered back.
Tommen, hearing the different types of cats, got a special glint in his eyes. Cats were his favorite, he planned on getting one of every cat.
Ygritte was interested in the boar and bear, Jon had his wolf so she wanted something big.
They traveled the forest hunting and looking for pets, Tommen got himself a spotted tiger and a few tree cats and Ygritte got her huge boar. It was as big as a black bear, with huge tusks and dark brown fur with a patch of black hair on its head.
Cyrus didn't find his lemur till they were deep into the forest which after he had tamed it, it was quickly stolen away from him by the girls. After seeing it they each demanded one of their own, even Julia got in on the demands. He had no clue what to do, how was he going to find so many? He was at a loss on how to handle it, but was given such a stern look from all of them when he tried to rebut all he could do was nod and agree.
Unfortunately he wasn't able to find enough, but what did work out was he did find two males and two females in total and so he would be able to breed them, so eventually they would all be able to own one in the end. They ran into the occasional Dothraki screamers, which were easily dispatched by the group. The Dothraki have been restless since Khal Drogo was killed, it had created a large power vacuum within the Dothraki. Drogo had one of the largest khalasar, and Cyrus only killed those that attended his wedding. After the wedding the rest of his people scattered across the Dothraki Sea joining other Khals. Then those Khals began to wage wars with each other as well as Pentos in retaliation for Drogo, although that was just their excuse so that the Magistrates would pay more ransom to get them to leave.
Cyrus had a nice strong group with him so they could just attack the city themselves to free the slaves, if it came to a battle at all but Cyrus had a nice plan.
All who came with Cyrus were Alexstrasza, Daenerys, Shireen, Myrcella, the Sand sisters, Stark sisters, Julia, Jon Snow, Ygritte, Tommen and Thoros. As well as the three not so little dragons, although they were currently enjoying themselves in their pet bags Cyrus made them. It wasn't safe to let dragons run free, at least until they are older. The dragons loved it inside their bags, it was a world of their own inside which had an environment that promoted healing, growth and had plenty of food inside.
Oberyn was busy tracking the Mountain while King Robert was continuously fighting north of the wall. Once he knew there was plenty of fighting to be done he basically moved to the furthest command base beyond the wall, Ned Stark was left in Kings Landing to run the realm. Had the events of the tourney not happened he probably wouldn't have lasted long, but he had the backing of the people. In fact many just called him 'your grace' rather than Ser Hand or Kings Hand. Many even wanted the Starks to take the throne, but Ned made sure they knew Robert was king and was fighting the dead and demons for them now.
Ned also was able to finally meet his long lost kin with the Company of the Rose, Edric Stark came with a few of his men and met him in Kings Landing while the rest were heading to Stormwind. They had heard of the city built by Cyrus in the Gift near Queenscrown, and since they knew he was the reason they could return home they decided to relocate there rather than back in their families estates. They could still visit their families now, so they saw no need to cause issues with the family that was there already. Most were strangers even though they shared the same blood, the exile was many years ago and all the current company was made from the descendants of those who were exiled. So they hadn't met any of the current members of their houses, they knew of them more thru news they received.
Ned was now focused on the Vale, his foster fathers realm. They had gone silent since the tourney, many Knights of the Vale had left bringing word of what was going on. Petyr Baelish had wed Lysa Arryn and announced himself 'Warden of the East' alongside Lysa and Robyn. Many houses in the Vale didn't approve and that was why many just left after Lysa had said they wouldn't be participating in the crowns war. They understood that the realms would need to fight together or they would die separately, they didn't want to have one of those monsters appear in the Vale while they closed themselves off. So many knights left to find houses that they could transfer themselves and their families to that would take them.
After Petyr had left, because he left in such a hurry and since Varys had jumped ship to team Stark all of Petyr Baelish's crimes came to light. The gold he had embezzled was mostly found, an arrest proclamation was issued to the Vale pointing out the reason for the Kingdoms debt was all Littlefingers' fault. When such news hit the realms there were calls for his head from everywhere. Many had been affected by what he was doing, families were torn apart and destroyed because of it. All his property was seized by the crown, Ned had put all new management into the brothels and released those who were forced into prostitution. He wasn't dumb enough to completely close down brothels, it would've created more issues long term. People needed a legal way to relieve stress and not all prostitutes are forced into that life, most did choose that line of work themselves while it may have been due to one thing or another but he left it for them to choose. If they wanted to continue fine, if not Ned was more than happy to let them stop and find work they wanted.
Even with so many calls for his head Petyr and Lysa were able to hold the Vale, it was a difficult land to invade by land after all. Robyn Arryn was Petyr's key to holding the Vale. Everyone thought he was Jon Arryn's true-born son even though he was actually Petyrs, only Lysa and Petyr knew it, not even Robyn himself. So all the Arryn knights stayed but only for loyalty to Robyn, they made it clear to Lysa that although she remarried, Robyn was heir and no child from her current marriage would be heir to the Vale. She agreed outwardly while internally she laughed at their ignorance.
She was still after her sister Catelyn and the Starks, she hated Catelyn because she got to wed the young Eddard Stark while she had to wed the old Jon Arryn. She also knew Petyr loved Catelyn more than her and would toss her aside for Catelyn or Sansa if given the chance, Sansa reminded him of a young Catelyn Tully. So she wanted to kill her sister and nieces so that Petyr would stay with her, she had loved him since their childhood but he always had eyes for only Catelyn. It was why she didn't pass on Lyanna Stark's letters she wrote trying to explain she wasn't kidnapped and raped by Rhaegar, she wanted the war same as Petyr but for different reasons. Petyr just wanted chaos and for Ned Stark to be killed so he could get Catelyn, she did it to kill all the Starks so she could keep Petyr.
Doran Martell after learning of Tywin Lannister and House Lannister's fall was at a loss. Doran had been planning revenge for so long and now his revenge couldn't happen. He had gotten word from his brother that he was going after Gregor and Amory, but unlike his younger brother he didn't approve of this. Doran felt Oberyn was to blame for his plans falling apart, he didn't want Oberyn to get involved with the wolf in the first place. Now the wolf was the power behind the crown and he wouldn't bend the knee to the Starks. He decided to shift his revenge to the Starks, he blamed them for the rebellion and the death of his sister and children even though Ned didn't approve or have anything to do with it. There wasn't much left of the Lannister's anymore since Tywin was the most dangerous of them all. Kevan Lannister did have three sons and a daughter but he wasn't as good at ruling and his children were no threat. The threat now was the Starks in Dorans view, he had wanted to wed his daughter to Viserys or his son to Daenerys but Cyrus Stark killed Viserys and took the Targaryen princess shattering his chance at another dornish queen or king. He felt Cyrus turned his brother and family against him and was purposely hindering his plans. Even his oldest daughter Arianne, when she came back from attending the 'Red Wedding of Pentos' had turned on him after he was enraged by her lack of care for Viserys' death. After she met him and saw how weak and ill-tempered he was, even if he hadn't died she told him she wouldn't have married him and if Doran forced it she would've just killed Viserys herself. After that she had left Dorne without so much as saying where she was going or when she would be back. So Doran had to enlist his sons Quentyn and Trystane, he planned to send them north to get close to and try to woo the Stark girls so they could get close enough to Cyrus and his father so he could poison the two. It was just Cyrus and Eddard he wanted dead, Doran wasn't ruthless enough to kill women and children or unrelated people. If they were a threat then he had no qualms but he knew the only two threats were Eddard and Cyrus. When Quentyn learned his supposed bride was stolen by Cyrus he immediately agreed whereas Trystane didn't want to be involved. Trystane wasn't a warrior like his older brother or sister or even his cousins, he was also young and preferred to continue being a lover rather than a fighter. So Quentyn Martell travelled along with some of his men north, he fully planned to take a look at this Targaryen princess his father had planned on him wedding. If he liked her he would take her if needed, if he had to kill to do so then so be it. He also had heard of Sansa Stark's beauty and didn't mind seeing if he could bring home a few paramours for himself. The Dornish culture was very licentious, it was a closely held secret Prince Lewyn Martell who was the Mad Kings Kingsguard, kept his paramour despite their oath of chastity. Quentyn wanted to be like his uncle Oberyn and have multiple paramours, and having a dragon and wolf paramour sounded nice to him.