"This denotes a person from the present day speaking."

'This denotes a person from the present day thinking.'

"This denotes a person from the future speaking in Sansa's dreams or visions."

Ned

Soon after the guards arrived following Sansa's cries, the latter fell unconscious in Catelyn's arms. But what was done was done, what was spoken could not be taken back. Once the guards were told to return to their duties, it was just Ned, Ser Rodrick, and an unconscious Sansa lying in the arms of her mother. Ned watched the guards walking away before he turned towards the peaceful expression on his daughter's face as she slept.

"My Lord," Rodrick said as he looked past Ned to Sansa, and then focused his sights on him, "will Lady Sansa be…" He then looked at Sansa and then back t o Ned once again, "the things she said about the Hand of the King and Lady Lysa…"

"Ned." Catelyn called out suddenly. Ned turned around and saw Sansa with her eyes open starring at him. However, even though Sansa was looking at him, it was as if she wasn't seeing him… instead it looked like her eyes were glassed over… as if she was seeing past him.

With both mother and daughter on the dirt covered ground, Catelyn's arms were still holding onto Sansa's shoulders. Sansa then blinked as she stared at him and then Ned finally saw what Catelyn told him about seeing different eyes Sansa possessed looking out into the world.

'Her eyes… Sansa's eyes are filled with so much… so much emotions. Emotions she should not be experiencing… emotions I see in my own eyes when looking upon my face in the mirror in my chambers.' Ned had seen so much in his time from one war to another war, the death of his sister, brother, and father. He had known much pain, both emotional and physical… and now he saw that same pain in Sansa's eyes. Pain, anguish, horror… among other emotions. It looked as if she was dreading something… he could not make out what Sansa had to be dreading about.

'She has experienced the future… what else is she seeing now?' Ned wondered, 'is she experiencing a vision?'

"Maester Wolkan, Arya, Bran," Sansa spoke in a measured and calm voice. Her eyes shifted and then she reached out with her right arm while her eyebrows furrowed. Ser Rodrick looked around him, as did Ned while Catelyn was hugging her daughter from behind - they both were on their knees on the ground - while gently calling her name. While Sansa acted as if she was grabbing something invisible before pulling her arms towards her body, Rodrik turned to Ned and said that he didn't know of any Maester serving at Winterfell known as Wolkan. Ned nodding his head, agreeing with Rodrick that he hadn't heard that name before until now. But before he could add anything else, everyone's eyes opened wide when Catelyn called for their attention– the two men turned their heads towards Sansa as she used both her hands, her fingers curled as if she was grabbing an invisible object, before she spread her hands apart horizontally.

"It is as if she is opening a scroll," Ned whispered while Catelyn looked on at her daughter in concern. Ned then turned to a confused Rodrik and said, "I will explain what is happening in my solar, Ser Rodrik. All I ask is that what you see and hear does not leave the four of us unless I will it."

Rodrik nodded his head, concern nd confusing etched on his face, before saying, "of course, my Lord."

"No," Sansa whispered… her voice slightly quaking in terror as everyone turned towards the redhead, "Eastwatch-by-the-Sea is destroyed…" Ned's eyes widened in surprise, as did the eyes of Rodrik and Catelyn. Then Sansa looked up from the 'scroll' and stared at people Ned, Catelyn, and Rodrik could not see, "the Wall has fallen. The dead… the dead have entered Westeros."

Sansa

It wasn't long before Sansa saw everything turn dark. And then, almost immediately, the pain emanating from her back was gone and she found herself standing in the same spot when she knew she had been, only seconds ago, in the arms of her father and mother. She remembered the household guards and the Royal guards, rushing over to Ned and the others just before she found herself surrounded in darkness.

And now, she was standing staring at young girls being trained by a shaggy haired woman in thick furs yelling out orders. Sansa wondered about the woman, and immediately she knew her name and the fact that she was one of the Wildling Spearwives. 'Freefolk,' Young Sansa thought as more memories formed in her mind, 'In another memory… or vision… Jon said that they prefer to be called Freefolk.' Sansa still wasn't sure if she should call what she was seeing a new memory or simply a vision of the future. She pushed that thought aside for now and felt her eyes… which she could not control… shift their gaze towards the girls swinging wooden swords before she looked back towards the Wilding woman.

'Brea,' Young Sansa thought as the woman's name and information formed in her mind, 'that's her name. She was charged by Tormund to lead the Spearwives in Winterfell… she is to follow Jon's orders as well as mine.' A part of Young Sansa felt nervous as more memories formed in her mind of Freefolk around Winterfell, 'so many of them are here. I never thought the Wildlings… no, Freefolk… would ever pass through the Wall. Then again, I never thought that Jon would be a hidden Targaryen Prince.'

Young Sansa's mind wandered to the images of Joffrey sneering as Ned's head rolled down the steps of the Sept of Baelor, or how he had directed Ser Meryn to beat her. There were more images that formed in her mind that made Young Sansa feel as if she wanted to physically shudder… more beatings from Knights while the court watched and Joffrey laughed, the Queen calling her 'little dove' with condescension before reminding her that she was the daughter and sister of traitors. Young Sansa then formed the memories of her marriage to Tyrion and how, during the wedding feast, Joffrey whispered into her ear that he and his knights would rape her if Tyrion did not consummate the marriage.

'How could someone as handsome as him be so cruel?' Young Sansa thought, 'would I want to be queen to someone like this?' She then thought about the Knights who beat her, and the people who just stared, 'is this the world outside the walls of Winterfell where the Knights of songs and stories are not what they seem? Is this the real world? Why did mother and father not tell me?'

More images formed in Young Sansa's mind as she watched the girls training – she remembered the women of the Red Keep in the Queen's secure chambers during the battle of Blackwater Bay; she remembered receiving the news that her family was slaughtered at the Red Wedding.

The latter stunned Young Sansa as a memory of her Older Self looking out the window in her chambers at the Red Keep formed in her mind. She read the scroll many times until the words were seared into the memory of her Older Self, "Roslin caught herself a big fat trout…" It was Joffrey who gave her the scroll with a sneer before he said that he had a message from her mother and brother. Young Sansa felt her Older Self's anguish after she put the missive down while staring at Joffrey with confusion. Young Sansa could feel that her Older Self did not know what the words on the Missive meant… and so Joffrey took great joy in telling her. After the door was shut, a crying Sansa stumbled towards the barred window where she would sit for several minutes before Tyrion came to give his condolences.

"Condolences!?" Young Sansa yelled out in anger and anguish, although her lips did not move.

Another memory formed then of tears flowing down her cheeks as she found herself forced to stare at her father's head stuck onto a spike. "Father!" Young Sansa yelled out before her Older Self looked away and stared at the grinning Joffrey who said that he would be putting Robb's head by his side.

"Or he would give me your head," Young Sansa heard her older self say; and Sansa felt a sense of pride at herself. As Young Sansa was coming to terms with the monster she knew the Prince to be, more memories formed in her mind at a rushed pace. She watched through the eyes of her Older Self as Joffrey set her aside so that he could marry Margaery Tyrell. The more images formed in her mind… the more her heart pained at the sights and feelings of what happened to her in the future.

'No… not images or visions…' Young Sansa thought to herself as she recalled her wedding night to Ramsey once again with a shudder of disgust and a compulsion to scream. She then found herself back where she was standing with her eyes… her Older Self's eyes… watching the girls training as snow began falling from the cloud covered sky.

It was Brea's nod upon the former meeting Sansa's eyes that Young Sansa felt her head move up and down in acknowledgment. She set aside the memories that had already formed. The memories would come at random moments, and for now, the Young Sansa had been seeing the same memories for the past few days. It had been those memories that physically hurt her.

However, for now, she simply watched as the Freefolk woman grabbed one of the training swords that a girl was holding and then helped to adjust her grip. Sansa could see that the girl's hands were shaking as she nodded her head before Brea moved back while crying out an order for the trainees to swing and then thrust. The girl, who looked to be about nine or ten, was terrified… Young Sansa could see that she was quaking in fear. A part of her felt sorry… Young Sansa wasn't sure why she felt sorry… at least not until she had a flash of an image; it was Jon, an older Jon, telling her that the dead were coming and that he wanted everyone… including the girls… to learn to fight.

'Girls learning to fight,' Young Sansa thought to herself. It was unheard of… girls were supposed to be Lady's with the men fighting for them. 'But then again, father said the truth and I am experiencing the future. Things have changed. I have changed.' Sansa then once again remembered her beatings, the painful feeling of that man – Ramsey – pushing into her while drawing blood by scratching her back with his sharp nails. Young Sansa could hear herself scream in pain, but no one came to save her. When the knights was beating her, no one came to save her. 'My future self had to learn to depend on herself.'

As she watched the girls training, Young Sansa came to a decision, 'I will ask Father to ask the Kings permission to break the betrothal.' Young Sansa knew in her very being that breaking the betrothal with Joffrey would be the best thing even though there was a part of her that was outraged at the very thought. There was a niggling choice in the back of her mind saying that she could change the Prince… that she knew what was going to happen in the future, and that the Prince could be influenced.

It was then that Young Sansa had a memory of her Older Self facing Baelish at the door to Ned Stark's solar, 'no, this is the solar I share with Jon.' As she was having that thought, Baelish said, "my spies sent news, Sansa." She watched as the man, who made her skin crawl, rushed into the room after closing the door behind him. He then stopped at the edge of the large table.

"What news?" Older Sansa asked while sitting down after looking up from several books on the accounts of Winterfell. The man handed Sansa the missive which had just arrived, and then stepped back. Sansa read the missive with eyes widened in stunned silence as she read each word again and again before looking up at Baelish and whispered, "the Sept of Baelor has been destroyed by wildfire with Queen Margaery and… and… so man inside? Are your spies correct?" She then looked back down after Baelish nodded his head and read the second scroll before gasping, "Tommen is dead?"

"The story being spread is that there must have been an unknown cache of wildfire beneath the Sept that somehow exploded," Baelish said as Sansa looked up, "and poor Tommen was so distraught by the death of his Queen that he committed suicide."

'Tommen becomes king?' Young Sansa thought, 'but I thought Joffrey was king and… and the Sept was destroyed? How… how did Wildfire…?'

"Margaery is dead?" a stunned Older Sansa spoke, "who would…. How would wildfire…"

"Did you know," Baelish said in a smooth voice as Sansa looked up at him, "that after the sacking of Kings Landing in the end days of the rebellion, caches of wildfire were discovered in many areas of the city, including the Sept."

'Really?' Young Sansa thought.

"Really?" Future Sansa said in surprise, "weren't the caches of Wildfire cleared?"

"They were," was Baelish's responses.

"Then how could the Sept have been blown up by…" Future Sansa stopped talking while she stared at the smirk on Baelish's face. Ignoring the chill traveling up her spine, Future Sansa continued, "there is only one person who would gain something by Margaery's death. By the death of most of the Tyrell's and the Faith Militant."

"Yes," Baelish whispered, "Margaery was digging her fingers into Tommen. He would have been a good ruler if Margaery had her way – if she was able to wrestle control away from…"

"Cersei," Sansa whispered as the Younger Sansa stared at the memory in shock, "she did it. She didn't want to lose control of Tommen so she… she did it. She killed them."

The younger Sansa felt sick before finding herself back in the training area. The thought of the Queen being responsible for the deaths of so many was unbelievable at first, but Young Sansa felt in her soul that Cersei Lannister was capable of what happened in her memory.

"Sansa," upon hearing that voice, Younger Sansa felt her head turning to the right, or at least her head turned without any input from her Younger self. The Younger Sansa made a mental note to speak to Ned when she woke up, but for now she felt like a passenger as she watched through her own, older eyes at a Maester she didn't recognize, approaching her. 'Where is Maester Luwin?' Younger Sansa wondered as her eyes went down to the Future Bran who was being pushed on the wheeled chair by that very same Maester. And just as Younger Sansa thought about Luwin, a memory formed in the forefront of her mind… it was a memory of the Maester in front of her, 'Maester Wolkan, that's his name…. Maester Wolkan, formerly assigned to House Bolton.'

It was when the Maester was treating her cuts after the first night with Ramsey that he quietly apologized for the pain. As he dabbed a salve on her cuts, Younger Sansa remembered wincing in pain before asking in a pained voice about Maester Luwin. And the answer she got broke the hearts of both the Younger and Future Sansa's… Maester Luwin was dead; his body found in the Godswood with a stab wound into his chest.

With that memory in her mind, Young Sansa felt as if she wanted to cry while watching Bran staring right at her Future-self. It was the stare from the older version of her younger brother that made Younger Sansa feel uncomfortable… she once again felt as if he was staring right into her very soul. Future Sansa's eyes then went back to Arya and the dagger by her right side before her eyes shifted towards the sheathed sword on her left hip. Sansa's eyes went up towards Arya's older face as the latter spoke, "a raven arrived from Castle Black."

Young Sansa felt herself gulp as the Maester reached into his sleeve and took out a scroll. He then handed it to her, after which she looked down at the unbroken seal of the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. Younger Sansa felt the texture of the scroll in the hands of her Future-self, she felt the raised waxy seal, she felt the pressure on the seal as her Future-self's hands cracked it open while the eyes of the Maester, her brother, and her sister were on her. The seal now cracked, Younger Sansa saw the document being unfurled… and what she read was unbelievable and terrifying at the same time.

"No," the Future Sansa whispered as her eyes took in every letter of the scroll once again just to be sure that she was reading it correctly, "Eastwatch-by-the-Sea is destroyed…" Sansa looked up at the three people in front of her, "the Wall has fallen. The dead are coming."

"Are you certain?" Arya whispered; her eyes widened in surprise. Sansa handed the scroll to Arya who quickly grabbed it out of Sansa's hand and read the note. The redhead then turned her head towards Bran who was looking at the girls training before he faced Sansa.

Young Sansa felt her Future Self taking a deep breath before saying, "did you know this was going to happen, Bran?"

"It was a possibility," he answered calmly, "and it has now happened."

"With a dead dragon coming at us as well," Sansa shook her head in disbelief as she recalled the words on the scroll. It seemed to have been written in a hurry before being haphazardly sealed and then sent by raven to Castle Black. All the scroll had said was "Wall Fallen. Eastwatch destroyed. Dragon risen from dead. The dead have arrived." Sansa, the Young Sansa, could only shiver at seeing those words in her mind. The Wall had fallen, the dead were coming, and now there was a dead dragon… of all things a dead dragon in the ranks of the dead. Her thoughts were reflected by her future self when she said, "how do we fight a dead dragon?"

Sansa then took a deep breath to collect herself before saying, "how far is Jon and the Targaryen girl, along with the army that's following them, from Winterfell?"

"They will reach White Harbour within the week, and then they will ride to Winterfell."

"Another fourteen days given the retinue behind them," Arya added with a shurg, "I'm guessing."

"Yes," Bran said before he added, "the dead will be here in just under a month. There is not much time."

"No time at all," Sansa whispered as she looked at Brea and the girls, "just under a month, and there is so much to do." Sansa then turned back to Arya, Bran and the Maester before saying, "call the Lords together, they need to know of this development."

And then, after Arya and the Maester nodded their heads, Younger Sansa felt her eyes getting more and more tired. She turned her eyes towards Bran staring at her before she leaned forward slightly.

"Bran?" Younger Sansa mumbled as her eyes closed. She felt herself falling before there was nothing but silence and darkness that surrounded her.

Ned

Ned was standing outside Sansa's chambers while Catelyn was wiping down the blood from the long-jagged scratch marks that went down Sansa's back. He caught a glimpse only, but he saw the marks extend downwards from her shoulders to under her dress. There was just a glimpse of the horrifying injuries before he was ushered out by the blood-stained hands of his wife; the latter helping to clean Sansa on her own until Rodrik could find Maester Luwin.

It was several seconds after Sansa went unconscious in Catelyn's arms once again, that Ned carried her and accompanied his wife in a hurry to Sansa's chamber.

"Find Maester Luwin," Ned had ordered Rodrik before heading back into the castle.

A few minutes passed once he and Catelyn reached Sansa's chambers as Ned remained leaning back against the stone wall next to the frame of the heavy wooden door. The glimpse of the marks on Sansa's back, and combined with more bruises that formed on her shoulders as she grunted and her body slightly twitched… bruises that simply appeared out of thin air. Seeing what he had seen so far, Ned could only wonder why it was that the Old Gods had forsaken his family in the future.

'Where was I, Catelyn, Robb… where was everyone?' Ned then immediately brought his hand up to his neck at the thought of what Sansa had said earlier… that his head was rolling down the steps of the Sept of Baelor.

And then there were the other things that Sansa had said, that Baelish - Hoster Tully's former ward – was the one who gave Lysa the very poison that killed her husband. 'Cat must be much more stunned than I,' he thought to himself, 'Lysa is her sister after all.' Ned didn't want to believe it either. He didn't know Baelish, and Cat hadn't spoken about him; so, he could not vouch for the man's character. If it were any other situation, Ned knew he shouldn't be entertaining Sansa's accusations… but he believed in the power of the Old Gods and the legend of the Second Life.

'Sansa knows the truth about Jon.' That was the proof Ned needed that Sansa was seeing her own memories of the future.

Then there was the fact that Sansa had never been to the Eyrie nor the Vale. She hadn't even seen or met Lysa either. 'She spoke of the moon door as if she had seen it with her own eyes.' Ned still trembled when he and Robert, as children, would look down the hole to the tops of the mountains below. 'All she has said is proof of the Second Life legend. The Old Gods sent the memories of her future back to her younger self.' Ned then sighed as he lowered his head – he needed to have a clear head about what needed to be done next.

'Lysa must be questioned' Ned thought to himself, 'but convincing her to leave the Eyrie would be difficult.' Ned then shook his head, 'no, she would want to clear this accusation. Murdering the hand is a serious charge and…' Ned then thought about the letter that accused the Lannisters of murdering Jon Aryn, 'I believe Sansa. So, if Lysa and Baelish conspired to kill Jon, then why send that letter? Why tell us that the King's life was in danger from the Lannisters?' Ned racked his brain trying to come up with a reason for the subterfuge other than Lysa wanting the Starks and Lannisters to become enemies.

Ned put that thought to one side before coming to something else that Sansa had inferred earlier. He folded his arms over his chest and frowned, 'Sansa said that the Prince cut off my head. Why would he be the one giving the order and not Robert.' Ned knew that his friend wasn't a coward, he knew that if the King had known someone had committed treason or betrayed him, then he would kill that perpetrator himself with his warhammer.

'If the Prince was in that memory, then where was Robert?' Ned shook his head. It didn't make any sense. What could come from Lysa and Baelish killing Jon Aryn, what could come from Ned being executed, and then there was the bruises that Sansa received, 'the bruising on her shoulders, thigh, abdomen, her lip, and the scratch marks on her back. Blood was flowing freely down from the cuts… why did she get those cuts on her back? And then one of the Kingsguard beating her in her memory; he struck her with his sword and then punched her… I have seen the bruises on her legs and her abdomen… those were the places she was hit.' Ned then scowled, 'why was she being beaten in the first place? She's the daughter of the Warden of the North and she was being beaten?!'

Thinking of Sansa's bruises and how she got them angered Ned. How could Robert have watched while Sansa was being beaten? And then Ned came to a realization, 'unless Robert was dead. The only way Sansa could have experienced what she experienced was if Robert was dead and…' Ned shook his head again, 'how did he die? Was it Baelish somehow? What did I do that had me executed? Were the Lannisters responsible in some other way?' Ned frowned at that last thought. He didn't trust the Lannisters; from Tywin, who famously did not raise a finger to help the rebels during the rebellion and only joined after Robert had essentially won the day with the death of Rhaegar, to Jaime the Kingslayer.

'Tywin Lannister led the sacking of Kings Landing and ordered the Mountain to murder Princess Elia and the children,' Ned bristled with quiet anger as he remembered the bodies being carried in by Lannister men… their bodies covered in Lannister cloaks to hide as much blood as possible.

'I believe that the Old Gods returned the memories of a future Sansa to the past… to our present,' Ned kept on thinking to himself as he turned his head towards the hallway to his right. He could hear footsteps running towards him as well as the voices that identified who was coming closer and closer. Ned took in a deep breath to prepare himself for the answers to the questions that he had no doubt was coming.

And then there were the other things that Sansa said, 'the Wall falling, dead dragons flying, Daenerys Targaryen in Westeros…' Ned watched the figures rush around the corner as he pushed himself off the wall and stood straight, 'my daughter, I will help with what I can. You said the North fell; I will make sure it does not.'

"Lord Stark!" Luwin called down as he rushed along the hallway with a worried looking Robb by his side.

"Father!" Robb called out as the two of them came to a stop in front of Ned.

"Maester," Ned said, his eyes shifted towards the nearly bald man, "Sansa and Cat are in the room. Please take care of her."

"Of course, Lord Stark," the Maester said before he rushed past and into the room. At the opening of the door as Luwin walked in, both Ned and Robb managed to catch the stench of blood before the door was closed shut. Ned then turned to a stunned Robb who was staring back at him with an expression that yelled out an explanation for what was happening. Ned instead shook his head before asking about Jon and the others.

Robb glanced at the closed door and then back at Ned before saying, "Ser Rodrik found Jon and I when we were training before breaking our fast. He told Jon to find Arya and then to find Septa Mordane so that she may take Arya and Rickon to the Great Hall. He asked me to meet you here… what is happening father?"

"I will explain in a more private setting, Robb," Ned said before realizing that he hadn't apologized to Robert on his absence. He realized that Robert and the Queen… especially the Queen… would feel insulted if their host, the Warden of the North, did not speak to them yet. Ned sighed before telling Robb to meet him in his Solar so that he could explain what was happening, and that he needed to apologize to the King before returning to speak with Robb. Ned shook his head at feeling flustered with his decision making… he had been ignoring protocol with this visit by the Royal family.

'But Robert will understand, this is my family we're talking about. This is my daughter.'

"Father?" a worried looking Robb asked, and in doing so Ned was brought out of his thoughts, "what is happening? How is Sansa?"

"Robb." Ned knew how important it was that what they needed to talk about should not be spoken of in the open, "we should not speak here. I will apologize to the King for my absence and then we will speak in my Solar."

"Understood, Father," Robb said before his eyes shifted toward the door to Sansa's chambers. Ned placed a hand on Robb's shoulder before assuring him that Sansa was undergoing a very unique situation that needed to be kept private. Ned then continued to say that he would talk to him, Benjen, and Catelyn together after asking for the King to excuse him for a few hours until the Maester could confirm that Sansa was out of danger.

After Robb nodded his head and then started to walk away from Ned, the latter turned back towards the door. Ned stared at the wooden door before he turned and made his way towards the Great Hall. He had a lot to think about… especially how to reveal to the King that Lysa could very well have poisoned Jon Arynn, with Baelish as an accomplice. But first thing this morning, he needed to apologize to Robert before speaking to his son and heir. He mentally made a note to inform old Nan; the old woman used to tell him and his siblings' stories of the Long Night.

'And if the Long Night is coming,' Ned thought as he walked through the hallway with purpose in his step, 'then I need to know what to expect. I need to find Old Nan.'

While Ned strode towards the King who was wining and dining in the Great Hall, outside the castle walls there was a tall woman in armour approaching the main gate. The gate-guards were surprised at the woman on her horse stopping just in front of them. She stared at them before looking up the walls of the castle and then looking back at the guards. For their part, the guard were slightly amused at the manly features of the woman in front of them.

The two gate-guardians were Northerners and they knew the woman was form the South based on the armour she was wearing. The armour was similar to the ones work by the Kings knights after all. Recalling the knights who passed through the gates a few days ago, one of the guards spoke up, "my Lady." The other gate-guard chuckled… after all the woman didn't even look like a lady should. "I did not realize there were women Knights."

"I am no lady," she said as she stiffened her back, "my name is Brianne of Tarth, and I have an urgent request of Lord Eddard Stark."

TBC