Game of Thrones: A Dance of Ice and Fire

The next morning, Yoriichi awoke early, deciding to hunt again. Whether it was the scarcity of food or encountering other tribes, it was beneficial, knowing his strength he was not worried about a bad outcome happening.

This time he only planned to bring Ygritte along, as two would be easier to manage should anything go wrong. She joined without hesitation, only without her spear, but a new bow slung across her back. 

"You sure about that bow?" he asked, eyeing the weapon.

Ygritte grinned, patting the finely carved wood. "I'm sure as the wind is cold. I practiced all evening till the dark of night while you were talking with your mum and went to sleep. Turns out, I'm good, real good. Almost took the eye off a straw dummy from thirty paces."

Yoriichi raised his eyebrows, impressed. "I never doubted your fierceness, just your patience... Archery needs calmness."

Ygritte's eyes flickered. "I can be calm when I need to. Besides, think of it, now I can protect you better." She teased, leaning slightly closer. "Not that I have to protect you," tuning her voice into a heavy and exaggerated one. "O' the mighty Yoriichi…"

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "If I can't protect myself, it's best for you to run. No sense in us both getting killed."

Her face fell serious for a moment. "I won't run. I'd stay and fight."

He didn't argue, her features softened again. "We'll see who saves who first, Yori."

"Alright, Itte." with a knowing smile he rushed ahead, stunning Ygritte for a moment before she chased after him with her claws.

He enjoyed this quiet banter. There was warmth in moments like these compared to the cold unforgiving wind caressing their cheeks.

Leaving the camp, they trudged on, hours of walking, they scanned the snowfields for any signs of life. Ygritte would occasionally draw back her bowstring, testing its tension. Each time she did, Yoriichi nodded approvingly. With Transparent World activated, he could see the posture that she carried herself with was as natural as if she was born to handle it.

Along the way, they caught no hint of prey, saw no tracks, no animal droppings, and no rustling bushes. The world remained stubbornly silent.

Yoriichi looked towards the sky, the sun was now past noon and starting to set ever so slowly, he was about to tell Ygritte it was time to return.

Suddenly, a distant clash of metal and shouts drifted through the still air. Yoriichi stiffened, meeting his eyes with Ygrittes as hers narrowed, she immediately nocked an arrow, scanning around.

"Fighting?" she murmured. "Behind this hill."

Yoriichi nodded grimly. "Sounds like it. We need to move quietly and see what's happening. If it is harmful to our camp we need to figure it out."

They crept along a ridge of hard-packed snow, each step careful and deliberate. As they reached a vantage point, they peered down into a snowy field mixed with spaced trees about three meters apart, figures clashed and circled one another.

At least thirteen wildlings judging by their rough furs and weapons of bone and bronze, faced off against eight men in black cloaks with leather and iron swords.

Yoriichi's heart sank. The Night's Watch was here, this far out? Are they on patrol? Or scouting out the movements of tribes?

He heard angry shouts and saw corpses on the ground. Eight dead wildlings lay in the white snow, and two crow corpses were just nearby. Both sides had already suffered casualties but now they held a tense standoff, just glaring.

Among the crows, one stood out. Tall, dark-haired past his neck, and a light-shaven beard, wearing layered black wool and leather. His features were calm yet alert as if weighing each heartbeat. This ranger's posture suggested experience and authority.

The wildlings snarled, "You crows have no right here! We're not some caged beasts for you to prod and poke."

One of the crows replied. "We're on an expedition, it's standard protocol. We track movements to ensure you don't attempt something foolish."

A slim wildling spat. "We live free, crow. You don't command us."

The crows tightened their circle. Yoriichi noticed unease in the watchers' posture. Both sides were too drained from the bloodshed to risk another charge.

He couldn't just watch this. Unity meant not letting old hatreds run unchecked, especially if he hoped tribes would join his cause and be able to live beyond the wall.

Yoriichi rose from behind the ridge and stepped forward. "Wait," he called, voice clear but not shouting. Ygritte crouched beside him, the arrow still nocked, eyes on the fighters below. As Yoriichi moved closer, the crows jerked up their bows and swords, startled by his sudden appearance. The wildlings, upon seeing him, looked happy.

"Who is this?" yelped one crow but his shaking showed his nervousness, as he aimed his bow at Yoriichi's chest.

The wildling closest to Yoriichi grinned wickedly. "Boy, you're from the north tribes, yes? Help us finish these black-cloaked bastards!"

Yoriichi shook his head, ignoring the order. "I'm not here to kill anyone."

The wildling who had asked for help narrowed his eyes. "You dare ignore me, kid?" He pointed a crude spear at Yoriichi. "Do as I say. They killed our kin!"

Yoriichi refused to move, his posture calm. The crow who had aimed at him seemed to want to let go of his arrow. Ygritte exhaled softly and released her arrow first, not to kill, but to warn. The shaft hissed through the air and thunked into a tree trunk inches from the crow's head. The man froze, startled beyond measure.

Ygritte's voice rang out, cold and clear. "Next one goes into your eye if you threaten him again."

This chilled everyone except Yoriichi. The crows eyed Ygritte with fear, trembling put down his bow. The wildling who tried to command Yoriichi now watched her with caution. Yoriichi thanked her silently with a glance.

The crow leader refocused on Yoriichi. "You're a strange sight boy. A wooden sword at your hip, and you tell us no more fighting? Are you with these wildlings or not?"

Yoriichi met his gaze. "I am Free Folk, but I want to seek a better way for my people. As for the wooden sword, it's to disable, not to kill."

At these words, the crows snorted or chuckled. One of them, a broad man with a scar on his cheek, laughed openly. "A wooden sword? Why not bring a stick and call it a lance?"

The crows laughed harder, except for the crow leader, who only watched with a curious half-smile. "You say you fight without killing. Have you ever taken a life?"

Yoriichi lowered his eyes a fraction. "No. I have not."

The crow leader raised an eyebrow. "Then you are indeed strange. Someday you might have no choice, boy. The world can be cruel." he looked at the dead around him, implying his words were evident as death had taken place just minutes ago.

Ygritte opened her mouth, wanting to defend Yoriichi's honour. But Yoriichi spoke calmly, "Perhaps. But I will not shed blood needlessly." He turned the subject slightly. "You are the Night's Watch. I've heard stories. You guard the Wall, don't you? You keep us out."

A shadow passed over the leader's face. "We guard the realms of men," he said simply. "We track your tribes to ensure you don't cross south in great numbers. If you move in large hordes, the southern lords might see it as an invasion."

"Aren't we also men?" Yoriichis words silenced the leader, he opened his mouth, but ultimately shut them, his silence speaking louder than any words.

Yoriichi pressed his lips with some grievance. "What if we only seek a safe life? Is there no way Free Folk and Southerners could coexist?"

This earned scornful laughs from both wildlings and crows. One wildling barked, "You speak madness, boy!? Us with the crows? I would kill them in their sleep." Anger is evident in his eyes.

A crow sneered, "You're savages, you can't live under laws, let alone together."

Yoriichi's gaze flicked between them. "You all laugh, but what else can we do?... If we remain scattered, we starve." he said eyeing the wildlings... then shifted his gaze to the crows "If we gather, you see it as a threat. We're trapped."

The crow leader studied Yoriichi closely. "Your thoughts are dangerous child. If a large group of wildlings march south, you'll only provoke fear and bloodshed. The lords beyond the Wall won't ask questions. No, they will just send armies... I can tell you, it's not like any ragtag battle we have with each other."

Yoriichi frowned in thought. "But we cannot just sit back and die. We must try something. Especially with words spoken of the dead arising from the North."

The crow leader seemed to consider this gravely but seemingly drifting past the last words he heard. "You aim at a fragile balance. I cannot make promises, but if I survive to return, I can speak of you and your ideas at Castle Black. Not all crows love killing. Some might listen."

Another crow spat, "Benjen why bother wasting words on a wildling whelp? We should kill him now before he grows into trouble, you heard his thoughts,"

Benjen's face hardened. "He's a child, and he's done nothing to warrant death. If ideas can get someone killed the realm would be way too chaotic. In my presence, I will not allow it."

The crow ignored Benjen's restraint, lunging forward with his blade toward Yoriichi. But before his blade could even come close, Yoriichi's eyes narrowed. He accessed the Transparent World, a heightened state of perception that let him read the crow's every muscle twitch, every breath. He did not draw his sword. He simply stood there, aura calm yet intense. The crow froze mid-stride, trembling. Something in Yoriichi's stance, quiet authority and unimaginable clarity, pinned him in place. The man's blade wavered, and he gasped as though air fled his lungs.

"What sorcery is this?" screamed another crow, backing away. "Poison? You've hexed him!"

Yoriichi shook his head slowly. "He cannot stand his own resolve. He hesitated in the face of my will." He looked to Benjen, steady and calm. "I am Yoriichi Giantsbane. My dream is to lead the Free Folk to safety. Maybe beyond the Wall, maybe not. But to a place where this ceaseless fighting ends."

Benjen nodded, impressed. "You are unusual, Giantsbane. Reminding me of my nephew he thinks too much as well. But strikingly similar, if you weren't a wildling, I would have invited you to meet him. You have courage and a strange strength. But I must return to my duty. We cannot stay here."

Yoriichi raised his eyes to meet Benjens. "I won't stop you."

The wildlings around protested. "You will just let them go? They killed our kin!"

Yoriichi's turned to them seriously. "If we keep fighting, when does it end?" He stepped forward, raising his wooden sword slightly, and stood between the wildlings and the crows. "If you still want to fight, I will be your opponent."

A trio of wildlings tried to rush forward, spurred by either rage or pride being shattered by a boy. Yoriichi moved like a flicker of shadow. He struck with the flat of his wooden blade; with a whack to a knee, crack to a wrist, tap to a temple. The three attackers collapsed, stunned or unconscious but still alive. He had done it so swiftly before even Ygritte blinked, surprising everyone, but more fear spread. The unknown of this child was terrifying to them. This was not a boy, but a monster.

Yoriichi lowered his sword still looking at the wildlings, his back still turned to the crows showing his trust and resolve. "We must break this cycle. Fighting these crows gains nothing. Let them go. Tell your chief, or whoever leads your tribe that we seek allies, not enemies. If you stand with us, we can find a path that doesn't lead to slaughter."

The wildlings glared, furious and frustrated, but the sight of Yoriichi toppling three men without killing them gave them pause.

Benjen signalled his men to depart. Two crows retrieved the bodies of their fallen. They left swiftly, eager to escape this strange boy and his companions. As they vanished south, Yoriichi released a breath.

The wounded wildlings eyed him warily. One spat on the ground, but none dared strike again. "Your tribe seeks allies, you say?"

Yoriichi nodded. "We move south soon. In two weeks, we hope to gather others. Tell your leader to come if he wishes. Bring hunters, spearwives, whoever. We share what we have. It's our only chance. If that doesn't work tell them that the White Walkers are real and are coming."

The wildlings scoffed, still grieving their dead, but some hint of curiosity and fear lingered. Without another word, they dragged their stunned friends away, leaving corpses in the snow. Yoriichi pitied them all, crow and wildling alike. In this harsh land, every life was worn thin by fear.

When the clearing was empty, Ygritte stepped beside Yoriichi. She released a shaky breath. "You helped the crows. Why?"

Yoriichi turned to her. "Killing them wouldn't solve anything. We need to change how we live. If we always answer blood with blood, how are we different from beasts?"

Ygritte frowned, clearly unsettled. "They kill us. They keep us from going south. You think mercy will change that?"

He placed a hand gently on her shoulder. With a soothing smile across his face, "It might not change them all. But maybe it changes some. Maybe, in time, they will remember we showed restraint. Maybe that leads to talking instead of fighting, but Ygritte, I won't blindly put myself in danger, having my back turned to them was because I was confident in myself should anything go wrong, this is both a trick and my resolve."

"Yori I-" Ygritte was interuppted.

A soft rustling drew their attention. A slim figure emerged from behind a ridge of ice, silent as a shadow. He appeared about their age, cloaked in layered pelts, and on his shoulder perched an enormous hawk, nearly twice normal size. This newcomer surveyed them with interest, dark eyes calm. Yoriichi tensed, hand on hilt, this was a person's life energy who was stronger than anyone else he had met. Ygritte raised her bow again, arrow nocked.

The stranger raised empty palms. "No need for hostility. I've watched long enough to know you're not mindless killers." His voice carried a certain amused warmth.

Yoriichi frowned. "Who are you?"

"I am Grisha," the boy said simply. "A wandering skin-changer who has seen many tribes." He inclined his head toward the departed fighters. "I waited until they left to approach. You impressed me, Yoriichi Giantsbane. Your words, your restraint, and your refusal to sink into the same old patterns."

Yoriichi looked at him calmly with narrowed eyes, "By the way you carry yourself you clearly knew about me before today."

He tapped the hawk's flank lightly in explanation. "News travels. Animals carry tales when I warg them. I've roamed these lands for three years, slipping into beasts' minds, watching hidden councils. I know you plan to unite tribes and move south. Even wanting to go beyond the wall." He smiled wryly. "A mad ambition, yet nothing else has ever stirred my interest."

Ygritte kept her bow ready, but her tone softened, less hostile. "So, you swear no harm?"

Grisha inclined his head, his voice steady. "I've no love for senseless killing." He shifted his gaze to Yoriichi, his expression earnest. "I've been searching for someone to follow...someone who's worth it."

Yoriichi's eyes narrowed slightly. "And how do I know you're not part of some other tribe with hidden motives?" As a precaution, he activated his Transparent World again. The hawk perched on Grisha's shoulder flapped its wings, reacting to the subtle shift in tension, its piercing gaze fixed on Yoriichi.

Grisha stopped in his tracks, lowering his head, unseen weighing his response. After a brief pause, he lifted his head and met Yoriichi's gaze directly. "I'm not part of any tribe. My purpose isn't tied to anyone but myself. Wandering alone has led me here, and your dream offers something different, something greater. If you fail, I can leave. But if you succeed, I'll have helped build a future worth living for."

Yoriichi studied Grisha closely, his piercing gaze searching for any hint of deceit. But all he found was calm sincerity, unwavering and clear. Finally, he nodded. "Then come with us. Our tribe is moving south as we gather allies. The path ahead is uncertain, but we need those who believe unity can save us."

Grisha smiled, his hawk shifting on his shoulder. "I agree. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say."

Ygritte snorted softly, finally putting down her bow. "Just don't break our trust, skin-changer."

He smiled faintly with a hint of a chuckle. "Break trust with the only visionary in these wastes? Not likely."

Grisha raised a hand his thumb pointing backwards to his shoulder. "By the way, this is my hawk, Redwing, she is twice as large as normal. Also, I can control multiple animals at once if they're not too large or too stubborn."

Yoriichi smiled and walked past the two talking. "Let's talk on the way."

As they walked, Ygritte asked, "You said you travelled for three years, meeting every tribe. Where did you start? How did you get this gift?"

Grisha's face grew thoughtful but spoke fluently without faltering. "I was found as a babe by a woman who claimed to be of the Children of the Forest, an outlier she called herself. Exiled or separated from her kin because she decided to save me, a human infant, rather than leave me to die. She raised me for a while and taught me small things about nature's balance, how spirits move in the trees."

Ygritte's eyes widened. Everyone knew the Children were mostly legends, creatures of old tales.

"One day," Grisha continued softly with a tinge of sadness, "she simply didn't return from her gathering trip. I waited, but only received silence. I was too young to understand why. Days went by and I started to get hungry, then I felt something inside me awaken after sleeping one night. I could slip into beasts' minds, and guide them. Hawks, foxes, even wolves. I learned to fend for myself."

He patted Redwing's side. "I found this hawk, wounded and starving. I healed her and bonded with her. My power grew strange and feared. Some tribes wanted me to fight for them, to control beasts as weapons. Others chased me off, calling me a demon. So I drifted, always searching for something more meaningful."

Yoriichi listened intently, sympathy stirring in his chest. "So you never stayed anywhere long?"

"No. Until now, I had no reason. But you… even talk about going beyond the Wall. It sounds crazy, but maybe if it's you, it might just work."

Ygritte frowned. "Not crazy, it's vision," she corrected. "Yoriichi just wants to save us all from hunger and killing. If you're with us, you'll share that goal."

Grisha gave a slight nod. "I can accept that. I can lend my skills. With my hawk, I can scout ahead. I can ward off certain predators. My presence might even deter some hostile tribes, knowing I could upset their wargs." A faint grin curved his lips. "You'll find my talents handy."

Yoriichi smiled, warm and genuine. "I welcome your help. We have envoys out, searching for more tribes who may share our common goals. If they return favourably, we'll have many allies soon. If not, we will still move on. Either way, you'll see something new unfold."

Ygritte pointed at Redwing. "Could she pick off a full-grown fox?"

"Easily," Grisha said proudly. "If I push her, maybe something bigger. But I avoid cruelty. Animals die for food, not sport."

Yoriichi nodded approvingly. "We must live by similar principles. Take what we need, not what we can."

Grisha gave him an appraising look. "You speak like my rescuer. She said kindness is not a weakness."

Yoriichi smiled warmly. "We learn where we can, from whomever will teach us. If she saved you, perhaps she saw value in human life as well."

They walked in a thoughtful silence, the camp's distant smoke rising ahead. A sense of camaraderie began to emerge between them.

Reaching the camp's outskirts, curious eyes of children, spearwives and hunters alike followed them.

Yoriichi noticing this introduced Grisha simply: "He wishes to join us. You can treat him as one of us." his voice was soothing, not overbearing, yet it left authority that no one questioned, in fact, it seemed to have magic in them as the way they looked at Grisha started turning from neutral to friendly.

Some gasped at the hawk though, but no one challenged the skin-changer. Yoriichi felt relieved.

Branching away from Grisha and Ygritte, Yoriichi went to tell Odin and the chiefs news of what transpired today.

With Grisha's support and Ygritte's unwavering presence, the tribe gained a new edge.

If envoys returned favourably and the promised allies arrived in two weeks, perhaps they might truly forge a path free of endless cold and slaughter.

This was only the beginning, but now their fragile hope felt less like an illusion and more like a fledgling dawn.