Blue. A piercing sky blue. Orbs that rivaled hers stared her down. Emotionless and deep. The creature was clothed in worn down military armor. An unknown animal was etched into the shoulder blades. The creatures limbs were translucent yet formidable. It cocked its head at her.

Time seemed to stop. She was aware that Robb was watching her, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the white creature staring her down. The Night's Watchman's memory was clear and on repeat. The creature was quick and merciless. There was no question that it had allowed the man before them to live. For what purpose? Zipporah was unsure of the motive, but it was abundantly clear that the creature was powerful. Winter is coming. It whispered with a cruel smile.

Zipporah closed her eyes to clear her mind and to disconnect from whatever that thing was. Turning her attention to the potential execution before her, Zi bit her lip in contemplation. Should she intervene?

He's telling the truth Robb. The creature is real.

Robb stiffened and shifted to look at his father. Ned made eye contact with his eldest, and the two had a silent conversation.

He still deserted. The law is the law.

If you say so.

Lord Stark nodded to his men who dragged the trembling man to the log. His head was positioned over a snow laden log. Ned drew his sword, Ice, from the scabbard held by Theon.

"Forgive me, lord." The man murmured in resignation of his fate. Ned Stark bowed over his sword. Zipporah's face crumpled. He was praying that the death may be swift and just.

"In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, first of his name...." His strong voice rang throughout the clearing.

Jon muttered to Bran, "Don't look away."

"King of the Andals and the First men..."

"Father will know if you do." Jon pressed to his young cousin. His heart ached for the boy. Bran was a gentle soul who like to climb and read about dragons, not a boy who took pleasure in watching a life being taken.

"Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the realm, I, Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, sentence you to die." Zipporah straightened her back and awaited the beheading. She had never witnessed this form of death. She had seen many die from blasters, tie fighters, infection, and the red blade of Kylo Ren, but never a metal sword of that size.

Lord Stark lifted the sword high, and swiftly cut the man's head off. Zipporah had maintained her composure throughout the ordeal. Once the man was dead, she let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding. The group moved to leave the body lying there, but her gut told her not to.

"My lord, it would be most wise to burn the body." She offered with a serious face. Ned simply nodded, and his men moved to make a quick woodpile.

Jon clutched Bran's shoulder and affirmed, "You did well." Jon left his side and moved to join the men in burning the body. Meanwhile, Robb wrapped his arm around his younger brother in comfort. Nothing was said between the two, but Robb's message was clear.

Ned moved to address Bran, who seemed to have taken the execution well.

"You understand why I did it?" His voice was low, but Zipporah's hearing honed in on the conversation between son and father.

"Jon said he was a deserter." Bran murmured in a sadden tone.

"But do you understand why I had to kill him?" Ned pressed.

"Our way is the old way?" Bran was trying to give answer that the Septa would want, not his father.

"The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." His father stated in a tone that signaled he was teaching his son a wise thing.

"Is it true that he saw the white walkers?" Bran questioned with a hint of fear. There were stories of the long winter,where men fought against the undead. Up until a few moments ago, Bran thought they were fairy tales.

"The white walkers have been gone for thousands of years."

"So he was lying?"

Ned did not answer his son. He wasn't sure what to think himself. Zipporah saw what the man saw, and Robb silently told him that the man was telling the truth. Winter was indeed coming, and the Nights Watch needed to be alerted immediately.

The body burned quickly. The smell of burned flesh caused Zipporah's stomach to churn and sent her into a throwing up spell. Luckily, most of the men missed it. Robb had been gentleman enough to hold her hair as she spilled the contents of her stomach onto the clean snow.

"Are you alright?" He whispered into the cold air.

"The smell...I'll be fine." She whispered back. As they rejoined the group, it was time to set out for Winterfell. The group moved through the northern landscape in silence. Zi's eyes scanned the landscape for any signs of a disturbance. The creature had sent her an ominous message.

"Aye, look, over there!" A member of the Winterfell guard called.

Zipporah's eyes landed on a dead animal. She was unsure of what it was called. It looked like a larger, more muscular, less hairy bordok. She furrowed her brow at the scene; there were life signatures pulsing near the dead carcass.

Most of the men moved in to investigate the odd scene before them.

"What is it?" Jon questioned with intrigue.

"Mountain lion?" Theon offered with a shrug.

"There are no mountain lions in these woods." Ned refuted in a tense voice. The men withdrew their swords and began to move throughout the area. Ned let out a low whistle. A large carnivorous beast lay with antlers through its throat. As the men neared, they could see how large the beast truly was. Many of them were unsure of what exactly it was.

"It's a freak." Theon spat at the dead animal.

"It's a dire wolf." Lord Stark corrected. He glanced at Cassel for but a moment. Lord Stark approached the animal, "Tough old beast." He pulled the large antlers from the wolf. The movement of the dead body triggered a series of whimpers. Jon, who was closest, moved to investigate.

"There are no dire wolves south of the Wall." Robb stated as he turned to look back at Zipporah. She remained back, away from the scene. Her eyes roamed over the landscape. She was keeping watch. Jon was moving slowly around the animal. The fur itself seemed to be moving.

"Now, there are five." Jon offered with a slight smile. Jon held a pup in his hands and motioned to Bran. "Do you want to hold it?"

Bran shifted to hold the puppy in his small arms. "Where will they go? Their mother's dead."

The older men pondered for a moment, and then Sir Rodrick announced, "They don't belong here."

Lord Stark followed suit, "Better a quick death. They won't last without their mother."

Theon grinned while Jon and Bran seemed to falter. "Right. Give it here." The Greyjoy reached for the pup in Bran's arms.

"NO!" Bran screamed causing not only Theon to pause but for Zipporah to join them in the clearing. Glaring at Theon, Zi moved to look at what the fuss was all about.

Seeing his wife so close to Theon's blade, Robb ordered Theon, in a disgusted tone, "Put your blade away."

Theon glared and he snapped, "I take orders from your father, not you." Robb moved toward the Kraken to teach him a lesson.

"Please father!?" Bran begged and halted Robb's movements. Bran couldn't explain it, but he felt connected to the pup in his arms. They were meant to be friends.

"I'm sorry, Bran." His lord father muttered. In his mind, the beasts were majestic, but they were not meant to be this far south. Reaching down, Zipporah counted the remaining pups. The forced flowed through the animals. Like Vader, they were highly intelligent and recognized that the people before them were important.

She needed to intervene before the animals were slaughtered by visionless men. "Lord Stark? 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."

Bran beamed at Zipporah and then at his father. Bran knew that his father heeded Zi's advice more than any other being beside his mother. He was going to be able to keep his pup.

The men looked to Lord Stark who seemed to be mulling over his options. Listen to the goddess of the north or kill the beasts?

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

Bran held in a whoop of joy and watched as his brother/cousin handed more pups to Robb and the other men.

As others moved away, Bran noted that Jon didn't have one, "What about you?"

Jon sighed,"I'm not a Stark. Get on," motioned to Bran to keep moving, and moved slowly away from the dead beast. As he trudged through the snow, he heard a small whimper.

Zipporah had remained where he left her and she was already crouched near where the other pups had been found.

"What is it, love?" Robb asked his wife.

With a small smile plastered on her face, she pulled out a beautiful, pure white pup. Theon chuckled, "The runt of the litter. That ones yours, Snow."

Zipporah scowled at Theon and moved to come face to face with him with the Snow White pup snug in her arms.

"What is it Lady Stark? You want to the runt for yourself?" His grin faltered when he felt a pressure on his brain.

"You will not degrade Jon or anyone else for the remainder of the day."

"I will not degrade Jon or anyone else for the remainder of the day." He repeated in a trance, and he quietly moved back to his horse.

"The pup is meant for you, Jon. Same signature." She handed the pup to Jon who simply nodded. Whenever she used her gift on others, Jon was quickly reminded that she was much more than his cousin's beautiful, foreign wife. She had power beyond what they could fathom. Robb held his pup close to his chest. He was glad that Zi had said that this little being was meant to be his. He wanted to let out a laugh. Between his wife and himself, they had two of the most powerful animals known: a dire wolf and a shadow cat. What was next? Would she find a dragon?

"Come. We must return to Winterfell." Jon beckoned as he spied the other men and his uncle move to remount their respective horses. Robb followed Zipporah's graceful movements. Glancing down, he noted that she didn't leave footprints in the snow. How was that possible?

Trained to. Remember the missions I showed you? Those rathtars were tricky as hell...

Can't I just marvel at you?

Nothing to marvel at.

Don't lie, my love. Let's go back home and pick a name for this pup.

She simply nodded in reply. Jon rolled his eyes at the two. No one knew how many conversations they had, nor what they discussed. Zi had unparalleled access to everyone's mind, and in turn, Robb did as well. Both loyal, primarily, to each other and then everyone else.

It wasn't long before they returned to the safe, sturdy walls of Winterfell. They were greeted by the other Stark children who immediately took their pups. Rickon immediately named his "Shaggy-dog", while Sansa chose "Lady." Bran and Arya seemed to be weighing their options.

"Summer." Bran announced with a smile. Arya quirked a brow and cooed to hers, "Nymeria."

"What did you choose, Jon?" Sansa asked with a kind smile. Since the news of his true parentage was shared, she no longer felt disdain toward her cousin.

"Ghost."

"That's quite fitting." Theon complimented as he passed by. The other children paused and stared at Theon with confusion. A compliment or nicety from Theon was rare and never directed at Jon.

"Zipporah." Bran stated with a grin. The kids all shared knowing glances and continued their chatter about the pups. She would be the only being in existence to get Theon Greyjoy to behave. Sansa gave her eldest brother and his wife a wistful smile. Both of them were fussing over the pup who clearly took to Robb but loved Zi as well. They were a couple from the storybooks Old Nan used to read-they loved each other. Not the regal kind her lord parents possessed, but a loyally possessive, end all, in love with one another. She prayed to the gods that they would give her a similar one.

Rickon moved over to the couple with his pup waddling after him, "What's yours named, Robb?"

"Grey Wind. He's the northern wind." Robb answered with a smile.

"Mine is Shaggy-dog!"

Zipporah crouched to be face to face with Rickon, "That's a clever name, little lord. Shaggy-dog is hungry. Think you could help him with that?"

Rickon nodded, " Cmon shaggy-dog, let's go get warm milk." The puppy squeaked in reply.

"Is GreyWind hungry?" Robb questioned as his eyes searched the pup for signs of distress.

"No, but he wants a nap. Let's have him and Vader meet. They can be nap buddies."

"Are you sure they'll get along?"

"It is destined."

The duo left the others and walked back to their chambers. Zipporah didn't want to admit that the excursion had taken quite a bit of her energy. She immediately blamed the ice blue eyes of the White Walker, who was searching for more followers, beyond the Wall.

As they entered the room, Vader greeted them with a loud meow causing the pup to stir in Robb's arms. Zipporah noticed that Vader had zeroed in on Grey Wind. Rather than being hostile to the pup, Vader sat at Robb's feet and waited. Hesitantly, Robb set Grey Wind down across from Vader.

"Vader this is Grey Wind. Your brother." Zi stated in a quiet voice. The cat glanced at Zi before moving closer to the pup. Grey Wind's little tail wagged as Vader sniffed him. Vader circled him once and seem to nod in approval. Robb chuckled at the cat's behavior.

There was little doubt in his mind that Vader was a very intelligent animal. Vader moved back to his place in front of the fire and flopped down. Grey Wind bounded after his new playmate. It was impossible for him to stop, his puppy paws being too big for him. He slid straight into Vader who reacted like an annoyed older sibling. He pushed the pup away before Grey Wind tackled him again. The two exchanged playful snarls and swipes before Grey Wind was pinned by Vader. Vader meowed at his mistress and moved to the corner of the fireplace, away from the playful puppy. As the cat settled, Grey Wind seemed to understand that playtime was over. The pup moved slowly toward Vader and eventually, lay himself beside the bigger cat. Both animals appeared to be content.

"They're going to be a handful." Robb commented as he embraced Zi. She rested her head on his strong shoulder. They were safe, for now.

"Yes, they will be, but they'll be fierce warriors. They'll protect us when we can't protect ourselves."

He pressed his lips to hers in hope of reassuring himself, but as he pulled away, Robb could tell that Zi was seeing something. While he was unsure of when she'd come out of it, he knew he wouldn't leave her alone. Her face faltered for a moment, but he was surprised when she began to speak, "And you never worry about anything. When we were seven, you jumped off the cliffs as Casterly Rock. One hundred foot drop into the water. And you were never afraid."

Robb knew immediately who she was "seeing," the Lioness of Casterly Rock: Cersei Lannister.

Why was she worried? Who was she talking to? And who else but Jaime Lannister was with her?

She continued, "What if Jon Arryn told someone?" Robb raised an eyebrow. What secrets did Jon Arryn have?

"My husband."

Whatever it was, King Robert was in the dark, and Cersei was afraid of him finding out.

"You should be hand of the King."

Robb raised his eyebrows at Cersei's remark to Jaime. Jon Arryn was the hand, unless he had passed. Zipporah had warned of the threat toward Lord Arryn. His father had taken it seriously, but had Arryn?

Zipporah blinked a few times and even shook her head. "I hate when that happens."

"What did you see?"

"Jon Arryn is dead—a fever. But my gut says poison. The person responsible is still to be revealed. Not the Lannisters. But, Cersei and Jaime Lannister are in love with one another. They're fucking each other.. The king doesn't know, and they're coming here. Your mother just received a raven."

Robb mulled it over, "We need to have a family meeting and prepare for a shit storm that is coming upon us."

"Aye, I believe Lord Tyrion is still here. He needs to be there, and we need to send a raven to the Martells."

"Making moves?"

"And countermoves."