A Cry of Wolves - Games of Thrones

01 ~ Winterfell

"Winter is coming"

My father used that line anytime any person went against his wishes. In my eyes, winter never truly left as the snow never stopped, the harsh ice cold weather was constant. I'd never left the North, not that I wanted to. Being in the cold was all I ever knew which meant it was all I ever longed for. The heat induced South never interested me as the Northern horses would be far too hot to accommodate.

All my life, the only thing I loved more than my family was Winterfell's stables. The moment I opened my eyes in the morning, I would run quickly to the stables to care for the broad, beautiful steeds. One in particular always stole my heart. The Stark's always gave the most extravagant names, but this poor steed was stuck being called Blood. He was the one horse I refused to allow my father to sell. My father never gave me permission to ride him as he believed Blood was far too much for me to handle due to his size, but he doesn't know that I use my relationship with my brothers to distract him long enough for me to ride.

My younger sister, Sansa, was set that she would marry Prince Joffrey Baratheon. The only reason I had to be happy about this was getting to see the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister, in all his glory. I heard he was a sight for immensely sore eyes. This also meant that Sansa would be leaving to King's Landing which was no bother to me as we differed in every way besides our auburn, red hair.

"You must bend your elbow more, Bran." Watching Jon and Robb attempt to teach weak, young Bran how to shoot a bow and arrow was quite humorous. "Watch me!" I grabbed a bow from the hands of one of the soldiers practicing and held up the bow to the target. "See the line from my fingertips to my elbow? Make sure to pull it all the way up to your jaw. Then... release." I shot the arrow hitting right onto the center. My brothers just watched amused as if I do not show my skills everyday. Being humble about what I could do was never anything on my mind.

I watched as Bran tried it himself, but to no avail. Instead, Arya came from behind with an arrow of her own, shooting it right through mine. She was always better with the weapons while I was more strategic with the fighting. I was only 14 years of age, but I had spent my whole life planning for a war. Studying Robert's rebellion to the War of Conquest. Nothing intrigued me more than battle strategy, especially when there's dragons involved. The dragons had been long gone far before I was born, but something in me always longed just to see a dragon once.

"Skylar, up here, now." I turn to look for where my father's deep voice had come from. He stood with my mother on the balcony while she had a look of distraught on her face. "Coming father!" I yell as I run up giving him a hug. "It's time, Skylar. Time for you to see what it takes to rule." He knew I had no interest in ruling over Winterfell like Robb did, but I never wanted to go against his word. "Get Blood ready for me. We leave soon." Father always worried me whenever he brought Blood outside of the walls as there's no telling what danger he could be put into.

I held onto the reins as I watch my father walk towards the gate holding an enormous horse of his own. It still wasn't anywhere near Blood's size. "Get on Blood, Skylar." My attempt at hiding my smile failed miserably as I jumped onto Blood's back without another thought. "We're riding North for a deserter from the Night's Watch." That only meant one thing. That we were going to execute him. "Father I-" I began before being interrupted by Robb. "It's better to see your first when you're young. That way you're ready for battle."

As we rode up to the deserter, my heart ached as soon, his life would be over. Everything he'd ever done would be for nothing. But, alas, the men of the Night's Watch have a duty they are sworn to follow. "Don't look away. Father will know" Jon says to me as he saw my heavy breathing. I watched from horseback while my father prayed over the poor man's soul before swinging his sword down right on the man's neck. A heavy swing was all that was needed for a clean cut against his skin.

"You understand why I did it?" My father asked whilst cleaning off his sword. "He was a deserter." I reply quickly to try and avoid confrontation. "Yes, but do you understand why I had to kill him?" He urged for an answer which led to my hesitation. "You passed the sentence, you must do it." I knew the answer to every question my father asked me because of his constant teaching. He always planned on me being Lord of Winterfell after Robb, but I never wanted any kind of power. Truthfully, I believed I would not be a fit ruler for the North.

The ride back was silent. Silent until we came across a dead stag on the road to Winterfell. "Mountain lion?" Theon asks stupidly. "There's no mountain lions in these woods." My father corrects. As I turn to look around, I see a huge wolf laid a few feet away. "Father look!" I run down to get a better look and hopefully try to help. "Skylar! It could be dangerous!" Robb and Jon run after me with Robb grabbing me just as we get to the wolf.

"It's a direwolf" Jon observes. "Tough old beast" My father pulls a stag antler out of the wolves neck. "There are no direwolves south of the wall" Robb adds. "Now there are five" Jon grabs one of the wolves and holds it in my direction. "Want to hold it?" I quickly reach out my arms to grab the pup. It had the most adorable face. Her color was different from all the others. She had a brown color with black points and white legs while the others were all a shade of grey.

"Where will they go? Their mother is dead" I asked with pleading eyes. "They don't belong down here." Ser Cassel announces to which I give a disgusted reaction. "Better a quick death. They won't last without their mother" Father takes the pup from my hands and hands it to Theon. "NO! IF YOU EVEN DARE HURT THAT BABE I'LL CASTRATE YOU MYSELF." I meant every word that came out of my mouth. "Put your blade away" Robb disgustedly snapped at Theon. "I take orders from your father, not you two" Theon argued.

"Father, please." I begged. "Lord Stark? There are 6 pups. One for each of your children. The direwolf is the sigil of your house. They were meant to have them" Jon helped to plead with my father. I saw the look of deep thinking on his face. "You will train them yourselves. You will feed them yourselves. And if they die, you will bury them yourselves."

I snatch the pup from Theon's nasty grasp and cradle it in my arms. Jon hands the rest of the pups to Robb and other guardsmen, but is not left with one of his own. "What about you?" I ask. "I'm not a Stark." His refusal of being a Stark always hurt my heart, but he truly was not a full blooded Stark. "Just because you're a bastard does not mean you're not a Stark. The Stark blood still runs through your body, Jon." I always said this whenever he claimed to not be a Stark. Robb grabs my shoulder and coerces me back to the horses. I turn to look over and see Jon holding a small, pure white pup with blood-red eyes.

The whole ride back to the castle, I'd been thinking of a name for my pup. Most of the names I was coming up with were stupid, but I overheard Robb and Jon talking and they mentioned the word decipher. I quickly thought of cipher, but hated the spelling; therefore, Cypher would be this beauties name for as long as she lives.