Chapter 11: Meet the family

Sansa's POV

Exhaustion clung to my bones, as it did to Pod and Brienne; both were struggling to keep their eyes open, with dark circles dancing beneath them. We had been running and hiding from the Boltons, but that wasn't what had us so tired. As we got closer and closer to the Wall, these horrible wails and screeches filled the air.

High-pitched and filled with anguish, they almost sounded like a deep rumbling or a roar. They screeched half the night, and after that, we just couldn't get back to sleep. I didn't know what kind of monster made that noise, but I didn't want to find out. Even as the wind whipped at us, the walls only a few hundred feet away, those scratches returned. A blur of strange light ran across the sky, moving too fast for me to see past the clouds.

Pod shivered, his black hair falling limp into his face, hiding his soft green eyes. His red-boiled leather and black cloak clung tightly against his skin, but he still shivered. I pulled my cloak closer, and Lady Brienne did the same.

Her blond tresses had grown out since our journey, reaching down to the lower part of her ears as her sapphire blue eyes studied me for a moment. Her crooked teeth were hidden behind thin pale lips. She was a strong woman, and she was the reason I had made it this far, along with Theon.

"My lady, are you sure? I don't trust it. Bastards can be treacherous, and those foul screeches…" I looked over at her pale skin, growing even paler than before. The wind whipped at our coats, forcing me to suppress a shudder as I spoke after a moment.

"Jon is our only hope to retake Winterfell, and he is my brother. I may have given him no reason to love me. The gods, old and new, both know I have been cruel, but even so, he is noble and honorable. He will do right by us. They say he is the Lord Commander, so his men will take us in if we ask."

I knew that she didn't trust him, and it had nothing to do with him being a bastard. I had been through horrors myself, so I could understand not wanting to be in a place where criminals, rapists, and thieves who hadn't seen women in years resided. She had fought off rapists in the War of the Five Kings, so I understood her apprehension, but it was the only place we would be safe, the only way to reclaim our home.

"I'm sure Jon won't let anything happen to us, plus we have Pod," I turned to look at Pod, flashing him a small smile as I watched him shiver. His teeth chattered, but he managed a smile back. His ax slapped against his belt as he looked miserable on his old brown mare.

His nose was runny and bright red, with globs of yellow snot dribbling out of his nose. But not once did he utter a single complaint. Brienne snorted, but she gave Pod a look before turning to gaze at the looming wall.

"If my lady says so, what does this brother of yours look like?" I chuckled lightly as I looked over to Lady Brienne.

"He has cold, piercing gray eyes, much like our father, and thick black curls that shine. He is lean yet muscular, with a very handsome face—high cheekbones and full lips that form the most breathtaking smile. Though he hasn't smiled much since we were small children. But whenever he was with Arya, you could hear their laughter in the great hall."

My heart ached as I thought back to the old days when we fought over trivial matters. I could still see Arya in my mind, mousy brown hair with a long sullen face like father and dependent gray eyes. She was always covered in scratches and bruises from her adventures. But now, she would be nothing more than a memory held close to my heart.

For the last stretch of snow-covered land, I spurred my horse on, only to see the large wooden gate kicked away, revealing the training yard. As I got closer, I could see two men in black blocking my path. One had a grim and long horse face with a camel hump kind of nose, faded brown hair, a curly beard, and pale brown eyes.

The other was a boy no older than 15 with bright amber eyes, fair skin, and blond hair. He had to be Southern. "No one in or out, turn around." The stern and cold voice from the Southern forced me to scoff angrily. There was no need for him to be rude. "My name is Sansa Stark. Where is my brother, your lord Commander Jon Snow?" I glanced coldly as I flipped my hair with the back of my hand, allowing it to spill down to my back as I slowly dismounted my horse.

Brienne slowly began to pull out Oathkeeper, the steel lighting up with a ground hue of colors as she dismounted from her horse. Pod stumbled as he got off his horse but managed to stay on his feet as he barely made his way over to defend me. "It's fine to let them in. I will get Jon." I watched a man with scraggly black hair and faded gray eyes, with a chin strap, staring at me in a mighty black cloak.

I took a few steps into the castle, only to be met with furious screeches that shook the earth. I didn't know where the screeches were coming from, but they echoed off the walls of the castle. A red blur came across my eyes as a shadow started to block out the sun. Quickly, I jumped back as Brienne brandished her sword.

Panic gripped me as I watched the dark shadow take the form of a dangerous leathery beast that I knew had to be a dragon. Its mighty red wings beat the air, forcing me to stumble to the ground. Panic forced my heart to thunder in my chest as I noticed the fresh blood dripping from her lips. Its razor-sharp claws dug deep into the ground as he opened her mouth and roared.

A blond stone stain stared back at me as burnt flesh and smoke filled my nose. I felt frozen, incapable of moving as two more dragons appeared. They were larger than this red dragon. One of them had a silver body and silver wings with streaks of gray and white, with a pure white tail. Just seeing it made my body seize up, my muscles turn to jelly, and I could barely keep myself from collapsing. Then there is the deep cobalt blue with swirls of navy blue on her throat and back.

Along with her long tail were razor-sharp spikes that could easily pierce my skin. I could see Brienne with her sword in hand, but her body refused to move. Her eyes widened with fear, and a terrified expression plastered on her face.

All I could think of was that I was going to die when a similar voice spoke in a tongue foreign to me but beautiful all the same. "Tessarion, Meleys, Tryaxes, Keligon sir issa ñuha lector se lī issi ñuha raqirossa."

I looked to see Jon walking over to me, his gray eyes lit with fire and determination. This was new. The silver and blue dragon backed down almost immediately, but the red one glared coldly at me. "Tryaxes, I'm safe from the bad men. They are dead. This is my sister's place. Be nice for me, okay?"

Jon's tone grew softer and filled with love, as if he were talking to a confused or lost child. Slowly, the dragons backed away, but there they were, all three of them, and all of them were larger than my horse, which, by the way, panicked and flew off across the yard before someone grabbed her.

Jon quickly jogged over to me, his black hair flowing behind him as he jumped in front of me. "Sorry about that. There was a mutiny, and I got injured. They're a little protective. Here, let me help you." His tone was light and gentle as love pooled in his eyes, but I felt like I was in shock. The whole world faded, and only the dragons remained.

"They were supposed to be dead, and yet they are here—terrifying, breathtaking, and gorgeous. I craned my neck to see Brienne, her grip tightening around the Valyrian sword, but she didn't move; she almost looked paralyzed by fear. Pod still collapsed to the ground, just like me, the snow soaking both of us as Jon chuckled gently at me. 'Sorry about that; I didn't want to scare your companions, but I told them to be on high alert.'

Slowly, I turned to Jon, one hand held out as the cold snow began to soak my cloak. He held a calloused hand out to me until I finally took it. Slowly, the fire died from his eyes as he pulled me into a breathtaking hug. His warmth overtook my own as I clutched tightly to his back and hid my face deep in the crook of his neck. The scent of smoke was heavy in his cloak but still a welcome scent. His fingers curled in my red hair as he gave a gentle kiss on my cheek before pulling out of the embrace, and with him, all of his warmth. 'Look at you, all grown up, and who are your friends?'

He turned to notice Brienne first, and within a moment, his posture turned threatening and cold as he stared at her blade. 'Put that away; I won't have you harming my girls.' His tone was cold and commanding like a true Lord Commander as flames flickered back into his eyes. Brienne stumbled forward but put her blade away as Pod began to rise from the snow. Jon simply nodded his head in thanks as Brienne and Pod moved very carefully, not wanting to startle the beast.

'This is Tyraxes; she is the smallest of the three but the fiercest and most protective. Tyraxes, this is my sister Sansa, her friends...' His tone died off as he realized that he didn't know their names. Giving both of them a guarded smile, he waited for them to say something, but all he got was silence as both Brienne and Pod seemed to be gawking. 'Pod and Brienne of Tarth.'

With a sharp nod, Jon turned to his red dragon, Tyraxes, and scratched beneath her chin. Soft purrs left the blood-soaked muzzles; her posture began to relax due to his touch as she watched me with hate burning in her eyes only for a moment before he pulled her hand from his. Why did the blue dragon push her slim yet large head against his back, demanding attention herself? She seemed a lot more friendly, unlike her sister Tyraxes, who is still glaring coldly at me, hate filling her slit ruby-red eyes.

Glaring sparkling at Brienne and Pod, she snapped at me one last time before flying off. 'Sorry, the dragons kinda have a mind link with me. I guess they like how you treated me, but give them time; usually they are more agressive around women.' With a sad, tentative shake, he moved to the right so that I could see the blue dragon, whose ocean-blue eyes were filled with so much depth that I felt like I might get lost in them. 'This is Meleys; Meleys, this is Sansa, Pod, and Brienne.'

I watched as she slowly sniffed each of us before focusing on Brienne. I thought that she might bite her, but instead, a forked red tongue licked her right on the face. With that, she too flew off, leaving a shell-shocked Brienne and a snickering Jon. 'Sorry about that; I should have warned you. Meleys is very friendly and loves licking and tackling people; it's kind of her thing.'

Globs of thick pink drool spilled down her face; her golden hair now had a whole cluster of cowlicks pointing in each direction. I couldn't help but giggle, and neither could Pod, though Brienne didn't look the least bit ashamed.

'How did you come by these dragons?' Her acute tone didn't seem to bother Jon, who seemed to be absently stroking the neck of the last dragon and the largest, the one that had the Stark colors. 'They called out to me in my sleep. I'm a warg, after all. They had me find the eggs that were hidden behind a crumbling wall. I then hatched them. Ain't that right, Tessarion? Tessarion here is the more intelligent and diligent out of the bunch; you see everything, don't you?'

Her silver mercury-colored eyes studied me blankly and impassively as she looked over to Brienne and Pod next. Her wings began to bat as she too took off in the sky, much like her sisters. Jon let out a sad huff before speaking kindly to the three of us. 'Come; we can talk in the mess hall.'

I was there, numb, my mind spiraling as I soaked in what he said. If I heard him right, there was an army of the dead coming, he had a magical link to the dragons, he could control animals with his mind, and he died and then came back to life. I wanted to laugh, but as I turned to look at the stern look on Jon's face and the faces of the men beside him, I knew it was true.

I looked over to Brienne in the hopes that she was dealing with this better than I am, but she seemed to be trying to shrink to get away from the red-haired man. I turned to see soup dripping down his beard as his blue eyes stared at her with longing.

Though the man to the left of Jon, I knew he was the one that allowed me in his gates; only now I know him as the new commander of the Night's Watch. The darkness of the room swirled around me as the soft orange light from the fire was the only thing that surrounded me; I could only watch the flames as my mind began to settle. That is why the Lannisters wanted Jon.

'Now it makes sense why they were so interested in you. They knew that you had dragons and wanted them, though they have to be fools if they thought that you would give up dragons for me. No offense; if it were reversed, I would keep my dragons."

I lightly joked as I watched Jon crack a smile, confusion filling his eyes before something clicked in them. "Right before I left for Hardhome, I got a visit from Tyrion, and some of his men came here asking about Janos Slynt and the dragon-related message he sent to Tywin in a letter, and also about the little queen. But I hid the dragons the moment I heard them at the gate. I left that same day, and since they didn't come back, they must have believed it."

With a sad shake of his head and a clipped laugh, the door began to open as one of the brothers handed Jon a letter from Winterfell. With every letter he read aloud, I could see the hate and fire burning in his eyes. His jaw clenched, and hate filled his voice. Even now, I could hear the smug voice of Ramsay playing in my head like a never-ending loop.

"If he wants war, then I'll give him fire and blood. You are not going back to that monster." The words seemed to slip so easily from his mouth, but I don't think he even realized he was saying the house words of the Targaryens. His lips pulled into an angry sneer as he spoke in an even tone, "We can head to the other house, the lesser one, and ask them for aid, but we won't tell them we have three dragons. My girls aren't even a year old, so they aren't as strong yet, and I don't want them telling that beast Ramsay. If they refuse the call, that is fine. But giving away the only advantage we have is just foolish."

Just like that, the war council began. He dipped his head low, his face growing impassive as he spoke a language that I had never heard of. Only the ginger responded, a slight grin on his face as he nodded his head and began to rise. "It's the old tongue, something that I picked up while over the wall. Ygritte spent weeks teaching it to me."

Saddened by the thought, Jon looked up at me as he began to rise. An easy and living smile formed on his face, but I could see the sadness glinting deeply in his eyes. "Come, it's time that you met the Free Folk. They will be our first stop. Then we can head to Lyanna Mormont on Bear Island and then Lord Glover and so on."

As he stood there with that commanding presence and kind smile, all I could see was Father—strong yet kind and merciful. It made my heart ache to think about him, but having Jon here at my side gave me hope that soon we would have our home back. Quickly, Pod and Brienne began to rise next to me, and together we made our way out of the mess to make the preparations.

A few months later (I sped up the time because we all know that they spent the time before the battle marshaling their forces for the Battle of the Bastards).

His horse shifted its feet against the ground, unearthing the dirt of the deep green hills, the scent of dew still clinging to both the grass and the air. Ramsay's pale blue, almost gray eyes studied me with devious intent. His black curls not even past his ears, but still covering his massive forehead.His thin lips pulled into an ugly smile as a sense of sick satisfaction filled his eyes. He resisted the urge to lick his lips, no doubt thinking about how he had violated me repeatedly. But he wouldn't be doing that ever again. His lips began to move as he spoke to Jon, but I heard nothing. All I could think was that there were dragons hidden in the sky, waiting for their riders to call out and kill these fools. That alone forced a warmth to bubble in my stomach. It didn't matter how many men he had; they couldn't defeat dragons.

Though the joy that had once bubbled in my chest died when a thick, black severed head from a direwolf stared at me. His once luminous green eyes had dimmed, and his silky black fur was now cloaked in dirt and blood, with flies buzzing around his head. Only disgust filled me as I inched my horse closer, my rage and hatred for this man no longer concealed behind an impassive face. "Lord Bolton, sleep; tomorrow you'll die." My cold and venomous tone forced a smile to pull at his lips, but I whirled my mare around and took off back to Castle Black.

As I approached the broken gate, I could see a silver beast hidden among the snow. Only her soft hiss told me that she was there. Her mercury-colored eyes stared at me, and once she determined I was not a threat, she went back to sleep. My mare, on the other hand, bucked wildly and neighed as if the only thing she wanted was to get away from her.

As I approached the broken gate, I spotted a silver beast concealed in the snow. Her soft hiss assured me she was there. Her mercury-colored eyes locked onto me, and once she determined I posed no threat, she returned to slumber. My mare, on the other hand, bucked wildly and neighed as if her sole desire was to escape the creature.

I chuckled gently before dismounting slowly. After removing the tack from my horse, I walked out to see the silver beauty that I believe Jon called Tessarion. Judging by the name, she must be of Valyrian origin, though why, I couldn't tell you. My excitement got the best of me, and I took a few tentative steps closer. The ground here lacked any snow and almost felt dry. As I approached, I could feel the heat emanating from her body. Kneeling a few feet from her, I cautiously began to remove my gloves. The cold slapped against my cheeks, turning them red, and my fingers stiffened as the frigid air attacked them.

But as my hand drew nearer, the warmth from her body enveloped my hands, filling me with a comforting heat. And then, I was touching her. The diamond scales were smooth against my palm, and the warmth of her skin made sweat bead on my brow and back. The heat intensified until, finally, I withdrew my hand with a gasp and tears welled up in my eyes.

"Their skin is quite hot; it will take some time to get used to," Jon said as I turned to see him leaning on the balls of his feet. Tessarion raised her head at the sound, affection in her eyes. I looked at Jon and then back at Tessarion, a multitude of questions swirling in my mind.

"Why not give them Northern names? They were born in the North, the first of their kind in centuries," I suggested, turning back to Jon. His expression grew somber, and a sad smile tugged at his lips. I began to don my fire-lined gloves as the cold from the Wall began to seep into my bones.

"Aemon Targaryen was the last of his line, other than his niece overseas. After the dragons hatched, he taught me everything he knew. He told me that the dragon lords of Old Valyria would name their dragons after the 14 gods of Old Valyria. I wanted to keep the tradition. He did a lot for me, especially in this last year, so I thought it only right to honor that one wish. Plus, I like their names; they are the ones that will go down in northern history, maybe even all of Westeros.

To be honest, it's scary, but I can speak High Valyrian, and I never learned it. Watch. Tessarion Jiragon arghugon yn umbagon hen hen sight." His voice shifted easily into High Valyrian, the same language from a week ago. She flew quickly into the sky, vaulting through a cloud before disappearing in a flash."

I stared up at the sky, mystified, and for a moment, I felt like a little girl again, and all those stories I heard didn't seem so foolish. He chuckled sadly. "I told her to go hunt but to stay out of sight. Wouldn't want Ramsay to know we have a secret weapon. I get what you mean; he is a devious man, and I won't let him take Rickon without a fight."

I knew what he meant; Ramsay had a way of toying with people, making them think they have won right before pulling victory out of their grasp. Still, if it weren't for the wails on the first night at Castle Black, I wouldn't have even known there were dragons. "You kept the dragons well hidden, even from the Northerners."

At my praise, he simply shrugged his shoulders casually as he helped me to my feet, a small smirk pulling at his lips as he spoke with ease. "I'm glad you're here; you have no idea how lonely it was knowing that you were out there, but I couldn't get to you. As for the dragons, I have them fly high above the clouds so that no one can see them, plus, thanks to the gift, there is no one out here for miles. Anyway, come on, let's get you warmed up. Watch out, Ramsay; we are coming for you." A smile formed on my face. We move out tomorrow, and trust me, he is going to regret the day he messed with House Stark. Winter is coming, and we are bringing fire and blood with it.