eternity • Brandon Stark

chapter 24- warg

Valeria flinched a little as the thunder roars, echoing inside the rock walls of the castle.

She sat across bran as he tried to catch her eyes but to no avail she still ignored him.

"Valeria can we talk?" He called out to her as she finally looks at him.

She didn't answer, looking away from him once again, eyes roaming around the place.

Before bran could beg for her attention again he stopped when she opened her mouth.

"Catherine would run around these floors with her endless energy. She bumped her head to that wall once" she suddenly said as she pointed at an dented wall. "She was five..." She mumbled fondly with a sad smile.

Everyone suddenly looked at her in curiosity.

"Was she your-?" Bran asked quietly as he gulped down his jealousy from earlier, knowing that it wasn't far fetched that valeria would have married someone else from her past lives.

He would've been sad if she hasn't. He was glad she found love before. Atleast at some point she was happy.

"She was my child. I didn't give birth to her, but she was mine." She mumbled sadly.

She looked at their faces of sympathy. She clicked her tongue as she smiles at them, "please, it's been so long. Brandon- the other brandon, i couldn't give him a child. No matter how hard i tried." You can see the disappointment on her face.

"What happened to her?" Meera whispered.

Valeria moved to sit beside bran, much to his surprise, wrapping her arms around his.  He softly wiggles out of her grip, immediately wrapping his arm around her, pulling her closer as he leans to her.

He sighed contently.

"Im sorry" he whispered to her to which she nods. "I would never throw you aside." He mumbled making her smile.

Valeria stared at the wall as she breathes deeply, deciding to answer meera. " She was Ten when a whitewalker breached through our fields— I didn't know such things existed. I told her to go get mushrooms— she screamed so much." Her last words she croaked out silently.

Bran's hands ran up and down her arm, giving her a sense of comfort.

"I- im sorry-" meera immediately said.

"It's ok meera, it's been so long... Brandon was devastated. We both were. That's why he created those walls" she explained with a soft smile. "One life for the life of many i suppose" she mumbled.

Everyone gave her sympathetic smiles, it must've been hard to live with the memories of love ones that you know you'll never see again.

They all stayed quiet as they tried to rest.

Hodor kept hodoring every once in while as the thunders strike. He seemed to be scared of it.

Rickon curled up against valeria for warmth as she laid against bran for comfort.

She had great memories here but the bad ones are taking a toll on her as she tried her best to fall asleep.

"How are we crossing the wall though?" Bran suddenly said. "My uncle said it's 700 feet high, even hodor can't climb up with mr on his back" he sheepishly said.

"Hodor!"

Valeria kept her mouth shut. She knew all the ways they could cross that wall without needing to climb it.

she hoped not knowing might give bran a chance to think over this decision of his. She really didn't trust the three eyed raven.

Especially when it was slowly corrupting her husband's mind.

Osha told bran about how she came, which was through a boat. But then jojen suggested that the castles created across the wall might give them entrance.

She grew nervous at his words. "Those gates have been frozen and barricaded for years" bran said.

A sigh of relief quietly left her mouth.

"There's a rider outside!" Meera suddenly said as she looked outside the window.

Everyone perked up at this.

That person could need help. Or might be a threat.

Valeria stood up gently in alert as she picked up her bow and arrow. "Just one?" She mumbled.

"There's more"

Hodor shouted making osha immediately rush to comfort him. They had to be quiet until those people leave.

"Wildings" jojen confirmed making osha turn to look for their direwolves.

"Rickon stay with bran— Meera, Jojen! Stay away from the windows!" Valeria immediately said to the two.

"Where's summer and shaggydog?" Osha asked making everyone grow nervous. "Hunting" bran asnwered.

Valeria bit her lips before she ran to barricade the only entrance, just to make sure.

When she came back, the group seemed to be panicking. Hodor's screams echoed through the room as the thunder and howling wind grew louder around them.

Bran seemed to be trying to order him to calm down "Hodor! No more hodoring, calm down, hodor—"

Valeria stared as he suddenly stopped. Eyes rolling back. He finally warged outside his dreams. she proudly thought as a smile rose to her face.

Hodor suddenly stopped, losing conciousness as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Valeria watched as bran's eyes closed, he gasped for air, breathing deeply as he opened his eyes in confusion and bewilderment.

She smiled as she sat back down beside him, checking on him to make sure there weren't any drawbacks. "You did it. You warged" she whispered proudly.

His eyebrows furrowed still in shock but they all turned hearing a sound from outside.

Rickon was scared, "what was that?" He asked.

"The sound of a horse dying" osha said warily from the window.

Jojen's eyes widened in realization before he kneeled infront of bran. "The wolves are out there"

Bran, following what he was going to say, shakes his head. "No. I can't do it by choice. It happens in my dreams but-"

"You already did it with him, a wolf is nothing compared to that" jojen insisted.

Bran seemed skeptical "I-i don't know how-"

"You relax your body. Feel your energy, imagine it come together and imagine it leave you—"  valeria softly instructed.

Her fingers where already tracing circles onto his palms as a way to help him relax.

"How do you know how to do it?" Bran asked softly as he tried to relax his mind.

Valeria didn't answer as he watches her. She smiled before it slowly falls, and her eyes rolled back to her head.

Bran and jojen gasped, catching her suddenly limped body, flinching when they heard the shouting of the wildlings outside as growls were heard.

Jojen grinned. "Well, you'll have to warg into summer now. Can't leave your wife fighting alone, now can you?" He jokingly said to bran.

Bran smiled a little as he follows Valeria's instructions, eyes suddenly rolling back after mere seconds.

And now he was inside summer.