Am I my Brother's Keeper, Yes I Am

by Alperez16

A different choice after the Battle of the Bastards brings another Stark back from the dead. Together with his brother how does Rickon Stark's living change the Game and what do another King in the North and his bastard brother mean in regards to the return of House Targaryen. An idea suggested by my good friend and co-writer Leilani972 that I just couldn't resist jumping on board

9. Hey Babe, Take a Warg on the Wild Side

Winterfell 303 AC

Rickon Stark

"He is not your brother, Rickon…"

So many conflicting emotions battled through him. Anger, despair, sadness, confusion.

Betrayal.

Those words burned his mind, his heart, like that arrow that ended his life many moons ago. It wasn't true. It couldn't be. Bran was lying and Rickon couldn't understand how he could be so cruel. Was he jealous about his relationship with Jon? Was it because he didn't get to spend time with him as Rickon did?

No, Bran liked to be left alone. Yet he couldn't acknowledge his cutting words as the truth.

"He is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen." Bran insisted, his emotionless gaze boring into him.

Rickon thought he might be dreaming. It might have been a nightmare, all of it. Him being King in the North while he knew nothing about ruling, seeing his family only to feel more and more disappointment as days went by, Jon abandoning them when they needed him the most, leaving him to go solve the Dragon Queen's problems, then this… It was either a very long nightmare or he was still dead and stuck in some kind of hell. For why else would Bran, his brother, the person who was supposed to protect him the most, torture him so?

"Why are you doing this?" he managed to ask.

"I can't keep it to myself anymore. It is too much for one person to hold onto."

"So you thought dumping your nonsense on me would be better? Are you mad?" he said somehow without shouting.

"Only you can help me, Rickon. Only you can tell Jon the truth and get him to stay away from Daenerys. Our cousin -"

"OUR BROTHER!" Rickon exploded. "Jon is our brother! You fucking piece of shit! He's our brother, you hear me?"

"I'm sorry, Rickon, but he is not. He..."

Rickon wouldn't hear any more of this nonsense. He needed to make Bran stop talking, to make him stop saying those words. Nothing else mattered to him at that moment. All his anger and his resentment were focused on the source of his pain. This person, this thing that was devoid of emotion needed to feel it as Rickon did.

Bran gasped as his little brother lifted him from the chair and threw him on the ground.

"Do not do something you'll regret later, Rickon," Bran warned, only making him even more furious.

"The only thing I'd ever regret would be not to have done this sooner, you emotionless fucker!"

The first punch must have hurt him, as did the second, but the expression on Bran's face was enough for Rickon to feel vindicated. He was feeling it. Finally, he could see Bran feel something. Whether it was the pain of his punches or the fear of what Rickon was capable of, the boy king didn't care as long as that emotionless stare was gone. Soon, far too soon for Rickon's liking, something changed in Bran's demeanor as he seemed to relax under his hold. Fear took hold of Rickon's body as he saw the spark in Bran's eyes dim and he feared he'd gone too far. He wanted to hurt Bran, not to kill him. Jon and the rest of the family would never forgive him if he did.

Then he heard it, the cawing and the flap of the wings around him. Looking to his left he saw a raven fly over to one of the branches of the Heart Tree, and he lifted his head, a shiver running through his spine when he saw the rest of them.

Their eyes were white and menacing. He knew those eyes, had seen them more than once, and he quickly released his hold on Bran's limp body.

"Bran..." he whispered while taking a step back and taking in the sheer number of ravens that were now staring at him.

He felt Ghost's presence beside him. Rather than comforting him, the threatening snarl on the Direwolf's face as Ghost looked to the ravens made him fear more for their safety.

"Run!" one of the ravens seemed to caw at him, its cry soon echoed by the others and Rickon knew at this moment that he would get hurt here and possibly, very badly.

Run!

He took another step back, distancing himself from his brother as much as he could.

"Bran!" he called, his heart beating wildly in his chest while the noise got louder.

Run! Run! Run! Run!

"Bran, I didn't mean to…"

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun!

As one, they flew towards him, and he stumbled as he felt the first one pecking at his face.

He couldn't see, couldn't breathe. He could only scream his brother's name and pray he would stop hurting him.

He woke up yelling and screaming and was soon caught in a familiar embrace.

"It's over, Rickon." Arya's soothing voice tried to reassure him. "It's just a bad dream."

"No, it isn't. It happened. It was real." he sobbed.

"Were you dreaming about what happened in the Godswood?" Arya asked worriedly and he nodded, feeling the weight of anxiety upon his throat. "Do you want to talk about it?"

This time he shook his head. He wanted to forget the whole ordeal. Forget Bran's cutting words, what they implied, and how his older brother had used his power to hurt him. He knew it was somewhat his fault for attacking him first, but the shame he felt for his moment of lashing out was drowned by the anguish that took over his body when he thought of Bran's ability. All the stories he was told about wargs and skinchangers by Osha when they were on the road, and since then by Tormund as he got closer to him, had made him aware of what Bran could do to a certain extent. As had what he had witnessed when they were younger, but never had he thought he would use his power against his own kin.

"Rickon…" Arya sighed loudly. "It's been days, and neither you nor Bran -"

"I don't want to talk about Bran," he said, fearing he was being spied on by his brother.

He felt silly, looking at every corner of the room to see if a mouse or even smaller animal was there watching him. Ghost was doing the same and Rickon was grateful for his protection. It was something he hated, to not feel safe in the only room he'd thought of as a sanctuary, the one he actually managed to think of as home. Though knowing what he knew now, Winterfell would never feel the same to him again.

He wanted to tell Arya, to tell Sansa, to tell anybody to be careful with Bran, but he couldn't. He wouldn't risk them being attacked as he had been, nor would he risk Bran saying to them what he knew about Jon.

Thinking about that made Rickon want to tear up even more. He still couldn't believe what Bran had said, but he also knew his brother enough to know he wouldn't say anything he could not prove. The concern Bran said he had for Jon choosing the other side of his family rather than them made Rickon afraid. Would Jon abandon them once he'd learned the truth? Was that the reason why Bran didn't tell him he was not their father's son? If so then why would he tell Rickon and not Jon?

Only you can tell Jon the truth and tell him to stay away from Daenerys, brother, it has to be you to do so.

How could he do that? How could he risk losing the only person he trusted with his life by telling him he was not his brother? How could Bran think it would be a good idea to let him know?

Jon would be as devastated as Rickon was at that moment. Arya was only there because of Jon. And Sansa… He couldn't imagine what Sansa could do with that information, she who was already calling Jon their half-brother. It would crush his family and once again Rickon cursed Bran for telling him.

He needed to talk to someone, anyone, but he couldn't. He needed guidance but couldn't trust anybody with that secret. Tormund was a Free Folk and a man who struggled to understand the politics of Westeros. When Arya had told him of the issues between the Starks and the Targaryens and why the North was wary of Daenerys, he had just shrugged. He'd then said that it was in the past and that they should get over it. That they needed Daenerys to fight against the army of the dead. So just as much as they did with the quarrels between the Night's Watch and the Free Folk, they too needed to put their quarrels behind them. If only it would be so easy.

Davos would suggest something nonsensical like an alliance with the Dragon Queen, which was what Bran had warned him about and what he had said would lead to the end of Jon.

Will it, though? he wondered, Could it?.

"I wish I could see the future…" he whispered against Ghost's fur.

"The future's not set in stone, brother. Not even Bran can find a definite path, and he knows a lot of things." Arya retorted and Rickon found himself contemplating his sister's response.

Bran was spending all of his days in the Godswood, touching the Heart Tree to find answers to his own questions about the future. Rickon had had green dreams too, so would he be able to ask the Old Gods to show him the future? To make him dream of it like he used to be able to do?

"I need to go to the Godswood."

"What?"

"I need to go, Arya."

"Rickon, after what happened…"

"You can come with me if you like. I need to try something and I need to try it now!" he stressed, looking at Arya with determination in his eyes.

"Will you at least tell me what exactly you need to try?"

"I need to dream. Ever since I got… Ever since the ravens' thing, I only dream about it when I close my eyes."

"And you think you'll -"

"Let me try, please…"

Arya stood silent for an excruciating moment before agreeing, though with the condition of her, Tormund, Nessa, Brienne, and Podric all coming with him. While Rickon thought it was too much, he agreed to his sister's request and walked up to the Godswood with his now even closer guard.

Flashes of what had happened here came to his mind when he entered the grove. The remains of the attack were still visible, some carcasses of ravens and numerous feathers were still on the ground. Rickon felt better when Ghost as if reading his thoughts and feeling his discomfort, grabbed them and dumped them into the pool next to the heart tree. He didn't realize he was holding his sister's hand until she squeezed his own gently.

"We can leave if you want to, Rickon." she said softly.

"No. I have to do this." he said determinedly.

He walked closer to the Heart Tree, its carved face seemingly looking at him with sadness. He stood in front of the tree with his hands clenched, not knowing what to do nor how to proceed. Should he kneel? Pray? Ask for guidance? He scoffed and shook his head, feeling ridiculous. Why did he think this would be a good idea? If only he could get a sign of what to do.

A light breeze surrounded him and he felt himself taking two steps toward the tree. Red sap began to ooze from the cuts that marked out its face. Encouraged by the calming wind, he took two more steps towards it and lifted his hand, his heart beating loudly in his chest as his fingers brushed against the sap.

"Please, I need to know… I need to see if Bran is right… I need to be able to help my brother, my family. Please… I need to make sure nothing will happen to Jon" he whispered softly.

The sap fell into his hand and the warmth of it soon became unbearable. Rickon tried to shake it off, only for it to expand on its hand and soon enough there was a small pool of it in his palm.

Drink, he heard a whisper in his mind commanded him and he shook his head, fear gripping his heart as he then heard a loud and angry caw.

Rickon heard his sister's anguished voice from afar, but he couldn't take his eyes away from the face that was carved into the tree.

Drink! Drink it now!

His head was spinning, but he managed to bring his hand sticking with sap to his mouth and to drink it before collapsing.

He could see his body slumped on the ground and hear the panicked voice of his sister and his friends. He could see Tormund check his body and give a sigh of relief when he declared him still breathing. Arya was crying, so was Nessa, and he watched helplessly as Tormund picked up his body and ran outside of the Godswood. He started running after them but stopped instantly, feeling that something was wrong. There was something, someone else with him, sharing his mind.

"Actually, you are the one sharing my body." a voice said from inside of him and yet not at the same time.

Rickon yelped in surprise, making his sister turn toward him. She looked smaller than before and he had to lower his head to make eye contact with her.

She can see me?

"What's wrong, Ghost?" Arya asked the white wolf.

Ghost? Rickon repeated, looking from left to right to look for his companion, to no avail.

"I am here, little man. Or rather, you are here in my mind."

Wait… What? How… You speak?

"I do, and I am glad you can hear me, little man, though I always thought I would be speaking to our brother first. I was his companion for a long time, after all..." the voice said, sounding sad at the end.

Jon? Jon is a warg too?

"I will explain later, for now, let me reassure your sister." Ghost replied before making him walk toward Arya and lick her hand.

"Rickon will be fine… He's just exhausted. He'll be fine… He has to..." she said, and Rickon felt an immense sadness wash over him.

Oh, Arya… I'm so sorry…

"You have nothing to be sorry for, little man." Ghost said. "You will make it up to her once you get back into your own body."

How do I do that? And why am I in your body?

"I… I do not know. It was bound to happen since you are a warg and you wanted to use your powers, but I don't understand why nor how it happened now."

The Gods… Bran said… Jon...

"I know what he said about our brother." Ghost replied almost angrily.

So it's not true? He's our brother, right?

"I cannot say, it's not my place to. He has Stark blood, for sure. But does it really matter?"

Of course, it does!

"Why? What is a brother if not someone you love with all your heart? Does having the same blood make you love him more or less?" Ghost insisted and Rickon didn't know what to answer. "He is a man, but he is my brother, as you are to me. Now come, until we know how to make you go back to your body, we shouldn't stay too far away from it."

Dragonstone 303 AC.

Dany.

Seeing him when they landed brought a smile to her face and yet Jon had been so very right, it wouldn't be until she heard the words from Jorah's own lips that she'd believe it true. So she moved to him quickly, welcomed the smile he gave her, and then quickly asked her questions.

"You are well, cured?" she asked, her worry still clear.

"I am, my queen." Jorah replied and she let out the breath she'd been holding in and felt the weight be removed from her chest.

"For true?" she asked and as he nodded, she moved to him and hugged him tightly, feeling him return the hug just as firmly.

With a nod to Jon to say she wished to go straight to the keep so she could speak more with Jorah, she found herself surprised when he asked to stay on the cliffs. Though it was clear he was both seeking his own privacy for his reunion and giving her time alone with Jorah too. Together she and Jorah walked and as they did so she asked him how he had been cured and then found herself looking back at the man who was speaking to Jon. Samwell Tarly was more than just Jon's friend it seemed.

"He cured you, why? "she asked, wondering if somehow Sam and Jon were aware who and what Jorah was to her.

"He said he could not go along with what those at the Citadel wished, to just let me die. My father was his former Lord Commander, my queen. Sam said he owed him a debt and it was one he'd never thought himself able to repay, until I arrived."

"It was hard, the cure?" she asked softly.

"I'm cured, I care not how hard it was to do so." Jorah replied and she found she agreed with him completely.

He looked at her nervously, almost as if he wasn't sure what to say or what response she may have to his words.

"Jorah?"

"I wish to rejoin your service, my queen. Is there a place for me by your side?" Jorah asked nervously.

"Always. Ser Jorah Mormont, I would name you Lord Commander of my Queensguard." she said without reservation, and the smile he gave her stayed on his face even as he knelt to accept his role.

As they walked, she told him about taking King's Landing and how one war was already over. Then she answered his questions regarding Jon Snow and yet when he brought up how Jon had been Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and how the oaths sworn there were for life, Dany found herself frowning. Not at Jorah, but at the fact that this was now the second time Jon's breaking of those oaths had been brought up in the last few days. Cersei doing so may not have truly registered, but Jorah bringing it up did and she knew she'd have to speak to Jon about how he had been freed from his oaths.

Tyrion had brought it up more than once, but she'd been angry with her Hand and so she'd given it little thought. She'd been grateful for and reliant on Jon's aid too and so it perhaps was not something she wished the answer to at the time. It would not be only Jon's past that needed to be addressed, either. More of Cersei's words now came back to her, about Tyrion, Ellaria, and Tyene, and then she remembered what Olenna had said during the parley. She and her allies would need some long conversations over the next few days and she may have tough decisions to make.

"My queen?" Jorah asked after she'd been quiet for far too long.

"It's nothing, Jorah, just thinking of what's to come." she said, offering him a smile that was soon wiped from her face.

The roar was louder than she had ever heard, pained, worried, and angered all at the same time and she didn't even need to think to know which of her children was making such a sound. They were almost at the gates of the keep and the cliffs were some distance away, yet she nearly ran to them all the same. Only Jorah placing his hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing so.

"Rhaegal." she said worriedly.

"May be giving you a warning, my queen." Jorah said and despite her wish to run to her son, it was his words that won out.

It was only when she entered the keep itself that she became sure that Rhaegal wasn't roaring for her, that it was Jon he was either warning or worried about, and this time she refused to listen to Jorah or even Missandei who'd come to welcome her back to the island.

"Jon. Jon is in danger. We must go to him, I must go to him." she said worriedly as she called out for Drogon.

"Jon is more than capable, my queen. We can send some of the Dothraki; they'll reach him quicker than any." Missandei said and Dany shook her head.

"Not quicker than Drogon." she said determinedly and she called out once again for her son to come to her.

It was one of her children that came to her, but not Drogon or Viserion. She and all those assembled in the courtyard looked to the sky to see Rhaegal flying their way and her son was moving far more quickly than she'd ever seen him do so before. Which of them first noticed what he carried in his talons she'd not be able to say with certainty later on. Though when she herself saw Jon's body being held in them, she gasped loudly and almost fell to the ground.

She was by Rheagal's side before he had even fully landed, his eyes looking deep into her own as he placed Jon carefully on the ground and brushed against him with his head as if he was trying to make him move. The pained sound that he let out when he did not was heart-wrenching and stopped her in her tracks. Then he let out the loudest roar she had ever heard when Missandei and Jorah moved past her and closer to Jon. Rhaegal left them both in no doubt that they were not to touch him or come any closer and it was this which stirred her into action once again.

When she knelt down and placed her hand on Jon's forehead she felt how very cold he was. As he then moved she let out a loud yelp, before touching his face and cheek once more. That he moved into her touch brought her so much relief and while she knew he needed to be seen to by a Maester or a Healer, she knew that Rhaegal would allow neither until he knew that Jon was well and would be looked after. So she rose to her feet and walked to the Green Dragon. Leaning her head against his own, she told him that Jon breathed still and that he would need to be moved inside to be treated, only for Rhaegal to push her away.

Holding her hand up to those with her, she moved to her son again and spoke even more softly with him. She promised him that she'd not let anyone harm Jon, that this was needed, and that if he allowed her to take him inside, she'd make sure he'd recover. It was a promise that she very much hoped to keep and one that she didn't wish to think about the consequences of not being able to. It seemed to be enough for Rhaegal too, though before she was allowed to lift Jon from the ground, Rhaegal once again brushed his head over his chest and she watched as he blew warm air over Jon's body.

"Carry him inside, carefully. Jorah, the man who was with Jon, Samwell was it?" she asked and Jorah nodded "He must have seen something or knows something. Or perhaps he too is in danger of some sort, take some riders and go back to the cliffs, see if he requires aid or can tell us what happened?" she said commandingly and Jorah moved to do as she bid immediately.

She felt Missandei take her hand as they followed the Dothraki who carried Jon into the keep. Looking behind her she could see Rhaegal watching them all the way and the Green Dragon didn't move until they were inside. How he then knew which room they'd brought Jon to, she knew not, but as soon as they arrived, she could see Rhaegal flying past the open window. When one of the Dothraki went to close it she shook her head and as Jon was laid on the bed, Dany stood by the window and heard Rhaegal sing what sounded to her ears to be a sad lament.

Winterfell 303 AC.

Rickon.

He lay beside his body, watching his sister cry silently after the Maester announced that he didn't know what affliction plagued him. Rickon was having a hard time adjusting to his new reality. Everything he felt was heightened, his vision, his sense of smell, his emotions, and his instincts were mingled with Ghost's. While a part of him enjoyed the rush of excitement he felt while running through Ghost's body, the sensation of the wind on his fur, the joy of being free and unburdened as a wolf, he couldn't help but feel guilty to make his sisters go through this. Arya didn't want to leave his side, even to eat something, and he could sense Sansa's sadness whenever she came to see him.

Davos, Tormund, Lyanna, Ned, and Alys all came to see him and he also felt their worries as they looked at him. He had heard the Onion Knight tell Arya that he sent a raven to Jon about him and Rickon hoped it would be enough to save his older brother's life. By making him come back sooner, he wouldn't be close to the Dragon Queen, and Bran's vision about Jon losing his life wouldn't come to pass. He could sense Ghost's disagreement, but why else would he be stuck in the Direwolf's body if it was not to protect Jon?

"I believe there are things you need to see. Things you would not be able to see if you were in your own body. Things that will help our brother make the right choices in the future."

Rickon was about to argue when he heard someone coming.

"Lady Arya, you have to come to the Great Hall," Lyanna Mormont said breathlessly.

"Why?"

"Lady Sansa… I have been summoned by her, as have the rest of the Lords of the North. I believe she wants to talk to them about Rickon since it's been a few days…"

"The little… She wouldn't dare…" Arya said, rising to her feet angrily.

"Ser Davos told me to get you in case she intended to try something…"

Rickon frowned and followed the two girls to the Great Hall. He was confused. Why would Sansa talk about his state? Why was it important?

They were all there, with the exceptions of Lord Glover, Cley Cerwyn, and his retinue who had been sent on Rickon's orders to reinforce Moat Cailin on the day of Jon's departure. Larence Snow, Ondrew Locke, Barbrey Dustin, Rickard Ryswell, Alys Karstark, Ned Umber, Lyessa Flint of Widow's Watch, Torghen Flint from the Mountains, Talia Forrester, Morgan Liddle, Young Brandon Norrey, Eddara Tallhart, and Hardwood Stout. Rickon had come to know every one of them by name and their stories, he could name each member of their families and they respected him for it. Lord Manderly was at the High Table and Rickon shivered when he felt Bran's gaze on him, while Lyanna took her place and Arya waited to take hers. Ghost stood near Lyanna, not wanting to get closer to the HIgh Table because of the suffocating presence that they could both feel coming off of Bran.

Was it always like this? Had his brother always felt that intimidating?

"Always, to me at least. I could stay in his presence because you gave me the strength to withstand it, and also because of the promise I made our brother, but I do not feel well around him." Ghost answered, much to his surprise.

He watched as Sansa arrived with her head held high, her poise worthy of a proud Lady of the North or would be if only she rid herself of the company that she kept. She was flanked as usual by Yohn Royce and Littlefinger, and sat not at Rickon's place, but at her former one, which had become Arya's when she came back later. The latter glared at their sister and sat at Jon's place, probably to get a rise out of Sansa.

"Lady Sansa, I'm curious about this summons, but I want to take this opportunity to say, on behalf of the Lords of the North, that our good wishes are with King Rickon at this moment." Lord Manderly said, his words being echoed by the majority of those in the Great Hall.

Sansa seemed taken aback, which was strange, given she was the one who had called that meeting. Rickon watched through Ghost's eyes as she looked at Littlefinger, almost in desperation.

"On behalf of my family, we thank you, my Lords, my Ladies," she replied shakily. "As you are well aware, just after our brother Jon left with Daenerys Targaryen, both of my remaining brothers have suffered a most unusual attack. While Bran has thankfully recovered, it seems that Rickon… has been much more affected than we thought…"

She looked genuinely distraught during the announcement. He could feel Arya's pain too and wanted nothing more than to comfort them both, both one look at Bran petrified him.

"Lady Sansa is really overwhelmed with all that has happened lately, as is Lady Arya and the rest of the King's council." Littlefinger started and Rickon felt his hackles raise. "I believe I can speak for all of us when I say that Rickon Stark is beloved by most, if not all of us present here."

"Get to the point, Baelish," Lyanna spat as waves of anger seemed to emanate from her. "We all know it is not King's Rickon's health that is your priority."

"You wound me, Lady Mormont. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about what impact the King's… momentary… absence… would have on the North and the preparations for the war to come."

"We all know what should be done and we will prepare accordingly as our King's demanded," Lord Manderly replied curtly.

"What if something happens and the King can't decide anything in his state?" Lord Royce intervened to Rickon's annoyance.

"Then the council will do its best to cope with any contingencies," Lyanna said.

"Doing its best is nice, but not enough against the dead. We need someone to guide us. King Rickon is not fit to do it now." Lord Royce retorted.

"King Rickon has a Regent," Lady Lyessa countered.

"And where is he? With the Dragon Queen, providing counsel for a war he should not take part in." Lord Royce said dismissively and Rickon wanted nothing more than to run for his throat.

"The Vale has agreed to ally themselves with King Rickon Stark, but now with the arrival of the Dragon who wants to be queen, and the North being without a king…" Lord Baelish began only for Arya to interrupt.

"If you want to leave, then leave. But remember what you said, for there will be no turning back and no mercy for the Vale when the dead will be dealt with" Arya said menacingly as she looked at Baelish.

"If the dead have been dealt with."

"Arya, Lord Baelish, that's enough." Sansa finally spoke, and Rickon swore she was angry at Littlefinger for once. "What would you have us do, my Lord?"

"We came to Winterfell for you, my Lady. We fought Ramsay Snow and those who wronged your family on your behalf. We will only stay here if you lead us during this complicated time." Littlefinger said looking to Sansa.

"You want Sansa to be Queen? While my little brother is laying in his bed, fighting for his life, you're here talking about replacing him?" Arya exploded.

"This is preposterous!" Larence exclaimed. "You have no right to make such demands! This is the North, not the damn Vale of Arryn."

"We have every right to do so," Royce said. "You are the ones needing our help. You have needed it since Sansa Stark had been kidnapped by the Boltons and forced to marry a bastard, while all of you watched and did nothing to help the poor girl."

"Forced, you said? Last time I recall, Baelish himself brought Lady Sansa back to the North so she could be wed to the Bastard of Boltons." Barbrey Dustin corrected. "She then married him willingly to get Winterfell back. There was nothing forced upon her at that moment, I know because I was there."

"Are you saying that we have been led astray by thinking Lady Sansa was in danger?" Lord Royce asked and Rickon was surprised at how the Lord of Runestone looked at Littlefinger and Sansa.

"I was. What Ramsey Bolton did to me… I had followed Lord Baelish's counsel and I deeply paid for it, but I am grateful my cousin committed his forces to come to my rescue when I needed it the most." Sansa said, still glaring at Littlefinger.

"This changes things, my Lady." Lord Royce said shaking his head.

"This changes nothing, Lord Royce. The dead are still coming for us all. And we still need to stay united if we are to have any chance to beat them." Sansa said.

"You need our forces and we get nothing in return. We followed you out of courtesy because you were kin to our Liege, but this..."

"What do you want, Lord Royce?"

"A place in the war council, at the very least. And the assurance that a Stark, a true one will lead us if it should come to pass that King Rickon never wakes up." Lord Royce said firmly.

"I will not have talk of replacing my brother while he is recovering," Sansa replied, looking outraged, which comforted Rickon. "As for the council -"

"You are the best fit to represent our family during Rickon's recovery and Jon's absence. You've been the acting Lady of Winterfell while in the shadows of Rickon and Jon. You assisted in the councils and you know what has to be done. Take the lead, sister. Until Rickon wakes up. Take it." Bran said while looking straight at him.

He knows. He knows I'm in here… Rickon gasped.

"This one knows a lot of things. It wouldn't surprise me. He's a warg too." Ghost replied.

"Are you sure, Bran?" Sansa asked shakily.

"There are things that are needed to be done and we cannot dally. If the Vale leaves, then we are lost. These are their conditions, so we have no choice but to accept them or admit defeat." Bran replied.

"Then I accept until Rickon gets better." Sansa said and though he sensed reluctance, there was something there he couldn't be certain about too, not quite pleasure, more accomplishment perhaps.

"You cannot do this!" Lyanna protested.

"You heard my brother. I'm doing it to keep the peace between the North and the Vale." Sansa said her words firmer now and those words garnered a reaction as Arya got up and left the room, but not without making her displeasure known to Sansa.

"I guess you finally got what you wanted, Your Grace," Arya spat.

"Lord Royce, I welcome you to attend the next council as a representative of the Vale."

"You honor me, your Grace." Lord Royce said, bowing to Sansa.

"I am not a Queen, Lord Royce. I am just a Lady. My brother Rickon is and remains King in the North." Sansa retorted.

None of the Lords of the North seemed happy about what happened and neither was Rickon. He had more than enough of the Lords of the Vale and Littlefinger, who now stood smugly by Sansa's side as one by one the people in attendance left the room. His first reflex had been to look for Arya, but Ghost, who was more in control of his body while Rickon was but a conscious passenger, decided otherwise. The white wolf followed Sansa and Littlefinger as they walked to her room.

"Why did you do that?" he heard Sansa whisper as they settled in front of her room. "You have just put me in an awful position!"

"It needed to be done, my love." Littlefinger's voice rattled them. "It was the perfect opportunity for you to take control of the North."

"An opportunity? My brother's bad health is an opportunity to you?"

"I know you worry about Rickon, and it's perfectly normal for you to do so, but you're Queen in all but name now!"

"I swear to the Old Gods and the New, Lord Baelish, that if you're somewhat involved in what is ailing Rickon, I will end you!" Sansa said, her voice chilling and Rickon wished he could see Littlefinger's face.

"I would never -"

"I don't believe you! Not after what you did to Aunt Lysa, to Jon Arryn. To me!"

"Sansa, I… I understand you're emotional, but I swear I have nothing to do with this. I swear, on my life!"

"Leave my sight, now. LEAVE!"

They entered Sansa's rooms as Littlefinger left, and Rickon, still confused at her reaction, felt even worse when he saw her cry. Wasn't it what she wanted? To be in charge of the North? To tell others what they should do, as if she was the Queen in the North and not the King's sister? But why did she look devastated when she finally got her wish?

"I do not understand what you call politics," Ghost replied. "But I can feel things, and so can you now that you're inside me. I can feel how sad she is. Do you?"

Aye. Rickon said not realizing their paws had led them closer to their sobbing sister.

"Ghost?" she gasped as she felt their snout of her arm, before averting her gaze. "You must hate me now, you too. Arya thinks I've planned this. I didn't know… I didn't know Littlefinger would do this."

Part of Rickon was not convinced but he could feel through Ghost that she was being honest. It was a shock to him, to be able to determine her truthfulness in that way, and he remembered what Jon had told him about Ghost long ago.

"Trust Ghost's reactions. He's here to protect you, and our Direwolves know things we do not. If he reacts badly to someone, then that person isn't trustworthy. Follow his instincts as you did with Shaggy Dog's."

He tried to remember how many times Ghost had warned him against Sansa. How the Direwolf reacted to his sister and the wolf sensed him doing so and spoke once again.

"She is annoying sometimes, but she means no harm, at least not to you. Those with her, however, I do not trust them."

You mean Littlefinger?

"Yes, the other one is a coward."

"How did it come to this?" Sansa sobbed. "All I wanted was to protect us. To make sure the Pack was strong, and now… Arya hates me. I just wish she could understand... Bran doesn't want nor need my help, Jon is surrounded by enemies because he feels he has to do it for us, and I can't even protect Rickon! I've failed him, Ghost! I've failed my brother! I was supposed to protect him!"

Oh, Sansa… It was not your fault...

Rickon felt bad for his sister. Her tears and distress tugged at his heart and so as Ghost he tried to comfort her, letting her hold onto the white wolf's fur. He realized at that moment that they wanted the same thing, but had different approaches to reach their common goal. They wanted the pack united, but their way of seeing things built a gap between them, and Sansa was still stuck in her southern ways and in a game she obviously couldn't control. He, through Ghost, licked her face reassuringly.

I'm well, sister. Do not worry about me.

"Thank you, Ghost. Thank you for making me feel part of the pack again. I've really missed this…" she whispered, giggling when she received another lick to her face. "I wish life could be simpler for us all. I wish Rickon would wake up. I wish I could kill this horrible man instead of enduring his wandering hands that make me want to empty my stomach. But since I'm losing my family, anyway, I better make sure I do my part to protect them the best I can."

That makes no sense… Rickon said

"For you, it doesn't, but she truly thinks she is right. She might not look like a wolf, but she has the stubbornness of one, unfortunately." Ghost sighed before a chill suddenly ran down both their spines. "We have to leave, now."

What's wrong? What's happening?

"I do not know, but we need to go into your room," Ghost replied as they rushed to the door and began scratching at it agitatedly.

Both he and Ghost were glad that Sansa understood and didn't make it difficult for them to leave. The atmosphere was tense when they arrived at his rooms, Tormund stood looking uncomfortably at them and it was only when they entered the room Rickon understood why.

"Brother." Bran said, looking straight at him while being next to his body.

Rickon was paralyzed with fear, as flashes of the last time they were together going through his mind.

"Have no fear, brother. I am not here to hurt you. I'm just here to apologize." Bran said.

Ghost stiffened, still on guard.

Do you feel he is sincere? Rickon asked Ghost.

"I cannot feel anything coming from him other than his power." Ghost admitted. "That is what makes me wary."

"What happened in the Godswood… I feel like you can understand me now. You were hurting me and my body reacted by itself. I never meant to hurt you and I had no control over the ravens. I am truly sorry you got hurt, and even more sorry it made your mind travel into Ghost's."

Rickon had a hard time believing him. He had seen him warg into Hodor and Summer more than once and Bran never had any trouble controlling his powers.

"It has been days now, I hoped you would be able to get back into your body. A body without consciousness is doomed, Brother. The more you share with the animal you're in, the more you lose yourself. I had hoped you would never have to face that because I know how enticing it is to be free in a wolf's body when you're stuck in yours. How freeing it can be and how it can make you never want to come back to your broken body... But you have to. For our family, for Jon, you have to come back, Brother."

I can't, and even if I could, I don't trust you.

"I've never warged so long into another because I had been taught not to. I am willing to teach you now, to help you go back to your body, for I fear what would happen to you should you not."

Oh, so now you want to teach me? I don't want any lessons coming from you, you bastard!

"I understand why you do not like me. Because of what I told you in the Godswood, because of what happened after, and I am really, really sorry for putting this weight on you. I will understand if you hate me forever, but this is not about me. We need you here, Rickon. Are you willing to try?"

Bran sighed as Ghost snarled at him. Neither Ghost nor Rickon had any intention of trusting him, not after what had happened in the Godswood. Bran, sensing that this could end up with him being bit once again, called out for his guard who was standing awkwardly between Rickon's at the door.

"I'll come back soon, brother. I'll be there if you need me." Bran said, and was it not for Ghost's acute senses, Rickon would have missed the twitch on his brother's mouth that looked like a smirk that Bran tried to cover up as soon as he could.

"Something is not right…" Ghost said worriedly while Rickon felt their whole body reacting.

Is… Is it Jon? Rickon asked fearfully.

"I can't feel him. I can't feel our brother."

Dread threatened to make their heart stop and fear gripped Rickon's mind.

We have to help Jon! How can we do it?

"You need to go, little man. I need you to go. Go Now."

Where?

"Out of my mind. Try to focus on your body and to get back to it."

But Jon…

"NOW! I CAN'T REACH HIS MIND! I CAN'T…...GO!" Ghost yelled, making Rickon almost jump in fear.

He couldn't, he couldn't go back to his body knowing that Jon was facing some kind of danger. But he also knew Ghost would do anything to protect his brother, so he tried to find a solution. A way for him to act and not wait for anything to happen.

If you get to him before I do, tell him I love him and I miss him.

"Little Man, don't you dare…"

He felt it. The moment his mind detached itself from Ghost's and lifted in the air. He felt himself being called somewhere and so he traveled to the source of the call, soon finding himself in front of the Heart Tree in the Godswood.

I have to go to Jon!

Fly! a disembodied voice rang through him, its effect as soothing as the wind through the red leaves.

What? What do you mean? he asked, confused.

Fly. Fly to him. Fly to your kin.

A caw resonated from the tree, startling him, and the world around him turned into darkness. Only the white tree remained as he floated away, and his fear turned into despair. Was that what Bran meant by losing himself? Had his brother been honest, that time? Had he messed things up by not wanting to hear him out?

How was he supposed to help Jon if he was to waste away?

A spark shone into the darkness. Then another, and another. Soon, he was surrounded by lights, some were smaller than the others, some were shining so much that he couldn't look at them, but they were all connected, all linked together by a smaller ray of light. Looking closer at them, he realized that they weren't sparks, but doors, all inviting him to open them and they were pulling him to them. Where and what did those doors lead to? Why was he so attracted by them?

Fly! he heard again as the wind pushed him to one of the doors. Fly and see the world through their eyes…

Emboldened by these words, Rickon gripped the handle closer to him and opened the door, not knowing what awaited him on the other side but unafraid to walk through regardless.

Dragonstone 303 AC.

Jon.

Sam. Sam had tried to kill him. No, it wasn't Sam, it was someone wearing Sam's face. A Faceless Man had tried to kill him, simply because he'd cheated death and stolen a life from the Many-Faced God. Or so Rickon had told him what Arya had said. He'd not believed his brother, no that wasn't quite true, he always believed him, he just did not believe that was the motive of a group of assassins. It made no sense that they wished them dead for that or that they even knew about them, especially given that they were based in Essos.

This was something else, though what it was he knew not. The laugh he let out then sounded hollow and empty as he found himself alone and walking in the darkness.

"You know nothing, Jon Snow." the voice called out and he called out for her to no reply.

"Ygritte?"

He found himself standing in a courtyard that was empty and could see the Wall as it loomed over him. So surprised was he by the sight that it took him a moment to realize he was actually able to see once more. Looking around him it soon became clear where he was and he shivered as darkness fell and he and Olly walked down some steps together. Jon remembered this night, even though he'd not wished to, he remembered it and remembered it far too well.

"For the Watch."

"For the Watch."

Again and again, the voices called out and Jon felt his hand go to his chest as if to pull out the knives that weren't there. Men he'd called his brothers had killed him for doing what needed to be done and he watched as other men he'd called brothers wept tears over the sight of his body, and as he was carried into the room and laid down on the table. He looked on as Davos, Edd, and some of his truer brothers and finally Melisandre all came and looked at him and as the lady herself washed his body. Though he could have done without seeing himself in a room laying naked while people looked at him. He thanked the gods that Tormund wasn't here, only to almost laugh when he saw him.

"We'll burn the dead." Tormund said sadly as he walked from the room.

It was then he felt the brush of a tongue against his hand and looked down to see Ghost there. Bending down to rub the white wolf's fur he looked into Ghost's eyes and soon found himself far from the Wall and yet once again in a place he knew all too well. Though it was a place he'd never felt at home in and seeing the shadow that was standing in front of the statue, he felt his tears begin to fall as he saw his father once more.

"I've done all I can, Lya. I've kept my promise as best I can. I can do no more." his father said as he looked at his aunt's statue.

Before he knew it he was on the Kingsroad and he looked on as he spoke to his father and as words were said that had never come true.

"There's great honor in serving in the Night's Watch, the Starks have manned the Wall for thousands of years and you are a Stark. You may not have my name, but you have my blood."

"Is my mother alive? Does she know about me, where I am, where I'm going?. Does she care?"

"The next time we see each other, well talk about your mother, hmmm. I promise."

The sadness he felt knowing that he was looking at the last time he and his father spoke was quickly turned to anger as he felt the lie in the words. There was no true intent to tell him, more it was a way of dismissing the question, another way of dismissing the question that he'd asked so many times over the years.

His father's promise had meant nothing to him, had it to his aunt? Had he kept his promise to her?

"Yes and no." a voice called out and though he looked around it was not a voice that came from outside but in.

"Who are you?"

"Long have I waited to speak to you and have you hear my voice. I had thought it would be you and not the other that came, though I welcomed him all the same. But it was you I wished to hear from and wished to hear me, and had you done so then perhaps things would have been different for so many of both our kin."

"Who are you?

"I am you, you are me. We are bonded as we've been since first you held me in your hands when I was but a pup."

"Ghost?"

"I am Ghost."

"How?" Jon asked not understanding it and then he laughed as Ghost or whatever it was that was claiming to be Ghost in his mind, answered.

"I am Ghost because you named me Ghost." the wolf said, the wolf, the voice, whatever this was.

The images came quickly to him.

Jon as he lay in bed with the white wolf on his chest looking into his eyes. The first hunt that Ghost returned from, washing the blood from the white wolf's fur. Dreams of running through the woods and of waking in the morning with an odd taste in his mouth. Memories of the Wall and of locking Ghost up and the look the wolf gave him when he did so. Ghost as he ran Beyond the Wall and the two were separated and yet not for many moons. Then Ghost looked at him as he lay on the table dead, the white wolf moving his head against Jon's chest as if he was trying to wake him.

"You were gone and then you were back." Ghost said.

"I'm sorry."

"We are bonded, there is no me without you."

"Or me without you." Jon replied and he swore he felt a tongue lick his face though there was no one there and yet he knew he was not alone.

"You've never been alone, brother." Ghost said and the comfort of those words was something that Jon welcomed greatly.

Before he knew it he was in Winterfell and he was walking into the crypts. The height he was at showed him that he wasn't the one doing so and somehow he was, as he was in the white wolf as Ghost moved past the statues.

"Father." he said softly as he passed his father's statue and yet something felt wrong to him as if a voice was telling him, no, that he was wrong, and he couldn't understand what it was it was trying to tell him.

"Aunt Lyanna." he said a moment later and this time the feeling was even stronger, the voice telling him once again that he was wrong, and then for the briefest moment he was somewhere else.

Hearing the screams he ran up the tower's steps, taking them two at a time and as he reached the door he heard the voices from inside.

"Promise me, Ned, Promise me."

"I promise."

"His name is….His name is…."

Suddenly he was standing in a different room and looking down at a bed and he felt his anger rise as he looked at one brother in a wheeled chair while his sadness threatened to overwhelm him as he looked at the other who was laying in the bed unconscious.

"He is gone to you, send him back and then return for we both need our brother back with us to face what's to come." Ghost, the voice that he now knew was Ghost's said.

"I…"

Jon sat up in the bed and coughed and sputtered to get the water out of his lungs though it was no longer there. He'd been on the cliff with Sam, Sam, no not Sam, whatever that thing that had claimed to be Sam was.

"Jon, thank the gods." he heard Dany say and he looked to her, the sunlight reflecting off her silver hair making her look as if she was there and not there at the same time.

"Is this? Am I dreaming?" he asked and then he felt her as she took his hand in his and in the blink of an eye he'd thrown his arms around her and was embracing her tightly.

"Dany, I…Dany." he said as she whispered in his ear that all was well, that he was well, and that she was so relieved that he was well.

When he let go of the embrace and moved a little from her, he saw that she was crying, that she had been crying for some time and it almost broke his heart to see her so upset. He reached out and brushed away the stray tear that rolled down her cheek and his eyes locked with hers. Then he moved forward and his lips met her own. The kiss was soft and when she pulled away from him, he looked at her in confusion only for her to move to him and kiss him even more truly. Eventually one of them stopped and which of them it was he knew not.

"If I am dreaming, then I owe the Old Gods much for this one." he said making her laugh, and then he reached up to touch his fingers to her lips and felt her eyes on his once more. The two of them moved together again and this time it would be some time until the kisses stopped.

Somewhere in Westeros, 303 AC

Rickon Stark.

"Who are you?"

Where are we?

"We're traveling for a mission. I don't know much about where, but I wish we could stop. You haven't answered my question. Who are you?"

I am Rickon Stark.

"Rickon? Little Rickon from Winterfell?"

How do you know Winterfell? Or me?

"That's where I came from!" the being said happily. "I remember you when you were little. I was little too! You rode on me and my brother Dancer rode with your brother Bran.

Rickon gasped in surprise as he understood he was in the body of one of his former horses. They had thought all of them had been killed during the Sack of Winterfell, but he was glad that it wasn't the case.

I do not remember your name, I'm sorry.

"You've named me Unicorn."

Then I'm more than sorry, Unicorn.

"Why?"

For naming you so. I was young and I shouldn't have given you that name... He said sadly, thinking about Shaggydog and how that name suited him, but how many times he had heard Osha say the wolf should have been named something fiercer.

"Do not worry, I have loved this name. It reminds me of better times with my family."

Rickon could see through their shared mind images of the horse running with his brother and sister, Dancer and Snow, who were Bran and Arya's mounts. It warmed their hearts to reminisce together about a time almost forgotten. When they had run together to the limits of the Wolfswood, when Rickon still had a united family who loved each other. He felt a kick on their flank and when he gained awareness of his surroundings, he realized that it was snowing. He could feel the cold seeping through his body as well as the exhaustion. His legs hurt and he wished they would stop walking. He felt a little confused to feel a lot of weight on him and the startling move he made, made the weight begin to talk.

"What's wrong with this damned horse again? I swear, the Old Gods bundled me with the worst for this journey!"

He recognized this voice and felt anger at hearing him. Of all the places he could be, he had to find himself traveling with Robett Glover.

The man sitting on Unicorn's back didn't seem to care, though. Unicorn showed Rickon how Glover kept complaining about the weather, and the long road as if he was not using him to walk those distances for him. And most of all, about his family.

"At least we are far away from the army of the dead," Cley Cerwyn said.

"How much would you bet that the dead are coming because of them?" Glover grumbled.

"Who, the Starks? How would they be responsible for that?"

"They're cursed. Their whole family is. Everything started going bad for the North the moment Ned Stark agreed to go South and left his green boy in charge" Glover said disdainfully.

"Robb Stark was named King in the North -" Cley retorted only to be interrupted.

"Not because he was fit to rule, but because he was Ned's eldest trueborn son. And look what happened when they did so. He went back on his word like a petulant child and our families and friends got killed or suffered because of it."

"What does that have to do with the dead coming for us?"

"Look at them, Cley. Sansa Stark is as southern as her mother and like her mother, she thinks she is better than us. She came back to Winterfell and married the bastard of Bolton, for fuck's sake! She never held any respect for her family nor ours when she accepted she was to wed him. And then when life became too hard for her, she came to us and demanded we honor her father's memory and fight for her to get her back Winterfell. She just wanted to get rid of the Bastard of Bolton and get the power for herself."

"He tortured her, Robett." Cley said shaking his head.

"She should never have married him in the first place. And to think she's actually the best of the Stark children, it makes me shudder. Ned Stark must be rolling in the crypts."

"She could perhaps have been a good ruler if she didn't spend so much time with this Littlefinger fucker and if she showed she really cared about anyone but herself." Cley said.

"Littlefinger might be the only one around the Starks that has their eyes open to the truth of things."

"What do you mean?" Cerwyn frowned.

"I mean that he understands how wrong it is to have Rickon Stark as King in the North. How detrimental to the North it is to be ruled by an abomination." Robett spat.

"He has been named so by all of us, mind you." Clay said firmly.

"The Lords here all think of Rickon Stark's coming back from the dead as a blessing from the Old Gods, and that the Starks reuniting is a good thing for the North, but I don't."

"Why not? They took back Winterfell and they warned us about what's coming!"

"Brandon Stark always says he is not Brandon Stark anymore, whatever that means, he is not mentally fit to rule the North either. Arya Stark is no better if you want my opinion."

"You've heard what she did to the Freys? She avenged the Red Wedding!"

"Ha! As if a woman would really do what they said she did. No, she did as much as Manderly claimed Snow did. Fucking bootlicker!"

"But they're all dead. How do you explain that?"

"I don't know and I do not care either. I do not feel safe around her and even less around the King. That one is clearly cursed and I fear he'll bring us more problems with that attitude of his."

"I think he's handling things well, regarding the circumstances."

"He was dead, Cley! He is no better than the Wight he made us see. What makes you so sure he is not working for them now? What cares the dead about the living after all? He's making my granddaughters train to fight them as well. They are children! Girls! They have no business on the battlefield!" Robett said angrily.

"Lyanna Mormont would disagree with you there. Moreover, we don't have a lot of soldiers left and so while I agree that they shouldn't face them on the battlefield, they at least should know how to defend themselves should the need arise." Cley said, to no reply for a few moments at least, then Robett began his moaning once again.

"And now he's sending part of his forces on this pointless errand. No one from the South has ever managed to get past the Neck, much less in Winter. Yet that boy has sent us to man the Moat when we would be more efficient or needed elsewhere. I'm telling you, Cley, he wanted to get rid of us."

"Well maybe he wouldn't have if you hadn't riled him up that first time about his brother."

"I was telling the truth. We should have killed Jon Snow as soon as he left the Wall. Not only has he deserted without being punished, but he's also brought the fucking wildlings with him, and now he's bringing the dragon bitch back to the North." Glover retorted while struggling to keep a tight rein on his horse.

"And her dragons." Cley said fearfully.

"And he made us welcome her… As if she wasn't the Mad King's daughter who had the means to burn us… As her father did… with Rickard and Brandon Stark... These kids...they don't understand the ways of the North. I swear… This fucking horse may be a demon or something..." Robett said as beneath him Unicorn feeling Rickon's anger at the words began to shift and move, almost unhorsing the man more than once.

"I think…"

"I know you're on their side, Cerwyn. You've made that clear already. You've turned into a Stark lover, but we'll see if you'll still be one when the Dragon Bitch forces us to bend the knee before burning Westeros to the ground." Glover grumbled, his hold on the now even more rebellious horse less and less sure.

"As long as I'm alive by the end of the ordeal, I don't care who I'll have to follow," Cerwyn claimed.

"That's the difference between you and meI. I will not follow a dragon. Not now, not ever. And if the Starks are willing to sell us out to the Dragon Bitch, they'll find that I'm not the only one that thinks that way and that the North Remembers. Will you fucking calm down?" Glover ordered the horse who didn't seem to be listening to him anymore.

"You're speaking of treason, Robett."

"I'm speaking about doing what's best for the North. And what's best for the North is to stay independent. If the Starks have to be replaced for it to happen, then so be… Oh! Fucking hell!" Glover yelled as he flew from his saddle, the horse's rearing to get rid of its rider finally successful.

Rickon had had enough of hearing the man speak ill of his family and himself. Seeing Lord Glover's panicked face when he turned to him, and feeling ready to trample him to death was satisfying, but something, rather someone prevented him from doing so.

"They will kill us if we do that, Little Master. Please! Let us leave them behind before one of them does so!" Unicorn's worried voice rang through his mind.

All exhaustion was forgotten in Unicorn's mind as they ran for their lives, Rickon's encouraging voice pushing the horse to his limits. When they realized that they weren't being followed, they slowed down and tried to get some respite.

I'm sorry, Unicorn. I shouldn't have reacted this way. I risked your life because I was angry.

"Think nothing of it, Little Master. These men were saying bad things about your family, how could you not react?"

But you would have been safe in Moat Cailin. In a warm stable, with more to eat than a patch of grass here or there.

"And I would have missed that horrible man falling on his rear and soiling himself in fright? Trust me, sometimes being a little hungry is worth the outcome."

So you don't like him either?

"I ended up with him when I fled from Winterfell. When those horrible humans killed my family. He never mistreated me but he was not very nice with any of us either."

I'm sorry you had to get through this, Unicorn. Rickon sympathized, he himself remembering the feeling and loss he experienced while being away from his family. I need to get to my brother, Jon. I believe he is in danger.

"Then I will bring you to him if you know the way."

Thank you, truly. I have to go to Dragonstone. Where did they say we were?

"Near the Moat. I do not know where it is."

And we cannot go there either. Well, let us run and see if we can reach a keep.

"I feel like we have to go this way" Unicorn said and Rickon trusted his instinct, as he did with Ghost.

This connection with the horse felt different from the one he had with the Direwolf. Whether it was because he was closer to Ghost or Unicorn's senses were not as developed, he knew not. Somehow though, running with the latter was less enjoyable, as they had to look at their surroundings more and be more cautious because of the snow. Should they step on a patch of ice and break a leg, then they were done for as Unicorn pointed out. His worry for Jon and lasting anger at Glover might also be playing a role in the way he felt, at least according to the horse.

Still, he missed Ghost and he missed Winterfell. Rickon wouldn't have thought that was possible only a few days earlier. Being away from the keep made him feel not safe, it made him realize that he had managed to get over the horrible things that had happened there and so had made Winterfell his home once again. But he also reminded himself that he was away for a good reason. Jon was in danger and he needed to reach his brother.

The landscapes around them had changed a lot since they had gotten away from Glover's party. The trees around them obscured the rays of the sun and they were surrounded by puddles of water and mud. Nothing he'd seen in his short life compared to what he was seeing at that moment, and he realized he knew that place. He had been told about it years ago, when he was traveling with Meera, Jojen, and the rest of their group. Meera had told them about the swamps, the black bogs, and the flowers that were so different from what he'd seen in the glass gardens, and Osha hadn't believed something like this existed for true.

It's real, Osha. The Neck, the swamps… It's all real… Rickon thought tearfully, wishing she was there with him to see it with her own eyes.

"I do not like this place, Little Master," Unicorn said. "I feel a lot of eyes on us. We're being watched."

He felt it too, the unsettling sensation prompting him to walk deeper into the bog. He remembered Meera saying that travelers should not walk away from the causeway and he shared with his companion all that he knew about the place.

Their anxiety grew as the road narrowed, and soon the horse refused to walk more despite Rickon's reassurances. They were wasting time and Jon's life was on the line. While part of Rickon wanted to take over, to control the beast so that they could resume their journey, the other side of him refused to do so. Osha and Tormund had told him about skinchangers who forced themselves on poor beasts and how it was seen as an abomination, hence why those who did so were ostracized from their villages.

If you do not respect the animal's will and force yours onto it, what's stopping you from doing the same to a man? We may need to feed on the beasts, but we are taught not to hunt them when not necessary because they too have feelings, family, and as much the right to live as any being on these lands.

Osha's words had never rung so true than at that moment. He'd experienced Ghost's memories, had seen Unicorn's ones, and felt their pain and their worries as his own. He could feel the horse's relief and growing respect for him, as well as his sadness for not being brave enough to help Rickon achieve his journey.

"You'll need another, Little Master, for I fear I will hinder you with my emotions."

You are hungry, thirsty, and scared. With some rest and a little food on your belly, maybe you'll find the strength to continue? Rickon said with hope in his mind.

"You may be right. I do not think it is safe to eat any of these leaves, but the water seems good enough." Unicorn said, leaving the road to quench his thirst.

"I would not do that if I were you. There are lizard lions waiting for you to make a mistake in these waters."

The voice made them jump and they looked to its origin. A man of short stature stood in front of them, and his smile tugged at Rickon's heart as it felt familiar.

"King Rickon Stark," the man said to the boy's surprise. "I have been waiting for you for a long time. I am Howland Reed. You and your companion are safe with me."

Dragonstone 303 AC.

Dany.

Melisandre had joined them even before they'd had a chance to remove Jon's clothing from him. The red priestess had quickly pushed past the Maester and the healer that had joined them and Dany looked on a little enviously as she reached down and placed her hand on Jon's forehead. She did however welcome the look of relief that appeared on Melisandre's face and even the accusation in her words when she spoke.

"What happened to my prince?" Melisandre asked angrily.

"We know not. I left Jon speaking with his friend, Samwell Tarly while Ser Jorah and I made our way to the keep. When next we saw him, he was as you see him and being held in Rhaegar's talons." she said as she looked to the window to see the Green Dragon was still flying outside.

"And Samwell?" Melisandre asked as Jon's clothing was being removed.

"Is…Oh By the Gods, his chest, what happened to his chest?" she cried out as she moved hurriedly to the bed.

Jon's chest was covered in stab wounds, and one, in particular, seemed to be over his heart. Dany just by looking at it knew it was a fatal one. Her eyes went from Jon's chest to Melisandre, to the Maester, and back to his chest, and then she was kneeling on the bed, her hand touching his face and when she heard him moan, she let out the breath she was holding in. She moved her hand to his chest and to the wounds and found to her shock that they didn't bleed, which made no sense.

"Maester….the wounds…I."

"The wounds are no issue." Melisandre said and Dany almost broke her neck with how quickly her head spun to look at the red priestess.

"No issue, no issue, can you not see them?" she asked angrily.

"They are old wounds, your grace and long recovered from." Melisandre said, and only that the Maester somewhat agreed or she'd have argued more.

"The wounds are old, your grace. Though how anyone could recover from such…"

"So what's ailing him now?" she asked after she composed herself a little.

"I believe it's the water, your grace. Lord Snow has, it seems at least, somehow nearly drowned."

"He will recover." she said firmly and the Maester nodded, though whether that was because of fear of her or that he believed it, she couldn't be certain.

Reluctantly Dany moved from the bed and walked to Missandei, bidding Melisandre join them. Once all three of them were together, she turned to the Red Priestess and asked her about the wounds.

"Those wounds, Who gave him them?" she asked angrily.

"His former brothers in the Night's Watch." Melisandre made her contempt for the men clear.

"Why?"

"My prince wished to bring the Free Folk past the Wall, he wished to save them from the Army of the Dead. There were those in amongst the Night's Watch who felt this a betrayal and so they performed one of their own. They led my prince from his rooms with tales of his uncle Benjen who'd been lost Beyond the Wall and once they'd done so, one by one they drove a knife into his body, the last one piercing his heart."

"How did he survive?" Missandei asked as Dany looked to the bed.

"He did not."

"But…."

"My prince lay dead in his rooms when I was sent for. Ser Davos, Tormund, and his true brothers of the Watch were standing guard and had taken the men who'd killed him, prisoner. I gave him the Last Kiss and my god did the rest, bringing him back to lead us in the fight to come, as only his chosen can." Melisandre said and Dany finally felt able to breathe again as she saw Jon move on the bed, though he did not wake.

"And the men who betrayed him?" She asked, hoping they lived still so she could go to them and unleash the fury that was building within her over what they'd done.

"My prince ended them himself." Melisandre said proudly.

"Good." Missandei said her eyes locked on Dany's and Dany nodded her agreement.

It took some time for the Maester and the healer to be finished, Melisandre going to the bed herself to check over Jon too. When they were done she was told that while he'd suffered no injuries that the Maester could find, he had certainly been in the water and some of it had gotten into his lungs. They'd removed as much as they could and she was told that when he woke there was a chance he'd cough up some more. Though all she listened to really was the Maester saying that he would wake.

After he'd left, she took a seat by the bedside and was joined by Missandei and Melisandre, all three of them sitting there quietly for some time and it was only Jorah's return that broke the silence.

"We found scorch marks and ash on the cliffs where Samwell and I greeted you, my queen. There is no sign of Samwell Tarly and were I to wager then I'd say the ashes are all that remains of him." Jorah said confusingly and sadly.

"Samwell was friendly with Lord Snow was he not?" Missandei asked and Jorah nodded

"Then why would the dragons attack him so?" she added.

"Not dragons, dragon." Melisandre said.

"Rhaegal did this. He must have sensed that Samwell posed a danger to Jon, he protected him as he did in the Dragonpit." Dany said looking at all three of them.

She told them what had happened when she got to King's Landing, of the plans they'd made and that had been carried out. How she'd flown with the dragons to the gates only for Rhaegal to turn back and to kill a man she'd since found out had been Ser Gregor Clegane. Dany barely heard Ser Jorah say that her niece and nephew had finally been avenged and instead looked to Melisandre who herself was staring at Jon.

"Would Lord Snow need Rhaegal to protect him from a man like Samwell?" Jorah asked and it was Melisandre who answered.

"Were that man truly Samwell then no. So there is more to this than it seems. Regardless, we all owe the Green Dragon greatly as I shudder to think what may have occurred had he not done so."

"As do I." Dany said so softly that only Missandei heard her speak.

They sent word to King's Landing of what happened and why she'd been and would be delayed from returning. A raven soon arrived back from Lady Olenna asking for more details and pressing for assurances that Jon was to recover. At first, she believed the lady was looking at the politics of the situation. That she was concerned with what would happen should Jon truly fall. For were that to happen then they'd only take the North by force and not by any words or offer they could make. The more she considered it though the more she was sure it was because Olenna was worried not about the North, but about Jon himself.

As the days passed without him waking up she considered sending a raven North to let his brother and family know what had happened only for Missandei to talk her out of it. Not only would Jon recover, her friend said, but his brother was in a similar state according to the ravens that Jon had received. Dany, understood that to tell his sisters and the Lords of the North would only cause even more issues between them and since she wouldn't be able to tell the brother he was closest to, it was for now best that she told no one in the North at all, for now at least.

She took her meals by his bedside and slept in the chair that was nearest to it. Only moving from it to go to the privy and change her clothing. Though it was merely days since Rhaegal had brought him to them, it felt far longer and each morning she woke and he did not, she feared he never would. Rhaegal flew close to the keep and she would hear his sad lament as he sang while he did so. Her words, when spoken, she hoped would carry to him, and yet she feared they would not. When she heard the song change to one more joyful she turned to the bed and felt her heart begin to race. The small movements looked so much like someone awakening that she could only hope they were what she wished. Then she heard his voice and felt herself be taken in his arms. Her own wrapping tightly around him and she almost swore to herself she'd never let him go.

"Dany, I…Dany." he said as she whispered in his ear that all was well, that he was well, that she was so relieved that he was well.

The kiss was like nothing she'd ever experienced before and yet it felt too short, too fleeting, and so when he kissed her again and she felt his tongue as it sought entrance into her mouth, she welcomed it eagerly. This time it went on for some time and they were both breathless when they moved from each other, Dany laughing at something he said and then disappointed when he apologized for being so forward.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Jon. Your advance was received most keenly." she said and he smiled at her as he leaned forward to kiss her softly once more.

"Then I shall need to take note of that for the next time." he said as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"You are well, you feel well?" she asked and he nodded "The others, I should go tell them…"

She went to rise but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the bed, her hand going to his chest and feeling the scars there and whether it was the feel of her hand or that he realized his chest was uncovered, she felt him stiffen slightly.

"I had not wished you to see these." he said softly and then he chuckled "Though given some of the thoughts I've had of you, perhaps that's very much not true."

"And what thoughts are these?" she asked playfully.

"Most lascivious ones." he said and she felt the lump in her throat. She'd had many such thoughts for him after all and it was pleasing to know she was not alone in thinking that way.

"Melisandre explained what happened. The traitors at the Wall. Her words as she introduced you when we first met make more sense now." she said and felt him look away from her, her hands going to his face to make him look back her way "Were you truly dead?"

"I believe so. I was told I could not have lived with this." he said moving her hand to the scar over his heart "But my time was not to come for I had more to do."

"Win the war against the Army of the dead."

"I was going to say to meet a beautiful queen, but aye, I supposed there's that too." his chuckle made her laugh a little.

"What happened with Samwell? How did you end up in Rhaegal's talons?"

"That was how I got here?" he asked and she nodded. "Then I owe him even more, wait is that…"

"He's not flown away, not even to feed." she said almost proudly and then she gasped as Jon got up from the bed and his nakedness was revealed.

That he didn't stop in his movement gave her a chance to take in the full sight of him and it was one she found most pleasing. Even as he stood at the window and spoke to Rhaegal who was flying even closer now, Dany found herself taking in just how he looked and it was only when he turned back and seemed to notice he was unclothed did she avert her eyes.

She did however risk small glances at him as he dressed and then before she knew it he was back by her side and sitting beside her on the bed.

"That wasn't Sam. I believe it was a Faceless Men, my sister believes they see me as an abomination and while that may be true, I believe there is more to it than that. He tried to kill me and when I went to draw my knife and fight back, he pushed me over the cliff and I fell into the water below. The last thing I saw before it went dark was Rhaegal unleashing his flames on the cliff above."

"We found some marks, some ashes. We believe them to be the remains of whoever that was." she said and he nodded his agreement.

"I must go back North, Dany. I must do so as soon as I'm able. My brother needs me and he is like me too, he too has been brought back. When the battle for Winterfell began, Ramsay held him by a rope and sent him running across the field. All my plans were forgotten as I rode as fast as I could to get to him. He died in my arms with an arrow in his heart." Jon said and she brushed away the tear that fell from his eye as he spoke.

"Oh Jon, I'm so…you should not have to bear such things."

"I refused to let him go, to give up on him. He'd been given up for dead for most of his life and I'd been as guilty of it as most, but I couldn't…I couldn't. I asked Melisandre to bring him back as she did me and her god granted me favor once more. She names me as his chosen and I care not whether that's true or not, only that I owe him for Rickon and for myself. I…."

"We'll set sail from here, I'll give orders…."

His fingers touched her lips and stopped her from speaking and she looked at him as he shook his head.

"You need to be crowned as Queen. To put the city to rights and then and only then can you leave to come North. I wish you could come with me and I've no true desire to part from you, not for some time were it possible."

"You wish my permission to leave?" she asked surprised.

"I know I've done what I said, that our agreement has been honored. I could just go and hope you'd follow…."

"I will follow." she said determinedly.

"I wish we had more time. There are things I want to say that I cannot, for they are not things that should be said in leaving."

"Then it seems we shall have much to talk about when I arrive in the North, Jon Snow." she said playfully though she felt anything but.

"Many things." he said and she actually felt the blush as it appeared on her face and then she felt his kiss once more.

When they moved apart she asked him when he wished to leave and was shocked it was to be on the morrow or the day after. Though even more so by what he suggested to her as they walked from the room to go and let Melisandre, Missandei and Jorah know that he'd awakened. She wondered if it could indeed be done, given how Rhaegal behaved around Jon she was sure that no one else could come close, but still, she had her doubts. Yet as they walked through the keep and he held her hand in his own, she prayed to the gods that he could. As the thoughts of someone to share even that with her were ones she very much wished to be true.

Greywater Watch 303 AC

Rickon.

Meera's father had led them to his keep and gave them everything they needed to eat, drink and rest, Howland explaining as they tended to their needs that he had dreamt about a frightened wolf hidden inside a horse that needed his help. Since Meera's return to Greywater Watch and her telling about her journey, he had understood the meaning of his dreams and figured out who the scared wolf was. He could not understand Rickon in his form but would try to figure out how to communicate with him after they rested.

That Jojen's father could have prophetic dreams didn't surprise Rickon. He had, after all, sent his children to help them flee from Winterfell because Jojen told him about his dream. No one in their right mind would have done so if they hadn't experienced it themselves, or trusted their children completely and unreservedly.

He was glad to see Meera come to see them with her father the next day. His friend seemed fearful, but not for her and not of him, which was the most important for Rickon.

Greywater Watch itself looked nothing like Rickon had imagined. Even after being told of the floating crannog by people who lived there, it was a whole different thing to see it in the flesh.

"Never in my life would I have imagined I would be able to see a skinchanger. Only one in a thousand is born this way, and the Gods have blessed your family with more than one." Howland said warmly while Meera winced, probably thinking about Bran. "May I ask you some questions, Your Grace?"

Rickon made Unicorn nod, hoping Howland would understand, and the smile he got in response showed he did.

"Is it the first time you've done so? Share the mind of an animal?" Howland asked and they shook their head slowly from left to right. "Your Direwolf?" again they shook their head.

"The white one? Your brother's?" Meera enquired and Rickon nodded.

"Did you do it consciously? Do you know how to control your power?" Once again they shook their head.

"Bran didn't show you how Your Grace?" Meera asked and they snorted, making her chuckle. "That is Rickon alright, father."

"I believe there is more to the story but we won't know since he can't talk to us. The only thing clear is that the Gods brought him here for us to help him."

"How can we help him? We are not wargs!" Meera said hopelessly.

"No, but you've met one. You've been with Bran for years, sweet child. There must be something you remember from the time he learned to master his powers that could be helpful to his brother."

"I… I was not the one who helped him. Jojen did. And the Children after he…" she couldn't finish and Rickon understood why.

He wished she didn't have to relive her brother's death and those moments when she lost almost everything, but he needed her. he needed to control his powers so he could get to Jon, and later, help his people with his gift if he could. He walked closer to her and looked her straight in the eyes.

Please, Meera, you're my only hope here… he thought, hoping to show her all his despair.

She sighed loudly and shook her head as she softly stroked Unicorn's neck and then she began to speak.

"When Jojen was teaching Bran, he told him to focus on the familiar that he wanted to warg into. He told him about awakening his third eye, which would help him do as he wished."

"And how does one awaken his third eye?" Howland insisted.

"Jojen made him train every day with Summer. When he… the Children gave Bran the Weirwood paste. Something happened with the sap of the tree and its roots, I think. There was more to it I believe, but that's all I managed to see them do."

Rickon reacted as Meera talked about the sap, remembering the urge he had to drink from the heart tree's red tears. The voice he had heard ordered him to fly to Jon after he drank the few drops of sap he had on his hands. He tried to explain to Howland and Meera what had happened, but quickly gave up when he realized they couldn't understand him.

"It seems our friend had a similar experience as the one you've recounted, Meera," Howland managed to deduce, much to Rickon's relief. "Did you warg after opening your third eye?" he was asked and again he felt unable to answer.

"Maybe it's not truly open," Meera suggested. "Maybe he needs more paste?"

"It will not hurt to try, at least not us. Are you willing to do it, Rickon?"

I will try anything if it can make me stronger! Rickon said, nodding energetically.

Meera excused herself and he felt the crannog begin to move in the opposite way it was until then. Howland explained that there was only one Weirwood Tree in the Neck and they were going to bring him to it so that he could try to open his third eye.

When they arrived he could soon see the giant tree from where he stood. Were he in his human body, he would have been rendered speechless. He could see the little crannogs next to it and he could then understand why people in the Neck could be reached only if they wanted to.

"The roots of the Heart Tree are buried so deep inside the earth that we cannot see them," Meera explained. "When the Children tried to flood the Neck to stop the First Men's progression during the war, this Heart Tree remained. People have since tried to dive to touch them and earn the blessing of the Old Gods, to no avail."

He could feel the Reeds' pride as they stood in front of the giant face that was surrounded by black water. Rickon was as much in awe of it as Unicorn was terrified, and time seemed to stand still while the atmosphere grew solemn. They watched as Howland and Meera knelt to pray, soon joined by other crannogmen, and they gasped when they saw red sap coming out from the tree's giant mouth.

Drink. Drink and fulfill your purpose. a voice said in their mind.

He advanced toward the tree, feeling the same attraction he did when he was at Winterfell. The bowl of red sap looked unappetizing but they knew what they had to do. The first gulp tasted bitter, then better, then almost as sweet as the lemon cakes that Sansa was so fond of. It was as comforting as the feeling of Arya's and Jon's embrace whenever he felt down, yet the warmth he felt was different. He felt his mind detach itself from Unicorn yet, contrary to the time it happened with Ghost, this time he was not afraid.

He was back once again surrounded by doors, but this time he could feel what was on the other side. Unicorn's door was the closest to him, the door painted in a different color than before.

"Because he's one of your familiars. You've shared his body and he accepted you without reservation." the voice he heard previously boomed.

"How many familiars can I have?"

"It depends on you and on your worth, young man. You can travel and force yourself into any being you want, but only them will allow you to bond with them."

"Ghost?"

"Is bonded with your kin, as your Direwolf was bonded to you. "

"What happens when a familiar dies?"

"Then your bond is severed. If your mind is with them when they pass, you do too. If you stay too long in their mind, you become them."

"That's what Bran said, that I would lose myself if I stayed away from my body… but Jon… I need to go to him…"

"And you will. But before you can fly, you have to walk. Try out your powers, but do so carefully. Trust your instincts and follow them. Think of an animal, and then choose a door."

Rickon obeyed and thought of a lizard lion. Most of the other doors disappeared around him, including Unicorn's, and only a few remained. One was close to him and he knocked on it, asking for permission to enter. When the permission was given he found himself staring at the white bark of the heart tree from under the water. He dove deeper and stopped when the lizard lion asked him to, feeling the beast's uneasiness at the idea of reaching the tree's roots. He thanked him and tried thinking about another animal when Unicorn's panicked cries reached him and his door came into view. The horse had felt him leave his body and worried about him fading away, so Rickon had to reassure him that he didn't and that he would come back to him. He felt him calm down and realized that they were being held by several men.

"Rickon? Are you there?" Meera asked fearfully, breathing a relieved sigh when Unicorn nodded. "Oh, thank the Gods. I thought we've lost you."

"You're ready. I can feel it." Howland said solemnly and they nodded once more. "Do not worry about the horse, we will care for it until you return. Who knows, maybe you'll see each other sooner than you expect."

"Be careful out there, Rickon." Meera said, staring at him with something akin to worry.

"One more thing, Your Grace. Whatever you do, whatever the reason, and even if they are the only animals close to you or if you're in need… Do not warg into ravens."

Howland's stern warning resonated in his mind, especially after what had happened in Winterfell. After saying his farewells by pushing their muzzle onto Meera's face, Rickon concentrated on a bird so he could fly to Dragonstone.

The doors were different depending on their species, but he could feel all of them. After multiple trials and refusals from some of them, he was granted permission to enter the mind of a hawk.

I thank you for welcoming me. I need help to go to Dragonstone.

"What's Dragonstone?" the hawk asked, confused.

Dragonstone is a place. A place where the castle looks like a dragon.

"What's a dragon?" the hawk asked, and squeaked when Rickon shared images of the giant beast he had met at Winterfell. "Isn't that dangerous?"

We will not get close to them. I swear. I just need to see Jon.

"What's a Jon?"

After explaining everything to the hawk, he finally agreed to help him. They quickly flew south and Rickon watched with wonder as they flew over the sea. He had never seen it, only heard of it, and being in the skies made him feel free, freer than even when he had been one with Ghost.

He felt him long before seeing the outskirts of Dragonstone and he directed the hawk to his brother, having no time to marvel at the impressive fortress when they got there. Finding Jon was the only thing that counted for him, and he was relieved to see him alive and well. He was holding the dragon queen in his arms and Rickon felt a pang of anger as he knew that Davos had sent word to Jon about his state, but he was glad to see his brother was in good health.

Jon! Jon, it's me! he yelled through the sky, hoping to get his attention. And when his brother's eyes found his own, Rickon finally felt he was home.

Dragonstone 303 AC.

Jon.

The dreams, visions, or whatever they had been, had been most strange and while a part of him wanted to close his eyes and see if he could do what he had in them, a larger part of him wanted to do nothing more than what he had been doing, to kiss Dany. What had given him the courage to do so was beyond him and he cared not. The thoughts of having her in his arms and of feeling her lips on his own overriding all other thoughts, for now at least.

Eventually, though he had needed to stop, they had needed to stop and so they had, and then they had spoken. Jon told her that he'd need to go back to Winterfell and that he had to do so now had been hard. as was telling her that she couldn't come back with him, not yet. The idea of being parted from her hurt him deeply and yet he knew that he, they, had no true choice in the matter. Rickon needed him, the preparations for the war to come needed him, Dany needed him, a voice in his mind said and he knew he couldn't listen to that voice for now.

Not to mention it was not the only voice he was hearing in his mind. A voice he now knew was Ghost's or he now believed was Ghost's was there and he was now certain it had always been so. Jon was now sure that he'd someone ignored it or not heard it truly before and now he could. It was joined by another voice, one that was louder but the same and this other voice said but one word over and over.

Fly.

Perhaps that was why he told her what he did and why she'd been stunned to hear him say so. Whether that was true or not, he'd find out soon enough as despite feeling hungry and wishing to speak to Melisandre to let her know he was well, it was to the cliffs he walked and Dany walked alongside him. He held her hand in his and it felt right to him, as if this is what he should always be doing, that they were meant to be connected be it by touch or more.

"How would you be able to ride him, Jon?" she asked, the first words she'd said since they left the keep and he stopped to look at her, fighting the impulse to kiss her once more.

"I don't know other than to say I believe it so." he said and he hoped she understood.

"Perhaps your mother…"

"I never knew her. My father would never name her and I believe now he never intended for me to know, despite the words he said when last we spoke." his voice was angered and he took a breath to calm himself.

"Could she have been someone of Valyrian blood? Someone tied to my family?" Dany asked almost eagerly, the thoughts of an unknown member of her family still living, were ones he knew she'd welcome.

"I don't….I mean it could be I suppose. But where they'd have met and how no one knew of them, I know not." he said, shaking his head.

"Do you wish me to speak to Lord Varys?" she asked as he looked at her confusedly.

"Why?"

"He was Master of Whisperers for my father, for the Usurper, and now is so for me, If anyone would know of such surely it would be him."

"Mayhaps we should see if I can actually do this first." he said with a chuckle which she joined in with.

By the time they reached the cliffs, they'd been joined by Ser Jorah, Missandei, and Melisandre. Jon moved to the red priestess while Dany spoke to the knight and to her closest friend.

"You are well, my prince?" Melisandre asked concernedly.

"I am, my lady. The fall didn't do any lasting damage and I know now what it is we face."

"My prince?"

"It wasn't Sam who attacked me, my lady. It was a Faceless Man wearing his face and now a man I named as a true friend has lost his life so that they could get to me. When this war is won, when we've defeated the Night King and his army, I swear the Faceless Men will pay for that, they'll pay dearly." he said firmly.

"Should you be up and about, do you not need to rest?" she asked and again her concern was clear, Jon moving even closer to her to place a hand on her shoulder to offer her what reassurance he could.

"I am well, truly." he said seeing her nod "Though I thank you for your concern."

Once he was sure she believed him, he moved over to Dany and spoke to her only briefly before he heard it in his mind once more. The voice sounded excited to him as it repeated the words over and over.

Fly.

Fly.

There was no need to turn to see the Green Dragon as it landed, nor to look into its bronze eyes which stared keenly at him. Yet Jon did so anyway and then with a look to Dany he moved closer to the Green Dragon and brushed his hand against Rhaegal's head, hearing him trill as he did so.

"You saved me again, thank you, my friend, thank you," he said and Rhaegal closed his eyes and once again Jon heard him say the same word, though this time he swore there was another whisper as well.

Fly.

Rider.

What it looked like to those who were with him, he couldn't tell. To him, it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen as Rhaegal laid his wing on the ground and looked to him to climb up onto his back. That he did so without hesitation or nervousness was something he'd reflect on later, as was how he found the exact place he was to sit. In front of him, there was a horn rising out of Rhaegal's back and without thought he grabbed it.

"Sōvegon." he said and he felt the small jolt and then he was in the air.

Dany had told him that the dragons answered only to Valyrian commands and he had laughed at the prospect of speaking the language. Yet the words came to him almost unbidden and though Rhaegal flew slowly so Jon could get used to being on a dragon's back, he could feel his need to go faster and so he bid him do so.

"Jikagon adere." (Go fast).

"Eglikta." (Higher).

"Pālegon geptot." (Turn left) "Pālegon paktot." (Turn right).

"Dracarys."

Each word he spoke was listened to and responded to by Rhaegal, he flew faster when he bid him to, higher, he turned the directions that Jon bid him and then he let loose his flames as soon as Jon said the word he'd heard Daenerys speak. The other words he knew not where they came from and how he knew them, only that he did and as they flew, he began to feel more and more as if this was where he was supposed to be.

Beneath him, he could see the Dragonmont and the keep itself, and the stories he'd read as a boy were now shown to him to be true. The keep was built to resemble a dragon in repose and it was, he was now sure, always meant to be seen from upon a dragon's back. They flew out to sea and the ships beneath them looked as small as rowing boats and Rhaegal it seemed wished to play. The Green Dragon dropped low to the water and then soared up high in the sky without Jon telling him to do either.

When he felt it he wasn't sure, but at some point, during the flight, he knew it had happened. The feeling he'd had when he had first held Ghost in his hands and looked into his red eyes he now felt again and he didn't need the dragon in his head to tell him what had just occurred.

"We are bonded, Rhaegal. Where I go, you go." he said and he heard Rhaegal's roar of agreement and Jon swore that so would anyone else for miles around.

Flying back to the island was almost something he wished not to do and yet he knew that Dany would worry about him, as would Melisandre, and so reluctantly they did so. When he told Rhaegal what he wished to do, the dragon was only too keen to take him back home and so he planned to leave on the morrow.

"Tegun." he said and Rhaegal landed a few feet from where Dany and the others waited and as he did so, Jon saw the scorched earth where the thing that had worn Sam's face met his end and he thanked Rhaegal once more.

Climbing down off Rhaegal's back, he told him how grateful he was for the ride and the protection he'd given him, and then he bid him be ready on the morrow. Once he was done, Jon then moved to Dany who was looking at him in a way that stirred more than his heart.

"I knew you could, I knew it." she said happily and then he was holding her in his arms and lifting her from the ground.

"I believe your son has ruined horses for me." he said to a loud laugh.

That night they ate together and when he left her back to her room, he knew that she and he both wished for him to join her inside, and yet he could not.

"I want to, more than anything I want to." he said and saw her disappointed look.

"But you won't?"

"Not tonight. I don't wish to not be with you after we would…" he said and he blushed which brought a smile to her face "I believe were we to lay together then I'd not be able to go another day without wishing to do so again, and then again, and then…"

"Again." she said with a small laugh.

"I must leave on the morrow and I fear I'd not be able to. I want to, more than anything I want to…"

"Then that shall have to be enough for both of us for now."

"For now." he said softly as he kissed her goodnight.

Sleep was hard to come by and in his dreams he found himself looking to a bed where his brother lay and feeling Ghost in his head or him in Ghost's head.

"You must learn to control it brother, as our other brother is doing now."

"Rickon?"

"He seeks to know that you're well, as did I."

"I'm coming home."

"Good!"

He broke his fast early the next morning and spoke to Melisandre about her own return, telling her to offer what counsel to Dany that she could and giving her the request he had for Varys regarding Gilly and Little Sam. Then he made his way to the cliffs to find that the dragons weren't there yet. Dany walked with him and once again he held her hand in his, though neither of them spoke as they walked and he wondered how he would be able to bid her farewell.

"I'll do what I must in King's Landing and then we shall head south. White Harbor?"

"I'll meet you there." he said softly.

"You're sure about Lady Olenna?"

"I believe it's for the best, aye."

"And Varys?"

"If he can help, then aye, I'd like to know." he said and then they moved together, his arms around her pulling her tightly to him.

The kiss was soft and he felt Rhaegal's arrival just as it was ending, then he felt something else and turned from Dany so abruptly that she looked at him a little hurtfully. Rhaegal's roar rang out and Jon found his eyes on the hawk as it flew in the sky. The bird seemed to call out to him, its cries ringing to Jon's ears as did Rhaegal's relieved ones and he felt a warmth in his heart he couldn't understand. He saw it too late, Viserion as it chased after the hawk Then he watched in horror as the Golden Dragon bathed it in flames and looking to Dany he shook his head and went to move away from her.

"Jon?"

"Rickon, I need to get to Rickon. I…."

"Go to him, go to your brother." she said and with a last kiss to her cheek, he climbed up on Rhaegal's back and headed North.

A/N: Thanks to all who've read and reviewed. Up Next we take a look into the politics of the North and the South as Dany is named a queen and Rickon's state brings questions and problems. While Dany's intent for the north is discussed. Sorry for there being no update last week, both my co-writer and myself weren't feeling too well and took some extra time.

Daryl Dixon: Ruh Roh indeed.

Guest: Thanks so much.

Suppes: I couldn't get onto your story this week, this bloody site and the cloud flare nonsense means only one of my devices could access it, the computer, so I hope to do so this week.

Lawkeeper: What annoyed me a lot other than some of the more nonsensical plot elements of season 8 was how dumb they made characters to make that plot work. Military men don't leave an enemy at their back, ever. The entire Cersei plan is nonsensical in that they don't go to her expecting her to join, they go to her asking her to stand down. So in essence, they have this huge army and outnumber her massively, but intend to fight a war while she rests her own army and them resume hostilities, that's the dumbest plan ever. No matter how optimistic they are about winning the war in the north, they'd then have to fight a war with fewer men, who does that?

So here having a Jon who's not a mute moron and Olenna who let's face it gave Dany the right advice, this is what would and should have happened in the show. The canon plan would be the equivalent of Jon going, I can do a deal with Ramsay and then deal with him after, something he'd never do, and yet with Cersei he does, really.

Oh, the Stark brothers are lining up to battle each other all right lol.

I think we can guess it close enough with Ned. I've no problems with people feeling sympathetic or having a completely different opinion of Ned than me, I used to carry the same opinion myself. The more you consider it though, the worst IMO Ned comes out. I do agree that his plan was as you say it and that the effects of the rebellion preyed heavily on him. The thing is though once Jon comes of age, Cat is always going to do as Cat does, so that idyll was never going to last. Jon reaches manhood, Cat no longer puts up with his presence, and Ned as he did with all things Cat/Jon related, would pick Cat's side.

No matter what exact words were said to him in that tower, the promise does not involve Jon going to the Night's Watch. Lyanna may have said, don't tell him the truth, don't let him know he's a Targ, and keep him safe and away from the throne. But she didn't say, let him go to the Watch, so Ned still failed. Here's one last point and I've made this one before. If anything happens to Ned then Jon was fucked. Had Ned died in the Greyjoy rebellion or at any time before Jon is old enough to somewhat take care f himself, he's fucked. Ned left no provision for him, made no plan for him. He knew how Cat felt and yet did nothing to prepare for Jon whatsoever. Now you may say that this is the same as his other children, but it's not. If Ned dies they have their mother and Robb inherits WF to provide for them, even if both died, they have Cat's family. Jon has no one, Ned is his only family or the only one in a position to care for him, and he makes no preparation, that is a failure and is just one of the many reasons I'm harsh on Ned.

The Sphynx: Love the poem as always my friend.

Celexys: So glad you're liking Olenna/Jon. I think Jon needs a matriarchal figure, and if he found one he'd be more open with them than many others. Both he and Olenna wish a lot of the same things and so have this common ground which has allowed for this to develop. Let's face it this is how Cersei should have been dealt with, the whole parley and leaving her to after the war for the Dawn was two idiots trying to make a non-interesting thing, interesting. Hell even after that they pretty much screwed up that part of things as much as they did the NK, both he and Cersei are beaten so pathetically easily after all.

Gunners: I'm so not a Sam fan, he's a manipulative sod in the books and a craven coward in the show. We had planned to give him a bigger role but my co-writer came up with the idea and it adds something so we went with it. Exactly right, you deal with the enemy in front of you and then you deal with the next one. No one wouldn't have dealt with Cersei, especially after HG, when she was at her weakest. Olenna respects Jon because she can see he has no bias so to speak, his plans make sense and have already saved her, which has impressed her and led to her figuring out the truth. Knowing who he truly is, does lead to an even deeper relationship between them as Olenna is setting the seeds for the future.

We went back and forth with Cersei/Euron and one thing I've always felt about the death of characters is that because it's final, you should consider it carefully. Is there more you wish to do with them? Can they add something by surviving? Things like this and just killing them is to easy, we need them to cause a little chaos.

I think you summed Tyrion up quite well.

J: So because this is set in a certain timeframe and therefore show-based, we try to keep to the established show logic and lore. When you start at a particular time, you're constrained by what happened before that time and by the lore that was distinctly established. For example, show lore says that Loras is the only son of Mace Tyrell, this is spoken about time and again, it does not say the same with the Sand Snakes nor with Davos's children. So we can bring in more Sand Snakes and Davos's children, but not bring in Willas or Garlan Tyrell. In regards to the Sand Snakes betrayal and the Samlljon's, you're completely right, the show did them dirty. But again these are established things. Same s the blowing up of the Sept and other little points that happened only in the show verse.

We could of course not have the Sand Snakes betray or the Smalljon do so, but if you pick a starting point, you have to deal with events that occurred before that starting point. You can't set a story that begins after the RW and have it that Robb lived, Imo anyway. You can on the flip side set a story before it and save Robb or have him survive, but not after it.

Yes, Sam has been killed by a FM, if that's you're cue to leave then so be it, it's necessary for the storyline here and a key plot point, but I understand if it's not to your tastes.

Kingmanena: Tyrion isn't involved in the FM plot. Bran/Rickon are on a collision course as you see here. I feel the same, never has a show gone so far off the rails that it's completely ruined everything that came before it. Even shows with bad endings you can still go back and watch certain episodes and enjoy them. It's very hard to look at Jon at the Wall and know what his end will be or watch Dany, Jaime, Cersei, any of them really and be invested. For me the Prequel will suffer from this in terms of the houses, knowing what happens to House Targ why do I care what happens, for example. But I hope you enjoy it.

Blackwidow: You've hit the nail on the head with Daemon, he's supposed to be just that. My thing with Corlys is that its Corlys. He's s Valyrian, it's kind of a big deal and literally, every single one of them shares the same physical traits. His descendants Aurane Waters and Monford Velaryon still have the silver hair and pale features, so it's that specific piece of diversity that bothers me. It's the equivalent of making the elves in LOTR diverse for no reason other than to do so. I'm all for diversity when it's right to do so. But to make Corlys look different than Daemon and the Targs kind of misses the entire point of Valyrian blood.

Guest: The Sam thing is something that bugs me about fics too. They become friends because of a specific scenario, Jon wouldn't speak to Sam if he met him somewhere else. Where he to see Sam being bullied, he'd perhaps step in, but that would be it. It's because they were at the Wall and that's it. Tyrion is not involved in the FM plot.

Glad you're liking Jon here, I think having him show the things he can do allows for that respect and is more true to the character. Hope you enjoyed both Jon/Rhaegal and the Jon/Dany here.

Keb: Jorah is who we think he is, Jorah. Glad you enjoyed the parley and the FM are not done yet.

Tommiboy: Bran is doing his best LF impression, trying to sow discontent. You nailed it with the Bran/Rickon and what occurred. It's such a stretch from Book to Show Tyrion. In the book, he fantasizes about raping and killing Cersei, in the show he's like "Nah we can trust her" so bloody different lol. I do think this is how anyone deals with her though, the show made clever people dumb and named dumb actions as clever. No way they leave Cersei at their back holding a knife, to do so is to beg to be stabbed. So when you have Jon being Jon, Olenna who let's not forget pretty much told Dany to do this, and Dany who actually has other competent advisers and not simply Tyrion given the same dumb advice over and over, this is what you get.

Xan Merrick: Thanks, my friend. I think having someone like Olenna around and not thinking she'd come up with a plan like this is misunderstanding her and Jon as we saw in the books is ruthless enough to do so.

VWChick: Viserion is still somewhat affected. I did like the Wight scene when it went for Cersei which was why Leilani and I wished to keep it. Glad you like the battle.

Supremus: Sorry, a full pardon for a Lannister, really? In what world would that go down well. Olenna would have removed her support, Dorne too even if Dany saved them. In the North, she'd have looked weak and spineless and Cersei both never would have accepted, and even had she, would then still be a thorn in Dany's side.

Forcing your enemy to break Parley and using it to secure the city and the throne is a smart move. Dany comes across as the heroine who not only removed Cersei Lannister but who was the wronged party in doing so. Politically it gets no better than that. Practically you've taken the throne and the realm and Cersei would never garner support ever again and had they managed to capture Cersei/Euron they also have the reason for their executions added to. Is it honorable? No, but you're dealing with dishonorable people, which is kind of the point.

Sam was wrong place, wrong time. To get to Jon they took him out, and the reason why we used Sam will become clearer later.

Victoria: Thank you, my friend. I'm with you on the dragons/direwovles (hint another Direwolf is soon to be seen once more and to be given a better bit of time than the show did to her). The dragon bonding was a big annoyance for me in the show, to not have the time to see them together. Firstly it should have been Rhaegal on the cliffs, secondly, it should be meaningful when Jon and he bond. Same with Jon/Dany, some time, some build up, and then it means something. You called it with Rhaegal and Jon, he did save him, again lol. Olenna is just like so many of the other great characters, wasted in season 8. We barely see her and while she gets a good ending, she deserves more. Jon needs someone like her too. Cersei/Euron will be seen again and cause trouble. As for Bran, well as you see, he's not a nice person. LF's end is coming soon, hopefully, it'll be better than the shows. Stay safe and well my friend, keep smiling.

Lady Octarina: I do like the fun chapter titles, hope you liked this one too. The crimes of Dany's allies will be given a go over the next chapter. I like those fics as well, I think having Bookjon in the show verse would be so much fun. We know how he'd act in certain scenes and so him doing as he does here is pretty much what he'd do, Olenna is ruthless too when need be and against Cersei, she'd be so for this lol. Cersei and Euron will be off-screen for a bit but we'll see them again and find out what they're up to. Anything would have been better than a rock wouldn't it, bloody idiot showrunners. Like seriously how do you do a Cersei death without using the Valonquar in some way.

Hopefully, this answered the Bran bit. It wasn't Jaqen that Jon killed, just another nameless faceless man lol, Jaqen we will see again.

The Lion's Pride: So very glad you enjoyed it, I think there is a time to ramp things up and add a little tension and pace and while I don't always get it right, it's nice to know you think it worked this time. As you see though Jon doesn't buy Arya's explanation, so we'll see more Faceless Man discussion.

Over the next couple of chapters, we'll see a lot more characters brought into things. With Dany soon to go North it allows for a broader look also. Davos is such an interesting character and Bran as you say with access to all he knows, knew what buttons to push. Davos's wife and children live, or some of them do here, he won't just have the one son and we may even see some Marya later. The thing is that Davos is smart too and he already felt odd about Bran so he's able to yes be affected, but also to consider the source. Having him look at the Starks gives us a different look and we'll be seeing a bit more of others doing the same. Here we get some Robett Glover and next we'll have someone others. With Mel, Jon never actually banished her here, so she's free to come back North and yes we'll be showing what that means to Davos.

Hopefully, this answered the Bran/Rickon questions or some of them and yes a Bran pov is upcoming. We have a take on the TER that will be interesting but we're still a little away from that and Bran kind of suffers how Varys/LF do in the books. Where the povs show too much so we don't get them, here we'll get a Bran one when it's right.

I think you make a good point about Dany, she was lacking certain advisers for certain things. Love being one of them, but even war to an extent, especially in the show. Dany needs a counterpoint, be it Jon, Olenna, Missandei, anyone but Tyrion. Tyrion always to me is the guy who talks a good game and perhaps makes you listen, but really, your shouldn't.

Dragons and Direwolves, Warging, these things are so big that they need to be shown and explored in their relationships with their riders, bonded or the person warging them, which we've tried to do here a lot. The Dragon bond is a unique one and it really needs to be more than, he climbed on a dragon to me. In regards to the reason Euron didn't get a dragon, it's mainly because I think Dragonbinder if it does that is such a terrible plot device. I like it better that it doesn't quite work and just causes some problems, as it has here with Viserion, while somewhat helping too which we'll see later.

I hated the end of the NK in that it didn't deal with any of the lore, which we've got a fun take on here. So hopefully here it'll be a better version. The God's Eye has some interesting lore that could have been used but Harrenhal kind of works as almost the starting point for dragons.

Glad you liked the parley and the use of the Wight. Jon is this way, restrained anger and willing to go far but not too far. Tyrion's whole thing with his family just becomes more and more ridiculous as it goes on and how it's not called out for what it is, was beyond me. Here we're seeing people see what it is and seeing what happened when Dany has capable people around her. Euron is not a character I've much time for, so I've no real interest in writing full-on book Euron as to do so is to make him a bigger villain. I won't say he's show only here, but closer to the show version.

So happy you're liking Olenna, I love the character and one of the key things I always try to say to myself in fics, is about a character living or dying. If you keep a character like Olenna alive, then you'd better have a plan to use her somewhat appropriately, here she's important and so used that way. And yes she's a matchmaker lol.

We had to keep the scene in with her telling the truth because it's an incredible scene and she acted the hell out of it, to do it in front of Cersei, only adds to it we think. She didn't tell Jon because she wanted the entire thing to be real, for Cersei to see the shocked looks on Jon's/Dany's face so that it was clear this wasn't some ploy, even though it was. Having Tyrion and others be called out is just logical and yes will have ramifications. We didn't do much on Jon because this chapter needed to come out, the wounds needed to be seen, to lead to the story being told.

Varys is another character who was done badly by the show, having him play his role here just felt more true to him. And yes the Gods will be playing a part, as you see in this chapter. Euron/Cersei haven't got the men to conquer Essos, Meereen, perhaps. Jon's avenging of his family will take up a different meaning to him very soon. As you see, he had his visions here, good call.

On House of the Dragon, I'm all for diversity, I just think that given how Valyrians are described, to have that be who you make diverse, just doesn't ring true. I don't really know the actor and both he and Doctor Who could do great jobs, but physically both don't work for me and that's adding an element that wasn't needed to their performance. I think when you go diverse for diversity sake then you're on a slippery slope and you're missing the point of things. It becomes this character is diverse not because we need to be more diverse, but because we're filling a quota, and that never ends well.

Wrysenseofhumor: Thanks so much, yes Bran is sowing little seeds of doubt and discontent and it's all part of something more. Well called on the Bran/Rickon and damn if the Starks had only trusted in animals, they have been so much better off. Exactly right with Jon, that's him to a T, he follows the letter of the law, is honorable when he can be, but not tied to it. The Karstark thing is exactly what I had in mind with this, just enough so it's really grey and he can't be called out on being dishonorable. Olenna too is the same, she understands appearance matters.

The Lannisters are falling from grace. We'll see Jaime soon enough, but Cersei is off-screen for a bit and Tyrion may have further to fall soon enough. Well you got the right Faceless man, and that's why Sam is used, he was wrong place wrong time for himself, and the opposite for the Faceless man. As you see Jon is not so convinced on the reason. In regards to the openness of the attack. It was an opportunity. Had Dany not left them alone on the cliffs, he'd have waited, but he was sure he could kill Jon and escape easily enough since there was no one around to see him do so. Once he killed Jon, he could have worn Jon's face or Sam's or another's to make good his escape.

You were also spot on about the near-death bringing him closer to Dany.

Had GRRM gotten Ned in his last moments to reflect on Jon properly and reveal the secret (in his thoughts, not words) then Ned may come across differently and it would have set things up nicely for the next books. Holding onto it for as long as he has, just makes it far less than it could have been.