Chapter 1: Winterfell
Winterfell was a beautiful place, still was, the pride and joy of the north, at least that's how Sansa saw it in her eyes. It was a lively place, you could have everything you ever needed there, stables, a bell tower, the smithy, a library tower, those things alone were located in the courtyard, then of course there was the great hall, the crypts, the armory, the glass garden, the hunters gate, the north and east gates, the Godswood, the guest house, the guards keep, the great keep, the first keep. Those were just a few of the places that made Winterfell, made up home. The home of the Starks.
Sansa stood at the east gate, her deep blue eyes scanning over the road that went on for as far as she could see, that of course would be the King's road, the road that went through Winterfell that could take you to places like King's landing or The wall. Her thick soft auburn hair blew gently in the wind, strands whipping across her pale cheeks. she was young, no doubt, perhaps she may be naive, but she'd only seen and heard of the world through her father, mother and her siblings, her two feet at the edge of the east gate, threatening to leave Winterfell was as close as she'd ever get to experiencing the real world for herself.
she closed her eyes and lowered her head, Eddard's words ringing in her head "the real world is dangerous, and cruel" she took a shallow breath, just how right could her father be? she opened her eyes, the sun was rising, it's glow cast across the lands before her, casting shadows here and there, the birds stirring from their sleep, she lifted her head up to the sky and took in a deep breath, hands testing on her stomach as she enjoyed the sun's warmth, Days like these in the North were rare, and she cherished them as much as she could.
A hand grasped at her wrist making her jump slightly. "father wouldn't like you out here alone" the shift voice came. "Arya!" Sansa smiled and chuckled softly. "I'm not alone, you're here with me" she grinned, they were mischievous, all her siblings were, either play fighting or bickering with each other, but they had to find a way to keep themselves entertained somehow. "Come! I'm taking a trip down to the crypts! Jon said he had something to show us!" The younger sister smiled, bouncing on the heels of her feet. "oh! and you're one to speak of places father doesn't want us!" she teased, she gave Arya a soft smile and nodded at her knowing she'd comply. Arya smiled and took off skipping back through the east gate and towards the courtyard, Sansa sighed as she watched her sisters short brown hair bounce with every step she took, she looked more like a stark than she ever would, Sansa thought, Sansa took her looks more from her mother's side, Catelyn's hair a few shades darker than her own, House Tully.
Sansa took one last look over her shoulder out towards the fields and down King's road that called her name, she frowned, it was a life she'd never had, she knew that. she picked up the ends of her gown and made her way towards the courtyard, she walked fast, not as quick as her energetic little sister but fast enough to catch the other girls walking past Arya snickering. "Horseface" they muttered just loud enough for Arya to hear. The younger Stark clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes, hands balling into fists as she glared at them as they walked off, that's when she spotted the glint of a fiery red in the sunlight. "took you long enough" she said to Sansa who was approaching her. It didn't mean to sound so harsh but she was sick of being bullied, this was supposed to be her home. "Pay them no mind little sister" Sansa said sweetly, sure she bullied Arya at times, but they were sisters, what could one expect.
The two stood silent and then made their way to the entrance of the crypts. Sansa doubted very much that Jon had anything new to show them, they'd been in here countless times, each one of the Starks knew this place like the back of her hands. "Shall we?" Arya asked, a small glint of excitement filling her eyes once again. Sansa simply nodded, a slight smile twisting at her lips, she didn't want to offend the younger girl by saying something she didn't mean, she'd rather be anywhere but here, venturing on the King's road, hunting, finding her own way, but this was the best she was going to get. The two sisters entered the crypt, almost immediately the heat of the sun was drained, they began to descend down the narrow and winding spiral stone steps into the crypts. Before long they reached their destination, it wasn't the most impressive but it held a tradition that the Starks held dearly to them, the bones of all the dead Starks that came before them, it was an honour to be buried beneath Winterfell. This floor was but simply a long line of granite pillars, two by two, between each pillar the entombed dead of House Stark. "you know what they say about these walls?" Arya asked her sister, voice echoing ever so slightly around the stone room. "enlighten me" Sansa said half joking, she was bored out of her mind and Jon was nowhere in sight. "it's said that the walls are thought to be Weirwood roots that have turned to stone" Arya told her lifting her hand up, fingertips brushing against the rough stone. "and where did you hear that nonsense?" Sansa scoffed. she raised her hand up next to Arya's, touching the stone for herself. "if it looks like stone, and feels like stone, it's stone" she said blandly. "Don't let people fill your head with unrealistic ideas, Arya" she said quietly, she couldn't say much, her own head was filled with the most unrealistic ideas and dreams that she could only pray to the old gods and new that they'd come true.
Sansa and Arya's hands quickly withdrew from the cold stone at the sound of a low growl, Sansa jumping a little more than Arya. "What was that?" Sansa asked, panicked, she hadn't seen Jon yet, so what the hell was down here. "Maybe the rats?" Arya asked stepping into the centre of the crypt, slowly making her way down the long row of pillars. "well unless there's a hundred of them, no rat sounds like that" Sansa said, heart slightly hammering in her chest, one hand tightly curled up into the folds of her dress. "unless...you believe the stories that the rats down here are as big as dogs" Arya smirked, she seemed to be enjoying herself a little too much. Sansa simply shook her head and rolled her eyes.
A low growl and a sudden figure jumping in front of them startled them both, it's hands reaching out for the two girls, it's skin was as white as a ghost, it had come out from the shadows without a moment's notice, within seconds Sansa had screamed loudly and turned around, her fight or flight response kicking in, and she definitely wasn't going to fight whatever that was, unfortunately for the young Stark girl with no light to guide her down her, and the candles that we're usually lit extinguished, she miscalculated where she stood and the side of her head went straight into one of the pillars and sent her onto her ass with a grunt. she winced and lifted a hand to her head. "definitely stone" she grumbled unladylike. Arya on the other hand had steadily planted her feet on the ground, shoulder width apart and the second she saw the white ghostly figure she punched it as hard as she could. "you IDIOT!" Arya said as she took a second to take in what was in front of her, not what, who. "Jon! how stupid can you be?" she asked loudly still half shook from the fright he'd given them. Even with a punch to the face and his hand on his nose Jon still managed to laugh loudly, scaring his sister's was something he wished he'd never grow tired of. "What?! I had something to show you!" he laughed and ruffled Arya's hair.
Sansa stood up and turned around, what a waste of time, she looked at Jon now knowing that he wasn't a ghost it some other creature, she raised an eyebrow and looked him over, the bastard boy had covered himself head to toe in flour. "what a good waste of flour. hope it was worth it" Sansa scolded, though a small smirk made it's way to her face, she had to admit, it had been a very good trick. Jon was still laughing, now swatting his hands against his clothes and tussling his hair to try get rid of the flour, he nodded, unable to speak, only laughing harder as Arya and Sansa both playfully smacked his arm, tears rolling from his eyes. "Come on, we should head back up before..." he trailed off and looked at Sansa, concern filling his eyes for a moment, he stepped towards her. "your head, you're bleeding" he said, he raised his hand, fingertips just brushing the edges of the wound that was beginning to bruise, thankfully it didn't look too serious. "Father is definitely going to tell someone off" Arya chuckled softly trying to lighten the mood, though she did hope Sansa was okay, perhaps if she didn't run that wouldn't have happened. "it's not father you need to worry about" Sansa remarked with a quick raise of her eyebrows.
The three of them quickly made their way out of the crypts. They laughed and played around, wondering what the day held for them, Jon was talking about his latest hunting experience, if he could even call it that, he and Robb would train together, go out as the Lord of Winterfell hunted for fun and kept an eye on the north. Sansa squinted as she came back into the Courtyard, the sun blinding her and not agreeing with the oncoming headache. "Well...you've all certainly had some fun" A stern voice came from behind them. Catelyn. She was a kind woman, all in all, she loved her children, perhaps she didn't share that same love with Jon, he was the bastard of Winterfell, taking in by Catelyn and Eddard. "Sorry mother...I know you don't like us going..." Arya started, cut off by her mother quickly holding up her hand, silencing her. her eyes were fixed on Sansa. "Jon. Go the the courtyard, Eddard wants you and Robb to train Bran" she said without looking at him. "Arya, we will talk later about this..." she said. Sansa quickly looked up. "mother it was my idea!" she defended. Catelyn stepped closer and shook her head. "do not lie. it doesn't suit you." she said. "Arya, be on your way, I'm sure you can find something to do" she said, she smiled softly and gently cupped the younger girls cheek, stroking it gently, she didn't want her to feel bad, she was still so young, and she loved her daughters more than anything. Arya nodded and gave an apologetic look to Sansa before running off inside, no doubt to clean the flour off her clothes and to clean her hand too.
"Sansa..." Catelyn whispered. "I'm sorry if I've disappointed you mother..." Sansa said, her head bowed, trying to think of any excuse as to why she'd gone down to the crypts, not that it was an issue, but to tell no one where they were going and to go with Arya without taking even a candle to light the way, anything could've happened. However there was no excuse that she could give. "come with me" Catelyn said gently with a sigh, she took Sansa by the arm gently and took her into her chambers. It was warm in Catelyn's chambers, always was, Sansa always felt at peace in here, away from everything. Catelyn gently lead her daughter to the chair by her desk, walking around the room, she grabbed a small wooden basin and filled it up with some water from a jug, she grabbed a cloth and stood in front of Sansa. she dipped the cloth into the water, squeezing the water out from it and sighed, she let the excess water drip off then lifted the rag to Sansa's head, fingers gently pushing her hair away from her hairline, gently dabbing the rag to the small cut that was bleeding. "you really must be more careful" Catelyn whispered, eyes focused on the task at hand. "I know..." Sansa began. "do you?" Catelyn snapped a little, she let out a frustrated sigh, dabbing at the wound, trying not to react when Sansa let out a hiss of pain. Sansa looked down into her lap, hands fiddling with her dress. "Sansa..." her mother paused and tenderly cupped her cheek, making her look up. "I don't like seeing you hurt...and you promised me" Catelyn said quietly. Sansa remained quiet, she didn't want to argue, she closed her eyes, she wanted anything else but this. "I'm sorry" Sansa said with a soft smile. "I promise I'll never go down there again" she said, Catelyn gave her a slightly skeptical look but said nothing more. "how did it happen?" she asked looking at the wound, dipping the cloth back into the basin to rinse it, the water turning a light shade of pink. Sansa let out a soft chuckle. "Jon scared us, it was part of his plan, I got scared and ran...right into a pillar" she chuckled, one which Catelyn returned with a small nod. "Arya punched him though" Sansa laughed slightly, she was feeling a little better about the situation.
"Good" Catelyn smiled, joking of course. she finished tending to the slight bruise and cut on her daughters head before pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. Sansa smiled and leaned into the kiss, her heart melted, she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around her mother's waist, head buried into her mother's chest. "I'm sorry mother" she whispered, a tear falling from her eye. Catelyn shook her head, hugging her daughter back, one hand pulling her daughter in close, her other hand stroking her daughters hair. "shhh...I know" she whispered pressing a careful kiss to the top of Sansa's head. They stayed like that for a moment, enjoying each other's embrace. Catelyn was just glad her daughter was safe and not too hurt, she let out a soft sigh and pulled away from Sansa and cupped her cheek, wiping the tear off her daughters cheek. "you should rest, before you get a headache from that" she said. Sansa nodded and stood up, she closed her eyes and winced, being sat down and suddenly standing up wasn't the best idea, she stumbled and her legs gave way slightly, her arms immediately reached out, thankfully Catelyn was still there, she grabbed onto her daughters arms and held her up, supporting her until Sansa found the strength to support herself. "you're right" Sansa smiled briefly, her head pounding, she should have known by now that her mother was always right. Catelyn led Sansa over to her bed and pulled back the fur covers, she waited until Sansa laid down and covered her with the fur blanket and sat beside her. She took Sansa's hand in both her own and stroked it gently. "sleep my child" she whispered softly. Sansa looked at her mother and felt bad for her having to look after her, she was the eldest daughter, a role model to Arya, she knew she had to do better, she promised herself that when she woke up, she would do better, for herself, for Arya, for her mother. "I love you, mother" Sansa whispered, eyes already beginning to close from the exhaustion, the adventure in the crypt today tiring her out easily especially after being up so early this morning. Catelyn watched as her daughter fell asleep, smiling softly as she used one hand to hold her daughters as she slept and the other to gently stroke her hair, the other side to the wound on her head, not wanting to hurt her or wake her up, she could tell by the steady rise and fall of her daughters chest that she was already asleep.
"I love you too Sansa" she whispered quietly pressing another kiss to her daughters forehead, she stayed sat by her side, caressing her hand, if she should wake up and need something she wanted to be there, she loved her so much, she couldn't bare to see her hurt, any of her children hurt, and she couldn't protect them forever, if she managed to get hurt inside the walls of Winterfell what was she to do if Sansa, or any of her children left, surely they'd face much worse out there. She shook the thought from her head and closed her eyes, she leaned her head against the bed post and rest her hand on her daughters calf on top of the blanket while she attempted to get some sleep, it was still so early, and there was no need for them to be up just yet, there was still plenty hours of the day left to do whatever needed to be done.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone