ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ, ᴋɪꜱꜱ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴʟɪɢʜᴛ

i. northern stranger

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

Jon's gaze rested on the mountains on the far end of the horizon. The wind played with his hair, some strands of it falling in front of his face and concealing his view. One of his gloved hands came up to brush them aside. He really needed a hair tie.

For a short moment, Jon allowed his eyes to wander up, towards the sky. It was a clear night, with no clouds in sight, letting the full moon overshine the brightness of the surrounding stars. He wondered if his siblings were awake and looking at the sky, just like him. They would be seeing the exact same moon as him...

Jon shook his head, breaking out of his thoughts. He shouldn't be concerning himself with his family, he was to swear his vows soon, after all. The less he thought about them, the better.

The cold northern air entered his lungs again as Jon took a deep, conscious breath to collect his thoughts. He forced himself to look down to the forest's edge, not really expecting to see anything out of the ordinary. Reality proved him wrong, however, as a lone rider had exited the woods and was now approaching the Wall. A ranger.

Perhaps Uncle Benjen has returned. But as quickly as that thought had crossed his mind he abandoned it again. His uncle had only left Castle Black a few days ago, he couldn't be back already.

"Your watch is over Snow, I'm takin' over."

The voice ripped Jon from his trance. He turned towards the man behind him, who stared down at him with weary eyes. Jon felt like he expected him to say something. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"There's a ranger coming towards the gate," he finally managed to say.

The man nodded and patted his shoulder once before replying. "Don't worry 'bout that, I will sound the horn. You go catch some sleep."

Jon thanked the man quietly and started making his way towards the cage. Only then, after having walked for a bit, did he realise how cold he felt. He surmised it would take a few months at the Wall to fully get used to it.

The horn sounded as the cage started making its descent downwards, though it took until it had reached the bottom for the main gate to be opened. Jon exited the small enclosure and stepped onto a platform overlooking the courtyard. Just then, the ranger rode in.

Jon liked to think he was smart. He'd had a lord's education after all, even though he was a bastard. And yet, if someone had asked him something right now, he wouldn't be able to answer them. He wouldn't be able to say anything. His mind was trying - and failing - to comprehend what he was seeing.

The rider jumped off her horse. She handed the reins to one of his brothers and made her way up the stairs. Towards him.

Even as she moved closer, her gaze remained straight ahead, making him wonder if she even noticed him. Her black cloak stayed undisturbed by the light breeze that made the fire of the torches around them dance, shrouding her body in shadows. The only parts visible to him were her light brown hair braided behind her back, and her face.

She was a metre away from him when he finally got a good look at her eyes - and he never wanted to look away.

Jon had never seen a blue this intense, even if the colour was a frequent occurrence in the North. Her eyes made him think of tales from the south, of cloudless summer skies, of butterflies in a calm meadow, of Dornish oceans right after a storm. They were everything the North was not: bright, safe and full of life.

She moved past him and for a split second it seemed as if her eyes met his. Jon's gaze went to follow her movements out of instinct before he caught himself and snapped his head back. He quickly started walking in the opposite direction, towards his quarters.

Don't think of her. Ignore her. Let it be, he told himself. Over and over and over again. As he was entering his rooms, getting ready for bed, finally laying down. Always the same mantra. It would do no good if he continued thinking about her. He was to be a brother of the Night's Watch. A girl would only bring chaos.

And yet, as sleep finally overtook him, blue eyes were haunting his mind.

└─── °∘❉∘° ───┘

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i can't believe i am finally releasing this story aaahshsdioufha