A/N: I'm sorry for my longer absence. I work in the medical field and due to the current circumstances I suddenly was and still am very busy. I took the liberty to edit the prior chapter a little. Nothing major in the storyline has changed. I just felt the need for some improvements in dialog and thought's, so feel free to ignore it.

Chapter 5: Forward unto dawn

289AC Summer Sea:

The ship rocks gently to the beat of the waves as it sails into the rising sun just barely peaking over the horizon. The world is brushed in soft orange, bathed in the first lights of the day giving it a measure of peace that only the nurturing beauty of nature can bring. The purple sails graced with the sword and shooting star of the House of Dayne are full mast as the night had been clear, awash with the light of celestial bodies and the winds had turned favorable again.

"Blurrghgh." Asta sighs a little at the young girl that had appeared beside her at the rail only to bath her morning not just in the first light of the day but also in last night's dinner.

"Ma. Still not feeling better Ally?" The question is presented with her usual bored tone of voice and no hint of concern in sight, earning him a dark glower from her aunt filled with all the malice she can muster in her weakened state.

"I hate you almost as much as I hate the sea." Allyria is too weak to bring any real intent behind her words, hanging with one arm over the Summer Sea her head resting on her shoulder.

She had been suffering sea sickness for the last few days. In favorable conditions, with good wind and calm sea as well as experienced sailors sailing day and night you could make it from Starfall to Sunspear in 4 days.

Alas life had not been kind to Allyria and they had rough seas and winds from the second day on. The weather only cleared up during the night so that she can now enjoy her 8th day of sea sickness.

The Martells will not be happy about their delay. The missive they got from them over 2 months ago informed them of an Ironborn attack on Lannisport and the burning of the Lannister fleet anchored there. An act of open rebellion against the Seven Kingdoms, that much to Asta's chagrin can only mean war.

On the positive side she is already 8 years old. 2 years older than her first war in the Elemental Nations and nobody really expected her to fight on the frontlines yet. Obvious improvement of cultural norms right there.

Everyone calls it 'war' but in reality it is still a minor one and nobody is sure if Dorne will be involved in any fighting. Asta knows however how fast a minor conflict can escalate into something more sinister. The beast of war always starts small, but grows quickly the more you feed it.

For now the letter from the Martells ordered House Dayne and the other Houses of the southern coast like House Dalt and House Gargalen to increase guard, mobilize the bannerman and ready the levy to secure the southern cost from attack until the royal fleet sailed past on their way to engage the Ironborn. Afterwards they were to gather at Sunspear to discuss the issue of further coast security because of the possible attacks.

What was left unwritten in the missive is that Dorne itself is more or less still in an unspoken rebellion against the iron throne and that they should secure the coast as much from the Ironborn as from the royal fleet that could take a given opportunity if the army was already there. It is clear that the gathering of Lords translates more into a discussion about whether to join the war effort or not and if so on which side.

Of course the spies of the Iron throne and other houses will know this as well but openly admitting to treason and rebellion is different than just the possibility of it. It appears that plausible deniability is a wonderful thing no matter the world.

As Starfall is in the westernmost part of Dorne the Royal fleet past them last so they left later than other houses and have a longer journey. Speed, more so than most other things is essential in war. The few days delay they had on their travel could decide on win or loss of the whole campaign.

As there is nothing anybody could have done against the weather Asta decides to overlook the issue for now in favor of kicking the dying puppy. Not that she would ever kick a real puppy, Pakkun would haunt him, but sick little girls are a totally different matter.

"You are so mean to me Ally." The fake hurt is barely overwhelming the bore apathy in her voice as she speaks. "And here I was only worried for you."

"Nhhrg" It is only a groan that answers her but the emotional pain felt from it fills her with the familiar joy that accompanies having other people suffer her bullshit. She would deny all accusations of feeling such way of course. Four generation of Hokage from Sarutobi all the way to Uzumaki couldn't bring her to admit it. Nobody ever will.

"Mah. Cheer up Ally. Look." Asta says with monotone voice while gesturing one hand listlessly in the direction of the daybreak their ship is sailing into. "Forward unto dawn."

"Nhhhhrg" To her ever secret delight an even more painful groan leaves the older girl in response. "Tormenting me with house words, really? My brother is bad enough already."

She shrugs her shoulders with her answer. "For a lady you are really ungrateful. I only tried to cheer you up with the beautiful view."

Allyria glowers at her with shining violet eyes. "I don't believe you." She turns her gaze from Asta to the shimmering ocean. "I changed my mind. I definitely hate you more than the sea."

And one more wrong in the world is righted. The sea has nothing on her. Asta rewards the girl with a heartfelt eye-smile for her wisdom. "And I was just about to tell you if we arrive today or tomorrow. Surely my dearest aunt that hates me so much would not want to know anything from me."

The young Daynes eyes snap back to her mismatched ones with new light in them. "No I misspoke dear niece. There is no way I could ever hate you. In fact I love you more than anyone"

She only answers the desperation with her signature eye-smile quickly prompting Allyria to carry on. "That's what you wanted, right? Now tell me! I need to know when my suffering ends."

Asta gives an exaggerated sigh. "The young are always in such a hurry." She skillfully ignores the outraged comment from the delusional girl about how she was older than her and carries on. "The helmsman is sure that the weather will hold and we will arrive somewhere between afternoon and evening."

Relieve flashes across Allyria's features and she sacks a little as tension leaves her muscles. "Finally. I could not last another day." She removes herself reluctantly from the rail and shuffles back to the door leading below deck. "I'll try to rest a little more. I can not be as pale as death when we meet the Martells in the evening."

Asta watches the older girl make her way back to her hammock that relieves the symptoms of her missing sea legs until she is out of sight. With nothing else to do she returns her gaze to the rising sun that lost a lot of the red tint on her way higher on the horizon.

Her Sensei and her student had dreamed of peace, a world without war. It is a nice dream and she admires the hope they carried to believe in it but Asta herself is too pragmatic and had seen too much darkness to commit to it. Sure achieving peace however unlikely is possible. Naruto and the elemental nation had proven that, but to have it last forever is impossible.

Humans have the capacity for great goodness as well as for great evil. In the end both will always shine through them. Peace comes and then war follows. At some point peace will come again one way or another. Nobody can fight forever.

She has long since decided that it doesn't matter. She likes peace and she likes Sensei's dream of it, even if it's an impossible one. It doesn't have to be possible to strive for it. Or maybe it's exactly because it's impossible that those people who chase their dreams full of hope and determination inspire others to follow and believe in them.

Jiraiya, Minato, Naruto. They were all those kinds of people. Dreamers, idealists that wanted to achieve something and inspired others by making the impossible seem possible. Kakashi was not one of them. Neither is Asta for obvious reasons.

Ever since Obito first sacrificed himself she fought for one reason only: For her comrades, to protect her precious people. She doesn't need dreams nor ideals.

Why make things more complicated than they have to be? If war has to come again she would prefer it not to be in her generation or the one after. She would do her best to avoid to the best of her abilities. People important to her have this nasty habit of dying in war after all. Experience has thought her though that every generation has their challenges and conflicts. Not all of them are avoidable and equally not all of them have to end in war, some however are probably not avoidable. If she has to fight to protect her people she will not hesitate.

Asta doubts though that Dorne will get more involved in this conflict, at least for now. The Iron Islands are a bunch of economically insignificant rocks in the sunset sea with little population. They have minimal potential to win a war against the combined might of the rest of Westeros.

Even if Dorne supported them they would be overwhelmed without other allies. From what she heard Doran Martell is a competent and careful ruler so he will most likely wait and see if the Ironborn have any sort of plan to win and only commit if he sees a possibility of it happening.

The first step for the Ironborns would be to dominate the coming engagement against the Royal fleet and Redwyne fleet sailing against them to ensure their ongoing naval supremacy. The former Hokage is fairly curtain that Dorne will not react in any way before the first real battle is fought and the tide of war apparent.

The deck has gotten livelier during her musings and her observing gaze didn't miss the entrance of a certain dark skinned man. With a goal in mind she leaves the rail behind to join him near the mast.

The distance is not big as for the sake of greater speed they travel on the "Windsprite", one of House Dayne's merchant vessels rather than one of the few war galleys in their possession. It is not a big ship, but what it lacks in size it compensates in speed or so the sailors swear.

As she comes to a halt in front of the tall man she lifts a hand in greeting. "Yo."

Like the rest of Starfall he has long since gotten used to her apparent weirdness, but had he not his answer would have been most likely the same. He simply turns his face in her direction and gives a tiny nod in acknowledgment.

His name is Baoapesa. With his stony expressions and equal demeanor he makes a good impression of a statue. Asta likes to call him Bao. He despises it.

Bao is a man of few words and even fewer facial movements but what is more relevant at the moment is that he is also Summer Islander and with a combination of a well-placed bet and her dagger throwing skills she conned him into teaching him the language.

If you want to operate around Starfall successfully you need 3 languages. Westerosi for obvious reasons and Valyrian, or at least one of the many dialects for the merchants from across the Narrow Sea are the most important, but if you want to be prepared for anything like a good little shinobi you need a little summer-tongue as well for the merchants and sailors from across the Summer Sea.

Maester Morton was happy enough to teach her to be passable in Valyrian but as he didn't know much of the more elusive languages she had to get creative and so she robed Boa into teaching her.

They were on rather good terms anyways as she spars quite often with the household guard in question. Bao is proficient in armed and unarmed combat alike. The Summer Islander practice a weird form of dueling mixed with ritual dancing that is the closest thing to proper taijutsu with katas and everything that Asta has come across yet.

After a moment of contemplation the young man having guessed her reason for approaching him simply points at the first object in his proximity they hadn't discussed yet and says "Xíbogi". Apparently it means 'sword'. It is an inefficient method of learning but she will have to make do with what she gets. She is no Nara, but a certified child genius is just as well. As the Prodigy she is she simply answers with an affirmative "Xibogi."

Their lesson continued for some time as other passengers and sailors kept their distance from them. For people in the commonly excepted boundaries of healthy sanity the conversation of the two social stunted individuals must be something like a red flag. Asta wonders absentmindedly if what they are doing is really that weird or if the problem lies with the inability of the common men to comprehend their intentions or follow the learning curve.

She tries to picture someone else interested in learning joining their conversation. Itachi comes to mind. In ANBU he was eager to learn anything he could get his pyromanic hands on. She can clearly picture him joining the tutoring. Bao would point at a bird and say 'Piibigi'. Asta would confirm that he understood the word correctly and answer with 'Piibigi'. To confirm that he pronounces the word correctly Itachi would add 'Piibigi' and they would continue with another word. Everything is perfectly normal. She is quite sure nothing is wrong with them. It has to be the other people… It's always them.

As the day goes on and Starfall, having long since appeared on the horizon draws closer Asta withdraws below deck to get a fresh change of clothes. As a bastard she is not really expected to be dressed to impress foreign dignitaries, but even as she shinobi you were expected to have a clean uniform if at all possible when meeting important clients or nobility.

Reaching her cabin she discards her sweaty and salt sprayed clothes and puts on a fresh pair of trousers and a tunic with a discreet tone of purple that represents her allegiance to House Dayne instead of a forehead protector. It's also an acceptable color for stealth even if it wouldn't hurt to be a little darker like the dark greens and blues for optimal stealth properties in the dark but the sun and heat of Dorne during the day made darker clothes impractical. They absorb too much heat.

Asta picks one of her usual scarfs in the same violet as the house banner to replace her old one and ties it tightly over the bridge of her nose. She is used to having her face covered again, was probably never really unused to it. The scarf is a little looser then her old mask but as she recently found out it is source of a new type of entertainment.

She was commented on it while training with the guards. She was asked by one of them why she had her face covered and she informed him plainly that the scarf was her friend. His outrage was delicious as he shouted in affront about how that is not a scarf but a shemagh. Another of the training men heard it and told her not to listen to the idiot as it is clearly a ghutrah. A third man was kind enough to inform them that they were both cunts as it is clearly a hattah.

As there was only really one spoken language in the elemental nations it is interesting to get an example of how a language can represent the society it belongs to. It is even more interesting to see grown men from all across Dorne come to blows over the best way to call a scarf. Men raised around Starfall called it one way and men from the herders in the Red Mountains called it another. Nomads from the dunes in the east had a completely different name for it.

In Konoha they had 'Komorebi'. It is a word specific for the light that filters through the tree leaves. In Dorne they have over a dozen words that describe a scarf worn in the dessert. She makes sure to call it a scarf as often as opportunity allows in hopes to witness more of the physical linguistic debates.

As she leaves the chamber, now more or less presentable she absentmindedly wonders how many words for snow the North has. There is fresh powdery snow, compacted old snow, mushy half towed snow, iced over hard snow and of course her personal favorite the suspicious yellow snow.

She reaches the deck way before the Windsprite reaches the docks of the harbor but Allyria and Eiric are already present. Ally's complexion is a lot better as her excitement seems to throw all lingering effects of seasickness off of her.

She grabs Asta's arm and pulls her to her side pointing out unfamiliar buildings, people and anything else that catches her notice in the approaching city. The young girl babbles unhindered by the other people gathering on deck to witness their arrival in port.

"Whoa. There are so many ships here. I have never seen that banner." Her attention is however quickly caught by something else and she continues her gesturing. "The buildings are so different and what is that? Is that the Sunship? It's huge."

The former shinobi makes her own assessments of Sunspear, even if she is slightly suspicious that her reasons differ from her aunt's. The city is of different design than Starfall and seems to have not much in common. Buildings are built from the light brown sandstone with round shapes that remind her of Wind country and Sunagakure.

The Sandship Allyria pointed out towers over the harbor. Giant walls that look very defensible reach into the sky from the highest point of the city. It is an incredible structure and Asta had no doubt it could break waves up on waves of attackers. If she squints and channels a little creativity the shape vaguely reminds her of the hull of a ship. That would explain the name given to the ancient fortress of house Nymeros Martell.

Asta was just about done mentally mapping the parts of the city she could see from her position as well as assessing them for strengths, weaknesses, defensible locations as well as the best places to hide if necessary, when the pull on her arm increased and she looked into the accusing eyes of her aunt. The look on her face approached dangerous levels of poutiness.

"You are ignoring me." She accused matter of factly.

Seeing the danger for what it is Asta gives her eye-smile. "Mah, I had important thoughts to thing." Her S-rank skill in dodging responsibility's and problems shines through as she neither confirms nor denies her aunt's very accurate observation.

Sadly Allyria used to them as she is, is not fooled by Asta's superior abilities. "There is no way you can be thinking about anything important right now. You are just ignoring me."

As her first strategy failed miserably Asta has no choice but to fall back on her failsafe plan. "I was just debating what to do if I find out suspiciously yellow snow is not named in the North and I am free to name it. Should I call it 'snew' or snellow'?" Bullshitting her way out of any social situation is her only original skill left in this world as her chidori is sadly inaccessible.

Allyria just stares at her for a moment in which Asta can see another little peace of her aunt's soul dying through her disbelieving eyes. Finally Ally sighs, freeing the dead piece of soul from her lungs and talks "You are so weird. Aren't you at least a little excited about the trip? And why would you care about yellow snow? Neither you nor I have seen snow but I'm sure it is white. Why would it be yellow?"

Asta nods in agreement and gives another smile. "That is one of the big mysteries of life."

"Ahhrgh! You are impossible." With this last compliment her aunt turns her attention to the approaching pier.

Sailors run around hauling in the sail and readying the robes. Before long the ship is moored and a plank is set to disengage. Eiric who was busy overseeing the men winks the two girls over with one hand. "You will cross one at a time and I will help you. Just like the bording. " He gives a stern look of warning to each of the young girls before he continues. "Be mindful of your balance and don't fall in the water."

Her uncle holds on to them securely while passing the deadly space between the ship and the pier. Asta feels a little patronized with her uncles hand on her arm but seeing Allyria sway from left to right as she has solid ground under her feed for the first time in over a week make his concerns for their safety more than apparent.

A group of men draped in the yellow regalia of the Sunspear guards greets them. The stern man in the lead steps forward and gives a little bow to Eiric before speaking with a slight norvosy accent. "Greetings, Lord Dayne. I am Areo Hotah, head of the guard. I welcome you to Sunspear." He gives the two girls a polite look before asking. "Am I right to assume you brought your lady sister and lady niece as well?"

Eiric nods in confirmation. "Greetings. Indeed, you are. My sister, lady Allyria Dayne and my niece, Lady Asta Sand." With their names spoken he gestures to each of the girls in turn.

"Then I welcome them as well" With his words Areo gives another polite bow, this time to the girls. "Prince Doran conveys his regrets of not greeting you in person but matters kept him at the palace but your arrival has been awaited most eagerly."

Eiric as well as Asta know of the princes failing health. Gout seems to trouble him more and more so neither expected a personal welcome. As such her uncle simply nods his acceptance and Areo steps aside with an inviting arm gesture. "Then, if you are ready, may I escort you to the water gardens."