[North]
Bran found himself back in the forest with the Hound. He was confused and a little scared, seeing this time he might really be kidnapped.
"Where're we going?" he asked, but no reply came.
He had been asking this from Sandor ever since he was literally picked like a sack of potatoes and dragged out of Castle Black—somehow, without alerting anyone.
"At least you can tell me where you're going. Not like I can tell it to anyone," Bran asked again, annoyed with the situation.
"Beyond the Wall." And then suddenly the reply came, making Bran do a double take at what the big man said.
"Why?" Bran, after staying quiet—more like not sure what to say in reply to that—finally asked.
To which once again no reply came. He only got another grunt from the man before he moved on, making him follow him.
Sighing, Bran just kept up with him.
He didn't know what happened with Sandor, but he was not only acting different but also looking slightly different as well. There was a tense expression on his face, which one could only see if observed closely.
"Raven."
After walking in silence for Old Gods knows how long, finally Bran heard his voice, making him snap his head to the big man walking in front of him in the forest filled with nothing but snow.
"Raven…?"
"The Three-Eyed Raven. You saw it?" he asked with a little excitement in his tone. For Bran, this was proof that he was not just following some wild dream he had—that what he was doing had meaning, that he wasn't hallucinating.
"I saw it."
"The Raven?" Bran asked. Something told him that Sandor wasn't talking about the bird.
"Not the Raven…" Sandor shook his head. He himself wasn't sure what to call that thing.
Bran paused. There was no reason for his mind to go to the horror he saw in his dreams. But those exist beyond the Wall. There is no way those things exist here, and yet his mind went to those walking dead.
"Keep up, boy. We have a long journey to cover." Suddenly Bran heard this and saw Sandor kept on marching forward with large strides.
"What did you see?" Bran asked again. Now he had to know.
Sandor didn't reply. He almost looked like he was afraid to talk about it—much like Bran had seen him acting in front of fire.
"Hammer…" After a long time, finally the Hound spoke.
"What?"
"The Hammer… didn't you read that book? Tell me more about it."
Bran squinted his eyes, confused why the man who still yesterday was calling him crazy suddenly became so interested in these old stories.
He had two thoughts about keeping his mouth shut, treating the big oaf the same way he was doing to him. However, he restrained himself.
Him knowing what Sandor saw was more important than the petty revenge he had the chance to get.
"What do you wish to know?"
"Everything…"
—-
[Kingslanding]
"Varys..."
"VARYS..."
"Spider, you there..."
I shouted, and then shouted again on not getting any response. For Odin's sake, I was ready to bring down a storm—if not only for my low level.
'Should never have believed that bald fuck.'
I had a feeling that things were going way too easily for my liking. Just cash in on that last debt and he's just gonna deliver it to the door? Nope.
The race of debtors are one of scums...
Shaking my head, strange things were clouding my mind. After the ceiling collapsed, I thought I was done for. God might be, but I was still level 1 mostly—not to mention, I don't believe even MCU Thor would be in good shape if an entire castle ended up falling on top of him.
I was lucky though. Only the ceiling collapsed and blocked the way. I was mostly fine.
When I didn't find Varys there, I knew he planned this. That wall was definitely an important structure holding this place up. Not important enough to bring down the entire castle, but still important.
Darkness started to annoy me. When the ceiling fell, the fire torch got buried behind all the debris. I tightened my grip around Mjolnir and raised the hammer, only for it to give out a slight hum before it lit up.
Not the thunder I was used to it emitting but rather an eternal light which illuminated the entire area around me. It felt like the hammer itself was completely the same, but the light came out of it nonetheless. It's hard to explain honestly.
This was one of the many little spells imbued inside Mjolnir which the MCU failed to show. There are many smaller things like this that Mjolnir could do. The hammer was much more than just for flying and smashing.
In this regard, I do believe the MCU failed Thor in many ways. Thor is supposed to be more than a dumb fighter. Having his memories, I know him now enough to tell that at his peak, calling him a god wasn't that far-fetched.
I had a pretty good notion that real base Thor-level power is higher than the Thor we saw in MCU. At least my memories say so.
So, it's either that this Thor Template wasn't from MCU or the MCU's power scaling is off.
Though I digress, I believe that the power scaling is right—it just doesn't stay consistent throughout.
MCU must have nerfed him just like they did with Hulk. Sigh.
Can't wait to level up.
Back to the situation at hand though, the way I came from was completely blocked. I can certainly smash my way through, but I'd rather not tempt fate.
Turning around, I could only see the unknown dark paths. I had a feeling that if I entered any of those, it would be almost impossible for me to find this place again.
"Odin's beard..." With irritation, I brought forth all my Asgardian knuckleheadedness to pause my rational mind and walk forth—not pondering over what will happen after that.
xxx
I'll be slowly adding additional chapters in my Patreon. Get Upto 10 Additional Chapters In Patreon. If you like the story then please consider supporting me.
Patreon.com/Kamidemond