Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - A Child's Illusions
[Chapter Size: 2108 Words.]
Jon Snow POV
Somewhere on North.
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"You should burn the bodies," said the wildling as I prepared to leave.
"Why?" I asked, not understanding why she made such a firm suggestion.
"You really don't know, do you?" she asked incredulously.
"What should I know?" I said, already losing patience with her.
"You're really new here; anything that dies here, you have to kill twice if you don't burn them. They'll rise as the walking dead," she finally explained.
"Understood. Is that how these draugr are created? Who is the powerful necromancer creating the undead in an area with a constant spell? Are the stories from Old Nan really true? She mentioned White Walkers and an army of the dead when I was young..." I wondered, scratching my chin, but saying it out loud.
"I don't know anything about draugr; here, we call them wights. They say there are still other ice demons, but I've never seen them. Most people take it as a myth," she commented upon hearing me.
I said nothing. I'll find out more later, but for now, I need to burn these bodies. I looked at the woman, wondering if I should use telekinesis magic in front of her to raise the bodies, but decided to hold back for now. I might have an advantage if she tries to betray me. I grumbled unhappily about having to do the work, but still began to gather the bodies, stacking them on top of each other.
"Lúcia," the woman's voice sounded behind me; she was at least helping me.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"My name! You said earlier that your name was Jon something," she told me, and I raised an eyebrow.
"Ohh, it seems the wildlings can be polite after all," I said ironically.
"We're called wildlings by the people of the south, but among ourselves, we call each other the Free Folk!" she said angrily and unsatisfied with it.
"Alright, whatever," I said indifferent, not in the mood to argue terms between two peoples, I'll try to respect their origin, at least I'll try...
Once we gathered all the bodies, I placed a torch on them, and they burned easily. I'll have to investigate this powerful necromancer later, as it's affecting the entire area, and it intrigues me.
Then, we began to walk with the woman leading the way to where this wildling army is.
2 days later.
"You grew up in a castle?!" She was surprised when I shared a bit about myself.
"Well, until I was 8, yes, but it wasn't a very happy childhood, I admit," I spoke.
"My people say you kneel in your castles getting fat and having many wives," she told me cautiously.
"I grew up in Winterfell, and despite being one of the largest castles in Westeros, I didn't see any of that there," I said, laughing, remembering my cold room and the fish-like woman jealous of another dead woman.
"Winterfell? The one that is the Stark's castle?" She said incredulously.
"Yes, until you're well-informed on this side of the wall," I commented, laughing.
"Our people know the King in the North; we've been at war with them for thousands of years. They are our worst enemies!"
"My uncle is the lord of Winterfell, but he's not a king. Your people are outdated because the Starks have had a king above them for almost 300 years. Nowadays, they answer to Robert Baratheon if he's not dead," I said with a hint of anger at the end; she even flinched at the anger in my voice. My voice exuded power when I let the anger out.
"You seem to have anger towards them," she asked.
"Yes, and I intend to kill them," I said, earning an incredulous look from the woman.
We were descending the hill towards the forest. At the beginning of our journey, I just wanted her to guide me to Mance. On the first day, she was quiet and cautious with me, saying nothing but walking and guiding me. But she always looked at me as if I were a predator who would kill her at any moment. I don't blame her; I'll kill her without hesitation if she betrays or deceives me. She didn't even sleep at night because she thought I would try to do something, but I didn't pay much attention to her. When I sleep with a woman, I prefer us to be united with mutual pleasure, and I killed all the rapists I found in Tamriel. The last two days were quiet with nothing but animals and snow along the way.
Today, I was surprised by her in the midst of the silence when she started to open up. I think she got tired of the silence of the last two days. I just enjoyed the conversation; I'm a talkative guy. In Skyrim, I spent my adventures talking and laughing all the time with my companions; I even sang in taverns with bards. Many considered my voice the best in Skyrim, even my lover Elisif was in love with my songs.
Our conversation ended as soon as I noticed something while we were in the middle of the forest.
"Stop," I ordered her.
"What is it?" She asked me on alert, thinking that I suspected she had deceived me.
"I know you're here; you can come out of the trees 20 meters away," I said in a neutral voice.
Eight shadows revealed themselves in front of us. All the men wore dark clothes and coats.
"Crows!" Lucis growled at them.
"Look, folks, a wildling couple!" The man who seemed to be the group leader mocked.
"I must admit they're good because they discovered our ambush, but we're still 8 against 2, despite this man being big, he's just a wildling," the same man continued talking.
"We should kill them, Kuel, you know how the savages spend day and night fucking each other. We don't want more of these scums in the world," said a second man, laughing. Lucis growled at the comment once again.
"Yes, you're right, Zonri, but we can't let such a beautiful savage die. She looks as beautiful as a noblewoman. We should have some fun with her before we return to the Wall! We can even take her with us and get rid of her in the end. Our nights will be better that way!" said the leader again with a wicked smile.
Lucis raised the axe, not liking what she heard; she was nervous now. I, on the other hand, kept my face neutral, silently enjoying watching men who would die soon being so arrogant.
"Hey, can any of you tell me what year it is?" Suddenly, I asked, not caring that there were eight men trying to kill me in front of me.
"Why would a savage want to know that? Shitty scum!" The man called Zonri spat on the ground, and everyone else nodded. I was wearing furs; it's normal for him to mistake me for one of them.
I could only look up at the sky.
"Why do I always have to kill everyone I meet in this place? First savages, undead, and now Night's Watch guards? Is there anyone in this place who doesn't want to kill me just because I'm here?" I lamented aloud, but with a smile.
Everyone looked at me strangely; even Lucis shared that look. I lowered my head and looked at the men who were ready to attack.
"Before we start killing each other, let me tell you a little story," I said, my voice exuding power and a hint of anger.
I wanted information, but I'll get it eventually, so I'll kill them.
'I don't care about this scum anymore. Screw the Night's Watch; they'll die here and now like animals.' I thought, still having a neutral face, but this group wouldn't give me reliable information, and they were trash, so I decided to kill them.
My voice exuded so much power that they stopped cautiously as they took the first step into battle.
"Did you know that in my childhood, I had the worst phase of my life? Imagine this; I was raised by my uncle with my cousins. However, I was treated like the worst trash in their castle. My uncle held a grudge against me just because of my biological parents. My stepmother tormented my life because I'm a bastard, and she was afraid that my supposed dead mother would destroy her marriage. My cousins treated me poorly with the support of their two parents. I always wondered why I was born into this world until one day my uncle called me into his office and talked about the fantastic Night's Watch. I had hope there because he said it was a place where honorable warriors protected the realms from all evil beyond the Wall, where even a bastard could grow to make his own name on the Wall. With that, I would find a place in this world and wouldn't be just a stain on my honorable uncle's marriage..." I said calmly, gaining the attention of everyone around me.
"But fate can be unpredictable sometimes, as I was sent to a land called Skyrim in a mysterious storm on a winter night thanks to some entities. For 12 years, I stayed in this land, where I learned not to be naive, learned to see things more clearly, learned to see the hatred and lies of people. Today, I know how my uncle, the man who claimed to be my own father, hated my existence and took pleasure in seeing me suffer at the hands of his wife. And what I discovered today, that the honorable Night's Watch is made up of thieves, murderers, and rapists, makes me wonder if there's any difference with the savages on this side of the Wall..." I made a gesture as if unraveling a mystery at the end.
Lucis became interested in my story, but she stared at me angrily in the last part when I referred to her people as savages, just like all the crows; none of them liked that I compared one people to the other.
"Kill him!" shouted the leader, who was the first to run towards me, and his companions soon followed.
When I saw this, I sighed. All my logic of holding back in front of Lucis was thrown out when I was angry. I always thought I'm more like Uncle Brandon according to the stories after I changed over the years, as I'm more emotional, and anger is the feeling that makes me more impulsive, and that can be quite destructive most of the time.
I breathed in the cold air of the surroundings and shouted.
"[- FUS RO DAH!!]"
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Author's note:
* Without many thoughts, I hope you like it.
* Thank you in advance, I hope you have a good read.