Falling Like ✸ Jon Snow ✓

12| 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔶𝔡𝔢𝔯

north of the wall

— EDD, SAM AND GRENN WERE DIGGING AWAY FROM THE GROUP WHEN THE HORN BLEW. Not once. Not twice. Three times.

Three is for white walkers. It's been a thousand years but that's the only time they blow the horn three times.

The other two ran for the hills when they heard it, leaving Sam when he immediately fell behind.

He saw them. The army of the dead. He looked a Walker straight in its lifeless blue eyes. He'd never know why they walked right past him, why they let him live. There was a fleeting moment after they'd gone from sight that he thought he could escape as he ran through the blinding snowstorm they'd left in their wake. Then one final wight had appeared, axe raised, ready to finish him.

As Sam fell back on the snow, he wasn't quite sure why he was alive until he spotted Ghost, the direwolf snarling viciously as he dragged the monster back by one of its feet. Still, it kept trying to claw its way towards Sam until a torch was lowered to its back, setting it ablaze. When it finally stopped moving, Sam looked up. He'd never been more relieved to see her harsh brown eyes.

Beside Nymeria – who carried a strange bundle with her – stood her grandfather, the Lord Commander. Blood dripped down from on top of his face and down the side of hers as the rest of the remaining brothers appeared behind them.

"Did you send the ravens?" The Commander asked grimly.

Sam's teary eyes cast downward.

"Tarly. Look at me."

He did.

"Did you send the ravens?"

After a second, he shook his head.

Nymeria deflated slightly, another bit of hope leaving her. In all the chaos of finding him again, she'd still managed to tell her grandfather what happened, how she was almost certain the rest of her small raiding party were dead now. She could feel the bleakness radiating off the others too.

"That was your job. Your only job." He turned to the group. "We need to get back to the Wall! It's a long march. We know what's out there... but we have to make it, have to warn them! Or before winter's done, everyone you've ever known will be dead!"

It wasn't exactly an inspiring thought as they trudged through the snow, through the night and through the day. Nymeria clung to her singular source of comfort as they did; the bear cub cuddled against her chest.

She'd refused to let it leave her grasp, and when she'd told her grandfather where she'd found it, about its mother, he'd only nodded and said nothing more about it. Odds were, he already knew why she felt the need to give it a second chance at living. He might know better than anyone.

Ghost, too, was a welcome presence when he wasn't wandering away from the group.

°

"Hey."

Nymeria's mindless onward marching was interrupted suddenly by Grenn's voice. When she followed his gaze she found Sam not only fallen behind, but on his knees on the ground.

"Oh no," she muttered softly.

She handed Koda's reins off to Blackjack, who'd been walking beside her – entrusting him with both her horse and the bear cub sleeping in her saddle bag – before following Grenn and Edd back to Sam.

"Get up Sam," Grenn told him, his firm tone tinged with desperation.

"No," Sam said tearfully, falling forward 'till his palms were flat on the ground too.