Title: "We are nothing"
Summary: We are nothing, Jon Snow. We are specks in the world, and we die, the Gods do not give mercy for those honorable and just. We're put down in the cold, and that's where we rot—where are the Gods then?
Characters/Pairings: Mance Rayder. Jon Snow.
Warnings: Mance being Mance. Oh! And Jon Snow knows nothing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of this franchise. None. At all.
The winds were brutal beyond the Wall. Jon Snow hated the cold, he'd come to be defend the Wall, to make something of himself. Though things had changed fast. First Robb was fighting for father, and then Jon was being taken beyond the Wall. Had it been months? A year?
Jon felt another gush of wind hit his cheeks. A frown began to deepen on his lips, "This is madness." He murmured bitterly.
"Is it?" Mance Rayder's voice boomed in Jon's ears.
Jon Snow looked up, trying not to let the breeze bother his eyes much. There really was not much he could do when snow was being thrown into his eyes. He looked back at the fire he was trying to start.
"It…I…" Jon frowned some, then looked back up. That seemed to make Mance smile. Had he amused the King Beyond the Wall? He wondered if Ygriette had to try this hard. The answer was most likely a no, as Ygriette…she was a true wildling, and he a Crow. That's all he'd ever be if he didn't do more here. A Crow.
"Men and women out here don't fight for their own, Jon Snow." Mance did not move to assist with the fire though. He stood there, tall as a mountain and a slight smile. It was like he was amused by the boy's efforts.
"I know how to start a fire." He insisted.
"Sure you do, Snow."
Mance looked at the sky for a moment, inhaling deeply. He looked at Jon Snow with more than a look of pity than amusement. The great King Beyond the Wall. But he was just a man, a wilding who would protect his people.
Just as Snow would.
"Winter is still coming, Jon Snow."
Jon looked at him again, lips turned down some "You think I haven't known that for months? My father's-"
"They were Stark words. Yes. I know that too." Mance remained where he was, still standing tall "But even you should grasp onto the idea that there is a difference between knowing something and realizing it."
"Are." Jon Snow murmured, looking back at his failed fire. He was moping. He couldn't fight properly if he was moping.
"Yes, are. My mistake, Snow." He glanced at the fire that still wasn't lit, and noticed the boy's fingers shaking. Snow wasn't use to the cold, even after all these months, even after his time in Winterfell and the Wall. He'd get use to it, he'd adapt to his habitat like they all had.
"Robb is going to fight until he takes the North back from Joffery Baratheon and the others."
Jon the Bastard. Jon the Crow. He'd heard his people saying it, whispering under their breaths when they saw him but he paid it no mind. He knew Jon could either fight with them, and let them be their new family or he could die with his Crow brothers in the snow.
Mance Rayder raised his eyebrows some "Really? And what makes you think your kin will take back the North before Winter arrives?"
"Robb is strong-"
"Aye." Mance nodded, agreeing "And careless." Also true.
Jon snapped his eyes up, frowning suddenly "Robb is my brother."
"We're your brothers now, Snow." Mance tilted his head "Or have you forgotten your promise?"
That seemed to trouble young Snow. Jon's expression changed, and he looked back down, away from Mance. His fingers curled into his palms, as if restraining himself. Young Snow needed to work hard on that, Mance didn't want the boy doing something unseemly or impulsive.
"Robb doesn't want Westeros. He just wants to protect his people."
"We are nothing, Jon Snow." Mance was still watching him, Ygriette's wolf "We are specks in this world, and we die, the Gods do not give mercy for those honorable and just. We're put down in the cold, and that's where rot-Where are the Gods then?"
Jon the Crow faded away, while Jon the boy looked at him again "You don't believe in the Gods?"
"Never said that, Snow."
"Then what are you saying, Rayder?"
This made Mance laugh that time. The boy sure did amuse him from time to time, he'd never imagine a former Crow doing that. Jon Snow just might in fact make a real Wildling some day. He'd think Snow could even help light the biggest fire in all the lands, even if Jon Snow knew nothing just yet.