> Chapter 3: Rats in the woods
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> (Age 13)
>
> Father had forgiven me after what I did to the bears, but he forbid me from trying to bond with any other animals for the foreseeable future. "Two snow bears is enough for any warg." He'd said. I hadn't argued the point to his face.
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> "I'm a skin-changer, not a warg." I wanted to tell him. "Fuck the so called sins against the Old Gods. I've never cared for the guest right either. What have the Old Gods done for the free-folk in the last 8,000 years. To hell with the Gods."
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> Saying that, however, would lead to being kicked out from the cave, and comfort of fresh food delivered by pretty girls who father let me have a go with after he was done. I found it more stimulating to be in the mind of rats while they rut instead of a human.
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> I could control 20 rats and have them breed constantly. I felt the sensations in my human body. It was far better than human mating. It was exquisite. I was inside 20 rats at this moment. I had plenty of newborns in the cave to replace the loses I would face scouting the forest for easy prey for Fang and Claw.
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> Fang and Claw had grown tremendously over the last year. They were not full grown, yet they towered over cave bears and men both. They would be utterly massive, and I fed them far more than their wild counterparts. It showed in their physique. Both snow bears were packed with both muscle and a thick protective layer of fat.
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> Claw, though not full grown, was pregnant by Fang. Her belly was starting to swell, and I knew I would have another snow bear to add to my pack once it did. Two was not enough for me. I wanted to live in the south, where the people are weak and stupid. I could live like a king in the green lands if I had a few more snowbears. No one would be able to touch me.
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> I lay on Claw's back, nestled into her warm fur, as the chill of winter set in. The snow falling was negligible in the thick fur that surrounded me and the warm fat under me. I even sweated a little at times.
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> The snow bears followed the rat's trails as I led them all after a particularly large moose I'd spotted. Easy prey for two snow bears.
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> I heard men talking through one of my rat bodies and focused. It was difficult to control 23 bodies at once, but I was getting better. I had managed to keep a conscious mind on the skins I'd wiped the minds from, day or night. I never slept anymore. Like now, in the middle of the night. My body rested on Claw, whilst I was awake, and alert, using 22 extra bodies.
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> I listened in on the men's voices, and started my skins in their direction. Man was easier meat than moose. "One abomination making us all into kneelers is bad enough, But two of them..." The voice stopped as another cut in. "Aye. We have to kill them both lest we become kneelers to generation after generation of abominations."
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> A loud cacophony of agreement sounded. Dozens of men. At least four dozen. I stopped the bears and had them turn around. "We attack just before dawn. The shadowcat will be sleeping off a full stomach and the three wolves should be easy enough to kill." The first continued. "The real problems are going to be the abomination's bears. The father has a big one, and the son has two little ones."
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> "That's going to cost us some lives." A voice spoke up. "Many of us will die."
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> "That's why I thought of the solution." The first voice continued laying out the plan of attack. "We cut extra long spears for the bigger men, and shorter throwing spears for the smaller men." They continued to plan their attack as they fire hardened the tips of their wooden spears.
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>
> I'd heard enough.
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> I might think that I owed it to my father for siring, feeding, and teaching me, to fight along his side to the death. To face the onslaught of men and kill them all or force them to flee alongside my sire. Maybe I should warn him about the humans. but my smarter, sneakier side took those ideas and ripped them apart.
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> I'd learned everything the sick bastard had left to teach, and I'd already broken all three of his rules.
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> 1. Do not eat human flesh. (I did it all the time)
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> 2. Do not mate with an animal as an animal. (I did it constantly)
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> 3. Do not warg into a human. (I had experimented on a 7 year old girl father had selected as tribute)
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> I'd broken all his rules. I'd learned everything he could teach me. I knew it was just a matter of time before he kicked me out or tried to kill me. I had no real possessions. so I wouldn't miss anything from the cave. There was one thing I needed to do first, before leaving this land behind.
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> The rats scurried through the forest to find the cave of hibernating snow bears. I had half the rats stop breathing, so that I could concentrate on what came next. I focused on the cubs inside the cave. I had to do this without the cubs waking up and making noise. Making a noise meant waking up the mommies which I'm not sure I'd survive.
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> They were too young to survive a winter, at their age anyway. Only a month old, they barely had enough fat to stay warm. They would be dead if I didn't take them. The minds of three more snowbear cubs were crushed into oblivion, and I became the owner of three more snowbear cubs.
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> ---___---___---
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> Going south, I took the long way down the Milkwater. Along the riverbank. Game was plentiful, even in winter. And people were impressed enough by my five snowbears that I was often treated to free food. Wargs weren't common. But a warg with five snow bears was another thing entirely.
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> I kept up a charming facade and was kind to all I shared food with. I had learned from the little village of my birth, that reputations matter a great deal. I was without one, no matter how impressive 5 snowbears were. They weren't fully grown, and weren't as impressive as they would be in another year.
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> I had to make a name for myself. Like Tormund, I needed tales to be sung about me. Not for any particular reason. I had no wish to be king beyond the wall or the like. I just wanted an easier life. Living in a cave, intimidating villages, and demanding tribute to survive was hard work. I wanted the easy life.
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> I had the easy life in sight, and I wasn't going to let it go.
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> The Milkwater ran all the way from the northern Frostfangs down to the gorge and the bridge of skulls. I followed it all the way south. Meeting everyone on the Milkwater on my way down. I told them all that I was heading south of the wall to raid with my snowbears.
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> I got many a horn of mead when I told them how I planned to cross the wall. It utterly mystified some people that something like it could work.
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> It took the better part of a year to make it to the bridge of skulls. It was time to be...
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> Sneaky.