A Lion In The Wolves Den ||GOT x OCs||

⚔️-HONEY-⚔️

         Honey followed the northern men as they mounted their horses, deciding she would ride back with the Greyjoy boy, but her head kept turning to the creature that lay abandoned in the snow; she felt as if she had missed something, something important. Halfway onto his horse Jon stopped.
"What is it, Jon?" his lord father asked.
"Can't you hear it?"
         Bran could hear the whispers of the wind, hooves against the ironwood bridge, the whimpering of his hungry pup, but Jon was listening to something else.
    "There," Jon said. He swung his leg back over his horse and followed the sound, they watched him kneel into the snow and a moment later he rose, smiling.
"It must have crawled away from the others," Jon said.
"Or been driven away," his father said, looking at the sixth pup. His fur was white, where the rest of the litter was gray. His eyes were as red as the blood of the scrawny man that had died that morning.
"The runt of the litter," Theon Greyjoy said with wry amusement. "That one's yours, Snow"
      Greyjoy felt a rough thump from behind him and looked to see the young blonde girl who had smacked the man with her shoe. Had it been anyone else he would have thrown her off but it was her, so he wouldn't. Honey was the next to dismount as she too heard a strange sound, but it was not that of the whimpering pup that now lay comfortably in the arms of Ned Stark's only bastard.
         Labored breathing came from the impaled monster that lay still in the snow. The girl jumped at the sound having, only a few seconds ago, thought the creature was dead. The other men also seemed to notice that the dead beast wasn't as dead as they had originally thought. Honey approached the crying wolf as it whimpered in pain, her father called out to her drawing his sword once again. Theon quickly went after her, disregarding his horse as his feet brought him to follow behind her cautiously. Despite her fathers protests she reached out her hand to touch the bloodied fur on the side of the wolf's head, the animal looked up at her and Honey could have sworn the beast looked saddened. Ser Rodrik made his way to his daughter's side placing his hand on her shoulder to drag her back to which she yanked herself out of his grasp.
"We can not leave her like this," Honey said, her eyes never leaving the ones that belonged to the bleeding beast. "it is not fair"
         The creature's whines grew louder as it attempted to kick its legs in pain, Honey's eyes moved to the animal's stomach as it began moving in a way it hadn't before. It was as if there was something crawling underneath its skin, the girl watched closely as the fur on top of the wriggling lump tore open and the beast let out a sigh as it finally passed over the threshold of life and death.
        From the bloodied gray, another creature emerged, ripping at the direwolf's skin. It was small, and its yellow eyes were shielded by thick matted fur, it looked different from the pup that Bran cradled in his arms. The animal rolled over the gray fur and fell into the white snow, staining it a dark red color. When Honey reached out her hands,Theon grabbed her wrists and she turned up to look at him. His eyes held a concern he did not show very often, but the pleading look the girl gave him forced him to release his hold on her. She gently touched the little red ball, her fingers coming up sticky with blood. Honey smiled, sliding her left hand under the animal's belly and pulling it into her lap, the brown of her dress turned black as the tiny wet creature began to snuggle into her.
"What is it?"
          Lord Eddard asked, frustrated that he had to dismount rather than beginning the journey back to his home. Bran followed quickly behind his father.
"It ate through its mother…"
          Theon said in disgust, looking down at what he assumed was another direwolf pup. Honey picked snow off the ground, her fingers growing pink at the feeling of the burning cold against her skin, and used it to rub away at the pups fur. Bran held his pup close to his chest as he approached beside the girl, looking down as the red fur turned yellow
"It's not a pup…"
      Bran said, moving out of the way for his father to step forward and examine the bundle in the girl's lap. Lord Eddard crouched beside the girl, reaching out to the tiny bloodied beast and pulling back its lip to see its teeth. The creature's head was smaller and not as long as the skulls of the direwolf pups. Its canines were thicker at the gum and sharper at the tip and, though they couldn't see its eyes, it was clear they were bigger and more rounded.
"It's a Lion."
       Honey stated, pulling it up into her arms and rising from the cold ground. Eddard looked to Ser Rodrik, who met the lord's eyes with furrowed brows and tight lips.
"What is a Lion doing this far north?" Robb asked.
"How did it end up with a direwolf?"
      Jon followed. Many questions began to rise, but the girl paid them no mind as the cub purred and nuzzled against her chest, the Stark children would have their direwolves, Honey had her own beast.
       The ride home was quiet as each man stayed silent in their own contemplation. Honey sat at the front of Theon Greyjoy's horse, stroking the lion cub's fur with the corner of her skirt and with every brush the cub's yellow colored fur became more visible.
"What will you name it?" Theon asked her, leaning down over her to get a look at the cat, "you named Jory's hounds, have you used up all the good ones already?"
      Honey smiled down at the cub then turned her head up to see Theon out of the corner of her eye,
"Ser Jory says when naming a dog, you should wait until you know it, a bad name might not fit the personality." she responded.
"I do hope the little beast is nothing like its caretaker, you're hard enough to deal with as it is" Theon said, rolling his eyes in a faux annoyance. Honey pushed back her arm, elbowing the man in the side, he let out an exaggerated groan followed by an amused chuckle.