Prologue, 289 AC


Jon Snow's father, Ned Stark, left to fight the Greyjoy rebellion two weeks ago and since then everything's been terrible. Jon had begged and pleaded for his father to take him with him. He even tried that thing Sansa does with her eyes that always seems to work, but nothing could change his mind. "War is no place for a child, Jon" his father said, but anywhere would be better than here. With Lady Starks chilling blue eyes boring into him, like Jon did something terrible to her.

The very first day without father, she moved his room away from Robb's. Like Jon had greyscale or something. A few days later she barred him from his lessons with old Measter Luwin, Jon asked the old man why. Instead of giving the boy an answer, the Measter just gave that look, the one people give Jon whenever he asks why Lady Stark's so mean to him. Then she told Jon he would no longer be training with Robb and Ser Rodrick in the training yard. That not even the worst of it, Robb stopped playing with him! Jon knows it's Lady Stark's fault, he could feel it.

Jon doesn't know why she was like this to him, the boy supposed he must have done something wrong because she always treated the other kids well. Even Jeyne and Beth, and everyone, but Sansa, found them annoying. He once tried to ask why, keyword being try.

Jon had walked right up to her and started to ask before she looked at him with those dead eyes of hers. Like she was looking right through him, like Jon didn't exist, like he was a ghost. Or some stranger.

Jon stopped asking her about anything after that.

But that was all going to stop today. Jon was going to find his mother. His father would never tell him who or where she is, but Jon had working ears and he wasn't stupid. He had heard the washer women whisper about it one day. They said that his mother was Ashara Dayne and that she's dead, but his mother isn't dead. Jon could feel it.

So, after he heard that, Jon snuck into the library tower. Lady Stark had barred him from that too, but he had his ways around the guards. And looked for a book about the houses of Westeros. He found one, in it Jon read that house Dayne lived in a castle called Starfall and that it was on the coast of Dorne. It was his first clue to where his mother could be. If he could get to Starfall, Jon would ask the people there if they know where she was. Hopefully getting a straight answer for the first time in his life.

Now here he was, saying good bye to his room of two weeks. Jon had already packed a sack full of bread and a water skin he stole from the kitchen. Jon had dressed himself in all his warmest clothes and had donned his best cloak. He even had a knife, that he took while the cook wasn't looking, in his boot. Jon left notes for everyone on his bed, he doesn't want Robb and Sansa to worry after all.

It was a new moon that night, so the guards wouldn't be able to see him. Jon grabbed the latch on his door, then opened it as carefully as he could and slipped through. Then closed it, just as quietly as he opened it. Now clear of the door Jon rushed to the northern door of the great keep. He got there quickly since his room was also on the ground floor.

Jon went through the Great Keep's door the same way as his room's, but even more carefully. Thankfully, it was just as quiet too.

The outside was perfect, with the new moon and clouds in the sky, the world was pitch black. The only lights came from the occasional brazier and the patrolling guards' torches. Blazing islands in a sea of ink.

Jon ran as quickly and as quietly as he could, while keeping to the shadows, and swiftly made it to the east gate of Winterfell. Once the boy got there, he started feeling around to the right of the gate for the brick with the carved direwolf. After a few nerve-wracking moments, Jon found it and pried it loose with his knife. Jon pulled out the heavy stone and set it aside carefully. This revealed a wrought iron ring. He twisted it to the right, then pulled it as hard as he could. Opening the small door to the moat between the inner and outer wall.

Jon got down on his stomach and crawled through the opening, then he found the stone on this side and pry that one loose. He closed the door behind him, then replaced the stone. Once he finished that, he crouched before the moat and took all his clothes off. He stuffed them into the sack, before throwing it to the other side.

"Here comes the worst part", Jon said to himself, sliding into the ice-cold water of the moat. Jon swam to the other side as fast as he could. Thanking the Gods that he's a strong swimmer and makes it across without almost drowning. Once on the other side, Jon climbed out of the moat and dried himself as well as he could with the outside of the sack. When he was sufficiently dry, Jon redressed myself.

Like with the inner wall, he felt around for the carved direwolf stone, when he found it, Jon gave this door the same treatment he did the other one.

After putting the outer stone back in its place, the boy stood and looked away from Winterfell. Free! Free at last, he thought, Free from Lady Stark's eyes!

Loving the sudden felling of weightlessness, Jon ran away from the tall grey wall of Winterfell and towards the vast snowy plains of the north. He ran for almost an hour into the east. In the direction of the western branch of the White Knife before slowing down to a walk. After an hour or two of walking, he started to hear a noise. A howling, but not that of a wolf. This was more, breathy. A snowstorm! Even though those aren't supposed to happen in summer. He realized.

Putting the thought aside, Jon quickly looked around for shelter. Seeing none, he crouched down and curled up as much as he could. Clutching his bag to his chest.

He was going to build himself a snow cave. Jon was taught the idea of this. Simply let yourself be buried in snow, then carve down and around. Until you have a small space.

It doesn't take long for the snowstorm to get to the boy and it was colder that his father had described, somehow. The snow piles up on him, burying Jon in white powder. But something's off, he doesn't start shivering furiously like father always said men did in blizzards. He feels sleepy, Jon tries to fight it, but it's too hard. He feels himself slip away into darkness.

Jon woke with gasp. His eyes snapped open to see a cloudy grey sky and the face of a little girl above him, taking up half of it. She seemed of age with Sansa. She looked very excited to see that Jon was awake, eyes wide and her mouth in an O. After a moment, the girl swung her head behind her and loudly cried out "PA. PAAA. HE'S AWAKE.".

After a deep "Hm?", Jon heard boots on gravel coming towards him. Eventually, a man around his father's age entered Jon's view of the sky. "Seems he is." the man said, he then reached out for Jon and grabbed him under the shoulders. The man lifted Jon of the ground and onto his feet. To the boy's slight surprise, he didn't immediately fall over. The man let go of him and asked for his name. "Jon. My name is Jon, Ser" Jon paused for a moment before asking, "Um. Where am I?" the man looked at him oddly after the question, and the honorific, but he answers all the same. "Well, Jon. You're on Ard Skellig."