A Time for Wolves

Rickon II

He had had many weird dreams. In those dreams he was his direwolf Shaggydog and he ran through the woods, sometimes alone and sometimes with a small pack of wolves. He had grown used to them. But this time it was different. In this particular dream, he came across a massive wall made of ice. It was the Wall; Rickon was sure of that. And there, just by the Wall, was a big castle surrounded by two walls made of stone. He recognized it immediately as Winterfell, the place that once had been home to him. In his dream it was not burned and destroyed, as he had seen it when he had left. It looked just the way it had before Robb went away to war, a very long time ago. Rickon ran towards it as fast as he could, fearing that it would fade and vanish if he did not reach it in time. As he got nearer he could see a group of people standing by the gate, waiting for him. There was a tall auburn-haired woman with deep blue eyes calling to him, and a young lady that looked very much like her was standing by her side, waving her hand delicately to him and welcoming him home. There was another child there, but this one had brown hair and grey eyes, and Rickon could not tell whether it was a boy or a girl. Last of all he found his brother Bran, smiling to him from his saddle, because he was mounted on Dancer.

Rickon was almost there, with his family. But then, in just one instant, everything vanished before his very eyes, and the sunlight brought him back to Osha's home in the village of Skagos. When he woke up, though, he did not forget his dream or the fierce determination to see Winterfell again that he had felt in his dream remained.

"Osha, I have seen Winterfell. It has been repaired, and it isn't burnt anymore. It's by the Wall now," he informed her that morning. "All my family is there. We have to go!"

"How could a castle like Winterfell be moved all the way to the Wall? It was just a dream, Rickon."

"But sometimes dreams are true! Like when Bran and I dreamed that our father was in the crypts. Please, we have to go to the Wall!"

"Calm down, Rickon! The Wall is a dangerous place, and you are fine here, where nobody knows who you are. Someday we'll go to the Wall, when it's safer. When the war is over and the Others withdraw. But for now, we'll stay in Skagos."

Osha was not moved by Rickon's tantrums and rants, but the other people in the village got panicked when Shaggy began snarling and biting the tents madly. One of the men decided to shoot a poisoned arrow at it. It was a poison that could kill a man, but a direwolf it would only leave unconscious for a few hours. With that, Rickon's anger increased even more, and he ran into the woods, away from everybody.

In Winterfell, escaping like this would have caused his family and his brother's guards to look for him throughout the castle and the nearby woods. In Skagos's village, however, escaping to the woods was not an unusual behavior for children and young people who were facing complicated situations and who wanted to be left alone for some time, so only Rickon's closest friends were likely to be worried about him.

He walked until he found the weirwoods of the forest. There were three of them, and they were all together. He sat in front of them, but he did not pray. After being there for some time, listening to the sound the branches and leaves made as the wind moved them constantly, he settled down a little. It was then that he heard the footsteps behind him. He looked backwards to see who it was and found Osha, Keit and Lyra standing there, looking at him.

Silently, Lyra approached him and knelt beside him. Keit asked him if he was feeling well, and Rickon nodded without looking at him. Osha preferred not to speak, probably to prevent him from getting angry and running away once more. She whispered something that he could not hear and then went away in the village's direction, followed by Keit, so Lyra was the only one who stayed with the boy.

"What happened?" Lyra asked Rickon when Osha had left.

"What do you mean, what happened?" Rickon asked his friend.

"I mean in your dream. If you can tell me why you think that you should go to the Wall, maybe I can talk about it with Osha and Keylie, and convince them to let you go. I don't mean to offend you, but you're still a boy, and nobody will listen to you if they think you're only being willful. I am not a grown up, either, but I am older than you, and they take me more seriously, because I am quiet and don't throw tantrums. Besides, I also had a dream, and it was about you. I think it had something to do with yours. So, do you want me to help you?"

That surprised Rickon. He had not really expected to find someone willing to listen to him, let alone an ally who was willing to interceed in his behalf. Being taken seriously by his friend lifted his spirits. He told her everything he had seen in his dream, but it did not make much sense. Still, Lyra said she would try to persuade them. She held his hand and asked him if he wanted to start back. He got up and helped her to stand up too, and then they walked back to the village, holding hands. On their walk back home, Lyra asked Rickon about the games the westerosi kids played, and he happily described her all the ones he had learned. They were still chatting excitedly when they finally got to the village, and bumped into Keylie, Osha, Keit, Deiro and Wegz (the boys and Lyra's father) sitting on the ground, waiting for them.

"Rickon, do you mean to steal my sister?" Deiro asked, teasingly.

Rickon's cheeks turned red with embarrassment, and Lyra gave her little brother a good slap.

"Hey, don't fight! If you keep behaving like this, you'll be grounded. I'll send you home and won't let you out for the rest of the day," Wegz threatened his children.

"I'm sorry, dad," the girl apologized. "But it bothers me when Deiro says those things. And if Rickon wanted to steal me, it wouldn't be Deiro's problem, unless I said so."

"You're right, Lyra. Deiro, apologize to your sister."

The boy, reluctant, did as he was bid, and the fight was soon forgotten. They shared some deer's meat and they chattered as if nothing had happened. But Lyra did not forget to help Rickon with his plan to go to the Wall. As soon as they finished eating, she asked Keylie and Osha for some time to speak privately.

That day went by without any other problem for Rickon, who spent most of the afternoon petting his wolf, which did not wake up from its induced sleep until it started to get dark. Before he went to bed, however, Osha spoke with him.

"I had a talk with my mother and Lyra about your dream, and your wish to go to the Wall," she told him. "We decided that we are going to take you there, but not yet. Lyra had another dream, about a ship with an onion drawn on its sails. In her dream you were on board of the ship, journeying to the Wall. When that ship comes here, we will know they're waiting for you in the Wall, and then we will take you there. It will not be long now. It may happen before winter starts, or maybe at the very beginning of it. In the meanwhile, however, we are staying here."

Rickon accepted that decision and went to bed. His last thoughts before he fell asleep that night were of his family. He knew he would not see his father again, but he would find all the others at the Wall. His sisters, of whom he only remembered their names, would be there. Rickon also hoped to see his mother, that gentle auburn haired woman who had held him in her arms and sang lullabies to him when he was very little. And Robb, the oldest brother he had admired so much. But the one he wished to see the most was Bran, the only one he could altogether remember. He had been through the same as Rickon. He had been left behind and he had seen how their home was destroyed. But he had always taken care of Rickon and stood by his side until the end, when Luwin decided to separate them. Rickon thought there was someone else, somebody in his family that he had forgotten. But however much he tried, he could not remember. Sleep came before the memory.