005 🐺 riding the tail of the wind

[tooktheblack]

WHO: Jon Snow
WHERE: the woods; the inn; House Stark
WHEN: 1 February
OPEN TO: all
WARNINGS: TBD
STATUS: open

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I. LITTLE SON COME SAFELY HOME

Jon rose early as he always did but there was something different about the world today - the snow was gone. The ground was wet, yes, but it was not nearly as cold as it had been for the past two moons and the snow that had been ceaseless seemed to have stopped falling from the sky and had receded from the roofs and the ground below. Jon had never experienced a true spring thaw considering the nature of the seasons in Westeros but he had the sense that this was not the way it happened.

Exiting his home, he knelt down and touched the earth, letting the mud slip through his fingers before rising to his feet again. Hopefully with the melting of the snow his hunting would come easier and, with that goal in mind, he set out before sunrise with his bow and quiver.

This time in the woods was precious to him. It was a time to think, a time to gather his thoughts and steel himself for the day ahead. He did not mind this place so much. He knew that others hated it and longed to return home but for him, he had gifts here that he could not have back in Westeros; this place had gifted him two sisters and his brother. This place had gifted him Ygritte. These were things more precious than a horse or sword, more precious than wine or song. These were irreplaceable.

Jon sighted a stag and waited for it to pass. He never took the first he saw, in fear of not seeing another, and when a doe stepped out after the stag he let his arrow fly and take it. If the gods were good, they'd have venison stew tonight.

II. THE DAY GETS DARK UNEASILY

When the hour grew late and the sun had sunk down low enough that the sunlight was a weak, thin thing, Jon decided he'd had enough of checking traps and hunting game and decided to bring his catch to the inn. Some of it would come back with him to be shared with House Stark alone, the smaller game, but the deer was something he'd have to leave at the kitchens to be shared with everyone. Lady Kate ought to be able to make something fine of it; Jon had come to enjoy her cooking over the past several moons and he was eager to see what she'd do with the deer.

After bringing his game indoors and cleaning the rabbits to bring home (skins for Sansa, meat for stew in their homes), he settled in front of the fire for a little while. It wasn't as cold as it had been the past several moons, no, but after being out in the woods for the majority of the day Jon was looking forward to having something hot to drink and just resting before making the long walk back to the home he shared with Ygritte.

He had a mug of some sort of tea, some concoction made with herbs. It wasn't like the tea he'd drunk at Winterfell, of course, but it was something that was hot and soothed his throat and warmed his belly. It would sustain him for the walk to Robb's and, later, for the walk back down to his own house. As he drank, he watched the crack and pop of the logs in the fireplace and it felt, for all the world, like being at Winterfell again.

As people came in and out around him, he nodded; he wasn't terribly talkative, no, but it was hard not to greet those who had been living and working alongside him for the past several months.

III. BEAUTIFUL LIKE A SONG

The hour was later still and Jon eventually vacated his chair inside the inn for another place, a place warmed not only by the logs on the fire but the warmth of his family. Robb's house was always packed with people considering he lived with Sansa and Arya and when Jon stepped up onto the porch and pushed the door in, he wasn't surprised to see family gathered there.

It was still novel to him to have family so close and now that he and Robb weren't quarreling any longer he felt much more comfortable just showing up unannounced. He had skins for Sansa - ones that needed to be tanned and ones that had already been tanned and were ready to be used. He had meat for them, a few rabbits that might make a night's supper. He also had himself, no matter how dour of company he often was.

His family always brought a smile to his face in spite of whatever foul mood he might have worked himself into and today he was in high spirits, a grin playing at his lips and merriment in his voice.

"Sansa? Arya? Robb? Who's home? I've brought gifts."

Comments

[tooktheblack]

"Changing to some extent, yes," Jon agreed. He'd changed since he'd met Ygritte. She was a Wildling, something that men of Winterfell and men of the Watch were meant to hate. Still, there was humanity in the Wildlings and it made sense why they did the things they did. He could see it from both sides now.

"I think you change some, and they change some, and ultimately you meet in the middle."

[thecatinahat]

It means Cougar needs to talk more, learn English, let his feelings open out instead of just burying inside. It's harder without a team here to pull it out of him. It means that Jake does all the work. "Maybe it's worth it," he allows, because he also knows that while he's more isolated than ever, he's also happier.

"You will be with your woman until she is done with you?" he teases, peeking past the animal's head to look at Jon. "I know the feeling."

[tooktheblack]

Jon laughed a little. "That is basically how I look upon it. I will be with her until she is finished with me. At the moment, she seems content to stay."

He shook his head a bit. "You don't trap a Wildling or try to make her something she isn't. It doesn't work."

[thecatinahat]

He shrugs his shoulders and offers Jon a sympathetic look. "Sometimes, I'm a little wild, myself," he says, not meaning it in a teasing way, but in the genuine way that there have been times in his life when he'd forgotten how to be normal and a person, when people had roped him back in. "If she loves you, if it's serious, she will also change for you."

[tooktheblack]

"She already has," Jon said, flashing a quick smile. "She was content to be kept, after all, and she came back to me. I'd lost her back home."

Jon didn't like to assign any feelings of magnanimity to the fountain but it had brought him his brother, his sisters and Ygritte; he couldn't help but be a bit grateful that it had given him so much that he'd lost.

[thecatinahat]

"Then you are lucky," he says, hoping that he can figure out a way to also find this happiness in his own life, even though he sometimes feels like he's not very good at it, because he stops himself, often. "Here," he says, when they reach a building. "Where do you want me to put it?" he asks, of the carcass.

[tooktheblack]

"Leave it to me. I can cut it and bring it inside to the Inn to be used in meals," Jon said. "But thank you for your help. It made the work a lot easier, having someone to share the burden."

[thecatinahat]

He shrugs, because it's not a problem. The hunt is one of his daily routines, now, and it almost gives him peace of mind to do it. "You listened," he says. "Offered advice. It's good," he says, even if Cougar still doesn't know what he's going to do, at least he's starting to see the picture come together in a shape that makes more sense.

"Good luck," is what he offers. "With all."

[tooktheblack]

"Good luck to you as well," Jon said, tipping his head to the man in thanks. Cougar was the sort to be a quiet man, introspective, and Jon could respect that. He contributed a lot to the village and he hoped, sincerely, that he worked out his issues with his lover and found happiness.

For whatever came to assail them in this place, Jon felt they all deserved to carve out a bit of peace and love for themselves.