The forest had given Leo everything it could: shelter, meat, water, and temporary safety.
But staying here forever? Pointless.
He wasn't going to grow stronger by wrestling deer and raiding starving Wildlings who barely had boots.
And he absolutely didn't want to draw the attention of the Starks or the Warden of the North.
Thirty dead Free Folk in a single night?
That would send riders.
That would bring trackers.
That would bring questions.
Leo wanted knowledge and power—not an army hunting him.
So he shifted strategy.
THE ROADS LEADING TO WINTERFELL
One thing he remembered from the show:
"Winterfell is the heart of the North. All roads eventually lead there."
Merchants, soldiers, farmers, hunters—everybody passed through the main paths at some point.
If he wanted to understand the Starks, the North, and the political landscape,
this was the place to start.
He tracked the main road from a ridge above the snowline, watching from the trees like a wolf that learned to walk upright.
At first, the traffic was light: a few tradesmen hauling furs, a pair of Karstark riders, a hunter dragging two dead stags.
Then the soldiers came.
Stark men.
Wearing their grey and white cloaks.
Carrying northern longbows and solid round shields.
Leo didn't attack.
He didn't even get close.
He watched.
Measured distances.
Counted heads.
Timed patrol intervals.
If the Winter Soldier had been a weapon, Leo was becoming a tactician—
cold, analytical, patient.
STEALING WITHOUT BEING SEEN
When he needed supplies, he didn't raid the soldiers.
He hit the merchants.
Not violently.
Not obvious.
He waited for travelers who stopped to piss behind trees or check their horses.
Then he slipped in like a shadow and took:
Dried meat
Rope
Blankets
Bits of steel
Small sacks of barley
A knife here and there
Rarely… a few silver stags
He took just enough that no merchant could tell if it was theft or their own bad counting.
The perfect crime.
Nobody reports "I think three slices of jerky and maybe one blanket are missing."
And if they did?
The North simply blamed:
wolves
wind
bad memory
other travelers
or Wildlings
Never a ghost with a vibranium arm.
STUDYING WINTERFELL'S ROUTINES
In two weeks, Leo learned more about the North than most southern lords ever did.
1. Patrol Patterns
Stark soldiers rode the road every two days.
Sometimes three.
Never four.
They moved in pairs or small groups of five.
2. Merchant Schedules
Fur traders traveled in clusters.
Iron merchants came from White Harbor every few weeks.
Food caravans were rare—Winterfell grew its own.
3. Weather Cycles
Storms came down from the mountains every four days.
Visibility dropped.
The cold worsened.
Perfect cover.
4. Guards' Behavior
Northern guards weren't lazy…
But they weren't paranoid either.
They trusted the road.
They trusted their land.
They trusted their honor.
Leo's advantage.
THE WATCHTOWER NEAR WINTERFELL
On day 41, he finally got close.
Closer than he ever dared.
From the tree line, he spotted a wooden watchtower that overlooked the main road into Winterfell.
Two Stark men stood at the top, wrapped in furs, lanterns swaying beside them.
Leo crouched behind a fallen log, watching.
That was the moment he realized something important:
He was only a few hours from Winterfell's walls.
And nobody knew he existed.
No missing merchant reports.
No murdered patrols.
No panicked travelers claiming a monster in the woods.
He had moved with the silence of a Winter Soldier.
STAYING INVISIBLE
He considered slipping into Winterfell at night,
but no—too early.
He needed more intelligence.
Who ruled right now?
Was Ned Stark already preparing for King Robert's arrival?
Was Jon Snow still in Winterfell?
Was Theon Greyjoy still a hostage?
Were the Boltons already scheming?
He needed confirmation.
He needed information.
He needed more control.
And so the next phase of the plan began:
Phase II: Build a Second Hidden Base Closer to the Road
A storage site.
Closer to civilization but invisible.
Supplies from merchants.
Stolen tools.
Spare furs.
A backup shelter if anything went wrong.
Something the Starks would never find.
END OF THE CHAPTER
Leo's progress:
✔ Avoided attention
✔ Did NOT kill the Wildling warband
✔ Established surveillance on Winterfell's roads
✔ Stole supplies quietly
✔ Learned soldier patterns
✔ Discovered watchtower timing
✔ Built the beginnings of an information network
✔ Continued training without revealing himself
✔ Determined his exact distance to Winterfell
He was becoming something else.
Not a hunter.
Not a soldier.
A ghost of the North.