Chapter 45: ' Involuntary anomaly '

POV: A hopeful master.

Bloody Camp.

The day before 500 cadets arrived at the camp to begin a training program.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Zick asked his mentee.

"No master...but it is worth a try. I have faith that the possibility exists." Duncan replied.

"That's enough for me, I have tried everything.

I wouldn't know what to come up with anymore." Zick.

"Remember master, the last day of the third month.

Never let it out of your site and perhaps you will get what you desire." Duncan.

"I assure you, my boy, I will not let that moment slip through my fingers."

End POV.

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POV: A big brother;

Torrhen's Square.

Two months before a trainee completed the first phase of his training...

William was waiting in the anteroom with eleven other boys. Each of them had to wait their turn for the final test.

The boy, only thirteen years old, knew he didn't stand much of a chance of getting into the Winter Guardians' training program.

Almost all the other candidates had performed better than his pitiful performance.

The boy had recently recovered from the traumatic events of almost four years ago. At that time, he was only nine years old.

A nine-year-old boy holding his three-year-old sister Sarah in his arms...while his mother was brutalized in every way possible by three men.

Before those bandits entered their home, his mother, Valery, had managed to hide her two most precious possessions in a secret hiding place under the trap door. A hiding place that had been specially constructed by her father Bradd.

The man had joined House Tallhart's army during Robert's rebellion...and never returned.

William thanked the Old Gods every night that his little sister Sarah was too young to remember at the time of that tragic event...but William would never forget.

Despite the help of House Tallhart, the boy had been traumatized for life. He would never forget his mother's screams, let alone her laughter...

When he came out of hiding, still holding Sarah in his arms, he had personally seen what was left of the body of the woman who had once been his mother...

William had always been smaller than the other children in the village. Although his father was tall and well-proportioned.

Insomnia and malnutrition plagued poor William for two years running. His sister Sarah was his only reason to endure and carry on.

The two children, born and raised in the village of Snow Mill, were adopted by an elderly couple who lived less than a mile from Torrhen's Square.

Old Donny and his wife, Greta, had children of their own in the past, one of whom died during last winter and another who died of a fever. They were happy to welcome William and Sarah into their home. The elderly couple had tried everything to help the boy... with little success.

Donny even went to Torrhen's Square Castle for help and got it. Master Qyburn, at the service of the Tallharts, personally advised Donny to try to get the boy to talk as much as possible about the 'trauma'.

The couple set about the hard task with tenacity.

After a year, I'll get something done...

William had always taken his father as a role model. He was the man he wanted to grow up to be, strong and confident...

The inability to help his mother, the failure to protect his family, even though his father had asked him to do so shortly before his departure, was what afflicted him most... His deepest unconscious trauma.

Working on this, Old Donny asked William to try to think of someone he could draw inspiration from...and he found him...a new role model that contradicted William's belief, which was:

'A physically weak boy like me can never become the man I want to be.'...

But that model existed...and his name was Bloody Snow.

A child was physically smaller than himself, who had managed to confront and defeat those men who in William's eyes were demons come down to earth.

When he realized this, the boy began to recover.

He was able to sleep again, to eat again, and to find a purpose worth giving everything for.

He wanted to become that man... he had to become the man who would be able to prevent that event from happening again.

His little sister Sarah, Donny, Greta, and his future family would not relive that fate. He would be able to protect them no matter what...

'Despite giving everything I had in those running, weightlifting, and tug-of-war tests, I may still have ended up among the last places...My only chance is to pass the test I will face shortly...I must do it!

If I succeed, I can stand by Bloody Snow's side and I can learn from the best! ' William clenched his fists tightly as he thought this.

There were only four vacancies left, and there were twelve applicants. All of the older and visibly bigger than him...

Twenty minutes later...

"Will candidate William please come forward?" Said a man with a serious face and a dangerous appearance holding a clipboard in his hand.

"Here I am, I'm William!" The boy leaped to his feet almost tipping over the bench he was sitting on.

"Ehehe!", "Ahaha!", "Your turn future hero!". Four boys who were older than him laughed at him. One of them had personally confronted William in a tug-of-war competition and during the physical endurance test. Needless to say, what happened next...

William was constantly harassed by other candidates, some even came to his defense and later rebuked him for his cowardly behavior.

[Don't let them go unpunished and fight back! If they see that you're easy prey they'll come after you like you're a freshly baked cake!] William thought back to the words of the older boy who saved him that time. He had managed to ask him his name.

'If I don't make it, I at least hope it's guys like Gellerd who come through...' That was William's last thought before entering the room set aside for the interview.

Two minutes later...

Two men were sitting at the table in front of William, one of them was Maester Qyburn, the other an instructor who called himself '81'.

"So young William...

I see your results in the physical tests are poor, to say the least...

I'd say we've found the first question for you to answer.

Why should we choose you over another candidate?" Blade 81 asked.

William was immediately taken aback by the first question.

Not even a minute had passed and he was already in trouble.

He clenched his fists and found the courage to answer the question.

"I...Because I want to become a ''Winter Guardian'' Lord! I'm ready for anything! I will do anything!

I will gladly give my life if it means I can stand by Lord Duncan's side! Even if it's only for a day..." William.

"...That does not answer my question. I will be more specific then.

What do you have to offer? What qualities do you have that differentiate you from the other candidates?

What makes you think you are better than the others?" The drill sergeant asked brutally.

Qyburn was watching the boy's face carefully as he too waited for his answer.

"I...

I don't know sir...

I'm not physically better than the others...nor the most intelligent.

But I will try harder than everyone else I swear!!! I'll train harder! I'll do everything I can to live up to this opportunity!

I will do whatever it takes, I swear!

I will obey every command and never betray the trust of House Tallhart! Nor that of Bloody Snow! .... I mean Lord Duncan!

I beg forgiveness..." William lowered his head after his rant which he thought was almost childish...he had even made the mistake of disrespecting the heir to Torrhen's Square.

'I am a fool! William idiot that you are!!!' He thought reproachfully within himself. His thoughts were interrupted by another voice, that of Maester Qyburn.

"A rather presumptuous statement young William..." Qyburn.

William knew Qyburn. Each candidate had to attend a medical examination before taking the first round of the selection test.

A few days ago, the maester had asked him a few questions about his past. About his physical problems and all his health history. He had admitted to the maester about sleeping problems and malnutrition. Qyburn had even suggested a diet and exercises for him to follow in the future.

"I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect to Tallhart House or the young lord." William immediately replied, bowing his head as he continued to look towards the floor.

"I'm not talking about that, young William...

You stated that ' You would do whatever was ordered' and that ' You would do whatever it takes.'...

Am I wrong, perhaps?" Qyburn.

"...No, maester." William.

"The Winter Guardians will be composed of elite members who will have to face the most difficult situations. Brutal battles, where a single mistake can jeopardize a mission, your life, the lives of your comrades, and your Lord. Trials you cannot even imagine, young William.

Do you think you're the one, William?" Qyburn.

"I....." William did not know how to answer. He couldn't answer without knowing what trials Qyburn was referring to...

"If House Tallhart in the future ever ordered you, to attack a village full of innocents would you do it?" Qyburn.

"I...

No, maester." William.

"If you were ordered to kill a mother in front of her sons and daughters, would you ever be able to do it?" Qyburn.

"...No, maester." William.

"If you had the chance to save innocent lives, but the orders were to abandon those poor people to their fate, would you obey that order without complaint?" Qyburn.

".....

No." William.

"Can you swear here in front of everyone, on all that you hold most sacred and dear, that you would never betray House Tallhart should you ever be ordered to carry out such atrocities as just mentioned and the like?" Qyburn.

"...No.

I cannot swear to that." William.

"...then I guess that's all young William...

Thank you for taking part.

We will let you know the results of the test shortly and whether or not you have been selected.

You may go." Qyburn.

About forty minutes later...

William and the eleven other candidates were anxiously awaiting the results.

There were rumors, that on more than one occasion some groups of twelve candidates were all rejected without a single would-be Guardian who had managed to pass the second test...

For some, this was just an exaggeration put about to discourage competitors.

I have failed... I would never be able to do what they ask of me.

They are looking for men who will do anything, and I... am not one of 'those men', nor will I ever be. William thought with deep sorrow.

The door to the study opened a few seconds later.

The appointed instructor 81, came out without any papers or folders and said:

'Tallhart House thanks you all for your cooperation. We regret to inform you that only one candidate in this room was able to pass the information-psychological test.

Candidate William please step forward, all others may go." As soon as he had finished saying those words, eleven individuals stared with an extreme look at the tiny boy sitting behind them in silence for a few seconds...then the storm broke out.

"What?", "Are you kidding me?", "That nobody passed the test and I didn't?", "Are you by any chance the son of a nobleman?".

One voice among all of them was most disruptive.

"HEY, YOU! WE'RE TALKING TO YOU!" The seventeen-year-old boy, who had beaten William in the physical tests, grabbed the poor man by his woolen tunic and dragged him to the wall.

"HOW DID YOU PASS THE TEST? SPEAK!" The boy's other three companions approached their comrade for support.

"I...I...I don't know." William hadn't even had time to realize what had just happened. He found himself at the center of a raging storm at any moment.

Before Jared, the seventeen-year-old who was attacking the only promoted man in the room, could do or say anything else, he was swept up in a steel grip that snapped his wrist and subsequently grabbed him by the throat taking his breath away.

"Urgh...arrghh...can't...brea.....help..." Jared hadn't even been able to scream from the severe pain in his wrist.

"The reasons why candidate William was selected, are not matters for you....

However candidate Jared..." Blade 81 was speaking slowly as he held Jared tightly by the throat. The boy's face, helpless in the face of the monster in front of him, began to turn purple.

'House Tallhart is willing to reveal the reason why you, did not pass....

Lord Duncan wishes to tell you that he was disgusted by your choice to kill an innocent woman in front of her children... and very disappointed that you, candidate Jared, would have no problem burning villages and slaughtering their inhabitants if you were ordered to.

That is why you did not pass, Jared.

Nor will you ever make it into the regular army from here on out." Finishing the last sentence, Blade 81 let go of Jared, who had just reached a purplish hue.

"PUARGHH!!...IIIEEEFFHH.Cough! cofff!...anf anf..." Jared was on the ground, focused only on his task of regaining air.

"Any other complaints?" Blade 81 asked, looking around.

End POV.

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POV: Qyburn.

Torrhen's Square.

Two days after the results of a certain test were announced.

Qyburn was in his study, writing an important message to his Lord.

Before the message, Qyburn had finalized the list of candidates with their respective documents concerning each of them...

His master hoped that these documents would arrive in his hands at least three weeks before the selected candidates arrived at Bloody Camp.

Lord Duncan, wanted to have the time to study well each file which contained all relevant information about all of them.

The files were finished, only the last message was missing.

[ My lord, I inform you that I think I have found the candidates with the qualities you were looking for. Files #312 and #497 contain all the information we were able to gather....]

Qyburn continued to complete the message.

Thirty minutes later...

"Promptly deliver these documents to Bloody Camp. Top priority." Said Qyburn pointing to a trunk behind him.

"Yes, Ser Qyburn, it will be done." Four Frost Blades replied in unison.

End POV.

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POV: Gellert.

Bloody Camp.

About two months after a trunk was delivered to a certain location...

Gellert, the son of a farmer who owned a farm in one of the most barren lands of the Tallhart lands, was waiting with his 499 new companions.

All of them were standing in ten rows of fifty people each. Dawn had just risen, if any of them had pulled off a leather glove, provided by House Tallhart in each candidate's training kit, they would have lost a finger to chilblains in less than an hour.

The boy of almost sixteen had never been one to complain about how unfair life was to him.

Since childhood, he had been taught to hunt. His father was a potato farmer, the only vegetable that could grow on their land. Gellert was always helping his father to try to put more food on the table.

His nine-year-old brother Robin had suffered from breathing problems since birth. Only in summer, during the hottest days of the year, could Robin leave the house to breathe fresh air.

He was not made for this harsh and hellish climate. It was mainly because of Robin that Gellert, during his childhood, had never given any sign of complaining about 'how unfair life was to him ' or anything like that...

He considered himself much luckier than others. He loved his little brother and would do anything to help him in any way he could.

About a couple of years ago, men from House Tallhart came to his farm to give him and his family new farming tools and fertilizers. They explained in detail the benefits and various techniques of use. It was a turning point for Gellert's family. Within a few months, crops tripled. His father was even able to buy medicinal herbs for Robin with the extra money he earned...

Later other men from House Tallhart came to ask them to sell him all the excess potato peelings they had...

A waste product of no use to his family...

His father agreed without hesitation.

Finally, Gellert's family could breathe...

Other advantages and benefits came later. A new fireplace called the 'Boiler House' and coal at a lower price than wood. Even free sanitary services for Robin... Gellert only needed the latter.

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That was more than enough to offer himself to the House of Tallhart and repay that debt of gratitude.

[No meal is free in this world.]

That was the first sentence his father taught him after he could pronounce his parents' names.

When he saw Robin leaving home in late autumn for a building called 'School', Gellert left shortly afterward, leaving his little brother in the care of his parents.

He wanted to join the regular army, but word reached him about this elite unit, which would face numerous dangers and that the pay would be proportional to the risk.

Gellert joined the list of candidates for that unit.

He found the physical test rather easy to pass and the 'psychological' test rather bizarre.

He was rather annoyed by the constant questions concerning the reason for his candidature and about his family.

The breaking point came when he was asked:

'If we ordered you to attack a village, would you do it without any hesitation or question?'

...He answered by asking:

'Is that village a threat to other villages or people?

Did that village rebel or attack Tallhart House first?

Is there any similar reason to justify such an attack?

Have the inhabitants of that village ever done anything bad to me or my family?

If the answer is not 'YES! All the inhabitants of that village have done so!' to at least one of my questions...

Then my answer is 'NO! FUCK YOU OLD MAN!'

He nearly spat on the not-so-old maester's eye when he uttered the word F***.

The creepy guy next to the maester, was about to jump down his throat before the maester named Qyburn stopped him.

No further questions were asked and surprisingly he passed the test.

Two months later, Gellert was here freezing his arse off outdoors waiting motionless for the 'legendary Bloody Snow' to show up.

After a couple of minutes, a boy not even nine years old with white hair, less than five feet tall, dressed in the same uniform as them, showed up and stopped a few steps away from the front line.

Gellert was right in that line.

"Good morning everyone, I'm Duncan Tallhart, thank you for coming from your homes, and congratulations on passing the selection test....

These will be the first and last thanks and congratulations you will receive from me until the end of basic training.

From now until the next two years, the only words that will come out of your mouth on this field will be: 'YES SIR!' and 'NO SIR!'...Are there any questions?" The boy asked in an icy, authoritative tone.

A hand in the third row raised.

"Three steps forward cadet." Bloody Snow.

"Yes my lord, thank you. I would like to know if it will be possible to have contact with the outside during training.

I would like to be able to hear from my fa...." The minute thirteen-year-old boy was interrupted. To Gellert the boy looked familiar...but he couldn't quite remember who he was.

"Your name cadet." Bloody Snow.

"My name, my lord?

Ah, yes, my name is William, my lord." Said the boy in a humble tone.

"Well cadet William, I want you to make five laps run of the village for every time you have referred to me as 'my lord'. Fifteen laps Cadet William, plus another five for saying anything other than ' Yes Sir and No Sir ' without my permission....

NOW! RUN CADET!" Roared the drill sergeant, making the poor fellow flinch. The boy didn't let him say it twice and started running covering the circuit of at least half a mile.

"Well now that Cadet William has been kind enough to volunteer as an example, we can begin." The boy took a step forward and spoke louder.

"NONE OF YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO CONTACT ANYONE DURING THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF TRAINING! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" Bloody Snow.

"YES SIR!" 498 cadets thundered in unison. Gellert did not join in the chorus.

"YOU! Step forward and introduce yourself." Ordered the instructor, pointing towards Gellert.

The sixteen-year-old with a twenty-year-old physique stepped forward and said:

"Cadet Gellert, Sir." Said Grendel in a calm but respectful tone.

"Cadet, why didn't you answer?" Bloody Snow.

"The truth, Sir?" Gellert.

"The truth." Bloody Snow.

"I find Cadet William's punishment bullshit, Sir." Gellert.

"Do you want to join him, cadet?" Bloody Snow.

"If I have to, I will Sir. But the punishment is still bullshit." Gellert.

"You must cadet.

Twenty rounds for you too, Cadet Gellert." Bloody Snow ordered.

"Yes, Sir."

End POV.

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POV: A former Instructor

Bloody Camp.

About three months after a 13-year-old boy was punished...

Ramas watched from the roof of a facility as a long-awaited event unfolded. The moment of truth...

About eight months ago, Maester Zick's 'protégé' came to him for help. He wanted his advice on the most effective way to create camaraderie and unity in a unit of soldiers.

Ramas explained various suggestions to the boy. The boy did not follow his advice to the letter but adapted it in his way.

For the first three months, Duncan instituted training that focused on physical development, balance, and coordination.

The five hundred cadets were to primarily follow four sacred guidelines:

1) Breathe the right way.

2) Eat right.

3) Sleep in the right way.

4) Walk the right way.

He had devised a breathing technique that even Ramas or Zick himself did not know.

Even the gruff and distrustful Ramas learned that technique and found it very useful...

It was a technique that allowed you to lose your breath in the right way. It prevented this icy air from damaging your lungs and helped you not to waste unnecessary strength.

It could easily be used 24 hours a day after a little getting used to it.

Ramas felt his body slightly warmer while practicing it and was also able to stay awake longer without paying the price.

He had been used to sleeping just over four hours a day for twenty years now. Now he could get that figure down to three...

He also had to admit that the cadets chosen for this 'Winter Guardians' program weren't bad, there was better but also worse.

He had been following one cadet in particular for about over a month now.

Cadet William...

The poor fellow was constantly tormented by Bloody Snow, who showered him with physical punishment.

The cadet never gave up.

He kept going until the end.

He almost always came last in every test or trial.

Running, rope climbing, 1-on-1 hand-to-hand combat, squats, sit-ups, squats, water bucket laps...

During the strange and peculiar group fights, which took place each time just before sunset, in which 20 cadets against 20 had to fight to try to steal a flag from the opponent or to throw him off the field, he was almost always defeated first...

William could be said to be the weak link in the chain.

From day one, Bloody Snow had warned all cadets that their place in the unit was not guaranteed.

Every three months, the lowest-performing cadet would be selected and sent home. Dishonorably discharged.

Ramas couldn't help but silently root for the boy...

He knew he was certainly the weakest of the lot, but ever since Zick had told him that William had a bone and muscle density problem due to malnutrition and that it would take him at least another nine months at least to recover from his physical disadvantage, and when he read the file detailing his past, even the apathetic, cold, rational, distrustful and never smiling Ramas had succumbed to sentimentality.

About a month earlier, the discontent among the other cadets about William, was at a critical point...

Many were unhappy about the extra training they had to suffer because of their teammate's weaknesses.

One evening Ramas, without permission from anyone, 'accidentally' dropped the paper detailing the events at Snow Mill and William's health problems in the dormitory corridor of those disgruntled cadets.

The next day those rumors ceased....

Today was the long-awaited day, the moment of truth.

A week before the end of the third month, William was given an ultimatum with an impossible test to complete...

Since the boy had come in last in all the end-of-term tests, he was given one last 'chance'.

If he did not want to be the first to be sent home with a dishonorable discharge, Cadet William would have to complete:

500 laps of the running track; ( 0.5 miles)

3,000 arm bends;

3,000 sit-ups;

1,000 rope climbs 30 feet high;

200 laps of leg lunges. ( 0.2 miles another circuit)

and 200 laps of the field with buckets of water. ( 0.5 miles. Two buckets of 5 kg each).

All to be completed within a week...

William did not give up.

He did everything he could to succeed...

On the sixth day William managed to achieve:

207 laps of the running course; ( 0.5 miles)

1,860 arm bends;

1,950 sit-ups;

418 rope climbs 30 feet high;

43 laps of leg lunges.

and 111 laps with water buckets.

Ramas had personally kept track of those days by remaining hidden in the shadows.

Bloody Snow interrupted training for the remaining 499 cadets on the seventh day.

He wanted everyone to witness the "futile efforts" of their comrade.

With less than two hours to go before time ran out...

'Get up boy! Get up and move on!' Ramas thought as he was hiding above the branch of an oak tree.

William had fallen for the fifth time in a row unable to make his arms and legs work anymore...

He had tried everything...

He could no longer add a single unit to the count for any exercise.

The last futile attempt was for the rope. He was so close to achieving at least that goal. He was only seven climbs away from reaching his goal.

Bloody Snow approached the boy as 499 cadets watched the scene in silence.

"Cadet William...

You have less than two hours left until time runs out and as we can all see, you can no longer continue.

Spare us this suffering and say the words: [ I surrender ]...." Said Bloody Snow bending his knees to get closer to the boy lying on the ground.

"No...I can go on...I CAN CONTINUE!" William.

"I can continue...' SIR '...I'm afraid I'm going to have to add another twenty laps to the count, Cadet William." Said Bloody Snow giving a small, amused smile.

None of the other cadets found such a scene amusing....

"According to my calculations, you're still short:

165 + 20 laps of the running field; ( 0.5 miles)

837 arm bends;

703 sit-ups;

7 rope climbs 30 feet high;

124 field laps of leg lunges.

and 42 laps of the field with buckets of water.

An impressive cadet accomplishment, no doubt about it....

But how are you going to complete such milestones?

Well?" William couldn't answer that question...every word that came into his head was a lie.

He didn't want to stoop that low.

"I..." A voice intruded, interrupting William.

"I'LL DO THEM, SIR." Said a voice from among William's 499 companions.

Gellert stepped forward and continued to speak.

"I will complete the exercises, Sir.

I will also do the twenty rounds for speaking without permission, Sir." Said Gellert with a look more determined than ever.

Without waiting for permission, the strong cadet began to climb the rope...

Cadet Jix stepped forward and began doing the bends...

Cadet Zetth began running towards the track soon after...

One by one the remaining 496 cadets joined in with each remaining exercise type...

The drill sergeant stood up and stood enjoying the scene for a couple of minutes, before saying:

"Can you manage to stand up Cadet William?" Bloody Snow asked offering a hand to the boy with the broken body.

"I...I think so, Sir." William accepted the offer of help and with a considerable effort got to his feet. He was still in a daze from the unexpected event he had just witnessed...still unable to acknowledge his situation, until the moment Bloody Snow spoke again.

"Welcome to the Winter Guardians, William.

You have reached this milestone in your strength. Congratulations cadet." William didn't know what to say except:

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! MY LORD!...sigh...Thank you, Sir." Then William began to cry as he couldn't stop staring at the entire field full of comrades who were helping him in his task.

While all this was going on, less than a hundred feet away in a tree, Ramas was enjoying the scene.

After a few seconds, the man noticed that an 'unexpected anomaly' was afflicting him.

Something that hadn't happened since he was seven years old...

He couldn't hold back an involuntary spasm of his facial muscles...

'Am I smiling?' he thought in amazement as he identified the anomaly.

What he had just done was undoubtedly a smile...and he couldn't turn it off.

Little did Ramas know, that a familiar acquaintance of his was spying on him from about five hundred feet away, as he activated his inhuman perceptive abilities to the maximum...

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