Bran let out a sigh of boredom from where he was sat atop one of the mighty walls of Winterfell, holding his head in his hands briefly before moving to push his wind-ruffled hair back a bit. As fun as climbing was, there was nothing new to see. No horses with knights on them were leaving or arriving, nor were traveling merchants or the occasional traveler who had left their own kingdom in search of solace.

As much as he knew he should be grateful for the peacefulness and freedom he had, he couldn’t help but feel…bored. Not lonely! Just bored. Though, having someone else to climb the walls and towers of Winterfell with would be quite nice.

Bran perked up suddenly as he got an idea, smirking eagerly as he stood and made his way to the inner edge of the wall. Perhaps he could ask his brothers to do something other than the same repetitive tasks they did every day! He knew they might be busy, but the day had been slow. There was no way they were unable to do something!

In fact, exploring more of Wolfswood on foot didn’t seem like a bad idea…

Bran couldn’t help but let out an excited giggle, even as he navigated down the steep wall that he clung to. Well, it was more like his muscles were doing all the work for him. Regardless, his brothers just had to say yes! He hadn’t gone into the forest for two weeks, and he hadn’t asked them for too much recently either. He would finally have the opportunity to find somewhere new rather than staying put all day! Even though he had grown up in Winterfell and Wolfswood was right outside the walls, he never saw the full thing.

Now was his chance to see more. —————

Bran looked down at the ground as he retreated from the courtyard, kicking a pebble in frustration as he stormed to the wall he had been atop only 10 minutes ago.

Robb had said no, too busy sparring with Theon, and Jon had been in the middle of practicing his archery.

Bran knew he shouldn’t be mad, but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Today was the perfect day to see Wolfswood! No reports of potential threats, no rain to hide from, no pressing work to be done. But then his brothers just had to say no.

He used to be able to go out on his own, but more people had been traveling south as of late, and his mother didn’t want him to run into the wrong people.

Bran was about to start climbing the wall again when he got another idea, pausing in his movements as he glanced towards a certain wall he had climbed countless times. That wall in particular, if he was sneaky and careful enough, could be his ticket to sneaking outside.

Guilt gnawed at his gut at the thought of sneaking out, having never done so before, but he was sure nothing bad was actually going on. What was the worst that could happen? —————

Bran’s worry melted away as he felt the familiar crunch of grass and leaves under his boots, dusting himself off as he let out a huff from all the climbing. He gazed at the forest around him, already feeling adrenaline seeping into his bones and muscles. The forest was so nostalgic, the air having a sort of damp tang to it and being slightly visible due to some fog, the grass feeling comforting as it rubbed against his shoes. He couldn’t wait to explore it more, having barely realized he had already been making his way deeper into Wolfswood as he looked around.

Then, Bran abruptly stopped as he heard footsteps he knew weren’t his own from up ahead, his eyes widening in shock. He quickly moved to hide behind a tree, peeking around the side of it hesitantly only to see {{user}}.

Their back was turned to him and he couldn’t tell where they came from or who they might be. He knew he should run back to Winterfell or stay hidden, but he couldn’t help but be curious. Just who was this? Why were they so close to his home? He was about to move closer, but then…

He tripped over a root, landing on his stomach with an audible thud and groan.

Bran looked up at {{user}}, trying to hide his fear as he moved to get back up. What was he to do now? He spoke nervously, his throat going dry. “Good day?”