5 Fragmented Reality

Third POV 291 AC: Winterfell training grounds

The rhythmic sound of something hitting another object sounded out again and again till one guessed when it began and what was the echo. Within the training yard, two older boys were sparring with wooden swords, both fast and precise in their hits and yet never able to land the said blows. Dark brown almost black hair rustles within the wind, just short enough to stay out of his dark gray eyes. His sweat covered face showing his concentration on the task but also of how strenuous the task was. How his small but toned arms held the sword resolutely to hold back his foe. 

He dodged a vertical slash down from his opponent's sword, behind that weapon, his foe smirked as in an instant the downward momentum was brought back up at an angle forcing the dark-haired boy to block awkwardly. Stumbling a few steps, the boy tripped and fell before looking up to see the sword pointed at his face, a scowl turned chuckle soon on his face.

"Damn Kade! How are you so fast AND strong! I just don't understand how you can move like that when you're a good head and a half taller than me."

Kade flicked his wooden blade down before acting as if to sheath it to then stop and place it on the training rack. Pulling his silver hair back, he missed his once long hair reduced to barely above his bright silver eyes. One could see how his arms had gotten thicker and how even his neck was wider coming above his tunic. 

"Well maybe if you'd stop moping all the time and come train with me regularly, you wouldn't be so slow. I'm telling you, Lady Catelyn while a Stark now knows nothing of the Northern ways, or maybe a very small portion. Even House Frost has lost some of its old teaching from time itself so how can she even think to know what is best in the North."

Raising his arms to his sides outstretched, Kade smiled and motioned his surroundings as he spoke. 

"A bastard you may be, but just because your father was the old heir means nothing now. You have family here, friends and of course, me!"

Kade had soon learned after spending a few months at Winterfell that while he could remember bits and pieces of a story from home similar to this place, so much was different from what he 'remembered'. For one, Jon Snow was the bastard to the late Brother of Eddard Stark, Brandon Stark, the previous heir to Winterfell before his murder by the hands of Aerys. He even knew that while that might be the truth, he was putting his eggs in the Targaryen prince basket for now, or at least thought his hunch might be right. House Stark was so much different than how Kade knew or thought he knew about.

For one, most Starks averaged in height similar to the famous Baratheon line of 6'6 to 6' 8 while some like Eddard were even taller at 6 '10. Apparently by merging with House Frost on multiple occasions had made the line of Starks taller and more robust as a familial line, like a dominant trait. Another aspect to consider was how massive Winterfell was, it was like a mix of a Gothic/ European / mega castle that was made purely to show its attackers that it wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't as expansive and complex as House Frost's castle Whitegaard but it was just as big on its main complex; just without the extra walls and city growing around it. Wintertown was a lot bigger too now holding a stable population though most came from winter, and it seemed as if they had room and extra for everyone.

The North was so different that Kade almost couldn't believe it. His family's influence was far wider than he initially believed. Being the sole main benefactor of the western fleet and holding the most food income gave them sway in many things but no, it was their own exports that had people clawing at their feet. From alcohol to special metal alloys only House Frost could make, hells even public bath houses and soap was commonplace in the lands held by House Frost. He was so stuck in his thoughts about everything he learned in the last year or so that when Job hit him on the back with his wooden sword, Kade was more shocked than hurt.

"What was that for!"

"For spacing out again, you've been doing that a lot lately. Something on your mind Kade?"

Kade scratched his tiny stubble above his lip as he looked away sheepishly.

"No, well yes but it's nothing important, just running over all the lessons maester Luwin has been having me do."

Jon looked at his friend with pity.

"Yeah, you have been studying a lot, haven't you. Why for so long, it's like a punishment now."

Shaking his head as the two boys walked out of the yard just as the first guards began to show up to train.

"Not at all, I love learning, it's just a lot at once to take in is all. I may be above the normal man in intellect, but I am by no means a genius, so I have to study to make up for it."

While he himself thought that Jon could only look as if Kade was mocking him. Kade got the best marks and seemed to know answers that even maester Luwin didn't know at times.

"Smart ass…"

Jon grumbled as he walked a little faster towards the main hall for morning fast.

"There you go again moping about."

Kade walked in stride next to Jon who all but let out a big sigh.

Catelyn POV 290 AC: Main Hall

As she sat and ate her morning fast with her toddler Bran next to her. She could see her spitfire, Arya making faces to Sansa as she sat to her other side. Sansa who sat the farthest from her could only groan in annoyance. She chuckled and could only think of how they would grow up. Hearing the Main doors open, she could see the bastard Jon Snow enter alongside Kadderon Frost. How many moons has it been since she had wanted to ship him back to House Frost with no success from her husband's undoing. While bright and martially adept, the boy who was shy and silent when first arriving turned into a mouthy twat, 'forgive her thoughts'. 

The boy had the gall to chastise her in front of the staff about how Jon was even treated, eliciting a fight between her and Ned even! Time and time again he would come with these words and phrasing that just left her frustrated and heated but defeated. Nowadays she was mostly just tired of dealing with him till recently when she heard of him protecting Sansa and Arya from some poachers when they went out with two guards to pick berries. Not many places had such delicacies and so they had gone to just get a few. Apparently, the boy had broken some bones and brought the ruffians back in rope with the help of the guards who had gone, all the while her headache came when seeing Arya and Sansa hanging onto him like he was the only fresh source of water in a desert. It brought many laughs but Ned and her agreed to triple the guard from then on and she wanted even more. 

Even after all that though, she knew she couldn't help but smile whining thinking of how the boy might like her name day gift she had gotten him. Strangely it was the morning of the new year he was born on, but she didn't think too much of it as she watched all her children gather and begin their fast. Her husband coughed lightly gathering everyone's attention for the moment.

"In a few moons turn, I will be traveling to Whitegaard Castle for a feast hosted in celebration of Kadderon's name day. A tourney will be placed and from what I can tell, every lord in Westeros who can make it, will want to go. Roob, Jon, Kadderon, Theon, you will all be going with me. Today we will begin our preparations and leave within a moon's turn."

While I was already informed the night prior, I did make note of what excuse he gave for the tourney and feast. While it was around the same time, she knew why everyone was going to that event. For one, it was House Frost hosting it and anyone able to wish to see the famous home of House Stark. Two, the strengthening of alliances and the show of unity of the North to suppress any southern ambition as her husband said it. While she wasn't the most knowledgeable about politics, she had now idea just how bad the realm as a whole was suffering being in debt and lacking any and all progress but instead back peddling in reforms and peace. Her husband made it seem like the realm was on the brink of fracturing and so to keep the other realms in line, the North had to show strength and unity to put fear of suppression on them. 

While Ned didn't like those things she believed, she did know him for his honor and so on his honor, he was willing to be the big bad villain the south thought of the North so to keep the realm together as a whole.

"But I wanna go too!"

Arya screeched out to her father after puffing her cheeks and standing on her chair. Sansa huffed and rolled her eyes so dramatically; I thought her eyes weren't connected. Bran garbled some of the food onto himself, and Robb was laughing at the whole scene while Jon chuckled softly. Kadderon kept eating his meal the ever-hungry beanstalk he was while Theon snickered and toyed with his food in slight disgust upon seeing how much Kadderon could eat. 

"No, you are too young my child, perhaps the next one I can take you, so you'll be big enough to ride on the horses too."

Ned the conciliatory tried to console his daughter as I simply chuckled and couldn't help myself with the way things were going. Arya and Ned began bargaining I suppose while everyone around were just enjoying the show. While it could've been better without some people there, she nonetheless enjoyed the moment, forgetting any negative feelings in exchange for the comfort it brought.

Tywin Lannister POV 290 AC: Western coast abroad the Golden Lion

Cold, so damn cold, everything's been cold since passing the Mallister house and only getting colder. If it wasn't for this tourney being hosted from House Frost, I never would've even considered coming to the North, but the last Tourney hosted by them open to outside the Northern houses was rare. Not to mention the prizes were too good to pass up, probably the only reason Clegane agreed to be on his best behavior coming with. Jamie was sure to come with the King, but he made sure to bring as many chips to the pot as possible vetting out contestants for moons now to make sure he brought the very best the Westerlands had to offer. 

"My lord, we'll be reaching Rillford Port within the hour, my lord."

Kevan, his dutiful brother and closest advisor, informed him. Thank whatever got them here the fastest. Since Lucarys extermination of most of the Ironborn, the western waters were relatively safe for the most part. Lucarys, he remembered the boy and man he was last he met. Before one of the most sought out male for marriage alongside Rhaegar he would say. Many would do anything to be in favor of the Northern House. He hated the fact that after everything he's done, everything he's had to put up with and struggle and claw to make his house the powerhouse it was today, it still wasn't the most powerful house in Westeros, hell's, even House Stark was possibly just as powerful if not a little more than his own due to being House Frost's Warden and being the main trade supply for House Frost. 

After his major successes for so long and the minimal presence south from House Frost and Stark in his adolescent years, He almost forgot how they simply slumber till awoken. He remembered quickly when he walked into that throne room only to witness Lord Stark grab hold of Jamie like he was a child and before Jamie could draw his sword to do something truly stupid, he had to yell out to the room. It was by sheer luck that room didn't get painted red blood how much a battle would've caused between his forces and the contingent led by the allied forces. He remembered the cold gray eyes when he looked at him, almost provoking him before he left. 

Lord frost though, he was a different beast, before the atrocity at Kings Landing, he was aloof, and more like a jokester similar to Gerion he supposed. Afterwards though, all he saw was something like Clegane and himself mixed into one body, the man was so filled with hate that even though he had bandages from head to toe, he still rode out and decimated the Dornish flank at the Trident. There were no songs told because no one knew how to make his slaughter sound… well good. Seeing him during the Greyjoy's rebellion only strengthened my reasoning as to why I should've watched Lucarys more. He was a player of the game true and true and now held mining rights to the Iron isles while what Ironborn were left there slowly were shifted into a more civil people though rough all the same. 

I supposed what he did was for the best but damn him for making himself even more powerful, the crown was allowed to tax the mining by 60% but Lucarys didn't even argue or care, he just wanted the damn Ironborn to struggle even more than they did till they broke, and he could make them however he saw fit. The shipping yards on the Isles were genius but he knew the excuse of needing them to ship the ores was horse shite. The real goal was to have his navy reach closer south without clogging the waters. He could see the moves Lucarys was enacting and yet everything he did was for naught so all he could do was try and strengthen his house however best he could. 

He tried to marry Cersi to any Frost just to be in the family and strengthen ties like their ancestors did so long ago but that failed so he settled with Robert. He tried to have Lucarys son Ward with him but Lucarys said that his Warden Lord Stark had already offered and taken him. So, he tried to have his second eldest Alastor ward with him and finally Lucarys said they would talk at the tourney. He had to watch out for the damn Tyrell's southward otherwise they would snatch every opportunity he could have for themselves. Not that everyone else attending was thinking the same things.

"What are our chances?"

I asked aloud as I sat at a desk in the cabin of the ship organizing the scrolls, I brought for possible trade agreements and proposals. While I could use words, Lucarys was a man that appreciated seeing with his own eye what was in front of him. He didn't like surprises, not anymore. 

"I'd say about one to one if we arrived before the other major houses of course not including House Stark. Two to one if we arrived before Lord Stark does."

I pursed my lips subconsciously and couldn't help but think of the words Eddard Stark whispered to me the day he left King's Landing…

"You're lucky I hate the south."

At the time I had thought he just meant that he hated all southerners, but I realized that couldn't have been it for him to like Robert Baratheon and Jon Arryn. So, I thought over it every night till just recently I thought about how the war was fought and who fought in the war. The North alone brought 80,000 troops at least when on the reports. That alone was a huge blow to morale when many houses loyal to the Targaryen's heard a Northern host led by Eddard Stark was marching south to fight them. Many thoughts could only be on how and why and is it a lie? It wasn't, he knew, he visited Winterfell and some of the Western provenance of the North when he was still a young boy, the beauty of the place was grander than Highgarden he would say, and he didn't even go to Whitegaard Castle then.

He put his face in the palms of his hands before sliding his hands back across the top of his head. It was time to get to work, one way or another, he'd see his house rise more than the others with this opportunity.

Robert Baratheon POV 290 AC: The Kings Road

"Oh, bugger off already woman! For fucks sake!"

Robert waved his hands in the air animatedly as his face got red, from anger or booze, probably both. Though his mind was still clear enough to think of the Present waiting for him. He loved the fucking North; even swore he should've been born here when he was younger. New gods and old, he tried to stay North when he was younger. Well now he was back, maybe a little drunk and a little rounder but he made sure that he stayed strong as ever in case a chance like this came. He missed the last one when he was too young but not now. Stretching his arms, he readied himself for the apar ahead. He wasn't as fast as he used to be but still had lots of strength and grit to muscle around a lot of the whelps he sparred against. Now though he was sparring with Jamie Lannister, though he hated he had to, he admitted the prick was fast and good with his sword, even better after what happened with Ned all those years ago. 

He knew he needed every bit of practice he could get if he was going to wrestle with the Frost Giants of the North haha! Get it? Frost giants? The North? No? The North is cold and so is… ahh bugger off, its funny to me… fucking Umber would've laughed his fucking arse off at that one… Oh well where was I? Oh, right, the fucking prissy golden boy in front of me waving his sword back and forth looking like a twit with a screw loose as he looks at the ground.

"Oi! What for the fuck's sake are you doing!?"

Jamie shook his head in thought, looked up and readied himself.

"That's more like it!"

I lunged at him and swung my hammer as hard and fast as I could, while Jamie liked to have a free hand most of the time, in a real battle, he would opt for a shield and so too used one now to block my attack, stupid and pretty, ha! As my hammer was about to hit, he angled his shield and my hammer slid right off making me lose my balance a little before I battled gravity and stationed my feet. The fucking prick was just standing their minding his own business… Didn't even see it worth the effort to finish me off?

"I'll bash your pretty face in Lannister!"

As I brought my hammer up, I was kicked in the leg so hard that I fell to one side. Hitting the ground hard, I felt the blade of Jamie's on my back.

"Is that enough for today my King?"

Oh how I wanted to cave in his skull right now… I had a lot of work to do.

Kadderon POV 291 AC: Whitegaard Castle

I've been gathering the history of this world for a few moons now, since I left Whitegaard castle under Lord Stark in fact. Strange dreams, memories maybe from my past life would emerge. The men I fought became clearer every passing day. How my mother protected me from bad people and looked after me for so long. How I was such a sickly kid but my mom would have me learn so much. The more and more I remembered, the more I was horrified and numbed. My memories fragmented and adjusted, like it wasn't letting me see what I wanted to see. 

Who was I back then? At one moment, I was a kid, five or six, hiding till a woman, my mom found me. Another time, I was so sickly, my body thin and strapped to a table as I struggled to breath, struggling to live. And this light, what was that light after every memory, every dream I had for the past moon. The ache behind my eyes felt like it was going to pop any moment so I had told everyone I was going to lay down. When reaching my bedroom and slumping on my bed, I was out instantly, maybe from the travel, maybe from the sheer pain in my head. Then it happened all at once. 

I was the biggest kid around smiling and laughing as I played, always getting praises from the adults around on how smart I was. My mo… no Kathrine I mean, she was like a mom at first, but then I realized the truth after some time. I was taken, replaced, and forced into a grueling reality of life and death as I trained my limits. I was placed somewhere with so many kids, the images were flashing so fast, I Could barely make them out. We were training, eating together, laughing, crying, dying. We grew and we were told we had to have surgery, that we were going to be the best of the best. I believed them, I believed Kathrine, I believed in John. I believed in my team to make it back home, so we could keep being together. 

'Sy#ERROR#em P#ERROR#wer on.'

'Log entry 4#ERROR#.'

'Sa#ERROR# #ERROR# rd, SPA#ERROR# born July 10 of the year 2525. 

Recruited into the#ERROR#AN II program and successfully finished training.

Upon his first mission, P#ERROR# Officer Second Class #ERROR# 034 was deemed MIA after boarding the Unrelenting. May god help us all for this won't be the last cas#ERROR#. '

Nothing, absolutely nothing… Endless and entirely void of anything to help one's sanity. Death after life provides just one answer, that when life ends, so too does everything with it. It's funny when one thinks about it, judgment, heaven, hell, afterlife, it all becomes just a jumble of words compared to the vastness of this expanse. A silhouette of a male floating with no destination, no direction, and no goal. Just a blank look in his eyes and gaunt cheeks.

Time was Ethereal and eternal, absolute and waited for no man. 

"We should send him to save our children!"

"I've already chosen him as my prophet!"

"OH bugger off you overgrown fire imp!"

"He is war and knowledge, love and kindness, hate and cunning. He belongs with us."

"Ha! As if, you lot are only good for one thing and that's Corruption. Now I'm taking him whether you like it or not!"

"I don't believe I'll allow that, or did you forget. None of us can openly choose a savior, it must be freely given as a choice to them." 

"Fine, do with him as you've done with the other free spirits then! I still don't see why we don't just revoke that rule.."

With the back to back shouting, Samuel floated with his thoughts in a streamlined pace of thinking. With his thoughts unfinished, a glowing orb was in front of his very eyes at last, a change. 

"What will you choose, young one? Each option before you presents an opportunity and a starting destination for your new life. While I can not say you'll have a complete memory of yourself in the past, I can say that you'll have everything your past life bestowed onto you in a more subtle way without the scarring inflicted upon your body and soul. Please choose what you'd like to have as your new life with three choices among a multitude of different outcomes."

With that, the orb was gone and in its place words in a language Samuel didn't know and yet could comprehend. 

*Essos*

*Westeros*

*Southoros*

*Northten*

The first choice was upon him and he was uncertain what it meant. He had so many questions, and with each one he thought of came even more. When thinking of the first option, it brought up almost a description of it with a bare bones amount of information. Going over the same instance with the remaining options, he realized these were destinations or places, all unknown and foreign to him. He would choose one and look over the second choice he would have only to go back and choose a different one to see if there were any differences and there were a lot. The first option he deduced was the choice of his location. What this location was meant for, he wasn't 100% sure but he could make a few guesses. 

The second choice being his intro into the land. Whether a bastard, a peasant, lord, royalty, and so on and so forth. The split occurred though when checking in the different regions as different options would appear with only a few similarities. Final choice only being his gift as he liked to call it. It was the most unique as he wasn't entirely sure what it would do. Just that it gave a vague description on its purpose such as wealth, body, and wrath just being a few of the many choices he could have. After much deliberation, he came down to Westeros, the land of diversity and birthright. Also one of the points of origin whatever that may have meant. Taking another glimpse at the follow up options, Samuel hovered a finger over them till he got to his choice. It was somewhat easy as with each option giving a run down on its typical outlook, he was able to lord as so it gave him the most options without going straight into some fire just in case.

That left him with the most questions and confusion of the options, his gift. 

Wrath

Diligence

Body

Talent

Greed

Perseverance

Temperance

Memory

Knowledge

Wisdom

The list goes on and on and on and he saw only an end after scrolling for a dozen minutes. It had taken him time with this one, time and thought. Each gift was as descriptive as a blank piece of paper and told to find what was written on another page that was placed on top of it and another dozen papers in between. He could only think how he didn't want his memories to go, he didn't want to forget their faces and how they were in his last moments.

"A tricky one as your soul is frail right now but I can give you some if you'd like, your most cherished, I'll even throw in an extra gift given by me."

It all faded away as the pop finally happened and he awoke with eerie calmness that contrasted with the tears running from his eyes and the bloody nose he had. 

'My name is Samuel Westergaard… no, my name is Kadderon Frost, and this is my life now.'