Artos Stark

Beyond the Wall

The walk was cold and windy as snow clung to Artos boots making them heavier than before. Beast kept close to his side even if he was excited by the smells of the pure wild.
"You all right?" Jon asked Gendry who was more bundled than the rest of them.
"Mm." He said nodding his head.
"Ever been north before?" Tormund asked him.
"Never seen snow before." Gendry told them shivering.
"Beautiful, eh? I can breathe again. Down south, the air smells like pig shit." Tormund told him.
"You've never been down south." Jon told him.
"I've been to Winterfell." He argued back.
"That's the North." Jon reminded making Artos chuckle at their bickering only to laugh harder when Tormund blew a raspberry at him.
"How do you live up here? How do you keep your balls from freezing off?" Gendry asked him.
"You've got to keep moving. That's the secret. Walking's good, fighting's better, fucking's best." He answered making the young blacksmith smile.
"There's not a living woman within a hundred miles of here." Jon said with a laugh in his tone.
"We have to make do with what we've got." Tormund told him staring him down causing Gendry's face to fall as he fell back slightly.
"This one is maybe not so smart." Tormund suggested.
"Davos says he's a strong fighter." Jon said adjusting his bag.
"Good. That's more important than being smart. Smart people don't come up here looking for the dead." Tormund told them.
"Let's just make sure we don't join them, yeah? My wife is likely to keep me locked in the dungeon, white and all." Artos told them making the large ginger laugh.
"So, you married this Dragon Queen, huh? And?" Tormund asked him. Artos raised a brow at him in question. Tormund shrugged and kept walking. Artos let out an amused scoff and continued on with them.
"The first time I went north of the Wall was with your father." Jon broke the silence by starting a conversation with Jorah.
"He was a good man. He deserved a better son. Were you with him at the end?" Jorah asked him.
"I was a prisoner of the wildlings. But we avenged him. I want you to know that. Every mutineer found justice." Jon told him.
"Can't think of a worse way for him to go. The Night's Watch was his life. He would have died to protect every one of those men. And they butchered him." Jorah said.
"I hate that he died that way. My father was the most honorable man I ever met. He was good all the way through. And he died on an executioner's block." Jon told him.
"Seems like both our fathers deserved better sons. May they rest in peace." Artos spoke up.
"Your father wanted to execute me, you know? Artos did too when we first met." Jorah said poking fun at Artos a bit.
"I heard." Jon said with a bit of a smile.
"They were in the right, of course. Didn't make me hate them any less. I've moved past it now." Jorah said.
"I'm glad he didn't catch you." Jon told him.
"Me, too." Jorah agreed.
"Little Lyanna though. You would be proud of her. She makes a good Lady of Bear Island. She's brave, outspoken, and strong. It's in good hands." Artos told him making the man smile at the thought of his little cousin. Jon stepped aside making Jorah and Artos follow.
"Your father gave me this sword. Changed the pommel from a bear to a wolf... but it's still Longclaw." Jon said holding the Valyrian sword out to him. Jorah took it and looked down at the blade.
"Lord Commander Mormont thought you'd never come back to Westeros. But you are back, and it's been in your family for centuries. It's not right for me to have it." Jon told him.
"He gave it to you." Jorah protested.
"I'm not his son." Jon said. Jorah pulled it slightly from its sheath and admired the blade.
"I brought shame onto my house. I broke my father's heart. I forfeited the right to claim this sword. It's yours. May it serve you well... and your children after you." Jorah told him handing it back ad walking away.
"That's something to see. Little children of Jon Snow. You know the offer to name you Stark still stands. You always have been one, just never called one." Artos told him.
"Maybe when the wars are over." Jon smiled up at his older brother.
"Deal." Artos told him smiling back and pulling him back towards the other men.

The sun was dipping low in the sky when Beric decided to join Artos and Jon.
"You don't look much like him. You however are a spitting image." He said looking first at Jon and then at Artos.
"Who's that?" Jon asked.
"Your father. I suppose you favor your mother." He said.
"You knew him?" Jon asked.
"Course I did. When he was Hand, he sent me off hunting for the Mountain. You're wildling friend told me the red woman brought you back. Thoros has brought me back six times. We both serve the same lord." He told them.
"I serve the North." Jon corrected him.
"The North didn't raise you from the dead." Beric argued.
"The Lord of Light never spoke to me. I don't know anything about him. I don't know what he wants from me." Jon said.
"He wants you alive." Beric told him.
"Why?" Jon asked him.
"I don't know." He answered.
"That's all anyone can tell me- 'I don't know.' So, what's the point is serving a god if none of us knows what he wants?" Jon asked him.
"I think about that all the time. I don't think it's our purpose to understand. Except one thing- we're soldiers. We have to know what we're fighting for. I'm not fighting so some man or woman I barely know can sit on a throne made of swords." He told them.
"So, what are you fighting for?" Jon asked him.
"Life. Death is the enemy. The first enemy and the last." He told them.
"But we all die." Jon reminded him.
"The enemy always wins. And we still need to fight him. That's all I know. You and I won't find much joy while we're here, but we can keep others alive. We can defend those who can't defend themselves." Beric directed the last part towards Jon.
"'I am the shield that guards the realms of men.'" Jon quoted.
"Maybe we don't want to understand any more than that. Maybe that's enough." He said smiling.
"Aye. Maybe that's enough." Jon agreed.
"One thing I do want to know though. I heard you killed the red woman, why?" Beric asked Artos.
"She burned a little girl alive. I have children, I've buried children. A man begged me with pain in his eyes. He saw the girl as his own, so I saw no reason not to agree to his request. I don't care how many times Thoros brings you back if I found out you sacrificed children to the Lord of Light. You will suffer the same fate." Artos told him. His voice was deep and calm holding a deadly tone. Beric nodded to Artos and fell quiet. The convoy stopped shorty after when Sandor pointed up at the tallest mountain in front of them.
"That's what I saw in the fire. A mountain like an arrowhead." He told them.
"Are you sure?" Thoros asked him. Sandor nodded his head at him.
"We're getting close." He said then continued walking.