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WHO: Claire Bennet
WHERE: By the breach (small earthquake plot)
WHEN: August 3rd
OPEN TO: Jon Snow
WARNINGS: None at the moment

While they were nowhere near as strong as the original earthquake that rocked the village, Claire was still wary of the smaller ones happening but not enough to stick close to home. There were things that needed to be done and she knew it wouldn't matter where she was if another big earthquake happened again. It was just one of those things that you couldn't escape when it came.

So she decided to spend a day exploring the second village that had been found. She had left a message for Margaery and Erik at her place if either one of them decided to look for her and then off she went. Yes, she probably should have actually gotten someone to tag along with her but she didn't think too hard about it as she made her way through the tunnel.

Of course, she started kicking herself mentally when the first tremor rolled through the ground as she reached the other side. It was enough to make the world tremble around her, causing her to stumble and nearly lose her footing. Catching herself, she felt the trembling get worse and silently marveled for a moment at the noise it created. Not that she stayed still for long. She recognized the danger she was in if she stayed where she was and so she threw herself forward, running without hesitation out of the breach into the other village as the earthquake got worse.

Nearly falling, she whipped about just as she heard rocks falling behind her and watched in horror as the breach actually started to crumble in on itself.

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Jon had been scouting the other side of the breach as he had been since it had first been discovered; he knew the forest on the first side of it quite well but there were new paths and new game to hunt on the other side and he did not want to overhunt on the original side. When the earth began to tremble again, he braced himself against the ground, planting his feet as firmly as he could.

He spotted a flash of blonde hair near the breach and for a moment, his heart caught in his throat. Was it Lucrezia, whom he'd recently become friends with? Was it Margaery, whose hair had gotten lighter with the sun? Margaery was afraid of the earthquakes - so much so that Jon ran to the woman and knelt down.

"Are you all right?"

Claire hadn't braced herself against the rolling earth beneath her feet, so she stumbled when it came again and ended up on her backside with a grunt while keeping her eyes on the breach the entire time. All she could think of was the idea of being trapped on this side away from everyone else and possibly alone. Not that she knew if she was alone or not because she certainly didn't keep track of the comings and goings of others.

Still, she was incredibly relieved when she caught the sight of someone running towards her as she moved to her hands and knees to start getting up. She recognized the young man from around the village, so she offered a shaky smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I got out before things started coming down." She turned slightly to look at the opening.

"I am glad you weren't hurt," Jon said, kneeling down to help her to her feet. He hardly wanted to see a woman knocked down and injured and while this had only been the fault of the earth, not of any one person, he still felt the need to help. He felt helpless, of late, so he wanted to feel like he'd done something of use for once.

"I know your face but I'm afraid we haven't exchanged names. I'm Jon Snow," he said, catching her eye for a moment to greet her properly. "But you've been here a while, haven't you?"

"You and me both." She muttered, thinking briefly that she was in fact relieved considering she didn't have her ability to help her if she did get hurt. Using his help to get to her feet, she flashed him another smile before brushing her hands over her clothes to make sure she didn't have any dirt sticking to her.

"I have." She confirmed, offering him her hand after she brushed it against her hip. "I'm Claire Bennet. You've been here for awhile too, haven't you? I've seen you around quite a bit."

"Been here since the beginning, I think. When I arrived, there was a whole group of us together who came through the fountain."

Since then, it had simply been stragglers here and there and Jon wondered why he'd been in that first group, why he'd been among those to first settle this strange village. He had no idea why he would have been chosen over anyone else but he'd come to accept that he would be here for a long while; others had come and gone and he'd remained, ever-present.

"And you? How many moons have you been here, Claire?"

"That must have been kind of nice to come through with other people," Claire replied before wrinkling her nose a bit. "And I really hope that you got to do it while the weather was warm."

She had been one of those stragglers and cursed to arrive while it was cold. As for why she was there, she wasn't sure. She figured it had something to do with her nursing and maybe her ability but one of them had been taken away just a few months later. She also knew it couldn't be her skill as a bartender.

"Uh, I've been here for about...seven months now? Give or take?"

"Aye, yes, it was much warmer when I came through than over the winter. It's warm again, now, so I see the winters don't last as long as they do in the North."

Jon gave her a sympathetic smile. "You came through when it was cold, then? My apologies, lady."

"It's okay, I didn't really notice it at the time." Her ability had allowed her some comfort against the cold but she could imagine it would have sucked greatly to come through the water in the middle of the winter without the regeneration.

"So you said that the winters last a long time in the North? The North of where?" A brief pause as she glanced back at the breach. "Also should we see how bad the damage is or should we wait for a bit?"

"Westeros," Jon explained. To him, it was simply the North, but he had learned over the past year of being in this place that not everyone knew of Westeros or how the seasons in his world seemed to work; they weren't the same as this place, for certain.

"We should check the breach and see if it's still able to be traversed. If not, we might need to pry some of the rocks out."

"Sorry, I don't think I know where that is." She confirmed being in the dark about his world and home but she smiled kindly when she said it. She had learned a long time ago that she would meet people from different worlds but she thought it was interesting. Most of the time.

"Okay." She glanced back at the breach again, tucking some hair back from her face. Then she started moving carefully towards the opening again, almost like she expected the ground to start shaking again or something to jump out. Both of which were real possibilities.

"I'll go first," Jon said. "I don't want you to be injured, all right?" If he could prevent Claire from being injured by falling rocks, he would, and he would take point in order to prevent that very real possibility.

As he approached the breach, some of the rocks shifted and Jon stepped back a few feet. "I don't think it's stable, my lady."

It was one of those moments when Claire wished she had her ability again because she wouldn't have to worry about being hurt but this time she nodded when he told her he would go first. "Let's hope I can pull you out if I need to."

She stopped right behind him, pressing her lips together before sighing. "Maybe we should wait for a little bit."

The ground rumbled again, seemingly in response to that, and Jon decided to stay his ground. Pausing for a moment wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, especially since the rocks still didn't appear to be stable.

"Yes, let's wait. I don't want to go climbing it and then get buried beneath rubble when the ground trembles again."

"Yeah." A slight scoffing noise as she nodded her head. "We really should try to avoid that. I think it would probably suck a lot."

Rubbing her hands over her hips, she turned to look at the village behind them before glancing at him. "So, do you want to show me around? I haven't had much of a chance to come and check things out, so I better make it good now that I'm stuck here for a bit."

"Aye, we should wait before we try to climb back through the breach, I think. Let's go scout the other village and see what's there so we can make a report. I haven't been over that many times myself, I'm sure there's things I've missed."

Jon was a fine ranger and one of the best scouts in the Watch but there could always, always be things he might have missed. With two, there was less of a chance of missing small details.

"I think I heard someone mention that it's pretty much the same as ours but flipped?" She asks for confirmation as they start walking further into the village. Yes, she is a tiny bit nervous when she glances back at the breach but she tries not to let it show through.

She just hopes that no one worries too much if she doesn't show up for awhile.

"Aye, that's what I've been told as well. If that's the case, we ought to be able to follow the river into the new village and follow it back. We'll keep it as our guideline," Jon said.

He looked to Claire, assessing her ability to keep up. "Have you ever tracked or gone by foot before for a long distance?"

"If you're worried about how athletic I am, don't be. I can keep up with you just fine, even with short legs." Claire quipped with a small smile, glancing down at her legs before looking up at him again. It was true, she was only five foot one (barely) but she was quick enough.

"Just lead the way. I'll let you know if I need to slow down or stop." She tilted her head. "Just promise to do the same if you need to too, okay?"

She was teasing, she promises.

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