2 Moons Later

Jon walked into his room after his day of chores, there waiting for him was a hot meal, one of Gage's pies. Since he had woken up from his coma, someone had been sneaking him hot food after supper. He didn't know who or why, and didn't have the time in the day to find out. He grabbed all his belongings, which wasn't much, only a small, plain hunting knife, several days worth of dried meat and fruits and some simple spare clothes, tunics and a boiled leather vest. He bundled them all into the large travel bag he had acquired and tucked the knife into his belt. Moving out of the room for the last time, he felt no regret, only longing for the future. He made it down to the Godswood quietly enough and whispered to the trees. "Ser Rodrik?"

"Here Jon, you took your time."

"Sorry, I had to eat before packing."

"Ah, Gage's pies often have that effect."

"What effect?"

"Enticing someone from what they were meant to be doing." Rodrik said, poking Jon with a bundle of white fur.

"Yeah well, it's the first time I managed to eat today so I'm not complaining. Would you stop poking me with that! Actually, what is that?"

"Your new dagger, Wolf's Fang. I had Mikken forge it for you over the last few weeks, obviously not telling who for lest he tells Lord Stark, I thought a dagger would be less conspicuous that a sword,and also a cloak for the journey"

"What, why?"

"You're going out into the Wolfswood son, lots of dangerous creatures out there, bears, wolves, Stark guards." He said, elongating the last words and giving a knowing look."Take it, it's not going to bite." Ser Rodrik passed the blade to Jon who took it out of its scabbard. A no nonsense blade, simple yet strong, there was a fuller running down the middle of the 16 inch blade, making it light and well balanced, the guard softly twisting up towards the blade, either end razor sharp. The handle was leather with string laced over the top, but the only decorative part of the blade was the large figurehead of a white direwolf snarling.

"This is a fine weapon Ser, are you sure you want to give it to me?"

"Why would I not?" He said a small edge in his voice.

"I'm just a bastard." Jon said quietly. Rodrik frowned, a darkness etched into his face.

"That's Lady Stark talking, I know you're more than that Jon, you've a keen mind, a great sword arm and a good man. There aren't many people who can say that given what you've experienced. Remember that please, if we don't see each other again, remember that and keep it in your heart Jon. I never had a son, but if I did I would want him to be like you, well, maybe a bit louder." Rodrik said, chuckling lightly at his own joke. "You're as good as a son to me, I've taught you everything I can and look forward to seeing you become a man, away from the shadow of your family, just come back soon." Tears pooling in both sets of eyes as they said their last goodbyes.

"I will Ser. As soon as I can"

"Well then, hurry up and get out of here before Lady Stark has both our heads on spikes."

"Aye, goodbye for now." Jon said getting up and walking over to the narrow sewer grate. Picking it up and dropping down into the old sewer, it ran dry decades ago but the smell of shit and piss still oozed into Jon's nostrils as he made his way out of the castle and deep into the wolfswood where Winterstorm was waiting. Stepping into the clearing, he felt Stormclaw circling above, looking out for any patrols on the road ahead. Ghost was at his side immediately. The other animals, Orion the Brown Bear, the Shadowcat Shadowfang and the Condor Stormclaw all drifted near and far from him, always having one of them near enough to be able to reach him if he was in danger, but Ghost was at his side all the time, the large direwolf his constant companion.

"On we go then, about fucking time." Jon said to the animals, all of them giving a small chuckle in response. He slipped easily into the eyes of the great bird, taking one last look at the castle behind him before nudging Winterstorm forward and away, breaking into a gallop, knowing that when the castle woke and Catelyn Stark's slave and Ned Stark's punching bag was discovered missing riders would be sent out to all corners of the North. As the sun rose, he could feel his horse getting weaker and weaker, needing to find somewhere to sleep through the day. Stormclaw spotted a small cave a few miles in the distance and Jon moved his horse into a trot, not wanting his horse to die because he pushed it too hard on his first day out in the world. In the cave already was Orion, the great brown beast curled up near the entrance. He moved his head up when Jon approached the cave and gestured him in. Jon leant into the bear, sinking in to his fur, pulling his new white cloak over his body, acting as a blanket before entering a dreamless sleep.

When he woke the sun was setting."It's rising Jon, you slept all through the day and night." The silky voice of Shadowfang spoke into his mind.

"For fucks sake, why didn't one of you wake me up?" Jon shouted mentally at the animals.

"Easy Jon, we know you needed the rest, as did Winterstorm. You half near killed him last night." Ghost said to him.

"And anyway, don't worry, not one rider left Winterfell yesterday, only a couple of ravens." The distant voice of Stormclaw said.

"Hm, seems like my dear old father has failed to notice I didn't kiss his fist yesterday. More time is good anyway, if they don't send out any riders we can take it nice and easy then, avoiding bandits and the like."

"My thoughts exactly." Ghost said stirring from his sleep, his head still resting on Jon's legs. Jon stood up and went to his pack, pulling out some of the dried meat. After finishing his meager breakfast he started to explore the area they were in, finding a weirwood nearby. He knelt down, putting his hand on the tree and prayed. He prayed for safety on the road for him and his companions, he prayed for a new beginning, and above all, he prayed to find his mother. He still held fantasies in his head that on the road he would stop at some village and there would be the open arms of his mother, she would cry that he was home, would feed him and love him for all days to come. He fealt hot breath on the back of his neck, breaking him from his prayers. Winterstorm looked at him, ready to restart their journey. Swinging up effortlessly, he set off once more.

2 Weeks Later

Jon reached down, cradling a hand of salty water and rubbing it on his face. His feet were soaked as the waves gently crashed into the sand. Getting back up to the shoreline, he whipped around to look back at the sea, feeling a slight tug. He hurriedly slipped out from his cloak and heavy clothes until he was left in his small clothes. He ran back into the sea, Ghost chasing behind him and Stormclaw circling from above. He followed the pull he was feeling until he stopped, feeling as if he was on top of it. Jon took a minute to calm himself and steady his breathing before opening his mind, searching for a connection. There was only one near him, the door to its mind already wide open as though it was waiting for him to connect. When he opened his eyes again he was 50 metres underwater, curled up in a ball. Moving back into his own body, he felt the water churning, shifting around him as a giant head rose out of the water. "Hello, Jon Snow."

"Hello." Jon said in a shaky voice. "Are you another agent of the Old Gods, alongside my companions?"

"Yes Jon Snow, I'm Aqualon, the Last Leviathan. It is time you continue your journey, call the others to the shoreline, we'll pick them up there, even that horse of yours."

"Where are you taking us?" Jon asked as he climbed on the back of the giant, green sea creature.

"West."

5 Days Later

James De Saumarez was walking across a golden sandy beach, clearing his mind of the previous meetings he had. Soaking in the view of the glorious sunset he spotted a few large figures at the other end of the bay. He rushed over to see what was happening when he realised they weren't human. One spread its massive wings and took off to the sky, the others whirled around at him. He could make out a pair of red eyes that seemed to be glowing, as well as 4 green. He took a few more steps forward, before stopping, seeing the large snarls on their face, warning him. He looked at what they were standing around, a boy that looked around 13, sprawled unconcious on the sand. "Easy, easy, I mean you no harm. Is he OK?" He said looking at the boy. He was thinking to himself how stupid he was, talking to 3 animals as if they could understand him, but checked himself when he noticed the size of the animals in question, realising that these were not normal animals. The wolf with glowing red eyes stopped snarling, stepping aside almost gesturing to him to look at the boy. The other two still had permanant snarls on their face. Hurrying over to the boy, he saw the parched lips and the pale face of the boy. He watched his chest rise and fall, relieved at least that he was breathing before scooping the boy in his arms. "I'm taking him back to my home, I'll be able to revive him there." As he started walking away from the gathering of animals, he heard them start to shuffle with him. The only thing keeping him from breaking down like a nervous wreck was his determination to save the young boy in his arms.