291 AC, Near Winterfell
Never try to gain Ned Stark's ire. Period. It has been nearly three years since I 'adopted' Draig and I got a mixed response from the castle due to Draig's presence. My step mother Catelyn as expected was a second away from ordering our men to butcher the 'beast' in her words, Dad was kind of neutral in the whole affair but he sure did give me a verbal lashing for not returning for a week, apparently, he even arranged search parties to search for the whole forest and now that he found out about my side of the story, he was just glad that I am safe. That didn't stop him from giving me curfew. Like seriously, a curfew for badass Ryan Arthur Motha' fukin' Stark aka me.
Anyway, back to the point Jon and Robb took a liking towards Draig and even Sansa for one didn't react like I expected of her. Since she is only six, I guess those songs about knights and flowers didn't get to her head yet. She was just playing with him. Since Arya and Bran are still four and three respectively, they reacted like it was expected of their age, they were excited and started playing with Draig whenever they had the chance.
A lot had changed for both Winterfell and me in these past three years. It is just a few months short of my eleventh name day. I tried to start up an industrial revolution in the north and it was a success or at least partially. I introduced the concept of printing press and cotton mills to our very own Maester Luwin. It was tough work but we worked it out somehow and it made books available to smallfolk and it even created employment for many bastards, orphans etc. We set up orphanages where the children will be given books of all prominent subjects from weapon making, agriculture to these machines and when they are of age, they will be given two options, becomes a soldier for the North or be an employee at the factories. If they didn't choose the above two there is always farming and blacksmiths.
I did not dare introduce guns to these people. This is a world which thrives on violence and blood. Giving them advanced weaponry is only a recipe for a disaster.
I am nearly eleven years old and I am standing at a good 5 ft 3 in, well not so good but I am only eleven dammit. Completing my political studies by the time I was eight really freed up my schedule, So I spent the last three years solely on my combat and even training Draig. I still remember the first time I warged into Draig. It was a surreal experience, running through the woods with enhanced senses, I thought I had enhanced senses due to my powers but man they were nothing compared to Draig's. I even went to Maester Luwin to get some books regarding this ability, they were scarce but I made due with what I have.
I even figured out how to warg after some trail and errors, they are basically two conditions to be met if you want to warg. One, the person or animal you want to warg should have a weak will or mental defences. Or, two, you should have a strong mental connection with the animal you want warg.
In my case it was the second one as Draig and I always had a deep bond. Even the meditation practice that I started also helped me with this. Talking about Draig, Man was he growing fast, he is only three years old but he almost the size of an adult dire wolves like his parents, even the people at the Winterfell castle were astonished seeing him grow at this rate and he can even carry me on his back without much trouble. Using our mental connection, I started sending thoughts and images to his mind about wolf fighting techniques I have seen from movies and anime. Now whenever we want to communicate, we just do it mentally instead of talking out loud, and it is a lot easier than trying to decipher wolf howling.
Right now, Draig and I were returning from our morning run, which is basically both of us running towards his parent's home/ cave at top speed, Draig is already touching speeds of a motor vehicle with ease and consistently. And I am just crossing peak human speeds, Not too shabby for a eleven year old, if I say so myself. Even my strength is almost the same as a grown man.
There is a reason why I am pushing myself even though the greater threats arrive after 298 AC. The Greyjoy rebellion which occurred in 289 AC in cannon has still not occurred and there are no rumours about Iron islands either. So I don't know whether my meagre TV show knowledge will be sufficient, that is the reason why I am pushing my limits.
By the time I reached the Castle, the whole atmosphere is completely different from when I left in the morning, the armoury is being stocked and all the training fields were filled with our men refining their skills with vigour. There is only one reason for which we ever increase our armoury, War. I don't know when I started moving, but within a few seconds I was in front of the council room, guarded by two men and when they saw me. They made way for me to enter the room.
When I entered the council room, I was surprised to see many of my father's bannermen and almost all the houses are there ranging from Houses Umber, Karstark, Reed, Glover, Manderly and all other noble houses including the Boltons and most of the Houses take at least a week to arrive at Winterfell. Now that I think about it, father seemed quite tense these past two weeks, So, he might have called the Bannermen earlier this week.
I greeted my father with a stoic face, "Father." And nodded at him. While I have a great relationship with my father, We cannot show weakness in front of our bannermen and he greeted me in similar fashion.
"Welcome Ryan, take a seat."
And gestured at the seat to the right of him. While I am still young, father started taking me to council meetings to get me familiarized with the setting. With all members present my father started speaking.
"I got a raven from King Robert to call the banners. It seems the Iron Islands declared themselves as a separate kingdom and burned the Lannisport, destroyed the Lannister fleet and are raiding the west coast."
"Are there any sightings of iron born near White Harbor and Deepwood Motte?" I asked the question, directing at the lord of Manderly and Glover.
"No there are no sighting of them young Lord" replied Wyman Manderly.
"What about your seat Lord Glover?" I enquired the Lord of Deepwood Motte.
"While there are no confirmed sightings, there are rumours about some raiding near my lands." Replied Galbart Glover.
With that the meeting kick started about increasing our defences along the coast and our logistics like food and weapons. I even gave a couple of suggestions about our defences which impressed the lords and some plan to implement them. The rebellion of Greyjoy's going to different than in canon because now North has a steady revenue due to the printing press and Cotton Mills developed by me and there is no shortage of food due to the money, even additional food is being imported from the Reach as money is no longer a problem.
When everything is going smoothly one particular Lord is quite troubled due to the presence of the little ole' me. And he expressed his worries. Lord Umber stood up and addressed the room.
"Sorry for the interruption milords, But what is a child who barely stopped sucking his mother's teats doing here when there is a war council going on?" said Greatjon Umber.
His statement caused mixed reviews in the room, while the more loyal houses like Manderly, Glover, Mormont and Reed took that as an insult to the Starks. While houses like Boltons and Karstarks are silently contemplating the truth of the statement.
Seeing the atmosphere of the room and the Greatjon insult against me, Draig who was at the corner of room jumped on the table and growled at Lord Umber and was snarling at him menacingly, it was only my mental command that is prevent Draig from ripping out Lord Umber's throat. All the Lords except my father almost shat their pants at the sudden appearance of the humongous wolf. Seeing that the fascio has gone long enough my father signals me to calm down Draig and I did as he asked. It took a couple of minutes for the Lords to settle down in their places. And I was smiling at Lord Umber a bit too sweetly and asked him a question.
"What is it Lord Umber? I am afraid I didn't hear what you are saying?"
Draig snarled at him at the same time increasing the effect of my not-so-subtle threat. Greatjon was silent for a couple of seconds and the giant of a man roared with laughter and spoke for the second time.
"You my boy have balls of valyrian steel, Lord Stark you should bring your boy with you when you visit the Hearth next time."
After the small display of power, there are no further interruptions and the meeting was coming to an end. My father started assigning a post to each of his bannermen and a frown started to develop on my face with each passing name and my name has not yet occurred once, But I reeled in my emotions until the meeting is over.
Now, only my father and I are present in the room and the tension is so thick you can cut it through a knife. After a couple of seconds of silence, I broke it by asking the question that has been on my mind.
"Why?" I asked my father with barely hidden anger.
"Why what Ryan?" replied my father feigning innocence.
"Why am I not going with you to the frontlines?" I asked the complete question.
"You are still young Ryan, right now your job is to run Winterfell in my stead and take care of our people. Don't worry your time for battle will come in the future." Said my father trying to placate me, but it is clearly not working.
"But why father, I completed both my studies and combat training, even Ser Rodrik said that there is nothing left to teach me except experience, I even defeated many of our older soldiers with ease. Let me prove myself" I said with such passion that it even shocked me. Even my father seems to be convinced by my convection as I see the struggle going internally.
"I promised your mother at her death bed that I will protect you from any harm" he said in a sombre tone, "And I don't intend to fail her, just because you want to march to war when you are not old enough." With that said he left the room and started preparations for the oncoming war.
I am currently wearing a black pant with white shirt and a pair brown leather boots. I topped it with a long grey leather coat which falls to my knees. I am currently standing at the North gate giving farewell to my father and our soldiers with him. The rest of my siblings are there with me and even my step mother was present. He said his good byes with my younger siblings and now it was my turn.
We didn't say anything to each other and he knelt down in front of me and pulled me into a hug which I returned it. Then he started speaking so slowly that I am sure nobody can hear him except for me.
"Ryan, I know you are angry, but the war is not as glorious as it was said in the tales and songs, eer you have to do things that may haunt you for the rest of your life, even for you. I lost your mother Ashara, I won't lose you too. So, sit tight and I will be back before you know."
"You know, I will not be a child forever, I will be ready to fight alongside you." I said, which caused my father to chuckle.
"We will cross that bridge when we get there." Said my father.
With that said he and his men started their journey to the Riverlands, where they will meet up with King Robert and the Tyrell fleet. While Jon, Robb and Sansa are taking his departure quite well, no wait, if their quivering lips and watery eyes are any indication they are not doing a good job of hiding their emotions. While Arya and Bran are openly weeping as it is the first time father left the Castle for a prolonged period of time after they are born. Lady Stark is not showing any worry outwardly like it was expected of a noble lady, but one can see the worry in her eyes. With the farewell done, I started making my own preparation, after all I have a war to partake in.
Ned Stark POV
There is something on my mind that is eating me away ever since I departed from Winterfell and it's about Ryan. My eldest has always been an enigma to the whole castle and sometimes to even myself. He wasn't too clingy but at the same time not distant either, he treated everyone with respect and held himself with an air of maturity that is not seen in a child, It reminded me of my love Ashara. I never had any trouble from him, he even completed his studies at such frightening pace that many had suggested him to join the maester guild. And he had a terrific affinity towards combat and weapons no matter what kind they are. I still remember the first time I saw him wield two swords at the same time, It brought flashbacks of fighting his uncle Arthur at the Tower of Joy. And when I saw him handling himself at the war council with other lords, I felt like I was looking at my younger self, The way he commanded respect and how he was quick to strengthening our west coast defences.
I was happy that my eldest had inherited all the good from both sides of his family, his mother's compassion and love, his uncle's skill in combat and my strategic mind. But if it were only that easy. First time I saw something in my son that I wished I would never see in my family again, the wolf blood. The same wolf blood which lead my elder brother and sister to an early grave. And it seems my son didn't just inherit a part of it, It is as if his very being is made of wolf blood. The very thought itself is terrifying.
With my internal musing done, I picked up the pace of my horse to meetup with Robert as quickly as possible. All the while I was travelling, I am getting a feel that Ryan is about to do something stupid, Whatever I will cross that bridge when I get there.
291 AC Forges, Winterfell
I am currently standing outside the forges of Winterfell, waiting for the blacksmith Mikken to collect my orders. I am decked in my combat gear consisting a light weight chain mail, a black leather armour and black combat pants with spiked leather boots. I could have gone for a scale mail or a plate armour, but they are both quite heavy and reduce my mobility. The chain mail on the other hand doesn't reduce my mobility and provides adequate protection against hacking and slashing. Arrows can penetrate a chain mail, But they have to keep up with my speed to shoot at me.
After a couple of minutes Mikken, our castle blacksmith, came out carrying my personal orders and presented them to me, Man were they beautiful. I can now see why this man was able to make an awesome thrusting sword like Needle. There laid in front of me are pair of black vambraces with grey dire wolve pattern and a pair of archery gloves with a metal plate on top below the finger to block strikes from close combat. The vambraces covered my entire forearm just an inch short from my elbow and the gloves give me the adequate grip for launching the arrows.
But the main package is still not opened. Laid inside the package is a double edge straight sword with a hand and half handle, a bastard sword, the total length of the blade with handle is around 120 cm which is perfect for my 5ft 3inch stature.
With the collection of my gear, I started suiting up for the battle. I put on my vambraces, gloves and my custom sword attached to my left hip with a leather belt. I even had a custom weapon holder to my back which had two X shaped slots, the one from left hip to right shoulder is used to hold my quiver of arrows and the one from right hip to left shoulder is empty, which I am going fill in a couple of minutes.
The vambraces also had a small holder on the inner part of my forearm to hold a small 20cm dagger/ knife and I equipped a dagger for each vambrace with the handle pointing towards my elbow for quick draw in the heat of battle.
I started walking towards the crypts with Draig by my side, he alerted me to presence of any other men, It took me around fifteen minutes to get past the patrols and enter the crypts, but I had finally done it. I started walking through the dark corridor looking at the statues of my ancestors and I stopped when I reached my aunt Lyanna's statue, next to her is my mother Ashara's crypt. While my mother was buried at Starfall, my father made a crypt in her honour as even though she never came to North she is still Lady Stark due to marriage.
Looking at my mother, I cannot help but marvel at the sheer beauty of her even though my father said she was far more beautiful in person. She is far different from other beautiful women like Cersei Lannister or Catelyn Stark, My mother is leagues above them and even her statue in front of me held a strong presence.
There are two reasons for my visit of my mother's crypt. One, it is to get her blessings for my participation in the ongoing war and Two, the object that is right in front of me, a sword that is so white that I thought it was literally painted to look like that and with a symbol of star at the cross guard. The legendary Sword of House Dayne which is resting in the arms of my mother's statue, held vertically from the arms of my mother.
I gave a silent prayer to my mother and uncle to let me wield the sacred sword and I slowly pulled it out of my mother's statue and held it my arms. I had many expectations how I would feel when I will hold the Sword, but it is certainly not what I expected. The moment I held it in my arms I felt like it was a part of my body as much as my limbs, the blade is so sharp that I am sure that even an accidental swing can slice through armour and flesh.
After I am done fanboying the sword, I reluctantly put in the slot left in the holder on my back such that the handle is near the left shoulder and arrows at my right shoulder.
Now that my gear is complete, I started weighing my options, I cannot go to Riverlands because someone can spot me and report to my father who in turn will send men to send me back to Winterfell. There is only one option, I need to join the Royal fleet at Dragonstone under the command of Lord Stannis. Since Riverlands is a no go for me, my only option is to go to White Harbor and set sail for Dragonstone.
With my planning done I left a quick note about my absence So there will be no panic in the castle when they found out I was missing.
It was quite frustrating, but I finally slipped past our guards and started out for my destination.
3 weeks later, Dragonstone
I was on the bow of the ship when I saw the royal fleet anchored around Dragonstone and the surrounding islands. The ship that I am sailing on is a merchant ship which is sending supplies to the Royal fleet, They were reluctant to let me aboard at first but I after revealing my identity and some persuasion 'cough' 50 gold dragons 'cough' they allowed me to sail with them. Draig and I made it to the White Harbor in half time, though it was mostly Draig carrying me on his back and it took two weeks to sail from White Harbor to Dragonstone.
The ship anchored to the island and I looked around and saw men preparing boats for the trip. I asked where Lord Stannis was residing and I was escourted to Stone Drum, the central keep of Dragonstone, thankfully men here granted me entrance when I revealed my identity and there was no need for persuasion.
I walked in to see Lord Stannis with Ser Davos in the chamber of painted table planning out the voyage based on the winds and sea. They both were confused to see me walking in full combat gear.
"Lord Stannis, Ser Davos" I bowed to them in respect and they were still confused but bowed back as per the proper code of conduct.
"Who are you boy? You seem familiar." Asked Stannis with a look that said no non-sense.
"I am Ryan Arthur Stark, son of Lord Eddard Stark and heir apparent to Winterfell." I answered to the question.
"What brings you to Dragonstone, Young Lord?" enquired Ser Davos.
"The preparations for the journey to Iron Islands seems to be completed, I just came to greet you and wanted to know when we will set sail." I gave my observations and answer together.
"What do you mean by 'we' young Lord?" asked Ser Davos.
"As the heir to Winterfell and son of Lord Paramount and Warden of the North, I am accountable to the protection of its people and I want help fight against Iron born" I said with as much conviction I can gather. Ser Davos chuckled and Lord Stannis cracked a small smile, of course he would, anything related to duty is a go for Stannis, Ryan-1 and Stannis- 0, Yay!
"It is your duty when you are older, you are too young for War." Stannis to me.
"So I have been told, But I have managed just fine, I was able to take down even grown men in Winterfell. Please Lord Stannis, let me go with you and you don't even have to assign men to protect me, I have Draig with me." I said to Lord Stannis while point at Draig who is beside me and standing at full height, he is as tall as me and he can still grow but so can I.
Lord Stannis face is still impassive even after seeing the walking wonder that is Draig, I guess he had seen even weirder things and he made eye contact with me. I didn't shy away from his stare and took him head on. He finally relented after a couple of seconds of staring contest and sighed before speaking.
"Very well you shall accompany us to Iron Islands, but shall be with Ser Davos in his galley, the Black Betha and while you are on the ship you will be under Ser Davos command and heed to his every word." He said to me.
I nodded at him and started making my way towards Black Betha. After some final matters were attended to, we set sail for the iron islands.
Between Redwyne Straits and Shield Islands
The Royal fleet has been sailing for at least a moon, which means nearly a month in Westerosi terms. We passed Stepstones and Southern coast of Dorne without much trouble except for a couple of pirate ships, which we made quick work of. We are on our way to Redwyne Straights where the Tyrell fleet will join us. The men on the ship are passing the time by fishing, playing dice games and sharpening their sword skills. Me on the other hand am following Ser Davos and quartermaster like a lost puppy to learn as much I can about Sailing and the ships. It was quite complicated to say the least, but my eidetic memory helped out as always. I even practised a couple of test swings with 'Dawn' but it didn't feel right to use it without doing worthy of wielding it.
I talked to Lord Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr. If my memory is correct, which it always is, Thoros is also known as Red priest but had the drinking habits of King Robert. I got to know both of them well enough. Thoros even taught me about the places outside westeros like Myr, Lys, Volantis and Summer Islands. This information will help me in my endeavour of recruiting a team of special fighters.
I am currently sitting on the bow of the ship leaning against a sail rope, enjoying the sun. Just when I was about to slumber into sleep, I felt like Draig is in distress who is beside me, I looked at him and I saw him growling at something in front of us, When I ran ahead and took a closer look, I saw something moving near the horizon. I quickly ran across the ship back to the command centre with Draig following me from behind. Ser Davos was talking to quartermaster and informed him of my findings.
"Ser Davos there is something up ahead" And Ser Davos got a spy glass and looked up ahead. Then he gave his command.
"All hands on the deck, man the battle stations! Hoist the sails full speed, ready the bolts."
The crew was quick to respond and followed Ser Davos commands to the letter. Then Ser Davos pulled me aside and said to me in hurried fashion
"Young Lord, please stay near the command centre and try to avoid close combat, try to bring down the Iron born from distance."
While I was comprehending the situation, the men were ready to fight and engaged the weapons to attack the Iron born fleet. I was looking around for a spot to attack from distance, but all of them seems to have a big blind spot and there no proper view for me to shoot the targets. When I was about resign myself to the command post, I heard the sound of our sails hoisting and I got an idea. I suited up in my combat gear and slinged my bow over the shoulder. I went to the armoury and grabbed a vial of oil and a small barrel full of arrows.
I grabbed a lit lantern on my way and went to the bottom of the mast. I grabbed the rope of the mast tight and held tight, then I kicked the lever and the weight on the mast fell down rising me up in the air and when I reached the sufficient height, I left the rope and landed on the platform of the crow nest.
The crow's nest allows me to attack from all directions that too from a raised platform, so even the gravity helps me in my arrow reaching the target. I set down the vial of oil, lantern and barrel of arrows on the platform. I started counting for the Iron born ships from the eagle eye point. There are around 100 ships of Iron born and 5 long ships are heading our way with top speed.
I uncorked the vial and dipped an arrow in it and lit it with fire from the lantern. I aimed at the farthest ship to the left and felt that wind is blowing from south-east to north-west, so I adjusted my aim a bit towards right and waited until it was a bit farther than the range of my bow and I pulled back the arrow as much as it can while breathing in and released it while exhaling. I wind helped the arrow travel farther than expected and it assisted my aim hitting the sail of the Iron born ship.
Iron born of that ship were in panic, but it didn't change anything their sail was completely burned and now they had to rely on their oars for movement. Basically, they are sitting ducks at this point. I looked down from the crow nest and saw our men cheering at the minor victory. Ser Davos gave me a nod and a smile. I repeated the same process with the next three longs ships, all three ships got their masts burned and were rendered to same condition as the first ship. The immobile ships are an easy target to our Royal fleet and are quickly destroyed.
But it seems Iron born are not called the best at naval warfare for nothing, the fifth long ship used the first four long ships as cover to attack our flank, Sadly these guys clearly lacked creativity as they tried to copy the same strategy that I used against their ships. Well now I am going to give them Archery 101 right now.
I used the rope to slide down from the crow nest and landed on the deck, I called Draig who was ripping out Iron born throats and he was by my side with in seconds and Draig and I started racing across the ship towards its tail end. Draig was tearing out any Iron born in our way and I was slashing away at anyone who slipped past Draig with my new castle forged steel bastard sword.
When I finally reached the tail end, an Iron born archer is ready to fire a flaming arrow at our Mast. But man, was it embarrassing to watch him trying to change his aim with the direction of the wind. When he released his arrow, it sailed past our Mast and landed near the bow end of our ship where it passed out without causing any harm. While his aim is true, he didn't account to the wind that aid his arrow, furthering its reach and missing the intended target.
I didn't give him a second chance to rectify his mistake, I loaded my bow with an arrow and shot at him before he even realized that he missed. The arrow struck true to its target this time and landed right in between his eyes.
With their long ships destroyed, none of their regular ships didn't pose much threat to our fleet. We completely annihilated the Iron born fleet and sent the remaining 10 ships running back with their tail in between their legs. Well they can't run on water, but you get the gist of it.
Draig and I were in fantastic form, I rain barrage of arrows on the Iron born men on our deck and Draig rips out the throat of any enemy who comes near me.
At the end of the day, I nearly killed 50 men and used 70 arrows, there are few misses due to the confusion of the battle, but most of the extra arrows are used to take down enemy sails and divert them to our battalions. And Draig, I don't even know how many kills he got, but I am sure they are way more than mine, By gods he literally everywhere, running around and killing any enemy in his sight.
After Battle, Author POV
The Royal fleet proved their mettle against the Iron born and completely destroyed the Iron fleet with minimal casualties. In this battle which took place between thousands of men on each side, There is one person who proved critical in the victory, the unexpected addition to the Royal fleet, Ryan Arthur Stark, a boy who is barely one and ten quickly devised a plan to take down the enemy long ships under the heat of battle and executed said plan flawlessly. Without Ryan and magnificent wolf Draig many lives would have been lost, Lord Stannis might have even lost Black Betha and his second in command Ser Davos along with many of his best men.
The same thoughts were going through Ser Davos mind at this moment. He looked around and saw all his men drinking mead, exchanging stories and singing victory songs, But most of his attention is focused at Ryan who is talking with Lord Dondarrion's men and Thoros of Myr. Then he stood up and cleared his throat getting the attention of all the men.
"Men today was our first battle of the ongoing war, We showed the those Iron cunts how the Naval warfare works, They sent a fleet of 100 ships and we annihilated them. Today's victory is possible because of every single person on this fleet and We showed that one men of ours is ten times an Iron born man.
But In today's victory a certain someone played a crucial part in it, he took down the long ships in the heat of the battle, his companion and himself piled the bodies of the Iron born in heaps, He rains death to our enemies from sky like the sunshine of the rising sun at dawn itself, Lets cheer for the man who helped us win today, Ryan Arthur Stark, son of Lord Eddard Stark, The Master Archer, Bringer of Death Rains, The Iron Hunter, The Dawn Wolf." Ser Davos finished with a roar.
"The Dawn Wolf" "The Dawn Wolf" "The Dawn Wolf" "The Dawn Wolf" "The Dawn Wolf" "The Dawn Wolf".
The men on the ship started chanting Ryan's new title over and over causing him to smile in pride and happiness. That day a new legend was born, one whose name will be heard all over the Planetos, The Dawn Wolf .
(A/N): Hello guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter, At first I wanted to fit whole Greyjoy rebellion in a single chapter, but I thought It would become too long to read, So I broke it down into two chapters. And before you guys say anything, Yes, This chap is inspired from the fanfic The Blue Wolf. For those who felt that why MC didn't go for close combat despite his skills and powers, there is only one reason, deception, it would be kinda fishy if a 11 year old out classed a seasoned men in pure strength, So that is the reason why he sticked to long range with bow and arrow.
Don't worry guys, the story will pick it's pace after the rebellion.
Stay tuned.
So signing out
Arashi Uzumaki Uchiha