A Tale of Ice and Blood

Chapter I - Snow Rises

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When last we left off in the series, Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, was attempting to calm Wun Wun down when he was stabbed by his fellow brothers of the Nights Natch, who held him guilty of oathbreaking due to his plans to march against the Bastard of Bolton. With this act, not only did the brothers commit mutiny, but they inadvertently relieved Jon of his vows to their sacred order, but they also found enemies in the wildlings that Jon had rallied for the task of a ranging. With the only man on the Wall capable of keeping the peace seemingly struck down, chaos descended on Castle Black as Free Folk and Black Brothers clashed once more; just as they had done from time immemorial. What happens in its aftermath will help decide the fate of not only Night's Watch, but the North and, perhaps, even the whole of Westeros as well...

Jon awakens to a cold, wet nose prodding his exposed hand and slowly opens his eyes to see the red eyes of Ghost staring at him as he nudges his hand. After a short fit of coughing, he manages to say, his throat terribly hoarse for some unknown reason, "Hey boy, what's going on?" After he speaks a startled grunt at his left draws his attention. He then notices the young Dryn had fallen out of his seat. The boy looks up, startled to have awoken, but then notices that Jon is alive and awake. Dryn rushes from the room yelling for his father. Confused and disoriented, Jon looks around his room in the armory trying to figure out how and why he is here. he then notices that his chest is wrapped in bloodstained linens. Reaching for his chest he gasps in pain upon contact. He tries to clear his thoughts of the pain so he can remember what happened, when Val comes in through the door. Ghost runs up and licks her cheek as she startles at Jon's alertness. She then gently pushes Ghost aside before picikng up the fallen chair and sitting in it beside the bed.

After a short moment silence, Val raises a brow and remarks, "Well, you look well for a man we pulled out of a pool of his own blood. You had more holes in you then a moth-eaten cloak."

With those words, Jon remembers Wun Wun going berserk, Ser Patrek's dead corpse in the giant's hands, ordering the men present to stand down, and then...the betrayal. Feeling his chest burn in pain with the remembrance, Jon grits his teeth and hisses, "Traitors!"

Val calmly grabs a nearby wet cloth to dab the sweat from his brow. "You need not concern yourself with those crows, Lord Snow. Tormund either has them decorating spikes or awaiting your pleasure in the cells."

Jon grunts in understanding before asking for a drink, his throat still raw and aching. As Val gets up to retrieve some water, the door opens with a bang, slamming against the wall. Looking up he sees the triumphant face of Tormund Giantsbane as he barrels into the room.

"Crow!" He bellowed, "Should've known a few daggers couldn't kill you!" This said he reaches out to slap Jon on the shoulder, only for Val to smack him upside the head.

"The Lord Crow isn't up to being manhandled now, you great lummox," Val chides him and proceeds to help raise Jon's head so he can drink. With all the people in the small room, Jon feels ghost agitation as he paws at the ground.

Jon clears his throat and hoarsely says, "Tormund, kindly step aside to let Ghost out, but don't let him wander too far." Tormund complies with the request while Val sets the cup aside. Ghost bolts out the opened door and into the armory proper, while Val moves to sit on the edge of the bed and Tormund plops into the tiny chair.

Once everyone is settled, Jon looks over and demands, "What happened after my brothers attacked me?"

Tormund snorts saying, "After those backstabbers tried cutting you down, that craven Marsh tried to force us out. I said I wasn't leaving without your word, when they told me that you were feeding the crows," Jon smiles sardonically at the imagery, " I didn't much like that answer, so i said they could go suck me member and led me boys in the attack."

Val adjusts the bandages and quips, "It was your sword they sucked into their guts, not your member."

Tormund roared with laughter. "That they did, that they did!" Jon joined in with a few small chuckles, before it started to hurt too much. Waving off Val's concern, he motioned for Tormund to continue. Looking at Jon wearily, Tormund picks up the story. "By the time we were done clipping all of them crows' wings, you had nearly bled out like a stuck pig, and Dryn had dragged you off to Val's tower, where she and Torreg helped keep ya breathing."

Val scowled and muttered, " I'd of had better luck drowning a fish then putting you back together." Louder she said, "If not for the red woman," Jon could practically feel the distaste in her voice, "you'd of likely bled out on my bed right then and there."

At Jon's raised brow, Tormund explains, "The mad wench told me she could save you, but we had to burn one of them cravens to do it." At Jon's startled look, Tormund justified himself, saying, "Not like we had a lot of options crow! It was either give her a shot and hope for the best, or be stuck here in the castle and wait for them other crows to come and pick up the fight."

Val nods and adds," wouldn't of done them much good, but we couldn't risk turning on each other with your kneeler king to our south and the Others to the front of us. Without you, we might as well of opened the gates and let the Others finsh the butcher's work."

Jon sighs tiredly, rubbing his brow in exasperation, but nods resignedly. "Tormund, Val said some of the traitors survived. Where are they now?"

Tormund grunts, "Probably killed nearly half of the crows in yer castle," Jon glares at the man, but Tormund acts as if he doesn't notice, " Maybe a score of them are high tailing it to your shadow tower. Another score fled with that marsh bastard to the east. As for the rest, I got the ones that tried gutting you in them ice cells, and the others are being held in sheild hall and a few of them towers."

Jon growls in irritation and clenches his fists. Traitor is probably trying to take East-watch-by-the-Sea while Pyke is absent.

there is quiet for a few minutes as jon processes this latest bit of worrying news and his two companions let him absorb the situation in peace. After a short while though, Tormund grows restless and asks, "What are we to do now Lord Crow? This shit won't sort itself out." Beside him, Val nods in agreement.

Sighing and unclenching his hands, Jon thinks for a moment and asks, "How long have I been out? How much time have those that fled had to get to where they are going?"

Tormund scratches at his bearded chin and considers for a moment. "Fight only took about an hour or so. Spent the rest of the day disposing of the dead and clearing the rubble. That was 4 days ago now. Seeing as most of the horses are still in the stables, I'd say those going west would be about half way to your shadow tower. Those headed east are either already at one of the other castles or halfway to the sea." Tormund looks sideways at Val and adds, "Thought about sending some men to hunt them down, but Val said that we would be better off holding here until you woke up, assuming the red woman could drag you out of death's grip."

Clearly irritated, Val rebuked him, "We had a castle full of crows and we might have run afoul of more if we sent any men out to hunt down those craven bastards. Better to wait until we knew what we were dealing with." Tormund just grunted noncommittally. "In any case, when Dryn told us you had woken up, we sent for that steward of yours."

Jon furrows his brow and asks, "Satin?"

Val waves her hand dismissively and says, "Not that one. The old, ugly one that cares for the birds. He's been helping with all the wounded. With you back among the living, I thought it time to have him look at those bandages again."

Jon nods in agreement, before hearing a startled yelp from outside the door. Turning back to his companions, he gives a small smirk and remarks, " I believe Ghost just welcomed him to the armory. Go see that he didn't piss his britches." Tormund and Val both laugh as the woman gets up and opens the door. Shooing Ghost away from the old man, she waves him in and tells Dryn to stand watch.

Glancing wearily over his shoulder, the elderly Clydas turns to address Jon and gives him a bow. "Lord Commander, I'm pleased that you are still with us. When I first looked in on you, I was sure you were not long for this world."

Jon dryly replies, "The old gods saw fit to keep here. They must enjoy disappointing people's expectations." Before Clydas could stammer a reply to that, Jon continued, "Report. What is the state of the remaining brothers?"

Clearing his throat and steadying himself, the steward replied, "Fifty men are fit for service, mostly steward, while about fourty more are still too wounded to stand their posts. I'd say about another forty fled the castle, either to Shadow Tower or with the Lord Steward to the east. The remainder, eight men all told, are locked in the ice cells with those Karhold men. Anyone else was killed in the chaos after you were attacked." Glancing over to Tormund, he added, "I've also been caring for the Wildlings. Save for the three who died, the rest are already back on their feet."

Jon nods. "Good work. Now, what about Wun Wun?"

Val spoke up then and said, "He's fine. A bit cranky from the nicks he took during the fighting, but still whole and guarding my tower." She smiles mischeviously, grey eyes twinkling, "We gave him a bit of your wine to calm him down. He seemed much happier after that."

Jon groaned, feeling a headache start to form. A drunken giant? That's the last thing I need! With my luck, next they'll tell me Ser Alister Thorne is outside demanding an audience! Shaking his mind free of the unpleasant thought, Jon turned back to the situation at hand and asked, "Any word from the other castles?"

"From the furthest castles, we've had a few reports on their general situations," Clydas reported, "but only Queensgate and Oakenshield are aware of the current situation here at Castle Black." Frowning, he added, "We've also had no word from any of the rangings, as of yet, and no further word from Commander Pyke at Hardhome."

Grimly reminded of the wider crises they faced, also brought to mind the southern threat he'd been planning to deal with before being treated like a stuck pig. "Any word from our scouts about the Boltons? Should we be expecting them in the coming days?"

Bringing Jon's attention back to himself, Tormund put in, "No sign of them yet. The last army to pass through your lands were the Thenns on their way south. Haven't seen hide nor hair of anyone else, but we're still waiting for a scouts to come in. Could be they saw something the others missed."

Taking all of this in, Jon then turns to the next pressing matter. "Fine. We'll put that aside for the moment. Now, Clydas, how long until I can walk and ride. For that matter, how long until I'll be able to fight again? I need to get back to work."

Clydas, looking up from his kit, scowls at Jon and snaps. "You're not going anywhere Lord Snow! With the damage you've taken, you're lucky to still be breathing!" Turning back to his medical supplies for a moment, he grumbles too quietly for them to hear and then adds, "If you really must know, you're likely to take the next couple of months to recover fully. The most optimistic time frame I could give you is three weeks, but I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you. Even if you do manage to get back on your feet that quickly, it will still be weeks more before your fully combat ready." Again he mutters to himself, but they still managed to hear him utter, "Curse the little bastard for sending Maester Aemon away and leaving me with this mess."

Ignoring that remark and trying to ignore his still mounting headache, Jon growls in frustration and slams a fist against his bed. As Val begins to fuss over him again, he snaps at her that he's fine, before barking, "Clydas!" causing the steward to snap his attention back to Jon. "When you're done with me, gather parchment and ink. I want riders and ravens sent out to every castle on the Wall, the Mountain Clans as well, so they know what's happened. We need to get on top of this before tales begin to spread of another Wildling invasion. Also, tell them I need a full report on their status and any news about Bolton troop movements." Gritting his teeth from the pain, he adds, "And somebody find out where my rangers are! I will not be blind while an army of corpses readies itself to descend upon us!"

The three nodded in affirmation, but anything they might of said was cut off as Jon let loose a shout, pain exploding behind his eyes and throughout his body. All he heard before darkness fell over him were the shouts of his companions and confusion all around him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Note: Well, here's another attempt at writing an ASOIAF fanfiction. Having done a great deal in planning for this story, along with having found a writing method works for me, I do believe the update rate of this story will be quite quick. The next chapter will probably even be out by Thursday or Friday, depending on when I finish proofreading it. Also, the chapters will like get longer as time passes and things begin to heat up in the story. In short, the chances of this going the way of "The Wild Wolf's Heir," is highly unlikely.

Now, as always, I hope you enjoyed the story and I encourage all of you to read and review!

PS: I do not own ASOIAF