Falling Like || Jon Snow ✔

19| 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔬𝔞𝔡

north of the wall

— A SMALL FIRE CRACKLED IN THE NIGHT WHERE THE MEN HAD STOPPED ON THEIR RETURN TO THE WALL. The horses were tethered to the nearby trees and a few men were posted to watch the surroundings. Nymeria sat alone at the very edge of the firelight, saddlebag at her side, attempting to wipe Karl's blood from her face. A short distance away, Wren and Ghost were wandering together, and when Jon's eyes went looking for them, they landed on her instead.

A frown creased his brows, and he stood from his spot by the fire to venture over. Her back was pressed against a tree, her face turned away from the firelight, hidden in shadows. Still, her quiet distress was palpable. She glanced up when she heard him coming and grimaced slightly. He didn't say anything, but just sat at her side in comfortable silence for a long moment. When she pressed the cloth to her face again, she winced, and he held out a hand. "May I?" he asked softly.

She hesitated for a second before nodding slowly, handing it over. He grabbed the flask of water from the ground, pouring a little onto the fabric before gently brushing it over her skin, pulling away the last of the dried blood. "I hated it." She murmured as he worked. "I hated killing him." He remained silent. She didn't need words right now. She continued after a second. "Because... I loved it. I've never loved death before. It was a necessary but terrible thing."

He nodded. "You had every right to want him dead."

"But that road doesn't end." she whispered. "Once you start telling yourself you're justified, you never stop." She hissed lightly under her breath as the cloth dragged over the cut on her cheek.

Jon froze. "Sorry."

She gave him a small, rueful smile. "Here." She rested her hand over his lightly, moving the cloth across the length of the cut instead. "This way you're not splitting it."

"I never got to ask... how do you know so much about this?"

Her lip turned up softly at the corner. "I wanted to be a healer when I was a kid. I probably spent as much time learning from the Maester on Bear Island and Maester Aemon as I have training with knives."

He smiled a soft little smile as he finished, withdrawing his hand and dropping the cloth back into the saddlebag. "That's where the road ends." he said. "It ends because you don't want to hurt people. You want to fix them. You came here for justice, not the pleasure of killing. It's what makes you different."

Surprise sparked in her eyes at his words, and after a minute, she returned his smile. "Look at you, Lord Snow the Philosopher."

He chuckled. "Don't start."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

°

It was the next day when they made it back to the Wall. Their return was something of a surprise to many of the brothers, and Nymeria took pleasure in knowing Thorne had likely not expected them to come back alive either.

Sam was one of the first to meet them inside the Castle's walls again. "All right, you two?"

"All in one piece." Nymeria smiled. Up on the walkways, she caught sight of Thorne, Janos Slynt just a step behind him, some of the amusement in her demeanour faded to irritation.

"Lord Snow." All eyes turned upwards at his words. But what could he do, really? Jon had served justice. He was damn near a hero for what he'd accomplished. His gaze turned sharply in the direction of Ghost and Wren as the direwolf growled softly. "This is no place for wild beasts." he snapped. "Lock them away. Or I'll let Hobb throw 'em in tonight's stew." Nymeria refrained from snorting. You can try. She only rolled her eyes before she and Jon turned to lead their animals away to a pen.