From the Ashes (ASOIAF) (Sandor Clegane x OC)

Chapter 25: Sandor

Sandor had never traveled by ship before. He'd worried at first that he might get sea sick, but so far he was actually enjoying it quite a bit. They'd decided to take a ship down the coast by the narrow sea to Dorne instead of traveling by land. Seeing as Grey Worm would be making his encampment on the shores just north of Sunpear, coming in from the sea was a much quicker journey. They'd been traveling since dawn and were only just reaching the mouth of Blackwater Bay. From there they would turn south. Brienne walked across the deck to join him.

"It's been a fairly calm trip so far." She commented.

"We haven't even been out for a full day yet." He replied, "let's save the praising of the weather until we're at least in the open sea."

"Must you always be so negative?" She asked.

"I've learned it's better to expect the worst and get a rare pleasant surprise than to expect the best and be constantly fucking disappointed." He said.

The ship turned slightly and he heard the man in the crows nest calling down.

"Looks like we've come to the mouth of the bay." Said Brienne, "and there it is.....Dragonstone."

Sandor stared, taken aback by the island in the distance. It's spiked towers and enormous walls jutting into the sky like some sort of temple of fire that grew naturally out of the stone and with the dull glow of the smoking volcano behind it. It didn't take much imagination to picture dragons filling the air around that mystical place. He'd never seen anything like it in his life.

"Seven fucking hells...." He muttered.

"Is this your first time ever seeing it?" Brienne asked. He nodded.

"It is quite impressive." She said, "I've seen it every time I come into port and it still never fails to take my breath away."

"I wonder who's it is now..." Sandor said, "Jon Snow's I suppose or whatever his real name is...Aegon the hundredth of his fucking name. You know the damned Targaryen's could have saved themselves a lot of confusion if they just stopped naming their children the same fucking thing over and over again." Brienne laughed appreciatively.

"Your home, Tarth. We'll sail right past it won't we?" He asked, and she nodded in answer.

"Will that be strange for you?" He said, "being so close and not going a shore."

"Not really." She answered, "My parents were never cruel or unkind. They were good people and they did their best, but I left for a reason. I've never had much of a desire to go back. Something Tess and I have in common actually."

At the mention of Tess's name Sandor felt himself smile. It was completely involuntary, it was impossible not to smile when he thought about her. It was absolutely ridiculous to him how much he missed her already. He knew logically that he hadn't even been away from her any longer than he was on a normal day of his City Watch duties, but the knowledge that he wouldn't see her face for weeks made it infinitely worse. It was such a strange feeling for him. He'd spent the majority of his life spurning most forms of human contact, and intentionally never letting anyone close. So to already be missing her touch, to know when he woke in the morning alone in his bunk that he would long to feel her curled against him, was surreal. He felt off kilter without her, like a part of him was missing. When he really thought about it he realized that wasn't new, that he'd felt incomplete his entire life, he just now understood that she was the thing he'd been missing.

"Sandor...." Brienne said, leaning in the rail to look at him, "do I even need to ask where you went?" She said with a smirk.

"Sorry." He said.