Rickon
The fields of Winterfell were once empty and barren, occupied only with snow and the dragons when they nested. But now, ever so slowly, the armies from the south began to gather around the castle. The Knights of the Vale, the Riverlands, some of the Ironborn, the Wildlings, the Night's Watch, and even the Firey Hand, men from Essos who served the Lord of Light, here to fight for him in the great war. However, when the size of occupants grew too great even before the meeting at Kings Landing, it became clear that tents where in short supply and not enough were available so with the man power of the two thousand Builders of the Watch and few hundred men who could work lumber, large log huts were quickly made with the help of the Wildlings who stayed in Winterfell along with several full-grown giants. At one point, there was even the proposition to continue building huts and expanding the small collection that already existed. Such an idea was considered wise since there would be near two hundred thousand. From a far distance, Winterfell could be mistaken for a city rather than just a castle with all that were camped around it and all of the housing that was being built. If fate had been more kind and more time was available, there wouldn't be any need for tents at all.
However even with all of the construction and maintenance going on, the Lord of Winterfell was confined to daily drills with Anguy, learning to improve his marksmanship with the other trainees. Even though Rickon was the best among them, Anguy pointed out flaws in everything he did.
Anguy was having Rickon demonstrate for the group his accuracy and gave him three arrows for three targets all aligned next to each other against a wall. With ease, Rickon was able to hit the bullseye of each one, but when Anguy retrieved the arrows, he looked unimpressed.
"You missed." He announced to Rickon but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"No I didn't," Rickon objected, "I hit all three of them dead center."
"You did, but took your sweet time doing it. It's going to be a lot harder hitting a moving target."
"I've hunted before." Rickon countered. "I've hit it rabbits from more than a hundred yards away."
"Were these rabbits charging at you, with weapons and armor?" Anguy raised his brow, waiting for Rickon to answer.
"No."
"Will it matter though?" Someone from behind asked. Rickon turned his head and all attention was on a teenaged boy from WinterTown leaning on his longbow. "There'll be so many of them, will it matter if we aim or not?"
"Good point," Anguy said, "you could just point your arrows up to the sky and hope that they'll hit something, or you learn how to fire a bow right, and land every arrow on its mark." Anguy did make a point. There was a limited amount of dragonglass arrows they had, even with the shipments they would have coming soon, there would be enough to stick one arrow into each dead soldier. But that was every arrow hit and they didn't meet the army of the living.
Anguy handed the arrows back to Rickon, wanting him to try again. Rickon stuck two of the arrows into the ground and knocked the third. He eyed his target carefully, taking deep breathes to clear his mind. He drew the bowstring back and lifted the bow up, steadying it and lining the arrow to the path he wanted. He released the arrow and it sailed through the air, landing close to the center of the target. His time firing the arrow was quicker than his first attempt, but at the cost of his accuracy. "Your position is good," Anguy said, "but never hold." Rickon returned to resting the bow. "Your sister did the same thing. If you hold, your muscles will tense up."
"Then how do I aim?" Rickon asked, curious for the secret.
"Your eyes know where you want the arrow to go." He patted Rickon on the shoulder and pulled the two arrows out of the ground. "That goes for all of you. Aim all you want, but unless you can guarantee a kill before you draw your arrow back, don't even bother using a bow." This caused some disgruntlement among the young group. "And to make sure you get a feeling of that, I have something special planned for you all. Follow me." Anguy began walking away from the practice yard, followed by everyone in his lesson. They all entered the courtyard of Winterfell and saw two horses that were strapped to wagons. Anguy stood next to one of them and patted the wooden floor. "Six of you climb in here and the other six get into the other one. But give us your bows first."
Rickon handed his bow to Anguy as the occupants of the other wagon handed theirs over to their driver. He climbed in after a young Wildling girl who climbed in first and tried to sit next to her, but Snow's scabbard got in the way.
"Give it here," Anguy said, his right arm full of bows, "I won't lose it, don't worry my young lord." He held out his hand, waiting for Rickon to hand over his Valyrian Sword. He politely obliged and undid his sword belt then tied it around the scabbard of the sword before handing over to Anguy. He kept it under his arm as he set the bows down in the wagon at the feet of the riders before he climbed on himself and took the reins, spurring his horse forward and driving the wagon out of the castle.
The two wagons full of archers in training rode on the snow-covered roads away from Winterfell, past all of the tents and huts and many of the occupants. For Rickon, he was fascinated when he saw how many different types of people were gathered. The northerners were obvious to tell apart from any of the others because of theirs cloaks and their beards. The Essosi of the night's watch all had their dark skin, but it was beginning to pale from the constant lack of the sun. The Ironborn all had their sea salt stained clothes and filthy features. The only way to tell apart the Riverlanders from the Knights of the Vale was the plate armor the Knights of the Vale wore at all times.
The wagon came to a halt as a giant with a great long black beard and hair just as long walked across the road carrying several large logs in each arm that were practically tree trucks. He was followed by four Wildlings and several of the Night's Watch builders. As the wagon continued on, everyone snuck a look at the soldiers of the Fiery Hand and could see some of them igniting their swords and what must have been praying to the Lord of Light in High Valyrian. Ever since they arrived, Daenerys had ordered to have a close eye kept on them and forbade any form of living sacrifice to the Lord of Light.
All of that became far away into the distance as the wagon's continued onwards. "Where are we going?" an elder boy finally asked. They were at least five miles away from Winterfell right now and out of range of anyone they might harm practicing archery.
"Ten more miles out." Rickon could notice Anguy smirking a little a little, like he knew something they didn't, which wasn't at all wrong. "Just wait a little longer."
A little longer was for longer than Anguy implied. Nearly an hour had passed and still they were at least a mile away from whatever their destination was. Everyone kept quiet the entire ride and it only made the time stretch out longer. Anguy attempted to start a song with all of his students, but the songs he sung were ones they never heard before.
Finally, the wagons came to a halt and Winterfell was hidden away by a hill and some trees. "Right, everybody out!" Anguy shouted.
"What are we doing here?" The elder boy asked as everyone emptied out of their wagons with their bows.
"In less than a week, Winterfell will be hosting an army of over two hundred thousand. Food is scarce as it is, so if you want to eat you'll have to get it yourself. Whatever you can hunt will be yours." Such a plan wasn't a bad idea. It would help give motivation for everyone to improve and hone their skills. Anguy walked over to the other wagon and retrieved a sack with a bundle of arrows from the back. He took them all out of the sack and gave one arrow to each person. "Here you are," he said as everyone looked distraught at the amount of their ammunition, "you gave until dark to bring something back."
"But you gave us one arrow." Rickon stated. "What if we lose it?"
"Then you'll go hungry tonight. You each have one arrow. That's one shot, one chance, one target. If you lose your arrow, why did you even bother to fire it? If you find it, good. But in war, when the enemy is charging straight at you, ready to end your life without a single care of who or what you are, do you think they'll give you have second chance to hit them? You either do or don't." Anguy retrieved his own bow from the back of the wagon he didn't drive as did the other man who came with them. "Stay in groups of three. If you get lost, stay where you are and we'll find you." Anguy grabbed his own quiver full of arrows and departed from the group with the other man, taking Snow with him.
"Where are you going?" A young girl shouted.
"To get our supper!" Anguy shouted back, not even turning to face them.
Everyone just stared at each other, unsure of how to proceed. "Has anyone else ever hunted before?" Rickon asked.
"I have." One of the older boys said. He looked to be just under sixteen years of age.
"Me too, but only a few times." Another boy said, much younger than the first. He was one of four wildlings that came with everyone.
"Anyone else?" Rickon asked again. Everyone just remained quiet. Rickon sighed, he got the feeling that whoever went without someone with experience would come back empty handed. "Alright, then whoever has hunted will lead whoever goes with them." He pointed at one of the older girls of the North who was with them. "You're one of the better archers, so you'll lead the group without a hunter. The snow is deep enough for animals to leave tracks, so just follow them if they're fresh. If you can't find anything, look up in the trees for squirrel dens or the ground for rabbit holes. They usually hide in bushes or even hollow tree stumps."
With no one else having any better ideas or knowledge, everyone went along with the plan and broke up into four groups of three. Rickon was with the Wildling girl he sat next to and a fourteen-year-old stable boy from Wintertown.
"So what names do I have to call you?" Rickon asked as they trudged through the snow and into the trees.
"I'm Ralf, milord." The stable boy said.
"Johnna." The Wildling girl's voice was barely over a whisper.
"Rickon Stark." He didn't need to tell them, but he felt like it anyway.
As they pressed onward through the trees, things became easier as the level of the snow wasn't as thick as it was in the open. The trees were spaced enough apart that they didn't have to be maneuvered around. The difficulties Rickon, Johnna, and Ralf had were finding any for of tracks. The light of the sun helped illuminate their way, but the shadows of the trees would be mistaken for prints in the snow.
To help make the search easier, Rickon had them all spread out ten paces apart from each other and continue in the same direction. It was long until someone found something this way. "Over here!" Johnna called. Rickon and Ralf rushed over to her and saw that she was standing next to some animal tracks in the snow. "I think they might be fox tracks." She said as Rickon inspected them.
"They are," Rickon confirmed, "and they're fresh." He looked at the direction the tracks led. "We can catch up if we're quick and quite." Rickon led the way, following the prints in the snow in hopes to find their next meal.
It was only a few minutes later that Rickon spotted a small orange figure in the distance. "There!" He loudly whispered as he crouched down. Johnna and Ralf followed him and spotted the fox far away.
"Can you get it from here?" Johnna asked.
"Me? Maybe." Rickon told them. "Let's get a little closer first." They all slowly moved through the snow, the only sound being made was that of their breaths. Using a fallen tree as cover, they all huddled together and observed the fox from less than forty yards away. It was currently sniffing at a bush, looking for something to eat.
"It looks pretty big," Ralf whispered, "can you hit it, milord?"
"From this distance, with ease. But I'm not going to." Rickon turned his head to Johnna and for the first time got a better look at her face. He thought she looked very pretty for a Wildling. "You found the tracks, you have to make the shot."
"Are you sure?" She asked quietly.
"I believe in you." Rickon told her. He had seen her shoot before and she wasn't the best, but he had to start having confidence in those around him if they were going to have a chance in the war with the dead. Johnna sighed as she brought her bow and arrow over the fallen tree and knocked her arrow. She breathed deeply and exhaled before drawing the bowstring.
After about five seconds, she released the arrow and they all watched it sail over the snow and past the trees. The arrow found it's mark in the fox's neck and the creature fell into the snow, not making another move.
Rickon smiled at Johnna who looked happy with her kill. "You see? You can do it." Rickon told her as the three of them climbed over the tree and hastily approached the fox.
The creature's blood had already drained from its body and was as limp as a dead fish. Johnna pulled her arrow out of the fox's neck and wiped the blood onto her heavy fur clothes, not caring for any stains.
"Milord!" Ralf called out. Rickon and Johnna looked over to him as saw he was a distance from them. "There are more tracks over here!"
Rickon and Johnna both joined him and gaped at what they saw. There was practically a trail in the snow made from dozens of animals sticking close together. Rickon knelt down and inspected the details of the tracks, most of them too undistinctive enough to be identified. But then he spotted one that was intact enough to know what came by. "Wolves," Rickon informed, "and a lot of them."
Ralf backed away, frightened and scared. "Are they close?"
"No, these tracks look a few days old. We should be alright." Ralf sighed in relief and returned to Rickon's side. Rickon noticed a different print in the tracks. "This, however, is fresh." He lightly brushed some snow out of the track and was able to see what it was. "There was a stag here, not too long ago." Rickon turned to face his companions. "What say you? Do you want to try and bring home a meal that would feed us for every meal for an entire week?"
"That sounds excellent." Ralf said, excited.
"I already have my kill, so lead the way." Johnna said.
Rickon looked back at the tracks, searching for where they led. From what he could see, the stag was following the trail the wolves made, almost as if the hide it's tracks. "Follow me."
The three of them set out to find their next kill, hoping that such a prize would become theirs. But they learned that looking for such a bounty would be harder than it was. The sun was reaching the horizon and soon they would be too far out to return before dark and a cold wind was picking up. Ralf was already shivering and Rickon was starting to feel the cold sink through his thick clothes, but Johnna looked perfectly fine.
"How are you not freezing?" Rickon asked.
"Winter south of the Wall is how it normally feels north of the Wall. My sister and I have been through worse."
"You have a sister?"
"Her name's Willa. She's younger than me by four years. Too young to fight with everyone."
"I've noticed you at Winterfell very often. Why didn't you go with any of the hosts from the Dreadfort?"
"My sister and I have to stay were Tormund tells us to be."
Rickon remembered the ginger Wildling who lost an ear to Jon when he came back from beyond the Wall. "Is Tormund your father?"
"No, our father died a long time ago. Tormund's been protecting us ever since my died at Hardhome." Rickon had heard of Hardhome from Jon. He told him that it was massacre and the greatest victory for the dead. But that was before they killed one of the dragons.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry like that."
She stopped walking and turned to face Rickon. "Then maybe you shouldn't talk at all and focus on finding the stag. You wouldn't understand." She was obviously angry at him, but before she could walk away, Rickon grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her.
"My father and mother are dead too. My father was betrayed and beheaded. My mother was betrayed and killed after watching my brother and sister by law murdered. I don't even remember what they look like anymore. So don't you dare say I wouldn't understand." Johnna's expression went from irritated to sorry as Rickon walked past her with Ralf.
After a few more minutes of walking, the three hunters came to a stop. The stag tracks broke away from the wolf tracks and far out past the trees, the lone stag could be seen next to a tree, feeding off of something near the roots. The stag was within Rickon's range of skill, but it was too obscured to hit.
"This one is mine," Rickon told Ralf and Johnna, "one of you stand behind that tree and keep an eye on the stag." Rickon pointed to a thick tree that would provide cover from a perfect vantage point.
"I'll stand watch for you." Johnna said as she moved to the designated spot, leaving her fox with Ralf.
"What should I do, milord?" Ralf asked.
"Stay here and wait for me to call you two over." Rickon left Ralf to himself and made his way over to a better position. He was far away enough that he wouldn't attract any attention from the stag as he trudged through the snow.
Once he reached a spot where the full stag was in view, he could see that the size of the beast was greater than what he thought. If he managed to kill it, Johnna might have to abandon the fox to help them carry the stag back. He knocked his arrow and kept his bow low, taking deep breathes. But as he started to pull back on the string, the stag lifted its head up, scanning the area. Rickon ducked behind a tree, out of sight of the stag, but in the sight of Johnna. He kept herself well hidden from the creature but visible to Rickon. He looked over to her for any indication if he could take the shot. She kept her gaze on the stag before turning it to Rickon and nodding. He revealed his body past from behind the tree and began to draw the string back again.
Once again, the stag lifted its head up, but not in Rickon's direction. It was looking at further beyond the trees and started moving as if trying to get a better look at something. Rickon was hesitant, but continued to draw the arrow back. Before he could fire it, the stag seemed to panic and started to dart away. Rickon relieved the stress of the bow and brought the bowstring back to rest. "Dammit!" he whispered to himself. The stag was still in range, but moving too fast for Rickon to get a good aim.
'Your eyes know where you want the arrow to go.'
Rickon exhaled and kept calm, keeping his eye on the stag. He quickly pulled the bowstring back and released the arrow, hoping it wouldn't be lost in the snow or break. To his pride, the arrow sank deep into the rear thigh of the beast and brought it to the ground. It called out in pain as it tried to get up, but the injury robbed it of any speed it would have. "Johnna!" Rickon called out. "Finish it!" Johnna came out of her cover and rushed forward, knocking her arrow and drawing it to her cheek. After a moment, she released the arrow and it sank deep into the stag's body. A few seconds passed as it fell into the snow, no longer making any movement or sound. "Yes!" Rickon exclaimed. "Well done!" He approached the body of the fallen beast with Johnna to see the full magnitude of their kill up close.
The stag's size was far too large for all of them to carry together, but not large enough that it couldn't be dragged. "Great shot," Johnna complimented, "I think this will be the best prize out of everything." Rickon turned his gaze from the stag to Johnna and saw her smiling at him. He smiled back at her, but it died when he noticed something moving behind Johnna. He leaned his body and in the distance, he could see something large and brown quickly approaching them. Rickon felt shivers run down his body when the shape he saw turned into that of a large bear. "Run," Rickon said as he tried to move his legs but couldn't. Johnna looked behind her and saw the bear getting closer. "Run!" Rickon finally was able to move, but grabbed onto Johnna's hand before pulling her with him as the quickly ran from the fallen stag.
They both looked back and saw that the bear claimed the stag for its own and began tearing through its flesh. They both began to feel safer as they grew further from the beast. Rickon turned his head to see if Ralf was alright, but froze when he saw him scared and had his arrow knocked and drawn. "Ralf, no!" Rickon's cry was too late as Ralf released his arrow and let it fly at the bear. To all of their dread, the arrow missed the bear's body and stuck into the bear's foreleg. It let out a loud growl and looked over at Rickon and Johnna, thinking they were the ones who injured it. It ignored the stag and began to pursue them, but the injury slowed it down some. "Run back to Ralf and get back to the wagons." Rickon ordered as he separated himself from Johnna and tried to get the bears attention. "Over here! Come on!" The bear took noticed and changed its course to only Rickon. Glad that the beast's attention was on him alone now, Rickon shuttered when he forgot that a full-grown bear was chasing him. He turned around and ran as fast as he could through the snow, drooping his bow behind him. He knew the bear was still pursuing him because of the constant growls and the sound of the bear's paws moving through the snow.
After a few minutes of running, Rickon felt all of energy gone yet he wouldn't allow himself to stop running. He cried out as the exhaustion pained all over him and his body turned from cold to steaming with sweat. The bear never gave up it's pursuit, but some distance was put between it and Rickon. Unfortunately, Rickon lost his footing and tiredly collapsed into the ground. The snow stung as it clung to his face and quickly melted away. He turned his head and saw the bear draw closer to him. Rickon noticed that Ralf's arrow had snapped an only a small bit of the shaft protruded from the bear's foreleg.
With no energy left no move, all Rickon could do was wait and pray to the Old Gods to let him live to see tomorrow. He thought about closing his eyes, but he was too afraid to, he only held his breath as the bear was nearly upon him.
All of a sudden, a white flash collided with the bear and tackled it to the ground. Gasping for air, Rickon did his best to move and see what it was. A large white furred creature wrestled with the bear and constantly sank its teeth into the bear's flesh. Rickon saw the ruby red eyes stare death at the bear before it swung it's claws a slashed the white furred beast across the neck. It whimpered as it was forced off of the bear and got back up on its legs, baring its teeth and guarding Rickon. "Ghost," Rickon breathed out, relieved and overjoyed to see the direwolf again.
Ghost snarled as the bear growled, but it's attention turned from Ghost to all around as dozens of wolves began to appear from the trees. Rickon became wide eyed when a grey direwolf larger than a horse appeared and snarled with the rest of its pack. The bear looked angry, but absolutely hopeless to escape.
As if commanding soldiers, the larger direwolf barked and many of the wolves set themselves upon the bear, constantly being swatted at but also tearing through the bears flesh. The bear roared out as it was brought to heel and the wolves continued to attack it. After a moment of carnage, the bear ceased moving and the wolves calmed down.
Rickon sighed out after witnessing such a thing, but held his breath when the large direwolf slowly trotted right up to him and stared deeply into his eyes. It took a moment for Rickon to realize that he knew this direwolf from long ago. "Nymeria?" Nymeria laid down in front of Rickon, as if waiting for him to do something. All of a sudden, her eyes flashed white and she motioned with her head at her back. "Bran? Is that you?" Nymeria bowed her head slowly as if to confirm his question. She motioned her head again to her back. "Do you want me to get on you?" Nymeria bowed her head once again, clearly under the control of Bran. He reached his hand onto Nymeria's soft fur, grabbing ahold and pulling himself onto Nymeria's back. With both hands gripping her fur, Rickon rested his body as she stood up and began to quickly trot back the way he came, Ghost and the pack following.
By the time the sun was down, the wolf pack was nearing the edge of the woods. Nymeria stopped and lowered her body. Being while rested, from running, Rickon slid off of Nymeria's back and stood up with her. Her eyes flashed white again, Bran's control no longer present, and she turned back and led her wolf pack into the forest where they came, but to Rickon's joy, Ghost remained. His white fur was stained with blood from his wound the bear inflicted.
Rickon smiled as he walked up to Ghost and knelt down in front of him, delivering a soft hug around him. "I missed you, boy." Rickon let go of Ghost and stood up. Ghost accompanied him as they walked back to the wagons. When they left the cover of the trees and came into sight of everyone else, Anguy saw them both and looked relieved as did Ralf and Johnna. The only thing that made them keep their distance was the large white direwolf covered in blood. One of the wagons was gone as was the driver, probably back to Winterfell to get help.
Anguy swallowed hard as he approached Rickon and kneeled down to him. "My lord, I beg your apologies for what happened. I was told that there no bears in these woods, but my mistake nearly cost you life and the lives of two others."
This was the first time Anguy actually treated Rickon as a lord rather than a student. "You aren't at much fault, Anguy. There aren't supposed to be any bears in these woods, they all live in the upper most part of the North and the mountains. Something must've driven them south. However, I order you to return my sword to me."
"Of course, my lord." Anguy stood up and immediately untied Snow from his side and gave it back to Rickon.
"Let this be a warning. If you ever take this from me again, I'll have your first two fingers on each of your hands cut off." Rickon didn't blame him for the bear. It was true that there shouldn't be any this close to Winterfell, but he if had Snow during that whole ordeal, he wouldn't have nearly died.
"You are merciful, my lord." Anguy bowed his head as Rickon tied Snow back around his waist. He turned his gaze to Ralf and Johnna and was glad to see them alright. He walked past anguy and was greeted with a hug from Johnna.
"I'm glad you're alright." She told him.
He felt himself heat up in his face when she let go and smiled at him. Rickon looked over to Ralf and had to honest with him. "You shot, a fucking, bear." Ralf looked saddened at his statement.
"I'm sorry milord, I got scared and thought it was going to chase us."
"That's exactly what is going to happen on the battlefield." Rickon informed. "An army of over two hundred thousand is going to charge at us while we fire arrows at them. Are you going to do something stupid when that happens and die? Or will you make sure it won't happen again and live through it all?"
Ralf looked determined now and nodded his head. Rickon gave a reassuring smile to him before a loud screech filled the sky. Everyone looked up and saw four dragons flying to Winterfell.
"It's the King and Queen," Anguy said, "They've returned."
Just a reminder to leave a review of what I could do to make the War for the dawn a good read. Also a reminder that it is not a suggestion box for ideas of what should happen, but how to write better, also anyone who say a character should live will contribute to that characters death. So vote for Cersei to live, am I right? XD
