Ice and Fire and Orgs

Chapter 1

Mask Of Legends

There is a legend in Westeros, an old legend that not many know about, one only told to the lord Starks of Winterfell and Wardens of the North, and only when they are on their deathbeds does the previous lords tell their sons about the mask and the legend behind it, that was tradition. It was a tradition dating back all the way to Aegon Targaryen and has lasted till Rickard Stark, father of Eddard Stark and future lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, Rickard knew that when he went to the king with his oldest son to get his daughter back he might die. The legend of the wolf mask is not an easy one to tell, it isn't an easy one to bring up either, only the warden is aloud to know it because of a deal made between the original owner of the mask, Aegon Targaryen, and the original Starks, but before Rickard went before the king, he told his son about the mask. Sent a raven to where Ned was and said it was beyond urgent, Ned arrived a little afterwards and it was there that he told his son, who at that point was next in line for Winterfell after his oldest, that should they die he was to tell him of the wolf mask and the secret it held.

At first Ned was mad his father pulled him back to tell him about a mask, but then he was told to shut up and listen, so he did and was told of the curious mask that always sat on his father's mantel, cleaned every year on the dot and finally he understood why he was being told the tale. His father knew that he was going to die when he went down south, Ned asked his father why he had to go but was told that even if there was the smallest of chances to get his sister back, he needed to take it, so with a heavy heart Ned excepted the duty that came with the masks secrets. He kept the secret past the death of his father, the death of his oldest brother, the death of his sister, the bringing in of his nephew claiming him to be his bastard, his marriage to Catelyn Tully, the war with the Greyjoys, and many other trials until king Robert came and made him the hand. Before he left, naming Robb as acting Warden of the North in his stead, he told his son of the story of the mask and the legend it holds, and his son made the same promise that has been kept for a many years, but Ned had the sinking feeling that this is where the promise will be finalized.

Ned was right of course, after becoming hand to the king and then losing it and then taking it back, the king dying and him trying his best to let the truth be known, he failed and now he was in a prison cell, the darkest of them and has so far only had one visitor, lord Varys, spy master. Told him of how Arya was missing and Sansa was still engaged to Joffrey for now, how the rest of his household with him were slaughtered in the streets and the spy master did nothing, saying that he would rather not die while playing a hero, it wasn't without its logic concluded Ned. He did learn that now Cat has lost the queen's brother and he was sure that now he was going to die, he thought long and hard about that, as well as what lord Varys said he truly served, he said the realm, the spy master serves the realm itself, that was honorable he concluded.

It was now a few days later, or at least Ned surmised it was, when lord Varys came again, "you've seen better days my lord," he said as he brought the touch and sole light in the black cells coming closer to him, lighting up his prone form seeing how truly terrible he looked.

"Another visit," Ned asked as if to rid himself of the possibility of an illusion, whether it was or not didn't matter as much, "it seems you're my last friend," he said in an almost amused voice, maybe it was the solitude, or maybe it was something else, but neither could place it exactly.

"No, no, many still love you," Varys said as he handed the man a pouch of water to drink, "Sansa came to court this morning to plead for your life," he informed the man as he took off his black hood and watched as lord Stark took a drink of the water and helped clear his mind.

"On her knees, begging for me, hmmm," Ned said as if contemplating the scene, then he turned to Varys, "did you laugh with the others," he asked the eunuch, he could see the scene in his head, to keep up his role having to laugh at the scene of his daughter begging for his life.

"You do me wrong my lord, your blood is the last thing I want," Varys told the man, yet it was still hard to determine what the eunuch wanted, what ever he wanted this time around would more than likely be the last visit he would receive from his 'last friend' in King's Landing.

"I don't know what you want, I've given up trying to guess," lord Stark admitted before taking a drink of his water pouch, and it was true, he's given up trying to guess what it truly was that Varys wanted, though he could only assume it was much better than what Littlefinger wanted.

"When I was still a boy, before they cut my balls of with a hot knife, I traveled with a group of actors through the Free Cities, they taught me that each man has a role to play, the same is true at court, I am the Master of Whisperers, my role is to be sly, obsequious and without scruples."

Ned hummed at what he was saying before looking to the man, "Can you free me from this pit," Ned asked out of the blue, he didn't really want to get free from it right now though, but he knew he needed to, if only to try and stop something that his gut was telling him was coming.

Varys nodded his head, "I could," while looking around a bit, "but will I," he looked to Ned before shaking his head, "no," the downed man laughed a bit, "as I said, I'm no hero," the eunuch said as if reiterating to the lone wolf something that had already been said to him.

"What do you want, tell me, no riddles, no stories, tell me what do you want," Ned asked in irritation, and just when he thought he'd given up trying to understand what this master of spies wanted, he's brought back into uncontrollably wanting to know what this man wanted.

Varys carefully bent down to Stark's level, "peace," he paused for a moment, "did you know that your son is marching south with an army of Norhtmen, loyal lad, fighting for his father's freedom," the famous spider informed the imprisoned man, and something seemed to click.

"Robb," Ned turned as if contemplating something, the feeling of dread that he felt in his stomach growing with the news, things were coming down worse than what he had first thought, at this rate the mask will be used long not too long after, "he's just a boy," but it wasn't to Varys.

"Boys have been conquerors before, but the man giving Cersei sleepless nights is the king's… the late king's brother, lord Stannis has the best claim to the throne, he is a proven battle commander and he is utterly without mercy," Varys told the lord Stark but held a studying eye.

"Stannis Baratheon is Robert's true heir, the throne is his by rights," Ned said but he started to sound much more detached than before, "but if what you say about Robb is true, than soon you'll have much more to worry about than Stannis," he leaned his head back against the wall.

"Are you perhaps referring to the strange and unusual mask that Robb has been seen carrying around with him, from what my birds have told me he seems to hold it with an aura of respect, which isn't unusual seeing as how it is a wolf mask and the wolf is your sigil," Varys theorized.

Ned nodded his head, "aye, the wolf is our house sigil, but this mask is something else entirely, I won't tell you how or where we got it, only that it was saved for the day that the North feels it cannot remain safe under southern rule any longer, and only be used as a last resort to that end." Varys looked very troubled form this news and rose up to back away, "and yet it cannot ever be destroyed, it cannot be fractured, it can only be used to further the north, only we Starks are allowed to use it, not because it is our right, but because only we can use it at all." Varys looked skeptical that it could be so powerful, "did you not ever wonder, despite the numerous kings, the various years, why in all of that history only the mad king was mad enough to stand against the north, to drive us to a rebellion, but not a full secession from the kingdom."

"Then are you warning me to warn the king not to attack the North," Varys asked, "but the best way to do that is to tell the queen you will confess your vile treason, tell your son to lay down his sword and proclaim Joffrey as the true heir," Ned looked to him as if he was mad, maybe he was. He knelt down beside the Stark again, "Cersei knows you as a man of honor, if you give her the peace she needs and promise to carry her secret to your grave, I believe she will allow you to take the black and live out your days on the wall with your brother and your bastard son. Not only that but with you alive, you can tell your son Robb to not attack, to not use this mask based weapon on anyone and save countless lives in a war that will do no one any good, please, prevent this war that will no doughtily cause the death of many because of one man's life."

"You think my life is some precious thing to me, that I would trade my honor for a few more years of… of what," Ned argued back before resting his head on the stone, "your grew up with actors, you learned their craft and you learned it well, but I grew up with soldiers, I already know how to die."

Varys looked down in disappointment, "pity, such a pity," he rose up from the stone, "what of your daughter's life my lord, is that a precious thing to you," he asked before he left, but he does think something else, Joffrey cannot be controlled very well, he's unpredictable unlike Cersei.

In the coming days, Ned Stark would make his decision, but while he made it Varys went to the king and queen regent and tell them that the North has a great weapon that only starks can use, this weapon was great and would annihilate the south in battle should they provoke them. He would bring up the logic that was brought forth to him, though in a much more regal manner, such as perhaps, 'why do you think the previous kings kept the North in their good graces for so long, the other regions of had their imports, but what did the North provide for us?' Of course, Cersei knew that they provided us with wool and other things, but she doesn't use wool, only fine silk and the sort, so she would provide a snide remark, the only one that was unpredictable was Joffrey, while a fool, he was a cruel fool who was unpredictable in how he acted.

That is what happened, Joffrey acted as cruel as he could with no thought to the future, shown evident when he beheaded Eddard Stark, he never thought of the future of the realm or what it meant to kill the Stark, but Varys did, that is why when Joffrey gave the order he begged not to. Yet the king did not listen and Joffrey ordered Payne to take the man's head, Varys only stared on in horror as his head was taken from him, and nobody could predict what was to come in the following time because of one stupid boy's decision, and what a time was to come here.

Two years later (red wedding)

It wasn't until much later that the warning that Ned gave was brought to fruition, and while Robb was named King in the North because of it, and he did dawn the mask, it never changed him into something beastly, it did give him great strength though, speed, reflexes, he became powerful. It was great, he fell in love with a beautiful woman, she was set to bare him a child, and for all he knew, it was going to be a great and healthy child, he had a powerful army that never lost a battle, and he himself was very powerful, could possibly take on the kingslayer now. His wife was only mildly disturbed by the mask even, but she's grown accustomed to it, and according to her, having a husband with such a mysterious allure is quite the pleasure, so he was glad to keep the mask and even thought of having another made for his queen, a matching set.

Alas, such a beautiful romance soon turned sour, not from themselves, but from the world around them, he was promised to a Frey girl, but turned his back on them and now he was bargaining off his uncle to take his place as the groom, but by the looks of him, Edmure wasn't sour about it. Though he was about to be after he hears of what has happened, so many dead, his wife and unborn child dead on the floor in a surprise attack, Walder mocking his honor as a person, now Robb was standing there, rattled with arrows before turning to his mother, "mother," he said.

All of a sudden though, Roose Bolton came up to him, and grabbed his shoulder while standing just to the left corner of him, "the Lannisters send their regards," he said before digging a knife into the king in the North's heart, killing him, before the traitor walked away from the king.

The King in the North fell back, but before he could die from it, something happened, he screamed an ear piercing shout, and with no movement made, rose to full height as he became covered in a black aura, and let his mother see what has become of her son as she held a girl. He was one of the most fearsome beasts she had seen once she saw his full form, his feet was covered in black boots that could be mistaken for wolf paws, black leather pants was covered by black shin and knee guards, that was covered by an open in the front skirt reaching lower shin. His belt was leather with a silver pentagon pointed down with a yellow circle in the middle, his upper body was covered in a black shirt, arms had black gauntlets, shoulder pads, a breastplate that had a part of it detached from the rest and let show a type of bumps that moved with him. His mask had changed to stretch past his face and cover his ears, hair changed to a dark silver that flowed behind him, his eyes were the only visible facial feature he had, a deep amber that felt primal, the last feature present was the oddest, he had a horn sticking form his forehead.

There were no wounds on him though, whereas Robb had several arrows in him and a knife wound in his chest, this beast has nothing of the sort on him, "what are you, what have you done to my boy," Catelyn asked the beast that took the place of her son, "what happened to my boy?"

The beast looked around him, feeling the effects of the transformation reach its annex as his power was brought to its highest levels, some made to attack the beast, but it summoned forth a blade from the darkness, it was in the shape of a crescent moon and with but a swipe, they were headless. Others attacked after that, trying to fight the beast that took the place of the King in the North, but it was hopeless, it was a slaughter as many a Frey tried to take out the monster, but they were all defeated soundly and with clean cut that either hit arteries or cut off heads, some bisecting. When it was over and the ground was littered with the blood of the Frey, and all that was left was Walder looking on horrified as his entire family was slaughtered as if it were nothing at all, the beast looked at him, standing in the middle of a massacre, yet not bothered by it itself.

All of a sudden, it whipped its hand to the side and a strange looking knife found itself embedded into Catelyn Stark's head, the look of shock and horror edged on her face as she fell to the ground, dead on the floor with blood coming from the knife that disappeared from her skull. Walder made to ask why he just killed his own mother when the same crescent blade as before was brought forth and with a wishing sound changed form a bit to where the grip was pulled back from the upper and lower blades, he swung it and with a pale yellow light, Walder was no more.

From the sound of things there was still fighting going on outside, many people being killed in an ambush that has been taken place, but this all meant nothing to the beast that took away of all in the room, no one escaped his wrath, his anger, and after tonight, nobody will know of him at all. "What… are… you," a raspy voice asked below him, he looked down and saw the form of Roose Bolton below him, a slash on his chest that let people see his cold and black heart, and the light in his eyes was fading fast, and yet he still had enough strength to talk, quite the strong man.

The beast knelt down and pressed his clawed hand into the man's chest, watching as his eyes grew wide from the pain at the sudden action, "my name has been lost throughout the ages," the creature spoke in a rough growl-like voice, "it's Zen-Aku, the wolf Duke Org, now die." The now named Zen-Aku rose from kneeling on the man and watched as his life ended, he looked around and noticed that nobody else was alive, but the fighting going on outside was still raging, meaning they didn't know of what has happened in here, good, nobody needed to know.

To that end, the best way to cover up what happened here was to set the place ablaze, he's always been one for more subtle methods, but it had to be done, with that thought he looked around and noticed many of the things in here are flammable, good, wouldn't take much then. He brought out his crescent blade in the same position he used to kill Walder Frey in and fired a low powered beam with a wave of the blade, aimed it at all the wood and banners, they readily caught fire, he did the same with the bodies as well, he then calmly walked out and into shadow.

It was night so thankfully because of his dark form he was able to hide in the shadow of the trees, he walked around the battlefield gong on, well more like a slaughter, and continued to do so until he looked over and saw a nice cloak that was large enough to hide his form under, he stole it. With the cloak over him he went to work on his next target, his long thought out plan had worked, since Aegon knew of him and then knew that poison worked against him, he had to go into hiding, so he told the man that even if it was through poison, he still won their fight. So the org told him to give his mask to someone he trusted, with honor, and above all else, knew they would need help in the future, when Aegon asked him why the help in the future, he said that he only fights for those that were considered the underdogs in fights, the losing side. So Aegon gave him to the Starks in the North, believing them to be honorable, which they were, they kept the oath, swearing not to use the mask until they rebelled against the crown to secede from it, and only then only secede after careful consideration, not something done lightly.

Now with Aegon gone, that left those that knew poison would work on him down to no one, and with his power could destroy those houses that wronged him, namely the last Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen, but how to go about it, he knew of many ways, but where was she. From the memories of the Stark boy all he knew was that there was a Targaryen out there named Daenerys, though he may know how to find her, the Master of Whispers in King's Landing, that would be a man that Zen-Aku knew had the information he desired, his revenge has just started.

King's Landing (some time later)

Varys was nervous, from the sound of things all of what lord Stark had told him had come to pass, the North had been winning with Robb Stark leading their forces, dawning a wolf mask that gave him great power, he won every battle he had fought in, yet now was most likely dead. Thanks to one Tywin Lannister and Walder Frey acting together they killed him at a wedding between Walder's granddaughter and Edmure Tully, after the initial ceremony was when everyone was murdered, and he does mean everyone, somehow all of house Frey is now dead. A large fire broke out in the castle and burned all of their corpses beyond identification, so now they were left with no choice but to scour the remains for any signs of the King in the North, though Varys did send orders to his birds telling them to find the mask first and bring it to him.

Small yet striding footsteps brought him out of his musing as the recently appointed Master of Coin, Tyrion Lannister came into the room, Joffrey was smiling largely at the news, "killed a few puppies today," Tyrion remarked, also noticing the boy's smile for some unknown reason.

"We have news Tyrion," Tywin remarked with a pointed eye at his lateness, "it seems that Robb Stark along with his mother is dead, I say seems because there was a fire during the wedding of Walder Frey's granddaughter and Edmure Tully, both have also been lost to the fire it seems."

"Robb Stark is dead," Joffrey said in mad glee, "and his bitch mother, I'm sure of it," he turned to Pycelle, "write to the search parties, tell them to find and send Robb Stark's head, I'm gong to serve it to Sansa at my wedding feast," he announced with joy at his plans for the girl.

"Your grace, while that is a wonderful plan to torment your aunt by marriage, I believe that we may have more pressing matters to discuss," Varys pointed out and received a glare from the boy, "I only meant that we must discuss who started the fire that killed so many."

"We will discuss what I say we discuss when I say it, and this is an important matter, I'm going to serve it to Sansa at my wedding feast," Joffrey declared with a glare from standing between Varys and his mother, though even she was against such a thing as serving a head to someone.

"No," Tyrion voiced with a glare of his own to the boy, "she is no longer yours to torment," he stated, bad move on the Master of Coin's part, but at least that took the heat off of Varys for a bit, though what would come next would be quite entertaining he'd have to admit.

"Everyone is mine to torment," Joffrey said as he walked up to the dwarf, he was getting quite mad now and would only increase with the meeting, though Varys needed to discuss things with them seriously first, "you'd do well to remember that, you little monster," the king sneered.

"Oh, I'm a monster," Tyrion said softly, Varys could see where this was going and smiled a bit, "perhaps you should speak to me more softly then, monsters are dangerous, and just now kings are supposedly dying like flies," there was a very thick silence in the room after that.

Joffrey looked shocked at someone talking to him like that, "I could have your tongue out for saying that," this was not going to be a good meeting, things needed to be discussed and it would go along much faster if the boy wasn't in here to do it, "I am the king," he exclaimed.

"Any man who must say, 'I am the king', is no true king," Tywin seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Varys, "I'll make sure you understand that when I've won your war for you," that seemed to send the boy off, making his blood boil more than it ever had before now.

"My father won the real war," oh no, Joffrey you fool, "he killed prince Rhaegar, he took the crown while you hid under Casterly Rock," and now the idiot did it, honestly Varys had to tune out some of what came next until after Joffrey left, he really didn't need that thickness in the air right now.

Though after Pycelle also left Varys knew that he should leave too, he hated this, knowing information that needed to be shared and yet not being able to share it either, "you two," Tywin called to them, "stay," he ordered and they returned to their seats, "about the fire lord Varys."

Varys actually smiled since it is serious business this time, "my birds have told me that the first seems to have started from the inside room, the feast hall to be precise, many perished in the first, Roose Bolton being one of those that have been in the hall when it started."

"That hall would have been closed off if you slaughtered them during a wedding," Tyrion said almost as if accusing them, "they would have shut the door, but made sure it could be opened again to get out, so a fire should not have killed them, they must have died before it happened."

Varys smiled at his thinking, "very good my lord, there are many factors that point in that direction, no candle stands were overturned, the chain holding up the chandelier was burned away while it was hanging, up, the bodies under it crushed yet none looked to be fleeing form it. Knife wounds and slashes beyond count on the burned corpses of the men slain in the hall, each cut was sent to fatally harm them and none of them were meant to cripple, there was only one that was a fatal wound that meant they died without pain, a knife wound in the skull of a woman."

"Then we should assume that the woman was Catelyn Stark, but I want every other person that is searching the burnt ruins to find anything that might prove that Robb Stark died there as well," Tywin ordered Varys, "and what news do you have of the mask that he wore, anything yet."

Varys almost frowned at him thinking about the mask, but knew against it, "none so far Lord Hand, there is great damage done to the hall, they are still looking through it for any sign of the mask, but it is currently unknown just how much ash and soot berried it beneath the fire."

"Then subtly double the reward for anyone that finds such a mask, and when Sansa's son comes of age he will be given the mask since it is his by birthright," Tywin then looked to Tyrion, "I believe you still have some work to do on that front," he got up and left the table.

Varys knew the next few words spoken were not going to be pleasant so he finally got up and left, hearing the distant sound of Tyrion saying, "do you think she'll open her legs for me once she hears of how we killed her family," he made sure to quicken his pace after that. He still had much to do, many things to set into motion, he's almost ready for a few more steps but he still needs something else done as well, he still knows not of where the mask could be, he knows that it can't be destroyed, and he knows that only he knows that, and the true power it has.