snownotstark | At the Wall [RP thread for aka

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At the Wall [RP thread for aka_arya]

Being the Lord Commander's steward included running the Old Bear's letters and messages. In the days before their departure into the wilds north of the Wall, Jon criss-crossed Castle Black half a dozen times before midday. It seemed to him that the castle's resources weren't being pulled together fast enough for Mormont's liking. He actually would have guessed they should have left at least a fortnight ago but this was a ranging the brotherhood hadn't seen in a long time and the brothers were woefully undermanned.

Did Maester Aemon have his ravens picked yet? Tell Noye to double check every single horse's shoe, I won't have any more delays once we depart. Does Tarly have those maps yet?

Jon was on his way to the library to find Sam and those maps when the sound of horses distracted him. He thought perhaps it was a wagon of food bought from Mole's Town but upon closer inspection, there's too many men walking around it for that to be true. More of them actually look likes boys actually, and then he understood. Yoren was back, with his latest batch of recruitments for the Wall.

They could have come at a worst time, he supposed, though if this delayed Mormont's plans to leave in three days, heads were going to roll.

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Arya walked around the wagon, surveying the exterior of Castle Black. While she was disappointed that she was not at Winterfell (and rather worried about her younger brothers after word had reached them that Theon Greyjoy had overtaken it), the Wall was the next best thing. She would get protection for the time being from the Night's Watch because she was a child and a Stark. She would no longer have to be Arry, and most of all, Jon was there.

She was hardly recognizable as Arya Stark--her hair was chopped short, her face was dirty and her clothes were unwashed. The only thing that set her apart was Needle, resting at her hip. She looked around, wondering where her brother was.

ooc: apologies if I'm slow - at a hotel currently and the wireless connection's been giving me problems!

Jon started to turn to leave after watching the new recruits for a few moments. He still had to find Sam after all and by the time he got back, the Old Bear would have half a dozen more things for him to do, he was sure of that. He stopped though when he caught sight of a dirty little boy with a sword on his hip.

Gods, he was still a child. He wondered what they were really coming to, two hundred men venturing out beyond the wall and the utter unknown while leaving children behind to hold the Wall.

He turned back before he really thought about it and moved towards the child, intending to give him a few words of comfort or advice or something, he reminds Jon too much of his younger siblings to just ignore him. That changes when he draws closer, however and he gets a better look at the hilt on that sword. He knew that hilt, he'd swear to it.

"Where did you get that?" Gods, let him have found it, or traded it for something. Let it not be Arya's.

Arya looked over and her eyes widened. All the carefully-constructed toughness necessary for the trip to Castle Black vanished from her countenance the moment she realized it was him.

"Jon!"

"Arya?"

She looked so different than the last time he saw her, that it took him a few moments to wrap his mind around what his eyes were showing him and what his ears heard. But that was definitely her voice and her sword and if he looked hard enough... he could see her under the dirt and grime.

"Come here." He opened his arms for a hug because at the moment, that was more important. Questions could come next.

Arya ran to him, not caring who saw, and jumped into his arms, hugging him hard.

Sure enough, some of her traveling companions were shouting questions at her and at Yoren. Yoren gave them gruff responses, coupled with threats.

Jon hardly heard anyone else. He was a man of the Night's Watch, after all and this was his little sister, who should never be there. Least of all by herself, covered in dirt with all of her hair chopped off. That solved the question of what had happened to her after their father's death but why was she here? And not at Winterfell or with Robb and her mother.

Jon didn't put her down before he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Yoren took me when Father died," Arya explained. "So that the Queen would not hold me as she does Sansa. He was going to take me to Winterfell, but---" Her eyes grew sad, realizing that the news may not have reached the Wall yet.

"But what?" Jon put some distance between them and put her back down on her feet. "Why aren't you at Winterfell?"

Arya looked up at her brother. "Theon took it for the Greyjoys. He has the whole place. He has Bran and Rickon."

Jon's mouth formed a thin line at the news. He wondered if it was always going to be like this. If every time he got news from the south about one of the Starks, if he was going to have to battle the feeling of wanting to mount a horse right then and there and riding to their aid. He'd fought it off once before when Robb had moved south. But Bran and Rickon were just children. What in seven hells was Greyjoy playing at?

"Come on," he said finally with a hand on her shoulder. "We should get you cleaned off. And the Lord Commander will want to hear about this."

Arya resisted the urge to grab onto Jon's hand and instead let him lead her by the shoulder.

"They killed all of Father's men who were at King's Landing with us," Arya said as they walked. "They even killed Septa."

She had never particularly liked Septa Mordane, but the old woman had only ever been trying to help her and certainly hadn't deserved to have her head on a pike at the Red Keep. She didn't mention her waterdancing lessons yet, and she definitely didn't mention Syrio. He could have escaped. He was a better swordsman than any of the red cloaks.... Arya told herself for the hundredth time.

"At least you are safe." Jon's fingers tightened on her shoulder as he led her up to his cell. No one went in there besides him, and Ghost was there. He'd be happy to see her. The gods were good to have it so Yoren found her before the Queen and her men did. But those same gods had brought her to the Wall and Jon didn't know what he was going to do with her. She couldn't come with them and he was reluctant to leave her behind, a little girl on the Wall meant for hard, cold men.

Ghost was excited, as much as Ghost ever got excited about anything, when Jon opened the door and let Arya in. The direwolf bounded up to sniff at her.

"I don't have anything that will fit you," he told her. "But I can get you some warm water."

Arya nodded, then smiled at Ghost, petting him in greeting.

"He has gotten big," she said, trying not to think of what Nymeria might look like now. Then, she said, "Why is your room here, off on your own?"

"Most of the brothers are afraid of Ghost." And he liked the solitude, always had. It was easiest sometimes to have a place to escape to when he was feeling out of sorts. "Castle Black is undermanned. No one really cares where you sleep."

Arya sat down and continued playing with Ghost. "How long will I have to stay here? Will they allow me to stay? Uncle Benjen is the top ranger. And House Stark has always been good to the Night's Watch." She paused, very briefly, to catch her breath. "Do you think it will take long for Robb to take back Winterfell? What will he do to Theon?"

Normally, Arya got in trouble for talking so much. "Must you ask so many questions?" Septa used to ask. But Jon was different. She knew he didn't mind and Arya looked at him for answers, not immediately understanding that though her favorite brother was now a grown man of the Night's Watch, it hardly meant he knew everything.

Only the Lord Commander could truly decide if she was allowed to stay, and he couldn't say which way the Old Bear would go on this. It wasn't like they could send back south, with the Greyjoys in Winterfell and the gods only knew where Robb and her mother were. Even if they did know where he was, Robb was fighting a war right now. That wasn't a place for a little girl. She might be safer in Moles' Town though with the villagers and the whores underground. Though a whorehouse wasn't a good place for a daughter of Winterfell.

"Uncle Benjen is missing." Jon crouched down next to her. "The other rangers report the wildlings have vanished too. We're going beyond the Wall to find him and the wildlings, three days from now."

"You're going beyond the Wall?" Arya's eyes got bigger. She knew it meant he might not come back. She looked away from him, staring at the direwolf, pretending to be very interested in Ghost's fur.

Father was dead. The rest of the family was scattered all over Westeros. Gods only knew if Bran and Rickon were safe. Sansa lived at the mercy of the Queen and Mother and Robb could be killed in battle at any time. Now Jon was leaving beyond the Wall...

"It isn't fair," Arya whispered toward Ghost.

"Life is hardly ever fair." If it was, everything would be different. They would all be back at Winterfell and he wouldn't be a bastard and the seven kingdoms wouldn't be consumed with war while old enemies were stirring beyond the Wall.

Jon reached out and took her chin in hand, turning her head back towards him. "I won't leave until I know you're safe. I promise you that." This was different than Robb's war, hundred of leagues away. Arya was here. He couldn't turn his loyalties from her.

Arya sniffed, but nodded. "I know how to use Needle properly now," she said, changing the subject. "Father let me have dancing lessons." She'd been wanting to tell Jon that since her first lesson with Syrio Forel.

Jon couldn't say that he was that surprised their father had found out about the sword, nor that he let Arya learn how to use it. He suspected that Eddard Stark couldn't really say no to Arya

"You will have to show me. Have you got anyone with the right end yet?"

"Yes." Her voice was flat. There was no point in lying, but she wasn't exactly proud, either. It had been a pure survival instinct that caused
Arya to put her sword through the fat boy's stomach. If she hadn't done it, she'd be locked up with Sansa or (she hadn't forgotten Joffrey's hatred of her) dead.

Jon had been teasing her, as he always did back at Winterfell and somehow.. he didn't think that she had been joking with that response. He wondered truly what Arya had been through on her journey north and then wondered if he really wanted to know the answer to that.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Arya looked back at him, her face solemn. "When I was running from the red cloaks, a stableboy recognized me and tried to stop me. He meant to turn me over to them." She looked away, then at him again. "I told him to let me pass, but he wouldn't listen...so I stuck him...through his stomach." Saying it out loud made her flush. It was one thing to threaten the boys she'd been traveling with by telling them, but telling her brother....was different. "He wouldn't listen," she said again, feeling a bit queasy remembering.

"Gods."

The only person he could claim to killing was the wight that had attacked the Lord Commander and he wasn't sure if that counted, since the Othor had already been dead and there was no reasoning with a corpse. There was only setting it on fire and running for their lives. And Jon had six years on Arya.

"You did what you had to do. To be safe. No one can fault you for that."

Arya rubbed her face. "I'm hungry and thirsty." She was tired, too, both physically and emotionally, but she wouldn't admit that any time soon. They were supposed to be going to see the Lord Commander, too - whoever that was and whatever it was he did. Arya was a bit nervous about that. What if she was sent away? Where would she go? She had no home any more...

For a moment, Jon had allowed himself to fall into a dream world, where it was just him and Arya and even though the world was falling apart around them, it was alright. Because they had each other. But then she'd reminded him of the truth. He was still a brother of the Night's Watch, he hadn't decided to abandon his vows and he still hadn't found Sam and those maps.

"Stay here. I will go get you some food and water to wash with. Ghost will keep you company."

"All right," Arya said. She sat down on Jon's bed, looking around his cell while she waited for him to return.

Word spread quickly through the Watch, and Three Fingered Hobb kept asking him questions about who the little boy was that Jon had grabbed from the new recruits and why he needed his own meal and the Lord Commander was aware that Jon hadn't finished his duties yet and did he ask who the boy was yet?

Jon avoided having to answer any questions, he thought it best to bring Arya before Mormont before revealing her identity and gathered the supplies that he'd come for, balancing them with a talent that really only came from being a steward. He had to set the small bucket of hot water down to open the door but he made it back to his cell without dropping anything.

"You should wash first. The water won't stay hot for very long."

Arya did as her older brother suggested, grateful to scrub the grime from her face and hands. When she finished cleaning herself up, she started to eat with a savagery that would have been frowned upon at Winterfell. She'd fallen into the habits of the recruits without noticing it.

Jon watched her eat for a few moments and then he had to say something. "If you keep on like that, I'm going to think Yoren brought me a wolf instead of my little sister."

Arya looked up, realizing what he meant. "...I can't eat like a girl." It didn't excuse the lack of all her table manners, but it was the best she could offer, looking a little guilty.

"You're going to need another bath." That was an exaggeration but he loved having the opportunity to tease her again. He didn't think he'd ever actually get to.

"I couldn't wash with everyone else," she said, with annoyance. "I had to sneak out in the middle of the night just to make water." It was really the first chance she'd had to complain to anyone about it.

Jon could not help it, he started laughing at her. "The Wall is not an easy place, little sister."

Arya frowned, unamused. "Do I still have to be a boy here?" she asked as she finished her food.

"That's for Mormont to decide. He's a good man. He'll know exactly what to do."

"Can we go see him now?" Arya asked. She was anxious to get it over with. If she had to leave here, she wanted to be prepared.

Jon nodded a little and held out his hand for her. If they weren't riding north in a few days, he was certain that the Old Bear would let her stay. Ghost got to his feet as well, intent on escorting the siblings to the Lord Commander's chambers.

Arya took Jon's hand, gripping it hard. Who knew when she would hold her brother's hand again or even see him again once he left for beyond the Wall? On the way to Lord Commander Mormont's chambers, she looked around, taking in their shadowy surroundings.

Ghost followed them, silent as ever across the castle and to the King's Tower, where the Lord Commander had taken up residence after the fire had ripped through his previous rooms. Jon told the direwolf to wait outside before leading Arya through the door.

"Lord Commander--"

"Yoren told me he brought a little surprise north with him. Well, come here girl. Let's have a look at you."

Arya's eyes widened and she glanced back at Jon before stepping forward.

"Lord Commander," she said, remembering her manners for once. Despite the short hair and worn clothes, it could not be denied that she was Eddard Stark's blood. She'd inherited his coloring, the long face, and nearly nothing of the Tullys. Standing by Jon, whose Stark features were prominent as well, their relation was also clear.

The Old Bear's mouth thinned a little when he saw the resemblance. It couldn't have been any of the other Stark children Yoren stumbled across. By all accounts the rest of them took after their mother.

"Arya of House Stark," he said, with maybe something like a sigh in his voice. "What would you have me do with you, child?"

If ever there was a time for Arya to take Sansa as an example of how to behave, now was it.

"Theon Greyjoy has overtaken Winterfell, my lord," Arya said, realizing that if Jon hadn't known, the Lord Commander may not have either. "My lord brother and my lady mother are in the battlefield and my sister is held captive by the Queen in the Red Keep." She paused, glanced briefly at Jon, then looked back at the Lord Commander. "I would like to stay here, if you will let me. I won't be any trouble, I swear it. I have lived with the recruits for these last few months and they all think me a boy."

Jon didn't think that she would really live up to the promise of being no trouble, as this was his little sister. He'd known her since the moment she was born and the men at Winterfell had a habit of calling her Arya Underfoot for a reason. But he believed that she would try.

"The Wall is no place for a girl child, whether she acts like one or not," Mormon said. He'd had a feeling that was what she wanted. "And the Night's Watch does not take sides in the conflicts of the realm."

Arya's eyes widened, looking from Mormont to Jon, then back to the old man.

"You can't send me home," she said, "I don't have a home any more. What will you do, leave me outside the gate to Castle Black??"

She looked like a cornered animal and in her mind, Arya was already trying to think of how where she could go next and how she could get there.

"Lord Commander," Jon said quietly. "It may be that the Wall will need every hand it can get while we're away." He was sure that he wouldn't be able to ride north with his brothers if he knew Arya was out in the cold, and most likely starving right outside the castle that he was coming to call home. Blood ties or not, though he couldn't deny that was a major factor, she was just a child. And he couldn't leave her to die. He didn't truly believe Mormont could either.

"You cannot take our vows. In any case," Mormont said after a moment of silence. "Are you here because you got caught stealing or out of your own free choice?"

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At the Wall [RP thread for aka_arya]

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Aww she's like, k Jon's here....problems all solved, right? :D

If only ;;

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sorry if I suck at jeor. he's too cool for me :c

i'm sure he'll be fine! he is pretty badass, though :)

bah sorry I'm not getting my emails for some stupid reason :c

notifs have been wonky all week :(

that they have :c