A Different World
Chapter 1
NOTE: I do not own the characters to Legend of Zelda or A Song of Ice and Fire
JON
Riding a horse through the snow, the pain in his leg was throbbing where Ygritte had shot at him. Despite feeling faint due to the immense pain, he managed to ride on toward Castle Black, thinking about how he should go about explaining Qhorin Halfhand's death, living with the wildlings, and of course, breaking his vows with Ygritte. As a possible oathbreaker, he could lose his head and suffer the same fate as a previous member of the Night's Watch; he remembered his lord father cutting the head off of an oathbreaker. Jon shuddered at the mere thought; the death of his father, Eddard Stark was still fresh in his mind. He kept on riding through snowy white fields until he came through a forest. Jon maneuvered the horse through the dense foliage and came out from the other side, expecting to be on his way to Castle Black. Unfortunately, he saw nothing but snowy mountains and a few trees here and there. The pain was still agonizing as his foot was seeping with blood. Jon bit his lip, cursed, and continued forward, hoping to find Castle Black in the distance. He rode for what seemed like an eternity.
Then out of nowhere, a white wolf appeared. Jon rubbed his eyes. Could this be Ghost or am I merely seeing things? The wolf raised its head and stared directly at Jon. He wasn't sure if this creature was his direwolf or not. There was one way to find out.
"Ghost," he said, putting his hands to his chest. "To me."
The wolf's ears pulled back and yellow, beady eyes stared straight at Jon along with a snarl and bared teeth. Then, another wolf appeared, growling all the same, and another, and another until Jon was surrounded by at least four white wolves. He swallowed hard and accepted his fate that he should die in the snowy wilderness as a bastard and oathbreaker. He tried to outrun them on horseback but the horse was spooked and threw him off. Landing side first into the snow, Jon was slow to get up and tried limping back to the horse who had found shelter at a nearby opening in a rocky wall. The first wolf made the first move and jumped onto Jon's back, pushing him back to the ground. Jon put up his left arm to defend himself but the wolf promptly bit down on his arm. Just as the rest of the pack was about to move in, another wolf appeared from the corner of Jon's eye. This one wasn't like the rest; it was sort of a blackish gray with a white underbelly with what appeared to be two pierced ears. The pierced wolf lunged at the one attacking Jon and wrestled with it until it died, giving time for Jon to crawl back to the horse, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Almost immediately, the pierced wolf had killed or scared off the rest of the pack when its eyes turned to Jon struggling to move. It approached Jon and instead of attacking him, he started pulling on Jon's coat toward the horse with his mouth. Jon then stopped struggling and passed out from the pain.
Link
After dragging the bleeding and unconscious stranger to his horse, Link promptly transformed himself into his Hylian form with Midna mumbling about how stupid the stranger was for traveling out in such a dangerous place. The young man in question was bleeding not just from his left arm but his leg as well, Link had noted. Pulling some cloth from a bundle that was atop his own saddle, he cut up some makeshift bandages for the stranger's arm and leg as well as giving him a little bit of the red healing potion, which seemed to keep the young man conscious. With Midna's help, the stranger was lifted to his horse and Link then mounted Epona and led the horse with the young man on it out of the snowy wilderness and on the way to Kakariko Village.
How odd to see someone venturing out into Snowpeak. Link knew first hand how hostile it was to him when he first traveled there. Due to the extreme weather conditions, most travelers would die on their way to their destinations. Midna wouldn't stop reminding him about it either.
"If he died in the snow, he deserves death," she said snappily. "Who can possibly be that stupid to try to cross Snowpeak like that?"
"Midna, I have no idea," said Link, slightly frustrated at Midna's insensitivity. "What's more important is that he survived somehow with not one but two wounds. We need to take him to see Renado before he does die."
Then Link heard the stranger mumble something. "Castle Black," he muttered. "Castle Black."
Midna's face scrunched up. "Castle Black?" she wondered aloud. "Is he an agent for Zant? I'm not sure I can trust him."
"If he were an agent for Zant, he certainly wouldn't look human," replied Link. "Besides, I'm sure he's in a great deal of pain. There's a gaping wound in his foot, which looks like someone may have shot at him with an arrow along with bite marks on his hand. I don't think the creatures outside Kakariko would've attacked Zant's agents."
Midna sighed and accompanied Link and their new companion to the safety of Kakariko Village. The village itself was very small, surrounded by mountains of red and a live volcano known as Death Mountain. Link hitched up Epona and the stranger's horse and helped him off of it. A small crowd of people formed around him carrying a bloodied and semi-conscious man into Renado's home. Renado, a resident of Kakariko Village, was a shaman trained in the art of medicine and healing. He was known to have healed a very sick Zora prince as well as the various injuries and ailments among the community as well as all of Hyrule. Upon seeing the bloodied stranger, he called for a Goron to help carry the man to the nearby Elde Inn. With the help of Link, Renado removed his heavy fur coat, boots, and the rest of his garments and clothed him in a clean, white nightshirt. As Link watched on, Renado cleaned the man's wounds with some herbal liquids and sutured them. He then gave him a bottle of the red healing potion that Link had carried with him on his various journeys.
While Renado was attending to his patient, the Ordon children who were staying with him came to see what was happening. Renado's daughter, Luda, applied a warm compress to the young man's forehead and slowly, he started coming to. He blinked a few times and stared at the group of people staring back at him. He looked to find that his clothes were removed and a nightshirt was put in their place. He started to sit up, still weak and in pain from his ordeal. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating.
"Hello," Renado said. "How are you feeling?"
"I am weak but I am starting to feel fine," replied the stranger. "Where am I? And most importantly, who are you?"
"My name is Renado and this young man helped save your life," said Renado, pointing to Link. "Apparently, he found you trying to cross Snowpeak and saved you from a pack of wolves."
"Snowpeak? Is that what that place is called? I thought it was the area above The Wall."
"The Wall?" asked Renado.
"You're not from around here, aren't you?" asked Link, realizing that the young man was completely lost. "You are in Kakariko Village in a place called Hyrule."
"Do you have a name, Stranger?" asked Renado.
The man cleared his throat. "My name is Jon Snow and I am a member of the Night's Watch."