25

Chapter 25: Ch 16 Do they cut "that" off at the Wall?

Chapter Text

P.O.V Change

It was one of those rare mornings when the sky was clear instead of the usual depressing grey and the warmth of the Sun gave more vitality to people in the North, and the pleasing weather also put Ser Rodrik in a good mood.

He was standing at the edge of an impromptu field and watching over the men at arms as they drilled. He was standing a few meters away from the place where they had set up their temporary camp.

This place, where they set up camp, was chosen with careful consideration in Winterfell. It had the unique property of being in the middle of North's coastal region, which made almost all of the village accessible from here in a reasonable time. Even the farthest fishing village would only take about one and a half days for them to reach if they tried their hardest.

"Put your back into it!" Ser Rodrik shouted when he noticed some of the younger ones slouching.

For the Rebellion, Lord Stark had only taken the cream of the corps, the veterans of the last war (at least those who still had fully functioning limbs) with him. He felt that most of the war would be fought on the sea (which had nothing to do with the North) and for the land battles they would have enough of a number advantage from the start that he saw no need to take more soldiers than required.

This meant that there were still enough healthy soldiers left for Rodrik to choose from without compromising Winterfell's defense. He mostly chose those who were in their prime age but weren't so young as to be hot-blooded and reckless.

All of them had been trained since they were young in the Winterfell courtyard so they were proficient enough with arms, they just did not have any experience to speak off, except for when they went on occasional bandit hunting or if there was a Night Watch's deserter on loose.

As he was monitoring the drilling soldiers, he suddenly noticed something in his periphery, his squire was running towards him with a red face and huffing like a horse. He started moving toward the poor boy to meet him halfway when he saw the urgency on his face.

"What happened?" He asked calmly when the squire was close enough.

"A r-rider arrived with this letter Ser, said it was urgent," he said while pressing a stitch in his stomach.

Rodrik took the letter from him and opened it quickly when he noticed Winterfell's seal on it. The words were in Maester Luwin's familiar writing which was always concise while delivering all the necessary information.

"Lads!" He hollered, excitement surging through him at the thought of finally having a chance to squash some squids, "Pack up, we got some reavers to Crush!"

Rodrik didn't think he would have a chance to fight the ironborn after he was left behind for the Rebellion by Lord Stark but the opportunity came for him on its own to show those ironshits some northern steel.

There were only 80 men under him in total so they were very efficient and were packed and ready within an hour. And with every individual having a horse of his own, they had very high mobility.

Rodrik had been skeptical about the idea of Jon's eagle being able to scout for ships at the start. While he was ignorant about the ways the ravens were bought up or how they were able to carry messages from one end of Westeros to the other, he did know that training any animal or bird was a very hard undertaking so he was doubtful of a child's ability to train the eagle to that extent.

But on the other hand, Rodrik had been there on the hunt when they had found the Eagle and he had seen her grow up (at a very fast rate) and he knew that she was a fiercely intelligent bird. He also knew enough about Jon to know that he was not a liar, so ultimately he decided to go with his gut and believe in his Lord's son.

They only set up camp once at night on the whole journey when they were about halfway towards the village, and after some quick meal and a night's rest, they were back on the course at the first light.

There was a palpable sense of excitement among the soldiers, some were dreading the carnage and the battle while others were looking forward to having the chance to earn some glory, it was easy to understand once you know that most of them had never been in an actual battle before.

They reached the target village when the sun had just started its descent from its peak. Rodrik had the soldiers set up a camp about three leagues away and the camp was set in such a way that, it would not be visible at all from afar.

Rodrik went to meet the villagers who were slowly coming out of their homes and were vigilantly looking at the soldiers setting up camp from afar and discussing in hushed voices between themselves. He brought his best soldiers along with him and since the village came under the control of Deepwood motte, he also bought with Lord Glover's Master at arms who had arrived with the letter.

They introduced themselves to the villagers gathering, and the Stark name took most of the tension from their shoulders.

Rodrik immediately told them about a possible imminent Ironborn attack and just as the Maester had predicted they were very reluctant to leave the village. Instead, they were ready to bear weapons like forks, hammers, shovels, bows and arrows, or whatever they could against the ironborn.

But Ser Rodrik and the Master at Arms were able to persuade them to empty their village for just a short time. The soldiers helped the villagers settle in a temporary shelter they had created in the forest a few leagues away and they tried to move as fast as possible as they had no way to be sure when the Ironborn were about to attack.

After the evacuation, Ser Rodrik gathered the soldiers and started preparing the field according to the plan they had created at Winterfell. It took all 80 of them working together about 6 hours of work to complete it, which meant that they were barely done before the sun started to fall.

The chance of the Ironborn attacking at night on such a small village was very small but Rodrik still decided to post a couple of sentries just in case. All of them ate a warm meal made by the villagers which consisted of fish and seaweed dishes, so everyone went to sleep sated that night.

...

On board a ship that was slowly moving along with the wind, a young teen was standing on the lookout but he was barely doing any looking out.

Tristan had joined the crew under House Codd only recently, (he mentioned joined but the truth was that they were the only ones who would pick him,) and his luck was so good that on his very first trip out of iron islands, they had taken him on the greatest raid in Westeros in decades.

No one had told Tristan that they would be assaulting Lannisport, the jewel under the paw of the mighty Lord Tywin Lannister. So he had gotten the shock of his life when he woke up one day and the captain told him that they were about to attack the port.

Fortunately for him, House Codd was not known for their love of fighting or their fearlessness, No! What they were known for were their thieving ways and cowardly nature, which Tristan agreed with wholeheartedly.

They had been there when the Iron fleet was trying to burn the Lannisport with all their might but instead of helping their fellow ironborns fight, they had been busy looting as much as they could, and before the fighting had even shown the signs of slowing down they sneakily sailed away when no one was looking.

Tristan decided that he liked the way these people ran things, they loot and they run, and while they were labeled as cowards by the rest of the lot, Tristan was fine with that as long as he was alive and richer than them and had more functioning limbs than them.

Or he would be richer if he didn't lose all his share of the loot in gambling with his crewmates, which was compulsory for him to play. He was the youngest and the newest member of the crew which made him the easiest target for everyone and he was deathly scared of the finger dance which meant that he had already lost about half of his spoils before they even reached the coast.

He was hiding on the lookout to keep his remaining wealth safe. Their ships had skipped docking at the iron islands as the captain said he didn't want to explain why they were the first ones to arrive back from the fighting (Tristan thought that his captain was very experienced in these things,). So they decided to head toward the North and try their luck at finding a village.

Tristan was thinking about the food he would get to eat after they reached the coast when he suddenly noticed a small fishing boat in the distance, It had come close enough that he was able to notice it without the need of a far eye.

"A Ship! A Ship! I see a ship!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, and he didn't know if it was a coincidence or if the fishermen also heard him because at that exact same moment the fishing boat started rowing away from them, "We got a Runner!"

His shout had roused all the lazy pirates from their afternoon naps, and when he ran down the lookout, it was to find the captain shouting at the top of his lungs to follow the fishing boat as he knew that a fishing boat also meant a fishing village. He also ordered Tristan, when he noticed him, to signal the other two ships to gather on them.

The three ships kept a certain distance from each other so as to cover a larger distance but they were always close enough that they would be able to notice the flag signals from any ship.

The workers had started rowing enthusiastically the moment they had heard the orders. Everyone was very excited to finally catch the sight of prey after so long, but the captain hadn't ordered them to move at full speed yet, instead, he wanted them to move just fast enough that he could easily keep the fishing boat in his line of sight, which was trying to flee with all its might.

The other two ships caught up with them before long and it was just in time as well as the captain could just make out a village on the coast.

"It looks like we will have warm beds tonight lads!" the captain cried and a cheer went through the crew and they started rowing with all their might.

While the reavers had looted enough gold and treasure for them to last a while at the Lannisport, unfortunately, they didn't stop there long enough for the men to sate their other desires. It was also one of the main reasons they were here hunting for a village in the North even though the Captain knew that there wouldn't be a chance of good loot here, he was hoping for everyone on his crew to get a salt wife or two which would keep them happy for a while.

"Look at that Greenlander running," The captain guffawed and the crew laughed loudly in response, Tristan also joined them as he could see the fisherman as he half-jumped and half-fell off his boat as he ran toward the village hollering about the Ironborn raid.

But alas it was bound to be useless because the iron born's prowess at sea wasn't just for a show, as the three ships docked just a minute after the fisherman's and the iron islanders started jumping one after the other while shouting at the top of their lungs and running toward the village in the distance.

The fisherman's cries had roused the villagers at this point as the Ironborn saw some people run out of the house toward the forest in the distance. The sight of their prey fleeing from them invigorated their sadistic desires even more as the reavers started excitedly shouting obscenities at the runners.

Tristan was a little confused as he wasn't able to make out any woman amidst the villagers as they were running away. But he just assumed that all these northerners were cowards who would leave their wives and daughters behind, which was all the better for him so he didn't really think about it that much.

"Run! Greenlanders Run!" "HAHA"

Tristan also started laughing along with his crewmates but his laughter didn't last very long as he started hearing cursing and swearing from the front as they stopped abruptly. Tristan jumped to get a view of the front and what he saw made him both confused and scared.

The reavers who had been leading them had unknowingly fallen into a mud trap while they were chasing after the villagers without focusing. And now that Tristan thought about it he remembered that all the Greenlanders had run along the borders while avoiding the center.

Before they could comprehend anything and try to bring out the ones who were stuck in the mud, the cowardly villagers who were running away suddenly turned around and the pirates were quick to notice the bows in their hands that weren't there before.

The ironborn culture and the old way was based around the concept of ambushing and stealing but they were rarely at the mercy of an ambush as they almost always chose their targets at random which meant that it was a rare moment for them and they all reacted very haphazardly, as would be expected from someone who had never faced an ambush in there lives.

Some of them panicked and tried running back, some got angry and ran toward the one holding the bows, while others stood just there frozen in shock. All in all, they presented a very appetizing target for the archers who didn't miss the chance and peppered the pirates from the front mercilessly.

The ones who rushed at the villagers were the first ones to go down as without any semblance of a shield they weren't able to come very close. The ironborns at the back who had mostly escaped the mud through luck and using the one trapped in the mud as a shield turned around and ran back to find a cover and after that think about a way to F**k the archers.

But before they could try to put those thoughts to fruition, they suddenly heard a sound that sent a chill down their spines and drained all blood from their faces.

All of them turned around simultaneously toward the sound and what they found was an iron born's worst nightmare coming towards them at a very fast speed from the direction of the forest.

A horde of horses was galloping toward them, neighing and scattering dust clouds in their stampede. It was not possible to estimate their number at a glance but roughly they seemed to be somewhere between 50 and 70 which was too many for them and riding on horse's back, were fully armored knights, which was even more terrifying.

"Come at me, You F**king Greenlanders!" the captain shouted and some of the veterans echoed him, and the rising chorus of shouts roused their morals and their blood started boiling as they raised their weapons and started getting into a rough formation.

"We will show them!" "F**k them!" "What is dead may never die!" "What is dead may never die!"

Tristan had thought that he was lucky when he didn't get trapped in the Mud trap as he was at the back but he wasn't so sure now as he somehow ended up in the front of the pile of reavers.

"W-What is dead may never die!"

He tried to take up the chant, hoping that it would instill some courage in him but it didn't seem to help him much. And the only thing he wanted to do, looking at the approaching shiny armor and sharp weapons of the knights, was run away but the f**kers behind weren't letting him move an inch.

As the cavalry was approaching, Tristan started shitting and pissing at the sight of the sharp lances coming ever closer. He closed his eyes at the last moment and swung his axe while screaming wildly, hoping to take the f**ker down with him.

"AHHhh—"

But he only hit the air and what he heard was the sound of horses miraculously galloping away, and when he opened his eyes, he was delighted to find that the cavalry had skipped them for some reason and didn't crash in them at all. Tristan didn't know the cause of why they behaved so stupidly but he was just happy to be alive and didn't want to think about it any further.

"Maybe the fu**ers got scared," A man beside him guffawed in disbelief but alas before they could celebrate any further, they suddenly heard a sound from behind them accompanied by dying screams.

*Thump**Thump**Thump*

The last thing you should do when under an archer is to stand still and that was what they did as they forgot about the archers from the beginning who were done with the reavers stuck in the mud and turned their arrows toward them.

*Run!**Run!**Run!*

All of them started running toward the ships erratically, having lost all thoughts of fighting back. But it seems the northerners weren't keen on giving them any breathing space as they heard the cavalry coming back toward them and this time no one stopped to make a formation to resist which meant that they were slim pickings for them.

Tristan ran toward the ships with all his might and even though he had an arrow running through his arm, he still somehow made it, which made him one of the lucky few who did.

They were about 150 ironborn, of which they left behind about 15 behind when they went for the raid, 5 on each ship. They lost about 30 in the mud trap and almost double that in the second arrow fire when they stood still, while the rest of them were easily picked by the cavalry so only twenty of them made it on the ships.

"MOVE! THE SHIP!" Tristan shouted at the people, who messing with the ropes and the oars while sliding down the wall and trying to stem the flow of blood in his wounds.

"You think I was not trying that already! F**ker!" a crewmate shouted while anxiously pulling on the ropes, "The ship is not moving for some reason—or did you think I was waiting for you,"

'He is right,' Tristan thought as he noticed that none of the three ships had been able to escape and were all standing still at the place where they had decked.

Before he could think on it any further he heard the sound of fighting suddenly stop and after a minute or so of silence, he heard a loud bellow from below, "Surrender!—and You may take the Black,"

There was silence for a moment as everyone stopped what they were doing before one of his crueler crewmates shouted back before anyone could stop him, "Get Lost! You F**kers!"

Tristan knew what was coming so he immediately took cover and sure enough he started hearing thumping and dying screams a moment later. He just closed his eyes, covered his ears, and prayed to the drowned god.

About a minute later the arrows stopped and Tristan slowly opened his eyes, and when he looked around he found out that he was the last one alive on this ship.

"I surrender!" "I surrender!" He started shouting at the top of his lungs.

There was a few moments of pause when he thought that he was going to die after all but someone shouted back, "Come out! then,"

Tristan got up and slowly walked out of the ship and the line of archers standing behind a stout man with whiskers scared any thoughts of running away from his mind.

"Rope him," The stout man told a soldier beside him who immediately moved to obey, "Check if there are any survivors on any ships," he said to the armored men beside him and everyone started moving to obey in an organized manner.

While the soldier was tying the rope on his hands without any mercy for the arrow wound, Tristan couldn't help but ask him the one burning question in his mind, "Why did our ship not move?"

The soldier looked at him for a moment before he jerked his toward the ship's bottom and when he looked there he found dozens of people coming out of the water from beside the ship with ropes and pick axes in their hands, "They are the villagers you were just supposed to raid," the Northern soldier supplied helpfully.

This ambush was too elaborate to be a simple one so Tristan wanted to ask further about how they knew where they were but the soldier wasn't in the mood to entertain any more questions.

As they were taking him away the only thought on Tristan's mind was, 'I hope they didn't cut off my cock at the Wall,'