Notes: I would like you to know that, though this is an AU of canon divergence and all the chapters here will be connected, the first ones will be also a little independent. This means that you may be able to skip one or two and still understand the story. However, from chapter 10 on, when the big events begin to happen, this will not hold true any longer.

Also, this chapter takes place an year after the previous one, in Pyke.

Robb

With much effort, he helped Theon lift his boat and take it to the shore. It was big enough for six people to fit in it together, and it was hard for the boys to move it. The varnish made the wood shine with the midday sun they were exposed to.

Theon was excited: he had been waiting for the opportunity to use his new boat ever since his uncle Victarion gave it to him for his eleventh nameday, three days ago. But it had rained nonstop for all that time, and he hadn't been able to do it until now, when a rainless day without threatening clouds to prevent their excursion to the sea had come at last.

His friend had tried to talk his older sister, Asha, into coming with them to the new ship's maiden voyage, but she had long before lost her interest in rowing-boats, which she deemed childish, and she preferred to sail the sailboat her father had gifted her some moons ago, with Tris, her best friend. So Asha had rejected Theon's invitation, and only Robb went with him.

The little boy was glad that Theon, who had ignored him and rejected him for being "such a child" many times, finally decided to invite him to take part of his games. But he was at the same time terrified by the idea of going far into the sea, where he wouldn't be able to foothold in case he fell off the boat. His aquatic experiences in Winterfell were limited to some dips in the hot pools by the godswood, but the ponds' water was drinkable, and every time he had got into it, there had been a grown up watching. Since he had arrived in Pyke he had gradually dared to go each time a bit further into that great body of saltwater that was always moving, but he hadn't yet got beyond the point where the water reached his neck, and he wasn't especially eager to do it now.

But Robb wasn't going to behave like a scared little boy in front of Theon: the last thing he wanted was for his friend to mock him for acting like a baby. So when they got to the shore he climbed into the boat with the other boy, took an oar and willed himself to make the boat move forth into the deep, without complaints and trying to be brave. Theon didn't utter any teasing comment but the smile that appeared in his face every time he looked at him made Robb doubt his ability to hide his fears.

"Robb, you must row faster! We are turning to the right!" Theon told him suddenly.

And it was true: the boat was turning towards Robb' side, because he couldn't row with the strength and speed of his bigger friend. He tried hard to speed up, and noticed happily how the boat turned slowly back to its initial direction. When he finally managed to direct it to the open sea, he turned to look at Theon and get an approving comment for having rowed faster than him, at least for some seconds.

But Theon said nothing, and Robb realized that he had laid down his oar. The boat had returned to its initial course because Theon had stopped rowing, and not because of Robb's speeding. The boy looked down, disappointed, as the other boy picked his oar again, starting to row again, but this time slower, at Robb's pace.

Some minutes later they reached a depth that Greyjoy deemed enough, and they stopped. Each of them picked a fishing rod and they talked idly for a while, waiting for some fish to take the bait.

Robb regarded the landscape: the sea surrounding him from every side, glowing with the sun; the island of Pyke with the Greyjoy's castle if he looked back, the other Iron Islands far away at one side, and in the other one a massive and blurred shape: the rest of Westeros. Robb knew no one could see him from any of those places, and he was conscious of how small he was: an invisible dot in a boat that, in the distance, was invisible too. Robb tried to think about something else, because he didn't like to feel small, especially when he was in an environment where he didn't know how to handle himself.

After trying to catch something for a long time, and getting only a small black and yellow stripped fish that Robb fished, they decided to start back. Theon rowed alone to turn the boat until it faced the shore first, and then Robb rowed too, moving slowly but straight to the beach.

"Well, I think the sea isn't so treacherous after all. I may go a bit deeper tomorrow, so that we can swim together," suggested Robb, who had decided after their quiet excursion that he wanted to learn how to swim.

"Actually, Robb, the sea is treacherous. But we wouldn't be brave if we only dared to do easy, quiet and safe things. Besides, you have much more chances to get hurt when we play and spar with wooden swords than when rowing. In fact, I have already given you more bruises tan you can count, and yet you aren't afraid to train with me. I should feel offended by that, don't you think?" Theon answered, amused.

Robb nodded, smiling proudly because his friend had included him among the "brave". He would definitely learn how to swim, and show Theon, and himself more than anything, that he truly deserved to be considered as such. A lot of moving saltwater couldn't frighten him.

"Robb, get down!" Theon shouted suddenly. Robb was going to ask him why, but his friend jumped out and sank without a word. Scared, he turned around to see what was going on just in time to see the gigantic wave about to break over him. The boat shook violently, and Robb fell with a scream.

He closed his eyes as he fell, because he knew keeping them open would only cause him pain. He held the breath he hadn't let out with his cry and kicked fiercely, trying to get to the surface. But with his eyes closed and the waves shaking him endlessly, he soon lost all notion of space and was unable to tell where the sandy ground was and where the limit between the seawater and the air he was so eager to breathe.

He started to let out the air gradually, because he couldn't stand the pressure in his lungs. He kicked harder, despairing. A wave pushed him down, crushing him hard against the sand. The blow hurt his arm, the limb in which he landed, but it also let him know he was touching the ground. Even though it meant he was as far from the surface as he could be, it also meant he knew which way to go.

Robb propelled himself with his legs, getting away from the sand and kicking as fast as he could, upwards. But he couldn't hold what little air he still had in his lungs, and he released it before he reached the surface. He couldn't help inhaling either, and the saltwater hurt his nose and throat, burning him. He stroked and kicked for his life, but it was not enough. He felt someone take him, holding his body under an arm.

He woke up coughing seawater, lying on the sand, in the seashore. His throat and nose stung, but now he could breathe. Before him was Asha, who had her hands pressed against his bare chest. Robb knew she had been performing the queer maneuvers the Drowned Men did to bring the drowned back to life: pressing the unconscious person's chest rhythmically, making him breathe until he woke up.

"Are you all right?" She asked him.

"Yes. Thank you, lady Asha," Robb answered, sitting up.

"Of course he's fine: it was just a bit of water," Theon, who seemed to be there too, complained.

"A bit of water might be enough to kill you, Theon," the girl reminded her brother.

"So? What is dead may never die. But it rises again, harder and stronger," Theon recited. "Robb could do with some danger."

"Robb is brave enough for his age. You are the immature boy who should grow up already, and stop acting like a jealous little brat when your friend almost drowns," Asha scolded him. "And it's lunchtime now, so I'd advise you to go put some dry clothes on and eat, unless you want to be hungry until dinner."

With that, Asha walked away from them until she got to Tristifer, who was walking in their direction to see what had happened, and she took him to the castle as they talked, possibly about Robb's recent resurrection.

"Let us go, Stark! Or do you want to skip lunch?" Theon, who was standing in front of him, urged him impatiently.

Robb rose quickly and followed his friend to the castle, determined not to annoy him any more than he already had by drowning. He was his only friend, and he didn't want him to ignore him again.