Winter Is Coming

“You can’t escape now, wenches!” Lyra yelled and Cynthia and I looked around to see that we were in a circle of fire, “You’re trapped in the Gods ring!”

“Why does she keep saying Gods? I thought there was only one,” Cynthia said and I looked at her.

“Really? That’s what you’re worried about?! We’re in a fuckin’ ring of fire and you’re more upset with her talking about more than one God!”

“Don’t yell at me! I don’t handle panic well!” Cynthia said and I growled and looked around, wondering how we’re going to get out of this one.

“Which Gods will come?” Lyra laughed evilly.

“Me lady, look!” Darca yelled and Cynthia and I looked to where they were pointing to see two huge, and I mean huge wolves.

“Holy shit! Are we in Twilight?!” Cynthia yelled and I couldn’t help but smack her over her head.

“This is not Twilight! And that is not Taylor Lautner!” I growled, “Even if I would love to see his abs.”

“Jess! Jess!”

“What?!”

“That’s a wolf!” she yelled and I looked back to see the two wolves walking around the outside of the ring of fire.

“Yeah, I see them, there are two!”

“No, those are wolves!”

“I know that! Use to be my favorite animal, now I’m gunna die by one. Oh, the irony.”

“Jess! Those are direwolves! They’re extinct!” she yelled and I looked at her shocked.

“Come again!”

“We not being in New York is an understatement! I don’t even think we’re in the 21st century!” she yelled and then backed up into me when the two wolves trotted together and then stared at us through the fire.

“Well, we’re safe inside the fire,” just then, it looked like the wolves blew on the fire, because it just all disappeared, “And now we’re screwed.”

“The Wolf God has granted his daughters passage onto this world and accepted the sacrifices!” Lyra cheered and I looked at her and then back at the wolves.

“Jess, Jess, Jess, they’re coming,” Cynthia panicked and I looked back towards the wolves that must have been at least my height when they stood their heads up tall.

“Stay calm, Cyn,” I said, trying to sound like I was staying calm, but I was panicking just as much as she was. I was so scared, I thought I was going to wet me pants, death by wolf, beautiful animals, but not the way I want to die.

“Jess!”

“Stay calm, Cyn,” I repeated as the beast came closer.

“Now mighty Wolf Gods! Take your offerings!” Lyra chanted and I stared at the one wolf in the eyes.

“Come and get me,” I growled and the wolf growled back and then attacked. I was pinned down on the ground, the white wolf with grey and silver patches on her stood over me, her paw on my chest, pressing down hard, but not hard enough to kill me, it was like she was playing with me.

“What is happening?!” I heard Lyra yell and I cried out in pain because it felt like my whole body was on fire, “NO! That’s not possible! What is happening?!”

Within seconds, the pain was going and I saw nothing but darkness.

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“In the name of the Robert of the House Baratheon, the first of his name…”

“Don’t look away,” Jon told my younger brother, Brandon.

“…King o the Andals and the First Men…”

“Father will know I you do,” Jon said as I just listened, not looking behind me at my brothers.

“…Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the realm, I Eddard of the House of Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North sentence you to die,” father said as he held his sword to the ground and stared at the trader from the Night Watch how was talking nonsense of ‘White Walkers’.

I did not tear my eyes away from the sight of my father cutting off the traders head in one fell swoop, I heard my brother, Jon tell Brandon that he did well, he must have not torn his eyes away either. I gulped and then turned towards my brother, placed my hand on my ten year old brother, Brandon’s shoulder and squeezed it a little. I didn’t say a word to him, just watched as Jon walked away, back to his horse, and I gently pulled my younger brother along. When I saw father walk over towards Brandon, I walked away from him, leaving him at his horse and walking towards mine.

My name is Robb Stark, eldest son of the Stark family, Eddard being my father and Catelyn Tully being my mother. I am the heir to Winterfell and all of the North. By blood, I have two younger sisters named, Sansa and Arya, and then two younger brothers, Brandon and Rickon. However, Jon Snow, has the same father as me, but not the same mother, he is known as the bastard child. Then there’s Theon Greyjoy, there’s a long and somewhat disturbing story about how we acquired him, but the point is, that he’s here, has been for a few years now, and I treat him as a younger brother even though we share no blood relation.

Once everyone was ready, we found the path that was going to take us back to Winterfell. However, along the path, there was a carcass of an elk, we stopped and bloody remains of the creature, something wasn’t right about it.

“What did this?” Jon asked.

“Mountain Lion?” Theon responded, but I knew it couldn’t be that.

“There are no mountain lions in these woods,” father answered and I walked back towards Brandon, but when father started to walk off somewhere, we all followed.

We were warned to watch out step as we headed down the path, wondering where father was leading us to. I was shocked to see another carcass, this time of a large wolf, larger than I’ve ever seen before.

“It’s a freak!” Theon said and I looked at him, not sure if he should have really said that.

“It’s a direwolf,” father answered and I looked at him, then at the wolf. It must have been a mother, because there were four small pups whining around her, “Tough old beast,” father said as he pulled an antler from the beast’s throat and looked at it.

I managed to put together that something had attacked the elk first, and then the wolf. I looked around the woods, ‘…Something’s out there…’

“There are no direwolves South of the Wall,” I said and father looked at me and nodded his head.

“Now there are five,” Jon said and then picked up one of the pups and turned to Brandon, “You want to hold it?”

“Where will they go?” Brandon asked, referring to the pups, “There mother’s dead.”

“They don’t belong down here,” Ser Rodrik Cassel said and I looked at father, hoping that he wouldn’t do anything drastic with the pups.

“Better make it a quick death,” father said as he stood up and I sighed, “They won’t last without their mother.”

“Right,” Theon said as he grabbed his dagger, “Give it here,” he ordered as he tried to snatch the pup from Brandon’s arms.

“No!” Brandon protested and I rolled my eyes.

“Put away your blade!” I ordered and Theon started at me with anger.

“I take orders from your father, not you!”

“Please, father!” Brandon begged, and I hoped that father would agree.

“I’m sorry, Brandon,” father said and gulp, not really wanting to watch these pups get slaughtered.

“Lord Stark!” Jon said as he looked at the pups mourning their mother’s death, “There are five pups, one for each other the Stark children. The direwolf is a sigil of your house, they were meant to have them.”

We all stared at father as he debated with himself about what was going to happen, “You will train them yourselves, you’ll feed them yourselves, and if they die, you will bury them yourselves,” father said and Brandon, Jon and I smiled at our new friends.

I walked down and Jon handed me two of the pups and I handed them to Theon, then walking around to gather the other one.

“What about you?” Brandon asked Jon as I grabbed the last two pups.

“I’m not a Stark,” Jon answered and I held my tongue to protest, but I knew I shouldn’t say anything, “Get on,” he said, motioning for Brandon to move as I moved ahead of them.

I walked behind Theon, Jon and Brandon behind me; I heard one less footstep and turned to see Jon stopped, “What is it?”

Jon turned his head and looked down; I stared at him confused as he bent down to pick something up. I smirked though when I saw him pick up a small white pup, the runt of the liter, obviously.

“The runt of the litter,” Theon said, making my thoughts known, “That one’s yours, Snow.”

We made our way back up the path and to our horses, placing the pups in the side saddle bags and making our way back to Winterfell. It was getting dark, and no one likes to be outside the walls past nightfall. However, as soon as we got back to home, someone announced that there was a fire in the woods. I looked to the South of the wall and indeed saw smoke. It was just before sundown, I looked over towards father.

“Ride,” father ordered.

I nodded my head, hopping back on my horse and following some of the men out of the walls, wondering though, what was South of the walls. I’ve been taught to know each part of this land, there’s was nothing in my memory that was South of the Winterfell walls, ‘…What are we riding into?...’