"I'll miss you, Raena." Ellaria spoke, winking quickly to the short brunette. A color Violet still couldn't get used to being on the top of her head. Violet, Ellaria, and Oberyn were standing in front of a large ship that was on it's way to Eastwatch by the sea. And while most of the city's guards were busy with Tyrion the supposed king killer, Violet finally found her opportunity to sneak away.
"We will see each other again, Raena Sand." Oberyn spoke, pulling Violet into his chest. "I'll finish what we started." He whispered quietly so only she could hear. She leaned forward, pecking him on the cheek before rushing off to board the ship that was filled with bastards, rapists, thieves and whoever else the capital deemed worthy of joining the nights watch.
And while she was excited to be able to see the wall for the first time, finally reunite with the man who had been her best friend for her entire life. She was not excited about boarding another fucking ship.
~
The cold in the north had never bothered Violet. For whatever reason, she just never felt it. And while all the young boys sat cuffed and shivering on the top deck of the ship, Violet still felt as if she was in the south. She still wore leather breaches that protected her legs in case of combat. And tall boots that hid half a dozen knives between them. And while those pieces of clothing were often thought to be worn by men, her custom armored plate she wore made it very obvious that she was a woman. Many of the young boys on board took to gawking at her when she came into view.
And like all the times before, she was the first person off of the ship when it docked. Her hatred for sailing increasing every time she stepped aboard.
The wall was magnificent, more so than Violet could have ever imagined. Her neck strained to look from the bottom to the very top, and when she finally could see the top she could barely make out the torches that lined it.
For payment of one nights stay and food at Eastwatch, she graciously spent six hours training the new recruits in archery and sword fighting. Even the master at arms was impressed with her skill and they quickly provided her with a horse to get to Castle Black for time well spent.
The following day, it was nearing nightfall once more when she could finally see Castle Black ahead of her. She hopped off of her horse and decided to walk the rest of the way, her legs were sore from the long ride.
The sun set quickly, bringing with the night freshly falling snow. Violet smiled. She missed the North, and it was the first time since leaving her sister that she felt at home again.
Violet's smile disappeared when the unmissable sound of a baby crying echoed through the night. She mounted her horse quickly before following the sound as best she could. She could make out a small figure running down the road towards the castle, a small bundle in her arms.
"Are you alright?" Violet called out to the tiny woman, before dismounting her horse. The young girl couldn't be but a few years younger than herself. With big doe brown eyes and an innocent yet terrified look across her face.
"They're coming, the wildlings are coming!" She cried out before running towards Castle Black. Violet frowned, looking around in the direction the young girl came from, upon seeing nothing -- she followed her.
"Please, open the gates!" The girl cried out, banging her tiny hand against the wooden door. A young boy was on the other side.
"I'm sorry, I can't! You know I can't!" He stuttered out to her.
Violet pulled Beast off her hip and gently pushed the girl aside, before sliding it through the opening in the door. "Open the fucking door." Violet quietly growled.
"Why are you with a wildling?!" The boy squeaked out. The girl looked to Violet confused before turning back to the boy.
"I'm not a fucking Wildling!" Violet exclaimed. "I'm a friend of Jon Snow." She said simply, before sheathing her sword.
"Sam! Where's Sam!" The girl cried out, looking around the young boys head.
"Gilly!" Came another voice from inside the gates. "Pip, open the fucking gates!"
The gates opened quickly, Gilly running inside into the larger of the two boys arms. Violet following slowly behind her.
"I can't let you in here! We don't know who you are!" The boy called Pip responded. The larger boy named Sam turned to her.
"She's not dressed like a wildling." He said with a tiny smile across his pudgy face.
"For the last time, I'm not a fucking wildling." She said. "My name is Violet Targaryen and you will let me in this gate."
Sam and Pip looked to each other quickly before stepping aside and letter her through.
"We've heard all about you," Pip stumbled over his words, looking towards his feet. "Is it true you have a dragon?"
Violet smirked thinking of Rael who was waiting for her. She wondered how big he had gotten since she last saw him. Was he large enough to ride? Was he missing her as much as she missed him?
"Ignore him. Jon speaks of you all the time. Especially when were in the fighting ring, he always says you could knock every boy here on their ass," Sam chuckled, leading both her and Gilly farther into the Castle.
To be called a castle, it was rather small. Or could be just overshadowed by the hundred foot tall wall that stood behind it.
"I'm afraid you've come at the wrong time. Were surrounded by Wildlings on both sides, were hilariously outnumbered." Sam spoke in fear, both his body and voice shook tremendously.
"Sounds like I came at the right time," Violet mumbled before hearing the loud sound from a horn atop the wall. "You might want to warn your brothers that I'm not a Wildling before you're even more outnumbered." Violet told Pip who stood awkwardly beside her while Sam led Gilly and her baby off somewhere else.
"Aren't you cold?" He asked, looking at her exposed arms. Violet shook her head.
"Aren't you scared?"
Once again she shook her head.
"I am. " Pip trembled. "I'm no fighter. We aren't all fighters here at Castle Black."
"Well today you are," She said patting him gently on the shoulder. She could feel him shaking just from the brief contact. "Sometimes you don't have a choice in fighting. Isn't that in your vows somewhere?" She asked with a smirk.
"Right now I can't remember my vows. Right now I'm trying not to piss myself." Pip said, causing Violet to burst into laughter.
"Well if you do piss yourself, please step away. I don't think I could protect you with all that stench wafting off of you," Violet pushed him lightly before seeing Sam quickly jogging over to the pair of them.
"You don't look like you have a lot of men here, Sam." Violet observed seeing less than twenty men standing around the courtyard.
"Most of our men are up top, including Jon and the man who has been temporarily taking charge since losing our Lord Commander." He explained to her. " Wildlings will climb to the top of the wall."
"And what is their plan when they do? Push them off the edge?" She asked with a sardonic chuckle. She could see the obvious lack of preparation for the battle to come, and upon seeing the four walls surrounding her and the lack of support from the men of the nights watch, she grew worried. Something that didn't happen very often.
A loud bang sounded from the gate, before dozens of arrows found their way being shot across the top of it. "Well they're here Pip, and if you can't fight then the least you can do is make sure your brothers don't kill me." She mumbled before pulling her bow off her shoulder. Sam followed her as they ran up the stairs to the balcony that viewed the road that both her and Gilly came to the castle on. Only this time she could make out over a hundred Wildlings sprinting towards the gates.
"Seems the Wildlings outsmarted you on this one, Sam." She told him before firing arrows into the heads of enemies who were getting too close.
"Ser Alliser is a decent man, but I don't think he knows two shits about battle plans." Sam mumbled, grabbing a crossbow that was laying on the ground and firing a bolt that missed by a mile.
"Have you ever shot that before?" She asked, not taking her eyes off her opponents.
Sam shook his head. He saw the other archers of the nights watch look confused to see such a beautiful woman standing beside them, especially when women never came to the wall. But the way her arrows seemed to sink perfectly into the Wildlings hearts, it gave them cause to want to aim better.
"She's with us, brothers." Sam shouted to the brothers of the nights watch who seemed to want to watch her shoot rather than keep their eyes on the task. Sam shrieked when a Wildling crawled over the railing, Violet was quick in kicking him back over the side.
"Fall back, boys. They're coming over!" She shouted, walking backwards, continuously shooting the last of her arrows before she ran out and she pulled out her swords. The men hesitated but in the end listened to her upon seeing how quickly the Wildlings were crossing the gate.
"Sam, go get more men. Do not tell Jon I'm here. He needs to focus on whats going on." Violet shouted to the chubby boy, before quickly engaging in combat with the Wildlings who had gathered around her.
She had never lost her edge in battle. Had never lost her speed and brutality. But she wasn't blind to see that the Wildlings were different than warriors she had fought before. Both here in Westeros and back in Essos. And while she was holding her own, three men falling at a time by both her blades. She was quickly realizing just how many men the Wildling army had. There were men. There were women. There were horribly ugly beings with markings across their balding heads, who were biting the throats out of brothers of the nights watch. And when the gate from the wall opened, she even saw giants.
The Wildlings were good, she would give them that. Violet had many close calls of one of them trying to chop her head off with a wooden axe. But she dodged his every attempt. He was probably the largest man in their army, with flaming red hair and a matching beard. Violet could sense his irritability at his inability to touch her. She smirked before once again blocking his axe with both her swords.
"Why the fuck are you fighting with the nights watch? I thought they were all eunuchs and pillow biters," He groaned as she pushed against him with her swords, his axe coming closer to his neck.
She laughed and pushed against him roughly, before using her momentum to roll backwards and shoot an arrow that was laying beside her through his leg. "I only came to see a friend, fighting always seems to find me though," She smiled before shooting another arrow through his left shoulder and rolling off the bridge back into the courtyard.
She heard running behind her, before the sound of a familiar growl sounded into her ears. "Ghost!" She exclaimed, seeing the pale white dire wolf that seemed to match the natural color of her hair. He had ripped out the throat of a man that was trying to kill her. Even with different colored hair, Ghost still recognized her. Always as loyal and protective as his master.
She cut through two more men who had noticed the dire wolves appearance. Her mission suddenly became protecting Jons beast with a Beast of her own. Her Valyrian sword chopped through the belly of a Wildling woman, as Beast slid down the spine of another. Ghost growled once more before lunging across the courtyard, leaving Violet on her own.
It was then that she saw him. Her best friend. The man she once loved and her constant companion for most of her life. He leaped off the lift on the wall, before rolling easily across the landing and leaping to his feet. His skill with a sword was astronomically better than the last time she had seen him. And the fire in his eye was something she had never seen before. He sliced through the Wildlings with ease, and she became entranced just by watching him fight.
"Fuck," She groaned, feeling the sting of an arrow find its way into her shoulder. She couldn't find who shot her, but quickly ripped the arrow out of her right shoulder and kept fighting forward.
She found her way fighting behind Jon. Even if he didn't know she was there, she would always protect him. Even when he didn't really need it. He suddenly stopped in the courtyard, he stopped fighting everyone around him, he was watching someone but she couldn't see who. She was busy trying to keep the Wildlings from killing him.
He ran from her, and she turned around to see him clutching a young Wildling girl to his chest. His forehead rested against her, and she could see tears rolling their way down his pale cheeks. Jon had obviously found someone else he loved, just as she had done. Why she was a Wildling didn't really matter. Violet had no qualms with the people beyond the wall. But she fought them because they would have killed her. They would have killed Jon.
Violet killed two more Wildlings before jogging up to Jon. He was going to need her. The sobs that shook his body broke her heart. She thought if that was Daario, and she felt her heart wretch in two.
"Jon, It's me." She said softly, yet loud enough for him to hear her over the battle. She sheathed Beast before placing her right hand on his shoulder. Jon lifted his head quickly, taking in Violets appearance. From her newly darkened hair, to the blood rolling from her shoulder and down onto his. Into her brightly violet colored eyes. She looked different to him, yet still the same.
He cried more before pulling her into him, Clutching both women he loved in his arms. Violet hugged him tightly, while keeping her eyes peeled for anyone who might harm them. For some reason though, nobody touched them. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry Jon." She whispered into his ear.
It took a while but Jon finally released the young red head onto the ground, and picked up a longsword that was resting beside him. Conversation wasn't something that came to Violet and Jon. Battle was still happening all around them, they would have to catch up later. But for now they protected one another, just as they had done their entire lives. They might both have been with different people now, but as they were fiercely chopping through anyone who came near the other it was clear -- they still loved each other greatly.