The Tale of the Opal Assassins

1: Happy Start

               ~Gudrun~

          The smell of blood, the taste of blood, and the adrenaline rush sometimes almost makes it all worth it. The way it feels to avenge one, or get revenge for someone who has been hurt... It feels right. I feel like I'm doing the right thing, but am I? I want to help. I want to defend those who are broken. I want them to be okay. I want to be an anonymous hero.
          It started when when I was a child. I was bullied. Awful things happened, and I wanted revenge... So I got it. I still laugh about it to this day. My sisters and I made it quite a common thing. We started a trio to defend those who are bullied. Ingrid and Ireonna share my desire in defending these people. It's wonderful. To think, three shadows avenging the weak. Honestly, it sounds better than what it actually is.
          The three Nocturnrath daughters were always quite strange. Most people thought it came from how many different cultures we grew up in. We were born in a place far from here, but we keep that a secret now that we've been outcasted. From there we stayed in King's Landing for about a year. That's where I was bullied. My older sister, Ingrid, defended me once or twice, but it wasn't enough. Eventually, I just beat the living hell out of the bullies. I drew some blood, and it got on my hand. It smelled really good. It smelled better than any food I've ever smelled cooking. You can guess what happened from there.
          Anyway, I had all of the bullies fearing me. I'd stand up for anyone they would try to bully and I'd kick their sorry little asses. It got to the point that they wouldn't pick on anyone near me. I was clever with my words. I would use that to show how stupid they were, and I was very sneaky. That's how I would ruin the bully's day. That said, I wasn't very strong in a simple fight. I could attack without anyone seeing me, but once I stepped out of the shadows I was slow. That's where my sister came in.

               ~Ireonna~
          I remember a time before all of this, before my sisters and I became what we are. I vaguely remember it because I was so young, but I remember it. After my sister and I started taking care of the bullying, it only escalated from there. Still, I remember a few nights when we decided to not act like heroes. My sister, Gudrun, and I snuck into the castle gardens one night. We played in the fountain until we were caught by a man. He was bit short yet he looked strong. He said his name was Tyrion Lannister. He talked to us for a bit. He was obviously drunk yet he said all of these smart things. It was very amusing, and amazing how he was able to be wise and smart about things while he was drunk. He didn't tell anyone and we got in no trouble. He was so kind.
          I kept returning to the garden after that night to look for Tyrion. I was young and stupid and had a crush. What can I say. Gudrun teased me about it, and I rarely spoke of it to Ingrid. Of course I would one day find something to tease Gudrun about in return.
          I was quite upset the day that I found that we would be moving to Winterfell. Gudrun and I were sixteen years old. Ingrid was twenty. I was upset because I didn't know if I'd see Tyrion again. Gudrun was upset because she would no longer be well known for being smart. Ingrid didn't care. I had no say in this. My father was going because he was friends with Ned Stark. He couldn't see the upcoming shit storm beforehand, but I guess things were good for the first couple of years.

               ~Gudrun~
          Moving to Winterfell wasn't as bad as I thought. I actually kind of liked the people there. Ned's youngest daughter Arya and I became pretty good friends. She reminded me a lot of myself. There was also Sansa. Only a little younger than Ireonna and I, but we didn't really share any interests but we still got along. I also enjoyed playing with Bran and Rickon. The older boys were sometimes fun to talk to as well. Jon and Robb were always kind to us. Theon was as well, but he liked to pick on me. Ingrid said it might be because he likes me, but I thought it was a cruel joke on me. Both of my sisters knew that I thought he was quite attractive. I'll never forget the night I first met him. It involved slapping him, hiding with him, and then sneaking out with him. Needless to say, it was a wonderful night.
          One day I was eating a cheese sandwich I had brought down to the river. I loved cheese. Bread and cheese were my favorites. I ate my sandwich with happiness until I was startled by something creeping up on me. I dropped my sandwich when a pebble flew towards my head.
          "Theon! You asshole," I yelled, "You better get me another sandwich!"
          He only laughed and smiled.
          "I think you should get me one instead. You've already had one."
          "Half of one... Thanks to a random flying pebble! Wonder where that came from."
           "I think you're going crazy. Seeing flying pebbles and whatnot."
            I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him over to the river. He tried to stop me, and he obviously could have, but he played along. I slung him into the river causing a splash that backfired on me.
         "Aren't you worried about ruining your pretty dress," Theon questioned, "And what about messing up that pretty hair?"
          "Water evaporates. It won't ruin my dress," I replied, "And I wash my hair ya know. It gets wet. I can brush it later."
         "Are you not worried about that black dye that seems to be washing out?"
          "What?!?!?!? Oh shit! Oh shit!"
          "I didn't know you were a red head."
          "I-I can explain! I just like to dye my hair. I like it black."
          "Then why are you panicking so much? Afraid that I'll figure out that you're an outcast from somewhere because of your red hair?"
         "How the hell did you find out?"
         "Aside from that pretty red hair? I overheard your father talking to Ned."
         "Don't you dare tell anyone!"
         "Don't worry," he whispered, "Your secret is safe with me. Still, I don't see why red hair has anything to do with being an outcast. No one could connect that to you being outcasted. It seems like such an irrelevant detail.
         He then proceeded to splash me. I splashed back resulting in a full on splash fight. It was silly innocent fun. That was something I really enjoyed. I needed that. However, we must note that happy things never last very long.

               ~Ireonna~
          Gudrun loved being in Winterfell. I hated it. It was far too cold and I obviously missed my friend. She seemed to do fine making friends... Especially with Theon. I had suspicions about those two. I, on the other hand, really missed Tyrion, but there was nothing I could do. I had thought about seeking passage to King's Landing just because, but Gudrun and Ingrid said that it was a horrible idea. I decided to give it up one day.
          One day, Gudrun received two beautiful daggers and a set of throwing knives. The girl loved to fight. Now she had more weapons. I received a bow and a quiver of arrows. Years beforehand, Ingrid had received a great-sword. We were all little warriors now. That's what we had always wanted to be... Except Gudrun. She wanted to be an assassin. She never really cared anything about honor.
          I remember how we were all so happy with our weapons, but we were even more excited to learn how to use them.