Robb Stark and his half brother Jon Snow were practicing their sword fighting skills in the wolfswood where nobody could find them, when suddenly they noticed a group of wildlings running towards them. One of them fired an arrow which pierced through Jon's leg.
"Fuck!" Jon screamed, as he stumbled on to the ground. "Go, get out of here Robb! Go!" he yelled to his half brother. "Run back to Winterfell and tell father what has happened here!"
"I can't leave you Snow!" Robb yelled back, holding his sword in his hands.
"Run!" Jon pleaded, as he forced himself to stand. "I'll hold these bastards off." he said, throwing himself at the wildlings, hacking and twirling his sword madly.
Robb wanted to rush into help but thought of his brother's words and ran towards the castle, that was just a few meters away from the woods. As he ran, he heard the sounds of sword clashing against sword and finally silence, his heart almost stopped but continued running. "Father! Father!" he shouted as he burst in the great hall interrupting a council meeting between the Northern lords.
"What is it Robb? Can't you see that we are having a meeting?" Eddard said, rising from his chair. His anger subsided when he noticed the cuts and bruises on Robb's arms and legs. "By the Old gods, what happened to you my boy? And where is Jon?" he asked.
Robb, pointed towards the woods. "We were attacked! By those wild men you warned us about! Jon stayed behind, to hold them off and he told me to come and get you!" he replied, almost desperately.
Several other lords rose from their chairs and started running to the woods, with Eddard tagging along after persuading Robb to stay and let Maester Luwin tend to his wounds. Robb waited impatiently for his father to return, but when he finally returned, he noticed the looks on all the lord's faces. No one spoke, and all looked away when he asked about Jon. "Father?" he said, looking his father straight in the eye. "Where is Jon?" he asked.
Eddard held a fur cloak in his hands, and for the first time Robb saw tears in his father's eyes. "I failed you sister! I have failed you! You told me to look after him! I failed you as I have failed Robert!" he yelled, silencing the entire courtyard with his loud voice.
Catelyn Stark ran to comfort her husband. "Jon? Is he..." she asked, for the first time she found herself worrying about a bastard boy that she didn't seem to care for twelve years. "Please tell me he's alive." she begged.
"I'm sorry milady." the Greatjon Umber answered. "He fell," he said, and Robb broke down.
"How? How did my brother die?" Robb demanded. "Please, Lord Umber! Tell me!" he pleaded.
The Greatjon looked down, his eyes watered with tears. "He fought the wildings like a true Stark, he was pushed off the edge of a cliff by one of them. Your father...ran and tried to catch him by all he got was this fur cloak. He nearly pulled him up but when Jon saw a wildling approaching behind your father, he took his dagger and sliced his cloak, falling all the way into the abyss below." he replied. "We showed no mercy..." he added.
"Gods..." Catelyn said, as she gave Eddard a warm hug.
But for Robb, it took several lords and soldiers to calm him down. He refused to believe that his brother was dead, but finally accepted the fact after a few months of solitary confinement. And he swore an oath that he would hunt down every single wildling he sees for all of his life, to avenge the death of his younger brother, a brother he swore to protect.
Years went by, and Robb grew up and started taking care of things in Winterfell. Helping his father settle daily complaints from farmers and merchants while taking care of his younger siblings, Arya, Rickon and Bran. Only he and Sansa were old enough then to know what happened to their half brother, Bran and Arya were too young to understand then and Rickon wasn't even born yet.
Winter soon came, and Eddard instructed Robb to take his younger siblings down to the crypts to pay their respects to their ancestors. Robb obeyed, and rounded up the three of them with the help of his father's ward, Theon Greyjoy, and ushered them below. When they first stepped in, they felt a little scared of the dark but Robb assured them that he is with them and they pressed on.
"This here is Brandon Stark, our grandfather. He was killed by the Mad King and was one of the main reasons the rebellion started. Father named you after him." Robb said, turning to Bran at the last sentence. "And further down the row, we have Aunt Lyanna. She died while giving birth to our cousin, Jon, who died two years ago." he explained.
"And lastly, we have Jon. A Baratheon by blood but a Stark by heart, our cousin but is a brother to me." he paused and looked at the name carved onto the wall, and wiped the dust away with his hand. "Sacrificed himself to save father from certain death, he will forever be in our hearts..." he said, and Sansa nodded slowly.
Days went by, and King Robert himself visited Winterfell, the Stark family was there to greet him. Robert greeted all of his old friends especially Eddard, and Catelyn. "Come, bring me to your crypts, I want to pay my respects." he said, boldly in front of everyone.
"We have been riding for a month my love, surely the dead can wait." the Queen said, her voice clearly showed that she hated visiting Winterfell.
Robert glared at her. "Ned." he said, beckoning his friend forward.
Eddard led the king into the crypts below Winterfell, taking a torch to light the path, they moved past dozens of sepulchers but Robert was only interested in two of them, his first born son and the love of his life. "Here." Eddard said, stopping at the end of the hall.
The king nodded, and bowed his head in respect.
"She was more beautiful than that." the king said after a minute of silence. His eyes lingered on Lyanna's statue, as if he could bring her back to life. He moved on to the next tomb beside his love. "Ah, damn it Ned, did you have to bury him at a place like this?" he asked. "My son deserved more than darkness..."
"He grew up in Winterfell," Eddard said quietly. "This was where he wanted to be buried."
Robert turned to face the statue of his son. "He deserved more than that, he would have been my rightful heir. Living in King's Landing, fighting for our two great Houses. Wolf and Stag." he said.
"I was with him when he died." Eddard reminded the king. "He saw the wildlings approaching with his weapon drawn ready to end my life, he shouted at me to let him go. I refused and held on tightly. He glared at me and shouted. 'If you won't let me go, I will do it myself!' he then drew out his dagger and in one swift motion sliced his cloak in half. But he didn't screamed when he fell...he just accepted it." he said.
After a few more minutes of silence, the king spoke again. "Take me to the place where he fell, I want to see it with my own eyes. And bring, your eldest son with you. There is much we must talk about."
And that's what they did, Robb leading the King and his father through the woods and to the cliff where a sword was left stuck onto the ground where Jon was believed to have fell. Robert looked down the cliff, and shook his head. "No one could survive that...I don't blame you." he said, but his voice was overfilled with grief.
Just then, Ghost, a direwolf which Robb had chosen to adopt in the honor of his brother begin howling at a path leading down the side of the cliff. "What's the matter?" Robb asked, but when he saw the path, his eyes widen. "Father! Father! Ghost have found something!" he yelled.
Eddard ran to the location of his son and saw the path, Robert tagging along behind him. "By the Gods, if we follow the path down, we might be able to retrieve Jon's body!" he exclaimed, the king nodding his head in approval. "Perhaps, you should wait here, the path down could be dangerous." he suggested.
"Bugger off." Robert said, waving Eddard aside. "Jon is my son, and it is my duty as a father to return his bones for proper burial. Isn't this what you all say in the North?" he asked.
Eddard laughed. "Aye, Robb, lead the way." he said.
The three of them journeyed down the narrow path and finally reached the bottom and were shocked to find a river, among all the dried grass and animal bones, they found an arrow shaft that had been broken in half. Robb bent down and inspected the arrow, he turned it around and around, checking every single inch of the shaft. "This was the arrow that impaled Jon...but his bones isn't here." he said.
"Strange? This gorge has only one way out." Eddard said, muttering some words to himself.
Robert picked up a rusty sword that he found behind the bushes, and looked up, that was where he saw the remains of a fur cloak hanging from a broken branch. "Ned! I think I found where Jon had landed." he said, pointing towards the branch and holding out the sword. "And this, should be the sword that he held. Robb, can you check it for me?" he asked.
"At once, your grace." Robb replied, taking the sword from the king's hand. His eyes scanned for the special marking that Jon had left on all of his weapon and armors. "Aye, my king. This is his sword, his initials are here. J.S." he answered.
Robert smiled. "Good lad." he said, before turning to the river. "The blood ends there...and now is the best part. Where is he if he did not fall to his death?" he asked.
"Maybe, if we'd follow the river, we might run into some farms or villages." Robb suggested.
"A fine idea! Lead on lad!" Robert said.
Eddard looked at the clouds. "Robert, I don't think this is a good idea, it's getting dark. And the feast would be starting anytime soon..." he warned.
"Fuck the feast and fuck the clouds. My son might still be alive and does not know that we are searching for him, if you want to go back to Winterfell. Fine! But I'm going." Robert stated, marching down the river.
"Father..." Robb said, looking at his father with pleading eyes.
Eddard sighed. "You are no longer thirteen now. Go, go with the king. Take Ghost with you. Guard him with your life, and show him that you are ready to become the next lord of Winterfell. I will return to Winterfell and attend the feast and come with a lame excuse for both you and the king, if I don't see you return by tomorrow, I will ride out with Ser Rodrick and get you back." he said, before pushing his son forward.
"Don't worry father, we will find Jon, dead or alive." Robb swore, and ran after the king.
Both Robb and Robert walked for hours, following the river as they went. The river ended at the foot of a cliff where a fort stood, Robert scanned the fort and realized that it was infested with wildlings. His blood boiled when he saw the wildlings, patrolling the perimeter with their axes and clubs, it was because of them that his son died.
Robb was having the same emotion, anger and hatred boiled in his blood as he gripped his sword handle tightly. But he knew that if he struck now, he would be shot by their archers. So he decided to wait for the king's orders, which was the only option he had. "What's the plan?" he asked, after a few minutes of waiting.
"There are too many of them..." Robert said, his voice barely a whisper. "But they took my son and this means...we are going in and wipe them out. All of them. We charge on my signal." he added, as he drew out his longsword.
"Charge!" he yelled.
Both Robb and Ghost charged at the surprised wildlings, killing the patrols and entering the fort without incident but once inside, they were surrounded on all sides. Robb raised his sword, ready to strike. Robert glared at every single one of them. Ghost growled and showed it's teeth. When all of a sudden, they heard a loud crashing sound coming from inside the fort.
"That damn prisoner is at it again!" one of the wildling shouted. "The one we captured, further up the gorge near Winterfell."
"Someone get down there and silence that boy! That boy named Jon Snow and not the the others, we need the rest to feed on." another shouted.
"NO ONE MESSES WITH MY SON!" Robert yelled, charging at the enemy like a mad man.
Robb watched and stared in awe, as the king, forgetting all his honor and jokes became a killing machine. Slicing his way, towards the fort interior as if he was cutting through a giant butter, wildling after wildling fell to his blade. He barged in the doors with his body weight and begin hacking everyone inside, he found the prisoner chained up against a wall. "Robb, cut him down! I'm going to look for a bottle of wine." he said, panting heavily.
Robb used all his strength to break the manacles around the prisoner's wrists, he looked at the boy up and down and recognized his features. It was indeed Jon, for two years he had been a captive of the wildlings, hidden in the deepest part of the fort with no freedom. "Jon. Jon, you are safe now. Me and the king are getting you to safety." he said.
"Robb..." Jon acknowledged, before passing out.
The journey back was tiring but enjoyable, the joy on Robert's face was the most obvious of all, his laughter echoing through the valley as he carried his son on his back. But along the way, they picked up a lost farmer boy who was actually Rickon Stark in disguise, when Robert found out who that boy was, his blood boiled. And he grabbed him by the arm and led him to the woods. "Robb, stay and guard Jon. While I deal with this young brat." he ordered.
Robb obeyed and waited as he heard his younger brother's loud cries coming from the woods, he gulped nervously, he knew King Robert was famous for his hot temper but he did not think that he would live to see it first hand. He watched as his brother came back, crying his eyes out while rubbing his rear end.
"Any more of this, I will tie you up and drag you all the way back to Winterfell! You hear me lad?" Robert asked, and Rickon nodded his head.
After a few hours of walking, and comforting young Rickon. They finally reached the gates to Winterfell, Robert walked in with pride as he carried his unconscious son in his arms, a wide grin on his face. Robb followed shortly behind, holding his brother's hand tightly.
Robert immediately went into the castle and demanded the maester to see to his son, while Eddard had another problem to sort out, this time considering his own flesh and blood. "Rickon, why did you run out of Winterfell? I thought you were playing with Bran and Tommen?" he asked sternly.
"I was father...I was...but then the Prince...Joffrey, he called me names so I attacked him and before the guards could catch me, I ran. I wanted to leave this place, but I bumped into big brother and the king instead." Rickon answered, his eyes looking at his feet.
Eddard shook his head. "I understand your intentions but what you did was dangerous. And...I have to punish you for that." he said, and Rickon tensed. "You, go up to your room." he added.
Rickon started to walk when Robb called him back. "Wait." he said, turning to his father. "Rickon had already suffered the wrath of the king and now he must suffer yours? I know it's not my place to decide how you should handle my siblings but if you give Rickon a whipping, you will be making the biggest mistake in your life. He will grow up to fear you and hate you, and that is not going to happen with my boy." he stated, smiling proudly.
Eddard raised his eyebrow and looked at his son. "I didn't know you had a son?" he said.
Robb opened his eyes wide. "Wha-?"
"Oh, you are going to have a son?" Eddard said, correcting himself.
"Yeah, of course father. Is there a problem?" Robb asked.
Eddard smiled. "Why? None at all, instead that is wonderful Robb. And who's the mother?" he replied.
"How would I know who the mother is. The name ain't important!"
"Of course it's important, if you are counting on her to raise you a family, it is only civil enough for you to call her by her name." Eddard reminded. "Don't forget, you are a Stark by blood."
While the two of them were arguing over Robb's future family, Rickon silently crept away from the scene and made a dash for safety. Robert peeked his head down the maester's tower. "Can the two of you keep it down! I'm trying to read here!" he yelled.
"Read what?" Robb asked.
"I didn't take you for a reader." Eddard added.
"The History and lore of the Night's Watch!" Robert bellowed. "I was reading about the white walkers when one of you idiots yelled too loud. So keep it down! Or else I will come down there and shut you up!" he shouted, and popped back in the window and after a few minutes a loud shriek echoed throughout the entire city.
"Ahhh!" Robert screamed, panting heavily his face as white as sheet. "White walker! I saw one! They are real! Ned! My sword! Guards, protect the city! A white walker! Everyone down!" he yelled as he ran across the great hall.
Rickon felt like knocking his head into a wall when he noticed that it was nothing but a white cloak draped over a knight's armor. "By the gods! It's just a cloak, surely you can't be that stupid." he said, out loud as everyone laughed.
Robert Baratheon swore that he will not leave Winterfell until Jon has fully recovered from his wounds and is back in good shape. In order to avoid conflict and anger, he sent the Queen and her children home but Tommen, the youngest son refused to leave saying that he wants to play with Bran and Rickon. Robert relented and allowed him to stay, despite the Queen's anger.
Every night, Catelyn Stark comes in and changed Jon's dressings and brought him food, as a way of apologizing to him for treating him as a stranger when he was younger. Jon smiled and politely declined her apology, she had earned his forgiveness by giving him a taste of having a mother while he was in bed. Arya and Bran comes in time to time to chat with their cousin, Robb was always there twenty four seven.
Eddard and Robert made it a habit of hunting down wildlings who strayed too far from their hideout and killed them all. Eddard calls it justice, and Robert calls it revenge. Either way, both men enjoyed chasing down wildlings like they did when they were younger. Robb introduced Jon to Ghost, and told him that when they were on the road, they found a direwolf and six pups, the mother was dead but the pups were alive. Bran pleaded with Eddard until he allowed them to raise the pups, Robb noticed a pup that strayed from the rest and decided to adopt it, in memory of Jon.
Live continued for the Starks and Baratheons until one incident that changed the world of Westeros forever, it all started when Robert Baratheon was stabbed to death while sleeping and Lord Eddard Stark blamed for the crime and executed on orders of the Queen. All of this happened when Jon was out hunting with his uncle, Renly Baratheon, when Jon heard about it...he called the banners.