Island Hopping Pt. 3

Onboard the Flints' ship, Robb was pacing impatiently. Jon, Asher and four of their men had vanished into the blackness of the night and freezing water. Jon didn't even leave behind any clear course of action for them, only gave them a vague instruction before jumping into the water and probably swam off to his death. What would he tell their father if something happened to his brother? He would have to have a very serious conversation with that idiot if, by Gods' graces, he came out alive of this folly. Robb would wring out a solemn promise from that idiotic arse to not get into dangerous situations daily.

Lord Reed had commandeered the Myrish spyglasses from the ship's captain and was looking through it at the Iron-born ships. He hadn't uttered any word after Jon and his party disappeared to their probable demise. He hoped that Lyanna's boy didn't throw away his life on a whim, for she would beat him to another death when they meet in the afterlife for not looking after her son. Suddenly, he noticed that something was happening at the longships.

"My Lord Robb, I think you need to see this."

Robb rushed to Howland's side and almost snatched away the spyglass from him.

"The ships, they are moving!"

"Aye, My Lord, but what of our men? What should we do?"

Robb continued to look through the glasses, he was biting his lips in deep thought.

"The Ironborns had no reason to suddenly raise anchors and move the ships towards the Island. We will assume it is Jon and his men controlling the ships." He stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts, then he turned to face Howland. "Tell the captain to raise the sails at half-mast. We will move forward slowly but cautiously. Relay the message, My Lord."

The four ships came out of their covers. Advancing slowly towards Bear Island. There were no reactions from the longships, surely they had seen them coming by now. The lack of action from the Ironborns had fortified Robb's notion that it was indeed Jon and his men who were controlling the ships. How did they manage to subdue the reavers and take control of the ships?

The coast of Bear Island came into view after what felt like days. The spyglasses revealed nothing but a few scattered lights throughout the Island. Getting even closer, they realized that the lights they were seeing were of flames, the reaving scums were hurting and killing Northmen in the darkness of the night like the cowards they were. Robb's hand fisted tightly in rage. All of a sudden, two more flames closer than those of the Island erupted into his view. It took a few moments for his vision to settle, then he looked closely and found that the longships were lit on fire. His blood began to sing in his veins in anticipation of the coming fights. He turned towards Howland with a wolfish smile stretched on his face.

"That was it, My Lord. That was the signal Jon told us about. Alert the men, we are going in for a battle." He turned towards the captain and yelled, "Raise the sails to full-mast, captain, give us as much speed as you can. My brother needs me."

*Line Break*

Jon watched as the shore of the Island slowly drew nearer. The fire that they had set on the deck was slowly spreading throughout the ship. The two men with him were standing close to the fire, warming their bodies after their midnight swim in freezing water. Jon kept a hand on the ship's wheel, he had a short lesson in controlling a ship from the Flint man, Jared. They would need to veer the ship away from the dock so that it didn't get damaged from the collision. He shouted above the sounds of roaring flames to his men to alert the other ship to steer away from the dock, one of them scrambled to the railings avoiding the fire to send the said signal. Jon spun the wheel as hard as he could and braced for the impact, yelling for the men to hold on. The ship rammed into the stony part of the Island beach with an ear-splitting sound, Jon ran for the railings yelling for the men to follow him, they had to jump off before the ship capsized. They landed into the water once again and waded their way through to the dock. Jon looked for the other ship and found it had ploughed through the sands of the beach and leaned on one side. Asher and the other two had jumped off the ship safely and were running fast towards them.

Asher came to a skidding halt beside Jon, "Great plan, commander, we almost roasted ourselves."

Jon gave him a smirk, "But it worked…didn't it?"

Asher looked at the burning ships and smiled ear to ear. "Aye, it sure worked." He turned towards the settlement further inland, they could see the fires burning here and there from their spot. "Now what are we to do?"

Gale had sent images to Jon that a bunch of men were coming fast towards their position, he was sure they were the Ironborns, trying to make a quick escape.

"Now, we make our stand here."

He took a step forward and turned to the men who accompanied him through his insane planning and were now standing beside him prepared to fight, only six of them against Gods knew how many.

"Men, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting your faith in me. You've followed me through freezing water, obeyed my commands to the last and made sure that the reaving scums don't have an easy time to make with their escape. You showed me today that you are true sons of the North. But our trials are not over yet, my friends. We have come to this Island to protect our fellow Northmen from people who wanted to cause harm. Now, we are standing here for a different battle, but with the same cause nonetheless. We stand here to protect and avenge our brothers and sisters from the damned Ironborns who had invaded their peace. We don't know when Robb Stark will reach us with the rest of our forces. We don't know if or when we will get any help from the Mormonts. But I will remain here, standing guard so that not a single Ironborn gets past me. I will not blame you if you want to take cover and wait out the battle that is coming for us. But I have faith that you will stand shoulder to shoulder with me. You will once again put your faith in me. We are the Northmen. A single one of us is more than a match for ten of them. We will show these thieving cunts what happens when someone dares to attack our lands. Are you with me, my friends?"

All five of them raised their swords above their heads with a resounding shout of "Aye!"

Jon got back to his place.

"Are you ready for this fight, Asher?"

"You know it, brother!" Asher had a big smile on his face.

Jon nodded his head. He took out Frost and Freedom and got ready. The Iron-borns are coming.

[CotW]

The reavers came rushing out towards the dock. There were about thirty men by Jon's estimate. Some of them were carrying people on their shoulders. People who were women and children abducted from their homes, from their beds to become salt wives and thralls. Jon bared his teeth in a snarl.

The Ironborns halted in their tracks by the sight before them. They could recognize the remains of their ships which were almost burned down at the beach by then. They could see six silhouettes by the dock, enshrouded by smokes from the fires. The leader of the raiding party, Grayon, dropped his sack of loots and hefted his double-handed axe. He will make these Greenlanders, whoever they were, pay the iron price for burning his ships. He pointed his axe towards the shadows and yelled at his men to attack.

The first man that reached Jon had thrusted his sword at him, Jon locked the blade with Freedom and whirled about to reach behind him, Frost pierced through his lower back and came out of his belly. He freed his sword and went for the next opponent. Three men came at him at the same time, he took a step to the right and faced two of them who attacked from each side. Jon parried the swing of a sword from the right with Frost and raised Freedom to block the hack of an axe to his head and shoved the axe along with the man back. He thrusted his sword to the unprotected head of the first man and the Valyrian steel went through his right eye and came out of the back of his head. He turned on his right heel and pulled his sword free while swinging Freedom at the second man, the pointed end of the axe grazed the man's thigh and unbalanced him for a moment, Jon jumped up and forward and brought the bladed end of the axe down to the man's head, burying the blade to his brain. The third man, who looked to be the same age as Jon himself, rushed towards him with his sword raised, Jon again turned on his heel and went down on one knee, he thrusted Freedom backwards over his shoulder, the steel blade of the axe pierced the leather armour the man was wearing and lodged into his abdomen, Jon put his back against the man and heaved him over his left shoulder with all the strength he could muster. The man tumbled over and crashed on the ground in front of him, he put his sword through his chest to end his life.

The little break he got, Jon looked for his men. He saw Asher fighting with two men simultaneously not too far away from him, Jared and the other Flint men were also fighting as men possessed. Another Ironborn came at him, Jon parried the attack and sent a kick at the man's leg sideways, breaking the bones and brought him down to his knees, he went behind him and ran Freedom's blade through his throat.

A guttural roar from behind had alerted Jon about an incoming attack, he rolled forward to avoid whatever it was and turned around. He saw a big man advancing towards him, a huge double-handed axe was in his hands, another two Iron-borns were following him closely. The big man seemed to be the leader of the raiders. He swung his axe overhead and brought it down in a hacking move, Jon tried to lock his axe with his own, but the man jerked his weapon free and bashed his head with the handle of the axe. Jon could feel his forehead splitting open and blood was starting to run down from it through the side of his face. He shook off the dizziness in time to see a lackey trying to stab him, he blocked the attack with his left bracer and brought down the pommel of his sword at his face and shoved him towards the leader. The man stumbled but got himself steady, he turned and tried to bring down his sword to Jon's head, he took a step back and threw his axe at him, it lodged in his throat and chin making the man collapse. Jon ducked down another swing of the axe from the leader and rolled towards the downed man and got his axe back in his hand. The third man thrusted his sword at him, he parried it and kicked him at his chest and knocked him away. The leader tried to again bash the axe handle to his face, but Jon moved his head and punched the man in his nose, making him turn. The third man had got up again and was approaching him cautiously, Jon whirled on his left toe and swung his sword at him, he barely dodged it by stepping back, although, the follow-through of his swing sliced open a gash at the leader's side, cutting through his armour with ease. He yelled in pain and swung the axe again, this time, Jon managed to catch the axe with his own and sliced his sword at the leader's hands, he cut off a few of his fingers and made him drop the axe. He kicked the axe away and with the same motion turned towards the third man and swung his axe at his head, taking the top portion of the head off. Jon turned towards the leader and saw him grabbing his injured hand and limping away from him with a look of fear on his face. He rushed to him and kept slicing at his body with his sword, the Valyrian blade cut through his hard leather armour like a warm knife through butter. Soon the man was bent over his waist, blood was pouring in buckets from his torso, Jon brought his sword down and separated his head from his body.

[CotW]

Though they were fighting like they had nothing to lose, the sheer weight of their opponent's number was overwhelming the Northmen. Jared and another of the Flint men had already died, Asher had a broken left arm hung uselessly to his side and a deep gash on his chest. The other two Flint men were on their last legs - they could fall from sheer exhaustion at any given moment. Jon himself had a deep cut on his thigh that was making him limp, he lost his vision in his left eye as blood flowed to it from the cut on his forehead. He also had a split lip that he received when a man punched him in the face. The loss of their leader hadn't stopped the attacks from the Ironborns, they were fighting for their lives. It would have been the end for Jon and the rest of his men if the Mormont men hadn't reached them by then. The men of Bear Island, led by Dacey Mormont, crashed into the back of the raiding men.

The Mormont men had turned the tide of the battle, although, their load was lessened by Jon and his men as they had decimated almost a third of the raiding party. Jon alone had killed about ten men himself, including the leader. Among all these commotions, Robb's ship had docked and men started to pour out from it. Lord Reed was directing the men while Robb himself stood guard over Jon, Torrhen doing the same for Asher.

None of the Iron-borns was spared that night. Dacey Mormont came to Robb and bowed deeply.

"My Lord Stark, you have reached just in time to stop these fuckers. They had abducted my sister Jorelle, if you haven't arrived when you did, I fear to even imagine the fate that awaited her." She had a shiver run down her spine.

"It is not me who you should thank, My Lady, but my brother, Jon Snow. It was him who stood guard with only five men with him and fought the reaving cunts." Robb motioned towards Jon who was sitting on the ground, leaning against Torrhen's legs, Asher sat beside him, leaning on the other, trapping the poor lad between the both of them.

Dacey looked Jon all over and nodded her head, "The White Wolf, aye. News of you has reached our ears. You have my thanks, Lord Snow."

Jon tried to get up but Dacey motioned for him to stay put.

"I am no lord, My Lady. And it was not just me. Asher here, Jared and the other Flint men have fought bravely this night. Jared even lost his life, along with one of his friends. They are the ones who deserve your gratitude."

Dacey nodded her head and gave him a smirk. "You are an interesting man, Jon Snow. I will look forward to having a chat with you…alone."

She turned towards Robb who was trying to hide his smirk from the discomfort that was evident on Jon's face and said, "Please excuse me for not receiving you properly, My Lord. If you would, kindly gather your men and come with us to the keep, my Lady Mother will be there to receive you. The hospitality of Bear Island is yours." She bowed to him, then she looked at Jon and winked before turning away to go and give orders to her men, with extra sway to her hips.

"Is it just me or the women everywhere lust after our Wolf here? What is your secret, Jon?"

"If you don't shut your mouth, Forrester, I will break your other arm."

"I can take you on with only one arm, Snow."

"Sure, Asher, whatever makes you sleep at night."

Torrhen slapped both of them on the back of their heads. "If you two don't shut up, I will move away from here."

*Line Break*

Dawn had broken through by the time they had managed to free all the prisoners and gathered the corpses of the Ironborns in one place. Jorelle had been stuck with her sister Dacey, not leaving her side even for a moment. The experience had disturbed her immensely. Makeshift stretchers had been made for Jon, Asher and the two injured Flint men, but they all refused to be carried, instead, Jon insisted that they carry the fallen men with the dignity they deserved. They limped their way to the keep, Jon using Robb and Asher using Torrhen as supports.

Messenger had been sent to Lady Maege of their arrival, she was waiting for them in the yard. Upon seeing her little daughter, the iron lady of the Bear Island lost her composure and ran to pick Jorelle up in her arms. She held her tight against her chest and kept rubbing a hand on her back to soothe her sobbing daughter. Dacey had led with the rounds of introductions. Lady Maege had thanked them profusely for their help in saving her people, especially her daughter. After the ceremony of bread and salt, they were shown to the rooms they would be staying, or in case of the injured, led towards the Maester's rooms. Asher only had dislocated his shoulder, nothing was broken. The Maester set it straight in no time. But his real injury was the gash on his chest, he needed stitches for that, though the Maester assured him that he would be right as the rain once again in a fortnight. Jon too received stitches for his leg, though he knew he would be fighting fit by the next morning, the wound would trouble him still for a week.

Lady Maege had thrown a feast in the honour of the Future Warden of the North and his companions, also to thank them for their help stopping the Ironborns. News had been spread how it was Jon who had led the men to capture the longships in the dark of the night, swimming in freezing water. And later how he had led the defence with only five men to back him. Legend of the White Wolf had reached a new level that night. The attraction of Jon for the ladies had also reached a new height. Dacey and Alysane, the two oldest Mormont daughters, glued themselves at his sides. Though somewhat jealous, the other three had thoroughly enjoyed Jon's discomfort at being the centre of attention of the two ladies. Only the excuse of the leg injury had saved Jon from dancing with every woman present at the hall. He was scared out of his wits by how some of them were openly drooling while looking at him.

[CotW]

The next morning, Lord Reed found Jon standing alone on the battlement of the wooden walls around Mormont keep. He was absent-minded stroking Gale's feathers who was perched on his shoulder and looking at the rising sun. He went to stand beside him.

"What is troubling you, lad?"

"I am looking at the sun, My Lord, the start of a new day…and thinking how Jared and Aaron, the other man who died, won't ever get to experience a new day."

"They died fighting in a battle, Jon. That is the honourable way to go for all Northmen."

"Aye, they died with honour. But My Lord, it was I who led them to their deaths. I promised them that they would be safe, but ultimately, they had lost their lives. How do I stand before their friends now, My Lord? What do I say to the families that lost their sons for my decisions?"

Howland sighed, "I believe this is why Lord Stark had given you and Lord Robb the command here. He wants you to feel the weight you must carry to lead men into battles. For you are not putting just your own life at risk, but also the men that you are leading. Nobody could teach you these lessons, these are some things that you have to learn on your own. I am not much of a commander myself, but I am a Lord to my keep. I have men who depended on me. I have to make decisions every day for the betterment of them. What I can provide you with is advice. Tell me, what do you think would have happened to the people that the Ironborns were abducting?"

"They would have been tortured and raped and would have become slaves to those bastards."

"So do you regret risking the lives of your men and your own saving them?"

"No, I don't! I will risk my life however many times I have to I will do so to help my fellow men!"

Howland smiled at him, "As you should. Now, did you force…Jared and Aaron, to stand and fight with you?"

Jon lowered his head, "No, I gave them all a chance to go and wait out the fight. I was ready to fight the Iron-borns all on my own. But Asher, the bloody idiot that he is, stood firm by my side. Jared, Aaron…the other two, they all stayed behind…"

"Aye, they stayed because they believed in your cause, believed in you. Asher, from what I have seen, is your best friend, he is your brother in all but blood. So is Torrhen. It was a very hard thing to restrain Robb from going alone to your help. I am sure they would have done the same thing if they were there with you at the dock. As for the men, they volunteered to go with you when you asked. They followed you through freezing water, helped you capturing and destroying the Ironborn's ships. They knew that leaving the reavers alone meant that they will come back again in the future. They will come back again to kill their fathers, brothers, sons. They will be there again to torture and rape their mothers, their sisters, daughters. That was why they fought beside you, to save their friends and family. They didn't leave you because they saw you were ready to throw away your life for the protection of others. They followed a fearless leader in a battle to the death. That is the only advice I can give you, Jon. Always lead by example."

Howland turned towards him, "Never ask your men to do something that you would hesitate to do yourself. You have started on the path to becoming a great warrior, people began to take notice of your skills, you have earned their respect. Already stories are told about how the White Wolf stood firm facing a horde with only five men backing him. History has witnessed how soldiers followed men who braved impossible odds and led to victories several times. You are born with the blood to be such a leader of men, lad. Never doubt that."

Jon nodded and turned his head once again towards the rising sun.

"Do you think she would have approved my actions?" He asked in a small voice.

Howland chuckled, "Lad, she would have done exactly what you did. The fearless attitude that you have, you got that from her. And like him, you got your leadership abilities. People were ready to lay their lives down for the Bard Prince. You reflect both of them…and they would have been damn proud of the man you are becoming."

Jon had a beaming smile on his face hearing that. Howland patted his back and turned towards the keep, reminding him to attend the meeting with Lady Maege after breaking their fast. Jon told him that he would follow him back inside in a little while. He was feeling much better than when he woke up that morning.

Gale rubbed her head to Jon's cheek, Jon chuckled, "Aye, I am feeling alright, love." He turned his head to look at her amber eyes, "Thank you for taking care of me, princess."

Gale replied with a screech.

*Line Break*

When the visiting nobles gathered in the solar of Lady Maege and brought her up to date with everything that had become known and planned only among the lords of the North, disbelief etched on her face. The Skagosi couldn't possibly trek through an entire continent just to invade their little island, could they? Then, Jon recounted his experiences - all of them. From the attack on Karhold to the skirmish at Last Lake. What the Skagosi had revealed during his interrogation by the Umbers. Then they presented her with the letter from Lord Stark. It didn't matter if she believed them or not, she had to carry out the orders given to her by her liege lord.

It was decided that half of the men they had brought with themselves would start repairing and fortify the walls around the settlements. The other half would help with the training of men. They would be on the rotation of fifteen days, where one half would take over the duties of the other. Sometimes fresh eyes were needed to see if there was any gap in what they thought to be a solid defence.

Jon and Robb would take commands of each half. They had their seconds-in-command as Ser Wendel and Jory Cassel to guide them in their duties. Lord Reed and the Crannogmen were in charge of setting out traps. They would dig out trenches and pitfalls and fill them with wooden stakes. The supplies they had brought with them would help with the initial setups of the defence. Lord Stark had promised that further supplies of weapon, food and other assorted materials would be sent for the forces that would be living on the Island for near about a year.

[CotW]

After their wounds were healed, Jon and the others were taken to practice hard in the yard. Jon was training Robb with the Starks' Way of Swords. He was training with Howland on proper handling of blowpipes and tridents or spears. He was supervising the men with their drills and fortification of their defences. He never had a moment just to sit quietly. After a couple of months of the same routine, Lord Reed came up with a plan of having a small competition among the forces as well as the residents of the Island. That would test the progressions and also could provide some entertainments and relaxation to the men that were working hard so that they didn't burn out too early.

The competition was planned for two divisions, one for the common soldiers and smallfolk and the other for the nobles. There would only be melee and archery contests. The soldier's melee would be fought in groups, and then one on one combat between the last ten standing as there were more people in that division. The nobles would follow the standard melee rules.

The soldiers had their competition first, they had enjoyed fighting the mock battles to prove their mettle. Mormont men vs. Stark men, Karstark men vs. Manderly men., Crannogmen vs. Flint men and all of the possible combinations. In the end, it was a Crannogman who won the archery event and a Mormont soldier who won the melee.

When it was the nobles' turn, it was a forgone conclusion that Jon would win the archery event. Only Lord Reed had provided a little bit of competition to him. Else, all fell short to even perform near his level. The melee on the other hand became free for all. Everyone who took part had fought to their best. But the most memorable bouts were when Robb fell to his mentor, Ser Wendel. Jory, after defeating Torrhen, fell to Jon. Asher proved to be a tough opponent when he fell the Flint captain but bit the dust against the experience of Lord Reed. The most entertaining fight was between Maege Mormont and her daughter Dacey. The duo didn't leave an inch to the other in their fight, trying to bash each other's head. In the end, it was the daughter who emerged as the winner of that duel only because Lady Maege was out of her breath. The penultimate fights were decided to be between Lord Reed and Jon while Dacey would face Ser Wendel.

Jon had taken to wield two swords for the tourney, he was facing Lord Reed who had a spear and a buckler on his hands.

"My Lord, shall we dance?"

Howland smirked at him, "I have fought with another dual wielder, you know? Mayhaps the greatest swordsman of all time, Ser Arthur. Show me what you can do."

And show him was exactly what Jon did. He was a long way from becoming even close to the rank of Ser Arthur, but he was fast on his feet, he was agile and wove between the strikes aimed at him, and his own strikes were lightning quick. Above all, he was constantly changing his offensive and defensive arms and kept his opponent guessing. Thanks to his hours of practice and Maester Luwin's brilliant idea of using his non-dominant arm regularly for menial tasks had enabled him to use both of his arms simultaneously. Even though Howland fought against him quite brilliantly, soon he found his buckler wrenched from his hand, his spear trapped between Jon's arm and body and a sword pointed at his throat.

"Do you yield, My Lord?"

"Aye, I yield."

Among the noise of clamouring and whooping audience, Howland clapped Jon's shoulder and spoke in a quiet tone, "You are indeed becoming quite a swordsman, Aemon. But you have yet much to learn. I hope you get that chance quite soon." He winked at him before collecting his effects and left the field.

Jon was surprised by Howland's words. What did he mean by all that? Another thought arose in his mind, he said at the beginning that he had fought 'with' a dual wielder, shouldn't he say fought 'against' one? He didn't dwell on that any longer as another bout of applause declared the end of the other duel. Dacey Mormont had emerged victorious against Ser Wendel. The knight was grumbling good-naturedly about aggressive she-bears, Dacey laughed at his comments.

The final fight of the tourney, Dacey Mormont vs. Jon Snow. The combatants began to circle each other. Dacey gave Jon a smirk.

"Come on then, Wolf, I won't bite…much."

Jon gave a wolfish smile in return, he started to run towards Dacey. She swung her mace at the onrushing Jon but he slid down beneath her extended arm and leapt up reaching behind her. He had dropped his blades and grabbed hold of her wrist and twisted it to make her drop her mace. Shocked by the way Jon attacked her, Dacey tried to turn around and bash his head with her shield. He moved with her and put his left leg in between her legs and braced himself, he heaved and flipped her over by grabbing her shoulder. Dacey crashed down on the ground and became disoriented enough for Jon to straddle on her waist and pin her left arm with the shield on the ground with his right while pressing his left forearm under her chin. The fight was over almost within a couple of blinks. The crowd was quiet seeing the unorthodox moves.

Torrhen, who was watching the fight from the sideline, slapped Asher on the back hard enough to almost sending him to the ground, "I don't believe it…he put the 'Karhold' on her!"

"Do you yield, My Lady?"

Dacey took a few moments from getting over the disorientation, she looked up to Jon and gave him a saucy smile, "If I don't, will you punish me?"

Jon went red from her words, making Dacey smile even viciously.

"My, you are quite forward, aren't you, Jon Snow? You have already gotten on top of me, in front of everyone nonetheless."

Seeing a spluttering Jon, Dacey gave out a laugh, "I yield, Wolf, the day is yours."

Jon got up on his feet and helped her to stand up. The audience had gone wild, chanting of "White Wolf" came from all around. Jon gave a bow to Lady Maege as the host and waved to the people.

Dacey ran a hand through her hair, she was standing with her hips cocked to a side, accentuating her curves even more. "I enjoyed our time together, Wolf. I hope this is not our only tumble together."

She gave him a wink and went out of the makeshift arena, her hips were swaying in a mesmerizing way. Robb, Asher and Torrhen came rushing to him, speaking all at once.

"Bloody hell, Jon, what the fuck was that?"

"You put the karhold on her…wait till I tell this to Harrion and Eddard."

"I now personally worship you, please teach me your ways, oh wise one."

Jon took a step back and held up his arms, "Easy there, lads. One at a time…and to answer each of you – That was one of the hand-to-hand combat techniques we practised at the Karhold, aptly named after the keep where it was developed; No Torrhen, don't you dare telling them about this and finally, fuck you, Forrester."

"I am sure you would prefer a certain she-bear instead."

They all broke into laughter.

Ping!

Quest Completed!

Win the tourney of the Bear Island

Reward: Exp +50

+10 Gold Dragons

[CotW]

The feast that night was a jolly affair. Noble-borns and Common folks all gathered together to celebrate their wins. The air in the Mormont keep that night was full of laughter, music and merriment. Jon didn't have the excuse of a lame foot this time to hide behind, so he was passed around the dance floor among the ladies, everyone wanted the chance to get up close to the hero of Bear Island, winning the tourney only added to the flame.

Jon found his way into Dacey's arms after a few dances with the other ladies. The heir to the Mormont seat was resplendent in a flowing blue gown. Jon decided that she was as amazing on the dance floor as she was on the battlefield.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Jon?"

"Aye, My Lady…"

Dacey cut him off, "Call me Dacey, I don't give a shit about all those stuffy courtesies."

"As you say, My…Dacey."

She raised an eyebrow, "Your Dacey? Becoming possessive, are you, Wolf?"

She let out a peal of tinkling laughter at his spluttering. "Forgive me, that was too good to pass on."

Jon gave her a shy smile in return.

"My little sisters have become quite fond of you, Jon."

Jon became excited talking about her sisters, he truly loved little children. "Aye, they are such treasures. Lyra and Jorelle are near about the same ages as Arya back home and little Alys Karstark. Like them, these two are also quite fond of stories and mock adventures that I take them on. And like all women of Bear Island, they were born to wield arms, and I have a little experience in that, so they badger me till I gave in…and Baby Lyanna…"

"She was named after your aunt; do you realize that?"

Jon gave her a fond smile at that question. If only she knew – he thought. Baby Lyanna indeed captured a special place in her heart with just her name alone, it was only a plus for her that she was also very adorable.

"Aye, your lady mother had told me. You honour my family."

"Please, Lady Lyanna Stark was said to be the true winter rose of the North. We heard tales about her kindness for her people, also how she never shied away from putting the males in their places. We can only hope that our Lyanna grows up to be like her."

They danced in silence for a few minutes.

"You haven't asked about our father…"

"It is not my place to ask such questions, My Lady."

She slapped his shoulder, "Dacey, Jon, Dacey. Come on, say with me, Dacey."

He gave her an irritated look, "Fine, Dacey then, happy now?"

"It warms my heart to hear my name coming from your lips." She gave him a teasing smile.

Jon gave out a frustrated sigh. She laughed again and pulled herself closer to his body. The song they were dancing to was coming to its end. Dacey put her lips near Jon's ear. Her warm breath on his skin made him shiver pleasingly.

"They say that my mother went to the woods and found a bear to beget us. I am thinking of following in her footsteps. Mayhaps I will find myself a wolf in the woods, who knows?"

She gave him a peck on his cheek and walked away attracting his eyes on her undulating hips.

Jon stood there dumbfounded with a hand on his cheek. Women truly confounded him.

*Line Break*

The time drew nearer when they all estimated that the Skagosi would attack. The supplies from Winterfell and other lords helped the Islanders to arm every fighting man and woman as well as fortify their defences. Jon and Howland Reed had taken to find secluded places each sunrise and sunset for Jon to warg into Gale and take a look around for anything suspicious. Jon flew far to the Sea Dragon Point under Gale's skin and saw movements of men there, making camps and securing supplies. He couldn't see any banners flying as the men were warned from doing so, but he was sure that the men from White Harbour, Widow's Watch, The Rills, Castle Cerwyn had gathered there. Men from Dreadfort and Hornwood had also joined them by now…probably.

He didn't see any gatherings or movements around the foothill of the Northern Mountains. The Mountain Clans with Umber and Karstark men should already be there by then. Jon was getting restless. He asked Howland if it would be beneficial to send a raven to the Clans. Howland disagreed. His opinion was that if the Clans were already on the movement, then sending ravens would be futile. He told Jon to have faith in his uncle. Ned Stark would be there for sure.

[CotW]

Jon was having trouble sleeping, he tossed and turned for about an hour in futility to fall asleep, but sleep was a cruel mistress that eluded him that night. With a frustrated sigh, he got up and dressed. He would take a walk around the settlements and inspect the defences to soothe his mind. The sentries around the walls bowed to him when they saw their commander walking among them. He stopped here and there speaking with his men, when suddenly a guard, whose group was stationed at the eastern side keeping watch on the mainland, came to him running.

"M'lord, you need to come with me quickly."

Jon didn't waste any time asking questions and ran with the guard towards their post. At first, he couldn't see anything in the darkness. The guard who came for him pointed towards a specific area where it seemed the shadows had clustered around. Jon tried to look closer but was still unable to see anything. At his mental nudge, a grumpy Gale woke from her sleep and took flight. Soon, she sent him images of men crossing the sea in small boats and rafts. Jon turned towards the men.

"Go and wake Lady Maege and Lord Robb. The Skagosi are coming."

He put a hand on the shoulder of the guard who came to him, "You have keen eyes, my friend. You may have saved us all yet."

[CotW]

They were battle-ready within minutes and standing at their stations with anticipations. Howland was with Jon while he took a flight in Gale's body, trying to take a measure of the oncoming horde. Even Gale's eyes weren't good enough to see clearly through the darkness, still what he saw made his heart plummet to his stomach. He went back to his body and stared around with wide eyes.

"There are more men than we previously thought. By my estimate, the Skagosi had near about five thousand men or more."

Everybody around him started to talk all at once. They had a right to be anxious, even with the visiting company, the total fighting hands they had were about six to seven hundred strong. Lady Maege's voice rose above the din.

"It doesn't matter if they are five thousand or ten thousand. They dare to attack our homes. We will fight till the last man and woman. We will not go quietly. If we die tonight, we will die with honour. Let us show this Skagosi the might of the bears. Here. We. Stand."

Everyone roared in unison. They would fight till their last breath. Jon hoped that his uncle reached them on time with his forces.

[CotW]

Roose Bolton took command at Sea Dragon Point nearly a month ago. He had trekked through all around Wolfswood as Lord Stark commanded. When he arrived at Winterfell with his men, he had to face scandalous complaints by Ned Stark about what his bastard was doing in his lands. Though he never admitted that Ramsay was his, he was still pissed that the Stark bastard had killed his son. He tried to curb Ramsay of his ways, but he was wild, and that whoreson Reek had twisted his mind even further. All things considered, he lost a son in the end, and he would bide his time and would have his revenge.

The Glovers had managed to secure the fishing boats as was planned. But they were insufficient to ferry all his men across the sea to the Bear Island. He ordered his men to fell trees from the woods nearby and made rafts, it was a slow and arduous process. It certainly didn't help with all the whining of Halys Hornwood. That man loved to whine about everything. It grated at Roose's patience.

He was having a tankard of ale when a guard posted outside of his tent told him that he had a messenger waiting for him. He gulped it all in one go and stood up securing his sword belt tightly. Mayhaps the time for battle was finally there. He got out of his tent.

"Where is he?"

"He is at the command tent, m'lord. Lord Horwood be questioning him."

Irritation flared in his mind, he strode towards the command tent with fast steps. Reaching the tent, he whipped the curtain on the entrance out of his way. The guard seemed to be reporting to Hornwood, and he sat there nodding his head sagely, the fool.

Roose smiled inwardly seeing the look of terror on the soldier's face. Good, they should all fear him. He took a seat and peered at him, in his whispering voice he asked –

"What is your message?"

The soldier gulped being addressed by the infamous Lord Bolton, he stammered, "I-I was posted as one of the l-lookouts, m'lord. I s-saw the Skagosi m-moving about, taking boats and r-rafts and sailing off. I-I rode hard t-to give my r-report to you."

"How many men do you reckon, give me an estimate."

"I-I don't know, m'lord."

"What about their weapons, what do they carry?"

"I-I didn't s-see clearly, m'lord." The man was sweating in buckets.

"What good is your report then? Get out of my sight."

The soldier looked relieved to be getting out of there. Hornwood was looking troubled.

"What are we to do now, My Lord?"

"We do exactly what we are here to do, we sail for Bear Island and attack them from behind."

"In this darkness? We can't even see farther than our hands." He whined.

"Aye, the Skagosi are inconsiderate that way. We are yet to have sufficient rafts for all our men. We need to divide our forces and make the trip twice. I will be going with the first half, you will stay back and join us later with the second half as reinforcement."

Hornwood looked as if he sucked a lemon whole. Fucking idiot.

[CotW]

Jon had a company of Crannogmen with him. He and Lord Reed had taken commands of the archers and stationed themselves on the battlements at both sides of the eastern gate. Robb and Lady Meage were commanding from the top of the gatehouse. Ser Wendel and Dacey stood on the ground in command of the infantry. Asher and Torrhen stood at either side of Jon, bows ready in hand.

The Skagosi had landed in drove and were rushing towards them.

"Nock!"

"Draw!"

"Loose!"

Hundreds of arrows soared through the air and found their targets. Men fell on the ground giving out pained cries of death. Many fell into the traps and pitfalls laid about the beach. The ground soaked in the blood of the dead and dying. Still, the Skagosi kept coming in waves. Jon thanked the Old Gods that they didn't have siege engines with them, else it would have been a foregone conclusion of their death. What the Skagosi did have, were long poles with grooves cut in intervals for hand and footholds. They carried the poles forward in groups, trying to brace the ends against the foot of the wall and push it upwards with one or two clinging at the other end, they were to reach the top of the walls and attack the men around them, securing a clear way for the others to climb up. Archers were covering for the pole-bearers; they were shooting at the men on top of the wall. Soldiers fell from those arrows, still, they continued to shoot, trying to bring as many men with poles down as they could. A few of the Skagosi managed to uplift their poles against the wall and land on top of the battlements. They fought like wild beasts. The first few soldiers fell to the sheer ferocity their enemies showed. Jon slung his bow back on his shoulder and took out Freedom and his dagger. He couldn't use Frost in such close combat situation, where a missed swing could take out a man on their side. He shouted at his men to keep shooting and skipped over the bodies to join in the fray.

He ducked down a swing of a cudgel and drove his dagger to the man's throat. The next one came at him with a spear. Jon didn't have enough room to dodge about, so he approached him straight on. The man thrusted the spear at his midsection, Jon turned sideways and let the spear go by, but he brought down Freedom and broke the spear shaft in half. He kicked the man in the chest which made him topple off the wall. He had reached to the pole that was leaning on the wall, he looked down to see Skagosi were already scaling up the pole, he called for the men around him and put their shoulders to the pole.

"Heave!"

They pushed with all their might and dislodged the pole and made it fall along with the men that were clinging to it. Another pole had landed by then a few feet away. Jon brought out his weapons and again went to fight.

"Jon!" Robb yelled from the top of the gatehouse.

Jon looked towards his frantic cousin, Robb was waving his arms wildly pointing down to the oncoming horde.

"Ram!"

His heart sank. He looked over the wall to see a large group of men were carrying a huge tree trunk, rushing towards the gate to use it as a battering ram. The size of it was so huge that it would breach the gate in just a few ramming.

"Bring them down!" Jon yelled at the archers.

"Dacey, Ser Wendel, brace the gates!" Lady Maege commanded down to the yard.

The men in the yard rushed towards the gates. They put shields pressed up on the gates and braced their shoulders against them.

"Hold, men!" Ser Wendel commanded.

The men on the wall started to shoot arrows at the men carrying the ram. But they had wooden bucklers strapped to their arms which they were holding up, covering their heads and torsos. The arrows embedded themselves in the bucklers, not impeding their advancement.

"Asher, shoot them in their legs!" Jon yelled out.

Archers changed their targets and started to shoot at their legs, but by then, they had reached the gates and rammed into it hard. The wooden gate groaned from the impact.

"Brace, men, put your feet to the ground!" Ser Wendel yelled.

Robb and Lady Maege had come down from the gatehouse. They, along with the men with them, pushed on the backs of the men before them to put more pressure on the shields.

The Skagosi rammed once again at the gate. With a loud snapping noise, the gate gave in. the ram broke through and got lodged into the woods. The middle portion of the gates was broken backwards, making gaps. But the bar on the gate still held, locking the gates at their places. The men were knocked off their feet by the impact on the gates. They jumped back up and tried to dislodge the ram, getting hacked and sliced by the Skagosi who was reaching through the gaping hole. Robb had received a gash on his shoulder.

"Spears!" Lady Maege ordered.

Men with spears rushed forward, thrusting out with spears through the gaps trying to drive the Skagosi back from the gates. Archers continued to rain arrows from above.

[CotW]

Ned was restless sitting in the boat. They had lost valuable times coming through the mountain path. The path was always treacherous; nobody knew when a rockslide would block their way. They had lost days in moving boulders and clearing the path for the army. Thankfully, most of the forces had already gathered at the foothills. But they couldn't take any action in absence of their commanders. All the Clan leaders but Orys Wull were following them in the next boat. The Wull, Lords Umber and Karstark were with him on the same boat. Both the lords were fuming at opposite sides. The prickly lord of Umbers had raised serious objections about his place in the boats when they were all getting on. After Arthos Flint got in, there was no place left for Greatjon to climb aboard. He started to yell to all and sundry, insulting Lord Rickard in the process. Ned already had his patience running thin, worrying about his sons. He would have punched the Umber Lord, not caring if he actually would hurt him or not, if Arthos didn't leave the boat and offered his place to Greatjon to appease him. But Rickard by then had gotten mad because of insults thrown at him. He even threatened to take his men back. Ned couldn't believe it. Here were lords of noble houses, behaving like small children, and his sons, who were so much younger than all of them, fighting a battle, mayhaps even at the cost of their lives. He grabbed the side of the boat so tightly in anger that his knuckles had turned white.

"What is troubling you, The Ned?" Orys asked him.

"My sons are there, fighting a battle for us and here we are, behaving like little brats."

"Ah, you know how they are. That shouldn't anger you so."

"My sons are there, Orys, fighting for their lives. They stand alone!" Ned snapped at him.

"Not for long. Clansmen, put your backs to it!" Orys ordered the oarsmen. The boats picked up the pace.

[CotW]

There was a lull in the battle. The Skagosi had pulled back and were trying to regroup away from the range of the arrows. The men at Mormont keep were getting their injured and dead companions back inside of the keep and repairing what they could of the broken gates. The commanders were having a meeting of their own.

Lord Reed broke the silence, "We are running low on arrows. We cannot hold up another attack like this."

Lady Mormont snapped, "Where are Lord Stark and his reinforcements?" She was massaging her shoulder which she had injured while bracing the shields.

Everyone turned towards Jon. He nodded and warged into Gale. A few minutes later he snapped his eyes open.

"They are coming. They are late but they are coming now. Both from Sea Dragon Point and the Northern Mountains. I saw boats and rafts full of men."

"Are you sure they are not Skagosi?" Ser Wendel asked, sporting a cut above his right eye.

"Aye, I am sure. They had armours and castle forged steels on them."

"But what if the Skagosi attack in the meantime? How are we to repel them again?" Robb sounded out his doubt, nursing his wounded shoulder.

That had them all thinking hard. It would be very difficult to repel another attack without helps from archers.

"Let us ride out and meet them." Jon looked up to everybody.

"What? Are you out of your fucking mind, lad?" Lady Maege growled at him.

"Mayhaps. But listen to me…"

Jon had another insane glint on his eyes, just like he had before he jumped into freezing water to capture Iron-born ships. The others shared looks between them, thinking what mad scheme he had thought up this time.

"The Skagosi are disorganized now. They didn't expect our defences to be this strong. It is clear that they don't have any competent leaders among them, else they would not have tried to attack the same way over and over again. I say we ride out. We were just defending from their attacks till now, we haven't attacked ourselves. We ride out and put the fears of Gods in them. They don't have the armours or shields to withstand a cavalry attack. If we can time our assault, we can scatter them enough for them to notice the army coming from behind. We can crush them between us."

Everybody had a thoughtful look on their faces.

"It is a viable plan…" Said Ser Wendel.

"Aye, we can pull this off…"

Dacey jumped to her feet, "Great, then let us get our horses ready."

"Oh no, you are not coming with us, lass." Lady Maege got to her feet too.

"What? You are japing, aren't you?"

"No, I am not. You are to stay behind and look after the defences."

"No way in Seven Hells I am doing that."

"Don't try that tone on me, girl. You will do what you are told…"

The screaming duo of mother and daughter went back to the keep. Robb let out a chuckle.

"Heh, I would hate to be near whoever loses that fight."

Jon cleared his throat and patted him on his uninjured shoulder.

"Er…you are staying back too, Stark."

"What? No fucking way! You are not leaving me behind once again, Snow!"

"Robb, please try to understand…"

"Why? Give me one good reason, Jon. And it is better not be 'because you are the heir.'"

"That is exactly why you should stay back, brother. You are the future Lord Paramount of the North. We can't risk you. Besides, the men here will be needing a commander to lead them. I am sure Lady Maege will make Dacey stay behind. Help her mount the defences after we leave. Please, brother. I promised Sansa and Arya that I will take you back home safe. I gave my word to your mother that I will look after you. Please don't make me out to be a liar."

"What about you, Jon? Is your life so cheap that you always put yourself at risks?"

"Let me tell you a secret, brother, I am blessed by the Gods. You can't get rid of me that easily." Jon winked at him.

Robb scoffed hearing his answer.

"Believe what you will, Stark. But rest assured that I will come back. I give you my word, and you know how I always keep my words."

[CotW]

They had arranged for a hundred riders, all waiting lined up before the gates. Jon sat atop of his horse warged into Gale. He was keeping track of the advances of the reinforcements. Lord Reed had said that he was not much of a rider, he would be staying back helping Robb and Dacey with the defences. The sulking duo was standing beside him, glaring at the riders. Torrhen was also staying behind, being not so good rider himself.

Jon watched through Gale's eyes as the men in the boats had almost reached the shores. He came back to his body and gave a nod. Men put their shoulders to the battered bar and removed it from the gates after much wrestling. They started to canter out of the keep.

"Scared yet, Forrester?"

"Not on your life, Snow."

Lady Maege raised her mace above and yelled, "For the North!"

"For the North!" They all yelled back and kicked their mounts to run faster.

The Skagosi didn't expect a cavalry charge. The horses crashed into their lines and made them scatter. The steel swords or in the case of Lady Maege, the mace, they were wielding were too much for the Skagosi to defend from with their wooden shields and leather or bronze armours. Still, their number was so great that the losses they suffered were minimal. Soon, the horses were wedged in between foot soldiers and were attacked from all around. Many were wrenched from the top of the horses to the ground. Jon had abandoned his horse long ago, he and Asher stood back to back and were fighting in a frenzy. Jon lost track of how many men he had killed. Frost and Freedom had become red, drenched in the blood of enemies.

"I never thought that I will be dying while looking at your ugly mug, Snow."

"Oh, cry me a river, Forrester, you should pity me, you don't have to look at that thing you call your face."

Asher's reply cut short by the club he received at his head, he only survived because of his helm, still, he fell on the ground.

"Asher!" Jon yelled and whirled on his toe, taking the head off of Asher's assailant. He got down on one knee to check on him. Asher shook his head to clear off the dizziness.

"Aye, I am alright, Jon."

"Keep up, Forrester, we are not out of it yet." He helped him to get back on his feet.

They were showing this much arrogant attitude because they were sure that help was just a short while away, unlike the time when they stood against the Iron-borns. They got back into their positions and kept on fighting. Soon, instead of coming at them in continuous waves, their attackers were turning away from them.

"What is happening?"

"The reinforcement, Asher, they have arrived." Jon had a big smile on his face.