Andrik the Unsmiling - Drowned God's Priest?!

Kai noticed the burned stump on Andrik's right hand as the mate kneeled in front of him.

The over 7 ft tall giant ironborn had his head almost touching the musty floor. Kai noticed the slight trembling of his shoulders and his drenched back, and he also noticed how Andrik had been trying to not see into Kai's eyes since he had come into the captain's cabin.

Using Selene's mist form, Kai was still actively hiding his reptilian eyes.

Did he perchance see my eyes? He thought, frowning. Is that why the Abnormality Limiter not returning to normal?

Kai saw his Abnormality Limiter, the value at the bar's end kept fluctuating between 2.9 to 3%, and he could have sworn this fluctuation matched Andrik's shivering figure in rhythm. What could be the mate thinking that he was seeing the effect so obliviously? Kai didn't ask this question straightway and instead decided to clear the doubt that had come to him after killing the ex-captain of Actaea, though the ensuing storm had kept him from having this discourse then.

"Why, a warrior like you, an ironborn from the Iron Islands, a sailor that can chew out the other seamen both in strength and skills, is on a common trading ship?" Kai asked, churning the wine in his mug in slow rotations. "Why were you under the command of an idiot when you ironmen consider the captain of a ship equal to a king? I want answers, and I want them now, Andrik."

Kai had unlocked his emotions after sailing out of the Dragonstone's harbor, so now his Charisma was working fine. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't sense an iota of happiness in Andrik. The man had seemed to lose hope because of some unknown horror that not even the relief of surviving the storm could match in intensity. It all made Kai quite curious about what Andrik might have seen on that day before passing out.

To Kai's surprise, the mate didn't even show the slightest hesitation before speaking out. "I am a spy, captain," Andrik said, his voice thick, but lacking in power. "Balon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, had sent me to Dragonstone to spy on Stannis' fleet. I was also ordered to contact the Targaryen prince in Pentos when the time came. I have yet to get any words regarding that, though. That's why I was told to act the part of the mate on a trading ship."

Kai sneered. "Lord Balon Greyjoy sent you personally?" he said, his tone incredulous. "I doubt…" But he didn't get to finish his words.

Meg's eyes suddenly snapped open as if she had come to a monstrous realization. Kai saw her slowly standing up, her eyes planted on Andrik's broad back, and her chest heaving high and low in a broken rhythm.

She pointed a finger at Andrik, and exclaimed, "You… you are Andrik, the Unsmiling?!"

Kai narrowed his eyes. Andrik, the Unsmiling? He repeated the words to himself. Don't tell me… Is he a main storyline Character?!

Andrik answered the question with a nod, his head still bowing low. "Some call me by that name," he declared.

He is a main storyline Character, Kai thought incredibly. He saw Meg calming down, but her intense stare was still on Andrik. "You modest yourself," she said hoarsely, and Kai could tell her next words were for his ears. "Andrik, the Unsmiling, one of Lord Dunstan Drumm's captains under the service of House Drumm of Old Wyk. Andrik, the fiercest living ironborn warrior, and the strongest man from the Iron Islands. Isn't that what the singers sing?"

Andrik sneered derisively. "They do sing of me," he barked. "Now they must light those songs afire or drown them into the sea. How can I be the strongest when I lost to a boy of…" His words got stuck to his throat, and the enormous man shuddered suddenly. "My lord," he said, shaking, "forgive me for the insolence. I didn't mean it. Any of it."

And then, Andrik, the fiercest warrior, slammed his head on the floor, rocking Kai's chair.

Kai and Meg exchanged glances. -/What's wrong with him?/- he asked telepathically. -/Are you sure he is who he claimed to be?/-

Meg gave a heavy nod in reply.

What is it that has scared such a monster for him to act so? Kai asked himself and found the answer soon enough. It must be related to what he saw that day before passing out.

Not waiting any longer for the suspense to make a mockery out of the situation, he took a deep breath. "I do not care who you are, and where your loyalty lies, Andrik," Kai said authoritatively, and with just a touch of iciness. "Now that I am the Captain of Actaea, you are under my command. So, answer this, sailor. When I had told you to go below the deck three days ago, why did you return?"

"I…" Andrik began but paused, lifted his head, and then looked into Kai's eyes. His dark black eyes matched Kai's misty hazels and an enamored look flashed across his face, bordering on reverence and fervor which Kai had only seen on Meg's face till now.

When the mate resumed, his voice had more strength than before as if he had gambled his everything on the next sentence. "I must ask this, my lord," Andrik said, like a quaking mountain. "How did you oppose the Storm God? Are you… are you a favored priest of Drowned God?"

What madness is this? Kai thought, trying not to show his obvious disgust at the nonsense words. Meg had already told him about the major religions of Westeros and the general history, at least which she knew by heart.

Drowned God is a sea deity worshiped by the ironborn of the Iron Islands in Westeros, Kai recalled what Meg had told him. The religion of the Drowned God is old, dating back to before the Seven Gods. The Storm God, who sends thunderstorms upon men, opposes the Drowned God.

Both Gods are said to have been at war against one another for millions of years.

But Kai couldn't comprehend what all this had to do with Andrik's odd behavior, contrasting his personality of a fierce warrior, and with what the giant must have seen on the deck amid the storm for him to act so.

Then suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, the realization struck him.

He isn't relating my thwarting the storm and surviving the Pokemon World's retribution to me being a Drowned God's favored priest thwarting Storm God's fury, is he? Kai couldn't help but ask this absurd question to himself. Absurd or not, he could see the answer in Andrik's eyes. Damn! He truly is thinking the same.

Kai felt overjoyed. Yes. Despite his Abnormality Limiter fluctuating lower and lower, he was almost beaming within his heart, for Andrik's questions hadn't only let him know what the giant mate was thinking, but they had also given him an opportunity.

An opportunity to manipulate him.

Kai stared into Andrik's eyes, a queer string of manipulation and fanaticism connecting their thoughts. Then, he smiled.

If it was any other time, this smile could've meant anything. If it was anyone else other than the giant kneeling in front of Kai, this smile still could've puzzled the onlooker.

But for Andrik, it meant only one thing.

It was the answer to his question.

As Kai's kind smile was reflected by the dark eyes opposite him, Andrik the Unsmiling, for the first time perhaps, almost smiled along with him, two thick trails of tears running down his sea-worn face like cold, divine water.

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Very important details —

 1. Old Wyk: Old Wyk is one of the islands that make up the Iron Islands. The ironborn consider Old Wyk to be the holiest of all the Iron Islands. The legendary Grey King slew the sea dragon, Nagga, upon its shore. It is on Old Wyk where the First Men found the Seastone Chair, the traditional throne of the Iron Islands

 2. House Drumm: The House Drumm of Old Wyk is a noble house from the Iron Islands, tracing their history back at least eight hundred years. They are the Lords of Old Wyk. According to semi-canon sources, the Drumms blazon their shield with a bone hand, white on red

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