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Chapter 4: Ch 4-FrostChapter Text

The Lords Solar, Winterfell

Eddard was sitting behind the desk while looking over the reports sent by his bannermen on their remaining food stock. Winter had just ended and he needed to see what was the overall conditions of his lands. To prepare better for the next winter, he needed to see which of his bannermen were struggling and which were thriving. It was the duty of every Lord of Winterfell to make sure the next winter is better than the last.

If the winter had lasted even a year longer then a lot of the population in the villages all over the north would have starved. Not that it would be a new thing, it's how people in the north have lived for a long time, whenever times get hard the older men will go out to hunt in the night and never come back. Things like these make the smallfolk dream of a summer that lasts forever, however, the Starks know that no matter how long summer lasts, Winter is Coming.

He put aside the report after a few minutes while massaging his forehead and looked over a message from the mormonts, they reported an increase in raids from Ironborn and also noted large patches of forest disappearing, most probably stolen by the reavers for their ships. Eddard hoped that it was just a couple of drunk rogue reavers and not something more sinister. He still decided that he would write a letter to Robert to tell him about the ironborn problem.

He was going over a message benjen had sent from Wall when a knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.

"Come in!" Eddard said while putting the message aside. The door to his solar opened, and Maester Luwin came inside while closing the door behind him.

"You called for me My Lord," Maester Luwin said while coming to stand before his desk.

"Yes, please take a seat," Eddard said while pointing toward the seat, "How is Catelyn doing now, Maester? Is her fever down yet,"

"Lady Catelyn is fine now and even her fever has come down," Maester Luwin said while shuffling his chains, "so I don't think there will be any complication with the birth,"

"That is good news, Maester!" Eddard said while sighing in relief.

"Why don't you visit her, My Lord," Maester Luwin said with a kind smile, "I am sure she will be happy to see you,"

"I don't know about that," Eddard said while squirming in discomfort, "The last time I went to see her she threw a glass at me,"

"That was partly your fault, My Lord. You should have knocked before entering," Maester said in reproach.

"I know," Eddard said while covering his face with his hand and looking away in embarrassment, "I just didn't expect to find her in such a... distressing position,"

"The young lady was quite mortified after that," the maester said while shaking his head, "but I assured her that you would not be angry,"

"Yes, Well thank you for that, Maester," he said before composing himself and hurriedly asked, "How long until she gives birth Maester,"

"You can never be too sure about these things, but if all goes well then she should give birth before the week is over, My Lord,"

"Good! Good!" Eddard said while looking out the window, "And the weather today is clear too, so it seems a good day to go on a hunt,"

"Oh, are you talking about the tradition of going on a hunt before the birth of a child," Luwin asked curiously, it had not been more than a decade since he became Winterfell's maester so he was still new to some things.

"Yes, It is a long-standing stark tradition to hunt an animal and offer it to the old gods before a child is born. I still remember when I went on a hunt with Brandon and Father when Lyanna was born," Eddard said while reminiscing, "While I was not able to do so for Robb and Jon, this next child should have the old god's blessing,"

"Then I hope you have a very successful hunt," Luwin said while standing up, "If that is all, My Lord. I should go back to Lady Catelyn,"

"Yes, thank you Maester," Eddard said while standing up to follow him outside and closed the door behind him

"Do you know where Robb and Jon are," he asked the maester who was already at the end of the corridor,

"No My lord, they both ran away halfway through their lesson," Maester Luwin while shaking his head.

They both shared a bitter smile over the mischievous kids before Luwin went away and Eddard went out of the great keep. He walked around for about half an hour looking for them but couldn't find them anywhere so he forgo looking for his kids and went toward the courtyard first.

The courtyard was half-filled with recruits drilling under the command of the old guard captain along with his apprentice young Jory Cassel. Ser Rodrik Cassel was watching from afar having already finished his morning training. When Rodrik noticed Eddard, he immediately started walking toward him.

"Keeping a watch on your nephew's practice, Ser Rodrik," Eddard asked Rodrik while nodding toward where Jory was going through his forms.

"Yes, My Lord. Just making sure he's not slacking off,"

"He is a good lad just give him a few years and he will be ready to take over the guard captain's position," Eddard said and Rodrik looked at his nephew with pride in his eyes. They talked about the various recruits and who among them was talented or particularly hard-working.

"I came here to tell you to gather a small hunting party," Eddard said after a while," It will be a short hunt so you don't pack too much stuff. Just gather the usual people and meet me at Hunter's gate in an hour,"

"Yes, My lord," he nodded and went away briskly.

'Now, the last and hardest job, to find those two troublemakers', Eddard thought and went off in search around the castle.

He had been going around the castle and asking people along the way for about 10 more minutes when a young maid pointed toward them while hiding a smile. Both the boys were standing on top of the wall beside the east gate and had piled up a small mountain of snow beside their feet. Eddard sighed tiredly and started walking toward them.

"Why is no one coming?" Robb whispered to Jon while looking out of the gate.

"Someone will come, we just have to wait," Jon whispered back before turning toward Robb, "And you have to remember Robb, 'HIT and HIDE', you always forget the hiding part,"

"But If I don't see them getting hit, where would be the fun in that," Robb said while whining a little.

"If you see them then they may see you too," Jon said while rolling his eyes in exasperation, "And don't you remember what father said to us the last time he caught us?"

Robb cleared his throat before he deepened his voice and tried to imitate Eddard, "If I ever catch you, boys, pranking again, I will make you collect horse shit from dusk till dawn,"

"That's right, so we can't be caught," Jon said while looking out the east gate.

"Don't worry, I chose this place after a lot of thought," Robb said while patting his chest, "Father won't catch us here,".

"Won't I? Robb," A deep voice said from behind them suddenly.

Robb and Jon both turned around wildly, startled from their conversation like a stag from a hunter's arrow, and Robb hurriedly tried to hide the small snow hill beside their feet by kicking it sneakily while standing up as if to hide the evidence of their crime.

Eddard just continued to stare at them blankly without saying a word until they started to squirm in discomfort. Robb stared at anywhere but his father's eyes while Jon stared resolutely ahead with a poker face.

"What were you two doing?" Eddard asked quietly, even though he had heard everything.

"Nothing," Robb replied a little too quickly.

He stared at them with an ice-cold face without blinking, waiting for one of them to break and confess. Robb started to move his hands awkwardly and his face looked the part of a child caught in the act.

"We were just watching people come and go," Jon said hurriedly when it looked like Robb would cave in.

Over the years they have pulled many pranks on the household staff. Mostly it was them taking revenge on someone who had said one thing or the other about Jon being a bastard. He had punished the boys of course but also subtly made sure that the staff was out of the castle by the end of the week.

But it looked like they were in the habit of pranking people now and had started to turn their attention to random passersby.

"I don't have time for this today but when we get back, you both will be cleaning the stables for a week," Eddard said and they both started to protest before he overrode them, "And I don't want to hear any excuses. Do you understand," he glared at them until they nodded. He turned around and started walking downstairs with both of them following him.

"But where are we going, Father," Robb asked while Jon looked on curiously.

"We are going on a hunt,"

"Yes," they shouted in unison and started jumping in excitement.

"You are to go straight to your room and change," Eddard turned toward them when they had reached downstairs, "Then meet me at the Hunter's Gate, and If you are late, then I will leave both of you behind,"

He had not even completed the sentence but they were already running away, Eddard just sighed while looking behind them before shaking his head in exasperation and walking toward the Great Keep.

'These two were already a handful and there would be another little wolf in a few days.' Eddard thought while shuddering and prayed to the old gods to grant him patience.

An hour later the party was gathered at the hunter's gate ready to set out. The hunting party consisted of a total of 10 people.

Three of them were hunters from Wintertown of which two of them were carrying bows on their backs while the last one had a spear and every one of them had a skinning knife on their waists. They hunted regularly for the kitchens of Winterfell so they were quite experienced.

Four of them were part of Winterfell household guards, each of them was carrying a sword while two of them had hunting spears as well. And along with them were Ser Rodrik Cassel and his nephew Jory.

Eddard was speaking to Ser Rodrik and Jory about something when Jory started laughing while looking behind them and when they both turned around, what they saw made Eddard facepalm in exasperation.

Robb and Jon were both running toward them with big smiles on their faces, and while Jon looked normal in his leathers, Robb looked ridiculous wearing his toy helmet while carrying a wooden sword on his waist as well as a small bow in his hands.

"Robb, what are you wearing," Eddard sighed after both of them came to stand in front of him and glared at Jon who was snickering at his brother non-stop.

"I am going on a hunt so I wore my hunting clothes," Robb said while smiling widely.

"You are not going to be hunting, We are," Eddard said while kneeling before Robb and removing his helmet and taking the bow from his hands, and giving them to a nearby guard, "The only thing that you will be doing is watch from a safe distance and learn,"

"I told you, they won't let us hunt," Jon said while rolling his eyes.

"Well, I don't want to go If I can't hunt," Robb huffed and looked to the side while folding his little hands.

"Well Jon," Eddard said while standing up, "it looks like it'll just be the two of us then, let's go,"

He turned around and started to walk toward his horse, with Jon following behind him while waving his hand at Robb mockingly. They had almost reached the horse when Robb came behind them running and shouting.

"Wait! don't leave me, I want to come too,"

"Are you sure you'll be able to go without being able to hunt?" Eddard asked while hiding a small smile and looking down at Robb.

"Yes,"

"Very Well, then," Eddard said before lifting Robb by his armpits and placing him on his horse before doing the same with Jon and putting him just behind Robb. After making sure that they were not at risk of falling, he mounted the horse in a smooth motion and sat behind them. The hunting party started to move slowly out of the Gate and toward the forest of Wolfwood.

...

About an hour later the hunting party stopped just before the dense part of the forest started and got down from their horses. Two of the guards went around collecting all the horses and tying them to trees.

"Why are we stopping here father?" Jon asked.

"Because it's dangerous to go inside the forest on a horse, it's easy for them to lose their footing, and we may fall down," Eddard replied while patting Jon's head.

"But why didn't we stop out there where the trees started," Robb asked while pointing toward the trees that they had left behind them.

"This is where the proper Wolfwood begins, while those are trees that have grown in the past few decades and will be cut down before long. Now stop asking questions," Eddard said before waving at Jory, "Jory, it will be your duty along with two of the guards to look after them. Alright,"

"Yes, My lord," Jory replied and stood behind the two of them.

"Now, boys it will be dangerous inside the forest so once we go inside, you are to listen to anything I say at once, and not cause any kind of mischief. And you are not to move too far from Jory. Do you understand?"

"Yes," they shouted in unison.

Ser Rodrik left two guards behind to watch over the horses while the rest of the party slowly entered the forest. At the front of the party was a hunter who acted as a scout while just behind them were Eddard and Ser Rodrik. In the middle of the party were Jon and Robb along with Jory, while bringing the rear of the party were two guards and two hunters.

The wolfswood was a very large forest that stretched across almost half of North. There were very large varieties of trees in there like oak, sentinels, beech, ash, ironwoods, etc. Weirwoods could occasionally be found in there mostly isolated or in pairs. The wolfswood was named after the great many wolves one can hear howling in the night, but one can also find boars, deers, elks, rabbits, and the occasional bears in here.

They were slowly moving while being careful of their surroundings, while the hunters were looking for footprints or any other sign of animals on the ground.

"Why are you using a spear, Father?" Robb suddenly asked Eddard after he realized that the only ones who were wielding a sword were Ser Rodrik and Jory while everyone else was either holding a spear or wielding a bow.

"It is much easier to use a spear than a sword while hunting and safer too," Eddard said while thrusting his spear, "It keeps the animals at a distance,"

"But I like swords," Robb said.

"Every weapon has its uses, they just need the right condition for them to shine. For example, while a sword may not be the best for hunting, it is the best weapon when you are against peasant levies whose only form of protection is useless against a sharp weapon. And the safest option is probably to shoot from a distance with a bow," Eddard said shrugging. He hid his smile when he saw what Jon was doing from behind Robb, and continued in a whisper, "Until your enemy gets too close to you..."

"BOO..." Jon suddenly shouted in Robb's ear which made him scream like a little girl and jump. Robb immediately started chasing after Jon while the party started laughing at the antics of their lord's children.

"Isn't it a bit early for them to learn about having to kill peasant levies, My Lord?" Ser Rodrik asked in a low voice from behind Eddard.

"While they are a bit young, they won't be that forever, and we can never be too sure of the future," Eddard said while looking at his two sons, "But one thing we can be sure of is, Winter is—"

"Winter is Coming. Yes, My lord, I Know," Rodrik said while rolling his eyes.

"I do say that a lot don't I," Eddard said and smiled slightly while patting Ser Rodrick on the shoulder.

The hunter who had been sent to scout ahead came back running toward them while looking a bit out of breath. He told the party that he had found the traces of a boar. Everyone started to get a bit serious after that and silently followed the hunter who took them toward the trail of the boar.

Eddard kept getting distracted by Robb's constant questions, he felt that Robb would scare their prey away. So Eddard caught Jon's eye and looked meaningfully at him while pointing toward Robb, Jon rolled his eyes but still went toward Robb.

"Hey, Robb! How about we play a game," Jon asked Robb while walking beside him.

"What game?" Robb asked while looking at Jon a bit warily.

"Don't worry I am not tricking you, I swear," Jon said while putting a hand on his heart and when Robb nodded he continued, "The game is every time you see a small animal like a squirrel or a bird you silently point toward it, and I will do the same. At the end of the hunt whoever found more animals wins. How about it?"

"Alright, Lest play," Robb said enthusiastically.

After that, it was silent with the boys just pointing now and then toward their surroundings while the hunters were able to pay attention to their surroundings.

They must have been following the trail for about half an hour when suddenly a hunter in the front found the boar. Ser Rodrik and two of the hunters went ahead to circle around and surround the boar from the opposite side.

"BOAR! INCOMING!" Ser Rodrik's shout came from the front.

"Everyone spread out! Jory, take Jon and Robb toward the back." Eddard shouted.

Everyone rearranged themselves, two of the guards stood in front of Lord Stark on the left and right side while holding their spears. A few seconds must have passed before a great boar suddenly came barrelling toward them from between the trees. The boar went straight toward the guard on the left who panicked and thrust his spear toward the boar a bit early, the boar changed direction before even coming close and charged toward its left where Eddard was.

Eddard stood still, waiting for the charging boar to come toward him with his spear lowered, he was as calm as still water. When the boar was just a couple meters away and Eddard still didn't move, and Jon's heart lurched into his mouth.

"FATHER!" Robb shouted toward Eddard in a scared voice.

Just before the boar hit him, Eddard suddenly thrust his spear straight into the boar's face with a squishing sound while sliding and jumping backward skillfully to kill the boar's momentum. After a few seconds, he suddenly plunged the spear downward into the still-screaming boar and held it there until it stopped twitching.

The second Eddard pulled the spear out of the now-dead boar, the boys came running straight toward him. They both started shouting together while jumping up and down.

"You were so cool father and when you thrust your spear, that was so... so..." Robb said while feeling a bit breathless.

"I think I like the spear now," Jon said while looking at Eddard a bit reverently.

Eddard laughed out loud while putting the spear away and patting both their head, feeling very happy to receive compliments from his sons.

The hunters gathered around the boar to tie it on a stick so that it would be easy to carry. The boys had calmed down by now and were watching them from afar while feeling a bit squirmish.

"Will we eat the boar at dinner father," Robb asked while looking toward Eddard.

"No, after we perform a small ceremony in the godswood we will donate toward some of the poor in Wintertown,"

They were silently waiting for the party to pack up and move back when Robb suddenly looked away and pointed in the distance.

"What are you doing, Robb? The game is already over," Jon said while rolling his eyes.

"No look!" Robb said while thrusting his finger toward a tree.

Jon looked and immediately ran over when he found out what it was. Jon stopped before a tree and looked at the ground. What Robb had found was a small baby bird that looked a bit injured in its wings. Jon very gingerly took the bird in his hands and looked toward it with wide eyes. It was blue and white in color with yellow eyes and was probably a few weeks old.

"It looks like a baby snow eagle, probably fell from its nest," Eddard said while coming behind them.

"Can I keep it, Father please," Jon said while looking at Eddard pleadingly. Jon had felt a connection with the eagle the second he held it in his hand, and from the sound of its happy chirping, the baby eagle was happy too.

"It will not be able to survive for long without a mother,"

"I will take care of it every day, so please, Father," Jon said while making his eyes look big.

"Alright, you can keep it. But only if you promise to clean after the bird yourself, I will not have to bother the servants with this. And it may not survive anyway, and you will be the one who will have to bury it when that happens,"

"Yes," Jon shouted with a wide smile and looked toward the baby eagle, "I will call you Frost,"

Their journey back toward their horses was a bit slow, and when they finally reached Winterfell it was almost dark. So they hurriedly took the dead boar into the godswood before it went bad. Jon, Robb, and Eddard performed a ceremony in front of the Heart tree while asking the old gods to bless the newest stark.

A very happy Jon went to sleep that night while thinking about the baby bird and how he had finally caught his first POKEMON.