It was a gentle day, the snow thawing. This winter had been very short, lasted only five moons. Rydinia overheard Father and Maester Luwin talking about it just three days before. They have agreed this is not a true winter and Rydinia thought it was time to ask others.

Mikken called it a blessing and maybe that wasn't surprising. She had been near the forge lots of times and it always needed to be really hot. When the first snows fell and she was wrapped in furs by her mother, she would always need to take them down in there. With the metallic cling of the hammer hitting steel still echoing in her head, she made her way inside once again and asked women from the kitchen and Old Nan later.

They responded with superstition. 'The shortest winters are followed by the longest ones.' Old Nan even told her a story – she always did – about a long, cold winter unlike anything the little girl has ever seen. Nan told her that the last time winters were so short was thousands of years ago. Then came a long summer and an even longer winter. However, this was no ordinary winter. It brought other things along with the snows. It brought a cold that froze not just land but men as well and with it came the White Walkers. It was called the Long Night, where the dead rose to hunt the living like wolves hunt for prey.

Rydinia didn't want to believe the stories Nan said at times but there was no denying that however little evidence there was to the dreadful Walkers, the Wall was built for a reason and the Maester said there were even books talking about the Long Night.

The five-year-old Stark girl trotted along the courtyard, mindful of the greatest puddles of slush at her feet. She wished Sansa could join them in their game with the boys, but she just had her second nameday a fortnight ago and was still too young for Mother to let her run around without someone by her side.

Of course, Rydinia was used to playing with the boys, Robb being her twin and Jon as good as. She loved playing knights the most, but they were going to try another game today. They heard this from one of the household guards, Harwin, who played it with other children in his youth.

The game needed one of the children to be a seeker. The seeker counts down from a chosen number with closed eyes and the other children need to hide somewhere away from the seeker. When the count ends, the seeker is supposed to shout, "Ready or not, here I come!" and start searching for the others. Who they finds first is the next seeker and the last found is the winner of the round.

They agreed to meet with the boys after the morning meal in front of the weirwood tree. Rydinia was so excited she could barely fall asleep last night. She always loved spending time with her siblings but maybe now they can add a new game to their list. There was nothing the oldest Stark child would have loved more in this moment.

Still, she hoped that soon, Sansa would be able to join them. It would be good to have another girl playing knights with them. They could unite against the boys, the first female knights fighting against White Walkers or Lannister soldiers or Targaryen ones. Oh, maybe one group could be sellswords and the other the Kingsguard!

At the moment, her little sister was at her mother's side in the bedroom, probably. She really seemed to be fond of sitting next to Mother and watch her, no matter what she did. It was adorable, especially since not much truly happened with Mother these days with her belly being as big as it was. Maester Luwin says their new brother or sister is going to arrive within a moon's turn.

Rydinia didn't remember much from when Sansa came to the world and she was endlessly curious about the whole affair. She couldn't even imagine how a baby fits in a person's stomach and even less so that it can somehow get out. Maybe it was some kind of magic? Maybe the baby will turn into a ghost, go through the skin, and then turn back?

She wanted to see it, however it happened.

The girl entered the Godswood and ran to the weirwood tree with a smile on her face. It was time to play the new game!

Her brothers were smiling as well when she reached them. Robb and Jon looked like they were the twins, not her and Robb. Their coloring was different, of course, since Robb had the signature Tully red hair and blue eyes while Jon carried as much of their father in him as he possibly could. His hair was dark, and his eyes were grey. It was one of the features only Rydinia and Jon shared, and Robb didn't.

Jon was the only one of the siblings who didn't have any redness to his hair – Robb and she shared a dark, almost brown red and Sansa's hair was bright as fire – which wasn't too surprising; Jon was only their half-brother. Father had explained once that he was a bastard, a child of Eddard Stark but not of Catelyn. This saddened Rydinia a bit because Mother didn't look at him the same way she looked at Robb and her and often disapproved of them playing together, especially playing knights.

Rydinia never saw a problem with Jon being a bastard. It has always been the three of them together as long as she can remember, so Jon was an honorary part of the twins. Their namedays weren't too far apart either.

"Nia," they greeted with equally large grins. Rydinia felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Robb.

"We thought that you will be the seeker first, sister." The girl half-expected this outcome. She was the best at counting out of all of them and she was even able to read some words now, while the boys still struggled with the letters. It wasn't that surprising. While the boys were training with Ser Rodrik every morning, Rydinia grabbed a book and practiced reading. Her favorite was a thick tome named The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. It repeated a lot of words, mostly the names, let it be the family name or first name of the person. Hair color, eye color and other words were also repeated a lot, which really helped her in recognizing the letters in them.

Sometimes she would ask someone to help carry the book down to the courtyard where she would watch the boys training while practicing her words and sentences. She wished sometimes that she could train with them as well. She dreamt of being a warrior, a wolf like the one on their banners. It was a dream Robb and Jon had as well and Rydinia thought it might be a Stark trait.

"I'll find you both easily," she grinned at them and they ruffled her hair in response. "Hey! Do you want me to start counting or not?"

The boys let her go and they agreed on a 20 count. Rydinia leaned onto the back of the weirwood face first and started counting backwards from twenty loudly. First, she heard footsteps fading, then only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves could be heard. She wanted to go and find her brothers as soon as she didn't hear the footsteps anymore, but she knew she had to finish the count.

"Five..." The sound of something falling into water. Probably a rock that the wind blew into the lake. "Four..." The sound of a breeze. "Three..." Quiet. "Two..." The wind is picking up. "One! Ready or not, here I come!"

Triumphant quiet.

Time to go look for her brothers!

Rydinia realized she had no idea where to start. Where would the two think to go? Well, first she needs to go to the courtyard. They probably stayed outside, twenty moments is not really long and they needed a good hiding place.

Maybe the kennels? With all the dogs and the doors to hide behind, it would be a good place. One of them must be there!

The Stark girl ran as fast as her little legs could carry her and dramatically opened the kennel door. It was hard to see at first, since she was barely taller than some of these dogs and the boys weren't towering either, but she could catch curly black hair poking out from a very well-hidden spot.

"I found you, Jon!" she exclaimed excitedly. She must have been a little too loud because one of the dogs nudged her with its nose in warning. "Sorry."

There was a disappointed whine and Jon emerged with his hair ruffled from running or trying to find a good spot, the girl didn't know. "Robb won?" he asked.

"This time," Rydinia offered with a smile. "I still have to find him, though."

It was just a few minutes later when they thought to check Mikken's workshop, only to find her twin crouching behind a big basket of scrap metal. Robb wore a triumphant smile as they agreed to start from the place they found him in. Jon crouched where Robb was a moment earlier, put his hands over his eyes and started counting.

It was Rydinia's turn to try and find a hiding place. Looking around quickly, everything seemed too easy to find. It was when she turned towards the two wolf statues guarding an entrance that she remembered the best hiding place – the crypts.

It was dark down there and cold but it was full of statues and tombs she can easily fit behind. She chose Aunt Lyanna's place as the perfect one and leaned against the wall behind it. That was when she felt something under her toes, even through the boots. It must have been a bug!

Rydinia was really afraid of bugs and instinctively pulled her foot back. She couldn't see what it was but it was round and dark. It might have been a rock but just to make sure, she should step down on it.

Fearfully lowering her foot, she pushed and... it worked.

She sighed and slumped down to the floor. No more bug.

That was the moment when the stone under her moved. It felt like she was rotated and Lyanna's statue shifted to the right quickly with all the other tombs. Rydinia saw part of the wall she was leaning against and then the entire crypt disappeared from her.

It was pitch black in the room she was in now, so much so that she didn't know if she was even in a room. She couldn't see walls or anything really. Just darkness.

The Stark girl shrieked.

It's too dark, it's too scary.

Where is she?

How is she going to get home?

Will she ever get home?

"Jon! Jon, please find me! Jon!"

There was no answer.

"Robb! Please! Father! Father! Please! I-" Tears leaked from her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. "I want my mother! I'm afraid! Please find me! Please answer! Anyone! Anyone!"

It was sudden that light hit her, more light than she remembered seeing in Winterfell lately. Surprised and afraid, she opened her eyes.

"I'm here," a girl's voice said.

The stranger looked at her with the warmth of a gentle fireplace and her violet eyes met Rydinia's grey ones.