Disclaimer: I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire or any related works.

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Jon III

298 AC

It had been almost two years since the tournament and he was living a good life. He and Wynafryd had been wed about a year ago and their first child would be entering into the world soon.

The construction at Sea Dragon Point had been going really well. They had completed the Keep and castle buildings as well as the inner wall that surrounded it. But it would take a few more years to finish the city walls and the city itself. The keep itself was beautiful, built from the dark basalt stone. It wasn't anywhere near as big as Winterfell, but it was still large. Main gate opened into a circular courtyard that held a small garden with a central statue of wolves laying on a rock while their alpha howled to the moon. He had gotten workers from Braavos to sculpt it.

Branching off to left were the servants quarters and the kitchens, while the stables, armoury, smith, trainingyard and guards housing all laid to the left of the courtyard. Walking straight through the courtyard led to the hall which was a large circular structure that had four towers connected that held the Maester's turret and rookery, the lord's solar and library, the household chambers and the guest house.

The only reason that they had managed to complete all of that so quickly was because there were close to five thousand workers helping. They had taken a loan from the Iron Bank to pay for the workers labor. All of this was done because he had wanted to try and complete the construction before winter arrived.

Fortunately summer seemed to last for longer than any of them had expected, but he had a feeling that when winter did eventually come, it would be harsh and long. From what he remembered of when he was younger, the winters he had lived through were harsh but quick, Wintertown had been more populated than he had ever seen as people rushed in to seek the refuge of Winterfell.

Currently he was travelling to Castle Black to speak to Lord Commander Mormont about the problem with the wildlings. Reports had been coming in that more and more villages and lands were being raided. Father had posted more guards at Greenhill Keep with Torrhen and Lya. The raids had been really frequent in the New Gift, as well as the west coast. Bear Island were being hit harder than ever, and they had even tried to get Sea Dragon Point, but they had killed the wildlings before they even got close to the keep.

So they had agreed that if the wildlings wanted a fight, they would get one. Jon would be taking a proposal to the Night's Watch, to launch a joint strike against a few of the clans that were raiding the most. They had chosen to travel to the frozen shore and demand that that the clans who resided there stop their raiding or they would attack with their full force.

He had only travelled to Castle Black a few times over the last two years. The first to reunite with his uncle. Now that had been emotional, they and aunt Lya had been so close when they were younger, and Jon knew that his disappearance had hit his uncle hard. Benjen could barely believe that he was alive, he had been so sure that Jon was dead that there were tears in his eyes as he embraced his nephew.

Jon had also met Maester Aemon, and boy did he like the old man. He may have been a Targaryen, but the man was good and honest. He had helped Jon find old tomes on skinchangers; even though he was blind the old man knew almost every book in Castle Black's library. The books that they had found were history books that talked of a man that the Starks had defeated called Gaven Greywolf.

During the War of the Wolves, and House Stark's quest to conquer the North. Thee Starks had fought a savage war with a legendary skinchangers called Gaven Greywolf. It was said that he had the ability to take on the form of an entire pack of wolves, and set them loose on any enemy standing in his way.

Other than that they hadn't found much else, so Maester Aemon told him to go to the Nightfort and search there. When the castle had been abandoned the library had been left untouched. So he had gone there and found ancient tomes that spoke of stories and histories he had never before heard of. The knowledge that was in those books were priceless, so he had offered the Lord Commander twenty five hundred golden dragons for all of the books there. He had been hard pressed to accept, but Jon had told him all of them would be placed at Winterfell in the First Keep, and any time he had need of them, he just needed to send a raven, and someone would take the required tomes to him.

There was a lot more information found from the books he had found in the Nightfort. They spoke of skinchanging as an ability that the Children had, that in battle they would call upon animals to help them strike down their foes. One book spoke about being able to project your mind into that of an animals, that by forcing your will upon them they could be controlled.

In the two years that had past, he had tried to do what the books spoke of, but for almost an entire year, he made no progress. It was one day when he was resting in the Godswood that he had cleared his mind, simply meditating, when he found himself able to see his own form sitting on the rock. Only after he had 'woken up' did he realise that Ghost had been laying down staring at him.

All those times he had been trying to force his will into Ghost, but he realised then that it didn't work like that. He needed to clear his mind allow his consciousness to flow into Ghost's body. The more he tried to force it, the more Ghost resisted it, or so he assumed.

He had been practising ever since then, and he could enter Ghost's body fairly easily when he was relaxed and calm. But when he tried to take control of any other animal he got no response. So he had stopped trying, and only focused on strengthening his bond with his direwolf.

Once he arrived at Castle Black he was brought before their small council who had all come to listen to what was being proposed. Their were obviously Lord Commander Mormont, Maester Aemon, Uncle Benjen as First Ranger, First Builder Othell Yarwyck, Lord Steward Bowen Marsh and the Master-at-arms Ser Allister Thorne. They were all seated on a raised platform while he stood below that.

"Lord Jon, your father sent a raven saying that he was sending you with a proposal for the Night's Watch. Let us hear what you have to say." Spoke the Old Bear.

"As you well know, the wildling raids have become more frequent, especially on the west coast. Bear Island and Sea Dragon Point have been hit too many times now. The clans of the Frozen Shore are growing bolder, believing that they can raid our shores and live with no consequences." He said, informing them of the situation on the west coast. "Lord Stark has had enough. He has ordered for us to take terms to the clans, either they stop the raiding or we put them to sword. He has proposed that the North and the Watch start a joint campaign against the raiding parties. If we are provided with a few rangers to help us travers the frozen shore, we will taken two hundred men and do what needs to be done."

The advisors discussed it between themselves before presenting them thoughts to the Lord Commander.

"Lord Commander, give me leave and I will accompany my nephew with a score of rangers to hit the Frozen Shores. I've ranged there dozens of times before, I know the land better than any of the other rangers." He's uncle spoke. "This will also give us an opportunity to send out a team to search for Waymar, Gared and Will. While we hit the frozen shore, a few groups can search the haunted forest for any raiding parties making camp there."

"I agree. Lord Commander, we need to present the wildlings with a show of strength." Ser Allister spoke with his gruff voice.

After a few more inputs from the others, Jeor turned to him. "Very well Jon Stark, tell your father we agree to the proposal. Benjen and a team of rangers will accompany you. Send our thanks to Lord Stark for his support."

With that Jon left the buildings, they would leave at sunrise the next morning, and ride straight for Winterfell.

It had taken them a few days to reach his home, but when they got there he noticed that servants were bustling around the keep. Even Wintertown had been in the process of being cleaned. Soldier were sweeping the streets and inns were being cleaned. His uncle had sent him a question look as if to ask what was happening, but he had no idea, so he gave a shrug.

Walking into the Great Hall, he was greeted with the sight of Bran and Arya arguing about who the better swordsman was while Sansa sat with Wynafryd and played with Rickon and Robb sat and listened as Theon told him about his latest visit to the Wintertown brothel. Luckily they were sat far away from his younger siblings so they couldn't hear anything the Greyjoy was saying.

As soon as his young siblings saw them they jumped up and ran straight past him towards uncle Benjen. He had been gone for almost two weeks and they didn't even find the need to greet him. While he sulked, Robb and Theon sat laughing at him. Giving them a glare as he walked past, he made beeline for his father.

"Father." He said as he bowed. "Lord Commander Mormont has agreed to the proposal and has order uncle Benjen and a few other rangers to guide us. While we strike the Frozen Shore, they will scour the Haunted Forest for raiding parties."

"Thank you for taking the message Jon." His father said in gratitude. "But unfortunately I won't be able to join you this time. We've received a raven from Kings Landing. Jon Arryn is dead, and the King leaves the capital in a moon to make his way to Winterfell. I have to be here to receive him. So you will have the command, I've ordered GreatJon and Rickard to accompany you, so they'll act as your second in command."

He was sad to hear that the man he was named after was dead. He like the old man the few times he had encountered him as a child. But he wouldn't allow that to stop him from completing the mission his father was tasking him with.

"I won't fail you father. We'll ride out at dawn."

With a nod, he moved over to sit with Robb and Theon.

"So. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" He asked them, receiving a smirk in reply.

"C'mon I want to show you something." Robb said as he and Theon got up and made their way out of the room. As he followed, he heard his father tell Benjen of a deserter that he had just executed.

The path they were taking led straight to the kennels, where surprisingly he saw Ghost sleeping. The direwolf had gone with him to Castle Black, but when they returned to Winterfell had silently slinked off without him noticing. Usually when Ghost wasn't with him, he would be in the Godswood. The guards knew that when the direwolf waited at the gate that he wanted them to open it for him to enter.

"On our way back from an execution, we happened upon a dead stag. So we followed the tracks and blood trail and happened upon something impossible." Theon was saying.

Robb took over from there. "Let's just say that you aren't the only one who has a…"

"Direwolf." He finished in shock as he looked down at the sleeping pups held in the pen Ghost had been laying in front.

To anybody else they may have looked no different to any other wolf, but Jon had been around Ghost for more than two years now. He knew the difference between a normal wolf and a direwolf.

"How did one get south of the Wall on its on!?"

"The mother was dead when we found the pups. The stag had killed her." Robb stated.

"There was only one? You're sure?" He asked the two, and when they nodded in reply he continued. "That shouldn't be possible! For a direwolf to get past the Wall, and for it to be alone… direwolves like other wolves are pack animals, there's no way a pregnant female would have been left alone!"

"I don't know how it happened but there were six pups, one for each Stark child. I'm just happy we get direwolves as well to be honest." Robb said with a smile as he opened the gate and picked up a grey one.

There were four grey and two black pups. And at the moment they had all decided to snuggle up to Ghost. Looking down at his companion, he let a smirk surface.

"Look at that Ghost, you're their mother now." He teased his direwolf.

In reply, his very large companion snapped at his ankles.

The next morning, after saying goodbye to his wife and family, Jon, Ghost and the black brothers rode for Sea Dragon Point, where they would meet the rest of the forces and ships. On the way there they met up with Asher and their two friends they had met after the tourney, Brandon Norrey and Benfred Tallhart. They would all be leaving with Jon to the Frozen Shore.

It took them a few days to reach the point, but when they had all the soldiers had been briefed on what their jobs was by GreatJon. It took them a few days of sailing before they reached the Frozen Shores, and as they had landed and departed the ships, he had everyone gathered and together ready to lay down some ground rules.

As he paced in front of them flanked by Ghost, Rickard and GreatJon, he projected his voice. "You all already have your orders so I won't go over them again, but as you know we'll be splitting into four groups, twenty of you will stay behind to guard the ships, while sixty riders will go with each of the commanders, that being me, Lord Umber and Lord Karstark. You will offer negotiation first, if they refuse you have your orders. Any that surrender are to taken prisoner. But! No women or children are to be hurt, if I find that anyone here disobeyed my orders and think they can rape a women and I won't find out are sorely mistaken. If I find out that anybody disobeyed me, I'll personally execute you. Get ready to ride out."

According to uncle Benjen, there were two clans that lived on the Frozen Shore, those who wore antlers on their head gear and those who used the bones of walruses. Apparently the leader of the walruses was a wildlings by the name of Great Walrus.

If they could get him then that could help avoid bloodshed, that's why he asked his uncle to lead his host towards their village. GreatJon and Rickard would be lead to some of the other villages to try and negotiate, and if that fell through, attack. SmallJon and Harrion would be travelling with their father's, while Asher, Brandon and Benfred would be be coming with him.

His uncle had informed them that very few wildlings had horses, so they had brought mounted men with them to try overwhelm the wildlings much more easily. He had the option of riding Ghost seeing as the direwolf was essentially fully grown. But he didn't want to hinder his companion if he had to suddenly defend from a surprise attack. Every time he looked at Ghost he got a fright, the direwolf had grown to a size that surprised even him. He was almost as large as a horse. He could easily rip anything he wanted apart an there would be nothing anybody could do to stop it.

It took his host them three days of riding before they spotted the first village. He had ordered them to set up camp a few leagues away to stay concealed from the wildlings. The tents were made from white cloth so as to camouflage them, but he knew that if the wildlings really owned this land they would have seen them coming days ago.

Before they left for the village, he wanted to scout the area first but he didn't want to risk sending any men out there in the middle of enemy territory so he had told Asher to stand guard outside his tent and not let anyone in for a few hours. He would try to warg into Ghost before anything else, and if that worked, he would use the direwolf to scout, after all he was white and would blend in perfectly with his environment.

So sitting down, he calmed his mind, breathing in and out. Feeling his consciousness slipping from his body, he closed he's eyes and allowed his mind to do the rest.

When he opened his eyes he was outside in the snow. He could feel that it had worked, he could feel Ghosts body as though it were his own, and in the recesses of his mind he could feel Ghost's consciousness.

Lifting himself from the ground, he started making his way out of the camp, watching as soldiers gave him a wide berth. Slowly he padded through the snows, lifted his snout as he followed the various scents that invaded his nose.

This was his domain, the snow capped lands of the North, where wolves reigned supreme, where the wild grew without disruption. After slowly following the scents to where they all converged, he happened upon a small hill.

Crouching lowly, he started the quiet crawl towards the vantage point. Arriving there he could see a village, a small one, but he could smell other scents there as well, not only the two legged ones, but what smelt like others of his kind, but they didn't have the scent of the pups, no they smelt more like the caged ones at the stone dens.

One of them was getting closer, he could smell it's scent almost as though it were right…

Jon suddenly was back in his body. He was struggling to breathe, nothing had ever happened like that before, it was as though he had thought that he himself was a wolf, and then at the end… Ghost had forcibly kicked him out. He could feel it, Ghost's presence had overpowered him and regained control. He had to make sure his partner was ok.

Grabbing his sword and cloak, he stormed out of his tent. On his way out he called for Asher to follow him. Together the two of them trudged through the path, trying to follow the path, from his memory, that he had taken while in Ghosts body. After walking for almost half and hour, he came upon a bloody sight.

There were the bodies of three large dogs and one wildling, their throats ripped out. Feasting on the bodies were a direwolf and two smaller wolves. As soon as they approached, the two smaller wolves looked up from their kills and started growling and snarling at them but one snarl from his direwolf stopped them in their tracks.

"Ghost." He called out. "What happened? Come over here."

When he's direwolf made his way over, Jon could see the moon light shining on his wolf's fur. There were two sets of claw marks etched into the wolf's side and a stab wound, and they were bleeding quite badly. Jon would need to stop the bleeding or else Ghost…

He didn't even want to think about what would happen. There was a healer back at the camp, he would probably have a salve that stopped bleeding. So quickly ordering Asher to run back to camp and bring the healing equipment.

So while Asher rushed back to camp he waited with Ghost, using his cloak to apply pressure to the wound. They laid there for what seemed like a few hours before Asher had returned with his uncle and the healer.

By the time they had arrived, Ghost had been so weak he could barely lift his head. Luckily the healer had a salve that he created from a few plants and herbs. He said that it was intended for humans, but he believed that it would work well enough to stop the bleeding on his direwolf.

The more he sat there with Ghost the more he realised that it was his fault his partner was in this mess. He had been cocky to believe that he was ready to try and take control of the direwolf in a situation that had many dangers. He should have never sent the wolf scouting in the first place.

Luckily Asher had brought a sled, so they, with much difficulty, placed Ghost on the sleigh and pulled him all the way back to camp. After that, he wanted to get back to Winterfell as soon as possible, so the next day he and his host rode out to the village.

Arriving there he noticed more of the dogs that Ghost had killed the night before, and even more reindeer grazing on the frosted grass behind the village.

There to meet them were a group of maybe twenty wildlings, while he could see children and elderly people moving into their ice huts. The man at the front of group was a large man that wore walrus bones all around his body. He was maybe of similar age to Jon's own father, but he couldn't really tell with the man's cloak hiding his body. He wielded a large stone battle axe with a hilt almost as tall as Jon.

"What are you fuckers doing here?" The man at the front asked.

"You Great Walrus?" Jon asked ignoring the man's question.

"Aye. Again what you doing here?" He repeated his first question.

"You've been raiding on our shores. Did you really think we would let you get away with that…"

"We're free folk. We don't follow your laws, we take what we want, when we want it."

"Feel free to do that in your lands but as soon as you bring that attitudes into Northerns lands, it isn't ok." Jon said plainly. "I don't care why you're doing it, but stop raiding our shores. If you can do that we'll leave you to yourselves."

"We don't answer to you kneeler. So you can take your words and fuck off back to your pretty castles." Great Walrus spat at him.

Turning his horse around, Jon and the other started their way out of the village. He wasn't in the mood to try and negotiate with a man that didn't want to hear what he had to say. So they would have to live or die with his decision.

"I'm giving you an hour to leave. If you're still here by the time we're back, I won't show you mercy. None of your women, children or elderly will be harmed. But if they try to fight, I can't promise anything.

Jon sat on the hill for the full hour, his uncle sitting next to him. He could see people moving east, there weren't a lot of them though, they must have been the elderly and the non fighters. He could also see a few warriors with them.

Turning to his uncle, he asked the question that had been plaguing him this whole time. "Why now? Why are they increasing their raids now of all time?"

"I've no idea to be honest. I've come across very few of the peaceful clans nowadays. It's like they're all disappearing, and we don't know where to. More of the rangers are going missing and their bodies disappearing." He replied. "To be honest with you Jon, the Watch is barely surviving. It's not even the supplies that we're lacking, but men."

"I'll talk to father and see what we can do to help, but for now we have a job to do."

With that the two rode back down to the men waiting for them. "Alright, we're going to head down there now, remember your orders, if they surrender you take them prisoner, but any who fight can be killed. Leave Great Walrus to me, I want him taken alive."

As they charged down towards the village they split into three groups, each coming in from different directions. To be honest it was a complete slaughter. The wildlings just couldn't deal with cavalry attacks; even though they managed to take out about ten of his men simply with arrows, the rest of his men had completely butchered the raiders.

He's battle with Great Walrus had been as underwhelming as the entire campaign so far. Winterthorn had made quick work of the man's armour, leaving him totally unprotected. The man had tried to take his head with the massive war axe, but with one slash of his blade, the axe was disconnected from the hilt, leaving him without armour and a weapon.

He had still tried to fight but Jon had made quick work of the man. With a quick slash to the back of the knee and a pommel to the head he was knocked unconscious. None of the other wildlings had surrendered so Great Walrus was their only prisoner.

They had decided to spend almost another week in the area before heading back. Riders had been sent out to look for any other villages even going as far north that they almost entered the Lands of Always Winter. But all that had returned reported the same thing, all the villages were abandoned.

He had no idea where they had gone and he didn't really care. He was getting uncomfortable staying in this place, something in his gut was telling him to turn around and return south of the wall. Something was even wrong with Ghost, he had healed enough to start walking again, but whenever he faced North he would start moaning and whimpering; and that scared him. His direwolf never howled, never mind moaning and whimpering.

When they had arrived back at the ships GreatJon and Rickard were waiting for them. They had no prisoners with them but both looked to have taken heavy losses. Almost half of their hosts were dead and the others injured. According to his second in commands both of their groups had been ambushed when they had arrived at the village. The wildlings had made them believe the villages had been abandoned before surrounding them and taking out the riders with arrows. Fortunately his father's two bannermen were quick thinkers and managed to get out of the trap and kill their enemies.

He had been gone from Winterfell for almost two moons now, and he was getting tired of this. They had lost good men because they hadn't been careful enough. But at least they had fulfilled their orders.

They had decided that he and the black brothers would take one ship up the gorge and straight to Shadow Tower while the others would dock at the point and head home. From the Shadow Tower they would ride for Castle Black, and only then would he head back to Winterfell.

The trip to Castle Black had been fairly quite. Jon had been solemn the entire trip, mind focused on those that had died, because they had been unprepared. They had assumed that the wildlings wouldn't expect the, that they wouldn't be able to cope with their cavalry, and that had cost good men their lives.

When they entered the gates of the castle Jon noticed a couple of what looked to be recruits beating on a quite fat boy who looked to be around Robb's age. He was on the ground curled in a ball as the two others kicked at him.

Jumping off of his horse he marched over to the two grabbed them by there necks and yanked them back, throwing them to the ground. Going over to the boy, he gently helped him to his feet and stepped in front of him shielding him from the others.

Looking to his left he saw Thorne staring down watching the proceedings.

"Is this what you having your recruits do now is it? Beating on helpless boys. It's a wonder the Wall is still manned." He shouted out to the Master-at-arms.

"This has nothing to do with you Stark. It's the Watch's business."

"Yeah. Who the fuck do you think you are coming here and interrupting our training session?" One of the two assholes spoke up.

He had not been having a very good week, and today just happened to be the day he decided enough was enough, so he turned back to the two, reeled his fist back and smashed it straight into the face of the one who had spoken. The moment his fist made contact the man was out, and he crumbled to the ground unconscious.

He didn't even give them time to respond to his actions before he grabbed the boy by his arm and dragged him with him towards the Lord Commander's solar.

"Why didn't you defend yourself?" He asked.

"I couldn't, I can't even hold a sword properly… I'm a craven."

"What type of man admits that his a craven?"

The boy just ducked his head in shame. Although Jon had to admit that it took, in a weird way, a lot of courage to admit that you were a craven.

"The names Jon Stark by the way."

"Samwell Tarly, but you can just call be Sam if you'd like."

So the boy was from the Reach. "Why did you join the Night's Watch if you can't even hold a sword Sam?"

Sam told him that he was the first born son of Randell Tarly, and that he had always been to soft for his father's liking. He preferred to read than to fight, and he hated violence. Supposedly his father had wanted Sam's youngest brother to be his heir, so he gave Sam a choice, join the Night's Watch and revoke his claim to Horn Hill or he would 'accidentally' die during a hunting trip.

It made Jon sick to think that parents could be so cruel to their own children. Although he had lived in Essos for so long, where that sort of attitudes were common, it still hit him to the core thinking about it.

"You should fight back. Don't let anybody control your life, if you do something, do it because you want to. If you don't want to join the Watch, then don't."

"Didn't you hear what I said. I have to otherwise my father will kill me…" Sam responded sadly.

"Sam, listen, you're in the North now. Your father can't reach you here. You haven't taken your vows so if you leave now you won't be considered a deserter."

Jon felt sorry for the boy. He could see plain as day that he wouldn't survive the Watch. Although he still held the order in high regard, there were men that would rip the Tarly heir to shreds, if he didn't try to help him it would be like he was inviting the others to kill the boy. After what he did to those men, they would come after Sam if he left him here alone and Thorne wouldn't do a damn thing to stop it. He had to at least try to help him.

"Jon, I have no where to go… if I leave the Watch and try to return to Horn Hill my father will kill me…"

He had an idea of what he could do, but he would have to get permission from a few people first.

"I'll figure something out for you Sam, just give me time. In the meanwhile, I'll ask the Lord Commander for permission for you to leave with me."

When they arrived at the Old Bear's solar, Benjen and Maester Aemon were waiting inside for them. Greeting them, he told Sam to wait behind them while he talked to the Lord Commander and the old Maester.

"Lord Commander, Maester Aemon." He said as he gave them a small bow. "On behalf of my father, I'd like to thank the Watch for the guides they provided for us. The ranging was a success and I hope you can get something from the Great Walrus. My uncle has informed me of the Watch's plight; At this moment the King should be in Winterfell, so if you send a representative with me, I'm sure he would be willing to send more help to the Wall."

"Thank you Jon. Your father's done a great deal to help the North." Jeor responded. "All the recruiters are out at the moment. Benjen you'll go and speak to your brother and the King of our cause."

"Yes Lord Commander." His uncle replied.

"My Lord, I would ask of you to allow Samwell Tarly, to leave with me to Winterfell. He was forced to join the Watch but committed no crime. I know you need every man you can get, so I'll send a few men back with uncle Benjen as reparation."

"Very well." The old lord responded gruffly.

With that they made their way out of the solar and towards the stables. His uncle had told him that he would be back soon, but he needed to go to his chambers to get something so he and Sam would go and prepare the horses before they left.

He didn't know how long the King would stay in Winterfell so they had decided to leave straight away and ride through the night. His uncle had jokingly told him that they couldn't leaves his father alone with the Lannisters.

On their way to his home Sam hadn't stopped thanking him, eventually he had told them him that if he thanked him again he would send him back to the Wall. After a few days of riding they had finally exited the section of the kingsroad that snaked through the Wolfswood, and it was then that Ghost had decided to make himself known to the group.

When they had arrived at Castle Black, the direwolf had darted away from them and towards the direction of the Wolfswood. Some of the others had been a bit worried that his direwolf and run off without him but Jon knew Ghost. Whenever he felt like it he would disappear for a few days either hunting or just exploring.

As soon as they had entered the forest Jon had felt Ghost's presence nearing them. He hadn't said anything to the others because he didn't want to frighten Sam, but once they exited the woods, Ghost had decided he had enough of following them at a distance and decided to run along side the horses.

The direwolf was still a bit injured but he was still perfectly able to keep up with the horses, running nowhere near his full speed. Jon had seen first hand how fast his partner could run, and he knew that no horse would ever be able to outrun him.

When Sam saw Ghost, Jon had almost fell off his horse in laughter at the expression on the Tarly boy's face. He looked as though his heart had given out. Jon loved watching people's reaction to seeing the direwolf, but he also realised that some people didn't appreciate being half scared to death, so with a whistle he called Ghost over to run beside him, mainly because his horse had grown used to Jon's direwolf friend.

It took them less than a day and a very long explanation to Sam about Ghost before they arrived at the fringes of Wintertown. Arriving there he noticed the number people in Wintertown were more than usual, and they all looked like southerners with their expensive clothing and armour. So he supposed the King was still here.

As they entered he saw Sansa running towards him, Dom and a small grey direwolf on her heels. Both of them had a large smile on their faces as they approached him. The small direwolf approached Ghost and gave him a bark. It was still young so it hadn't yet developed the ability to howl, for now it seemed it would bark.

In response Ghost simply gave it a long lick before chasing it towards the Godswood.

"Hi uncle Benjen, Jon. Quickly, you have to come. There's a surprise waiting for you." Sansa said excitedly.

"Dom, good to see you. This is Sam, do you mind taking him to Maester Luwin. Tell him I'll come and see him after I've seen my father and the K

She grabbed their hands and started pulling them in the direction of the First Keep. On their way there he noticed the number of Lannister soldiers that were littered around Winterfell, they outnumbered the Baratheons by quite a bit.

He didn't have time to really think anything of it because he found himself being pulled into the chambers adjacent to his wife's by his sister. Set up in middle of the room was a crib, at which his wife and surprisingly Lyarra were standing next to. Lya was holding her son, Beron who had been born shortly after the end of the tourney. In Wynafryd's arms was a small bundle with a light brown head of hair.

He's child had been born. He stood at the door frozen in shock. There were so many emotions running through him at that point, and at the forefront were Joy and happiness. He's child had finally been born, after such a long wait. He's father and sister had told him that nothing would be prepare him when he first held his child, it would be a moment that couldn't be put into words.

He had been so shocked that he hadn't even noticed Wynafryd come forward to stand in front of him.

"Jon, meet your daughter Serena." She said softly. They had both decided that if it were a boy he would be named Artos and if it were a girl she would be called Serena.

As he held his daughter, she looked right at him with big grey eyes. She had inherited the Stark eyes and light Manderly hair, but they would have to wait to see who she took after more.

"She's beautiful, Wyn. Our daughter Serena…" He uttered, still very much in shock. He leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss to the lips. He was a father now…

Soon his daughter started crying, Wyn had said she was hungry so he had told them that he and uncle Benjen needed to go see his father and the king, but they would be back by the end of the day.

Before they left he had said hello to his sister and nephew, not having seen them for quite a long time now. Lya was ten and seven now, and she was looking more and more like their mother, and it seemed that Beron had inherited her colouring as well because he had dark black hair and violet eyes, very similar to his own.

Lya and Sansa had told them that their father would be in the Great Hall with the king, having a meal before they left on a hunt.

By the time they had arrived at the entrance to the hall, Ghost had been waiting there for them. It seemed he had left the other wolves in the Godswood and returned to his master for the time being. But the direwolf was getting too big to stay in castle, so Jon had taken to letting roam free either in the Wolfswood or the Godswood.

Petting the giant wolf on the head, he nodded at the guards and made his way into the hall. Sitting at the high table were King Robert, his wife, Jon's father and Lady Catelyn. A few of the other tables were littered with some of who he guessed were members from court, as well as Northmen. Robb was sitting at a table with Theon, Asher, Torrhen and Dom. While at another table were a group of three golden haired children and a dwarf, who he guessed was Tyron Lannister.

Behind the high table stood four of the Kingsguard, hands on the pommel of the blades as they saw him walk in with Ghost.

Walking up to the high table with his uncle, while Ghost trotted over to where it seemed Robb's direwolf was laying. As the wolf walked past the tables, he could hear some of the men and women gasping and whispering to each other about the massive monster that had just walked in with the armoured men.

He and his uncle knelt before the king, head held low and said. "Your Grace."

When he beckoned for them to rise, Jon turned to his father.

"My lord, it is done. The Frozen Shore has been cleared of wildling villages, the west coast will be free from raiding for quite sometime. Unfortunately we lost almost seventy men out there. It seemed some of the villages were warned about us coming, they ambushed Lord Umber and Karstark's hosts, fortunately they were able to recover in time and deal with the situation as best they could."

"Thank you Jon. You've done well. I'll see to getting word to the families of those who died."

"Ned, what's this about." The king asked.

Turning to his old friend his father responded. "We were getting reports of more frequent raids on west coast. So I sent Jon to the Night's Watch with a proposal to launch a campaign against the wildling clans of the Frozen Shore. Jon was given a command of two hundred Northerns and a team of rangers."

The hall was silent as his father explained what he had been doing for the past two moons.

"So this is son that returned from the dead. You look just like I remember." King Robert said. "I was happy for Ned when Jon told me that there were reports that you were alive. Merchants coming to Kings Landing from White Harbour have been talking about the tourney that was held here two years ago, they say you fought like a demon. That you're just as good as your uncle, Ser Arthur Dayne, with the sword. That true?"

"Apart from you your grace, my uncle was the greatest warrior of his generation. I can't compare myself to him yet."

"Bullshit, I my not have liked the man because of who he aligned with, but I respected him. I barely beat Rhaegar Targaryen at the Trident, and The Sword of the Morning was a lot stronger than the 'Last Dragon'. The only man that could compare to Dayne is that man there, Ser Barristan the Bold." As he said this he pointed behind him to one of the Kingsguard standing behind him. "How about you compare your blade to his. I'm sure it would be a spectacle to see if all the rumours are true?"

"I would be honoured to spar with Ser Barristan your grace, but unfortunately I've spent quite a long time travelling and simply have no energy. If your grace doesn't mind, perhaps Ser Barristan would agree to face me once you have returned from your hunt?"

Looking to Commander of his Kingsguard the king spoke. "What say you Ser, will you agree to fight Ned's boy?"

Ser Barristan nodded his head. "I would be honoured to face the nephew of Ser Arthur in combat your grace."

"Very well then, once we've returned from the hunt, the two of you will face each other."

Looking to his father, he saw a look of pride on his face. "Father if that was all, I'd like to clean up and get some rest?" When he's father gave a nod of consent, he bowed before him an the king before turning around to his uncle.

"Uncle Benjen, I'll see you later." He said as he gave his uncle a handshake. "Ghost! Come."

As he made he's way out, his faithful direwolf followed on his heel. He would let the wolf out into Godswood before he got some rest.

After seeing his daughter and wife, he immediately hit the hay. That sleep was the first proper rest he had gotten since leaving Winterfell, and he had sorely underestimated how exhausted he was. When he woke up a day and a half had passed, and the guards said that the Kings party should be on their way back to Winterfell, which meant he had a fight to prepare for.

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