Chapter 8: Southward Bound!
(YEAR 286 AC)
Five years had passed since Will and the others came to live with giants, and many things had happened during this time. One of the great things Will had learned while training his magic, was unlike in the world of Avatar, he didn't need to make all the outrageous hand and body movements to do what he intended. The movements did help a bit, but not so much that he looked like a complete idiot. It was more about infusing his mana into the earth, water, or air, while he simply forced his mana to ignite to create fire.
Infusing the surroundings with his magic gave him the ability to warp the shit out of things, and he could make it go for any element after it was done. He figured it was because magic was all around him, while Chi was inside the benders bodies.
It was basically how his magic sense worked. He overloaded the surroundings with magic, but rather than turning it into anything, he joined all the water particles in the air and sent out a sonar pulse, similar to how he did in the earth, giving him almost a perfect visual of his surroundings.
Will had trained his elements so he was a force to be reckoned with, going so far as to learn how to use the sub-elements. With water it was ice, though that was almost second nature to him at this point.
For Earth he had been practicing his metal magic, but with little success in it, though he could force it to slightly move a little bit. For fire he practiced lightning magic, but after almost killing himself with it, Elia made him promise to wait until he was at least in his late teens to try using something like lightning.
Wind didn't really have a subclass, but Will still trained his control with the wind element, going so far as to add it to the other elements. He wasn't that good with a sword yet, but using his blades combined with his wind magic, he could send wind blades much faster and easier than without a weapon.
He was also fast. Like insanely fast. He could run swiftly by decreasing air resistance around himself and even sprint across or run up vertical surfaces by generating a wind current behind himself to propel himself forward.
Will used this technique to travel at a speed almost too fast for the naked eye to be able to see properly, and to briefly run across water. The wipeout on water had been so bad that one of the giants had to go into the water and grab him before he drowned, but they did all share a laugh afterwards so he figured they were fine.
Aegon was walking and talking now, and wherever Will went, Aegon wasn't far off. All of them, Aegon included, could speak the language of the giants fairly well, and Rhaenys had quite a few friends among them. She was definitely more of a people person than all of them, and had even learned a bit of magic. It was by no means a combat magic, but she did have the ability of a Warg.
(A.N. Not a common Targaryen magic, but the bloodlines of the first men are described to have it, and the Martell's are among the first men. It's why all of the Starks have the ability. Plus if I'm way off base, this is a fanfiction, and I can do whatever I want!)
She first did it by taking over a small falcon she had been raising for some time, but it had been by accident. When she told one of her friends about it, they told her she was a Warg, and that she should hone her ability, which she did.
She cheated her ass off in every game of hide and seek they played after that, so Will did the same by building tunnels underground where her bird couldn't go. Aegon was immune to fire like his sister, and although he wasn't nearly as good as his sister, he could take over the body of his pet wolf, but for some reason he cried after the first few times.
It got so bad Elia actually told him not to try doing it until he was older, and like the good little boy he was, he listened to his mother. Rhaenys was the complete opposite of her brother, going so far as to do anything that caught her fancy, be it something life threatening like climbing the cliffs, or going to play with wolves.
That last one resulted in Will having to come to her aid, killing 2 wolves and scaring the others off. That was how Aegon got his pup, it being nearby when Will killed the two bigger ones, one probably being it's mother.
The giants taught them all how to respect animals, but really it was nothing Will didn't already know. He liked animals, but that didn't mean he was going to become a vegetarian. Meat was too good to give up, and even the giants who were vegan could respect that. Their teachings just made it so he would never kill animals for the sport of it, and to not waste their sacrifice and all the other weird shit those nature people talk about.
On some level, Will liked animals more than people, especially the Thenns. Ever since their run in with each other all those years ago, Will had run into them over a dozen times, and in every meeting he had to kill a few of them before either he retreated or they did.
Will did travel a bit around the area with the giants when they went out exploring, and he knew some areas better than most people could hope to, although those places were nowhere near the Wall so he probably wouldn't be any help to anyone when the story officially started.
On a side note, Will actually met with Qhorin Halfhand on one of his trips towards the south, even going so far as to share a meal with the man. However when Will met him he still had his full hand, so he simply called him Qhorin.
The man had wanted to know why a boy was traveling alone with barely any clothes in the freezing cold, and Will simply said he was taking a few days away from some annoying kids. That made Qhorin burst out laughing.
Will also had a discussion with Elia and Rhaenys about the Iron Throne, saying if they wanted it, they would do so without his help. Rhaenys had actually laughed at him, saying, "Why would I ever want to sit on the throne?!!" She meant it too. Having a claim to the throne was what got them into the situation they were in, that and their father was a horny little dickwad who couldn't keep it in his pants.
Discussion about her father was a sore subject for Rhaenys, and it was only after he told them all about how Rhaegar married Layanna Stark and had another child with him that he vowed to never bring him up in front of any of them again.
Elia had cried for hours that night. Not because she didn't know what Rhaegar had done, but because she had actually loved the man. The annulment couldn't of happened unless she signed the papers, but just because she signed them didn't mean she still didn't love him.
The part about Layanna Stark having a child before her death was news to all of them, and to Will's surprise, Elia actually wanted to find the boy. Despite all the stupid blonde cunt had put her through, she still wanted to find his child, if for no other reason than to see that he was safe. Rhaenys and Aegon were actually looking forward to meeting their half-brother, but that wouldn't happen for many years.
After five long years they were finally ready to go back south, a few years later than Will had originally wanted too, but they were all doing their own thing, and time just seemed to slip away from them.
"Do we have to go?!!" Rhaenys whined, marching slowly towards the sleigh. "I know you don't want to go, Darling, but I need to find your uncles." Elia said, trying to placate the little girl.
The thought of Oberyn and Doran thinking she and her children were dead almost broke Elia, and if the lives of her children weren't on the line, she would have found a way to let them know she was alive a long time ago.
She didn't know how they would react to her being alive, but she missed them terribly, especially her quirky overprotective younger brother. As angry as she knew they would be that she kept it a secret from them, she knew they loved her as much as she loved them, and all she wanted to do was be in their embrace once more.
Looking over to the boy who had risked everything, even going so far as to look after her and her children for more than five years, Elia couldn't help but smile. Will was like her own son, and she couldn't count the number of times he helped her.
She didn't know what he planned to do once they got to Dorne, but she hoped he would keep in touch with them, although given his personality she couldn't be too sure about that. Will was unlike anyone she had ever known before. Educated to an insane degree, frighteningly smart, (A.N. Compared to medieval times, not, Einstein level smart.) and a terror on the battlefield.
Even the giants didn't want to fight him, but that had more to do with the fact Will would never let them get close to him. All it would take was one hit from them and he was done, and he held no grand illusion about being untouchable. The giant's bows basically shot trees at insane speeds, and to try and stop hundreds of them with wind magic was asking a bit much from him.
As they all got into the sleigh, Will turned to the giants before he made a gesture with his hands, and in turn they did the same. It was a show of respect for them, one which he had taken to heart. Climbing onto the sleigh, Will gave them all one final glance before he cracked the reins, causing Trojan and Swift to start moving forward.
For every giant he passed, he noticed the knife-like blades of Dragonglass each giant had somewhere on him, making him smile. He had yet to fight a white walker, but he had seen them from a distance with some giants he was scouting around with. They had always known about the Walkers, but the method to kill them had been lost to them for centuries until Will explained the Dragonglass.
He didn't have enough of the stuff to arm everyone of them with a Dragonglass weapon, but most of them had a small shard of some kind to defend themselves if need be. Will told them they couldn't stay here forever, and that soon they would have to go south, but when they were needed someone would come to get them.
Mance Rayder had yet to leave the Night's Watch, but when he did, Will figured this might make it a little easier for the man. Will was brought out of his musings when he heard the thumping next to the sleigh, and without even having to look he knew it was Fang, Aegon's wolf running next to them.
'This dog is going to hate the south!' Will thought in annoyance. Originally he wanted to leave Fang here in the North, but Aegon was adamant about bringing him along, protesting and even going so far as to declare that he would stay with the damn thing if it couldn't come along, which made Will finally relent.
Of course, now that Aegon was bringing Fang, Rhaenys just had to bring Tweety, her falcon. Will had actually been the inspiration for that name, saying it once in front of Rhaenys when he was mocking a shadow cat that had the bad luck to run into them. Ever since then, the name stuck, much to Will's amusement.
The ride back to the Shivering Sea was much more peaceful than when they first arrived here, as there wasn't anything in the area that would dare go anywhere near Will. His smell was well known throughout the North to many different animals, and there was no other word to describe how they felt about him. Terrified.
Despite how much he respected the animals due to the giant's teachings, Will wasn't about to roll over to them. If he could scare them off he would, but when the situation called for it, he killed them without a second thought, taking their hides and carcasses with him in his inventory.
When they got to the ocean, Will brought out the ship before they all loaded back up, but unlike the other times, Trojan seemed displeased. Will guessed he didn't want to stay cooped up for weeks at a time in the confines of the ship, so he would probably need to dock every now and then to let him and Swift run around for a bit before sailing again.
Once again they were out to sea, the water pushing them along at greater speeds than most ships. "Why don't you ever drop the sails?" Rhaenys asked as they all sat together on the ship. Elia wanted to know this too, as she had always been curious but never asked before. Will's answer was not what they were expecting however. "I don't know how."
Those few simple words left the mother and daughter duo dumbstruck for a moment before Elia let out a soft laugh, which eventually turned into her holding her stomach trying to calm down. "I'm sorry! I was not expecting that!" She said after she finally managed to calm down.
"I can show you what you need to do." Elia said, still stifling her laughter every now and then. "How do you know how to sail a ship?" He asked as he began to do everything she instructed.
"My mother was adamant I learn how to sail even though I couldn't be on a ship for very long. It went something like, 'Being incapable is no excuse for being ignorant!' She would always tell me, and I took it to heart. I know many things, but how to actually do them is another story." Elia admitted, smiling at the fond memory of her own mother.
It didn't take long for the sails to be down and for Will to start using Wind magic on the sails, propelling them even faster than they were before. "Wow!! This is so cool!!" Aegon said, running over to the front of the ship.
"If you think that's cool, you just wait until I teach you how to go kitesurfing." Will said, making Aegon smile in excitement. "Is it as fun as sledding?!!" The little boy asked, remembering some other things Will had shown him. "Hmmm... Depends on if you like flying in the sky." Will answered cryptically, getting a whoop of excitement from the boy.
"It will have to wait until we get to Dorne. Doing it anywhere else and you might freeze to death." Will added, calming the boy down. "I can stand the cold!! We grew up in the North!!" Aegon chimed in, trying to act like he could handle any temperatures.
"Swimming in the bathtub doesn't count!! If you jumped into the ocean right now, you'd freeze to death!! They call it the 'Shivering Sea' for a reason!!" Will refuted, not allowing the boy to get it through his thick skull that he could handle the freezing cold.
"Even I wouldn't want to get in this water, so there is no way I would let you do it. Just wait until we get to Dorne, then we'll have some real fun." Will said, making the pouting boy smile.
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It only took a little over a week to get to Bravos instead of the weeks or months it should have taken by ship. Their speed was that great, and Will wondered if anyone could replicate that feat. They only stayed in the city for 3 days to give the horses and Fang time to run around to their heart's content, then they were back on the ship and sailing once more. It was only after they had left that Will thought about Daenerys and her shitstain of a brother, Viserys.
He liked Daenerys in the beginning of the series, but after she got her dragons she thought she was hot shit and never actually did a damn thing but commanded them to attack. Her biggest threat was those fucking Dragons, and Will was going to change that shit from happening this time.
Whether it was killing her or stealing the dragons so she didn't have them was still up for debate, but if he was going to keep her alive, he would need to do it before her cunt of a brother sold her off to Drogo. 'Maybe I'll go and see about saving her after I steal the eggs.' Will thought, forgetting about the Dragons and their would be mother for now.
From Bravos they sailed for almost three days before arriving in Pentos, at which point they stayed for a few weeks, although that had more to do with Aegon catching fever than letting the horses rest. Despite all of Will's healing, the fever wouldn't break for many days until finally one morning Aegon's temperature started to return to normal.
Elia didn't leave his room for the entire time, crying and praying every night to the Gods that he would get better, and Will knew she would have given her own life if it meant him recovering. After that, they decided to take a few days to ride over land southward to Myr, and from there they would ride to the coast near Lys. After that it was maybe a day or two to Sunspear, where Oberyn and Doran would hopefully be.
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Travelling through the Flatlands, Will took full advantage of the vast fields and purchased literal tons of hay for future use, wheat by the wagon loads, and grapes and wine. They did run into a small Dothraki raiding party once they left the limits protected by the cities who paid tribute to the Dothraki Kahl's, and it was there that they all died.
As they charged towards them on horseback, Will met their charge by opening up the earth in front of them, causing their horse to stumble and fall, many of the riders crushed beneath their mounts during the fall, and the few survivors were brutally beheaded.
Will felt bad about killing the horses, but if he tried to pick the riders off it could very well have ended with them getting too close for him to effectively defend himself and his carriage, so he did what needed to be done.
When he looted the bodies of anything of value, for some reason he found humor in it. These people had tried to kill him or enslave him, and take his things, yet here he was, standing over their corpses as he took their things.
There wasn't much of value other than a few weapons, some weird looking coins, and the saddles and bridles from the horses. Finished with that, they carried on for a few more days before arriving in Myr, and it was here that Will was left speechless. For being considered one of the free cities, there were 3 slaves for every free person, which was just ridiculous.
The city was beautiful and grand though, and some of the items were too good to pass up. The Myrish Eyes were something Will bought in abundance, as he didn't think this world even had Telescopes, but here they were. He purchased 30 of them and stole 50 more from people, but after that he had to slow down for fear of being caught.
There were also mirrors and carpets, which Will also helped himself to as well, though he rarely ever paid for anything from the bigwigs. If it was from a small stall or from people selling from a cart, Will always paid for whatever it was they were selling, regardless of whether he even wanted the item or not.
"The next trek of the journey is through the Disputed Lands, and from what I learned there are many battles that go on all the time, so it's up to you all if you want to risk it." Will said, entering the room they had rented at a tavern on the outskirts of Myr.
Elia looked at Aegon before frowning. "I don't know if it's such a good idea." She said, her overprotective side showing. "I'll be fine, mom!!" Aegon said, trying to make Elia stop fussing over him. Throughout the entire trip from Pentos he wasn't allowed to leave her sight, and frankly he looked like he was being smothered.
Elia looked as though she wanted to refute the poor boy, but before she could, Rhaenys chimed in, "We can go a lot faster by ship, and it's safer because no one in the world can keep up with Will." She did have a point, and Will almost gave the girl a high five, but he didn't want Elia to be angry with him.
She had this way about guilting him into feeling terrible when he was being stubborn or just didn't want to do anything, something mothers were quite skilled at. With the votes against her, Elia finally relented and they set sail from Myr, heading straight to Sunspear.
On their journey they would need to go around the Stepstones, as it was a pirate paradise and sailing through it would mean conflict around every corner. There was still a high chance of running into pirates, but there was just as high of a chance to run into mercenaries in the Disputed Lands, so neither way was safer than the other.
However to fight a sea battle with Will was akin to suicide, and even if the odds were against him, Will could make his ship move at speeds a pirate could only dream about.
Shortly after sailing past the city of Tyrosh, Rhaenys claimed there were 3 ships about 3 miles ahead of their position, and to go around them would be fairly easy. Warging was definitely useful out at sea, but rather than go the easy route, Will had a different idea, and so he continued on to meet the ships.
If they were friendly they would greet them peacefully, but if they were enemies, Will would acquire more ships to add to his fleet. As soon as he came into view of the ships they increased their speed to meet him, and Will could tell instantly that these people were not going to be friends.
Elia and the kids went inside the ship while Will went out to meet them. He didn't want to risk harm on Elia or her children, so he jumped into the water, only for it to cushion his fall as it rose up to meet him, then turned to ice before rocketing forward. Once he arrived at the center of the three ships, Will controlled the water to send him upwards in a miniature tornado thing.
(A.N. How Aang attacks Zuko's ship in Season 1 of Avatar!)
The people on board the ships screamed in terror, but Will didn't bother listening to it. Instead he created large water arms that reached out and grabbed people from the ships and threw them into the water, which then pulled the people under until they no longer moved. Landing on the deck of the lead ship, Will used a magic sense to see if there was still anyone alive on board, and found there to be 8 men hiding below deck.
Using the water to do his bidding, Will dragged them out by their ankles, not being very gentle about it as he did, then wrapped water around their heads, effectively drowning them while keeping them out of the water.
He did the same to the other two ships, although one person did manage to make it within 5 feet of him, which was quite impressive considering he had to go through giant water arms. Will had thrown an ice spear into his skull, killing him on the spot, bringing the battle to a predictable end.
Will gathered the corpses from the water and after he looted them for everything they had, he burned them until they were nothing but ash. He had no idea what was in the ships just yet, but he could always go through them later, storing them inside his inventory for a later date.
For now, Will went back to his ship where Elia and the two children were already waiting for him near the ship wheel. "You saw." Will said plainly, looking over to Rhaenys who was staring intently at him. "Yeah." She answered, not bothering to hide the fact that she watched everything he did through Tweety's eyes.
Will wasn't sure if she was staring because his powers interested her so much, or because he had killed so many people, but it didn't really matter all that much to him. Their time together would end once he met up with Oberyn again, and that would hopefully be the end of both her curiosity or fear, whichever it was.
All he could do was shake his head and walk away, setting the ship back on course for Sunspear. They still had about 2 days before reaching there, and Will couldn't help but look forward to it and dread it all at the same time.
On one hand he would be able to set out on his own and not have to worry about protecting anyone, but on the other hand, he would be all alone, and Elia wouldn't be there with him. Despite what he said or thought, she was someone he considered family and there was nothing anyone could say to change that. Being together for over five years would do that to people, and he couldn't help but look at all of them in a new light.
That night Will slept alone beneath the stars on the deck of the ship, wondering how things would play out for himself after he reached Dorne. One thing he wanted to do was go to Mereen and buy a group of slaves, then have them fight with him to do whatever it was he wanted to do.
Being a pirate sounded like it could be fun, and with his powers he would almost be unstoppable. The leader of a mercenary band also sounded appealing, and if he played his cards right he wouldn't have to worry about being hunted by the rich bastards who ruled the world.
From all of the Fan-Fictions he read, everyone always found some way to sit themselves on the Iron Throne, but Will couldn't imagine anything worse. Sure you could tell people what to do, but literally the entire world would be secretly conspiring to kill you or use you in some nefarious plot, and Will didn't want to be that person.
He came here because he was good at killing people, hell he was great at it!! However he needed more to his life than that. He could start a family, although marriage wasn't really in the books for him at the moment. If he did, it would be more like how Oberyn did it, choosing to not marry and instead claim his children and take care of them however he saw fit. Plus he already had somewhat of a family with Elia and her kids. They could never replace his real family in his heart, but they had wormed their way inside his little black rock all the same.
Of course there was still the problem with the White Walkers, but he wasn't really too concerned about that for now. He would help to arm the Free Folk with Dragonglass as soon as Mance Rayder united the clans, and once they had a way to fight back, Will believed they would cut the number of walkers down dramatically from what they faced in the show.
There was also where he wanted to settle down when he was done having his fun in this world, and after considering all the backstabbing, the neighboring lords, and other shit, Will came to the conclusion it would have to be somewhere in the North. At first he was thinking of just buying a little house and calling it good, but then he would have to answer to some lord or whatever, and that was big fucking no.
If he got his own territory or something, there would still be the crown or whatever to deal with for paying tribute or something, but he would settle that dispute when it came up. From talking with Elia, learning about the customs and rules about governing and all, he was sure he didn't want to be a member of the common folk. Those guys got screwed six ways from Sunday!
The Starks were too fucking honorable to stab him in the back, and he liked most of the neighbors, minus the Boltons. That was something else about this world which was helpful. People could always meet a tragic end somewhere down the line, and if there was no proof or witnesses, then no one could prove it was him.
All this wondering about his future and stuff could wait for later until he actually was ready to do it. Unless he was trying to get revenge on some asshole who wronged him, planning stuff out didn't sound nearly as appealing.
Will drifted off into slumber, his mind racing through what he wanted to do next, but nothing ever remained for long. It took two more days of sailing before Sunspear could be seen off in the distance, and for the most part they hadn't run into that many people who wanted to kill them.
They did cross a few merchant ships, but they were more wary of Will's ship than he was of theirs, steering clear of him by a wide margin. Rhaenys did mention a few ships off in the distance every now and then, and Will would jump in the water, only to return shortly after. They never saw any of those ships up close, and no one would ever see them again.
Seeing the city coming into view, Will had to hand it to whoever built the damn thing. It was beautiful. At least the part overlooking the ocean. For all Will knew, the other side could be like King's Landing and smell like shit, however given the fact he couldn't smell it even from where he was made him believe that was not the case.
They were still about half a mile off shore when Will stopped the ship in the water, then grabbed some paper, quill and ink. He wrote out a message, then rolled it up before tying it onto Tweety's leg.
"Do you remember what your uncle Oberyn looks like?" Will asked Rhaenys, who nodded her head after giving it some thought. He was basically the male version of their mother, so it wasn't all that hard to forget the man.
"Fly it into the palace and give it to no one but him. If someone else approaches, fly away. Got it?" Will said, to which she again nodded her head. "Alright then. Get going!" Will said, a little excited to see how the man would react to this.