Winterfell IV

(Rhaegon's POV)

I crouched down and gently placed my hand on a massive hoof print of the cold dirt beneath me. 

"Hm...." I said allowed

"What is it?" Robb asked

I glanced behind me, seeing the group on their horses. We were joined by two or three of Ned Stark's men, Ser Rodrik Cassel among them. They didn't want the Lord of Winterfell and his sons to be out alone in the wilderness.

"This is a Boar print, alright." I said as I looked around, "Can't really tell from the cold dirt, but I am assuming its around an hour old.....I think." 

I looked at Jon Snow who had dismounted and walked towards me, crouching down next to me. 

"Aye, that's right." He said as he touched the track, "Same one Theon and I tracking, I'm sure of it." 

I stood up and straightened up, patting my hands clean, "Well, it's a pretty big one." I said as scanned our surroundings, "Where do you reckon it went?" 

"Judging from the tracks, it's going a bit more east." Jon said as he looked up at me, "You know how to use a Boar Spear?" 

I raised an eyebrow, "Know? I was practically raised using those things." I told him, "My Father took me to my first Boar Hunt when I was five. Almost died, yes, but he let me deal the finishing blow on this giant fucker in the Stormlands." 

I heard Lord Stark chuckle, "Robert told me about that." He said, "Your Mother was tempted to kill him." 

"Oh yes, she was indeed angry." I said as I looked at Robb, "You best be careful, Robb, angering your Targaryen Princess. If my Aunt is anything like her sister, it is their wrathful nature." 

Robb blew raspberries, "Don't try to scare me out of it, Rhaegon." He said as he looked around nervously, "That beast of hers is already doing that for you." 

"Shrykos?" I said, "You have to stand your ground with her, show no fear. You may not have Targaryen blood, but Dragons can sense the willpower of a person. I don't know how it's possible, but they can sense it. Father once told Morghul to shut up while he was roaring and Morghul actually did. Granted, he was more appalled that someone who wasn't me was bold enough to yell at him. That's how keepers can somewhat control them, to an extent."

"I thought the keepers had Targaryen blood or something." I heard Jon said

I looked at him, "Huh?" 

"I mean, that's what I thought." He said as he straightened up, "That's how the dragon is able to listen to them." 

"Well, Dragons only listen to High Valyrian, they're quite intelligent." I told him, "But keepers don't have Targaryen blood, at least this new Order. Maybe they're descended from Old Valyrian blood, but not Targaryen, that'll be odd. The Keepers studied the old ways and managed to learn how to 'keep' the dragons. As I said, they're intelligent. They know who cares for them, keeps them fed, keeps them safe. Their riders, their keepers, and their guards." 

"Aye, they're not mindless beasts." I heard Lord Starks say, "Especially the Black Lord." 

"I like the black one better." Bran Stark said with a smile, "He's nicer." 

"Nicer than the white one, that's for sure." Theon Greyjoy said, "She almost killed both Robb and Jon a few months ago." 

"We were just trying to help the keepers out...." Jon said with a frown

"Never let your guard down with them." I told them, "They're still dangerous creatures." 

I saw as Ned Stark was about to say something but we were cut off by a loud screech. 

Ser Rodrik looked to the left, "That was quite close, Milord." 

Lord Stark nodded, "Get your spears ready." He said, "Give one to Ser Rhaegon." 

One of his other men tossed me a spear as I caught it in my hands while I went to my horse, "Okay." I said, "Judging by the size of the tracks, this is a huge fucker, so be careful!" 

I watched as Jon scurred to his horse and mounted it quickly, "Let's go, I'll ride with Ser Rhaegon!" 

I spurred my steed and it took off into a gallop as I held the spear with one hand and held its reigns with the other. 

I glanced back to see Jon and Theon riding behind me as the others began to scatter in their own direction. 

The plan was to branch out and make our way to the location where the target was, in this case the Boar. Judging from the sound of the screech, I would assume it was a few hundred meters away, but I could never be too sure. The cold in the North always dulled my senses just a bit, I never knew why. Whenever I hunt, it's always with Morghul his warmth has me focused. 

I'm not with Morghul so I had to be sharp. 

After a few minutes of riding, I caught a massive shadow in my line of sight. I turned to see a massive boar running to my right, letting out a loud screech as it did so. Further in the distance, I saw Robb on his horse chasing it with Ser Rodrik behind him. 

"There it is!" I heard Jon call out

I nodded, "Yea!" I said as I leaned in and lifted the spear up

"You're insane! Let me hit with some arrows first!" I heard Theon yell at me

"Be my guest!" I said, "But do it now!"

I heard an arrow whistling past me and shooting straight at the boar as it hit its hind leg. The Boar stumbled as it crashed against a tree, several meters in front of us but it composed itself rather quickly and took off in a charge. 

I frowned, "Are you insane?!" I exclaimed, "You trying to kill me?!" 

"It was a clear shot!" He said 

"Fuck this." I said as I reared my arm back and launched the spear at it

I watched as the spear flew towards the Boar with great speed and in almost an instant, it pierced through its belly. The Boar let out a pained bellow and crashed into the ground hard, dirt and snow flying everywhere as the three of us slowed our steeds to a stop. 

The Boar was panting and gasping for air as blood poured out of its wound, the spear lodged into its belly. 

"Shit....." I heard Jon say, "What kind of throw was that?!" 

I rubbed my shoulder, "Damn..." I said, "Threw that thing harder than I wanted to...not used to doing it on horseback...." 

Theon looked at me, "W-what are you used to then?" 

I looked at him, "Well, my dragon...." I said, "Morghul typically chases boars out of cover, swoops down a couple of meters above them for me to either shoot them with a bow or launch a spear at them. It's far more stable than a horse, I'll tell you that. The Horse's galloping is a rhythm I'm not accustomed to." 

Jon and Theon both looked at each other as I had just said something insane to them.

I dismounted the horse and walked over to the boar, drawing my dagger as it let out a panicked and pained screech. It was massive, almost as big as I was. I was already used to hunting boars this size, Morghul's favorite meal. He'd be so jealous of this one, so big and fatty. 

"Shhh...." I said as placed my boot on its snout to keep it in place, "Your suffering doesn't have to last long." 

I then leaned down and plunged my dagger into its jugular, ending its life quite quickly. 

I straightened up as I pulled the knife out, getting a rag from my pocket and cleaning it. 

"Hm..." I said as I heard galloping towards us 

It was Ser Rodrick and the other of Stark's men, "Lord Stark found something." He said, "He wants you boys to join him. We'll tie this one up and drag it back to Winterfell." 

I nodded, "Alright then." I said, "Can you spare a piece of it for my Dragon? He likes Boar." 

He nodded, "As you wish, Ser Rhaegon." 

"Thanks." I said as I mounted my horse, "Let us see what Lord Stark wants." 

****************************************************

"What is a Direwolf doing over here?" Robb said as Lord Stark crouched over a massive fresh corpse

We were next to a stream of cold water, the snow hitting the waters. Bran Stark was still on his horse as we were down from ours, seeing the rare sight. 

"I thought Direwolves were native North of The Wall." I said as I stood atop the bank

"They are..." Ned Stark straightened up

I noticed the Direwolf's wounds, they looked like gore wounds. The Boar must've attacked it before we got close to it. 

I heard a bit of whimpering, "Hm?" 

I looked closely at the corpse and noticed several small pups, nestled in to the beast. 

"Pups that lost their mother." Robb said as he looked around, "They won't survive long without her. Poor things." 

I walked down the bank to get a closer look, seeing around five different direwolf pups huddled up together. 

"They shouldn't suffer." Lord Stark said, "Theon, make it quick." 

Theon drew his dagger, "Alright...." he said

"No!" I heard Bran exclaim, "You shouldn't kill them!" 

Ned looked at him, "Sorry, Bran. But they won't make it far by themselves out here, it's a mercy." He said

I looked down at the pups, something was telling me to say something to prevent them from being killed. It wasn't right to let these poor things just be killed, but Lord Stark did have a point. 

Theon crouched down to pick one of them up, "Lord Stark has spoken." 

I grabbed his shoulder, "Don't you dare." I told him

He looked at me with a serious face, "What?" 

"Lord Stark." I heard Jon say

"Yes?" Ned said

"The Direwolf is a sigil of your House no?" Jon said, "There's five pups, Five Stark children. This is a sign, they were meant to have it." 

I looked at Ned Stark who was contemplating it silently. 

"He's right, Lord Stark." I said with a shrug, "Targaryens have Dragons, why can't Starks have Direwolves? Besides, if you can feed a dragon, you can certainly feed a mere Wolf." 

He sighed and looked at Bran who had dismounted his horse and went to us, "You will feed them yourselves, train them yourselves, and if they die, you will bury them yourselves." He said before turning around, "And by the gods, don't make me regret this." 

I chuckled as Bran began to pick some pups up with a smile, "You got fortunate, little one." I said patting his head, "Congratulations." 

"Thanks, Jon, Ser Rhaegon." He said 

Theon straightened up as he had two of the pups in his arms, "Man...." He said, "More beasts to concern ourselves with?" 

"A change of pace is nice once in a while, Greyjoy." I told him

He scowled, "Yea, you'd think that." He scoffed before walking away

I saw as Jon gave Robb a pup while Bran had the other two, "You ain't getting one?" I asked him

Jon looked at me, "I'm not a Stark." He said, "And there's only Five, anyways." 

I then heard another set of whimpering behind us and in sync, we turned around. 

Behind a log, I saw two figures rustling about. 

"What?" I said as we walked over

There were two more pups that were just laying there; a white one with red eyes and a black and grey one with pitch black eyes. The white one was on its belly blinking as the other one was on its back with its mouth open and tongue out, blinking and moving its leg constantly. 

Jon reached down for the white one and picked it up by its scruff, "Seven Hells, a direwolf for each, huh?" He said with a chuckle

I looked at the other pup and then at him, "Hm...." I said

"What are you waiting for?" He said, "Grab that one." 

I raised an eyebrow, "Me?" I said 

He patted my shoulder, "Yes, you." He said, "Get that pup." 

I reached down and grabbed the weird runt, turning it on its belly and picking it by its scruff. 

"Hm....." I said again as I looked at it, "Ugly bastard, you are...." 

The pup looked at me, licking its lip as it panted. I don't think this one was the one that whimpered, that one might've been the white one Snow had. 

I looked over at Jon and Robb who were atop the bank, waiting on me, "So whose pup will this one be?" I asked

Robb shrugged, "Yours, I guess." 

"Mine?" I said with a frown, "I'm not a Stark." 

Robb smirked, "If you can feed a Dragon." He said, 

"You can feed a mere Wolf."