BRAN
WINTERFELL – THREE DAYS AFTER CATELYN STARK LEAVES
Bran had developed a close relationship with Jojen and his sister Meera. He had started having dreams and visions and it is Jojen who is able to help him understand what he is going through. There is also Osha, but she is more afraid of the things she tells him. She helps him to understand the old legends, but only after he hounds her for information. Eventually Bran starts to rely solely on Jojen as a guide.
"If you truly wish to understand what you are becoming you must go North beyond the wall…" Jojen tells him in the godswood.
"I cannot go North…"
"No not alone…but Meera, Hordor, and I can accompany you…"
Bran shakes his head as doubt starts to set in, "My Mother would never allow it…"
"She is not here is she?" He smiles when he does not respond, "Place your hand on the heart-tree and open your mind…"
Bran is about to touch the tree when Osha shouts in a loud voice, "Stop!" She walks up to them. "What do you think you are doing?"
"He is learning to become the three eyed Raven…"
"Hordor take the Little Lord back to the Castle…"
"Hordor…" The large simple minded man says.
"I am not ready to leave…" Bran protests.
"You stop filling his head with ideas…" Osha says poiting a finger at Jojen.
"I am helping him to realize his destiny…"
Bran extends his hand and touches the tree. His eyes turn white and sees many images in his head. He sees a baby and a woman, his Aunt Lyanna. He sees a white Tiger running across a sword and a blue field, the sigil of House Romyn, but then the tiger turns into a red three headed Dragon on a black field. Then he sees castle black and in a secret room beneath the castle is a sword. Next he sees a great heart tree beyond the wall above a cave.
"Come to me Brandon Stark…Come to me before it is too late…"
Bran awakens in his room with Maester Luwin standing over him, "Are you alright?"
"How did I get here?"
"Osha bought you here…You have been unconscious for an entire day…"
Bran sits up, "I am hungry…"
Maester Luwin stands up and walks to the door, "Bring food and tell Rickon, Osha, Jojen, and Meera that he is awake…" He says to someone at the door. Maester Luwin returns to the bed and sits down, "Now tell me…What happened?"
"I am not sure…"
He sighs, "Brandon Stark…" The only time Maester Luwin said his name like that is when he is serious, "I helped bring you into this world…I helped raise you…So I know when you are not telling the truth or hiding something…Are you a Warg…"
He looks down, "Did Osha tell you?"
"Yes she did…There have been many accounts of Wargs from different sources in the North…and I am well familiar with it…But I have never seen evidence of it…How do you do it?"
He hunches his shoulders, "Its hard to explain…It started after I awoke from my deep sleep…As I slept I saw a three eyed Raven…It talked to me and told me I could fly one day, but that I would need to open my third eye…"
"And what of Jojen? Osha told me to weary of him and to keep you away from him…"
"You can't do that! Jojen is my friend…His father is a loyal banner to our House and my father's friend…"
"I know, but from now on I want to know what you and Jojen talk about…"
"My destiny, my dreams, how to control being a warg…" Bran doesn't give Maester Luwin full details, but just enough to satisfy his curiosity. When Lady Catelyn returns with Sansa, Arya, and Arya's dancing master who turns out to be her sword master Bran asks Maester Luwin not to say anything to his mother. He agrees on the condition that Bran will talk to his mother himself.
A month after his mother and sisters returned home bad news arrives from the Capitol. Robb summons the banners of House Stark then he and his mother leave with a huge army for Riverrun. To avoid Maester Luwin and Osha, Jojen started visiting Bran at night. "Now is the time Bran Stark…We must go…"
He is conflicted, part of him wanted to know his destiny and become the three eyed Raven, but at the same time Bran is afraid. Leaving would cause a lot of pain to his family. "I must think about it…"
"Don't think to long…The Long night is coming…The Prince will need your help…"
"What Prince?" For the next three days Bran considers making the trip without his family's consent or knowledge. On the fourth day after his brother and mother left Winterfell he decides to tell Jojen his decision. "Yes I want to go…"
Jojen smiles, "Good…We will wait ten more days before we leave…On the seventh day from today I will gather supplies for the journey…and on the tenth leave while the castle is asleep…"
"People will come looking for me…"
"I know…I have a plan for that as well…"
Bran is both excited and afraid, but as the days pass by his fears begin to lose strength and his excitement grows. On the eighth day Jojen and Meera start preparing to leave. Everyday Meera or Jojen pack food and saddle a horse. They hide them in the goodswood and Bran orders all the servants to stay out of the godswood and places two guards at the door.
The day to leave finally comes. Bran is in his room fully dressed waiting for Jojen and the others. There is a knock and in walks Jojen, Meera, and Hordor. Hordor picks up Bran and they sneak through the castle to the godswood. There are seven horses, four for riding, two pack horses and one Jojen ties Bran's clothes to. The clothes have been worn and have his sent on them for when a hunting party comes looking for them.
Meera had taken the key to the gods-gate days ago. They open the gate and head north. Meera immediately releases the horse dragging Bran's clothes. Then they ride off towards the North. They travel through the wolf's wood staying off the road. All night they ride and stop at sunrise to eat dried meat, boiled eggs, bread, and cheese. When they are done eating they continue on.
"Perhaps we should sleep during the day and ride at night…A camp fire will attract attention…" Meera says.
"Right first we must find a place to hide…" Jojen replies. Suddenly a Raven squawks from a tree branch. "Its him…" Jojen says.
"Who?" Bran asks.
"The three eyed Raven…He is controlling the Raven…We should follow it…"
"Bran! Bran!" The Raven squawks.
"It just called my name…"
The Raven leads them to a large tree with a dug out hole in the ground at the roots. There is a bear and its cubs, but the Raven enters the tree cave. Summer growls at the bear, but Bran enters his mind and calms the Direwolf. "Sleep!" The Raven says. Meera hides the horses and soon everyone is fast asleep. They sleep until midday, then Meera prepares them some food.
As the sun sets they emerge from the bear cave beneath the tree and off they go. "I can't imagine the worry we must be putting Maester Aemon through…" Bran says as they ride.
"You cannot allow anyone to keep you from your destiny…"
"What about your father…Does he know what the two of you are doing?"
"He does…I have been preparing for this all my life…The blood of the First Men and the children flow through our veins…In the South that blood has been tainted by the blood of the Andels…"
By sunrise the next day they stop at an abandoned watch tower to camp. "How far do you think we have gone?" Bran asks looking at Meera. They stop every four hours to rest the horses.
"At the pace we are going…I'd say about fifty miles or more…"
On the ninth day they reach Long Lake and travel along the shore on the west side of the lake. During the day they spot a Raven flying overhead heading Northeast. Bran enters the Raven's mind, "Yes he is heading to Last Hearth…Maester Luwin must have sent Ravens to all the castles of the North to be on the lookout for us…"
"Past the Lake is the Gift…We must cross the Last River…Then we head for Queen's Gate Castle…Cross the wall through there…" Meera says.
On and on they go traveling at Night to avoid camp fires and making a camp fire. The farther North they go the colder it gets. By the time they reach the river they have run out of food. Bran had insisted on bringing a fishing pole so Jojen fishes, while Meera goes hunting. Jojen manages to catch three large fish. He gives one to Summer and starts cooking the other two.
Eventually Meera returns with a small deer. She guts and cleans the dear, salts the meat and puts some of it away. "We are too exposed…" Jojen says.
Bran spots another bird in the air and after several tries he manages to Warg into the bird. He flies off heading east. He spots some riders with the sigil of House Umber heading southwest towards Long Lake. "What did you see?" Jojen asks.
"Umber Men riding towards Long Lake…"
"Rest…We will move as soon as the sun sets…" Meera says.
Soon they reach the Gift and turn towards Queen's Gate castle. Like most castles on the wall it is completely abandoned. The Raven lands by the Horse Gate. Hordor is able to force it open and they spend the day indoors. "We will rest here for two days before moving on…"
After two days they search for a way through the wall and after five days they find a way through the wall. A small passageway discovered after Jojen has a vision of it. They turn west and head for the heart tree near the wall. "This way!" The Raven squawks.
After passing through the wall Brandon's small group returns to normal sleeping and travel habits. It takes two days to adjust to traveling by day and camping by night. Using Summer Bran scouts the path when they stop to camp. Through Summer he comes upon some familiar smells. Compelled by instinct Summer comes upon a large keep. There are men of the Night's Watch and women. He wonders through the trees on the edge of the Keep and falls into a pit.
Bran returns to his body, "Summer fell into a pit trap…There is a Keep nearby…We have to save him…"
"We cannot risk it…" Meera says.
"Summer is my friend…" Bran pleads.
"Fine you two stay here…Hordor and I will go…"
"Hordor!"
"Hordor go with Meera and do as she says…"
So Bran and Jojen wait alone in the dark. Suddenly a cold chill fills the air. "We are not alone…" Jojen says.
Then they hear men scream out and the unearthly chilling shrill of an inhuman cry. "Hello!" Bran says looking towards a figure slowly walking towards him and Jojen.
"White Walker…" Jojen says staring in disbelief.
Suddenly the White Walker bursts into blue flame. Others appear along with a Walker. It wears dark armor of some kind and it seems to be made of Ice. The Walker throws an ice dagger at Bran, but Jojen dives in front of it. "No!" He screams as a spear strikes the creature, it howls and shatters into mist and vapor. "Meera…"
Meera is not alone, a man on a black Horse is with her along with Summer and Hordor. "Jojen!" She runs up to him and yanks the dagger of ice out of his chest. "Jojen no!"
He smiles at Meera, "Don't weep for me…We always knew this would happen…"
"Come with us…"
"Who are you?" Bran asks as Hordor places him on his horse.
"In life I was known as the Half Hand…You may call me Cold Hands…"
They ride off into the Night, "What happened?" Bran asks.
"I was captured by the men of the Night's Watch…I think they are mutineers…Anyway I would have been raped if not for Cold Hands…"
"We are in your debt…" Bran says.
"No you are not…I serve the three eyed Raven…It was he who sent me to guide you to him…"
They burn Jojen's body and leave. After a month of travel they come upon the cave of the three eyed Raven. "Welcome Brandon Stark…" The man is merged into the tree's roots, they are becoming apart of him. "You have learned much, but here is more you must learn…I can teach you if you let me…"
"I want to learn…Teach me!"
The next day Bran's lessons begin. His mind is taken into the past. Bran witnesses the long night and the war against the Night King. Then he is shown the construction of the wall by Bran the builder. Bran is amazed that the giants help build the wall, the Free Folk refuse to live as a knee bender so they head beyond the wall.
"The wall was not built to keep out the Free Folk!" Bran says in excitement after they awaken."
"No it was built to keep the White Walkers at bay…Now rest…You will need your strength…" Everyday Bran learns something new about being the three eyed Raven.
"Will I become a part of the tree like you?"
"It is a choice I made long ago…You do not have to make the same choice…The heart trees amplify your power…Though you may merge with any tree…"
Bran and the Raven stand side by side at the Tourney of Harrenhal. He sees his aunt Lyanna, Princess Rhaella, and Prince Rhaegar. "They seem like good friends…"
"Yes they are…"
Bran looks at the Raven, "But father always said…Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna…"
The Raven looks at Bran, "Did he? Watch and learn the truth…" Bran learns the truth and many other things.