The commotion grew outside, yelling and shouting along with the sound of rushed footsteps crunching snow. Qhorin, who seemed deep in thought a moment ago with his eyes closed, put his horn down on the ground next to him.
Behind the cloth partition that divided a section of the tent, Sasuke heard the rustle of fur and clothes as people moved. No doubt, Calle and her daughters had heard the uproar as well.
The children also roused at the noise, rubbing tired eyes while looking around warily. They huddled close to Tilda as she tried to reassure them.
Dacey sat up from her spot near Sasuke's feet, her hair standing up wildly like a drunkard's. "What's going on?" she asked.
The ranger seemed about to answer when a more distinct shout called out Qhorin's name. Suddenly the man was on his feet and dashing through the flaps of the tent, one hand hovering near the hilt of his sword.
Curious, Sasuke rose as well, and Dacey skittered after him, following the ranger to figure out what had happened. Outside, the wildlings that made their home here rushed about like ants when their colony is disturbed.
Mothers pulled on children, carrying them like sacks of rice toward their tents. The young men of the clan grouped up on one side of the hamlet near a harried-looking man. He seemed to be animatedly recounting something to them.
In short, the peaceful little wildling retreat was in full chaos.
The ranger who had shouted out Qhorin's name, Bain, if Sasuke recalled right, came barreling toward them from the tree line to their north. Blood streamed down the side of his face from a neat cut above one of his eyes.
Upon hearing the shouting, the other two Night's Watchmen who were checking up on the horses rushed from the other side of the hamlet to meet up by the clan chief's tent.
"Qhorin!" Bain said when he was finally close enough to them. "We gots to leave. We gots to leave now!" He could barely speak straight as he gasped for air.
The tent flap moved as Calle emerged outside, her brows drawn into a frown. "What's going on?" She looked about in confusion at all the clamor. "Where's Belk?" Tilda and the other children filtered out after her.
Bain looked at the wildling woman and winced. Still gasping, he only shook his head.
The woman was no fool, and seeing the bloody state of the ranger, she gasped. Her hands went up to her face in horror. Beside her, her daughters Dalla and Val looked up at her with worry in their eyes. They hadn't understood what the ranger left unsaid.
Qhorin put a hand on the ranger's shoulder to calm him. "Tell me what happened, man."
Bain swallowed, took a deep breath to calm himself, and nodded. "I- I went to make a sweep around the hamlet like you said," he told them. "Started west and was going north then east when I saw them. Dozens of them, Qhorin, coming over the hill maybe two miles, two and a half miles away."
His face going angry red, Rodrik pulled his sword out from its sheath. "These wildling fucks betrayed us. They must've told one of the bigger clans we were staying here."
Calle's children recoiled seeing the weapon, hiding behind their mom. Even the Bear Islanders became agitated with the rage coming off of the man.
Sasuke felt a frown coming to his face. "Put away your blade, fool."
Rorik sneered. "I don't follow your commands, pretty boy."
"No," Bain cut in before things could escalate. "I don't think they betrayed us. Whoever's coming sent scouts ahead. I didn't see them until I almost got an arrow to the eye. The clan chief had been close by when I spotted them too, but… he wasn't so lucky."
Sasuke sniffed at the air, trying to pick out the scent of this approaching force. But he felt nothing beyond the scents he could identify around him. Firewood, fresh-fallen snow, and the smell of unwashed people.
He knew which of the three he liked the least.
Of course, he realized, with the wind blowing from the south, it made sense he wasn't able to pick their scent. He only managed to smell the Night's Watch rangers coming because their own scent was getting carried toward him by the wind.
He sucked on his teeth, frustrated. He needed to find a better way to pick out humans around him.
Naruto told him that the previous wielder of the Rinnegan, Nagato, could feel out chakra through the rain when he still acted in the guise of Pein. But with the humans in this world not possessing chakra, Sasuke would need to get creative.
Rorik spat on the now. "That don't mean they didn't turn on us. Only that they turned on themselves." He looked over the little hamlet.
There were less than seven men of age in the area, still huddled near one side of the village with a few wildling women now.
"I say we put them to the sword and be done with it. A few less wildlings in the world ain't never a bad thing."
Calle glared at the ranger, and Val and Dalla shivered. Beside Sasuke, Dacey seemed to bristle at the ranger despite her own less than savory opinion of wildlings.
Qhorin put a stop to it. "Leave it be, Rorik," he said. "Our horses had enough time to rest. We can outpace the wildlings that are coming for a while before the animals tire. We'll load the Bear Island children up and run beside them." He turned to Sasuke. "Hope you got good legs on you, Uchiha, it'll be a long jog."
Sasuke smirked. He could probably travel across this entire world faster than the man could run toward the nearest castle in the Wall. If anything, he wasn't looking forward to the sloth-like pace he would have to keep to accompany them.
Calle suddenly seemed desperate at their words. "No, wait, you can't leave," she said. "They'll kill us all when they find out we broke bread with crows."
Qhorin paused to think for a moment. "Better make sure they don't find out, then," he said.
"They already saw me." Bain grew pale. "The scouts retreated after they shot at us. He'll tell them men of the Watch were here."
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