Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Game of Thrones.
AN: This chapter takes place during the time period of 'The Old Gods and The New.'
A trigger warning for a scene that covers an event from that episode and the aftermath.
Appropriate musical accompaniment for the big reveal in Ygritte's second scene is "Conquest of Paradise" by Vangelis. I've decided that this is the anthem of the Builders.
The Song of Builders
By Jojobevco
Chapter 9
The Builders and Everyone Else
Osha's Quarters
Winterfell, The North, Westeros
Lady Nymphadora Tonks, Deputy Commander of the Builders of the Wall, currently playing the 'wildling' Osha awoke to the sounds of swords. Suddenly, her door was bashed opened by a man wearing armor, with a Kraken on the front. Her bleary mind quickly came into focus. What were the Greyjoy's doing here? Didn't Balon know he was signing his son's death sentence?
Osha realized that she was lost in her thoughts as the man started toward her mumbling about wildling sluts and salt wives. She lazily grabbed a knife from under her pillow and threw it at him, hitting him dead on in the trachea. The man quickly fell to the ground, dead, gasping. She then drew her wand and fired off a patronus to Harry explaining the situation. Tonks rolled out of bed, conjured some clothing, vanished the body, and hid her wand. She then carefully exited the room and, noticing no one around ran two doors down to Bran's Room. She found him inside with a woman and five Ironborn soldiers.
"Where is my brother?" Tonks realized that would make this woman Yara Greyjoy.
Bran calmly answered, "He went south to fight with my brother and father."
Tonks had 8,000 years of experience watching people and in that moment, Yara Greyjoy radiated fear. It was clear that she had gambled that Winterfell had her brother, and she had lost, badly. Tonks ran through the possibilities and had seen the best way out of this. She quietly spoke up, "My Lord."
Everyone turned around to look at her, the Ironborn were about to draw their swords before Yara held up her hand stopping them. "Who are you?"
"I am Osha, my lord's attendant, may I enter?"
Yara nodded and Osha went to Bran, she kneeled by the bedside and whispered, "My Lord, are you alright?"
Bran whispered back, "Not really, my castle is lost, my people are in danger, and I don't know what to do."
Tonks, whispered, "You must protect your people. What she wants is some leverage to keep her brother safe. You and your brother are that leverage."
Bran nodded, thought for a moment, and looked to Yara, "You are worried about your brother, I understand that. Therefore, I offer you a deal. You take what you need, restock on your supplies, but you leave my people unharmed. If you do, then my brother and I will willingly become your hostages at Pyke."
Yara raised an eyebrow, "And if I don't?"
Bran, channeling thousands of years of Starks, calmly replied, "Then Osha will take the dagger under my pillow and slit my throat. You will be blamed for my death and your brother will die." By the time he was done talking, Tonks had the knife in position with a hand on her emergency portkey.
Yara chuckled, before turning to a full on belly laugh, "I like you, young Stark, you have yourself a deal."
Bran and Tonks breathed a sigh of relief.
Somewhere near The Fist of the First Man
The Lands Beyond the Wall
Colonel Ygritte, commander of the Army of the Fist's Snow Fox Unit calmly sat eating her venison. By the Builders, she wished that First Men heritage month would end soon. She missed lobster from the Vale and corn-fed Crownlands prime rib. As she was still trying to chew through the gamey venison (really would Shivering Sea salmon be too much to ask for?), she heard some men sneaking up on her position.
She looked around at her unit and smirked, elegantly raising an eyebrow. As she heard them try to quietly draw their swords she nodded her head twice. Suddenly, there was a loud yell coming from further up the mountain. Ygritte and her men drew their swords and turned to face the men surrounding them, just as the men surrounding them were looking up at the ten Snow Foxes with arrows aimed at them. Ygritte and her soldiers moved quickly, each taking one of the men of the Night's Watch.
Ygritte found herself engaging Jon Snow himself while her sergeant had engaged Halfhand. As she engaged Snow, she made a running assessment of his swordsmanship abilities. Winterfell had done a decent job, unlike most of Westeros's men under arms, Snow would have at least passed basic and intermediate swordsmanship classes at the Fist. In essence, he was just as good as a newly commissioned officer in the Army of the Builders, albeit one toward the middle of his class. However, Ygritte was miles above him in skill, which was why he was now on his knees with two swords crossed around his neck.
Ygritte affected a 'Wildling' accent, "Stiv, what's happenin'?"
Sergeant Stiv was one of the most experienced Snow Foxes. At over the age of forty though, he was getting a bit up there and mostly worked as a trainer at the Basic Intensive Snow School (BISS). However, he did like to keep his hand in things, most recently acting as an escort for Lady Tonks to enter into the Stark's service. He, like everyone in the Army of the Fist who worked as a wildling, was rather good at playing dead.
Stiv grunted, "Got them all."
Ygritte smirked, "Good, now, you all are under arrest for trespassin'."
They were joined by the rest of the Snow Foxes as they marched back toward a mountain near The Fist.
The Main Courtyard
Winterfell, The North, Westeros
Bran was sitting up and spoke in a clear voice, "Everyone, for the next few days, we will be hosting members of the Iron Islands here in Winterfell. Please afford them every reasonable courtesy. In exchange, they have agreed to not harm you and to leave Winterfell in peace once they have resupplied."
It was at this point that Yara took over, explaining that her father had one again assumed the position of King of the Iron Islands and noting that they had no interest in territories this far inland. It was at this point that Osha whispered in Bran's ear, "Your dream was right, the sea did come to Winterfell."
Bran whispered back, "I just hope it goes away."
The Docks
King's Landing, The Crownlands, Westeros
As Tyrion watched the Septon bless his double niece on her journey to Dorne he sighed. Cersei was going to be unbearable. Yet, he had done the right thing, protecting Mrycella from the outbreak of war and the horrors that were very shortly going to come upon King's Landing. He may serve the Builders, but he did care about a few members of his family.
Right on time, Cersei started her unbearable roaring, "One day, I hope you love someone so much that when you close your eyes you see their face. I want you to know what it's like to love someone, to truly love someone before I take her from you."
Tyrion was trying to keep from chuckling. Maybe his sister could take Shae. The woman continued to get on his nerves. Some nights he had half of a mind to requisition a bottle of veritaserum and pour it down her throat just to end the bloody farce. He schooled his face, gave his sister a look and headed back toward the city.
As the rest of the 'king's' party headed back toward town, Tyrion kept his eyes schooled on the crowd. Podrick was next to him, while he could see Sansa, Arya, and Karsi discretely tailing them through the upper levels. Tyrion heard one person in the crowd say, "Hail Joffrey! Hail to the 'King'!" Tyrion noticed that Joffrey couldn't even be bothered to wave or give some level of recognition to the hail. Nor did he respond to the, "Seven Blessings on you 'your grace,'" or the, "All hail the 'King.'" Tyrion noticed that the crowd was getting decidedly more sarcastic with each moment. Then someone said, "He's a Bastard," another petitioned, "Please your grace, we're hungry." Tyrion quickly realized the situation was about to get out of control as he saw the hungry eyes of the people around him. He turned to Podrick and a Lannister Elite Guard standing nearby, "Get the 'Prince' back to the Keep on the alternate route, now." Podrick nodded and headed away with a small group of retainers and guards, keeping Tommen in the middle of their group.
As the crowd continued to beg for food, Tyrion saw Joffrey continuing to walk smugly. Meanwhile, above he saw Karsi and Arya taking up a defensive position on a roof above some store rooms just a head. Sansa was on the opposite side of the street, above a stable. Then someone threw a cowpie at Joffrey and all hell broke loose. Swords were drawn and Joffrey threw a tantrum, demanding the person who threw it be brought to him. The Kingsguard and City Watch were attempting to suppress the crowd to little effect. It was now obvious why Karsi, Sansa, and Arya were dressed in Lannister archer uniforms. Joffrey then ordered the crowd to all be killed and the floodgates opened. The Kingsguard attempted to carry out the order while the City Watch tried to keep order, while the remaining members of the Lannister Elite Guard attempted to protect Cersei and Tyrion. Tyrion looked up at Karsi and nodded twice, the three of them knocked their arrows and prepared to fire at anyone who came close to Tyrion. Tyrion directed the Lannister Elite Guard to move forward while Sandor Clegane grabbed Joffrey to get him to safety, calmly ignoring Joffrey's orders to kill all of them. As they advanced the crowd took down the High Septon and started dismembering him. As the party moved toward the nearby building, the City Watch and Kingsguard established a perimeter. Just as Tyrion was shoved into the building, he looked up long enough to see Sansa fall through the roof of the building as she was firing on a few members of the crowd that had gotten too close to him.
Tyrion took a second before springing into action. He exited the building again just as the door closed. Taking advantage of his small size he slipped through the crowd, grabbing a double-edged short ax off of a dead Lannister Elite Guard. He looked up and waved to Karsi, her eagle eyes catching him in the crowd. She shouted something to Arya, who seemed just about ready to run across a roof of a building filled with Lannisters in order to rescue her sister. Both of them started firing to thin the crowd around him. Tyrion moved forward through the crowd, using the chaos of his archers to move toward an entrance to the stables that Sansa had fallen into. After entering the building her ran forward in the general direction she had fallen. He turned a corner and found her struggling against four men, who were clearly attempting to rape her.
Tyrion jumped into action bringing his ax down on the spine of the ring leader. As he fell to the ground he turned to the man on the right and slammed the ax into his lung. The third, who had been holding Sansa's wrists down, charged at him only to get an ax to the intestines and a knife to the Achilles. The fourth turned to run but was stopped by a thrown ax being buried in his spine. Tyion then turned around and moved quickly toward Sansa's head.
He took her hand in his and gently ran his hand through her hair. He whispered, "Sansa?"
She was taking short breaths and gritting her teeth, "My legs, they're broken." Tyrion indeed saw them at a strange angle. He asked, "Your portkey?"
"It fell off as I fell." Tyrion stood and looked around the stable. He saw it lying just out of Sansa's reach. Tyrion grabbed it and brought it to Sansa, placing it in her hands.
"Now go," he said.
Sansa paused for a moment and looked at Tyrion, "Thank you."
Tyrion rolled his eyes, "You can thank me later, now go!"
Sansa nodded and whispered, "I serve the Builders," disappearing via portkey.
Tyrion took a moment and looked around, confirming the four were dead he walked back out toward the riot. As he entered, he saw that Karsi and Arya were long gone, their positions having been taken by real Lannister archers, as the Lanniester Elite Guard and City Watch had steadily pushed the rioters back. There were dead rioters everywhere, with dead guards sprinkled in. He sighed and muttered, "Such a waste of life," before heading back toward the building where the royal party had holed up.
The Spice King's Manse
Qarth, Essos
Daenerys Targaryen, official throne claimant of the Builders of the Wall, was currently bemoaning the fact that her status didn't come with any support. She had just concluded a meeting with the Spice King which was less than successful. Her request for ships was rebuffed rather soundly. She was walking back to Xaro's manse accompanied by her blood riders and Ser Jorah.
Jorah asked, "So what did we learn today?"
"That the Spice King is an insufferable fool."
Jorah nodded. "He certainly is, but that was not the lesson."
Dany took a breath, "That I have an uphill battle."
"Indeed, unlike what your brother thought, you cannot trade on a name and promises. Right now, the only assets you have are your dragons."
"And my Khalasar."
Jorah shook his head, "Useless outside of defensive purposes. You would have to violate guest right. While it doesn't apply in Essos, the people you want to rule would look down on it. Also, you can't give up your dragons."
"Why?"
"We need them."
As she pondered who the 'we' in that statement really was Dany once again found herself bemoaning her status.
Stark Host
Oxcross, The Westerlands, Westeros
Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North (Disputed) watched as a group of riders approached, his son at their head. Ned walked out to meet them.
"How did it go?"
Robb shook his head, "To say it went badly would be a massive understatement."
Ned just looked at Lady Talisa.
She promptly responded, "Renly Baratheon was killed by dark magic used by his brother Stannis. The woman who did this is a priestess of the Red God who is wanted by my supervisors for monstrous crimes. As a result, they will be destroying Stannis."
Suddenly, they were interrupted by Roose Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort running up to them with a message from a raven.
Near the Fist of the First Men
The Lands Beyond the Wall, Westeros
"You know, if you want to take us prisoner we're going the wrong way, you're heading toward our forces girl."
Ygritte rolled her eyes, "Styr, if the Halfhand speaks again, gag 'im."
"Aye."
Jon Snow brought up from his place in front of her, "He has a point you know."
Ygritte chuckled, "The Halfhand thinks he has a point."
As the group moved toward a cave in the distance, Ygritte asked a question, "What do you know about us so-called 'Wildlings,' Jon Snow?"
"When the wall was built, you were on this side of it, savage and barbaric. You try to come south and we stop you. You have no laws, no order, you eat people."
Ygritte rolled her eyes, "You know nothin', Jon Snow. Well, almost nothin'. You are kinda describing the Thenn."
Snow smartly replied, "I know that you've been killing Night's Watchmen for 8,000 years."
"Once again, decribin' the Thenn. The rest of us use as little force as we need to. If your men died, it was because they attacked us."
They walked into the cave and back toward the end, where two guards, dressed as wildlings were sitting around the fire, they stood on the group's approach.
"Ah, what a sweet morsel we have here, come to suck our cocks, Ygritte?"
Ygritte was about to spin into a huge tirade which probably would have ended in the poor soldier's death (or imprisonment) until she remembered the company she was with. She effort slipped back into her Received Pronunciation accent. "You can drop the act, Corporal. It's going to be over as soon as we go through the door."
The corporal blushed, "Ah, sorry, ma'am."
Snow looked at her questioningly, Ygritte ignored him. Suddenly they walked behind the two guards and Ygritte kicked a switch, which caused a gap to open in the back of the cave. The Snow Foxes dragged the Night's Watchmen through the doorway and down a set of stairs. This startled Snow even more. Stairs, in back of a cave, in the middle of the woods. Suddenly the wall next to them gave way to a railing and Jon Snow looked out, stunned by the sight he saw.
The City of the Builders
Underneath the Lands Beyond the Wall, Westeros
It was a cavern that stretched for miles and was easily 300 feet deep. Jon looked up and 50 feet above him was a deep sheet of ice that diffused the sunlight into a beautiful aurora. As they continued down the stairs, Jon kept looking out. Light seemed to be provided by massive blue flames coming from street torches, as well as candles within windows. The buildings ranged between two and 25 stories high. They were all of a style that screamed 'ancient power' to him and reminded him of a combination of Winterfell and the drawings of old Valyria. Some were homes, some were shops, all seemed to be built for defense. People below him seemed to be milling about on their daily business, just as you would see in any major city. The city did seem oddly empty though and the population was predominantly women, children, and the elderly.
Ygritte had turned around and given a questioning look to the two guards that followed they replied, "Builder McLaggen ordered that the entrances to the city be sealed as he felt it is presently indefensible to keep them open." Ygritte nodded in approval.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the were greeted by four guards, dressed in the finest plate armor, with a small phoenix sigil on it, and an image of a punching fist in a shield shaped metal patch on their arms. Unbeknownst to Jon, these were members of the Fist's Home Guard, an elite battalion responsible for the defense of the Fist and the City of the Builders. They stood to attention and bowed slightly as Ygritte walked past. As they started walking through the city Jon could see that the people were well fed and very well cared for. Their dress could only be described as warm. They kept people warm, were made of warm colors, and had a cheery feeling about them. The looks the population were giving him, however, were anything but cheery. They were downright mean, rude, and distasteful. Some murmured, "savage crows," in their direction.
Ygritte said to him, "You'll have to excuse that, around here, you're seen as the savages who kill our men and women." Jon nodded and noticed that they were headed for the tallest building of them all, a building that seemed to break through the ice. Jon quickly realized they were headed for The Fist of the First Men.
Stark Host
Oxcross, The Westerlands, Westeros
"Is Balon Greyjoy really that much of an idiot?"
This was asked by a very, very pissed off Ned Stark.
Talisa was standing there holding up a small mirror that had Nymphadora Tonks's face within it, "My guess is that he no longer cares about his son. I think that Yara Greyjoy had expected him to be held here, not to have gone south."
"So what is happening up there?"
"Bran and I were able to negotiate for Winterfell to be kept intact and safe. In exchange, Rickon, Hodor, Bran, and I will be going to Pyke as hostages."
"You did WHAT?!"
Tonks smirked, "Relax, I have a plan, Ned."
Ned replied, "Roose has offered the services of his reserves and bastard in the retaking of Winterfell."
Tonks nodded, "That could be useful, have Lord Bolton tell him to prepare to intercept the force on route to Deepwood Motte." There was a bang at Tonks's door, "I have to go."
She disconnected the signal, leaving Ned alone with Talisa, "I'm sure I already know the answer to this question, but I suppose I should ask, do you think she can do this?"
Talisa chucked, "Your boys will be safe and the Kraken will be driven back into the sea. I can assure you of that, Lord Stark."
Guest Chambers
Winterfell, The North, Westeros
Lady Nymphadora Tonks as Osha found herself brought before 'Princess' Yara Greyjoy. Oddly, they were meeting in her chambers, and Yara had changed into a nightgown that she had certainly 'borrowed' from someone's collection. Suffice it to say, the nightgown fit her very well. It was clear to Tonks that Yara was a woman, one with muscles and strength, and a very plain face.
"You called for me, my 'princess'?"
Yara nodded, "Yes, it was clear in our meeting earlier today that you are the woman behind that boy."
"The Little Lord has his own ideas."
"Yet they come from you."
Tonks shook her head, "I assist the little lord, nothing more."
Yara smirked, "Well perhaps you can assist me. In other ways."
Tonks smirked and replied, "As I understand the tradition, in order to take a salt wife, you need to capture them. You will find me quite hard to capture."
Yara raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps we should make this more interesting then?" She removed her nightgown and gestured at Osha. Osha did the same. Just as she finished Yara charged at her and a very…interesting type of battle was joined.
Secret Solar of the Builders of the Wall
The Red Keep
King's Landing, The Crownlands, Westeros
Sansa had been sent back from the Fist with her legs repaired, but an admonishment to stay off of them for a couple of days. As such she found herself resting in her bed in the Secret Solar being tended to by Tyrion and Karsi. Mostly she was still stunned by what had happened earlier, and questioning everything.
"Why would they want to do that? Why did they hate me?"
Tyrion swallowed and answered, "They hated who they thought you were. You were wearing the uniform of the people who had kept them starving so they thought they could take some measure of revenge on you."
Karsi added, "But it wasn't just that, was it? It was because they were savages without honor. Because this world is full of savage societies where the woman is faulted as opposed to the man. And it is bloody wrong."
Tyrion nodded, "Karsi is indeed correct. It is something that we try to change as Agents of the Builders, but it takes time and honor the world does not possess."
Sansa remarked, "Still I should have done more. All those damn weapons and all I could do was slice one damn tendon."
Karsi shook her head, "You had two broken legs and were in excruciating amounts of pain. Today you proved that you were able to think through it. That is better than most people."
Sansa nodded, and returned to her quiet contemplation.
Guest Quarters
Winterfell, The North, Westeros
Tonks glanced down at the woman wrapped in her arms. She had taken a calculated risk by refusing to surrender to Yara. Well risk was a bit of an overstatement. If she had taken it the wrong way, Tonks would have killed all the Ironborn. It would have been tedious. Yet Tonks felt like she had gotten an accurate read on the woman. That this was a strong woman who wanted to be held by another woman every once in a while. Turns out, she was right. Tonks waved her hand, setting a ward to alert her if Yara woke or someone else came in before dozing off.
The Manse of Xaro Xhoan Daxos
Qarth, Essos
Jorah, Dany, and the very dull Xaro had finally made it back to his manse. In addition to the Spice King, the Copper King and the Silk King had also refused her (well the Copper King had offered to give her a single boat if Daenerys would lie with him for a night). As they walked back in to the manse, they found four of Xaro's men dead. As Xaro went to have the gates barred and to sound the alarm, Dany ran ahead. Finding Irri dead in her bedchamber and her dragons missing, she screamed out, loudly, "WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS?!"
AN: Please review, thanks to those who have.
So the Agents of the Builders just killed a whole bunch of peasants?
Note that they were not targeting indiscriminately, instead their goal was to create a perimeter around Tyrion. This was also not a nice crowd, remember they had dismembered (and presumably ate) the High Septon of the Faith of the Seven, the leader of the largest religion in Westeros. That is something that is utterly unimaginable by any moral standard. Also remember that while the Builders are the honorable good guys, such honor is tempered by 8,000 years of pragmatism.
Lannister Elite Guards?
The Lannister Army members who wear full plate everywhere. While they might seem to make up most of the Lannister Army, this is because on the show, whenever we see the Lannister Army, the camera is usually following someone named Lannister. Most Lannister Army members probably wear the uniform seen on Talisa's patient following the Battle of Oxcross or the more lightly armored Lannister soldiers seen during the Battle of Blackwater Bay
Are the Builders just going to leave Dany hanging? Also, how were her dragons stolen when she had a large Khalasar at her back?
No, but as discussed in the last chapter, Dany is a low priority with so much going on in Westeros. At the moment, she is safe and learning about how to rule. If she actually needs help and isn't just whining or throwing a, "where are my dragons," tantrum, help will be there. While the builders assessed her as the most qualified person to lead the seven kingdoms, she was with Viserys most of her life. She needs to unlearn what she has learned first.
As for how the dragons were stolen, let's just say that that is something the Builders are going to really want to find out.
How can Tyrion be a good fighter?
Tyrion does have combat training from his time as a Lannister of Casterly Rock and from his time as an Agent of the Builders. That being said, he is far from the best fighter the Fist has, see below.
So is Tonks bisexual?
More toward the heteroflexible end of things. Sexuality can become fluid over 8,000 years. Tonks's use of sex in this chapter was mostly a power play. That being said, she did enjoy it, a lot.
So just how do people rank?
Harry Potter- immortal demigod with over 8,000 years of combat experience, able to use all weapons at beyond prodigious status. Basically, if Harry wants you dead, you're dead.
Tie- Nymphadora Tonks and Cormac McLaggen- immortal demigods with over 8,000 years of combat experience. Tonks prefers magic, but can use other weapons at prodigious status. Cormac specializes in fire-based offensive spells and Westerosi swords, but can use other weapons at prodigious status.
Tie- General Tormund Giantsbane, Colonel Ygritte, and Podrick Payne- Tormund has 23 years of combat training and experience and is a sword expert. Ygritte has 16 years of combat training and experience; she is a sword expert and prodigious with a bow. Podrick is prodigious in Braavosi Water Dancing and an expert in Westerosi Swordsmanship.
Ser Jamie Lannister- about 32 years of combat training and experience, often seen as the "best" swordsman in the Seven Kingdoms.
Major Karsi- 20 years of combat training and experience, sword and knife expert, proficient in bow use. Transferred to reserve forces for five years after the birth of her children.
Tie- Average Snow Fox Unit Member and Ser Barristan Selmy- about 54 years of combat training and experience, would have been tied for 3rd on this list not too long ago.
Agent Ros- 20 years of combat and field training and experience. Knife expert, proficient in other forms of combat, would have tied for 4th while in command of the Snowy Owl Unit about seven years ago.
Tie- Lord Eddard Stark and Ser Jorah Mormont- both have 41 years of combat training and experience, specialize in Westerosi swords. This is accounting for both Ned's use of Ice and recent leg injury.
Bronn- about 39 years of combat training and experience, sword and moon door expert.
Tie- Average Army of the Fist Soldier, Lord Robb Stark, and Jon Snow- About 10 years of combat training, sword prodigies.
Lord Agent Tyrion Lannister- 28 years of combat training and experience. Specializes in axes, prodigious with a crossbow.
Average Kingsguard
Lady Arya Stark- 1 year of combat training and experience, prodigious with a bow and sword.
Lady Sansa Stark- less than 1 year of combat training and experience, sword and bow specialization, prodigious with knives.
Tie- Average Lannister Elite Guard and Average Westerosi Knight
Average Solider in the War of the Five Kings