Winter Is Our Fury

Chapter Thirty Two: The Kings Road

They travelled day and night, avoiding the Kings Road and camping in the thicket of the trees. For days they rode and nights they slept, for five days now Aris failed to enter her wolf, unsure of how she did it the first time and Wyllim refused to let Jelissa knock her unconscious again.

Their training had progressed to more complicated movements and each time Jelissa would knock Aris onto her back again and again until she could no longer get up again. Her entire body was aching with bruises and cuts.

On the sixth night when Aris had given up for the night, she laid beside Wyllim on a thin layer of mattress with blankets to share. She listened to the cackling of the low burning fire and gazed up at the starry night above them.

She concentrated just like she did every other night. Thinking of entering Duchess' mind and leaving her own body. The sound of a crow cawed loudly in the night, like it was calling for her. She blinked and her brown eyes rolled back to be replaced by the white.

Duchess who laid peacefully by Randyl suddenly jumped up startling Randyl. The wolf's eyes rolled back and stared into Randyl's baby blue eyes.

"Wyllim." Randyl called.

"Hm?" he hummed in response.

"Aris did it."

Wyllim's eyes opened and he leant over Aris to see her milky white eyes. He looked up at the wolf that stared at him. "Aris?"

The wolf turned and headed into the trees. "Aris!" he called and watched as the wolf trotted away. Jelissa and Codyn sat up hearing Wyllim call for Aris to see the wolf leaving.

"She did it?" asked Jelissa.

Wyllim cupped Aris' cold cheek turning her head towards him, mesmerised by her white eyes. "Yeah." he replied. "She did it."

It was like a dream walking through the woods. The wolf only concentrated on following the crow that jumped from tree to tree. It's black wings spurting to glide to the next branch, it's eyes as white as snow. The crow stopped on a low branch staring down at the wolf, it tilted it's head and opened it's beak to speak, "Aris." it said with a familiar voice. The voice of her little brother Bran. How was that possible, she thought.

"Aris." it called again, only it didn't come from the crow.

The wolf turned it's head to her little brother Bran standing amongst the trees. "How are you standing?" she spoke before realising that she spoke. She looked down to see that she was herself and not her wolf. "What is happening, Bran. Is this even real..."

"It's real." he informed.

"I was told Theon killed you and Rickon!"

Bran shrugged. He looked just the way he did when she left Winterfell, when he fell from the tower and was announced a cripple. Except he was a little taller. 

"I don't understand, how are you here right now?"

"We have an ability." explained Bran. His tone of voice was difference, he was more serious. "We are the only ones who understand it. We can enter into the minds of any animal. But thats not the reason why I came."

"I'm more concerned about you and Rickon? Are you both alright?"

"Aris, I want to warn you." said Bran. "The man with you, don't trust him."

"What?"

"Stay away from the North."

"What does that mean?" she stepped forward and blinked and Bran was gone. "Bran! Bran!" she shouted. "Bran!"

An ability. Don't go North. Don't trust him. All these puzzles was starting to give her a headache. Don't trust him. Who was him? It can't possibly be Codyn or Wyllim. She refused to believe it, they rescued her, helped her, took her in. Wyllim loved her... right? But did she love him. She didn't feel anything beyond a strong affection, but when she thought of love, Gendry came to her mind. She missed Gendry and Arya and HotPie. She didn't know where Arya was, or if Gendry was still alive. She regretted not staying with Arya, or taking the left path to find Gendry. How things might have been different, he probably hated her, he probably thought she tried to shoot him with her arrow.

She missed her home, her mother and father and Robb and Jon and Sansa and Bran and Rickon. She decided from then she would do whatever it takes to get her family back, to get her home back. She would rally the North against the Bolton's and take back Winterfell. She would rescue Sansa from Cersei's grip and bring Arya, Bran and Rickon home.

She swore it by The Old Gods and The New.