Don't own GOT or ASOIAF. It was a longer chapter but it felt smooth to write it and it seemed needed to set up a few things for future chapters. Thank you for reading hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 5

I was back at Snowfall, in the Feast Hall. Tables were set up with workers going back and forth to the kitchen getting food and drink. I looked at the table my family used and smiled. "So what is the special occasion for a feast today, father. Is someone in our family getting married? Are you sending Edric to marry a Mormont? I can see the look on his face if that happened."

"No, no one is getting married. I figured it would be a good time to have one. The North is having a good year and I want to show my gratitude to all of the people that work for our family."

"Okay, I will see you at supper then. Do I have to look nice or is it okay if I dress like I usually do?" I smiled at my father knowing that he would never ask me to dress up. My mom however was much like Lady Stark and demanded that everyone look their best even if it was just the family and the town at the feast.

I had been in my chambers reading about Aegon the Conqueror when a page knocked on the door. He told me the feast was about to start. I nodded and thanked him for letting me know. As I was walking down the halls, a shiver shot through my spine. In a single moment, I felt like something was wrong and hurried to the Feast Hall. When I got there I saw my family dead. My mother and father were stabbed countless times. My older brother William had numerous arrows sticking out of him and my second brother Edric had a sword sticking through his chest. Their coyotes were both skinned and behead with the heads lying in front of the table. I screamed and drew my blade. I looked around to see a single man. "Did you do this…Answer me!" I yelled.

He grabbed a bow and nocked an arrow. He let go and the arrow hit my shoulder. "That was for ruining my game." He said. I woke up sweating and disoriented. It was not until I felt a hand go to me.

"Shh…it is alright. You are in Winterfell. You were shot and the Red Woman gave you some milk of the poppy. Just breathe in and out slowly." I recognized the voice of Hellela. My breathing began to get under control and I started to experience some pain in the shoulder from the arrow. I look around and see that I am in a small room.

"How long have I been out for?" I asked.

"You have been in and out for two days." She replied.

"Is Ramsay…" I started.

"Dead." She finished. "I must go get Jon. He wanted to know the minute you wake up."

"Hellela wait, where are Jorro and Dako?" I asked

"They are gone; I will tell how you later." She replied with a sad tone.

She left and closed the door. I look around the room. While most of the decoration is gone I knew that this used to be Robb's room. There is a mark on the wall, where he accidentally hit his sword against it. He hurt his wrists because of the force behind the swing. He could not practice sword fighting for over a week. Jon and I mocked him for his pretending to fight the White Walkers. A little bit later, the door opened.

Jon came through the door. His look was still difficult to determine; he did seem a little happier though. He closed the door and sat down in the chair. I sat up as best as I could. There was a moment of silence between the two of us as we were trying to actually figure out what we wanted to say to each other. Finally, he was the first one to speak.

"I cannot thank you enough for everything you did for my family. You saved Rickon, helped take back Winterfell, and gave the North back to the Starks. I thought you dead in Essos because we never heard from you and instead you came back with an army of 5000 men. We would have lost far more men had you, the Manderlys, and the Cerwyns not attacked from the South. There is nothing that I can give you that would be repayment." He said.

"There is nothing to give, my family has been loyal to yours for generations, maybe not as long as the Mormonts but still long enough. Your family has always treated mine loyally as well so it was never an option to not help you. I did not send word about my army because the letter would have had to fly near Winterfell and with Ramsay he would have had men looking out for letters." I replied.

"Aye, if he did get hold of the letter, then he would have attacked us during the night killing us and then making it easier to fight you inside Winterfell. I just do not understand how you were able to save Rickon. How did you know to be where you were at the exact time?" Jon questioned.

"I had a dream, that Rickon would be running from arrows. At first I thought maybe I was a Greenseer but now I do not think so. From what I understand a Greenseer can see the past, present, and the future in some cases. I have only had that one dream so maybe it has to do with the blood of the First Men. I do not know all I know is, I could not let another Stark die." I replied.

"And my family and I thank you for that. There is something else I must tell you. The White Walkers are real, I have seen them with my own eyes and killed one with my sword. I need you and your men's help if we are going to survive this war. I know I am asking a lot from you but our survival depends on it." He explained.

"As much as I do not want to believe you Jon, I know you are just as honorable as your father. You would not lie about this but you must know my men do not follow me because I order them to. They follow me because they want to. I will not order them to lay down their lives for this war that is to come but I will ask them to follow me into it." I replied.

"There are so many questions I need to ask you and I am sure there are many questions you want to ask but there will be time for that later. Right now rest and heal. It is good to see you again Brian, I was not sure if you were still alive." Jon left after those words and my mind wandered to my family's last few minutes before they were killed.

I wondered what emotions they felt, or if they even felt themselves dying. So many lives have been lost all because people wanted power and wanted to keep it. The North only wanted justice for Ned's imprisonment and death whereas Stannis wanted the Iron Throne and the Lannister's wanted to keep it. I fell back to sleep and hoped I would not have any bad dreams.

It was morning the next day when I woke back up thankful I did not have the same dream as last time. I was getting on my tunic when someone knocked on my door. I opened it and to my surprise it was Sansa. She asked if she could come in and I nodded. "Jon told me yesterday about how you saved Rickon. I wanted to give you my thanks for saving him and helping us take back Winterfell. Your family would be proud. I also wanted to tell you that when Arya escaped I overheard Cersei talking to one of the Kingsguard. Your brother helped Arya escape. She was being chased by some of the Lannister knights after her sword dancing teacher fought off most of them. He must have found her in a corridor and gave her time to escape. They brought his body to the throne room along with your parents' bodies to show them to Joffrey. I am so sorry about them Brian." She started to cry.

"Shh…Sansa it is alright. This is not your fault. The Lannister's did everything they could to keep the Throne. My family was dead the minute they stepped foot in King's Landing because of the Lannister's. Do not blame yourself for what you did. You were young and young people make mistakes." I said trying to comfort her.

"Thank you. I am glad you are still alive Brian even after all the time that has gone by." Another knock on the door. This time a page came by to give Sansa a letter. She read it and smiled. Sansa then handed the letter to me and I read it. The letter stated the summer was gone and winter was here. I smiled after reading it too.

"You should tell Jon about the letter. It is good to see you again too Sansa." She nodded and left. I went in search of Hellela to ask about how Jorro and Dako died. I found here in the training yard teaching some of the younger Wildlings to shoot an arrow. that made the trek down to Winterfell to seek shelter from the winter. She spotted me and told the young group to continue practicing.

"Brian it is good to see you up. I am guessing you want to know how they died." I nodded. "Dako died trying to fight five soldiers at once. He killed all five but not before getting stabbed through the chest. One of the Cerwyn soldiers saw it too late to help. He told me what he saw and said that it was one of the greatest things he saw. Jorro died taking and arrow meant for the Manderly son. He was waiting for you to wake so he could tell you it himself and that he will be forever grateful. We were waiting for you to set the funeral pyres. Dako died like a Dothraki even if he was disgraced before this. Jorro can now be with his friend. Did you know that I actually had a Wildling or Free Folk, as they like to be called, come up to me and ask for my hand in marriage? He said 'I do not know how exactly marriage happens south of the Wall but when I saw you fighting and killing, I knew I could not pass up the opportunity.' I replied that I did not know either and told him if he wanted me, he was going to have to prove it. Long story short I will marry a Free Folk in a few days." She told me.

"Good for you, your family, should you ever see them again, will be upset." I laughed. "We should set the funeral pyres soon. They do not deserve to rot any longer than they already have." I told her. She nodded and asked the young Free Folk to gather wood for a funeral pyre. They went off in groups to search the area surrounding Winterfell. I was glad that Hellela was moving on and actually found someone she thought was worth marrying and found it ironic that it was someone from a different continent that loved a woman who could fight. I walked a little farther thinking about Jorro and Dako. They died fighting for my home and I would forever be thankful for it. I also wondered how many of Jon's and my army died. It could not have been many because there was quite a few thousand men in and around Winterfell. Camps were set outside that made it seem like there was a siege going on.

I ran into the Free Folk that had killed Smalljon Umber. I got a better look at him and saw that he had a red beard and hair. He looked at me and said, "So you are the one who saved Jon Snow's little brother. It seems like you are the one who possibly saved us as well. My name is Tormund." He put out his hand for me to shake.

"Good to meet you. My name is Brian Frost. I heard that there were tens of thousands of Free Folk. There are only a few thousand here." I greeted and mentioned.

"The White Walkers came to our camp, Hardhome, and killed almost all of our people. That is why we follow Jon Snow, he was the only Southerner that cared to help us. He also killed one with his sword made of Valyrian steel. Jon Snow is the man to lead us through the Long Night." He told me. I nodded and he went on talking about how he had climbed over the Wall and attacked the Night's Watch from the south and how everything after that happened.

I had talked to a few other people around the area. I found out that Jon banished the Red Woman from the North. While inside the keep I ran into Lyanna Mormont. I told her how thankful I was that she sent me the letter about the uprising. She mentioned she was not sure if I would even get it let alone be alive. It shocked her that I not only came back but with an army. I told her that while we were not supposed to lead based on our births, it fell upon us to do so and we needed to do the best we can. The North depends on us now and if we fail so does the North. We talked a little bit longer about what was happening around the North. I also heard that every house lord was flown a letter to meet at Winterfell.

I was on my way to my chamber that was given to me and on the way I saw Rickon's door open. I knocked and when Rickon answered, I asked if I could come in. "Hello Rickon, it has been a long time. I do not know if you remember me all that well but my name is Brian Frost. I was pretty much fostered at Winterfell but left for Essos when your father became Hand of the King." I told him.

"I remember a little about you but not a whole lot." He said glumly.

"Is everything alright Rickon?" I asked.

"Shaggydog, Osha, Robb, my mother, and my father are dead. Bran is somewhere north of the Wall. Arya is either dead or missing but with our luck she is dead. Nothing is alright!" He yelled.

"I understand where you are coming from Rickon but you are home and safe. Ramsay and everyone in the North that sided with him are dead. Jon and Sansa are still alive and so are you. Everything that happened to you is horrible especially at such a young age but remember, you survived. Robb and all of those that you care about that are no longer here would want you to remember that. It is okay to be angry right now at everything but remember to talk to someone to help you. Whether it's your family or someone around the castle people care about you and eventually it will get better. Maybe not in a few days or maybe not next year but it does. You just have to keep moving along. Do not forget your family but do not think too much about the past because they would want you to have a good future." I told him.

"Thank you, I appreciate what you are doing for me and thank you for saving me. I just want everyone I care about to stop dying or leaving. It hurts to know I cannot stop it even though I am supposed to be the son of a great man." He told me.

"Being a leader is never easy, it takes time to get better. You are still young give yourself a few more years. Do not be too hard on yourself, no one is perfect Rickon. Jon, Sansa, and I are not perfect, we have made mistakes along the way. You are scared about being a bad leader, that is good but do not dwell on that fear." I tried to comfort him.

He looked at me and gave me a hug. He started to cry and the only thing I could do was hug him too. This young boy, younger than me when I left on my own has been through and lost so much. The entire Stark family has. I looked down at Rickon who had stopped crying and wiped his eyes and realized that Rickon is technically the Lord of Winterfell. Many people would be more than willing to use him for their own game. I told him it was nearing time for supper and he should get ready to eat. He nodded and I left closing the door behind me.

Supper went by fast as I looked around to see men from the North, Free Folk, the Vale, and Essos all talking in groups. I was about to leave when Jon saw me and told everyone to quiet down. "I would like to give a toast to Lord Frost. If it were not for him, Rickon would not be here today as well as many of us. To Lord Frost." Everyone chimed in at the end. I nodded and left. I retired to me chambers and got ready for bed. I was a little sore from the arrow wound so I fell asleep with ease.

The next few days went by quickly. We lit the funeral pyres for all the men that had died for our cause and burned those bodies that fought against us away from our fallen comrades. The Manderly, Wylis, found me and mentioned how he will forever be grateful for Jorro saving his life. He even promised to name his son after him. I asked him why his father did not send Wendel and I found out he was killed at the Red Wedding. He left after talking a few more minutes as he had to get ready for his father's arrival. I continued to learn more about the journeys Rickon, Jon and Sansa had and I told them of mine leaving out Daenerys for now. I learned, from Jon, the name of the man that Sansa asked for help in the battle. It shocked and angered me to learn that the man that basically killed my family and Lord Stark and started the war was the same man that helped the Starks take back Winterfell. I wrote a letter to Daenerys asking for Ser Barristan to come to Winterfell so that he could tell his story about what had happened at King's Landing with Petyr Baelish. I did not know if she was still in Meereen but she most likely would have sent a letter saying she was leaving. I learned about Davos Seaworth, once named Hand of the King by Stannis, now loyal follower of Jon Snow. We talked a bit about ourselves and why we were doing the things we are doing. Finally, all of the lords of the North and the Vale were gathered at Winterfell and discussing a mountain of topics.

Notes: A quick note that I changed the son of Lord Manderly because I found out it was Wendel that died at the Wedding and not Wylis. I fixed it in a previous chapter as well. I have a theory that the reason the Direwolf was south of the Wall in season 1 was due to Bran. He may have gone into the past and warged into Summer while he was still in the womb and that into warged him into the mother. He led her south and once he get her where he needed her to be he left her. Next chapter will be the King in the North scene and Brian will receive a letter. Remember that Barristan was saved by Brian and did not die fighting the Harpys. Thanks for reading.