farsickness | "I want to plant trees and see them grow"

WHO: Daenerys Targaryen

thebrideoffire and OPEN
WHEN: June
WHAT: Exploring and settling
WHERE: Mostly the town and the forest
WARNINGS: None so far

There were not enough answers to satisfy her, but a life needed to be made here, for however long Daenerys would be forced to remain here. The environment was at least familiar in a sense. It was closer to the stories of Westeros than anywhere else she had been in Essos. The land was sweeping and beautiful, the forest being a particular draw for her. While Dany didn't have Drogon with her or her Silver, she could at least wander the woods and collect the herbs she would need for the local apothecary.

The apothecary shop was one of a few in this place, but the owner was willing to teach her in exchange for her running deliveries, errands and whatever else he might need. It also gave her an excuse to go out into the woods during the day and look for the plants he described for her. A chance to be outdoors, but also to work the land and earn her own way. It was exhilarating, no different than her dreams of being a sailor or a simple woman in Braavos.

In the evening, as she always did, Daenerys returned to the tavern for her meal. The food was better quality than the inn and something about being surrounded by so many pleased her. No more knives in the dark, only the people, as she always wanted to be part of. Open and warm, it was how she would greet anyone who approached her during her day.

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He doesn't need to say it for her to know that he likely frequented them often. Even her Great Bear, who ended in exile was able to enjoy luxuries that she couldn't imagine. Instead, she had to rely on the hospitality (or rather the pity and greed) of others. So much was dependent on her hosts. Honey fingers and silk came with a price.

"Not as cold as the North, as I imagine?"

"Not as cold as the North." The Northmen are used to the cold, of course, but even those of such hardy stock have their limits. He thinks unpleasantly of the result of the Starks' ominous warning. Winter is coming. No one had fully understood the significance of what it would mean when winter arrived this time. It wasn't just winter that had arrived.

"How much do you know of Westoros?"

She flushed, embarrassed to admit the truth to someone who had lived his life in Westeros. It had always been a distant dream to her, stories told first by Viserys and then by Jorah. She had dreamed of King's Landing and the Red Keep, but they were simply images that she conjured in her mind.

"Not very much. I know the history of my House and the Usurper's Rebellion. Viserys spoke a great deal about the Red Keep and Dragonstone, but I cannot say what might be true."

"I don't know much of those places either. I've spent a little time at Dragonstone, but have only seen the Red Keep from other parts of King's Landing." And he hasn't seen much of that, either, since they weren't there for sightseeing. "I don't know much beyond the North, though."

"Dragonstone was where I was born, but I never had the chance to form memories there. Viserys spoke of it often, as he did the Red Keep. It's difficult to know though what he embellished and what he did not." As he had embellished her father, leaving out his madness and only speaking of his generosity.

"What is the North like besides cold?"

"I've spent a little time at Dragonstone." Probably not enough to answer her questions about what's true and what's not. Certainly not enough to know it well.

"Big. It's the largest of the seven kingdoms." Which are now six, with the North being independent, but that's not the focus right now. "It's wilder than the other six, too, and we still follow the Old Gods up there." With a few exceptions; his siblings prayed to both because their mother was not from the North. "I think sometimes the rest of Westeros doesn't take us seriously."

"Ser Jorah spoke of Bear Island and how it is surrounded by trees. That it isn't an easy land to live in." But given the other places she has lived, she can imagine the beauty of it and wishes that she had some glimpse beyond her imaginings. "Perhaps they don't, but they are foolish for it. What little I know of the history of Westeros speaks well of the North. They seem practical."

They bowed to Aegon when so many others let pride rule them. Still, his father's support of Robert Baratheon did not sit easily with her, even knowing what her father was. "You must miss it greatly. Home is a wonderful thing."

"It isn't an easy land to live in, but it's some of the most beautiful country I've seen." Not that he's seen much, of course, and he may be a little biased. "Perhaps I've just been talking to the wrong people then. Or they just don't like having to deal with the bastard of Winterfell."

Which is too bad for them. A bastard, a cripple, or a woman, those are their choices.

"I do miss it. Although I'm not sure Winterfell was ever truly my home, it's the closest thing I have to one."

"I understand that," she murmured, toying with the mug of ale in her hand. "King's Landing is my home, but it is also not the home I feel drawn to. When I was a girl, we used to live with Ser Willem Derry. He was the one who looked after Viserys and me when our mother died and we went into exile. Every time I picture home, I imagine the place in Braavos that was his. A house with a lemon tree outside my window and a red door."

She didn't know why she was telling him. It wasn't something she really told anyone, not even Viserys. Jon was safe though. He might understand her feelings where Viserys wouldn't.

"I'm starting to think that finding a place where there are no other people and just staying out of it is the best option." Solitude. No one arguing with him or expecting a certain thing from him. These are his dreams right now. He shakes his head. "I don't know that that will ever be possible though."

"That seems lonely." She let her eyes linger on him for a moment, able to read some measure of weight about his shoulders. "Hiding away from the world doesn't solve the matters you are faced with, no matter what they are. There is only going forward."

"It would never happen anyway. Even if I didn't have people depending on me." All of Westeros, in fact, and it's his duty as a Stark and as a man of the Watch to keep the threat from making it out of the North. "It's appealing sometimes, but we don't usually get things the way we want them."

"I want to plant trees and see them grow"

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