[Castle Black]
Robb stormed into the room where Jon was sitting, his face stiff with frustration and worry.
"Snow," he said sharply, "I need answers."
Jon stood up quickly, confused by Robb's sudden entrance. He didn't even know he was coming, but now that he thought about it, him being here made sense. In terms of his father's absence, he should be the one taking action after all.
"Stark," Jon replied, already knowing why he was here.
"Bran and the Hound are gone," Robb said. "When we got here, the Night's Watch told us they escaped. But I need to know what really happened. Did the Hound take him again?"
Jon shook his head, looking serious. "No, Robb. It's not what you think," Jon replied with a complicated expression on his face. He knew that Bran was missing again, but this time he wasn't sure it was the Hound who kidnapped him.
Earlier, when he learned that Bran was missing through the raven from Winterfell, he was worried sick. Though between his younger siblings he liked Arya more, Bran was still his brother.
Robb narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? Is he not gone? Is Bran here?"
Jon shook his head. "No, he's gone. What I mean is that I spoke to him after he arrived. We caught him with the Hound and brought him here. I was so relieved to see him safe… but it wasn't exactly what I expected it to be," Jon replied while thinking of the conversation he had with Bran before he ran away.
Robb stared at him, silent.
Jon continued, "I asked him what had happened. Turns out the Hound didn't take him out of Winterfell. He willingly left."
"What?"
---
[Flashback]
Jon sat at the edge of Bran's cot in the infirmary. Bran looked up at him, his face scrunched up with frustration. They put him here even though he was completely unharmed.
"Bran… I thought you were taken. Everyone did. What happened?" Jon asked softly, for the time being not talking about their small argument about the medical check-up from Maester Aemon.
Bran looked down at his hands, then slowly said, "You have it wrong, Jon. Those men didn't even listen to what we had to say before they captured the Hound. I wasn't taken. I left Winterfell on my own."
Jon blinked, felt like he heard it wrong. He clearly remembered that the letter from Winterfell clearly expressed that the Hound kidnapped Bran.
"Have you gone mad?" Jon finally said with a hint of anger in his tone.
"I had to," Bran said. "I was having dreams. Visions. Of the three-eyed raven. Of something terrible coming from the North. I knew I had to go beyond the Wall and find the truth."
Jon stared at him, stunned. "What dreams? Bran, last time I saw you, you were fighting a fever. Do you understand how worried everyone in Winterfell would be..." Jon said but got interrupted by Bran.
"They wouldn't have let me go. Not Mother. Not Robb. Not anyone. They'd think I was mad."
"This is madness..." Jon chided.
"Jon," Bran wanted to explain. No one believed him, but maybe Jon—if he tried to explain. However, Jon wasn't in the mood to listen to excuses.
"And the Hound?" he asked.
Bran pursed his lips. "I ran into him on the way. I lost my pony. Wildlings almost caught me. He saved me. At first, he didn't want to help, but I… convinced him." More like blackmailed him, but of course, he wasn't going to say that out loud.
Jon raised an eyebrow. "You were attacked by wildlings?" he asked, almost alarmed.
Bran gave a tiny smile. "He saved me. I told him what everyone in Winterfell would eventually think—that he kidnapped me. He didn't like it, but to avoid being captured by Robb, he decided to come here first."
Jon let out a breath. "Bran… that's dangerous."
"I know. But it had to be done. The danger beyond the Wall is real, Jon. The things I saw in my dreams… they're coming."
"Nothing is coming, Bran. It's in your mind. You were sick, its effects lingers. You need to go back to Winterfell, do what Maester Luwin asked of you..." Jon said slowly, almost consoling him to calm him down. He wasn't sure what dreams Bran was having, but ultimately those were just that—dreams.
Since he hadn't seen what was inside the cellar yet, he didn't believe in the great danger beyond the Wall or anything supernatural for that matter.
"The Hound doesn't deserve to rot in a cellar. He helped me. Please, tell someone. Get him out." Bran gave up. He knew there was no way to make Jon believe him, or anyone for that matter. Not until he had proof. So what mattered more now was to save Sandor.
Jon nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
---
[Present Time]
"So, you're telling me Bran ran away? Of his own will?" Robb asked, struggling to believe it.
Jon nodded. "Yes. He was chasing visions. Dreams he believed were true. He wasn't taken by the Hound. In fact, Sandor saved him."
Robb ran a hand through his hair, pacing the room. "By the Old Gods, that boy… He's been talking about those dreams and reading those old texts ever since he woke up from that fever. We should have put someone to keep an eye on him the first time he asked to go North."
"I told the Night's Watch to check on the Hound and to move him out of the cellar," Jon said. "As Bran asked for it. That's when we learned that he was missing. Bran too was gone."
Robb sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. "You think they're going North?"
Jon looked down. "That, I don't know. Maybe Bran decided to continue his journey. Them entering beyond the Wall from Castle Black is almost impossible. If they must go North, they would find a way from somewhere else. They shouldn't have crossed the Wall by now."
Robb stood up, exhausted but ready. "Then I'll gather my men."
Jon nodded. "I'll come. He's my brother too."
xxx
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