The Birth of Dragons

Jon Snow

The memories of his first experience of battle continued to plague him. The sounds of men screaming out for loved ones who could not and would not hear them, of men trying desperately to hold onto something that was more than what they had. It was growing day by day, and he was not sure he could handle the continued strain. The battles had been nothing like what the songs and stories had said they would be like, it was naïve of him he knew, to believe that everything was as good as was made out in something people had created and embellished. He was supposed to be more mature and wise than that, yet he had allowed it to consume him, and now it was eating away at him, sucking his energy away, reducing him to nothingness. It was frustrating and aggravating. The family meeting Robb had called for was the one thing he had prepared for to keep his mind off of the gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach. But the reasoning behind the meeting was there now. Father was gone, father was dead.

Robb is the first one to speak, breaking the silence, his voice heavy with unshed grief. "Would Joffrey be as mad as to order father's execution? Surely his mother or uncle would have told him the value father had as a bargaining tool?"

They all look toward the girl who spent the most time with Joffrey, Sansa, his former betrothed. Their sister looks broken and shattered, her voice is uncertain when she replies. "I do not know. The Joffrey I knew would not have done such a thing. But I do not know." She sounds heartbroken at that, and it is all he can do to take her hand and squeeze comfortingly.

Arya speaks then, her voice filled with all the anger a nine-year-old can muster. "Of course he'd do something like this. This is what Joffrey is. Sansa couldn't see it before because she was blinded by whatever stupid thing goes on in her brain. But Joffrey would definitely do something like this, he is a monster, and he needs to be put down."

"We cannot make such bold statements without a plan of action, little sister." Jon says, speaking for the first time. His sisters look at him confused, but Robb seems to understand what he is saying. "Father might be dead, but they still have Uncle Benjen, and as such we must decide what to do with great caution."

"Surely you do not mean to suggest that Robb accept the terms offered by Tywin Lannister? For those are no terms at all." Theon protests, what he's doing in this meeting, Jon does not know, but he has remained silent on the matter.

"I am not suggesting that Robb accept those terms, I am merely saying that we need to consider our options. We cannot accept some of the suggestions coming from Mormon or the Greatjon. The man is half delirious from his wounds, he is not speaking sense." Jon points out.

"So are you saying we shouldn't be independent?" Arya asks, an expression on her face that makes Jon feel a curious mixture of shame and annoyance.

"I am saying that going independent would be a very bad idea." He responds reasonably.

"Why not?" Arya asks, something like anger filling her voice. "What has the south ever done for us? Apart from take father from us, they took grandfather and uncle Brandon and aunt Lyanna. There is nothing for us in the south, nothing at all."

Jon runs a hand through his hair, frustrated, from Arya he can understand such a thing, but from a grown man such as Jon Umber, he cannot. As patiently as he can, he responds. "The north might survive on its own through peace time. During war time though, we would be stranded, without an ally. Our food supplies would be cut or destroyed the first chance someone got. We cannot last for long now. It has been too long."

He can tell Arya wants to argue back, but thankfully, before she can, Robb speaks. "It matters not whether we become independent or not, for you shall be going back to Winterfell, Arya, and you as well Sansa."

Both Jon and Robb had expected there to be some form or protesting, at least from Sansa if not Arya, and so are pleasantly surprised when both girls merely nod, and Sansa asks. "How will we get there?"

"Theon is heading off to Seagard, you shall be going with him, and from there you shall take a ship into the Flint Cliffs where Lord Flint shall be waiting for you. From there you shall travel by horse to Winterfell, and you shall remain there with mother, Bran and Rickon." Robb responds firmly.

"And what will you do?" Sansa asks, her voice surprisingly scared, Sansa has never sounded like that for a long time.

Jon sees his brother looking at him for help, and so he replies. "We shall keep fighting. The West is open to us. We shall make Tywin Lannister bleed for what he has done, and we shall get revenge for father."

"How though?" Sansa asks. "King's Landing is not in the West; Joffrey is not in the West. Why are you going to the west if you want revenge? That does not make sense."

Hearing such an aggressive statement coming from a girl who is usually so peaceful unnerves him, he looks at Robb briefly before replying. "The west is the Lannisters home, if we damage it, then there will be less support for them. For someone who cannot hold their own home, who cannot protect their own people, is most definitely not worth fighting for, let alone being King."

"Just don't do anything stupid." Arya says then, to break the silence that had fallen.

"Of course not, this is war, we cannot afford to be stupid." Jon replies, looking directly at Robb.