:-[Chapter 6]-:
"Who shall lead the host, Father?" asked calmly Eddard.
"I will." Said the Old Wolf in a voice colder then the Wall.
:-[T.A.B]-:
The sons were looking at their father in respect. Of course he would be the one to lead the North. No one else would have the honour.
"What about us, Father?" eagerly asked Brandon. It was clear to Eddard that his brother wanted to fight the Sistermen. They were a thorn in White Harbour's side for far too long.
"You will come with me. Both of you." Said proudly Rickard. He often dreamt about leading his men with his sons at his side. Now was the time.
"But what about Benjen, Father?"
"He will stay here with you mother. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell boys, remember that. Yes, your brother is young. But he will have your mother and Maester Walys. Both of them are already advising me on the North. This is part of our role as Starks, never forget it. Brandon, watch what I do while with the host. This is your future. Eddard, as the brother of the future Lord of Winterfell, it is possibly if your future too to lead men into battle and even possibly becoming a Lord of a castle."
"Yes Father." Said both Starks boys. They weren't really worried for their brother with the kind of advisor he got.
"What about Harry and Hedwig, Father?" said Brandon. "He is the same age as Ned after and his direwolf could help us greatly."
"You will come with us. Eddard and Robert will probably squire for Lord Jon Arryn himself while you, Brandon will be mine. I will ask Ser Rodik if he is interested in having young Harry as his own. I know he was interested at becoming at knight. While you three probably won't see a lot of fighting, you will get experience. Observe and learn, understand?"
The sons nodded at their father.
"Good. Now we will get the Winterfell host ready like I said. Two thousand men should easily suffice from our end. These pirates do not have warriors like ours. The combine force of the North and Vale will crush them. That is why we need to strike them first, before they tried to overthrow House Sunderland. Now go, enjoy your day as a family will you?" finished Rickard.
Brandon and Eddard nodded a last time to Lord Stark before taking their leave. They knew where Benjen would be, always training with Harry. According to Brandon, Lyanna would either be with their mother or spying to her little brother.
Brandon left Eddard after the meeting with his father. His knew his little brother wanted to have some time with his sibling before their departure. He needed to find Robert and speak to him. As the futures Lord Paramount of their respective home land, it was a great opportunities for them to create a lifetime friendship. From what he knew from the stormlander, he would be pretty easy. 'Just give him some wine or ale' said Eddard in one of his numerous letters.
:-[T.A.B]-:
As Rickard was waiting for his Maester to come in his solar, he was thinking about Jon Arryn's letter. The man was the one to approach him about fostering one of his sons. As first, he wanted Brandon, as he got Robert from Storm's End. The Old Wolf put his foot down and downright refuse the offer at first, claiming that no Stark's son would be leaving the North. Walys talking him down gently as first, speaking about inter relation between the Kingdoms.
The Maester had offer good advice. Claiming that the North could develop even more commerce for food in the winter. The decision was in the end a very good one, since the North still had food after the last winter. The Vale had sent multiple ships of good and food.
About his son Eddard, Rickard knew he was becoming a great man in his own right. From what Lord Jon was telling him in his letter, his son was following honour and family above all else. His training with the sword was going very well also from what he knew. He would made his sons spar together to attest both of their progress at the same time.
About the war with the Sistermen, the Lord of Winterfell knew Harry and his direwolf Hedwig would play an important role. He did not know how, but the feeling in his heart was telling him so. He just hoped he was taking the right decision.
:-[T.A.B]-:
Later in the night was the feast Rickard has promised to all of Winterfell once his son arrived. Meat was burning of the fire and the wine was tasty. Songs and dances were heard even from Wintertown. It seems that everyone was celebrating Eddard's arrival.
It was Harry's first feast in Winterfell. The food was absolutely delicious and the meat was juicy. He had been given the honor of sitting next to Benjen, at the Stark's main table. He had been given clothes of better quality to show his status as personal guest of Lord Rickard. He was proud of that fact but refuse to sit on it. With his friend Benjen, they were always the ones to train the most, always pushing to do one more spar to the point of quasi exhaustion.
Manner wise, Harry followed everything Maester Walys and Lyarra Stark were willing to teach him. The last thing he wanted was to disappoint his benefactor. Maester Walys seem to warm up to him, unless he was simply better about hiding it. The young wizard didn't mind the old man as long as he did not push the matter with Hedwig.
Speaking of Hedwig, she decided to stay in his room. With her very good hearing, it was for the best. She enjoyed the constant attention from anyone but could easily do it without the excessive noises. So, while he was enjoying the feast, she was trying to take an early nap on his bed.
"Hedwig, are you still awake?" asked mentally Harry to his direwolf.
"I am now Master. The feast is not to your liking?"
"No no it is fine. I needed to talk to you about something."
"Talk to me about what?"
"About the travel to the Three Sisters. I want you to stay here. Benjen…" Harry started.
"No! I am here to…" started ranting the white direwolf.
"Enough! Let me explain. As Lord Stark said earlier before the feast, I will not do any fighting. I am only going because I need to learn about how they fight. I need to learn strategy and leadership. Lord Stark is the best way to do this. The reason I want you to stay is because I need you to watch over Lya and Benjen. They adore you and I am sure your presence will help Benjen a lot. You already sat at court sometime when Rickard hold court."
"Fine. I do not agree with you on me staying here but your reasoning make sense. I will help little Benjen and watch over both of them." Said an unhappy Hedwig.
"Thank you, girl. I knew you would understand." Said Harry as he returned his attention to his food and the guests.
:-[T.A.B]-:
Rickard wasn't really happy with Harry's decision to let Hedwig stay in Winterfell but ultimately understood the reasoning behind it. His son Benjen was still young and couldn't really be expected to rule the North as good as he was. He needed every bit of help possible. Another reason he agreed to let her stay was the fact that she wasn't completely mature yet.
Lyarra wouldn't say it out loud to her husband, but she was happy that the white direwolf stayed with them. The news that both of his brothers, his father and his new friend would leave at the same time left Benjen quite sad. It took days to cheer him up and only the news that Hedwig was going to stay could put a smile on his lips.
Lyanna didn't know how to react. In a way she really understood her father's duty. But on the other hand, it was the first time in her life that her father was leaving Winterfell, and the North for that matter, for a really long time. She had been inconsolable the first couple nights. Hedwig had once again come to the rescue, confirming the decision to let her stay with the children.
The blacksmiths had been working tirelessly for days now making swords, repairing armors or getting the horses ready. Everyone had a job, and everyone was doing it. While not every man nor every woman were going to war, they all wanted to participate in some way. The soldiers going to war were training harder, hardening their skills.
Harry was following their example. After a couple months training, his skills were getting sharper and sharper. Of course he still got handle like a small child by the real Winterfell's warrior or Brandon but like always, he got up. Ser Rodrik was still pushing him hard every day. The Cassel man had be brought into the fold about Lord Stark's dream and he whole heartily agreed that Harry need to become the best warrior he could be. Right now, his only weaknesses were his height and weight. The young wizard knew they weren't going a hundred percent against him of course.
One of the House Guard, Alyn, had taken a liking to Harry. Alyn was a bastard from Wintertown, born from a whore and a merchant from Essos. He had been chosen to stay in Winterfell with five hundred men to defend the castle and of course, Benjen himself. The man had a couple of shade darker than the usual northmen but not enough to really stand out. The darker skinned man almost always had a smile on his face, even while fighting. He was simply happy about being accepted by Lord Stark. Many bastards like himself did not have the same chances as him.
Alyn was chosen for many reasons. The men liked him, he was one of the best swords in Winterfell and most importantly, Lord Stark trusted him. When he got the news of his next assignation, he was a little sad at first, not being able to find glory at war against those fuckers but that quickly change once he told him he was being chosen as the new Captain of the Guard while Ser Rodrik went with his Lord.
"So, my Lord Winterstorm, I hear you will go will Lord Rickard and Lord Brandon to the Three Sisters to go teach them a lesson." teased Alyn while sparing with Harry.
The Winterstorm name had been mainly chose by Rickard Stark of course but the soldiers were using it to teasing the young man. At first they didn't understand the favoritism Lord Stark had to this boy, but after seeing his potential and or course that he had a freaking direwolf, they all decide to help him. Now it was mainly a nickname said in a spirit of camaraderie.
"Aye," said Harry, dodging a swing of Alyn's sword. "Lord Stark wants me to come with him so I can get some experiences. He said however that I won't be part of the fighting. That's fine, I will be able to learn many things and see more of Westeros."
"You're way too optimist, kid." Smirked Alyn while trying to make the young wizard fall and failing this time. "Those fucking Sistermen are just a bunch of pirates good for nothing. The Arryns never truly had a hold on them. Only the loyalty of House Sunderland helped keep the peace. Now it seems it won't be enough."
"W-what do you think Lord Arryn will do to these rebellious Houses?" panted the raven haired boy, holding his shield high, blocking a hit from his sparring partner.
"I don't know. I don't really know the man. I do know that Lord Stark would definitively make an example of the situation." Disarming Harry's shield, leaving him with only a sword. "You'll have to tell me when you come back, little pup!" Knocking in on the ground with a swift kick of the leg.
Harry grunted loudly when his back hit the hard cold floor. He didn't have time to get up before a wooden sword was in his face. He lost the fight again.
"I yield my good ser." Said Harry in a faux mocking tone.
"Why you little shit." laughed Alyn, letting him go and helping him get up. "You are starting to be a good warrior, Harry. The only reason you always lose is because you insist to always fight older and stronger men than you. If you would fight against people your age, you would do much better."
"I know that, Alyn. You and Ser Rodrik always say the same thing. But I want to be able to be the best I can become and right now, you and the others guards are doing exactly that."
"Continue your training while you are gone. Use this time to spar against that Baratheon heir and Lord Eddard, if you can. I've seen them fight. I going to give it to that southern lord, he knows how to train his wards. That Robert is going to be a monster when he's older."
"Yeah." Said Harry while dusting himself. "I have seen him too. Can't believe he is actually taller than some men at his age."
"The Baratheon have always been like this. Well, most of them anyways. Robert might be an even smaller exception."
"Might even go see some tourney if Lord Stark approve so that I can go see him in the melee when he is older."
"You? Going to a tourney? My, my Alyn. Didn't know you had southern tendencies." Laughed Harry.
The last thing Harry saw was Alyn running after him with his wooden sword.
:-[T.A.B]-:
Harry sat of the marble floor inside his trunk like he did every night. The meditation helped a lot during his training, cutting his sleeping habits by half. The young wizard hard the theory that the more he was going to use this technique, the better said technique is going to be. He hoped that one day he would only need a couple hours of rest.
Inside his mindscape, Harry tried to center himself. During his first year at Hogwarts, he remembered Professor Flitwick speaking of the wizards' core. The core was the key to magic and even to life itself for wizardkind. Many wizards and witches didn't survive for more than a couple years when the core was being damage.
Finding it however was a different task altogether. He did not have any experience, no book and no teachers to help him. He was completely alone with this project but he did not mind at all. It was his way. His destiny. He had no rules to follow, no law and no Ministry of Magic to watch every spell he did.
Both of his training was taking a lot of time. He still did not manage to perform the Lumos spell wandlessly but he did not lose hope. If it was this easy, every student would do it and wizards would not need wands at all.
Harry made the decision to start his mindscape in the image of Winterfell. Each night, he created the castle stone by stone. Luckily, in his mind, he did not need magic to create them. However, he had to make them one by one for now. It was an exhausting task, but Harry had time, plenty of it. Before he started all of this, he decide that he would do it right.
Not knowing anything about meditation, he simply assumed the lotus position and kept it. His new meditation room was better than the main chamber but still a little bit uncomfortable since he didn't have any mattress or basic furniture. He still insisted to wait until he could make everything himself.
Deep in meditation, Harry was trying to sense his core. For weeks now he tried, only to fail each time. This time though, he was sensing something… something warm. This feeling felt familiar somehow. The young wizard was farther into a trance than he'd ever been before in his life. Suddenly in front of him there was a bright greenish light and from it came a pleasant soft warmth. Harry had finally found it.
:-[T.A.B]-:
Thank you everyone for reading Chapter 6 of The adventure begin! Please let a review in the comment, letting me know what you think about my story.
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Criticism is always welcome as long as it is constructive.
To Virgo1234: Thank you for beta reading!
To agnar: You've made an excellent point my friend and you are absolutely right. Check your DM ;)
To everyone: Any ideas for Lyanna new horse's name? Let me know in the comments!