Winter's Blessing

Author's note: Hey guys! I am feeling quite a lot better now, and I have a new chapter for you as well! Thank you so much for the well-wishes and support! It is highly appreciated<3

I've got 3.35k words of content for you here, which means we've reached 10.5k for the week. I do try to keep my promises, and since I've managed to surpass 10k, well, consider it kept :)

Enjoy!

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Winterfell, The North - 288 AC

POV | Robb Stark

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

"Well done, Robb! You're packing quite a lot of power now and your form is getting better by the day." Ser Rodrik looked proudly upon his young protégé.

Huff. "Thank you, Ser." Robb was not particularly happy by his success. At the end of the day, it did not mean much to him. Even though Jon had been gone for more than a year now, Robb still missed their time together. 'Sansa is even worse.'

It had honestly been boring as hell, even after his father had invited Lord Karstark's second son Eddard and his third son Torrhen to stay at Winterfell. Eddard was older than Robb by two years, while Torrhen was the same age.

He was also joined by the heir of Ironrath, Rodrik Forrester and last but definitely the most unexpected, Domeric Bolton. Rodrik was born in 280 AC, but Heir Bolton was born two years earlier than that, making him as old as Eddard Karstark.

'Domeric and Rodrik are pretty smart, but the Karstarks are… not the brightest in the world.' Robb was honestly a bit surprised; he knew that the servants praised him and Jon as geniuses, but he thought it was simple flattery. After meeting kids his own age, he finally understood that the flattering might just be deserved.

They had fun, he would admit. Pranking different people, learning to fight together, even building sibling like relations. 'It just isn't the same.' Robb could not help but feel they were less interesting, but he knew they were all important allies.

'I am glad Jon told me to be wary of the Bolton's though, getting Domeric as a leal bannerman is probably one of the most important things imaginable for my future.'

Robb and Jon had been in contact frequently ever since they separated. Hugin, Munin and recently, Mimir were great for staying in contact. It became even better when Robb's father had a falcon from the Vale ordered for his heir.

He had gotten it only two moons after Jon left for The Wall, and she was absolutely the fastest flier he had ever seen.

'Maester Luwin had called it a Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird in the world. Jon was so jealous.' He had chuckled at that letter. His brother had a Shadowcat, a Hellhound and his damn Housecat had turned into a Tiger.

'He might have some cool cats, but my Falcon is faster than all his animals, I'll be sure to continue rubbing it in his face when I see him next.'

The only weird thing about his falcon, was that he sometimes dreamed he was flying in her body. He had been scared the first time, but now he looked forward to it happening. He was also wondering if that was what Jon meant with becoming closer with his animals. 'Wait, was that how he always knew where I was hiding? That little shit. He was cheating since we were 5!'

He looked at the sword in his hand and chuckled. He had just learned to twirl his sword around in full circles, and he absolutely loved doing it now. The other kids had looked at him in awe, and Robb truly realized something for the first time in his short life.

'Kids are dumb. Jon is right again. Aweing them with my skills is enough to make them like me. Hey, wait, isn't that what Jon has been doing to me as well? Oh man, he pranked me! He was probably waiting for me to realize it and I never did! I better write it in the next letter, I don't want him to think that it took too long to realize. I'll just write that I forgot to mention it. Yes, that will work.'

Robb had been very busy ever since Jon left with Benjen. His lordship classes increased, he was forced to train with a light shield and sword, instead of his sword alone, and he was forced to mingle with the other noble kids. Not that he minded any of it. He was becoming smarter, stronger, and the other kids were quite friendly.

"Robb, the food is ready!" Sansa exclaimed as she came running with the new Septa behind her. A young woman with a soft voice and a kind smile.

'Good thing father threw the other one out. Mordane was a bitch compared to Lyanne from White Harbor. Even mother admitted that Lyanne was better.'

"Sure, I'll be there in a second!"

"Good, father says to hurry."

He nodded and packed his gear immediately. If his father wanted him to hurry, he probably had something important to say.

He ran towards his room and hoped that his bath was ready. He did not want to smell like wet dog at supper. He was lucky again that he probably had the most efficient servants at Winterfell, his bath was ready, and he was out of his clothes in seconds to speed through his bath.

Five minutes and he was walking into the Great Hall with new clothes and slightly wet. 'It's good that the cold doesn't bother me anyway.' He just managed to nod a greeting to his parents before his friend called out to him.

"You are finally here, Stark. Come on, the rest of us are hungry."

Robb was seconds from telling Torrhen to go swallow a sword, but he should probably not let his mother know that he had heard that in the courtyard. His instincts were telling him that he would have to work in the stable if that happened.

"Relax Torrhen, this must be your 18th meal of the day. Maybe relax on the grub before you turn fat."

By his reddening face, it was obvious to him that Torrhen wanted to retort, but he did not dare curse him in front of his parents. 'All according to the plan.'

He sat beside the smiling Sansa on one side, and the quiet Domeric Bolton on the other. His father coughed lightly to attract their attention, and they all turned as one to find out what he had to say.

Robb had a good feeling about what he wanted to say, and it seemed that Sansa felt the same. The slight frown on his mother's face, only seemed to confirm his hopes.

"Your uncle Benjen just wrote, he will be here in four moons, and Jon will be coming back with him."

The grin that stretched across his face was huge and by the hug he got from Sansa, he had a feeling she was just as happy to hear that their brother was coming back.

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Weirwood Tree, North of The Wall - 288 AC

POV | Aegon Targaryen

When he woke up from that crappy dream, he had a slight headache, and his anger was almost boiling beneath his skin.

'Stupid ass decisions. There is a time and place for everything. I'm human, not some damn figure of justice or evil. Death on enemies and salvation on allies. Force, but applied with cunning. Righteousness, always. Black or white? I choose grey. The Stark's knew that, and now the Targaryens will as well.'

He pulled himself up to his feet, as two huge tongues licked each side of his face.

"Orh, come on! Fenris and Freya, not my face!" He laughed as he wiped his face clean of their saliva. Something that only seemed to amuse his companions more.

"Shh - Can you hear it?"

Something was moving towards them from underground. Some sort of path had been opened underneath The Weirwood, and Aegon did not care to find out what monstrosities were moving towards them. 'This can only be a test again, and by the clacking sounds coming from whatever that is, I don't feel like fighting this time.'

Aegon was pretty sure that Ice Spiders were coming, so he jumped up on Fenris back and ordered a retreat, and just as they reached the tree line, he saw a group of monstrous creatures emerging from underground. They stood as tall as Fenris and with each jagged legs as well as razor sharp pincers. 'No way, we would survive that.'

"RUN!" He roared to all three of them. They needed to go as fast as they could. Whilst this might be a test, Aegon knew when to apply force and when to retreat. Fighting against a large group of animals he had never seen before, sounded like a stupid way to die. 'I don't even know their weaknesses, and their bodies looked tough as hell. Even if Hel, Freya and Fenris could win one-on-one, this wasn't the case. A group that large would be impossible until I actually grow up.'

Fenris hightailed out of there, until Aegon asked him to slow down again. The spiders had stopped following them as a group after only a mile. They had started splitting up into 8 groups of 4. 'Hmm. Should I? Their exoskeleton looks perfect for the bone ritual, much better than trying to find something weaker to replace it.'

"Okay, listen up," Hel and Freya turned towards him, and he continued; "We are going to hunt them down and collect their corpses. If they want to eat us, they'll have to pay the price."

The whole group seemed to agree, and despite Aegon's fear that one of them would get hurt, he also knew that his friends were predators. He had not given them a good hunt for a long time, and now it was finally a proper setting for them to get some proper competition.

"This was, giddy up!"

They thundered towards the group furthest to the right, and as soon as they neared, he jumped down from Fenris back. "Showtime, let's see what you can do."

All three hunched down, eyes glinting with malice, before Hel and Freya joined forces against one of the four foes, whilst Fenris decided to take on out on his own.

Whatever Aegon had expected… This was not it. He knew they were strong, but Fenris, especially was freaking amazing. He managed an amazing Take Down of the first spider, that sent it sprawling towards a tree. He pounced towards its head and crunched down, hard. It took him less than 4 seconds to finish it alone. He took a bit of damage from one of the pincers, but it did not seem to bother him.

'How the fuck are you so weak to belly rubs, brother?'

Hel and Freya were much more natural and methodical in their hunting. They had circled one, and attempted to go for their legs, but after Hel was almost impaled if not for a timely save from Freya, they had realized that they might have to go for the body or the head.

The faster Freya, immediately went for the neck, a part Aegon had barely noticed, and Hel knocked another leg, trying to impale Freya, away. Down it went, as if its strings were cut. No sooner had they finished it off, before Fenris was tearing into the third spider.

'It seems that they are bad at fighting as groups. They can run at their foes in numbers, but their large legs impede each other. That's helpful knowledge. They would also need trees as large as large as the Weirwood from before, if they were to climb.'

He climbed a tree fast, and just in time to see all three demolish the last Ice Spider.

'Good. Strong points: Exoskeleton, A lot of legs to stay steady and impale foes, and their size. Weak points: Their large size makes is hard for them to maneuver when they don't have the advantage of an ambush or space to swarm their enemies, their heads and necks are soft.' He sighed slightly and walked over to one of the spiders. He wanted to test their weak points.

He started by swinging his standard issue short sword at it and was surprised when the only thing he got for his troubles was a nick in the steel. 'Fuck, I am glad I did not engage.'

He tried the body and he had to wing with his full strength to penetrate the carcass slightly. He did not even draw blood. He tried once more with his spear, and this time it worked, but he only barely managed to draw blood this time.

'Okay, then I won't attack their bodies or legs without Valyrian Steel or at least a rune enhanced blade.' He had not used runes for enchanting yet, but he had learned to write them with the guidance of his grandfather and old scrolls. Whilst the old man could not see the runes, he could feel the carved symbols, and guide his improvement from what he could remember from olden days.

Aemon had not been particularly happy about it, until Aegon told him about his more special abilities. The Old man had been afraid that Aegon would be another Targaryen with wild dreams and dangerous notions that would be impossible to achieve. He was thankful that his young grandson was not chasing shadows.

His final test was the head. It was fucking hard as hell. 'Hel, Freya and Fenris have abnormal biting strength. It's not too difficult to understand with their ridiculous sizes, but still.'

They were their only true weakness, at least to a normal man. 'Too bad, I am not Robert Wadlow… I would have been 6 feet tall by now and 7 feet tall at 11…' It would have given him the necessary power at a young age, but then again, he did not want to reach 8'9". 'Wait, I haven't tried fire.'

He coated his sword in mild red flames, and it cut through the head as if it was butter. 'I see, the Ice Spider is magical Ice, and Fire is super effective against it. The rest will be easy, then.'

It was laughably easy. 'Fuck, kiting spiders is so freaking effective. It took us less than an hour to finish the last 28, and now I have a bag of holding filled to the brims with their legs. 'I'll do the bone ritual for myself and for my companions. I'll even have enough for Robb and the rest… I can do it on him, no worries. I wonder if Ned and Benjen would be willing. I'll have to think on it.'

After their hunt, he decided to use his fire and melt snow in a rocky area, to create an improvised bath. The green brain mass from the spiders was disgusting, and Hel, Freya and Fenris were drenched in blood. They all looked a right mess. He created a bonfire besides them, so they could dry faster when they finished up.

As they all soaked in the rocky basin, Aegon was thinking on what to do now. 'I was obviously influenced to arrive at the Weirwood…' It was not the Three-Eyed-Raven, and it was not human either. The dragon of ice and fire was obviously him. If he understood, it correctly it meant that he had fucked the timeline. 'Not that I actually care about that. The original timeline sucked ass for everyone I care about. There is also that dream girl who healed me… The only issue is I have absolutely no fucking idea who she was.'

He had seen her for less than a second before he was woken by the wolf ambush. 'Can't waste my time thinking about it if I know nothing. Yay. Someone can influence me in dreams. Fucking shit. Overpowered bullshit power. I am damn lucky she decided to heal me and not finish me off.'

"Never mind."

They all finished up their baths, dried off and proceeded to travel back to the Weirwood. He had completed his quest, and now he wanted to see what his reward would be. No lunch is free, and no quest comes without rewards. 'I got Hel and Fenris the last time. I would not mind something equally cool this time.'

He had to grin at the thought of what this quest could reward him with. Fenris was almost as frightening to behold as his namesake, Hel brought death upon all, and Freya was a warrior goddess incarnated. 'Whatever comes next… he was sincerely hoping to receive a Direwolf. Ghost? Hmm. No. In another timeline with another version of me.'

They reached the Weirwood fast, and Aegon's heart was beating fast now. He could smell dog, but almost no sound was made. "Full speed forward!"

Fenris reached the clearing and Aegon had jumped off into a role fall before he could stand still. 'Right there!'

Pups. 'Two pups!'

He ran towards them and took one in each hand, black and white, and they opened their small, cute eyes. Blood red.

'Blessed by The Old Gods.'

"Gods, you two are adorable little creatures!" Aegon gushed over them as if he had not just massacred beast of legend only a few hours ago. He inspected them quickly, to ensure that they were healthy. The white one was a female, and the black one a male. 'The Gods are playing on the black and white shit again.'

He shook his head in exasperation for a split second, before he sat down to cuddle his little friends. He had been unsure of what to name his Direwolf in the beginning, but now that he had two?

"Freke and Gere. Let's conquer the world together."

They barked in soft voices, only to be joined by the haunting roars of their elder siblings.

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Castle Black, The Wall - 289 AC

POV | Ser Alliser Thorne

For nine years he had been at this blasted lump of ice. Nine years of cold for serving his Rightful King. 'Fucking Starks and Baratheon's.' He looked at the recruits who had just finished up for the day. 'At least I don't have to go scouting anymore.'

Lord Commander Qorgyle had died on their last ranging. He was an old man, who hated wildlings with a passion, and he had died whilst embedding his axe in the face of one.

Alliser had been sad to see a friend die, but he honestly preferred Lord Commander Mormont. He was much more relaxed. 'Besides, he gave me the post as The-Man-in-arms.'

They had just finished up for the day, and Alliser was going to find The Stark Bastard and insult him for a bit. He honestly liked the boy. There was something special about him. 'Aegon would have been just like him, even better, if those fuckers hadn't butchered children.' If only Jon was not The Usurper's dog's son, he probably would have treated the young boy with respect.

Just as he finished that thought, he heard a haunting voice from the Mess Hall of Castle Black. 'Who the fuck can sing like that here?'

♫"Soldier, keep on marching on

Head down till the work is done

Waiting on that morning sun

Soldier, keep on marching on

Head in the dust, feet in the fire

Labor on that midnight wire

Listening for the septas choir"♫

Ser Alliser looked on in abject shock at the boy he now knew was not the son of Eddard Stark. He looked almost maniacally at the son of his prince. 'Stark, you crazy son of a bitch. You have betrayed your friend but left the Realm a chance at redemption.'

♫"Quiet now, you're gonna wake the beast

Hide your soul out of his reach

Shiver to that broken beat

Dark into the heat." ♫

For the first time in nine years, a smile crept onto the visage of the aged Knight. 'He has been here for one and a half year, and he has three more to go. I'll make a knight out of him still and die proud when my time comes.'

He leant onto the wall behind him and closed his eyes to the sound of the hidden dragon's voice. His mind, body, and soul felt peaceful for the first time in years.

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Author's note:

Yes, Aegon can sing. He has realized that he can increase the charismatic part of his aura, by singing and leading people or animals. It also allows others to believe in his claim of being Rhaegar's son.

We finally got our Direwolves, and as The Odin of Planetos, how could they be anything but Freke and Gere? Ghost just wouldn't do for this MC, so I had to genderbend him and call her Gere... *Sad Ghost noises*

Next chapter: Chapter 14: Ill tidings.