Disclaimer: No owny, no makey money, no happy.
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Castle Black:
Castle Black sat in the shadow of the Wall as it had for eight thousand years. Tiny black ants ran to and fro in the central courtyard, going about their daily tasks. The Lord Commander sat with his First Builder Othell Yarwyck, Lord Steward Bowen Marsh, and First Ranger Benjen Stark discussing the recent desertion by Will.
"He was a loyal and good ranger, my Lord. I knew him well, he would not leave his post lightly. Before he ran, all he could say was 'the Others are coming. Seven forgive me, the Others are coming.'" Benjen Stark sat forward in his chair, hands out pleading for the Lord Commander to understand. "Let me go forth and find where Gared and Ser Royce where killed. Let me discover the veracity of his tale and-"
"Surely you can't believe his tall tales, Benjen, the lad was brought up on those ghost tales of the White Walkers, like all low-born scum. He murdered Ser Royce, and that other ranger, plain and simple!" Bowen Marsh interrupted.
"There are things beyond that wall that would curl your toes and turn your hair whiter than snow, Marsh! Things move between the trees of the Haunted Forest, make no sound and leave no print to follow. And yet we see them from the corner of our eyes. The Wildlings dare not tread there lightly, and bless Will, but he was no great swordsman. Not within seven leagues of Lord Royce!" Benjen turned once more to the Lord Commander. "My Lord, please, I will ride forth on my own, and be back within the day with news. I have a feeling that all is not well beyond the Wall, and not the usual wildlings scampering about."
Lord Mormont sat back in his high-backed chair, hand on beard. On the one hand, he trusted Marsh to be the voice of reason. On the other, he, too, was of the North like Benjen. He grew up with the old tales of the Long Night, the Others, and the building of the Wall. He could feel in his bones that there was something amiss.
"Very well, First Ranger. You have two days- we don't need more horses dying on us, I dare say. If you leave now, you have most of the day before you." Lord Jeor Mormont smiled briefly, knowing his First Steward would be in a mood for weeks over this. But really, the man needed some perspective. And a history lesson or two.
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Beyond the Wall
Luna- or Lady Selene, as the group told themselves they should grow used to calling her- led the way towards the Wall in single file. The forest surrounding them was utterly different to the circle of white trees with red leaves they had awoken to. Close together, with low-hanging branches intent on snagging on the smallest purchase, the trees seemed to hide something that could only be seen from the corner of one's eye. White shapes flitted around them, with no sound being given. Hermione- Lady Igraine- tried to use a spell to see them, the homenum revelio, with no luck. Either these apparitions weren't human (or human-like), or they were drifts of silent snow falling from above.
As they trudged on, the group conferred on their situation, and what to do about it. They each accustomed themselves to their weapons and moving at speed in their armour- subconscious training is one thing, but active use was quite another. They each agreed that they would keep their eyes out for the Grimoires that Merlin spoke of, each feeling that even with the past few months of Dumbledore's Army, they were woefully unprepared in terms of their magical education to survive in what may be a brutal world. They eventually left the trees behind, and the unsettling feeling left them for a time. Crossing a large clearing in the forest, they all took another look at the Wall, and noticed it was no closer than before.
"Um, guys, we've been walking all day and its nowhere near to getting any bigger. Is this a trick?" Ron asked. Luna laughed, the sound tinkling among the snow.
"No, Ron- uhm, Lord Gawain…- no trick. Only that Wall is over seven hundred feet high, and with all this snow, we aren't making the best time. I think we'd better start melting the snow, otherwise we'll be stuck out here all night, too." Luna giggled slightly at the name. It was like those games she used to play when she was younger.
With that, Ginny- Lady Guinevere- took out her wand and flicked it at the snow in their path. Even with such a small flick, and no incantation, a huge gout of flames spewed forth from her wand, melting all of the snow between them and the trees with ease. The others looked at her, while she stared at her wand.
"I didn't put that much into it! What the hell? Harry, you try something," she said.
In his black armour, he stood out vividly against the snow. Taking his wand from his belt, he carefully swished and flicked his wand at a nearby fallen tree, only to see it careen off into the sky, and then shoot off into the distance away from the wall, and out of sight.
The eight of them stood there, gaping at the rapidly diminishing log.
"OK guys, I think we should just do this the hard way. No spells on anyone or anything until we've figured out what's on with our magic. Direct effect only, nothing widespread like blasting curses." They all flinched slightly, imagining a crater the size of Hogwarts in the ground.
"Yeah, that's…" Said Fred.
"A good idea, my Lord Galahad, sir." Said George. The others rolled their eyes at their usual byplay. Some things never changed.
As they trudged on, the clouds above lifted and they finally got a better look at the Wall. Stretching up so high they had to crane their heads back, they finally understood exactly how tall the magnificent structure was. As they stood in a line, marvelling at the Wall, they heard a whinny from the woods ahead.
In an instant, the Seven stood ready. Ron in the centre of the line, ready to break a charge. Hermione directly behind him, spear outstretched to defend him. Luna on his left, arakh raised. Ginny on his right, waraxes out and a grin on her face. On the end of the line on either side where Harry and Neville, guarding against any flanking attacks. And behind them all, stood Fred and George bows raised and arrows nocked, focused on the horse slowly making its way out of the trees.
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As the First Ranger made his way through the first parts of the Haunted Forest, he thought he heard a huge crackle of fire from up ahead. Not long after that, the better part of a tree trunk recently fallen soared up into the sky as if thrown by a giant. If there were indeed giants this close to the Wall, then he would need to know for certain their numbers. It had been a good few years since the last Great Ranging, and he didn't fancy fighting giants any better than the Others, truth be told. Marsh could grumble all he liked, but Old Nan had been around to nurse his father, his siblings, and now his nephews and nieces. He believed her stories of giants, wildling kings and the Long Night. And by the Old Gods, he knew the last few winters had been longer than those before them.
Spurring his horse on, he weaved the steed through the tightest of branches with ease born of long experience. Upon emerging out into the first clearing in the Forest, he saw a line of five knights adorned in the most beautiful and intimidating armour he had ever seen- and he'd been to The Great Tourney at Harrenhal. Before he could ride further forward than the tree line, two arrows sprouted from the trees on either side of him. Reigning in, he spied a spear behind an outlandishly-huge shield in the centre, and two bow-wielding men of identical height in forest-green and yellow light armour.
Taking his hands off the reigns, he raised his hands to show he was unarmed and kneed his steed forwards once more.
"Ho there! How do you come to be here? Are you from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea or The Shadow Tower, friends?" Benjen, quite simply, was confused. No wildling had armour like this, and there wasn't a giant in sight- so where had that log came from? As his horse wandered nearer, none of the armour individuals before him wavered. Stopping just three yards short of their line, he dismounted, and looked to the man behind the huge shield.
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Moving the line around the dark-haired stranger, Harry and Neville closed up behind him from either side, Ginny on one side, and Luna on the other. Hermione circled around to stand behind Harry and Neville. Fred and George covered the movements of the others, waiting for a suspicious movement.
Finally, from behind the stranger, Harry spoke up.
"Who are you, stranger?"
The man turned slowly to his right to address the speaker. He had paid the most attention to who he had assumed was the leader, the huge man now behind him.
"My name is Benjen Stark, First Ranger of Castle Black, a sworn brother of the Night's Watch. Brother to Lord Eddard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North." The man had a northern accent typical of a native English speaker, but also the gravelly tone of someone who held their silence.
"My name is Lord Galahad of the Hunt. These are Lords Lancelot of the Forest and Gawain of the Mountain, and Ladies Guinevere of the Lake, Selene of the Moon, and Igraine of the Sky. The two men in green are the Lords Perceval of the Night." As Harry named them, he gestured to them.
"Why, I have never heard of any of you, and I was educated to know every noble house in Westeros, dead and alive!"
"We are not from these lands, First Ranger. We were sent here by forces beyond our reckoning, to meet our King and Lord; for Winter is Coming, and with it, the Long Night." Harry really had no clue what to say, but when in doubt, quote Merlin. For a long while, the man was silent; he knew those words, and lived by them. The Starks were ever-watchful and the first to know of winter's coming, he more than most. "Your King and Lord, you say? Then my brother it is you should meet, but first, I have a ranging to finish."
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A/N: So it's been a few days, and I'd like to thank Sceonn especially for pointing out in a roundabout way that I'd missed out naming Fred and George. That has now been fixed. Chase Manaena seems a bit excited for more chapters, but its one a day, max. Thanks to Lor'ella Lovegood, your English is great, well done, better than some writers on here ;)
In other news, we will soon reach where the books began. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be going show-centric or book-centric. It's easier for me to revise the goings-on by re-watching GoT, especially as I haven't seen the new series yet and need to anyway. Good night and good luck.