Let the Wolf Die, Let the Dragon Rise
Chapter 6: The Young Wolf's Will
'I had forgotten how beautiful the countryside of the North was,' Naruto thought, 'I spent so long on that bloody Wall staring North, I had forgotten the beauty that lay just south of it.'
Naruto rode in his full armor on top of a black war horse, marching his 17,000 strong force to Last Hearth. Melisandre, Sansa, Brienne, and Davos rode beside him. The Freefolk had 20,000 capable fighters, but he left some behind to protect the non-fighters of the group, as well as 15 of his 25 giants and mammoths. The 123 Baratheon men that were with Ser Davos rode marched with them, carrying the banner of House Stark. Naruto had decided in order to keep up his ruse, he would march under House Stark's banner…Well, technically it was his banner, but so not the point. The Northerners were a stubborn lot, yet they would be more accepting to the idea of him being their ruler if knew his true nature AFTER he had risked his life to restore House Stark.
They were currently a mile from the Last Hearth.
At Last Hearth
Hother 'Whoresbane' Umber and Mors 'Crowfood' Umber were overlooking the Wildling army, as well as a boy with a hood over his head.
"It doesn't make any sense," Hother muttered, "Why are they flying that altered banner of the House Stark?" Naruto was using a white direwolf with red eyes on a black field as his sigil.
"Better yet, why did Jon let them come South? He's Ned's son, I know, but I don't understand why he would let these savages come south." Mors said in agreement.
"Can I see the spyglass, please?" asked an innocent voice. Hother turned to the boy and gave him the spyglass. "It's Jon and Sansa!" Rickon said happily.
"What!?" Mors said, "Are you sure, Lord Rickon?"
"Yes, I know that red eyed, white furred Direwolf anywhere. That's Ghost, alright, and he only follows Jon. And I'd never forget my sister's face."
Hother and Mors looked at each other. "One of us needs to parley with them, to make sure it's them." Hother said.
"You go," Mors said, "of the 2 of us, you are the only one who has met Jon."
"Alright, but if I don't make it back, seal the gates." Hother said.
Outside
The gates of Last Hearth opened allowing 2 riders through. Naruto squinted his eyes before he realized it was Hother Umber thought the hooded midget he couldn't make out. He turned to address Melisandre, Davos, Tormund, Val, Sansa, Brienne and Karsi. "Alright, the Umber's want to parley. Melisandre, Karsi, Tormund, Val you stay here. Don't attack unless I give you the signal." They nodded. "Davos, Brienne, Sansa, Ghost, with me." He ordered as he turned to gallop towards Hother Umber, with his companions following close behind.
They met halfway between the castle and the army.
"Hother Umber," Naruto said.
"Is that you, Jon? It sounds like you, but I can't tell with the armor," Hother commented.
"The cunt of House Bolton told me all about how you people handed Rickon Stark over to him, along with his dead Direwolf." Naruto growled, "I'm disappointed, to say the least. I remember that House Umber was one of House Stark's most loyal houses, yet you would break faith with our House, for one filled with Oathbreaker's, Rapist's, and Kinslayer's! A house filled with men who condone the murder pregnant woman and babies, flay people alive for their own amusement, and break the sacred guest right!"
"I can assure you, Snow. We have Rickon Stark right here." Hother gestured to the hooded boy.
"Oh really? Prove it," Naruto demanded. Rickon took off his hood and Naruto gasped. Naruto, thanks to Jon's memories, could never mistake Rickon for anybody. "Rickon?"
"Jon. Sansa" Rickon said. Naruto may be covered from head to toe in Valyrian Steel Armor, he may look like a Targaryen, but his voice have not changed. They both got off their horses while Naruto took off his helmet and embraced his surrogate brother, while Sansa got off her horse and made it a 3 person hug.
"Jon, Sansa", Rickon whispered, "It's really you, big brother, big sister." Rickon pulled back from embracing his big 'brother' and sister to examine him. "You're hair and eyes are different, but your voice are still the same. What happened to you, brother?"
Naruto looked at the ground and sighed before saying, "A lot of things. The most obvious being finding out I'm actually your cousin, not your brother."
Hother examined Naruto and after a few moments, his aged eyes widened. "Aye', so it would seem." He said, causing the other's present to look at him. "I knew Ned for a long time. He was the most honorable man of this era. And his story about your origins, boy, never made any sense to me. Ned Stark, betraying his honor and that of his wife by sleeping with some tavern wench? Bullshit. Ned wasn't so weak-willed. He would never have betrayed his wife, despite being a thousand miles away."
"So," Hother finished, "if I had to guess, I would say your parents are Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen." Naruto nodded.
"Yes," Naruto said as he got back on his horse and put his helmet back on, "While I would like to continue this conversation, I'm going to have to 'assault' Last Hearth for the 'crimes' committed against House Stark, thus 'seizing' the strongholdfor myself before continuing onward."
"Aye," Hother nodded in understanding, "Well, we shall have to 'mount' a defense in order to 'halt' your advance, Jon Snow."
"In all seriousness though, just make it look convincing." Naruto said before turning around and heading back.
Suffice to say, the 'Siege of Last Hearth' only lasted ten minutes, which was exactly how long it took Wun Wun and Dongo to run across the field, get through the 2000 of the 17,000 freefolk throwing themselves against the wall without stepping one anyone, and to break open the gate. The archers of Last Hearth had orders to fire arrows into the crowd, but they always missed on purpose.
Last Hearth
Main Hall
Naruto was standing in Last Hearth main hall looking out the window with his hands crossed behind his back. Ser Davos, Melisandre, Sansa, Val and Tormund were in there with him. The doors opened to show Mors, Hother and Rickon walking in. The doors closed and Naruto turned around to face them.
"I take it by now you all know what I am." Mors, Hother, and Rickon all nodded.
"Aye, I didn't believe it until Hother explained this shit to me." Mors said. "Never realized little Lya might have actually loved the Bard Prince and went with him willingly."
"It was a shocking revelation for myself as well, especially when I was resurrected on my own funeral pyre." Naruto said.
"Jo-I mean, Naruto, there is something you need to know. Before King Robb died, he gave his last will to Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover to hold onto. They managed to survive and get a copy of this to us." Hother said, handing the parchment to Naruto.
"Let it be known that I, Robb Stark, King in the North and the Trident do hereby proclaim my brother Jon Snow as my lawful Heir until a son is born to me. By my authority as King, I hereby release him from his oath to the Night's Watch and strip him of the taint of bastardy and name him Prince Jon of the House Stark.
Signed, Robb Stark, First of His Name, King in the North and Trident and Lord of Winterfell."
Naruto felt the tears in his eyes as Jon's emotional attachment's broke through. All of Jon's life, he had wanted to be a Stark, and apparently so had his cousin, to the point that when having to choose between Sansa and Jon, he had chosen Jon to continue his House.
"I've wanted this my whole life, back when I was still just Jon Snow. I would have given anything to be Jon Stark." Naruto said, saying something Jon would say, before folding Robb's Last Will back up. "I will make this clear, My Lords. Once we finish retaking the North for the Starks, I intend to retake the Seven Kingdoms for the Targaryen's. But for now, I will accept the title of King in the North."
"Ramsay Snow is a mad fuck who will flay the whole North for his own damn amusement," Mors admitted. "For thousands of years House Umber has kept faith with House Stark, I'll not be the first to break that faith," he drew his sword and went to one knee, "THE KING IN THE NORTH!" soon enough the other Umber men were joining in.
"Rise," Naruto said after he managed to calm them down. "We need other Houses if we are to make the defeat of Ramsay Snow meaningful," he turned to Hother. "You still have your Maester?"
Hother shrugged. "Yes."
"Good, I want you to prepare to send ravens to every House in the North asking for their allegiance."
"Your Grace," Mors interjected. "Might I suggest you visit some of the Houses in person? It will be easier that way."
Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "We don't have time to visit every House," he admitted. "If you take we Robb's Will with us, you believe we can convince Lord Manderly, since I'm guessing he doesn't know about the will?" he asked as he held out Robb's will.
"Aye, only Maege, Galbart, me and my brother know about the Will," the older Umber said. "I've known Wyman since the time he was thin enough to see his own cock when taking a piss."
Naruto snorted, that must have been some time ago. "I thank you, Lord Hother. In the meantime, we'll rest for a few days and then go take Karhold and the Dreadfort, then get my Lord Wyman's support, I assume you can spare a few men to accompany Ser Davos to Bear Island?"
Mors nodded. "And what of me?"
"The sigil of your House is a giant breaking his chains, yes?" Naruto asked
"Aye." Mors said.
Naruto grinned. "How would you like the honor of being the first man in thousands of years to commission armor to be made for some giants and mammoths?"
Crowfood's eyes widened as he remembered Wun Wun and Dongo who had been the ones to break open the door to the castle, and the other 8 giants and ten Wooly Mammoths.. "Fuck me..." he said before breaking out in laughter. "Ramsay's gonna shit himself when he sees a fucking giant clad in steel from head to toe."
"That's the idea. Also, we probably need to get a message to Lord Smalljon since I'm guessing the plan was to install Rickon as Lord of Winterfell after the Bolton's were defeated. But delay the message, as well as those ravens until a few days after we leave. I want to take the Karhold and Dreadfort while the element of surprise is still ours." Naruto said, getting nods from them. "I need to speak with Melisandre alone for a moment."
The elder Umber's left to attend to their business and prepare his army. The Red Woman approached her king. She bowed low and asked, "How may I serve you, my king?"
"I need something from you, Melisandre," Naruto pulls a small leather cord necklace of the with a moonstone that had the engraving of House Stark on it and puts it on.
Melisandre looked questioningly at him and he said, "I need to look like my old self for a while." Naruto said. Naruto looked a mirror and saw his old face as Jon Snow.
"The thing I need from you is two-fold. I need you to summon the bodies of Ser Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne, along with their weapons and armor here and resurrect them." Naruto said. Naruto would do it himself, but he was still weak from his resurrection, and half of his essence was still inside his old body and he couldn't get that back until the protections around the tree he was fused to were destroyed, because those same protections also kept him bound to the Weirwood. Plus, he was still figuring out this bodies secrets. All his magical feats since his possessing of this vessel so far had been on his own power. Magically speaking, he was operating at maybe 10% if he were being generous, though realistically, was probably 5%.
Melisandre shook her head and answered, "I do not have the power on my own to complete this task, my king."
"You can do it, then?" Naruto asked, to which Melisandre nodded, "What do you need then?" Naruto had watched her using his Greenseer power and saw she had birthed 2 shadow assassins to kill Renly and Ser Courtnay Penrose, and used Stannis's life force to do it. And how she survived Strangler like it was nothing and burn people alive with a look. She would have been able to bring Jon back on her own power, had he not stopped so he could possess it, so he knew it was possible.
"It may be possible, if I had both the blood and seed of a king. Especially if that king is Azor Ahai." Melisandre said. She knew that Valyrian dragonlords held power within their blood. Their blood could be used to supplement her magic. The Baratheon's had the dragon's blood, but their blood was diluted, Gendry's more than Stannis. Naruto had the blood of the Winter Kings and the blood of the Dragonlords of Valyria. He had an insane amount of magic power at his disposal. She could sense his great power, now that it had been awakened, and it was like standing in the presence of power given life.
"And I am I going to lose years of my lifeforce if I give you my seed?" Naruto asked quizzically. He had seen what happened to Stannis and had no desire to shorten his lifespan, thank you very much.
"No, my King. I can feel the massive magical energy you exude. Stannis lost some of his life force because he had no magic power of his own, only the little bit that rested in his blood. I can safely say that you wouldn't lose even a few seconds off your life force." She stated, pleasing Naruto immensely.
"I have to begin distributing proper weapons and armor to the Free Folk. But tonight after dinner, meet me in my chambers. We'll do this there," Melisandre bowed in acceptance as Naruto walked out to see to his troops.
Before he did that though, he went to find Val. "Hey lover," She said.
"Come here, Val," Naruto said as he pulled her in for a deep kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth and exploring it.
"You look different," She noted as they broke the passionate kiss.
"Moonstone Broach. I need to look like my old self until we win the war in the North. The Northern Lords will be less likely to act up if they think I'm still Eddard Stark's son." Naruto said. "Now, I wanted to ask you something. How would you like to experience your first threesome?"
That night
Naruto walked into the guest room he stayed in after reconnecting with Rickon along with Sansa that night and distributing some of the Last Hearth's excess weapons to his Free Folk, with the Umber's permission, while they're smiths forged more. He found Melisandre and Val already waiting for him, both of them already naked, on the bed, kissing each other. "Aw, you got started without me." Naruto mentioned.
"Well, when you told me about this, I was skeptical, so I thought I'd try it beforehand. Melisandre has been very helpful with accepting the idea." Val said cheekily.
"Well then, let's get started," Naruto said as he took his clothes off.
Next Morning
It was morning when they woke up. The sun brightened up the room. The Targaryen, Free Woman and Red Priestess lay underneath the sheets, the priestess spooning the right side of Naruto's body, the wilding woman on his left, their heads resting on his chest. Naruto's arm wrapped around their waists, holding them comfortably against his body. Melisandre was the first to awaken. Smiling at her king, who was still resting peacefully. That was the best sex she had ever had. The Dragon King had fucked her and Val for 3 hours straight and filled both of their stomachs and cunts full of his extra hot seed. She noticed that some had leaked out of her during the night.
As Melisandre moved herself off Naruto and sat up some, she noticed a heat in her stomach and cunt. The seed that Naruto has spilled inside of her was still as hot as it was when he first let it out. That wasn't possible. Not for a normal person, but she was starting to see that Naruto was not normal. That same heat in her core was making her horny.
"Sleep well?" Came Naruto's voice, indicating he was awake as he looked to her.
"Yes, I slept well, my king." Melisandre said before she coyly replied, "I must regret to inform you though, that some of your seed was lost last night."
"Well," Naruto said as he gripped and threw her under him and inserted his hard cock in side of her as Val slowly awakened to join in the fun, "We'll just have to fill you back up, won't we?"
Last Hearth Courtyard
2 days later
The clashing of metal could be heard in the courtyard. Naruto was sparring with/training Val and Tormund. He had Umber men instructing the Freefolk in some basic sword fighting techniques and stances, as well as battle formations for them and the archers, which would help them utilize their natural talents more effectively. Since Val and Tormund were his commanders in regards to the Free Folk, they were receiving training from him.
He also was giving his dragons regular exercise and feeding them what few prisoners of the Last Hearth and wild animals he could scrounge up, as they needed to that to keep growing.
"Come on, you two. I'm hardly trying here!" Naruto said as he taunted them. Naruto parried a strike from Tormund, before parrying 2 more from Tormund and kicked him away before blocking a strike from Val and forcing it her sword to the ground, bringing his free hand up to block Val's horizontal shield bash several times, before ducked under her sword swipe, swinging his practice sword and tripping Val up, causing her to hit the dirt.
"Well, I'd say two hours is enough for now." Naruto said as he helped his lover up. "Its only been a couple days and you two have already started to show improvement."
"We still can't barely land a hit on you." Val mentioned that she could only manage to land about 5 hits in the whole time.
"In your defense, I've been doing this longer compared to you." Naruto said, knowing it was true.
Naruto examined them both. Val preferred to wield a decent-sized shield and sword in combat, while Tormund had always preferred his single blade, though recently he had taken to using two short sword's. Naruto had created for them several weapons made of Valyrian steel. He was able to do this, since he knew the formula to make it and the spells that made Valryian steel so feared. All you need was molten steel, a shard of dragon glass, and dragonfire, which he had plenty of all three. The spells could be applied to any sword, but the dragonglass and dragon fire combo acted as binding agents that made the spells permanent.
For Tormund, he had forged 2 Valyrain Steel gladii, as he explained to Tormund that his old weapon was more suited for slashing, and against opponents in full plate armor, of which they're were numerous in the South, a weapon designed for slashing was ill-suited. This way, Tormund had options to work with. Tormund had not decided to name his yet.
For Val, since preferred a sword-shield combo, he made her a Valyrian Steel blade that was suitable for her hands and a shield a black round shield with the face of a dragon on it. She called it Dragonheart, in honor of her lover who gave her the amazing gift(1).
"How do you southerners even wear these tight clothes?" Tormund asked as he fidgeted with the leather jerkin he was wearing. He was used to wearing the looser fitting animal furs of the Freefolk.
"At one point, the Northmen wore furs like the free folk, until we came up with a better way. The leather on the outside keeps the snow and ice from getting into our clothes, while the insides are lined with fur, which keeps us warmer in the long run than the loose fitting animal-skins of the Free Folk. And that's all before you add the fur cloaks into the mix." Naruto said.
"So, you trying to make us kneelers now too, King Crow?" Tormund asked with a wide grin.
"Do you honestly think it would work?" Naruto asked dryly.
Tormund laughed while Val snorted contemptuously, "Of course not," she said.
Naruto nodded, "Didn't think so. I know when I'm fighting a losing battle."
Tormund gave Naruto a hearty slap on the back. "Well you go and do your kingly stuff King Crow. I'm gonna go see if I can't steal that big woman." Then he sauntered off, to their amusement.
"Brienne's going to fucking murder him, isn't she?" Naruto asked Val.
Val let out an uncharacteristic giggle. "From the way she was been looking at him the last week… he's either gonna be the happiest man in the world tomorrow, or he'll be making us miserable as we try to stitch him back together after she breaks him in half."
Naruto snorted as they walked inside, "If I know Tormund, he'll fall even harder for her if she does beat him to pulp."
"Aye there is that," Val agreed.
"That isn't to say, that I don't understand the appeal of a woman who can fight better than most men. Because I certainly do," Naruto said as he pulled Val close to him. They were alone in the halls of Last Hearth, and shared a passionate kiss. Val, he learned, had a loving and compassionate side, but she preferred to only show it in private, as she had had to keep it hidden from men of the Freefolk so they didn't take advantage of her for most of her life.
"Let's continue this in our bed," She suggests as she pulls away and drags him up to their bedchambers for another threesome with Melisandre.
War room
That Night
Naruto, Val, Melisandre. Tormund, Sansa, Mors, Hother, and Ser Davos were all looking at a map of Winterfell, with wooden figures on the map to represent battle numbers.
"Alright, we've lingered long enough. Let's go over our strategy," Naruto said. "Before we even think going to the other houses for their aid, we need to take the Karhold and the Dreadfort. Taking the castles of Ramsay and his biggest supporters, although I guess should say supporter, since Smalljon is secretly working for us, without him even realizing it will make Ramsay look incompetent and weak, while putting us in a much stronger position when recruitment time comes. I know thanks to you, Lord Mors, that Houses Reed, Mormont, Manderly, Forrester, and Umber are all with us, and House Glover will be on our side when Galbart returns to Deepwood Motte, since he and Maege are laying low with the Reeds, but some of the smaller houses may be fearful of fighting House Bolton, considering the reign of terror Ramsay has waged since Roose committed his treachery against Robb."
"Houses Ryswell and Dustin likely won't support us either, your Grace," Hother said, to the confusion of some of the occupants in the room.
"What do ya mean, milord?" Ser Davos asked.
"Barbery Ryswell married William Dustin back during the Rebellion. After his death at the Tower of Joy she continued to rule Barrowton in his name. She hates Ned for failing to return Will's body due to his grief at losing Lyanna, and House Stark as well, and because her sister was Roose Bolton's 2nd wife, she would most likely support Ramsay. And Lord Rodrick Ryswell will follow her. So we can't count on them." Hother said.
"Traitor's," Sansa cursed under her breath.
"We can't expect them all to join us, Sansa, especially not one with such hatred for this family. I wouldn't trust them to not betray us." Naruto said.
"How do we take these castles?" Tormund wondered.
"First, there's the Dreadfort." Naruto said as he moved a wolf head to the Dread Fort's location on the map. "Under normal circumstances, taking this fort would be tough. The Dreadfort is one of the strongest Castles in the North. It is situated in elevated terrain with cliffs surrounding three sides. With thick walls and massive towers, a standard garrison of 500 men could hold it for two years with ease."
"Lucky for you, these aren't normal circumstances then," Val quipped, to his amusement.
"Indeed," Naruto said as he looked his war council. "Not only do we have secret weapons that can break down the doors of any castle with a few blows, aka giants, my spies tell me that Ramsay didn't even leave a full garrison in the Dreadfort, about 200 men. The majority of the Bolton men are at Winterfell."
"You have spies?" Sansa asked in surprise as she never thought Jon had that kind of foresight. Then again, this was not the same Jon from her childhood.
"Not many, but enough that I can place them in certain key positions. When I heard about the Bolton's being named our successors as rulers of the North, I put a few spies in key positions in the castle." Naruto lied, as he had merely checked by possessing the birds and ravens around the castle.
"The Karhold will be trickier though." Hother said. "Like the Dreadfort, the Karhold is situated on eleveated ground, two stone hills that rise above the tree tops, with only about 10 yards separating the two damn things. Unlike the Dreadfort, the Karhold has two parts. There's the Main Keep, and the Great Tower. They're connected by a narrow wooden bridge. Taking the Keep would be simple enough, but they can easily cut the bridge and then we will only have 1/2 the castle."
"Then we do what Stannis did you to us with his horses. Attack both sides at the same time." Val announced before anyone else could say anything. She placed two wolf head figurines on the dot on the map that indicated the Karhold. "While our giants break down the gate to the Main Keep, Tormund and 30 of our best climbers could scale up the hill that holds the Great Tower. Their forces will mostly be focused on the Main Keep, as they likely would not suspect we'd send climbers up their Great Tower."
"Can it be done?" Naruto asked Mors and Hother.
"It should be. That stone hill has a lot of spots that with a good set of climbing gear, you could crawl up all the way to the top of the tower." Mors said.
"You up for another climbing job, Tormund?" Naruto asked.
"After scaling up the Wall, this will be easy," Tormund said with a smirk as they continued to make plans.
Later that night
Melisandre and Naruto were standing in front of a pentagram that had been drawn with his blood. Melisandre was chanting and Naruto was channeling his power into her to give her more than enough power to summon the two Kingsguard.
Qarth
A woman with a red lacquer mask who was standing in a garden, thinking on her recent visions concerning Daenerys as she felt a prick in the back of mind, letting her know that someone was trying to summon two people she did not want leaving her side. Extending her magic, she blocked them entirely.
Last Hearth
As Melisandre chanted, they felt their combined power straining against something.
'Something is blocking us.' Naruto realized.
All of a sudden, they were knocked off their feet by a powerful gust of wind as white, ocean blue and emerald green flames rose up from the pentagram, stayed there for a moment, and then dissipated, leaving only scorch marks on the floor.
"I'm sorry, my King. I cannot summon them. Something is blocking me." Melisandre apologized for failing in her task.
"How? The only two that have the power to block me at my current level are the Night's King and…" Naruto trailed off as he realized who had them.
"So, you're in the game again as well," he muttered to himself before he turned to face Melisandre. "We won't try that again. Whoever has them already resurrected them and has them with her. I have a feeling, now that we have made contact, they will be coming here."
Qarth
Quaithe smiled at the feeling of familiar magic. "So, you have finally managed to claim your true vessel, Naruto." His magic felt weaker than she expected from him. Perhaps he had not learned how to use his new bodies full potential yet in conjunction with his own power.
Quaithe walked back back to the manse that she stayed at in Qarth. She walked down it's halls until she came to dark room lit with torches. There were two male figures in black cloaks that were kneeling.
"I take it you are not feeling any discomfort." Quaithe asked.
"None, my lady. Thank you for the help." One said.
"So, the prince tried to summon us." The other said.
"The spell he used was not meant for the living. He was still under the belief that you were dead. Now he knows you are not." Quaithe said.
"Our Prin- no. Our King needs us. We must go to him." The first one said.
"My thoughts exactly. Remove your masks, Sers," Quaithe said as her two companions removed their masks, reveal their faces to the world. The faces of Ser Arthur Dayne, and Lord Commander Ser Gerold Hightower. The only difference now is that they had aged 5 years, since They had been resurrected at the same time that Jon Arryn died.
"Where is the King now, Lady Seastar?" Arthur asked as Quaithe took off her mask and her form shimmered to reveal her true appearance with long Targaryen silver-gold hair, and a heart-shaped face. Although she had two mismatched eyes—one blue, the other green this so-called defect seemed to only make her more beautiful. Her beauty could almost be considered divine.
"He's in the North, fighting the Bolton's to destroy them and put House Stark back in control of the North." Shiera Seastar said. "Come Sers, let us leave this place behind. It's time to go home."
And with that, they walked out of the Manse in Quarth for the last time and made their journey to the North.
Chapter End
AN:
1: Dragonheart is basically Valorheart from Darksouls 3, just instead of the lion face on the shield, it's a dragon, and the sword is a Viking ulfberht.