AN: This chapter's shorter than the others but is getting into the good stuff. Let me know what you all think! Please review!

Arya

She had to know. As much as she tried to argue against against it, No One had lost control. Arya Stark had to know. If Ghost was this far from Castle Black with the Night's Watch it could mean only one of two things. Either Jon Snow was here, with the party sleeping not 200 yards away, or he was dead, and Ghost had moved on to a new master.

She. Had. To. Know. The thought drummed through her head as she made her way as carefully as possible towards the Night's Watch's camp, stepping gingerly into the existing footprints.

When she was 15 feet from the clearing they'd camped in she swung up into a large scots pine. The tree was at least ten yards high, and had thick branches protruding out towards the camp. She pushed her way up through the sturdy branches slowly, willing the tree to remain steady.

She was high enough now that she could see the men in the clearing; three of them laid out on pallets close to the fire. The boy was nowhere to be seen but she paid that little mind. Her eyes were fixed on the biggest man. Like the others he was clad all in black and huddled under layers of cloaks and blankets to ward off the cold; still there was no mistaking the broadness of his shoulders. His head was crowned with a mess of black curls, and though his face was turned away from her she could make out the whiskers of a week-old beard, spread across his jaw. Could this man be Jon?

He'd been well on his way to being a man when she'd last seen him. He'd been sixteen, and she a mere girl of eleven. Now he should be two and twenty, could this man really be him?

It was too dark and too poor an angle to tell. Despite her better judgement she crept further out onto the branch. She was at least ten feet from the trunk now, splayed flat on her stomach inching herself closer in hopes of getting a better view.

She was just about to inch directly over the fire when she heard a creak that came from something other than her tree. All of a sudden warnings went off in her mind. She whipped her head up to see the boy with his bow drawn back, an arrow notched and ready to fly.

There was nothing else to be done. Just as the arrow flew from the bow she dropped, twisting in the air like a cat and landing on her feet two feet from the fire, two feet from the man who she'd been straining to see. It appeared she was going to get her closer look after all.

Jon

The thump was not loud but seemed to shake the ground under his head. He woke with a start to see a sandy haired boy standing over him wearing the most peculiar expression on his face. His eyes almost seemed to fill with joyous relief and Jon found himself momentarily enthralled. There was something about that look…

The moment was broken by Olly changing headlong through the fire and tackling the boy round the middle. Somehow, though Ollie had at least a few inches and a stone in weight over the lad, the lad ended up on top, extracting himself from Olly's grasp with a few expertly placed blows and regaining his feet with deceptive smoothness.

By this point Jon had recovered his wits enough to draw his sword, and had it out and at the lad's neck in a flash.

"I'd stay put if I were you." He said, his voice still gravelly with sleep.

The boy peered at him and nodded. His eyes were fixed on Jon but showed no trace of fear, instead they seemed to be looking at him with great interest, absorbing every bit about him. It made him feel naked and exposed and he shifted uncomfortably shaking himself.

"What's your name and what's your business then." He said gruffly.

At this Olly piped up. "He was spying on our camp from in the tree above you! I meant to shoot him out of the tree when I saw him creeping towards you but he sensed it before I fired the arrow and threw himself out of the tree! There's something not right about him."

The stranger gave Olly a sardonic look but didn't say anything. Still, he appeared well and truly unafraid.

"I'll ask you again, boy. What is your name?"

"Arry."

The boy's voice pulled at him somehow, feeling at once strange and familiar. The boy looked surprised now, almost as if he'd stunned himself with his own admission.

"And Arry, why is it that you took it upon yourself to climb into a tree and spy on us? What is it you want?"

"I… I… I was looking for food," he said, his eyes falling for the first time.

"Food?"

"Yes sir. I know its not right and all but you see well, its winter now and I'm not much of a hunter and this journey has been rough on me."

Jon doubted it. Any boy who was light enough on his feet to fall from a tree after being shot at and land on his feet would likely be a passable hunter at least.

"How old are you?"

"I'll be fifteen next month sir."

The boy was starting to look scared now, though Jon had the odd feeling that he was doing it because he knew it was how he was supposed to look. Though worry was etched in the lines of his face his eyes were calm and had come back up to meet Jon's, almost as if he couldn't look away.

There was something very strange indeed about this boy.

"What's your business on the road then?"

"I'm heading towards the Dreadfort sir. My father died three weeks ago and his wife, she never liked me much, I think she was jealous of my mother even though she was dead. Well anyway, she turned me out sir, so I'm going down to those parts because my mother used to have kin there. I'm hoping maybe my aunt will take me in if I can find her. I'm a good worker sir, only I need a place to stay for the winter."

Jon felt his heart soften at the story though he remained wary. The story was believable enough, but it felt wrong. Like it had been told just for him, somehow, though he knew that was crazy. Still he didn't trust the lad, something just felt… off. But he didn't think the boy meant him any harm, though his gaze was disturbing, it didn't feel ill-willed. He made up his mind. He wanted to know more about the boy, and for now, that was all he needed to know.

"I'm not sure whether I believe that a boy who made it to just shy of his fifteenth name day in these dark times would sneak up on a group of sleeping men, no matter how hungry he was. Still, I've no reason to kill you. As I will not let you free to skulk around and tell the next person that you come by all about us, you'll have to come with us. We'll take you as far as the Dreadfort and what you do from there's your own affair. For now, you can share our fire and our food."

The boy nodded and held Jon's gaze for a moment longer than necessary before turning to arrange a pallet for himself by the fire. Olly was staring daggers at the boy and gave Jon a look that told him that his Steward was none too pleased with this arrangement. Jon clapped him on the shoulder and told him quietly to get some sleep. He'd take first watch over their strange new guest.

He turned back to see the boy huddled near the fire, wrapped into a tiny ball. He hadn't realized how small he'd been, from here he looked almost delicate. He was just about to reconsider his earlier reservations when Ghost walked up to the boy, sniffed him thoroughly, and then settled down beside him back to back, curled against the boy's scrawny spine and utterly off his guard. Most people shook with terror when the direwolf came within ten feet of them, but the boy hadn't moved and inch, if anything, his shoulders had relaxed.

There was definitely something off about this boy.

"And boy?"

"Yes sir?"

"Try anything funny and I'll kill you without hesitating."