Fosterage II

- 275 AC -

- Bear Island -

(Maege POV)

"Waa waa waa...", I pant but smile when I hear the cries of my babe. 

"It's a girl, my lady."

"Let me see her.", I say and take my bear cub into my arms. She's so beautiful. 

"What will her name be?"

"Alysanne. Alysanne Mormont.", I say. 

As I look at my cub, I can't help but remember the past year that went by so quickly. It has never been boring and the reason for this is our newest addition, Leman Stark. The young wolf with blonde hair has started to bring great change to Bear Island and I can't help but thank the Old Gods for bringing him here to be fostered. 

His mind is like the ocean and new information is like a stone you throw into the ocean. It will never disappear and you can always throw in more. He is very intelligent and his enthusiasm to create things that will benefit Bear Island has made him very liked. 

I particularly like his demeanour. He is like a true bear in that regard. Silent but strong and trustworthy. He doesn't speak much but what he says seems important. He is much more mature than even most grown men in that regard. 

Jeor told me that Leman was working on something which would increase our fishing and also our boats. I don't know how he could possibly know that or where those ideas come from, but Jeor says there is promise in the boy's ideas. 

.

Over the year of his stay, Leman has gotten rather close to Dacey. This is something I approve of, unlike other matches he is probably the best one she will ever find in the North or otherwise. He is kind to my daughter and ever since his first day where he defeated Jeor during the spar, she has aspired to become just as strong as he is. Poor child, I didn't have the heart to tell her that no one in this world could ever reach his strength at that age. But it is good that she wishes to become like Leman. That will push her to great heights. 

Dacey follows Leman almost everywhere, which was something I didn't like at first. Leman went into the woods without supervision and while I know about his strength and his levelheadedness, he is still only 7 name days old. I followed the two once and saw how he befriended a bear family ... 

That's right, he managed to befriend a bear mother and her cubs. It is more than common knowledge that you never approach a bear mother and her cubs, for you will be attacked fiercely and most likely die. But that boy did it and even took my daughter with him. I was furious at first until I saw how the bear mother defended him ... from me. 

It was then that I let Dacey accompany Leman wherever he went, as long as they told me beforehand. Dacey would grow up faster and learn about living in the wild this way. And it worked. Almost every day she comes home excited and tells me about her 'adventures' with Leman, the bears and his wolf pups. 

I have yet to see her come home unhappy about something. I am happy about that. 

Dacey also accompanies Leman in training. Jeor has taken it upon himself to let Leman train with my nephew Jorah. It is hard to believe that the child can keep up with Jorah who is now 20. After observing them for a while, I saw that Jorah was anything but happy about the arrangement and I could see some jealousy in his eyes. I hope this won't become a problem in the future. Because even if Jorah tries to compete with Leman, Leman would never do that as he has nothing to prove. He simply doesn't care about Jorah. 

I might have to talk to Jorah or ask Jeor to talk to him at one point. Otherwise his plans might not go as he hopes. 

.

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(Jeor POV)

"Hmm ... these are impressive plans you created here, Leman. I must admit, I don't understand anything of shipbuilding. I do know how to sail, but not how to build one. We would have to ask someone who knows for sure.", I tell Leman who has just arrived with a lot of papers and drawings about detailed ways how to build a better ship.

He told us that we could increase our terribly small profits by building better ships for fishing and selling merchandise typical for the North. 

"You don't have to worry about it. I am certain that it will work. No need to waste time. We should start as soon as possible, now that the Winter has just passed, it would be the best time to start.", Leman tells me. 

"Hmm ... I do trust you, as strange as this might sound. You are probably the smartest person I know, and that includes all those noble rubbish that sit around on their behinds and drink wine all day. 

But what would we be able to sell as merchandise, if we were to do that?", I ask him. 

"Well in terms of goods to sell, the North is not the best Kingdom of Westeros. Others are far better in this regard. But I believe that we would do well with the transport of goods. Especially with food, that goes bad very quickly."

"And how?"

"Ice."

"Ice? What about it?"

"I theorise that by cooling meat and fish by laying it in ice, it will take longer to start to rot and go bad. Giving us more time to transport it and sell it for a high price."

"..."

He is right. I have never heard of such a thing. But it could work ... well if his theory is correct that is. But where would we get all that meat from? 

"Well we have enough ice here all year around and if we need more, we can sail to across the Bay of Ice to the Frozen Shore and take what we need. 

Now we only have to test your theory and start building the fishing boats you have created. How would they look, by the way? Do you have a finished drawing of the ships?", I ask interested. 

I am surprised at how I treat this boy of 7 name days. He is as skilled with the blade as the strongest swordsmen and as smart as the brightest men in Westeros. He is mature and always levelheaded. Well ... almost always. 

I have learned that he has quite a temper if something angers or annoys him. He is truly a wolf. 

Speaking of wolves, the two pups he brought with him have grown tremendously. I don't understand how seemingly regular wolves could grow so large in such a short time. I am certain that they aren't Direwolves but their height says something else. They are barely alive for a year and already so big. 

"Aye. I do have a drawing of how they would look. Here."

[Picture]

"Three different ones? Why?"

"For different purposes. Depending on what we want to use them for."

"I see. Well, they do look impressive, if a bit small.", I say. 

"These aren't meant for transporting armies. I have other ideas if you want to create such vessels."

"Hmm. Very well. If this does work out, we could even create a shipbuilding company of some kind. The North would sell us timber and we would then use that wood to build ships, further improving trade and the navy of the North.", I say thinking about the repercussions of this endeavour. 

"Well if-"

*BANG*

The door is pushed open and one of my men enters in a hurry.

"What is it?!"

"My Lord. Wildlings coming from the north. About a hundred men from what we could gather.", he says. 

"Call the men. Don't tell my sister, otherwise, she will want to fight as well. But we can't have that, after giving birth today she shall have her rest.", I command knowing full well what Maege would do. 

"Aye, my Lord.", he says and rushes out of the room again. 

"Come Leman. Time for your first battle.", I tell my ward. 

Leman doesn't say anything and just nods his head. His expression doesn't change either and he keeps his cool. It is truly remarkable how collected Leman is and how strong his mind is. Everything about him is strong, there is no weakness ever. 

While he doesn't smile, ever, at least I have never seen him smile. I know that he still cares for others. He is not cold to his friends and when I listen to what Maege told me about Dacey following him around all the time, he does care for Dacey. That's good. 

We Northerners don't show much emotion anyway, but he seems to be a special case yet. No matter, we will see how he fares in a fight where failure means death. 

I would never take a 7 name day old boy to a battlefield against Wildlings, but he is anything but normal. He managed to defeat me on our first sparring and has only gotten stronger since then. What I saw then was a beast in human clothing that only waits for the right time to strike and rip out the throats of his enemies. 

.

"Move them to the back. Cover our retreat and get a move on!!", I shout to my men who are hurrying to deal with the invading force of Wildlings. 

The fight has just started and the Wildings are trying to raid us once again. I am keeping Leman close to me as I give commands to my men and try and keep the damage to a minimum. 

The lad is truly strong. I watch him swing a greatsword like it weighs nothing. The Wildlings aren't as well equipped as we are, but they are just as motivated to raid and pillage our village as we are. 

He moves under a wide sword swing and tackles the tall man to the ground. I watch as the air leaves the man's lungs and he falls on his back. Leman who is on his stomach, raises the greatsword with both hands and brings it down, nailing the man to the ground. 

I know that this won't kill the man quickly and Leman seems to understand that as well. But he doesn't care about it. His focus is speed and to save as many of our islanders as possible, while killing all the Wildings. He doesn't even bother to pull out the long sword and just takes the Wildling's axe. 

With wide eyes, I observe the spectacle. Leman is now flanked by his two wolves who are doing damage to the Wildlings. Sköll jumps a Wildling and bites him into the hand that holds his blade. Leman uses this chance and bends his knees low and then swings his axe in his hands with full force. 

*Schllick*

"AAGGHH!!", the Wildling screams in pain as Leman cuts off one of his legs. 

The Wildling screams and falls to the ground, giving Hati, the black wolf time to bite his neck and kill him. I move my eyes to find Leman and see that he has already cut off another Wildling's head with the axe and blocks another attack coming from his left. 

I can't believe my eyes as he pushes the man back, making him lose his balance and then jumps into the air and buries the axe in the man's head, killing him before he can reach the ground. 

Leman doesn't lose any momentum and is on the run again. Sköll and Hati are next to him again and the beautifully deadly dance of death between the three continues. 

The boy ... no the small man runs for a small group of Wildlings who are threatening to overwhelm some of my men. He and his wolves jump right into the fight and attack the Wildling to the right. He hacks his axe into the man's shoulder, burying it deep into his chest and killing him for sure. But now he has no weapon left. 

However, that doesn't stop him at all. He moves around the man towards the next three people. They have seen what he did and attacked him together. Leman dodges to the left and jumps towards the first man's neck. He uses his full body to wrap his feet around his neck. In a remarkable show of dexterity, he moves his entire body and turns the man's head to his back, breaking it without a doubt. 

The man falls to the ground and Leman is already back on his feet. Hati is attacking one of the men as Sköll and Leman deal with the second one. The Wildling swings his sword towards Sköll but the wolf manages to dodge the attack. This gives Leman more than enough time to move in and punch the man in his groin. 

"ARGH! F*ckin bas-"

*Crack*

...