Training, in her opinion, was too long for the men in black. They could not learn new tricks that quickly. She rolled her eyes as Jon droned on as to how best help them progress. By the second day, her patience was lost, and she gave the men a good ass kicking that seemed to entertain the Old Bear that watched from above. She could hear his comments about her, her husband, and her house. The more men that limped away, the more respect the Old Bear seemed to give her. By the end, he murmured to the Maester, "Note it Maester Aemon, House Stark is alive and well. The North might actually be safe."

"Aye, it seems there is new blood." She felt the implications. It was not just about her either. The old man knew. Moving to glance at him, he seemed to be staring at her pointedly. Sighing inwardly, she returned to focus on the next man who felt the need to try to beat her. He, too, shared the same fate as the others.

Returning her focus to Jon's pointers, she shifted so as to get a better look at the common room. It was supper time, and the men moved freely to and fro, chatting animatedly and yet their movements were slow, almost pain-like which prompted her to smirk at the busy room.

"You're being smug." Jon accused during mid point pushing her to shrug and reply, "I can't help it. They all thought they could take me, Jon, all of them."

"Aye, and you sure showed them." He sarcastically commented with a slight smile.

"Ha. Ha." She dryly returned. Before she knew what was happening, the Maester's assistant, Samwell Tarly, was standing before them with a plate. Sheepishly, he muttered, "May I join you?"

Jon raised a brow. "Tarly, right?"

"Yes, Lord Stark." He returned submissively. Jon looked a bit confused at the man's rather obedient demeanor. None of the Night's Watch had been this formal, even at their arrival.

"Ah, don't call me that. Lord Stark is my father." He smoothly replied and motioned for the larger man to take a seat.

"Thanks for letting me sit. The others don't like me." He offered with a soft smile as he began to eat. Both continued to eat and drink, waiting for what was to come next. Then based on their empty plates and his full one, they found that Samwell ate painfully slow. It was obvious that he was putting on a show for them-to not be the "fat" guy. Zipporah felt for the man for she had heard some of the verbal jabs thrown at the man, but this was beyond necessary.

"Force forgive me," she whispered to herself as she stoically stated to Samwell, "Enough with the show. Eat normally. You eat slower than the dreaded Sarlacc. Just be yourself."

Samwell paused, ignoring her encouragement to eat, and simply stared at her. Then he questioned, "The what?"

Without thinking she continued, "The Sarlacc, as was rumored by an old friend," she animatedly changed her voice to sound like C3PO, "'In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over 1,000 years.'" She even laughed after her impersonation.

Jon looked at her amused, confused, and pushed a simple thought toward her, You're forgetting which universe you're in.

Fine, she hissed back. Pain filled her for but a second. Move on. Quickly she recovered, "Sorry I get carried away. Like I said the animal was a rumor. Probably doesn't exist."

Very convincing.

Shut up.

Samwell seemed to contemplate her words, "Anything is possible. I mean, dragons once existed." His body shrugged at the two Starks. "Now, I heard you lot are going to meet with the Wildling King. I have some intel for you. Maester Aemon insisted that I tell you. He also wishes to meet with you, Lord Stark. Before you leave, that is. "

"Excellent and I will be sure to meet with Maester Aemon." Jon complimented and waited for whatever needed to be reported.

"Well, Mance Rayder was once a part of Castle Black. His parents were free folk, but when they died, the Night's Watch adopted him. He later became a ranger of the Shadow Tower. Maester Aemon swears that he was also a decent singer and always sang Bael the Bard after ranging. Well, one ranging caused him to be injured. Free folk healed him and mended his clothes. He was ordered to change. He refused and left. "

"Over a cloak?" Jon questioned dumbfounded. Zipporah remained silent. It made sense. He had tasted freedom.

"Apparently, it meant a lot." Sam offered with earnest. "Anyways, from what we can tell from scouting, he has been gathering various tribes of free folk, from
Ruddy Hall to the Thenns, plus he has treaties in place with those that choose to dwell fully in the ice lands. But from what we can tell, most of those tribes have now joined Mance Rayder and declared him, 'King Beyond the Wall.'"

"Well, that is quite helpful, thank you Samwell." Jon replied with a sigh. Another king?

We will handle him.

"Uh, you can call me Sam. Samwell is what my father always barked at me. Trying to forget him." He corrected with a nervous tone and awkward laugh.

"Fair enough, Sam." Jon nodded.

Soon enough, the three fell into a comfortable silence. Zipporah then felt a tug in the force. Leaning into it, she realized that it was Ben. Excusing herself and heading to a place of solace-up on the Wall itself, she moved silently and swiftly. She was half aware that Jon had sent Ghost to follow her. Once looking at the white landscape before her, she was breathless. The view was unparalleled to any ice planet she could recall visiting.

"Odd surrounding. Looks like Hoth." A familiar voice sounded from her right. Flickering her eyes to a tired looking Ben, she agreed, "Yeah, well, this planet seems to have all the landscapes. This place is frigidly beautiful. What's going on?"

"Emperor Palpatine's alive." He declared with an odd tone of warning and sadness.

A fearful shiver traveled up her spine and settled at the base of her neck. Remembering the lore, she challenged, "No, your grandfather destroyed him." Palpatine and the Night King-one in the same? Her mind played over the possibilities. Could it happen? She and Han ended up here, what's to stop the force from sending others?

Ignoring her comment about his lineage, he sighed, "Apparently, he had a trick up his sleeve, but I don't think your bad guy is him."

"What gives you that impression?" She questioned as her large eyes scanned the landscape, noting movements and faint smoke signals. It would be a long ride in the morning.

"He is still here and plans on living here a long time. The Emperor wants Rey." The way he said her name; Zi couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt the attachment. She would pry about her brother's feelings for her at another time.

"You cannot give her to him. The force would be so unbalanced; it could destroy the universe."

"I know, but I can't do this alone anymore." He was truly broken.

"Doing what? Dwelling in the dark side? Move to the gray. Embrace the light and let it melt into your dark. You will be free."

"I can't." He stated. His face said one thing but his tone another. They stared each other down for a moment, but he tore his gaze from hers.

"Brother, when the time comes, call for me. I will try to help." She whispered as he receded from her.

"What are you doing up here, Lady Stark?" A familiar, hostile voice questioned from her left. Alister. He seemed genuinely curious. She wondered how he'd handle the truth.

"I was speaking with my brother." She flippantly replied with a small smile. Confusion consumed his once curious features.

"How? Praying?"

"He and I have a gift. We communicate that way." She offered with a small shrug. Sensing the growing confusion in the older man, she sighed and continued mentally, The gods have given me a gift. I use it to help others.

Gasping and taking a step back, the older man simply froze. "How? What? But-no-" He continued to stutter into silence. Silence shifted to contemplation and then to reverence. Dropping to his knee, "My lady, I have misjudged you."

"Don't worry about it." She waved him off with a small smile. "Please keep this quiet. The rumors are awful and enough."

"Aye. I do apologize for my callous behavior. I should have known." This 180 caused her to feel uncomfortable, "Yes, well, it does happen. In all fairness, I didn't tell you or any of your high ranking command. I wanted respect to come from my skills and such."

The older man nodded and quietly asked, "Anything else I should know about?" The time was now: to sow the seeds of revival of old allies. Jon would need all the help he could get.

"There is a Targaryen who is not Daenerys Stormborn." She murmured with a small, smug smile.

"That's impossible." He fired back, eyes aflame with righteous anger. Clearly, the Targaryens were a very touchy subject for the older man.

"No, it's not. Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark had a son. That son is alive and is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne."

She could hear the man's heart pounding with what she hoped was excitement.

"So you're telling me, that the cause I fought for wasn't for naught?"

"Correct. House Targaryen lives. Once this Ice King is sorted, that's my next project."

"Whatever I can do to help."

Shifting her weight, she gave him a smirk and offered as she left, "Quit giving Lord Stark such a hard time." She made sure to emphasize his name. Alister was clever and immediately understood. She felt a sort of peace come over him. The darkness left him-the bitterness and strife, gone. Instead, hope replaced it with eagerness. Hopefully, this small, but important meeting, clearly set up by the force, would be fruitful and not cause more harm.

Please don't over help. She thought as a prayer to the force and beyond.

Looking over her battle armor and appearance once more, she noted that her braids were not as good as Gwen's. Sighing, she settled for a decent battle mohawk and dark eye makeup. She hated to admit that she used charcoal to make the look work. Yuck. According to Alister, Maester Aemon, and others, the Wildlings were partial to those who did not fit the mold of the Night's Watch. Her steel swords sat on her back, throwing knives at her ankles, and sabers tucked carefully where only she could grab. The last thing they needed was someone else to get their hands on her sabers. Dreadful thought. Well, I do have the force.

Tying her boots off, a knock sounded at her door. "Come in."

"You ready?" Jon questioned with an amused look. She returned a similar look; he was also dressed for battle. Neither was certain what would happen. Either talks would happen, or they would possibly have to fight their way out of there.

Both headed out, found their way through Castle Black, entered the large passageway to enter the North Beyond, and mounted their horses that were waiting at the bottom of the Wall's entrance. Ghost trotted behind them and then moved to sit beside Jon. Both shared a weary sideways glance and began their journey. It would take some time to reach the Wildling's camp as it was nestled deep in the woods.

They entered the forest and immediately, their senses heightened. The Wildlings were notorious for ambushes, but Jon assumed that they would be ahead of them as Zi could hear their movements. Only 20 minutes into the forest, she already picked up on several scouts including a crow; smirking, she commented, "I should have brought my bow." Jon chuckled, "Already itching to take care of threats?"

We're already being watched. I'm more interested in that bird. It's not the Three Eyed Raven. It's someone much darker.

"Something like that." She focused in on the bird and noted that the bird was doing what Greywind had done for Robb.

" I see." Take care of it?

Rolling her eyes, she pushed the human entity out of the bird. From what she could get, the individual could do that to any animal, and his intent was either malicious or done for survival purposes. Whoever it was, she had royally pissed him off. There would be an altercation, and she would win. He had one trick; she had many. 'Don't get cocky, kid.' Han's voice rang in her head. She knew he wasn't actually communicating with her; it was her light challenging her pride.

Done.

Time passed slowly, but they knew they were close. Her hearing picked up the quiet bustle of a village; she could also smell the various foods being cooked.

"Ya stop righ ther, ya crows." A female voice warned. Both riders knew it best to comply. Zipporah could feel the many arrows pointed at them.

"We are not crows." Jon calmly replied.

Out a thicket, a beautiful, fiery redhead stepped out and snapped, "Yer wearin black." She was adorned in animal skins, a bow and arrow were fastened to her back. Zipporah could tell that she was strong and a good fighter.

"Favorite color." Zipporah replied with a shrug. The redhead took in Zipoorah's appearance.

"Yer right. There ain't no girl crows, especially ones that look like ye." Moving closer, the redhead moved around them, inspecting and noting their weapons.

"State yer business." She demanded as her hands ghosted over Zipporah's boots.

"We're here to see the King Beyond the Wall. We both share a problem." Jon offered in a calm but sure voice.

"Hmm...doubt that southerner." She snipped.

"The Night King." The Starks stated simultaneously.