No One's POV
The very next day after Ned allowed Raven to learn how to fight, was when her training was supposed to begin. In an uncharacteristic move on the young Snow's part, she woke up and close to dawn, about the same time the servants were waking up. Since she's only six and hates people in the morning, she went right back to sleep. She woke up a few hours later at the normal time.
She ran into her twin brother, Jon's, room to borrow a pair of trousers. " Why do you need them?" He questioned
"You'll see later, Jon. Please, let me borrow a pair." She flashed him her signature puppy dog eyes, and he gave in.
"Here." He said handing them to her. "Don't let Lady Stark see you in those." He warns
"I'm not worried about her." She called back leaving the room
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After Raven changed , she ran downstairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. Robb, Jon, and Theon looked at her curiously.
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Raven's POV
"What in seven hells are you wearing?" Theon asks
"You'll see. Later." Was her response
"What's that supposed to mean?" He pushes
"It means, you'll find out later. Now, sit down and be quiet." Robb jumped in
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Catelyn's POV
What in seven hells is that bastard wearing?!?! What, no lady training so she thinks she can do whatever she wants? I'll put a stop to this. "Ned, please control that daughter of yours." I whisper, looking over to the group
"What is this about Cat?" He asks
"The child is wearing trousers." I point out.
"Sorry Cat, but I don't see a problem with this." He responds. How does he not find an issue with this? My subconscious yells in frustration.
"Ned. She is a lady!" My voice grows slightly louder
"Catelyn, it was you who stopped her lessons. I went to her to see what she wanted to do about it, and she told me she wanted to learn how to fight." He explains
More frustration builds "Why was I not consulted about this?!?" I try not to yell
"If you remember the day I brought them home, you said 'You do what you want with them. I will not be apart of this.'. Now what? You suddenly give a damn about them." He says, his voice laced with venom
I jump back a little. Not once in our marriage has Ned ever spoken to me like that. "Fine. Do what you want with it."
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No One's POV
After breakfast, Raven followed the bits outside to meet Sir Rodrick in the center of the courtyard. "What in seven hells is she doing here?" Theon asks, genuinely confused.
"Watch your language Greyjoy." Rodrick warns. He walks over to Raven, and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Lord Stark has instructed me to teach Raven here everything she needs to know about fighting."
"But...but she's a girl!" Theon protests
"I can do anything you can do, Greyjoy." She tells him, obviously getting annoyed.
"What Theon? Are you afraid to get bested by a little girl?" Robb taunts
"Enough!!!" Rodrick commands "Raven is here to learn, just like the rest of you. She is training with you, and that's final!" He clears his throat."Okay let start. Jon and Theon are together, and Robb and Raven are together." Robb looks at Raven worriedly, as they both take their fighting stances, after Rodrick explained the basics to Raven. They walked around in a circle, neither one of them making the first move. "What are you waiting for? Fight!" Rodrick yells
"Come on Robb." She urges
"I don't want to hurt you." He tells her
"Just do it!" She says getting annoyed again
Robb charges at his little sister, becoming surprised when she dodged expertly. Next, Raven lunged, only to de deflected by her brother's sword. The two started circling again, taking every chance they got to strike. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Rodrick calls them over to critique them on their sparring. He has the two of them observe Jon and Theon's session. "Watch them, and learn." He points out to Jon " See how your brother holds the sword. I haven't seen someone take to it the easily, since I taught your father." Both kids smiled at that last part, even Jon, the brooding member of the family, seemed to smirk at this.
As she was watching the boys, Raven dropped her practice sword. When she leads forward to pick it up, not noticing her twin tumbling toward her.
Theon knocked Jon down at the very moment, Raven bent down to pick up the sword. The two collided, with Raven getting her brother's elbow to the nose. Sir Rodrick, and Robb ran to her, while Jon apologized repeatedly. No one was aware of Lord Stark looming above.
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Ned's POV
I get to the catwalk just in time to see Jon fall on Raven. I rush down to the courtyard as fast as I can. I kneel down to look her over. I see that her nose is bleeding, but that seems to be the extent of her injuries. "This is exactly the reason I didn't want her to do this." I think to myself
"Boys take her to the Maester."
"I'm sorry, father. I didn't mean to hurt her." Jon tells me
"I know you didn't, Jon. Just take her to the Maester." The boys nod and walk with Raven to see the Maester
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No One's POV
"Doesn't look like anything is broken, and you aren't in enough pain for milk of the poppy to be needed. How does it feel?" Maester Ludwin asks
"Like my brother fell on my face." She answers
"I apologized!" Jon exclaims. Robb giggles at the outburst
"Okay, you two go settle this else where. Raven if you feel any pain come back down here to see me."
Raven nods and walks out of the room with her brothers. Jory walks over to the three. "Raven, your father would like to see you in his solar." He tells her
"Okay." She nods
"How's your nose? Your father told me about your incident during training." He asks
"It's fine. Just some blood." She responds
"And she didn't shed a tear." Ned said, smiling at his daughter with pride
"One tough girl, you got there." Jory states "If that's all M'Lord, I'll be down the hall." He walks out of the room
"Father, I'm okay, really." She tells him
"I know, I just wanted to make sure my little girl was okay." he sighed, "I'm pulling you out of training." He tells her
"But father, I really like fighting. It's fun." She protests
"I understand that, but what happened today is the very reason I didn't want you doing this in the first place. There's no place for a lady on the battlefield." He explains
At this moment is when Sir Rodrick makes himself known, as Ned had forgotten he was standing in the corner of the room. "My lord, if I may. I don't think you should take her out. She's a natural. She reminds me of your sister Lyanna at that age."
Ned smiled grimly, then looked back Raven. " Please, father." She pleas
"Only if you promise to be more careful. Can you do that for me?" He asks
"Okay, father. I'll try my best."
"Okay. Now come here." He says opening his arms, ready for a hug. Raven runs into the embrace. "Go run along, and find your brothers. It should be time for your lessons with the Maester."
She nods, and runs out of the room. "That's one special kid you got there, Lord Stark." Rodrick tells him
"Don't I know it. She'll be quite the handful, won't she?"
"There's no doubt about that My Lord." Rodrick says with a sigh