Game of Thrones || The Sword of the Morning

The Runts of the Litter

~~Evelyn Dayne~~

I ride beside Jon on the way back to Winterfell. He's quiet. More so than he usually is.

"You alright, Jon?"

I ask and he sighs.

"It was strange seeing that. To know how easily a man's life can be taken."

"I guess it's something that everyone handles differently."

I say, already feeling the nightmares from the previous night play again in my mind before I quickly repress them.

So many wars I've seen. Sometimes, I can almost feel it, too. My ancestors fought in wars since before the First Men. And every single Dayne that ever lived died a not so pleasent death. The only one I've never saw or heard of was my Father's.

"You seem lost over their, Evelyn."

I turn to see Jon looking at me. I shake my head a little, blinking a few times and clearing my throat.

"It's nothing."

"You sure?"

We stare at each other for a long moment. He always knows when something's off, whether it be with any of the Stark children or me. Being the outcasts of the family, he's more of a brother than Robb or Bran, and that's not to say they're not my brothers. They are.

They're all my family. The only ones I have left.

I just nod at Jon and look ahead at Lord Stark and Robb as we come up to the bridge we crossed earlier today. But on the other end there is something laying on the ground.

A dead stag.

We climb down off our horses, moving to study the dead creature. I hold my hands on the hilts of my twin blades on either side of my hips, somewhat paranoid.

"What is it?"

"Mountain lion?"

"There are no mountain lions this far up North, idiot."

I say to Theon, who only glares at me.

We move along down the hill, each of us with our swords drawn and ready. I see a body of some kind as we get closer. I realize it's a wolf. But more than that, there's pups.

We get a bit closer and I really see the massive size of the wolf.

"It's a freak."

Theon says and I glare at him.

"It's a direwolf."

Lord Stark says, looking back at the dead beast. He pulls the antler from the stag from the wolf's throat.

"There are no direwolves south of the Wall."

Robb says as I look at the little direwolf pups.

"Now there are five."

I say, pointing at the little scared pups. Jon picks one up, holding it towards Bran.

"Do you want to hold it?"

Bran takes the scared wolf pup in his arms.

"Where will they go? Their mother's dead."

"They dowm belong down here."

Ser Rodrik says.

"Better a quick death. They won't last without their mother."

Without any hesitation, Theon draws his dagger.

"Right, give it here."

"No!"

"Stay your blade, Greyjoy."

I say angrily and Theon glares at me.

"I don't take orders from you."

"Well, you won't be taking orders from anyone when I kill you."

I take a step forward and Robb puts his in front of me, stopping me from beating the living shit out Theon.

"Please, Father!"

"Lord Stark.."

Jon says, catching all of our attentions.

"There are five pups, one for each of the Stark children. The direwolf is the sigil of your House. They were meant to have them."

Lord Stark looks at the ground in deep thought for a moment before looking at Bran with a frown.

"You will train them yourselves. You will feed them yourselves. And if they die, you will bury them yourselves."

Lord Stark turns sharply and walks away with Ser Rodrik. Jon picks up a few of the pups, handing them to Robb and Theon. Bran smiles at me and Jon before turning and walking with his brother.

I look at Jon with a small smile.

"It's kind of disappointing we don't get a new puppy."

I joke and Jon smiles.

"Yes, it is."

We both start walking back when I stop in my tracks, hearing something. I turn around back to the stream, seeing two little pups rolling around.

"Jon."

I tap his arm, motioning to the two little pups. The others turn and me and Jon pick up the two pups. One is white like a ghost and the other is similar, but it's fur almost seems to glow like how silver glows in sunlight.

"The runts of the litter. Those two are yours, Snow, Dayne."

Theon says and I glare at him, whilst he only sends a shit-eating grin back to me. Robb only smiles and nods before turning and walking away with Bran and Theon. I look at Jon, who holds the white wolf whilst I have the more silver one.

"Which one do you want?"

"It's your pick, you found them."

I chuckle.

"It's a shame there wasn't an entirely black one. That way you could've really fit in with the Night's Watch."

"Evelyn, I don't even know if Lord Stark will have it."

"Of course he would. Serving in the Night's Watch is an honor, and I mean that. If I was man, I'd join you up on the Wall, Brother."

I tap his shoulder with a smile, making him smile back.

"Thank you, Sister."

Jon has really been the true family I've ever had. Sure, Lord Stark is almost like a father and the Stark children are like my siblings, but Jon is my brother. We share no name or blood but he is my brother.

"Let's get going, Snow. We don't want to get left behind."

"You're probably right."

"When was I ever wrong?"

I joke and we chuckle, making a few jokes back and forth whilst heading back to the horses.

When we get back, I stare at the dead stag in the road for a few moments, watching as worms and flies devour the poor beast. I don't think anything of it as I climb onto my horse, catching up with the others.

~~~~~
A/N

There's another chapter done. Hope you all like it!

Thank you for reading!