Chapter 7: North

*Clink!*

*Clink!*

Will was awoken from his sleep when he felt something outside his temporary abode trying to get in, and after concentrating on it for a bit longer, he realized it was more than one thing.

Carefully getting out of bed so as not to awake Elia, Rhaenys or the baby, Will slowly crept out of the room. Sharing a room was what they had done to keep warm on the ship, and although their rooms stayed moderately warm, they still chose to be close together for comfort's sake. Although it was more for Elia and Rhaenys, as Will didn't care one way or the other because he was always warm.

Quietly moving through the place, Will stopped when he got to the large boarded off window. The clinking sound was much louder now and more frequent, prompting him to crouch down to the ground to send out a pulse of Earth magic, and low and behold, he found a dozen people standing outside by the large stone doors, and 3 people climbing the side of the cliff up to the second floor window.

It didn't take a genius to see that they were trying to get into his place, although what they planned to do once they were in was another story altogether. With his hand still on the floor, Will controlled the rock around where the climbers were to give way, making all 3 people fall to the ground.

Death wasn't a worry from the height they fell, but they either broke something or it would be broken when Will got down there. Running down the stairs, Will stomped on the ground in front of the big doors, making the ground around the 15 people rise up, essentially blocking their path of retreat from the doors.

Now that they weren't going anywhere, Will opened the door enough so he could get out, then closed it behind him not allowing for any possible chance for anyone to get inside to where Elia and the others were.

"I'm going to ask this once, and if I don't like your answer, I'm going to break all of your legs.... What are you doing here?" In response to his question, Will got blank stares from everyone for about 10 seconds before one genius started yelling and rushed him with a spear in hand.

With wind and water together, Will sliced the man in two from balls to whatever he had in his head before he even got within ten feet of him, effectively silencing the screams and any idea of resistance in the remaining 14 people.

"Look! I know you idiots don't believe in surrendering or using common sense, but if you try to attack me, I won't hesitate to kill you as you can clearly see!!" Will said, gesturing towards the two halves of the man. Once again no one said a damn thing, although this time they at least we're smart enough to not try and attack.

Finally Will had enough of it. "Fuck it!" He shouted, then started moving as though he was dancing around the area, but with every step he took, the ground around the 14 individuals morphed and changed, going upwards and back down, clear until everyone was bound in stone in upright positions.

"I'm a man of my word!!" He stated, then proceeded to break every one of their legs. It was only after he finished with the final person that he lowered the stone wall and removed the bindings from each person.

"Have someone drag you idiots back here in the morning with your elders, and we'll see what we can do about your legs. For now though, go scream in pain at your own tents!!"

Just like that, a demon in the body of a child was born among the Freefolk, and Will didn't care one bit as he went back inside, heading right back into bed after throwing some logs on the fire.

Hours later he was once again woken up, only this time it was by tiny fingers poking him in the face. "Oh good, you're awake!" Rhaenys exclaimed joyfully as soon as she saw his eyes open. "Let me guess... you're hungry?!" Will said, already knowing what was going through this little girl's head.

He was shocked she wasn't fat for how much she ate, instead she was more on the tiny side, looking like she had been underfed her whole life. She nodded her head furiously, and Will had to restrain himself from grumbling in return. Without even having to look, he knew Elia was already downstairs by the fire feeding Aegon, most likely unaware that her daughter was waking him up.

"Fine!!" He said, sitting up in the bed, causing the little girl to start jumping up and down in excitement. "Why are you so happy?" He asked, climbing out of bed and walking to the door, Rhaenys practically running circles around him. "I finally get to meet other people!!" She shouted, her hands in the air with that heart melting smile on her face.

"Oh no you won't!!" Will said, stopping her dead in her tracks. "Why not?!" She whined, her smile turning to a pout in the blink of an eye. "The people here aren't exactly the type who want to be your friend. They might just eat you at the first chance they get!"

Rhaenys didn't seem to buy his words, and simply turned her nose up at him before marching down the stairs and sitting at the table with her arms crossed.

"Good morning!" Elia said, her angelic voice bringing a smile to Will. "Good morning. Are you going to join us for breakfast?" Will said, getting a nod in response from the woman. It wasn't long before they were all seated at the table eating eggs on bread with cheese and ham, and a bowl of fruit and a cup of milk to go with it.

"Are you okay, darling?" Elia asked, looking at the little girl who had yet to say a word since the start of the meal. "Will said I can't go and play with the kids outside!!" Rhaenys whined, grabbing another egg from the table and placing it on her plate, all while glaring at Will.

"That's because you would die without me there, and I have no intention of running around chasing some snot nosed brats!!" Will chimed in from his own seat, not backing down from this. "I don't need you with me!! I'm a big girl!!" Rhaenys argued back, standing on her chair while she leaned on the table.

"Says the girl who doesn't have any clothing for this weather, doesn't know how to defend herself, and has no idea what to do when she's all alone!! You are still a child, and until you can land even a single hit on me in a spar, you are not going anywhere!"

Rhaenys and Will continued to glare at each other after his words, and if not for Elia trying to stifle her laughter, they might have continued glaring at each other for the remainder of the day. "Oh my!! You two are so cute together!!" Elia exclaimed, smiling at them.

"*Ugh!!* Not this, Elia!! She's too bratty!! Not to mention we're children!!" Will said, then before either Rhaenys or Elia could say anything in defense, Will left the table to go upstairs to the privy.

An hour later and the table was all cleaned up and everyone was sitting around the fire, Elia teaching Rhaenys how to read while Will held a sleeping Aegon. Their little family moment was ruined when there was a great knock on the stone doors, though it sounded more like a giant hammer striking the door.

Will handed Aegon back to Elia, then walked to the door, leaving a curious Rhaenys to wonder what was going on in the sitting room. Marching over to the large doors, Will removed the stone latch keeping the thing sealed shut, then pulled it open to reveal about 20 or so people standing close by, while hundreds of people watched from only a stone's throw away.

Of the people close by, 14 of them were the people from last night who's legs he broke, while the other people were the elders.

"*Sigh!* Alright!! Get some of your people and drag these idiots inside and put them near the fire while the rest of you come with me." Will said, leaving the door open as he left back inside to make sure Elia and the others went upstairs for this next part.

When he came back downstairs, the people he had crippled were in a semi-circle around the fireplace, while the elders were all seated around the table, each with a guard behind them.

"You people don't listen very well. I told you I would break their legs if they tried to fuck with us, and you couldn't even keep them from doing that!!" Will spoke as he walked towards the table, leaving the cripples for now. None of the elders bothered to speak, choosing to remain silent for the moment.

Taking a seat at the head of the table, which the elders had left for him, Will let his eyes lock onto each one of them in turn. "One of the reasons I came to Hardhome was because it was a Free Folk settlement where people can go and do as they please, and I respect that. What I do not respect however is people trying to take what's mine!!"

Will let the table shake for a moment as if to punctuate his statement. Then taking a deep breath as if to reign in his anger, he visibly calmed, even going so far as to smile, although from how the elders flinched in their chairs it probably didn't come across as friendly as he was trying too.

"I will heal their legs, but this will be the only time I show mercy. Anything after this, there will be no warnings, there will be no healings, there will only be pain and death!" Will's already terrifying smile turned even more cold, and each person in attendance to this meeting vowed at that moment to never cross this boy, this demon in human skin.

Still seated in his chair, Will waved his hands and food appeared on the table, making a few of the elders gasp and marvel at his feat. "Eat while I see to the healing." Will said, then walked over to the sitting room to begin healing the broken legs.

As much as he didn't want to, this was also part of his plan to gain a bit of healing experience, which he was sorely lacking. There was only so far he could get by healing small cuts or sprained legs from when he fell in the mountains. The only bone he had healed was his ankle, but he figured the process should be somewhat the same.

Approaching the first man, Will didn't even bother with pleasantries, instead he pulled the water from a barrel placed next to the fire, then proceeded to touch the man's leg, the water glowing upon contact. Closing his eyes, he felt the connection between his magic and the man, then started the healing process.

Going above and beyond, Will connected the bones back together, then mended the muscle tissue and strengthened the leg in general from how it was before. Healing just one leg took almost ten minutes, and sometimes it went faster, and sometimes it went slower due to their being unhealthy flesh or something near the break.

Either way, Will healed everything, mostly to see if he could, but he still did it regardless. By the time he had finished, almost five hours had passed and Will was hungry and tired, wanting nothing more than to go sit in the tub with a sandwich.

"You're all better now, so get the fuck out! And remember, no more second chances!" Will said, shooing everyone out the door before locking it behind them.

"That was so cool!! Can you teach me how to do that?!!" Rhaenys shouted, barreling into him as soon as he got back into the sitting room. "I should have known you'd sit there and watch from the balcony..." Will grumbled, brushing past the over eager little girl.

"Please?!!" She pleaded, following him to the sitting room. "*Ugh!* Every person is born different, so there is no telling if you even have magic, let alone are capable of using it! There are many different kinds of magic in the world, and if you have any there is no guarantee that I would even be able to teach you how to use it!" Will stated, hoping to dissuade the poor girl out of magic, but his words only seemed to spur her on further.

"Really?!! So I might have better magic than yours?!!" She asked, jumping up and down like a caffeinated chipmunk. "Or no magic at all!" Will added, making Rhaenys stop her excitement for but a single moment before it was back in full force.

"How do I know if I have magic?!" She asked, this time halting Will in his steps. Had he not known he had magic beforehand, would he have even been able to do magic? He only knew what he was looking for because it was never there in his previous life, as stated by God, so when coming to this world, he immediately could feel something new within himself.

However, for someone who was born with magic and never knew they had it, how would they be able to tell if it was there or not? "I... I don't know. I guess we could try and see if you do, after all Targaryen's are known for their dragon bloodlines and whatnot." Will said, actually curious about this now.

"They are?!! What kind of stuff can they do?!" She asked excitedly, causing Will to pause once more. He wasn't an expert on everything that happened in the show, but he did know that Daenerys was immune to fire, could basically control dragons, and had these weird dream thingies that he couldn't explain to save his life.

"I think they were immune to fire and had connections with dragons, although that last one doesn't mean they were connected to every dragon, just the ones they hatched or something through some ritual or whatever. We can test the fire part if you want?" He said, causing Rhaenys to become a little hesitant.

Using magic was one thing, but if she didn't have it she could be seriously burned. Then, as if steeling herself, she walked over to the fire and placed her hand into the flames. Will expected her to pull her hand out soon after and that he would just have to heal it, but the crying and tears never came.

Looking at the little girl, he watched as she moved her hands around in the fire, even going so far as to lower them down near the coals. "Do you feel anything?" Will asked, not taking his eyes off the sight in front of him.

"It feels warm. Like when I'm close to my mother." She answered, her hand still in the flames. "Well this tells us one thing, at least. You do have magic!" Will said, bringing the little girl's gaze back to him. "I-I have magic... Yes!!" She cried out, tears almost pouring down her face.

It was then Will realized that he wasn't even concerning himself with how she felt all this time with him. Here was a boy only a year or two older than her, using magic to do all of these wonderful things, and yet she could do nothing. Now to find out she did have magic, it must have shattered her fears of never being able to do anything great like her only friend in the world, which Will had to admit he was.

Elia came down a few minutes later to see her daughter laughing with tears running down her face, and after a lot of explaining, she understood as well. They all ate a wonderful meal that night, Will even going so far as to bring out one of the few pies he had bought in King's Landing.

"I want to leave here first thing in the morning. We'll sail by ship along the coast of the Shivering Sea until we get to this river on the map, then we'll go ashore and make our way on foot from there until we find the giants." Will said, pointing out everything on a map.

He got no arguments, and it wasn't long after that they were all back in their room sleeping. Thankfully there were no interruptions that night, and upon waking up, Will made sure the place was completely empty, then grabbed Trojan and his other horse who had yet to be named from their lonely little stall, then marched out of the make-shift home.

Going to the Elder's tent, Will waited until they were ready to see him, then walking inside he had a very short one-sided conversation. "We're leaving, so you guys can do whatever the fuck you want with my little fortress. Bye." Then walked right back out, not giving one fuck about what they would do with it.

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For 2 days they sailed further North along the coast until they came to a large river running into the ocean, leading Will to believe it was the one on the map. Straight West from there was the mountains of Thenn, a region belonging to a tribe of cannibalistic assholes, but Will hoped to run into the giants before he ever met them, otherwise he might kill them all if they tried to eat him.

He didn't care if they ate each other, different Wildling clans, members of the Night's Watch or some poor asshole. What he did care about was keeping every part of himself right where it was attached to his body.

When they finally made land, Will created a carriage-like structure with a roof and everything made out of stone, but instead of wheels it had Skis. Trojan and the other horse were harnessed up, although it took almost 2 hours to remember how to do it, then they were off with Will in the driver's seat, while everyone else was in back.

Across the hills and through the timbers, Will quite enjoyed his little ride, clear until the point where the horses stopped, their ears flickering around letting Will know something was out there. Jumping down from his seat, Will touched the ground before sending out a pulse of magic.

Although he could have just used magic sense, the range was much more limited, and it felt as though it cost more magic. It took barely a moment before he found what caused the sudden halt, and it only made him all the more thankful for having a horse with him.

Up ahead in the direction they were currently going, Will could sense 30 or so Wildlings slaughtering a different group of Wildlings. It could be called nothing else but a slaughter. He waited and watched to see what would happen next, and at the end of it he wished he hadn't. They sliced the dead into parts, then stored them in sacks, although they did put a few over sticks and started to roast them over a fire, letting Will know exactly what they were going to do next.

Not wanting to get involved, Will jumped back onto the sleigh, then turned so they were going further northward, hopefully avoiding the cannibals all together. An hour later they cleared the trees coming to a great open field. It was here that Will noticed a falcon or a hawk, whatever it was it was stalking them, and that sparked something from his memories that he had forgotten about.

'Wildings have Wargs!' Will thought, knowing a warg could take possession of animals they had close bonds with, and look through their eyes, even going so far as to control them. "Fuck!" Will said under his breath, then cracked the reins to get Trojan and Swift (the other horse) moving once again, only they were going much faster this time around.

Will figured if they were keeping watch on him, they sure as hell would be following soon after, and if he had to deal with them he was going to rig the battle to be completely in his favor. Getting to the middle of the field, Will stopped the sleigh, then proceeded to pull the ground throughout the field closer to them, then molded it into walls of sorts.

The area where the ground was pulled from was now a deep trench, which Will used to set pit traps with spikes in them, bury Wildfire in a few marked spots, and laid out a few large rocks on top of his make-shift walls.

Standing upon his walls, he noticed the hawk coming closer, and taking a chance, he pulled a crossbow from his Inventory and took a shot, dropping the bird to the ground only a dozen or so yards away.

"HA!! Go fuck yourself, asshole!! How did ya like that?!!" Although he was shouting and cheering, he knew the connection between the Warg and the bird was gone, but it still made him happy. If the guy was possessing the bird when he killed it, he would be feeling everything the bird felt, and it would leave a mental scar on him for the remainder of his life, however short that might be after Will finished with him.

Hearing him shouting, Elia and her kids jumped out of the sleigh to see what was going on, only to find themselves in a weird looking fort of sorts. "Will!! What's going on?!" Elia shouted up to him from the ground, letting a little panic show in her voice.

"We're going to be under attack pretty soon here, so I built us some cover. Just go back in the sleigh and wait for me to come get you!" Will called back, not showing any panic whatsoever. In fact, he looked like he was smiling.

Going back inside the sleigh, Elia wondered what Will couldn't do, because building a fort in the span of minutes was unheard of, as well as a kid with magic who fought like a madman. Will on the other hand waited where he was atop the wall for a bit under half of an hour before the first Wildlings broke free of the tree line.

Just over a hundred yards away, Will grabbed his crossbow before aiming it into the air towards them. He watched as the arrow sailed for a few seconds, then struck a man who was just exiting the trees that hadn't noticed the shot being fired.

"Come get me, fuckers!!" Will taunted, letting out a maniacal laughter that only served to piss the Wildlings off. Letting out a battle cry, they all charged towards Will in a group, which almost made him cry tears of joy for how perfect this was playing out for him.

He waited until they were about 20 yards from the pit trap, then launched the large rocks at the people in the rear of the charging force, taking out 3 of them in as many seconds. They were now seconds from the pit traps, and Will was already rubbing his hands like some supervillain, only to burst out in laughter when 8 men ran right into the traps, getting skewered upon falling in.

That seemed to halt the remaining cannibals, which was perfect for Will. Igniting the end of a crossbow bolt, Will fired to the nearest Wildfire cache near them. He actually had to shield his eyes when it went off, igniting nearly everyone else who was remaining, save for two who just so happened to be behind people who took the brunt of the explosion.

The last two remaining Wildlings tried to put out the Wildfire on some of the people who were still alive but we're burning, and just as Will was about to fire another bolt, something happened which he did not expect. From the tree line west of his position, 4 massive figures came barreling out and running towards him.

"Oh, fuck..." He said, wondering if they were allies of the ones he had just burned alive. Turning back to the still burning group of cannibals, Will had to shoot 7 more arrows before he finally got the last two survivors, then quickly ran to the west wall of his little fort.

Knowing he couldn't let them get to the wall, he jumped down, slowing his fall with Wind magic, then ran out to meet them, praying to God they wouldn't try to kill him.

Will was only about 30 yards from his walls when the Giants finally met him, and upon seeing it was only one person coming out to meet them, they all stopped and looked at each other, saying a few things Will couldn't understand.

"Ummm.... I come in peace!! Please don't eat me!!" Will said, realizing he hadn't actually thought out how he was going to talk to the giants when he found them. His main reason for coming North was to keep Elia and her children out of the eyes of the world for a while, but another reason was so he could meet the giant legendary beings.

The show never explained if they went extinct in the end, and he really wanted to see them before they were gone. Again, the giants said some things, then pointed to him, then back towards the small fortress and the green flames which had yet to die down.

"They tried to eat me, so I burned them!" Will stated, getting ready to attack if they turned out to be allies of the cannibals. They all nodded to each other, saying a few things he didn't understand, then began walking towards the green flames, gesturing for him to follow.

Once they were all standing around the green flames, the giants pointed at it like they knew what it was, none of them getting close enough to touch the dangerous stuff. Seeing them all staring at the green flames, Will walked over to the wall before he touched it, and then the next moment the so-called fort vanished from view.

The giants noticed him doing this, but made no move to do anything to him. Will then proceeded to fill in the remaining pit traps and take the other jars of Wildfire that weren't needed during the clash, then finally making his way over to the sleigh.

"Hey, Elia!! You all can come out now! I'd like to show you something!" Will said, the giants still staring at him. Soon Elia climbed out of the sleigh with Aegon in her arms, followed by Rhaenys. They were wondering what happened out here, but before either the mother or daughter could ask they noticed the giants, making whatever words they wanted to say get stuck in their throats.

"These are giants!! No idea if they're going to kill us yet, but aren't they cool?!!" Will said, causing Elia to snap her gaze from the giants to him, then back to the giants again.

"WOW!!! They're so cool!!!" Rhaenys exclaimed, breaking away from her mother and running over to get an up close and personal look at the giants. "Hi!! My name is Rhaenys!! What's yours?!" She asked, acting like she was talking to her soon to be new best friend.

What came next surprised Will. The giants, almost like they could understand them, answered back, pointing to themselves and saying something Will guessed was their names. Will watched as Rhaenys conversed with them, or at least tried too, then the giants began to walk back from where they came from, gesturing them to follow.

Almost an hour later they arrived at a large mountain with a massive cavern at it's base, and inside there were well over a hundred giants, some small, some very female, while others were hard to gauge if they were man or woman, child or adult, or if they were friendly in general.

Will was surprised to see so few children among the giants, there being only about 10 or 15, and of those children, only 5 or 6 were girls. From the adults, maybe 30 or so of them were women, and that was if he was right about their gender.

Right away he theorized that they either didn't have children often, or the women were being born less and less, but it was just speculation. They were led to a group of Giants, and were welcomed with smiles, although those smiles still looked scary as hell to Will.

"Hello!!" Will said, exchanging a few pleasantries. For hours they sat and attempted to talk with the giants, and after a while they came to an agreement. At least Will thought they did. They would let Elia and her children along with Will stay with them, and in return, Will would not use the green fire anywhere near them. 'Fair trade,' he thought.

While Will had all the giants gathered around him, he brought out the two massive swords Tobho Mott built for him, presenting them to the giants. He watched as they talked with each other before finally two giants walked towards the massive blades and claimed them as their own. There was some cheering and the like, and after that everyone kind of did their own thing.

One of the giants who had brought Will and the others before signaled them to follow him, showing Will and the others where they could sleep. Just like he did in Hardhome, Will created another shelter out of the mountain, although this one was a bit bigger, going so far as to be able to have giants on the main floor.

Putting them on the second floor would be risky, but it was possible, although Will wasn't about to test that theory out anytime soon. This would be their home for the foreseeable future, and Will was quite happy with it if he did say so himself.