NOTE: Hi there! I'm sorry this arrives a little bit later than expected but I was very busy with my mom's new project and I kind of forgot to publish yesterday It's bad I know...

Anyway, here is the eighth chapters, I hope you'll enjoy it and I'll see you down there!

Chapter 8: By the Old gods, not the new

Seventh-day of the second week of the Fifth month of the year 297 a.c

Outside of Winterfell

Robb Stark

What was happening? What was happening?!

One moment they were riding, chatting, and being almost like they were before the accident. And the next she was falling from her horse like a rock, eyes revulsed and stiff as a board.

Seeing her head bump on the dirt had triggered some of Robb's worst nightmares. This couldn't be happening, not again!

By the time his panicked mind caught up with him he was off his horse and rushing to his sister, Jon hot on his heels.

"KYRIA!"

Her skin was cold as he dragged her to his arms, pushing away the hair that hid her face. She was pale and tense, all up to the muscles around her eyes. Her creepy, milky white eyes.

"Shit Kyria!"

"Jon, what is happening?"

He didn't look up to see where his brother was, but couldn't miss the loud steps rushing around. Making sure the horses wouldn't run maybe. It didn't matter anyway. Before long, Jon knelt next to him, his hand moving on top of Kyria's stiff form without touching her. Panicking too for sure.

"Jon!" called Robb again.

His brother blinked fearful eyes at him, almost as white as Kyria. He looked even more worried than Robb was, which didn't help to ease his nerves. Jon's hands were shaking. Robb kept looking between him and Kyria's still so, so stiff form.

"She never said-"

Robb's attention sharpened, spinning around Jon like an eagle on its prey.

"What? She never said what?" he growled.

Jon paled even more.

"Jon! What is happening?!"

"I- I don't-"

"Explain this to me!"

"I don't know!"

Robb felt the muscles of his back tense, ready to strike, to growl, to hit. Anything that would remove the tension inside him, the uselessness crawling inside as his sister stayed unresponsive at everything he tried.

The words were drying his throat when suddenly, she moved.

With a strangled gasp, something odd, not quite a sob, not quite a breath, Kyria grabbed his cloak. Her eyes rolled farther inside her skull. She cried painfully a couple of times as if to try to catch her breath after a very bad dream. A sound far too familiar to his ears.

Then she said something. Mumbled and barely understandable, confusing Robb even more, but Jon seemed to understand.

"What is it? What is she saying?"

"I don't- I-"

"Jon!"

"I'm not sure!"

"But you know something?"

"I- Maybe. I'm not sure- she-"

Her cries pierced his ears one more time, then it was over. The strange noises stopped, her eyes rolled back into their correct places. She blinked a couple of times and seemed to slowly take notice of them both kneeling around her.

"Kyria?"

"Jon…?"

"Kyria."

Her face crumpled into a painful sob that made Robb's skin crawl. She hiccuped a couple of times and curled around herself. She wept loudly, and Robb froze.

He looked up at his brother, sharing a panicked glance, powerless. Useless.

He kept looking between the two others. She was shaking, sobbing loudly in her half-brother's cloak like a tiny child.

What was that exactly? What was happening? Something was odd. Something big and weird he was clearly missing. As obvious as the horrified looks Jon kept throwing him. He didn't even know where to start. What to ask. Jon knew. He knew his brother. Better than anyone else. He couldn't lie to save his life. Not to other people, and certainly not to him. And he was even worse at keeping secrets. Half the time when they were children and Robb would be found out for one of his many shenanigans, he would swear to the old gods Jon ratted him out. Unintentionally most of the time. But still.

He kept going from horrified to ashamed in such an obvious conflict Robb could have sniffed the lie a mile away.

His brain running wild, Robb took charge. Promptly, he lifted his little sister in his arms and asked Jon to fetch the horses. With Jon's help, they raised Kyria to his own horse and arranged her securely in front of him. Robb wrapped his cloak around her and moved her own cloak in front of her like a blanket. He then attached the reins of her horse to his own, so the beast would follow them. The last thing they needed right now was for Kyria's horse to escape. She would go mental.

"We are going home," he ordered.

Jon looked up at him, tensed in front of his own horse.

"We are going home," repeated Robb, his voice booming in the silent plain, "and you will explain to me what just happened."

"Robb-"

"Mount your horse brother."

He kicked his own mount and raced to the keep. Kyria moved in his arms and he adjusted, briefly relieved to feel her breath and little hands gripping the corners of his cloak.

"Robb…"

He grunted, his eyes focused on his destination.

"...Are you mad at me?"

Robb chose not to answer. It wasn't a question of anger. Worry and confusion were fighting the questions in his head. He had been understanding, all this time while he had to watch his sister fade away into this strange state of melancholia. He had tried to be understanding when she said she needed space and time to figure things out on her own. He had watched her cry for help, watched as Jon answered. He had tried to help too. The rejection had been hard to he had tried to understand. He really did. Se had every right to decide who should assist her in her quest for truth and well-being.

But he had his limits too.

Having her fall from her horse right in front of his eyes was crossing this limit, smashing and crushing and stomping over them like a herd of panicked deers. There was no way he could ignore it any longer There was no turning back. Now they had to explain whatever was wrong to him.

Maybe he was angry. Maybe not. It didn't really matter. He wanted answers.

The road back was silent and heavy with tension. Neither siblings asked anything from Robb and he was content to remain in this silence for now. They would talk soon enough anyway.

As soon as the massive doors were passed, Robb dismounted and took Kyria back in his arms. Mother, who happened to be in the yard at the time, worried immediately. Before she could form any sentence, Robb brushed her away, babbling something about a frightened horse and a noise in the woods, before taking large steps to the Main Keep. Kyria didn't protest when he kept her in his arms all the way through her rooms. She was tiny and looked strangely small in his arms. He had thought it would be harder to carry her but apparently, his latest grow spurt made him stronger than he thought it would.

Inside, they found Kyria's Maid, who Robb promptly sent to fetch Old Nan.

Finally, it made one of them react.

"Old Nan?"

"Maester Luwin is busy, and she is quite gifted in the healing arts. When she wants to bother with it," he answered stiffly.

He sat in a chair and waited, his arms crossed on his chest. Jon fidged on his feet. Kyria played with the hair of the fur on her bed.

"Well?" he asked.

"It's… complicated."

"Try me."

"Robb-"

"No. I won't hear it. I watched you fall from that horse Kyria, your eyes were white! I thought you were dying! You will explain to me what's going on right now."

"Robb it doesn't concern-"

"It does!" Snapped Robb. "It does when you almost kill yourself in front of me Kyria!"

She pulled back, smashing her back against the pile of pillows Jon had just arranged behind her.

"Robb-"

"No! You said you were alright! And I know something is not right. I can see it! But I didn't say anything because you didn't want to talk to me about it and I get it! But now you almost died! So I want to know! What is going on Kyria!"

"I don't know! I don't know what's going on!" she screamed back at him.

Robb felt the blood pulse in his head, making him look certainly as red as his hair. He hadn't realized how loud they were becoming, shouting at each other like that. He just couldn't control himself.

She talked again before he could calm down enough to trust himself not to say something he might regret.

"I don't know what's happening with me! I'm sick of everyone always asking the same questions!"

"Well, we wouldn't ask if you'd answer!"

"I DON'T HAVE ANSWERS!"

Her shout could have shaken the walls. Robb didn't back off. Jon seemed agitated and took a step closer.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about that while-"

"How can you not have answers?! I'm asking you what you are doing!"

"I'm trying to understand what's happening to me! I don't have answers! Why shouldn't I try to understand!"

"Understand what?!"

"Why do I wake up every night with nightmares of people dying and monsters attacking things!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I am telling you I can't sleep!"

Robb frowned but his sister ignored him.

"Kyria, maybe you should-"

"Don't tell me what to do Jon! You abandoned me!"

Jon stood back, struck by the words like a punch in the face.

"You pushed him away Kyria! You keep pushing us all away! How can we help you if you don't let us!"

Kyria growled and gripped her head between her hands.

"Stop talking!" she begged.

"No! I am tired of seeing you fade away in your own little world! I am tired of seeing you sad all the time because you don't want our help! We are here for you Kyria! It doesn't matter if you don't remember how things were before! You are still you and you are still our sister! Stop pushing us away!"

"Stop talking!"

"I won't stop until I know you are listening."

"I can't talk! I can't talk about it! I don't know what it is! I can't sleep, I can't think, everything is happening in my head and I can't do anything to stop it! I want it to stop!"

"What? What do you want to stop?"

"The dreams! The visions! That curse that makes me see people die every night in my head! I can't take it anymore!"

She burst into ugly tears, crushing any response Robb might have thought on. Oh, Gods. She was crying. She was not supposed to cry. Did he made her cry?! His mouth hanging open and he felt himself blinking dumbly a couple of times.

Shit. This was not supposed to happen. He hated tears. From his sisters even more. What was he supposed to do now? Comfort her? But she was angry at him! And- and- crying!

Before anything more could happen, the door creaked open slowly.

"That is quite enough young fools." rasped the old voice of Old Nan.

They watched as her fragile form slowly trotted through the stopped right in front of a still sobbing Kyria and promptly sat next to her. Her wrinkled hand stroked the long hair that cascaded on the cloak Kyria was wrapped under and glared at the boys still standing up around.

"What kind of animals are you? Do I have to throw a bucket of water on your silly young faces to calm down that Northern blood of yours? Like the Children did your ancestors to stop their blood lust."

Jon blinked at Robb, who blinked right back. The old hand tapped Kyria's softly. The girl's eyes stayed locked on the hand, she was blinking too. The entire situation seemed completely surrealist.

"I know you all have been raised better than that. Shame on you children."

Robb blushed furiously ashamed and guilty. Jon shifted on his feet.

"W-why are you talking about water, Old Nan?" Robb's brother dared to ask. He caught him eyeing longingly at the closest dark corner of the room.

Clever Jon. Trying to change the subject. If Old Nan was known for one thing it was her rant and stories she liked to spout at the strangest times. Generally about the Old times, the age of Heroes, the First Men, the White Walkers...Those kinds of things.

The Stark children had learned how to dodge those stories as often as possible. And how to provoke them when needed. Robb supposed this was one of those occasions.

Old Nan briefly looked at Jon. Squinting suspiciously. Or threatening, he wasn't certain. She did not seem to want to pay attention to Robb to his relief.

"Don't you listen when you are told a tale, young fool?"

Jon wisely didn't answer. He merely shrunk and took a step closer to his dark corner. His gulp was almost audible from where Robb stood.

"The Water of the Broken Arm of Dorne. The Water of the Neck. That is what I am talking about. How the lust for blood and battle was so high when the First men invaded those Lands, the Children had no other choice but to use their most powerful magics to stop them."

"Magic?" sniffed Kyria.

The surprise in her voice made Robb blinked. Why surprise? They have heard of this since-

Oh... Yes, of course. She couldn't remember those. It was like everything else. He allowed himself a moment to mourn all those things she would never remember, before looking back at Old Nan who seemed now ready to delight them with one of her tales.

"Magic Child." nodded the woman. She wiggled softly as if to prepare herself for her tale and took a second longer to watch them all with those old eyes of hers.

"Before the First Men invaded those lands, there were other species. Magic was in their blood, in their lives, as it had been since the beginning of times." started the old servant, " Giants, taller than trees stomped upon those plains and mountains, moving them as their will. And little people, small, like children, living in the trees and blooming through their magic. They spoke the Old Tongue, and through wars and conflicts, peace and friendship, they shared those lands."

The three of them were hypnotized. Robb didn't know that story. Old Nan never spoke of it before. She had said things about the Children of the Forest and the Giant that build the Wall with Bran the Builder, but never that…

Like most of the tales, he had no idea if it was true, but it was fascinating to hear it nonetheless. Frightening and nightmare-worthy yes. But fascinating.

"They worshiped the Old Gods, and carved faces in their trees to allow them to witness the world they ruled on." continued the Old woman, "And the Old Gods granted them gifts. Some Children, the wisest, the oldest, the strongest, could do things no other would. They could merge their consciousness with animals, to fight their battles and kill their enemies. Wolves, shadowcats, bears, hawks...they could become anything."

"Skinchangers…" mumbled Robb from his corner of the room.

Old nan smiled

"They were called warg. Others dreamed."

Kyria almost jumped out of the bed. Robb's eyes snapped in her direction. The old servant ignored her.

"The greenseers, they were called. The wise and powerful leaders of the children of the forest. They could see, know what their peers ignored. Some say they predicted the invasion of the First Men."

Robb spared another glance at his sister. She was pale as milk and kept looking at Old Nan like she had never seen her before. Jon seemed just as uncomfortable. He was missing something.

"When the First Men arrived and started to slaughter them, the greenseers called on their powers. They warned their peers against the invaders with tales of war and blood and extinction. The gifted Children came all together, the green seers, the Wargs, and those who could see through the eyes of the trees. They called and gathered together to command the Wind and the Sea. To stop the First Men. They broke the Arm of Dorne, severing forever the land that used to join Essos with Westeros. They tried to do it again when the First Men kept on appearing at their doorsteps. But the Gods don't take kindly to mere mortals trying to play their roles. This time it gave us the Neck. Never completely water, nor completely solid grown."

She paused, her shiny eyes looking at each of their faces. Robb was used to her antics and dramatic pauses but this time he couldn't say he didn't feel the effects washing him.

"They said the greenseers saw the peace arrived just as effectively as they saw the war. The First men agreed not to cut any more faced trees and with the centuries merging, they worshiped the Old Gods just as feverishly as the Children did. No one knows how, but in time, the powers the Gods had gifted the Children appeared in the First Men. Maybe the Gods grant their favors to those they judge worthy, regardless of birth or species. The Starks of Old times were said to merge with the minds of their Direwolves. Wolves made men. Men made wolves. The stories of wolves howls raving the lands of the North are well known, and their legends carry the weight of the Kings of Winter, even today. They are one of the reasons why Stark's reputation weighs so much in the North."

She paused again and Robb almost stopped breathing, waiting for the end of her story.

"But you know that don't you ?"

Robb nodded slowly.

"Now answer me," ordered the woman with a sharp tap of her hand on the wood of the bed, "should I throw water at you to calm down that wolf's blood of yours?"

Jon and Robb shared a panicked glance and quickly shook their heads. Old Nan huffed and stared harshly at them a moment longer.

"Good."

Robb could feel the tension breaking. Kyria still looked sick and Jon uncomfortable, but this thing had been intense and Robb was very relieved it was over. He tried to think of something to say, to have those answers he felt like he spent the whole day asking for. But he could feel this was not the time.

The two brothers stayed a moment longer in Kyria's room, awkwardly watching as old Nan treated Kyria and ordered her to rest once it was shown nothing was truly wrong with her.

Old Nan shooed them out of the room and Robb resolved to find Kyria later to finally have this discussion.

And to say they only wanted a peaceful ride…

Kyria didn't leave her room until the following morning. Robb found Jon in the yard, close to the targets where the guards practiced. He was lurking in a corner like always, apparently lost in his thoughts and Robb was quick to pull him out of.

Jon confessed having regularly found Kyria in the Godswood before, so he decided to start there.

Which happened to be a good idea. They found her in that odd flat rock she claimed as her own since she was able to walk to the godswoods, many moons ago.

"Kyria?"

Jon sounded hesitant, weary, and Robb couldn't deny he was too. Whatever happened yesterday was still fresh in his mind and he didn't want to see that again.

To their surprise, they were not welcomed with tears but with a wide smile.

"Jon!" she chirped happily, ignoring Robb who tried very hard not to take it personally, "I figured it out!"

"You…" started Jon sparing a glance at Robb who stayed wisely silent.

"I figured it out!" she chirped again, flapping like a baby bird around Jon, "Old Nan said it! It makes sense!"

"Kyria what are you talking about-"

"I dreamed last night! It wasn't like the other ones though. I was inside a tiny thing. An animal. It was so strange Jon! I heard whimpers and there was this large tongue and everything was dark around me but I knew there were things around and other things were wiggling next to me and Old Nan talked about the Starks of Old and I thought maybe-"

"Kyria- Kyria!" stopped Robb grabbing her shoulders in his hands, "slow down. You don't make any kind of sense. Explain what you are talking about."

She blinked a couple of times and looked at him oddly like it was the first time she noticed his presence. Which very well might be. Her eyes fell on Jon who shifted awkwardly and she took a slow step back.

"...Robb."

Should he be insulted?

He felt insulted.

Robb waited for one of them to finally explain what the heck was going on. It was Jon in the end who decided to talk.

"Since she woke up, Kyria has… dreams. Visions. Very vivid visions, every night. We have been trying to understand what they could possibly be. This is why we spend so much time together in the library until…"

Until he came along and put his nose where it didn't belong. Robb blinked slowly, absorbing the information. That was...impossible. This couldn't be. Why would that even happen to her? Why would that even happen to anyone?

Seeing things that could happen in the future. It sounded fantastic and horrible. He didn't know what to think of it.

"And… you think-"

"I think those visions or whatever, are what Old Nan was talking about." nodded Kyria with an energy Robb wasn't used to seeing in her anymore, "It makes sense! The way she described the greenseers, the way she talked about dreams… it's the only thing that makes sense!"

"Kyria, Old Nan stories are just that. Stories."

"Except that my dreams are not just Dreams. I have them every night. I have them awake! That's what happened to me yesterday."

"Are you saying… you fell from your horse because you-"

"Because I had a vision."

She was talking fast, she seemed almost impatient. But Robb didn't feel convinced.

"Jon," he called, " what do you think?"

Maybe he was throwing the ball to another victim. So what? He had no idea how he was supposed to react!

His brother sighed and rubbed his hair.

"I- Maybe we should show Robb the work we have done?"

"Jon-"

"No, listen," cut Jon, holding a hand, "Maybe you don't believe this is as serious as it is Robb, but we spend weeks going through every dream Kyria could remember. And she has them every night. I don't know if they truly are what Old Nan said in her story. But we know Old Nan stories come from the legends people have told for hundreds, nay, thousands of years. Who says it wasn't true once upon a time?"

It wasn't really in Jon's habit to speculate like that. Or, well, to talk at all, really. For him to spread himself in such a speech was quite impressive.

"It's not just that…"

Both boys turned to Kyria, whose smile seemed even bigger.

"I dreamed again last night. A dream I never had before."

"What do you mean?"

The girl then starts to explain, mainly for Robb, what those dreams were about. How they happened. How she was always inside the dreams, silent spectator of the horrors she would witness. But she was always there, as herself.

"Except this one."

Robb blinked.

"I was not myself in this one! I was something else."

"Something else?"

"Yes. It was all very strange in fact. I felt small and cold and very uncomfortable. but then something warm pushed me and it was like… like a giant tongue licking me."

"A tongue?"

"Licking you?"

Robb felt himself blush. What kind of dream did she have?!

"Yes! From head to toe! Like the tongue of a dog. But a dog far bigger than me! And there were… other noises around me. Whimpers."

"So… whatever you were, there were other things around you?"

"Yes, things like me. And the strangest thing was… I wanted…"

Robb waited. But she only frowned.

"What? You wanted what?"

"Milk. I wanted milk."

…

What?

"But…" shuttered Jon, "you hate milk!"

Kyria nodded.

"I didn't understand at first. But, think about it. If Old Nan tales are true, the things she said about the Children and the Stark, maybe… Maybe the part with the Direwolves is true too."

"What do you think, what did she call it? Skinchange?"

"Skinchanged," confirmed Jon.

"You think you skinchanged into a direwolf?"

Kyria blushed, at the tone Robb took. He couldn't help it. None of this made sense.

"A pup".

Jon blinked.

"A pup? Why a pup?"

She shrugged.

They stayed silent for a moment, each digesting what had been said.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Kyria. Her dreams were a pretty good explanation of all the things that bothered him and worried him with his sister those past months. But it sounded...extraordinary. Mystical, almost.

"What would that mean then? If what you say is true."

"I don't know…"

Robb snorted.

"Maybe someone will knock at our door with a litter of direwolves ready to be taken by us."

The joke brought a smile to Kyria's face. Robb counted that as a victory.

They stayed a bit longer in the godswood, talking of the possibility of Kyria's dreams being what she thought they were. But the conversation was hard to follow for Robb, who didn't know most of what they were talking about, having missed the many hours they spent going through all this.

When they left the godswood, Kyria guided them to the library tower, where Robb spent the rest of the day, and the following week, looking through every single dream Jon and Kyria went through since they started talking about that.

He still had trouble believing it. But he couldn't deny the relief of having found some answers. For her mostly but for them too. Even from Old Nan tales or the strange belief of a gift the Gods granted her.

Whatever she might think, Robb doubted. What proof did they have after all?

Oh little did he know...

TBC.

So? What do you think? I kind of like this version. Robb being angry and taking charge of the situation suits me more than what he did before. It's more akin of how I see his character you know? And I feel like this fight with Kyria was very cathartic for both of them. They needed that to move on from what happened and the awkwardness they both felt around each other. Tell me your opinion!

I had a lot of fun with Old Nan and the way she casually throw information in their faces like she doesn't know what she's doing xD.

Hope you enjoyed this version and I'll see you next month! Bubyyye!