Sam sat in his chambers for what seemed an eternity. The fire blazed in the hearth and Sam gazed at it, feeling nothing, but the deep gaping hole where his heart once was. His eyes flickered with the flames as he turned the thoughts of his foolishness over and over in his mind. How could he have thought Jon would want anything more? He huffed to himself. No matter how many times he went over it in his mind, he could not bring himself to feel anything other than a void. After all the abuses and rejections he'd suffered through the years, he could not do it anymore. The side that cared had disconnected and the Sam had gone numb. He laughed lightly to himself as he stood up and grabbed his furs. He tottered to the kitchens and took some hard bread and cheese. He was still laughing loudly now to himself as he walked into the stables and began saddling a garron. The last the Wall would ever see of Sam was his shadow galloping off into the haunted woods laughing maniacally.

Jon rolled to his other side as the sun pushed through his window hinting at illusive warmth that was never present on the Wall. Ghost nuzzled closer to Jon. Jon yawned, taking a deep breath. A putrid smell invaded his nostrils and he sat up.

"Ghost!" Jon yelled.

Ghost's red eyes regarded him coolly. Jon shook his head. A knock came at his chamber doors.

"Jon! JON!" Grenn screamed. Grenn opened the door without invitation. There was a panicked look on his face as he slammed the door shut. As he drew in his next breath, the putrid smell also invaded his nostrils. "What the…" Grenn began until he noticed Ghost's head swivel around to regard him coolly as if in challenge to finish the last of his sentence. Grenn threw his hands up in submission and looked at Jon.

"Jon. Sam has gone. No one knows where he went. His chambers are empty and there is a garron missing from the stables. One of the boys said he heard some weird sounds in the stables last night, but he was too scared to investigate." Jon frowned wondering what would prompt Sam to do such and thing and coming to the conclusion quickly. It was his fault, he did it. Toying with Sam's emotions had taken their toll on the fat boy. He sat up and ran his hand over his brow in frustration and sighed. "Alright Grenn, have you told Mormont Yet?"

Grenn shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah the Old Bear is the one who told me to come wake you. He thought maybe you knew where Sam went. He has been acting very strange lately come to think of it." Jon pulled his legs from the blankets and placed his feet on the cold ground. "Yeah Grenn I know. It's my fault. Sam and I had a…" he inhaled and lifted his arms over his head, trying to stretch his muscular back and prepare it for the burden of carrying another heavy load of emotions with the day ahead. "We had a disagreement the other day, and you know how Sam can be. He didn't take it well. I'm afraid he's done this because of that, but I will go get him back. He probably just went to the grove of Heart Trees to pray." Jon stood, placing his hands on his lower back and still loosening his muscles, the tight ridges of his abdomen contracting and expanding as he tried to wake them up.

"Ok Jon, I will tell the Bear, he's going to send some Rangers with you. After the story the Wildling girls told, Mormont is taking no chances."

Jon set about getting dressed for a day beyond the wall. He saddled his own ride and prepared the Old Bear's as well. "Jon."

Jon turned on his heel. Mormont was standing in the doorway. He was dressed in his usual blacks with a sable cloak lined in a blackish grey fur. His wizened face looked disconcerted and tired. Jon nodded to him and addressed him appropriately as warranted Mormont's station. "Jon. I cannot go on the search for Sam with you. In fact, I can only spare two, and Pyp and Grenn have offered their services. Look Jon, I don't know what happened between you and Sam, but Sam has good character. He doesn't deserve to be alone out there. It's not safe for him. Especially him. Bring him back Jon. And safely."

Jon nodded slowly. A look passed between the two of them. It was a look of assumptions and accusations. Jon turned to Lord Mormont's mount and began to unsaddle it. He led his own out into the cold, desolate winter that belonged forever to the Wall and north. He knew that the Old Bear told him to await the services Pyp and Grenn had offered, but he needed to be alone. He needed to clear his head. He mounted up and whistled to Ghost. He trotted to the gates and began a journey that would change everything for him.

Sam pushed and pushed his garron into a harder gallop. The trees whipped past his head and even ran against him. He had cuts lining his cheeks and forehead. The snow that was kicked up by the horse was as wild as any winter blizzard as he pushed himself to his riders' will. Sam had a hard look on his face. His eye glistened with tears, not from the event that had recently transpired, but from the biting cold numbing his face. Sam expected his horse would burn out soon. He had been pushing the thing for almost half an hour. What Sam did not expect, as the he felt the garron's leg catch on a log and snap, was spilling over at the feet of a Wight. Sam looked up into the cold blue eyes of the creature. It looked at him with no passing emotion. The last look Sam would conjure with any meaning was a grin. He had accepted his fate. No. He had embraced it as he felt the dead, black hands rip into him.