Fire Beyond the Wall

South of the Wall

We made sure everyone had caught their breaths before we started our descent down the other side of the wall. It definitely wasn't at difficult as climbing up. I still took strength, but not as much as it took climbing up. It seemed to pass faster as well. Within the hour we had all made it to the bottom and we packing up the climbing gear. We found a safe spot under the cover of nearby woods, with barely any snow, as we prepared to start walking, I assume to find places to raid.

I was sitting on a log beside Ygritte as we packed what we could. Jon was standing not far away with Tormund and I couldn't help but overhear what was being said. Tormund was talking of laying with a women...how to properly do it. I could feel my cheeks red as I turned and looked at Ygritte who was holding laughter, not the least bit flushed about what we were hearing. He finished his little speech to Jon by making an...obscene gesture with a pack, with various grunting noises to go along with it. Tormund laughed it off and called for everyone to move out.

The walk was easy compared to walking in the cold, snowy north the was beyond the wall. The cold now felt less as the walked and I was grateful for how the further we walked the less snow there was. I was walking in peace feeling relaxed because I was on the side of the wall I was familiar with when -of course- Tormund came to talk with me.

"You don't like talking of fu*k-" I cut him off, face growing hot again.

"SH, No I don't, we don't talk like that where I grew up and I have neve-" I stopped myself.

"You never what? Never lay with a man" Tormund teased.

I glared at him, but the intensity was ruined by the blushing face.

"Tormund, leave my sister be" Jon said walking over to us with Ygritte.

"Ya, it's not proper in the south for pretty ladies like her to go around laying with men" Ygritte said, looking at Jon momentarily making sure she was correct.

"Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable little crow" Tormund chuckled a bit, but I could tell he meant it.

"It's alright" I said looking down, I continued walking with Tormund.

"So you can lay with a man, when -what?- you get married, you have marriages in the south" Tormund asked after the awkward silence had grown too much.

I had to do a double take making sure he actually was talking to me. "Yes..Ladies are only to share a bed with a man when they are Wed...not that it matters no one would marry me" I said.

"Why wouldn't someone marry you!" Tormund asked in pure shock.

It made me jump at how offended he seemed that no one would marry me.

"I..well..I'm a bastard, no lord would take me as a wife, the only man that may marry me is a lower born man, I suppose..." I trailed.

"That's shit" Tormund called.

I stared at him eyes and mouth wide then I started laughing, "Why is that?".

"It's shit you southern's treat 'bastards' like that, any man, lord or not, would be lucky to have you little crow".

I laughed and found myself blushing yet again as I looked at the muddy ground at my feet.

"They are probably just intimidated because you can knock them on their asses" Tormund finished.

I laughed outright again at this, Tormund chuckled along with me.

Our nice conversation was interrupted when someone called for Tormund up ahead.

My laughing ceased immediately and I smiled at him, ready for him to walk away without any other words.

But he did speak one last time, "If I was one of your fancy southern lords, i'd marry ye...pretty crow".

My face drained the second I realized what he said and I thought I'd be shocked but I found myself smiling, i was growing to like Tormund a lot.

"I told you 'pretty crow'" I heard Ygritte behind me, imitating Tormund's voice like she had back at mance's camp.

I whipped around and looked at her and we found ourselves smiling and giggling like little girls.

"Shut up, he was just being nice" I bumped Ygritte with my shoulder lightly.

"And he will 'just be nice' right up until you find yourself as his women or married to him he'd do it if you asked...you might as well be, none of the other free folk with us will even look at ye, they're afraid of what Tormund will do" She said voice slowly growing quieter as we saw we were approaching a small farm just in the distance.

We stopped talking and we snapped into serious mode as we all huddled on the outskirts of the farm waiting to attack, not that I wanted to but I have to while i'm with them.

"There is one old man, 8 horses" Orell says, he had just scouted the area.

"What's one man doing with 8 horses?" Tormund asked.

"He breeds them, for the watch" Jon said.

"That means he has gold and steel" Orell said deviously to Tormund.

"Kill him take what we want" Tormund nodded.

"NO" Jon said in a rough whisper.

Tormund and Orell glared at him.

"The watch will send some men out for thieves, but they will send a lot more for murders" Jon tried to reason with Tormund.

"I hope they do" was all Tormund replied with before he made the silent signal to move in.

Me and Jon shared a worried look before we both ran with the others, but still beside each other. As we were running I saw Jon, in the most natural way, hit his sword off a rock ever so slightly. The horses heard this of course and began to stir. The stirring alerted the old man who came out of his home and saw us running at him, we were close, but he got on a horse and began to ride away. It thought he might make it, but we ran after him and he was shot off his horse. The weather had been foggy before but it was now raining, making it blurry to see and my hair stick to my face. It was just Tormund, Orell, Jon, Ygritte, two others and myself. The rest of the free folk were raiding the man's home and land.