Falling Like || Jon Snow

30| 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤

the shivering sea, north of the wall

— JON STAYED BY NYMERIA'S BEDSIDE FOR NEARLY THE ENTIRETY OF THEIR JOURNEY BACK TO THE WALL. She'd hidden it well, but before he'd found her in the hut at Hardhome, a wight had apparently stuck its bony fingers in and left four nasty claw marks in her side. A couple of wildling healers had helped treat the wound and said she was lucky not to have a terrible infection. The Wight must have been almost entirely decayed, its fingers mere ice and bone rather than rotting flesh.

She hadn't woken yet, but as the days passed, a reassuring amount of colour had returned to her face, the crease of pain between her brows had eased and she was breathing steadily again. Edd visited for a little, forcing Jon to go get some sleep while he watched over her instead. Tormund and Arryk visited too, but for the most part, it was Jon who stuck beside her.

Despite healers' assurances he was growing impatient and worried the longer she slept. He sat now with his head rested tiredly in his hands as she slept. "I don't know what else I can do." he said quietly. "You're the best healer we've got, Nym. I need you to wake up so you can tell me what to do."

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he heard her stirring, a small groan leaving her lips as her muscles stretched beneath the sheets. He sat quickly upright, shaking off his exhaustion as he watched her. Her face twisted into a tired scowl, and she finally opened one eye to squint at him. "You can stop looking so fucking grim, for a start." She muttered, voice rough from sleep.

A surprised bark of a laugh left him and he took her hand. "How do you feel?"

"How long...?"

"Six days." he told her. "It took longer than we thought to get out of that storm. We're about halfway back to the Wall, but we'll make the rest of the journey in maybe three days' time. But how do you feel?"

"Like shit." She grumbled. "Help me sit up."

"You shouldn't-"

"Yeah well, I shouldn't have gotten clawed either, should I? But I'm still here, so." she pushed herself more upright, back resting against the head of the bed and Jon placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. She huffed out a breath and peered down at the bandage on her side. "How bad was it?"

He pursed his lips. "They said it could have been a lot worse. You're lucky."

"I feel lucky." she smirked sarcastically, bringing a tiny smile to his lips.

"They said you should be back up and moving by the time we get to Eastwatch, and you'll be alright to start training again around the time we make it back to Castle Black."

She nodded, then a small frown tugged at her features. "How long have you been here?"

He hesitated, but relented at the hard look she gave him. "The last three days. And the first two days. Edd took over the third day." he decided not to mention that Nymeria's best friend had practically had to drag him out of the room.

Her eyes softened. "Go sleep, Jon. I'm fine."

He frowned. "Are you hungry, do you want me to bring you anything?"

She huffed a small, dry laugh. "I'm tired. I'm going back to sleep and you should do the same. You look terrible."

"Thanks." He muttered. "You look great too."

She smirked as she lowered herself back onto her pillow. "I know." she replied smugly.

°

It was the middle of the night, and the ships were less than a day from their destination. They'd make land before the next sunset, retrieve the horses from Eastwatch and get back to Castle Black as fast as they could. From what they'd seen, they guessed that the Army of the dead moved at a surprisingly leisurely pace until it came time to attack. One of the many benefits of having eternity on your side. Nymeria had pointed out.

She wasn't technically supposed to be up and about yet, but she was going mad, shut up in the tiny ship cabin, even with company. And since the pain in her side was all but gone, what could possibly go wrong? She stood at the rail of the ship, the freezing air of nighttime on the sea brushing her cheeks and blowing her hair into her eyes. She raked it back with her fingers with a small huff, but no amount of wind or cold was about to send her back inside. At least out here she could breathe, and she didn't feel so cooped up. Overhead, the stars shimmered with crystalline clarity, blotted out only here or there by small swathes of cloud.

Ice shattering, howling wind. Blue eyes and wretched snarls as bony fingers wrapped around her throat. She kicked the monster away and ran. Suddenly she was plunging her daggers into the Walker's back. When he fell to the ground her hands were stained with red, and the corpse had become that of Karl. a searing pain flooded her side suddenly, and she dropped to her knees, mouth opened in a silent scream. A familiar voice called her name. Jon. That was Jon. He grasped her arm, helping her back to her feet, but when she turned to face him, his brown eyes had become bright blue. She pushed him away, stumbling back with a horrified cry.

Nymeria squeezed her eyes shut against the flashes of her nightmare welling to the surface. Sometimes she'll wake up gasping in the night, without a single memory of what she'd dreamt, but they always came back to her soon enough, piece by piece.

"I didn't realise you were allowed to be walking around yet." She turned to see Tormund approaching.

She smiled. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not exactly known for playing by the rules."

He chuckled quietly before his expression became more serious. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head, eyes cast downward now. "Not for a long time." She said softly. "I have nightmares." a soft snicker escaped her. "It sounds childish out loud, I suppose, but they haven't stopped since my grandfather died."

"You were there." It wasn't really a question, but she nodded anyway. "It's not childish." he assured her gently. "I may not have had any love for him, but he loved you. It's a terrible thing to see. I know I'll never get all the terrible things I've seen out of my dreams." he sighed. "But I'll give you some advice that a wise person once gave me."

She looked over at him questioningly. "What's that?"

He smiled. "Focus on a fixed point on the horizon. You'll get through it."

A small laugh escaped her, and there was a glimmer of gratefulness in her returning smile. "Thanks, Tormund."

"You're welcome."

A/N:
30 chapters in holy shit!!!

Also, random note, but I've always pictured Nymeria smoking a pipe, like maybe when she went ranging in safer territory or when she would sit in Jeor's study with him. With the stress of ranging, I can also see her using pipeweed to fall asleep (like maybe when Blackjack took watch, becauses she trusted him). Idk, I've never seen a pipe show up once in GOT, but it seems like they should have. I think Nymeria would look supremely cool with one. What do y'all think?