ORRINA

The first few weeks at Winterfell slowly slipped by as Orrina found her groove and a new routine. Living in Winterfell was very different than living at the Wall, and even more different than living on Bear Island. It was strange not being expected to do chores, she was used to spending a good part of her day in the kitchens with Hobbs, or even with Maester Aemon helping him care for his ravens. At Winterfell, there was no such expectation.

She had been spending her days mostly with Lady Stark and her daughters. Like herself, Arya was not overly fond. But at least Orrina was not subjected to Septa lessons. Catelyn had gently tried to nudge her in that direction, raving about Septa Mordane and how great she was, and how much Sansa was learning, but Orrina put her foot down. She did not follow the Seven and she was not interested in listening to a Septa drone on and on about The Stranger, and The Father or whatever else they named their gods.

She was happy following her Old, nameless Gods.

Plus it also freed her days more, allowing Orrina to indulge in the things she really enjoyed. Even though she wasn't expected to do chores, she still liked to sneak into the kitchens, there was a comforting feeling in cooking. It also meant that she was able to sneak out into the training yard, although she had a feeling there wasn't anything that happened in Winterfell that Lady Catelyn wasn't aware of.

Orrina was respectful enough not to whip out her axe in the middle of the day when Lord Stark's wife might come across her. Instead she watched the men train, reminding her of days spent doing the same at the Wall. It gave her an opportunity to talk to Jon more which Catelyn did not approve of, that much she was sure of.

The Lady of Winterfell never spoke out directly against her training with arms, (which Orrina made sure to wake up early to stay in practice before most of the castle woke up) but her grandfather had specifically asked Catelyn to look after her and teach her to be more lady like. So while Lady Stark never explicitly told her that she couldn't go into the training yard, it was expected that she did it on her own time and she was to be respectful about it.

Outside of time spent with Lady Stark, sneaking into the kitchens, and spending her mornings in the yard, Orrina spent some of her afternoons chasing Bran Stark around, scurrying up trees behind him. He had tried to persuade her to climb some towers with him, but she had quickly nixed that idea. She didn't even go to the top of the Wall for her fear of heights.

Still, Bran was a funny kid. He had a big imagination and talked often about being a knight. Sometimes after he wore her out from climbing every tree he could get up into, he would beg her to practice sword fighting with discarded sticks and fallen branches. For his sake (and her energy levels), Orrina let him win. Bran reminded her of her cousin Lyanna, spirited and never tired.

After spending the morning with Lady Stark and her daughters, Orrina retired back to her room to sit and read her newest letters. True to his word, her grandfather had written her twice now and Maester Aemon had sent her three letters. She recognized Chet's hand writing, but Maester Aemon made sure to sign his shaky signature to the bottom of all his letters to her. Her grandfathers messages had been short and to the point, but she knew he was thinking of her often or he wouldn't have written at all.

Maester Aemon's were longer, and full of more detail. He kept her in the know of the ongoings at Castle Black. Hobbs' couldn't read nor write, but the Maester made sure to include that the old cook was thinking of her as well, and said he missed her singing and her quick fingers when it came to chopping his vegetables. Although she knew it was a lie, Maester Aemon said his ravens missed her as well, but she really knew they only cared about whoever was feeding them. It was still a nice sentiment and it made being away from them a little easier.

Her cousins had also written her. Dacey always made a point to write her, even when she was living at Castle Black. Alysane was never one for writing, so Dacey always included her in her messages. Jorelle wrote to her as well, less often than Dacey but she was sure to make Lyanna scrawl a message or a drawing to her as well on a separate parchment, and Lyra always attached her name at the ends of her letters too.

It made her homesick, not just for Castle Black but for Bear Island as well. She may have wanted to see the world outside of her family home, but she still longed for the comforts of home, for the familiarity that her cousins provided. Maybe she would ask Lord Stark about journeying to Bear Island to see her family again.

Still, even though she was feeling homesick, Orrina was finding her place in Winterfell. The Starks were easy to get along with, and she was quickly finding a confidant in Jon Snow.

They didn't have a lot of moments to spend together, but she found him easy to talk to when they did. Often times, they sat together early in the morning, sometimes before training, sometimes after but before Winterfell woke up. At first their conversations were stilted, Jon very unsure of himself talking to her, fearing the repercussions of being a bastard.

Slowly but surely, their conversations came more alive and they were able to speak freely to one another. For Jon's sake, Orrina tried to keep the conversations light, not bringing up his station as Ned Stark's baseborn son. They talked about his siblings, how close he was to Arya, Robb and Bran. He had been the one to warn her that Bran would try to talk her into climbing the abandoned towers with him so she was prepared to turn him down gently.

He asked her a lot of questions about her life on Bear Island. So she told him about the engraved woman with her bare breast, feeding babe and the axe in her other arm. She told him about how her aunt put a weapon in her hand the moment she could stand. Her father had been against it, but no one told Maege Mormont how to live her life. Certainly not her brother's lackwit son. Orrina told him about her stubborn aunt, and her aunt's equally stubborn daughter. She told him how beautiful her cousin Dacey was but how deadly she could wield her morningstar. She told him about Lyra and Jorelle who were as close as twins, and fought even harder, mostly with each other, but like their mother, they were just as vicious in battle.

She told him about Alysane, and how she had her mother's dry sense of humor. And her two hellions, Fyda and Dawsin. She hadn't met Dawsin yet, but her cousin wrote her often to tell her that her children kept her on her toes. They talked about Lyanna, and how she shared his long dead aunt's name but how much she reminded her of Bran, full of imagination and inability to take no for an answer.

They even talked and laughed about her grandfather, the respected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and how his snoring could awaken the giants beyond the Wall. Jon could tell she loved him fiercely and missed him even more. Orrina avoided the topic of her father as much as Jon avoided talking about his mother. But like with all things, it eventually came up.

Again, the two found something else to bond over. At least Orrina knew her mother's name, and even had the faintest idea of who she was. Jon didn't even have that much, and it hurt her to know that Ned Stark was keeping that very vital information from his son. Jon tried to pretend like it didn't bother him, but Orrina could tell it did.

So instead, she told him about her mother, and the few details she knew. She told him how everyone said that she looked like her, with her rich brown hair, and her equally dark eyes. She told him that apparently she also inherited her mother's stubbornness along with her smile. Orrina even told him that the reason she liked to sing was because of her mother and it was one of the few things she could hold onto. She had never told anyone else that before, and she noticed the softness that touched Jon Snow's eyes every time he looked at her after that.

He didn't want to hear rumors about his own mother, after Orrina offered to see if anyone would tell her something about Jon's mysterious mother. He wanted the truth, from his father. He knew no one else could offer it, even though he did appreciate the effort that she was willing to give. It was more than he was afforded by most people.

Most of the times though, they mostly just sat together and talked idly about Winterfell. Jon steered clear talking about Lady Stark, and any time Orrina tried to question him, she saw how tense he got, how his grey eyes darkened and he merely shook his head. It would be very easy for him to talk badly about her, Orrina wouldn't have blamed him. Not with the way that Lady Stark turned to stone around him, refusing to even acknowledge his presence. Not for the first time, nor the last, she thought Jon was going to carry that same honourable reputation that his father held.

Even if she thought he was a bit thick for it.

Still, spending time with Jon had been her favorite part of staying in Winterfell. She cherished the early mornings they would spend talking to each other, even if she had to spend it in the cold mornings, so cold they could see their breath in front of them. Usually their conversations would come to an end when the rest of the castle started to wake up and they could hear others making their way to the training yard, springing apart so no one would find them huddled together whispering to each other. Orrina didn't care if others saw them together, but Jon certainly did.

Usually it was just Robb who joined them, or even Ser Rodrik. The Master of Arms didn't approve of her at first, unsure of a girl her age and her interest in weapons. He didn't mind Arya running around, she was still young but Orrina was old enough that her interest should have been more aligned with Sansa's. But she proved to be proficient and he noted with a bit of delight that she could keep the young future Lord of Winterfell and his brother on his toes so he let her linger until Lady Stark would come looking for her.

The problems arose when Theon would join Robb or he would saunter into the yard interrupting them. Orrina was still struggling holding her tongue around the Greyjoy boy, and it seemed that Ned Stark either didn't have a firm enough tone with the young man or he just didn't care. He was never outright disrespectful but he still made snide comments around Orrina that made it difficult not to want to remove his head from his shoulders.

Cocky bastard.

She just tried her best to avoid him, to keep her promise to Lord Stark. So even though Orrina would have loved to join them in practicing, now that she was free from lessons with the Septa, she knew Theon would be there so she retired to her room to write letters back to her family. She wrote a quick letter to her grandfather, he wasn't one for overly long responses. A longer letter for Maester Aemon, and the longest to her family on Bear Island.

By the time she finished, she could still hear the tell tale clashes of fighting from her window. Perhaps it wasn't her smartest idea, but she couldn't pass up an afternoon training session if she had the free time for it. So Orrina sealed her letters, passed them off to be went out with the ravens the next morning and scurried down to the yard.

JON

Jon wasn't expecting Orrina to show up to the yard this late in the day, if she did make an appearance, it was usually in the morning. He wasn't usually such an early riser, but when he realized that's when she would be there, he started forcing himself to wake up earlier so he could have an excuse to spend time with her.

Quickly over the last weeks that Orrina had been in Winterfell, he had come to cherish their usual early morning conversations. Outside of his siblings, it was the first time that he felt like he wasn't being treated differently. He didn't feel like she was only being polite because she had too. For once, he felt like she spent time because she wanted too and she enjoyed their conversations as much as he did. It was a strange feeling for Jon, and he felt his heart rate start to pick up whenever he thought about her for a second too long.

Despite this, he was surprised to see her making her way over to them this late in the afternoon. She looked pretty with her hair braided in a long single thick braid down her back, there were little pieces sticking out of her braid that were framing her face. Usually she wore her breeches when she joined him in the mornings, but she wore a simple, unlike Sansa's usual detailed ones, dress today. Long sleeved and black, he noticed that for the most part, Orrina dressed in all black like the men of the Watch.

Not shy about being seen with him, Orrina waved at him happily as he blushed and turned away from her after a quick wave back. Greyjoy had joined him and Robb, and he didn't need the older boy to pick up on that. He would be sure to tease both him and Orrina mercilessly about him being a bastard. Frankly, he wasn't in the mood for it. Not that he was ever in the mood for any of Theon's antics usually.

Theon might not have not noticed the tinge of pink in Jon's cheeks, but he did let out a low whistle at the sight of Orrina. He didn't know if his father had spoken to Greyjoy, but he needed to do it again if he did. Jon stifled a groan, perhaps it was wishful thinking that they could have avoided this confrontation all together.

He watched as Orrina ignored him pointedly and instead came to stand next to him, arms crossed, and lips pursed. He noticed she was clenching her jaw, she did that a lot around Greyjoy, but likely just did that whenever she was angry. So far no one besides the Kraken has been able to provoke her ire.

"Hello Robb, Jon." She greeted them simply, making another point to exclude Theon.

"Come to watch your bastard boy get whipped by a real man?" Theon snickered.

"Actually, Jon, I was hoping that you could show me a few moves, since I'm more comfortable with my axe rather than a sword." She didn't even spare a look in his direction, choosing again to ignore his comments. Jon could imagine that she was picturing hitting Theon with said mentioned axe. Robb looked uncomfortable with the tension, torn between telling Theon to knock it off, as he rather liked Orrina as well, or just letting the argument fizzle out.

"Do you really think you'll be able to beat a man? Especially in that dress? Shouldn't you be inside sewing with Sansa?" Theon didn't give Jon a chance to answer her request, roughly butting in.

"If you'd like Greyjoy, I would be more than happy to knock you into the dirt, especially while wearing this dress," Orrina turned quickly to face him, the angry flush in her cheeks becoming more prominent. Her hands were balled into fists at her side as she took a step towards him, a challenging look taking over her features.

Before Theon could even reply, she stomped over to where the training swords were kept and yanked one out. Jon was starting to wish that Ser Rodrik had actually been supervising this session, he would have put a stop whatever ugly thing was about to happen here.

"Go, get your sword." Orinna planted her feet, twirling her practice sword, a fierce look in her eyes. They didn't know each other for very long, but Jon had felt a connection to her right away and still, he had never seen a look quite like this in her eyes before. It came close to the first time she saw Theon. But that time was more unfiltered anger and this time there was determination in her eyes.

Jon looked to Robb, and they shared a look knowing that they should put a stop to this. It was in the middle of the day. It was inappropriate, their father would not approve, nor would Lady Catelyn, especially. But Jon looked to Orrina and knew that no matter what he said, she would not back down. He knew that much about her already. They talked a lot about her family on Bear Island and he knew of the bad blood of the Ironborn and her family. Theon could beat her mercilessly into the ground and she would bounce back up until she beat him.

He shared another look with his brother, they had always been close and could communicate on looks alone sometimes, and this was one of those times. They would have to step back and watch this play out, and face the consequences.

"Shouldn't we try to stop this? Just so we can say that we did?" Robb muttered to him, watching apprehensively as Theon took his time taunting Orrina and slowly picking sword he would be using.

"Probably," Jon responded in a low tone. "It won't do any good, we both know that they've been circling each other since Lady Orrina arrived." Although they spoke casually together, Jon made sure to keep up addressing her properly around other people, even his own brother, less anyone take their friendship the wrong way.

"Shouldn't we be worried for her though?" Robb saw first hand Orrina's skill, but Jon knew that he, like many of the men in Winterfell, and in the North, didn't hold women in the same light as men as fighters. Ser Rodrik rarely let her spar with any of them, so he knew most of them saw her interest as a passing one. Jon knew that like her aunt, and cousins, Orrina was extremely prideful and even more so in her abilities as a fighter.

"I'd be more worried for Greyjoy," he answered with a hint of a smirk.

Finally when Theon's dramatics lost their affect, he selected his sword and stood opposite of Orrina, not seeming too concerned or even apprehensive. Not for the first time, Jon thought it was good they didn't have real steel in their hands because the girl from Bear Island was out for blood.

She didn't even wait for Theon to find his footing, didn't wait for anyone to declare the start of the match, Jon watched in admiration, and slight horror, Orrina launch herself at Theon Greyjoy. She did not hold back, even though it wasn't a real sword to take his head. She wasted no time and aimed blow after blow at the older boy. Theon may not have been prepared for her initial attack, but after a stumble, he was able to block her blows. Orrina did not let up in her assault, and Jon hoped she would stop thinking with anger and pace herself. Before meeting Orrina and hearing about her cousins, Jon thought similarly to his brother but after hearing of the strength of the women warriors of her home, he knew she could beat Theon, if she would just properly pace herself for it. He was tempted to call out to remind her, but thought better of it. He would love to see the cocky ward get his ass handed to him, but she would have to do it of her own merit.

The fight went on like this for a while, the only sounds were Orrina's grunts of frustration and a few meaningless japes Theon could muster up between blocking her blows. Soon though, she realized she couldn't keep up her unrelenting attack and backed off, nearly tripping over the hem of her dress. Theon let out a loud laugh, one that rang across the yard. He didn't need to say it, his laugh said it all.

I told you so.

A growl escaped from Orrina's throat, surprising all three boys and Jon watched again in equal parts horror and admiration, Orrina used the dull tip of her practice sword and stabbed it into her dress and cut hastily. She ripped the bottom half of her dress off in a jagged, messy line, making the long dress fall just short of her knees. Theon was taken back by this action and didn't have time to block her this time. Orrina took her opening, hitting him hard in the ribs with the edge of her sword, throwing her whole body into it. She swept under his arm, aiming her next attack to the back of knee, letting own her own peel of laughter as he stumbled.

Theon turned and his sword barely made contact before she tucked and rolled, sticking out her foot and hooking it around his ankle and yanking him down. He managed to catch himself but Orrina was prepared and was ready to fight dirty. She lifted her sword to hit him again, and while he blocked that move, she pulled her other arm back and punched him full force in the side of the face. If Greyjoy protested this (and Jon knew he would), Orrina did not give him a chance to tell her so. She reared back again, this time using both hands wrapped around the hilt of her weapon and threw it against his middle. Theon fell with a hard thump onto his back, panting from the effort of their match. His head bounced roughly off the ground and before he could protest, Orrina Mormont stood over him, foot on his chest, pushing him back into the ground, the point of her sword at his throat.

Jon watched, an odd feeling in his chest, not sure if it was it pride. Or was it just pure joy to see Greyjoy get taken down by a girl of all people? Did a part of him enjoy seeing Orrina like this? He thought she was beautiful, and she made him laugh, but this was a different side of her. He saw the sweat dripping down her face, causing streaks of dirt to appear on her cheeks, her dress a horrible mess, and her hair not better. Her chest was heaving from the fight, and he thought this was the most beautiful he had seen her.

"Yield!" Orrina shouted loud enough that those who hadn't noticed the vicious fight take place had turned to see what was going on.

"You fucking bitch!"

"Yield Greyjoy!" She snarled again, pressing the tip of the sword harder against his throat.

There was a pregnant pause as the older boy contemplated what to do, Jon could see him working it out. He did not want to yield to her, not to a girl, not to a Mormont, but she had clearly bested him.

"You didn't fight fairly!"

At that, Orrina didn't bother with a reply and just let out a humorless laugh and put more weight onto the foot on Theon's chest.

"Fine, I yield, you crazy whore!" Theon pushed her away from him roughly, scrambling to his hands and back onto his feet.

"What in the Seven Hells is going on here?" The four of them turned to see Ser Rodrik stalking towards them, followed closely by his father, his siblings and Jon noted miserably, his wife.

Jon expected Orrina to drop her weapon, but instead she stood defiantly, still gripping it tightly. "Ask the Squid." She didn't wait around long to hear what anyone else had to say to her, Orrina Mormont threw her weapon down at Theon's feet, giving him a final look of contempt before throwing her braid over her shoulder and walking back into the walls of Winterfell. She didn't run, stomp, nor did she gloat. She calmly left, even leaving the remaining fabric of her torn dress behind. Later Jon would look back and remember the looks of astonishment on his family's faces and laugh. He already knew he felt for Orrina differently than anyone he had met before, but that moment, watching her walk away from punishment, from judgement and from beating Theon Greyjoy, sealed the deal for him more than anything else.

I feel like this chapter is shorter than my others but it's definitely one I've had the most fun writing! I really really REALLY love the Mormont women and I got to touch more on them in this chapter. I can't wait for them to be more involved in the future. I really want to establish how close Orrina is with her family and just how much they've shaped her and how much they mean to her.

I also really enjoyed writing her kicking Theon's ass. He's such a swarmy little shit in the beginning, I couldn't wait to knock him down a few pegs but I also wanted to keep it semi-realistic. I knew that Orrina being petite and a girl that she wouldn't be able to over power him on pure strength. Our little Bear cub knows how to fight dirty and isn't afraid to do so, or get dirty in the process!

I'm also very excited for the next chapter as well. I've been trying to show Orrina adjusting and fitting into life with the Starks, but next chapter will be completely devoted to Jon and Orrina and their budding relationship!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. They seriously make my DAY and motivate me when I'm feeling lazy and would rather binge tv than write :)