(The Wall: 5/30/298 AC) Tyrion I
"Tell me again, Stark, why did I decide to accompany you here?" he asked, as the cold continued creeping into his bones.
"You wanted to see the Wall, my Lord," he smirked, before motioning his hands towards the ancient structure comprised of ice, stone, and, rumor has it, magic. "Well, there it is."
"Yes, yes, now let's get into castle black before my extremities shrink any more," he said through chattering teeth, as a thought entered his mind. 'It's cold…far colder than I had originally thought it would be…I don't recall any white ravens.'
"As you wish, my lord, it is still several hours away," the black brother replied, as he motioned to his fellow sworn brothers to continue their advancement to the home of the Night's Watch.
"Several hours away?" asked the diminutive heir of Casterly Rock. "But I can see the bloody thing!"
"It is far larger than it appears at first glance," said the young brother of Lord Eddard Stark, as their small caravan pressed forward.
"Oh fuck me," he responded, bundling into his expensive furs as he did so.
(Castle Black: 5/30/298 AC) Tyrion I
True to his word, the trip did indeed take several hours, and Tyrion had thought the worn gate of Castle Black to be an entrance to paradise, a haven from the bitter cold. "At last!" he exclaimed, as they approached the rickety looking thing.
"She's sturdier than she looks," said the first ranger, Benjen Stark.
"I should hope so," he replied, "otherwise there might be a serious inquiry on where our coin goes."
"We don't get much from you rich lords in the south, barring Dragonstone," he said, while a nearby black brother signaled to the gate guard for entry. As the gate creaked open, the first ranger spoke, "The Lady of Dragonstone seems to be keenly interested in what occurs at the wall. She's sent food, clothes, weapons, and even a few of dozen of her men, headed by a young boy of four-and-ten, named Sho Yu."
'The Lady Azula has a long reach indeed,' he thought. "And they willingly took the black?" came his surprised response, as they neared the stables, and prepared to dismount.
"They have not, they are here to report and assist where needed," the first ranger explained as he dismounted his dark brown garron. "They are switched out every so often," Lord Stark's younger brother continued.
While the first ranger spoke, a Lannister guard assisted him, in dismounting his own princely looking gray garron. 'What a remarkable little horse,' Tyrion thought, examining his mount, 'stocky, yet resilient. Yes, I will keep you. You shall be called "Thunder."' As he petted his tiny mount, he glanced back towards the first ranger, who continued speaking.
"Prior to the boy, we had a girl of three-and-ten stay here," Benjen Stark uttered, a dark look crossing his face.
"I can't imagine that going over well with the troops," he replied, inspecting the small assortment of Night's Watchmen he could see. A loud sickly cough emanated from somewhere in the meager looking common hall to his left, and on the covered walkway separating the King's Tower from the Common Hall, he saw several Dragonstone guardsmen, conversing amongst themselves before quieting and turning their attentions towards him. All were equipped with light leather armor and skull white face plates, covered in gray overcoats, fur lined gloves, scarves, and woolen cloaks. At their center was an eerily pale, Yi-Tish looking boy, devoid of his helm, with eyes of dull gold, and an expression hinting of silent judgment.
"It did not," came the whisper, causing Tyrion to wheel his head back towards his 'guide,' "after several 'incidences,' the young girl, Clarysse Paege, wrote to Dragonstone asking for reassignment."
A horrified look stretched across his face, "They did not...?"
"No! They did not. Viserys saw to that," he responded quickly. "He left one brother near death, and severely beat another three of the perpetrators before being restrained."
"What of her guards? Where were they?" he asked.
"They had awaited a comfortable distance away from the privy, within the King's Tower, so the girl could have some privacy. They had been waiting for her…the men…" the first ranger lowered his head, as he spoke.
"How did the former prince become aware of the foul deeds occurring in the privy?" he question, as his interest grew.
"He had been in the space between the rookery," he pointed to his left, with Tyrion's eyes following it towards the building in question, "and the King's Tower. He spoke of hearing a soft 'yelp' before entering the tower and encountering the girl's guards. He informed them of what he had heard, and they had rushed into the hall containing the privy," the first ranger clenched his fists. "There he claims to have encountered Dirk, guarding the door of the privy, whom Viserys had not given a chance to speak, before smashing his mailed fist into the man's face."
"Ah. The boy who would have been king," said Tyrion, "protecting the innocent and saving fair maidens."
"Do not speak of him, in jest, Lannister," he growled. "We came upon Dirk missing teeth, with an eye bulged out of its socket. He had, reportedly, been in a daze, when Viserys had kicked the privy door open. The men, save Thorne, myself, Maester Aemon, the Lord Commander, and a handful of my sworn brothers, would constantly remind him of his now lowly status. For years they had done so, since his arrival, but that day, that time, he followed through with what he had always spoken of as being just under his skin, just beneath his eyes. They had woken the dragon, and my sworn brothers were unable to fend against it."
"What happened to the attempted rapers?" he inquired.
"He encountered three of my…'brothers,'" he spat, "surrounding the girl, as a fourth held her down, gagging her with a bit of an old leather strap. A trail of blood had been trickling down from her head," he said. "It seems she may have suffered a disorienting strike to her skull, before being…confronted." The first ranger remained quiet, observing his surroundings, before revealing more. "Viserys had given them no time to respond it seems, as we later found brother Lophand thrown out of a nearby window, having suffered several broken bones. Brothers Garth of Greenway and the Clubfoot were beaten with a nearby torch stand."
"What did the girl's guards do? How did they assist?" he questioned.
"They were the ones who restrained Viserys, and prevented him from outright killing his fellow 'brothers' remaining in the tower," he replied. "During the ensuing trial, they and the girl, spoke for him, in addition to Maester Aemon, and Allister Thorne, among others. It served to reduce the punishment given, however, it did not wash away the stain of attacking one's own sworn brothers," he sighed. "You must understand, Lannister, prior to the incident he was being groomed for Lord Commander. He may dislike your family and the Baratheons, in particular, the Lady Azula, but Maester Aemon raised him well. He is an honorable man, and he does not harbor as much anger as one would have in his position, as I would have in his position." He remained quiet before inhaling, "Unfortunately, Mormont was forced to have him reassigned as a ranger, in compensation for transferring the offending brothers to Eastwatch by the Sea and the Shadow Tower. He departed for a second ranging, with Ser Waymar Royce, Gared, and Will, the night before I was set to travel to Winterfell. I bid him my goodbyes and wished him a fair journey and he wished the same upon me."
"Pity, he sounds like quite a man, I would have liked to have met him," Tyrion replied, as the first ranger-led him to the lift that would bring them to the top of the Wall.
"Perhaps one day you will," he nodded.
As Tyrion stood there, before the contraption that would raise them to the top, he whispered, "Aren't we going about this too quickly?"
"How so?" the first ranger asked, seemingly confused about the question.
"Well, the Wall is one of the wonders of the world. I would imagine some preparation to be made beforehand. You can't just make love to a woman then and there, you need to get her ready. And I should like the wall to be made ready for her to receive me."
"It's better we go now, before it gets darker and colder, up there, and you find yourself unable to perform," the sworn brother shot back mirthlessly, before cracking a small smile.
"I like you, first ranger Benjen," he proclaimed, as Benjen undid the latch on the lift's small wooden gate.
"After you, Lannister," he mock bowed.
"If you insist," Tyrion responded with a crooked bow of his own.
After boarding the lift, the wood seemed to groan, and the ropes stretched, and tightened, in a snapping sound, before the lift slowly began moving up. In the silence of their ascension, Tyrion spoke, "The boy, Sho Yu?"
"What of him?" questioned Benjen.
"Does he seem…odd, to you?" Tyrion asked, the wind whipping at the lift for a moment, before subsiding, causing Tyrion to bundle up a bit more.
"I suppose. He rarely speaks, but then again, many of my brothers rarely speak with each other," he responded. "No. The only thing I find odd about him is that he constantly meditates, like the girl before him."
Tyrion stroked his chin in thought, "A very private boy then?"
"Yes, mostly. He has been known to interact, from time to time, with Viserys and the Lord Commander, but other than them, he remains distant, yet polite. His guards, however, could be considered slightly hostile, especially after the incident with their previous charge," he stated.
"So I imagine," he responded, as the lift began nearing its destination.
"There is one amongst his guards, the largest one bearing full plate, who does not speak," Benjen indicated, "and apparently is rumored to never even be seen to sleep, or even breathe." He looked towards him, before adding, "He was not with the group you observed on the walkway."
"How interesting," Tyrion said, "assuming it's true?"
"It may very well be," he supposed, "but what does it matter? All that matters is if he can fight should anything happen."
"True enough. So where is our large, sleepless, armored friend?" he said as the lift reached the top and revealed a large armored man, a head shorter than Ser Gregor, waiting in a heavy set of gold trimmed, black and red plate. The figure's helmet and face plate were skull-like in appearance, and the eye slits were curved downward, narrowed at the edges. The vertical mouth slits sloped downward in a menacing frown. "Seven-hells!" he exclaimed, the large man startling him. Tyrion saw the man look him over, before suddenly turning, and returning towards the opposite end of the wall. "Does he always greet people off the lift like that?"
"He heard the lift start, and came to investigate," Benjen said, before continuing, "He stands a silent vigil, eyes always watching the far north."
"In that particular spot?" Tyrion asked as that looked like a prime spot to piss over the edge of the world.
"He has been known to patrol as far west as the Nightfort and as far east as Sable Hall," Benjen said, casting one last look at the silent, heavily armored, sentinel, before gazing back towards him.
"Alone?!" Tyrion asked skeptically.
"Yes. He does so without hesitation, and on the command of the boy," he answered. "The Lady of Dragonstone wants to be appraised of any situations should they arise, and the boy writes to her every fortnight."
'Seems a tad excessive,' Tyrion thought.
"The Lord Commander obliges her and allows the man to patrol as he will. The old gods know we can barely do it ourselves. She has even offered to send more men to Eastwatch and the Shadow Tower, to augment our numbers, as soon as they are ready to receive and house them," Benjen continued.
"Quite a lot of power our dear Lady from Dragonstone has acquired within the watch," Tyrion observed.
"She is the only one other than my brother to consider the watch worth much of anything. Her shipments of food and clothing have done much to aid us, although, it appears to be all for naught," Benjen said. "We have not had a wildling incursion in nearly eight years, nothing comes from the north anymore. No words, no whispers, nothing."
"A bit ominous don't you think?" Tyrion asked, a sudden gust of wind bringing him back to the realization that it was obscenely cold up there.
"I agree with you, Lannister," he replied, "but even our rangings have turned up empty handed. No attacks, no words of imminent attacks, or even mysterious disappearances. Everything remains, still…"
Tyrion exchanged glances with the first ranger, before looking back to where the sentinel was, or had been. "Where in the hells did he go?"
"He has proven to be quite silent when he wishes to be," Benjen said, as Tyrion rushed forward to look down the carved footpaths atop the wall. As he looked towards the east end, he saw the large man, fading into the cold mist.
