The Mountains
Jon Snow
Jojen Reed falls to the ground, laughter echoes in Jon's ears, and he wonders just briefly if he has made the right decision. This could have consequences, he has just killed the heir to Greywater Watch, one of his brother's loyalist bannermen. Deep down he knows that it was the right choice, there was something deeply wrong with Jojen Reed, and from looking at Bran he knows his brother feels the same, and yet, and yet there is a part of him that is worrying now, truly worrying, he does not want things to become harder now, but he fears he might well have made them so.
A scream breaks through the fog in his mind, and he turns to see Meera Reed, the boy's sister running toward them, she screams and then she slaps him. "What have you done? Why have you done this? What did Jojen ever do to you?!"
He stares at her and the pain in his cheek nullified by the anger growing inside of him, how dare this girl question him. "I did what needed to be done. Your brother was a threat and he has been taken care of."
The girl slaps him again and then yells. "He was doing what he thought was the right thing to do. He came and protected your brother when you were off fucking a wildling girl. How dare you say he was a danger."
Jon feels his anger grow even more. "He was trying to take my little brother north of the wall, despite knowing of the dangers that are present there. He was willing to risk Bran's safety for some stupid vision. I will not accept that his death was anything but right."
The girl goes to slap him once more, but this time he grabs her hand and tightens his grip, fire blazing inside of him. "You are a coward Jon Snow, you are not the man I thought you would be, that Jojen thought you would be. You are nothing. You know nothing."
"Do not think to talk to me like you know me girl. I do not know you, and you do not know me. That is that." he pauses and then looks at his great-grandmother who throughout all of this has remained standing there looking at him with deep interest. "Now what more needs to be done."
"You are going to seek advice from this hag?" Meera Reed questions. "You truly are dumber than I thought. Then again, if you are anything like your brother then that is no surprise."
Jon looks at her, his anger growing more and fiercer as time goes on. And what exactly do you mean by that frog eater?"
"She means that because I am your great-grandmother you are giving me undue influence. She fears that her brother has died in vain, when in reality her brother died a long time ago." his great-grandmother replies.
"What are you talking about? Do not speak in riddles to me." Jon growls.
"I mean that when they were in that cave, they had the solution of the children, and that was when her brother died. She knows that, and yet she never accepts it." the woman replies.
"Solution? What solution?" Jon asks.
His brother gasps then, and he turns to look at him. Bran has gone white, white as the snow that covers the ground. "The paste, the paste, he was in the paste."
"You lie!" Meera screams. "How could he be in the paste, there was nothing in that paste, otherwise we would never have been able to leave the cave."
"You mean you knew I was never supposed to leave that cave?" Bran asks. "How could you let me go then?"
"Jojen thought it needed to be done." Meera replies her voice barely above a whisper.
"What are you both speaking about?" Jon snaps.
Reed looks away from him, but Bran replies, his voice soft. "Before we came to the mountains we stayed in a cave where there were children, actual children of the forest, and they made me have a paste, it tasted foul and Jojen continued to grow weak. And well, suddenly his recovery happened, and I did not think it was normal."
As the realisation of what his brother is implying hits him, Jon feels revulsion growing within him. He looks at his great-grandmother and asks. "Why? Why would they do that? And who was this person pretending to be Jojen then?"
Arya Flint gives him a sad smile and says. "There was some of Jojen left inside the body, but there was more of the last greenseer there, the man has become desperate, desperate to leave his cage. Ever since he learned the truth of the children."
"Truth?" Jon asks. "What truth?"
"They are not the heroes of legend, or at least those that are left are not. Driven into the woods and the caves of the dark, by your ancestors they came to despise humanity, and now, well now they work to bring us down." his great-grandmother replies.
"That is a lie." Meera says. "It has to be."
"It is not, but that is neither here nor there. You cannot do anything without a Stark in Winterfell. Move for Winterfell and be done with this nonsense once and for all." his great-grandmother says.
"What good will that do?" Jon asks. "I am not its lord, and I am not the heir. Bran and Rickon are the rightful rulers of Winterfell, and I cannot find Rickon."
His great-grandmother places a hand on his face, her hand is cold to feel. "Your brother is coming home with an army of merman, it is time for Brandon to return home as well. All will become clearer with time, I promise."
Jon stares at his great-grandmother and then asks. "What of men? I will not enter Winterfell without men."
"I thought you would say that, and so I asked my nephew to bring the men of the mountains." His great-grandmother replies and then she claps her hands and the fog disappears and there standing and waiting are the men of the clans, all ready for battle. "Go home Jon, and take back what was taken from us."
3rd Month of 300 A.C. Meereen
Queen Daenaerys I Targaryen
The dust settled and then there was darkness, in that darkness Dany felt all sorts of horrible things. Grief, Daario was dead, her lover was gone, but she wondered if he had ever truly been hers. Things were becoming clearer to her now, there was much and more that she had missed, but she knew she had to bring things back into perspective and work. She coughs and then realises that Ser Barristan is dead, as is the man who killed him. The wings move and the light comes back, the krakens are on their knees before her, looking terrified. Dany stands shakily and then asks. "Who is in command?"
There is a moment's silence and then. "I am Your Grace."
"And who are you?" she asks.
"I am Dagon Codd Your Grace." the man responds.
"And tell me Dagon, why should I not kill you? You have come here to cause more chaos undoubtedly, and your leader whoever he was, no doubt thought to control me. So tell me, why you should not die as well." Daenaerys asks.
The man looks surprised, but replies. "Because I control the ships and because if you wish to go home, we are your surest way of doing that."
Daenaerys looks at the man then and replies. "How many ships do you have?"
"Some sixty war ships in total Your Grace, and some fifty more that were captured on our journey here." Codd responds.
Dany considers this and then replies. "Very well, we shall leave by night fall."
"Night fall Your Grace?" Codd all but stutters.
"Yes, I am done with Meereen, it is time for me to return home. I shall see you at the city harbour within the hour. Now leave me." Dany replies.
The man bows and leaves, taking the Ironborn with him, though one figure remains, a figure with skin as black as pitch, a giant. "I told everyone to leave. Who are you?"
"I am Moqorro Your Highness, and I have come to serve you." the man responds.
Dany looks at him and then something clicks inside her head. "You are one of those red priests are you not? One of them gave myself and my brother shelter when we travelled Essos many years ago. Why have you come?"
The man smiles, and something about him makes Dany wonder about him, he seems familiar and soon enough she is given her answer. "I was the one who saw to it that your brother and you were taken care of during your voyages Your Grace. You have been very important to me for many years now, and I have come to pledge myself to you."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Dany asks.
"Through showing you a demonstration of my powers Your Grace. You cannot leave Meereen behind, the harpy will come for you no matter where you are. You must have it burned down, only death can bring an end to this trouble." Moqorro replies.
Dany looks at the man and then noticing a horn on the floor she picks it up and holds it up for him to look at. "What is this?"
"A dragon horn Your Grace, a tool by which anyone not of the dragon blood could try to control your dragons." Moqorro replies.
"Burn it." Dany states.
The man merely nods and takes the horn from Dany, before saying a few words and making the horn disappear into ash. Somewhere, Dany swears she hears a roar, but she puts it from her mind and then turns to look at the man. "I want you at the harbour in one hour. When that hour comes, you shall destroy Meereen." The man bows and then leaves, leaving Dany to stand in the Pyramid her dragons there with her. She wonders where Quentyn Martell and that silver haired boy have gone, but she finds she does not care. One way or another she will find them and they will pay for their crimes against her. She runs her hand over her children's scales, and then making a decision walks out of the pyramid, knowing her children will follow her.
She stands at the top of the pyramid, looking down at the city below, her children are hungry for food, and she knows that they will not have a true chance to feed when they leave here, and so she merely thinks for a moment and then whispers. "Go, feed. Eat and enjoy the last of the people of Meereen." Her dragons roar and then the fire begins. She listens as the city below screams as the flames begin to grow, and she knows she will despise herself for this later, but now, now she wants only to return home. Later much later she mounts Drogon and flies to the harbour where she finds the Ironborn and Moqorro waiting for her. She dismounts and asks the man Codd. "Are all here?"
"Yes Your Grace." the man responds.
"Good. Tell them to board their ships." Dany responds before she turns to Moqorro and says curtly. "Do it now."
Dany watches as the man begins to speak, fire comes flowing through his hands, adding to the fire that her children created. She watches as the fire settles and then spreads, she watches it catch, and a feeling of power overcomes her. She has done what they wanted her not to do, and now the whole city shall die. She mounts Drogon and calls out. "We sail for King's Landing, let us take the city of my ancestors. Let them quake with fear, for I have come home." There is a general cheer, and then she watches the men board the ships before spurring Drogon up into the air. Below her Meereen burns, and she feels alive. For the first time in a long, long time, she feels alive, as they fly she feels truly whole, and then she hears a roar and finds another before her, his eyes purple and his hair violet.
Riverlands
Lord Robb Stark
It was taking some time, he knew, but there were a few things that he needed to take care of first, the Brotherhood Without Banners were causing some issues, and Robb had a feeling he knew just who it was that was behind it. As he thought of it, he did feel quite smug, he had managed to out play Tywin Lannister, oh yes, the man thought the brotherhood were doing this of their own free will, and yet, and yet they were not. He had always known what well might have happened when the wedding happened, and so he had prepared for it.
"Tell me, what you know of the leader of the brotherhood?" he asks his uncle Edmure.
His uncle looks at him a moment and then replies. "Not much truth be told, though I know that they have continued persecuting Freys as well as Lannister soldiers, and perhaps even some rivermen who were so ready to bend to the Lannisters."
Robb nods. "Good, that is very good."
"How is that good? Surely, the fact that they continue to cause issue is something of a danger to us all? It would not make sense for them to continue existing, not now that you have bent the knee." his uncle replies.
"And that is why we are going to finish this once and for all." Robb replies, seeing his uncle's confusion he merely says. "Trust me, when I say that you will understand soon enough." He dismounts alongside his uncle and they walk the distance to where the brotherhood are said to be. When they arrive at the clearing he merely stares ahead, at the bodies affixed to the trees. "We have come, as asked. Now let me see you." he calls out.
There is a moment's silence and then the figure appears followed by one or two guards, as he asked. The figure walks slowly with a bit of a limp, and then they stop before him. "You have come alone?" the figure asks.
"With Edmure and no one else." Robb says. "Is she here?"
The figure shakes their head. "No, she left. She left with the hound?"
"Where?" Robb asks.
"To see your sister in King's Landing." the figure replies.
Robb nods. "Very well then, remove your hood mother."
The figure lowers her hood, and Robb feels his heart ache. His mother's lovely face is scared, but other than that she is alive and well. They look at one another a moment and then hug. "I have missed you son."
"And I you." Robb responds.
"What?" Edmure gasps breaking the moment. "How….how is this possible?"
Robb breaks the hug and then turns to look at his uncle. "It was the plan the whole time. Sit down uncle, this might take some time." His uncle stares at mother for some time, but sits down all the same. Robb takes a deep breath and then says. "After I broke my promise to wed a Frey girl, I suspected something might happen, Walder Frey was too much of a proud man to sense anything else but betrayal, and so he plotted his own. I came to learn of it from Walder Rivers when they came to discuss your marriage, and we began planning our own revenge. Walder Frey was offered something, and in exchange the wedding would change some. But for others to think that it was genuine sacrifices had to be made." At this he pauses and his mother takes up the tale.
"One of those sacrifices was me. I had to be dead for a time, they had to wound me enough that when I came too, I would not be too disoriented and would not forget what I needed to do. I apologise for the chaos in the riverlands brother, but it needed to be done. In order for the king to trust Robb when he revealed himself, there needed to be reason for Robb to work from the shadows. I was that reason. The brotherhood died a long time ago the moment Harwin left, the brotherhood died." mother says.
"But… but why did you not come forward after he had revealed himself?" Edmure asks.
"Because, it was not the right time. Now that the brotherhood has been finally dealt with, I might return home, and be a mother once more." mother replies.
At this Robb looks at his mother and asks. "Where is Arya mother?"
His mother looks at him concerned but merely says. "She is sleeping Robb."
Robb merely nods. "You will need to ride for Seagard soon and take a ship to Barrowton. The Freys will be dead and gone by the time you arrive at Seagard." he pauses a moment and then says. "Furthermore, Bran and Rickon are alive mother. They are coming home as well."
His mother looks at him stunned, and her voice is choked when she asks. "You are certain?"
"Most definitely, I had a letter from Lord Wyman himself, and Rickon wrote something to me." Robb responds, handing his mother a letter, and smiling as she reads it. She hugs him once more, and then when they break apart, he speaks. "I must go, but I shall see you in Winterfell mother." He stops and then looks at the figure that has come behind his mother. "You know what do I trust uncle?" The figure merely nods. Robb turns round, stops and looks at his mother. "Make sure none of the others leave here alive mother."
"Have no fear sweetling, they will not live to see another day." his mother replies. Robb stops and kisses his mother's cheek and then walks back to his horse and mounts it, before spurring it on. His uncle rides at his side, they ride in silence for a long time and then he speaks. "It had to be done, and I make no apologies for it."
"How many more secrets do you have Robb?" his uncle asks.
"You have no idea. I am a wolf, and my pack's secrets are mine now." Robb responds.