Kraven

Winterfell.

Oh, how she hated it.

Winterfell was the exact opposite of her once home. Cold instead of warm. Grass and snow instead of sand. Men thick and dour instead of lithe and passionate. The nights were too long and the days too short. The animals were wrong too; when she thought of beasts she thought of the lizards and the snakes that called the great dunes home. Such creatures would find themselves falling asleep here, dying in their dreams due to the cold and allowing then great shaggy beasts that called the North their kingdom to consume them all.

'And then there are the Starks,' she thought bitterly as she lashed out with her spear, stabbing one of the Winterfell soldiers in a spot where his armor left a gap. He let out a shrill scream as he dropped his sword, fingers no longer able to open and close properly thanks to her spearhead shredding through the nerves and tissues that connected his arm to the rest of his body. Hot blood poured from his wound but she was sure that even his blood was colder than that of the Dornish.

Not that she counted herself as one anymore. Even before she had altered her body, twisting the frail and weak thing she had been into something strong and powerful, she had given up the right to call herself Dornish when she'd allowed two with the blood of the Sun and the Spear to die while she fled like a coward. When her child that died so too had been her right to call herself a Martell.

'And yet the Starks get all I should have had,' she thought darkly to herself as she ripped the spear from the man's body before plunging it into his throat, silencing his scream. The way he twitched reminded her of how sometimes one would swat at a beetle and only graze it, causing it to still twitch but be unable to do anything before you finished squishing it. 'They tried to tie themselves to the dragon and while my family has been reduced in power they were able to retreat back to their castle. The whore Lyanna Stark might be dead but her brother continues on with his beautiful children and fertile wife.'

She thought of her brothers. Oberyn, so wounded by her "death" that any hope he might one day be able to put aside his wandering eye and marry had been completely destroy. Never would he trust his heart with another. And Doran. She hated that he was currently trying to get into the good graces of the Lannisters but she also mourned the fact that the large family he had dreamed of when they were children had never come to be. A daughter and two sons… barely half of the seven children he claimed he would bring into the world, one for each of the Seven Kingdoms which he had boldly claimed when she was a little girl would fall to his progeny.

"You don't deserve this," she said to another guard, spinning her spear as he brought up his shield to try and guard against her. With utter viciousness she attacked him, driving the butt of her spear into his shield and then, with a simple flip, slammed the spear head into his unarmored boot. He cried out in pain and fell awkwardly, pinned to the ground and unable to crawl away as she drew forth her sword. He held up his hands and gibbered mindless pleas but Kraven merely sneered before she swung her sword-

CLANG!

The blow stopped short and Kraven looked at the one that had dared to interfere with her and her battle.

She was startled to find it was a woman.

The warrioress twisted her sword, forcing Kraven's blade away before she suddenly grabbed at the spear, ripping it free of the ground and the man's foot before she spun it rapidly around her body, lashing out once, twice, and then flinging it away. Kraven sneered at that before she brought out a dagger, holding it in a reverse grip while readying her blade. In response her foe drew a second sward, easily bringing both up in a stance that would allow her to quickly go on the attack if she desired or remain of the defensive.

The two slowly began to circle one another, allowing Kraven to truly get a good look at the woman. The thing most others would have noticed about her was her green skin and deep red hair, which was the color of just cooling blood. Perhaps after that one would take in her choice of attire: black leather that left her arms bear and allowed her to be as flexible as she wished. Others might have seen that while she was half a foot shorter than Kraven she was made up only of lean hard muscle. Or that she clearly knew how to wield weapons. She wasn't some weak maiden who, in a desperate time of need, took up a sword or a dagger and swung wildly at her enemy. No… she knew how to plant her feet. How to hold her blades. How to fight.

Others would have noticed all of that.

Kraven however was focused on the woman's eyes.

Those were the eyes of someone who had lost much and rather than allow the pain to cause them to be crushed… she had decided to become strong enough to never be hurt again.

She had seen those eyes many times… the last being just before Kraven had learned of the death of Ser Gregor Clegane.

"You were a fool to come here," the woman said, nearly as cold as the lands outside of Winterfell's walls.

Had she been someone else Kraven might have mentioned that she certainly didn't feel foolish. A mere look at the damage she, the Vulture, and Ultron had managed to do to Winterfell already spoke of that. Despite the fact that they had been taken unaware by the Iron Born so recently they had still allowed themselves to be caught by surprise by their forces. The three of them were laying waste not just to the soldiers but to the mighty castle itself. Sections of the wall had been destroyed, the main keep had been breached, and fires burned in Winter Town. Everyone was in such a panic that they had no ability to mount a defense, allowing them all to do as they pleased.

But Kraven didn't say those words.

"What is your name?" she asked as she gripped her sword a touch harder.

"I am Gamora… and I will kill you for daring to come here."

Kraven smirked at that. "There are many men in Essos who spoke those words to me. And be it unmarked grave or grand tomb… all ended up in the same place in the end while I remain standing."

Gamora stood there… and then burst into a flurry of sword swings.

It was so fast that it almost took Kraven by surprise. She was used to being the one that startled people with her speed so to find herself on the other end of it was certainly surprising. Not enough that it caused her to be in any real danger, of course. Oh no… she was too good for that. She brought up her sword to deflect a blow from the right sword while her dagger easily slid aside the left. Kraven then shifted her body weight, using her greater size to loom over Gamora and get her to bend. That was the best way to deal with fighters that were smaller than her. By forcing them to have to shift their bodies their center of gravity changed and that messed up their ability to quickly dodge blows.

But Gamora twisted towards her left arm and her dagger, dropping her head to avoid the slash Kraven made, and popped back up at Kraven's side, swinging her sword towards her back. But the Hunter easily spun her toes and brought her dagger up again, blocking that strike. If Gamora had been her size she would have never been able to stop that hit but the other woman's shorter reach meant her swing wasn't able to get the speed and strength it needed in order to truly harm her.

And yet… Kraven was still startled by just how strong the other woman was. Her strike was able to jar her wrist for a moment. Just a moment… but that was enough to surprise Kraven.

"What are you?" she asked, utterly curious.

"I am a Child of the Forest," Gamora declared. "Protector of these lands."

If Gamora had thought that would frighten her then she had miscalculated gravely.

"A Child of the Forest…" Kraven whispered, a smile slowly forming on her lips as she stared at the green skinned woman. Yes… yes this would make the entire enterprise worthwhile! She had agreed to help Ultron attack Winterfell because it was held by the Starks and there was nothing more she wanted than to make them all pay. Any that held their blood needed to suffer and perish for the role Lyanna Stark had played in her downfall. But she hadn't been interested in the needless slaughter that Ultron had gushed on and on about.

Her "king" (a title she only used when he was around, for she would never have a king again) had went on and on about how glorious it would be to strike at the very heart of the North. To bring down Eddard Stark and leave his great castle in ruins. To slaughter his children as they foolishly tried to stand against him and protect their home. To turn the people of the North against him as they saw just how weak he truly was.

Kraven hadn't been interested in any of that. It was like asking the greatest Hunter on either side of the Narrow Sea to help trap rats. Far below their skill and it offered no sport at all.

But… a Child of the Forest? Something of myth and legend?

Kraven at once went into a flurry of swings and strikes, forcing Gamora backwards. She lashed out with her sword, swinging it in wide arcs again and again, while she used her dagger to stab at the green woman. She didn't get close to her flesh but it was enough to keep Gamora moving backwards, forcing her right where Kraven wanted her. They moved towards a wall, one thick and high. It would be the anvil and Kraven the hammer.

All around them the sounds of battle continued. Though the Stark men numbered in the hundreds there was little they could do against the Vulture, as he was able to swoop in and out of the sky, lashing at them with his dragonbone feathers, cutting them into ribbons. And Ultron… Ultron was unleashing every ounce of dark magic he could upon Winterfell, tearing apart walls and towers with the beams of blue energy that he fired from his mouth. Though, as Kraven tuned her sense to the world around her, she did notice that it had grown quiet…

Kraven lashed out again with her sword. It was a clumsy strike, one aimed at Gamora's belly. If it had hit her guts would have spilled out onto the ground, tumbling from her stomach into a puddle on the hard packed earth. But Gamora was too skilled and too quick and she leapt away.

Right where Kraven wanted her.

"Protector?" Kraven taunted as she moved in for the kill. Gamora now only had about a foot between her back and the wall. It eliminated one of her ways to avoid Kraven's blows and with her greater reach the right and left would also disappear rather quickly. If she were cunning she would try for the left, as that hand held the dagger. Try and move along that way…

…towards the other wall, forcing Gamora into a corner. Trapping her completely.

'After that it is just a matter of hammering her over and over until something breaks,' Kraven thought as she adjusted her grip on her uncle's white sword. 'She might be a Child of the Forest but I still have her in terms of strength and I am willing to bet my endurance will be greater as well.' She tried to remember all she had ever heard about the Children of the Forest and was disappointed to discover that her mind held little. Even though they were supposed to be part of Westeros' history the Children had always been seen as a Northern Myth and thus something the southerners never learned much about.

And being Dornish, where the trees rarely grew and such beings would shrivel up in the sun? Well… her education had never included them, much to her disappointment now in the present.

'I can learn plenty about her after I kill her,' Kraven thought. 'She can't be the only one here… there must be others. A greater chance to fight. I will study this one so that I might find greater members of her kind and better be prepared-'

Gamora suddenly leapt straight up.

Kraven had never seen anything like it. All the beasts she had ever hunted needed a running start to achieve such heights. Gamora hadn't even really crouched, like a man might if he needed to try and make a great jump. No… she had barely bent her knees before she had easily leapt straight up. Kraven's eyes snapped upward just in time to see Gamora suddenly kick off from the wall and come down and she knew she had to move. She couldn't let the Child of the Forest get behind her, as that would turn her trap against her!

Rather than try and get ahead of her Kraven moved to her right, so that the wall was now at her side but she was also facing the second wall, the one she had been moving towards. That allowed her to hopefully shift Gamora back into her trap, though she would have to be mindful of the jumps.

'Maybe use that against her,' she thought. 'Get her to try that little move again.' She hurried forward, swinging at Gamora and forcing her to block with both her swords. Kraven freed her weapon and lashed downward, trying to break her guard only for Gamora to choose to redirect rather than completely stop the swing. 'Then swinging at her as she's jumping. One half goes up, the other right back down.'

"I don't know why you came here," Gamora said. Kraven waited to hear what she had to say next…but the Child of the Forest instead launched a new attack on her, striking again and again with her blades. She was a vortex of death, her blades singing as she spun them in complex patterns. Sometimes they meant to strike out at Kraven and other times the woman realized her foe was trying to trick her into moving for a block only for the blow to never come, instead opening her up for another strike. It was forcing Kraven to think four steps ahead, to determine what move she might make that would allow her to defend herself not only from that strike but the ones that came after.

She found herself grinning at that.

"Finally… a challenge," she hissed as she moved to meet Gamora head on, performing her own fancy footwork.

"Is that what brought you here?" Gamora asked as she broke off, putting a bit of distance between them. "Got tired of mindless slaughter?"

"I have never slaughtered anything without a clear plan," Kraven stated as she and Gamora circled one another, making no move to actually try and engage one another. It wouldn't last, both knew that. They would be at each other's throats soon enough. But that the moment she was willing to just observe. "And I have never gone after the weak. I have only sought the strongest of prey for my hunts… what a delight to find you."

"So you didn't know I would be here," Gamora stated and Kraven at once cursed her foolishness. She hadn't realized what she was saying and now Gamora had more information that she wouldn;t have liked her to have. Knowledge was power, after all, no matter what it might be. There was a way to turn any bit of information into a weapon, if one had the will to do so. "Then why come here? Why attack us? The Starks did nothing to you-"

"The Starks did everything to me!" Kraven roared, pointing her sword right at the woman. "I don't know why you have sided with them but they are selfish creatures that don't ever take a moment to think and consider how their actions will affect others. They just demand, demand, demand and then play the victim when their choices come back to haunt them."

Gamora sneered at that. "I don't know who has fed you those lies-"

"History has fed me the truth," Kraven countered. "It has told me exactly what the Starks are! Lyanna Stark craved Rhaegar and ran off with him and that insipid little brat drove all of Westeros into war! How many died because she couldn't obey her father, like every other woman has!"

"You obeyed your father?" Gamora snapped back.

"Yes," Kraven hissed. "I obeyed him. I left my home, married a man who only laid with me because it was his duty, and provided him with his heir. I did what was asked of me and my reward is my continued existence while all those that should have lived died. I am Kraven… and I have lost more than you can possibly imagine."

That… was the wrong thing to say.

"You think I haven't suffered?" Gamora demanded. "You think I don't know what its like to lose? My brother. My father. They died because of me. And even though we have been reunited that doesn't remove the horror I felt when I learned what my actions had caused! My son doesn't even know I exist and I have no idea what he will do when we finally meet again! The one man I thought I loved used me to fulfill his delusions of prophecy because his wife couldn't give him another daughter-"

Kraven felt her blood freeze in her veins.

She stared at the woman carefully. Tried to imagine her with pale skin and dark hair. The long face. The thick nose that on another woman would have been ugly but on her only made her more attractive. The swagger and the attitude. Her willingness to fight. To be wild…

…like a wolf.

"Lyanna," Kraven hissed.

Gamora stared at her… and then narrowed her eyes. "Ellia."

The two brides of Rhaegar Targaryen stared each other down.

"I suppose there is no way you will walk away from this," Gamora… Lyanna… said.

Kraven sneered. "Oh, I will walk away… with your severed head held in my hands you whore!" With that she launched herself forward-

There was a sharp whistle and Kraven cried out as an arrow went right into her shoulder.

"I'm gonna have to ask you not to kill my daughter," a blue skinned man with red metal capping his head where his hair should have been said casually as he walked up to them.

It took several moments for it to register just what he was saying… but when it did Kraven felt herself trembling with utter rage and hatred.

Rickard.

Rickard Stark.

Him. It was him who had caused this. Caused it all. His failures as a Lord and as a Father. He had caused EVERYTHING.

Kraven let out a scream, ripping the arrow from her shoulder and throwing it right at Rickard's head even as she went after Lyanna. The speed at which she came at the woman must have startled her because she was a touch too slow bringing up her swords, allowing Kraven to kick one out of her hand while slashing with her own sword at her unprotected left leg; the bitch just managed to twist away so all she got was a gash on her leg rather than the entire limb ripped away. But Kraven didn't dwell on that; no, she continued to hammer on Lyanna, again and again, even as she felt her shoulder reknitting itself only for her frenzy to rip the sinew apart and force it to reheal all over again.

"You selfish little brat!" Kraven roared. "Thinking you are better than every other woman ever born in this fucking realm! All of us did our duty, married the men that our fathers commanded, and found some measure of peace with it! But not Lyanna Fucking Stark! She decided she knew better and she had the right to spit in her father's face! And you couldn't even take up with a blacksmith or a hedge knight! You stole the crowned prince… you stole my fucking husband!"

"Rhaegar… Rhaegar lied-"

"Of course he fucking did!" Kraven bellowed, pushing her further back away from the wall. She didn't care about some fancy trick that would leave her trapped… no, all Kraven wanted now was the fucking bitch dead and she didn't care how it happened! She would rip out her spine and club her to death with it, if she had to! "That whimpering little sword swallower lied to the fucking world. You think you were the first he betrayed me with? I let him swallow Corrington's seed but it was fine because he always came back to me. He was careful and never disgraced my honor. And then you showed up and the entire kingdom knew you had seduced him to your bed!"

Lyanna moved to try and grab her arm but Kraven kicked at her leg, feeling the ankle crack though not break under the assault. That forced Lyanna to bend down and Kraven, not even caring about weapons anymore, dropped her sword and dagger and instead latched onto Lyanna's head, slamming her face right into her knee.

"Fuck Rhaegar and fuck you too! If you had any fucking subtly it would have been fine! Forgivable. But instead you plunged the Seven Kingdoms into war!"

"We didn't… we didn't mean too…" Lyanna gasped out, clearly dazed.

That… was the wrong thing to say.

Kraven tackled Lyanna, wrapping her fingers around her throat and squeezing hard.

"You're apologies won't bring my children back," Kraven hissed as she leaned in close, eyes twitched as she looked down at Lyanna as she struggled and clawed at her wrists. Kraven didn't care. She welcomed the pain. She wanted to watch the light fade from the bitch's eyes and see her accept that death was coming from her. And then… and then maybe Kraven would just walk into one of the fires that had started up and allow herself to burn. Yes… yes that is what she would do. There-

She screamed as the damn red arrow burst out of her chest.

"It… was very fucking stupid for you to come here," Rickard said as he walked towards her, the blow having caused Kraven to fall off of Lyanna, some youth running to her and dragging her away. Kraven snarled, pressing her hand to her healing chest. Everything the warlocks had done to her to remake her into the Hunter were working triple time to repair the damage and while she could feel her flesh reknitting it still hurt like the Seven Hells.

But… Kraven was used to pain.

She twisted only to screech as an arrow was driven into her other shoulder, this time by the youth. She heard Rickard whistle and his red arrow hovered in the air before driving through her belly, flying her back against the wall. The youth fired again and this time Kraven found it driven through her left hand, pinning it to the wall.

"I don't know who you are, girl," Rickard said, "but it was a dumb choice to come here and attack our people."

She snarled but Rickard merely raised an eyebrow, clearly not bothered by her. She hissed as she felt the skin and muscle in her left hand slowly sealing around the arrow the blasted boy had fired into her; it would be a bitch to remove it now, with her body healing around it. Luckily the ones that Rickard had given her with his arrow were free of anything that might impede them… and better yet it looked like he didn't realize she was healing up. So it would only be her hand that hurt but she could live with that.

"We're gonna get answers. About you… about that silver bastard… and-

Black feathers suddenly shot down and forced Rickard to dive away.

"We're done here," the Vulture said.

"No… I can fight!" she snarled.

"I don't care. The King has what he wants… we're going."

"Lyanna fucking Stark is here!" she roared, finally reaching over and ripping the arrow from her hand. Blood gushed from the wound and it was making her feel a bit light headed; she'd need to eat a lot and drink even more to replenish herself. "She is here and she will die for what she did to me!"

"And the king doesn't care," the Vulture told her coldly. Kraven opened her mouth but he grabbed her and hauled her in close. "I don't like any of this either but he's in a mood. He got what he wanted and he wants to leave… and if we delay him from doing that he WILL fucking kill you."

"I don't care," Kraven snarled. She had wanted to die for so very long… maybe this would be her chance.

"You fucking should," the Vulture growled, dragging her in even closer. "It will be a coin toss if he makes it fast or takes his time. He wants to leave NOW and I think he might burn you to ashes quick but he could also be in the mood to make you suffer. And I don't want to see that happen to you." She blinked at that and the Vulture grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. "You can't kill the woman if you're dead. Now… come on!"

Kraven grit her teeth at that and then allowed the Vulture to wrap his arms around her. It was utterly undignified and made her feel like a weak little girl all over again but there was simply no way for her to make it out of the North and keep up with the Vulture or Ultron-

"Winterfell!"

She looked up and wasn't that surprised that Ultron was hanging in the middle of the sky, addressing the people he had just attacked like he was their greatest champion.

'Maybe in his mind he thinks he is,' she thought darkly. Kraven had come to realize that Ultron was utterly deluded in many… many things. He thought he was more charming that he actually was. He thought he was smarter too. He thought that every lie he told was believed and that his people followed him like naïve little sheep, never once considering turning against him. He told jokes and thought the laughter he heard was real and he gave out his plans and while they seemed to work for the most part Kraven knew they could be improved but he just didn't care. He believed himself to be the greatest form of man to have ever lived… and after he had died he thought himself beyond even the limits that came with mortality.

Knowing Ultron he probably assumed everyone would begin to cheer him.

He was floating in the air, a woman wearing her sleeping garments still held tight in his left arm while his right was stretched wide.

"For too long you, and all of Westeros, have suffered at the hands of Lords who can not protect you! They have allowed countless wars to tear your lands apart. They have sent your sons off to fight in the battles caused by their egos and then demanded that you thank them for the honor! None of you are safe so long as they remain in power!

"But the times of darkness are now over! The Seven Kingdoms are now one… Westeros is but a single realm. The Lords Paramount and the Wardens are relieved of their duties and the Lords will be stripped of their power. Only one shall rule… the eternal king! From my seat upon the highest point in Westeros I will rule you fairly and justly!"

Ultron turned his head first to the right and then to the left, looking down at the soldiers that were gathered below him in the broken and damaged keep.

"But I know that some things must be handled by a people, in order for them to truly believe it! To know it to be true! Thus, while I could slaughter the Starks with a single wave of my hand-" The woman in his arms started at that, turning and staring at him in shock, "-I leave it to you, my subjects, to do the deed! Hunt down all those of the blood of the Starks and bring me their heads! Riches and honor will be given to all who do this for me!"

And with that Ultron rose in the air, the woman he was holding yelling… something… but Kraven couldn't hear what it was with how quickly Ultron was flying away.

The Vulture remained hovering for a moment more.

"This isn't going to work out how he believes," he whispered.

Kraven looked down at Lyanna, seeing her staring daggers at her, and she grit her teeth that her enemy and rival was still alive.

'No… no it is not,' she thought. 'And I am glad it will not. Let them stay with their precious Starks… it just means I will be able to kill them all myself!'