Jojen
They followed their way to Highgarden by using the Rose Road. They passed through the Kingswood, where Jojen could finally breathe easier thanks to nature and the lack of human odors that besieged the capital. Jojen would not, if not for life or death, go back to King's Landing once again. He felt sick most of the time, corruption and decay filling the air, along with fire and ashes.
It felt wrong in so many ways, with the only respite near the godswood, a small tinder in the sea of darkness that was the Red Keep.
For his 'training' with Sebastian, he had been channeling more of himself into his body.
It was a new experience, how he, who was always attuned with nature, had never made such a deep introspection into himself.
And it worked wonders, allowing him to keep himself grounded during his green dreams. He even, on occasions, could now stir the sight into mundane things.
How the weather would be in a few minutes, what they were having for breakfast, and other menial things. His father's words had been correct. To trust the enigma that was Sebastian.
The mask was the obvious one, but Jojen could see much deeper. What about his hands? He always used gloves. Whenever they bathed in rivers, he never went with them. He had heard how he could butcher an entire bear easily, but now he avoided butchering anything at all costs. He had seen his body tense at the sight of blood. He disliked black birds, his hands twitching at the sight of them. He offered advice and counsel, but never shared much of himself.
'A thought for another time' Jojen mused, while resting his head on a nearby tree.
They had set camp in the Kingswood while Ser Barristan Selmy checked their surroundings for bandits.
'Ser Barristan the Bold' he giggled slightly, for what children had never heard of the legendary knight who was pivotal in ending the 'War of the Ninepenny Kings'. Where Ser Barristan the Bold slew Maelys I Blackfyre in single combat, ending the Blackfyre male line.
'Mother always said that her brother was better knight' he remembered, for his late uncle had been the Sword of the Morning himself. She grew both happy and sad when talking about him, as if remembering him took a small piece of herself each time.
Jojen had always wondered about the sword. According to his mother, language was too clumsy a tool to describe a blade forged from a real fallen star
*tip tap*
"Anything you need, Mee?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Huff, I still can't catch you." Meera dropped from a nearby tree with a thud.
"Whenever you are near, I can hear water smiling and dancing with you" he said, trying but failing to explain the feeling.
"Stupid greenseers with their stupid logic—" she said with a smile and some bite in her words.
"—be useful and tell me what we are eating for supper."
"So, I am just useful when I see what we are eating?" Jojen said, falsely hurt.
Meera nodded.
"You are still green, my esteemed greenseer, so unless you dream a stash of treasure, even you have to admit you are kind of useless," she added with a smirk.
"For now," he reproached.
"Only time will tell, and…"
"Stew, with freshly made bread," he said.
She punched him in the arm.
"See? Useful! Come on!" she added with a smile, to which he rolled his eyes.
He got up and followed her to the nearby camp.
"You think they are still at it?" Meera asked.
"Mmmm… probably. After all, who could pass an opportunity to impress Ser Barristan the Bold?" Jojen said.
"But, isn't it kind of useless? They can sharpen the hedge knights' tools, clean their mail, and tend to their horses, but I can bet you a penny that Ser Barristan would not care. After all, why would you start doing all of that only when in his presence?" she said, to which he had to agree.
"As true as it may be, it doesn't hurt to try and impress your hero. Even Dom is wholeheartedly cleaning mail, and the rest as well" Jojen said, for he could understand but not follow.
"And you, don't you want to become a squire yourself? Ser Jojen Reed, can you imagine?" she asked.
He sighed, for Jojen had always been more pragmatic.
"I am afraid that the Andals do not tolerate magic in their lands. A knight greenseer? I could imagine groups of the Seven roaring for my head, as if I were a Blackfyre heir," Jojen shuddered, for the thought annoyed and scared him.
"You have a point, but remember mother's teachings. The best place to hide something is at plain sight" she added knowingly, to which Jojen had to agree.
They got to their camp, following the smell of homemade food.
"Is the food ready?" she asked a nearby boy. He blushed, but another voice answered.
"Yes, but we are waiting for Ser Barristan to come back," Sebastian said while mixing the stew with a wooden spoon.
"But why…" Meera wanted to ask, but was interrupted by Jojen beside her. He motioned with his head to a bunch of boys and teens, looking into the far distance, waiting for their idol to come back.
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Ser Barristan Selmy
"I like your style, Ser. I can see that this is not the first time you have had to deal with this" said Sebastian.
"I am afraid not, young Sebastian. At least this way they will sleep properly" Ser Barristan Selmy said, painfully aware of the effect he had on young pages and squires. Make them run until their legs gave out, and then to sleep. It had been a better approach than having a bunch of kids unwilling to sleep, fantasizing of one day being knights themselves.
"You are too kind, Ser, for in this way if a battle or a war arrives in their lives, they can be more prepared and maybe keep their lives intact" Sebastian added.
Barristan observed him like a hawk and nodded.
'Not many realise,' he thought.
"Indeed, young friend. A tourney, as flashy or glorious as it can be, will never be a fight. To fight ten men, get tired, and fight many more. To fail to learn it means death" Ser Barristan added.
"And you, not going to sleep?" Ser Barristan asked.
Sebastian shook his head.
"We are in the middle of the woods, Ser, and I've had ample experience in them. I will keep an eye out so my little lordlings can rest easily" he said.
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Barristan asked, seeing how the light reached a point and then there was only darkness.
Sebastian showed him his gloved fingers, and Ser Barristan squinted his eyes to see.
Small threads were around young Sebastian's fingers.
"I left some traps and warnings along the way, Ser. If someone or something comes, I will be the first to know" Sebastian explained.
"Constant vigilance, a good habit to have" Ser Barristan shared.
"Indeed, Ser, indeed" and they both kept quiet, waiting for the sunrise to finally come.
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Red Jack
Red Jack had been terrorizing the Kingswood since he was little. He could still remember the smiling knight, sowing chaos in his wake, only to die at the hands of that knight.
But Jack survived, for their small group was left behind for their protection, only for it to be proven a correct decision when their older brothers had died in battle. So Jack learned from their mistakes. He learned to listen to the trees, to follow paths and scents, to detect prey.
He liked good targets, not the flashy way that the smiling knight had done in his golden years, no. Small families, lone travelers, some rope tied into parts of the woods, easy traps for the ones not paying attention to the road.
It worked every time.
For Red Jack, nothing was more enjoyable than watching his prey's eyes lose that small sliver of hope.
He liked to be quick and efficient at hunting, and this prey looked quite good.
It had a mask and strange clothes, maybe a lost lordling, waiting for him to rip apart his intestines. He could even savor the taste of fresh meat on his tongue.
"You know? I don't like killing" the prey said.
Red Jack looked confused, for it seemed his prey was alone.
"But thanks to that fucker, all the visions that I sealed away are now back to hunt me," the prey kept talking.
'Crazy fuck,' thought Jack, for he had found some of those, nothing that a good swing of his knife could not fix.
"I can still see her, you know? Grandma Momo... her takoyaki was once a bliss. Then. Then she was just a mess of blood on a dirty floor. Eyeless, with her intestines and organs out on the floor, a macabre display for all to see. Grandma Momo, grandpa Satoru, old and young, rich and poor. A massacre indeed."
The prey now looked at him, and his hair stood up. Fear overwhelmed his senses. He had felt it before, like standing in front of the smiling knight.
"The itch is getting worse, like hands clawing their way, ripping my throat. It's getting worse.
And…and I crave for blood."
Red Jack tried to run, with every cell of his body. He tried to scream, to run away as fast and as far as he could.
Then pain.
"Ple…" a small needle pierced his throat, his screams drowned in a sea of silence.
"Shhh, we don't have much time, Red Jack. I have seen your work, what you did to those poor girls" the masked monster said.
Jack tried to grab his sword, but two small kitchen knives ripped through his arms, pinning him to the tree.
"We only have a little while alone" the devil purred while Red Jack begged uselessly for his life.
He took some gloves, and used them on top of the other ones.
"Double gloves for messy work" the monster said.
"You know how painful it will be for you, Red Jack. You can't… imagine…." The devil took off his mask, and two red eyes met his.
"And I, for one, can't wait to watch."
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Bonus
"Where is Sebastian?" Theon asked.
"Said he went for some berries for dessert," said Robb.
"Sweet," replied Theon
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A/N: The double gloves is a reference to Beacrox, from the trash of the count family. For context (from the books/wiki), ashara dayne was the woman who some people thought was Jon's mother. (because Ned wanted to court her, and because he was too shy, he asked Brandon to talk with her favorably about him). Someone defiled her purity, and she eventually moried herself.
(For me our lovely cronogman Howland Reed rizz was so high, and their houses importance was so distant, that she faked her mori to be with him in my fic. The princes and the frog, literally.)
The smiling knight was a bandit that attacked the kingswood with brutal ferocity. From what I remember Arthur Dayne killed him, and in this campaign Ser Jaime Lannister was born. (Jaime was knighted here).
And the massacre was the Uchiha massacre (and the visions invading him)
Hope you like it, write comments, send stones, review, or not.