He woke several times, high in the branches over the top of the town, and each time he felt as if he were aflame. His fever gripped him even in his sleep. Whenever he woke the small man would be there, he'd comfort Karl and then Karl would fall back into a restless slumber.
And then the fever ended. Karl awoke again with no burning or aching, he wasn't coated in sweat and the small man wasn't there. Karl sat up. The world swirled around him and he almost toppled from the nest that he had been laying in. A small green hand helped him to keep his balance. "Silly Bird. Be careful." The small man gave him a bowl of some slush. Karl drank it down to sate a thirst he hadn't known was there.
The small green man took his hand and helped him to stand. Then the small green man lead Karl through the tree tops. They climbed the great weirwood again. "Will the Silly Bird try to fly again?" Karl looked at the small man. He knew what happened if he did it wrong and yet, he did want to try to fly. It had been exhilarating, gliding through the air as he had. The small man must have seen his hesitation for he sighed. "Silly Bird wants to fly. Come." He climbed through the tree.
They arrived at another edge of the tree's branches. Here there were no trees to fall into, below were only the busy streets of the town of small green people. Karl looked back at the man, confused. "What do I do?" The small man smiled.
"What do birds do?" He stepped forwards. "Go fly Silly Bird!" Karl looked back down at the town below.
"I can't fly. I'm not a bird. I'll fall."
"Do you want to fall Silly Bird?" Karl shook his head. "No? Then don't fall. Fly!" The small man gave a sharp push to Karl's back that unbalanced him and sent him over the precipice and into open air. Karl screamed as he fell. "Fly Silly Bird!" The small man called down from above. Images of his sister flying through the Godswood at the Ironmountain filled his mind. He could see her as she laughed. She had always been so brave. She turned to look at him.
"Fly Karl, you Silly Bird. I'm watching." She was smiling at him. His eyes opened suddenly. The ground was getting closer rather slowly. He opened his mouth to call up to the small man. Only a loud squawk came out. Karl looked at himself. He was covered in black. He plummeted and landed with a thumb. A second squawk, more surprised, sounded from Karl.
The small man landed gracefully beside him. "Did the Silly Bird not want to fly?" Karl looked up at the small man. Karl couldn't remember ever being as short as he was then. Karl hopped about. He flapped his wings and shook his tail. He wanted to return to normal. He'd rather never fly again than be stuck as a raven. The small man chuckled. "You chose to be Silly Bird. Choose to be Silly Man." He climbed back up into his tree. "I will wait for you!" He called back down.
Karl sat himself down in the short grass that he had fallen into. He looked around him. The town looked to be massive from here, when he had been a man he had been able to see over most buildings. He waddled along towards the town, perhaps someone would be able to help him. Or perhaps he would be eaten. He paused and sat down once more. When he looked up he could see the small man with his legs dangled from a branch, looking down at Karl. Karl squawked up at him.
The man vanished into the weirwood's leaves. The weirwood was so large that from this height Karl couldn't even see its trunk through the town. The branches seemed to come from some point an impossible distance away. His eyes closed. He went back into his memory of his sister in the Godswood. She was smiling at him still. "You did well. Though you didn't really need to fall out of the sky afterwards. Hurry up Karl, there's a lot of people waiting for you." She spoke in the condescending tone she reserved for him, her little brother. Well, him and that farmhand she always snuck away with.
His eyes opened. He could see over the huts again. The weirwood tree could be stood far away in the centre of the town. Karl looked up. The small man's face poked out between some leaves. "Silly Man! You are him again. Such fun." The small man was behind him suddenly. A small white ball in his hand. He pressed the object into Karl's palm and closed Karl's fingers around it. "Silly Man came here for a reason, no?" Karl nodded. "Take flight then Silly Bird."
The small man wandered back into the town. "Wait, we haven't discussed terms yet!"
"We don't need to. You already know them, don't you Silly Man?" The small man chuckled He waved an arm and he and the town vanished. Karl was left stood on the shore of the island. His rowboat was on the sand beside him and the small white ball was enclosed in his fist. Karl climbed into the boat carefully. He took the small white ball and touched it to the water. It felt warmer. He put into his pocket and took up oars.
It was shortly after dawn when he arrived at the fort that he had left on the shore of the Gods' Eye. He had been gone for two weeks. Apparently everyday that he was gone a raven had come from the island and commanded them to wait. It had spoken in his own voice, he was told. While he was away two of the Night's Watch recruits had tried to swim away from the camp. He had seen one of them as he rowed in. The other was in slightly deeper water and so his head hadn't been visible.
Karl ordered the group to begin the journey northwards. He would ride to King's Landing alone to deliver the terms of the Green Men. Then he would ride back to meet with them. He expected that as a single rider he could ride faster and meet with them again on the Kingsroad somewhere near Castle Cerwyn.
Karl and the rest of the men parted ways on the Kingsroad to the east of Harrenhal to the howling of wolves.