SNOW
Chapter 4 – Rendezvous (Jon POV)
Less than a year after meeting with Howland for the first time and learning my true identity, I sat in a booth in one of the night clubs I owned under a different name. The Direwolf was just one of the businesses I owned as a front, but it was very profitable. My living status would soon become public knowledge and I thought back to everything I'd done to make it possible.
I used my time in hiding to secretly reach out to those I knew I could trust. I needed to rebuild the Stark name and restore its power. I'd only be able to do that with trusted allies and connections, and I knew that it would take time. I also knew Howland was right. In order to eventually reclaim both of my birth rights, I needed to remain alive. Therefore, anonymity was key for a long while. Thus, aside from legally reinstating me as a legally alive person, he also procured a false name for me to use.
That first week after learning the truth about myself, I reached out to an old friend from my early years in the military. Tormund Giantsbane was the kind of man you'd picture upon hearing his name. We met years ago, and I heard he'd become a mercenary. Tormund was huge, loud and often crass. But, he was also a highly skilled soldier and en excellent marksman.
Next, I reached out to Ygritte. She was as fierce a fighter as they came. I met in my second year of boot camp. She was as wild and cunning as she was beautiful. A brilliant strategist, as it were. We had a fling for a short time, but our time together fizzled out. There were no hard feelings harbored on either side, I was sure. And, I knew she was loyal and trustworthy.
Months ago, I sent coded messages to the families that Howland assured me had remained loyal to the Stark Name, even after his family was killed. In the messages, I used coded words known only in the Northern territory. I used vague references, alluding to the sender and motive, as well as meeting location, date and time.
The moon eclipsed when the wolves were gone.
Hiding in the Snow, the wolf prepares to stomp its feet.
Winter is coming and the wolf will avenge the fallen pack.
The place Winter fell, he'll how at the Blood's highest peak.
Howl with him until victory is won.
It hinted at the last name I was known for and included that I was preparing to march. That was an old term for declaring war. I also used my family words as confirmation of the sender, and provided the reasons. I hinted at the Stark mansion and provided the night and time. Only true Northerners followed the old almanac enough to know the monthly full moons.
The bosses of the Mormont and the Cerwin Families were among the first to arrive that night. They were followed by the bosses of the Glover and Manderly Families, and I was surprised to learn that the bosses of the Tallhart and Dustin Families also showed. I wasn't sure they would, but Howland assured me they were there for the right reasons. The last to arrive was a man claiming to be a bastard, but the last Hornwood.
The bosses had gone to Winterfell ruins that October night during the full moon, hoping the message they'd received was true. Still, there was shock on all their faces when I revealed myself to the group. I thanked them for being there and for their allegiance to the Starks. I went on to explain my plans for rebuilding my family's home and restoring the Starks Name. To do that, I needed to reveal the truth of my inheritance. Once they learned the true power the Snow Wolf, stood to wield over the north and the south... they needed no further convincing.
Howland eventually introduced me to Colton Snow, Hornwood's bastard and last remaining of his family. He informed Howland that although he was just one man after his father had been killed when the war broke out, and that his mother was also died. Colton said he would help any Stark that called upon him. The young man informed me that the Boltons believed he was loyal to them and listed the many and worst plays against the Stark Family. Colton said he would use his place among them, to gain inside knowledge that I could use.
After spending my life believing I was a bastard, and because the boy could be useful, I decided to give the young man a chance. I legitimized Colton as a Hornwood as the other bosses stood to witness. That night, several contracts were drawn up and plans were put into place that would ensure I could reinstate the Stark name to its former power, but also ensure the vengeance I sought.
Only a month later, Colton proved to be the asset I'd had hoped for. He obtained details of the dealings among the Karstarks and the Umbers with the Boltons. The banking information would prove useful when Jon made his move against them. While no one had been able to breach the Stark Vault, they hadn't stopped trying. I smirked as I pictured stealing from them without them even realizing they'd been ruined.
Tormund and Ygritte had also been instrumental to my plans. Colton was in with the Boltons, and Tormund was in with the Karstarks, while Ygritte was in with the Umbers. I had Trojan horses in each of their houses, ready for my word to take them down. I'd make them all pay, I swore to myself.
"Excuse me, sir. Care for a drink?" A serving girl asked him, taking him away from his brooding for the moment.
"Weirwood, please." I replied, barely looking at her.
"That's a proper Norther drink, isn't it. Not many people order that." She responded instead of scurrying away.
"And?" I asked, looking up at her while wondering why she was getting chatty.
"Nothing, just haven't tried one of those since my days in Winterfell." She told me, at which point my eyes focused on her.
She was short enough that although she stood while I sat, was didn't have to look too high up to see her face. She wasn't an ugly girl, there was nothing remarkable about her, and nothing familiar about the girl either.
"You've been to Winterfell?" I found myself asking for no reason.
"Years ago, when the Starks all lived there." She said, and I could detect an air of wistfulness and longing in her tone. "There aren't any Starks in Winterfell now." She lamented and my eyes met hers.
"No." I confirmed, not sure if I liked where the seemingly innocent conversation was headed, especially with the way she was looking at me.
I saw her blink away the look and replaced it with a neutral one. "I'll be back with that drink." She said, but there was something about the encounter that I couldn't let go of.
"Wait." I called before she got too far, and she turned back to me.
I wanted to ask who she was, and ask what she might think she knew. Her looks seemed a little too knowing as she spoke to me. I was also curious because it had been too long since he's fondly recalled anything from his life in Winterfell. Instead of asking what he wanted to know about her, he asked something else.
"Do you believe there will be a Stark in Winterfell again?" He asked without knowing why, and instead of any of the things he wanted to know.
"With a single measure of a doubt." She proclaimed after smiling brightly and a little knowingly, before walking towards the bar to fetch his drink.
The confidence in her response left me to believe that she knew who I was. I wondered if she'd sought me out and brought up Winterfell on purpose. I smiled, realizing that she'd been discreet with that knowledge. Instinctively, I didn't believe knew she was a threat and felt she was weirdly on my side.
After a short while of pondering, I realized the girl never returned with my drink. That's odd, I thought, considering what we'd discussed. Suddenly, I worried that I had been wrong to think she wasn't trouble. I left the booth and went up to his office, intent on pulling the camera feeds. I'd get Ygritte to investigate and find out who the girl was right away.
I opened the office door and cut the lights on. It only took me a second to find someone in there and pull my gun in their direction. I froze when I realized it was a young woman seated at my desk. Then, it only took another couple of seconds for me to recognize who she was and for me to lower the gun. That young woman was none other than ...
"Arya!" Her name left my lips like gust of air from my lungs in disbelief.
"Jon, I missed you so much!" She exclaimed standing up, while I remained still as a statue.
"Arya?" I questioned, wanting so desperately to believe what my eyes were seeing, and she nodded with a smile.
"Yes, Jon. It's me... aren't you going to come hug me?" She questioned as her eyes watered.
That was all it took for me to move in her direction. I engulfed her tightly in my arms, lifting her off the ground. She was taller than when I'd last seen her, but still so much shorter than me, I thought with a smile.
"Little Sis, I thought I'd never see you again. Everyone said you were killed." I told her as I set her back on her feet, not at all disguising the cracks in my voice or bothering to wipe a few stray tears that slid down my cheek.
"I know exactly how you feel, Big Brother. Gods, Jon. Everyone said you'd been killed. Everyone else is dead, Jon. They've killed them all and I thought … I thought I was alone in the world." She cried softly while letting her forehead fall against my chest.
Wrapping my arms around her small body, I kissed the top of her head. I'm so sorry I wasn't there. So damned sorry, Arya. If I had been, maybe I could have..." I tried to sooth, but she pulled away abruptly.
"No, Jon. Don't think that way. There's nothing you could have changed. They'd have killed you, too and then you wouldn't be here now." She reasoned stubbornly, wiping her tears harshly, making me relent in my words even if I still felt that way.
"Will you tell me what happened?" I asked tentatively, unsure if she'd want to discuss it.
"It was awful." She started darkly, so I brought her to sit beside me on a small couch in my office for her to continue.
"I was in bed when I heard the wolves howling. I was about to go to the window to investigate when I saw a shadow rappel from through the curtains, outside my window. I knew, Jon. Right away, I knew I was in danger and went for Nymeria under my pillow." She told me, closing her eyes.
I felt my stomach drop, but urged her to continue.
"He hovered outside my window for almost a minute, unmoving. That gave me time to silently walk towards the wall beside the window I was sure he'd come through. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from somewhere else in our house. That was when he burst through the glass with his gun pointed at my bed. Clearly, he didn't expect I'd be the one armed and ready to shoot him. I shot him from behind before he even realized where I'd been standing." She recounted with a far-off look in her eyes.
"Gods." I said, picturing my youngest sibling going through that.
"I remember feeling my heart hammering in my chest, especially when I heard Mom and Sansa's screams from outside my bedroom. I was scared. But I was armed and I knew they weren't. I had to try to help them, Jon." She said and I saw her wipe a tear before it fell.
"I cautiously opened my bedroom door to peak into the hallway. There was smoke everywhere and shouts of men ransacking the house. I could hear Rickon crying from their room down the hall and I wanted to go there, but I was drawn to Mom and Dad's room first. I hoped if I could get to Dad, I could help him defeat those people. When I opened their door, Jon..." She sobbed and I clutched her hand. "They were both dead already. Mom's throat was slashed and Dad was shot through the head." She closed her eyes tightly.
"You don't have to go on, Arya. I get the picture." I tried to sooth her, but she shook her head.
"I have to get this out. I haven't... I haven't spoken of this with anyone but I have to." She affirmed so I nodded.
"There was a dead Bolton man, near mom's body. I guess Dad got him before …" She shook her head before continuing. I heard someone behind and turned with the gun ready, but it was only Jane. She was stumbling out of Sansa's room, having been shot near her right shoulder. She told me the men had taken Sansa, but she didn't know where. I pulled her back into my bedroom and told her to stay there until help came." She recounted, then took a long breath.
"I made it to Rickon and then Bran's rooms, only to find them empty. I didn't know what to think, Jon. I just knew I didn't have time to try making sense of things just then. The house had caught fire and I needed to get out. I went back for Jane, but she was already dead on my bed." She lamented.
"I escaped the main house through the wall passage that led to the basement. From there, I made my way through the trees to Rob's cottage. He'd just moved there with his new wife. His place was also on fire, but I saw them through the windows. Rob was shot through the head and Talissa's throat was also slashed, just like …" She didn't finish but I knew who she meant..
"They also stabbed Talissa's belly, killing the baby and leaving the knife imbedded there. There was nothing else I could do, Jon. I made my way to the secret tunnels that lead off the property. Before I made it, I overheard one of the Bolton men calling out to Ramsay, Roose's bastard. The man gave the cell to Ramsay while it was on speaker, so I heard the whole thing. Tywin Lannister was on the other end of that call, Jon. Tywin ordered the whole thing, despite Sansa being somewhat engaged to his grandson Joffrey." She said like the words were poison.
"Tywin asked about our parents and the boys, to which the man replied that they were dead. Then, he asked about the girls, and I got scared I would be hunted down. But Ramsay responded that both girls were dead, it confused me because I was still alive. After Ramsay ended the call with Tywin, he called someone else. To that person, he gave all the details on how each death was executed." She said with a look of disgust.
"He recounted how our parents were killed just like Robb and Talissa. Then, he talked about shooting Sansa's friend and yanking her from the room by her fire-red hair. He joked about tying her to the living room chair 'for safe keeping until he was done'. He said it like it was all a game to him, Jon." She spat, mimicking that monster's tone.
"Ramsay said he went to look for me after that, and that he found me dead on my bed. He said it was a shame because he might have wanted to try me out, along with my sister. That sick fuck!" She spat, before looking into my eyes and continuing.
"Before he ended the call, he told the person that he'd just ... Gods, Jon. He said he'd just raped Sansa before killing her. That fucking sick fuck!" She exclaimed fighting a sob and wiping her tears angrily.
I felt as though burning ice was running through my veins. I mean, I knew they were all dead. I knew that, but to hear how it all happened was... and to know what they'd done to Sansa beforehand was just so … I had no words as I hugged Arya to me tightly.
Even if her language would take some getting used to, I found myself agreeing with the sentiment. I wanted to rip the sick fuck's head from his shoulders, for everything Arya had told me he put our family through.
"Gods, Arya. I don't even know …." I tried to console her but still couldn't find the words.
"I want to make them pay, Jon." She suddenly said into our hug.
I pulled back a bit to see her face. Her eyes were red, her nose pink and her cheeks still wet from the tears she'd cried... but she was dead serious. I sighed, knowing she had every right to feel the way she did. Hell, I was planning to exact revenge on them too. I just suddenly felt protecting her was more important than vengeance. I thought I was alone in the world, but that wasn't the case anymore. She must have interpreted the look on my face because she pushed herself away and stood up.
"Jon, don't you dare tell me I can't when I damn well know that I can." She said hotly, surprising me.
"Arya, I wouldn't tell you what you can or can't do. It's just that you don't even know … There's so much you don't know. But more than that, I just got you back after believing you were dead and all I want is to protect you." I told her, hoping she'd understand.
"I love you, Jon. Gods know how much but … what makes you think I need protection? I'm sure there's a lot I don't yet know, and I want you to tell me. But by the same token, there's a lot you don't know about me either, Jon. I'm not the same little girl I was when you left. Believe me when I tell you that I've not only lived more than most, I've also learned a lot. You don't yet know what I'm capable of." She assured me and I'd be lying if the look in her eyes didn't slightly frighten me.
"I haven't a clue what you've been through, Arya. Yet, despite the fact that I'll probably always want to see you as the same little girl you were, I can tell you're not. I'm starting to believe there's a lot more to you than meets the eye. I don't know why I know that, but I feel it. Will you tell me about it?" I replied curiously as my eye looked at her, really looked at the young woman standing before me.
"Of course. Why don't you have your drink... You're going to need it." She said, smiling in a way I'd never seen and I found it was chilling to watch.
"What drink?" I asked her, but she nodded to the drink on my desk.
"The Wirewood drink you asked me for." She smirked, which confused me because I hadn't asked her for a ….
"I asked the server for that drink, not you." I replied totally confused, which caused her to chuckle.
"No, that was me. I'll show you." She said, kneeling around the other side of my desk where I couldn't see her.
I had no idea what she was up to, but I knew damn well that I'd asked a server for that drink, not Arya. Had they been working together, I wondered. I reached for the drink and took a gulp, letting the liquor burn down my throat. I leaned my head back to let everything that I'd learned from Arya sink in.
"How's your Wirewood, Sir?" I heard a girl ask with an accent and opened my eyes.
Before me, stood the same server as before. Only this time, she was wearing Arya's clothes. I sat up in my seat, searching for Arya.
"Where's my sister?" I asked standing up, ready to look for her.
"I'm right here, Big Brother." The girl replied, somehow with Arya's voice before she laughed at my expression.
"What? How?" I asked, dumbly taking a step forward to look at her more closely.
"It's me, Jon. This is just …" She said, then pulled behind her ear and I watched as the server girl's face peeled right off, revealing Arya's face underneath. "A mask." She finished her sentence.
I took a step back and stared at her with brand new eyes. "How did you … where did you get that?" I asked her, still shocked at what I'd seen.
"It's not magic, you can touch it." She giggled, holding it out to me.
I noticed that the inside held some kind of micro webbing.
"It's sort of electro-magnetic. The outside is made of a pliable synthetic skin while the inside has a nearly undetectable metallic stretch webbing. I had micro magnetic implants injected just under the first layer of my facial skin. That's how the masks stretches and stays in place while I speak, move, or even fight." She explained, but I'll admit it was all going way over my head.
"That sounds... strange but fascinating." Was all I could come up with, but it was honest.
"It's trippy, I know. After you left, I began training with my gun, like I told you about in our letters. What I left out was that Master Syrio was a trained, albeit retired, assassin from a group called Faceless Men.
"Those people are rumors, Arya." I felt compelled to tell her, because I'd heard of them.
"You're wrong, Jon. As I was saying … While Syrio trained me on how to use Nymeria, he would often tell me about his time with the Faceless Men. Where they were from and where I could find them if I ever wanted to." She told me.
"Why would he tell you such things? You were a young girl." I asked.
"He often told me that he saw much promise in me. Anyway, when everything happened, that's where I went. It was a long road to find them, but I did eventually. As days passed, it became harder to forget what had been done to me and our family. So, every day I learned from them. Every day I trained with them. Every day I recited a list of the people I would kill once I became one of them." She told me and I gulped at the realization that she was telling the truth.
"So, now you're …" I was about to ask when she beat me to it.
"I'm one of the Faceless Men Assassins, yes. I left them when I found out you're alive. I didn't know what condition I'd find you in, but I was prepared to protect you with my life, if I had to. I searched all over, until I heard of your club Direwolf and decided to check it out. Now that I know you're more than well … I plan to follow through on my plans to avenge our family. I'll do so, with or without you." She said resolutely and I shook my head in wonderment.
"I'm not leaving your side ever again, Arya." I promised. "We'll do this together. Gods as our witnesses, we will avenge our family." I added then hugged her once more.
"We'll bring Winter to them all." She stated once we pulled away, I nodded affirmatively.
A/N: Arya and Jon have reunited, and together they be unstoppable. Shorter chapter, because I can't wait for the next chapter.
We're about to see what Sansa is really made of. She'll also be reunited with an old friend. She will embrace her inner wolf and finally be liberated from the confines of being the helpless lady people thought her.