Chapter 77 - The Wall.

 

[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.]

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Third Person POV

North, 105 AC.

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The reception at Castle Black was more crowded than Jon could have expected. When his memories looked toward the Night's Watch of the future, it was nothing particularly powerful.

More or less two hundred years in the future, only a handful of men would be garrisoning the Night's Watch's castle.

Anyway, Jon followed in line with the guards, waiting for Lord Stark and the other lords to first greet the Lord Commander, who was a bearded, middle-aged man with a rather harsh look. He was from one of the Mountain Clans, so that explained his toughness. Rodrik Wull.

Jon looked away from the Lord Commander and the others and observed all the men around Castle Black, all of them staring at the group, with some even looking directly at him.

Whatever reputation he had among those men, here in the far North they must have heard something about him, so that explained some of those looks. Even atop the Wall, there were a few heads looking down, watching the courtyard, although they probably couldn't hear anything.

"This is my ward, Jon," Lord Stark said when Jon stepped out of the line of guards to greet the Lord Commander.

"Ah, yes, the boy. I heard you aren't even fifteen namedays old and you were already beating wildlings who invade the lands of the North. You've already killed about three or four of them!" he said, making Jon stare at him in surprise that he had heard about that. "What's with that face, boy? It's not as if we haven't heard of you before. Not every child wins an archery tournament in front of the king at only ten namedays old."

Jon gave a small, defeated smile, since that was quite obvious. After all, he had done it in front of the entire North four years ago.

"We need talent like that in the Night's Watch. You would make a good ranger," said a man beside him, the First Ranger. "Don't you agree, Lord Commander?"

"The boy seems to have a good physique, quite well-developed. He is certainly a natural-born archer."

"But unfortunately, the North needs Jon more, and the Night's Watch can carry on without him..." Lord Stark replied.

Jon raised his hand to greet the Lord Commander, while the man shook it and studied him. "Good strength. At first glance, you seem like a castle-raised boy, but you seem to handle that beast well," the man said, looking at Ghost just behind them.

That did not go unnoticed by anyone. Even though there were more wolves, both the one accompanying Lord Stark and Rickon's, Ghost simply stood out, being almost twice their size. And it wasn't just him. Coming North, Jon had brought Winterfell's entire pack with him, so there were dozens of wolves standing behind them.

And that made the Stark banner and its symbol stand out greatly as they advanced through the North.

"That is surprising. Anyway..." The man clapped his hands, and other men brought trays with the guest right. "Accept bread and salt. Castle Black is at your service, Lord Stark. I hope the accommodations are to your liking."

"And if they aren't, the harshness of the North won't keep us from making the most of any place in this kingdom. Lord Commander, thank you for receiving us."

With those words, they headed into the castle as they made their way toward the place where they would be staying. Rangers came and went across the courtyard, until one of them, who had just entered the area, found Jon and Rickon talking.

"So, I heard you two are going South," said Walton Stark, approaching with a smile. Walton Stark was Lyarra's youngest son and Benjen Stark's brother, who had joined the Night's Watch 4 years ago. It was obvious that they would find him there.

"You heard about that, uncle? Yes, Jon and I are going to a jousting tournament in the Vale. As soon as we return to Winterfell, we'll head South shortly afterward," Rickon said.

"That sounds like quite an adventure, huh? I envy you," he said with a smile.

"You seem to be doing well in the Watch. I heard that you might already be one of the best," Jon added, changing the subject, while the man gave a somewhat sad smile.

"I try to do my best, but I still have a long way to go. Anyway, I imagine you're curious. My brother asked me to guide you and show you the Wall. What do you say? Are you brave enough to go up there?" he asked.

Jon and Rickon scoffed.

"If we don't go up there, what's the point of coming all the way here, uncle?" Rickon said, annoyed.

"Of course, of course. For two young men who are about to get into all sorts of trouble in the South, the Wall should be nothing," he replied in a humorous tone, returning to that subject and looking at Rickon. "So, the heir to Winterfell is going to become a knight, take part in jousts, kill a few bandits along the road, and perhaps even win the heart of some southern maiden," he suggested with a smile.

"My heart already belongs to someone!" Rickon burst out.

"That's true. You should have seen him when we stopped at the Glover castle. Rickon stuck to Lady Glover like glue and wouldn't leave her side at all. I heard that a servant caught them secretly kissing in the kitchen," Jon said, laughing, making the older Stark laugh as well and earning Jon a hostile look from the heir to Winterfell.

"Oh, that's wonderful! Does that mean we'll have a marriage for love? Perhaps that will teach my brother Rodrik something. He seems too lazy to get married," he said.

"The way he talks, I really doubt he'll ever get married. Anyway, you're going to pay for that comment, Jon. But yes, we're going South, and we're going to make a name for ourselves. Soon, the entire North will hear about us," Rickon said to Jon and then to his uncle.

"Great, great! I expected nothing less from my nephew. Anyway, let's keep going," he said.

Jon and Rickon followed him through Castle Black, while Walton showed them the most basic places, such as the maester's chambers, the library, and finally the great hall, where Lord Stark, Lord Umber, and Lord Karstark were discussing matters with the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

Jon wanted to make the most of the visit. As they passed by the kennels, they found Walton Stark's own wolf, as he had also received one of the animals, and it joined them. They made their way through every corner of the castle, while the Watchmen trained or carried out their duties, still casting occasional glances at them and greeting them.

The Night's Watch here was, in a way, quite honorable in this era. A large number of them worked in the Gift, growing food, while it wasn't merely a group of condemned men being sent here; most of them were people who enlisted of their own free will, knowing they would have water and hot food to keep them warm and stave off hunger. The North was still a harsh place, and the Watch ended up being an alternative to starving to death, living here under the constant threat of the wildlings, but living for a cause, to protect the lands of their ancestors.

So, as Jon imagined, this place was certainly much more pleasant than the one in his memories, which should have been nearly three hundred years after the Conquest.

He also couldn't help but observe carefully when they reached the top of the Wall. The sight had become even more magical to Jon. With his memories, it was always different to see something in person rather than merely remember it. The feeling of being there, so long before, was very different, just as it had been in Braavos.

The place was somewhat cloudy, but it was still quite pleasant to look at. Thus ended the first day, and that night, they ate dinner and listened to the discussions in the hall.

In total, they spent three days at the Wall, while Jon spent much of his time in the library or in the training yard, training with Rickon and Walton, who wanted to see the boys' skills before they went South. Rickon was excellent, but Jon was a monster on the battlefield, at least when it came to hand-to-hand combat.

Even the adults who were put against him lost one by one, as long as the fight was against only one person, impressing everyone and sending the entire yard into a frenzy, with everyone applauding as they watched the boy perform so well.

During the time he spent in the library, he read a few books that caught his attention, and he researched the Long Night a little more, finding some records of it in that enormous library that he had not seen in his memories.

Lastly, they also went to the heart tree on the other side of the Wall, where the men of the Night's Watch usually took their vows.

It was then that something unexpected happened. When Jon touched the heart tree, he felt a wave of memories come over him. Memories of a little boy who had touched that same tree in another reality, at eight or nine namedays old.

The same thing came back to him. Build a kingdom beyond the Wall. Give the people on that side of the Wall and those hostile lands a chance to survive.

Was that what the Old Gods wanted from him as well? Jon was somewhat stunned, but he did not find it strange. In fact, it was something he should have expected, given what had happened in that other world.

He said nothing about it. There was still the matter of him becoming the lord of Dragon Point. He knew he had that mission, but he would have to head South and see how things unfolded for now.

Well, Jon knew that Lord Stark was discussing resources with the Night's Watch and their needs. Even though they still had the Gift to cultivate, there were some things they would need to obtain through donations from the kingdoms. The South did not care much about the Night's Watch, aside from sending new recruits, mostly men condemned by the law who had chosen to take the black rather than face their sentences.

Lord Stark even came to speak with Jon about some matters related to this, but it did not take long, merely asking his opinion on a few things, and Jon answered honestly.

Anyway, it was finally on the fourth day since they arrived that they departed. There was nothing more for them there at the Watch. The group headed South, arriving at Winterfell ten days later.

"So you'll be staying in the South for a while?" Jon was tending to Ghost and the other wolves when Lyra approached him.

Since he had returned to the courtyard, they had not spoken much, but the question was obvious. They would stay a week in Winterfell to make the final preparations for the journey, and then they would finally depart for the South.

"I think so." Jon looked at her with an apologetic smile.

Even though she had already known about it from the moment they left for the Wall, she still wanted to talk to him.

"This she-wolf isn't happy with that arrangement," she said, trying to sound arrogant.

Jon looked at Ghost and winked, making the wolf, who had been lying down, rise and walk over to her. Before Lyra could react, he licked her face.

"This she-wolf just got licked," Jon said, laughing and making her stare at him in displeasure.

"You!" she said, throwing some snow at Jon, who was applying medicine and magic to a wound one of the wolves had suffered during the journey and that he had only noticed when they arrived.

Jon merely laughed before Lyra finally approached him with a displeased look.

"We'll be away for a while, yes, but we'll return soon. You know this is only temporary. Won't you enjoy hearing about the greatest archer in the North defeating several famous men from the Seven Kingdoms?" Jon joked, making her blush slightly.

"Given what we've seen, you're certainly very capable," she admitted.

"Ah, we won't be staying entirely in the South, of course. We'll be traveling for basically a year, perhaps, at most. We'll return to Winterfell. Your father will certainly want to see your brother, and we'll come back. We'll have plenty to talk about as well." Jon was treating her as his betrothed.

"And your business with Braavos?" she asked.

"I spoke with your grandmother and your father about that as well. I arranged everything with my parents. Lord Stark has already hired the people, and I also sent the seeds to my parents. They started planting the seeds he gave them, all altered as I had taught them."

In a way, everything was prepared. There would also be some soldiers living in the village near the farm, and they would be paid by the Starks themselves to stay there with their families. The intention was to protect the farm, Jon's family, while, within a few moons, the first batch of plants would already be harvested and sent to Winterfell, where they were preparing everything to begin producing the perfume. Jon had already explained everything and made it very clear, leaving the instructions with the maester.

"Come on, let's go inside. I asked them to bring us some hot mead," Lyra said, pulling him toward the castle once he had finished tending to the wolf.

The following days passed like that, with the two of them talking. Lyra would not leave Jon's side, accepting that he would be her future husband and therefore wanting to spend some time with him before his departure.

 

At the same time, Jon also spent some time with Lord Stark, giving him a few more details and inspecting the place inside Winterfell that they were preparing to begin production, as well as who they would hire for it. He also recommended and drew several tools for the blacksmiths to produce or, if necessary, order.

Jon could not help but think about the matter of glass. It was important, but currently they needed to import it from Myr. Jon already knew the formula to make it and would not even need to obtain a large amount of sand from Dorne to produce something that would be distributed throughout the kingdom, he only wanted to produce bottles for the perfumes. Even so, he would also be able to build glasshouses, which would be perfect for growing crops during the winter at Dragon Point and even Winterfell.

Anyway, when the final day arrived, he, Rickon, and six other men were prepared to head South. Lord Stark had assigned six guards to accompany them.

Obviously, Jon and Rickon said goodbye to the entire family before finally beginning to leave Winterfell.

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