Chapter 72

Your Journey through the great Woods of the Vale was going a lot smoother than you had dared to hope, but that swift and quiet Progress ended just a few short Days later. The Scouting Parties from at least five different Tribes that decided to ambush you and your Companion on the very same Day should have been a pretty clear Sign that you weren't using what you would call the best Route for the Job. But your Companion remained unbothered by the Fact that you were trespassing on Land currently claimed by at least five different Mountain Clans, much to your annoyance.

You were aware of the Fact that he wasn't actually trying to provoke those countless Clans and Tribes you encountered on Purpose, as their Deaths were far less brutal than those of the Bandits you two had encountered in the former Lands of the Reach and the Riverlands. But you could make the Guess from the very first Encounters you had with the Scouts that they wouldn't care about how soft he was being to them while he was continuing to butcher their Friends and loved Ones.

It was a Situation that you knew would only mean more and more Trouble as they tried to find out who was actually killing their Scouts before they finally turned on one another in the Confusion. You could once more guess that some of the more ambitious Clans were filling the Woods with Carnage, as the stronger Tribes were far too spread out and vulnerable as they focused on their Search. Though that being said, this Lunacy actually felt unnaturally contained, as none of the surrounding Clans took advantage of either Side in all this Madness.

And with their disinterest, only the Corridor your Companion had chosen to travel through was falling apart, which simply doesn't make Sense to you as Forests don't really have those kinds of Borders. So you genuinely didn't get what was going on as you and the Gore covered Monster you now called Companion were walking in and out of Territories that should have been impossible to cross with the sheer Number of Madman filling the surrounding Woods. But as you continued to think about it, you supposed that you've got some decent Ideas for why nothing seems to really add up.

And the one that sounded the most sane to you was that this whole Madness must have been set up, whoever was in command of all those Tribes was willing to let you two squeeze through, but wasn't willing to let anyone know about the Fact. It would make a decent Amount of Sense if House Lannister was truly backing all of this, as you couldn't really believe that simple Clansmen could do this much Damage to the Vale on their own. And it would make Sense that some King or High Chieftain couldn't afford to be seen receiving Bribes in exchange for Favours such as this, yes, it all made Sense.

Though the Knight remained annoyingly silent on the matter, not that you genuinely believed that he would actually bother to give you a proper Response, some People just enjoy some good Silence you supposed. Or perhaps the Lannisters had some kind of Punishment that involved cutting out the Tongues of their Guards, seeing as none of the other Knights in blackened Armour ever spoke so much as a single Word. Just thinking about it made you shiver in Disgust at how fucked up that kind of Punishment would be, but it's the kind of fucked up that perfectly fit the dark Humor of the Lannister's current Lord, if what you heard of him was indeed accurate.

Something along the Lines of, if one of you speaks so much as a Word of what you've seen Today, then none of you will get the Chance to do so again. Yeah, it would really be the kind of fucked up and brilliant Punishment lowborn People like you naturally expected and feared to receive from the Great Houses one Day. You were relieved that you could finally make some Sense from all this Insanity, but you swiftly refocused your Mind on dealing with the Man lurking behind a Bush in front of you as your Companion cleaned up the Clansmen that tried their Luck with him, eh, Stupidity can't be cured it seems.

The Ranger in front of you naturally remained still and quiet as you both silently listened to how your Companion happily continues to make your Mission even more difficult. Scaring the first Person you came across since you entered the Vale that would be of actual use to the Mission really wasn't optimal, but you also knew your Companion good enough that you could guess just how much complaining about his Way of doing things would help you now that things had already deteriorated. Hence, you simply decide to wait for him to finish up as you thought about how you could approach the Boy without adding further Issues into the already annoying Situation.

And after you thought about it a few Seconds longer your Mind came up with a small but decent Idea for how you could get the Boy to reveal himself while also improving upon his mental State, as sending the giant Gore covered Knight to get him didn't really promise to do much good when it came to calming the Boy down. The best Idea you could come up with on the Spot was entirely focused on giving him the Chance to take the Initiative to make sure that he would remain open to your Words and Suggestions. Thus, you sweetly ask the absolutely terrifying Knight if he could be so good and conceal the Bodies with the help of some Bushes near one of the Trees before you.

Trees that the little Ranger should be able to see directly in front of him in the Hope that it would force him to get out of the Way or be spotted, without actually pressuring him. Instinct, that's all it comes down to, and the Instinct of a Ranger is not to be spotted no matter what. So you're sure that his Mind will adapt to the Situation and refocus on pushing away the almost supernatural Fear your silent Companion tends to inspire when he finally starts moving from his Position, with the Hope that curiosity will get the better of him, and well, Hope is cheap enough for you to expend it.