This was my idea of naming the pups. I know Ned couldn't care less what the pups were named and Bran chose his after his fall and coma. This was just a little idea of how the names could have come about.

Names

The pups were now the size of small dogs and their different personalities were starting to develop. It had been agreed between the Stark children that naming the pups would be best when they could find a name to suit them. It was relief to all of them that the pups could now feed themselves as they could go back to their lessons without fear of falling asleep. Maester Luwin had been very patient in the matter but even he was starting to get annoyed when the children fell asleep fifteen minutes into their lessons. He grumbled that he wasn't 'that boring'.

The household at Winterfell was now well used to the direwolves running around and though many gave them a wide berth, few felt any fear towards the animals. The pups had started to be weaned onto solid food after Rickon had been caught unawares as his sausages and bacon had been stolen by his own pup and Bran's, leaving Rickon in tears until Robb quickly replenished Rickon's plate. Arya, too, lost a sausage, much to her amusement while Robb and Jon did their best to keep their own pups in line. Sansa smirked at the scene as her pup was sitting quietly next to her as Sansa offered a rasher of bacon that was quickly snatched away.

Naming the very cute balls of fluff that were the direwolf pups was a challenge the Stark children were up to, with a little help from their furry friends.

Sansa

Sansa was sitting at her dressing table, brushing her hair in front of the mirror when she sensed her pup looking at her. Often, her mother brushed her hair for her but she did like to do it herself from time to time. Her hair reminded her of her mother as red hair always made them both stand out at Winterfell. While Robb, Bran and Rickon didn't have the classic darker hair of her father, only Arya and Jon took after Ned, her brothers' hair was not quite so distinctive.

The pup Sansa had adopted no longer could be called small, none of the pups could. It took a moment for Sansa to realise that her pup wasn't actually looking at her but at the brush. Sansa's pup was the pup who was generally the cleanest and best behaved. The other pups tended to like splashing around in dirty water but her pup tended to stay away from dirt if she could.

Sansa held the brush out to her pup who started sniffing inquisitively before yapping excitedly. At first Sansa didn't understand but when the pup knocked the brush out of her hand and started rubbing against it she understood. 'Brush me.'

Fetching her older hairbrush, one she hadn't thrown out for sentimental reasons, Sansa bent down and started to brush through her pup's fur. The only problem was that the brush wasn't moving and was getting stuck in the thick fur. Sansa tried a few times but realised that brush wasn't going to work. Her pup started yapping in frustration.

'Hey,' Sansa said softly, stroking her pup's ears. 'This brush won't work but I'm sure I can find a better one. Just stay here for now.'

Sansa left her room, quickly shutting the door behind her and set-off for the kennels. The kennel-master would know what she wanted.

She found him attending the hounds so she had to wait until he was finished. The hunting hounds had to be constantly monitored as they were hunters and the children were not supposed to go near them.

It took at least fifteen minutes before the man had finished what he was doing and Sansa was starting to get impatient. Septa Mordane always said that, 'Patience is a virtue,' and Sansa was normally very good at waiting, unlike Arya, but Sansa was itching to get back to her pup.

'Lady Sansa,' the kennel-master bowed his head in respect. 'What can I do for you?'

'Well, I...I...' Sansa stuttered, now being face to face with the man.

'Yes?' he prodded with a warm smile.

'I was wondering what type of brush you use to groom the hounds,' she managed to say, slightly quickly.

The man frowned at her until he smirked knowingly. 'You want to groom your wolf I take it.' Sansa nodded. 'Yer know, the hounds don't like it and I'm not sure your wolf will either.'

'My pup is different,' Sansa stated boldly. 'She wants me to brush her but my brushes aren't strong enough, so will you help me, please.'

The man held up his hands in surrender, 'Alright, if that is what you think.' The kennel-master disappeared and returned with a stronger, metallic looking brush. 'This should do the trick, but don't tug too hard,' he warned.

Sansa dashed away before turning sharply and said, 'Thank you,' before dashing off to her room. She opened the door gently and managed to trap her pup before she could escape.

'I have something for you,' she said and showed the pup the brush. The pup started bouncing around Sansa's room, making her laugh. She quickly cleaned the brush with the water in her room and felt how the tines were strong but still had a flexibility to them.

She placed her pup onto her knee, her pup was the smallest of the pups, and started to run the brush through the fur on the pups back. The pup shuffled its paws a couple of times and emitted a small squeak. Sansa gently repeated the movement and got the same response. It didn't appear to be stress response but she ran her fingers through the pup's fur to check, watching the pup in mirror. Her pup closed its eyes enjoying the touch. Sansa soon became bolder with her strokes with the brush and the pup started yapping happily and Sansa could feel the smoothness of her pup's fur.

'You're a right little lady aren't you?' Sansa smiled as the pup let out a bark.

Suddenly, Sansa heard knocking on her door. 'Sansa?' she heard her father's voice.

'Come in,' she called as she continued to brush her pup's fur. Her father entered and looked worriedly at what she was doing. Her pup then yapped happily making Ned smile.

'It seems your pup likes being brushed,' Ned smiled as the pup yapped in response.

'I said she's a little lady,' Sansa laughed as her pup then turned around and started licking her face.

'A proper lady,' Ned agreed and the pup barked loudly.

'I know, I'll call you Lady,' Sansa exclaimed as the pup let out a string of barks and yaps which showed she was happy about the name.

'Father, meet Lady,' Sansa said as Lady let out a small howl.

Rickon

Ned smiled as Sansa played with her newly named pup, Lady. A small part of him was curious as to what his children would name the wolves but he hadn't put much thought to it either. The children would name the wolves whatever they wanted to and so be it.

Suddenly, as he walked down the hallway where the family rooms were located, Ned became aware of a voice shouting, 'Come back, come back!' with Ned quickly realising that it was Rickon's voice. He turned just in time to see a black animal running past him and a tearful Rickon running after it.

'Come back!' Ned's youngest son cried before Ned scooped him up. 'Puppy run away!' Rickon wailed as Ned embraced him in a warm hug. He was sure there was more to this. Ned moved further down the hallway carrying the sobbing Rickon until he stopped outside Rickon's room. The pup was laying on the floor and at its feet was what looked like some embroidery.

Ned was sure he was soon going to be hearing about this and soon enough an exasperated Septa Mordane appeared looking much frazzled.

'That beast needs to be locked up!' she pointed at the black pup on the floor.

'No!' Rickon shouted and started to struggle in Ned's arms. Ned put his youngest son down and watched as Rickon darted towards his pup, who was currently chewing someone's embroidery, and hugged the pup to his chest. 'No! Not beast.'

The pup started licking Rickon's face making him giggle.

'Septa Mordane, control yourself,' Ned said harshly. While he understood why the septa was angry he wanted Rickon upset as little as possible. Watching Rickon with the pup showed how treasured the pup was to Rickon and vice-versa.

'Apologies Lord Stark, but I do believe the main living quarters are not suitable for these shaggy beasts. They would be better off in the kennels with the dogs where they belong,' she said rather snootily. Having a septa teach his girls was a concession he had made to Cat as she followed the seven but the woman tended to believe that she was right in everything and hadn't adapted as well as hoped to Northern life.

Ned was reminded of his father's saying, 'every word before the word but is horseshit.' Quite so.

'Septa these animals are direwolves and will be far larger and stronger than any dog. They still need care and training which cannot be done if they are in the kennels most of the time. Like any puppies they are exploring their boundaries and I will speak with Robb and Jon about taking a more active role in helping Rickon. I apologise for the ruined embroidery,' Ned kept his tone level but his meaning was clear. He did notice the septa's flinch when Jon was mentioned.

The septa sighed as she had clearly been hoping for a different outcome. Probably the removal of all the direwolves from Winterfell.

'They are so shaggy they shed everywhere,' the septa sighed as she moved away. 'Arya was covered in hairs when she came to her lesson.'

Ned decided not to respond and looked down at Rickon who was now cuddling a sleepy pup whose adventure seemed to be catching up with him.

'Your pup's tired, shut him in your room and let him sleep,' Ned said quietly.

'No. Not pup. Shaggydog,' Rickon said. The pup started licking Rickon's face making him giggle once again.

'Shaggydog?' Ned questioned looking at the darkest pup. 'He's a wolf not a dog.'

'Shaggydog!' Rickon declared as the pup yipped and started burrowing into Rickon's chest. Shaggydog it would be.

Bran

Catelyn was walking down the family corridor when she heard her youngest shout, 'Shaggydog!' She rounded the corner to see her youngest sitting on the floor cuddling his pup and her husband standing over them.

'Mother, Shaggydog!' Rickon said as he pointed to the pup in his arms. Rickon then stood up, opened his door and placed the pup on his bed, before closing the door. 'Shaggydog tired,' he declared before running off, leaving a bemused Ned and Cat behind.

'He's named his wolf 'Shaggydog'. Really?' Catelyn looked to Ned who chortled.

He is only six. Sansa has named hers Lady,' Ned replied before walking away.

Catelyn moved through castle trying to find her children. She had gone to Sansa's room but found only the pup there. 'Lady' Catelyn reminded herself. She swept through the halls of Winterfell until she found Bran in the Great Hall with the pup he had chosen.

Bran was feeding the pup, what looked like, ham and the pup was eating eagerly

'You'll spoil him Bran,' Catelyn scolded but she was smiling at her middle son. Bran looked up with a slightly mischievous look about him.

'He's hungry, that's all,' he said quietly as the pup nuzzled into him.

'Have you thought about what you're going to call him?' Catelyn asked as the pup started yapping.

'Not yet,' Bran replied as he looked at his feet. That wasn't strictly true. He had started thinking about names but none of them seemed to fit.

'I shall leave you to your thoughts,' Catelyn said as she turned and walked away. She rather hoped Bran would do better than 'Shaggydog' but she had to admit the name Rickon had given his pup did make her smile.

Bran decided it was best to leave the hall and go outside. His pup loved being outdoors so Bran started to walk towards the exit. Once outside Bran could see that it was beautiful day as the sun shone brightly with little or no cloud cover to be seen. He headed towards the Godswood with his pup, seemingly aware of their destination, running ahead.

Names started flitting through Bran's mind but none of them seemed to fit at all. He sat on a rock underneath the Heart Tree and sighed. His pup came over and started licking his face making him giggle.

'And what brings you out here little lord?' a voice spoke startling Bran. It was Old Nan.

'Thinking Nan,' Bran answered.

'About?' Nan probed.

'What to call him,' he pointed to his pup who was watching him carefully.

'My sweet summer child, the answer is right in front of you,' she grinned before leaving Bran alone once more.

'Bronze I thought would work because of your colour,' Bran looked to the pup who suddenly barked unhappily. 'It was just a suggestion. What did Nan mean? In front of me?'

Bran pondered, she couldn't have meant pond, tree, weirwood etc. The pup was looking at Bran curiously. 'Winter Is Coming are our words, so maybe Winter?' the pup barked unhappily again. 'No that would be better for Jon's wouldn't it? What is in front of me? Well, we're coming to the end of summer-'

Suddenly, the pup yapped happily and started jumping around before stopping and looking at Bran expectantly. Nan had always called Bran the 'summer child' has he had not experienced a winter in his lifetime and had once declared that 'he never wanted summer to never end'.

'Summer?' Bran said again and the pup started jumping up and down again. 'Summer will be your name,' Bran said as he picked his excited pup.

Robb

Bran was happy with his choice of name for his pup as he made his way back into the castle. He was abruptly stopped when he hit somebody's chest, as he had been looking at his pup rather than looking where he was going.

'Bran, watch where you're going,' Robb complained in an annoyed tone.

'Sorry, Robb,' Bran said apologetically. Bran hadn't noticed Robb's pup nearby but Summer had. Summer bounded over to Robb's pup and they started playing on the floor. Robb's pup was bigger than Bran's but Jon's was currently the biggest of all the pups.

'Summer!' Bran exclaimed but the pup took no notice and continued to play.

'Summer?' Robb questioned.

'It's the name I chose for him,' Bran smiled back at his big brother. 'What have you called yours?'

'I don't know yet,' Robb replied. Robb had, in truth, thought of many names but none of them seemed to fit his pup. He knew Jon was having the same problems as well. Bran bounded off into the castle leaving Robb alone with his thoughts as he wandered towards the sparring yard.

He found himself disappointed as he arrived to find the yard deserted with no Jon or Theon in sight. He sat down on a bench and stared aimlessly into the space before him. His pup was grey and he was hoping to find a clever, witty name for his pup. A name that those who asked would know he had thought about and, hopefully, find him intelligent, well, at least more intelligent than his siblings. Jon, he knew, was trying to do the same thing to no avail. He had thought about 'Charcoal' but he knew Rickon's pup would probably suit that name better, although Rickon still called his pup a dog rather than a wolf. Another name he had thought was 'Ember' as his wolf had yellow eyes that he felt shone like the embers of a fire.

Suddenly, an object crossed his vision, streaking past him so quickly he didn't even register what it was. It had crossed the sparring yard at such a fast pace that it was no longer in the area. Robb blinked a few times trying to recall whether it was a figment of his imagination or whether he really had seen something that moved that fast.

Robb waited patiently, waiting for whatever the hell is was to cross the sparring yard again, but time continued to pass and Robb decided it had just been his imagination. He noticed that there was a thread hanging from his tunic and as he went to pull on it, he startled as the 'thing' ran across the yard again.

It was then that Robb realised he hadn't seen his pup since he left the castle. The pups had generally stayed close to their humans, choosing to stay close rather than venture too far away. The pups would find some independence as they grew but for now they liked the safety their humans provided. Once more a flash of something crossed his vision.

Before Robb could comprehend what he had seen the 'thing' revealed itself. Sitting in front of him with a mouthful of three rats was his direwolf pup. The pup placed the rats at Robbs feet and started yapping happily and wagging his tail eagerly.

Robb looked down at his 'presents' and smiled. 'Was that you?' he said as he leant forward to scratch the pup's ears. The pup responded happily moving forward towards Robb's touch. 'It was wasn't it?'

The pup started dashing around the sparring yard, in every direction it could before proudly sitting in front of Robb once more.

'You're as fast as the wind!' Robb exclaimed loudly. A thought then occurred to Robb. 'How about I call you 'Grey Wind'?'

The pup immediately leapt at Robb, who caught the pup with ease, before licking Robb's face in a frantic manner. 'Okay, okay. You like the name Grey Wind'.' In answer the pup licked Robb's nose in one swipe before yapping its approval, making Robb laugh.

'What are you doing?' a familiar voice said, as Robb turned to see Arya looking at him with a smirk on her face.

Arya

Arya wasn't in the best of moods. Earlier in the day she had been at her sewing lesson with Septa Mordane. The 'Stinky Septa' as she liked to call her had criticised her sewing and made her stay after the other girls had gone for extra practice. Sansa had, of course, been called exemplary and had been allowed to leave early. The other girls always teased her but Arya would rather do anything but be a lady, like them.

She was, however, amused when she saw the black direwolf pup that belonged to Rickon sniffing around the room. She and Sansa had been told to leave their pups in their rooms to avoid any catastrophes that the pups could cause. While the septa read The Seven Pointed Star aloud, as if Arya cared, Arya 'accidently' allowed the pup to take her embroidery. She found the septa running after the pup very funny until she was scolded by, not only the septa, but her mother as well. Arya wasn't perfect, she knew that, but compared to Sansa she looked even worse.

After being scolded that she 'must do better if she wanted to be a lady', Arya resisted shouting she 'didn't want to be a lady', she skulked away as quickly as she could. She went to her room and found her pup bounding towards her as soon as she opened the door.

'At least you're happy to see me,' she said quietly as she hugged her pup and stifled the tears that threatened to fall. Her pup nuzzled into her as if she sensed her human's discomfort.

'Let's go and see if the boys' are sparring,' Arya said and received a lick on the nose in reply.

Arya moved as quietly as she could through the castle with her pup trailing behind her, she did not want to be found by Septa Mordane or her mother for the time being. Soon she exited the castle and headed for the sparring yard. As she approached she could hear laughing and yapping, telling her that at least one of her siblings was in the yard. She felt only slightly disappointed when she discovered Robb was there and not Jon. Jon was her favourite brother.

'What are you doing?' she said smirking at Robb who was holding his pup close to his face.

'Arya, meet Grey Wind!' Robb said holding his pup towards her, with the pup yapping happily.

'Grey Wind?' she asked quizzically.

'Watch,' Robb said as he placed the pup on the ground. Grey Wind then started darting around the sparring yard as he had done previously making Robb and Arya laugh.

'He's really fast,' Arya said amazed. Her pup tried to keep up with Grey Wind but to no avail.

'He's grey and runs like the wind!' Robb chuckled. 'I think I spent too long trying to find a perfect name for a wolf. This one was right in front of me.'

They watched the pups' play for a few minutes with smiles on their faces. Grey Wind would run ahead but then let Arya's pup catch up before dashing off again. Back and forth they went as if it was the best fun in the world.

'What are you going to call yours?' Robb asked, tearing Arya's attention away from the pups.

'Oh, I don't know,' Arya answered knowing that she needed to name her pup soon.

'Don't over think it. That's my advice,' Robb said as he stood. 'Grey Wind,' he called and his pup dutifully moved towards Robb. 'See you at dinner Arya,' Robb said as he left.

Arya returned to her room and sat down by the fire with a book in her hands. Maester Luwin let the children borrow books from Winterfell's library but he always noted who had taken what and woe betide the person who took a book without asking.

'Would you like to hear about some warrior women?' Arya asked her pup who wagged her tail excitedly.

Arya finally found herself on the warrior women of Dorne, including the Warrior Queen Nymeria. As soon as Arya had said the name Nymeria her pup started yapping wildly and jumping up and down around the room.

'Hey, what's got into you?' Arya asked as the pup settled again. Arya started to read again, 'Queen Nymeria was-', and barking and yapping started again. It took Arya a moment to understand but once she did a large smile adorned her face.

'Nymeria,' Arya said pointedly and a loud bark responded. 'Nymeria,' she tried again and again a bark was her response. 'You want to be called Nymeria!' the pup jumped into Arya's arms happily licking her face and snuggling into her.

Arya stood up, holding the newly named Nymeria in her arms, dropped her book on her bed and headed for her bedroom door. 'Let's go tell Jon,' she said and was greeted with a lick on her nose.

Jon

Jon was sitting on his bed after a rather uneventful day and was now reading a book before the daylight failed. His pup was snoozing on the bed next to him and Jon gave a small chuckle at the sight.

He startled as his bedroom door flew open and Arya barged into his room. She was forever doing that. Like Robb, he had a lock on the door for when privacy was needed but most of the time his door was open.

'Arya!' he exclaimed as she barged in placing her pup on the foot of his bed. The commotion had woken Jon's pup who stared at Arya with his ruby red eyes.

'I did it!' she said proudly.

'Did what?' Jon was at a loss as to what she was talking about.

'I named her!' Arya said shaking her head and pointing at her pup as if it was obvious.

'Oh, right,' Jon said slightly taken aback. 'What did you choose?'

'Nymeria!' her pup yapped loudly at the name. Jon had to do his best not to smirk.

'Nymeria? Isn't she one of those women you like reading about?' he asked vaguely.

'Duh! She is the Dornish Warrior Queen Nymeria!' Arya looked at Jon as if he was the stupidest person she knew. Jon cracked and started laughing heartily. 'You already knew that, didn't you?' she accused and started lightly hitting Jon.

Jon caught her hands in his and looked his fierce little sister in the eye, 'Of course I did, you never stop talking about her.'

'So you do listen,' Arya said quietly as she smiled.

'Yes little wolf, I do listen,' Jon smiled as Arya flung her arms around him.

'What about yours?' she asked looking towards the white pup currently playing with Nymeria. Jon's pup was now the biggest of the pack, seemingly no longer the 'the runt' as Theon had originally declared.

'I don't know,' Jon said wistfully. 'Just haven't found the right name yet. I tried Frost but he didn't like it.' The pup must have been listening as he sat up, looked at Jon and wrinkled his nose, making Arya laugh as she finally released her brother.

'You better hurry up. Robb has already named his,' she said as she scooped up her pup.

'What did he name his?' Jon asked as Arya headed for the door.

'Ask him,' she said cheekily as she darted through the door.

'So...' Jon said as he looked to his pup. 'What should I call you?' The pup stared back with its ruby red eyes. Many found the pup's stare creepy and disturbing but to Jon it was familiar and heartening. 'You've already rejected Frost, Snow and Winter,' Jon counted the names on his fingers and the pup shook his head, making Jon smirk. 'I'll tell you what, I'll keep thinking,' Jon said as he picked up his book about the Night's Watch.

An hour or so later, the light was starting to fade and the evening meal would soon be served, so Jon closed his book and startled suddenly at the sight of his pup staring at him from the end of the bed. Jon put his hand over his heart and laughed weakly as he had momentarily forgotten that his pup was in the room. His pup barely made a sound, although Jon was certain he could if he wanted to.

'You know, sometimes, you really are like a ghost,' Jon chuckled to himself.

The pup suddenly jumped up Jon's body until his paws were on Jon's chest and upper legs. His tail was wagging furiously.

Jon felt his eyes connect with the pups and could see warmth shining back at him.

'You want to be called 'Ghost'?' Jon asked slowly. The pup started licking Jon's face making Jon laugh. Jon held the pup and could feel the joy coming from. 'Alright then, if you insist, you are now Ghost.'

The pup snuggled into Jon as he has when Jon first found him and Jon knew that this was how it was meant to be.

The Great Hall

The Stark family gathered in the Great Hall for the evening meal, including the direwolf pups. Since they had been weaned, food was now placed in bowls for them to eat and the Stark children did their best to make sure their wolves ate only their meals. Often, they were fed food from the table anyway which made Lady Catelyn wrinkle her nose.

'Shaggydog, no,' Rickon said as his pup tried to steal food from Sansa's.

'Shaggydog?' Robb questioned and Rickon pointed at his wolf. 'He's a wolf not a dog,' Robb said echoing his father's words earlier.

'Shaggydog,' Rickon said defiantly and the pup barked in agreement. Jon and Robb exchanged smirks but said nothing.

'Mine's Summer,' Bran piped up.

'And mine's Lady,' Sansa said moments later.

'Lady?' Arya made a disgusted face. 'That's a stupid name for a wolf'

'Arya!' was exclaimed in unison by Ned, Catelyn, Robb and Jon. Lady growled her displeasure.

'Lady doesn't think so,' Sansa said haughtily. 'What's yours then?'

'Nymeria!' Arya looked proud of herself as he pup yapped happily.

'A good name for a fierce little wolf,' Jon said as he ignored Lady Catelyn's wince.

'Mine's Grey Wind,' Robb said happily as the pup barked its approval.

'Why?' Sansa asked before Jon could.

'Because he's grey and runs like the wind!' Robb laughed.

'He really does,' Arya agreed. 'He's really fast. Nymeria couldn't keep up.'

'What about you Jon?' Bran asked. Rickon was currently busy feeding Shaggydog and wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

'He hasn't decided yet,' Arya said with a mouthful of kidney pie.

'Actually, I have,' Jon declared as he picked up his pup. 'Meet Ghost. He is white, barely makes a sound and can scare the life out of you when he wants to.'

Everybody laughed, well Catelyn did her best to conceal any amusement, as Ghost took the opportunity to steal some of Jon's kidney pie and managed to get gravy all over his snout in the process.

'Someone's going to need a bath,' Jon sighed while his siblings laughed unsympathetically. Ghost just gave Jon an 'I care not look', making Jon join in with the laughter.

A/N: I hope this was just some fluff that made you smile. :)