Conversations with the not so dead
Author's Notes: I think this is a scene that EVERYONE has wanted to see ;):D The perspective is from an OC character. Whether or not she appears again later will be the subject of discussion. On another note, writing this chapter was like pulling teeth for some reason, hopefully the coming chapters won't take as long. Also, I've decided to wait on updating the main storyline of the Raven's Plan till the end of season 8. In the meantime I will be focusing on some chapters I've had planned for Conversations for a long time.
Rating: M; it's Game of Thrones, anything less is not Game of thrones :D
Summary: Companion piece to my other fic, the Raven's Plan. A series of conversations from minor characters perspectives.
Nyla I
She was running.
All she could do was run and run and run. She ran as fast as her feet could carry her. She ran as if there was a demon behind her. The man that was pursuing her was a demon. A bastard and butcher. The hounds' barking came nearer and and all thoughts fled from her. She ran faster. Branches scratched her face as she pushed through a low hanging branch. The pain only sparked new panic in her. She had to get away from the demon.
More barking came. The sound of his cursed hounds.
She could only hear the hounds barking and the thunder of her heart in her chest trying to escape. She tried to run faster. She crossed though another thicket and stumbled as her foot got caught on a root. She lost her balance and waved her arms through the air frantically trying to regain her balance. A tree appeared in front of her and her head bounced off it painfully. The world went dark and then the air was driven from her lungs as she rebounded and hit the ground.
She lay on the ground gasping for breath trying to gather her thoughts, waiting for her eyes to clear. When she could finally see again, it was a hellish scene that was in front of her.
She froze with fear as she found herself surrounded by three snarling hounds. Their master stood a few yards away proudly looking down at her. It was the beastly man, Ramsay Snow, Lord Bolton's bastard son. His cold blue eyes shone with cruelty that was matched by the woman that stood at his side. Myranda was the kennel master's daughter, cruel and snide with everyone she spoke with. She'd always avoided her as much as possible while serving in the Dreadfort.
But she couldn't understand why they were doing this! She'd done nothing to them! She'd always avoided them! Strange things happened to those that didn't avoid them! She thought in a panic.
She prayed to the Old Gods for help.
"You little whore...always thinking yourself so much better than everyone," Myranda spat in derision.
She couldn't understand why this was happening. The strange and confusing turn of events that had led her to this deadly fate.
She shook her head frantically, "I'm not. I didn't do anything!" she plead in a panic.
Myranda sneered at her, "Shut your lying mouth!" she screamed angrily.
Her mouth closed with a click of teeth as she flinched away from the irate mad woman.
"You've given us such a fun run, but we do have other things to do," cut in Ramsay as he gave Myranda a smoldering smile. He then hefted his bow, nocking and aiming an arrow at Nyla.
"Come now my love, where's the fun in that?" Myranda asked coyly. She turned back to face Nyla and gave her a spine chilling grin that promised a slow painful death, "We can have fun here...and then later...more fun, there's enough time for us to do both."
He seemed to think for a moment and then returned her cruel smile, "Ah, of course, my dear. But where are my manners...after you my lady," Ramsay said in mock respectful manner with a low laugh. He lowered his bow and grabbed Myranda and gave her a forceful kiss.
They broke part, Myranda pushed him away with a shove, "Later," she promised him. She turned back towards Nyla and gave her a jeering expectant look, "First, it's time for another kind of fun."
The bastard laughed again.
Myranda slowly came towards her, each step steady and unyielding, the promise of violence in her cruel blue eyes.
"No...please..." Nyla begged, sobbing, "Please...mercy..."
Myranda's smile just got wider as she heard Nyla's pleas, "I'm going to enjoy this." she paused for a moment before continuing, "And I going to take my time."
Myranda stepped forward, a small number of paces separated her from Nyla now, she unsheathed a knife and gave Nyla a toothy mean smile. She took another step forward, coming to stand amongst the snarling hounds.
One of the hounds turned from Nyla, and in a flash suck it's teeth into Myranda's leg.
"AAHH!" she screamed in surprise and pain. She fell painfully to her knees, losing her grip on her knife, before the hound pulled her leg out from under her, he face slamming into the ground painfully. The second hound sunk his teeth into her arm and began tearing the flesh. The third went for her neck as she lay prone being shaken by the hounds.
Blood spattered and Myranda's cries turned into pained gurgles.
"NO! What are you doing! Stop! Stop! I said STOP!" she heard Ramsay scream in a panicked rage.
An arrow whistled through the air and went through the neck of one of the hounds. He nocked a second arrow and loosed it just as quickly and a second hound fell.
The third hound let go of Myranda and jumped away from where the other hounds had fallen. It turned and growled at Ramsay, it barked twice then continued snarling as it paced towards him, Ramsay held back his third arrow for some reason.
Nyla looked back and forth at the absurd scene in front of her.
Myranda's panicked dead eyes stared up at her now, blood covering her. The surprise was still written all across Myranda's face. The corpses of two of the hounds were splayed out where they had fallen, blood pooling around them.
While Ramsay was still staring down the final hound, "Down girl!" he commanded, his bow, held steady and at the ready, his eyes locked on the third hound.
The hound snarled again and bared it's teeth ignoring his commands, stalking him. They stood there stared down each other for a breath...stalemated.
The stalemate ended with a suddenness that surprised Nyla.
The hound suddenly ran at him, growling, and then jumped at him just he loosed his third arrow. The snarling turned into pained yelps as the arrow found it's target. The hound fell and rolled across the ground, coming to rest in a bleeding, dying heap. It whimpered piteously and then went silent.
Ramsay looked at the fallen hound in confusion, his blue eyes bewildered by what had happened with his hounds and Myranda. His eyes began manically going back and forth between the corpses around them, as if he was trying to understand what had just happened...not that Nyla understood either, how things had changed so quickly. He shook his head, as if to clear it. And then suddenly he turned towards her.
"What did you do, you bitch?! You filthy whore! What did you do to my hounds?!" he screamed at her, nearly hysterical. His blue eyes aflame with madness as he stepped towards her.
She shook her head, too stunned and scared to do more than that.
"What did fucking you do?!" he screamed again, spittle flying from his mouth.
She shook her head again frantically. She quivered in fear as Ramsay dropped his bow and pulled out a skinning knife. She cried out for mercy, but he kept coming, screaming accusations and curses.
A growling shadow rose behind Ramsay and he froze. The angry look disappeared and the confusion was back. He started to turn around, but a massive brown paw clubbed him across the neck and he went sprawling to the ground.
She got a good look at the shadow then. The paw belonged to a very large brown bear. The bear came down with all of it's weight onto the sprawled Ramsay. She heard the crunch of bones breaking and then Ramsay was screaming. The Bear roared and raised a paw to bat at Ramsay. Blood flew through the air and then the bear lowered its head and there was a wet squishing noise as Ramsay's screams of pain turned into loud gurgles. The bear's head came up it's powerful jaws filled with Ramsay's flesh. The bear swallowed and then bent down for another another bite.
She stared at the gruesome scene in front of her. The bear eating Ramsay. The dead hounds and Myranda's still warm corpse.
She laughed hysterically, overcome by the absurdity of it all. She'd been saved from Ramsay, the beastly man, and now she'd be eaten by the beast who ate the beastly man. The bear would finish with the bastard and turn on her next.
Her heart thundered in her chest as time passed, and the moment of her doom approached. The bear raised it's head from the remains of Ramsay, it's muzzle stained red with blood. It's eyes came to focus on her, and she knew it was the end.
The bear turned fully away from it's meal and stepped towards her, rising up on it's hindquarters to it's full height. It looked down at her, shook it's head once, and then raised one paw. She frowned in confusion, it wasn't approaching. It was just standing there with it's paw outstretched to the side. After a very long moment, she gasped in stunned disbelief as she realised what it was doing. It was pointing back towards the village. She blinked in surprise, not understanding what was happening. One finger of the paw was blatantly raised, and was definitely pointing back to towards the path to the village.
She stared dumbly at it in incomprehension.
The bear huffed in annoyance and shook it's paw again.
True understanding finally came to her...it was the Old Gods! They'd heard her prayers and answered them! The Old Gods had turned the hounds against their masters! They'd sent the bear to save her! And now the bear was telling her to go home!
Trembling, she rose to her feet, her eyes not leaving the bear's far too human eyes. She could see the intelligence in them now, even as blood dripped from it's muzzle.
"Thank you..." she mumbled in awe.
The bear shook it's paw impatiently. And she nodded and took off back to the village, muttering prayers to the Old Gods with every pained step she took away from what should have been her death.
She cast back one look at the bear, and found it bent over the beastly man, feasting on his flesh. It was a true, and just end for such a monster.
She gave one final sigh of relief and hobbled slowly back to her village.
Author's Notes: And this is the end of Ramsay and Myranda! :D Hope you enjoyed this! As always, Read, Enjoy and Review! :D