A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts

by Jebest4781

Venturing outside of the Heart of his Somebody, a Nobody enters a World where it's at the brink of self destruction. Will he be able to handle and survive the Game of Thrones. Rated M for language, violence, etc. Pairings hidden at current time. KHXGoT/ASoIaF CoWritten by free man writer. Cover Image by Carlos M. Please leave reviews.

5. Days at Winterfell PT 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Disney, Square-Enix or Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Writing/Singing

"Foreign Language/Flashback"

-Scene Shift-

Chapter 5: Days at Winterfell Part 2

Paper, when bound in leather and left on shelves for countless decades, tends to amass a smell that is so nostril tinglingly specific to a single location. It crops up from out of nowhere else in the world. And depending on said location would have a unique fragrance of its own.

In the generalized manner, the specific rainbow of smells being depicted right now comes from a library. More specifically the smell of an old library that it might as well be titled as an archive.

Row upon row, a vast collection of books and tomes are contained within the Library Tower in Winterfell. Each are dedicated to record many parts of history, ways of learning, etc. dating back gods' knows how long.

And it sadly shows that the tower can be split in half. One part being completely organized… while the other was the complete opposite.

It wasn't because of there being books and pages littering the ground. No those were cleaned up long ago. Reason why was because in Ned Stark's childhood, he and his siblings messed around in the library and accidentally knocked over a whole bunch of shelves which went through a domino effect. End result, the entire library became an utter mess and it's been taking years to reorganize it all.

And sadly, it's still not done.

Asides from this embarrassing fact, most of the knowledge and secrets written down and collected by the ancient Starks would've been forgotten to the annals of time if it weren't for the library. And upon first glance, one would've become rather confused as there seemed to be no labeling as to where each section was for whatever subject the shelves were for. There was no sign signifying them, which would no doubt make guests lost in here.

Unless you're in the library often -or a maester- then good luck finding things easily. Oh and still blame Ned and his siblings' childhood selves.

Within Winterfell's library, a decent amount of natural light entering the enlarged space. If one were to come in here when the overcasted sun is gone from the sky, they'd need a very strong candle or torch in order to have sufficient light to find and read whatever is needed.

At one section of said room, a good source of early morning light graced its presence onto a desk where a young Keyblader. It was there that he briefly looked into each book before placing them into specific stacks, separating them in specific categories. Most have been read while others haven't.

Closing up another time, Roxas gave out a brief yawn while doing a small stretch to pop some tension in his back. 'I… regret doing this, but I need more info on this World.' He thought before eyeing the many books before him. 'For me to do that, need to help clean through the majority of this.' His gaze then landed on the neighboring desk. 'And now I gotta deal with these.'

Reaching towards a smaller stack of books, his task was interrupted by hearing a voice right next to him. "Didn't expect to see this when coming in today."

The intruding voice startled Roxas from his task, causing him to yelp. Falling out of his seat with his butt hitting the wooden floor while his head knocked against one of the desk legs.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Are you alright, Roxas?"

"Yeah~ I'll be fine." Groaned out the Nobody. Getting back up onto his feet, Roxas was met with the resident maester of Winterfell, Luwin. "Oh, good morning."

"Good morning to you too."

Glancing at one of the stacks, Luwin noticed one of them pertained the Night's Watch; given the raven depicted on the spine. Another was "Wonders Made by Men", written by Lomas Longstrider who traveled around the known world. Underneath that was Unnatural History by Septon Barth, which was mostly about myths and mythical creatures; with dragons being a big part of it. And underneath that was a heavy, leatherbound book depicting a hundred-year-old discourse on the changing of the seasons; written by a long-dead maester.

"Quite the assortment you have there, lad."

"You can say that. Merely pulled out books that quickly caught my interest at first glance."

"I can tell with the many piles around you." Taking another glance at the various piles, Luwin voiced a lingering question. "Any reason why having all these out?"

"I have my reasons." Came the vague response. "Mostly a means to help deal with the Heartless more."

This was the truth. Roxas needed to learn more about the present World to the fullest. It didn't matter if it was the smallest detail to the largest, everything needed to be taken of value.

Now the Greater Nobody wasn't as smart and knowledgeable by the likes of Zexion and Vexen by a longshot. But Roxas had learned from them and his former Organization allies that investigating was a big part of various missions. Given he's now living in the present World, the Keyblader wanted to learn the location of it's Keyhole, lock it up and protect it's residents from the Heartless.

Given what Roxas did know of the Keyholes, their locations were kept at places of great significance. It could be simply missable to find, such as the inside of the animate Doornob's mouth in Wonderland. Or could be a bit hard to find, such as being revealed once using a bell puzzle mechanism at Traverse Town on the Second District's fountain. Or there could be an obstacle in the way of hiding the blasted thing. Such examples were the stone block at Olympus Coliseum, Oogie Boogie's Manor in HalloweenTown and the Clocktower's minute hand in the connecting World to Neverland.

Then there was a detailed option on having a specific item, person or group or people to reveal the Keyhole location to somewhat speed things along.

One example was having either the Crystal Trident or King Triton's Trident present at Ariel's Grotto. Another was having an all powerful, wish granting entity -like Genie of Agrabah- and using up one of your given wishes once becoming his/her master. And lastly were the Seven Princesses of Heart; they, whose Hearts are pure of Light, can help reveal the location of the World's Keyhole once all of them are present.

If he had either, then Roxas' job in saving this World from falling into Darkness would run a whole lot smoother.

Unfortunately, nothing is ever easy; especially for the Keyblader such as him.

So in order to find the Keyhole, he needed to do a lot of research. And with that, Roxas had to educate himself while this all happened to think of any possibilities of its whereabouts and how to work alongside the residents of this World and learning how it functioned. Whether it was from it's history, cultures, people, lands, etc.

Everything can be a clue for his primary mission here.

Roxas admits he doesn't exactly have that much of an education to start out with. He learned much throughout his time in Organization XIII. And he also got a good chunk from Sora's memories. Alongside these two, the greater Nobody did give credit where credit was due to the majority of his present knowledge and education being from DiZ; aka Ansem the Wise.

In order to fool him into thinking he was a normal teenager, the former ruler of Radiant Gardens had to implant a whole lot of knowledge -years of schooling- into his head. And from interacting with the people in the digitized Twilight Town helped finish molding the memories there.

If Roxas were to guess, Ansem did all that as a means to helping Sora receive a proper education as well once they merged together. After all, the brown haired happy-go-lucky Keyblader had missed out a lot for nearly a year and Sora needed to play catch up.

Now it was with that knowledge given to him, by force, that could help him greatly in this World. But it all depends on the limitations on how far along in his education can be compared to what's present here.

"I can understand your noble intention, Roxas." Luwin said as he walked towards one of the book piles. "If I didn't know beforehand, I would've thought you wanted to become a maester."

Roxas chuckled alongside Luwin on the small joke. "Given what Ortengryn told me, it would take me years in order for that to happen."

"Indeed it would." Seeing a spare piece of parchment, the resident maester soon searched for an inkwell and quill. "Now I know you told him of the Heartless in order to help spread the word about them, but I'd like to know more about them if you'd be so kind. I'd like to help assist Ortengryn on this task."

Seeing no harm, Roxas spoke. "Like I said yesterday, the Heartless are creatures of darkness that take people's hearts in order to grow both their power and numbers. But I didn't mention more than that."

The maester nodded as he dipped the quill in the inkwell. Once he started writing, Luwin ushered Roxas to continue.

"Now there are two classes of Heartless you should know of. One are the Purebloods, which are formed directly from Darkness itself. The other are Emblems, created from the hearts of living beings and take on the shape that best suit said hearts. As a result, there are many types and variants that will only appear in certain places or areas."

Luwin stopped writing for a brief moment. "Emblems? Like their banner or insignia?"

"In a way, yes."

"And what does it look like?"

Holding out his hand, Roxas quickly asked Luwin to hand over the quill. The maester complied and once in his hand, the Greater Nobody started drawing.

The old maester saw Roxas first draw something reminiscent to a Heart. Instead of closing off at the bottom, there was a tri-pronged bottom with the two sides curving upward. And to finish it off, Roxas drew a jagged 'X' in the center of the symbol.

"Thank you." Luwin said simply, getting his quill back.

"No problem."

With Luwin starting back up on his writing, he voiced a small passing thought. "Such methods on how they are conceived are abominable. And how they do their acts are no doubt evil."

"They're not exactly evil, merely feral; primal even. They follow their instincts to collect more hearts, grow their ranks and increase their strength."

"It's still quite dreadful to hear."

"No kidding, especially when being controlled."

The scratching on paper stopped as the writer paled. "...Controlled? You mean-"

"Not exactly in the means your thinking of." Roxas corrected before explaining his reasoning. "Sure they follow powerful beings with great darkness inside their hearts. Over time, however, the Heartless eventually gain too much power from the person their following and rebel, taking their heart and turning them into a Heartless as well. Only way to truly control them is if you are a Heartless yourself -by becoming a Greater Heartless- or if you truly have no heart for them to take."

As a Greater Nobody, Roxas has the capability of controlling Heartless with him having No Heart… Or does he? Feels like he does… Getting back to things, he has the possibility in controlling -much less summoning- a wide variety of Heartless; whether they were lesser or greater Heartless.

But this might prove difficult with him being a Keyblade wielder.

To his present knowledge, there has never been a Keyblader that can control Heartless. They've been greatly aligned in the Light, the natural opposition to the Heartless. He could be wrong as there might've been some in the past as there could be those aligned in Darkness.

Who knows for sure.

So for him, Roxas had been attacked by a huge volley of Heartless and never once have they held up or even stopped and followed his orders. The only beings that have followed him at all are lesser Nobodies. And the only ones that ever served under him were Dusks, Creepers and Samurai. The others, however, only followed the rest of the Organization members.

Sadly, the only times he used lesser Nobodies were for training purposes back at the Organization's Castle Keep -the Castle That Never Was- and when he ordered them to hold back Donald and Goofy so he can face his Somebody -Sora- on one and one combat.

'Would've been easier on some of my past missions if I used them more.' Thought the Greater Nobody before scratching his cheek. 'Wonder if I could-'

"Is something wrong, Roxas?"

The Keyblader stopped his train of thought. "Sorry, it's nothing."

"If you say so." Luwin said as he finished writing what Roxas spoke of so far of his darkened adversaries. "Is there anything else about them you can tell me?"

Roxas nodded as he spoke more in detail with time passing within the Library Tower. After several papers worth of written material down, along with the present inkwell ran empty, Luwin decided to end things there.

"Quite the amount of information you've given me, Roxas."

'And there's more, which I think is best left not knowing.' Thought the Keyblader. "If you can be able to get in contact with Maester Ortengryn, I'm sure the information you two presently have will match up."

"And will make the present claim of the Heartless more prevalent towards the Citadel, but also the rest of Westeros. Merely just one maester stating such things would be seen as a murmur's tale, a farce even."

"But with you backing him up with speed up the process and make the threat known."

"Hopefully." Luwin breathed out. "It was difficult for them to believe magic had come back during the Tourney at Harrenhal and Robert's Rebellion; much less of the Unversed during both periods of time, only to disappear at their ends. And presently, it'll happen much the same."

Nodding, Roxas then decided to ask something else that was on his mind. "Tell me, are there other libraries of this size in Westeros?" Gesturing the tower they were presently in. "Still like to know more in order to better handle the Heartless."

From what Roxas did know prior to coming to Winterfell, Ironrath's maester told him there were only a handful in Westeros. Others outside of the continent were outside of his present knowledge that were still existing. Ironrath was lucky to have a library, but it was relatively small. And other libraries of that particular size were spread out through other Keeps and Houses, only containing family history and the like.

After all, books, tomes and scrolls were hard to come by as they were rare and expensive to procure and make.

"There's several over in the Reach. One is located in Horn Hill while the second is at Highgarden. The last contains the greatest library Westeros has ever seen, being the Citadel over in Oldtown. Asides from there, there's one over at the Iron Islands. There's two by the Wall. One is located in Casterly Rock, another at King's Landing and the last is over in Sunspear."

"Right. If I remember correctly, Maester Onrtengryn told me Oldtown is the largest, Winterfell came second while the ones at both Casterly Rock and Sunspear are tied for third."

"Your partially right." Luwin corrected. "It's arguable that Sunspear is tied for second with Winterfell, due to them possessing more exotic scrolls, tomes and the like from their ancestors -the Rhoynar- than anyone else."

"Why arguable?"

"Mostly because the Lannisters often buy more tomes, books and scrolls from all over the world in order to grow their reputation. I don't even know if they'd actually read all which they buy, only collecting them because they have the gold to spend it."

"Seems to be quite a waste of reading material if you ask me."

"I concur, Roxas." Chuckled the maester. "Though, I believe there are a handful of people at Casterly Rock who do read them quite often; even if one of them isn't there the majority of each year."

"Like who?"

"Tyrion Lannister, third child of Tywin Lannister; Warden of the West. From what I was told, if he isn't indulging in his vices, one can always find him in libraries and reading upon hours and hours."

"Quite the hobby he has there."

"No doubt."

Seeing as he got everything he needed so far, Roxas helped put away the reading material away. Once done, the greater Nobody excused himself and made his way towards the dining hall in order to eat his afternoon meal.

Descending the Library Tower's spiraling staircase, the Keyblader eventually stepped out of the structure. Walking through the slightly snowy ground, Roxas made some curt nods and brief "hello"s and "good mornings" with each passing guardsman, servant and commoners.

Strolling pass a small chapel-like building, where small amounts of commoners strolled in and out of it, Roxas saw a man by the entrance wearing robes that were vaguely similar to Luwin. Instead of being darker in color, they were creamy white. And hanging around the man's neck was a seven-pointed star.

Seeing the Keyblader passing by, he called out and waved at him. "Seven blessings onto you, good Ser."

"I'm no Ser…" Roxas drawled out in a low tone as he walked on by, yet he waved all the same. "Morning, Septon Chayle."

The greater Nobody met the resident Septon yesterday as he explored more of Winterfell. Chayle was a cheerful kind of guy, someone that helps warm others in the residential cold climate. Even learned the Septon works at the Library Tower on most days. Yet his attitude was a tad contrasting towards Septa Mordane -who he also met yesterday- as she was trying to mask some form of distaste towards him; despite being grateful for his actions.

Roxas was curious as to why, but talked to some of the smallfolk to figure out some details. And what came onto this was because of religion of all things.

The Old Gods were Westeros' oldest belief, the simplest faith compared to most. It was even more simple than that Christianity religion he saw through Sora's memories in that one dream world.

The Faith of the Seven has been more favored in these past thousand years or so after the Andal Invasion, which drove the Old Faith up towards the Neck. Yet there are some areas in the South which follows the older faith, but only in small quantities.

Now back with the Andal Faith, the greater Nobody didn't fully understand the concept of the whole "Seven-Who-Are-One". There was the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone, the Smith, the Warrior and the Stranger, who make up the seven leading deities of the reigning religion. Or was it merely seven different aspects for a singular god. He even read up on them while up on the Library Tower, even if it was the briefest of summaries.

Even though he read up on a decent amount of positive aspects about them, means of guidance for troubled souls to be on the right path and all. Yet Roxas did learn some negative ones which made him learn as to why Septa Mordane didn't like him all that well; weary even...

His magic.

The Andal Faith frowned upon anything going against their beliefs and magic took quite a part of it. They thought magic should only be rightfully used by those of higher power; namely their patron god(s). Any opposing faith would be spat down upon.

The earliest form of knowledge of this was when the Andal Invasion occurred thousands of years ago, fighting against the Children of the Forest and the giants while burning or cutting down any weirwood tree within their sight. The fighting ended with the Andals were driven back from the Neck with none of them progressing forward.

Since then, the Old Gods and their weirwoods were kept safe within the Northern territories. Yet any sign of the Children of the Forest and giants had long since disappeared as the years went by; with no one knowing where they reside now… or no longer living at all. Falling into myth and legends for people to learn from.

It was unnatural in their eyes and wanted change others into their point of view, no matter the cost. So with his magic, Roxas probably got a target on his back as he might be talked down without him realizing to even being attacked at some point.

Oh how they'd change their tune more towards him once learning what he was exactly…

Now the Keyblader did wonder though how the Andal Faith creeped its way into the North in the first place.

He did learn the first instance of this occurring went on when House Manderly was exiled from the Reach and was taken in by the Starks. Despite them adopting the Old Faith into their family and ruled region of White Harbor, they still practiced their faith from their ancestral homeland.

Still, judging from most of the northern folks here the Faith of the Seven doesn't seem to be practiced by anyone here.

So why the Sept in Winterfell? Why not have it out by Wintertown for better access towards the populous.

Maybe one of the Starks could answer that question.

And speaking of Starks.

Sansa Stark along with Catelyn Stark walked out of the Sept. So they practiced the Faith of the Seven then.

"Ah, Roxas." Catelyn greeted cordially. "I hope your day has been well."

"Well enough I guess… My Lady." Roxas said with a casual shrug. "Spent most of the day at the Library Tower with Luwin."

"The library?" Cat repeated curiously. "What for?"

"Gotta get a lay of the land here. Get a better grasp on how to fight the Heartless in this environment." Roxas answered. "When I know a land better than I could get around faster and take out Heartless more efficiently."

Cat blinked before nodding in approval at the young man's motives. It seems that he is taking his words and promises on dealing with these dark creatures with the utmost seriousness. Then again, she figured that would be the case considering he had saved both her daughters not to long ago along with the Forrester children and home as well.

The Stark matriarch's thought process was interrupted when she heard someone clearing their throat awkwardly.

"Hello Roxas." Sansa said with a small smile, rosy tinted cheeks.

"Hey Sansa." Roxas said in kind shooting her a small grin which only served to further redden her face. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too."

Looking at her eldest daughter, Catelyn saw the quick change of attitude she bore. Sansa was a bit drowsy earlier, bored even. Something that was vaguely shared with Arya whenever being brought in to pray or attend sermons. The Stark matriarch couldn't blame either of them as they can be dull at times, but they should still be attentive and awake out of respect.

Yet now, Sansa stood stock still but somehow appeared fidgety as well with her eyes constantly glancing at the ground before back up to the boys striking blue eyes. And the color of her cheeks were definitely not a result of the cold. Starks thrive in the winter so no, it was not the cold causing this reaction.

Honestly, it reminded her much like herself when she first met… when she first met Brandon.

Oh how Catelyn fondly remembered meeting Brandon Stark for the first time all those years ago back at Riverrun. How strong and dashing he was. How wild he can be, while still being respectful and controlled when needed. Something she greatly appreciated, given what she learned about his vice as Brandon swore he'd control, even cease, once they became betrothed.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, Cat had noticed the two were conversing with her daughter sometimes stuttering and stammering a few times. Roxas conversed with her daughter like an old friend yet Sansa was clearly seeing this in a different light.

Was her daughter… liking Roxas already? So soon?

What could this boy had possibly… Well… Saving her life in an apparent heroic fashion like the knights of old in those stories would certainly help. Sansa after all was infatuated with such old fantasies.

She wished Sansa wouldn't dwell too deep into it as the real world was cruel and such fantasies wouldn't help her later in life. Too many Ladies and children suffered from the harshness with their fantasies destroyed. And the Stark Matriarch could only pity them.

Still, Catelyn found herself rather hard pressed in denying Roxas's gallant actions and introductions were not unlike the tales of old she herself had grown up on. Him and his father were both individuals of compassion and morales, helping anyone and everyone. And they were rightfully earned, given what was witnessed by many and not muddled in rumors and the like.

Cat only hoped that this obvious attraction Sansa had now towards Roxas was a passing one at best.

The young lad wasn't a Lord, much less a knight. He held no titles or lands. Catelyn didn't want her precious daughter to possibly wed with Roxas and not have a means to help take care of her.

Roxas appeared capable of handling himself but she wasn't going to just give her daughter away to someone she had only known for a short time, as noble as a man he may be.

Then again, it was too soon to tell and put all her thoughts in such details. Things could change later down the line and the young Keyblader could be given a small keep as a reward for his actions for the North.

Ned seems to greatly respect the lad as do the rest of the boys and guards and it wasn't hard to see why given Roxas's extraordinary combat skills.

The people of Winterfell and Wintertown greatly admire the boy and apparently there has been a song written about Roxas already. A working progress at best, given the short amount of time.

Catelyn wondered how it'll turn out in it's finished draft. Bards tend to over exaggerate.

Like they did with Ventus back in the day. Now there was a grand old tale if ever there was one even if the young man lived up to the claims.

And now, it appears Roxas would be following in his father's footsteps some sixteen years later.

Once again thinking back to him, his father -Ventus- was still owed for what he'd done during the Tourney at Harrenhal and in Robert's Rebellion. Roxas' father had turned down such offers back then as he merely did his deeds out of courtesy and for his friends. Many thought the Keyblader didn't want to be tied down to any House indefinitely, like whatever marriage offers were brought onto him left and right.

What was more prevalent were whatever favors he still held.

Ventus held much power through this and could even sway any House if he called upon the favors owed onto him. But with his absence, they could be forgotten overtime and no longer held.

Yet with Roxas' appearance, they've been brought back and will greatly affect things in the Seven Westerosi Kingdoms. One way or another.

"Mother?"

Snapping out her thoughts, Catelyn saw Sansa standing beside Roxas as they were both staring at her in slight confusion and with the former a bit of concern.

"Hmm? Apologies my dear, I was deep in thought." Catelyn stated. "Did you need something?"

"I was just about to go to the grand hall for lunch with Father and the others." Sansa explained "Are you coming with us?"

Her answer came in the form of a rather large demanding sound coming directly from Catelyn's stomach.

Lady Stark flushed a deep red in embarrassment, completely caught off guard at such a reaction to convey that she had apparently grown quite hungry since her time in the sept.

It didn't help with her daughter's expression morphing from one of surprise to laughter with even Roxas being unable to contain himself. Even she found herself chuckling a few moments later, stating it is time to alleviate her cravings.

With them heading towards the hall, Sansa looped her arm around Roxas' as he helped escort her along the way. The greater Nobody didn't mind at all, never putting much thought into it like when he was with Talia Forrester. However, Sansa appeared to be holding him a lot closer than Talia did.

Shrugging, Roxas simply trudged on with Sansa blushing brightly at her actions but smiling all the same.

Catelyn glanced at the two for a brief moment, choosing to ignore her daughters display for the time being.

During their walk to the hall, an earlier thought strayed back into Roxas' mind.

"Hey, I got a question if you don't mind me asking." Roxas said, getting Catelyn to nod in listening. "How is it there's an Andal Sept here in Winterfell?"

"Pardon?"

"I read and heard about there not being any Septs here in the North, outside of the territory of White Harbor. Yet there's one here of all places."

Catelyn was once again surprised by the young man, not expecting such an intricate question in regards to both the Sept and the North overall. He had clearly been studying a great deal about the North as he said he would.

"You can probably thank my husband for that." Lady Stark answered.

Roxas blinked in confusion.

Seeing this, Sansa decided to explain. "It was around the time after my mother first came to Winterfell after Robert's Rebellion. She felt uncomfortable in the new environment and my father wanted to make things better for her. He knew that despite living in the North, she still wanted a piece of home with her. So father decided to have a Sept built here to help ease her troubles."

"My daughter speaks true, Roxas." Cat held a more fond expression, thinking of her husband's thoughtful actions. "He didn't have to do such a thing, but he did it for me."

"Well that's quite nice of him to do for ya."

"Verily."

"Though why behind Winterfell's walls?" He inquired. "Wouldn't it be better out in the open, like over in Wintertown?"

"...Poor planning, I suppose." Cat remarked. "He did make it for me in a short amount of time. The foundation was already made and built, so there was no time to change late in the game after so much was invested." She then gave a mirthful chuckle. "At least he wasn't planning on making another Sept of Baelor or Starry Sept."

Roxas recalled briefly reading about these places but only shrugged, figuring Catelyn's wording of these structures to be larger and more grandiose then the modest Sept her husband made for her. And it was relatively small, the size of two guest houses here behind Winterfell's walls combined.

A few moments later, the trio had arrived at the great hall seeing the rest of the Stark family just getting themselves seated and served their food. Underneath the table were the Stark Direwolves all lounging at the feet of their companions.

Except for one.

"I didn't see your direwolf earlier, Sansa." Roxas said as he sat beside the Stark girl. "Thought she'd be with you everywhere, given her young age."

"Mother wouldn't allow Lady to be inside of the Sept, unfortunately." Sansa replied. "So I had to keep her in my chambers for the time being."

"Hope she's being properly fed, at least."

"She is. I asked for some servants to bring some chopped meats for her to eat and a bowl of water while I was absent."

Roxas nodded as a servant brought over several plates for the trio with an assortment of food. Before the Keyblader had the chance to start picking a piece of bread or even some fruit, someone entered the grand hall. Taking a glance over, Roxas saw Ned making his way over as he too seemed hungry for the time being.

The Lord of Winterfell gave a quick kiss to his wife while tussling both Arya and Bran's hairs before seating himself with a plate of food being placed before him.

With Eddard Stark, the entire family plus their guest began eating in full with not much conversation going around.

"So, Roxas." Ned spoke up. "Maester Luwin has told me you've been busy in the library for most of the day."

"That I have."

"Why spending most of the day in there of all places?" Arya asked, nibbling on an apple before handing the rest to her direwolf, Nymeria.

"Well I was taught to always get an understanding of every place I go to so I could operate better." Roxas said. "Vexen and Zexion made sure of that."

"Sounds boring. You should've gone out and done something besides that."

"Arya." Sansa and Catelyn scolded in nearly synch.

"It can be." Roxas admitted, making Arya smile smugly at her mother and sister.

"And who are these Vexen and Zexion fellows?" Robb questioned.

"Two… companions I worked alongside with in taking care of the Heartless. And I'm using the term companions loosely."

"Why's that?" Bran asked.

"They… kinda died before we could ever really get the chance to work together."

No one present pressed further into details on those two in particular from here on out.

"Wait, so you've worked with others when dealing with the Heartless?" Arya inquired with obvious interest.

"It was an Organization, really, named Organization XIII."

"Like the Golden Company?"

"The what?"

"A sellsword company over in Essos. The best the world ever has."

"We weren't mercenaries, that's for sure." Roxas stated, crossing his arms as he tried to think of the best way to describe the old group that he had spent so much of his existence with. "Organization XIII… We just… well, we did a lot with thirteen members who each had a defined role to play. All of us fought the Heartless but that was my specialty so to speak. Xemnas was the leader and Saix was the second-in-command. Vexen was our scientist and Larxene… she was really aggressive-"

"Wait, you had women in your group?" Arya suddenly said with utmost intrigue. Even a few others in seated attendance shared some interest as well.

"Yeah." Roxas answered like it was the most obvious thing. "Larxene and Xi-"

Roxas paused, feeling a sudden pain where his heart would be. Placing a hand over his chest, the former member of the Organization closed his eyes and released a shaky breath.

"Hey, you alright?" Robb asked with utmost concern.

"Give me a minute." Breathed out the Keyblader. Rubbing his chest a little, he breathed in a bit more once his heart settled down.

"Larxene and Xion. The only females in our group." Roxas said once more. "Larxene was quite… unpleasant. A mean streak as far as the eye can see. Axel always told me she was as temperamental as her lightning."

"Lightning?" Bran repeated with intrigue.

"Yeah, she could control lightning." Roxas said. "Every member of the Organization all used magic but each one specialized in one particular element they greatly excelled at. Larxene used lightning and Axel used fire."

"What's yours then?"

"Light." Roxas held out his hand and concentrated. Several seconds later, an aura of brilliant glowing light radiated around his hand enrapturing all those watching in complete awe.

Speaking and showing these powers made Roxas recall one of the many lessons that were drilled into his head by the Organization as to why they were so special in regards to the nobodies.

Each greater Nobody in the Organization was composed of three things: Darkness, Nothingness and their aligned element from their given Somebody. The Darkness was the residue from when their Somebody lost their heart to darkness, to which a Heartless was born. Nothingness came with their non existence upon their creation, a void if you will. And the third portion could be done from any number of things, no matter how miniscule or enormous it may be as long as it was prominent for the Somebody one originated from.

With Roxas, he had a great alignment with Light all because of his connection to Sora. But he also had a connection to Darkness, his ability to wield the Corridors being the obvious display of such power.

Now that he thought about it, aside from his Oblivion Keyblade and access to the Corridor, Roxas had never actually utilized the Darkness. Strange considering a part of him came from Darkness and he always knew it was there, yet he never found himself using it. Odd all things considered.

"Um Roxas?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Shaking his hand a little, the aura died down. "Was lost in thought."

"So…" Arya was suddenly awkward, shifting her eyes a bit to her plate then to the young Nobody. "Who's Xion?"

Grabbing a nearby cup filled with water, Roxas took a sip before answering. "She was… a close friend of mine. Someone that was much like me in more ways than one."

"How so?"

"For starters, she also wielded a Keyblade."

"Really?!" Arya and Bran said in sync making Roxas chuckle slightly.

"Yeah, she and I fought together so many times." Roxas said with a reminiscent smile. "She was one of my best friends. Her and Axel. When were all in the Organization, the three of us practically spent every single day together. It… It was the best."

From his spot on the table, Ned saw the look on the young lads face and quickly pieced things together. "She's no longer amongst the living, then."

"...Yeah, she's not." Roxas slumped, hands curling up into fists. "She… She died in my arms."

This statement reverberated across the table, finding the sight of a downcast and saddened Roxas to be rather heartbreaking.

Quite the uncomfortable moment for them, if they were quite honest.

Wanting to comfort him, Sansa placed her hand on his fist. Feeling the contact, Roxas looked over to the elder Stark girl and gave her a small smile on the action.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Roxas." Ned spoke, completely understanding what the young lad had endured. Memories of Lyanna flashed through his mind.

"Thanks."

The hall was once again quiet, with the only sounds being heard and made was from the occupants eating and drinking their afternoon meal.

After what felt like forever, Bran spoke. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

Roxas regarded the young wolf pup, shrugging his shoulders. "Not really. Kinda had my fill of reading for today."

"I'd imagine." Robb chuckled out.

"Can you fight my brothers again?" Rickon asked innocently.

"Do you really want to see us knocked down again, little brother?" Jon Snow spoke up for the first time since they had all sat down.

After speaking, Jon moved his gaze back onto his plate as he felt Lady Catelyn's gaze upon him.

Rickon on the other hand didn't notice and boisterously declared yes, making the rest of the family laugh at the youngest Starks blatant honesty.

"Only if they're up for it." Roxas responded. "If not then I'd probably do some patrols."

"Helping out the guards and watchmen?" Bran inquired.

"Just checking around for Heartless." Roxas said. "They could appear anywhere and everywhere. Practically will be doing this everyday, if I'm honest."

Ned grimly nodded. "I'll be sure to inform them of your assistance."

"I appreciate that."

"I hope you don't keep yourself busy all day, Roxas." Robb said with a roguish grin. "I'd like a rematch with you."

"Like Jon said: You wish to get beaten again, son?" Ned couldn't help but ask jokingly making Robb puff his cheeks out before laughing a moment later.

"Could you show me how to fight with a sword?" Arya inquired in between bites.

"You will not, Arya." Catelyn quickly said. "You are a lady and-"

"I don't see why not." Roxas interrupted.

"What?!" Catelyn nearly shrieked in response, almost jumping out of her seat. "You will do no such thing!"

Roxas raised a brow in complete confusion at the Stark Matriarchs over dramatic cry.

"Why? What's the big deal?"

"A Lady has no place holding such a weapon as a sword or bow and arrow." Catelyn Stark said with a stern glare directed at both Roxas and Arya.

"Really?" Roxas said in utter bewilderment. Sure he didn't see any women in this land wielding weapons but to not be allowed how to fight? That seemed a bit ridiculous to him. Especially with the people he had been around.

"Why not mother?!" Arya whined out. "Roxas just spoke of two women he fought alongside with and one wielded the same power as he did."

"That was their way of life, not ours."

"But-"

"No buts."

Arya growled before getting out of her seat, grabbing Nymeria and storming out of the hall.

Ned looked on with a somber expression. That response was too similar to Lyanna. No, it was verbatim how his sister would react when she was denied something she vehemently desired.

He looked over to his wife who caught his stare and looked away back down to her plate to finish her meal silently.

Looking over to Roxas, the Stark patriarch saw Roxas' gaze linger where Arya left. He didn't know what was roaming through the Keyblader's mind. He did question what he wanted to do, but it might come up sooner or later.

A moment later, they resumed eating their own meals though a much more awkward and tense air hung over the table now.

Roxas was the first to finish, bidding the family goodbye and thanks for the time being before departing from the hall.

Ned simply slouched slightly in his seat, a feeling of guilt well up at having such unnecessary drama between his family. He would need to speak with his wife and his daughter about their little spat later on.

-Elsewhere-

Arya was alone in a small private section within the stables, whacking away at a training dummy with a wooden sword that she had managed to sneak off with a year back.

Her favorite brother helped her in this little escapade and whenever she needed to lay off steam, this was her go to place.

"Stupid mother telling me what to do and what not to do." Grumbled the young She-wolf. "Wanting me to be a Lady of all things."

From the sidelines, Nymeria watched on for brief moments before walking about in the small area.

Gritting her teeth, Arya began overhead swings on the dummy's head trying her damndest in decapitating the poor inanimate object.

She was blind to her surroundings in her thrashing as she didn't notice someone coming near her.

"So this is where you've been hiding."

The sudden call startled her, whirling around with wooden sword in hand. The weapon would've struck true if it weren't for it being quickly grasped by a leather cladded hand.

"Careful there, Arya. Would've hurt someone."

Realizing who it was, Arya gave an apologetic look. "...Sorry Roxas."

"Hey, no harm no foul."

"Huh?"

"... Don't worry about it, phrase I've heard." Roxas said, now taking a moment to look around. "Didn't know this was back here."

"How'd you even find this place?" Arya asked. She always made sure that no one other than Jon would be able to find her. The two of them made this place after all.

"Heard some thudding noises in the stables." Roxas shrugged. "Noticed a big wall of hay and how it was lined up and well… but anyway, I'm glad I found you."

"You were looking for me?"

"Yeup."

"Why? My mother or father sent ya?"

"Huh?" Roxas shook his head. "No, why would they? I came 'cause I wanted to see if you were alright."

"You were?" Seeing him nod, she deflated a bit. "You didn't have to."

"Why not?" Roxas asked. "You were really upset."

"Yeah, like that wasn't obvious." Arya huffed, turning back to her training dummy and began hitting it once more. "Stupid mother, stupid sister, stupid everyone. Just cause I don't like being a Lady they still don't care and they always force me into those dumb sewing needles and dumb lessons with Mordane. I hate it so much."

"You really hate being called a Lady."

"More than anything."

"And what's wrong with being a Lady?"

Arya wanted to retort with more bite cause she had heard that question before only this time, it wasn't condescending or in a scolding manner. "I don't really hold anything against Ladies, Roxas. It's more of what my mother is trying to make be become."

"Which is…"

"A Southern Lady." Seeing the clueless look on his face, she explained. "A Southern Lady is all pish-posh, sensitive, fragile and weak. No backbone in wanting to do anything at all. Just sew all day long, have all manners of etiquette and being so stuck up." Arya then thumped herself on the chest. "I'm a Stark of Winterfell first. If I'm any Lady, it's one of the North with the blood of the Winter Kings flowing through me. I'd want to be like the Ladies from House Mormont, the best women fighters the North has in generations."

Roxas looked at the young wolf and processed what she spoke of. The greater Nobody had a feeling she was being biased, due to what she was being taught. She even blamed on the fact she had no real freedom in what she wanted to learn and experience.

Something he felt a certain familiarity to. Not being your own person. Being denied the chance to be your own person. Since the start of his existence, his entire life was dictated out of his control rather than his own and every time he tried to go about things his way it was as if someone was waiting there to stop him entirely.

Xemnas and DiZ/Ansem the Wise were the primary two that came to mind. Men with their own agendas who used him and others as a means to an end to fulfill their goals.

"I'll train you." Roxas found himself blurting out making Arya lose her grasp on her sword and it flew out of her hands and landed on the ground.

"Come again?"

"I'll train you."

"...You're jesting." Seeing the unresponsive face, she widened her eyes more. "So what you said earlier-"

"Yes." Roxas nodded with a smile growing on his face. "I'll teach you how to fight. You'll be one of the best swordsman in Westeros. That's a promise."

Arya looked at Roxas in the eyes to try and find any hint of deceit or trickery but found none. She knew he was merely being boastful on the proclamation. But she greatly appreciated the gesture as the Keyblader before her wants to take time out of his schedule to help her become a good- no great fighter.

Unable to restrain herself, Arya jumped forward and latched on to the Nobody in a bone-crushing hug, with a few tears of joy escaping from the corners of her eyes.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou." she rattled off, hugging Roxas with all her strength.

Roxas chuckled as he tried holding his ground. Yet it was a little hard with her pushing further into his body as he would've fallen onto the ground.

Once letting go of him, Arya scrambled onto the side to pick back up her wooden sword. "Okay, what do we start with?"

Giving her posture a look over, he scrunched his face. "Don't know about you and it's just me, but think your stance needs work."

Blinking, Arya looked down and around herself before remembering the many times she spied on the boys learning how to fight with Ser Rodrick always telling them to keep a sturdy stance and keep up with their footwork.

"And question…"

"Yes?"

"Do you know how to use a sword?"

"Yeah." With her free hand, Arya pointed at the wooden sword's tip. "Pointy end goes into the other person."

"That's… one way of putting it." Roxas sighed. "This is gonna take a lot of work."

"Hey!"

Ignoring her, Roxas' eyes looked around and saw a medium sized stick lying around. Picking it up, he gave it a few practice swings before looking at the eager looking She-wolf.

Thinking it was gonna be time to start the lessons, she decided to impress her new teacher with a series of swings and spins. Some overhead while the rest at her sides.

Roxas hummed in thought as he watched her move. While it was sloppy, there was a pattern and rhythm to it that was self made. Kinda like how he had his own with his dual bladed style. Actually, this reminded him of one of his own first ever lessons back in the Organization.

Once done with her little display, Roxas did one thing and one thing only.

*THWACK*

Knocking the wooden sword out of her grasp.

"HEY!" Arya cried out. "What was that for?"

"Your grip was not good, which someone can take advantage of and knock your weapon away." Roxas lectured. "Second, don't try to show off. Doesn't matter if you try to look cool, awesome or whatever. The enemy will not hesitate to hurt you if you showboat."

Arya puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms, turning away from the sandy blond haired teen.

"But~ you are fast." Roxas said. "Will take some work to refine your speed, but you have the potential; with the right guidance, of course."

From what Roxas knew from Sora's memories, his Somebody was much like Arya in his younger years. He showboated all the time as he played with Kairi and Riku back on Destiny Islands. Yet he had to get out of that habit once being drifted away from his home world and becoming a Keyblade wielder. The Heartless were relentless, forcing Sora to harshly break out of his old fighting style and start going into something new and appropriate against the forces of Darkness.

Arya turned back to Roxas with a pout yet the willingness to learn was clear and present in the eyes.

"I'm not gonna lie to you Arya, I wasn't trained in the proper sense like how Robb and Jon were." Roxas said. "Most of how I fight was developed in battle against the Heartless and other opponents whose skills matched my own. But what I do know, I'll teach you and you'll create something unique to yourself. By the time you master combat, you'll be a one of a kind fighter. I promise."

"Really?"

"Really, really."

Arya beamed up at him with a glowing smile as she hugged him once more, this time more gently.

"Thanks Roxas." Arya said softly. "Only Jon really ever does this for me. It means a lot."

Roxas placed a hand on her head and patted it lightly. "No problem, Arya. Now come on, let's get started."

Arya disentangled herself from him and eagerly picked her training sword back up but it was taken out of her hands to be replaced with the stick that had been swatted aside earlier.

"Speed first Arya." Roxas said. "Then comes strength."

As the two trained in the secluded area, Nymeria watched on as she laid on the ground. Despite her being several days old, the direwolf pup saw her master having fun and enjoying the time with the oddly smelling man; who gave her and her siblings really good head scratches and belly rubs. And it appears the odd one was showing her how to move properly.

Tilting her head slightly, there were a few movements that reminded Nymeria of how she and her pack moved around together. She could feel her companions excitement and exuberance and felt it herself.

Her partner was happy. So she was happy in turn.

-Later, Training Grounds-

Training the young She-wolf was a nice time for him to experience. Not much could be really done, due to the enclosed space of Arya's little training area. Hopefully during his time in Winterfell, he'll find a proper place for him to teach her without prying eyes.

I.E. her mother, the resident Septa and maybe even Sansa.

Roxas didn't know what to make on what the others' reactions would be of him teaching Arya how to fight. The greater Nobody thought that both men and women had the right to fight, especially against the Heartless. Said adversaries wouldn't care about one's gender at all. A person was a person, fuel in growing both their strength and numbers.

Yet society here thinks otherwise with women.

The rough amount of information he got from Arya during training was refined a bit more with the general ideas like what he got from both at Ironrath and here so far.

Women, in general in this World, were often seen and used as meal tickets per say.

Unions through marriage helps strengthen bonds and stabilities (even friendships) between not just two families, but also different lands. And with that, the wealth is shared amongst them. Trade is opened up more and in dire times of war, one can call onto the other's forces and use them to help fight for you.

In some bits of sense, Roxas understood this but only so far; even with his knowledge given to him by DiZ.

Women are taught embroidery (enhanced sewing in simpler terms), household accounts, how to prepare menus, reading and writing, their family history and surrounding Households, overseeing certain servants, proper forms of etiquette, etc. etc.

And this was merely with the Ladies of the ruling lands.

Those that were not Ladies had to be servants or farmers or if being desperate enough, work at the brothels.

Women, just like men, need to work for a living; no matter one's status.

Now Ladies here need to use these lessons as the means to help draw in potential suitors. Showing they were well groomed, posed properly, held their own and whatnot in order to make it all work. It was as if it was a matter of life and death of one's family; especially in dire times.

One can be lucky to have met their would-be husbands more than once and actually got to know them through courtship as a means to see if things may or may not work out. Others were not as Ladies never got the chance to meet their future husbands prior to their wedding day. Some thought it was a necessity, others not so much.

The goal of it all, aside from the big benefits mentioned earlier, was to have the spouses honor each other and help raise their children in order to continue the family bloodlines.

Roxas thought this was rather unusual, but this was how things happened here. He thought they should at least know each other to see if they were indeed loving. See what kind of quirks one has if they were pleasant or not. Even getting the chance to enjoy their time prior to their special day.

Given what else the Keyblader learned from Arya, her parents didn't love each other at first when they married. Given circumstances, they were forced to wed in order to help out in Robert's Rebellion to help strengthen and grow their forces; i.e. their men-at-arms. But it was over time did the two actually start loving each other and that's what mattered in the end.

Other relationships are not as lucky which the couples never loved each other, practically hating. They cheated on the other and sired bastards out of wedlock. Marriages become ruined, which results in both property and finances turned to shambles which hurt all those around them.

Roxas asked Arya what she thought of all this and she thought it was utterly annoying. The young She-wolf didn't want to marry in such manners. If she wanted to marry, she'd want it on her own terms and not let others decide for her. And if Arya would be forced to marry, she would at least want to be consulted and have her say in it all if she were to marry her would-be husband or not.

For most people, the highborn think love is for the peasants and has no real say in the matter. Business was business in strengthening one's House.

Now Roxas only got all this through the highborn point of view. He doesn't know what changes there are once chatting with the common folk. Only hoping it can be better than what he got from Arya so far.

But right now, Roxas returned his attention at watching the sparring sessions that went on between Robb, Jon, Theon, Rodrick, Gared and several other guards and young lads

"You sure this is how one fights against 'em monsters?" Asked one of the guards.

"Unfortunately, yes." Rodrick stated. "Most tactics one have been taught against regular opponents are not entirely useful against the Heartless."

"Sure, they might be beasts but they ain't dumb." Gared added in. "Bastards know how to move around."

"Instincts, Roxas called it." Rodrick continued on. "Their instincts are sharp and can detect the right time to strike whether you know it or not."

"Not to mention their numbers overwhelming you." Gared said, helping a guard lower his blade. "Go for the underhand thrust for its neck. It's usually the weakest and most exposed part of a Heartless."

"So how many of these Heartless have you fought?" Robb Stark had asked his fellow Northerners.

Rodrick scratched his chin in thought, trying to gauge a number considering how many he and Gared had faced these past few days.

"Skirmish numbers varied and we kept hitting them quite often on our way here from Ironrath. Some were a half dozen while others were more each time. Biggest amount was yesterday at Wintertown."

"So no real accurate numbers then."

"Roxas basically told us he never kept track." Gared said with a shrug. "Just that it's probably in the thousands by this point. Probably more than that on his end."

"Focus more in taking them down than what amount you killed." Looking over, the others saw Roxas nod in confirmation. "If you focus on that, then you're as good as dead."

"And I agree with him." Spoke Ser Rodrick. "When fighting against the Unversed, they were of similar actions. This'll be something I'll help teach you lot against these new foes."

"Unversed." Roxas said to himself before addressing the Master-at-Arms. "You brought up that Ven fought them, right? What were they like exactly?"

The mutton-chop wearing man stroked his chin in order to recollect.

"To put it plainly, I never would have thought creatures as colorful as they are would be as lethal as they were."

"...I'm sorry, what?" Theon voiced the resounding question popping in everyone's heads.

"Well, what Roxas described of the Heartless, they were primarily black as night with some form of color on them. Yet the Unversed… well… it's like seeing a vast rainbow on the lot."

"...That's really hard to picture."

"Some of the Heartless are colorful in their own way." Roxas remarked thinking of the endless varieties he had encountered. "But they have been consistent with the whole black with yellow eyes motif."

"Aye while the Unversed had red eyes popping out from what other abominal color they bore." The Master-at-Arms closed his eyes, picturing the old adversaries. "They were primarily dark in colors, whether they be purple, blue, red and the like."

"C'mon, we're here to learn how to fight 'em beasts; not learning of how pretty they were." Complained one of the guards.

"Quit your whinnin'. I'm merely answering Roxas' question. So don't be rude."

Same guard rolled his eyes as he stood alongside the others.

"But they always fought in packs. These Heartless you describe feel more random in nature." Cassel finished. "They were more limited as well. Not as diverse as the these newer creatures.

"And the only time one sees a singular one of them is either being scouts for our adversary back then or if we'd be facing a larger foe that would take a large company to take care of." Jory, the Captain of the Guards added in.

"That's… unsettling." Jon voiced out.

"Indeed it was."

"So not all that different with the Heartless, then." Roxas commented with a small nod.

"Aye, but you mentioned something of interest when describing the Heartless Roxas. Their size." Rodrick Forrester brought up. "You said that there were bigger Heartless then those dragon-like ones reportedly back at Wintertown. Is this true?"

"Oh, yeah they can reach the size of castles." Roxas affirmed, gesturing up to the primary structure of the ancient Stark home.

Many of the boys faces paled at the thought of such creatures eclipsing the size of castles.

"How big are we talking in terms of castle comparison?" Inquired the Master-at-Arms.

Roxas hummed in thought for a moment.

The biggest one that came to the greater Nobody's mind was when Sora fought against Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, who took on a form of which size almost reached that of Winterfell. And then there was the Ground Shaker from the Pridelands, which was slightly smaller, but to which amounts he had no clue.

Upon hearing Roxas' voiced thoughts and taking in the grim information, Ser Rodrick ended up dropping quite the unsettling info bomb.

"I never saw it myself, but there was one Unversed that almost dwarfed Harrenhal during its infamous Tourney."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. It caused havoc at the Tourney and it would've killed us all if it weren't for Ventus' actions. Hells, it was because of that fight did he truly gain quite the large reputation and earning the title of Hero of Harrenhal." Rodrick chuckled to himself. "Always turned to a blushing maiden every time someone called him by that name."

"Don't know if that would work anymore now." Jory voiced. "Been so long since anyone saw Ventus last and not even knowing what he looks like now."

"Shame too. Was fun to see it happen back then."

An odd silence befell the group as the two Cassels held melancholy smiles at the talk of old times.

"So~" Theon cut through the silence. "Are we still training or is it someone else's turn to tell a story?"

Jory snorted while Ser Rodrick gave him a dry look, turning to Roxas.

"Roxas, would you care to show these boys more of your skills or do you not wish to embarrass them?"

Before Roxas could answer, the Ironrath heir was approached by the resident maester.

"Maester Luwin, what is it?"

"I've received a letter from your family."

Rodrick was handed a rolled up parchment with the wax seal of House Ironrath, not broken. Giving a small 'thanks' to Luwin, he broke the wax seal, unfurled the parchment and took in it's contents.

The others looked on with what was written in there, given they saw the Forrester heir hum before forming a seemingly disappointed sigh.

"Is there something wrong, my Lord?" Gared questioned.

"Basically my father is satisfied with us fulfilling our tasks in delivering both Roxas here and the first small shipment of resin." Rodrick responded. "With that taken care of, he would like us back when possible."

"So soon?"

Rodrick nodded. "We must prepare for the trip back first thing tomorrow. He wants us to help transport other resin shipments across the North against the Heartless, as per Lord Stark's orders."

"Do you two need any help?" Roxas questioned the Forrester.

Rodrick gave a small smile. "You've done plenty, my friend. I'll be sure to ask the servants to help with our stocks for the trip back."

"If you say so."

"Until then, we'll do what we can to help these lot."

Roxas nodded as he would appreciate it. He was fine with teaching a small number, all by himself with the likes of Gared, Rodrick and recently Arya. But more all at once might prove troublesome. He did recollect the information he heard earlier of Ser Rodrick wanting to help train them, giving his past experience with the Unversed.

'I'll need to ask him later to figure things out.' Thought the greater Nobody.

Turning over to the rest of the others present, Roxas saw everyone was getting anxious in getting on with training. Deciding it was time to finally get on with it, he spoke.

"Alright then, shall we finally get started?"

-Hours Later, Rooftops; Insert Kingdom Hearts II: Lazy Afternoons-

Bran was steadily climbing up one of Winterfell's many towers, one foot and one hand at a time. Steadying himself before he attempted to ascended further and further up.

Normally this hobby of his would be of some concern if there was a deep overcast or chilly winds brushing him at every other moment. Luckily for him, the sky was clearing up with the sun dying in the horizon.

The beautiful array of colors littering the sky lured him from the safety of solid ground, prompting him to seek a higher area to see the sunset. Bran could've just ascended a volley of stairs at some tower in order to see the spectacular sight.

But where was the fun in that without working for it?

Reaching out to grab one last stone to reach the tower's top, Bran's hand slipped.

'Oh, that's not good.' Came the young wolf's thought, trying to calm himself.

Carefully reaching back to the same spot in having a better grip, a hand shot out from above and grasped his wrist.

"Whoa there!" Looking up, Bran saw it was Roxas holding onto him. "You need to be more careful."

"I-I am."

"Sure you are."

Pulling the young lord onto the rooftop, Roxas saw him wipe his hands onto his clothes to rid himself of the crime from the climb.

"Mind telling me why you're up here?" Inquired the greater Nobody.

"I can ask you the same thing."

"Hmm, touche." Roxas muttered. "Well I came up here for two reasons."

"Which are?"

"Came to get a better view of the sunset."

"Me too."

The Keyblader chuckled a little. "Yeah, hard not to pass up in seeing such a nice one."

Bran nodded in agreement. Then a small thought crossed his mind. "Wait, what was the second reason?"

"Oh, right. I was sent to find ya."

"You were?"

"Yup, by your mother."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, she figured you'd be climbing somewhere and asked me to help fetch ya for dinner."

Bran grumbled a little as his moment of sightseeing pleasure was to be cut-

"Wanna sit with me before we head to the great hall?"

The climbing wolf blinked in surprise as he looked at the smiling Keyblader.

He didn't know what to say exactly upon seeing Roxas walk some distance away before sitting down on the tower's angled rooftop. Seeing this occur, Bran took up on the Keyblader's offer and sat beside him as both took in the magnificent sight before them.

"It's quite lovely, isn't it?"

Bran gave a pleasant hum, nodding in agreement.

"Though I don't know if it comes close to this one place I often visited."

"...What do you mean by that?"

Roxas smiled with memories flooding his mind, both pleasant and bitter sweet. Breathing in the crisp air, he responded. "There's this one place Axel, Xion and I go to at the end of each mission we go through. No matter how good or bad it went, we always go to the Clocktower and sit at it's ledge. Eating sea-salt ice cream as we partake in the majestic sight of what's essentially a never ending sunset."

Bran wondered how that's possible in seeing a 'never ending sunset'. It doesn't seem possible at all as nowhere in the world has such a thing occurring.

And it wasn't just that, but the climbing wolf wondered what a clocktower and this sea-salt ice cream were exactly. Something told him the latter was some sort of treat.

"Can't you just go there again?"

"I could, but I think it might be difficult in getting back there."

"Is it because of how far it is?"

Roxas snorted. "You could say that."

"...And how did you get up here, Roxas?"

"Like you, I climbed… in a more… unconventional means."

The vague answers made Bran in wanting to know more.

What Bran doesn't know, Roxas had basically ran up and jumped off a series of walls in order to reach the top. The Keyblader originally planned on seeing the clear sight earlier as he couldn't see a good one yesterday due to the overcast from the Heartless attack. Yet today was different.

Before Roxas could start his climb, Catelyn asked him to help search for her son as it would take a while to find him. She informed the greater Nobody of Bran's hobby, which helped narrow down the areas as to where he'd be at-at this time of the day.

This made Roxas realize he'd be taking out two birds with one stone.

As they sat in silence, Roxas gazed upon the scenery before him. The place was very different from Twilight Town, no doubt about that. From the type of building architecture to the reaches of nature blending into the scenery.

Time passed between the two before a thought crossed the Keyblader's mind which needed to be voiced.

"How do you climb down these towers easily?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I don't see you having any gear or equipment on you to properly make your way back down."

"I can handle it, Roxas."

"I can probably tell, given how many times you climb from what I've heard. But I believe you shouldn't be doing it all on your own."

"But no one would come join me." Bran complained. "They're too busy in doing anything else."

"Are they?"

"Yes."

"And who would they exactly be?"

"My brothers, Theon, Arya."

"No one else?"

Bran shook his head 'no'.

Roxas hummed and thought for a little bit as his gaze shifted back to the sunset. "Maybe I can join you."

Bran brightened up in curiosity. "You will?"

"Yeah. Might as well give you some pointers so you can stay safe, given you don't have any equipment to make that happen."

The climbing wolf didn't say anything as he was happy that someone could join him in this. He knew his father wanted him to be more careful in his favorite activity. Even wanting Bran to have someone watch over him in case of climbing all on his own. Yet the young wolf was too antsy in wanting to wait for anyone to join.

Yet with Roxas here, Bran might be able to do so and not be disciplined by his mother; like what usually happens.

With that said, the pair kept silent for a little while longer as they kept gazing at the dying sky before them.

In what felt like forever, Roxas spoke. "Welp~ Believe it's time for us to head on down for dinner."

"It'll take a while to get to the great hall, Roxas." Bran said, standing back up.

"Through normal means, yes." Spoke the Keyblader. "Mine, though, will be quicker."

Bran wondered what Roxas meant, yet shuddered a little upon seeing the teasing grin on his face.

-End Chapter-

AN:

Well 2019 is starting to finally come to an end, folks. Another year -let alone decade- has come and gone. So many moments have been experienced, both good and bad. And I wish to either experience them again or never live through them at all.

Here's to hoping 2020, let alone the new decade is a memorable and joyful one. Who knows with how the world operates.

Now I gotta thank free man writer once again for helping me out in this chapter and I wouldn't have been able to finish it sooner without him. Though things on both our ends have been hectic, with our respective jobs being busy for the whole holiday season.

Big part of our New Year's resolutions would be being a bit more active in being able to pop out more chapters in our respective works.

Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!

R&R