Author's Note: This will be an ASOIAF/GOT story, this story will be mostly for my indulgence so it may not be to everyone's liking, Eddard Stark is my favorite character in this fandom so I just thought of a story where he comes out on top, not as a nice guy but as a bad guy.
Summary: Eddard Stark was born the younger twin brother to Brandon Stark, he was to be just a second son of Rickard Stark but The Old Gods restored the magic of the Stark bloodline in Eddard making him a true King of Winter reborn.
This story will be AU in several areas.
The Skinchanging ability of House Stark will allow them to become any beast they choose to or subjugate with their magic, for example; if they used it on Direwolves they would gain many traits of the animals like strength, speed, enhanced senses, and enhanced healing similar to werewolves, if it is used on a dragon they would gain all the attributes of a dragon including a dragons ability to breath fire, fly, it's scales, enhanced senses and strength, they will gain an expanded lifespan depending on which beast forms they have achieved, and they will maintain their youth for most of their lives.
Members of the Stark bloodline will have a high resistance to cold temperatures and some will have the abilities of an Other on a similar scale such as their immunity to cold and fire, and the ability to control ice.
Eddard Stark will be a Skinchanger, he will have the abilities of the Children of The Forest such as greensight, warging, magic, and the ability to manipulate nature, his ability to control and create ice will be practically the same as Elsa Anne Martin from Frozen.
Eddard Stark/Carmella Dragmire/Selvaria Dragmire.
Several characters will look different from how they are depicted in the books or TV series.
Disclaimer: I don't own ASOIAF/GOT or any elements from other sources they belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 1
-Winterfell 260AC-
Winterfell is the indomitable Northern Castle that is the seat of power for House Stark when they had ruled as Kings of Winter before the dragons came forcing them to bend the knee, now they are Warden of the North and the Lord Paramount not it's king as they should be.
The ancient castle was currently being buried with large quantities of snow from the savage blizzard that has chosen to rage against the castle walls, inside the Great Keep a woman was giving birth as the blizzard raged outside drowning out her cries of pain from labor pains, her name was Lyarra Stark the Lady of Winterfell, she was pregnant with twins and has already given birth to her firstborn son Brandon Stark hours earlier, a chill swept over the birthing room forcing the midwives to throw more logs on the fire in the fireplace.
The blizzard has grown more intense as time went by and the sound of the powerful winds was akin to howling Direwolves, and after several hours when the blizzard was at its most intense the cries of a baby could be heard through the castle walls.
Eddard Stark of Winterfell has been born but instead of joyous sounds coming from the birthing room, there was silence from the midwives and the maester as they were frozen in shock at what they were seeing. The baby whose name was Eddard Stark as it has already been decided before he was even born was different from all other babies they have seen born before; he had small pointed ears, large silver-grey eyes that seemed feline or reptilian in nature, and had an unnatural glow to them, he has clear claws instead of nails on all his ten fingers and toes, his hair was a pure raven-black color, the cries of the baby had a musical note to it.
"May I see my other son?" The tired voice of Lyarra Stark asking for her child broke everyone out of their shock.
The child was cleaned up then wrapped up in furs then presented to the mother, the midwives and the maester was waiting for the expected response to the boy's very unusual features, but the shock and revulsion that they were waiting for never came, Lyarra looked at the boy as if he was the most precious thing in the world, she seemed to be completely in love with her child as any mother would be, it was a truly heartwarming moment.
Rickard Stark came into the room after the midwives have cleaned everything up and the maester has finished attending to Lyarra, he was carrying his other son Brandon and walked over to his wife, who was holding his other son Eddard close to her chest.
"Are you okay, my love?" Rickard asked Lyarra as sits beside her on the bed.
"I am just fine, come see your son," Lyarra said to him while holding out Eddard for him to take.
Rickard passed Brandon over to his wife and took Eddard from her hands, Lyarra's attention was completely focused on Brandon as soon as she held him so she didn't get to see Rickard's first reaction to seeing Eddard.
Rickard Stark was barely able to mask the disappointment, anger, and disgust he felt when he look at his son Eddard, the eyes were unnatural, and so were the claws and his ears, even the boy's cries were unnatural. Rickard had plans to make the North stronger and his children were an integral part of his plans, but Eddard has ruined such plans for there was no way that Rickard could ever let his son go South with all his unnatural traits, so he will have to remain in the North and Rickard has doubts that he could find a match for Eddard even among the Northern Houses.
Rickard looked at Eddard coldly and was surprised to find that Eddard's large silver-grey eyes were gazing at him equally cold, the more Rickard stares at his son's eyes the more unnerved he became until he had to look away.
"He looks strong, my love," Rickard said to Lyarra not letting his true feelings known.
-The North, 270AC-
A frigid northern wind flows through the expanse of a large forest, towering ancient trees as far as the eye can see stand strong against the strong winds, and nocturnal animals shuffled around in the thick forest avoiding predators while seeking prey of their own.
In a small clearing were a dozen men around a large campfire having a meal, the men were dressed in hunting leathers and furs to combat the cold weather.
Around the campsite there were several animal pelts and carcasses hung up, these men were poachers and were illegally hunting in the Wolfswood without permission, they were discovered by a small group of woodsmen but they killed the woodsmen before they could get away.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," one of the men sitting around the campfire said while he glanced nervously around the woods.
"Shut up, Phill! You have been half out of your mind since we killed those morons that tried to stop us," another of the men said with a menacing growl.
"Let the coward be, Jim. He is probably scared of the "BlackWolf" that they say haunts these woods," Don, the leader of the group said making his men burst out in laughter.
The BlackWolf they were talking about was a folktale that the commoners were talking about over the last few years, the story goes that when evil men spill innocent blood in the Wolfswood that they would be killed by the BlackWolf, they say that the BlackWolf is a massive Direwolf over eight feet tall with ivory fangs the length of daggers that tear men apart as if they were paper, it's fur was a black so dark that it seems ethereal in the night.
Most people treated it as superstition but a steadily increasing amount of smallfolk was beginning to believe it was real, no one has ever seen it aside from some lost children that were lost in the woods only to find their way back home claiming that the BlackWolf guided them home.
"The BlackWolf is real! We need to get out of here before it is too late!" Phill said loudly while his body shakes.
"Shut it! Or I'll gut you where you stand," Jim said aggressively with a murderous gleam in his eyes and his blade drawn.
Phill drew his blade as well and the others got to their feet as well, whether to join the fight or just to enjoy the show, it looked like things were going to escalate into a bloody fight when a howl tore through the night.
Everyone froze and stopped moving, they were used to howls given the name of the forest they were hunting in, but the howl they just heard was far more deadly and sounded as if it came from a much larger predator than an average wolf.
A branch snapped making all the men turn to the origin of the sound and what they saw made them shake with terror.
A massive ten feet tall Direwolf stood in the darkness, it was covered in fur of the purest black that made it seem ethereal as the light from the moon and campfire seem to be absorbed into the dark fur, its eyes were large shimmering silver-grey orbs surrounded by darkness, it's mouth opened releasing frigid air from between its jaws that were decorated with endless rows of razor-sharp fangs longer than a child's arm and shining like the purest ivory, it's paws were the size of a man's upper body and its body was made out of powerful muscles that are bearly contained by the fur.
The BlackWolf observed them with cold eyes that held a sharp intelligent mind for a few minutes before it grinned and then the campfire went out suddenly followed by the moonlight being blocked by thick clouds.
Screams of rage, terror, hate, and mercy were heard through the forest only for those screams to be silenced with the sounds of flesh being torn apart, bones being broken apart, and blades being snapped, and then all that remained was silence.
A few minutes later the clouds parted and the moonlight once more shined down on the woods, the BlackWolf stood surrounded by the carnage it has unleashed, there was blood everywhere making a large puddle, arms, legs, heads, torsos littered the ground, there were broken weapons all over the place as well.
The BlackWolf howled in an almost musical pattern and the blood it was standing in started to glow bright for a few moments, then the blood seems to be absorbed into the BlackWolf's body fading away.
The BlackWolf started moving paying no heed as it crushed the remains of the poachers beneath it's massive paws, as the BlackWolf walked through something starts to change: the massive Direwolf starts to shrink getting much smaller and as it shrunk it rose off of four feet, and started to walk on two, the fur fades away as if whispers in the wind.
Gone was the ferocious beast and standing in the campsite was a figure shrouded by the darkness, the humanoid figure raised their hand saying a few words in an unknown language and the campfire suddenly roared to life illuminating the clearing.
With the darkness pushed away the shrouded figure is revealed to be a young man around five foot five inches tall, he had raven-black hair that fell to his mid-back, pointed ears, pale skin, a chiseled muscular physique, he had large silver-grey eyes that glowed and had very handsome facial features, there was a series of First Men runes running across his upper body that glowed red similar to blood.
The young man was Eddard Stark, the ten year old son of Rickard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell.
Eddard silently went through the campsite for some clothes as he was naked, he found leather pants and a long-sleeve shirt that fit him well enough, he found a pair of boots that fit him as well.
With that done he walked through the campsite searching for anything of value aside from the pelts, and animal meats, there was some money among the poachers things nothing more than a few dozen gold dragons.
He then starts to pack up the campsite which tales him fifteen minutes, he waved his hand and a burst of icy-blue energy flies from his hand towards the packed up meat, and pelts the energy creates a wagon made out of ice to carry everything.
Eddard whistled loudly and a few minutes later six massive Direwolves ran into the clearing, three had grey fur and were the smaller of the six Direwolves at around seven feet tall called Skrull, Shard, and the female Shade, two of them had pitch-black fur and were females standing at eight feet tall called Shadow, and Midnight, the last and largest male Direwolf standing at ten feet tall called Silverfang had silver fur.
Eddard hugged the Direwolves with a full-blown smile on his face as he hugged the only family he truly had ever since he was tossed out of Winterfell by Lord Rickard Stark, his sire but no longer his father.
Eddard remembers it like it was yesterday, he had been sitting on a the walls of the Great Keep in the cold winter night in only a leather tunic over a thick long-sleeve shirt, leather pants and boots, the frigid northern wind calmed him instead of freezing him like it did many others.
His mother who is his whole world was currently in labour, the cries from the birthing room was unbearable for his sensitive ears.
He always finds himself alone in Winterfell without his mother as company, his father barely tolerates him because of his unique features and as he got older the indifference of his father turned to hate; Eddard didn't just have strange features but he was a prodigy at almost any physical activity be it swordsmanship, archery, hunting, craftsmanship, horse riding, he was also has a very intelligent mind that allows him to absorb, understand, and retain knowledge quickly.
All of these things were very obvious to anyone who cared to look at what Eddard could do, this made his father hate him because everything he accomplishment made Brandon seem mediocre in comparison, which was unacceptable to Rickard Stark who could never see anything worth being proud of when it concerns Eddard.
Eddard made a few birds made of ice to entertain himself as he waits for his newest sibling to be born, he had discovered this ability a few years ago and had only showed his mother as she is the only one who truly loves him.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there but suddenly he felt like he lost something important and when he listened he couldn't hear his mother's screams only that of his new sibling, Eddard ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the birthing room and threw the doors open when he got there.
The sight of his mother pale and lifeless on a bloody bed was something he could never forget no matter how long he lived.
Eddard rushed to the bed and held onto her lifeless body hoping against hope that she wasn't dead, but sometime later he was grabbed by the hack of his tunic and throw out of the room by a large hand. His back hit the wall with a loud smack and pain shot through his body, he tried to get air back into his lungs and as he stood to his feet, he saw his father looking down at him with hate in his eyes.
"Get out!" Rickard Stark growls at him.
"What? Fathe-" Eddard was cut off as he was kicked in the chest by his father.
"You are no son of mine! You are a mistake! A disappointment! And if I didn't want to be known as a Kinslayer you would be dead already! Leave my castle before the sun rises or I will have you thrown out with broken legs," Rickard Stark's words were cold, dark and without a shred of affection for Eddard.
Eddard looked at his father as he said these words, at first he felt his heart shatter at the word his father said but the pain was soon replaced with a cold, dark rage that froze his heart to the world.
The tears in his eyes was wiped away and his large silver-grey eyes darkened loosing the warm glow that it once held, the pain in his body fadded replaced with new strength as he stood on his two feet, his expression became ice-cold revealing nothing.
"As you wish Lord Stark," Eddard said darkly sending a chill down the spines of everyone there.
As Eddard walked away with a powerful stride, frost rose from his footsteps startling those that saw it.
Eddard packed everything he owned; a few dozen pants, shirts, coats, a few large ancient tomes writhing in the ancient runes of the First Men, along with two swords his mother had the blacksmith make for him to use as he gets older which strapped to his back, he made three small sculptures of Direwolves for his siblings along with a Direwolf necklace with their names engraved on them.
He slipped out of the castle, the guardsmen opened the gates without hesitation probably under orders of the Lord of the castle, there were looks of fear, disgust, pity, and smugness from some of the people he walked past, he didn't care about them, he didn't care about anything anymore.
He was out in the Wolfswood for about a month when he woke up to find himself surrounded by Silverfang and the others, he should have been terrified waking up with Direwolves cuddling around him but all he felt was a powerful feeling of belonging that he hasn't had since his mother died, he had cried the tears that he had refused to let fall ever since he was kicked our of his only home.
His days with the Direwolves were some of the best of his life and when he learned he could take on their form it made everything better, he killed his first man when the man had tried to kill him, and as he had watched the light leave the man's eyes Eddard felt nothing, he simply cleaned his blade and continued his walk through the woods as if nothing happened.
Eddard helped a lost child get back home one day and he had remained in his Direwolf form so that he didn't reveal his identity, helping the child had made him feel warm inside for a few moments before the cold returned to his veins, he ended up chasing after that warm feeling that only seems to be brought on by the innocent warmth of a child, the thrill of the hunt or the heat of battle.
Eddard spent the next almost two years hunting down rapists, murders, poachers and Wildlings over the massive length of the Wolfswood with brutal efficiency earning him the moniker BlackWolf.
He spent countless nights studying the ancient tomes he had with him, these tomes were from the hidden archives in Winterfell and was written in First Men runes, they have the knowledge of ancient Stark customs and the magic of the Stark bloodline along with the magic of the Children of the Forest that married into the bloodline.
Eddard used this knowledge to make himself stronger and more powerful, the runes that are on his body are the result of a magic ritual that gave him the ability to contain the power taken from the death of others, wether from sacrifice or battle, he is able to use this power for various things and is only limited by his own knowledge, and power.
He had used some of his magic over his time in the Wolfswood on several farming villages he had visited and the results were plain to see; massive harvests, and more fertile farmlands for the farmers to use.
The more he used his power in the Wolfswood itself the larger the trees grew and the more animals he saw popping up in the forest, Eddard felt happy that just as his mother has always said, his powers were a gift that could change the world.
Eddard couldn't stay in the Wolfswood forever so he had started making plans to leave Westeros and make a name for himself in Essos, luckily he always saved all the things of value that he took from those he killed so he could sell them.
Eddard made chains out of ice and wrapped one around each of the Direwolves so they can pulled the wagon back to the home he had made.
An hour later they were in the very heart of the Wolfswood, the trees were larger and older here, the foliage so thick that not even the rays of the sun or moon reach the ground here, Eddard had no problem seeing in the darkness, and easily navigated the ancient woods to his destination.
A large structure made out of a fusion of ice and trees greeted them, it was the size of a small keep with only five floors, Eddard walked forward, and with a wave of his hands, the heavy gates made of ice swung open letting them inside before closing the moment they were all inside.
The interior was the same mix of ice and wood as the outside, he shattered the chains of ice, and the Direwolves all went on their way to do whatever they wish, Eddard pulled the wagon to the storage area to offload all the pelts and meats for selling, then he pulled the wagon to his workshop.
His workshop was similar to that of any craftsman or blacksmith, the forge was made of solid stone and a fire was already burning inside it from before he left to kill the poachers.
Eddard had learned from the blacksmiths at Winterfell whenever he chose to spend time with them and he took up the craft easily enough to constantly receive praise from them for the things he made.
Eddard emptied the wagon of all the broken, rusted, normal items of metal that he took from the poachers, he then melted them all down for the metal so he could reforge it into whatever he wished.
Eddard mutters in a low voice then waved his hand at the fires of the forge turning them from their natural color to bright blue flames, he then added a large bowl of his own blood to the melted metal before he begins.
Eddard worked for several hours and created a dozen daggers whose metal had a blue hue to them and shone almost like it was silver, these daggers were stronger and lighter than one made from castle-forged steel from the best castle, the people of the North call it wintersteel since it can only be found in the North.
Making blades like this or farming tools was the main source of gold for Eddard and his plan to leave Westeros, he was going to sell a dozen daggers at White Harbour before he takes a ship to one of the Free Cities.
He had close to a few thousand gold dragons from everything over the two years, he didn't need all that money to board a ship to Essos but he wasn't leaving his Direwolves behind so he will need to pay extra to be able to bring them with him.
With his work done Eddard went to sleep as he had a very busy few days ahead of him.
It took him a week to reach White Harbour, the Direwolves could travel long distances very quickly but they needed to travel mostly at night so as to not draw attention given how large they were, Eddard knew that once they reached the city proper he couldn't hide them so he went into the city alone at first to sell the daggers along with everything else he wouldn't carry with him.
Once he had sold everything he then had to buy new clothes for himself for he hasn't had new ones in two years, he also bought food for himself and the Direwolves since they were going to be on a ship for weeks depending on where they are going.
Eddard found a ship to Essos that was leaving that night and was willing to carry his Direwolves for a bit extra, so a few hours after sunset Eddard lead his Direwolves through the city down to the docks to the ship.
The reaction to Silverfang and the others were exactly what Eddard had expected so he just tossed the captain a medium-sized bag of gold dragons which silenced any protests from his crew.
A half-hour later they were sailing out of White Harbour and on their way to Pentos, Eddard took on a last look at the North for he knew not when he will ever return to his homeland.
He looks up at the shimmering moon and for a moment his large silver-grey eyes changes to a pure icy-blue color before changing back.