champions [hotd]

chapter i

The sound of iron banging against each other echoed along with the sound of the stormy sea that day, as the two boys once again fought a duel with each other. Both one and the other, despite extreme exhaustion, sore muscles and dripping sweat, did not let up, as if they were fighting to the death, which was not true. This was their daily training, a regular sparring session, which they took to their hearts like any other, not allowing themselves a moment's carelessness. At such moments, they looked as if they were their worst enemies and shared a venomous hatred for each other, which was also far from reality. Fate brought their life stories together as brothers, even though they did not share the same father or mother, but regardless, the same blood flowed in them - the blood of the ironborn.

The heated battle ended only when the younger one's blade slipped out of his hand and fell with a bang on the stones washed up by the salt water. He raised his hands up in a gesture of surrender with apparent reluctance.

" Your father said you're too confident and that's what's getting you lost. He's right," he explained. "

"I'm not too confident, I'm just tired. And my father isn't always right, just because he's old and a Lord doesn't mean he's infallible..." He sighed and sat down on one of the large stones, tucking his sword into the scabbard hanging at his hip.

"Maybe not always, but quite often." laughed the second one, pulling out a beaker of water.

Belon sipped greedily with a large gulp, then poured water on his neck to cool himself off. He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the cool drops run down his back and overflow onto his neck and chest. He handed the beaker over with a smile and then laid down on the stone on his back. He looked up at the cloudless sky, allowing himself to take a few deep breaths.

"Sheepstealer has been gone for the past few days, aren't you worried that he won't return?" questioned Greyjoy, looking at his cousin intently.

"Of course I'm not afraid. We have a firm bond, and I know that as long as I am alive, he will always come back to me. He probably flew somewhere to eat and fell asleep, I know him well by now." he grinned, shaking his head. It had already happened to him more than once to disappear with his dragon for a few days, so he knew the habits of the creature, he was as lazy as he was stubborn, which sometimes caused quite a problem.

"May you be right, everyone has already become so used to him that it would be empty without him somehow. I can't imagine it."

It's been more than a decade since Prince Valerian arrived here with his wife, as well as Sheepstealer. It may not have been that long, but for youngsters like them, it was a time that was beyond how many years they had lived in this world. The locals may not have burned with love for the giant creature consuming their sheep, but they certainly didn't fear it so much anymore. The sight of the flying dragon in the sky or the roars heard from a distance had become a kind of routine, quite like eating dinner. There were those who wanted to get rid of it, coming with complaints to the Lord of the Islands, but despite his young age, Belon was just like his father in this regard - he would never agree to this in his lifetime and begged his grandfather not to agree to such requests either. The only reason he was proud of his Targaryen ancestry was precisely because he became a rider, something he loved more than anything else in life.

"Will you fly to King's Landing?" the silence was broken by Dalton, elbowing the older boy in the ribs.

The tournament in honor of the king's unborn offspring was approaching, he and his mother had received an invitation for the occasion directly from Viserys and the pregnant Aemma, so it would seem foolish and insulting to refuse, but both Lady Tasha and young Belon were not thrilled about traveling to the capital. The boy's mother never felt comfortable there, so she tried to avoid the place, which was related to the fact that Belon too did not visit his father's family too often. He didn't like the expectations and the atmosphere there too much, but he was happy every time there was an opportunity to be able to meet Rhaenyra, his playmate when they were small children.