9 A Calm Night
As me and my father left the tavern, we walked into the direction of the residential district. The village although not big, still house 400 people. Making the small seem alot more lively than what a bustling city would be like.
The towns people whispers filled me with worry and looking towards my father, I also saw a frown forming on his face.
"Did you hear, bandits were spotted setting up a camp in the woods. " A man whispered
"Aye, I heard. If they come any closer, they'll face the wrath of a whole village falling on them. We may be rust as we had not been in battle but I still damn well know how to poke a man with a spear. " Another one spoke flexing his arm with a grin on his face.
"They wouldn't attack tonight, would they? " I heard a worried voice mutter.
" I doubt it, they're cowards the lot of them. "
The whispers kept going, repeating over and over making it get into my nerve as I've never fought another person before. If we ignore that one occasion, well actually 5 years of Muay Thai that I trained and tried to perfect. Until a knee shattering oblique kick caused my leg to snap sending me immediately to the ER and losing my chance at making my earnings in the ring.
'Forcing me into that damn job at that stupid fucking store.' I gritted my teeth.
Looking ahead of me I saw we were walking through the residential district, and I must say the houses had a nice rustic look to them. Sure it may not have all the tools that are needed but when you're a man that believes you only need the minimal to survive, what stops you from living anywhere.
After a few more minutes, I saw my father stop in front of a house. Stepping towards the door, he knocked on it 3 times in a slow rhythm.
"I'm coming! Wait a moment. " We heard a shout come from the inside and only after a few seconds Robb appeared at the door with a smile on his face.
"Thanks for coming Jakob."
"Its the least I can do with the help you used to provide me, say where is your wife, Brienne?"
"Oh shes busy cooking up a meal for all of us. Cooking some Elk stew, mixed with some vegetables. " Robb spoke with a smile.
" Well, then why don't you allow us in, maybe your daughter will wish to talk to Aleksi here. " My father spoke, placing his hand around the back of my head.
"Aye, she doesn't stop speaking about the lad. " Robb spoke shaking his head, " Why don't you come in," Leaving a space to walk in, my father pushed me in slowly as he also walked in.
My father whistled, " Aleksi, why don't you go play with Rosy." Hearing this I nodded and ran back upstairs my father started speaking again, "Nice place you got here. How much the furniture cost?"
Robb suddenly chuckled, " Free actually got it as a reward from a merchant that came from Essos. Said he had no need for such furniture and gave it to me. "
"You sure got lucky there Robb. "
" Aye, Lady Luck has always been on my side, ever since that accident. "
"Aye, maybe I'll start calling you 'Lucky Bastard' " My father chuckled, " But I'll stick with Robb, as it makes you happier. Say you hear anything happening with the Starks recently. "
" Aye, the kingdoms may be preparing for war as the Greyjoys seem to be getting extra rowdy. Maybe you'll be able to finally take your son to his first war. "
" The lads not ready, he hasn't activated that gift his mother spoke of. "
" She was a scary woman. Had the strength and speed of a bear, would of overpowered any warrior if the Mormont's didn't fail to protect her from those damn bandits. "
" We cant blame them, they tried they're hardest. It was 50 prepared bandits, against 10 unprepared men and a woman in a dress. " My father sighed, " No one, no matter they're strength can survive an arrow to the eye. "
"Why don't we leave this grim topic, you are clearly upset and I do not like it when a friend if mine is upset due to a topic I brought up. "
" Aye, Let us move on. "
Hearing my father stop speaking, I decided to go look for Rosie around the second floor. Hearing some humming from a room, I opened the door slowly and saw Rosie laying on the ground writing in a thick book.
" Hey Rose, me and my dad decided to come over for dinner. So we might stay here for a bit, hope you don't mind. " Saying this I entered the room and saw that Rosie was holding up the book and it showed a drawing of what I believe to be me shooting an arrow into a deer. Seeing this I smiled, and sat next to her.
"That's a good drawing, who is it about? " I asked intrigued believing I already knew the answer.
" It's you during the hunt, I know you can't read so I had to draw it instead." She flashed a cheeky grin towards my direction.
" Then why don't you teach me to read. " I blurted out
"Really, I would love to. " Suddenly she pulled out another book from under her bed.
"This is what my father called the alphabet, it'll show you all the letters and what they stand for." She says opening the book and pointing inside and to my shock it was the Latin Alphabet, except a few letters had a few lines to make it seem fancier.
She pointed to the letters one by one and simply spoke a word that had that letter as its start.
" Oh, I get it now. I think I can read that book of yours. " I spoke with a grin after reading it over once.
" Really, that means I'm a really good teacher then. " She spoke showing off her signature smirk that I was getting used to now.
Suddenly she opened a page on the book she drew with, "fine read this. It's one of your adventures you told me about."
Seeing the page, I suddenly had a smile grow on my face. Maybe through this I can learn abit more about the previous bodies owner. I already know his mother is strong and fast and that my father believes it will be passed down to me. However, seeing the stories from my previous self's perspective might help.
" Say, if you drew that page, because I couldn't read. Why did you write everything else. "
"Because I wanted to remember all my memories and keep your memories close, just in case you ever leave me forever. Which I know you won't, after all you promised. " She smirked after finishing off that sentence.
