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Tyrion's hand gripped his brothers tightly.
Jaime let out a long sigh.
"I'm fine."
"If you need, you can go back to your chambers and thrash the place. They will magically fix it all for you so you can do it as much as you like."
Jaime snorted.
"Noted."
Jaime did not get up to go vent his anger.
Nor did Tyrion let go of his hand.
[YGRITTE and TORMUND lead a group of wildlings with weapons drawn. Other wildings stand above the crevice where they advance. Some Thenns approach, led by the menacing STYR.]
"Thenns. I fucking hate Thenns."
"Why does he hate the Thenns?" Bran asked Brynden, the only person who seemed to have any idea about what's Beyond The Wall
"Do not confuse the Thenns with other free folk" Jon began. "The Thenns have their lords and laws. They mine tin and copper for bronze and forge their arms and armour instead of stealing them. They are proud folks, and brave. They consider themselves the last of the First Men, speak mostly in the Old Tongue but are able to speak in the common one as well. The other clans consider the Thenns more sophisticated and closer to the people South of The Wall."
"And they hate the people from the South of The Wall" Bran nodded. "I understand."
Jon looked like he wanted to say more, but decided not to in the end, instead just smiling.
"Mance sent you?"
[STYR grunts, the Thenn party continues to walk through]
"How did you find us?"
[STYR nods back at a THENN WARG, who releases a bird for reconnaissance.]
"I wanna be able to do that" Arya muttered under her breath. It would be cool to be able to fly.
"You came from the south, not the north."
"Took a detour. Got some supper from a village down that way."
[A Thenn drops a heavy bag from his shoulder to the floor of the crevice.]
Ned looked disgruntled at the bag. How many had they killed to get that food? How had they even crossed over? Had they climbed the wall as well? It was a worry he'd need to tackle soon rather than late.
"Why does the meat down here taste so much better than it does on our side of the Wall? Maybe everything's just better fed down here. Fat and lazy. Easier for us, hmm?"
[STYR pats TORMUND on the shoulder as he walks past. TORMUND Follows, with YGRITTE further behind.]
"You didn't see us coming? Lost your warg? And that baby crow you had with you, lost him too?"
"I'll answer to Mance. I won't answer to you."
"She yours?"
"Sophisticated my ass" Yara snorted. But then again, men down South of The Wall were no different in their treatment to other women. She'd know, she'd broken jaws and noses because of it.
[YGRITTE notches an arrow and places it directly on STYR's throat.]
"Do you think she's over you betraying her?" Arya asked.
Jon shook his head.
[Two of his Thenn companions draw their swords. STYR stares YGRITTE down.]
"Too scrawny. Not like those crows at Castle Black."
"Must be a pillow biter if that's how he thinks" Robert snorted. Thin or thick, all women had things they were good at in bed. He was an expert in that matter.
[STYR turns his attention to TORMUND. YGRITTE lowers her bow a TORMUND's command. The other Thenns continue to work at the Fire.]
"Think of them stuck in their larders stuffing their faces with ham and blood sausage and stew, getting nice and fat and marbled. I know we've had our differences, Tormund, but just one time before you die, you really ought to try crow."
[STYR kneels before the fire, where the other Thenns have skewered a human arm on the spit roasting in the fire.]
"They are cannibals" Jon revealed with an amused smile, seeing all the blanched faces.
The hall had grown silent and uneasy seeing the arm roasting in the fire. All the comments that Thenn man made... none of it was sexual. Stomachs heaved and people felt sick.
Ned especially. How was he going to welcome these monsters South of The Wall?
[CASTLE BLACK, JON'S QUARTERS]
[Jon is dressing in pain. SAM stands behind him.]
"You made it back" Lyanna sighed in relief. Her son was safe. But for how long... She shook the thought away. She'll get there when this vision gets there.
"Last time I saw him, he was in the courtyard at Winterfell. He said, Next time I see you, you'll be all in black."
Jon's eyes stayed calm. As he knew that the next things to come out of his mouth would be too personal for the past Jon but not him.
"I was jealous of Robb my whole life."
"The way my father looked at him, I wanted that. He was better than me at everything... fighting and hunting and riding and girls. Gods, the girls loved him. I wanted to hate him, but I never could."
"You're better with a sword than me when you stop holding yourself back" Robb placed a hand on Jon's shoulder. "And you're a stronger swimmer than I am. And gods the women swoon for you, if only you'd notice that."
"Robb-"
"You are my brother and nothing will change that" Robb told him viciously, "your place is in Winterfell like the rest of us. And you are no less a Stark than my siblings or me. Understood?"
Robb wouldn't understand, Jon knew. So he just smiled and nodded. "Don't worry my feeling and the feeling of that Jon are a little different"
Ned watched his nephew with a deep frown. He had tried his best to be there for him and support him in everything. Yet the boy still felt like this... had he failed him? Had Ned been so consumed with keeping him alive that he'd ignored more than he knew? He'd let Catelyn continue her treatment because it would help hide Jon better... but had Ned thought how it would affect Jon?
Ned was keenly aware now of his shortcomings as a guardian, to Jon and perhaps to his other children as well.
Lyanna just held onto his brothers hand tightly. This was her fault. If she had not run off with Rhaegar and forced the man to declare their marriage, so many things could have been different. The most prominent difference would have been that Jon would have grown up properly loved and cared for, not just alive. This was her fault.
"Sometimes I want to hate you."
[JON turns in surprise.]
"Well, you're better than me at everything. Except reading."
Jon snorted and shook his head. Sam got him there..
"They're... they're ready for you."
"Oh, right, you need to tell the rest what the fuck happened" Brandon the Elder clicked his tongue. This was going to be fun.