Chapter 4: Tyrion and Sansa meet in the Crypts -wonder about their curious journey

"I see that Lady has taken to you"- Sansa told Tyrion with a smile. The Dwarf sat on stone anvil near the Crypt of someone called Leonard Stark. When Sansa had reached the Crypts, near the secret passage - Lady had spotted the smell of the Dwarf and on seeing him perched gingerly on his stone seat had growled at him but did not attack or lunge. She was cleverer than any of her brothers. When her mistress walked up to the dwarf unafraid or unworried, Lady was quick to realize that the dwarf was a friend. Now she sat eating small chunks of lamb that Tyrion kept tossing from the small bag on his side.

"She is smarter than her brothers" - He replied. "So you remembered the Crypts? I was afraid you would not?"

It had taken them three days to meet. Both were desperate to meet each other but could not. It was not allowed. He could not come to her room or send her a message and she could not either. He had refrained from confiding in Jaime. It was only later that he realized something. He did know of a place where they could meet secretly - the Crypts. He knew the secret passages into the Crypts. They had been drilled into him during the night of the living dead. He only hoped that Sansa would remember the same. Apparently she did remember and here she was.

Their meeting was akward. He was delighted to see her and she him but they simply could not do more. They had their positions now. Instead they greeted each other politely enough like old friends.

"I may not be as smart as you are my lord but i learn quickly enough"- Sansa replied. She was only sorry it had taken her three days to arrive here.

"Miss being the Queen?" - he asked her.

Sansa thought hard. "No! I dont. I am with my parents, with Robb, with Bran, with Arya, with Jon, with Lady. Theyre all alive and happy. No Tyrion - i dont want to go back. I want to stay here for ever with them".

"That is going to be hard" -he told her. "You remember what happens do you not? All the bad things. Your father is already the Kings new hand and he is off to Kingslanding. Jon is on the way to the Wall. You will not be happy for long. You are heading for the same fate you headed into fifty one years ago".

"Look Sansa!"- Tyrion continued- "We have to stop things from happening. I believe that is why were are here. I dont want the same fate i had. I dont want to be Hand to Bran the Broken. I dont want to shoot my father with a crossbow and run east. I believe i can change my destiny and so can you. We can bring peace to Westeros in a different way. We can change the fate"

"And what if we are wrong?" - Sansa asked him. "What if fate is not meant to be changed?"

"So you want your father to go to Kingslanding and get executed. You want your brother to be stabbed through the heart at the Red Wedding?" - He asked. "We have to stop things from happening. We have to give Westeros the fate it deserves. I believe it was why we were sent back."

"Alright Alright" - Sansa said. She had realized this on her own a couple of days ago but it was a daunting task. She had somehow hoped she could have used the knowledge gained from her previous timeline to keep her family out of trouble and leave Westeros to itself but apparently it was not to be. "What exactly do we do? You are not the Hand here and i am not the Queen. What resources can be command? How can we change fate?"

"We can save your brother Bran" - Tyrion said. "I know in the old timeline, tomorrow - Bran fell of the Old Tower when he climbs up and sees ..."

"Your Brother and Sister Fornicating. Yes i heard"- Sansa said coldly. "And how do we stop that?"

"You can prevent Bran from going out anywhere. You can be with him all day. You can keep him away from the old tower."

Sansa nodded. "Yes i can do that. I can be with Bran all day. He will be surprised though. Of course Septa Mordane and mother would be furious. I am supposed to be busy with many things tomorrow including some sewing time with Princess Myrcella. So what about you?"

"I still have many things to figure out. Until i reach Kingslanding it is risky to communicate with Varys so i have to think to myself. Saving Bran is the first step but ..."

Sansa stopped Tyrion. "And what is our last step? Our Goal? Stop the bad things from happening and leave it to fate for the good things. If you want to change fate - we have to do things that would be hard for us - Cersei cannot live, Are you willing to do that? To put a dagger through her heart? Are you willing to kill Joffrey? It could change fate in every way possible. What exactly is fate? How exactly is Westeros safe?"

"I dont know" - Tyrion admitted shuddering at Sansas question. Killing Joffrey or Cersei sounded good but to actually do the deed especially now when Joffrey may still be a prat but had done none of the deeds that had marked him out for killing by Olenna Tyrrell in the previous timeline. "I have always believed Robert was a bad king. I suppose Westeros would be best off if Jon and Dany ruled together - husband and wife- aunt and nephew...now stop that look" - he ordered her- "Targaryens do it all the time". "This way we have a good king - someone who loves people who can earn the trust of his men and who is not ambitious enough to want to murder of kill. We have a queen who is kind and loving on whom the King can keep his reins on".

"Oh sure! She burns down a million people with her Dragon. Kind and Loving!" - Sansa snorted but Tyrion was not concerned "Dany was not like this. She was not mad. She was different in Essos. Oh you should have seen here - with her people - the freemen of Dragons bay. I am now convinced that our work here is to ensure that both Jon and Dany achieve their destiny and rule the Iron Throne Together and we must manipulate events so that this happens"

Sansa was incredulous - "And how can we do that? How can we influence events in Essos?"

Tyrion gave her a steely look "We must. We know what happens so that is a big advantage for us. We have to use resources at our disposal, Varys , my money and your talent as a greenseer"

"A Greenseer?"- Sansa asked. "I am no greenseer".

Tyrion gave her a smile. " I am afraid you are...you have to become one".

THE WILDLINGS:-

"Is Everything ready" - He asked her. She nodded. Wallen and the others had already entered Winterfell four days ago and were ready.

How things had changed Osha thought. Just a few days ago - She was a whore at the Whorehouse - making her coppers, buying enough food to feed her friends Stiv, Wallen and the Woman - all of them - deserters. Wallen and Stiv were both deserters from the Nights Watch five years ago. If they were caught - it was death for them and this had made them bolder. Osha was not one of them. She was born a wildling and like other wildlings had a healthy hatred and fear of the Northmen and would have avoided these lands had it not been for the greater fear that lurked out there. It was this that had caused her to escape with the rest from Mance Rayder and march to the North, somehow managing to avoid the Watch or the Wall.

It was the gold dragon that the dwarf has tossed which had given her the idea. The Dwarf was rich. His purse was full of gold. Enough Gold for all of them to set up comfortably in the east, a place where she had heard there was no watch, no Northmen and no blue eyed ghostwalkers, it was a place safely on the other side of Westeros with a wide sea in between. Her share of the Gold Dragon had been generous and she now wanted more. She had suggested her plan to Stiv and Wallen and they had fallen in line almost immediately. The idea of going to capture the Dwarf , steal his gold which he always wore on his belt, steal his rich clothes, and ransom him back to his father - who was likely a rich lord and would pay anything for his son. The plan was fraught with risk and danger but done well, it could still bring them something good at the end of it and Stiv and Wallen both felt anything was better than hiding day after day in the forest, depending on Osha for food and drink and hunting for voles and ice rats. Had it not been for Oshas Dwarf - they would be spending several months in the Forest living in fear and hunting in fear. This was a chance for them to leave.

***It is very likely that had Tyrion not tossed the Gold Dragon in his impatience but like in the previous timeline allowed Jaime to pay for the women - Osha would not have taken much notice of the Dwarf or thought to question the others on the Dwarfs origins and family. She would have regarded him as important but not as someone who was so rich as to give a whore a whole gold dragon for a nights service. Only people who had money to burn did this***

Their plan was simple enough. Wallen and the Woman were already inside Winterfell at the risk of being recognized to follow the Dwarf and to observe his habits. For the last two days it was the same - The Dwarf walked out of his quarters, took a walk - alone, and always disappeared near the Crypts. He would then emerge an hour later - looking thoughtful and amble back to his quarters. He was never escorted. His Purse was always on his belt. To Capture him was easy but to escape was not. They needed horses and for that they had to steal from the stables.

The Plan was simple enough. They would set up a distraction. A Commotion. During the commotion -they would grab the dwarf and take him out through the old tunnel to winterfell through the left gate , one that Wallen knew about during his days as a Smith , before he had raped and murdered a woman and had been sentenced to the watch for a lifetime. Once they were on horse with the Dwarf - they would ride to the Gorge in the middle of the forest, abandoned for years now and begin their work - to rob him of the mone he possessed and ask him to write a ransom letter to his father for the rest. They even had two ravens stolen from nearby villages ready to deliver the message.

It was Osha who had the most important of all tasks. To steal four horses from the stables, to set the stable on fire to cause the commotion so that even if she was spotted with the horses she could always claim to be rescuing them from the fire, to come out of the left gate - through the secret entrance and wait for the others and the dwarf. If she made a mistake- was spotted by the Groom or by the Stableboys- the plan would come to naught. Without Horses their plan could not succeed. Even Robbing the Dwarf would get them caught and killed.

It fell to Wallen to capture the Dwarf and bring him out. The Woman would be there with him. Stiv would be waiting on the Gorge with stolen supplies and the ravens. He could write and read and he was the only one among them to do so.

"So i move to the Gorge today and you bring the creature tomorrow"- he asked her. Osha nodded.

Tomorrow. It was all planned for Tomorrow.

BRAN AND SANSA

On the whole it had been easy enough. Sansa had managed to persuade her brother Bran and his Direwolf Summer to come on a walk with her and Lady. She hrewead managed to avoid Septa Mordane and her embroidery by claiming that her mother had wanted her to run some important errands and she had said the same to her mother about Septa Mordane wanting some additional lessons for the benefit of the young princess. Sansa knew she would be in trouble when both of them would find out that she had been lying but if Bran was safe then it as entirely worth it. Bran was reluctant to spend his entire afternoon taking walks with his Sister - his sister who had never spent more than half an hour with him before but he did not have a way to say no. Here they were - Sansa thought - the Ice Queen of the North and the Dreame King of Kingslanding - taking a walk fifty one years ago. It was not enjoyable. Bran who was chatty enough with Robb and Jon was silent and Sansa had to fill up the gaps in the conversation. She would do whatever it took to be with Bran until the evening was up and it was time for dinner.

Inside the stables, Osha was already leading four horses. She had done her job. She had brought with her two flagons of hot spiced wine with sleeping powder and had seduced the Groom and the two stable boys into drinking all of it. They were tied up in the back. Osha had not wanted anyone to die in the fire but she also knew if it came to living - she would rather be the one alive. She hoped someone would come around and rescue them. She carried with her a lighted torch and a small clay pot of pitch. Her plan was to place the bowl on the far end of the stables, light it on fire, watch the hay catch on fire, watch the smoke rising and panicking the horses and shouting FIRE before leading the horses away from the stables to the West Gate. She was sure that in the panic, noone would notice her or even if they did they would presume she was rescuing horses.

She had just placed the pot of pitch on the farthest wall and was in the process of setting the Stables on fire when she heard a loud gasp. Turning around she saw two of them - A read haired girl who looked fourteen and a young boy who looked ten - both wide eyed with surprise and shock. Their clothes were fine, they wore leather mocassins and pelts and looked like they were noble. Osha turned around now and picked up her dagger. Behind her the horses that she had tied up, the horses she was meant to guide to the left gate whinnied. Oshas only thought was to kill the younglings or at least scare them. They were soft noblemens children - a woman who probably knew nothing but stitching and music and a boy who had not yet begun training to become a squire or a knight.

Sansa was scared. Not for herself. The Queen in the North may not have been a warrior but she had seen combat. Noone who rides a horse to witness the Battle of the Bastards would be frightened of a Wild Haired Woman with large eyes stealing a horse, dagger or not. However she had to protect Bran. It was her idea to visit the stables and see the Horses. It was one thing Bran loved. The One thing Bran was waiting with to do when he was grown up. Bran loved horses and riding. He always rode with Robb and Jon in their Step Saddles but all he ever wanted to do was to ride his own horse. So she had taken him to the stables to see the Chargers that belonged to her father and which had seen different wars and battles. It had been odd not to see Otho the Groom or the Halfwit Stableboys anywhere around but Sansa did not think too much of it. Not until she noticed something at the far end of the Stables and had gone to examine it.

Osha and Sansa faced each other and somehow Osha felt unnerved. This girl looked worried but not for herself but for her brother. Her eyes seemed calm. "You should put that away now" - Sansa said. Osha snarled, the girls voice was like a girls should have been but there was something in its quality that made her nervous. Sansa continued - "Put away the dagger and leave the horses. I promise you- nobody will come after you". It was a good offer for Osha but the failure of her task was too much for her. The idea of a good life, a comfortable life far away from the Northern Lands and the Blue Eyed Demons was too much to throw away - even if it meant capture or death. Instead Osha lunged - not towards Sansa but towards Bran, her purpose being to place her dagger at Brans throat and frighten Sansa into allowing her to leave with the horses. She would keep the boy with her but leave him behind at the Left Gate. Sansa was frozen as Osha lunged towards Bran and she was inches away from the boy when she heard the growl. A Dog! She thought and turned to face the cur. She had killed many dogs - sometimes even for food at Mance Rayders camps and a dog would not stop her. Instead she saw what appeared to be a wolf with a larger skull, it was streaking towards her with a baleful glare from its yellow eyes. As the wolf sprang at her - Osha dropped both the dagger from her right hand and the torch on her left hand and used both her hands to protect her neck as Summer pounched on her chest and knocked her off the ground. The Torch fell on the hay and the hay caught fire. The pot of pitch was also knocked down in Oshas fall and the flowing pitch caught the flame and suddenly the fire was stronger and faster.

Sansa tried grabbing Bran and quickly running out of the stables but the boy was after his wolf. "Summer...stay" - he shouted and ran to where Osha and the Direwolf were struggling. Osha protecting her throat, her hands already torn and bleeding, screaming for help. "Summer" - Bran shouted- Louder now and suddenly Summer backed away from Osha and moved towards Bran. The Wild Woman lay with her hands badly bleeding. Bran stroked Summar and moved towards Osha who was struggling in pain. "Get him away please"- Osha cried. Nobody was realizing that the fire was spreading fast, it had already spread to the entrance of the stables and the smoke was filling the insides, the horses were panicking and thrashing. Sansa rushed through the clearing seeing her brother crouched next to the wild woman, the Direwolf standing a few feet away looking sullenly and suspiciousy. "Bran!" - Sansa screamed. "Lets get away now!". She had no desire to take the Wild Woman with her but She had to help Otho and the stableboys who were tied up behind the far wall. The smoke was filling up fast now and Sansa was beginning to realize that her journey to the past was a waste in its entirety. She was going to die and she had lead her brother to his death. There was no way out. They were surrounded with fire. It had spread too fast. They were all going to die. She could feel the smoke rising in the air she breathed, she was coughing now as she moved to Brandon Stark who with Summer was on the ground - eyes still open with a fatality of death approaching. He was coughing too...Sansa hoped he would suffocate to death before the fire could reach him. Her last thought as she felt unconciousness slipping was that she had failed yet again.