[Accept Butterfly's offer and lower your sword] I hope I won't regret this but it could be a great opportunity or potentially a horrible mis… moretake.
This was a fantastic chapter! I loved it and the choice was difficult the most difficult so far I think.
They walked in complete silence. Robb seemed oddly relaxed, while Harpy tried her best to hide her nervousness and failing miserably at doin… moreg so. Jaron was aware that the people on the street were looking at him and this filled him with pride. He was a knight and now he finally looked the part. Of course, his wounds still affected him slightly. His left arm felt numb and every few minutes, pain flashed through his ribs. But his pride was stronger than any pain he felt.
Robb lead them through the streets of Oldtown for about half an hour. The streets soon got less elegant as they left the mansions behind that surrounded the Burned Man's house. People instinctively seemed to make room for them, no matter how crowded the streets were. More than once, Jaron saw scrawny children looking at them in bewilderment. They recognized Harpy and without a doubt, she recognized them too. Somewhere among them was Himani, Jaron knew it. The urchin was foll… [view original content]
[Try to stall him by talking] I think this is the least worst option, attacking Butterfly will just get us straight up killed without even touching him. And Jaron shouldn't join him because we will be painted as traitors and it will be hard to fit in. Great part none the less!
They walked in complete silence. Robb seemed oddly relaxed, while Harpy tried her best to hide her nervousness and failing miserably at doin… moreg so. Jaron was aware that the people on the street were looking at him and this filled him with pride. He was a knight and now he finally looked the part. Of course, his wounds still affected him slightly. His left arm felt numb and every few minutes, pain flashed through his ribs. But his pride was stronger than any pain he felt.
Robb lead them through the streets of Oldtown for about half an hour. The streets soon got less elegant as they left the mansions behind that surrounded the Burned Man's house. People instinctively seemed to make room for them, no matter how crowded the streets were. More than once, Jaron saw scrawny children looking at them in bewilderment. They recognized Harpy and without a doubt, she recognized them too. Somewhere among them was Himani, Jaron knew it. The urchin was foll… [view original content]
They walked in complete silence. Robb seemed oddly relaxed, while Harpy tried her best to hide her nervousness and failing miserably at doin… moreg so. Jaron was aware that the people on the street were looking at him and this filled him with pride. He was a knight and now he finally looked the part. Of course, his wounds still affected him slightly. His left arm felt numb and every few minutes, pain flashed through his ribs. But his pride was stronger than any pain he felt.
Robb lead them through the streets of Oldtown for about half an hour. The streets soon got less elegant as they left the mansions behind that surrounded the Burned Man's house. People instinctively seemed to make room for them, no matter how crowded the streets were. More than once, Jaron saw scrawny children looking at them in bewilderment. They recognized Harpy and without a doubt, she recognized them too. Somewhere among them was Himani, Jaron knew it. The urchin was foll… [view original content]
While I haven't planned Jaron's alternative storyline in greater detail, it is very likely that they would have met each other in this chapter. Since the alternative choice that would have caused him to work for Mullendore would have had dramatic consequences for Jaron's storyline, he would have also influenced Lucas' and Leonard's storyline in this chapter, albeit I haven't entirely planned how much he would have changed for them.
They walked in complete silence. Robb seemed oddly relaxed, while Harpy tried her best to hide her nervousness and failing miserably at doin… moreg so. Jaron was aware that the people on the street were looking at him and this filled him with pride. He was a knight and now he finally looked the part. Of course, his wounds still affected him slightly. His left arm felt numb and every few minutes, pain flashed through his ribs. But his pride was stronger than any pain he felt.
Robb lead them through the streets of Oldtown for about half an hour. The streets soon got less elegant as they left the mansions behind that surrounded the Burned Man's house. People instinctively seemed to make room for them, no matter how crowded the streets were. More than once, Jaron saw scrawny children looking at them in bewilderment. They recognized Harpy and without a doubt, she recognized them too. Somewhere among them was Himani, Jaron knew it. The urchin was foll… [view original content]
They walked in complete silence. Robb seemed oddly relaxed, while Harpy tried her best to hide her nervousness and failing miserably at doin… moreg so. Jaron was aware that the people on the street were looking at him and this filled him with pride. He was a knight and now he finally looked the part. Of course, his wounds still affected him slightly. His left arm felt numb and every few minutes, pain flashed through his ribs. But his pride was stronger than any pain he felt.
Robb lead them through the streets of Oldtown for about half an hour. The streets soon got less elegant as they left the mansions behind that surrounded the Burned Man's house. People instinctively seemed to make room for them, no matter how crowded the streets were. More than once, Jaron saw scrawny children looking at them in bewilderment. They recognized Harpy and without a doubt, she recognized them too. Somewhere among them was Himani, Jaron knew it. The urchin was foll… [view original content]
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”
For me it go like this: "A coward dies a thousand times before his death as he is and was forgotten, a hero will never die as it'll be always remember."
Jaron will try to stall Butterfly by continuing their talk
I guess I won't reveal too much when I tell you that the next Jaron chapter is going to be very intense. I can't wait to write it, but first there are a few parts for the other characters left that need to be written. The chapter is going to end quite soon, with most of the PoV's having either only one or no parts left in this chapter, with the exception of a few PoV's who have two parts left. I hope to finish the chapter this month and I'm pretty positive that I can manage this if I write quickly. Speaking of, the next part will be the resolution of Samantha's storyline in this chapter and it will be out later today.
Coming to the poll, I see that a majority of you picked 'Yes' when it comes to the question if Butterfly is a bad man. For me he is a horribly bad man and quite probably one of the most nasty individuals in the whole story, rivalling even Harmund Hoare and Bear when it comes to the atrocities they are willing to commit. As a result, one of these yes-votes is mine. His goals however are a completely different matter and arguably they can be even seen as a redeeming trait in him, as they are arguably noble and to a certain extent even selfless. For me, what he tries to achieve is not enough to justify the means by which he tries to accomplish these goals, but your mileage may vary.
Funny how we're the only two people that voted for this choice. I'm a little disappointed it would've been really interesting with this particular choice.
[Accept Butterfly's offer and lower your sword] I hope I won't regret this but it could be a great opportunity or potentially a horrible mis… moretake.
Thank God someone listened to the voice of reason. We CAN turn this around. We CAN change it IF we are a part of him,
I have to admit, I'm kinda glad that I don't have to write this one for a multitude of reasons, but as soon as this chapter is finished I'm going to write down the alternative choices
Funny how we're the only two people that voted for this choice. I'm a little disappointed it would've been really interesting with this particular choice.
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it right here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing from him is a completely different thing altogether. You care for a piece of advice?”, he asked. Sasha shook her head. “No”, she answered shortly.
Jaylon seemingly ignored her, as he continued to speak regardless. “Leave this city as soon as possible. Once I have contacted Butterfly, he's going to hunt you”, he warned them and his mouth formed an ugly smile. “And as soon as he finds you, we'll meet again” With these words, Jaylon turned around, storming out of the building.
Samantha looked after him, smirking and glancing at Sasha. “Well, he was certainly pissed”, she chuckled. The other woman shot her a glare. “He was”, she hissed. “And I'm not too pleased either. You got me in a lot of trouble”
A short sting of regret flashed through Samantha and her smirk vanished. “Well, sorry for ruining your job chances in this city”, she said as honestly as possible. “You want to leave now?” Sasha sighed, before shrugging indifferently. “Fuck Jaylon”, she spat. “I never wanted to work for people like him anyway. Gods, I hate this city”
Samantha sat down next to her, ignoring the cold glare the other woman gave her. “Why have you done it then?”, she asked. “Coming here, I mean” Sasha pressed her lips together and even though she seemed reluctant to speak, she still started to answer. “Got into a bit of trouble in Essos and figured it would be a good thing to look for work in Westeros. But you people with your lords and kings, you disgust me. Oldtown was rumoured to be different and I have to admit, it somehow manages to be even worse”
She looked at the purse Jaylon had left. “Now, let's see for how much we're both going to die”, she snarled, opening the purse and emptying it on the table. Samantha saw a decent amount of golden and silver coins and Sasha quickly started to count. “Together, these are twenty golden and five silver hands. Divided by two it's certainly not enough to die for”
Her cold glare met Samantha's. “Was that worth it?”, she asked. Samantha had to close her eyes as she remembered the pictures that had embedded themselves into her mind. Her old home in the north, her father, her mother, her siblings...
She forced herself to smile and despite her experience, she felt that she somehow failed in convincing the woman in front of her. “Have you seen his face?”, she asked with a stilted chuckle. “That was worth every second”
Sasha let out a sigh. “Fine, be that way, whatever”, she mumbled. “I have more important things to do either way. Like, getting miles between me and this pile of horseshit” She raised from her chair and looked at Samantha again. “No hard feeling for that Jaylon thing, he was disgusting anyway. But you should really get the hell out of here”, she warned her.
Samantha gave her her brightest and most charming smile and almost had the impression that she noticed a subtle shift in Sasha's face. A friend couldn't be a bad thing in a place like this and with Sasha she was at least reasonably sure that she wasn't working for Butterfly. On top of that, Samantha knew nothing about this city, while Sasha seemed to know at least a few important people. “Wait a moment”, she said, making a short handwave towards the wine. “You want me to drink that all alone? It's a bottle for two people. Come one, we drink, we talk and I make you a good offer”
Sasha raised an eyebrow. “You're going to make me an offer?”, she said with sarcasm, before letting out a sigh. “But why should I refuse free wine?” She sat down next to her again, pouring wine into two glasses and handing one of it to Samantha.
Samantha raised her glass, smiling at Sasha. “To the beginning of a good friendship!”, she proclaimed and Sasha rolled with her eyes. “Can we please not do this?”, she asked and took a deep gulp from her glass. “So, what do you want to talk about? And I warn you, don't waste my time or else I'm gone”
“What, you consider time spent with me wasted time?”, Samantha asked with a smile. Sasha sighed and attempted to stand up again, but Samantha held her back. “Just a harmless joke”, she quickly explained. “Unlike you, I'm not in this city to find work. I'm here to find someone, a young girl by the name of Lunett Kawl”
“And on the way, you're going to make it your mission to piss off the most dangerous man in this city”, Sasha interjected and Samantha gave her a sarcastic grin. “What I have to do with Butterfly is personal”, she answered and for a moment she noticed that she failed to sound upbeat and jovial. Sasha seemed to notice her forced smirk and gave her a nod. “Understood. Back to business. I assume you want my help in finding that girl”
Samantha gave her a nod. “Indeed. You know the city, you know it's people and you know whom I shouldn't piss off. I guess without your help I'd be dead before I even get close to find that girl”, she explained. Sasha narrowed her eyes as she seemed to think about what Samantha just said. “This girl... why are you looking for her?”, she asked with suspicion in her voice.
Samantha quickly raised her hands. “Nothing bad, I promise”, she told her. “She ran away from home and her father is worried sick for her. I'm trying to bring her back” Sasha seemed to be pleased as she heard this. “Good. That's a cause I can stand for. Tell me, what can you offer?”
“First of all, you can keep Jaylon's purse”, Samantha explained and Sasha shook her head. “That's my money either way. He offered it to me, not you”, she growled. “Offer me more or look for someone else”
Samantha sighed as she heard this. She had already suspected that it wouldn't be easy to get Sasha to work with her, but she needed her help, not only to find Lunett, but also to bring her to safety afterwards. Sasha wanted to leave the city either way, but Samantha had no intentions to go until Butterfly would lie dead to her feet. No, she needed help and Sasha seemed to be her best choice at the moment.
She slowly reached to her own purse, filled with her payment for the last five months. It wasn't a very heavy purse, at least nowhere nearly as heavy as it could have been. Most of her earnings were spent on food and drinks, for herself and for her horse. Some of it was spent on a nice gilded comb which she had bought back in Pentos, but the rest was kept in her purse. As she threw in on the table, she heard a somewhat satisfying jingling noise that fit well to the expression in Sasha's blue eyes.
“You can keep all of it, if we find the girl, if we we find her alive and if you agree to bring her out of the city for me”, she explained and Sasha gave her a pleased nod. “That's a generous offer. Is that girl so important to you?”, she asked.
“Family is important”, Samantha answered and her voice sounded sullen, while her smile vanished. This time, she made no attempts at forcing herself to smile. And she saw something in Sasha's eyes that seemed to be similar to her own. The other woman raised her glass. “I can drink to that”, she proclaimed, taking a small sip from her wine. Her eyes fell onto Samantha's necklace and reflexively Samantha put a hand on it while shooting her a glare. “The necklace is not part of the offer”, she clarified with slight hostility in her voice. Sasha gave her an apologetic nod. “Never wanted to imply that”, she said quickly. “I accept your offer, but if Butterfly kills us, I'm going to blame you”
Samantha's smile returned and she raised her own glass. “If he kills us, you have every right to blame me”, she grinned, taking a gulp from her glass before putting it down again. Sasha seemed to frown as she heard this, but a slight smirk formed at the corners of her mouth. “You're an odd mercenary, you know that?”, the woman said, chuckling slightly. “I've heard that one before”, Samantha answered with a bright smile.
“So, do you have any idea where to look for her?”, Sasha asked. Samantha gave her a nod. She had thought about this during her journey to Oldtown and had thought of a few possibilities to find her. “Lunett travelled with two knights, Leonard Constantine and Lucas Flowers”, she explained. “Two knight like these are bound to gain some sort of attention, trust me”
Sasha looked away, thinking about what she just heard. “Alright, Flowers and Constantine. I have a few contacts who might be able to locate them, but it won't come cheap”, she explained and looked at Samantha's purse. “But I guess I can figure something out. Any other leads?”
“Constantine and Flowers are looking for a young Maester's acolyte. I don't know what he wants in this city, but finding him probably also means finding the knights”, Samantha continued and Sasha let out an annoyed sigh. “Oh great, now we're talking about the Maesters. Quite a few of them would get a heart attack even seeing me wielding a weapon. Bringing you to the Citadel would be even worse”
“Why's that?”, Samantha asked curiously and Sasha flashed her a short grin. “They are a whole order full of uptight, self-righteous old men with pretty rigid morals when it comes to women. You're basically everything they are not and they hate you for it. Young, good-looking, bubbly, a fighter and female”, she explained
“You think I'm good-looking?”, Samantha asked with a smirk. Sasha didn't reciprocate it, instead she just shook her head. “Don't be smug about it”, she growled. “Strictly business, remember” Samantha gave her a nod, but couldn't contain a smile. “I got it. Anyway, the acolyte is an apprentice of Maester Eaton of Raylansfair. Or was, since the Maester had some sort of accident”
“I've heard about Raylansfair. That means the acolyte has probably something to do with history”, Sasha explained. “The Archmaester of history has a reputation of being extra grumpy, even for a Maester. Talking to him could be unpleasant”
“Sounds fun”, Samantha proclaimed with a grin and Sasha shook her head again. “You got a very strange definition of fun”, she murmured. “Don't take this one easy. If you want to talk to the Historian, be prepared for everything. Most likely outcome will be that he refuses to see us”
“He doesn't know what he's missing”, Samantha chuckled and Sasha let out an annoyed snort. “So, do you know a way to get into the Citadel?” To her surprise, Sasha gave her a nod. “Indeed. There was this little acolyte. He... fancied me, to say the least. Of course I refused his advances, but I had a bit of pity with him and so we talked”
Samantha raised an eyebrow in mockery as she heard this. “Talked?”, she asked with a grin. Sasha narrowed her eyes. “Talked”, she insisted. “We only talked, nothing more” Samantha attempted to pat her on the back, but backed off as Sasha's glare hit her. “Come on, you can tell me”, she tried to tease her, but Sasha only shook her head. “It's none of your business, but if you have to know it, I don't like the company of men in my bed”
“Now that's interesting”, Samantha said with a charming grin, raising an eyebrow while taking another deep gulp from her glass. “By the way, my friends call me Sammy”, she added and the other woman gave her a frown.
“Good for you, Samantha”, Sasha answered dryly. “My friends call me Sasha” Samantha quickly raised her hands. “Okay, okay. I got it. Strictly business”, she said, slightly winking as she said this. Sasha's irritated frown was nearly enough to make her burst into laughter.
“Turned out he only needed some advice. He had this crush on a tailor's daughter and I encouraged him to talk to her”, Sasha explained. “Now, that was kind of you”, Samantha exclaimed in surprise and Sasha shook her head, the hint of a smirk appearing on her face. “Told him to bugger a grumkin. You should have seen his face”, she chuckled. “But after a brutal rejection like that, he finally found enough courage to talk to that girl he was crushing on. And now they are sleeping with each other on occasion”
Samantha burst out into laughter, loud enough to cause quite a few people on the surrounding table to look at her in surprise. “And you are sure he would help us in getting an appointment with this Archmaester?” Sasha gave her a decisive nod. “Absolutely. He's too afraid of me to deny me such a simple request”
“I can understand him”, Samantha said as she was slowly regaining her breath. “So, your contacts and this Archmaester. Do you know anyone else who might be able to help?” Sasha hesitated a moment too long before shaking her head. “No”, she answered, albeit Samantha easily saw through her lie. “Maybe. Yes, probably, but that wouldn't be worth it”, the woman added after receiving a stern glare.
“The Burned Man is the most well-connected man in this city. If he wants to find someone who is currently residing in Oldtown, he usually needs only a few hours, sometimes even less” She let out an audible sigh. “But that's not worth it. I don't trust men like him. They start off by giving you a favour and luring you in with kind words. And when you realize what you have to do for them, it's going to be too late for you to back out”
“Still, he could be a chance to find Lunett before Butterfly finds us”, Samantha argued and Sasha shook her head. “Not worth it”, she insisted and her eyes widened as she looked past Samantha, towards the door. “Seven bloody hells, speaking of the Stranger!”, she muttered.
As Samantha followed her stare, she saw that a young man had just entered the tavern. He was perhaps in her age, with a handsome, yet slightly feminine face and short brown hair. He quickly spotted Sasha and a relieved smile appeared on his face as he quickly walked closer.
“Who is this?”, Samantha asked and Sasha groaned in frustration. “First you, then the insect, now the cripple. The gods must hate me”, she complained. “This man is...” She was cut off when the man arrived at their table, taking an elegant bow in front of them. “Martin Wilshere”, he introduced himself to Samantha. “One of the Burned Man's top associates”, Sasha added with a cold tone in her voice. “What do you want?”
Martin sighed and looked around. Samantha noticed that quite a few of the mercenaries inside of this tavern looked hostile towards him. “May I...?”, he asked, pointing at the chair in front of Sasha. She shook her head. “I prefer if you stand”, she growled. “I'm asking you again, what do you want?”
“You're a well-connected woman, am I right?”, Martin asked and Samantha knew it was a rhetorical question. Sasha still gave him an irritated nod. “Stop flattering me and start talking”, she hissed.
“Well...”, Martin started and quickly sat down despite the hostile glare that came from Sasha. “I need you to show me at least ten mercenaries inside of this tavern who are certainly not working for Butterfly. It is important and you will be rewarded”
Sasha raised an eyebrow. “Why don't you ask the Burned Man?”, she snarled and Martin gave her an apologetic grin. “The Burned Man is preoccupied. Unfortunately I need at least ten good men right now”, the man explained and Samantha got the impression that he was worried and nervous.
“And what can be so important that you are willing to pay me for this information?”, Sasha asked. Martin leant forward, looking from her to Samantha. “She's not working for him”, Sasha explained and Martin gave her a nod. “Good. It's about Butterfly”, he explained and Samantha froze as she heard the name. Martin noticed her reaction and looked at her as he continued. “We're going to end it today, but most of our men are preoccupied. I'm left with two Ghiscari who can't stop arguing and a small army of street urchins, who I won't use for what I'm going to attempt”
“You're trying to kill Butterfly?”, Samantha asked and a grim, completely honest smile appeared on her face. She breathed heavily, feeling excitement as she heard his words. Martin gave her a nod, looking at her in curiosity. “Indeed we do mylady...”, he said. “Ducard. Samantha Ducard”, Samantha introduced herself. “And I'm going to help you”
Sasha shot her a surprised, displeased glare, but Samantha did not care. This was the chance she hadn't even dared to hope for in the past six years. This was a dream come true. The thought of meeting Butterfly, of killing him or at least of watching him die in agony filled her with joy, with the almost childlike enthusiasm she had already though lost.
“Samantha...”, Sasha warned her. “I told you that's not worth it” Instead of trying to appear kind towards her, Samantha shot Sasha an infuriated glare. “Oh, shut up”, she spat. “You have no idea how much this means to me”
Instead of letting out an annoyed remark, Sasha stayed surprisingly silent, only giving her an almost understanding look. “I see...”, she mumbled, shifting her attention back towards Martin. “You see the five men over there, near the counter? I know for sure that they aren't working with Butterfly”
Martin followed her stare and seemed to be less than convinced. “One of these is Ayden Blackwell. I've heard he is working for Mullendore”, he said. “He was”, Sasha explained. “Left his service two weeks ago. He's currently looking for an employer”
“Alright, Blackwell and his friends, your lovely companion here, me and my own men. Makes nine. I have use for ten, however”, Martin pointed out, giving Sasha a suggestive look. The woman responded with an almost disgusted face. “No!”, she exclaimed decisively. “I won't work for you” She looked back at Samantha. “Listen, Samantha, I'm sure you have your reasons to fight against Butterfly. It's entirely your decision. We still have a deal for that girl you need to find...”
Too late she managed to cut herself off. Martin gave Samantha an interested look. “You're looking for someone?”, he asked and Samantha gave him a reluctant nod and Sasha an angry glare. A smile appeared on Martin's face. “Listen, Samantha. If you help me, I'm going to help you. The Burned Man can find the girl you're looking for in no time”, he said to Samantha's excitement. This day got better and better!
“Remember what I told you”, Sasha warned her. “Not worth it” Samantha gave her another glare and Sasha raised her hands. “Fine, fine. Do whatever you think is the best. Makes my job a lot easier after all”
She looked back at Martin. “Is that all? You take Samantha here and you try to recruit Blackwell and his friends. I'm staying here, waiting for her return”, she summarized and both, Martin and Samantha gave her a slightly disappointed look. The woman seemed to have a lot of experience when it came to fighting and Samantha was sure that she could be a useful ally in the fight that was about to come. However, she was relieved that she was still willing to help her in bringing Lunett to safety and also feared that pushing this matter any further could cause her to back out of their agreement.
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly][Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her] Fighting Butterfly is not priority. Stop caring about him. If we all die he's distracted and we can flee Oldtown forever.
Hopefully we never see her again and Samantha will NOT find Leonard and Lucas....
But wait....
“So, do you have any idea where to look for her?”, Sasha asked. Samantha gave her a nod. She had thought about this during her journey to Oldtown and had thought of a few possibilities to find her. “Lunett travelled with two knights, Leonard Constantine and Lucas Flowers”, she explained. “Two knight like these are bound to gain some sort of attention, trust me”
Sasha looked away, thinking about what she just heard. “Alright, Flowers and Constantine. I have a few contacts who might be able to locate them, but it won't come cheap”, she explained and looked at Samantha's purse. “But I guess I can figure something out. Any other leads?”
“Constantine and Flowers are looking for a young Maester's acolyte. I don't know what he wants in this city, but finding him probably also means finding the knights”, Samantha continued and Sasha let out an annoyed sigh. “Oh great, now we're talking about the Maesters. Quite a few of them would get a heart attack even seeing me wielding a weapon. Bringing you to the Citadel would be even worse”
No no no not good not good. Shit. We CANNOT allow her to get Lunett. It would end badly for all of us.
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Darn, I was to late to reply. But I was going to vote [Accept Butterfly's offer and lower your sword] just for knowledge sake. I like the idea of Jaron growing corrupt and being his right hand man eventually.
They walked in complete silence. Robb seemed oddly relaxed, while Harpy tried her best to hide her nervousness and failing miserably at doin… moreg so. Jaron was aware that the people on the street were looking at him and this filled him with pride. He was a knight and now he finally looked the part. Of course, his wounds still affected him slightly. His left arm felt numb and every few minutes, pain flashed through his ribs. But his pride was stronger than any pain he felt.
Robb lead them through the streets of Oldtown for about half an hour. The streets soon got less elegant as they left the mansions behind that surrounded the Burned Man's house. People instinctively seemed to make room for them, no matter how crowded the streets were. More than once, Jaron saw scrawny children looking at them in bewilderment. They recognized Harpy and without a doubt, she recognized them too. Somewhere among them was Himani, Jaron knew it. The urchin was foll… [view original content]
Fighting Butterfly is not priority. Stop caring about him. If we all die he's distracted and we can flee Oldtown forever.
Hehe, you know nothing, InGen Snow >:D
Hopefully we never see her again and Samantha will NOT find Leonard and Lucas....
No no no not good not good. Shit. We CANNOT allow her to get Lunett. It would end badly for all of us.
Normally I prefer not to comment when readers make assumptions like these, in the fear of revealing a spoiler by accident, but now I really have to ask why you are so convinced that Samantha is going to hurt them if she ever meets them. I'm not implying that you are wrong, but I hope it's clear that she's not a bloodthirsty lunatic who would attack our favourite knights without reason.
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her] Fighting Butterfly is not priority. Stop caring about him. If we all die he's distract… moreed and we can flee Oldtown forever.
Hopefully we never see her again and Samantha will NOT find Leonard and Lucas....
But wait....
“So, do you have any idea where to look for her?”, Sasha asked. Samantha gave her a nod. She had thought about this during her journey to Oldtown and had thought of a few possibilities to find her. “Lunett travelled with two knights, Leonard Constantine and Lucas Flowers”, she explained. “Two knight like these are bound to gain some sort of attention, trust me”
Sasha looked away, thinking about what she just heard. “Alright, Flowers and Constantine. I have a few contacts who might be able to locate them, but it won't come cheap”, she explained and looked at Samantha's purse. “But I guess I can figure something out. Any other leads?”
“Constantine and F… [view original content]
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Grrr Liquid why must you taunt me? Create a diversion
Normally I prefer not to comment when readers make assumptions like these, in the fear of revealing a spoiler by accident, but now I really have to ask why you are so convinced that Samantha is going to hurt them if she ever meets them. I'm not implying that you are wrong, but I hope it's clear that she's not a bloodthirsty lunatic who would attack our favourite knights without reason.
Except she does have reason. She has a mission she needs to get done. Leonard does not exactly like to cooperate on these kinds of things right. And I doubt Lucas would let her just walk away with Lunett like that, that stubborn sonuvabitch. She will impede our escape. Lunett also probably doesn't want to be forced to go as well, distracting us.
if she ever meets them
Okay It can be prevented. Everyone, let Sammantha be occupied with fighting Butterfly. With the crimelords battling it out, the Urban Knights and Company can escape under the cover of street war. We must use all of our POVs to make sure this happens. Jaron especially. Fuck Harpy and the Burned Man.
Fighting Butterfly is not priority. Stop caring about him. If we all die he's distracted and we can flee Oldtown forever.
Hehe, you … moreknow nothing, InGen Snow >:D
Hopefully we never see her again and Samantha will NOT find Leonard and Lucas....
No no no not good not good. Shit. We CANNOT allow her to get Lunett. It would end badly for all of us.
Normally I prefer not to comment when readers make assumptions like these, in the fear of revealing a spoiler by accident, but now I really have to ask why you are so convinced that Samantha is going to hurt them if she ever meets them. I'm not implying that you are wrong, but I hope it's clear that she's not a bloodthirsty lunatic who would attack our favourite knights without reason.
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her] We don't need her help to be honest, Samantha and Martin should be enough to save Jaron and Harpy. Oh I forgot about that big guy in the warehouse, well no matter I'm rooting for Butterfly either way!
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
Btw, I've got a question. Will we see the Wall in the story? I just thought of creating a brother of the Night's Watch. Or maybe a wildling. I like wildlings.
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
Btw, I've got a question. Will we see the Wall in the story? I just thought of creating a brother of the Night's Watch. Or maybe a wildling. I like wildlings.
Like InGen said, the Wall will have a short appearance in a chapter in the early Book 2. There will be a PoV who will start at the Wall, but he won't remain there for long. I already have a few Night's Watchmen and don't know how many of them I can include in a story that won't primarily take place at the Wall or beyond, so I would actually prefer a wildling.
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
Btw, I've got a question. Will we see the Wall in the story? I just thought of creating a brother of the Night's Watch. Or maybe a wildling. I like wildlings.
Except she does have reason. She has a mission she needs to get done. Leonard does not exactly like to cooperate on these kinds of things right. And I doubt Lucas would let her just walk away with Lunett like that, that stubborn sonuvabitch. She will impede our escape. Lunett also probably doesn't want to be forced to go as well, distracting us.
You have some interesting ideas here, I give you that. I'd like to comment more on this, but sadly I have to wait for a few more parts until I can talk about this in greater detail without having the fear of giving away spoilers. However, one thing you might have overlooked is that Samantha and the knights have pretty similar goals. Samantha wants to bring Lunett out of the city, the knight want to bring Lunett (and themselves and Dairon) out of the city. And Samantha wants to bring Lunett back to Raylansfair, as her father's inn is not an option anymore. So, while there is of course still plenty of potential for conflicts born out of misunderstandings (my favourite conflicts btw), their goals are similar at the moment. Of course, Samantha's current opinion on the knights also has to be taken into consideration. Her next part will reveal more about how she actually feels about this situation and how she intends to deal with Lucas and Leonard.
Hehe, you know nothing, InGen Snow >:D
Grrr Liquid why must you taunt me? Create a diversion
Normally I prefer not to c… moreomment when readers make assumptions like these, in the fear of revealing a spoiler by accident, but now I really have to ask why you are so convinced that Samantha is going to hurt them if she ever meets them. I'm not implying that you are wrong, but I hope it's clear that she's not a bloodthirsty lunatic who would attack our favourite knights without reason.
Except she does have reason. She has a mission she needs to get done. Leonard does not exactly like to cooperate on these kinds of things right. And I doubt Lucas would let her just walk away with Lunett like that, that stubborn sonuvabitch. She will impede our escape. Lunett also probably doesn't want to be forced to go as well, distracting us.
if she ever meets them
Okay It can be prevented. Everyone, let Sammantha be occupie… [view original content]
Let's [Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly] and Sammy, I mean Samantha should try harder to be a friend with Sasha, they should stick together even it's "Strictly business”, however is may be too dangerous for Sasha, if she really don't want to come we have nothing to lose if we can't manage to convince her, at least we try to keep her by our side as a friend.
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly] normally I would respect her wishes but we're talking about Butterfly they're going to need help and hopefully Samantha won't get stuck with the Burned man.
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
Btw, I've got a question. Will we see the Wall in the story? I just thought of creating a brother of the Night's Watch. Or maybe a wildling. I like wildlings.
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Like InGen said, the Wall will have a short appearance in a chapter in the early Book 2. There will be a PoV who will start at the Wall, but… more he won't remain there for long. I already have a few Night's Watchmen and don't know how many of them I can include in a story that won't primarily take place at the Wall or beyond, so I would actually prefer a wildling.
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
I thought about this one for a bit. But after thinking about it, I think it's just better to leave Sasha be, and it's best not to risk her trying to fight against Butterfly. I don't think she would be much of an asset whilst trying to fight against Butterfly anyway.
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
Like InGen said, the Wall will have a short appearance in a chapter in the early Book 2. There will be a PoV who will start at the Wall, but… more he won't remain there for long. I already have a few Night's Watchmen and don't know how many of them I can include in a story that won't primarily take place at the Wall or beyond, so I would actually prefer a wildling.
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it rig… moreht here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing … [view original content]
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her] Fighting Butterfly is not priority. Stop caring about him. If we all die he's distract… moreed and we can flee Oldtown forever.
Hopefully we never see her again and Samantha will NOT find Leonard and Lucas....
But wait....
“So, do you have any idea where to look for her?”, Sasha asked. Samantha gave her a nod. She had thought about this during her journey to Oldtown and had thought of a few possibilities to find her. “Lunett travelled with two knights, Leonard Constantine and Lucas Flowers”, she explained. “Two knight like these are bound to gain some sort of attention, trust me”
Sasha looked away, thinking about what she just heard. “Alright, Flowers and Constantine. I have a few contacts who might be able to locate them, but it won't come cheap”, she explained and looked at Samantha's purse. “But I guess I can figure something out. Any other leads?”
“Constantine and F… [view original content]
Comments
Thank God someone listened to the voice of reason. We CAN turn this around. We CAN change it IF we are a part of him,
[Try to stall him by talking]
[Try to stall him by talking] I think this is the least worst option, attacking Butterfly will just get us straight up killed without even touching him. And Jaron shouldn't join him because we will be painted as traitors and it will be hard to fit in. Great part none the less!
[Attack] Maybe it's a suicide but at least my dearest bastard goes out with a sword in his hand
While I haven't planned Jaron's alternative storyline in greater detail, it is very likely that they would have met each other in this chapter. Since the alternative choice that would have caused him to work for Mullendore would have had dramatic consequences for Jaron's storyline, he would have also influenced Lucas' and Leonard's storyline in this chapter, albeit I haven't entirely planned how much he would have changed for them.
[Try to stall him by talking] Such a hard choice!
[Try to stall him by talking] "a cower dies a thousand times, a hero die only once". But lets not be a fool.
It is William Shakespeare quote?
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”
For me it go like this: "A coward dies a thousand times before his death as he is and was forgotten, a hero will never die as it'll be always remember."
from 0:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPRzWpvUfx0
The Voting is closed!
Jaron will try to stall Butterfly by continuing their talk
I guess I won't reveal too much when I tell you that the next Jaron chapter is going to be very intense. I can't wait to write it, but first there are a few parts for the other characters left that need to be written. The chapter is going to end quite soon, with most of the PoV's having either only one or no parts left in this chapter, with the exception of a few PoV's who have two parts left. I hope to finish the chapter this month and I'm pretty positive that I can manage this if I write quickly. Speaking of, the next part will be the resolution of Samantha's storyline in this chapter and it will be out later today.
Coming to the poll, I see that a majority of you picked 'Yes' when it comes to the question if Butterfly is a bad man. For me he is a horribly bad man and quite probably one of the most nasty individuals in the whole story, rivalling even Harmund Hoare and Bear when it comes to the atrocities they are willing to commit. As a result, one of these yes-votes is mine. His goals however are a completely different matter and arguably they can be even seen as a redeeming trait in him, as they are arguably noble and to a certain extent even selfless. For me, what he tries to achieve is not enough to justify the means by which he tries to accomplish these goals, but your mileage may vary.
Funny how we're the only two people that voted for this choice. I'm a little disappointed it would've been really interesting with this particular choice.
I have to admit, I'm kinda glad that I don't have to write this one for a multitude of reasons, but as soon as this chapter is finished I'm going to write down the alternative choices
Samantha
Samantha shot Jaylon a glare of pure hatred, while the mercenary seemed to be more annoyed than anything else. “You leave it right here”, she growled, slightly moving her hatchet down, so that it barely touched his hand. She felt him shiver under the touch of the cold steel and he narrowed his eyes. “You're making a mistake, girl”, he warned her. “You're making a big fucking mistake. Butterfly won't be amused”
“Good”, Samantha answered, slightly raising her hatchet. “And now leave it, or you can buy yourself a new hand with it” She saw Jaylon giving Sasha an angry glare, before slightly shaking his head. He pulled his hand away, slowly raising both arms above his head. “Fine”, he mumbled. “It's your money. He's getting it back either way soon”
With these words, he took a step backwards, looking from her to Sasha. “I hope you know that both of you are done in this city. Refusing Butterfly's wishes is bad enough, but stealing from him is a completely different thing altogether. You care for a piece of advice?”, he asked. Sasha shook her head. “No”, she answered shortly.
Jaylon seemingly ignored her, as he continued to speak regardless. “Leave this city as soon as possible. Once I have contacted Butterfly, he's going to hunt you”, he warned them and his mouth formed an ugly smile. “And as soon as he finds you, we'll meet again” With these words, Jaylon turned around, storming out of the building.
Samantha looked after him, smirking and glancing at Sasha. “Well, he was certainly pissed”, she chuckled. The other woman shot her a glare. “He was”, she hissed. “And I'm not too pleased either. You got me in a lot of trouble”
A short sting of regret flashed through Samantha and her smirk vanished. “Well, sorry for ruining your job chances in this city”, she said as honestly as possible. “You want to leave now?” Sasha sighed, before shrugging indifferently. “Fuck Jaylon”, she spat. “I never wanted to work for people like him anyway. Gods, I hate this city”
Samantha sat down next to her, ignoring the cold glare the other woman gave her. “Why have you done it then?”, she asked. “Coming here, I mean” Sasha pressed her lips together and even though she seemed reluctant to speak, she still started to answer. “Got into a bit of trouble in Essos and figured it would be a good thing to look for work in Westeros. But you people with your lords and kings, you disgust me. Oldtown was rumoured to be different and I have to admit, it somehow manages to be even worse”
She looked at the purse Jaylon had left. “Now, let's see for how much we're both going to die”, she snarled, opening the purse and emptying it on the table. Samantha saw a decent amount of golden and silver coins and Sasha quickly started to count. “Together, these are twenty golden and five silver hands. Divided by two it's certainly not enough to die for”
Her cold glare met Samantha's. “Was that worth it?”, she asked. Samantha had to close her eyes as she remembered the pictures that had embedded themselves into her mind. Her old home in the north, her father, her mother, her siblings...
She forced herself to smile and despite her experience, she felt that she somehow failed in convincing the woman in front of her. “Have you seen his face?”, she asked with a stilted chuckle. “That was worth every second”
Sasha let out a sigh. “Fine, be that way, whatever”, she mumbled. “I have more important things to do either way. Like, getting miles between me and this pile of horseshit” She raised from her chair and looked at Samantha again. “No hard feeling for that Jaylon thing, he was disgusting anyway. But you should really get the hell out of here”, she warned her.
Samantha gave her her brightest and most charming smile and almost had the impression that she noticed a subtle shift in Sasha's face. A friend couldn't be a bad thing in a place like this and with Sasha she was at least reasonably sure that she wasn't working for Butterfly. On top of that, Samantha knew nothing about this city, while Sasha seemed to know at least a few important people. “Wait a moment”, she said, making a short handwave towards the wine. “You want me to drink that all alone? It's a bottle for two people. Come one, we drink, we talk and I make you a good offer”
Sasha raised an eyebrow. “You're going to make me an offer?”, she said with sarcasm, before letting out a sigh. “But why should I refuse free wine?” She sat down next to her again, pouring wine into two glasses and handing one of it to Samantha.
Samantha raised her glass, smiling at Sasha. “To the beginning of a good friendship!”, she proclaimed and Sasha rolled with her eyes. “Can we please not do this?”, she asked and took a deep gulp from her glass. “So, what do you want to talk about? And I warn you, don't waste my time or else I'm gone”
“What, you consider time spent with me wasted time?”, Samantha asked with a smile. Sasha sighed and attempted to stand up again, but Samantha held her back. “Just a harmless joke”, she quickly explained. “Unlike you, I'm not in this city to find work. I'm here to find someone, a young girl by the name of Lunett Kawl”
“And on the way, you're going to make it your mission to piss off the most dangerous man in this city”, Sasha interjected and Samantha gave her a sarcastic grin. “What I have to do with Butterfly is personal”, she answered and for a moment she noticed that she failed to sound upbeat and jovial. Sasha seemed to notice her forced smirk and gave her a nod. “Understood. Back to business. I assume you want my help in finding that girl”
Samantha gave her a nod. “Indeed. You know the city, you know it's people and you know whom I shouldn't piss off. I guess without your help I'd be dead before I even get close to find that girl”, she explained. Sasha narrowed her eyes as she seemed to think about what Samantha just said. “This girl... why are you looking for her?”, she asked with suspicion in her voice.
Samantha quickly raised her hands. “Nothing bad, I promise”, she told her. “She ran away from home and her father is worried sick for her. I'm trying to bring her back” Sasha seemed to be pleased as she heard this. “Good. That's a cause I can stand for. Tell me, what can you offer?”
“First of all, you can keep Jaylon's purse”, Samantha explained and Sasha shook her head. “That's my money either way. He offered it to me, not you”, she growled. “Offer me more or look for someone else”
Samantha sighed as she heard this. She had already suspected that it wouldn't be easy to get Sasha to work with her, but she needed her help, not only to find Lunett, but also to bring her to safety afterwards. Sasha wanted to leave the city either way, but Samantha had no intentions to go until Butterfly would lie dead to her feet. No, she needed help and Sasha seemed to be her best choice at the moment.
She slowly reached to her own purse, filled with her payment for the last five months. It wasn't a very heavy purse, at least nowhere nearly as heavy as it could have been. Most of her earnings were spent on food and drinks, for herself and for her horse. Some of it was spent on a nice gilded comb which she had bought back in Pentos, but the rest was kept in her purse. As she threw in on the table, she heard a somewhat satisfying jingling noise that fit well to the expression in Sasha's blue eyes.
“You can keep all of it, if we find the girl, if we we find her alive and if you agree to bring her out of the city for me”, she explained and Sasha gave her a pleased nod. “That's a generous offer. Is that girl so important to you?”, she asked.
“Family is important”, Samantha answered and her voice sounded sullen, while her smile vanished. This time, she made no attempts at forcing herself to smile. And she saw something in Sasha's eyes that seemed to be similar to her own. The other woman raised her glass. “I can drink to that”, she proclaimed, taking a small sip from her wine. Her eyes fell onto Samantha's necklace and reflexively Samantha put a hand on it while shooting her a glare. “The necklace is not part of the offer”, she clarified with slight hostility in her voice. Sasha gave her an apologetic nod. “Never wanted to imply that”, she said quickly. “I accept your offer, but if Butterfly kills us, I'm going to blame you”
Samantha's smile returned and she raised her own glass. “If he kills us, you have every right to blame me”, she grinned, taking a gulp from her glass before putting it down again. Sasha seemed to frown as she heard this, but a slight smirk formed at the corners of her mouth. “You're an odd mercenary, you know that?”, the woman said, chuckling slightly. “I've heard that one before”, Samantha answered with a bright smile.
“So, do you have any idea where to look for her?”, Sasha asked. Samantha gave her a nod. She had thought about this during her journey to Oldtown and had thought of a few possibilities to find her. “Lunett travelled with two knights, Leonard Constantine and Lucas Flowers”, she explained. “Two knight like these are bound to gain some sort of attention, trust me”
Sasha looked away, thinking about what she just heard. “Alright, Flowers and Constantine. I have a few contacts who might be able to locate them, but it won't come cheap”, she explained and looked at Samantha's purse. “But I guess I can figure something out. Any other leads?”
“Constantine and Flowers are looking for a young Maester's acolyte. I don't know what he wants in this city, but finding him probably also means finding the knights”, Samantha continued and Sasha let out an annoyed sigh. “Oh great, now we're talking about the Maesters. Quite a few of them would get a heart attack even seeing me wielding a weapon. Bringing you to the Citadel would be even worse”
“Why's that?”, Samantha asked curiously and Sasha flashed her a short grin. “They are a whole order full of uptight, self-righteous old men with pretty rigid morals when it comes to women. You're basically everything they are not and they hate you for it. Young, good-looking, bubbly, a fighter and female”, she explained
“You think I'm good-looking?”, Samantha asked with a smirk. Sasha didn't reciprocate it, instead she just shook her head. “Don't be smug about it”, she growled. “Strictly business, remember” Samantha gave her a nod, but couldn't contain a smile. “I got it. Anyway, the acolyte is an apprentice of Maester Eaton of Raylansfair. Or was, since the Maester had some sort of accident”
“I've heard about Raylansfair. That means the acolyte has probably something to do with history”, Sasha explained. “The Archmaester of history has a reputation of being extra grumpy, even for a Maester. Talking to him could be unpleasant”
“Sounds fun”, Samantha proclaimed with a grin and Sasha shook her head again. “You got a very strange definition of fun”, she murmured. “Don't take this one easy. If you want to talk to the Historian, be prepared for everything. Most likely outcome will be that he refuses to see us”
“He doesn't know what he's missing”, Samantha chuckled and Sasha let out an annoyed snort. “So, do you know a way to get into the Citadel?” To her surprise, Sasha gave her a nod. “Indeed. There was this little acolyte. He... fancied me, to say the least. Of course I refused his advances, but I had a bit of pity with him and so we talked”
Samantha raised an eyebrow in mockery as she heard this. “Talked?”, she asked with a grin. Sasha narrowed her eyes. “Talked”, she insisted. “We only talked, nothing more” Samantha attempted to pat her on the back, but backed off as Sasha's glare hit her. “Come on, you can tell me”, she tried to tease her, but Sasha only shook her head. “It's none of your business, but if you have to know it, I don't like the company of men in my bed”
“Now that's interesting”, Samantha said with a charming grin, raising an eyebrow while taking another deep gulp from her glass. “By the way, my friends call me Sammy”, she added and the other woman gave her a frown.
“Good for you, Samantha”, Sasha answered dryly. “My friends call me Sasha” Samantha quickly raised her hands. “Okay, okay. I got it. Strictly business”, she said, slightly winking as she said this. Sasha's irritated frown was nearly enough to make her burst into laughter.
“Turned out he only needed some advice. He had this crush on a tailor's daughter and I encouraged him to talk to her”, Sasha explained. “Now, that was kind of you”, Samantha exclaimed in surprise and Sasha shook her head, the hint of a smirk appearing on her face. “Told him to bugger a grumkin. You should have seen his face”, she chuckled. “But after a brutal rejection like that, he finally found enough courage to talk to that girl he was crushing on. And now they are sleeping with each other on occasion”
Samantha burst out into laughter, loud enough to cause quite a few people on the surrounding table to look at her in surprise. “And you are sure he would help us in getting an appointment with this Archmaester?” Sasha gave her a decisive nod. “Absolutely. He's too afraid of me to deny me such a simple request”
“I can understand him”, Samantha said as she was slowly regaining her breath. “So, your contacts and this Archmaester. Do you know anyone else who might be able to help?” Sasha hesitated a moment too long before shaking her head. “No”, she answered, albeit Samantha easily saw through her lie. “Maybe. Yes, probably, but that wouldn't be worth it”, the woman added after receiving a stern glare.
“The Burned Man is the most well-connected man in this city. If he wants to find someone who is currently residing in Oldtown, he usually needs only a few hours, sometimes even less” She let out an audible sigh. “But that's not worth it. I don't trust men like him. They start off by giving you a favour and luring you in with kind words. And when you realize what you have to do for them, it's going to be too late for you to back out”
“Still, he could be a chance to find Lunett before Butterfly finds us”, Samantha argued and Sasha shook her head. “Not worth it”, she insisted and her eyes widened as she looked past Samantha, towards the door. “Seven bloody hells, speaking of the Stranger!”, she muttered.
As Samantha followed her stare, she saw that a young man had just entered the tavern. He was perhaps in her age, with a handsome, yet slightly feminine face and short brown hair. He quickly spotted Sasha and a relieved smile appeared on his face as he quickly walked closer.
“Who is this?”, Samantha asked and Sasha groaned in frustration. “First you, then the insect, now the cripple. The gods must hate me”, she complained. “This man is...” She was cut off when the man arrived at their table, taking an elegant bow in front of them. “Martin Wilshere”, he introduced himself to Samantha. “One of the Burned Man's top associates”, Sasha added with a cold tone in her voice. “What do you want?”
Martin sighed and looked around. Samantha noticed that quite a few of the mercenaries inside of this tavern looked hostile towards him. “May I...?”, he asked, pointing at the chair in front of Sasha. She shook her head. “I prefer if you stand”, she growled. “I'm asking you again, what do you want?”
“You're a well-connected woman, am I right?”, Martin asked and Samantha knew it was a rhetorical question. Sasha still gave him an irritated nod. “Stop flattering me and start talking”, she hissed.
“Well...”, Martin started and quickly sat down despite the hostile glare that came from Sasha. “I need you to show me at least ten mercenaries inside of this tavern who are certainly not working for Butterfly. It is important and you will be rewarded”
Sasha raised an eyebrow. “Why don't you ask the Burned Man?”, she snarled and Martin gave her an apologetic grin. “The Burned Man is preoccupied. Unfortunately I need at least ten good men right now”, the man explained and Samantha got the impression that he was worried and nervous.
“And what can be so important that you are willing to pay me for this information?”, Sasha asked. Martin leant forward, looking from her to Samantha. “She's not working for him”, Sasha explained and Martin gave her a nod. “Good. It's about Butterfly”, he explained and Samantha froze as she heard the name. Martin noticed her reaction and looked at her as he continued. “We're going to end it today, but most of our men are preoccupied. I'm left with two Ghiscari who can't stop arguing and a small army of street urchins, who I won't use for what I'm going to attempt”
“You're trying to kill Butterfly?”, Samantha asked and a grim, completely honest smile appeared on her face. She breathed heavily, feeling excitement as she heard his words. Martin gave her a nod, looking at her in curiosity. “Indeed we do mylady...”, he said. “Ducard. Samantha Ducard”, Samantha introduced herself. “And I'm going to help you”
Sasha shot her a surprised, displeased glare, but Samantha did not care. This was the chance she hadn't even dared to hope for in the past six years. This was a dream come true. The thought of meeting Butterfly, of killing him or at least of watching him die in agony filled her with joy, with the almost childlike enthusiasm she had already though lost.
“Samantha...”, Sasha warned her. “I told you that's not worth it” Instead of trying to appear kind towards her, Samantha shot Sasha an infuriated glare. “Oh, shut up”, she spat. “You have no idea how much this means to me”
Instead of letting out an annoyed remark, Sasha stayed surprisingly silent, only giving her an almost understanding look. “I see...”, she mumbled, shifting her attention back towards Martin. “You see the five men over there, near the counter? I know for sure that they aren't working with Butterfly”
Martin followed her stare and seemed to be less than convinced. “One of these is Ayden Blackwell. I've heard he is working for Mullendore”, he said. “He was”, Sasha explained. “Left his service two weeks ago. He's currently looking for an employer”
“Alright, Blackwell and his friends, your lovely companion here, me and my own men. Makes nine. I have use for ten, however”, Martin pointed out, giving Sasha a suggestive look. The woman responded with an almost disgusted face. “No!”, she exclaimed decisively. “I won't work for you” She looked back at Samantha. “Listen, Samantha, I'm sure you have your reasons to fight against Butterfly. It's entirely your decision. We still have a deal for that girl you need to find...”
Too late she managed to cut herself off. Martin gave Samantha an interested look. “You're looking for someone?”, he asked and Samantha gave him a reluctant nod and Sasha an angry glare. A smile appeared on Martin's face. “Listen, Samantha. If you help me, I'm going to help you. The Burned Man can find the girl you're looking for in no time”, he said to Samantha's excitement. This day got better and better!
“Remember what I told you”, Sasha warned her. “Not worth it” Samantha gave her another glare and Sasha raised her hands. “Fine, fine. Do whatever you think is the best. Makes my job a lot easier after all”
She looked back at Martin. “Is that all? You take Samantha here and you try to recruit Blackwell and his friends. I'm staying here, waiting for her return”, she summarized and both, Martin and Samantha gave her a slightly disappointed look. The woman seemed to have a lot of experience when it came to fighting and Samantha was sure that she could be a useful ally in the fight that was about to come. However, she was relieved that she was still willing to help her in bringing Lunett to safety and also feared that pushing this matter any further could cause her to back out of their agreement.
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly] [Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
If she doesn't want to do it, why try to convince her?
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her] Fighting Butterfly is not priority. Stop caring about him. If we all die he's distracted and we can flee Oldtown forever.
Hopefully we never see her again and Samantha will NOT find Leonard and Lucas....
But wait....
No no no not good not good. Shit. We CANNOT allow her to get Lunett. It would end badly for all of us.
Darn, I was to late to reply. But I was going to vote [Accept Butterfly's offer and lower your sword] just for knowledge sake. I like the idea of Jaron growing corrupt and being his right hand man eventually.
Hehe, you know nothing, InGen Snow >:D
Normally I prefer not to comment when readers make assumptions like these, in the fear of revealing a spoiler by accident, but now I really have to ask why you are so convinced that Samantha is going to hurt them if she ever meets them. I'm not implying that you are wrong, but I hope it's clear that she's not a bloodthirsty lunatic who would attack our favourite knights without reason.
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
Grrr Liquid why must you taunt me? Create a diversion
Except she does have reason. She has a mission she needs to get done. Leonard does not exactly like to cooperate on these kinds of things right. And I doubt Lucas would let her just walk away with Lunett like that, that stubborn sonuvabitch. She will impede our escape. Lunett also probably doesn't want to be forced to go as well, distracting us.
Okay It can be prevented. Everyone, let Sammantha be occupied with fighting Butterfly. With the crimelords battling it out, the Urban Knights and Company can escape under the cover of street war. We must use all of our POVs to make sure this happens. Jaron especially. Fuck Harpy and the Burned Man.
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her] We don't need her help to be honest, Samantha and Martin should be enough to save Jaron and Harpy. Oh I forgot about that big guy in the warehouse, well no matter I'm rooting for Butterfly either way!
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
Btw, I've got a question. Will we see the Wall in the story? I just thought of creating a brother of the Night's Watch. Or maybe a wildling. I like wildlings.
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
[Leave Sasha behind] She's not that important
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly]
I think it will have a cameo scene he said.
Like InGen said, the Wall will have a short appearance in a chapter in the early Book 2. There will be a PoV who will start at the Wall, but he won't remain there for long. I already have a few Night's Watchmen and don't know how many of them I can include in a story that won't primarily take place at the Wall or beyond, so I would actually prefer a wildling.
You have some interesting ideas here, I give you that. I'd like to comment more on this, but sadly I have to wait for a few more parts until I can talk about this in greater detail without having the fear of giving away spoilers. However, one thing you might have overlooked is that Samantha and the knights have pretty similar goals. Samantha wants to bring Lunett out of the city, the knight want to bring Lunett (and themselves and Dairon) out of the city. And Samantha wants to bring Lunett back to Raylansfair, as her father's inn is not an option anymore. So, while there is of course still plenty of potential for conflicts born out of misunderstandings (my favourite conflicts btw), their goals are similar at the moment. Of course, Samantha's current opinion on the knights also has to be taken into consideration. Her next part will reveal more about how she actually feels about this situation and how she intends to deal with Lucas and Leonard.
Let's [Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly] and Sammy, I mean Samantha should try harder to be a friend with Sasha, they should stick together even it's "Strictly business”, however is may be too dangerous for Sasha, if she really don't want to come we have nothing to lose if we can't manage to convince her, at least we try to keep her by our side as a friend.
[Try to convince Sasha to join the fight against Butterfly] normally I would respect her wishes but we're talking about Butterfly they're going to need help and hopefully Samantha won't get stuck with the Burned man.
You'd probably be better off creating a deserter or a wildling.
(Leave washable behind and fight butterfly without her)
He gets killed.
The end.
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
I thought about this one for a bit. But after thinking about it, I think it's just better to leave Sasha be, and it's best not to risk her trying to fight against Butterfly. I don't think she would be much of an asset whilst trying to fight against Butterfly anyway.
Hell yeah! Sadly, I don't have time today but I'll submit a wildling tomorrow.
[Leave Sasha behind and fight Butterfly without her]
You still doing polls?
Totally forgot.
http://strawpoll.me/4704936