Stewie dreamed he was falling.
The ground was so far below him he could barely make it out through the grey mists that whirled around him, but he could feel how fast he was falling, and he knew what was waiting for him down there. Even in dreams, you could not fall forever. He would wake up in the instant before he hit the ground, he knew. You always wake up in the instant before you hit the ground.
"And… urp… if you don't?" a voice asked.
Stewie looked up to see a raven spiraling down with him, just out of reach, following him as he fell. It had three eyes. "Help me," he said.
"I'm… urp… trying," the bird said, burping in the middle of his sentence. "Say, got any… urp… corn?"
Stewie reached into his pocket and was surprised to find corn kernels in there. He pulled them out and they slid from his fingers into the air. The raven landed on his hand and began to eat.
"Are you really a raven?" Stewie asked.
"Are you really falling?" the raven asked back.
"It's just a dream," Stewie said.
"Is it? Urp! Every flight begins with a fall. You gotta learn to fly, Stewie!"
And then Stewie woke up. "That was weird," he said.
He rolled out of bed and into his wheelchair. Ever since the accident, he hadn't been able to walk. He wished he could remember what happened to him. Now he was just like Ser Joe Swanson, except he couldn't get the hang of using the wheelchair and kept running into walls.
He tried to wheel himself out the door and got stuck in the doorway. He strained as hard as he could and finally, he toppled out of the chair and fell into the hallway. "Damn." First, he said it quietly. Then he screamed it. "DAAAYUMMM!"
Alerted by Stewie's scream, a big man came running up. "Hodor!" he said. Hodor worked in the stables. He never said anything except the word "hodor." That is how he got his name.
"Glad to see you, Hodor," Stewie said. "Can you give me a lift to the armory?"
Hodor lifted Stewie as easily as if he were a bale of hay, and cradled him against his massive chest. He always smelled faintly of horses, but it was not a bad smell. He carried Stewie down to the armory.
"This wheelchair thing isn't really workin' out for me," Stewie said. "So, I'm going to create a special suit that will enable me to move about, even with my crippled legs. It'll be sort of like a robot body."
"Hodor," said Hodor.
"Ah, you don't even understand what I'm talkin' about, do you? Whatever. Just set me down."
Hodor put him down on the floor. "Now put that old suit of armor in front of me," Stewie said. Hodor obeyed. "And pass me that welding torch."
Once he had the torch, Stewie started welding on the armor. But he hadn't been at it very long when Chris came running in. "Stewie, what are you doing? Babies aren't supposed to play with dangerous things like that!" He pulled the torch away from Stewie.
"Damn you, wretched charlatan, return my device!" Stewie protested. "I wish you were as talkative as Hodor there!"
"Anyway, you have to come with me," Chris continued, as if Stewie hadn't said anything. "We've got a visitor."
Chris carried Stewie to the main hall of the castle and set him down in the high seat. It turned out the visitor was Tyrion Lannister, on his way back from the Wall. "You said you had business with Stewie. Well, here he is, Lannister," Chris said.
"I am told you were quite the climber, Stewie Griffin," Tyrion said. "Tell me, how is it you happened to fall that day?"
"I don't know," Stewie replied. "I can't remember anything."
"Curious," said Tyrion. "Well, anyway, I have a gift for you. It's a special saddle that will let you stay on a horse without falling, even with your twisted legs." He handed the saddle to Stewie.
Stewie turned it over in his hands. "You're an odd one, Tyrion Lannister. Why would you do this for me?"
"Because you remind me of a younger version of myself. And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things."
"How's Brian doing?" Stewie asked.
"When I left him, he was struggling, but he refuses to give up."
"Yeah, he can be stubborn," said Stewie. "I hope he sticks with it, because at this point, the alternative is death."
"Maybe when you learn to use the special saddle, you can ride up to the Wall and visit him," said Tyrion.
"Or I might be able to walk again someday," Stewie said. "I've started working on a robotic body for myself."
Tyrion smiled sadly. "Don't get your hopes too high."
"What will you do now?" Stewie asked.
"I suppose I will go back to King's Landing and rejoin the rest of my family." But Tyrion was wrong. Something was about to happen that would spoil all his plans.