The Dalyngridge Girl ➝ Bran Stark

Chapter 21

        It rained all throughout the next day, but Mare couldn't complain, because it soothed her. It was making everyone else weary though; Osha was pacing and Hodor sat miserably against the wall, Jojen rubbed his thumbs and Meera glanced at the small mill window every chance she got.

        "If the Wall is seven hundred feet high, how are we going to climb it?" Bran asked, and Mare looked over at him. "At least, that's what my uncle told me."

        Thunder rumbled overhead, and poor Hodor jumped out of his skin at each noise.

        "Hodor, it's alright, it's just thunder," Mare said, sounding as reassuring as possible. It was only thunder, it couldn't hurt them.

        "There are nineteen castles guarding the Wall, but only three of them are still standing and working. One of them should give us a way through," Jojen explained, looking at both Bran and Mare as if they were in a battle meeting.

        "My uncle said the gates were sealed when the castles were abandoned," Bran said, and Mare noticed that he did the adorable thing where he looked down and arched his eyebrows, as if doing so would make him win an argument. She wondered if she did anything that he found cute.

        "Then maybe we'll open them up again," Meera said smugly. Then Meera stopped talking, her body tense, and she turned around slowly. Mare heard the whinny of horses down below and the sound of hooves pounding against the ground.

        "Riders," Meera whispered, and Jojen got up to look. Another rumble of thunder grumbled through the sky, and Hodor rocked himself back in forth.

        "Hodor," he said loudly, and Mare flinched. If they were found, they would most likely be killed.

        "It's only thunder, sweet giant," Osha said, rubbing his arm.

'        "Wildlings," Jojen said, turning back and sitting back down. Bran's eyes widened, and Mare whimpered. If they were found, they'd definitely be dead.

        "Where are Shaggydog and Summer?" Osha asked Bran. He looked like a frightened little boy again, eyes wide and unable to speak for a few moments.

        "Out hunting," he said quickly, and Osha turned back to the window. Thunder cracked in the sky, and it was loud enough to make Mare jump. Hodor sprung up and yelled, "Hodor!"

        "Hodor, you have to be quiet," Mare said quickly. "I know it's scary but you have to be quiet!"

        "Make him shut up! If they hear us, we're all dead," Jojen hissed angrily. It was the first time she had ever seen his show much emotion with the exception of when he was talking to Bran and Mare about the three-eyed raven.

        "Hush, Hodor, please be quiet," Bran said, trying to sound as soothing as possible.

        "Hodor!" he yelled, shoving Osha into the wall and pacing quickly back and forth, holding his head. "Hodor!" he kept yelling.

        "They can hear us," Jojen said, and Mare's heart dropped. Bran grabbed Mare's hand held it tightly.

        "I want you to know that, if we die today, I was really looking forward to the we-" Mare said, but didn't get to finish, because Bran's body suddenly went slack and his eyes glazed over in white.

        "Bran?" Mare asked, and Hodor fell to the ground with a thump. Osha checked his pulse, and by the relieved look on his face, he wasn't dead, just passed out.

        "Brandon, are you okay?" Mare said, turning to him and grabbing his wrists. He slumped against the wooden beam he was leaning on and was breathing heavily, but he seemed fine.

        "What did you do?" Meera asked, and everyone was looking at him like he was incredibly dangerous.

        "I don't know... nothing..." he said, and by his expression and the way his lip trembled, Mare could tell he was trying not to cry. He never cried, so seeing this was a very strange thing for her. She leaned forward and hugged him, encircling his neck with her arms and running her fingers through his hair, hoping to the Gods that he wouldn't freak out.

        "Bran, the wolves are out there," Jojen said, leaning down to both of them. "Mare, you have to let him do this."

        "I can't do it by choice," Bran bit out, and Mare sat back next to him. "I can only control them in my dreams."

        "You're a Warg, it's in your blood. You controlled Hodor, so a wolf is little to nothing in comparison."

        Bran's body went slack again, and his eyes glazed over in white as his breathing quickened. She heard screams and snarls coming from outside, and she could oddly feel it. She could hear flesh ripping, the sound bouncing off the walls of her mind. She covered her ears, but of course, it wouldn't help her.

        Her mind began to haze, and she saw Luna. Her body began to shake violently, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Luna was rubbing her stomach, her smile glowing, as Robb kissed her cheek. Catelyn sipped her wine, and she saw Edmure dancing with a much younger girl. Then Luna was being stabbed repeatedly in the stomach, and blood was gushing everyhwere. Robb was being stabbed, and so was Catelyn, until everyone was screaming and stabbing. Blood covered the floors and so did dead bodies, and Mare could taste blood in her mouth.

        When she came back from the vision, she spit out the blood pooling in her mouth, coughing and trying to rid her mouth of the awful taste. Meera rushed to her and gave her some water, and Mare gurgled and spit it out.

        "Open your mouth," Meera said, and she did. Meera looked inside and then had her gurgle water again.

        "You're lucky you didn't bite your tonuge off," Meera said, rubbing her cheek. "You only bit the inside of your cheek really hard, it will heal in a few days. Osha, do you know of any medicine that would help?"

        Osha shook her head no, and Mare slumped against Bran, who pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead and then her temple.

        "Osha, you're going to take Rickon back to The Last Hearth. Mare, Jojen, Meera, and Hodor are coming with me to find the three-eyed raven," she heard Bran say, and her eyelids started to droop. She hadn't slept right in days.

        "Why does Mare get to come but not me?" Rickon cried, tears forming in his eyes.

        "Because Mare's soul is the other half of mine," Bran said quietly, and Mare squeezed his hand. He kissed the side of her head again. "I was waiting for a better time to tell you, but I couldn't really think of one. I saw it a few days ago."

        "So we're twin souls, eh?" Mare sighed happily, a musical, beautiful sound for Bran to hear. "So now I guess I'm bound to you."

        "Twin souls always find each other, every lifetime they live. They're always together, no matter if if they're animal or human," Jojen explained, and Mare rested her head on Bran's chest, right over his heart, cuddling into him.

        "Get some rest, we'll leave tomorrow," Bran said to her, stroking her arms and holding her close. Everyone started getting ready to sleep, but long after the candle was out, Bran couldn't sleep. He thought so much of his vision; it had been dark, and he was in a cave of some sort. He couldn't see, and he could feel all hope fading out of him. But then a light came to him, and it illuminated the entire cave. The light wasn't fire, but it was a soul, pure and loving. It was Mare's, and he could tell because inside it flashed images of her and her life, all of her happy moments and sad ones as well. It led him out of the cave, where he watched his own soul leave his body and join hers. They flashed together and produced a blinding light, and that was the end of the vision.

        He looked down at Mare and observed every single beautiful detail in her face. With that image in his head, he decided to go to sleep.

So a little note about the Twin Souls thing: I was reading a Jojen Reed fanfic a few months ago on Quotev and it said that the OC and Jojen were twin souls. I thought that idea was really cool and I wanted to use it, so it's not my idea, it belongs to whoever wrote the other fanfic. I just didn't want to plagiarize. Alright, thanks guys! :)