Reader's POV:
"Ugh!" Nymaria sighed in frustration once more. "Father, are we there yet?" The young girl looked from the small carriage window to the man sitting opposite of her. "Soon, Love." He replied, not bothering to look up from his book that must have been more interesting than her complaints of boredom.
Unsatisfied with the answer Nymaria threw the curtain back as she crossed her arms. She couldn't take it anymore and felt as if she was on the brink of madness. The castle was still miles away and she only had her thoughts and the sound of pages turning from her father. "I suppose I can only dream of something better to do." Nymaria settled into the corner of her seat and rested her head against the martial of the curtain. She closed her eyes and hoped once she woke this grueling journey would be over.
"Nymaria." The sound of her father's voice and the gently shaking of his hand on her shoulders had stirred her from her slumber. "Oh, the gods are good." She breathed out when she smelt the mud of the courtyard and didn't feel the ground shaking beneath her seated bum.
Her father offered her his hand to escort her down the steps but within seconds she leapt like a wolf at its pray. The chilled air of the North a refreshing change to the stuffiness of the cabin though cold all the same, Nymaria gripped her furs closer to her body and took in the sights. Faces young and old staring at her. Some she hadn't seen since she was a girl and others she'd never seen at all.
"Brother!" Her uncle pulled his brother into a tight hug. She smiled at that. Knowing she wouldn't be the only one overjoyed by the presence of family. "We've missed you. How long has it been?" Uncle Ned released his grip but still held her father firmly by the shoulders.
"Far too long." He shook his head before adding, "But at least the years have been kind to one of us." A mischievous grin played upon his thin lips and they shared in their laughs.
"Nymaria, come greet your-" He cut himself off with another smile when he caught sight of his daughter already tackling her cousins with her eager embrace. "I guess you've missed us too, cousin?" Robb the eldest of the the Stark children chuckled heartily with Nymaria still on top of him in her bone crushing greeting.
Nymaria would have spat something of a reply to him but she didn't care in that moment. She held on a little longer. They were in her arms again and she felt at home.
Letting go, Nymaria reached over going through siblings one by one. Sansa, more beautiful than the last time she saw her but just as sweet and courtesan. Arya, the tiniest but bravest girl she knew. Bran, the boy who climbed any tower or tree. Regardless of how high or the worry of his mother. And Rickon, who was just a crying baby the last time she saw him. Ruffling his mop of curls Nymaria flung the boy into the air, slinging him on her hip as she kissed his cheek. "My you've grown. Soon you'll be taller than Robb and your father Ned combined!" He hugged her tightly before she placed him back down. Where is he? The wonder crossed her mind as Nymaria scanned down the line but with no luck.
"Get settled in. We are having a feast tonight to celebrate the arrival of you two." Ned spoke up, interrupting the reunion. Everyone began to head into the castle but Nymaria stayed back in the courtyard, still hoping she'd find the boy missing from her arrival.
"Cousin!" Nymaria barely had time to turn around before she was lifted from her feet and swung around again and again in the air. "Jon!" She squealed in her laughter and held herself tightly to his chest.
"Where were you!" She slapped at his shoulder when Jon grew slower in his twirling that left both dizzy in their excitement.
"Lady Stark thought it might be best if I waited until after you had arrived before I greeted you." He gently placed her down and began to dust off the dirt exchanged from their reunion.
"Well, my arrival is done and over with. What have you been doing since my departure? Any lovely maidens get caught in the blizzard?" She smiled at her own humor. Cracking another grin, the dark haired boy shook his head. "I've been training to join the Nights Watch." The words left her eyes as big as the moon. She searched Jon's brown gaze, hoping it was a bad joke. "Why in seven hells would you ever do that?"
"I don't expect you to understand, Nymaria. It's what I want. I'll have a place there. I've had my training and I'm ready to defend the Wall. Even if I'm not a Stark I can still serve honorably as the ones before me did."
"Jo-" The name didn't pass her lips before the sound of clunky armor and heavy footsteps grew louder and there stood a mountain of a man behind Jon.
Spinning around so his back was facing toward her, Jon pushed the big figure ahead of him, inches from the girl. The stranger had an expression about him that was colder than any gust of wind Nymaria had felt before. It was like he was dead in the eyes from what she could see. "This is Sandor Clegane My instructor."
"I prefer Hound, Snow." the man spat, straightening his stature as he stared above her head, refusing
to make eye contact with Nymaria. "He was with King Robert on his last visit at the castle. They even offered his services in training and protection here."
"The pleasure is all mine." Nymaria remembered her courtesies as she bowed before him with a kind smile. The man scoffed and pushed passed the confused girl. Had she done something to offend him?
"Don't ask. he's always like that." Nodding, she grabbed Jon's hand in her own. That Sandor might not be pleasant, but it was good to be home.
Sorry for the terrible grammar and crappy writing. Should I write chapter two?