23

Chapter 23: Ch 14 A Plan

Chapter Text

Deep inside the middle of the wolfswood forest, there was a constant fight for survival happening between prey and predators. The varieties of tree species inside this forest were too numerous to be counted by even the maesters. But the most common of them were oak, evergreen, black brier, sentinels, soldier pines, hawthorn, beech, ash, chestnuts, ironwoods, and firs.

On a particular ironwood tree, a dead stag was hanging from one of its sturdy branches, and if that was not unusual enough in the middle of the forest. A snow-white horse was sitting just beside that tree with its eyes closed and from the looks of it seems to be deep asleep without a care in the world.

It was very unusual as the horse was located in the lower part of the food chain of this forest so as a prey it should presumably be more skittish and vigilant of its surroundings.

The scent of the dead animal mixed with the one of a live horse was like an invitation for the beasts inside this forest. It was too tempting for any of the countless animals in this forest and before long one such predator took the bait.

Wolfs in this forest usually hunt in groups so as to increase their chances of success, but there are always some exceptions and the lone wolf warily watching from the bushes was one such peculiarity.

While still smaller than its cousins the direwolves, it was one of the biggest wolves in this area of the forest. That meant that this wolf was huge enough that it could hunt most of the prey in this area alone so it didn't have to share its food.

This wolf had various encounters with the hunters during his life, so it was very cautious of the cunning traps made by them. It was very strange that the horse wasn't jumping around scared by its scent, but it just assumed that it was a particularly stupid one.

After a while, the wolf was sure that it was safe and didn't hesitate anymore and instantly flicked out of the bushes and ran toward the sleeping horse. He closed the distance rapidly and when he was a couple of meters away, he jumped toward the prey in triumph.

Just as it opened its jaw full of gleaming teeth with the desire to tear the delicious meat in front of it to pieces, a sudden tang sound rang in the air, and before the wolf could think about the sound, an arrow went inside its eyes and into its brain, killing it instantly. The wolf's body skidded across the ground before stopping a meter away from the horse who opened its eyes calmly.

"This bow really is too strong," Jon said in awe while admiring the new bow Old Mark had gotten for him before he went away. It was a bit hard to draw for his young body but the power it gave made it all worth it.

He quickly jumped down from the tree where he was hidden after a thorough look around the area. Running toward his majestic-looking white horse who was lazily standing up while glancing at the dead wolf with disdain, Jon was very happy with how far she had come since he had bought him from the Barrowtown trader.

"You've gotten really good at pretending to be bait...Huh Peggy," Jon said while rubbing Pegasus's neck, "Maybe you finally believe that I would never miss my mark no matter what,"

Pegasus scoffed and tuned his body a bit to show Jon his belly where a thin faded scar lay, proof that Jon wasn't completely right, "Hey! That was just one time and I didn't actually miss—the boar was half-dead already, it's just it took a wild dying swing and you got caught up in it..."

It had taken quite some training for Pegasus to start getting used to doing things that went against her instincts but as Jon started to warg into her regularly her intelligence also started to increase exponentially which helped a lot so now the horse was almost never scared no matter the situation she was in, and could always think with almost human-like intelligence.

Pegasus rolled her eyes at her two-legged's excuses, but Jon wasn't done yet, he said while pointing toward the semicircle around the part where Pegasus was lying "And didn't I start taking precautions after that,". The earth in that area looked a bit irregular as if it had been dug and filled recently.

If the wolf had taken one more step then it would have fallen into a tip full of sharp wooden spears that would have either killed it or injured it heavily.

"But it looks like we will have to change locations again," Jon said while field-dressing the dead wolf, "We hunted too much here and now all the animals around this place have started to avoid this area,"

"But we got a really big one this time— It should fetch us quite a few silver stags, maybe even a whole dragon, considering its size and that the skin is almost completely undamaged," Jon mumbled happily while draining the blood from the wolf, and he didn't have to worry about getting ambushed as his other partner Frost was keeping watch above him, and nothing hides from her eyes.

Jon had become one of the best hunters in Wintertown with his combination of Frost, Peggy, and his own hunting skills. And he was one of the wealthiest too as he always went after the biggest game which was always in demand, it meant that he always got a premium price, and considering he had almost no expenses, he had saved up a lot.

"I think these should be enough for the day, Peggy," Jon said while putting the dead stag as well as the wolf on his horse's back, who stood up easily after he had secured them tightly, "You sure you can handle the weight," Jon asked but Peggy just snorted in disdain at his unnecessary worry and even jogged around a little to show him that the weight meant nothing.

"Yes! Yes! you're very strong. No need to show off," Jon said while rolling his eyes, before looking up at the dense canopy and whispered, "Frost we are done for the day. Show us the safest and shortest way home,"

Jon's whisper had no chance of reaching anything, but Frost immediately replied back with an echoing majestic Caw that scared all the birds in the surrounding trees away.

"Good! let's go, Peggy," Jon said and immediately started running ahead while following frost whose location was like a beacon in his head, with his white horse keeping up with him easily through the trees, roots, rocks, and difficult forest ground.

It would be almost impossible for a normal horse to move expertly through this terrain the way Jon's horse was doing. Jon had trained her since the day he had gotten her to move in all kinds of different situations and it was only possible because he was able to communicate with his horse at a human level.

And her intelligence made it possible for her to in things individually like a human. Jon had also taught Peggy among various other things, to fight expertly using its all-powerful front and back legs.

That was also the reason he was fearless in bringing Peggy into this dangerous forest as he knew for sure that she could take on most of the dangerous animals in here in a one-on-one fight using her combat skills.

And with her increased intelligence due to his regular warging came a massive increase in appetite as even though she wasn't fully grown yet, Peggy could eat twice as much as an adult Warhorse, and that was all converted into powerful muscles bringing her increased strength and speed due to her regular exercises.

Before long they came out of the forest, and Jon was barely out of breath even though he had run all this way. He didn't stop anywhere and went straight to his regular merchant in Wintertown.

As he was going there he noticed the atmosphere inside the town was a little weird, as he had passed at least three different gatherings of adults whispering to each other with grim faces.

He reached the merchant before he could think about it any further, "Jon! You bought another big one," the merchant said with a huge smile when he saw Jon coming with Peggy and before Jon could answer he turned toward a young helper moving behind him and yelled, "Boy, bring the game to the usual place,"

"Come, Jon, Come!" He happily said while beckoning Jon toward a wooden table a couple of meters away. He took out a piece of paper from the table and after writing something and stamping his seal, gave it to him, "You know, Jon if you keep on hunting such massive games with undamaged skin, it won't be long before I end up owing you more than I make up in a year,"

Jon took the IOU from him before asking him worriedly, "Is that going to be a problem?".

The sea trade with the outside of the North was halted due to the war with the ironborn. The merchant had asked for a delay in the payment until the war was over as he didn't want to use up too much of his liquid funds and Jon had agreed readily as not only had he known him for a few years, but he was also Becca's father which made him very trustworthy.

"Oh! It would not be a problem at all," he said airily, "Once the sea is calm again and isn't so filled with soldiers and pirates, there will be a sudden rush to fill the increased demand from the free cities as the rich magisters and nobles there are always happy to have more exotic skins to decorate their lavish homes,"

"That's good," Jon said with relief, as he had been hunting daily since Eddard had gone, and he was sure there was a special section in the warehouse filled to the brim with skins he had bought back.

Jon was leaving when he suddenly remembered something and asked the merchant, "Do you know what happened in the Town? Everyone was acting a bit out of place,"

"Oh... Do you not know?" The merchant asked, his face suddenly turning grim, "A fishing town was raided by the ironborn, and the survivors arrived in Wintertown this morning,"

"Survivors..."

"Yes... Only two heavily injured men, a woman, and 5 children... they were all that was left of a whole village," He said while shaking his head, "They were almost inconsolable, the villagers gave them some food and a place to stay. The adults I think... went to Winterfell to report or ask for help..."

Jon thanked the man unconsciously before moving toward the Winterfell with a grim look. Pegasus joined him shortly so he mounted his horse in a smooth motion and moved toward his home with a sense of urgency.

He dismounted the second he was inside the castle walls and moved toward The Great Keep with quick steps. Behind him, Pegasus went toward the stable without needing anyone's assistance. He went straight for the one place he knew he would find his brother after he had dealt with the survivors.

Jon knocked on the solar and wasn't kept waiting for long as Maester Luwin opened the door instantly. "Jon," Maester nodded and stepped aside to let his Lord's son inside before closing the door back behind him.

"You heard," Robb asked him the moment he entered, from behind the table where he was standing. In front of him on the other side of the table was Ser Rodrik, the person Eddard trusted unconditionally, and Vayne Poole, the steward, who was joined by the Maester.

"I did," Jon said while moving to stand beside Robb, Lady stark was heavily pregnant at the moment so the people gathered here at the moment were the decision maker of the Winterfell and The North.

There is a reason why Lord Stark started teaching Robb about ruling from an absurdly young age. If a person from Jon's previous world looked at it they would find it unbelievable but Jon had understood from a young age that it was wrong to think about the customs of a medieval fantasy world through the eyes of the Modern world.

One of the main reasons Starks have been able to keep ruling north for thousands of years was that they almost always start teaching their heirs as young as possible. This was a world where dangerous things happen all the time and even someone as young as 7 years old could suddenly become a Lord responsible for thousands of lives.

So The Starks were very cautious about these things, like their other saying perfectly demonstrates, 'There must always be a Stark in Winterfell,'. It's a motto that helps separate the Starks from the other noble houses of the North because they're more than that. They are essentially the royal family of the North.

And Joffery in the canon perfectly shows about what happens when a person is handed a lot of power at a young age without learning about all the responsibilities involved.

"What are they arguing about?" Jon asked in a whisper to Robb while looking at Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik who were each talking with each other, with the steward trying to meditate between them.

"Ser Rodrik says that the villages along the coast should be emptied and situated more inland for their safety," Robb replied with a sigh, "While Ser Rodrik says that the villagers won't agree to leave easily,"

"I am telling you it won't be the last one, and it won't be long before we hear the news of another raid," Ser Rodrik said with a grim look and his hands tightened into a fist, "The ironborn run a circle of our coastal areas before they go on an actual raid to see if they can get lucky. It's almost like a ritual for those squids," He ended with disgust.

"I understand that perfectly, Ser," Maester Luwin replied calmly while fiddling with his chain, "I am just saying that the first summer harvest hasn't arrived yet so there is not enough food yet. And with the war going for who knows how long, we may have to tighten our belt for a while. And most of those villages depend on their daily fishing so they will be very reluctant to leave their home as that may mean starving. So if they were going to die anyway, they will definitely choose to go after a fight with the ironborn,"

"Can we not provide them with protection from the reserve forces we have?" Robb asked after a while after both the adults stopped speaking.

"That would not be possible, My Lord," Ser Rodrik shook his head, before running his finger along the coast on the map in between them, "It may not seem so on this Map but our coast is too long with small villages scattered everywhere. It would be possible to protect a few but almost impossible to do so for every single one. And without knowing their target we would just be running from one village to another, without ever catching them,"

Robb nodded before asking Maester Luwin about how much food they would have to supply, if they were able to situate all of the villagers inland, or if it was possible to buy from Riverlands and how much it would cost us.

While they were discussing, Jon remunerated about the problem in front of him in his head. There was a very obvious solution to the problem presented in front of him. But the resolution required him to share some things that may leave him a bit vulnerable and expose some things before he was ready to.

In the end, he remembered the survivors that had arrived this morning and his conscious couldn't take it without him doing anything if he could help it. Besides if he played right it may not even be that dangerous.

Jon took a deep breath and asked, "What if we were able to learn about the targets in advance? Will it be possible to prepare a defense then?"

"If that was possible then we could set up a few decent size forces in between and assign them to 4 or 5 villages each, and send them to the target village quickly," Ser Rodrik said immediately, "If we know about their target a few days in advance, forget defense we could even set an ambush for those reavers and show them what North is made up of," He humphed in agitation before he calmed down and said while shaking his head, "But alas that all depends on an advanced scouting system we don't have in the north,"

"I may have a way to know in advance when and where they would strike," Jon said after taking a deep breath.

Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik exchanged glances before the Maester asked skeptically, "What way?"

"You all know about Frost, Don't you?" Jon asked and they all nodded, "I think if I can get a hold of all the Ironborn flags. I can teach Frost to recognize them and she could fly back immediately and warn us,"

"That is really hard to believe, But what do I know about Bird Rearing," Ser Rodrik said before looking toward Maester, "Is it possible then? I know that Ravens can do all kinds of things but this seems a bit farfetched,"

"I know that frost is uncannily intelligent but... I don't know," Maester Luwin said frankly, "There's no precedent of it happening before that I've read of,"

"I believe in Jon," Robb said decisively before they could talk about it any further, "If Jon says he could do it then he can,"

They took a bit more to be convinced but they ultimately decided to trust Robb and started planning for the ambush sites and where the forces should be placed for the best efficiency and where they would be able to react in a timely manner.

After a very long session, all the adults left one by one, and ultimately only Jon and Robb were left behind. And the door closed after the last one, Robb turned to his brother, "Can you really do it?"

"I already showed you how I warg into Frost," Jon said calmly, "And she is really fast so it would be very easy for her to patrol a very large area. She would be able any ship long before they even come close to the coast,"

"That is good because a lot of lives depend on this," Robb said in relief before he expectantly looked at Jon, "So when are you going to teach me?"

"I told you that you need to reach an appropriate level in the techniques I taught you," Jon said while giving him the excuse he had told his brother. If he told Robb that the real reason was age, it would open a can of worms of why he could do it if they were the same age.

"Ugh those are very hard," Robb said while pouting, finally being his age after being forced to act like an adult for so long.

"Come, let's go to the Kitchen," Jon said while moving toward the door, "I don't know about you but I am very hungry, and I hunted a very delicious Stag today so..." Jon didn't even finish and Robb was already rushing in front of him.