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The Stark by Dscot

I do not own this story.

CH7

It has been five days and a half since we left Kings Landing. While on the ship sailing up north. I was doing some reading, but took some time to relax on deck, looking at the waves and breathing in the sea salt. Well on deck, I watched a few men from the crew fish off the side of the ship, I decided to join them and do some fishing as well. The first day I was pretty successful. I managed to reel in quite a few mackerel and some other small fish. It was interesting to recognize some of the fish species, even though I couldn't remember reading about them since I've been reborn, my memory of them must be from my past life.

The next morning, I started fishing, using the same bait that I use the previous day. After contemplating for a while, I decided instead to use three of the smallest mackerel as bait. I did catch a few midsize sea bass, but whenever I hooked something larger, my line would snap, and I would lose my bait. It was super frustrating, and I began to realize that I shouldn't have expected my flimsy fishing gear to handle bigger fish. The first two days were rough, and luck was not on my side.

However, on the fourth day, something incredible happened. Maybe it was sheer luck or fate, but I actually managed to catch a nice juvenile bluefin tuna in the early afternoon. It was definitely a rewarding experience amidst all the setbacks. I was able to drag it close enough to the boat. With the crew's help, using pikes, we were able to secure it. Then pull it up on the ship.

I enjoyed listening to the crew while watching them work cleaning, and carving the tuna. They were very responsive to my questions, explaining what they were doing. When two of the crew members came over to take some pieces to start cooking it. I was very curious how they were going to cook it, and ended up following them into a makeshift kitchen. I was even more fascinated with the cooking furnace that they had in the middle of the ship. The cooking furnace was completely surrounded and secured with fire bricks to prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the ship. I had never really thought about how they cooked on a ship so it was quite an interesting experience to watch them cook the tuna for the crew.

I spent the next three days fishing and focusing on studying several books that I had collected. Before I even marched down south with my soldiers I had assigned a scholar named Oliver, a group of men and tasked them to look for books. I gave Oliver a letter with my seal, that granted him the ability to command northern forces to help him achieve my goals. If any books are in possession of any of the enemies they were to confiscate them for the north. If they find out that an ally had books that were rare, or could be of use, they were to steal it, if they might be caught they were to coerce them to hand them over. If that did not work, they were to purchase it.

To my delight during the ransack of the Grand Maester's chamber and work area one of my men was smart enough to steal around 72 books and all items that might be helpful to making potions in the future leaving his area stripped bare before he had set fire to the chamber. My men used their chaos in King's landing to break into the homes of the more wealthy citizens and liberate many of their books. From what Oliver told me he acquired over 80 rare books from the Red Keeps library and had already smuggled them out of the city before I even reached the Stormlands.

Around a little past mid afternoon, I decided to take a rest from my reading. I stretched and decided that I needed to empty my bladder. I looked over to my uncle who was sharing my cabin and who was sprawled out, snoring in his hammock. Deciding that I didn't want to disturb him I walked up to the deck and went to the left side of the ship to relieve myself into the sea. While emptying my bladder I noticed that several of the sailors seem to be in a rush with worried looks on their faces. Fearing a storm was coming I looked up at the sky and towards the horizon but I did not see any clouds. Frowning I looked around before I found a sailor I recognized that was running past me. I got his attention then pulled him aside. His name was Tom and he led the men who were cleaning the tuna. I also spent the previous night listening to his amazing and outlandish stories about his travels around the world. After asking Tom what's going on he pointed towards the back and to the right of the ship. Where I can see two ships in the distance. Pointing them out he told me that the captain believes that they are pirate ships and they have been moving closer to us.

I rushed back to my cabin and woke my uncle up as I put on my armor and gathered my gear. I informed him of what was happening. He strapped his sword around his waist after he threw on his gambeson before heading up to the deck. Telling me we should talk to the captain I followed him out of the cabin and on to the deck, where the captain was standing with one of his sailors. My uncle asked him what was going on and asked him what he can do to help. The captain informed us that we are being followed by pirates, and he believed that we will be attacked soon. He then told us that he had flagged the other two ships that were traveling with us. He said he sent a signal to them informing them that he believes that the ships that are following us are pirates and that we will have to fight them and could not outrun them. He started ordering the men to pull the sails up. My uncle asked him wouldn't it be better to have the sails down so they can better maneuver the ship. Turning to us he pointed at the sails while saying that we are too heavy to outrun the pirates and he did not want the sails to be damaged during the fight. He also said that he would like the pirates to believe that we were surrendering without a fight, and one of the ways that you can signal a surrender is to pull up your sails.

Listening to my uncle and the captain talk about what they plan on doing, and what strategy they should use. The captain believed that the pirates only thought of us as merchant ships with its usual crew. My uncle sent messages to the other two ships to have all the soldiers lower themselves to make them less noticeable as we waited for the pirate ships to move next to us. I had placed two of my bodyguards in each of the other ships, keeping three with me. Before the pirate ship got too close to us my uncle had me go to my cabin with two spearmen as well as one of my bodyguards.

Using direct control I started to sync with my main bodyguard up on the deck. I noticed the connection wasn't as clear as it was before. The closest thing I can describe the sensation to is the feeling of a lag in the connection. As if the sensations weren't happening in real time. Every few seconds it would start stuttering. I watched as the pirate ship moved up to the side of our ship. I heard a man from the pirate ship start yelling demands but I could not fully understand what was being said. The voices were coming through as if I was listening to them through a heavy set door. When the ship looked like they were close enough I ordered my bodyguards on our ship to jump over and start slaughtering the pirates. At first the pirates seemed to be taken back but snapped out of their stupor and started to fight back. My bodyguards had made enough room that my men rushed out of their hiding spots and went over to the pirate ship to take it over. One of our other ships had the least amount of cargo and most of my men were on board. They had positioned themselves towards the enemy pirate ships. They also never pull their sails up and so were ready to maneuver their ship to the second pirate ship. When they were close enough two bodyguards jumped onto their ship and started the slaughter. They were quickly followed by my men who quickly subdued the surprised pirates.

I then focus my thoughts back to the bodyguards that I had fighting the pirates. Noticing the fighting was much more fierce. I was able to see that there were many more pirates on this ship and they seem to have better fighters. I noticed several of my men were down as well as a good number of the sailors with us but we were pushing the pirates back and cornering them. After one of my bodyguards smashed two of their fighters in one swing, crushing their bodies. The pirates behind them must have realized their continued fighting would only lead to their death. They started throwing down their weapons. Releasing my control I opened the door to my cabin and ordered one of the men that were guarding me. To run to my uncle and tell him I want the pirates to be taken as prisoners and not offer them a chance to take the black.

After the pirates and the vessels were secured I left my cabin to go up to the deck. My uncle decided to move all the pirates to the second ship, since it was larger and most of the soldiers were there. They were being guarded by two of my bodyguards as well as the majority of my soldiers.

What was exciting for me was that the pirates were pretty fruitful in they're plundering since we found valuable gems as well as pretty hefty chests full of gold and other valuable items.

After my men had emptied most of the pirate captains quarters. I went over to investigate the room more closely. Looking and examining the table and the desk. I was able to find several little notches where hidden compartments were. To my joy I found several maps and letters As well as a few bags of coins and trinkets that I had pocketed.

After I had gone through some of the hidden papers in the captain's quarter. I started to wonder if there are other secret compartments. I started to examine the walls as I walked around the cabin, tapping at them while moving around. As I walked past my main bodyguard I then noticed that it was making an unnatural humming sound. Recalling that this is the one that I had concerns about. I finally started to focus on a tingle against my skin that I have noticed for the last ten minutes. I was so excited about the capturing of the two vessels as well as the loot that was on board, that I had pushed the strange feeling aside without truly thinking about it.

With growing concern I moved over to it and examined the runes. I started to remove some of the armor plates to get a better look at its runic arrays. What I saw caused me to pale with alarm and immediately ordered the bodyguard to run out of the cabin and off the ship into the sea.

He just made it into the water before a huge explosion rocked the ship causing me to fall and hit my head against the side of the table. As I tried to regain my focus my head was pounding and felt muddled. One of my men who was tasked to guard me ran into the room and picked me up and carried me out of the cabin and off the ship. I finally was able to notice that the ship that I was carried off of was tilting dangerously to the side. Before I could take in more of the scene my world went black.

I don't remember regaining consciousness; it was almost as if all my senses were dead, and everything was black without the ability to see or touch or taste or smell. One moment the world was black and then next I was able to see and feel and the rest of my senses came slamming back into me. When I finally stabilized I had my usual sensation with some new ones that caused me to be puzzled for a while as I grappled with these new sensations flowing through me. I was looking at the world from a bizarre angle. I saw nothing but blue in front of me and above me. As I focused on what I was seeing I was also feeling the sensation of a cold breeze. Focusing more on my surroundings I was able to notice that it wasn't just the same color blue everywhere but the blue on top was lighter than the blue on the bottom. Looking more closely I noticed that the blue on the bottom was water and on the water I noticed three ships. Blinking stupidly I looked around me and noticed wings on both sides of me. It took me longer than I would like to admit to figure out that I was flying. I was seeing the world from the view of a bird. I must have warged. Surprisingly as soon as I realized that I was warging I lost connection with the bird and woke up back in my body.

This was the first time that I was able to use magic from this world. Thinking to myself that this has so much potential. I started to calm my mind and try to reconnect to the bird. Before I could fully focus my concentration was broken by my uncle walking into my cabin carrying a tray of food. That's when I realized that I was in my hammock in my cabin. When my uncle saw that I was awake. His expression showed that he was relieved and came over and placed the tray to the side then gave me a hug. After I asked him what had happened he told me that he wasn't sure but the theory was the pirates must have been in kings landing and stole some of the wildfire. He believed that a jar of it must have exploded in the enemy vessel.

I had learned that I had lost my other bodyguard and we had lost several men when the ship went down. With my head all out of focus after it made contact with the table. I did not realize how fast the ship actually sunk or how close I was to actually going down with the ship.

I spent the next four days before we reached White Harbor reading books that I had acquired that had the old tongue in it. Before I had left for the south I did not have free access to Winterfell. With my father's father grudgingly accepting me as my father's heir he would show his displeasure with me and my mother by restricting our movement in Winterfell. It wasn't until I was able to convince him to let me move to Moat Cailin that I had some freedom. so only a few times did I have access to any of the tones that had the old tongues. Anytime that Lord Stark or the Maester found me reading from these tomes they immediately confiscated them and confined me with my mother in our room. Thinking back I believe he didn't truly find it suspicious or care that I was reading these books but almost took joy in denying me access to things I was interested in. I believe he only allowed me to move to Moat Cailin so he didn't have to see me. I believe he only kept my mother in Winterfell because he enjoyed the frustration my father got from not having as much free time to go and whore around.

I was surprised to see that when we docked in White Harbor that I was being greeted by Lady Lyessa Flint, Lord Ondrew Locke, Lady Leona Woolfield, Lord Wyman Manderly and his son and heir Sir Wylis Manderly. House Manderly must have called for a representative from there vassal houses to join him in greeting me. I assumed that somebody must have sent word from King's landing that I was sailing to White Harbor. I was happy to have them receive me. After the meet and greet I was led to a chamber that was made-up for me. Taking a nice long bath soaking in the hot water. After getting dressed I was met at the door by my uncle who was led by a servant from house Manderly to the main hall.

I was led to a seat at the high table next to Lord Manderly and I greeted him with a smile. Before the feast, I took the opportunity to thank the Manderly as well as the other Lords and Lady's for their support during the war. Lowering my head slightly I thanked them for bringing justice for my beloved grandfather and father. During the meal I had a pleasant conversation with Lord Manderly but most of all I just quietly ate while listening to the conversations happening around me. After the feast I went to Lord Manderly study since he seemed to be nervous about something and wanting to discuss something with me.

I had learned that aunt Lyanna decided not to stay in the north that as soon as she arrived in White Harbor she ended up chartering a ship in secret that left towards Essos. I cannot tell you the amount of fury that I was feeling. I felt my anger rise from my neck all the way to the top of my head. That ungrateful bitch I had stuck my neck out for her and she repays me with treachery. I then asked Lord Manderly for a drink with his back was turned to me I quickly stunned him opening his eyes I looked through his mind to see if he was telling the truth that he had no knowledge of her escaping nor did he offer her any assistance. With a sigh of relief I revived Lord Manderly and put a compulsion on him to believe I had spent the last 5 minutes getting him to believe that I did not hold him accountable for my aunt's actions.

So, after taking a well-deserved break for about four days to recharge and heal, we finally embarked on our journey to Winterfell. While we were in White Harbor, I had the opportunity to talk to Wyman about some plans I had for the betterment of the North. One of the ideas I pitched to him was selling ice to other parts of the world. I explained that I had created a prototype box that could keep the ice cold during transportation. Once I get back home, I'll make sure to have those boxes filled up and sent to him, so he can take them along on his trading trips.

I came up with a contract that we would share the profits from selling ice. We agreed to split it three to seven, with Winterfell taking 70%. I discussed with him the order to be successful we will need to bring in the Umbers to help out. Umbers can provide the supply of ice during the height of summer. Since they had several mountainous creeks that still froze during the night, even in the summer.

During my travels from White Harbor to Winterfell I started going over my plans to see if Lyannas decision will hurt me. Realizing that my work to reduce Roberts annoyance towards me might have been undone. Since he may blame me for losing Lyanna. Hopefully he is more annoyed and angry with Arryn who he believes was the one who pushed him into setting Lyanna aside. I also need to make sure that no northern lords would actually support Lyanna or her child if he tried to regain the iron throne. I will have to change the narrative in my story about her to make her seem more selfish and more manipulative.

I also spent several days going through our conversations to the best of my ability to figure if she was always lying to me even when signing over the rights of Brandon to be king. From what I could recall she seemed to except and was ok with the decision. She seemed to be more focused that Brandon would live and have a happy life. She seemed grateful when I mentioned that I was going to legitimize him and give him a keep to rule from.

The only time that I can think of, when I didn't know exactly what was happening was when Lyanna was speaking to Elia. I had been eavesdropping in their conversation until Ned distracted me. I never followed through to make sure I knew what they were saying which now I regret.

Sighing to myself. I decided to think about it later since I was just making myself angry and frustrated. I steered my horse around a bush near the top of the hill, the crisp morning air stinging at my cheeks. As I crested the top of the hill, a breathtaking sight unfolded before my eyes. Below me lay Wintertown, a picturesque village nestled amidst vast farmlands. The fields were alive with activity, as hardworking villagers tended to their crops, their breath visible in the chilly morning air.

My gaze shifted towards the Wintertown gates, guarded by sturdy men clad in furs and armor. Beyond the gates and town, I could make out the towering outer walls, standing at an impressive height of 80 feet. These walls encircled the woods where are I could see the red leaves from the heart tree towards the middle.

But it was the sight of the majestic towers of Winterfell that truly captivated me. Rising above the town and forest its walls, the peaks of the ancient castle's towers pierced the sky. Each tower stood tall and proud, a testament to the strength and resilience of House Stark, the ruling family of the North.

Winterfell with its hundred feet high Inner walls, had long been a symbol of power and authority. It stood as a bastion that was surrounded by a vast expanse of ancient forest.

As I took in the grandeur of the scene before me, a sense of awe and reverence washed over me. The sight of Wintertown, the farmlands, the gates, and the towering walls of Winterfell reminded me of the resilience of my ancestors. From here they had united and ruled the north for thousands of years. It was a land where people toiled tirelessly, braving the harsh winters and the dangers that lurked beyond.

With a renewed sense of purpose, I urged my horse forward, descending the hill towards Wintertown. The villagers looked up from their work, their faces etched with determination and resilience. I knew that within those walls, a community thrived, bound by a shared history.

As I passed through the gates, I couldn't help but feel a sense of finally being home. The spirit of the North flowed through my veins, and I knew that I had returned to a place where my stark blood is valued above all else.