"I hear you've been doing some secret training from a certain source," Uncle Bennard said with a grin as he, Cregan, Mother and I sat at the table at the raised platform while some of the guards ate at the lower tables.
"If that source is my less handsome and more brawny twin brother, he is lying."
"Torrhen, do not call your brother less handsome. The two of you look the same."
"I would beg to differ, Mother. I find that I am quite…bewitching while he is more of a…rugged handsome."
"In other words, he's more girly while I'm more manly," Cregan spoke with a grin and I rolled my eyes as Mother giggled while Bennard hid his smirk.
"If girly means that being the smart one, then yes, I am the girly one."
"No, it means-"
"Oh, don't worry, brother. I'm sure the woman that you find would love a 'manly' man such as yourself."
"Why do I feel like you don't mean manly?", He asked with a frown and I snickered while Mother ruffled my hair.
"Do not listen to your brother, Cregan. You are plenty smart."
"That's code for 'You are smart, but your brother is a genius," I chimed in before cackling as I ducked the slice of bread Cregan threw at me.
"Hey, you can't start throwing if you lose the sibling argument! Uncle Bennard, tell him."
"Torrhen is telling the truth. If you lost the battle of words, you can't go to the battle of hands…unless you're sure you can win."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure," Cregan said with a grin before he glared as I quickly pulled Mother's arm around me.
"I activate the spirit of Mother. Protect me."
"I will not."
"Hah! I thought I was your favourite," I said with a frown and she just giggled behind her hand as she took her arm off of me. Cregan took that opportunity and wrestled me to the ground. I quickly tapped my hand against his side when he got my arm in a hold.
"You gave up way too easily," Uncle Bennard said as the two of us stood to our feet and Cregan nodded while I rolled my eyes.
"Why should I risk injuring myself just to prove a point?"
"…Huh, you would usually be pissed at the fact that you lost."
'…Right, old Torrhen likes to act like that.'
"Eh, maybe leaving the spirits behind have led to me maturing," I said with a shrug as I sat down, Mother looking pleased at my reply while Uncle Bennard just narrowed his eyes with a smirk.
"Uh-huh, I'm sure it has. Anyway, when are you going to see that stern brother of mine?"
"Hopefully, not today, but considering how mad Father gets if someone keeps him waiting…"
"Right now?"
"Right now," I muttered with a nod, stabbing a piece of sausage and just letting it stay there to delay the meeting.
"You don't have to look so grim. Father might be stern, but he's not blind. He'll see that you're actually trying. That and Father is not that bad."
"Cregan, you're his heir while I'm the spare twin. Of course, he doesn't treat you like he treat me. Also, he's going to ask what I'm going to do with the effort I put in now and I don't have an answer. What if I just want to be left alone with my books and not die before I'm twenty?"
"Just don't mention your love for the mystical and everything will be fine," Cregan said with a smirk and I groaned before looking to Mother as she gave my hand a gentle squeeze.
"Torrhen, your father simply wants to see his sons become strong men. He grew up with duty in every breath and he understands that you're…different, which is not a bad thing. You just need to know when to look and act like us all for survival's sake. Can you do that from me?"
"I understand, Mother," After all, I can recall that one Targaryen girl from the House of the Dragon show that everyone treated differently because she could see prophetic dreams in the show.
Helaena or something like that, right?
'I wonder what a prophetic dream is like. I know they say that you see animals and/ or visions that are suppose to symbolize certain names and people, but I think I have to see it to believe it. Then again, who says that I actually have magic?…Nah, that dream didn't just happen for no reason. I most definitely have magic.'
"I'm glad you do. Now, go and remember to not talk about your…fairy tales," Uncle Bennard said and I nodded as I stood up from the table, walking down the steps and through the doorway on the right wall of the dining wall.
Time to face the lord of Winterfell.
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"Come in," Father's deep voice echoed from behind the door and I opened it with a deep breath, exhaling softly as I bowed my head in greeting while closing the door.
Walking over to the table in the centre of his solar, I ignored my instinct to gawk and stare at everything as Father and I held each other's gaze. The ceremonial sword of House Stark, Ice, was on the rack to my left which had numerous wolf heads mounted above it, but I was more focused on Father as he let out a sigh and gestured for me to sit.
"I hear from the servants that you talk a little less of your tales these days," He began, his voice even and steady and I nodded as I sat up straight.
"As you've commanded, I've decided to keep them to myself."
"I see," He murmured as he poured two cups of water, sliding one to me that I accepted with a quiet thanks while he interlocked his fingers in front of him.
"I also hear from my guard captain that you have been training in secret considering that you no longer lose in the first ten seconds of a spar against your brother."
"I may not enjoy the sword as much as Cregan does, but I at least should know how to fend off an enemy…and end their life if I must to save my own."
"And do you see the value of discipline, Torrhen? Do you understand the duty that binds a man to something greater than himself?"
'Well, here comes the speech about duty.'
"I can't say that I do, Father, considering I just started taking it seriously, but I believe that I will get there at some point."
"That is what concerns me," His words drew me for a loop as I furrowed my brow, which seems to make him sigh as he leaned back in his seat.
"I can't say that I follow."
"That is exactly what I'm talking about, Torrhen. You speak carefully and calmly instead of rashly and wildly like you did before. You are more observant of others, you laugh less and when you do, it's because you choose to, not because your heart bids it."
"…I can't exactly say I agree considering it's only been a week since I started changing, Father."
"It did not take until the first hour for me to notice, son. A father knows, even more so with twins that were the polar opposite of each other before and could now not even be distinguished from the other," He said and I looked at him before shaking my head.
"Maybe I've simply decided to cage the wild wolf and let it cool down."
"And that is not what I want, Torrhen."
"Did you not tell me to stop frightening others with my talk of spirits, the old gods and fairy tales?"
"I did, but I never asked you to become someone else. I asked of you to grow, not shrink."
"So, I should stay the same…but just keep the weirdness to myself?", I asked, watching as the man nodded before I caught the smirk on his face as I relaxed and lounged back in the chair.
"Well, that's a good thing. Anyway, can you tell me about the history on Ice? It looks so cool~"
"I can, son, but it's a long tale of our family," He said and I shrugged while standing up and walking over to look at the sword most closely.
"Hey, I have loads of time."
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'Well, that was quite the entertaining talk with Father,' I thought with a smile as I walked into the Godswood, ignoring the guards taking their place at the entrance as only the Stark family were allowed to enter it.
It was a lot better than I was expecting as we simply talked about the history of House Stark, the history of Westeros and some things that he just wanted to talk about to me.
'It was a lot more informative for me too as he had helped me understand most of the stuff that I read last night,' That was especially true for the books about the catacombs of House Stark that I was reading about and now learned of from Father.
It was nice to learn about one's family history, mostly since I was always one for the dead and the fantastical, two things that I can adore now in this life.
'Now, though I need to make sure that this actually goes as I expected,' I thought as I continued walking down the footpath, admiring the soothing energy exuding from the forest before catching sight of the beautiful white bark of the Heart Tree and the pitch black surface of the pool of water just a few feet away from it.
Taking out one of the two daggers that Cregan and I got for our tenth nameday, the other being with him of course, I walked over to the tree before kneeling in front of it.
I took a deep breath when I placed my hands on the ground, bowing lowly with my head to the ground before moving closer and placing both hands and my forehead upon the tree with a sigh.
"O great tree, do I have your permission to carve a bowl out of your flesh?", I whispered and the area went silent as only the groaning and creaking of the Heart Tree could be heard.
Not moving or opening my eyes even as I felt the ground rumbling beneath me, I smiled as I felt the comforting presence of the tree on my soul before opening my eyes.
To my surprise and excitement, I found myself staring at a bowl made out of the white weirwood bark, a dozen faces carved into its underside while a thick reddish paste was in its centre.
"Am I to eat this?", I whispered once again, the sense of comfort around my body being the nod that I needed. Taking a deep breath to prepare myself, I decided to just dig the paste out with my hand and ate it whole.
Forcing myself not to gag, the paste was bitter as I chewed it, but after a few seconds, I could taste its flavours changing. It slowly became sweeter and sweeter over time, soon reaching the point of honey with hints of pepper, cinnamon and…wait, is that chocolate?
'Holy shit, that is chocolate…and a vanilla swirl? Does this just taste like your favourite dessert?', I thought in surprise as I swallowed the now liquefied paste, but I was not allowed to ponder on it longer as a pained gasp came from me.
"It is the Song of Fire and Ice," I held my hands to my head as I heard a voice booming in my mind, gritting my teeth as hundreds upon hundreds more whispered to me.
"The Others are Coming. Winter is Coming."
"What is Dead Shall Never Die, but Return Stronger than Before."
"The Lions are the true Kings. Here us Roar!"
"We soar High above the Clouds for we are the Eagles!", The chorus of voices rose to near-deafening and I fell to my side, my eyes wide as my consciousness was pulled away.
An enormous weirwood at the centre of a vast forest, older than Winterfell itself. All around it stood men cloaked in furs and around them were shadows that knelt to the tree, with the men having blood painted on their faces.
I could not hear a sound of what they were murmuring, but I did make out one man.
'A person with greensight,' I thought in awe as I stared at his milky white eyes, but they were weeping red blood while roots coiled around his legs and gently dragged him into the earth.
"First Men~ The Pact~ The Blood Price~", An ethereal voice whispered, but I did not get long to ponder it before I found myself standing in the centre of a blizzard.
It was a monstrous one that enveloped all as I saw direwolves the size of horses facing off against pale-skinned beings armoured in ice. A man with bronze armour and bright green eyes wielded a greatsword of flames, carving through every Wight in his path before the world vanished.
'Wait, this…this is the crypt?', I thought as I found myself standing in the crypts of Winterfell, but I was not alone. In front of me was a carbon copy of myself, but…his eyes were a deep blue while the eyes of the statues of the old kings were a faint red.
"Not yet, but soon, Torrhen," A voice whispered before I got pulled away again, finding myself standing in the middle of an inferno as hellfire rained from the sky.
Up above, the winged behemoths known as dragons were clashing with each other with their riders fighting as well, the Red Keep ablaze while tens of thousands of people stormed the Dragonpit and made it collapse.
"Blood for blood. Fire for fire," I blinked at the voice and looked at my side, staring at the blue-eyed teenager who looked back at me before smirking and looking away.
"Not yet, but soon~", In the blink of an eye, I found myself in a great tower made out of black stone, which was crumbling to the ground while I stared in awe at the gargantuan black beast whose wings blotted out the sun.
"Balerion the Black Dread," I whispered as I watched the dragon descent, its rider a regal figure as he simply pointed his sword and flames of black and red washed over me.
The flames lasted for a few moments before they vanished, leaving me standing in the centre of a vast field while two armies were slowly charging towards me.
Leading each army was a three-headed dragon, one as dark as the void with scarlet red eyes while the other was a beautiful emerald-green with golden yellow eyes.
The army tore each other apart and the dragons did the same, but I ignored them as I stared at the young man looking on from far away with a smile while a beautiful silver-haired woman with radiant amethyst-coloured eyes stood at his side.
"You were never meant to be a lord. You were never meant to be a King. You were meant to be the wall. A wolf of winter that acts only when he should, not when he wants," The man began before I jumped as he appeared in front of me, kneeling down to show the faded scars covering his face and the blazing blue inferno dancing in his eyes.
"You were blind before, Torrhen II Stark. Now, you can see. Your journey begins now," He whispered before tapping two fingers against my forehead and I gasped as I flew upright. Deep breaths helped my lungs fill with much needed air as I stood up, looking around and confused at how it was still daylight.
'Wait, why do I feel like time has not even passed? How long was I in there?', I had just wanted to do something that I read about in A Dance with Dragons that the Three-Eyed Raven had done with Brandon to further enhance his abilities, but…I was not expecting that.
I know about the two dragons symbolizing the Greens and the Blacks as well as the two armies being their respective allies that fought in the war. The visions before those, though…were they visions of the past and the present? Were they visions of an alternate present or future? Or were they simply just…visions?
'Gods, now I can see why everyone hates prophetic powers. Why did I ask if I could feel how they feel?', I thought with a groan as I walked over to the lake, reaching down to splash my face with water.
However, I froze as I dipped my hand in the water, blinking a few times and watching as the blue-eyed Torrhen in the water did so as well. This was not just a faint blue-eyes that one could argue is grey in the right lighting.
No, this was an electric, azure blue that was as blue as the sky on a nice day. This was a blue you would only see in Paint on a computer. This…this was a blue-blue.
'Well…now Mother can't argue that I'm not her favourite,' I thought with a smirk as I sat down before blinking as the ground around me rumbled before small flowers slowly began to bloom despite the cold snow around us.
"…Okay, I need more of that paste pronto."
A/N: And like I said, a bit of magic and a bit of visions~! Torrhen has now unlocked and enhanced his magical abilities, but we're not focusing on that for long as we jump to the next part of his story.
Spoiler: He meets…who?
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!