Chapter Text
“Kind of looks like home from afar, doesn’t it?”
Theon didn’t move as Asha greeted that morning. She stood beside him, her eyes ahead like Theon’s watching the slow approach of the black clump of islands. A menacing little cluster thousands of miles from the nearest land mass, quite literally in the middle of nowhere. All around was deep blue sea running to nowhere. It was pretty much the end of the world. A speckle of seemingly unimportant little sandbars that anyone would miss if they hadn’t been looking for it, and even if they were looking, they’d miss it half the time. The islands were dark; the trees making it look black rather than green with a thick cover of dark clouds swirling above it. In the distance, Theon could see the islands had little mountainous cliffs on them, akin to the jagged rocks that made up Pyke. Only difference was Pyke barely had any trees. Pyke was shit stained rocks whereas this cluster of islands was a black hole on Earth.
Theon only gave a grunt to his sister’s question. She wasn’t expecting more than that anyway. Theon rarely spoke if he didn’t have to.
“We’re coming on it soon.” Asha approached his side at the wheel, turned to face him. “’Should let someone else take us the rest of the way. You’ll need sleep.”
Typically, Theon would have had one of his crew members steer, Wex or Dagmer or really anyone but during the past year he rarely let another take the wheel unless it was during his rare moments of sleep or food. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he wasn’t steering the ship through blue waste. There wasn’t much left for him anymore.
“Aye,” was all Theon said to his sister.
“Snow’s up. ‘Got himself ill again,” Asha filled in the silence of the pre-dawn. “You’d think he’d get use to the seas by now but his stomach is still Greenlander all the way.” She gave him a moment to add his piece but Theon remained silent on the matter. “’Suspect he’ll make his way up soon. Even he can tell we are getting close.” She paused and let out a deep, tension filled sigh. “Are you sure this is the way?”
She wasn’t going to fill in the gaps of silence this time. She simply turned to face him and waited for his response, her dark eyes boring holes into him for an answer. She rarely forced him to speak anymore, taking anything he gave her and running with it but there were times, times like this, where she wouldn’t budge until he gave her what she wanted and she wanted an answer.
“It’s the only way.”
Asha let out another sigh, shaking her head. He could almost hear her muttering the familiar “foolish little brother” but alas her lips stayed sealed shut and she left him at the wheel.
He kept his position at the wheel all through the morning, the sun rising through the waves and finding its place in the sky. Around nine, Wex brought him a hunk of bread and a bit of cheese before leaving him to work. Theon could tell the boy was offering to take wheel but Theon wasn’t giving it up, his hands tightly gripping it. Not when they were so close. Not yet. There wasn’t much to do anyway: simply keep a straight course and they’d be there by mid-day. Truth be told, he didn’t need to have the wheel in hand but letting it go was not an option. It was grounding.
Theon watched as Jon Snow finally made his way on deck, his face a faint shade of green and his black hair pin in a bun behind his head. Asha had been kind in her assessment of Snow’s disposition to the sea. It wasn’t just his stomach that was Greenlander, it was all of him and that wasn’t likely ever to change. If it hadn’t changed in the year they had been at sea together, it wasn’t likely to change anytime soon. It amazed Theon that Jon was still with them. Then again, it wouldn’t be like him to give up. Not when they were both so determined.
As they grew closer the islands seemed to double and triple in size. Where they had once seemed like little sandbars they soon grew into massive islands of tangled black forests and unknown secrets and treasures. The clouds didn’t seem to be shifting to or from the islands, anchored there for eternity by drowning rains making everything black and grey. It seemed the only way the forests on those islands were staying alive was by sheer water, never a drop of sun to reach them. It was dark, dreary, and awful.
A cynical little smile came to Theon’s face, feeling more like a splitting crack than a genuine emotion.
Gods, he thought, Robb would have hated this place.
“So this is where you’re from?” Robb wrinkled his nose as they stepped off the ship, looking around with awe. “It’s very…”
“Dirty? Smelly? Wet?” Theon filled in with an easy laugh. He forgot how dry Winterfell felt when he was home. Winterfell was far from dry but anything was considered dry when humidity was thick enough to cut with a knife. The water in the air almost clogged your throat if the smells of Pyke didn’t choke you first.
“Grey,” Robb decided with a frown. “Is there ever sun here?”
“Only on bad days,” Theon winked, nodded his head left for Robb to follow. “Keep up and stay by me, alright? I don’t want you getting lost. Not like you did in Qarth.”
“That was one time!” Robb grumbled.
“I was being nice and not mentioning Braavos or Pentos, but if you want to go there…”
“You make it sound like I’m a little lamb on an island of lions,” Robb rolled his eyes.
"More like a baby seal in a harbor of sharks.”
“Funny.” Robb shook his head and straightened his shoulders. “I can handle myself just fine you know. If you remember Braavos, then you’d remember that.”
“Oh I remember. You’re lucky we already made that deal or else they’d have had our heads. I know you can handle yourself,” Theon said honestly, although Robb didn’t notice. “But let’s not make any unnecessary risks, eh?”
Theon knew Robb would agree sensibly which Theon was glad he could count on. One of them had to have sensibility.
Robb followed along beside Theon without complaint. He couldn’t help but look at the shops and people that they passed, all wide-eyed and amazed. It would have been darling if it wasn’t so obvious Robb wasn’t from around Pyke. Theon was worried they might attract too much attention just by Robb’s curious eyes. People have died for far less here and that’s why he had to keep Robb close and safe. He wasn’t losing him like that.
“What are we here for anyway?” Robb asked as they turned onto a less crowded, narrower street. “We’ve never come to Pyke before. You always avoid it.”
“’Need to drop off a package. It shouldn’t take long. Gives the crew time to eat, sleep, fuck, and get ready for tomorrow.”
“Where are we going tomorrow?”
Theon couldn’t help the twitch at his lips at the word “we”. “Don’t know yet. ‘Thinking South. Heard the Dornish shit gold, might want see that for myself.”
If Robb noticed the pronoun shift, he didn’t say anything about it, instead quipping back, “I thought it was the Lannister’s the shit gold.”
A chuckle bubbled out of Theon and he nudged Robb affectionately.
“Come on, we’ll be quick.”
Theon led the way down the uneven cobblestone way as Robb scanned the windows of each little shop and pub. No one looked at them as they past, turning their eyes elsewhere. Robb didn’t notice which was good. Theon didn’t want to explain much more than he had to, least of all how Theon’s family pretty much ruled these areas and Robb was just as unwelcomed as he.
When they reached a little shop at the end of the alley, Theon grabbed Robb by the elbow and yanked his closer, dropping his voice despite the street being nearly deserted so far down.
"Don’t saw a word in there, okay? Let me do the talking. Just stay in the front room and don’t touch anything. Understand?”
Robb furrowed his eyebrows but he didn’t say a word, simply nodded his head slowly. Theon released his grip a few seconds later and opened the door to the shop.
The front room filled with random objects all cluttering shelves and stacked on top of each other. Some were hunks of junk, others were probably priceless treasures. There was no telling what object each value had. There was no order, there were no prices, and it seemed more like someone’s personal storage rather than a shop. Rugs overlapped on the floor and an ancient chandler rocked above them. No one was in the front room but loud talking could be heard in the back. Theon walked to the counter and rang the green tarnished bell loudly and waited, listening to shuffles come from the backroom and the door swing open.
“Aw, this little piece of shit is back,” the man grinned. It was neither fond nor sincere but it wasn’t filled with hatred and that was the most Theon could ask for when anywhere on Pyke.
“Dagon,” Theon smirked, looking past the older man to see a group of rough and storm weathered faces staring back at him. “Am I interrupting your social club?”
Dagon sneered and waved Theon over. “Nonsense, come in.” Dagon paused, glanced to Robb and cocked an eyebrow at Theon. “Friend of yours?” His tone left no mystery to what his thoughts were. Dagon could see Robb exactly for who we want: Greenlander clear as day; no amount of disguises and acting could cover Robb’s wistful eyes and Greenlander walk. Some Ironborn would even say he breathed like a Greenlander and those who didn’t say that would still know exactly what they meant.
“Something like that,” Theon brushed off quickly, reaching into his pocket to hold up a small blue velvet bag. He shook it twice for Dagon to hear the clang of metal on metal. “’Got something for you.”
“Come on back, we’ll get ourselves squared away.”
Dagon wrapped an arm around Theon’s shoulders and dragged him toward the back. Theon made a quick glance back at Robb to wink before ducking into the room.
Theon hoped Robb stayed put and didn’t touch anything. Dagon and Theon weren’t friends, barely working acquaintances, but history tied them as long as Dagon’s grandfather still held claim to being beside Theon’s ancestor for who Dagon was named. Either way, it was a relationship that was already strained and there didn’t need to be anymore tension attached to it.
He made his dealing quick, giving the velvet pouch as well as the list of other treasures Theon had acquired on their last venture to Volantis. Dagon named his price; they haggled until deciding upon a price and arrangements to collect. Theon always made quick work of getting out of there as soon as and making his dealings with Dagon short and sweet. The longer he left Robb alone, the longer the boy had a chance of dragging them into danger. Robb seemed to have a knack for that and Theon wondered why he was still keeping him by his side, ignoring the warmth in his chest that providing the immediate answer.
Gold counted twice and a stiff, unfriendly handshake to seal the deal, Theon ducked out of the backroom in less than an hour; Dagon and his buds watching as Theon nodded for Robb to follow him out, whispering under his breath, “Don’t look back, don’t make eye contact, keep your head down.”
Robb did as he was told and they walked back like that the whole way to the ship, wordless and quick. He didn’t even look at the shops as they passed then and Theon was proud to see Robb sense the mood so keenly. Or at least he had been until they got back to the ship where they were safe and Robb didn’t even stick around as he usually did, going below deck while Theon conferred with his crew. Theon thought perhaps Robb was tired, but it was nagging at him. They didn’t meet back up until dinner in Theon’s main cabin, quiet and away from the rest of the crew.
“You’re quiet.” Theon narrowed his eyes as they ate: onion soup and dark bread. “Pyke not to your liking? You’ve wanted to see it for a while now. You had been rambling about it for months.”
Robb whipped his head up from the soup, eyes wider than normal. “Pyke was fine.”
Theon raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him. He didn’t need to say a word to make Robb speak, the thing of beauty that had sprung up in their friendship early on.
Robb sighed and played with the edge of his collar. Theon’s eyes followed the fingers as they moved.
“I did something.”
Theon knew immediately and cursed. Even saying the words ‘don’t touch anything’ didn’t stop Robb from doing the exact opposite. Theon bet it triggered Robb to doing it.
“What did you take?”
Robb blinked, stunned for a moment. “Nothing! I didn’t take a thing! I promised you!”
“Then what did you do?” Theon asked slowly, confusion and worry swirling in the back of his mind.
“I memorized something.” Before Theon could open his mouth to ask what, Robb continued rushed, “It was a map. I didn’t touch anything, I swear on my life. But it was open and I couldn’t help but look at it and well…I memorized it.”
“You memorized it,” Theon repeated in the same slow tone he used before.
“Well, memorized it until I could draw it.” With quick fingers, Robb slipped his hand into his shirt and pulled out a browned parchment paper. He unfurled it and flatted it on the table, onion soup forgotten. “I couldn’t understand the language written around it but it was the shape of the island that caught my attention. I’m not sure those guys at the shop even knew what it was.”
Theon spun the map to face him as he stared down at it. His eyes widened in realization before glancing back up at Robb in utter disbelief. “This isn’t…you didn’t…” He looked down again at the drawing, his mouth twitching upward into a faint smile. “This can’t…are you sure you got it right?”
“Absolutely,” Robb said, the smile strong in his voice. “I was thinking, maybe Dorne could wait if I’m right.”
Theon threw his head back laughing, reaching across the table to hold Robb’s face, feeling the rough stumble coming in.
"Fuck Dorne, Stark. We’ll never need Dorne if you are right about this. Fuck it. We’re going to Valyria.”
It was nightfall and the islands still seemed so far away and ever-growing despite being a small rowboat ride away. It was the first night in ages Theon actually sat down in the main chamber and ate with his sister and traveling companion, the laugher and excitement of the crew heard from just below them.
“What time are you two leaving?” Asha asked, frown still set in place. It was clear that she still hadn’t changed her mind about any of this. She had made her stance firm at the beginning nearly a year ago, just as Theon made his decision one year ago. True to their heritage, they were just as stubborn as their father before them.
“Dawn,” Theon answered immediately, looking across the table at Jon to see him nodding in agreement. “First light we’ll have Wex row us out. You can leave after that.”
Asha ignored the last part of her brother’s statement. “And you aren’t taking anyone else? Just the two of you?”
“You need a full crew,” he answered calmly.
“I can be down a man or two. Even five. Look just-”
“No.”
The chatter of the crew filled the silence at their table. Asha was glaring at Theon while Theon was looking into the murky depths of his fish stew. Jon shifted awkwardly in his seat. They had once again reached another standstill and neither was going to budge. Jon defused the situation as he had learned to do this past year.
“I have a few letters,” Jon filled the silence of the cabin. “I hope you’ll get them to the right people should we not…” the rest of the sentence died in his mouth but they all knew what was going to be said.
“Of course,” Asha said stiffly. “You have my word.” She glanced at Theon before looking back at Jon. “How many days am I giving you two? We have enough supplies to wait for a moon or two.”
“A fortnight,” Jon said, waiting for Theon to give a nod before continuing, “If you don’t hear from us by then, you should go. If we haven’t returned or given you a signal, we aren’t coming back.”
“I’ll have someone waiting for you on shore every day until dusk.”
That was met with a muted thank you and the rest of their meal was eaten in silence, the only sound being the crew and the tinkering of spoons scraping bowls. Jon finished quickly, excusing himself to his small cabin to pack his things, agreeing to meet with Theon in the morning. Theon didn’t say a word as he left.
The minute the door shut behind Jon, Asha pushed aside her stew and fixed Theon with a stare, waiting for her brother to speak. He continued to play with his stew, barely taking any bites that he brought to his mouth. Eventually, he gave up the farce of pretending to eat and set his spoon down.
“Just say what’s on your mind, Asha.”
His sister leaned forward, arms crossed on the table. “I’m coming with you two tomorrow.”
Theon snapped his gaze up to meet her eyes. “No, you aren’t. Someone has the man the ship-”
“We got a whole damn crew to do that!”
“But they aren’t Greyjoys,” Theon snarled, anger rising into his voice. Asha sat back a bit. It had been the first emotion her brother had shown in the past year they had been on this crazy dead-man’s mission. “This ship is ours. No one else’s. One of us stays and I sure as hell am not. You are staying. You are continuing on without me. You are keeping our family name.”
“You care about your family’s name?” Asha barked out a laugh. “Are you fucking with me?”
“It’s the only thing we have left.” Except each other, but Theon didn’t say that. Asha and his relationship had changed a lot in the past couple of years but there would never be a time they were that openly warm with each other. It just wasn’t their way. They loved viciously, cold and harsh, but it was a love they both recognized when cutting into them.
“You’re an idiot.” She shook her head, smiling humorlessly. It looked more painful than anything else. “You understand there is nothing at the end of this. We are at the end of the world, little brother. There is no life here, only death. I don’t know exactly what you think you are going to find here, but I can tell you now it doesn’t change the past. Dead is dead, little brother and he isn’t coming back.”
“I know.” Theon swallowed and leaned back into his chair, one hand curled into a fist and the other slipping into his pocket to feel a silver hunk of metal, smooth to the touch and attached to an old black tarnished chain. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine himself anywhere else before opening his eyes and saying again, “I know.”