Vol. 1 Chapter 5 - First-Day At Winter-Fell (1)

297 A.C. Kingdom of The North, Winter-Fell

Location: Lord Stark's personal-study

PovCatelynStark

"He tells you he is an exiled-prince, who has crossed this unfathomable distance to visit his mother's ancestral-home, and you just believe him?" I almost shouted, as I was having a hard time making myself even attempt to believe this nonsense….

"He had Dire-Wolves with him, not to mention the two Stark names he chose to mention, being names no one other than a Stark could possess the knowledge of…." My husband replied, shaking his head clearly something is on his mind….

"Lies always reveal themselves eventually, we shall see if this Wulf's story holds together, or shall it unravel like a web spun by a lying-spider…." I told Ned, before snorting and exiting his study, to find my children since we suddenly have a complete and total stranger among us….

I will keep my children safe, from anyone or anything that wishes them harmed or ever thinks of harming them themselves…. Or my name is not Catelyn Stark née Tully, over my dead body will I let someone harm my pups….

It's bad enough I must witness Ned's shaming of me, each day that I am forced to lay sight on his bastard son….

Back inside Lord Eddard's study

PovMaesterLuwin

"He would have to be thirty-two years of age, at the youngest to be the child of who claims to be a son of…. Stiorra Stark is your father, Rickard Stark's youngest legitimate-born sibling, his younger sister making her your aunt, making Wulf your first-cousin…. If his story is truly factual and not fictional…." I said, shedding some light on this young-faced stranger, who barely looks over twenty-years of age at most….

"His eyes look like my father's, those same cold, lifeless, abyssly vast, and deep-appearing eyes…. His eyes appear to be far older than his the face they rest upon…. A face with sharp, strong angles, resembling the faces described in our ancestral-tomes, describing the features of the descendants of the House-Stark…." Replied Lord Eddard, whom seemed to be speaking with himself at this point….

"My lord, you could simply ask the young man his age, and all this could be solved…." I started to tell Lord Stark, until he cut me off with a raised open hand raised to grasp his head by one of his temples, to massage the side of his forehead….

"That is what I plan to do Luwin, I will not need be direct, I will simply ask…." Lord Eddard stated, after lowering his hand from massaging his head….

On the other side of the castle and residence of the Stark's, where our main-character has just finished donning his freshly cleaned, fine-silken garments to wear after drying from his dip and wash in the hot-springs of Winter-Fell

PovWulf

Gods, that feels amazing, enjoying the feeling of the smooth and cloud-like material of my clothes brushing against my skin, whilst I walked through one of the halls of the castle, striding loosely and freely as if I'm currently walking through a park, making my way to the Main-Hall where I've been informed a meal has been prepared for everyone to dine together….

"Howdy there miss, looking lovely today…." I said, greeting the first maid I saw waiting near the entrance of the dining area of the family's castle and residence….

She just smiled and nodded, so I just did the same as well whilst entering into the large-hall, to lay eyes on most of the family already waiting, missing only a few stranglers such as Arya and Bran….

"Such a lovely family, it is truly a beautiful and healing-sight for poor-injured eyes such as mine…. Please call me Wulf, I am truly grateful for you allowing me to eat amongst you and share the warmth of your hearth…." I said, greeting the wife of Lord Eddard and his children who were currently present….

"We are glad to have you here Wulf, please sit and make yourself at home, you are with family now…. If you do not mind me asking, how old are you Wulf?" Lord Stark replied, welcoming me to dine with his family, before asking me of my age….

"I am thirty-two years as of merely two moons ago…." I said almost naturally, without time to even be confused or caught off-guard at his sudden-question of my age….

"I see, sorry if that made you uncomfortable, you appear far younger than you are…." Lord Stark replied, almost thoughtfully with a little pause or hesitation after my instant-reply to his question….

"That is actually thanks to an ancestral martial-arts, taught to me by my mother, named the Five-Animal-Opera…. It was created by a Stark-Ancestor who was obsessed over creating the best martial-art, for strengthening and improving the body whilst vastly improving the body's longevity or to put it in other words to make us stronger and live longer…." I spoke, telling the family a story about martial-arts and ancestral-whatever, I am making-up as I go….

"The five animals of the martial-art are the dragon, the snake, the tiger, the leopard, and the crane, are the animals that were imitated, in the creation of the martial arts….

Taking from the movements and the actions of the animals, to mimick and imitate them, creating a entire form of fighting and a way of training for your body…." I said, continuing my fictional-story about a fictional martial-arts, I am currently spitting out of my mouth as I think it, up in my ol' noggin or my mind if you wish to say it that way instead….

"The training in 'dragon-techniques sharpen the spirit or mind, making it clearer or easier to focus…. The 'snake-techniques teach and hone energy-flow and endurance, making it excellent for learning internal-force…. The 'tiger-techniques teach and strengthen the bones and internals or insides of our bodies, while focusing on courage and ferocity…. The 'leopard-techniques focus on speed or explosiveness, training how to strike immediately and swiftly…. The 'crane-techniques teach or focus on elegance and grace, or our balance and how smoothly we move so to say…." I said, until focusing my eyes from my current auto-pilot, making-up stories again sort of mode I was in, during the telling of my martial-arts story….