Chapter 6 - Meeting Ned Stark

The weeks went by quickly for the group at the tower. Hanko forewarned the Kingsguard that he was expecting Eddard Stark and to not engage him in combat. They were about to argue about being able to protect their charge (Lyanna) and how Ned could possibly harm her knowing she is pregnant with his enemy's child. Hanko just gave them a hard look, before giving a hard Gibbs-slap to the back of their helmets and chiding them on the impossibility of their claims as Lyanna and her child would be considered family and no-one from the North would dare commit kinslaying without being forsaken by their Old Gods. If they were that up-tight about it, Hanko told them to try asking for Ned and his companions to lay down their arms; however he suggested only Ned and Howland Reed come close to the tower.

In those weeks, he felt the activation of Hirashin shields further south, and more going East towards Dorne. Hanko knew who to thank.

Thank you Shi for setting up in advance, I owe you.

Busy at the moment-talk to you later.

That had him curious as to what was happening, but it wasn't until later he found out she had to deal with some bandits thinking she was easy prey.

I'm guessing you left a clone with Ashara.

Yes, I figured it would be a good idea since you seem to have a fascination with the black haired, purple-eyed young lady.

Hanko could easily hear the snark coming through.

I'm not going to not look at beauty when I see it. Besides, you should know I still prefer my red-heads over anything else.

Shi chuckled Yes, I know.

They both knew, as Shi's appearance as a shinigami was correlated to Hanko's subconscious thought when it came to the most comfortable personification he could think of. After all, a calm soul is much easier to take to the afterlife than appearing in front of them as some skeleton with a long black cloak and a scythe.

Hanko and Elia spent time conversing with Lyanna as well. As Rhaenys kept busy navigating her Focus, Elia took her mind off of it by finding common ground and starting to become closer to her counterpart Lyanna. They were starting to become like sisters when Hanko introduced them both to their own Foci.

"So you are telling me, when I put this on, I will see things other people cannot see?" Lyanna asked hesitantly, while also peering at Rhaenys closeby who looked like she was plucking and swiping invisible things in the air.

Elia smirked. "I also think it is strange, but I've seen my sweet has learned much by interacting with this magical artifact."

"My Ladies, it's not magic, it's just technology. Although there is a saying going along the lines of; technology advanced enough will look like magic to those that do not have it."

Lyanna took in the small triangular shaped device before putting it right above her ear where Rhaenys had it. Immediately there seemed to be lights displaying along the regular surroundings. He almost grabbed for the Focus to rip it off in fear, however she stayed her hand; as if waiting for something to hurt her. Nothing came. She exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding until then. With a new breath, she looked at all the lights now, different circles in her vision. With trepidation, she raised her hand to press on one of the circles. Immediately a rectangular window of light popped up now displaying information in common, which she realized was her own. Her name as 'Lyanna Targaryen', height, age, natural hair color, and pregnant status, all shown on this window. What startled her the most was when there was a name in parenthesis underneath hers. It showed 'Aegon Targaryen'.

"Why do I have two names under this window?"

Hanko was able to, using his 'Parent Focus', take a look at what she was looking at. With a curse, he realized what had happened.

"Apologies, there was some information about future events that was also copied to that Focus, so it knows who you are pregnant with." He scratched his head in a meek acknowledgement of his error.

It took only a moment to realize, "So I'm to have a son?" she asked now almost in a whisper.

Elia gently placed an arm on Lyanna's. "Isn't that amazing?" Elia looked towards Lyanna's tearing eyes. "Most ladies do not get the chance to know until once the birthing is finished."

Lyanna was whimpering trying to be strong and hold back her tears, but it wasn't for the reason's anyone in the room was expecting. "It's funny, Rhaegar was looking for the three-heads of the dragon, but instead, his last heir is a boy instead of a girl. I don't know if I should feel sad, or vindicated for all that has happened."

"It's understandable to feel confused about this," Elia sympathized with her. Coming closer to give her comfort. "Rhaegar could always be so...enchanting. So...mesmerizing. He was like a pretty package all tied up in a bow." Elia knelt down to get a look to Lyanna's face as their gazes turned to each other. "At least, until we both unwrapped the same gift and realized it was bare inside. No comfort, no lasting affections, nothing."

Hanko was starting to feel awkward at the heartfelt moment. Lyanna was able to hold herself up though before continuing the previous conversation. "I thank you Hanko, for letting me know, even if it was by accident. I also don't have to worry about a name now."

Hanko only nodded in affirmation. Elia was the next one to speak up. "Since you can see what we now see, any chance you can help us out?"

For the next week, they all talked together during the day. At night, Elia and Rhaenys would stay in the same room with Lyanna at Lyanna's own insistence. They easily moved the Dornish ladies' futons to Lyanna's bedroom and found places. Hanko chuckled at how it looked like a girls slumber party now.

In preparation of Lyanna's impending labor, Hanko had already had their guards and the servants prep everything in advance. He also boiled the water himself to cleanse it, and then had it off to the side in barrels. The ladies were surprised as he had started the fire underneath their makeshift purifier with a minor ignition jutsu. Through the Foci, Hanko asked Elia to brush up on some texts about midwifery. He also asked Lyanna to as well, but knew it might not change much as she would be in the thick of it, and forget everything in the moment.

Then the labor happened suddenly, Hanko was sitting in the tower foyer with Rhaenys next to him. Hanko was going through a lesson on spelling with Rhaenys through their shared view of her focus. Then Hanko heard the screams of labor pains from the other side of the tower.

Tiger - Horse

Shadow Clone Jutsu

Two clones of Hanko appeared much to the surprise of the few servants that were in the area. With another cry of Lyanna's going through the air. Hanko's one clone nodded to him before departing quickly to the base of the tower. The clone knew its objective, stop a battle happening at the base of the tower and escort Ned and Howland into the tower when they arrived. The other clone switched with his place next to Rhaenys to keep her safe and distracted from everything else going on.

Hanko went straight to Lyanna's room. The two servants there seemed almost still in inaction.

"I need someone outside the door to grab anything I call out for while Lady Targaryen goes through labor, am I clear?"

Only one servant nodded, a darker skinned lady who he got to know as Wyla. He went to the room and opened the door to see Elia already there. She was rinsing her hands in the only alcohol they were able to get from storage. Hanko knew it wouldn't kill much bacteria, but he knew it was better than nothing, so he also did the same as they both went to Lyanna's bedside.

- The Tower of Joy - The base -

Hanko's clone just sat there after informing the Kingsguard it was almost time. Instead of the casual conversation they were prone to have in the time of inaction before, now they were silent, ever vigilant, waiting for the foe to appear.

It was only four hours later, much to the clones' boredom, that their expected company arrived.

It didn't take long for the company of five to dismount and walk the rest of the way towards the group of four now standing at the entrance of the tower. The man in the lead was striding forward, until Ser Gerold Hightower moved in front of him to stop him where he was.

"Ser Gerold, Ser Arthur," Lord Eddard Stark acknowledged two of the kingsguard in front of him. Hanko's clone could tell it was him with how the others followed his commands. "I was looking for you at the Trident, with your prince."

Arthur shook his head, "Our prince ordered us here."

"Where is Lyanna?"

There was a cry rendered through the air, as Ned's direction turned to it. "Lyanna!?"

"Lord Eddard Stark, we have been expecting you."

Ned took one look at the thinner man in front of him and harrumphed. "I have no time for your southern pleasantries, I'm going for my sister."

"I also expected that as well, and you are more than welcome to come in unmolested if you agree to my terms."

Ned Stark looked affronted that this random man with no name was making demands of him. "Who are you Ser?" he asked now with derision. He looked around at the Kingsguard. He noted that the man stated he could pass, with stipulations, and the Kingsguard didn't seem to take actions against it. Now he was more cautious. What had the Kingsguard listening to this man? Ned turned back to Hanko. "What do you want?"

"I'm no Ser, but my name is Hanko Uzumaki, and I am what those in Westeros would call a sorcerer."

Ned openly scoffed and looked back to the Kingsguard. "How could you let some charlatan fool you?"

Arthur shrugged. "I wouldn't call what we fought anything humanly possible." Arthur just pointed to him. "If he wouldn't be here, we would already be fighting. Just listen to the annoying ninja please?"

Hanko coughed in embarrassment at Arthur's jab at him, and ignoring Ned's confusion, before continuing. "Look, I'm sure your sister is being taken care of just fine, but if you want to see her immediately, I ask two things. One; that you all put down your weapons on the ground and kick them behind you. Two; only yourself and Howland Reed are allowed to go in, the rest must stay behind.

"You have not offered guest rights, we can't trust this." One of Ned's men stated. The shortest man however walked up to Ned and whispered in his ear, Hanko's hearing however could catch what he said.

"Ned, he might be the one. You know, the one from the green dreams."

Shock appeared onto Ned's face. The clone was more intrigued as to what the Crannogman was referring to, but instead figured it would be something for the main body to worry about.

"I sincerely ask that you follow along with what I requested." the clone intoned again. "You are going to have to trust me on this one."

Disagreements were still being thrown out by his other men, but after a few seconds and another cry came from the Tower, Ned silenced them all and ordered them to put down their weapons and kick them away. Ned and Howland followed through similarly and started making their way past the Kingsguard group. Once past him, Hanko spoke out to Ned's bannermen.

"I thank you for taking part in this trust exercise. At this moment, you men are free to pick up your arms once again. I ask you to please stay in the meantime until your liege lord comes back with further instructions."

This mollified the group slightly as they grumbled, picking up their weapons. Ned and Howland did not stay to look at the spectacle as they followed Hanko's clone up to the Tower.

Getting to the Tower's foyer, they noticed the table where Princess Rhaenys and another Hanko was sitting, making calm gestures mid-air at nothing. Ned and Howland looked at the tableau and then each other in surprise thinking some sort of magic was at work, both to the unseen gestures, and the fact an exact copy of the man they were following was also playing something with the former Princess of the Seven Kingdoms.

They quickly followed behind Hanko until they got to the room. The servant outside was wide eyed at the entourage coming towards them before moving out of the way so they could get through the doorway.

Inside stood the Dornish woman they were able to easily tell was Elia Martell. Easily recognizable by her noble demeanor even with the mess on her clothes, she was now rocking a wrapped bundle they could only assume was a newly born child, back and forth making cooing noises. On the bed next to her lay Lyanna Stark, though her lower regions covered in birthing water and blood, she had a more relaxed countenance as she allowed the other and last occupant in the room to complete his task Hanko was the last person in the room leaning over Lyanna's other bed-side. His hands hovering over her mid-to-lower sections and glowing green with healing chakra as he used his own chakra to stimulate and accelerate Lyanna's healing process, not wanting to use too much of her own and make her state any worse.

Ned seeing this and fearing for Lyanna's safety stalked into the room, making his way towards Hanko with apoplectic rage on his face. "GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER SORCERER!"

"LORD STARK!" Elia shouted to grab his attention, followed by the Hanko clone shishining into Ned's path blocking him. This caused the bundle in her arms to start crying again. Elia, now having Ned's attention, spoke over the crying and continued. "I can assure you that what Hanko is doing will help your sister, as he has used similar means to save my own daughter."

Lyanna was now paying attention to the new occupants in the room and decided to speak up. "Ned, I'm feeling much better, please, come over to the other side here." Lyanna motioned to the opposite side of the bed from Hanko. Ned looked between all the occupants in the room, further focusing on Hanko's literal 'green hands' overtop his sister before deciding at Lyanna's direction and kneeling over her bedside.

Howland Reed was also watching Hanko's display of 'sorcery' and looking at the clone beside himself repeatedly and almost in contemplation as Ned spoke to his sister.

"I thought I'd never see you -"

"Ned, please let me speak first," Lyanna calmly interrupted. "I have a couple things I need to say and you need to hear."

Ned could only look at her serious expression and agree. He knew this was a side of Lyanna that never comes out unless she is completely serious.

"First, I am so sorry that Brandon and Father are dead. I did not want my absence to cause their deaths." Lyanna somberly stated. She did not cry though as she had shed those tears some time ago. "I had left multiple notes and sent multiple ravens as to what I had done and why I had done it.-"

"I'm sorry we didn't listen to you Lyanna about everything; about not wanting to be married to-"

"Ned, I'm not done, but I will get there." Lyanna winced before turning serious again. "As I was saying, I sent multiple Ravens stating my intentions clearly to everyone-including Robert. I got out one last message via messenger to Starfall which should have arrived before the rebellion met up together with their armies at the Trident."

"But I-" Ned was at first shocked, then thoughtful as he processed the information. He turned to Howland, "We didn't know anything about this?"

Howland shook his head. "None that I was aware of."

Hanko's hands stopped glowing green with healing chakra and he removed them from overtop Lyanna's person. "You should be good with some rest now Lady Stark." Hanko rose up from his kneeling position. "As you can see Lord Stark, your sister is doing fine now, as the only current doctorly figure in this tower, I would recommend we step out so she can rest." Hanko turned back to Lyanna. "I'm sure Elia can watch over baby Aegon so you can catch some rest in the meantime. I'm going to leave my clone outside the door with the other servant so if you need anything you can call."

Lyanna at first looked like she had more to say, but then only nodded, giving Ned's hands one last squeeze in comfort to let him know it was okay. As the group started filing out and Hanko used the basin on the nearby table to rinse his hands clean, Lyanna closed her eyes. Shortly they all left her to her sleep.

As the group of four made their way to the stairs, Ned was the first one to speak. "Though I do not know what you did exactly Lord Hanko, I must apologize for my tone and anger before. I must also thank you for using your sorcery to save the life of a family member."

"You are welcome Lord Stark, however we must quickly discuss what is to come."

"What do you mean," Ned said as they walked, looking over at Elia with his nephew in her arms. "I plan on taking my sister and nephew home finally."

Hanko guffawed at that statement. "Do you really think that is the most wise decision?"

They came upon the main hall. Only being interrupted by a curious and gleeful Rhaenys who came up to her mother to see her new cousin. Hanko, Howland, and Ned took another table and sat down to continue their discussion.

"The main point is your nephew is half Targaryen. I'm curious if you know of your friend Robert's feelings on the Targaryens?"

This forced Ned to think back on the throne room and Robert's demands on the search for Elia and her children in King's Landing. He remembered Robert's tone when he called for the dragonspawn and how much hatred he displayed.

Hanko frowned at Ned's expression. "I can tell from your expression he probably doesn't think well of any Targaryens; even children. Think about it, if you take Lyanna with you, she would have to go back to Robert since according to the realm they were betrothed. Lyanna would end her own life before being married to him, we both know this."

Ned glared at Hanko, but this didn't stop Hanko from stating more facts. "With Lyanna comes her newborn who we know is half-Targaryen, which Robert will not like at all. Now, he might not necessarily kill Aegon himself, but we couldn't put it past him to get Tywin's attack dog to do it for him...not that it would matter anyway as he no longer has his attack dog." This piqued both Northmen's interest, but Hanko continued.

"So for arguments sake, Robert finds someone that kills your nephew Aegon at his behest. Now you have a childless Lyanna who is stuck with Robert, a man she abhors, and now has even less reason to keep her own life." Hanko sighed. "I'm sure there are other smaller details/fallout with the other kingdoms as well if she leaves here alive that I can't even think about at the moment. No matter what way you look at it, you can't keep her alive if she leaves here with you."

Ned was sitting there now with his hands grabbing his head before throwing his arms up in exacerbation. "What am I to do then? You want me to send my sister away?"

"No, I'm just telling you that Lyanna and Aegon can't leave here alive." Ned's expression turned to anger and he shot up from his seat, moving the bench slightly, causing it to scrape the floor loudly. Hanko put his hands up in mock surrender. "Before you start yelling, let me explain further."

Howland now looked to Ned. "Ned, I think it's a good idea to listen." Ned looked to Howland first, his seething anger apparent. He took some time to gather his wits and calm himself before sitting back down slightly mollified.

Hanko continued. "I have ways to disguise a person that would allow both her and Aegon to look different than they do now. However I'd say if you wanted to take them with you, it depends. How much do you trust your men in your army? And no, I'm not talking about the men currently waiting for you at the base of the tower, I'm talking about your standing army that will have to walk all the way north again to get back home. How much do you trust them to not make links, or wonder why you brought a woman and child with you from Dorne instead of your sister?"

Ned seemed to ruminate on the thought before giving up with a sigh. "I don't know."

"Exactly, you don't currently have an idea which is why I have a different plan that could work better."

Ram - Hare - Bird - Horse

Ninja Art: Subtle Genjutsu

To Elia's and Rhaenys' eyes, nothing would have been different as they tinkered with their Foci, but to those at the table, they noticed the table between them started gaining bumps, ridges, and colors in such a way that it looked a familiar shape to Howland.

"This looks like the stories of the map of Westeros at Dragonstone." Both Northmen were looking at the new development in surprise.

"I have brought all three of us into a simple illusion so I can explain with visuals our next steps." Hanko explained as he changed the map to light up where they were currently at 'The Tower of Joy'. He ignored Ned's startled expression. "We are here. Now from what I can guess, your army is either close by, or still in the Stormlands. To go back north you would have to meet up with them and then travel the Kingsroad, all the way up and past Moat Caitlin." As he stated the locations, he traced a finger along the map and a different color bright line appeared where he pointed. "Now this is where you both will go to make it back North. I, on the other hand, will take everyone else currently in the tower to Starfall first. This includes your sister, nephew, Elia, Rhaenys, the Kingsguard and the servants."

"Why Starfall specifically?" Howland asked.

"Great question. Currently at Starfall there is a pregnant Ashara." Both Howland and Ned looked surprised and Hanko couldn't figure out who looked more-so. "Is there congratulations in order for one of you two?"

They both looked at each other before Ned answered. "I never lay with her Howland?"

"It could be Brandon's child."

Ned paled. "I didn't hear of Brandon and Ashara getting married. It mayhap be a bastard child."

"Doesn't matter as I will find out from Ashara when I get there. I plan on helping her deliver her child. Since you put it so nicely I'll also ask 'which side of the sheets' the child comes from before then taking the original group to Sunspear. I have already set a path that should allow me to get to Sunspear, take care of some business there, and more than likely arrive at or get everyone else to White Harbor before you even get back to Winterfell."

"What are your plans after ending up in the North?" Ned inquired.

"I plan on living there, with you and your bannermen to build up the north, its economy, and to raise the standard of living and get everyone ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Ready for the Long Night."