Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to G.R.R. Martin and Eragon belongs to Christopher Paolini
Chapter Three
At Arya's words, Jon could no longer ignore the truth he already knew, the creature was a baby dragon.
Hushing Arya, even if she was already hissing in a whisper, "Quiet Arya, it came from that stone, turns out it was an egg." Jon looked gravely at his sister so she would understand the seriousness of the situation, "A dragon egg."
Not to be ignored Jon felt the dragon pushing against his leg as it nuzzled against him, sending him feelings of joy and hunger as it smelled the scent of meat on him.
"It's like a cat," Arya said as she observed the no longer hostile dragon now that Jon had returned, admiring the pale blue colour that was even lighter on the dragons belly and the membrane of its wings.
Sitting down cross-legged on the floor, Jon gestured towards his bedside table where the candle still burned, "Grab my knife."
Taking the strip of beef out, Jon grabbed the knife Arya passed to him and quickly cut the meat into cubes even as the dragon tried to snatch it away from him with its talons, before succeeding with a lightning quick strike, managed to snag a cube in its jaws and retreat from Jon and happily gnawed on the meat.
"I wasn't finished with that," Jon said as he split the cubes in half again for the tiny dragon to be able to swallow before managing to lure the dragon away with a smaller chunk of meat and snatch back the larger piece to finish cutting.
Ignoring Arya's laughter at the cat-like behaviour of the dragon and its victory over Jon, he basked in the feeling of contentment coming from the little dragon as it gobbled down all of the meat Jon brought. Ignoring the eyes of its two observers the dragon happily finished its last piece of meat to then groggily wander over to Jon and stepping into his lap, curl itself up before resting its head down on Jon's knee and closed its eyes tiredly.
Arya quietly bounced over to Jon's shoulder to stare down at the peacefully sleeping dragon in his lap, much more adorable now it wasn't hissing at her, "This is great, we have our dire wolves and you have a dragon now, we'll be able to play Starks versus Targaryens."
Jon clapped a hand over her mouth furiously whispering, "Are you mad? The Targaryen's killed our family, they were themselves brought to extinction in the war, I can't be seen running around with a dragon, not to mention bandying around the Targaryen name."
Arya pouted at these words but did not push the issue as Jon's words made sense, "What are you going to do? You can't keep a dragon in your room." She asked as Jon frowned and stroked the stubble on his chin nervously.
"The Broken Tower," Was Jon's answer, causing Arya to grin.
"Of course, no one goes in the Broken Tower, well no one besides Bran and he doesn't go in the tower, just climbs around the outside."
Jon nodded his head to Arya's words as a plan started to form. "Okay here's what we will do, grab a spare wolfs pelt from my chest over there," Jon pointed to a chest against the wall opposite his bed where his sword was leaning against with his brown leather boots.
Whilst Arya grabbed a spare pelt, Jon grabbed some of the discarded clothes from the empty chest that used to contain the dragon egg and knotted them together.
Lifting up the dragon till it was spread longways along his chest he nodded at Arya, "Grab that and tie it around me to form a sling that will keep the dragon secure."
Arya quickly knotted the clothes in a trusty sling, ruminating how Septa Mordane's torturous lessons came through for once in the different ways they were taught to fold and secure different dresses.
Standing up Jon shuffled over to put his boots on, careful not to wake the dragon who only moved its head lazily closer to Jon's chest.
"Okay, I'm going to sneak across to the Broken Tower and set the dragon up with a little den that will keep it hidden should anyone take a look inside, you should get back to bed." Jon told Arya sternly even though he already knew she wouldn't.
"No way," She whispered back glaring at Jon, "This is the most exciting thing since we got our dire wolves."
Jon smirked at Arya, "That happened only a few hours ago little sister."
"Don't call me little," Arya frowned back at him as she punched his arm as he chuckled.
"Alright, I knew you would come anyway, but we need to be quiet and not be seen, this is serious," Jon grabbed her shoulder imploringly.
Nodding Arya replied, "I know."
"Right, let's go." Jon said as he grabbed his thick cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders.
Getting out of the Great Keep was easy, they had been raised there their whole lives and knew the guards patrol routes like second nature with the amount Arya dragged Jon out to set up pranks and run wild with her. The trouble started when they had to move from the Great Keep to the Broken Tower. Torchlight kept the open space between buildings lit, causing the two to avoid the crossing entirely as they watched the guards atop the walls staring out into the darkness. Luckily most guards did not expect to find any trouble from within the walls so rarely checked behind them into the darkened corners as Jon and Arya stalked quietly through the night until they were out of sight of the guards.
Opening the door to the Broken Tower slowly, wincing as it creaked into the still night air, they held their breath waiting for a guard to notice them. After a few minutes of agonising silence and with no guard coming to investigate, Jon opened the door a little wider and squeezed through with Arya slipping in after him and easing the door closed, praying to the Old Gods the squeaks of the old hinges would be ignored.
Jon and Arya stared at each other in the darkness before Arya said, "We didn't bring a light."
Jon chuckled, "Aye, don't worry our sight will adjust to the darkness soon enough."
Moving deeper into the room as their eyesight sharpened to the dim of the night with only the light from the moon shining through the windows to reveal their surroundings. A rustling sound could be heard as a mouse ran through a shaft of moonlight.
Checking the dragon, Jon saw it was still happily sleeping against his chest not worrying about the mad dash and the great risk it had just passed through as they stole away into the night. Looking around the room Jon spotted some old worn crates.
"Grab one of these," he said as he picked up two himself before heading up the cracked stone stairway that wound round the outer edge of the tower.
Hurrying to follow Jon, Arya snatched up a crate releasing a cloud of dust and having to force down a sneeze in her shirt as Jon swung round in fright before narrowing his eyes at her, "Sorry, couldn't help it."
Shaking his head Jon continued up the stairway till they passed through to the next landing, pushing the door open Jon entered a dusty room, full of cobwebs and the intermittent squeaking of mice. Setting down his two crates Jon set them on their side with the bottoms facing outwards and pulled the boards off the bottom of one of the crates. Inside he placed the spare wolf pelt and as Arya came over he placed the last crate in front of the entrance to create a ledge, anything wishing to enter the dragon's den would have to climb up.
"That should prevent the full force of a draft from affecting the little guy," Jon said as he removed his cloak and had Arya untie the knot on the sling holding the dragon to his chest. Carefully holding the dragon, Jon transferred it into its new den and onto the wolf pelt as its tail tried to curl around Jon's forearm as he removed his hands.
"Looks like he doesn't want to be parted from you," Arya chuckled at Jon as he extracted his arm from the dragon's tail without waking it.
"Aye, I imagine your dire wolf won't be too happy to wake up without you," Jon replied.
Eyes widening Arya cursed, much to Jon's amusement, "I have to go, she'll probably wake the whole household if I'm not there, are you staying here?"
Nodding to Arya he wrapped her in a hug, "Thank you for this sister."
Returning Jon's hug Arya then stepped back, smiled at her brother and disappeared down the stairway. Shortly after Jon could hear the muted creaking of the Tower door opening and closing.
Moving the crate at the entrance of the dragon's den, Jon wrapped himself up using his cloak as a blanket and rested his head inside the crates on the wolfs pelt next to the dragon and closed his eyes.
Dawn was quick to intrude upon Jon's slumber as he woke for the second time since retiring last night feeling a happy tendril brushing against his mind that radiated contentment. Opening weary eyes Jon looked into the den he created for the dragon, only to see the dragon gone. Eyes snapping wide open in alarm he went to sit up before feeling an extra weight against his chest and looked down over his chest to see the dragon in question flattened against his chest staring with wide eyes at his face as the dragon flicked its tail.
Raising a hand, Jon stroked down the dragon's spine, trailing his fingers along the line of small spikes he had a feeling would grow in the near future sharper than arrowheads. An interruption in bumps along his finger revealed a small hollow at the base of the dragon's neck that created a gap in the line of spikes, wider than any other along the dragons back. Scratching the hollow the dragon closed its eyes and let out a purring like noise which rumble through Jon's chest.
Starting to sit up Jon said, "Alright little guy time to get up."
The dragon leapt off Jon's chest to the ground as he fixed the entrance to the dragon's den under its watchful eyes.
Jon watched on as the dragon turned away radiating a tendril of hunger to Jon as it stalked away into the room, disappearing into the empty boxes and spare wooden beams and canvas left around the room.
A squeak camp from behind Jon, who jumped and turned around to see the icy scales of the dragon devouring a mouse it had pounced on.
"I think you'll be alright in here young dragon," Jon said to the dragon as it snapped up the mouses tail. Feeling a tendril of thought brushing his conscience, Jon warily touched it with his own mind only to see an image of the mouse before being replaced with an image of himself as he was staring down at the dragon, before the images repeated and the dragon tilted its head in question.
Beginning to realise that whatever happened with the dragon when he first touched it, they had somehow become connected in some way. Stumbling over to an overturned bucket Jon sat down in awe.
"By the Gods," He exclaimed in shock even as the dragon came over to nuzzle his leg in worry. Absentmindedly he scratched it under the chin causing it to start purring again, Jon managed to centre his thoughts back into the tower. Once more as the dragon noticed Jon's attention focused back on it, the images of the mouse and himself repeated.
"Ah, no thanks, I'll-I'll go eat in the hall," Jon replied to the dragons query and as the images continued to repeat Jon reached out to the tendril again himself cautiously as he imagined walking out of the tower and into the Hall to join the rest of the Starks for breakfast, sending pictures of freshly baked bread and eggs to the dragon.
This seemed to satisfy the dragon as it wandered off into the mess of the room again to hunt for more mice. Wrapping his cloak around himself Jon opened the door to leave only to have a distressed dragon run up to him and curl around his legs as a tendril of fear brush against his mind.
Alarmed Jon bent down to scratch under the dragon's chin which he recalled it seemed to like and saw the dragon's eyes looking at him fearfully.
"It's alright, I'll come back," Jon told the dragon and once this did nothing to calm the dragon, he once again reached out to brush his mind against the tendril of fear which he started to recognise as the dragon's developing mind. Sending images of himself coming back to the tower after breakfast seemed to reassure the dragon but it was still sending him feelings of fear so Jon picked the dragon up and cradled it against his chest hugging the baby dragon as he felt his heart well up with a sensation he only ever really felt after being away from Winterfell for long periods and hugging his sisters when he returned, of course Sansa did not care for hugs from Ned Stark's bastard son any more but when she was younger she was happy to let him hold her and tell her stories.
Sending this feeling along his own thought tendril to the dragon calmed it down immediately as it relaxed in his arms. Moving over to the dragon's den, tucked out of sight of the door, he bent down and placed the dragon inside where it curled up for a short nap after the whiplash of emotions it just experienced.
As the dragon fell into an easy slumber, Jon quietly left the room and proceeded down to the exit of the tower and headed to the Hall for breakfast with the rest of his family, not realising that he had left the tendril of his mind happily in reassuring contact with the dragon's, wary for any feelings of fear to come through.
Upon entering the hall Jon noticed his five siblings all crouched on the floor encouraging their new dire wolf pups to drink some milk they had provided in substitute for their mother's.
"Jon!" Arya jumped up happily running over to hug her brother and she then pulled him over to her pup.
"This is Nymeria, she's a girl and when she's older we're going to go hunting together in the Wolfswood."
Smiling down at the pup, Jon gave her a light scratch between the ears, careful not to disturb her so she'll stop drinking her milk.
"I'm certain your mother eagerly awaits the day." Jon replied as he and Robb chuckled together knowing their mother would be incensed at Arya out in the woods hunting like a boy.
Leaving his siblings, Jon approached table and grabbed a plate piling some bread, eggs and bacon upon it before returning to his siblings to observe their new companions as he ate his breakfast.
Robb came over to join his brother as he kept an eye on the feeding pups. Nodding towards his pup happily lapping up the milk he said, "I've named mine Grey Wind."
"A good name, one I'm sure will spread through the North when it's your time to rule, what of the others?" Jon replied.
Robb chuckled, "Sansa has named her ferocious dire wolf Lady." Jon laughed together with his brother as they clutched their stomachs ignoring Sansa's glare at her chosen name.
Wiping a tear from his eye Jon said, "What about Bran and Rickon?"
"Bran is still undecided on a name but Rickon is convinced to name his Shaggydog no matter what any of us say," Robb shrugged in amusement.
Chuckling Jon replied, "Aye I'm certain he'll regret that when he's older," sharing a look with Robb he added, "Not as much as Sansa's Lady though."
Jon, Robb and Arya descended into laughter as Sansa huffed at their behaviour.
"What's all this?" Ned Stark asked as he entered the Hall and noticed three of his children laughing away as one glared at them.
"Sansa named her dire wolf Lady," Arya guffawed loudly to their father who raised his eyebrows, grinning at his children.
"Is that right?" He asked as he walked over to place an arm around Sansa as he scratched Lady between her ears, "I'm certain she'll grow up to be a fine Lady," He said to Sansa who beamed at him as he collected some breakfast before continuing, "Even if she will develop some…unlady like habits."
This sent the Stark children sans Sansa back into peals of laughter this time joined by the low chuckles of their father.
Once they had all calmed down and now had their happily fed pups resting in their laps Ned addressed them, "I received a raven, from King's Landing. King Robert is headed for Winterfell, it will take him a little under two months to bring his elaborate retinue this far North. This means you'll be helping your mother, Ser Rodrik or Maester Luwin around the keep to prepare for their arrival or you'll be staying out of their way." Ned's serious gaze met each of his children's as they all nodded at him.
Jon watched on in a daze as Sansa rushed off, overjoyed it appeared and probably to go gossip over all the pretty knights of the south with her friend Jeyne. Robb shook his shoulder and asked him if he was coming hunting with him and Theon.
"Jon said he would give me some pointers with the bow today," Arya quickly covered for Jon's lack of concentration before anyone could pay too much attention.
Jon watched as Theon sniggered and walked out of the hall as Robb shrugged and followed. Arya pulled Jon out of the hall by his arm, saying a goodbye over her shoulder to their father who watched on in amusement as his youngest daughter pulled Jon around.
Finally making it outside Jon, was able to breathe again and noticed a tendril of concern rubbing against his mind which he quickly sent a feeling of reassurance that everything was fine towards it.
Looking down Jon tugged his arm out of Arya's hold who released him now he looked like he was aware of his surroundings again.
"By the Gods, the King is coming to Winterfell," Jon ran is hands through his hair in worry, eyes darting around in fear.
Arya punched Jon in the stomach, shocking him out of his inner musings of his own head upon the chopping block as he looked at Arya.
"Calm down," She hissed, "Let's go to the tower."
Jon followed along in a daze as Arya led the way, staying out of sight the closer they got to the tower. After entering the tower Jon rushed up the stairs to the second landing where a scratching was heard at the door. Entering the room he left an hour earlier Jon swiftly bent down and swept the dragon up into his arms and started to pace.
"King Robert, is coming to Winterfell," Jon said as Arya nodded.
"King Robert who hates Targaryens and started a rebellion over them," Jon's pacing increased in intensity.
"I have a dragon, a literal dragon living in Winterfell," Jon's nerves were all over the place as Arya turned her head side to side as she followed her brother's pacing.
"Jon!" Arya's shouted whisper brought Jon out of his despaired thinking.
"Father said the King wouldn't be here for almost two months, how fast do dragons grow? Maybe he'll be big enough to live in the Wolfswood around Winterfell by then."
Jon nodded at Arya's words, "Aye, you're right, there is still a lot of time until the King arrives, until then we need to fatten you up so you'll survive outside the castle." Jon directed these last words towards the dragon in his arms, who just looked up at him with large innocent eyes filled with worry for the human holding them.