Her Watch Has Ended

Chapter XXI

"Jon?!" Taliya whispered.

As much as she wanted to run to him she knew he was in danger and he was surrounded by a large group of Wildlings. She would wait for Benjin to return and inform him of what she had seen. What was taking him so long anyway? She waited until the sound of footsteps in the snow were no longer there and she made her way to find Benjin.

She thought to herself "Where could he have gone that's taken him so long? I really hope he's okay." She walked North or what she thought was North and hoped to see some kind of tracks. The snow was falling heavily from the sky and her own prints were fading behind her. She wanted to call out to him but there was no way she would be that brave with everything that could kill her in these mountains. No one would even know she would be dead because the only person who was with her was Benjin and he just disappeared.

She turned at every tree and she tried her best to look as hard as she could but it was useless. She should've listened when Benjin told her to stay put. He was probably already back there and wondering what had happened to her.

She wandered around for a while until she heard voices speaking. "...so what's the signal?" "He said it'd Be the biggest fire that the North had ever seen. You ought to know better than to assume it'd be the BIGGEST fire ya know?" "& you ought to know not to question Mance if he said it'll be the biggest then it'll be the biggest and hottest fire that any of Westeros has ever laid eyes upon." Taliya crept over a hill and below her she could see the glow of a small fire and a bunch of men huddled together by a fire. They didn't look like Wildlings. They were bald and had scarring all over their heads. Thenns. She slowly tried to go backwards making as little noise as possible. She wasn't getting eaten. Not today.

Making her way back to where Benjin had left her she heard the sound of breaking tree branches. Someone was coming. "Please be Benjin for the love of the Gods!" she thought to herself.

Snap.

Snap.

Snap.

It was getting closer and she began to worry. If it was Benjin he would've called to her or at least gave her some kind of sign that it was him coming towards her. She slowly looked to her left and saw big black eyes peering into hers.

"Ghost!" She was relieved to see a familiar face even though it wasn't human. He came closer to her face and gave a sloppy wet kiss on her cheek. She wiped the slobber from her face and ran her hand down his back. "Where did you come from boy?" Before she had any time to say anything else she heard someone calling him. "Ghost! Ghost come on we're moving on!"

A voice so sweet that she missed for so long. She was focused on finding Benjin but it was so hard to not call out for him. Waiting for him to leave she sat still. Hoping Ghost would take off she didn't realize that he was waiting for her to come with him. She shooed him away yet he still sat in front of her just waiting. Taliya decided her best bet was to run before Jon made his way to where she was sitting.

Jon noticed something moving through the trees. It was very dark but he could tell by the movements and sound of the snow being stepped in it was a person. He thought to chase after them but Ghost came running towards him and tackled him to the ground, licking his face until it became chapped from the cold.

Taliya didn't go too far because she wanted to see his face. "Am I stupid for this? I should be looking for Benjin but I can't help wanting to follow Jon. It's been so long since we've seen each other and I want to tell him about my adventures and Benjin being alive." In that moment she made her choice. She would keep a safe distance but she had to speak with him. Benjin could make it on his own and if she with Jon they could take out the Wildlings together and travel in each other's company.