...This Curse Has Run Its Course

[thebrideoffire]

WHO: Daenerys Stormborn
WHEN: All of March
WHERE: Ke-Waihu
WHAT: Curse stuff; solving it, dealing with the effects
WARNINGS: None yet

[Broken into prompts below. Let me know if you want anything individually. We can spitball ideas through PM or my plurk la_fille_en_histoire]

Comments

[thebrideoffire]

[He is being open in a way she wasn't used to normally, which was confusion enough without the curse. She wrapped her arms around her waist, wincing a little as a few scratches opened.]

You should consider talking your advice as well.

[northerndragon]

[Something in his face is a little more closed than it had been a moment ago.]

I am well enough. The dangers here feel more familiar than they did in Ellethia. Not the same — I’m not enough of a fool to think that — but a troublesome forest and an undead lord make more sense to me than a mirror in a lighthouse.

[thebrideoffire]

[It's a painful reminder, the mirror. Her mistake and her ignorance had pulled him into something dangerous and life threatening. She should have known better or fought more.

She nodded.]

From the Wall? That is how it is familiar?

[northerndragon]

[A solemn nod.]

Aye, from the Wall, and north of it.

Though this place is not as cold. There were times in the Haunted Forest and in the Frostfangs when I thought I’d never get warm again. And things up in that forest —

Well, I saw a White Walker there. First I ever saw.

[thebrideoffire]

[It's less hard to believe in the Others after their time here. The undead seemed different in these two different worlds. It was little surprise Jon felt more at ease with this.]

What did it look like?

[northerndragon]

Like a strong old man. They stand tall. They are wizened, all blue and white, and their eyes are all blue, with a cold burn.

They shriek like… well, like what they are. Never heard anything like it.

[He is very still, and there is little emotion in his voice just now.]

[thebrideoffire]

I think I dreamed of them one night. I remember that at first I was my brother Rhaegar on the Trident, but after, I was riding Drogon and raining fire down on armies that turned to water.

[northerndragon]

[He hesitates.]

When they meet dragonglass or Valyrian steel, they shatter like ice and melt away.

Do you often — have that sort of dream?

[thebrideoffire]

On occasion. I remember having one before my dragons were born.

I turned into a dragon, wings tearing from my back.

[northerndragon]

That’s not what’s happening now.

[… Is it? He doesn’t think so, but he waits to hear more.]

What do you think it meant? That they were coming?

[Or nothing at all, mayhaps.]

[thebrideoffire]

That my dragons were coming? I believe so. The ritual to hatch them, it was strange and strong. I think the dream was pointing the means of bringing them to life.

[She knows that Dragon Dreams aren't uncommon in her House, but it still hasn't occurred to her that this might be what is happening.]

[northerndragon]

[He doesn’t know what to say to that, except — ]

All my dreams were always about how I would never be buried in the crypt with my family. There would be no one at Winterfell, and I’d have to go down there… and I knew that there was no place for me.

Nothing I didn’t already know. Just dreams.

[He says it in a way that dismisses the idea that it could be anything else, in his case.

He is not convinced that her dream meant much of anything — the one with the dragon wings — but he isn’t convinced that it didn’t, either.]

[thebrideoffire]

[It was a telling dream, one that could easily be dismissed as his insecurity and feeling of rejection. The things that she knew he felt, but could not truly understand, in terms of the Westerosi response to bastards.

Still, there was something in it that grabbed her attention.

The way he said 'Down there'.]

Are you afraid in the dream?

[northerndragon]

[His look sharpens.]

Aye, in the dream.

But when I’m awake, there’s nothing to fear in the crypt. Only my family is there.

[So why does she ask?]

[thebrideoffire]

[She simply watches him before turning her gaze back to the lake. It seemed like a sore subject, so she will say nothing more. She has a sense there is something more about this, but will keep it to herself.]

Have you had dreams here?

[northerndragon]

Nothing that seemed like anything other than an ordinary dream.

Why?

[He watches her from where he stands. The curve of her head is pretty, even turned away from him, he realizes.]

[thebrideoffire]

I wondered if you were sleeping well.

[She remembered how much he didn't want to be alone while he slept. He at least had house mates that would help look after them.]

Forgive me if it is too forward to ask.

[northerndragon]

Well enough.

[More hesitation.]

Now that we’ve left that place, well enough.

[As well as a man with a rash under his beard can sleep.]

Bad as this place is, Ellethia was worse.

[thebrideoffire]

Did it truly disturb you so much? To be there?

[northerndragon]

The air was poisoned, and where it wasn’t, little could die.

[Of course it disturbed him. Shouldn’t it have disturbed everyone?

Sometimes he thinks he will fall against the Night King.
Sometimes he wonders if he will ever be allowed to die.

Neither is an easy thought.]

[thebrideoffire]

[Oh. Little could die.

She understands better than he might think, but she won't pester him with questions about that.]

There is the possibility that we may see another place like that. As the threat of the dead grow, that poison could spread. Be vigilant.

[northerndragon]

It will grow.

I don’t know if we’re meant to defeat them here. I’d like to try. If there is any hope, I’d like to try.

[thebrideoffire]

[The strategist in her analyzes their current situation, their forces and their current strength. It seemed unlikely, even if they weren't suffering from the curses of the ancestors.

The undead had a whole army. Meanwhile, this group was made up of various sorts, but none really gods.]

It's better not to wish for the war now. It is a sweet thing to imagine victory, but it's better to greet it at the right time.

[northerndragon]

It need not be a war. I agree — we’re not ready for that. We don’t have the forces. Some quieter way.

[He spreads his hands, helpless. He does not wish for a war; he wishes for a plan.]

[thebrideoffire]

You dislike fighting. [Not a question, but something she's gathered from their time together. 'He’s no butcher, not as Daario would have.' She likes his honor, even as it frustrates her. So many battles and aggressions though had taught her there are no good solutions and no compromise with a mobilized army.]

The only plan we can rely on now is learning as much as we can and shaping a strategy around it.

Given their forces, the dead will not surrender without a fight. We will have to fight.