15 White Lie #15
Waking up with a loud gasp, Gale reached for his chest, his hands instinctively searching for a wound that wasn't there. His heart pounded rapidly, and he took sharp, frantic breaths as he tried to orient himself.
His wide eyes darted around, taking in his surroundings, which were now encased in ice. Whatever had happened seemed to have jolted the others awake as well.
Edd and Qhorin were both on their feet, their hands gripping their swords as they stared at Gale with alarm. On the other hand, Benjen, who was more familiar with Gale's situation, could only sigh and run a hand over his forehead, watching the scene unfold with a mixture of exasperation and understanding.
"You gave us quite the scare, lad. What happened?" Benjen inquired, his tone a blend of concern and reproach.
Gale parroted Benjen's words with a dry chuckle, casting a brief glance at Qhorin and Edd, who seemed ready to cut him down at any moment. "Yes, quite the scare, indeed," he muttered, his voice shaky as he continued.
"I saw a bad dream... or maybe a memory. I'm not sure." He shivered, his distress palpable as he felt the weight of an intense, piercing gaze on his back.
Turning around, he saw a raven perched nearby, its obsidian eyes locked onto him. The raven let out a cry, its harsh caw echoing in the frozen landscape before it flapped its wings and departed into the dark expanse of the night.
Annoyed by the cryptic conversation between Gale and Benjen, Qhorin finally chimed in. "What the hell is going on here, Benjen?" He questioned, his patience wearing thin. "I was told I'd be traveling with rangers, not bloody White Walkers!" He added, his eyes locked onto Gale's pale blue, eerily glowing eyes.
Gale's gaze met Qhorin's, and he couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious under the scrutiny. "Gale's no White Walker, Qhorin. At least, I don't think he is," Benjen replied, his voice tinged with uncertainty. He shook his head. "If he was one... well, he's nothing like the White Walkers in our records..."
Edd couldn't resist adding his own touch of sarcasm. "Is that supposed to be reassuring?" he quipped, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Benjen, who seemed unfazed by his remark.
Qhorin's grip on his sword began to loosen as he absorbed the first ranger's words and noticed his calm, unsurprised demeanor. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with our so-called secondary objective, would it?" he inquired, his voice laced with suspicion.
Benjen nodded with a solemn expression. "More or less. I'd hoped you wouldn't find out about Gale's unique circumstances, at least not before we learned more about the wildlings' plans, but nothing seems to go as planned when he's involved." Benjen cast a complicated look at Gale, a mix of concern and annoyance in his eyes.
"In any case... Gale is not a threat," Benjen firmly stated, trying to alleviate the tension. "Put away those swords and make yourselves comfortable. It's a long story," he added as he headed over to the bonfire, picked up a piece of wood, and tossed it into the wavering flames, causing them to crackle and send sparks dancing into the night.
Qhorin sighed with an air of exasperation at those words but followed Benjen, sheathing his sword as he went. Edd, still apprehensive, hesitated for a moment before also lowering his sword and joining the two senior rangers. He did not, however, sheath his blade.
Gale, maintaining a respectful distance between himself and the others, quickly gathered his bearings and joined them. He was acutely aware that Edd and Qhorin might be wary of him.
Benjen began his explanation, addressing the elephant in the room. "You both know about the unending reports of Wights and White Walkers we've received for a while now," he began. Qhorin and Edd both nodded.
"Well," Benjen continued, "I was on an expedition to look into it when I found Gale... his eyes glowing blue and wrestling a bear on the snow with some strange magic, far north of the Haunted Forest."
Benjen delved into great detail, providing a comprehensive account of his reasoning for trusting Gale instead of resorting to violence and the extraordinary events that had transpired since he'd encountered Gale north of the Haunted Forest.
He recounted the wildling scout encounter, the fierce battle against the Thenn raiding party, and the subsequent outbreak of Gale's unique powers.
"Going out to find Wights and discovering Gale instead... it didn't feel like a coincidence," Benjen stated. "So, I took him to the Lord Commander."
As he spoke, Gale nodded in agreement.
"The Lord Commander generously decided to spare my life, but no one knew what to do next..." Gale commented. "Luckily, Maester Aemon was there to lend us his wisdom. He and I spent countless hours combing through the library, searching for anything that might explain my condition," he added.
"After months of sifting through tall tales and substanceless gibberish, we stumbled upon a rather peculiar book: 'How I Became a Wildling: A Maester's Guide to Savage Lore.'" Gale couldn't help but roll his eyes at the absurd name.
"The hell kind of name is that?" Edd asked, his face contorted with bemusement.
Gale smiled at Edd's reaction. "It's the kind only a madman could come up with," he replied. "The author of the book, one aptly named Maester Oddric, disguised himself as a wildling and lived among them for over ten years to learn everything possible about their culture before writing it."
Qhorin couldn't help but smile strangely, his skepticism evident as he shot a look at Benjen, half expecting this to be an elaborate prank. Benjen shook his head, his expression grave. "I've wished this were mere foolery since I first heard of it, but I've seen the book myself. It's a troubling reality," he admitted with a heavy sigh.
"Ha! And here I thought nothing could surprise me anymore..." Qhorin mused, a chuckle escaping his lips. He turned his attention back to Gale. "So, what did this Maester Oddric have to say?" he asked, clearly intrigued.
Gale sighed and began to recount their findings. "We didn't find anything in the wildling tales and legends that matched my condition. However, there was an old wildling legend, something about a Greenseer called the Three-Eyed Raven, who supposedly knew anything and everything there was to know..."
Qhorin's face contorted with disbelief. "Don't tell me... we're here to search for this so-called seer, aren't we?" he grumbled, anticipating a challenging journey ahead.
The room fell silent, the weight of their purpose hanging in the air. "This is ridiculous..." Qhorin muttered, his frustration apparent. He couldn't fathom the idea of seeking a mythical, omnipotent being they knew next to nothing about.
Benjen responded with a simple, "So is the very notion of magic, yet here we are." His gaze turned to the icy enclosure where Gale had been sleeping, a reminder of the enigma they were now entangled with.
"You know better than anyone, Benjen, about my loyalty to the Night's Watch... I've always followed the Lord Commander's orders without hesitation, but this..." Qhorin began, his voice trailing off at the end of his sentence. His frown reflected his skepticism.
"This sounds like a wild goose chase. We don't even know where to start looking..." he added, his reluctance to embark on such a quest evident. He didn't want to waste valuable time on what seemed like a futile endeavor when he could be contributing elsewhere.
Gale stepped in to provide some reassurance. "That's why Benjen said it's only a secondary objective. Our main goal is to gather more information about the wildlings and their plans..." Gale said calmly.
"But we're not completely clueless... the dream I saw might be our way of finding this Three-Eyed Raven..." He explained, hoping to alleviate Qhorin's concerns.
Qhorin paused, appearing to mull over Gale's words. "Fine. I'll lend you an ear, at least, lad," he finally conceded after a brief silence. "Tell me what it is that you saw..." He added, his eyes locked on Gale, clearly curious and willing to entertain the idea.
Gale began to recount his dream. "I think I saw how I was created... how I came to possess this power, but that's not all..." he said and proceeded to describe the dream in detail.
He also added a fabricated element, mentioning a massive, ancient weirwood tree with a face carved into it as it was his only clue to the Three-Eyed Raven's cave.
...
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