Unbroken / Game Of Thrones / Jon Snow

23 - The mission

The next morning you woke up just when the sun had started to rise. You opened your eyes and Jon was sleeping peacefully next to you.

The first rays of sunlight caressed his face, your eyes wandered to the scar on his left eye. He never told you how he got it. You knew not to ask.

You got up as quietly as you could and got dressed. Atreus was sitting on the stand you had brought in for him. You gave Jon a soft kiss on his forehead and signed for Atreus to jump on your shoulder.

He flew over and settled on your right shoulder, which was good because that side didn't hurt.

You opened the window very carefully and climbed out of it. You couldn't risk anyone seeing Jon in your chambers.

As soon as your feet hit the ground you went to the armory, you decided you would hunt for some breakfast to clear your head. You wanted to see if you could control the glow from yesterday.

You filled your quiver, strapped in all your daggers and went over to the stable to get Narah, Atreus still comfortably on your shoulder.

Just as you were about to mount your horse and ride off you heard footsteps behind you. Who would be outside this early? Except for you ofcourse.

"I've heard about your hawk but I never saw it before". You turned around, Jason.

He was walking towards you. "His name is Atreus, he's going to help me hunt, I was just about to leave actually". You tried to be as natural as possible, but you didn't want Jason asking any questions.

"I won't keep you then, we'll talk about it at breakfast". He gave you a sweet smile, you got on your horse. "Good luck", he winked at you and you rode off.

He seemed like his normal self again, what if he decided to forget about yesterday?

Atreus flew off your shoulder and started scouting ahead, when you heard him screech you know he found something.

You brought Narah to a halt and saw Atreus circling above you. Let's try to do this again.

You closed your eyes and tried to listen to every single sound the forest made. You felt something touch your cheek, it was cold. You opened your eyes, it had started to snow softly.

As you looked around you noticed it was happening again, everything was moving very slowly. You could feel Narah's heavy breathing and see her breath in the cold air.

Suddenly your head shot towards the ground, focusing on a hollow fallen log. You grabbed your bow and drew the arrow tight. You could fell your chest falling and rising slowly, you could hear your heartbeat.

You closed your eyes, took a deep breath and let the arrow fly towards the ground. When you opened your eyes you heard Atreus' signal from above you. As you watched the arrow fly everything started to move normally again. You hit bullseye.

You lowered your bow, you couldn't believe it. You jumped down from Narah and walked towards the log, you had hit a jackrabbit. They were the fastest rabbits out there, you had almost never hit one before.

You laughed and picked it up. You felt Atreus land on your shoulder. "Would you look at that, well done buddy".

You rode back to the castle, as soon as you entered the courtyard Atreus flew off to your chamber window. You put Narah in the stables and walked into the dining hall with the jackrabbit in your hand.

Everyone was already at breakfast, when you walked in you looked up at the high table. You locked eyes with Jon and he gave you a smile, you held up the rabbit and smiled back.

You sat down next to Sam and Jason. "Is that a jackrabbit?", Jason looked surprised. "Yes sir, caught it just this morning".

"Quite impressive Al". He gave you a soft elbow, you smiled. You looked at the high table again, one of the scouts came up to Jon and was telling him something. He didn't look happy.

The scout left and Jon stood up from the high table, quieting down the entire hall. "I have just received news about our first ranger Benjamin".

Oh gods, please be back.

"Our first ranger still has not returned from his mission beyond the wall, the time he has been gone has passed our limits. We will need to organize a search mission, I myself will go beyond the wall and lead it. It will be a small group, I need two or three volunteers".

You immediately shot up from your seat, your heart pounding in your chest. "I volunteer lord commander". Jon nodded, "Very well".

From the seat beside you shot another person. It was Jason. "I too volunteer lord commander". You looked over at Jason surprised. Jon nodded. The last one to volunteer was Glen, he was a builder but a strong fighter.

"Thank you all, we will leave at noon". Jon sat down again.

You turned to Jason. "Why did you do that? You have never been beyond the wall". He gave you a reassuring smile. "I know how much Benjen means to you, I couldn't let you go on your own could I?".

You grabbed his hand. "Thank you".

"Anytime Al. Besides, I have some things I need to make up for". He winked.

You laughed softly, "Best start packing up, noon isn't far away". You got up from your seat and grabbed a piece of bread from your plate to take upstairs. You locked eyes with Jon, he smiled at you and shot his eyes up. You knew what that meant, he would meet you upstairs in a bit.

You nodded slightly and walked out of the dining hall, as soon as the cold air hit your face you realized what was happening. You didn't know if you would find Benjen, and if you did, in what state you would find him.

AUTHORS NOTE: Going beyond the wall with Jason and Jon! I hope you liked this one, I have something planned for the next chapter... As always, if you have any thoughts my comments and messages are open! Even if you just want to chat :) xx - E