The First Ranger ordered everyone with a grim face to lead the remaining horses closer to the tents, took Aegon and Yoren to set up traps and alarm mechanisms among the surrounding trees to prevent sneak attacks, and only after arranging the night watch personnel did he allow everyone to move freely and start solving the dinner problem again.
...
"Didn't I just say you were like a philosopher one moment, and a true warrior the next?" Drinking the little soup left at the bottom of the pot, Tyrion was still shaken. He had been protected by Aegon the moment the attack began, and now his feelings towards this Night's Watchman were even more complex: "I never believed the Night's Watch was the most elite force in the Seven Kingdoms before, but now I'm starting to suspect you really have killed White Walkers."
Fighting the Wildlings would make any force look like the most elite force in the Seven Kingdoms, Aegon thought wryly, but of course, he couldn't diminish their own prestige: "Uh, thank you for the compliment, but I wasn't deceiving you in the first place."
"Call me Tyrion, I owe you a favor," the Dwarf said. "Regarding what we agreed on before, I will do my best to make it happen."
"Then I'll thank you in advance, Tyrion... cough." Aegon coughed. He had been forcing himself to adhere to the proper titles and etiquette under the Westeros hierarchy, and now returning to normal felt a bit awkward.
***
Everything started fast and ended fast. Aegon wasn't sure what image he had projected in Tyrion's eyes during that battle, but he knew in his heart: he hadn't done anything extraordinary.
The brave and strong Wildlings were all gathered under Mance's command at this moment, stationed among the peaks of the Frostfangs, discussing ways to deal with the White Walkers. The attackers just now were extremely weak even among their own kind, and any trained soldiers, as long as they weren't unlucky enough to be hit by the initial volley of arrows, could not have lost this battle. Forming ranks and confronting the Wildlings to initiating a charge and driving away the enemy in just a few minutes was merely following the First Ranger's orders and executing them quickly. Any other Ranger would not have done much worse.
Only shielding Tyrion behind him was intentional, but it was purely out of consideration for his own departure from The Wall. Even if he hadn't done that, the Wildlings' scattered, weak arrows were unlikely to threaten the Dwarf... Perhaps, it was this subconscious action that moved the Lannister?
Since things had come to this, he naturally had no reason to reveal his true capabilities. Tyrion had probably experienced true combat for the first time, and it was understandable that in his nervousness, he imagined the person who drew his sword to protect him as braver and stronger than he actually was. This mistaken impression was not something he deliberately created, but it didn't seem to harm him either, so there was no need to explain further.
***
"How could Wildlings appear here?" Jon, who had killed an enemy with his own hands for the first time in his life, was flushed with a mix of guilt and hormonal stimulation, making it hard for him to calm down for a long time: "I'm at Winterfell, and I rarely hear such news."
"Actually, it's been a long time since something like this happened; crossing The Wall is a dangerous thing," Aegon explained with a heavy heart. "If it were just for survival, the abundant resources in the Wolfswood would definitely be enough to feed the Wildlings... But this group of Wildlings must have wanted to run further South, looking for a place to spend the winter and avoid the White Walkers. But without transportation or food, it would be impossible to escape the pursuit of the Northern Lords' patrols and make it to the Neck, so they could only risk attacking us. Even if they didn't catch us, the nearest villages and farmers would suffer."
"White Walkers," the more timid of the Lannister guards shivered. "Aren't those just creatures from legends? Do they really exist?"
Normally, they wouldn't believe such 'ghost stories' about White Walkers, but having just repelled a sneak attack in the dark, their thinking ability and reason were relatively weak. The distant trees around them swayed in the cold wind, creating flickering shadows that made it seem as if something was watching them in the dark. Those listening to Aegon speak all felt a spine-chilling tension.
"Don't worry, this man here has killed one," Jon said excitedly, feeling a bit proud that he knew the Otherslayer before others. "If that thing really shows up... Aegon, you still have your Dragonglass dagger, right?"
"I do, don't worry. Don't even say White Walkers can't cross The Wall; even if they could, I'd kill every single one that comes," Aegon said with a smile, patting his bag and bragging.
...
Although he appeared confident, Aegon didn't feel at ease. At this moment, the North of the Wall was probably already a living hell, and there were no small groups of Wildlings still alive. Apart from the hundred thousand who had gathered together for warmth, the rest had either crossed The Wall and the Great Canyon to escape into the North or had become part of the wights army. Although he was determined to leave The Wall and avoid confronting these things, he was still a part of the humans in this world... If The Wall were breached and the Seven Kingdoms were invaded on a large scale, as a traverser with no family, no friends, and no major power supporting him, it would probably be hard to find a way even if he wanted to escape to another continent.
Everyone finished the dinner that had been interrupted by the Wildlings without incident. Still not feeling sleepy, they sat and chatted for a while. Benjen came out of the tent and walked up to them: "Stop chatting, go to bed early. We can still find remnants of walls to rely on for camping here, but further North is a flat, uninhabited area. If we travel at the speed of the past two days, we still have three days' journey and two nights in the wilderness. This is too dangerous. After much thought, I've decided to start a forced march as soon as dawn breaks tomorrow. We won't camp at night, and we'll push the horses to try and reach the Castle Black in one day and one night."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Aegon knew that the plot had begun to change subtly, and this attack outside the original story was the biggest manifestation. Whether its occurrence was caused by his 'butterfly effect' was unknown: perhaps his presence changed the group's journey back to The Wall, or perhaps this wave of Wildlings would have been killed by the White Walker he killed... In short, the direction of the plot had indeed changed. If an unexpected event could happen once, it could happen a second time. Although the Wildlings' combat strength wasn't terrifying, the stones they threw and the arrows they shot could still kill.
"Then, you guys go in and sleep first. Jack and I will take the first half of the night," Aegon stood up. "Leave the things, we'll clean up."
Everyone acted as told, and the camp quickly became empty with only a few people remaining. Tyrion patted Aegon before leaving: "Well then, you two be careful."
***
Nothing happened in the first half of the night. Jon and Maurice took turns for the second half, and the night passed without incident. When the sun rose on the second day, everyone got up early, packed up their tents and luggage onto the horses, saddled them, and set off to continue heading North.
The weather became even worse, and the ground temperature finally dropped below freezing, meaning that the falling snowflakes could now accumulate on the ground. Forced marches were commonplace for the Rangers, especially for Aegon, who had recently experienced a ten-day great escape... But the others in the group didn't have such endurance. After traveling for over a hundred leagues for more than ten consecutive hours, Tyrion and the two Lannister guards' butts were numb, and when they entered the Castle Black gate and dismounted, their legs trembled as if they had forgotten how to walk.