Author's Note: I hate Ocs when there are perfectly good established characters that can fill the exact same role. So with that note let's change one minor event and change the entire Dance of Dragons.

That said this may also be some of my best writing recently. In a lot of my other stories I tend to skimp on descriptions to blaze the plot forward.

Chapter One: Alyn I, or A Ghost of a Chance

His brother Addam had long ago left, having tamed his own dragon, Seasmoke. Alyn felt a little bitter about that. But Addam was the older and so he deserved the first dragon.

Plus if he, Alyn Waters of Hull, a Velaryon bastard, managed to tame the elusive Grey Ghost he would just seem all the more impressive.

Of course, he mused to himself as he maneuvered the beaten dinghy he helmed out into deeper water occasionally pausing to toss some fish out as bait, he would have to find the beast first.

His mother's father was a shipwright, thus Alyn had spent his entire life around boats and ships. That said his grandfather thought finding Grey Ghost was a fools errand and had only allowed him to use the most dilapidated and beat of up his dinghies.

All his life he and his brother had known they were destined for greater things. While they may be bastards their Valyrian blood was powerful and strong, driving them to greater heights and ambitions. For not only was their father a Velaryon, their mother said Laenor but due to his known proliclivities everyone thought Lord Corlys the Sea Snake was much more likely and the ruse was to fend off the wroth of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, the Sea Snake's wife. Better she think herself their grandmother.

The Velaryon of his father's side was combined with his mother's own Dragonseed blood. His grandfather said that they had had the Valyrian white hair and lavender eyes for generations even before him, and that his mother's mother had lain with a Prince of Dragonstone and given birth to Alyn's great-grandmother.

Valyrian on both side. The Dragon's Blood burned brightly in he and his brother.

Now if only it would burn brightly for, "This damned spectral beast to take notice of me!" he cried out in frustration, pulling an arm back extra far and throwing the next fish with far more force than any other pitch.

Which of course rocked his beat up old dinghy.

Alyn's face went even paler as the boat flipped and the sea came rushing up at him. He was very far from shore, and the closest one was the rocky and volcanic shore of the Dragonmont.

As a lifelong swimmer and sailor Alyn, though merely thirteen, quickly calmed himself as he was submerged. Quickly he tried to kick himself out sideways to get out from under the boat but found his net of fish had tangled in his left leg.

The salt water burned his eyes slightly as he kept them open to see his struggles and options. As his lungs started to slowly burn as he reached the half minute mark of being underwater he found his harpoon tangled in with the fish and as he continued sinking tried to maneuver it so that it could cut the net but not his leg.

He noticed he had stopped sinking as he reached the minute mark and saw that the net was still tied to the capsized but floating boat, this gave him a chance. He would not pass out from the pressure of sinking now, he had another two minutes, as he could typically hold his breath for three.

Another minute of struggle passed and the young Dragonseed made a critical error, while moving his harpoon around he sliced open his leg as he had been cautiously trying to avoid. Blood leaked out of his body into the water and he gasped in pain, his last minute of air leaving his lungs.

And yet he was calm, "So this is how it ends? I was just a jest upon the world. Stay strong Addam, live long brother." were his last thoughts as he closed his eyes and...

The water exploded around him. His eyes shot open and he saw a huge mass over him and felt a sharp pain in his sides as he was yanked out of the water along with the harpoon and the net with the fish, all tangled up within each other.

And suddenly he was in the air moving back towards land. Slowly he was able to make out the mass that had yanked him from the sea, it was a medium sized dragon, smaller than Vhagar or Vermithor but larger than Seasmoke or Silverwing. The beast was long and lithe for its size though, none of the bulkiness that he attributed to even a few younger dragons that put on weight early. Or from what he had gathered in his limited but enthusiastic observations of the dragons when they would visit Driftmark or Dragonstone.

The silver and grey coloring did remind him of Seasmoke but instead of opaque the scales of this beast almost rippled and reflected the light of the clouds and sky, as if it were one of the chameleons a trader from the Summer Islands had shown him when he was younger.

The awe almost erased the excruciating pain for Alyn. However an especially strong flap of the wings jolted his body and he screamed in pain, his body contorting as much as it could in the dragon's grasp.

This caught the dragon's attention and it looked down to see what had made a noise, as fish do not typically scream.

While Alyn could not see it, the dragon stared down at him as it began gliding down to its volcanic cliffside cave where it nested and blinked a few times.

It had caught one of the strange pink two-legs that swim on wood. Idly Grey Ghost wondered what it would taste like, but then decided that there were enough fish in the twine entangling the boy that it cared not to find out.

That is how Alyn found himself ignobly and painfully dropped inside a seaside cave and screaming as the dragon tried to disentangle the net to get at the fish, which only had the net yank at his injured leg.

"Wait! Wait! Let me get it! Ow!" He held up his head placatingly to the dragon as his yelling made it startle and scoot back nearer the ledge with its voice rumbling.

Now that he was out of the water he could reach the harpoon easily, still holding up one hand he awkwardly sawed at the net until he could remove his leg and then picked up a fish through the torn portion of the net and held it out for the dragon, "See? Is this not easier?"

The dragon's neck quickly snapped out and snagged the fish right out of the boy's hand, with such delicacy and grace that it did not even graze Alyn's fingers with its teeth.

Laughing in both relief and gratitude Alyn picked up another fish and this time tossed it towards Grey Ghost's mouth. The dragon snapped it up again.

That's when the pain started up again and Alyn realized he had to bind up the wound on his leg quickly, the scratches from Grey Ghost's claws on his side were minor, though he would need them cleaned by the healer in Hull when he got back.

Then it hit him. He could get them treated by a MAESTER in DRIFTMARK or DRAGONSTONE because he was pretty sure he was taming Grey Ghost right now! Quickly he tore his tattered tunic into strips and bound his leg and began picking up fish to continue the feeding game with Grey Ghost, surely that was the best way to ingratiate the dragon to him right?

He spent the afternoon essentially playing with and bonding with Grey Ghost. The dragon really was a shy creature, loud noises and abrupt movements would surprise it, though not scare it, Alyn amended in his mind, as the creature would typically growl or let out a low roar in response, teeth bared. Which was good, he mused, he did not want a craven dragon, that would not do for fighting in a war.

Eventually the dragon let him pet and scratch it, he could not discern whether it was currently a boy or a girl dragon and dragon's apparently could change that something random from what he had heard, though that could be a myth.

Alyn was leaning toward referring to Grey Ghost as a lady dragon though, in his mind she was demure but fierce which could perfectly describe most Westerosi Valyrian women. Like his mother. And his...supposed grandmother the Princess Rhaenys. Oh and his liege lady Rhaenyra Targaryen, First of Her Name, Queen of the Aegon's Kingdoms, Queen of the Andals and First Men. He thought perhaps she had another title in there somewhere. He hoped he did not forget and offend when he presented himself with his brother to her upon his return.

Oh, his return, he looked up from scratching under Grey Ghost's chin and she let out a confused and rumbling sound that was halfway between a chirp and a roar, making a kind of 'mrrk?' sound.

The sun was getting low in the sky, he could tell they were on the western side of the Dragonmont as they could still see the sun at all.

He grabbed the harpoon and used it to stand, "Grey Ghost? It's time for us to go girl, can you take me home?"

She turned her head to the side in obvious confusion and he sighed, "Well no harm in trying."

He slowly clambered up her back and into a somewhat comfortable space between her wings and shoulder blades behind her neck.

She actually seemed to get the concept very quickly, and having become quite fond of the strange scaleless creature, and feeling some kind of subconscious link to the boy she quickly leapt from the ledge at the mouth of the cave and flew off into the sunset.

Of course Alyn did not want to go off into the sunset as romantic and adventurous as that sounded. First of all King's Landing and the Greens were to the west and he certainly did not wish to be killed by Vhagar like poor Lucerys and his dragon.

So he tapped on the left side of Grey Ghost's hide trying to get her to swing south towards Driftmark and the castle of High Tide, where his brother and Seasmoke were now staying with Lord Corlys.

Eventually he hammered his fist down hard enough that she got that idea too and swung around.

Thankful he tried to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Then his body started to realize he was riding a heavily scaled beast bareback and began to scream at him in pain while his skin was scraped off painfully by the friction.

He was a bloody mess by the time they finally landed and slide off his dragon to the ground in a thump.

Grey Ghost bent her head down and nudged her rider in confusion and let out a low moaning keen of worry.

The last thing Alyn heard as the darkness of unconsciousness slammed down around his mind was his brother yelling his name.