voice;

[lemontree]

I am through with being unable to protect myself. [ Comes the abrupt message over the network, one given by a young woman who isn't using the video function and who neglects to give her name. ] If it is possible, I would like to be taught some level of magic. I...don't know that it is possible, but I have heard that some of the - abilities from your worlds can be passed to others. If you would have me as a student of sorts, then I would find some way to repay you.

[ She doesn't have much to offer - not in Hadriel - but. Well, she figures there will be an opportunity to repay a favor at one point or another. ]

Even something small and simple [ "simple" ] would be better than nothing. Please, consider it.

Comments

[restinglichface]

For you? Sure.

And that's a real compliment cuz I'm super picky with who I teach.

voice; --> video;

[lemontree]

[ It's a familiar voice, but one that's distantly familiar. Dany smiles faintly with what she assumes is recognition, but switches to video (after some fumbling) all the same. ]

Do you find yourself teaching magic often?

[restinglichface]

[Lup's grinning face takes up the full screen, the elf reclined back on her bed, both arms tucked beneath her head, her phone held up by seemingly nothing in front of her.]

Nope. [She pops that 'p' as she draws out that single word.] It takes a lot of time to learn magic. Shit doesn't come in a day or two. It's the kinda thing that takes a lifetime of studying to really perfect.

video;

[lemontree]

Well, I think that we have some time, here, but I wouldn't ask that you give so much of it for this. [ She certainly doesn't have a lifetime within Hadriel to devote to the study of magic, or so she hopes. ] If it's too much, then I understand.

[restinglichface]

Sure, hun. Few hours a week should do it. We'll make a wizard outta you in no time.

[lemontree]

You're giving me a lot of undeserved confidence.

[ She has confidence in herself absolutely, but not...necessarily in her ability to produce magic. ]

[NOT HERE]

[northerndragon]

video; private

[iron_beneath_beauty]

You really do look like your brother.

video; private

[lemontree]

[ Ah. Finally, after fretting over how best to actually meet Lyanna Stark, wife of her oldest brother and mother of someone she might love, Dany finds herself faced with the woman herself.

Her expression doesn't change (she hopes) despite the flurry of emotion beneath. ]

Would you have me call you 'sister?' [ There's no malice or bitterness, but there is...a stiffness. Things have been difficult for her lately, after all, and Lyanna does not make it any easier, or clearer. ]

...I am glad that I had the chance to meet him. Here, in Hadriel. [ Even for such a brief time. ]

[iron_beneath_beauty]

[She hadn't thought that far ahead in terms of family relations or what they would begin to call each other. Daenerys was born shortly after Lyanna had died, that made the distance between them a bit greater. Still, this was a connection to Rhaegar, someone that shared his blood and was her family now...]

I think we should call each other what feels natural. [She was stiff as well, slightly apprehensive how this woman might view her. It was one thing to meet the Stark children or Margaery Tyrell, but this was a Targaryen, affected by her decisions and relationship with Rhaegar. It made the guilt more potent.]

I heard he was here, but I didn't see him among the other faces. At least you and- [Don't say 'Aegon'] Jon...could meet him.

[lemontree]

And what is natural, in this place? I have seen things that I never thought possible. I have met ghosts who walk with us, solid and alive. [ Lyanna, you are one of them. Still, though, her tone is more stressed than accusatory, and rightly so, she thinks. ]

Jon. [ She'll go ahead and fill in the name for you, sister: ] You mean Aegon. ...He's told me about all of it.

[ Or so she assumes. A male heir to her father's throne. Another child for her brother.

Dany sighs. ]

Have you spent much time with him? [ With Jon? ]

[iron_beneath_beauty]

There is nothing natural of this place, but it is difficult to curse this bizarre magic. If ghosts are allowed another chance at something so important, I am grateful for it. The end for so many of us was not...comforting.

[She knows she is a ghost and an enigma to so many, as well as complicated. She is older than all of them, but still younger at the same time. This wasn't a simple matter of being reunited, she was meeting those born after her time, a time long passed.]

Did he? [It was more than she expected.] I believe in his goodness and honor, but I...worried this might be too much for him to share. That it was hateful.

[She knows what she represents now, the loss of innocence and illusion.]

As much as he will allow me. Of late he has been keeping to himself and unhappy.

[lemontree]

They may well raise the dead to torment them further. Do not trust the gods of this world.

[ Hopefully, she will stick to the Old Gods of the North, if she is still faithful. ]

He is good and honorable. [ There's no question of that. No one could possibly deny it. ] And it did seem to be a burden. But it is one that is shared among many.

[ The truth of Jon's parentage affects a great many people, after all. ]

He does do that. [ Says the pot about the kettle. ] If anyone can shake him from that, though, I imagine that it would be you.

[ Or maybe she just doesn't want to have to shoulder that task herself. ]

[stonebird]

I know how you feel. (Thus the reason she has taken to learning the sword and bow.) If you can learn magic, no matter how small, would you mind sharing the knowledge?

[lemontree]

I will, if you like. [ The magic is at least half a distraction, though, to keep herself from falling into madness while she tries to decide how she feels about a recent revelation. One that Sansa may or may not be aware of.

Dany tries to keep the conflict from her face. ]

Have you learned much, during your time here? Not of magic, but of other things?

[stonebird]

Thank you kindly, Your Majesty. (She has heard the truth and...it changes very little for her. Jon is still her brother, but she can understand how this changes...perhaps everything...for Daenerys.)

I have learned how to survive. I can hunt, though I do not like it.

[lemontree]

Do many Northern women learn to hunt? [ If the Winter is long, then they may need everyone who is able-bodied to search for food. ] From the stories I've heard about Ned Stark, he seems as if he would allow his daughters to learn such things.

[ She'd met Arya, of course, a long time ago. The younger Stark daughter had been wild in Hadriel, and Dany has to imagine she'd been just the same in their world. ]

[stonebird]

It isn't common; my sister stood out in comparison to my mother and myself. (She regrets not following Arya. It might have been fun to practice at her side.)

He had no problem with her pursuits, but he still planned on marrying her to a proper Lord when it was time.

(Oh the burden of being a woman in a backwards medieval society.)

[lemontree]

I assume she was happy with that arrangement.

[ Sarcasm, of course. Arya didn't seem the type to dream of her future husband, or even to desire one at all.

Dany cracks a smile. ]

I hope that I can meet her again someday.

[dhamphirs]

I cannot teach you magic, for what I know isn't fit to be passed on. But if it's defensive things you seek, I can certainly tutor you in other fashions.

[lemontree]

[ The wolf. ...Sort of. Her pulse quickens for a second, body remembering the fear of that meeting before her mind can soothe it again. ]

What is it that you know? [ Consider her curious. She won't press if she's denied further, but will instead take him up on his offer, should he decline to answer. ]

[dhamphirs]

Swordfighting, naturally. Hand to hand, both defensively and offensively. What I learned took years, but I can condense it to a few basic lessons. Would you want to learn both, or only one?

[lemontree]

Whichever you think could best be used to protect myself, I think. [ She doubts her abilities in hand to hand, but maybe this mysterious swordsman knows something she doesn't. ] I should warn you that I have no experience with either.

[ There hadn't ever been a need, before Hadriel... ]

[dhamphirs]

Nor does anyone when they first begin. But we all learn in time.

[Admittedly, he had learned at a very young age, but. Whatever! It's all good.]

But I think hand to hand, to begin with. It will teach you reflexes and flexibility, which will help with swordfighting, if you decide you still wish to learn that afterwards.

[lemontree]

Fair enough, then. [ She has all the time in the world, as long as she's captive in Hadriel. ] Hand to hand it is.

[ At the very least, perhaps she could better avoid danger before facing it head-on. ]

And what would you ask of me in return?