Runestone forest near the narrow sea.
101 AC
Aemon Targaryen
I stand next mother covered up to my elbows in blood and leave the two remains of the beasts. We took basically everything we needed and more so we got a quite good hall. We didn't really need bear or shadow cat meat but the pelts could go for a very good price and make for good cloaks. The shadow cat was big enough for two so I asked my mother if I could keep one and to my surprise she agreed. I thought she wouldn't let me considering the fact that I already claimed the cubs but she just smiled at me and allowed it after I told her why I wanted it.
"I want it because I want at least some of the cubs to have something with their familiar scent. I want them to remember their mother and how important they were to keeping them alive." She smiled at me then and tousled my hair briefly before standing up.
"Very well but we're done here. Everyone gather up and bring the falcons and round up the dogs! We're moving on everyone!" She shouted to the group as they all started moving. Ser Gerold and Ser called me back over to them. Remounting my horse I rode alongside them past the two harvested carcasses. Soon we all started leaving the remains and trekking further into the bright woods.
It's been a few hours now and we've all focused back on the hunt. We didn't want the cubs to ruin our hunt so we had some of the men take them and hang back. But now we focus on the task at hand and have been seeing a little more success than earlier. Mother's Falcon has already caught a few rabbits and a stoat. Meanwhile, I decided to use the downtime to check what I had gained from my earlier rewards. I opened the system tab and pulled up the Quest rewards panel.
[Quest received: Convince Lady Rhea to allow the shadow cat and cave bear cubs to live and become your new companions.]
[Reward: (x8) Skill: Animal companion bond, (x1) Random Skill, (x8) Random Item, (x80) SP (Shop points)]
[Quest complete: Rewards Gained]
[Would you like to claim rewards]
[Yes] [No]
I clicked yes and the system congratulated me backhandedly as always.
[Congratulations you fucking baby you have gained]
I sighed and continued to read the system rewards I was given.
[Skill: (Type: Single Use Skill) Animal bond:
Allows the user to command the bonded animal telepathically from any distance. It also lets the user feel the animal's emotions see through their eyes and share their senses. They can also control the animal's body akin to skin changing but without negative side effects. Lastly, if the user dies they can transfer their consciousness to a bonded animal.] (8 uses)
I sighed slightly at the continued disrespect of the system I tolerate it but its kinda annoying. Then my eyes went over the rest of the rewards that were listed.
[Item: (Type: single use) Large Dragon mana Crystal: When broken will release a burst of dragon energy like an explosion. It can be eaten to enhance a magically blooded creature in all aspects. Has increased effects on dragon-blooded creatures.]
Seeing the crystal's inscription I'll probably feed it to Agaraxes but I did wonder what would happen if I ate it myself. Maybe I'd grow even faster but there were other things inside the system store that I could later buy to make up for it.
[Item: (Type: Weapon) Fire Dragon Steel Dagger: This dagger is extremely durable with extreme longevity. It also has enhanced sharpness and can be set ablaze when imbued with mana. It does extra damage to all magical creatures and is aligned with the fire and dragon elements.]
This one was the one I was most interested in but obviously, I can't just wipe it out in front of this crowd so I'll keep it in my inventory for now. Moving on to the next I was surprised at how useful it'd be in the future.
[Skill (Type: Metamorphosis) Sky Dragon Eye: This skill gives the user enhanced vision allowing them to zoom in on targets from far away. The user can also slightly control slowing their perception of time on command which gets stronger with each use. Their eyesight can never go bad and they have an enhanced reaction time. Lastly, the user can see and detect draconic energy from a far distance.]
With this skill, I'll have no problem seeing on dragon back and I can even use it in sparing and sword fighting as well. I smirked at the possibilities of this ability and soon I'll use it. I'll have to wait for a while though I don't want to end up getting sick like I did with the warrior body. I diverted my attention back to the ride we were taking through the woods. Less than a day's ride out from Runestone castle itself and it was rather peaceful here. Of course, it's still home to all types of creatures but they weren't fully conducive to hunting. At least these woods aren't often home to mountain tines so there isn't much to worry about. Of course that doesn't mean they don't exist here so it would be best for me to keep on guard a little. Still, we were a group of a little more than twenty men and a rather martial woman. Plus in case of any emergency, I could just shout for Agaraxes so I don't think I'll be having any real problems with them. The true challenge so far had been finding something to actually catch.
But we continued for some time until one of our men, just a squire, discovered some deer droppings for us to follow. Soon our hounds were on the scent and we rode hard on horseback. After coming across the herd we managed to take down a few deer and started to take those corpses apart as well however I wasn't the one to take them down so we kept going.
I was starting to feel pretty disappointed in myself as I still hadn't caught anything yet plus I still needed to figure out how to use all my new skills for my plans. I wanted to use all my animal bonds on my new pets but I was also thinking about saving one for Agaraxes. The ability to interact with my dragon from any distance and warg into him would be invaluable but I also didn't want to isolate one of my new cubs. Sure I could go to the system shop and bug the skill again but I was saving up for something else. My new points present new opportunities to buy skills and items. There wasn't really any item that I wanted more than a third dragon body to use so I could give one to Laena and Rhaenyra each.
Despite the fact that they were just kids they were effectively the only true friends and family members I have besides Laenor. As uncomfortable as the idea makes me ill one day probably have to marry one of the two. If the choice isn't already made for me. I could give one to Laenor but he's a man and also we're not as close as I and his sister are. Mainly because I don't want there to be any strange misunderstandings later in life if you catch my meaning.
But sword swallowing aside my main problem with that is that although I'm a dragon rider and will be the future Lord of my own house. The problem is that it's not exactly a glorious and prestigious house. Frankly, my grandfather made an absolute steal of a deal getting a prince to marry his daughter. Honestly, Daemon should have married someone like Gael or something because his station was honestly far above my mother's. Hence why they have so much beef he genuinely believes that he is better than her and that she is unworthy of him. Of course that hate is mutualand the only thing the two seem too full agree on is wanting a divorce.
Still, I'm going to try my best to improve my house and what it has to offer. We are not that weak but I'd compare us more to the Blackwoods, the Brakens, and the Tarlys. We are strong though not to cause a misunderstanding around the second to fourth strongest in the Vale. But that doesn't make us house Velaryon levels of strong. Not that the seasnake effectively uses all that strength. I still remember the day we first met, and I still remember the embarrassment I felt from that moment.
I shake my head to get rid of the memory and sigh only to look up and notice we've slowed. Soon we stop and are told to dismount our horses. Mine shimmies slightly as I get off its back blows out and nickers as I pet him briefly. Sure my new steed is young but so am I and I still need some help climbing back on. He's got good stamina though we haven't been going full speed due to the trees but we've been going as fast as we can and he isn't even breathing hard. I have a good feeling about my new steed but that doesn't matter right now.
I spoke to the men as to why we were slowing down and it turns out some of the men found a boar's den. Normally a woman wouldn't be involved in such dangerous hunts but my mother was no ordinary noble lady. So of course not only did she stay and participate but she was also the one holding the boarspear. Everyone got in their places waiting for the boar to be flushed out of its lair.
Ser Gerold and Ser Willam were to stand in front of me to protect me but I was no coward so I decided to stand next to them gathering chuckles from the group. I grabbed my bow from my back and waited for the huntsmen to start their work.
"The lad is brave he will make a good lord some day." Said Gunthor standing next to my mother just in case she missed the boar he had a second spear in his hands. Flashes of Robart Baratheon's drunken death ran through my mind and worry began to course through my veins. The huntmaster whistled and the dogs ran towards the boar's lair through the foliage. I couldn't actually see what was happening but soon the boar came rushing through the brush. It screamed towards them and prepared to pierce Rhea with its massive tusks. She steadied and Gunthor lifted his spear to prepare for the kill only for the boar to suddenly diverge from its path towards them.
Instead to my own shock as well as all the others it changed direction and headed straight at me. A raven cawed and the hunting dogs emerged from the woods too slow in following the boar to make a difference. The boar's hooves cleaved through the forest floor as it stampeded towards me. Ser Willam and Ser Garold tried to move in their paths to protect me but I wouldn't back down so easily.
I had worried something would go wrong so I had already readied my bow and knocked an arrow to fire at it. It looked at me with its eyes filled with panic and fury. My own gaze locked on his not filled with the fear of the three-year-old I was nor the neviousness of a five-year-old that I resemble. But the determination of a man grows in a child's body. The gaze of someone who has far more life experience than they let on. I might play the child might even enjoy the innocence of my youth and cherish the love of my new family. But I'm no sprung flower when it comes to hardships. So before I even had time to consider the morals of my actions I let my arrow fly from my fingers.
[Chapter Image]
XXX
Hey guys I'm going to be honest I'm having one of the worst months of my life I've had in a while and my heart's just not in my writing right now. Still, this chapter is out earlier than I thought it would be. I'm very tired so I'll keep this short also remember to drop some power stones and some comments because comments are my main motivation to write this besides just fun and practice. That being said I do have a lot of questions for you guys.
Also, I have a photo picked out for how Agaraxes looks. I was going to save it for a chapter where he is more of the main focus but I'll post it now if you guys want it. Also, I've decided hell have blacks and purple flames as well.
Also, I've never written R18 scenes before and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that yet but it will probably happen eventually. I've never really written romance either so if that happens I'll need some advice probably to make it not cringy. Also, there will probably be harem shenanigans so be ready for that as well. In light of that yes there will probably be Yuri content of various levels considering things like how Rhaenyra in the show is canonically bisexual and gets along very well with Laena and so forth. Nothing Laenor thought as I'm not comfortable writing yaoi content as I am straight myself. Lastly for those R18 scenes, I think I'll try different methods for each so some will be more tastefully poetic and others just raw smut or over briefly rather than a full scene.
Another subject I'd like to go over is fights. I'll be real I don't know anything about real sword fights so most of the fights will be more fantastical than realistic.
So if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the fic let me know. Also, I've always wanted to do a Game of Thrones fanfic that either mixes time periods or starts with Aegon and follows up to the events of Game of Thrones. Maybe in a verse that's slightly more fantastical than canon. Of course there is a limit to how many fan fics I can write and how long I can write for and more ideas than I have space for still Id like to know what you guys think of that idea.
Bye everyone