Daenerys
The cold breeze brushed past her shoulders and flew through her hair as she soared high above the clouds on the back of Valryon, the red and black dragon she and Viserys had named for one of their ancestor's dragons that came from Old Valyria. His scales and body were all dark and black, with pale red wing membranes, and red eyes.
The sun was still high in the sky, in between the clouds both beneath and above her. They formed countless shapes that changed their form within moments. It was a view she loved to see whenever on dragon back, for she was one of the only two people that could ever experience this.
It had been six years since the dragons had returned to their family, and they had grown a lot faster than those of their ancestors during their family's first hundred year reign.
Viserys had told her they may need to wait a decade or two until they were big enough to ride and fly to war, however, their relative from the Wall, Maester Aemon, had told them the dragons of their ancestors had grown smaller and slower due to being locked away in a pit whenever not with their rider.
Their four now living dragons had never known confinement and had been large enough to ride for well over a year. So while her brother may not get his war for a few more years, they at least could ride on their dragon's backs high above the clouds in the Northern skies.
"Ilagon, Valryon" She shouted in Valyrian to her dragon, and after hearing her command, Valryon flew under the clouds until they could only see the sea beneath them and the sea stacks that rose above the water.
As she descended further, she could barely make out the shoreline of the Norths western coast. It was then she heard the call of another dragon from behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, she noticed her brother on the back of Aersion, the cream colored dragon her brother had claimed since all four were eggs. Aersion had golden wing membranes and long golden horns on his head.
Viserys and Aersion flew between a few sea stacks, before rising above them to catch up to her on Valryon. She knew well what he wanted.
Once they were flying beside one another, Viserys gave her a smirk before shouting something to his dragon, "Dracarys!"
The cream colored dragon blew a ball of fire from his mouth in front of Valryon, and Viserys then had his dragon fly above them.
Dany meanwhile flew straight through the flames that began to die out in mid air, which didn't leave any marks on her outfit, which was all black with the head of a red dragon sewn above her breasts.
They soon neared the island where the other two dragons, Rhaegal and Aegorax, had remained. Bear Island was where the dragons had stayed for most of the past few years, for its small population and the Mormonts' unbreakable oaths. Before then, it was Greywater Watch, when Lord Eddard finally got in touch with lord Reed.
Mormont and Reed were both honorable houses that Lord Eddard had held in high respects, and the Mormonts kept the dragons safe on Bear Island as they grew in secret, and so far they had done a good job. lord Jorah was a man both her and her brother had called friend.
The other two dragons called out to Aersion and Valryon as both flew over the clearing where they nested. "Tegon," Valryon proceeded to land on the ground beside the green dragon Rhaegal, and Daenerys proceeded to climb down from her dragons back.
Present in the clearing besides the dragons were thirteen knights sworn to house Mormont, who had been ordered to keep an eye on the dragons and make certain no unwanted eyes found them. They had similar tasks like the dragon keepers, until the dragons went extinct.
Walking to the front of Valryons snout, she rubbed her hand across her dragon, their violet and red eyes meeting one another. Then once her hand left her dragon's snout, she looked up to find her brother still circling overhead on his own dragon, before eventually bringing Aersion down with his dragons' siblings.
Three of their dragons had been named for members of their family. Aersion their father, Rhaegal for the brother she never knew, and Aegorax for both her nephew, and the conqueror who had started the Targaryen dynasty. Valryon was the only one named after an ancient Valyrian dragon that had accompanied Daenys the Dreamer to Dragonstone, along with Balerion the Dread.
"Daenerys," Her eyes wandered to Rhaegal, and to the man standing beside the dragon. "You were gone half the day." he smirked.
A smile came across Danys face as she walked over to Jon. "And did you grow bored, Jon Snow?" she playfully asked.
Jon gestured to Rhaegal. "Nah, had him to keep me company." Her friend's hand stretched out along Rhaegal's snout, and he smiled down at the dragon.
Daenerys moved to stand beside Jon and took his hand in hers. "You could try."
He only shrugged, "I don't have dragon blood." A sigh left her as she too rubbed her hand down Rhaegal's snout. "Besides, we get along just great waiting all day for you and Valryon to return."
Whether that was an attempt at a jest or not, she couldn't be bothered to laugh. Sure, he didn't say it much around her, given what they were to one another, but she knew the real reason he didn't want to try and claim Rhaegal. "Snow or not, Rhaegal has a connection to you."
Resting her head against Jons shoulder, she looked at the green dragon's back. "And he needs a rider."
Jon sighed, "Dany, I just-"
"If you did, we could fly above the clouds together and see just what the world looks like from way up there." She knew that after experiencing it just one time, Jon would never want to land again.
After a moment of them standing there, her brother finally came over, and she moved her head away from Jons shoulder, also releasing her hold on his hand. "Are you ready to return to Winterfell, Viserys?" Jon asked him.
Viserys wore a black leather tunic with the three headed dragon of their house sewn on his right side, with their familys sword Dark Sister clipped to his waist. "I'd prefer to return on dragon back. But of course, I would hate for the realm to be torn apart by war."
Dany knew that was exactly what he wanted. But still, it would be nicer to have the freedom to fly them anywhere, but Viserys was right, one person talks and Robert Baratheon would declare war, and even with the dragons it would be a struggle to win.
Her brother had mostly kept quiet about his ideas to get back their throne, after hearing of the Hightowers alliance to the Lannister's. Last she heard, Lady Lynesse and ser Jaime Lannister welcomed a daughter to the world about three years ago, further sealing the bond between the houses, and even further disrupting Viserys plans which she knew would never see daylight. The Hightowers were powerful Reach bannermen, and the Tyrells had no reason to support Viserys cause.
In all truth, she could care less about the iron throne. All she truly wanted was to be free to fly Valryon anywhere, and be with Jon, and live a long and prosperous life in peace.
Robb
"Now relax your bow arm," he instructed as he looked around to make certain nobody was watching as his younger sibling trained with a bow in secret. It was a little before dawn now, so he hoped nobody would wake up to find them in the training yard.
Not even taking a breath, the arrow left the bow string and flew across the yard to hit the target in the center, leaving Robb speechless.
"Can you teach me to train with a sword next?" Arya asked after she shot the target, looking up at him almost pleadingly.
"Maybe," he responded while still staring at the target. "How long has Jon been training you?" Bran couldn't even get close to that, infact, Robb couldn't even make that shot at her age, yet Arya could make a perfect shot while ten, and a month from eleven.
"He hasn't" turning his head in surprise, Robb found a happy smile had formed on Arya's face.
Robb raised a brow, and smiled. "And yet, you told me I had to replace him to help teach you archery."
Arya nodded, "Well I still need sword practice." she glanced at the rack of swords against the castle wall. "Please Robb?"
Glancing at the training swords, a part of him wanted to refuse. It wasn't because she was a little girl, rather because the clanking of metal would wake people up.
However, glancing a few sticks laying under a tree, Robb gave a nod. "Alright." walking over to the sticks laying on the ground, Robb collected them and reached his hand out to give her a smaller one.
Arya glanced from the stick to the swords, and Robb knew she wanted to use an actual sword. "We use those and people wake up, do you want mother to give you an extra lesson with Mordane again?"
Convinced, Arya shook her head and took the stick. "I hate those lessons, I'm never even going to use them." She raised her arm hand to block a light strike from Robb as they began.
As they started, Robb gave a nod to her statement, before twirling the stick around and locking it with hers. "Knowing you, I wouldn't doubt it."
Arya tried tripping him, however because of his bigger body, her efforts were useless. "Maybe if you pleased mother, she wouldn't force you to take those lessons." he said after shoving her back, causing her to almost lose her balance.
To that Arya shook her head. "Sansa is already the perfect lady," clashing their blades again, Arya ducked as Robbs blade swung close to her head. "And mother still makes both of us take lessons."
After a little while more of practice with sticks, it got brighter outside, and Robb knew they had to end this. So, he glanced back behind him after moving away from his sister's strike. There was nothing behind him, so as his sister prepared to strike again, Robb moved his wrist higher than he would have in a real fight.
His sister struck his wrist, and Robb pretended to lose balance after the stick fell from his hand, and he fell over on the ground. He hoped it wasn't too obvious for her that he had let her win, but before Arya could say something, they both heard clapping come from the ramparts.
Robb turned his head as he rose and found his father clapping, with a smile on his face. For a moment his face was blank, until he saw the victorious smile on Arya's lips, causing a proud smile to form on his own.
Eddard
It was high noon as Eddard sat in his quarters, writing a letter to Lord Roose Bolton. The lord of the Dreadfort was now without an heir, with his son Domeric having passed due to illness.
There were two options for Lord Bolton, either remarry and have another son, or have his bastard legitimized. Honestly, Ned couldn't recall Roose having ever mentioned this Ramsay Snow, but it seemed the boy was now a young man, apparently having been raised in secret.
It wasn't an uncommon thing to have a bastard son, but it was uncommon for them to be legitimized. If Bolton truly did want to have this Ramsay as his heir, he supposed that was his choice. Unfortunately, it was also his choice to have fathered a bastard.
Grabbing a parchment and a quill, Ned wrote that if Bolton wanted the boy to share his family name, it would have to be taken up with the King, as it was the monarch's decision to legitimize a bastard child.
As he wrote the letter, his door creaked as it opened, and in came Viserys. "You've returned," Ned said as he put down the quill and looked up at his ward. "How were the dragons?"
Viserys shrugged as he looked out Ned's window. "Two of them remain riderless, but Aersion and Valryon are both growing fast with every passing year." Viserys faced him. "Nothing new"
Ned figured they were at least bigger than a horse cart by now, given it had been four years since he last saw them when they were merely the size of a pony. "And the Mormonts, did they treat you well?"
His ward gave a nod, and walked over to take a seat across from Ned. "If my fathers bannermen were as loyal to him as the bears are to you, my family never would have lost the war."
A sigh left him, "Perhaps, but must we keep discussing this?" it had been what, almost sixteen years since Robert took the Iron throne, how long must he keep this up?
Viserys nodded immediately. "I have no future, no lordship, no lands, and no bannerman." he began. "And as you told me, I cannot father children or leave the North without the Usurper demanding my head."
What he said was true, for those had been Robert's conditions. Ned had told Viserys as much after his sixteenth nameday, as he reached adulthood. "It was a necessary deal to keep Robert at peace with your survival, you know I had no choice."
Glancing at the table, the Targaryen gave a shallow nod. "I know," It was relieving that he didn't say to call the banners, as he used to. "But still, I have no plans to stay North."
Never once had Ned believed Viserys would willingly remain North, after all, he was a southerner and had never really been fond of the North or the snow. "When next I speak with him, I will ask Robert to allow you to go to Essos. The continent is far larger than Westeros, and with your dragons...perhaps you could forge a new-"
"Essos isn't my home." Viserys interrupted, looking up at him. "Westeros is where my family earned their name, where my ancestors ruled for three centuries." he paused. "I will not flee to some foreign land when I have the power to retake the Seven Kingdoms."
A brief silence came over them, and Ned sighed as he reached for the letter his wife had given him, sent from King's Landing. Viserys eyed him warily, before reaching for the letter and reading its contents. "I will speak to his grace, once he-"
"You can't be Serious!" His ward shouted as he rose from his seat in anger, slamming the letter and his fist on the table. "No, I will not put up with him, I will not-"
"Viserys, listen to me." He said as he hoped to calm him down. "Jon...the Hand of the King, has passed. Robert rides for Winterfell, and while I wish he wasn't, I believe that given the circumstances his grace seeks to-"
"So you plan to go south to serve that usurping monster who butchered my brother, and stole my fathers throne!" Viserys shook his head. "No, I will not allow it, I will not-"
"You have little choice in the matter, as I recall." In fact he knew this would be his reaction. "I know how you feel about him, and so if you want, I can send you and your sister to Torhens square for the duration of the kings visit."
For a moment, it seemed Viserys was considering it as he kept silent, with the exception of him huffing quietly. But then, his ward turned towards the door and stormed out..
Sighing, Ned stared at the door after Viserys left. This was exactly how he foresaw this, and why he didn't want to bring it up. But he had to tell him, and he hoped Viserys would see reason and either leave Winterfell or stay away from Robert during his visit. Both, unfortunately, seemed unlikely to him.
Jon
As he and Daenerys made their way to the courtyard, both found Robb there with a small animal, a wolf. "Robb," he called to his brother.
Looking over at them, Stark rose to his feet and walked over to them. "You've returned," he smiled as he wrapped his arms around Jon in a hug. "How was the Wall, and Uncle Benjen?"
Jons smile slightly wavered. "He was out ranging, but Viserys and Daenerys spent time with their uncle." It was only half a lie, as in truth he remained at Bear Island with the Mormont's while the Targaryen's flew their dragons to the Wall to spend time with their great uncle.
It was mostly the same lie, either they went to the Wall or visited another hold on behalf of Lord Stark. In truth, they were always at Bear Island, or at least he was.
"Well, I imagine you at least put those Watch recruits in their place with your sword skills?" Robb chuckled as he moved to Daenerys, placing a kiss on her hand. "And at least you both had each other to keep you company."
Jon glanced at the wolf again, not answering Robb as he knew what he meant. It was a relationship both he and Dany tried to keep secret, and only Robb and Arya knew of it. Viserys was his friend, and he knew how Targaryen's felt for their siblings, so he didn't want to offend him. "When did you get a wolf?"
Robb turned around to face the animal again. "Oh, while you were gone father had to execute a Night's Watch deserter. On the way back we found a litter of Dire Wolves, enough for all our fathers children."
Kneeling beside the wolf, Robb smiled as the pup licked his brother's face. "This one is Greywind, the girls and our younger brothers got their own, and we found one for you."
Jon tilted his head, "For me?"
Robb nodded, "I said there was enough for all our fathers children, did I not?" he rose to his feet and held the pup in his arms. "I think Arya was playing with him in the Godswood with Nymeria, we should go to them."
Jon smirked, it didn't surprise him that his sister would name her wolf after a legendary female warrior like Nymeria.
As they walked to the Godswood, Jon couldn't help but notice Theon was missing. "Where is Greyjoy?"
Robb shrugged, "Probably in Winter town with his whores." That didn't surprise him. "Where's Viserys?"
"He wanted to speak with Lord Stark about something." Daenerys said before he could respond.
Robb nodded, "I can imagine what father might have to say to him." Both of them wondered what he meant. "The king rides for Winterfell."
Jon glanced at Daenerys, and noticed the bit of fear in her eyes. "Does…he doesn't mean to-"
"Father doesn't seem to think it has anything to do with you or Viserys, but he wanted to be sure you would both be alright staying here, or if you wanted to go to Torrhen's Square until the King left."
Dany seemed a little relieved, though still nervous about the king coming. "Dany, perhaps we should leave-"
"No," she interrupted him, putting her hand up before lowering it to her side again. "I trust Lord Stark, if he thinks the usurper won't harm me, I believe him." be that as it may, it was clear she was nervous.
When they finally reached the Heart tree in the Godswood, all three of them noticed Arya and Bran playing with their wolves, and a white one with red eyes.
His sister was the first to catch a glimpse of him. "Jon!" she shouted as she immediately stopped what she was doing and ran to him.
Arya ran into his arms as he knelt to embrace her. "You need to see the wolves." she declared as they ended their hug and pointed to Nymeria and the other two wolves.
Bran walked over to them then, and hugged Jon as well. "We got one for you, its the white one." he pointed to the lone wolf standing still as the other two came to their owners' sides.
Jon stood and walked over to the Direwolf pup. Its red eyes looked into his grey ones, and they stared at each other as Jon knelt and raised his hand to its white fur.
The other two wolves howled at each other as they resumed playing, but the albino Dire wolf made no sound, only wagging its tail as Jon rubbed his hand against its fur.
Bran came up to him then, and knelt beside him. "I named mine summer, what are you going to name yours?"
Jon thought for a moment. The wolf was different then the rest, like the outcast of the group. This was something he imagined they could relate to. "Ghost."
Robert
They made camp alongside the riverbanks of the Trident, overlooking the Ruby Ford. Robert remembered the last time he was here. When Banners of Baratheon, Stark, Tully and Arryn fought against those of Targaryen.
It had been so many years ago, but he remembered it as clear as yesterday. Back when he was in his prime, he held his warhammer in his hand and rode on the back of his horse to face the inbred Rhaegar, who stole the wrong woman, and paid dearly for it.
Both of them took wounds, but in the end, he swung his hammer with all his might and fury, and knocked the silver haired cunt off his horse and onto the river banks of the Trident.
Robert left from his horse then, and moved towards the prince that had taken everything from him. "Lyanna," the prince said as he lay there, his breastplate caved in and Blood leaving his lips.
Fury overcame him, and with all his might, he swung the hammer down and crushed his skull. Jon Arryn said the prince would have been a valuable hostage, but Robert disagreed. It was never about the throne, it was about vengeance.
He ended the prince that day, and the might of house Targaryen with him. And yet, sometimes he wondered if he truly won.
Robert was left alone, ruling a kingdom and spending his days drinking and whoring. All the while that damned dragonspawn was with Lyanna in death.
And then there were those Dragonspawn in Winterfell, where he was going.
Gods, a Part of him wanted to turn back south and make Jaime his hand to appease his wife, while the rest wanted to have those children brought here to share their brother's fate.
But no, he would do neither. His life wasn't the same without Ned, his brother by choice. He had grown hateful, and depressed without his best friend by his side to help keep him in check.
So, despite their past disagreements concerning those wretched children, he needed some fucking laughs and more good memories with the one person still alive he actually cared about.
That, and the fact Jon had asked him to reconcile with Ned several times before he passed. So to honor the man that had been like his father, he would make Ned his Hand.
But there was another he meant to honor as well, Lyanna.
"Your grace" interrupting his thoughts, he turned to find Lady Lynesse holding her infant child. "Would you mind if I sat beside you?"
Robert turned his head from her back to the Rubyford. "I won't stop you."
The Hightower girl was accompanying them North along with her husband the Kingslayer, who came because Cersei had insisted upon it.
They had a two year old girl, named for Tywin's dead wife. And now they had a newborn babe, Loren, and while he didn't have it yet, Robert figured he'd soon sprout that golden hair the king was surrounded by.
"The Ruby Ford looks beautiful, don't you think so, your grace?" The girl asked.
Robert snorted as he brought a flagon of wine to his lips. "Looks the same as every other damned lake."
Viserys
It would be one week until the Usurper was paraded through Winterfell like the most important person in the world.
Every part of him wanted to stay to put a dagger in the traitor's chest, but he wasn't that foolish, he would never survive the attempt.
Standing above the ramparts as servants rushed to make the yards and castle more presentable, Viserys looked out on the road the usurper would be traveling on.
The Usurper, the Lannister Whore, The Kingslayer. Traitors that had been the cause of his family's downfall were coming here, and he couldn't do a damned thing to harm them.
"That was a pleasant experience." Theon smirked as he tossed Viserys a silver stag. After catching it, Viserys looked at the minted face of the Usurper, and clutched it tight in his hand. "Are you going to be alright?"
Viserys ignored his question. "How was Ros?" he asked, wondering how their red headed whore was doing.
"Perfect as usual," Greyjoy responded, earning a slight nod from him. "But that wasn't my-"
"You know she's never going to love you," again Viserys interrupted, trying to avoid what Greyjoy was trying to talk about. The Usurper was coming, that was a fact, but he didn't want to talk about how he felt right now.
Greyjoy shot him a glare, but held his tongue so to not say something he would regret. "She's a whore, only a fool would love a whore."
'Then I guess you're a fool' There were many whores in Wintertown, many tavern wenches, yet Theon preferred Ros. it was clear the Kraken held more affection for her than most girls.
"Why are you acting like this?!" It seemed he had begun to hurt the Greyjoys feelings. "I came here to see if you were alright, not to be-"
"How could I be alright?" Viserys interrupted. "The man that took everything from me is coming here, and I cannot do a thing to hurt him." He was being presented with a great opportunity, and was powerless to do anything with it.
Theon scoffed, "You think im eager to meet him again? King Robert killed my brothers and took my fathers crown, then had me brought here."
That was true enough, he supposed. But nonetheless, more was taken from him than the Greyjoys. One example being Robert didn't personally kill Theon's brothers. "I dont mean to start a squabble, its just..." he couldn't quite find the words.
A sigh left Greyjoy. "I know, a part of me wants that man dead to." That was the difference between them, Theon didn't care much for vengeance against the Baratheon usurpers, for all the Kraken truly lost were some brothers, who he even admitted to not liking.
"He can't die," Viserys said before shaking his head. "He needs to watch everything get taken from him, to witness his house burn as mine did. Only then can he receive the gift of death."