Arc 3 - Blood-brother

"Brandon Smallfoot" Ikarus looks at him with a blank face, he has no idea who that guy is. "Then, who are you?"

"My name doesn't matter. Just tell me where Frosteye is and I'll let you live." Ikarus's patience is wearing thin.

`It was supposed to be a leisurely shopping trip, just 4 days on the road...`

Almost two weeks have passed since he left the farm.

`The siblings must be worried. They may have thought that I left with the horse and cart. That I am a thief. I have to go back, with Frosteye's reward money I'll buy some presents as an apology.`

"Frosteye is hiding in a coastal village, he has to be in Oakwood or Harssen."

Ikarus knows where those villages are, during his time at the inn he acquired a lot of useful information.

"Why did you join this scum?"

No matter how good an impression Torrhen made on him, he has to know what kind of a man he is, if he can be trusted.

`I cannot leave these women here alone but accompanying them to the nearest village would delay me a few days. I have to find Frosteye, then go to Barrowtown to collect his bounty, and get back to the farm. I ve lost too much time already.. If Torrhen is to be trusted I will order him to escort the women.`

Torrhen is somewhat reticent.

"Speaks honestly. I know you were once an honest boy who was willing to die defending his home. How did you end up here? A bandit."

Torrhen sheaths his sword and sits in a chair. He clenches his fists.

"Alaric." He mutters the name hatefully. "After the war I argued with my parents, they didn't want me to join the army so I left home. I went to Barrowtown to join House Dustin's guard, during the Rebellion I fought under Lord Dustin. But Lady Dustin didn't want any more guards, the townwatch didn't want to hire me either. So I wandered lost, too proud to go home. Then he found me."

Torrhen clenches his fists tightly. "Alaric, my older brother. The bastard is twice my age, he left home before I was born. He offered me to join his group-The Freemen he called them. You will know them by another name: The Bloodbrothers"

The lad gets up from his chair and walks over to a table, pours himself a glass of wine. He offers Ikarus a drink but Ikarus declines.

"I was going to turn down his offer, as desperate as I was I wasn't going to turn into a criminal. But you can't say no to Alaric." He takes a generous sip. "Not without paying the price. Join the bastard or die. I was a coward. I chose my life."

`...` Ikarus stares at nothing, his mind blank.

Westeros is a cruel place.

"But he's not like them. He doesn't kill or harm!"

"Aye! Ever since they captured us Tor protected us and made sure all of us were well fed."

The girls intervene in defense of the lad.

"But I couldn't protect everyone." The look on his eyes is haunted.

Ikarus watches him intently and sees self-hatred and resentment.

`He hates himself and is regretful of his choice`

"If you regret your decision, why not make things right?" The shinobi crosses his arms. As he does so he notices the blood on his hands, looks at it for a few moments and continues "Why not betray the bandits and bring them to justice?"

"What justice?" Torrhen's laugh is bitter. "No one will do anything against Alaric, he has half the Barrowtown guard in his pocket and one of the Ryswell lordlings owes him."

`This group has more influence than I expected`

Ikarus talks with Torrhen for a while, extracting all the information he has about the Bloodbrothers and their contacts.

"-and this Brandon Smallfoot. Who is he?"

"Benjen's son-"

"His son?!"

"Aye. Frosteye killed the boy's mother in front of him when he was about four or five. He's been hell-bent on killing his father ever since. Smallfoot has a gang of about twenty mercenaries. Father and son aren't that different. They're both cruel bastards."

"How come you confused me?"

Torrhen looks at him somewhat embarrassed. "I never met him in person, I only know his description. A man who looks younger than he is, with brown hair and green eyes, quite short."

"Short?!" Ikarus looks at him indignantly.

Torrhen looks at him, has to duck his head, and raises an eyebrow.

"You are the fucking giant!"

There is a height difference of almost half a meter...

***

Ikarus watches as Torrhen and the former prisoners leave the camp on horseback.

He sighs and turns back to the camp.

"Looting time."

`Alaric, The Old Man, Frosteye and Giantborn. The leaders of the Bloodbrothers. Alaric is the de facto leader with 50 men under him. The Old Man has no subordinates, he is the one in charge of keeping the bribes to keep the lords away from the group, basically he is the diplomat. Giantborn has 24 men under his command, all fierce warriors: he is the heavy muscle. Frosteye had 39 men, not very skilled fighters but cruel and vicious: they kept their territory submissive...`

He sighs and rubs his temples.

***

After collecting all the useful things from the camp, he hides a bag with weapons and coins a couple of kilometers away from Frostpath Inn.

`Emergency Supplies`

***

Ikarus runs along the shoreline, the wind ruffling his hair and inhaling the scent of the sea.

"Harssen."

A couple of kilometers further on is the first village, Harssen. A small fishing village with about forty inhabitants.

The houses are made of wood with thatched roofs. It's not different than the other villages he visited in this world except for the dock.

A wooden dock with several moored boats. The boats are small, most big enough for 4 or 5 men with a few bigger ones.

`The good thing is that between the information I got in Frostpath and from Torrhen I have a pretty good idea of ​​what Benjen Snow looks like.`

Ikarus transforms into one of the bandits he massacred the night before and enters the village.

***

`Nothing. He isn't here`

***

Oakwood is a slightly larger village than Harssen, the size of Fjorn. It is about twenty kilometers away from Harssen.

Its appearance is very similar to the other villages.

`The only thing different is that boat`

A ship is moored at the village pier. Unlike peasant fishing boats, this ship was built for the open sea. It is quite larger than the others, it has a big sail, the structure is long and flat, with many oars on each side.

`It looks like a drakkar.`

Ikarus has a good feeling about this place.

`Yes. This has to be the place, I'm 90% sure Frosteye is here.`

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