ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ, ᴋɪꜱꜱ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴʟɪɢʜᴛ

ii. western guard

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Jon threw the cage's door close. Stretching his fingers and then balling them into fists again, he was fighting against the urge to scream. As the cage started making its slow journey to the top of the Wall, Jon sighed and leaned against the iron bars in defeat.

Ser Alliser Thorne had it out for him, that much was clear. Jon had just had watch duty the previous night and now he was meant to take over someone else's shift after they had gotten sick? Typically, a Night's Watch brother would have a couple nights of rest between watches. The fact Jon was sent back up the Wall already proved Thorne wanted him to suffer.

Something prodded at Jon's leg. He let out a sound that was something between an exasperated sigh and a chuckle when he looked down.

"What are you doing here, Ghost?" Jon said softly. "I don't think direwolves are permitted on top of the Wall."

The animal stared at him with big, red eyes. Jon put his palm against his forehead, contemplating his next moves. He slowly let his hand glide down his face, before resting his chin in it and looking down at Ghost.

He shrugged. "Who cares? No one will know."

The cage reached the top and mere moments after Jon had opened the doors, Ghost had darted forward and disappeared in a cloud of white. He groaned but decided it would be for the best to follow the direwolf - just to be sure.

It took some time until Jon had caught up to Ghost, but when he did... Well, the picture in front of him certainly piqued his curiosity.

The girl from the previous night kneeled before Ghost. She had her hand in his fur and slowly let it wander up and down his body. A small smile adorned her face.

Ghost suddenly turned his head towards Jon. The girl looked up and no sooner did she lay her eyes on him that she quickly rose from the ground. The direwolf looked between the two several times before trotting over to Jon.

The girl seemed incredibly tense, so much so that Jon feared she might jump off the Wall to escape the situation. He had to say something, calm her in some way.

"I am sorry for Ghost, he likes to run off sometimes." Jon's voice was wavering. He didn't realise how nervous he himself was.

She played around with her gloves. "It is quite alright, he behaved graciously the entire time. He is a direwolf, is he not?"

Her voice had a noticeable accent Jon didn't recognise. He truly wondered where she could be from. Not King's Landing, he had met people from that city plenty of times. Maybe the Westerlands? Lord Tyrion had travelled around a lot, perhaps his accent had changed over time.

The girl stared at him. Jon remembered she had asked him a question, one he had failed to answer because he was stuck in his head.

"Uh, yeah, yes. He is." He cleared his throat and added, "my brothers and I found a dead direwolf and our father allowed us to take in her pups."

Why had he said that? She had only wanted to know if Ghost was truly a direwolf, not how he got into Jon's care. He should learn to keep things to himself.

"I have never heard of direwolves living south of the Wall." She tilted her head slightly. "How did they get there?"

"We don't know," Jon answered. "I honestly haven't put that much thought into it."

They fell into silence again. He started wondering as to how the direwolf had gotten that close to Winterfell too. Perhaps small packs had always lived in the North. The Northern mountains seemed like a good hiding place.

The girl took a noticeable breath. "I should get going."

"Uh, yes, of course." Jon cursed himself inside his head. Of course she wanted to get away from him.

Their gazes met and Jon felt as if the girl wanted to tell him something. But she clearly changed her mind.

"Well, until we meet again."

Jon could only nod as she quickly walked past him. Her icy blue eyes stayed focused on him longer than they had the previous night, but eventually wandered past him again. Only when he was sure she was out of earshot did he let out the breath he was holding.

Everything the girl did confused Jon to no end. He had now talked to her and instead of solving some mysteries about her and finally banning her from his thoughts and getting on with his life, she had raised more questions in his mind.

Jon looked down at Ghost, who was sitting by his feet and staring in the direction the girl had disappeared to.

"This is all your fault, y'know?" The direwolf looked up. "If it weren't for you I would have never spoken to her."

Jon wanted to be angry at Ghost, he really did. But some part of him was relieved the wolf had given him an opportunity to talk to the girl, if only for a moment. Maybe she would be more amenable to spend time with him in the future, now that she knew he meant her no harm.

He shook his head. Why did he continue to think about her? Jon had better things to do with his life - like continuing his watch duty.

So he started walking down the path on top of the Wall again, gripping his cloak tight to protect against the cold and desperately trying to distract his mind.

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