"Huh? Maybe they just pushed it a little from behind and the flow is carrying it the rest of the way towards us," Nymeria suggested with an uncaring shrug.
"Not only is that completely unreliable, but the flow is very erratic and would have carried it away from the shore, not towards us," Sarella immediately replied without looking away from the boat.
"Then perhaps they used a rope,"
"How in seven hells would that even work?" Sarella asked with an exasperated look on her face.
"How the hell would I know," Nymeria replied with a roll of her eyes, "And who cares how it arrives here, anyway. What matters, is that it is here," she said as she bent down and picked up her luggage before walking towards the boat that was now only a few seconds away from the shore, "So you need to stop all this useless thinking and just get on the bloody boat."
"Easy for you to say, when—AH!! What the Fuck!!" Sarella abruptly screamed, lurching backwards as she tripped over her own feet and fell down while looking at the boat with her eyes widened in terror.
"What?! What happened?" Oberyn and Nymeria hurriedly asked while vigilantly scouring their surroundings with their hand on their weapons.
"A-A Monster!" Sarella replied while pointing a shaky finger towards the water under the boat where she had, just for a moment, seen the scariest shadowy tentacle that was large enough to crush all three of them in its grip, "T-There! Under the boat! I-I saw something there!"
"That's all?!" Nymeria asked with an irked look on her face, as all the tension left her body, "Here I thought we were getting attacked or something, and instead, you were just getting scared of a bloody fish," she said in annoyance while standing up, "Did reading all those books at the citadel fry your brains or something?"
"But—" Sarella stammered while trying to calm down her breathing, wondering if she had really been overreacting, 'Fish can't get that big can they?"
Unlike his daughter, who had immediately dismissed her sister's claim as a trick of the eye, Obeyrn was looking towards the sea with a serious frown on his face, wondering if this was a new trick that Jon had learned during the short time that they had separated, 'I would not put it past that boy,'
"Come on now," Nymeria shouted as she went through the shallow water to grab the boat. After placing her luggage inside, Nymeria jumped into the boat and turned towards the other two before impatiently waving at them, "Hurry up, or else that Jon fellow would think that we are getting cold feet and do not want to go with them."
"Are you fine?" Oberyn asked as he took Sarella's hand and pulled her up.
"I-Yes," Sarella nodded before taking a deep breath as a forced smile appeared on her face, "Nymeria is right, it must have been just a big fish,"
"If you say so," Oberyn said with a searching gaze before he whispered with a smile, "Good, let us move to the boat then, otherwise your sister may just leave us here in her excitement,"
"I would not put that past her," Sarella snorted wryly as they went and took their seats on the small boat that had just enough space for the three of them to sit comfortably along with their luggage.
Oberyn and Nymeria took over rowing from both ends while Sarella sat in the middle and held onto the luggage so that it didn't fall off.
The ocean waves were thankfully calm, so it did not take them too long to reach the big sleek ship, where the helpful sailors had already lowered a rope for them.
After tying the heaviest luggage on his back, Oberyn became the first one to grab the rope and climb up.
It was a bit strenuous for him to pull his whole body along with the bag with just his arms, what with the side of the ship being slippery and wet under his feet.
But his dedicated training in the recent weeks had paid off, so with his strength and stamina at their peak, he at least did not falter and embarrass himself in front of his daughters.
The moment Oberyn went over the hull of the ship, the first person that came in front of him was the familiar figure of his favourite Northerner which immediately brought a smile to his face.
"Jon, my friend, it is so good to see you again," he greeted with his arms wide open for a hug, but unlike the cheerfulness he sported, his friend's face was completely blank with not a hint of amusement at seeing him, "Er, Jon?" Oberyn asked confusedly as he was left standing there awkwardly, in front of all the sailors, with his hands in the air.
"You brought your daughters with you," Jon stated with a raised eyebrow that betrayed the irritation he felt at the moment.
"Ah, that," Oberyn said while scratching his head with an uneasy smile, "You see there were... some unusual circumstances— that were completely out of my hand— due to which, ahem, I was forced to bring them here," he explained in a low voice so that the nearby sailors who looking curiously at them did not hear, "But do not worry Jon, they are good warriors with specialised skills, so they will not be a burden to us, I assure you."
Jon looked at him with narrowed eyes before he sighed, "We are going to kill one of the most dangerous men in Westeros and you thought bringing your 'brats' along was a good idea,"
"Like I said, I had no choice in—"
"Who the hell are you calling a brat?!" a voice loudly interrupted them, as a long pair of legs agilely landed on the deck.
Jon had only bought his most trusted Northern sailors on this trip, who had been with him from the very beginning, so he had not bothered lowering his voice, which had the unfortunate effect of irking the beautiful and deadly Nymeria Sand.
After a quick glance at the sailors on board the ship, who all looked very strong and skilled in her eyes, Nymeria turned towards the one who had so derisively called her and her sisters 'brats.
The moment she did, the sand snake was immediately taken aback by how young (ironically) and handsome the man was.
He was almost as tall as her father and had the tight, wiry muscles that only years of daily training in the yard produced. He was carrying a sword on his hip and had a big sturdy bow at his side, and carried himself with the air of a warrior who was very confident in himself.
But no matter how tall or strong he looked, his face gave away the fact that he was nothing more than a teen.
"Jon, meet my beautiful daughter, Nymeria," Oberyn introduced with a smile, relieved to be able to move on from the topic, "And Nymeria, this Jon Snow, the Captain of the ship, the one I told you about—"
"Wait!! Him?!" Nymeria exclaimed with an absurd look on her face, "He is the captain of this ship? This Child?!" she asked with an exaggerated look of shock on her face to which Oberyn nodded with an amused smile while Jon rolled his eyes at the obvious revenge the pretty dornish girl was taking against him.
"Can you even tie a rope, little boy?" she asked with a snort as she slowly sauntered closer to Jon.
"Nymeria, please—"
"How about the fancy sword on your waist? Do you know how to swing it, 'Captain Jon,'" she talked over her father while looking disdainfully at Jon, which looked a little comical considering that she was almost a head smaller than him, "Or is it just a show piece?"
"I am average," Jon replied dryly, trying hard not to let it show how entertained he was at this little show of dominance.
"Then how about we go for a round or two to get acquainted with each other?" she taunted while looking at him with big innocent eyes, but her fingers gripping her dagger gave her eagerness away, "You would not be scared of a weak little girl, would you?"
"Nymeria, back down!" an exasperated voice suddenly interjected before Jon could give an answer to the sudden offer.
Sarella was quite irritated to find, when she finally reached the top after a long excruciating climb, that her stupid sister was threatening the very Captain of this ship that they were on, with dozen of his men surrounding them.
"I am sorry for my sister's conduct—" Sarella began apologetically but the moment she put her luggage down and finally caught sight of Jon's face, her words died in her throat as her eyes bulged in shock.
"You!! What the hell are you doing here?!!" the girl shouted in shock as she recognised the so-called Captain Jon as the same boy who had once held her hostage so many months ago at the Citadel.
'This is going to be a nightmare,' Jon thought with a tired sigh, knowing that his mission just turned a whole lot more troublesome.
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