[Chapter Size: 4300 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Westeros, 296 AC.
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The men of the Night's Watch had been quite restless in recent days, as Lord Commander Mormont received reports from the south, with a number of men coming north to search for Artica.
He didn't know what to think as the king demanded men from the order to accompany the troops going beyond the wall, which was a bad thing, but he also couldn't say it was bad, after all, with the troops, new prisoners to enter the order with food and resources coming from the great houses to help the wall.
'Although it is something unique, after all, they finally called for the Night's Watch...' Commander Mormont could not help but comment internally, since he never received much help from the south, while only the northern houses did that.
But things were not very lively among his men, with everyone knowing that there is a fleet of 200 ships beyond the wall with an army capable of devastating one of the main cities of the seven kingdoms and destroying many more ships than the ironborn could destroy in their rebellion, putting the seven kingdoms in a difficult position.
Jeor Mormont knew that these more than 10,000 men starting to be brought to the north were men fated to die and he had no choice but to send some rangers to share their same fate. He could not stop thinking that these men serving the watch was a much better option.
And they needed it at this moment, after all the wildlings were getting desperate to come south... Mormont did not know why, but it did not seem that Ned's son was the reason for those men's fear.
He tried to find Artica many times with requests to try to find Arya since she left and as he also felt responsible for the girl passing through the wall under his nose, he sent some men, but the wildlings never let them go far beyond the initial region, which made them never find this mysterious place, many believe it does not exist, but Jon Artica did not pull all that out of nowhere... he has an army, ships, resources impossible to get in these wild lands and he is sure that more and more wildlings are joining him.
Jeor did not fail to look out the window as he saw his men having cautious glances as he was going to patrol, while a group entered the elevator to go up from the wall.
They went up until they finally arrived with some men already on standby looking at nothing, while they wondered if it would be another boring day freezing their balls on this frozen wall. The first rays of sun began to appear, while a cloud was on the wall, but there was still a view from the bottom with everything calm without any movement even from the animals.
"Hey, Jif." A man from the patrol called one of the new men coming up. "You have a worried face, are you afraid of encountering the army of giants coming to knock down the wall today?" He mocked.
"Shut up, idiot..." Jif muttered. "They can't knock down the wall." The man spoke despite not sounding so confident in his tone.
"Don't worry, Jif. The south is sending 100,000 men, from what I've heard. They're going to destroy the wildlings." This man showed his teeth as he laughed, with some of them missing.
"You say that because you didn't see the Articans who came here a few years ago. You would shit yourself with fear if that were the case." Jif spoke cautiously.
"I've been here only 2 years... so I haven't seen, but I've heard good things, some guys said they are thinking of running away, because now the wildlings live a much better life than the nobles below the wall, believe it? I wouldn't mind sleeping in a warm bed fucking a wildling every day." He spoke.
"You talk of betrayal, have you forgotten our vows?!" Jif mocked.
"Fuck our vows, Jif. You need to..." He was going to continue, but was interrupted.
"SHUT UP!!!" Jif exclaimed urgently.
"Hm? What now..." The man did not stop mocking even more.
"JUST BE QUIET...." Jif growled. "Aren't you listening?!" He spoke making the man about to curse, look quiet while trying to use his ears for whatever Jif was listening to.
So they began to hear a sound of wind beating, wondering where it came from, with a low cloud over the wall that morning obstructing their view.
"What is that? A giant bird or something?" The man murmured skeptically, looking up.
"We can't see with this cloud..." Jif murmured as the sound grew louder than ever.
"Is it here?!" The man exclaimed, scared as he felt something pass over them, and it was immense, seeing a shadow passing by.
Eragon passed close to the wall quickly while heading south, hiding in the middle of the cloud there. As he entered the present territory, he began to gain altitude, as the clouds began to lessen, and he rose in the air to not attract too much attention, flying just 200 meters from the ground, changing that altitude to 10,000 feet from the ground.
Jon followed with a firm gaze, beginning to pass by Last Hearth, the house of the Umbers, as it appeared just a small structure in the middle of that land, with a town connected to the castle.
Further south, Eragon passed over the lake in the middle of the north, continuing towards the heart of the North. Jon mounted on his back, had no other desire but to head for Winterfell, which no longer seemed so far away, with the castle beginning to appear as a small dot on the horizon with Wintertown.
That morning, Ned took the only time in his day where he could be more at ease, as he went to the main hall of Winterfell to eat with his family, while his children all ate quietly, his wife also not talking much at this moment. He looked at her for a moment, as both no longer even seemed to feel the love they had for each other, while Catelyn turned her face as she lay in bed as far from Ned as possible without wanting his touch, after their endless fights every day.
Everything seemed calm as he prepared for another day, but he knew it would not remain calm, due to all the organization from the south sending thousands of soldiers to the north, with him having to keep in touch with the Night's Watch and the noble houses.
Ned also had to answer his friend and his foster father because he refused to send soldiers beyond the wall. And even with the dissatisfaction of Robert and Jon Arryn, Ned refused to send forces to hunt his sons. He stayed in the solar until mid-morning, while his door suddenly opened.
"Lord Stark..." Jory Cassel opened the door at this moment as Ned set his scroll aside.
"Yes?" He asked.
"There's been an occurrence in the courtyard... Ser Rodrik said your sons are fighting..." He said, and Ned raised an eyebrow before beginning to rise to see what was happening.
He went out with his guard and headed straight to the courtyard, arriving there, while seeing Ser Rodrik speaking with Theon and Rob, with a quite severe tone, as Bran held his arm that seemed injured, while he saw his daughter Sansa looking distant with her friends.
"What is happening here?" He quickly demanded as he approached.
"Just a bit hotter battle than usual... Lord Stark." Theon said as he seemed a bit cautious.
But Bran exclaimed at that moment angrily. "You were provoking me by speaking ill of Jon!" He said as he returned to his father with a somewhat lost look. "He just keeps talking bad about Jon, says Jon is a bastard criminal and cruel, provoking me all the time. Rob might act sometimes, but doesn't seem to care most of the time." Ned heard his son speak.
He raised an eyebrow, scanning his gaze from his son to Theon. "Is that true?" He looked at the children, as Theon lowered his head in shame, but Rob seemed quite stubborn.
"Isn't it true?" He questioned Ned.
"Is that what you think?" Ned asked, a bit surprised.
"Didn't he attack a city in the south and kill unarmed Septons, Maesters? Didn't he destroy thousands of ships with thousands of lives being destroyed?" Rob openly questioned his father.
"You may think so, but I don't believe Jon did it by chance, after all, he had peaceful dealings with Dorne and the Reach before initiating the attack. So things may not be exactly as we hear from the south," Ned spoke.
But Rob didn't seem convinced at all, so he just sighed. "I want you to go to class with Maester Luwin, you also need to have that injury looked at, understand?" He said at the end, as the three began to walk towards the castle.
Ser Rodrik, seeing this, looked to his lord, alongside his nephew, Jory. "There's a lot of jealousy and anger among the children."
"I know, but Rob has to learn that he can't be like Jon. I can understand the envy Rob harbors for Jon, after all, Jon at the same age is known throughout the kingdom, but he should at least be grateful, after all, Jon won't do anything his mother said, Jon has his own kingdom and doesn't want Winterfell... He even helped this house the last time he was here..." Ned spoke.
"But Rob continues to fear John, Theon always tells him that Jon will take Winterfell in the future and he won't be able to do anything about it..." Ser Rodrik spoke while Ned frowned at this.
"I'll have a serious talk with Theon then and ask why his interest in undermining the relationship of my sons," Ned spoke in a serious tone.
Ned was ready to return to the castle after that, along with his guard as he bid farewell to Rodrik. However, he heard a strong sound coming and everyone immediately looked back, above the castle.
However, what no one expected was a snow explosion emerging at that moment, Ned quickly opened his eyes while he swore he saw a giant creature flying, bringing that storm that caught them the next second covering all visibility of the morning.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Immediately, screams were heard all over the place with the snow beginning to expand, as the Sun was obscured by that strange phenomenon covering Winterfell.
"What is this?" Ser Rodrik exclaimed in fear.
"Where did this come from?!" Jory next to Ned exclaimed as the guards training in the training yard began to run by their side to anywhere with the intention of protecting themselves, while shouting wondering what was happening there.
Ned quickly with his hands protecting his face and seeing the situation, exclaimed. "Take everyone to a safe place, a snowstorm has hit us! Find a safe place until it passes and light any fire to warm up!!!" He gave his orders, despite not understanding where it was coming from.
Snowstorms were quite rare in the middle of summer, but that wasn't even the strangest part, as nothing indicated something like this coming, while the morning only appeared with a few clouds in the sky.
People all over the castle began to get scared at this moment, while the more fortunate, were inside the castle, like most of the servants, with Ned's children there, as Sansa quickly entered with her friends, near the entrance, and Catelyn was trapped inside the Sept looking scared at the windows of the temple along with the Septa.
"For the Seven, what is this?!" Catelyn exclaimed in fear, never having seen something like this since she came to Winterfell.
"Quick, we need to pray!" Septa Mordane immediately exclaimed.
"But my children!!" She exclaimed.
"They'll be fine... just pray!" The septa insisted and Cat did exactly that.
People ran all over the place, taking shelter anywhere, with shadows running back and forth within all that snow, hitting their faces and many starting to feel the enormous cold, due to not being prepared for something like this, and the snow piled up on the ground covering any land there.
Meanwhile, the people of Wintertown, were outside of it in the town, but they all looked scared, seeing the entire castle suddenly envelop in a white snow hurricane around it, spinning at high speed, wondering what was happening there, even questioning if the old gods were enraged with the Starks.
As Ned ran and began to enter the castle, he suddenly felt something land in the middle of the courtyard, with everything shaking a bit. "What was that?!" He murmured next to Jory looking back, but without visibility due to the strong wind and the snow accumulating all over the place.
Jory raised his sword, looking fearfully at the snow as he trembled. "Jory, go inside, you could die of hypothermia!" Ned exclaimed, noting the man was beginning to turn blue, as he wasn't wearing warm clothes.
Jory, somewhat reluctant, eventually obeyed after a stern look from Ned. Ned, accustomed to wearing a cloak even in the middle of summer, managed to withstand the icy wind better along with his Stark blood.
He saw people running back and forth, returning inside, shouting almost incomprehensible things due to the sound of the event. Then, in the midst of the darkness as he approached the sound coming from the middle of the courtyard, he saw someone walking, someone he recognized the moment he saw him, staring dazedly. "Jon...?" Ned murmured, seeing his nephew walking calmly through that chaos as if he were a ghost.
Ned immediately gave up on the courtyard and began to run after him, wondering if it was some kind of illusion.
Jon had only one thing on his mind since he had found out who his real mother was. He quickly created a storm explosion as he approached the castle, while Eragon began to glow. His dragon created a snowstorm much more powerful than the one he had made at the great Weirwood, quickly covering the entire castle, making the whole place darken into shadow and ice. Then, without a second thought after flying over the area a bit and landing in the courtyard, he dismounted from Eragon and went straight to the Crypts with a desire to see his mother as she truly was and not as an aunt who died unjustly.
He quickly entered the crypt as if all the sound and chaos outside had disappeared, giving way to the sinister silence he still remembered having when entering this place.
It didn't take him long to find her, after all, the old generation of Starks had been buried on the first floor, as he walked up to her statue, Lyanna Stark.
Jon stopped and looked at it for a few moments and couldn't help but feel tears coming out of his eyes at this moment as he stared at the statue, wondering if it really was molded to be, with her emerald eyes looking at him hypnotically.
He stared at her, remembering the horrible days here in this castle, the days when he cried like a lost child, seeking the warmth of his unknown mother, but only hunger and cold were the answer almost every day.
"You were here all along and I never greeted you, mother," he murmured with a voice laden with sadness. "It's so good to see you and recognize you now..." He began as tears fell like a waterfall, once he had told his then father that he no longer wanted to know who his mother was, that he had given up, but knowing, being in front of her grave, he couldn't help but have his feelings overflowing. "...I wish you were here, to see what I've become, what I've built beyond the Wall. I wonder if you would be proud of me..." Jon murmured, as tears streamed from his eyes and filled a small puddle at his feet.
He heard footsteps coming at this moment, and the sadness quickly turned to anger, knowing his uncle was following him, one of the last people he wanted to see at this moment, interrupting his only and first moment he had with his true mother.
Ned descended the stairs of the crypt and saw Jon in the distance with a torch in his hand; he seemed quite scared of everything here, wondering what was happening and if it really was Jon there and how he ended up here in the midst of this chaos. There were so many questions in his mind, but seeing him in front of Lyanna's statue as he saw some tears falling made him even more cautious.
"You always avoided talking much about her," Jon began, while Ned furrowed his brow just a few meters from him. "I never found that strange. I thought it was a wound from your past, after all, no one would like to talk about a sister who died after such a tragic end."
Ned looked carefully, but couldn't utter a word as his son continued.
"But now I understand what you were trying to hide, hide that my life was a lie as far back as I can remember, that my mother, whom you always denied telling me about, was buried here all along, wasn't she, Uncle Ned?" Jon said, expressing his anger even as he spoke slowly.
"How did you find out?" Ned was staggered at this moment, trying to comprehend how Jon had discovered such a thing, a secret he intended to take to his grave. He didn't even bother to deny it upon hearing all this from Jon.
"When I attacked the Citadel, I looted many books, and among them was the personal diary of the Septon who died in the sack of King's Landing. He wrote that he had annulled the marriage of Elia of House Martell with Rhaegar Targaryen and after that, he married the prince to Lyanna of House Stark, naming her Lyanna Targaryen, future queen of the Realm," Jon said, as Ned, thinking he could not be more shocked, looked at Jon with his mouth and eyes slightly open.
Jon saw no response from his uncle and continued. "Funny, isn't it? I always had some suspicion, but never really investigated, always avoided that possibility..." Jon knew he had something to do with the Targaryens when he had a kind of bond with those he encountered on his path.
"When I discovered this, my first thought was that I am a Targaryen bastard, but in fact, I am a legitimate son and even heir to the Iron Throne as my birthright... Funny that, isn't it, Eddard Stark?" Jon spoke, not even looking at his uncle behind him. "I wonder what name she gave me, the diary said that Rhaegar wanted me to be Visenya if I were born a woman... but my mother was uncertain about many names..." He said in a calm tone, but still overflowing with anger.
"Aegon," Ned spoke suddenly for the first time, as Jon just listened. "Aegon Targaryen... she named you that, although she didn't know you were a legitimate son..." Ned had to admit, there was no more hiding it.
"Aegon Targaryen..." Jon murmured, but still with his gaze fixed on his mother ignoring his uncle.
"Jon..." Ned started to approach him and, as soon as he touched his shoulder, Jon quickly turned around, grabbing his hand tightly causing Ned pain and before he could react, his neck was gripped by Jon's other hand and started to be pulled back.
"Don't touch me, you bastard!" Jon immediately growled, walking with his hand on his uncle's neck to the other side of the wall, strangling him strongly. Being able to easily lift him with his strength, Jon continued to look at Ned with almost hatred. "You lied to me all my life. I was condemned to a life of ostracism by your wife and everyone in this castle, thanks to your lie. And even if you wanted to hide me, you could have placed me in another house, but you kept me here even knowing what I went through within these walls." Jon growled as Ned struggled to breathe, looking fearfully at Jon.
"If I did that, it was to protect you," Ned spoke with difficulty, as Jon looked at him mockingly.
"No, you didn't. You did it on purpose to see me suffer. You knew very well many things that happened to me. You did exactly what you expected would happen: Maybe it's out of anger for my parents, I don't know. But you took pleasure in seeing me, a child, suffer, Lord Stark?" Jon growled with a rage he had never felt before, much less for the man he thought was his father.
"That's not true, I never wanted any harm for you... I always wanted to protect you..." Ned spoke with difficulty, trying to deny it, while Jon was hanging by a thread from exploding that man's head while he released the hand he had caught earlier and punched the wall next to Ned's head, causing the stones to immediately crack, with the man becoming even more frightened by the strength of his nephew.
"You seem not to understand what happened in this place, but let me refresh your memory, Uncle Ned." Jon began, as he had strained to divert that punch to not hit his uncle's head.
"I was persecuted by your wife the entire time. She turned all the staff in this house against me. I had the worst room, the worst food, the worst clothing, I lived worse than the servants. And you seem like a fool who didn't even know about it, or, as I said, you seemed to take pleasure in seeing me in that state..." Jon growled.
"Then your beloved wife started to get even worse, seemingly not satisfied with just making a child suffer, she began to blame me. Everything your son, the heir, did wrong with that fish, I was your scapegoat... The last mess that my name circulated in this castle, was about her accusing me of that theft that forced me to confess that I was, while your son and that squid had done the entire crime, your damn wife was even threatening to cut off my hand. And believe me, Lord Stark, I rethink it every day in Artica, about ten times before deciding, to send tens of thousands of Artican soldiers to march to this castle and turn it into ruins to hunt down all those who conspired against me. And now I must think a thousand times before doing that, discovering that not even your cruelties are justifiable." He spoke each word growling like a true dragon, making Ned even start to lose the color of his skin, with his consciousness beginning to fade.
He looked at his nephew, not knowing what to say to that, but was finally released as Jon simply grabbed him and threw him to the side, making him fall several meters, rolling across the crypt floor. Jon looked one last time at the statue of his mother. "Sorry you had to see this," he murmured. "But your brother made me live through all this,"
After that, he started to leave through the crypt stairs, leaving his uncle behind before he did something foolish. Ned, still all bruised and coughing with lack of air, saw Jon leaving and quickly started to get up. "Wait, Jon!" he shouted as he followed down the stairs.
He quickly left the crypt, still with the snowstorm covering all of Winterfell, and quickly tried to look for his nephew amid that chaos. Until he saw his shadow moving towards the courtyard while disappearing and started to run after him. "Wait, Jon, talk to me!" He pleaded desperately, trying to have a chance to speak after hearing all that.
However, as they approached where Jon was, two blue eyes began to emerge from the middle of the snow, as they began to rise, forming the figure of a huge head, but without Ned saying what that thing was.
This immediately made Ned stop walking as his feet hit the accumulated snow on the ground, making him falter backward instead of continuing to follow. The blue eyes in the middle of that snow seemed to stare at him furiously, making Ned ask, what is that.
The eyes were at least 20 meters off the ground, staring at Ned, until suddenly they moved a little forward instantly and a huge roar emerged from the snow, making it all advance towards Ned, who exclaimed in fright, falling backward as the entire sound of the roar made all of Winterfell tremble, and desperate screams being heard on all sides in fear of that sound.
"What was that?" Even the people of Wintertown, outside that snow hurricane, looked frightened at the sound of a monster emerging there in the midst of the white hurricane.
Ned fell to the ground while looking scared, seeing two huge shadows, like wings, rising before lowering, with a huge creature beginning to fly into the sky, only seeing its shadow, but keeping his gaze mesmerized at that, while the storm finally began to calm down.
Ned did not know how long he stayed there, still, looking at where the creature had left, but finally, the Sun began to rise again and the people of Winterfell began to come out of their hideouts, looking at all the snow accumulated around the castle, until some guards saw their lord there, frozen on the ground, looking up, as they approached to help him trying to talk to him, but Ned did not hear anyone, having his own thoughts about what he had just seen.
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