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Driysa had been struggling her way through the first chapter of Bran's book, it was the first time she had read it by herself and she was hoping to show Bran how much she had learnt, when teh scream tore through the silence like a great shard of glass. The scream bypassed her logical thinking and went directly to her emotional response, it was high pitched and raw in a way that sounded like a child in pain. She dropped the book and pelted towards the sound, ignoring any possible danger that could be surrounding the scream.
The sound finally drained away, but not before she was led to the heart of the cave where Bran was sitting paralyzed in fear. She had never heard Bran scream before, it terrified her to no end. Driysa ran towards him, kneeling beside him as she checked him over for an source of external damage.
"What happened?" Driysa whispered, glaring towards the old man who sat huddled in the tree, "Did he do something to you?"
She had never trusted the man, old magic wasn't something meant for humans like him. It wasn't safe, it could consume a person if they weren't careful enough - and people were never careful enough. Now they were going to pay for their meddling in things much older than themselves, of that she was certain.
"I need to get back, I need to learn more," Bran kept repeating the sentence, trying to shake off her touch as she tried to grab his face. Driysa didn't dare try and let Bran return to his state, certain she wasn't going to let something even worse than what had transpired before occur to him.
"Driysa, come on," Meera snapped, dragging Driysa towards their pile of bags, "you too Hodor, we need to pack quickly,"
Driysa snatched her arm back, turning her attention back to Bran only to see he was back in his vision state. She let out a disgruntled sigh, moving her attention to filling their empty bags with as much as possible. It wasn't that she didn't trust Bran. In fact, she was certain no one else would be able to handle such powers as well as Bran. It was the magic attached to those powers that Driysa felt uncomfortable with, she had only heard of such powers attached to tales of great destruction and periods of turmoil. It was because of magic, the White Walkers were the only other weilders of such impressive magic, that Jojen had been taken from them and Driysa's family had turned their backs on her.
"What happened to Bran?" Driysa asked, constantly glancing towards his slumbering figure.
"The Night King, he's coming soon,"
Driysa's blood ran cold. Driysa's mind began to fail, like a wheel that turned over and over but never kicking into action. She couldn't formulate a thought, all of her self preservatiting tactics failing her all. She tried to take a deep breath, looking towards the entrances. There was nothing moving in the shadows, there was a chance that they could leave before the Night King could even enter.
"We need to leave," Driysa said her mind kicking into action once again, shoving bags onto the sledge.
She had fled her home, her family, in hopes of escaping the Night King yet he had caught up to her once more and now she was possibly seconds away from being at the other end of his sword. She wanted nothing more than to flee, to run into the woods and never stop until she collapsed into the snow below her. But she couldn't do that again. She couldn't leave Bran. She had to make ensure his safety, he needed her.
"You'll come with us when we return South of the wall, won't you?" Meera directed her question at Driysa whose eyes softened at the thought, but before Driysa could reply she felt an unnatural chill run through her.
Fear travelled around Driysa's veins but never made it to her face. As long as she appeared calm, no pinkness in her cheeks to betray her, everything would be just fine. So Driysa rose, unsheathing her dagger, and followed Meera out of the cave. Her feet betrayed her as she took a step back, withdrawing her breath, as she looked out onto the sea of White Walkers. It was the worst sight imaginable and in its midst stood the Night King. She had heard stories of the Night King, of its ice-cold eyes and corpse body but nothing could've prepared her to see him in the flesh.
She staggered back into the cave, not waiting for the Night King to make a move, as she placed one hand on her heart and one on the wall, stabilising herself. She would never be able to fight a White Walker, her younger self would have laughed at her and told her it wasn't so scary but she knew she couldn't go back out there.
"Driysa, let's go!" Meera shouted, rushing back into the cave.
Driysa drew a shaky breath,urging herself to push on. She went to the sledge first, dragging it over to where Bran laid.
"Get him onto the sledge," Driysa commanded, grabbing his upper body.
Meera grabbed his legs as they lifted him, "Hodor, help us,"
Driysa turned to Meera, shaking her head as Hodor gave a soft murmur of a response, "Leave him. Meera, we can do this,"
Meera shook her head, kneeling beside Bran as she tried to wake him. Driysa grabbed her spear, placing it on Bran's lap as she clutched her two daggers. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to anticipate where the wights would emerge from. It wasn't long before a body fell from the roof, Driysa stabbing it before it stood up. More fell in quick succession, sending Driysa stumbling back as Summer tackled them. Meera's shouts got louder as more of the dead entered. All the sound blurred together as she picked up Meera's bow. Big targets were easy targets. She landed multiple blows on the falling wights, who began to resemble shooting stars. The sounds of moans signalled she would soon be overwhelmed. She dropped the bow, resorting to her daggers as she tried her best to swipe at the hordes of wights. Two wights corned her, pushing her backwards until she slammed against the wall behind her. Driysa sent a prayer to whichever higher being would bother listening but before they could answer, arrows emerged from the wights eyes. Driysa scrambled past their wobbling frames, joining the circle around Bran.
Driysa gasped, backing up, as a White Walker entered, easily overpowering and killing one of the Children. Her heart was throbbing in fear as she held her ground, her dagger shaking slighty in front of her. She didn't move, trying her best not the run, as Meera picked up a spear and threw it at the White Walker. The White Walker stood there for a moment before it collapsed into itself, becoming nothing more than rubble. Driysa let out a breathe of relief as she quickly followed Hodor.
She kept in pace with Hodor, never looking behind her to see what was chasing them until -
"Shit!" Driysa swore, spinning around to run towards the oncoming hoard, "Bran's book!"
Meera grabbed her arm, trying to pull her along but Driysa struggled against her, "Leave it Dree, it doesn't matter,"
"It's Brans book! I can't leave it," Driysa cried, struggling against Meera's grip. Meera was winning however, pulling Driysa along with her.
"Driysa! We need to go!" Meera screamed, pushing Driysa in front of her.
Driysa let out a shuddered breath, trying not to let tears escape her eyes as the piercing heat curled around her. She couldn't explain what made her want to go back for the book but she knew she couldn't look back, lest she try and retrieve the book for Bran. So she kept her eyes on Bran as Hodor threw himself against the door, shaking the tears that burned her skin as she slammed the door shut quickly letting Hodor take her place.
She made the mistake of looking back, seeing Hodor one last time as hands emerged from the door to grasp at Hodor. She wiped her tears away, streaking towards the woods with Meera pushing Bran in tow.
