Falling Like || Jon Snow

05| 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔞𝔯𝔡

castle black, the wall

— NYMERIA NIBBLED ON HER BREAD WHILE PALE MORNING LIGHT STREAMED INTO THE HALL. The others across from her bantered back and forth over their theories about wildlings and thenns.

"Reckon you'd need something real nice and sharp to kill a Thenn."

"They don't have any armour." Grenn replied with a scrunched nose.

"Don't matter. Bet those scars are a real somethin to get through."

Nymeria chuckled, shaking her head. "Thenns are no different from the rest. They eat human flesh, but other than that, they're still just people."

Grenn smirked, and Pyp rolled his eyes. Just then, the door opened, and Jon walked in, taking a seat next to Nymeria. "Where have you been?" Grenn asked.

"Watch duty. With Sam."

"Ah, Prince Porkchop." Pyp joked, earning a look from Nymeria that he didn't see. "Where is he?"

"He wasn't hungry."

"Impossible." he laughed.

Nymeria opened her mouth to speak, but Jon beat her to it. "That's enough." the other two dropped instantly to silence. "Sam's no different from the rest of us. There was no place for him in the world, so he's come here. We're not going to hurt him in the training yard anymore. Never again, no matter what Thorne says. He's our brother now and we're going to protect him." Nymeria smiled a little. He was becoming something of a leader amongst the recruits, and he was doing well at it.

"You are in love, Lord Snow." Her smile dropped to an expression of irritation as she turned her head to see Rast leering at them. "You girls can do as you please. But if Thorne puts me up against Lady Piggy, I'm gonna slice me off a side of bacon."

°

It was late, and the chill of the night was sharp as Jon and a few others, along with Ghost, made their way to the right door from which snores were emerging. They didn't see the figure waiting for them until he reached for the doorknob, until she stepped from the shadows as though she had simply melted from them. She looked them over for a long moment before her unreadable face betrayed a touch of amusement. "Don't kill anyone."

Jon blinked in surprise. "You're not going to tell the Lord Commander?"

She offered a tiny, confused smirk. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lord Snow. As long as all recruits are still alive come morning, I was never here." she gestured at the door, and Jon's lips twitched while he hesitated for half a second before entering. From outside, Nymeria listened to the short exchange with a small smirk before striding silently off towards her own room.

The next morning, she stood off to one side in the training yard, observing as Rast was put against Sam in the middle. Rast stood like a board, nervous eyes darting over to Jon now and again, Jon somehow keeping a straight face the entire time. Sam shuffled, holding his sword in a clumsy manner, clearly confused as to why Rast hadn't attacked yet.

Thorne shot them an irritated look. "What are you waiting for?" Taking a chance, Sam shoved his blade out towards Rast, who smacked it to the ground with his own, but made no other move against him. After a second, Sam retrieved his sword. Alliser's face hardened. "Attack him!" Rast glared at Jon. Still, he only shuffled forward a step and smacked Sam's arm lightly with the flat of his sword. Nymeria fought down her amusement as Thorne pulled Rast from the ring by his shirt, jabbing a finger at Grenn instead. "You get in there."

"Hit me." Grenn whispered. Sam looked back at Nymeria and Jon in confusion, but Jon only offered a nod. Nymeria could see him biting back a smile now. "Go on, hit me." Sam reached out and struck Grenn's shoulder lightly – wonderful Grenn, who responded immediately by throwing himself dramatically to the ground with a yell. "I yield!" Nymeria bit down on her tongue as Jon snickered quietly. "Yield, yield!"

The second she saw Alliser storming towards Jon though, her expression turned stone cold, and she stepped right into his path, holding his gaze harshly. It wasn't entirely Jon's fault, but she knew Alliser, being unable to lay a hand on her without consequence, would take it out on him in full without hesitation. Thorne practically shook as he glared past her at Jon. "You think this is funny, do you?" His face contorted furiously as he looked down at Nymeria, apparently deciding against simply shoving her out of his way before he rounded to face the others. "When you're out there beyond the Wall with the sun going down, do you want a man at your back? Or a snivelling boy?" He stormed off, and Nymeria rolled her eyes. Jon was easily the most talented and capable recruit the Night's Watch had seen in years. Thorne was an idiot for thinking otherwise, and an even bigger idiot for attempting to convince the rest otherwise.

"Back to work!" She called out, sending the others from their frozen positions back to their training.

°

Nymeria was with her grandfather, discussing the recruits when they heard the horn blast once. Rangers returning. Benjen's lot, perhaps. She hoped so. She wanted to hear what they'd seen after her encounter in the abandoned wildling village. They emerged into the courtyard just as one of the stewards rushed in, clearly terrified as he led a single, panicking, riderless horse in by the reins.

Nymeria approached quickly, snagging the reins from the boy before he could get trampled. The horse gave a shrill whinny of protest and fear, and she tugged his face down closer, in turn preventing him from rearing and stamping quite so much. "Shh," she breathed gently, straining to pull the reins into one hand so she could stroke down the animal's neck and cheek with the other. "Shhh, it's alright, love." she murmured.

"That's my uncle Benjen's horse!" A tinge of fear could be heard in Jon's voice as he hurried over.

Nymeria spared him a glance before returning her full attention to the horse. Keeping her hand atop its nose, she pulled its face down, ceasing the panicky jerking and forcing its racing heart to steady. "Shhh, calm now. You're alright."

"Where's my uncle?"

°

Nymeria knew for a fact that Jon would not be pleased about where he was placed as a sworn brother of the Night's Watch. Alliser, the little shit that he was, wanted Jon assigned to the stewards. She thought that was ridiculous; he was the best fighter, the best rider, the most capable survivor of their new brothers. He was made to be a ranger. Yet the Lord Commander seemed to feel differently.

"Very well then." he'd agreed. "He'll be my personal steward." and in an instant, Nymeria knew what he was doing. Jon would make an excellent ranger, yes, but he'd make an even better leader. She'd witnessed it in the brief time she'd known him, many times over. He'd be better than someone like Thorne, that was for certain. There was once a time when Nymeria had dreamt of leading the Night's Watch. She'd be not only the first woman in the Watch, but also the first female Commander. Wouldn't that be something? But it was only a dream, she knew. The men of the Night's Watch had a hard enough time accepting her as one of them. More than once, earlier on, they'd attempted to frighten her away or simply dispose of her altogether. She knew there was no chance in any of the seven hells they'd follow under her command. They were too stupid and too proud.

This all went through her mind as she sat drinking in the kitchen with Edd, a few other stewards moving through the small space. "How you stay alive out there is beyond me." He said with some amusement.

She blinked, then laughed. "Should I be offended?"

He shrugged. "You disappear into that head of yours and I don't know where you go. Guessin it doesn't much matter when the wildlings and the wolves come knocking."

She sighed with a little half-smirk. "Well, I'm not in my head when I'm out there. At least give me that much credit."

"I hate going beyond the Wall."

She scrunched her nose. "You've hardly been. It's not all bad."

"Yeah Nym, I'm sure the wolves are very pretty right before they tear your throat out."

She giggled, raising her mug and he did the same. "Aye, that they are."

A/N:
I just HAD to make Nym and Edd besties, and I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever.