Chapter Text
The food didn’t last long.
Jae had packed as much as he dared. He knew well enough not to take fruits that’d rot fast, or anything frivolous like cakes, but even so, in less than a week, he and Sam had gone through all their supplies.
Jae blamed it on the rowing. Even if it was an effective means of transport, their little boat got tiring to row very quickly. Neither Jae nor Sam were well accustomed to such intense labour, which made them ravenous. That led to their current predicament.
“We’ve got a little bread left, and the last of the hard cheese. We’ll at least have breakfast for tomorrow,” Sam suggested hopefully. “We’ll probably be able to make it to Duskendale in a few days.”
“Probably?” Jae chewed morosely on the last strip of dried beef. It wasn’t too bad when they first set out, but he found himself quickly longing for a nice, moist roast.
“Well, if I’m reading the stars right. I think I am, but Ser Erren never dwelled too long on that sort of thing.” Every night, before Jae and Sam settled down, it’d been Sam’s habit to look long and hard at the night sky before declaring how far they’d come.
The distance to Winterfell seemed insurmountable, but every day, mile by mile, they crept up the coast of the Crownlands. They’d not seen any sight of Lannister or Baratheon soldiers. They would probably be searching the main roads first.
Part of Jae desperately hoped that his Uncle had succeeded in taking on the Regency, but the more weary, experienced side of him knew well that the Lannisters would find a way to take power. He half dreaded reaching Duskendale. As desperate as he was for news, he feared what truths he’d hear there.
“We’ll just have to trust your navigation Sam. Just wish I’d packed more. You wouldn’t know anything about hunting, would you, Sam?” Jae asked hopefully.
“I- well, there is … something. I could try making a snare, but I’m not very good at it. Besides, we don’t have any rope or-”
“I packed some rope,” Jae cut in.
Sam started and began fidgeting with his hands. “Well, that’s great then. I suppose I could try, although you shouldn’t get your hopes up too much, we’ve not got a guarantee or anything.”
“Better to try then, we’ve got a guarantee to get nothing if we don’t.”
They had to cut the rope Jae had brought into several smaller lengths. Sam set their first snare somewhat shakily, he said it had been years since he’d done so, as it was only required of him when his father had taken him hunting. The second and third snares were a bit easier to set, but they ran out of daylight before they could place more.
The boys settled down in a cold camp, even though they were far from the main roads, Jae didn’t wish to chance discovery.
Maybe it’d just be Uncle Ned’s men.
He rubbed his hand over the ring his uncle had given him, and felt the warmth of the metal. It gave a faint sense of comfort that helped him fall into an uncomfortable sleep on the lumpy ground.
–#--
“Jae, Jae!”
Jae startled awake at Sam’s urgent whisper. He was halfway to reaching for the sword they shared when he realised there was no one in their camp but them. Yet still, Sam looked uneasy.
“Sam, what’s the matter?” Jae looked at the sky, it was not long past dawn, so he guessed Sam must have only recently risen himself.
“The matter? No it’s good news really, one of the snares caught something.”
“Show me.”
Sam lead the way through the underbrush, puffing as he did so, to where they’d set their second snare. Jae heard the squeaking cries long before he saw their catch.
Pushing around a bush, Sam waved towards the snare whilst looking at the ground. “Well, there it is.”
A large brown rabbit had been caught in their trap. The ropes had held well, leaving the animal struggling and squealing, suspended in the air. “Good work Sam.” Jae smiled at Sam, but his friend kept staring at his feet.
Since Sam was making no attempt to move, Jae figured that he might as well go and get the rabbit. It was a bit of a struggle to undo the knots, but in a minute, he held the rabbit in his hands. The creature wriggled wildly and tried to scratch at Jae, but he held tight.
“I guess we’ll take it to camp. We can make a fire, cook it and be on the boat before anyone notices us.” Jae was trying his best to sound decisive. It seemed to be enough, because Sam gave a shallow nod and followed him back.
Once they returned Jae had to face another problem.
“How do we kill it?” he asked Sam.
“Kill it?” Sam’s skill paled a shade and he shook himself. “Well, Father always seemed to know a way where you’d sort of grab its head and twist. Break its neck.” He gulped loudly and his hands fidgeted at his sides.
Jae tried to take Sam’s advice, he grabbed at the creature’s head, but it twisted away. He tried a few more times and eventually got a nasty bite on his hand that almost made him drop the rabbit. “Bloody nuisance,” he growled.
“Here, hold it steady against the ground.” He shoved the rabbit towards Sam.
“What are you going to do?”
“Just hold it steady, Sam.” Jae grabbed the sword.
“Steady, right. I can hold it steady,” although his voice was anything but even, Sam pressed the rabbit against the ground, pinning it beneath his hands.
Jae could see Sam shaking as he prepared to strike. “I’m going to do it on three, okay Sam?”
Sam nodded.
“One. Two …” Jae brought the sword down, and with a crunch and a splatter, decapitated the rabbit.
Sam Let go instantly, as blood sprayed over his hands. He toppled over backwards, then lay on the ground, staring at his hands.
“It’s not that much blood Sam, come on.”
Sam wouldn’t move, so Jae grabbed hold of a waterskin and splashed some of its contents over Sam’s hand, splashing away the blood and revealing the pale skin. “Oh, I’m sorry Jae, I’m just useless,” Sam moaned, still laying on the ground.
“You’re not useless, Sam. We got food because you knew how to set a snare.” Jae helped pull Sam into a sitting position.
“You think so?”
“I do. Now, what’s the next step?” Jae asked. Sam looked at the dead rabbit and went a little green, but thankfully managed to keep down the contents of his stomach.
“Well, we’ll need to skin it?” he answered hopefully.
“Skin it? We’ve only got a sword, how am I to skin a rabbit with a sword?”
If we had a knife it would have made killing the damn thing much easier.
“Oh, I’ve got a knife.” Sam grabbed a thick hunting knife from his belt and waved it in front of Jae’s face.
Jae let out a long sigh and slumped to the ground.
–#--
With Sam’s direction Jae managed to skin, gut and cook the rabbit. The meat was a little charred in places, but it was still a heavenly change from the dry, salted rations they’d grown used to. They made sure to carefully set aside a portion for that evening, then kicked dirt over their fire and set out over the water once more.
Navigating was easy enough by boat. So long as they kept following the coastline North, Jae knew they’d be on track. They’d have to eventually choose to either take to land eventually or row past Dragonstone and eventually the Bay of Crabs. It would be a longer trip, but it could mean they’d keep their boat to use on the trident.
Sam’s surprising knowledge of hunting might allow them to take the extra time though.
“Sam, did your father often take you hunting?” Jae asked as he pulled on the oars. His arms were already sore after only an hour, but he’d need to push on for a bit longer before they switched.
“He used to, when I was younger. He hoped it’d make me a man. He never liked how upset I got,” Sam muttered.
“But why do you get so upset? It’s just a little bit of rabbit blood.”
“Easy for you to say. I see it, or it gets on me and I just go weak … it feels like my legs can’t carry me anymore.” Sam squeezed his eyes shut tight and his lips wobbled. “Once, when my father was trying to make me stronger. He brought some sorcerers over from Essos. They slaughtered an aurochs and I had to bathe in its blood. It was still warm and awful and slimy. I … I started crying, I do that, a lot. Father wasn’t happy … with me or them.”
“Is that why the blood upset you so much?” Jae asked cautiously. He pulled the oars from the water and left them to rest for a moment.
“Well, I didn’t like blood before that, but I don’t think it helped.”
“He made you wear that full armour on the tourney day too,” Jae said, remembering the stroke of fortune that led to him and Sam meeting. “Your father really wanted to make you stronger, didn’t he?”
“He wanted a different son,” Sam said with a sad certainty. “I’m a craven, Jae, you know it to be true. He wanted a son who’d be worthy of Heartsbane. I couldn’t hurt anyone, I think. Even holding the sword felt all wrong.” Sam dropped his head into his hands. “I don’t know what I’m even doing here Jae. I want to help you … you and your Uncle helped me, but-”
“My father raped my mother,” Jae interrupted.
Sam started at the sudden change of topic, he swung his head up and met Jae’s gaze with bloodshot, watery eyes. Jae leaned forward to get closer to his friend.
“He kidnapped her from her family, and raped her to have me. Because of that a war started, Sam. Thousands of people died.” He twisted his ring around his finger.
“You can’t blame yourself for that Jae, you weren’t born yet!”
“Baratheon did. He hated me for it. I was the rapespawn, the dragonspawn, that killed his beloved.”
“Stop it, Jae.”
“I hate him for it too. If I could, do you know the things I’d do to him? To that little prick Joffrey? He’d thank the pig for its mercy.” Jae looked away from Sam’s shocked face towards the floor of the boat.
“None of that’s your fault though,” Sam said quietly.
“So why is being craven yours? Because your father said so? What do fathers know, really? If you were really craven, you would have turned me in.”
Sam was struck dumb by the statement. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He took a breath and tried again in a small voice. “I couldn’t do that though, Jae. You’re my friend.”
“And you’re mine Sam. Even if you’re spooked by blood,” Jae said.
Sam looked at Jae with watery eyes and sobbed. He quickly raised an arm over his face to cover his tears. Jae didn’t interrupt. Instead, he simply picked up his oars once more, and started rowing.