To Soar High with Honor

by MaarioNaharis

Summary:

The tale of Timett of the Burned Men. The Burnt Falcon. The One-Eyed Falcon. Scion of House Arryn and Lord of the Fingers.

Notes:

"Meantime, Elys was plowing Alys quite dutifully, and she was whelping once a year. She gave him nine children, eight girls and one precious little boy, another Jasper, after which she died exhausted. Boy Jasper, inconsiderate of the heroic efforts that had gone into begetting him, got himself kicked in the head by a horse when he was three years old. A pox took two of his sisters soon after, leaving six. The eldest married Ser Denys Arryn, a distant cousin to the Lords of the Eyrie. (...) Ser Denys left his pregnant Waynwood wife to ride to war. He died during the Battle of the Bells, of an excess of gallantry and an axe. When they told his lady of his death she perished of grief, and her newborn son soon followed. (...) Which brings us back to the four remaining daughters of Elys and Alys. The eldest had been left terribly scarred by the same pox that killed her sisters, so she became a septa. Another wed the Lord of the Paps, but proved barren. The third was on her way to the riverlands to marry some Bracken when Burned Men carried her off. That left the youngest, who wed a landed knight sworn to the Waynwoods, gave him a son that she named Harrold, and perished.” He turned her hand over and lightly kissed her wrist. “So tell me, sweetling—why is Harry the Heir" (slightly modified quote for the story's purpose).

There had been much to do. This land was his land now. Land gifted to him by the lowlanders and the lowland lords. 

He was no longer Timett, son of Timett. He was now Timett Baelish, a name granted by the lowlanders. Said to make better use of it, then the man who once bore it. 

He had brought many down to the lowlands, taking the place that the lowlanders called the Fingers. The Half-Man once said that he would be granted the Vale of Arryn itself. But he did not mind having the Fingers. It suited him and the others. 

A new cloak that he had taken from the man that once bore his name, now billowing amid the wind. It was changed a bit to suit him. It was made of fine silk that had on it a field of silver mockingbirds on a fiery red field. It was strange to think, to take a name of a man that was not kin to him. But he never knew that he had other kin. 

HIs father had not talked about how he had taken his mother. Just that she was right and ripe for taking. He did not know much of her and did not remember much. She was a woman like most mothers were. She had sweet brown hair, sky blue eyes and sung to him sometimes before a chill had taken her. She made mention that her blood was noble and decided to stay. She was supposed to marry another noble man that she did not know, a man of horses. She had even given him a cloak and a brooch from the family that she came from. The cloak was quartered with broken wheels and falcons, and the brooch was a wheel with a falcon in the middle. His father had mentioned at times that he had her hair and eyes alongside a lantern jaw and long face that made him look all the more fierce and the eye of many willing woman one day.

Upon her passing, his father had trained him greatly. It wasn't long until he passed away. It was after that that his coming-of-age ceremony approached. His eye had been greatly hurt once before. A woods witch had told him that it would not be the same and it would soon turn white. There was no use of something that would not work one day, so he had taken the hot knife and taken it out of his skull. It lazily stared back at him with its color fading away slowly. He was made the Burned Men's Red Hand; their leader. He led them on raids on the lowlands and their lords as his father and his father's father had done before. 

It had not been long that he had met the Half-Man of Clan Lannister, as he and his people called himself. The Half-Man had even called himself that. Said that if he, the Burned Men and the other clans fought for Clan Lannister, then they would have the Vale of Arryn for themselves. As it should. So, he and his men fought for the Half-Man of Clan Lannister; Tyrion son of Tywin. As the Burned Men feared nothing. He fought many men with armor, striking at them and their horses and taking whatever spoils he could find ang get from their corpses. 

The Half-Man then brought him, his Burned Men and many other clansmen into the city of King's Landing. Or what he called The City of Whores. That was the only reason why Shagga of the Stone Crows liked that place. He did not like it much, but the Half-Man had asked them to serve him. And they were promised the Vale of Arryn, so he had stayed. And he quite liked the Half-Man. He did the tasks the Half-Man had given him and still trained hard with his new weapons. The tasks he did not mind, such as guarding the pretty maiden the Half-Man called Lady Sansa of Clan Stark. She would make a great wife one day when she was more grown. 

Still, he had enjoyed himself in the City of Whores. Although, he did not spend a great deal of time with one. If he did, Shagga just might try to claim her. There was one that he was fond of; a girl with green eyes and porcelain skin, long straight silvery hair. She was smart as well. He'd take her if he could but decided not to.

It hadn't been long that he had to fight once again. He and his men were at the kings wood, to stop and raid the king of fire's forces. He sounded more impressive than his men. He wanted to fight that man, but he did what the Half-Man said. When the fighting was done, he and his men tried to go back to the city to serve and help the Half-Man, but were told to leave by others. So, he and his men had returned to their homes. By then, he was not simply Timett, son of Timett. He was now Timett One-Eye, a name that made people fear him. The lowlanders feared him and the other clans along with his men respected him. 

He had raided several villages. It had been enough for now. Even if the Half-Man had once promised him the Vale. He had come to work with Gunthor who now led the Stone Crows. While he had missed Conn, Gunthor was better to deal with than Shagga. Gunthor decided to make a plan to make a large raid and take the Vale. 

The lowlanders had some grand battle of sorts. The Half-Man called them "tourneys". Where men with large sticks knock each other down with large sticks and horses. That was no true battle. He and Gunthor had decided to raid the castle that held it. But something had came to them. A knight and a comely girl. A girl that he recognized. The girl that the Half-Man had asked him to protect once: Lady Sansa of Clan Stark. He recognized that lovely pale face and bright blue eyes anywhere. 

She looked as the same as those times before: scared and wary. No harm would come to her. Although, that lout of a knight that was with her he could not say. He had wanted to kill him but the girl had said not to. The girl had tried to talk to him. She had made mention that he had reminded her of a man with a burnt face and even a brother of hers named Jon Snow. The man with the burnt face must be someone to be truly feared. He could not say much of this Jon of Snow, but she said that he was a skilled fighter. She had stared intently at the brooch and cloak he still kept that had been part of his and his mother's past. 

And so, he found himself telling her of his mother's tale. And how she reminded him of her. How scared she had been of his father. How she had iron underneath her soft skin and bones. A fire. Like the fire that the Burned Men would offer themselves to when they came to be. It was more apparent when her hair was close to the campfires to try to keep herself warm. There was a fire within her that could not be extinguished. Sansa of Clan, no, House Stark as she said, had told him that if he had his other blue eye still, he would have any maiden of the Vale. That he was "comely". She had also mentioned that she had to wed the Half-Man, that his family had forced her.

The Half-Man was a good man, but he could not say much about the Half-Man's family. They had golden lions on there double-lets, but they were not. The girl was not a lion. But she was not a wolf, like the Half-Man said. She was something else now. 

It was not long after that a large enough army had come towards them. The one leading the men was a man, a boy really, younger than him. He had sandy hair, deep blue eyes, an aquiline nose, and a bright shining smile with dimples and straight teeth that glinted with mischief. He seemed to be hard with muscle. He tried to make himself look tougher with the way he was atop his horse, but he was so green that he pissed grass. Right behind him was a boy with spindly arms and legs with long brown hair and big blue eyes nearly the same shape and color as him and the man who called himself Harry Hardyng. 

When the girl, Sansa Stark, had spoken aloud, was the moment that he understood why he felt calm and familiar towards the child and the man Harry. That they were kin. Descen-ded of the same clan; Arryn. She had then asked him to tell his tale and his mother's. She then asked to present and pass his brooch and cloak of his mother to the lowlander lords. She then said that he was a much a heir and scion as Harry Hardyng. A son of the es-teemed House Arryn. Some immediately cried out that his name was Tim Stone. He was Timett son of Timett of the Burned Men, not Tim Stone of the lowlands. But a stone is a mountain's child, and the mountains had not failed him, even now. 

He found his arms itching for battle; moving towards his blade. All the wary stares from the lowlander lords unnerved him. All of them whispering "Stone" under their breaths. One of them looked familiar. One he had seen lurking about the castle in the City of Whores. A short man of slender build with sharp features, laughing grey-green eyes, a small pointed beard on his chin, and dark hair with threads of grey running through it. The Half-Man had once mentioned him in passing. A lowlander lord who came from his land by the name of Littlefinger. He did not understand why he had that name. The Half-Man did explain but he thought he had it because one of his fingers was very little. Not a good name for a man who had many whores for Shagga. 

The man named Littlefinger came close to him, the man Harry and the boy called Robin. He said that there could be a compromise. That he come to their castle and find some thing for him. That he and him were alike. He did not like or trust the man. He smiled with his lips and teeth but his eyes did not. 

Once he had made his way to the castle, the Robin boy looked straight at him into his eye. As he made his way into it, he asked if he was a bad man. No one had asked him that before. He was a man of the mountains. A wildling savage many would call him. A Stone to the lowlander lords. That already made him a bad man to many. But did he think himself a bad man? No. So, he asked the boy that was his kin if he thought him a bad man. And the boy had said no. 

Harry the Heir however, did not seem to think so. He called him a smelly savage wildling. The only thing that prevented him from killing him then and there, was dishonoring the guest right and becoming a kinslayer. And that Lady Sansa of House Stark had asked him to stay by the doors of a chamber to guard it. He didn't fully understand what had happened. All the lowlander lords had a trial, one much different that the clans of the mountains had. Lady Sansa had been accused of terrible things. But the Littlefinger Lord was scared and shouting like a madman. The lowlanders were shouting. Swords had been raised. Lord Littlefinger was about to run and escape when he had caught him by the neck.

"Release me, now. I can make you a powerful man. Lord of any part of the Vale that'd you like! Be more than what you are. We have that much in common, Tim Stone!"

"I am Timett One-Eye of the Burned Men. The Burnt Falcon. A Stone of the Mountains. And you are nothing."

He then punched him in the throat. He quickly grabbed him by his arms and broke all of his fingers, one by one. He screamed like a girl, whining about it. Then, the handsome grey-eyed man that was always near the Littlefinger lord came close and try to swing at him. He was faster and drove his sword into his neck. He wasn't done with Lord Littlefinger. He could see all the lowlander lords looking at him and not saying a thing. Did they want it to happen? For Lord Littlefinger to die at his hand?

As he was about to say something, he grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed his head into his face. He could hear and feel the bone of his nose breaking upon his head. Naturally, he moved his hands to his nose to comfort himself, he thinks. But that made him scream even more. He then took a dagger that he had by his side. He quickly took a look at it; the blade was plain but it's hilt was smooth. As he pressed it to his throat, someone had screamed out, "STOP!". When he turned around, he saw that it was the girl; Sansa. 

"Do not kill him now, Timett. Not here. He must be judged properly. By our Lord; Robin Arryn," she said coldly. 

It wasn't long that they had made their way up towards the castle called the Eyrie. The path to it was treacherous. And it had become his job to look over the Littlefinger lord. He had put ropes on his mouth so he wouldn't hear his whining. He had been healed up a bit, but all his fingers were crooked and sticking out in strange ways. He and the others were concerned about the little lord Robin. But he looked less pale and sickly. Rage had suddenly made him hale. 

There was little trial. The Littlefinger Lord tried to make sweet words. How he had loved the Robin's mother and had done everything that he did for Sansa and loved her too. He tried to ask for a trial by combat. Harry said that someone would have to fight for him and prove his innocence by defeating another man. He liked the sound of that. He called for a man named Lothor to fight for him. He was a small man with a square jaw, stocky build, squashed nose and a mat of woolly grey hair. But when he was called upon, he did not move. He then started to scream, "I COMMAND YOU TO FIGHT FOR ME! FIGHT FOR YOU LORD!!" 

But he did not move. No one moved to fight for the man. It was then that a narrow door standing between two slender pillars had opened. The little lord looked menacing and screeched out, "TIME TO FLY!" Before the man could say or do anything, he had sliced at his throat with the dagger he had taken from him. He began to bleed and placed his hand by the cut. The Lady Sansa then came close by to him. He came closer to her, not knowing what the man might do. He said something, "Cat". And then she pushed him, and he flew. 

There were talks after that. Too many talks. He and his men along with the Stone Crows, Milk Snakes and the Redsmiths were the only clans that had come up with them. There had been good relations between them all. It was decided by the lowlander lords that they could be like them. There was no one to rule over the lands of the Fingers. The Littlefinger lord rule over a small piece. No one had ever been able to rule all. They felt it natural for him to rule over all of them and be called Lord of the Five Fingers and would have another name other than Timett. He felt Gunthor, Melly and Valla of the Milk Snakes and Uric of the Redsmiths glaring at him. And then they bowed, willing to submit to him. He then took the pendant that had fallen and placed it near his cloak and brooch; a silver mockingbird. Felt good on him. 

He told him that he could help amass more men from the other clans. There was a great war coming from the North from what they had told him and the others. And whether the lowlander lords had liked it or not, they had need of them. He had talked to his cousins. Robin took more a liking to him, crying out that he would be a strong and capable warrior just like him. Harry the Arse said that he appreciated him but would still beat him one day. He doubted it but liked the challenge.

His other cousins, Caspor and Lynora Corbray had finally came close to him, scared because of what happened to their cousin, the one who was close by Lord Littlefinger. Caspor looked like him enough with a young handsome face, long brown hair framing his face and grey eyes but with small flecks of blue. Lynora had the same features and it made her look prettier than her younger brother. Frankly, they mentioned that they were glad for it. That he was a dangerous man and never liked him too much. Their other uncle Lucas and their elder brother Qarl-ton were at their home, as their brother stayed behind with his new wife. Their father Lyo-nel was mourning. Even if his brother was not a good man, he was still his brother. 

They had taken a great thing called a boat to sail up to the North. His boat was made up of the clans and some of the lowlander lords and knights. When he came to the North, he knew he came to fight. But he did not know what he had to fight. It was many blue-eyed demons. He did not know where or how they came about. But he fought long and hard with as many clans that he had gathered. The Redsmiths, the Stone Crows, the Milk Snakes, the Painted Dogs, the Black Ears and the Moon Brothers and his Burned Men all fought with him. Many of them lost. Even Shagga, who had somehow made it to the North himself. He had seen him rise up after a spear to the neck and his eyes turn a icy pale blue. And then he had to cut him down. 

He found himself thinking and wanting to go to his home after it was all done. But they had to stay in the North. The storms of snows prevented them from leaving soon. So, they stayed there for as long as they could. He found himself making friends with several wildlings of the North and even the Northern mountain clansmen. A red-haired man named Gerrick Kingsblood like him enough. Said that if he had another daughter, he would have let him wed her. But they had all married different men when the men pledged to be their husbands died. Another named Sigorn had praised him for his fighting along with one with a fiery beard going grey named Tormund. 

Jon Snow, Sansa's brother interested him. He had a scar on his left eye, long dark brown hair, dark grey eyes and strong jaw in his long face. He had a look that did not give anything away. A pretty wildling with honey blonde hair and blue-grey eyes named Val was by his side. She had praised him, saying it was a shame that he hadn't stolen her. Jon Snow thanked him for keeping his sister safe. He was younger than him but leading more men than he did. He met the Half-Man again there. He said that he appreciated his ruthlessness and surprisingly missed him. He did not miss him, but greatly liked him. He promised that he would find him a nice bride one day.

Looking back on all that now, he cannot believe it. He was now Lord of the Five Fingers, baring the name Timett Baelish. He promised he would make the name better and he would. His new fort was called the Torches. The Redsmiths ruled over Bronzehollow. The Milksnakes over Snakefinger, the Stonecrows over Blackthumb, and the Moonbrothers over Moonfinger. The Paintedogs were allied with his "house", and the Blackears with the Moonbrothers. Other clans simply refused to submit whatsoever. And many people from those clans had died. He did not feel too sorry for them. 

He recently heard word from Bronze Yohn Royce, that he had another cousin. Words were that her mother was a septa that was once silent. Her father was a Prince of a land called Dorne. He did not understand. Only that she was kin, and had been sent to the Eyrie. She had a child, so she was just as important. Her son was named Eon, who's father seemed to be Jon Snow from what he had heard. The only thing that he knew for sure was that the babe had blue-grey eyes and honey brown hair. It could have also been a pirate lord who called himself Lord of the Waters. What he knew was that she and the baby were kin, and that they would be taken care of. 

He would need to leave soon enough. Harry had already wed Myranda and gotten her with child. They had done that in secret. And she seemed to like the children he bore before; Alys of Stones and Cedrik of Stones. He would not miss Robin's wedding. The girl was of an age to him named Cynthea. Harry and Bronze Yohn would likely talk about him marrying soon enough. He wished he could marry the mule girl Mya. He liked how fierce she was. Or perhaps he could ask the Half-Man Tyr-ion to help find that girl he once liked named Mar-ei. Lynora was unwed, perhaps he could ask for her hand if it was allo-wed. Maybe he should have wed one of the woman he had in the North; Dyah or Nella. He would take both if he could but that was never proper. 

But he must be on his way. He must see his family soon. 

Notes:

The Fingers are a lovely place, if you happen to be a stone.

https://asongoftheories.tumblr.com/post/55331281201/the-possible-heritage-of-tyene-sand