Thanks to all those who reviewed! Seeing a review makes my day and it honestly makes the sun shine brighter, the flowers smell more beautiful, and grass feel softer. I highly suggest listening to Magic Fantasy Music-The Last of Her Kind, as I kind of played it on repeat while writing this chapter.

Anyways, let's get on with the story!

1st P.O.V Wolfswood-Winterfell

Betrayal.

Sadness.

Anger.

Hopelessness.

All my dark emotions seeped into me, just as the rain was seeping through my clothes.

I should've been happy. Any normal, mentally right person would be happy in finding out who they are and while a part of me always wanted to know, I was angry. I knew it wasn't My Lady's fault nor Lord Stark's, but still...

I held onto the horse's hair tightly as it jumped over a high risen outgrown tree root. I felt like running to the end of the earth and never looking back.

Out of all these emotions, fear was the most prevalent.

What would my life entail, now that I was some noblewoman?

I scoffed bitterly at the thought. Noblewoman? Barely. My family had apparently been slaughtered. Their title taken away. No more riches, no more glory, no more Eyefire. As far as I was concerned, I was still somewhat an outsider. Both within and without, but even more so now. And if the King had my family killed, where was I in the scheme of things? What was my role to play? I didn't know exactly what I was before today, but I at least had a feel of it. Now. I am as clueless as Hodor. I no longer felt like I had a place, I was drifting without any direction of where I was going.

This change, something that I detest, made me sick to my stomach.

I pulled on the horse's hair to stop, and got off of it.

I staggered over to the nearest tree and held my stomach, and leaned against it.

Why me?

First I find out my favorite dress was thrown out. Then, I find out Robb didn't try to find that spice merchant because he wanted to (though this wasn't as much as a shock as it was disappointing). Next I get let go. Then, Jon thinks I had sex with Theon, though he did apologize for jumping to that conclusion. Following that encounter, I am told the biggest news of my life, AFTER everyone else (with the exception of Theon, who was busy with Emily) is told about it. And on top of all of this, I called my friend...an unmentionably foul name.

The last one was gut-wrenching it its own way.

I couldn't help myself when I threw up what little I had eaten. At least the rain washed it away...too bad it could not do the same for this horrid day.

Today was the worst day of my life, by far.

Worse than me nearly drowning at White Harbor.

Worse than when I spent my first night in the servants' quarters.

Even worse than my whipping.

Wiping my mouth, I rubbed some of my wet, sticky hair from my forehead and walked back to the horse. I had difficulty mounting the back of it, but I eventually succeeded.

I went on my way again.

Jon, as usual, was right. I should not have run. I should've talked it out, but I honestly couldn't think. I felt like the walls of Winterfell were slowly closing in on me, and because of me running off, I was halfway to the Wall.

Yet...I still needed time to think.

I don't think it was unreasonable of me to get some time away to clear my head.

"WOAH!"

The horse whinnied to a stop and I nearly fell off as I saw what I was about to run into.

A young woman, who was carrying a glass lantern stood in the path up ahead.

She was wet, like me, but not as drenching. Unlike me, she had a thick cloak and hood on. Her hair looked dark in the dim light of the fast approaching evening, and her brown eyes were like a doe's and were as wistful as a willow. She was small, a petite person who was tinier than my own stature.

"Are you, alright?" I called out to her.

She nodded.

"Are you in need of any help?" I asked, my voice loud so she could hear me over the heavy raindrops.

She shook her head.

My annoyance was settling in. If she did not need help and if she was not going to attack me then she should be on her way. I had to ride out my problems before they caught up to me.

"Do you speak?" I asked impatiently.

"What are you doing out in the rain?" Her voice called out. She sounded like a small set of delicate bells, unique ones that were rarely used.

"I'm escaping." I answered truthfully.

She raised a curious eyebrow at me.

"From what are you escaping?"

"Life." I stated bluntly.

Her lips tugged slightly upwards.

"I do not have an escape for life, but I do have one for this weather. You are welcome to stay at my house until this rain subsides."

I thought of my options. I could keep riding, and risk getting a cold while wallowing in my own self pity.

Or I could take up this stranger on her offer and dry off, while also wallowing in my own self pity.

"Where do you live?" I asked as I rode up next to her.

"Only a stone's throw way towards the north." I extended my hand to her and she took it. I pulled her up to me and she directed me to her house.

We arrived to her place and got down off the horse. She went to a makeshift stable and clicked her tounge. The horse immediately trotted over to her and laid in the dry stable filled with hay. After closing the gate to the stable, she came over to the front door, got out a key, unlocked the padlock, and opened the door to reveal a warm cozy room.

She ushered me in and closed the door behind us. My body started to tingle from being defrosted and I sighed on relief as I went over to the fireplace, holding out my hands to get some feeling back in them

The woman shook her cloak of any excess water and hung it up on a rack. She came to the fireplace and removed a hanging kettle from above the fire. She got a tray with two cups on it and poured the water in the cups. After doing so, she put some loose tea in it. She handed me a cup and went to a cupboard where she took out a big, wool blanket and said, "Remove your dress, unless you would care to get sick."

Nodding, I set down my cup on the floor and untied my apron. I took it off and handed it to her, and I untied my dress, handing it over as well. I was in my nightgown now, since I put my dress over it this morning. It was damp, but not as wet as my other pieces of clothes. I stepped on the heels of my shoes and got them off, which she bent down and put on top of my clothes. She handed me the blanket and I sat by the fire, bundled up and drinking chamomile tea.

She hung up my clothes on a clothesline that rang across her ceiling and she joined me on the floor by the fire, sipping on her own tea.

It was silent until she asked, "What do they call you?"

"Ophelia." I replied. "And you?"

"Feenie." She answered back, smiling into her cup as if she were laughing at some inside joke.

I was able to study Feenie better in the glow of the fire. She had short hair that was shoulder in length. She wasn't as young as I had originally thought, her wrinkles under her eyes and the laughlines on the sides of her nose were deep and prominent. She was skinny, skinnier than me, and had long, bony hands.

"Why were you out in this weather?" Feenie asked suddenly, startling me from my inner observations.

"Oh..." I looked into my cup, gazing at the pale yellow of the tea and gripped tightly. "I umm..." I sighed in defeat. "I found out some stuff about myself that I'm not sure that I was ready to hear...I'm not sure I'll ever be able to confront the facts that have been given to me." I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and I quickly rubbed them away. I sniffed and glanced over at Freebie, who looked at me with sympathy and pity.

"The world is often harsh, putting us in difficult situations before we're ready." She gestured outside towards her window as an example. "But if you do not know how to withstand a little rain, there is no way you can survive a storm. You must learn to weather the path that has been presented to you, for if you do not, you will surely drown."

I perked up in surprise upon hearing this. "That is exactly how I felt after I was told this news! I felt like I was drowning...I felt like pieces of me were dying from being overwhelmed."

She patted my knee and said, "Take some advice from an older woman, whose had many heart aches and troubles: sometimes you have to die a little, in order to be reborn as a wiser and stronger version of yourself."

Feenie sipped her tea as she stood up and walked to a tapestry hanging on a wall. She pulled it aside to reveal a small, padded knook built into the wall. Feenie smiled at me and went over to her bed, which was right by the entrance and took a plump pillow from it. She placed it on the knook and waved me over. I pulled the blanket to my body as she had my lay down on the seat.

"You'll sleep here for tonight."

I opened my mouth to protest but she held up her hand to silence me.

"I'll not have a young girl like you gallavanting off Gods-know-where in the dead of night where you can be attacked by Wildlings or animals or any other dangerous being. You will stay here and that is all I will hear of it."

I nodded. "You didn't have to let me stay. Thank you, nevertheless."

She smiled at me and sat at the end of the look, where my feet were at. Her eyes grew distant and her face turned sad.

"You remind me of my daughter. She died when she was only eight, and it nearly tore her father and me to bits. She looked similar to you, but I never did get to see how beautiful she might've become had she lived to womanhood."

Feenie gave me a tight smile and placed her hand on mine.

"You were married?" I asked quietly.

She nodded. "My husband was a fine man. Gentle, yet strong. Stubborn, but loyal. Naive, yet intelligent. He was the love of my life." She wiped a tear from her eye and smiled at fond memories.

I clasped her hand tightly in comfort, something reminiscent to what My Lady does.

"Are you betrothed?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"It'll only be a matter of time. You will be soon." Feenie's words were playful but something in me became apprehensive at what seemed to be their ominous undertone warning.

"I don't think so...but that's kind of you to say."

She cocked her head to the side and smirked. "A beautiful girl like you should have a husband."

I looked down in despair.

I felt Feenie stroke my cheek with her other hand. "What ever is the matter, my dear?"

A tear drop fell onto the blanket and I sniffed. "No man will want me. I have too many scars, now. I am nobody."

Feenie grasped my chin and made me look her in the eyes. "You are not nobody, and I am sure you never have been. You are only nobody if you give yourself permission to be no one."

"But-" I tried to interject.

Feenie shot me a stern look. "I will repeat this one last time: You. Are. Not. A. Nobody."

She leaned away from me and removed her hand from mine.

Suddenly, I started to feel sleepy as soon as she let go of my hand.

The room began to blur and I looked at the woman who was watching me fall asleep.

"Feenie?" I asked slowly as blackness had me drifting in and out.

"Yes, Ophelia?"

"Is Feenie your real name?" It was a question that had been edging at the back of my mind since she told me it. And by her reaction earlier when she told me her name, I'm guessing that she lied to me.

"No." She answered truthfully.

"Well then, what is it?" My words began to slur together.

Feenie came closer and whispered in my ear, "Seraphina."

She kissed my cheek and I fell asleep, too tired to process the shock of who I encountered.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

I woke up the next morning only to find myself in a rundown hovel.

The wood that held the structure up was either rotted or covered in moss. The wooden floor was now dirt. There was no bed, trinkets, dishes, or anything that signified somebody had been living here. This place was abandoned. When I woke up, I was dry and wearing my apron, gown, and flats. I was lying down where a reading knook used to be, but was now decayed into only stone and moss.

None of this explained how the fireplace still had a fire roaring in it, or how I had a pillow under my head and a wool blanket on top of me.

I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes to correct my vision. It was a dream. I probably dreamed of this place and what it probably used to look like.

Maybe I came here last night and started a fire.

But where did the pillow and blanket come from?

I was spooked. I wrapped myself in the blanket and went to the entrance, where a door had once been but has long since been missing from the hinges. I exited outside, where it was raining but not as heavily as yesterday.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I undid the stings on the undersides of my sleeves and used them to tie the blanket, creating a makeshift cloak. Satisfied with my work, I went to where the stables used to be but to my disappointment the stables and my horse were gone.

It probably ran off in fright durng the storm last night.

I groaned in exasperation.

Why couldn't anything go my way?

I took a step back and examined this condemned Hovel-in-the-Hill. I decided that if something or someone wanted to kill me, well why not? Dying wouldn't be the worst option for me.

My mind went back to the woman from last night.

Or was it a dream? I was not really sure.

Seraphina...I wonder if that meant...

I scoffed out loud. I believed in many things, but not ghosts. I knew that whatever happened last night a result of the cold and rain, and the fire, pillow, and blanket were the result of a do-gooder, who probably happened upon my sleeping form and took pity on me. Maybe I did have a conversation with someone, but my tired brain must've addled it to think it was something else.

I went back inside and sat by the fire all morning long as I contemplated about the news I was given the day before.

Things would never be the same again. I would no longer be just Ophelia. I am now Ophelia, daughter of Seropian and Rowan or whatever their names were. I didn't know. I was given a new identity without any regard to my old one.

By the middle of the day, the fire died down and I stood up, ready to venture out.

I didn't know where I was going, but I could not go back to Winterfell. Not yet. I needed more time to figure everything out.

I was no longer as angry as I was yesterday, but the conflict of my situation made me pensive and I needed room to sort out my thoughts.

I walked aimlessly through the forest, deciding to pick some blackberries if I became hungry or to drink the water from the river If I became thirsty.

Who am I?

I know that I can't be a noblewoman without knowing who I am in the inside. The foundation of who I am was cracked.

Or was it?

The real question begged to differ: who was I?

I racked my brain while laying up on a tree branch, popping blackberries into my mouth, unbothered by my now soaking wet clothes.

What makes a person?

I thought hard about myself, trying to find some things about me that were because they were innately things that I loved.

I like honey in my tea.

I have never kissed a boy.

I love my flowers wild.

I love rest after a hard days work.

I cry too much.

I am also too stubborn for my own good.

I believe in the powers of the Old Gods with all my heart.

I am way to gullible.

I have an affinity for all things sweet.

I love the Starks, even if I am mad at Lord Stark and My Lady for never telling me about my family.

These things define me, but a title does not.

If I can hold onto to these little bits of self-truth to my heart, I can withstand anything.

I am who I am.

I am not a Lady, not a servant, not a ward, not an orphan.

These jobs and names can fade away, but I will always be Ophelia. No one can take that away from me.

I sat up with a renewed determination.

This was my way to withstand the storm.

Feenie was right.

I realized my biggest fear above all else, was that I was afraid I would lose who I am because I am a Pyralis.

But I am not going to let this define me. Not now, not ever. The Pyralis family name be damned. Why should I care for a family who I have never known? Why worry about the stupid choices they made to get themselves killed? I am still here and they are not. Let the past stay exactly that: the past. What use is to worry about the lives of dead family members? It has no effect on me. I may be a Pyralis by the blood of my ancestors, but my lineage will not have a say in my future.

Theon told me that I could go anywhere, be anything. Even though I do care for him, I refuse to be put in his situation- a ward in a glass prison.

I decided right then and there I wanted no part of my so-called family.

I am the master of myself.

This presented another question: did I want to go back to Winterfell?

I loved My Lady, but I couldn't bear to look at her right now. She obviously knew my mother, and it's only because of her love for my mother that she loves me. So in reality, she doesn't love me, she loves my mother. That, and she lied about finding me as a baby. This brings us to Lord Stark. He killed my parents...so why would I want to go back to the home of a murderer? He sent me to work to 'teach me humility'. Bad choice on his part, as it resulted in a whipping.

However, if I wanted no part in who my family was, why did the knowledge that Lord Stark killed my parents disturb me so?

Perhaps it was because after all these years of growing up in Winterfell, alongside Jon and Robb, all these years serving him and his family, all these years of being accepted like I was family, he managed to look me in the eye like nothing was wrong.

That probably explained why he always asked about my happiness when seeing me wearing my apron, though.

After eating my last blackberry, I smacked my hands together in an attempt to rid myself of the stickiness from the berries.

My purple stained hands were starting to bother me. I tried rubbing the bottom side of the branch I was on, but due to my lack of balance, I ended up falling out of the tree and into the mud.

The mud splattered every and made the front side of my dress all dirty.

"Really?!" I asked, looking up to the sky.

What was it with me and my luck lately? I picked my self up and tried to fling excess mud from my person.

"Eep!"

I stopped flinging the mud everywhere.

Hmm...I thought I just heard a...

"Eep-Eep!"

Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked around me to see where that noise was coming from.

Getting back down on the wet ground, I searched on my hands and knees until I found the source of the noise.

I gasped in shock at myself and my own clumsiness.

Below the branch that was next to mine, was a baby bird, pink and shivering. It was chirping at me.

I cooed as I picked up the fluffy little chick.

"Hello, Little Bird. Did I knock you down?" I asked, as if the bird would magically start speaking to me.

It puffed up it's fluff and looked at me with wide eyes.

Realizing that my hands were muddy, I held the chick in one hand as I wiped it on the bark to get clean and switched the chick to my clean hand as I wiped off the other one.

I looked back up at the tree.

"Huh. I did not see a nest up there. Regardless, you're coming with me. I'm sure your mother won't want you now that you have human scent all over yourself."

The bird merely chirped at my and tucked itself into my cupped palms to regain body heat.

I looked down at the bird and looked up, towards the North.

"I don't know where we're going, but definitely not back to Winterfell."

"Eep!"

I nodded in response. "I know, Little Bird. I always wanted to see the Wall too. Perhaps we'll go there first on our Adventure of Ophelia and Birdy."

"Eep-Eep!"

I sighed and looked ahead.

I am talking to a bird. And not even a grown bird, a baby bird! This is what my life has become.

"Well, let's make our way to the Wall."

I started to trek forward in the rain, holding the baby chick close to my chest, doing my best to keep it dry.

After about four hours of walking, I sat down at the base of a tree.

I looked at my fluffy little companion.

"Perhaps after visiting the Wall, we can go to the Summer Isles? Jon and I once-"

I stopped myself in the middle of my sentence. My companion looked at me in confusion. Or so I thought.

"Little Bird," I uttered softly, stroking it's head with my finger, "if I leave...if I truly run away, I'll never be able to apologize to Jon...will I?"

"Eep-Eep!"

"I suppose you're right. It was very horrid of me to call him that. And if I left, I would never see Robb or Theon again."

My chest constricted as I looked at the bird.

"I've made a real mess of things, haven't I?"

"Eep!"

"I don't know what to do. What do you think I should do?

"Come back home. "

The sudden voice startled me and I screamed out loudly.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" The chick started to chirp madly, hopping around in my palms, trying to see what was going on.

I looked to my left to see a pair of boots. My eyes trailed up and saw a dripping Robb Stark, in a heavy cloak with a sword strapped to his side. He was dripping wet from the rain, and upon looking at him, he walked over to stand in front of me.

"Wh-what...Robb? What are you doing here?"

I didn't hear his horse or him. I looked behind him. There was no horse. So, it was just him.

He gave me a stern stare and said, "Do you have any idea the hell you've put us through trying to find you?!"

I shook my head rapidly. The shock from seeing him has yet to subside.

How did he manage to find me, especially this far North?

"Father is going mad! Half of Wintertown and nearly all of the House Guard are out there searching for you as we speak. The Manderlys, Boltons, Umbers, Karstarks, and Mormonts were sent ravens to keep an eye out for you! Father even sent a raven to the Night's Watch. I've been riding up here with Father and Jon for nearly two days trying to find you! Theon is at Wintefell coordinating the search party from there, Mother hasn't slept once from all of the worry, and Maester Luwin is preparing every remedy known to man, in the case that you've been hurt!"

Robb bent down to my eye level and gripped my shoulders tightly. His Tully blue eyes connected with mine, locked in an intense stare and asked me in a low voice, "What were you thinking, Ophelia?"

I burst into tears.

My floodgate of emotions opened once more, but this time I had an enormous difficulty keeping them in check.

Still cupping my fluffy little companion, who had long since calmed down, I put my head on Robb's shoulder and started to cry. He stiffened, but slowly relaxed.

"It was the only thing I could think of! I felt like I was drowning...I needed to get away. I can't go back ..not after..." I didn't finish because Robb put his arms around me.

"'I know this must be difficult for you...and I can only imagine the amount of hurt you must be feeling...but 'Felia...this isn't the way you solve your problems. It only creates more of a difficult situation."

Robb put his finger under my chin and I looked at him. He put his forehead to mine and closed his eyes.

"Come back home." He pleaded softly. "I don't want to have to worry about you again...please just, come back home and we'll figure all of this out together."

It was the first time in years since I heard him say anything like this to me. He was very sincere.

"You...worry about me?" I asked him softly.

"I never stopped worrying about you." He replied, opening his eyes again.

"Do you really want me to come back?"

"Everyone does." I wiped my eyes and slowly nodded. Robb helped me stand up and we walked to his horse which was about five minutes away from the tree.

It was silent until...

"Jon told me what happened."

I looked down in shame.

" I know that he is a bastard...but I never called him one before."

"I think you were just upset and he caught the brunt of your anger."

"He didn't deserve it though..."

"Aye. He didn't deserve it." It became awkwardly silent for the remainder of our rode back to Winterfell. We didn't arrive until the sky barely became dark.

Upon arriving, Robb handed the reins of his horse to a stable boy and he brought me back to the room I was staying in.

There was a tub in the corner filled with hot water.

"I took the liberty having them make sure some hot water was ready, at a moment's notice." Said Robb. He was standing in the doorway.

"I'm going out to alert Father and Jon of your return."

I slowly nodded.

It was silent until, "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned around and left. I went to the door, shutting and locking it. I looked at my fluffy companion, who Robb put in a small bag for me, and set them down on my bed. It hopped onto a pillow and nestled itself in the cushion.

I smiled at it and stripped down from my clothes, closing my eyes at the wonder that was the bath. It was so nice and warm, I nearly fell asleep.

The fire in the room was roaring and I revelled in the heat.

After the water became cold, I got out and dried myself with a towel. Noticing that my clothes were wet, I went to the draws to find what little possessions I owned were stored in there. I grabbed my brown robe and tied it around my waist.

I laid down in bed and fell asleep.

I would deal with everyone tomorrow.

So, here's my new chapter! I really wanted to convey the swirl of conflicted emotions that's going through Ophelia's mind at the moment, as well as her desire to run away from her problems, which we all know doesn't help. I also put in a moment between Robb and Ophelia, the first step towards healing their fractured relationship. And I gave her a new friend, whose name will be revealed in the next chapter! So, please tell me your thoughts about this chapter! If we could get this story up to 38 reviews, that would make my day! I love seeing your reactions to each chapter! Next chapter, Ophelia and Jon have a 'talk' , Theon pays Ophelia a visit, and Little Bird gets a name.