The North, 300 AC
Jon
.
Sansa embraced him fiercely as she entered his tent, with a measure of affection she had never shown him in Winterfell. Jon looked at her and saw not a girl, but a woman grown. Gone was the maiden who loved the stories of gallant knights and teased Arya for her antics. Now, her eyes spoke of cruelty and sadness which he had seen in many a man during his time at the Wall. They had found her near the wildling camp, travelling with the largest woman Jon had ever laid eyes on- Brienne of Tarth, and a meek boy named Podrick.
"I never thought I would see you again!" Sansa sobbed, still not letting go of him. "I never thought...!"
Jon wanted to comfort the last of his blood, but no words came to his mouth. Finally, he spoke. "No one can hurt you now, sweet sister. I will protect you."
Sansa let out a smile at that. "I know."
In the distance, they could still hear the wailings of the Wall, as it kept crumbling piece by piece. He did not know why, but he knew what would happen once it all came down. The Others could only be killed by fire, dragonglass and, from what he learnt with his battle with the white walker, Valyrian steel. They had none of the three in abundance, and it was only a matter of time before the realms of men fell.
The realms I swore to protect with my life. My life…
He did not remember much of what transpired when he was stabbed by those he called his brothers. Alliser Thorne had no love for him, but even Jon never thought the man would dishonor himself with that act. Even Olly. He was grooming the boy for command, to teach him to be better, but his hatred for the Free Folk was greater. But Jon remembered what he saw after that. As clear as the day. He remembered silver hair and violet eyes, a girl conquering a city with dragons, and her soldiers wielding fire in their strange weapons. Go to her, a voice had said, coming from the east. That was when he woke up, naked as the day he was born, with the Free Folk and his black brothers staring at him as though he were a god.
I am not a god, just a bastard.
There was no doubt in his mind that the girl in his vision was Daenerys Targaryen. Tidings were late to arrive at the Wall, but the soldiers of Stannis Baratheon often talked of the last Targaryen who had brought back dragons and practiced witchcraft. What he saw did not resemble magic, but weapons of fire.
"Why is the Wall breaking apart?" Sansa asked, and he was brought out of his thoughts.
"I do not know, but we cannot stay here any longer." he told his sister. "We need to ride for Eastwatch."
"Eastwatch? Why?"
"There are some ships there, which can take us away, all of us."
"But why?"
"The Others are coming, my lady." Davos Seaworth said. From the looks he received, the newcomers did not believe him.
"Surely you jest, Ser?" said Brienne.
"Davos Seaworth, my lady." The Onion Knight replied. "Sworn to King Stannis Baratheon. Was sworn. Now I serve his daughter, Princess Shireen."
The woman showed anger at the mention of his name but did not say anything. Davos continued. "Every man and woman in this camp will attest to that, not just me. Who else but the Others can do that to the Wall? They are coming, and it would be best if we are as far away from them as possible."
"But we cannot leave. Jon, our family."
"Our family is dead!" Jon snapped. He had grieved for his father and Robb. He had grieved for Bran and Rickon. But most of all, he had grieved for Arya. It was no secret that he loved her the most, and now she was gone. At least their last memory together had been a happy one.
"They are not dead Jon." Sansa. "Theon, he told me…"
"That turncloak." he sneered. "Is he still alive?"
"He saved me. He rescued me from Winterfell."
"Where is he now?"
"He parted ways with us. But Jon, he told me Bran and Rickon are alive. Theon did not kill them."
"What!" Jon could not believe his ears. His brothers, alive?
"My lord, your sister Arya Stark is alive as well." Brienne added. "I saw her myself, in good health. To my shame, I could not rescue her."
"Arya?" his beloved sister, still alive? "Where are they now?"
"That we do not know." said Brienne.
Jon found himself at a crossroads again. What should he do? Try to save a thousand people or go and look for his lost kin? Three children, alone in the world with no means to survive. They had escaped death once, but would fortune favor them again and again? What if they are already dead, by some other means? On the other hand, there were the Free Folk he rescued, many children among them.
"I am sorry, Sansa. It is not an easy decision to make, but Arya, Bran and Rickon might already be dead by now." he finally said. "We could not save them, but we could live for them. When the Others come, everyone south of the Wall will be dead. We need to leave. Do you trust my word?"
"I…do." Sansa said, though Jon felt that she did not like his decision. He went out of the tent and called for Edd.
"Have you sent the ravens?"
"We could only bring a few with us." Edd told him. "Only for some houses in the North. Last Hearth, Bear Island, White Harbor, Greywater Watch and the like, those that send the most recruits. One for King's Landing."
"Not Winterfell?"
"We are harbouring the Bolton's wife." Edd reminded him. "Best keep them at a distance."
Jon did not like it, but he had no choice. "How much food do we have?" he asked.
"Not much, but I bet we can find some farmers from the Gift. They will have it."
"Send a few men to gather them. We need to take them with us." Those peasants will have no love for the freefolk, and it would be a tremendous task to make everyone work together.
After three days, the black brothers returned with more than a hundred farmers and food supplies. They needed no persuasion, as the Wall and its fate was in plain sight to everyone. In their group were the last of the freefolk, a thousand saved from Hardhome, along with two giants. The number had been a hundred thousand just a few moons back, and if the lords did not heed the warning of the ravens, the same fate would befall everyone in the Seven Kingdoms.
It was not how it was supposed to be.
Sansa stayed close to him, so did Brienne of Tarth and her squire. When they rested their horses, she would talk to him of their time in Winterfell, days that seemed so far away now. The looming danger of the Others remained, but that would not stop them from reaching their destination.
"Is there a heaven, Ser Jon?" Princess Shireen asked him. She would stay with Ser Davos most of the time. By the laws of gods and men, she should have been the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but Jon only saw a girl who was not ready for the burden.
"Pardon, my lady?" he said
"You died." she said meekly. "I saw Lady Melisandre bring you back to life. What did you see?"
"I saw dragons."
"Dragons? I saw them once in a dream. Were they coming to eat you?"
"No. But they will save us. That is what I saw." It would be cruel to burden her with the threats they faced.
On the sixth day, they finally reached Eastwatch. The destruction of the Wall had started at Castle Black and kept moving towards the rest of it. Similar cracks had started to appear in Eastwatch, and the brothers had abandoned the collapsing keep and made camp outside. The Baratheon ships were still there, and now their work could begin.
"Lord Commander." greeted a black brother. "The Wall started crumbling this morning. Do you…?"
"I do not know why, but I know what must be done." Jon cut him off. "Have you sent ravens to every castle?"
"We have. All of our ravens."
"Good. Any message from the Shadow Tower?"
"I am afraid not."
He had no choice. "Gather everyone and board the ships. We have to leave."
"We cannot abandon our posts!" the man protested.
"Look at the castle!" Jon yelled, pointing at the remains of Eastwatch. The staircase to the top was gone and the keep would soon follow, with the huge chunks falling. "There will be no posts left when the Others come. We have nothing to fight them with. The Night's Watch has been disbanded, so board the ships or stay here to die!"
There was no room left for argument. Shireen Baratheon rallied the ship captains with the help of Ser Davos, and more than a thousand people boarded the ships. Jon knew that they could not take the chance of stopping at any port in Westeros. The wildlings would be hunted by the northmen, and the Baratheon ships would be destroyed by the warring southron kingdoms. The only safe destination was Essos. He thought of everyone they would leave behind, which included his kin and Sam, who must be on his way to Oldtown with Maester Aemon. The ships left Eastwatch, bound for the nearest free city.
.
The Lands of Always Winter, 300 AC
Bran
.
"Well, well, well, the northern barbarian shows his face again." said Robert Baratheon. He was in the training yard, a wooden sword in hand. He looked nothing like the fat man Bran had seen in Winterfell. He was a boy now, a bit tall for his age, but not fat at all.
"Up for a spar, wolf boy?" he asked. Turning around, Bran could see his father- a boy as well. He reminded him of Arya and Jon, with his brown hair. Though he was being taunted, his father showed no sign of fear or anger.
"Lord Arryn will not like it." Eddard Stark replied. Robert only laughed, and then moved forward to attack him.
"It is not honorable."
"Then pick up the sword and fight, barbarian."
Father picked it up after much thought, and then the spar began. Bran wanted to see more, but the vision became clouded, and he was back in the cave.
.
"Better. But not enough. Try again." said Brynden. Bran had been inside the cave for a long time, learning to see everything, as the three eyed raven called it. Bran touched the weirwood again.
.
"Say Ned, what can you tell me about your sister, Lyanna?" Robert asked his father. They were both older now, with muscular bodies and full-grown beards. In their hands were mugs of ale, half empty.
"She has the wolfsblood." Eddard Stark answered. "My lord father would never allow it to grow, but Bran cannot deny her anything. He has been teaching her how to fight, and how to joust. She can ride better than her brothers and on one occasion I even saw her kill a dear on a hunt."
Robert had the look of wonder on his face. "Damn it, why did you not tell me of this before?" he exclaimed. "Can I meet her? With your family's permission, that is."
His father smiled. "That can be arranged." The vision was clouded again.
.
"Why can I not see more?" he asked the three eyed raven.
"You only want to see your father again. You are too attached to his memory. Feelings cloud your visions."
"But what else is there to see?" he said. With all that had happened to him, could he not even get a moment of peace with his family?
"Everything else. Try again."
This time, Bran touched the tree and let it guide him. He did not think of his family, of Meera or Jojen, of Hodor or Summer or anyone else he knew. It led to something strange.
.
"ARTHUR!" yelled a man, a leather belt in his hand. "You've done messed up, boy." he started hitting a small boy, again and again until he bled. Bran felt pain as the boy called Arthur was hit, and soon his vision ended again.
.
"Interesting." Brynden said. "I see you have discovered something."
"Who was that boy?" Bran asked.
"There is only one way to find out." On instinct, Bran touched the tree.
.
"So, this is Saint Denis?" a man asked a woman. He had blond hair, but unlike the Lannisters, his hair had a little shade of brown.
"Not impressed, Arthur?" the woman replied. Was it the same man in his vision? Arthur?
"All cities look the same to me."
As he looked away from the couple, Bran could not believe what he saw. The city they were in was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It had no walls, only a sign that says Welcome. The buildings are well-built, colorful and placed much closer to each other than the ones in Wintertown. As Arthur and the woman rode through the city, Bran found himself standing on the paved roads. People were driving small horse carriages that were much faster, there were large boards on many buildings with paintings and names, and between the roads there was a strange path with two metal beams. What could it be for?
Suddenly, he heard a sound like a horn and looked behind him. The sound came from a very large metal carriage that ran without any horse! It sped past him and stopped in the distance, where people boarded it. Out of curiosity, Bran boarded with them. There were seats inside which looked comfortable. With him, he noticed people of all kinds of colors. There was a black skinned woman, a brown skinned man with a braid in his hair, and men with ridiculous mustaches. They were all wearing robes that looked very different. The carriage went to many places, showing them many sights and soon stopped near a building. Bran saw Arthur nearby and got out.
"Miss Eliza, I assume you're here to start work again?" a man came out of the building and addressed the woman.
"Why yes, Mr. Brown."
"Good. Go inside then. The tables aren't gonna wait themselves." he said and went back. Such a rude man.
As Eliza did her chores, Arthur sat in the corner looking at her. It was a tavern, Bran realised. Suddenly, a bard started playing music on a strange table. The men and women danced, with Arthur and Eliza joining in. The song went on, and in the end, they kissed. They looked at each other the way his father looked at his mother.
The vision was clouded again, but to his surprise, Bran did not find himself in the cave. This time, he was with Arthur again. He had a beard now, and he was heading towards a wood house.
"Eliza! Isaac! Look what I have here!" he opened the door but found no one. "Eliza? Isaac?" he went further inside and there they were. Two corpses, one of the woman and the other of a child. Was it their child?
"No, no, no, no, no." Arthur was losing control of himself. "No, no, no, no, no." he dropped what he was holding and went to the bodies. Then he cried out loud, consumed by grief. He embraced the corpses, getting blood on his clothes. Bran watched the sad sight.
"That is enough." The three eyed raven was behind him. He touched his shoulder and the vision ended.
.
Bran was crying, after what he had witnessed. Why were they killed? They did nothing wrong. "Who were they?"
"Some unfortunate souls, killed for coin." Brynden replied.
"What wonder did I just witness." Bran remembered the city. "What kingdom was that?"
"A place beyond our world. I sensed its presence some time ago, but you have made remarkable progress."
"What do you mean?"
"The gods have a hand in this. That is all I have to say. Now rest."
Bran wanted to see more, but felt the strength leave his body. He laid down on the bed the Children had made for him and tried to sleep. In his mind, there were many questions waiting to be answered.
.