Stannis Baratheon

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[ihavetheright-blog]

Cold seemed to replace blood in his veins and it was not the dockside breeze at fault. The thing absorbed bullets. It wasn’t natural. Nothing was anymore.

Stannis breathed hard, one arm around his wife’s shoulders, running and managing not to stumble again. “Davos, do you have something more than bullets?” he demanded. “Anything?”

[forever-loyal]

“A grenade. Run for a cover.”

Not stopping but slowing down a bit to let them get more far, he carefully but quickly grabbed it and took out the pin. Counting, he stopped just before a corner, and threw it, hoping it would do something. He jumped behind the building.

There was a big boom, but did it stop the thing?

He couldn’t see through the smoke and he thought it better not to wait. If it didn’t die, they’ll find out soon enough… he speeded up to catch Stannis and Selyse.

[selyse-baratheon-blog]

Selyse didn’t stop.  She kept her arm around Stannis and kept going.  She was too afraid and knew if she stopped it would be the end of everything.  As Davos spoke about the grenade, Selyse kept going in the hopes of getting them out of the way.  Shireen needed them all no matter what the girl thought.

Behind her Selyse heard the boom of the grenade and tightened her grip on Stannis.  Fear was paralizing but she couldn’t stop, not when Shireen and Stannis were both in danger.  Nothing was going to hurt their family if she had anything to say about it.

[ihavetheright-blog]

The thing wasn't dead—Stannis felt it, even if he didn't see it—but it was slowed. He pulled Selyse behind a shipping container and paused for breath, reaching for his phone to see if there was anything.

Melisandre's message. The distraction he didn't need, and yet couldn't stop listening to. He couldn't go back but she could be dying and he would be...on a wild goose chase? Could he lose both her and Shireen in one day? Worry wasn't helping. It never did. It only slowed him down, all these feelings just slowed him down.

Stannis wanted to throw his phone away but he didn't.

"We need to keep going and not look back," he said to Davos and his wife.

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[forever-loyal]

Davos fired while grabbing Stannis by the arm and helping him up, then he shot again as they began to run. He could only hope the thing wasn’t too fast. The Walkers weren’t, but who knew about this creature?

He felt Stannis wouldn’t be be to keep up with them so he took his free hand. He wasn’t going to let him fall behind.

He could tell without even looking back that the creature followed them. There was no sound but the cold coming nearer…

Somewhere far, a fog horn was heard on the river. Three times.

[selyse-baratheon-blog]

Selyse’s heart jumped into her throat when Stannis tripped and the sound caught the attention of the creature.  For a split second Selyse didn’t know what to do.  Were they going to die?  Davos was helping Stannis up as he fired at the creature.  She wanted to run and find Shireen but what good would that do if the creature got Stannis?  She fired two shots towards the creature before helping Stannis run.

They needed to get out of there and it was quickly becoming obvious that the odds of surviving this were looking more and more bleak.  They had to keep going though, despite the fear and terror gripping their hearts.  Shireen was somewhere and she needed her parents and as much as Selyse hated to admit it, she needed Stannis.

[ihavetheright-blog]

Cold seemed to replace blood in his veins and it was not the dockside breeze at fault. The thing absorbed bullets. It wasn't natural. Nothing was anymore.

Stannis breathed hard, one arm around his wife's shoulders, running and managing not to stumble again. "Davos, do you have something more than bullets?" he demanded. "Anything?"

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[forever-loyal]

Davos swallowed and kept the gun pointed on the thing. Always watching it, as they got closer, the cold increased.

What in the seven hells was this? It was not a zombie. Davos has never seen something like that before, and he wasn’t too eager to get a better look, but they had to walk past it to their goal. 

Well, if it but makes the slightest threatening move, he would shoot in that instant. 

[selyse-baratheon-blog]

Selyse nodded and followed her husband.  Stannis was right, of course.  Shireen was out there somewhere alone.  They didn’t have time for confrontations with Walkers.  If they were attacked they would shoot but nothing more than that.  There wasn’t time.

With one final glance at whatever that creature was, Selyse took a deep breath.  Her heart was racing and mind was spinning.  What if they couldn’t find Shireen?  What if the worst had already happened?  Selyse didn’t know how she could handle that and instead mentally shook herself.  She opened her mouth to state the obvious question, to ask Stannis where he thought would be the best place to find Shireen but the look of cold concentration and worry on Stannis’ face kept Selyse silent.

Somewhere out there was the child they had both loved and protected.  She was lost, in danger and Selyse knew Shireen had been around danger very little her entire life.  Always they had protected her from the cruel world beyond their family and now Selyse questioned if that was a good thing.  Maybe if they hadn’t she would know better how to protect herself.  Selyse just hoped their overprotection would not be their daughter’s downfall in the end.  There was nothing she could do except stay with Stannis and Davos, hoping and praying they would find her before something else did.  That thought alone kept her going.

[ihavetheright-blog]

A lone seagull called out in what sounded like a death rattle, making Stannis shiver involuntarily. Or perhaps that was the unearthly cold coming from the figure that they were nearly past. He hated the docks, hated that his daughter might be lost here.

Only a few more steps and that thing would be out of sight. He stepped wrong, ankle twisting out from under him and bringing his sore knee crashing down. "Damn it!" he cursed before biting back a grunt.

It was loud enough to shake the blue-white figure from its trance. Deadly eyes met Stannis' and he cursed again. "Run," he hissed to his companions, and fired off a shot before scrambling back to his feet.

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[forever-loyal]

This quietness was worse than actual fight. Davos knew they were there, nearby, the unnatural cold crept towards them. He had his finger on the trigger, his eyes constantly watching for anything to move. The trick was not to let them near.

But when he finally saw something, it did not look like a regular Walker. It has blue eyes like them but it wasn’t rotting, it looked like an ice statue, standing about a hundred foot from them on the road. Whatever it was, it wasn’t human. Davos hoped bullets could still kill it.

“Shall I shoot right now?” he whispered to Stannis. They were close enough to hit. 

It wasn’t coming nearer but it seemed to wait. Maybe for them. Maybe for more of its like… Davos shuddered. One such creature was more than enough.

[selyse-baratheon-blog]

Selyse stayed close to her husband and kept her eyes peeled.  Shireen could be anywhere and Selyse hoped and prayed they would find her before something.  She feared they wouldn’t.  The very thought made her sick.  Without Shireen what did she have to live for?  There had been a time she would have thought Stannis was a reason but that time had long passed.  If she wasn’t living for Shireen she was living for herself.  No one else mattered.  She glanced at Davos and frowned.  It wasn’t that no one else mattered, it was that she didn’t care as much about them.  Davos had always been a good friend to Stannis and very kind to her but Selyse couldn’t help but wonder how long he had known about Stannis and Melisandre without saying anything.

Keeping her finger on the trigger Selyse walked with the two men.  She hadn’t seen anything and didn’t until Davos spoke.  Watching the creature Selyse felt a sense of dread.  She wanted to shoot it but at the same time it wasn’t attacking them.  That confused her more than anything.  Her gun was pointed towards the Walker but she didn’t shoot.  She would let Stannis make the call.  All Selyse knew was this wasn’t human, it wasn’t her daughter.  The sooner they moved beyond this the sooner they could find Shireen, if she was even still alive.

[ihavetheright-blog]

The figure sent a chill down his spine and Stannis shook his head. "We don't have time for battle," he said under his breath and gestured down, off the road. "Keep quiet."

The thing didn't move. Was it related to the zombies? How could this be the result of some virus? The state of the country didn't seem to be getting any better, and his daughter...where was she?

With Shireen's disorder, Stannis had always felt fiercely protective of her. She'd always been small, too, and so it had been easy to keep her from danger. Childproofing the house before she could even crawl, hiring a nanny once she was old enough to play, privatizing everything so that she might be as safe as possible... She'd never known danger, never even been teased, as long as he could prevent it. Perfectly safe. That was all he'd ever wanted. And now...now?

Wet rocks rolling beneath his boots, Stannis steeled his jaw and didn't look at the strange figure. He just kept walking. Kept looking.

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[forever-loyal]

Armed well and holding his big shotgun ready, he took his position. The Walkers were nowhere to be seen but he could feel they were near, watching. They had to find Shireen quickly.

And where were his sons? If they made it back to their headquarters alive, Davos intended to go home, no matter how dangerous. He had to know if Marya and the boys were alive, and if possible, bring them to safety. He had been a bad husband and a bad father again, out on Stannis’ errands, not with his family when they needed him most, and after the plague hit, he could not make it back home.

He was vary of the slighest noise. No living were seen, nor any dead yet, but the city was deader than the Walkers. 

[selyse-baratheon-blog]

Selyse’s nerves were on edge and she did not know what to think.  He mind was consumed by fear for her daughter’s life.  What if Shireen was dying somewhere?  What if she was already dead?  Those were thoughts Selyse really couldn’t afford to be thinking but at the same time they came unbidden to her mind.  When Stannis offered her his hand she took it and shoved the thoughts of the danger their daughter was in from her mind.  Worrying would do no good.

When her feet met solid ground she threw a brief, polite smile of thanks in Stannis’ direction.  His directions were not surprising.  She knew well enough that of the three of them, she was the weak link.  Stannis didn’t need to look out for her but knowing him as well as she did, he must have thought it his duty as her husband.  They were after all, still man and wife.  “I will, Stannis.”  Agreeing with him seemed like the safest bet.  After all she would be safer between the two men.

Watching as Stannis checked her gun for ammo, Selyse sighed.  Sometimes she wondered if he thought her a child.  Surely she could have checked her own gun.  He had not needed to do that for her.  “Thank you,” she said when he handed the gun back as her eyes scanned their surroundings for any threats.  Even though it felt as though he was treating her like a small child, or less competent because of her gender, which was possible, Selyse just nodded.  “I know she needs her mother,” she said as she reached out and grabbed his forearm with her free hand.  Meeting his eyes for the first time in what seemed like ages, Selyse squeezed his arm just slightly.  “But she needs her father too.”  The look in her eyes left the words unsaid but they did not need to be spoken.  Stay safe, the look in her eyes screamed and for the first time in years Selyse allowed herself a moment to remember what it was like before everything happened; to remember a time when they were happy, a family.

Now they needed to get their daughter back or die trying.  Selyse just hoped they would live to see tomorrow.

[ihavetheright-blog]

Selyse said what he wanted to hear, and so he didn't believe it. The daughter they'd tried to raise together was, he feared to his bones, beyond needing them. Perhaps because she was growing up, but more likely because they—he—hadn't been there for her to need. What was he to his daughter now? An obstacle in her path for independence. Shireen didn't need him, but he needed her.

"It doesn't matter," he said under his breath, glancing from his wife to Davos. The man looked worried, absent-minded. Stannis didn't know much about the man's family, but he knew that there was one. Yet here Davos was helping Stannis find his family. Such loyalty could never be bought.

"Davos," he said, nodding towards the disturbingly vacant, unkempt dockyards. "Keep your eyes open but be cautious on the trigger. And you as well." He looked again to Selyse. "Shireen might be still nearby."

War. This was war. New to them all, for all his and Davos' training with a gun.

All of this was new. The woman he'd left behind, this determination to protect family, the way he didn't care if anything he did had a certain outcome. He was become Baratheon indeed, driven by fury and all its fellow emotions. Stannis felt weak but he shoved it away with all the other reasons for self-loathing.

His heart pounded behind his ribs as he stepped out away from the boat, a thousand variables in his head, jaw tight with tense focus. She's alive. She's somewhere. However hopeless it might be, he would search every square foot of this city until he found his daughter. This was just the last place anyone had seen her. It was the start of the only mission that meant anything to him.

[terrible-and-red-deactivated201]

to: stannis baratheon

still alive?

[ihavetheright-blog]

to: Melisandre

Yes. And I plan on staying so.

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[selyse-baratheon-blog]

Selyse was grateful to Davos and even Stannis for being there.  She didn’t know if being there alone was something she could have done.  Surely she wouldn’t have been able to go after Shireen on her own.  But then again without Stannis fucking that red woman, her daughter wouldn’t have run off to begin with.  It all came back to Stannis’ infidelity.  That was the root of this problem.

When the motor started Selyse looked out at the river and the city before them.  Dragonstone had been under attack and Shireen couldn’t have gone far on foot.  That’s assuming she’s still alive, Selyse thought as fear gripped her heart.  There wasn’t time to think like that.  Instead of wallowing in her worry, Selyse shot a reassuring smile in her husband’s direction.  She may be mad at him but his daughter was missing too.  “That sounds like a decent plan.”  Selyse sighed then continued.  “I don’t have a better one.”

[forever-loyal]

He sighed and kept his eyes on the coastline. It was quiet. Too quiet. What if they can swim? Dead things in the water, Cotter Pyke wrote in his last sms… and there was no more word of him. He prayed quietly, for all of them.

Soon they reached a good spot for landing.

“Shall we anchor here?”

He knew this district well and Dragonstone was not too far away. But once they go to land, there is no telling where the Walkers are.

[ihavetheright-blog]

The docks were only a few miles off, but they offered no good landing for his small yacht. And if Shireen had left, it would probably have been because of the undead. Better to face them on foot, with hiding an option, than in a boat that would attract an army of the things.

Stannis grunted his assent to Davos, and when the boat was anchored he remembered Selyse and offered her a hand. Courtesy meant little, of course, with such a dire state around them. Yet it was his duty as a husband to...to care. Even if her chill posture hardly invited him in. Regardless, she took his hand. They could still play along. In front of Davos. In front of Shireen.

He stepped ashore and winced at the ache in his leg, grinding his teeth together as he then helped his wife to solid ground again. "You'll stay in the middle, understand." Again he checked his gun for ammunition, and hers as well. Davos, he assumed, had everything in hand on his own end. "Davos will take the rear, and I the lead. You will not go into danger. Our daughter needs her mother."

[ihavetheright-blog]

Text message - "rhaegar"

[ihavetheright-blog]

To: Rhaegar

Msg: Tell me who I have to sue for child endangerment, Rhaegar, or Rh’llor help me…

[sexyfacelessman-blog]

to: stannis baratheon

Msg: considering the state of affairs at the moment, you can’t sue anybody. she was tweaking out over your mistress and apparently bricked her. 

[ihavetheright-blog]

To: Rhaegar

Msg: I know. She gave her a concussion. I'm not happy about it, but that has nothing to do with what we were talking about. Clearly I can't trust her in anyone's care (not that I was planning to do so)

[ihavetheright-blog]

Text message - "rhaegar"

To: Rhaegar T., Willas T.

Msg: My daughter was with you before. Where were you then? I need to find her.

[sexyfacelessman-blog]

To: unknown

Msg: shireen? we were separated over by the docks. she was with willas tyrell and roose bolton the last i heard from her.

[ihavetheright-blog]

To: Rhaegar

Msg: WTF who let a child near Roose Bolton

[sexyfacelessman-blog]

to: unknown

Msg: some questions are better left unanswered.

[ihavetheright-blog]

To: Rhaegar

Msg: Tell me who I have to sue for child endangerment, Rhaegar, or Rh'llor help me...

[ihavetheright-blog]

Text message - "rhaegar"

To: Rhaegar T., Willas T.

Msg: My daughter was with you before. Where were you then? I need to find her.

[sexyfacelessman-blog]

To: unknown

Msg: shireen? we were separated over by the docks. she was with willas tyrell and roose bolton the last i heard from her.

[ihavetheright-blog]

To: Rhaegar

Msg: WTF who let a child near Roose Bolton

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[forever-loyal]

“I prepared everything for the trip.” Trip. How ridiculous this word sounded now, like they were jsut going out for a picnic… He put a hand on Selyse’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll get her back. It would take more than the dead to stop us.”

Then he made his way to the dock, loading his handgun on the way. He was thinking. If the Walkers existed - and everybody thought they were just fiction before they showed up - maybe other things existed as well. Forces who could help. Davos grew up on classic sci-fis and even now, as a skeptic, aging man, part of him wanted to believe.

But until then, they would have to fight on their own.

When he met Stannis and Selyse again, he examined the boat first. Apparently nothing dangerous there.

[ihavetheright-blog]

Stannis was not a fan of boats, to be quite honest. The yacht had been Robert's until his brother had gotten another one. Always with the handmedowns. Always second-best. Stannis supposed he was lucky that he'd found a wife who had not been Robert's girl first. Or was lucky the word, when they ended up miserable anyways?

He helped Selyse into the boat, grateful that at least her gaze was not so villifying as before. Their personal troubles could wait.

"We'll go back towards Dragonstone about halfway, then take to the streets," he informed his companions, nodding to Davos to start up the motor and get them going. "There might be an abandoned car we can take, since walking on foot is damned slow." He grimaced. "I don't know how to hotwire, though, but we'll deal with that once we're there."

[ihavetheright-blog]

Text message - Rhaegar & Willas

To: Rhaegar T., Willas T.

Msg: My daughter was with you before. Where were you then? I need to find her.

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

[forever-loyal]

Davos didn’t have a good night. First he prepared everything they could need, food, water, weapons, lamps, warm clothes - he even put in some axes in case they ran out of ammo, athough they had plenty.

He caught a few hours of sleep but woke soon and spent the rest of the night thinking. It was maybe a good idea to separate Selyse and Melisandre, but he knew he was going to worry all the time, even if Selyse was no damsel in distress, she was still a lady and Davos had the instinct to protect any woman. Not to mention protect Stannis who, of course, was jut as hardened a warrior as him but Davos was his sworn shield.

And then, of course, there was the fact he couldn’t reach Marya and his sons. It may be their phones died, as electricity became a luxury lately. But he had a terrible feeling. He didn’t want to think about the worst.

As soon as he heard the others moving, he came out. He saw Selyse coming out of her room and speak with Stannis so he headed towards them.

“Good morning” he said, and looking at Stannis’ face, he could tell there were bad news. “Is she in trouble?”

[ihavetheright-blog]

"She left a message," Stannis explained, more relieved than he could express to see Davos. Davos meant stability, and that was in short supply. "She's out there with those things. I'm not stopping till I have her safe again."

The pistol made a satisfying click as he locked in its magazine, gritting his jaw. He had very little idea where to start, or what he might face out there, but nothing would keep him from his daughter. Not even logic itself. Once Stannis had lost track of his family in the face of politics, but now it seemed that politics were something he could leave by the wayside. Melisandre wouldn't like that but he'd be damned if he chose even her...even her...over his own daughter.

"She was with Rhaegar and Willas last I knew. I'll get a hold of them if I can while we get to the city. Meet me at the dock in five minutes."

[ihavetheright-blog]

in case of emergency break something - stannis, selyse (open to anyone in the area)

He slept with disgraceful ease, that forbidden night with Melisandre. Dawn arrived, and wan sunlight striped his desk, by the time Stannis jerked to waking and all that implied. The press of Melisandre's soft body against him was no longer comforting, just a vice he could not indulge. Fatherhood was a heavy weight on his shoulders, and he had a daughter out there who was beloved no matter how she hated him. He left his red woman still sleeping when he pulled himself from the bed.

Wasting time had never been on his agenda, yet when he fished out his cell phone and found a new voicemail...

“Dad… I-I think I’m going to die. I’m alone. Willas is gone, Renly is gone, Loras is gone. I don’t know where I am and I can’t-I can’t protect myself like this. Do you remember when you used to tell me stories about how the monsters came and attacked the girl but a brave knight would save her? Well, I got older and those stories seemed like bullshit but I really wish I could hear them again. I know I said some horrible things to you but I love you and mom. And I want you to get out safely. My battery’s dying so this’ll probably be the last you hear of me. I shouldn’t have run-”

A sudden intake of breath that hissed past his teeth was all the outward sign of the sudden sharp pain in his chest. Not physical—if only—but something far worse. It was true, what everyone had always told him with simpering sentimentality (that at the time he'd scorned). It was true that there was nothing to shake a parent's love for their child. No limits, no conditions. Stannis stood, his daughter's words still hanging in the air, wondering how he could love so deeply without ever acknowledging it before.

Now she might be dead near it, just as he'd feared. He'd told her so but she hadn't listened, and yet he didn't care for that. Only her safety. Only her life. I need you, my child. 

The awkwardness of the previous night was forgotten as he threw on his coat, grabbed his gun, and didn't bother to wash or eat before hurrying down the hall to Selyse's room. They might not have created Shireen with the deepest love, but they still shared this parenthood.

Stannis slammed his fist against the door, jaw clenched in fierce focus and urgency. "Selyse!"

[terrible-and-red-deactivated201]

leaving present | closed to melisandre & stannis

[ihavetheright-blog]

Stannis felt just as weary as he had before she slipped into his room, though it was a pleasanter ache. For the most part, at least. His body protested the exertion, but if he lay still…if he lay holding her… The callouses of his fingertips caught on fine strands of her hair as he combed through the red locks, so he moved slower, gentler, and it was only partly due to weariness.

Her words, a low hum against his chest, made his lips twitch in a near-smile. “I know.” Stannis breathed her in, emotions rolling about his gut and making everything unsettling and fluttery, and so all he could say was a barely-audible repetition. “I know, Mel.” I know. It matters. I feel the same.

[terrible-and-red-deactivated201]

Wrapped up in Stannis’ arms, it was easy forget how the end of the world raged outside.

All that mattered was here, in bed with her. The gentle touch of his hand, drawing patterns and shaped into her shoulders, comforted her in an odd way, making the pull of weariness in her grew. Before her eyes closed, she realised that this was her home. Not Battersea, Dragonstone, Paris, England, France—

But here, with him.

[ihavetheright-blog]

Perhaps he should have mentioned that he was leaving the next morning, that this was no promise to be by her side forever. It could only be tonight. He had a daughter out there, and that would always come before anything else. Even the end of the world.

She knew it, though. She knew it all. That was why he loved her, he thought. That was why he held her to his chest and said nothing.

[terrible-and-red-deactivated201]

leaving present | closed to melisandre & stannis

[ihavetheright-blog]

Read More

[terrible-and-red-deactivated201]

Feelings Stannis complete and him gently murmur her name under his breath, Mel rolled off him, suddenly feeling exhausted, collapsing beside him.

Although they were covered in sweat—the inside of her legs coated in something else entirely—they were wrapped up in each other. She found herself unable to differentiate between where she ended and Stannis began—oddly, she found herself comfortable in this position, wrapped in his arms, cocooned.

“I meant it, y’know. What I said earlier.” her voice was small and husky from its recent overuse and she would deny, later, that it wasn’t full of affection. 

[ihavetheright-blog]

Stannis felt just as weary as he had before she slipped into his room, though it was a pleasanter ache. For the most part, at least. His body protested the exertion, but if he lay still...if he lay holding her... The callouses of his fingertips caught on fine strands of her hair as he combed through the red locks, so he moved slower, gentler, and it was only partly due to weariness.

Her words, a low hum against his chest, made his lips twitch in a near-smile. "I know." Stannis breathed her in, emotions rolling about his gut and making everything unsettling and fluttery, and so all he could say was a barely-audible repetition. "I know, Mel." I know. It matters. I feel the same.

[terrible-and-red-deactivated201]

leaving present | closed to melisandre & stannis

[terrible-and-red-deactivated201]

ihavetheright:

Read More