The Bow Of The Vale

Traveling is, for the lack of better words, boring, and slow. So, so slow. That was true even in this lifetime.

It only made it worse that I have to ride on a carriage instead of on a horse. I have shown multiple times that I can handle riding without any issue but the soldiers would have none of that so I had to sit quietly on the carriage. But, this is just SO boring.

Well, at least I have some books to read about many things and it is expected that we will be able to see the castle of Riverrun in about two more days.

I had also a lot of papers about what I had implanted in my head. When Tir Na Fal sent me to this world she didn't only put the knowledge of how to handle weapons, she also gave me knowledge over how to make a few things like watermills and verticals windmills, blast furnaces, unique medicines, ways to improve the soil, and many other things that the Valyrian Empire had created and vanished to time, including better and safer ways to produce WildFire, how to store it safely, how to forge Valyrian Steel, and even how to tame a dragon.

'Well, not like I can actually use this knowledge right now.' I smiled wirly thinking that as I patted the book I've written about all those matters, to actually make use of them I'd need time and somewhere I could actually start producing it, and Kings Landing is definitely not the place for me to do such a thing. I will only be able to start it when I go to the Eyrie.

Sighing to myself I took one of the books I have yet to read and start to read it.

'Origin Legends of the Great Houses of Westeros. By Archmaester Puccian.'

Well, that could be a bit more interesting.

I guess I could take a look at least to the origin legend of my house.

'During the age of the first men, the mountains were controlled by a barbaric lineage that was carnivorous and hunt and kill anyone they see. It was a dangerous time that no one could sleep easy by fear of their homes being taken and daughters and sisters r.a.p.ed by the treacherous and evil Mountain King and his subordinates.

It was then that the Andals arrived by following the words of the Seven who had descended to proclaim their promised land. And, from the Andals, one that stood taller and higher than any other was lord Artys Arryn. The Winged Knight. He was the epitome of honor on the battlefield and no one in his entire life ever doubted his honesty and honor. As he heard of the atrocities that the Mountain King was creating he could not contain his noble heart, he had to stop it.

But, the mountains were treacherous and dangerous, hard to reach the hideout of the Mountain King. Thankfully Lord Artys had a secret card, he had a unique friend that he bonded deeply with, a giant falcon whose wings could dwarf even a giant dragon, feathers like armor, and claws that could pierce through metal a if butter. The name of the falcon has been lost to time but its majestic presence was etched into the house Arryn banners for all generations to come. With his friend, Lord Artys flew to the top of the mountain and faced the mountain king in single combat, defeating him. The subordinates of the mountain king tried helping their king by attacking the Lord Arryn but he managed to kill them too, however that was enough time for the mountain king to try and escape.

Lord Arryn chased after him and faced him again, killing him and throwing his body from the tallest place he could find. After that, the armies under Lord Arryn went up the mountain and from that point forward the house Arryn controlled the mountains as King of the Mountain and Vales.'

As I finished reading it I could not help but wonder how it must have felt to fly that high on the sky on the back of the falcon. I guess it would be quite amazing, and I can't help but imagine standing on top of one such falcon and trying to see just how far my arrows can reach.

...

Yeah, that would be nice. Now, let's nap some more.

That's probably the only reason I tolerate being in this carriage.

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3° Person P.O.V.

It was two more days until the caravan of Kings Landing reached Riverrun, the soldiers of Riverrun welcoming them.

The lead soldier of the squad thought it strange, why didn't Lord Edmure, the Blackfish, or Lord Hoster come to see them in. It was the costume for the lord of a castle or at least one of his descendants come to meet an important guest and Tigre was not only the only heir to the Vale he was also half Tully and Hoster's grandson.

"If you want to meet Lord Hoster, he is away on a visit to some of the other lords closer to the coast to set defenses there. The Blackfish should be arriving in two or so more days, and Lord Edmure is passed out drunk from a party he threw the day before." A young voice said when one of the soldiers asked if there was any problem.

What astonished them, however, was how the young girl spoke so freely about the castle lords without much reverence at all.

"And who would you be, little girl?" One of the guards of the Arryn host asked.

"Me? Where are my manners," She said with fake surprise before curtsying. "It is good to meet you all, my name is Elizaveta, Elizaveta Rivers. I am the daughter of Lord Edmure and lady Karya of House Mallister. It is nice meeting you all." As she said that she gave a polite smile and the soldiers scoffed as if looking down on her.

"So, a bastard." The leader of the soldiers said derisively. He, like most Valemen, looked down on bastards, and none looked down on bastards more than those of house Arryn.

'As High as Honor', these words weight heavily on those serving house Arryn. They are all extremely prideful men, and to be honest a bit stuck-up.

Elizaveta, for her part, only had her smile tremble for a moment before setting her mask in place and continuing.

"I am, but I still am blood of the Tully house. Actually, I wanted to know if I could meet with lord Tigre. He is my cousin by blood, after all, and I heard quite a lot about him through the last two or so years." Elizaveta said.

"Humph, as if a bastard has any right to request a meeting with our young lord. Besides, he is sleeping right now anyway and we would not wake him just to have him meet a bastard." The leader of the squad said hotly before pushing forward, the guards of house Tully not knowing what to say as they just guided them to their quarters. They would spend half a fortnight before going to Winterfell.

As the men walked away Elizaveta only stared at the carriage and swore a lot in her mind, while also feeling sad about this and the sneers thrown her way from the guards and servants who saw the scene. Not that she would leave any of them to see her sad, she would act like a lady and keep her mask on her face through it all.

It was no different from her previous life, before she became a Vanadis, or War Maiden, as the title translated to, she was treated much the same by her family and village, if anything right now was better than before when she would have rocks thrown at her and the villagers would starve her just to see her beg for food. At least now she did not suffer in the same way, had family (her uncle Brynden) that liked and cared for her, and perhaps she'd even be reunited soon with someone she knew from her previous life, someone she knew perfectly well that would risk everything and anything for her just as she would for him.

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-Later that day-

Elizavetta Tully could hardly believe her eyes, even though it had been quite a few hours since she layed her dual colored eyes on him. He was on the training grounds, testing shooting his arrows and acting like it was just normal to always hit a bulls-eye even when shooting through great distances.

It was Tigre! She would always recognize that messy hairstyle, along with how he held his bow and his impossible archery anywhere!

At least, it looked like him. That was what she was afraid of the most. That he wouldn't remember anything at all, that she would not have anyone to rely on in this new life. That would be worse than him being dead, she believed. She was so desperate for him to remember her, so scared of the possibility that he didn't. Her mind raced with hundreds of thoughts as she tried to work up the courage to walk forward. To think of something to say to try and get some kind of clue...

Her eyes widened as it came to her. She did have a way, one single word that would reveal whether or not that he remembered anything about her. Before she could lose her nerve, she went looking for him as he had left the castle about half an hour ago with just two or so guards.

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Tigrevurmud was walking along the shore-bank of the river, simply searching for a spot that he could lay down and nap in, the guards accompanied him just to a point since he just left them behind after a while as he didn't want this constant security over him. It had been a long several days of hard traveling before they had made it to Riverrun. He smiled lightly as he found a good spot, and got settled in to lay down and sleep.

"Urs." A voice called softly, causing him to stiffen with surprise and shock. That name! No one in this lifetime should even know it. It was the name of his original birth father. He whipped around to see who it was. And felt his eyes bulge in surprise.

That wavy pink hair, that facial structure, and most importantly of all, those eyes. The golden right eye, and the sapphire left one. Both were locked onto him as the girl stared at him with a hopeful expression. He recognized her. He could never mistake the girl before him for anyone else. His lips parted and spoke.

"Liza..." He breathed out. He saw her hopeful expression immediately changed to a joyful one before she hurtled at him with a joyful yell, forcing Tigre to reach out with his arms to catch her as she leaped at him. The momentum was still enough to drive him into the ground with the woman on top of him, but he didn't mind, even though he knew that his chance at napping was essentially gone now.

Well, to meet one of his precious friends again it was more than worth it. Even if it opened a whole new bag of possibilities, what if the other Vanadis were also in this world? Where would they be? Did they need help? If so he had to help them, he would not leave any of them to suffer, no matter what.

However, this line of thought was cut short as Elizaveta looked at him and smiled widely.

"It is so good to see you again, my Urs." She said and hugged him again tightly before stepping back and looking at him seriously. "Now, would you mind explaining to me how have you slept for almost two days straight and the first chance I found you not sleeping is after training to go and take a nap?"

"... It is good to see you?" He ask/answered her.

Well, not all reunions are to be perfect, after all. And with Elizaveta's more feisty personality it was a surprise she even shown her weak side for that long anyway.

He still would not trade this for anything.

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It was much later in the day that the two returned to Riverrun. They spent almost five hours straight telling what happened to them in these last few years, both completely open to one another as both knew they could trust each other. It was actually quite easy for them to do so, Elizaveta was slightly desperate for human connection and Tigre was always quite open about everything anyway.

They hunted some birds to eat and they both stuffed themselves before heading back to Riverrun.

GRAB

Tigre looked back and saw that Elizaveta had grabbed his hands without warning and was glaring at him.

"This is just so we won't get lost from one another, nothing more." She said and Tigre put his free hand in his mouth and laughed a bit. "Hey, don't go laughing like that."

"Sorry, sorry. It is just, well, you really are quite like a cat, not only your eyes resemble one but your way of acting is just the same as a cat. How you want to be close to others but act coy and all tha-"

A fist almost hit him as he had to dodge her. Her hand now a vice grip to keep him in place.

"Hoh, I see that a few years away in these lands where other women are weak made you forget yourself a bit there, Urs. Should I teach you again who here was said to be a match to 1000 men?" She said and Tigre, despite also being of the same level as her, felt like he should not try and go against her. Each Vanadis was strong and while Tigre could stand up by himself when needed he would not fight them when unnecessary.

He was not suicidal, after all, and even being both children and her no longer having her Vralt (Draconic Tool) he would not doubt her ability to beat him, if not now then in the future.

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In Riverrun the day has been busy, not only had the Blackfish returned, making every guard much more watchful and nervous when no one knew where Elizaveta went, no one paid attention to her, and the Blackfish told them clearly that they can either find her before sundown or go find some new position elsewhere.

Truly, the mood was tense.

However, it was the second visit that was even more surprising to Riverrun. Tyrion Lannister had arrived just an hour ago, he has traveled light and arrived with a request of stay as to leave together with the group going to the North for safety. The staff wanted to let him out but the Blackfish allowed after talking with Tyrion for a while.

And, by this point, Tigre and Liza finally returned.

The two were walking hand in hand and talking hapily, the guards of both House Arryn and House Tully were shocked, the later because they never saw the bastard so happy and laughing and the former because they never saw their young lord to get close to someone so quickly, especially walking hand in hand which even back in the capital never happened to any of the ladies of the noble houses.

As the two walked by Tigre heard the murmurs around, about how a bastard have ensnared a young lord and how he was foolish to trust any bastard. Needless to say that angered Tigre and he had to fight down the d.e.s.i.r.e to punch someone was there but Elizaveta gave one look at him and shook her head.

"Forget it, Tigre. They don't know anything of us anyway. They're not worth it." She said quietly to him and he managed to stop himself.

He still was mad though.

It was at this moment that a loud and gruff voice echoed in the area.

"Liza, come here to uncle and give me a hug." An old man said as he approached, he had silvery-white hair and was clearly old but his build was still that of a fighter and he moved with the confidence of a commander of many battles.

"Uncle Brynden." She said and went to him, still pulling Tigre along. When she got close enough she didn't have to hug him as, instead, she was hugged by him.

"Oh, my little Liza. Have you been well? Have anyone do anything to you, if they did just tell me so and even if it was the king I'd go to war with him!" He declared, he dearly loved this niece of his that reminded him too much of himself and that he was forced to take care as a baby as the maternal family sent her to the Tullys, Edmure had gone off to some tourney or another in other kingdoms, Hoster was too busy, and Brynden would not trust the servants of house Tully to take care of the girl. Truth be told he thought of himself more of a father to her than anything and he cared for her as if she was his daughter. The only reason he didn't take her to live with him on the Blood Gate because he feared the mountain tribes would do something to her to get to him.

"No, I am well. Even better now than before." She said with a slight smile, even though she was much older mentally and was experienced in many things the emotions she had towards this old man was really like if he was true family to her, something she only experienced in this life and treasured all the more for it.

Brynden smiled, he was well aware that this is a lie but he couldn't really change things since he was basically a pariah on the household himself, he could only stay here because he still was family and he still was the strongest general House Tully has produced in the last 300 years. His gaze shifted to the young man that Elizaveta had returned with, and recognized the boy as Jon Arryn's son. He saw many of the features of the man reflected in the boy before him.

"So," He began, kneeling downward towards the boy. "Care to explain to me who my grand-niece is so attached to, hmm?" He asked, scrutinizing the boy who already showed signs of nervousness at being stared down by such a renowned commander, and, if Tigre was correct, a protective father in heart. He wondered why it was that it had to be their grand-uncle doing this rather than her birth father. He found himself wishing that he was older and, even more importantly, taller as the imposing man stared down at him. "Well, we might not yet know one another but I know my Liza, I can tell that she already cares a great deal about you despite not knowing you for that long, otherwise she would never stay so close to you or hold hands with you. I am glad to see her happy so I will be fair and warn you to be good to her, and the Seven have mercy on you if you ever do wrong by her, because I won't." He said/threatened the young Vale heir who also happened to be family to him. Not that this would stay the hand of the Black Fish if something happened to her, she was all but a daughter to the man. Tigre gulped nervously, already knowing that the man towering over him was serious. The Blackfish smiled then, and ruffled his already messy hair, before walking off. "Boy, you might yet make a good man, better than your uncle easily. Haha, it is good to see that my family is growing, I hear much of you and I want to see you in the training ground later to see if you really are blessed by the Warrior as many claims."

Tigre gulped lightly, his attention turning to Liza when he heard her giggling after the Blackfish went away, she already knew that regardless of how well Tigre did on the training ground her grand-uncle would simply work him to the bone in the end anyway. He looked at her with no small amount of annoyance, and saw that she had a hand to her mouth as she giggled, her different colored eyes locked onto his own and glittering with amus.e.m.e.nt as she visibly fought to avoid breaking down laughing. He glared lightly at her and her giggling merely intensified.

Before long both went along, ignoring the glares from others at how closely they acted, much too happy about the reunion with a friend to care for the opinions of others.

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-Later, with Tyrion and Sofya-

Sofya had spent most of her life confined to a small mansion owned by her father on Lanisport. It was very lonely as she couldn't leave much since she was scorned by most others in the city because she was considered the bastard of the Lannister family's Imp. It was not a happy life.

So, when she and Father were given leave by Tywin Lannister to leave the city, Sofya was happy and eager for numerous reasons. She had spent much of their time looking outside the carriage, taking in the sights of this new land that she had been born into. It had been a surprise to find out that seasons lasted as long as they did, with summer lasting years at a time, before winter came for apparently just as long. She had been born near the end of a fairly long winter season herself, and this summer had been pleasantly long, lasting about 4 years so far.

They had arrived at Riverrun just a day ago, and she and Father had left to find an inn to stay in for the time being before they continued their journey northward to Winterfell with the group heading there, or at least this was the plan. She was currently walking around the bathing area on the river, enjoying a nice bath while being curious to see what kinds of animals she could find.

'Mouuu. I miss Lunie.' She thought with a pout. She had missed the adorable baby dragon from her previous lifetime, the thought that this world have no more dragons saddened her simply too much. She missed many people as well. They easily included Ellen, Lim, Mila, Sasha, and... 'Tigre...' Her eyes filled with sadness thinking of the young man. Every now and then she remembered all her friends. She giggled mentally at the bickering that Ellen and Mila, how she would intervene and put a stop to it. And she also remembered the young man who had saved her years later, from a truly horrid fate. Of how she was taken by those awful pirates and almost sold to slavery, of the fear she felt inside despite never showing outside during the whole ordeal. Of how, when she was close to falling to the sea during the water dragon attack Tigre had once again saved her and almost died for it, but when they met again he was only worried if she was okay or not, never blaming her for any suffering she knows he went through for her.

Pushing the thought to the side, she focused on the present. She had taken a short break to sit at the riverbank, simply taking in the sights as she listened to the sounds of nature all around her. It would do no good to think of her past life, she was alone in this life beside her father. She also didn't yet know why she had a new life but she would do her best on it regardless.

She perked up at hearing a pair of voices, one male and one female. She looked up and blinked in surprise at who was on the opposite end of the river. The boy had a mess of red hair on his head with hazel eyes, and the powerful resemblance he had to a former friend of her's wasn't lost on her. That in mind she looked over, and thought she recognized, if only because of her eyes. The same gold and sapphire eyes as one of her fellow Vanadis, she still wasn't entirely sure of her guess. She crept closer to try and listen to them as they spoke, hoping beyond hope.

"-ying to tell you, you need to have a more dignified bearing, Tigre! If not you will only be mocked by the lords of the realm, regardless of how skilled you might be with your bow or on warfare." Sofya felt her eyes widen in surprise and hope. Both of which erupted into joy and happiness at the response.

"Alright, Liza! I get it. I need to be more formal when meeting people. Relax already, and it is not like I am that skilled with warfare anyway." It was all but confirmed now, but she knew one way to be absolutely certain.

"Oh right, and pushing back an army of 20000 with 2000 soldiers while the enemies had people to use as hostages isn't being good at warfare? Or your many other wars, you should just accept that you are one of the best generals of our previous life."

"... That is an overstatement, I was just doing whatever I could for my homeland." The boy said. The girl sighed but understood him, she knew that this was the undeniable truth for him.

Good thing the river was only about ankle deep here.

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-With Tigre and Liza-

He had just managed to get Liza to calm down and relax, which had taken some doing, when he heard the sound of someone running through the water towards them.

"Tigre! Liza!" The voice made them turn towards the speaker, and they both saw a girl about the same age as both of them was looking at the two from behind a bush. Her hair was a beautiful golden color, and her beryl green colored eyes shone with joy and happiness. It was the memory of a similar event in a previous life that clued Tigre in on who this person might be.

"Sofya!?" His shocked utterance of the name got a surprised jolt from Liza even as he watched as the smile, already quite large, stretched even farther as she not only had Tigre with her now but also another person she was friends (even if for a short while) with. Sofya, being too happy about it, jumped to run at them, completely forgetting how she was ultimately b.a.r.e to the world to see.

She didn't really mind though, but Elizaveta did, she did quite a bit as she saw Tigre blushing at this. Not that his a.d.u.l.t mind was blushing at a child's b.a.r.e body, but the memory of his previous life when a similar situation happened with a much more developed Sofya happened.

And, like in his previous life, she tripped just the same and ended up falling on top of him just the same.

She did not really mind, knowing that both still had too young a body to make any real difference anyway, but when Tigre was pulled by the ear by Elizaveta who started ranting about how he should act more like a proper lord Sofya smiled, this was what she was missing.

A few actual friends.

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On the Iron Islands, the pirates were happily shouting and boasting of their wins during the latest raid, woman screams as **** and murder happened constantly.

On a balcony in the Ten Towers, a young girl looked down at this in pure disgust. To be reborn was good and all, but to have to be surrounded by these pirates and rapists that bragged about their lack of ability to do more than that was as good as torture for her.

The girl thought to herself that she'd much rather be a Dohtraki than this, being a member of a nomad horse tribe would fit her far better than living with these brutes who only had **** and plunder in mind, and even if the Dohtraki are similar she'd at least be able to ride a horse again. Well, she'd probably hate it there as well considering she already knew what a true king and leader should be like, the man who she had an agreement to b.a.r.e his children in her previous life that ended before they could follow through with it. She still felt sad she couldn't follow her tribe's tradition of having children with extraordinary people to bring greatness to the tribe, falling before she could give the tribe the best archer and commander in its 500 years of history.

Looking up she could only think that she at least had managed to escape, after much effort, from her 'fiance' Theon Greyjoy and she swore to herself she'd castrate him before letting that little pervert even try to touch her. He was wholly unimpressive with not one extraordinary point to him beside the name she could not bother with, completely unworthy of having children with her. He was only 10 years old and she had little doubt he would brag about losing his v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y right now if he could get away with the lie, desperate as he is for validation as an Iron Born.

Sighing she could only wait for when this farce of a rebellion ended and the islands lose, with some luck the King would kill the Greyjoys for instigating it, letting her father take the Iron Island as Lord Paramount while taking her as Hostage to as far away from these wretched islands as they possibly can.

"Save me, please someone save me!" A woman's voice echoed from under her tower and the girl closed her eyes in prayer, that this would end already.

Otherwise, she just might go on a killing spree and she didn't want to have a song named 'The Iron Lady and the massacre of iron' or some other name equally stupid created in her 'honor'. Being remembered as someone from this place was as bad as it goes for her, she'd rather the Rebellion fail already (which would end in a short amount of time considering that the Greyjoys had fewer man, sh.i.p.s, and no real organization or strategy beside attacking to speak off) or get old enough to go to Essos to become a mercenary.

And so, Olga Harlaw waited to find out what will happen.