I am so so sorry, I know I am a horrible person making you all wait this long but I hit a serious writers block with this story, but I'm back now and hopefully will be able to upload more soon.

I do not own Game of Thrones, I wish I did.


They stuck to low ground as long as they could before they knew it would no longer be safe and traveled up to high ground. They avoided any main roads and took long paths that would be unknown to any Southerner through the broken forests to avoid being seen by any near by castles.

It was a few weeks before they decided to make their way out of the forests. Which Nieva knew was a big risk but due to the cover of the trees they had no idea of gauging where they were nor how far they still had to travel. Nieva knew they were still in the North due to the snow that was coming down fast around them but she didn't know which part of the North they were now in, until they crept to the edge of the forest and stepped out into open ground.

Nieva gasped as she saw the castle in front of them. Its magnificent towers which she'd heard had been ruined were starting to get rebuilt but they were still nothing like she remembered. Smoke, blacker than any she had been before billowed up from the walls of the court yard. Gone was everything that made that place her home, now it was foreign and dangerous territory, for both of the Starks.

She felt her heart jump into her mouth as she could hear Rickons small sobs as he too had noticed the castle.

"What place is that mi'lady?" Grenn asked staring down at the castle after glancing at the cousins and seeing their reactions.

"It was home" Nieva smiled with tears in her eyes as she stared down at the ruined castle of Winterfell.

"That's Winterfell?" Grenn said in amazement finally seeing the place Jon spoke so highly of. "I thought it'd be bigger"

A sudden burst of hysterical laughter came from the woman on the horse beside him. He turned to face her with a small frown.

"You're not the first person to say that" She smiled before her smile fell. "It's no longer Winterfell, that was place filled with love, family and hope, that place there is filled with pain and death, they ruined it!"

Panic began to settle into her stomach as she saw Bolton guards along the walls of the castle, they appeared to be frantic and searching for something. "We need to get out of here, it's too risky being this close especially now that we have Rickon with us" She said turning back.

"Where are you going?" Grenn frowned.

"I'm afraid we'll need to use the cover of the forest for a little longer, something had those guards panicked and riled, someone might have spotted us and alerted them our presence. You forget most Bolton men know my face, and Roose Bolton wants me for himself, we have to get deeper into the forest in case someone has recognised me" she replied before she kicked Frost into a trot back towards the shadows of the trees


They made camp that night further into the forest. They could still see the outline of Winterfell from the distance and the torches that glowed along the top of its walls. Nieva knew it was beyond dangerous staying so close to the castle with the Bolton soldiers acting the way they were this morning but Rickon needed rest and all three of them needed to eat. Luckily Nieva had managed to shoot down a squirrel and an owl, not to mention Grenn had managed to trap a rabbit the previous afternoon.

Nieva quickly began to make a fire to cook their meat while Grenn who had finished skinning and plucking their food was looking for sticks to put the meat on to hold over the fire.

"Look a mountain lion print" Grenn smiled running his fingers over the large paw print that was stamped into the earth catching Nieva and Rickons attention. Rickon immediately ran over to investigate.

Nieva frowned. "There are no mountain lions this far North"

"Maybe a shadowcat?" Grenn shrugged.

"Shadowscats live beyond the wall, there's only a handful of them in the RiverLands, I've never heard of this close to Winterfell" Nieva replied as she walked forward to crouch beside Grenn and stared down at the paw print in curiosity.

"There are some beyond the wall?" Grenn reasoned.

"Yep, though probably Norther than you've ever been" Nieva smirked.

"That's no shadowcat, claws are not sharp enough" Rickon replied making Nieva stare down at him in surprise. "Uncle Benjen showed me a claw of a shadow cat once"

"What could it have been then?" Grenn asked sudden worry in his eyes.

'Really, you've killed a giant and you're terrified of a wild animal' Nieva thought as she continued to stare down at the paw print.

"It looks like...a direwolf" Rickon frowned, voicing the thought that Nieva was then thinking as she put her hand down next to the print, as he too traced the outline with his finger.

"Shaggy Dog and Eirra might have come this way" Grenn frowned.

"It's not small enough to be Eirra" Nieva replied with a shake of her head.

"Shaggydog wouldn't leave a print" Rickon also spoke up at the same time.

"It's no where near big enough to be Ghost" Grenn said then he caught the look Nieva was giving him. "I've seen that wolf jump three times the height of that window in his pen, it's possible he could have gotten out and followed us"

"Ghost wouldn't follow us, he'd stay with Jon" Rickon shook his head as his gaze focused back upon the paw print.

"He would if Jon told him to" Grenn replied with a small smile.

"Nymeria" Both boys turned their head as Nieva spoke up from beside them. "It's Nymeria, it has to be. No one's seen her since she was a pup"

"Maybe she's looking for Arya" Rickon shrugged, Nieva could hear the pain in his voice when he spoke of his older sister, it was the same pain she felt everyday when she thought about how much she had failed both of her younger cousins.


The first thing she felt when consciousness slowly started to drift back to her like the tide to the sand was just how bloody cold it had gotten during the night. Their fire had obviously been smothered by the snows that had started falling before they went to sleep.

She gripped the small figure of Rickon tighter to her as she wrapped her cloak tighter around the two of them.

She could hear the crunching of boots through snow coming closer to her ears. Her senses suddenly became heightened and she felt the handle of her dagger digging into her side.

"Nieva wake up" Grenns voice whispered in a hiss making her look up to see he had his sword drawn. Without being told what was happening Nieva knew something was off, without hesitation she unlatched her arms from around Rickon and got to her feet putting her sword into its sheath whilst she checked quickly her dagger was in its own sheath before she nocked an arrow into her bow and drew the string back to her shoulder.

She could see two people approaching them from between the trees. One was wearing no cloak and looked to be built like a male though from the distance Nieva could not be sure. The second was wearing a cloak with the hood up, that was the person Nieva focused her bow upon.

"Halt!" Grenn shouted his sword poised and ready.

His yell awoke Rickon who instantly jumped to his feet and scurried to Nieva's side.

"Rickon, if I tell you to run, you run" Nieva warned as the two people stopped at the sound of Grenns voice.

"Who are you?" Grenn asked, his voice still a bit too loud for Nieva's liking.

"Please, we don't want any trouble" A male voice answered. It was southern but with a hint of a Northern dilect about it. It definitely sounded familiar.

"You state your names or there will be trouble" Grenn snapped back, his grip tightening upon his sword.

A voice spoke from under the cloak, it was feminine and high. "Jeyne Poole"

Nieva surveyed the hooded figure for a moment before she snorted in laughter. "I know for a fact Jeyne Poole isn't that tall"

The male who she could see stared at her in wonder and surprise.

"Who do you fight for?" Rickon spoke up from behind Nieva. "Starks or Bolton?"

The two figures glanced at each other in worry, they knew if they gave the wrong answer Grenn and Nieva would not hesitate to kill them.

Again it was the more feminine voice that spoke up. "Winter is Coming"

Those small three words sent a mass wave or relief through Nieva's entire body as she slowly lowered her bow, she even felt Rickon's tight grip upon her side relax, but Grenn was not so sure about the answer and kept his sword up.

"Are you hungry?" Nieva asked. "We have some food to spare"

The two strangers seemed a little dazed at her sudden change in attitude, not that she noticed as Nieva had already bent down to begin the fire again.

"You can come closer it's alright, we're on the same side" Rickon smiled beckoning them closer.

As they slowly and cautiously followed Rickons order, Nieva still made sure to keep her hand upon the hilt of her sword in case the strangers were trying to trick them. She stood to her full height and grabbed the spare cloaks they had brought with them.

"And I'm sure you both must be..." Nieva stopped mid sentence as she turned round just when the hooded figured had lowered her hood.

Red hair, kissed by fire made her heart clench in pain as it flowed down to the strangers waist. Familiar eyes stared widely back at her in their own disbelief, they were a Tully blue mixed with her own Stark Grey. Nieva felt tears forming in her eyes as she stared at the young girl she once knew, who was now a woman and a stranger.

"Welcome Lady Sansa" Nieva choked out feeling her throat tighten immensely as she finally said the name out loud.

"Oh Nieva" Sansa cried out rushing forward and wrapping her arms tightly around her cousins neck then she released her from the embrace and held her at arms length. "How are you here? I thought you were at House Frey"

"I ran away. I killed my bastard husband and ran" Nieva smiled brushing a piece of Sansa's hair from her face, it had been so long since the girls had seen eachother the action almost felt foreign but welcoming. "I couldn't stay, not after what they did to..."

Nieva stopped herself as she could see the pain in Sansa's eyes that matched the pain in her own heart.

"You were there?" Sansa whispered. "You saw what happened?"

Nieva could only nod before a small but powerful force shoved her aside as Rickon clung onto his sister who stared down at the small boy in shock.

"Rickon? Rickon!" Sansa yelled out before she knelt upon the snow and returned the boys fierce embrace. Tears were now pouring down the young womans face as she grapsed onto her little brother tightly.

"I suppose I should thank the person who..." Nieva stopped once more as she turned to thank the person who had returned her cousin to her but light blue – almost green eyes - like the colour of the ocean on a murky morning causing a new type of emotion to race through her veins and her eyes darkened instantly. His hair was longer and darker, his clothes were old and worn, ripped in so many places. He looked more shy and timid than Nieva had ever seen him, but it was still the same boy she'd grown up with, he was still the same man who had betrayed her family.

"Theon Greyjoy?" Nieva snarled staring over at where the shaking, broken shell of the proud boy she once knew stood.

Before anyone could blink Nieva grabbed her sword and swung it towards him, missing his throat by inches causing everyone around them to gasp.

"Explain to me why I should not sever your head right now, you little piece of shit!" She growled and snarled.

"Nieva no please" Sansa shouted out getting to her feet as Nieva had managed to back Theon up against a tree, the tip of her sword upon his throat

"Your father never cared about you! But my Uncle Ned did, he treated you like a son, I thought of you as a brother, as did Robb...and you betrayed them both! You betrayed us all, your family!" Nieva snarled the tip of her blade digging into Theon's neck enough to draw a trail of blood that slid down and soaked into the collar of his shirt.

"Nieva don't kill him, he saved me" Sansa spoke up. "He helped me get away from Ramsay, he saved me"

Feeling Sansa's cold hand gently upon her own brought Nieva out of her rage filled daze. She glanced up to see Sansa's eyes pleading with her.

"He's still a traitor" Nieva snarled turning her gaze back to Theon. "Grenn, he make one move to escape, kill him instantly"

She removed her sword from his throat and turned to grab a cloak for the trembling man.

"Nieva" Theon spoke up from behind her making her freeze instantly as now she realised why his voice had sounded so familiar when he first spoke. She turned back towards him to see him practically vibrating he was shaking so badly, though weather it was through cold or fear Nieva could not tell. "We have to get out of here, we have to go to the Wall...Ramsey will have sent men to look for us by now, we have to keep moving"

"The Wall is exactly where they'll expect her to go" Nieva replied as she walked over and draped the cloak she'd picked up around Theon but he still continued to shake. "We're going South, to Storms End"


Please review and let me know what you think. Did you like the reunion between the cousins? Did you think Nieva's reaction to seeing Theon again was justified? Do you think it was Nymeria that was following them? Do you think they'll get to Storms End?