Ygritte x Jon Snow- You Don't Need Saving

Chapter 5- Settling In

Jon Snow's POV

"Are there any lady lords?" "No." I mutter. "They're called ladies. Ladies and lords." "Wow. Only the men can be thuh leaders Eh?" I didn't say anything. "What do yer fancy lords and ladies drink Jon Snow? There's nothin ere!" "We can go back to the dining hall and get something for you to drink." "Dinin hall? What's a dinin hall??" "It's where we ate..where we eat." "You eat in a special place?" "Yes." "Let me guess. You all eat all proper Huh? Special posture. All that?" "Yes. Table manners. Respect." "That's dumb." I roll my eyes. "Why were Ya all tense at suppar time?" I froze and swallowed hardly. I couldn't think of a good way to explain it. "Losing family members that you used to sit with every night for dinner..well it's difficult to see their empty places. They're not with us...to joke and talk and reprimand you for bad behavior." "Reprima.. ...you alright?" "Im fine." "Don't be so grumpy Jon Snow. I know you're upset. It's obvious." "Is it?" "Im not stupid you crow." "Oh?" "Yes! I just...don't know much about your lands is all..I was willin to teach ya about my own before remembah?" "Yes. I'm willing to teach you too." "Good. If I have to be here I should know a thing or two of yer kings' strange ways." "We have one King. For now. The king in the north. And that's my brother." "I like the little lad. Wish they hadn't tried to kill 'im." She says rather...calmly...I glared at her. "That girl follows him like a lost pup." ... "She's so snooty. Ya see er? She's all into im and such and then gives me a dirtih look and expects kindness from me heart. Girl can keep wishin. I don't go down without a fight." "Ygritte enough!" "What's thuh matta with you??" "Bran won't be happy if his guest and my supposed girlfriend isn't happy with his own." "SO THEY ARE LAYIN TOGETHA!" "Ygritte! shut up!" "Don't you tell me to shut up crow I knew it!" "They aren't Layin together he's young still." "Still a boy?" "Yes Ygritte..." I groan. "The girls a woman practically. She's tried to lay with him I bet Ya." "Oh gods... I only assume they're together." "Arent we?" "Huh? Yah. If you choose to allow it." "I do Jon Snow." She looks around silently and thoughtfully. "You've got an attractive lookin family. Your sisters look wild and pretty enough for the free lands. Bran boy there has been there before as ee said. I got me a friend here already! The little one seems to be just as free. Free spirited." "Maybe that's why they don't like us here. They never did before the Targaryen girl. The northerners were wild and freer I suppose." "As you said, mister son of ned. You're decended from the same as I." "The first men yes." "Bet you they bred with us free folk. You could be part 'wildlin'. Why you chucklin?" I lean in and kiss her. "You keep on doin that I'll have to take ya right here Jon Snow..." I kiss her again.

"You need to call him your grace or lord." "Why? I don't undastand! There ain't a point in that I'm one of the free folk! Not one of yer fancy dainty ladies!" "You don't have to be. It's honorable and kind to call someone of a title with a title!" "...Only cause I like the lad. And that truly is thuh only reason." I nod. Ygritte and I had ended up arguing about proper manners and conduct that she didn't grow up with beyond the wall. She cracks her neck uncomfortably and waits. Ghost seems unfazed by her attitude and pants his eyes glimmering with happiness. The wolf keeps me happy. I see myself in him as crazy as it sounds. I wonder how long Ygritte will be able to handle proper behavior before she cracks. She's a wild woman...not something you can tame. Just then, Hodor lugs in, carrying my little brother who is not that little anymore. The last time I had seen him was when he was a 10 year old little boy. I haven't seen him since I said my goodbyes all those years ago before the wars. I find myself staring at my brother seeing myself in him. He certainly looked northern more than Tully. He would carry the Stark name. I wonder if I would ever father children. I don't want to create more bastards so I never really thought it would be possible. The only woman I would ever want is Ygritte. I wonder if she would be opt to the idea..This girl around Bran. Meera. Are they together? How long has he known her? She looks familiar.. From a far away glance. Maybe I had seen her in passing..I ask the gods that she may warm up to Bran. He needs someone to care for him and be there for him. He needs a woman. Father was so doubtful of Bran's future. If only he could see how successful his cripple had become. He held down the fort during the war and became a king and lord. He would be the one to carry the name. Father hadnt thought Bran would amount to anything after his fall. Robert Baratheon was right. Bran was a soldier in his own way. He's learned. I wonder how things have been for him. Perhaps he's learned from these people who surround him. I had been told of Osha but not of Meera. Then there was the haunting ideal of what Bran was. I had seen wargs north of the wall. One had warged into a large bird that pecked and pulled at the skin on my face. What could be more powerful than that? I knew Starks had a history of warging but possessing the abilities...that's fate. It was always Bran's fate. The gods had a plan for him. I've missed him. And Rickon. He was even smaller. He seems like the same Rickon, just taller and more grown up. He seems to hang around Osha a lot. There's definitely a connection there. A noise grabs my attention. I see Ygritte watching Bran with interest. What had i missed? I watch them carefully trying to figure it out. "Can we go outside?" "Hodor." Bran beckons us. We follow and I share a glance with Ygritte. She looks as confused as me. "He froze. Right in thuh middle of talkin." Once we make it outside it is dark and white flakes are drifting down steadily. The wind is harsh and blows my hair back. I look to Ygritte and Bran. Ygritte is watching Bran who's eyes are closed. The crease in his forehead shows how worried he is. "What's wrong?" He stares into the distance. "Ygritte?" Bran asks slightly shakily. "What did you say about the white walkers?" "Oh. The place Craster's Keep. Jon's crows destroyed it. Craster had many many bastard daughters. We hated coming into contact with him since he has a pact with the white walkers." "they're consciously aware?" "Their brains work yes." "Craster's Keep..where Is that?" "Oh I was there Bran." I chip in. "The Night's Watch. Half of our crew went rogue and killed Craster and took over. They betrayed the Nights Watch. I had to go in with some members from Castle Black and kill them off." "What did the keep look like?" Bran glanced at Ghost. "Large. In the middle of the woods north of the wall. Why?" Bran seemed stiff and his eyes were glazed over. "Lad?" "We'd been there." Meera walks up behind us. Bran fingers his scar on his lip. "Where's that from?" I already know the answer. "He was going to kill us if he didn't tell them who he was. They kept him there because of you. They tied us up. All of us." I felt the guilt rise up within me. "They tried to rape Meera.." Bran murmurs. Meera swallows hardly. "Let's not talk about that. It was Jojen who saved me.." "Who's Jojen?" I asked. The look I received from Bran told me it was a sensitive subject. "Her brother." Bran says. I didn't even have to ask. The look in Meera's eyes said it all. He was murdered. By who or what I didn't know but it was obvious or he'd be here now. I said no more about it and simply sent her a sympathetic smile. She attempted to block the emotion in her eyes with her emotionless expression. "He hurt you. All of you." I say. I wish I killed him slower. Even more painfully. The hurt in both of their eyes was enough to make Ygritte serious. "I knew Craster. I didn't know the crowd that took on his legacy. If I had.." "You wouldn't know who Bran was Ygritte." She frowns at my comment. Sadly she would've killed him off if she didn't know any better. She knows it too. I shrugged my cloak tighter over my shoulders at the biting cold. Winter was coming. Meera's boots crunch against the newly fallen snow as she flanks my brother and takes his arm in her hands, almost comfortingly as far as I could see. He swallows noticeably. I spare a glance to Ygritte who was watching me like I was doing something interesting. I frown and she saunters over to me. "Jon Snow. What're you Thinkin about?" "Family. What we can do when the white walkers come. If there is anything we could possibly do." "Why worry? My kind will be battling them in the real north." "No they aren't. Any left will come past the wall to safety. No one can win against the white walkers. Maybe Allister was right. Maybe I am too attached to your kind. But I can't let them die. I won't." Ygritte smiles at me, happy that I am helping out the free folk. The cold didn't seem to bother her. She lived north her whole life. It didn't exactly bother me either. I have lived at the wall for years. But this cold was something different. Something sinister. It was chilling and exciting in the worst way that made you fearful of what was out there. The wind felt like a message from the white walkers themselves, that they were coming for us. "We should go inside." Meera suggests. I couldn't agree more. It's getting hazy out here. A warning. Silently we went back inside the castle. We decided to meet up in the den. Hodor gently laid Bran down onto a pile of furs by a crackling fire. Meera sat next to him immediately and I found my thoughts wandering back to the two of them. What was their relationship really? Arya and Sansa ended up joining us and the direwolves were at their heels. Summer obediently laid next to Bran closer to the fire. No one said anything at first and Ygritte was more focused on the look of the room than anything else. Her eyes took in the stone walls and the sofa upon which she sat. She ran her Hand over the luxury that were the furs. She pressed her lips together. "You lords live in luxury. What of the poor?" "Not very fortunate. That doesn't mean their lives are any worse than ours" "privilege isn't all it's cracked up to be." I add on to Bran's response. She stared at Bran with an understanding nod. She was being quiet and civil. Very unlike her. "Everything alright?" I ask. "Don't you worry about me Jon Snow." She smirks. "Yknow I quite like it here Brandon." Bran raised his head at the sound of his full name. Ygritte's accent made his name sound so sharp. "It's warm and comfortable. I like this castle. It's huge. And the wall. Huge." She reminded me of a child fantasizing. "Im glad it's to your liking my lady." "No need for titles for me kid." I elbow her. "My lord." She snorts. He looks at her embarrassed. "Sorry I don't like the conducts of your lands is all. I'll call you grace anything you want but I refuse to bend me knee to ya. You understand lord dont ya?" I find it surprising when Bran smirks in amusement. Easy going just like father. He's probably just as honorable. I just hope it doesn't kill him. I know deep down that I cannot handle losing him over anyone else. The mischievous glint in Ygritte's eyes tell me she admires him as much as anyone else does. She became attached all the same...and rather quickly at that.