4 Destiny?

Author's note:

Hi guys, I am back with a new chapter. This one is 3.35k words with a few pictures as well.

I ended up writing more than 5k words, and not finishing, so I decided to split the chapter up.

There is much more dialogue here, and I've added a lot of the different characters personal thoughts instead of just the Third person POV.

I feel like it worked out pretty well, and added a more dynamic flow to it, but tell me what you think!

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­­Winterfell - Year 287

POV | Aegon Targaryen/Jon Snow

This was the first time he had ever been summoned to Lord Stark's solar. It was usually only for Robb when he did something particularly stupid or when he had his lordly lessons.

Aegon was a 'bastard', so he did not really need those lessons. Yeah, his uncle was an arse like that. Leaving the damn prince without lessons on how to rule, he was amazed by the deviousness of Eddard. His Wall plan was actually incredibly well made, if Aegon did not have memories from another time.

He could almost imagine himself falling for it. Heck, Jon Snow did. Naruto did. Harry Potter did. His past incarnation did, but he had learned his lesson.

It was the perfect manipulation plot after all. Starve an orphan/bastard for affection. Offer morsels of attention and a tiny bit of affection, and bam. The poor orphan kid will eat straight out of your palm. Enforce that with affectionate people in the right areas, and your plot is fool proof. Benjen, Jiraiya and Sirius. It was honestly an effective scheme.

He would never have thought that Eddard had it in him, and he sometimes wondered if it was even deliberate. Especially with his moronic decisions in the canon of GOT and ASOIAF. He figured that this meeting would give him a clearer picture of exactly that.

He had just given Sansa a goodnight kiss and left her with her caretakers, and he was now trekking towards The Lord's Solar.

He had a few ideas of what he could expect and considering that he had seen Maester Luwin leaving in the same direction, he was pretty sure that he would be asked to leave for the Citadel. Probably because of some bullshit reason that could be summed up to: Because Catelyn said so.

He did not want to, especially considering some of the concerns he had with the order of the grey rats. They were dangerous, and their influence vast. He could probably act well enough to avoid scrutiny, but he was fearful of the glass candles. If they were actively trying to end magic, as some of the theories stated, then he would be fucked when he was initiated as an acolyte and the candles lit up. He did not fancy his chances if the conspiracies were true.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in" sounded the brusque voice of his Lord Uncle.

Aegon stepped into the Solar for the first time since he arrived in Westeros. It was honestly a lot better looking than what he expected from the Starks. A few tables were placed around the room with almost all of them filled with different trinkets, parchment, and books. A few bookcases were there as well, but what really caught his eye, was a beautiful circular window with glass of different colours.

[Image Here]

He did not expect the splendour, but with the Lord's spending so much time in here, it did make sense to make it more comfortable.

"You summoned me, My Lord. Greetings, Maester Luwin." He was doing everything he could to talk slower so he could pronounce the words without lisping. It sucked to be a kid again.

"Aye, we have to talk about a couple of things." Eddard looked tense.

Aegon knew he probably was not far off in his previous thoughts. 'Where will he send me? I know he was not keen on sending Jon Snow for fostering, so will I be doomed for the Citadel?'

He answered promptly: "May I take a seat, or will it be a short conversation?"

Eddard waved his hand towards the seat in front of him before he looked at Luwin to indicate that he should sit as well.

"Son, I know that he we haven't spoken much about your future. Robb will be the Lord of Winterfell, Sansa will marry an heir and become the lady of another household, and the next child will be in a similar position. You on the other hand, will have other prospects, due to the circumstances of your birth." Eddard was calm and measured in his speech. He might only be four and twenty, but his speech belied his position of power.

He could feel the anger rising within him, but his face stayed calm and pondering. The asshole had the audacity to mention his circumstances of birth as if he was not lying through his teeth. He briefly considered mentioning that he already knew the truth, but his powerbase was not ready enough for the possible blowback if something went wrong.

For now, he could only nod slightly and answer, "I am aware of the circumstances of my birth, my Lord. I remind myself daily." He did. He was Aegon, and he reminded himself every time he considered going easy in his practices. 'I don't have to tell him exactly what I tell myself, now do I?'

Eddard winced slightly. He probably did not expect that answer. He continued shortly after digesting Aegon's words.

"You are 7 name days now, and it is about time that you see other aspects of the world. I know that you have a very good relationship with your uncle Benjen, therefore I have decided that you will be spending five years with him to learn about the life of the brothers of The Night Watch. Benjen will arrive shortly after the hunting trip, and you will travel back with him."

The temperature dropped in the solar and the air grew tenser by the second. Aegon looked down at the ground. He clenched his hands. 'The fucking bastard. He knew that his petty plan was failing, so he decides to spring this shit on me.' Aegon's body shook slightly, whether it was in laughter or rage was unknown to the two adults in the room. They probably had a good guess.

'This shit, ruins every single one of my fucking plans. Well played you fucking fishfucker. I'll have to find a way to transport my ritual materials without scrutiny now. That is not exactly going to be easy, especially considering the actual amount I will be transporting. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My plans for allies and training are going up in smoke too.'

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POV | Maester Luwin

'What an absolute pity. The boy holds so much promise in everything. Though that might just be his downfall in this case. Had he been trueborn, every father from Westeros to Essos and Sothoryos to Ulthos would have danced in joy at having such an heir. Alas that is not his fate it seems. If only this didn't smell so fishy.'

This was probably the first time that he had ever been so disappointed in his Liege. Eddard had otherwise been a reasonable lord to work for, but when he looked at the poor boy in front of him, he could not help but rethink that.

He was devoted and loyal to his half-siblings. A truer protector and friend they would never find, but the irrational fear and hate of a lesser person would put a stop to that. 'Sansa and Robb will be devastated. It might even leave them prone to manipulation, with how children try to fill voids by attaching themselves to new things. I will have to keep an eye on that.'

"Jon." The boy's head snapped up in his direction as soon as the name left his mouth. Seeing he had his attention, he continued: "Remember what I told you about success. This is an opportunity for growth. It isn't a punishment." A lie. This was definitely a punishment. For being too talented. He knew that. Jon probably knew that; the boy was scarily perceptive. He would need the encouragement though.

The boy seemed to relax slightly, so he hoped that his words helped. Lord Stark looked at him with a slightly curios expression at their little exchange, but he figured that he could keep this particular conversation between him and the boy he had grown fond of. With how much time the spend researching, Jon had almost become a grandson to him.

"Would it be possible to push back the journey by two months? I would like to at least meet my new sibling and spend some time with Robb, Sansa and the new one." His expression was looking slightly defeated as he asked.

"No. Benjen will not be coming back for at least 4 turns of the moon when he leaves, I am sorry." His father shut him down ruthlessly.

"Can you not send me with a couple of guards then? Please." 'Eddard for the sake of the old gods and the new, just let the boy stay for two turns of the moon. Some of the guards could do with a trip anyway.' That was not to be.

"No. That would waste unnecessary resources and time. This is final. You can take your leave."

'Oh Eddard, is this truly how you wish to end this conversation?' Luwin could not help but lament the lack of thought exhibited by his Lord. Sadly, it was not his place to intervene.

He would have to see about writing to the Maester at Castle Black. Maybe he could have Benjen sent on a ranging for a moon and give the young boy the extra time he would need with his siblings.

Jon raised his head and looked his father straight in the eyes. "Aye, I understand. Thank you for your time, Lord Tul- Stark." He turned around and left without anymore complaints.

Both he and Eddard were too shocked to even say anything after that. 'The boy has balls of Valyrian Steel for true, or is that Star Steel considering his heritage?' He could not help but laugh inwardly. 'He will be just fine, wherever he goes. I haven't seen him fail yet.'

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Winterfell, Aegon's room - The night before the hunt

POV | Aegon Targaryen

It had been a fortnight since his plans were turned on their head, and he had never been so livid. He had kept his distance from his uncle for several reasons if he was being honest with himself.

He was afraid. Afraid of disappointment. Abandonment. He had tried it before with his parents, a double suicide. They apparently thought death was worth more than living with their son.

He was even adopted once, but they sent him back.

"He is not what we had expected." They had said.

He tried to take it in stride, but it freaking hurt. Was one parent figure, who actually cared about him for true, too much to ask for?

The only one he ever knew to care was his mother here. Lyanna Stark had used her last strength to cling to him, and the last words he heard from her were his name, and her telling him how much he meant to her. He passed out after that.

Everything that ever went right, would go wrong. He thought that he was prepared for it, but he really was not. Heck, with his luck, she would have hated his face if she lived long enough to know him.

Somewhere in his subconscious he had believed that this time would be different.

'Way to go Aegon. You're on your own again. Stop getting your damn hopes up, you stupid fuck. Adults have always disappointed. Why would a new life change that?'

He shook his head and let out a harsh mirthless laugh.

'Five fucking years at The Wall. Of course. The fish gets the time and freedom to poison the minds of my little cousins before I come back. She might even manage to turn Robb into a squid this time if Balon's folly hits in 289, the bitch loves her seafood after all. I will have to see how they act when I come back though. If my brother in all but blood is still in there somewhere, and my sweet sister even remembers me, I will do whatever I can to keep our relations intact. If not… I really hope it works out.'

Freya had been extra cuddly during the last fortnight; she was truly a precious companion. She could feel his distress and did everything possible to comfort him.

[Image Here]

She was even perched on his shoulders right now, acting as a warm scarf.

Hugin and Munin were supportive as well, the smart ravens truly lived up to their names. They had been stealing coins from all over the Town and Keep when they found out that he would not be able to earn any more in quite a while.

They were currently resting on the back of his chair.

[Image Here]

He was running maintenance on the gear he had. His bow was in great condition. The string was just right, and his arrows were sharpened perfectly. It was an intimidating design, one could even use it to bash someone in the face, if they come to close. It had the teeth for it.

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His six throwing knives were sharpened and oiled. Ser Rodrick had given them to him on his 7th name day. It was a gift from the entire staff. They wanted to thank him for all of his help during the last couple of years, and with Mikken the blacksmith's help, they had splurged on a set of beautiful and effective knives. Especially since Catelyn did not allow for his name day to be celebrated.

[Image Here]

That had honestly moved him to tears. Just like Benjen's bow. Some adults could be pretty decent. Just never his family. He felt slightly cursed.

'Why am I being such a drama queen? Buhu, your family doesn't love you. Then make your own. It really sucks being an emotional kid.' His emotions were all over the place, and especially his anger was so much harder to control. Sometimes it was a cold rage, and other times he felt like he could burst into fire.

He really needed better control of his anger, or at least temper it constructively.

'Luwin is right, I am the captain of my own life. No one can keep me captive against my will. It's not like The Wall is not without its opportunities. I have two uncles there after all, and there are even a few Targaryen loyalists. There are lots of wild Poke- animals that I can add to my collection as well.'

The area north of The Wall held an immense number of predators. Huge bears, Direwolves, Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, Shadowcats and more. If he could not turn this his way, then he had lived in vain.

His primary weapon was one he had won in a bet with a guard. It was a short spear that could be used as a javelin as well. It was a purely functional design, 4 ½ feet, 137 cm long, made of wood and a 7-inch, 17.78 cm, iron tip included in the overall length.

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It is a decent weapon for slicing, thrusting, and throwing. With how nimble Aegon is at the moment, its' size and weight of; 6.6 lbs, 3 kg, made it perfect for his extremely agile fighting style.

His last weapon was a short sword. It was decent for close combat, and with its short blade of about 16 inches, 40.64 cm, it was small enough not to bother him, and large enough to be effective for the slash n' dash fighting style he used with it. It was a very ordinary looking weapon. Standard issue for a Winterfell guard, and his uncle frankly did not care that he used it.

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He packed up some rations for the trip as well. Five loaves of bread, 1 kg of jerky, dried fruits and about 1 kg of nuts. That was slightly more than 10k calories. Enough to heal from a lot of average injuries if anything was to happen. He could always eat his horse if everything else went wrong…

'Should I sacrifice half a litre of my blood and all my hair, eyebrows included, to create a bag of holding? What is this stupidity anyways? Why can a man bend the laws of space by becoming bald? That god was definitely fucking with me. He probably created the ritual to watch me play monk. Hmm. I'll do it if I ever have to flee sometime, should serve as a good tool and a disguise at the same time.'

He collected his things into a saddlebag and left his weapons beside his bed.

He threw himself onto his bed and fell asleep to the soft crowing of Hugin and Munin, and the cuddly ball of heat that was Freya. '

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Winterfell, Robb's room - The morning of the hunt - 287 AC

POV | Robb Stark

[Image Here]

He could barely fall asleep last night! He had been looking forward to the hunting for a fortnight already, and the anticipation was killing him!

He woke up before the break of dawn, and he was almost running around his room checking all the things his caretaker had helped him pack.

'I am manly man! How could a boring, young version of Old Nan ever know what I would need for a hunting trip. She can't even catch me. Hmm. I better look through it myself.'

After creating quite the mess, he slowly started to realize that the old lady actually knew what she was doing.

'She is surprisingly smarter than I thought. Ugh, I don't want to clean this up.'

"A man cleans up after his own messes."

'Stop being the voice of reason in my head, Jon.'

After a whole hour, he was finally done putting his things back into place. He collapsed back onto his back and started thinking about the time since Jon was summoned to his father's Solar.

Something changed, Robb knew that, and it was obvious by the way Jon stopped training as much and was spending more time with himself and Sansa. Jon always made time for them, but never as much as he had since his talk with their father.

Something had definitely changed; he just could not grasp what.

'I wanted to ask him, but I'm afraid I won't like the answer… Am I being a girl?' Jon had always told him that relationships between family and friends should be met head on. Pussyfooting around would only create misunderstandings and sow discord. 'Whatever discord means… But it's probably a bad word. Jon likes to cuss a lot.'

Being ruthless with those you hate, sneaky with people you do not know and like, but have a use for, and as honest as possible with the people you truly care for and about. Just never be friendly with squids.

'Jon says some weird stuff sometimes. I haven't ever seen him be wrong though. Why does mother hate him so much? I know he is a bastard, but that just means father did bad things… Then why does she love father? Adults are dumb sometimes.'

He threw himself to the other side of his bed with a groan. 'So stupid.'

'It must be Septa Mordane's fault. She always tells me lies about Jon. She is probably lying to mother too. I will have to remove her and the Sept when I grow up. I hate liars. Besides, The North believes in The Old Gods. If the Seven were so strong, why did they lose every time they tried fighting us?'

Robb was not entirely sure that he was right, but Jon told him that it was so, and with how much his brother liked to read, he could not be wrong.

He looked out the window and realized that he should probably get going. He jumped up, grabbed his things, and ran out to find some food to break his fast. He had a hunt to experience. 'Jon will tell me what is wrong when he is ready.' He could not help but feel uneasy, anyway.

He shivered slightly in the morning air.

"Winter is coming." He whispered, before he ran to the Great Hall.

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Author's note: Yo! Hope You enjoyed the chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it.

I played a little with how the POV was noted, I hope someone noticed what I did, and why :D

I have about 1.8k words of the next chapter written already, but considering how juicy it is turning out, it will probably turn into two parts to accommodate everything I want to happen during their trip.

My updating schedule will be 4-7 chapters, averaging 2.5k words, a week.

I'm studying my bachelor's degree, so some weeks will unfortunately be a bit slower than I would like, but that is life I guess. I will be giving you a 'heads-up' when that happens. Then again, 10k words, a week, at minimum, is not really too bad in my humble opinion :p

I would also like to thank you guys for the support!

It is extremely motivating to read comments of encouragement and of a questioning nature as well. It really shows that you actually care enough to read the story and not just skim through it for R-18 scenarios xD (Lemons will not happen for a while, I am not having a 7yo slap his schlong around, no matter how old he was in his previous life)

See ya in the comments or when the next chapter drops.