Eddard Stark (
learned_to_die) wrote in
sixthiterationlogs2017-11-16 12:02 pm
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[the dire wolf collects his due while the boys sing 'round the fire]
WHO: Eddard Stark
WHERE: Around the village
WHEN: November 16, the beginning of the ice storm
OPEN TO: OTA!
WARNINGS: Will update as needed
The steadily dropping temperatures has filled Ned with a certain vigor, one he has not felt for quite some time. He has yet to experience a winter within the village, and while he has come to expect short and fleeting seasons here, unlike the seasons of Westeros, he cannot deny anticipating the frigid temperatures with which he's so intimately familiar. He will therefore enjoy the impending winter as deeply as he is able, for long as he is able.
It is in the early morning hours, when the village is still cloaked in darkness, that Ned is stirred awake by the sounds of rain pelting the roof of the cabin. No, it must be something harder than rain, given the noise and percussion of the sound; perhaps ice? He thinks to check on the others but, as he always is, he is concerned with being too overbearing and too meddling with their lives. None of them are children any longer, and though he does not anticipate having his usefulness wear out with them, he does not need to treat them as though they were still the children running around the yard at Winterfell.
He attempts to find slumber again but finds it impossible with the noise. He goes to the window to glance outside and, indeed, it seems as though ice is falling and crashing against all that lay on the earth. He busies himself until first light, donning the Westerosi outfit he'd received as a gift some time ago, as well as the heavier of the two fur-lined cloaks he'd also received as gifts. Quietly, he slips out of the house and out into what feels like a transformed world.
The village he knew as of the night prior has been turned into a wintry, sparkling land reminiscent of the North - the trees cocooned in layers of ice, the rain and ice falling from above. There is a particular smell in the air that always follows these colder, more frigid conditions, and if he closes his eyes and inhales deeply through his nostrils, he can almost convince himself that he's been transported back to the Godswood.
The thought of it reminds him of the small Weirwood sapling just south of the cabin and, after checking on it, he decides that perhaps he should build some sort of shelter for it, to protect it from the dagger-like ice.
He can be seen wandering about the village, checking the inventory at the Inn, trying to figure out a way to shield the small, white-barked tree from nature's harsher elements.
WHERE: Around the village
WHEN: November 16, the beginning of the ice storm
OPEN TO: OTA!
WARNINGS: Will update as needed
The steadily dropping temperatures has filled Ned with a certain vigor, one he has not felt for quite some time. He has yet to experience a winter within the village, and while he has come to expect short and fleeting seasons here, unlike the seasons of Westeros, he cannot deny anticipating the frigid temperatures with which he's so intimately familiar. He will therefore enjoy the impending winter as deeply as he is able, for long as he is able.
It is in the early morning hours, when the village is still cloaked in darkness, that Ned is stirred awake by the sounds of rain pelting the roof of the cabin. No, it must be something harder than rain, given the noise and percussion of the sound; perhaps ice? He thinks to check on the others but, as he always is, he is concerned with being too overbearing and too meddling with their lives. None of them are children any longer, and though he does not anticipate having his usefulness wear out with them, he does not need to treat them as though they were still the children running around the yard at Winterfell.
He attempts to find slumber again but finds it impossible with the noise. He goes to the window to glance outside and, indeed, it seems as though ice is falling and crashing against all that lay on the earth. He busies himself until first light, donning the Westerosi outfit he'd received as a gift some time ago, as well as the heavier of the two fur-lined cloaks he'd also received as gifts. Quietly, he slips out of the house and out into what feels like a transformed world.
The village he knew as of the night prior has been turned into a wintry, sparkling land reminiscent of the North - the trees cocooned in layers of ice, the rain and ice falling from above. There is a particular smell in the air that always follows these colder, more frigid conditions, and if he closes his eyes and inhales deeply through his nostrils, he can almost convince himself that he's been transported back to the Godswood.
The thought of it reminds him of the small Weirwood sapling just south of the cabin and, after checking on it, he decides that perhaps he should build some sort of shelter for it, to protect it from the dagger-like ice.
He can be seen wandering about the village, checking the inventory at the Inn, trying to figure out a way to shield the small, white-barked tree from nature's harsher elements.
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And he's walking very carefully, using Chirrut's staff both for support and to dig into the ice where it's the most slippery to break it up and make sure it won't crack on its own under his weight.
He spots Ned at the small tree and crunches his way over there. "A young tree?" he says, a little skeptical about what is keeping the man's attention so about it. It's just a tree.
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"I met Bodhi once, a great deal of time ago. Did you know each other before you arrived here?" he asks, nodding gratefully at Baze's assistance. "The gifts are .. jarring, no matter how welcomed the items themselves might be. I don't blame your feeling of dread."
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"Best to try and wrap it up, right? It might not be perfect but it'll keep the worst of the ice off."
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"Is it a .. cloak?" he asks, eyes sweeping over the robe-like shape of the thing. "Or perhaps .. vestments from .. Well, I'm not sure what from," he laughs. He bundles it up again and tucks it under his arm. "Yes, that is my thought, as well. I appreciate your concern for the small sapling; I know it is of no obligation for you to feel as such."
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He looks at the weirwood, so small in the ice that's rapidly piling up around it. It looked fragile and he didn't want it to bend and break; who knew if they could get another one here?
"It's important to your family and important to Sansa. I'm going to do anything I can to keep it safe. I have a tree, too. It's called a sakura, it comes from a place called Japan. It's got little white blossoms in the spring and it means something to me. It isn't as strange to me as you might think to want to keep it safe."
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He kneels to take away as much of the ice collected at the base of the tree as he can before replacing it all with the coiled and strategically wrapped snuggie. He isn't sure if he'll ever be able to say the word aloud, but at least he knows what it's called. He might have to come up with a better name, though.
"Thank you, for assisting me," he says, standing and dusting the ice from his knees. Ned sizes Raleigh up for a moment or two before softening a bit. "It is of great comfort to me that you understand the importance of symbols such as these. Of course, we need not the Weirwood - or this Sakura, as you say - to remind us of our strength or resilience or of home, but that doesn't lessen the importance of them or their meaning."
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"Do you think it will be okay in all the ice? Sansa says it gets cold where you're from but this is a pretty young tree so..."
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He thinks he'll be coming out to check on this tree as often as he can and if it looks like its floundering a little, he'll go see Mark and see what he thinks about making it survive the winter - even if it means taking it up and potting it like Raleigh has his sakura.
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In a show of respect, he reaches out and places a hand on Raleigh's shoulder.
"You're a good man, Raleigh. And I'm glad Sansa's found a partner in you."
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Ned was distracted, rushing between the inn and outside. It didn't take much to gather what was on his mind. The ice storm was a threat to the Weirwood sapling, still so small and fragile. She had seen larger branches broken under the weight of the ice. What that could do to the weirwood sapling was no small thing.
"Did you find something to shield it?" She asked during one of his return trips to the inn.
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"I believe so. There are some scraps of thick burlap that I've propped up on some pieces of thick twigs and tied together with some makeshift cord." Moana had taught him how to weave reeds and grass into a sort of rope. It has proven to be more than handy on many an occasion. "But it seems that is not the most interesting event in the Stark family," he says, motioning towards the items in front of her. "What've you received?"
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"I have some burlap too, but you can't have that." She smirked up at him playfully. "I'll be using that to make targets for hunters and warriors. We need something to train against." But he had the right idea to protect the Weirwood sapling. "It will survive the winter, Ned. It was born in snow and thrives in the cold."
She wasn't sure if it was the most interesting news, but she lifted up the harp for him to see. "It's a harp! I have to put it together myself, but it should play nicely."
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"And here I thought you'd want to help you dear, older brother," he comments with feigned disappointment in his voice. His eyes flick from the harp to her gaze to further prove he means none of what he implies. "Aye, but we are far from the place we all once called home." It's true, of course, that the Weirwood was borne of The North, but despite his months in the village, he feels he is no more knowledgable on its agricultural abilities than he'd been in the spring. Perhaps there is someone to speak to about that, beyond the husbandry and crop-tending Margaery has been kind enough to show him.
"I shudder at the thought of you attempting to tune and play this. Or, rather, I shudder on behalf of Jon, as he's the one who'll have to listen to it."
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"Why should I help you? What do I get out of it?" He was teasing her, she knew that in the same way she knew that he would understand she was teasing him back. "We are, but that doesn't mean the tree won't be able to grow and thrive here. Weirwoods are the eyes of the Old Gods. I don't doubt they can find us here. It's cold enough for the sapling to thrive." This winter had already matched the chilled winds and frozen ground that they knew in the North.
She gave him a smack on the arm. "Just for that, you are going to have to listen to my first attempt!"
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Stringing a harp is out of his jurisdiction of knowledge, though he makes a good attempt. He finds that, just as with strategic battle tactics and the deft agility required to expertly wield a sword, the harp demands something similar. Patience, dexterity, skill, precision. It takes him a bit of fumbling with it, but he does manage to get one of the strings somewhat properly wound around the tuning peg at the top. He has no idea what sound the string should make, but he's done his duty - namely, to show up his sister's harp stringing abilities.
"You get the satisfaction of knowing you helped your brother!" he argues in return, as though it is the most obvious thing in the world. "That should be enough!"
He reaches up to pinch her cheek in his fingers. He doesn't do it too hard, but he does it harder than he normally would if he were truly being affectionate and not bratty.
"That's it, I rescind my offer of the fur-lined cloak. You will have to find your own warmth this winter."
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She knew enough about the instrument to at least be able to tell if it was in tune or not. When they had been in the Tower, she had watched and listened to Rhaegar tune his harp. Once, he had even taught her to do it herself. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, only a bit of a game like when she would wear his clothes. Now, it would at least let her learn how to play the gift from the Observers.
"That's no satisfaction at all. You could at least try to bribe me." But she intended to give him what he wanted, if he really did want the burlap.
She shakes him off, trying to push away his hand as he pinched her. Lyanna gave him a sour look. "Fine, then I'll steal yours when you aren't looking. That will teach you to be cruel to your sister." But she accepted the harp with a thankful look, running her fingers over the strings.
"Do you remember when Rhaegar played at the tourney of Harrenhall?"
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He lifts himself from the ground and pulls over a chair, positioning it next to her.
There's still a flicker of upset in his eyes at mention of Rhaegar, though he's done his best to try and quell those immediate feelings for his sister's sake, now that he knows her true feelings about him. He still sets his jaw slightly to the sound of the man's name, unable to fully shake the habit of blaming Rhaegar for his sister's untimely death.
"Aye, I do."
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It was hard to miss the look in his eyes. Lyanna frowned at him in disapproval. While she knew Ned's reservations and the reason he was apprehensive about Rhaegar, she didn't want to see her favorite brother expressing disapproval about someone so important to her.
"I will need to talk about him sometimes and you are the only one here who knew him." She murmured to him, letting her fingers run over the strings, a whisper of music following her movements. "He was a good man, Ned and I think you know that. Whatever was said of him, he never hurt anyone intentionally or used people for his own gains."
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He nods, trying to soften the harshness of his expression - for her sake.
"You must understand that I fought my way through the entirety of Westeros thanks to the fire at my heels at the news of him kidnapping you," Ned replies, voice soft but stern. "It was the only thing that kept me alive, the only thing that enabled me to fight my way to the Tower door. It will - take some time, to dissolve that thought of him, now that I've the truth."
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He is trying for her sake and she recognizes that, offering a thankful smile.
"It's my fault that you believed it." She said, toying with a few of the strings. "I should have written you, sent a raven or something. I didn't think, I was too swept up in everything. By the time we reached the Tower, it was already too late. I suppose I hoped that you would know I wouldn't be kidnapped." She would die first.
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He's older now, of course, and ostensibly some degree wiser, but the anger has bubbled up again, tasting like iron in his mouth. He cannot stop thinking about how different things might have been if only his father had trusted Jon enough to not doom him to a life of hard-scrabble servitude at the Wall.
He's using a broomstick to knock iciscicles free from the eaves of the house when he hears the crunch of footsteps up the walk. His stomach twists, gloved fingers clutching tighter against the stick as he lowers it and looks to his father.
"Jon told me," Robb says, the words coming out in opaque puffs in the chilled air. This is likely not the time nor place for this particular conversation, but between Jon and Margaery, he thinks if he holds in his feelings much longer, he may burst.
JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL HERE WE GO
So. He's been told. Jon felt comfortable enough to reveal the secret Ned had kept for all those years. Part of him is glad for it, not only for the fact that it need not be a secret any longer but that he felt comfortable enough to share it with his brother. Or, well, his cousin, in truth. There is only a breath's worth of time to allow himself this quiet happiness, which is clouded and darkened by the insinuation in his son's voice.
He turns, slowly, adjusting the contents of his hands slightly before allowing his hands to lower to his sides. A sign of no confrontation, of no defensiveness. He isn't here to fight - and he's certainly not here to fight his eldest son.
"Aye," is what he manages to say after a time. Gods, how much Tully Robb's got in him. "You sound as though you'd rather he hadn't."
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"Why did you let him go to the Wall?" Robb finally asked, seeing no method or sense in being delicate about it. Likely it would only frustrate them both to dance around what he really wanted to know. "He was old enough to be a Ranger, to fight Wildlings and gods only knows what else, but he wasn't old enough to know something that might have changed his mind about it?"
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So he'd ultimately decided to keep his promise, to keep the secret, to carry the burden and watch as his sister's child bore a weight no child should ever have to bear. He'd carried as much of it as he could, but he knew he couldn't shield the boy from everything. And, by the time he'd expressed a desire to join his uncle at The Wall, Ned knew too much time had passed for him to bring the topic up again. Parting ways on the King's Road was no time to tell Jon the truth.
"A boy might wield a sword better than a man, but his heart and mind will not yet be galvanized to withstand the truths of the world." Ned's voice isn't brusque, exactly, but it is lacking some of its familiar warmth. "It was not my secret to share."
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"I'm tired, Father," he admitted after a moment, cutting Ned a look brimming with weary resignation. "I'm tired of secrets and holding to vows that do no one any good, simply for the sake of it. I'm tired of trying to justify holding to them when it's clear to anyone that all of our lives would have been a great deal less bloody without them."
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The sight of the defeat in Robb's eyes makes Ned's heart ache, and he feels his expression softening as he listens.
He knows Robb has a point, that he speaks truth. Retrospectively, Ned would have, more than likely, broken many of the vows that he'd kept to if it meant keeping his family safe. He'd have never agreed to be Robert's Hand, not even in light of the claims from Lysa that Jon Arryn had been poisoned by the Lannisters. He'd have listened to his wife, who pleaded with him to turn the offer down and stay home with his family. He'd have never held his feelings of responsibility, duty, and obligation to his friend override the same feelings he had toward his family.
But, of course, things always appear with greater clarity after the moment's over.
"Aye," he responds, voice heavy and laden with the same sort of resignation as his son. "I suppose it makes little sense to adhere to them now, so far outside of home."
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"I don't want to be cross with you—" he began again, and then stopped. "I'm not, really. But there are a great many things I think we all might change had we the opportunity to live them again."
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Who is he without his honor? Who is he without his code of ethics? His morality? How could he ever truly abandon them all, even if they proved to be folly? It's a precarious path, that line of thinking, and it isn't one he wishes to travel down. Not now.
"You've every right to be, if you are. I take no offense at the sentiment." His lips purse together, the corners tugging downwards. "We do the best we can in the moment, with the information we have and are given. None of us could've known how things would change after I'd left for King's Landing."