Chapter 1

<p>Disclaimer I do not own a song of ice in fire; all I own are my original characters.<br/><br/><br/>Ashton POV<br/><br/><br/>Spending hours climbing to see the view from the top was always my favorite part of rock climbing.<br/><br/><br/>Upon reaching the top, I paused to take a deep breath and take in the beautiful view when it happened.<br/><br/><br/>A rock came loose, causing me to lose my footing, causing me to slip. I scrambled to grab something only to catch air.<br/><br/><br/>As I began to fall, I finally grabbed the edge with my left hand but didn't have the leverage to pull myself up. So, with one hand on the cliff realizing, I was about to fall. I began to regret climbing up in the first place.<br/><br/><br/>My last thought as I was falling was that at least I got to the top before I fell.<br/><br/><br/>_______________________________________________<br/><br/><br/>I woke up with the worst migraine I had ever experienced. It felt as though someone hit my head with a sledgehammer.<br/><br/><br/>I began to sit up when I was suddenly bombarded with memories of a short, harsh life.<br/><br/><br/>The memories all seemed to be through the eyes of a small child, always cold, always hungry. I had never experienced such a visceral need for food. It felt as though my stomach was trying to digest itself.<br/><br/><br/>I got flashes of pain and a bone-deep cold; it felt as though the cold was burning from within, and it was seated in my feet.<br/><br/><br/> I also remember a harsh, coarse language that I had never heard before. I tried to block out the painful memories so l could focus on my surroundings.<br/><br/><br/>As I opened my eyes l looked around, I noticed I was in a dark cave with little lighting except for a firepit in the center of the cave. As I looked up, I saw a small opening near the top of the cave, letting the worst of the smoke out. <br/><br/><br/>I felt underneath myself noticing l was sitting on a large pelt, in a back corner of the cave. <br/><br/><br/>I tried sitting up but clutched my head in pain as I felt around where it hurt. I felt some sort of coarse cloth being used as bandages. <br/><br/><br/>Bracing myself I tried to stand again, this time I ignored the pain and discomfort standing up through the pain.<br/><br/><br/>After standing I slowly began to walk towards the fire, where four figures were sitting around the fire. Two of them were young adults, while the other two were middle-aged women and an ancient-looking crone that more resembled a pile of skin and bones than an actual human.<br/><br/><br/>I noticed that the two young men had broad shoulders, strong arms, and faces that appeared weathered and scarred from frostbite.<br/><br/><br/>The woman had a gont appearance, Lastly was the old crone. <br/><br/><br/>When one of them noticed me and spoke I was surprised when I couldn't understand what they were saying.<br/><br/><br/>I try to respond when black spots appear in my vision and as wave of pain hit me, I begin to fall.<br/><br/>_______________________________________________<br/><br/>Upon awakening, I tried to stay calm and not break down, so I took a deep breath and pushed all thoughts from my mind.  <br/><br/><br/>After calming down to the best of my ability I   looked around to see if there were any hints that this was all a dream. When everything around me looked normal I pinched my arm as hard as I could. When I felt pain I knew this was not a dream.<br/><br/><br/>Trying not to freak out I try to evaluate my situation, I am still in the strange cave.<br/><br/><br/> I feel along my head and notice there are no longer any bandages on my head, so I am guessing that I have been asleep for a long time.<br/><br/><br/>looking around I notice that it is just me and the old crone in the cave. Sitting by the fire the crone is making clothes, with a bone shard as the need and some weirded-looking twine to stitch together some rough-looking pelts. <br/><br/><br/>Sitting up, I feel along my head for any sore areas. After feeling no pain I tried standing up, almost falling in the process from the weakness I felt in my legs. <br/><br/><br/>I examined my body and I noticed why I felt so weak, I was malnourished and I was a sickly pale color.<br/><br/><br/>I had a dark tan in my past life but in this body, I seem unnaturally pale like I have never seen the light of the sun. <br/><br/><br/>As I continue to look over my body I notice some things. I seem to have shoulder-length black hair oily and tangled, from not being properly cleaned.<br/><br/><br/>Looking down I examined what I was wearing, some type of thin pelt in the place of undergarments.<br/><br/><br/> I then noticed my feet and almost fainted due to shock. The bottom half of my foot was an unnatural black color, looking as though it was made from stone.<br/><br/><br/>I stumbled back onto the pelts and reached down to touch them. They felt as cold as ice but besides that, they feel like regular feet.<br/><br/><br/>When I touch them they feel cold, but my feet do not feel cold but feel quite comfortable.<br/><br/><br/> I felt like I was going to start panicking if things didn't start making sense, so to combat the feeling I try to think rationally.<br/><br/><br/>  I tried to come up with some sort of theory, I discarded frostbite because my feet weren't a purplish color, and they didn't feel numb. <br/><br/><br/>They looked and felt like normal feet, except for the fact that they were pitch-black and that cold seemed to radiate off them. <br/><br/><br/>It wasn't a natural cold. It seemed to seep into whatever they touched as I walked towards the fire. I noticed frost begin to form on the ground where I stepped. Yet my feet didn't feel cold, in fact my feet felt perfectly normal if not a little less sensitive.<br/><br/><br/>Unable to find a satisfactory explanation for my situation. I slowly walked towards the fire, where the old crone was sat stitching together some pelts with a bone fragment as the needle and some weird-looking twine as the thread, to make some rough-looking clothes.<br/><br/><br/>Sitting down I tried to get comfortable but I was unable to do so since I was sitting on a rough and uneven piece of wood, when I got as comfortable as I was going to get.<br/><br/><br/>I began to think about what was going on, so I tried to arrange the facts and theories together. First, the last thing I remember before waking up here was falling. So I should either be dead or hospitalized, and I am not dead and this is not a dream, so those options are out. <br/><br/><br/>My last theory was that I was reborn into this body when I died or I'm in a coma and this is a very realistic dream. But thinking back on that rush of memories, I'm guessing it's the ladder. <br/><br/><br/>Thinking about what that would mean I tried to think up a game plan but there was a large problem with that, I had know idea where or when I was reborn.<br/><br/><br/>So I tried to rack my brain trying to think of any key details that could help me figure out the things I have seen and observed. I then noticed some key details: my feet were black, The pelts, furs, the numbing cold, and the guttural language.<br/><br/><br/>My thoughts solidified into an idea. In my favorite series, A Song of Ice in Fire, there was a clan of free folk beyond the wall called the hornfoots. They had blackened feet that were immune to the cold.<br/><br/><br/> Meaning that the language I was hearing should be the old tongue with all of these revelations, I decided to go back to my pelts  to lay down and regain strength for tomorrow I would need to make plans.<br/><br/><br/>Author note this is my first time writing so mistakes are expected. This is a learning experience. Constructive criticism is welcome.</p>