Noxious Snow

Part 8

As darkness began to fall, Ned decided that they had travelled far enough for the night and found a suitable spot to make camp at the edge of the forest. Despite having not done much moving around, Jon found himself exhausted – a feeling he hadn't felt before after doing so little.

"I guess this is only going to get worse right?" Jon sighed as he slumped against a tree and slowly slid down the rough bark until he was sat on the ground. The only person who could hear his grumble was Robb, who was placing an array of sticks over a circle of small stones ready for a fire. Ned had taken Arya hunting for some food, leaving his eldest son to look after Jon knowing he would be more responsible than Arya, besides it was good real practice for the young girl who could hit a stationary target perfectly but had never tried with anything that moved.

"You have no idea how badly I want to lie right now…just hold up till we get to Kings Landing alright?" Robb stressed. The truth was he really had no idea where this was heading, their father had been rather vague about details in spite of clearly knowing more than he was letting on. Robb was still unsure about how he was still managing to remain so calm but on the other hand he guessed he was brought up better than to panic at every corner.

"I will," Snow breathed, closing his eyes and resting his head against the thick bark.

"Hey Jon do you think Arya will actually manage to shoot anything down for us to eat?" Robb voiced sardonically, questioning his sister's ability with a bow as a sibling generally would while beginning to scrape two pieces of flint together to try and create a spark. When he received no answer he looked up at Jon finding his brother's head lolled to the side having fallen asleep. With a sad smile, Robb abandoned his current task and instead grabbed one of the bedrolls before approaching his younger sibling, "oh Snow..." he whispered softly. Gently, he manoeuvred his brother away from the tree and lay him down on the ground in a more comfortable position.

"Goodnight brother," Robb uttered, kissing Jon chastely on the forehead and covering him with the blanket.

Ned and Arya soon returned with a string of rabbits in their wake, the younger Stark daughter having proved her worth as a Marksman which had left her with a glow of satisfaction. Everything they did from that point on was in near silence, to not disturb their sleeping member. Arya wanted desperately to brag to Jon about her perfect shots when taking down not just one rabbit but three without missing once. It wasn't the same telling Robb, although he smiled at her and told her she did a good job there was no fun or no enthusiasm about his compliment – not like Jon would have given. He would have hugged her tightly and spun her around telling her that he would have loved to have seen such an accomplishment himself and encouraged her to do it again. Even though her favourite brother was in her sights, Arya Stark had never missed him more.

The night felt long to the restless Stark daughter who had found that she couldn't get comfy even if she tried. Unlike her brother who was so fatigued from only managing to get about two hours sleep the night before, she just couldn't fall into slumber.

"You know if you keep tossing and turning like that you might set yourself on fire," Eddard uttered, tossing a handful of dirt into the flames in front of him. Arya sat up immediately with a frown.

"That's silly."

Lord Stark chuckled quietly, "you've never been very gullible, now how about you sit with me for a bit and tell me what's on that mind of yours hmmm?" For a moment Arya simply fiddled with her bedroll but then she slipped herself out from it and crawled over to her father who instantly wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders to pull her close. The young Stark looked down at her hands and started to speak.

"Is this my fault? That arrow was aimed at me...if I wasn't here then Jon wouldn't have had to save me and he wouldn't have gotten shot, I should have seen it coming."

"My darling girl don't think such a foolish things, this was not your fault, not at all. This is your first time in the woods and they're not as safe as they used to be. If anything you probably did us a favour, if that arrow wasn't aimed for you it would have been for one of us – it was a kill shot for your height but not for Jon because he's taller, if that shot had been made for anyone else we would already be holding a funeral. Besides you saved my life as well and that holds no argument, I'm very proud of you Arya," Eddard made clear, it was a strange way of seeing an event but he felt like everything happened for a reason and at least with this path, Jon still had a chance at surviving.

"Thanks father," Arya smiled, just as Jon broke out into a coughing fit.

Neither Stark wasted time reaching Jon who was curled up on his side and clutching his chest. The taste of iron filled Snow's mouth as he coughed up speckles of blood into his palm. Ned gently placed a hand on his son's arm and rubbed his thumb across his sleeve muttering comforting words under his breath to try and soothe his suffering child. Eventually the cough subsided but it left his throat feeling like he had just swallowed a bag of burning coal.

"Sorry for disturbing you." Snow's voice barely came out at all when he spoke.

"Don't talk such nonsense, I've already had enough of that for one night, just drink." Ned shook his head and handed him his wineskin. Jon sat himself up, but not without a wince and took a drink of much needed water which extinguished the fire. Even in the moonlight, the flush in Jon's cheeks was worryingly fierce as Stark's motherless son felt like he was standing inside a naked flame. As soon as he had finished drinking he lay back down finding that it took too much energy to sit up, energy which he barely had.

"I'll be back in a moment," Eddard stated getting up leaving Arya and Jon alone. Seeing the unsettling worry in Arya's grey eyes forced Jon to speak.

"Don't worry little sister...I don't like seeing you worry."

"But Jon..." Arya muttered, her voice sounding deflated and unsure. How could she not worry? How could she just ignore the image in her head of a world without Jon, the one person that always understood her, the one person that she could pour her heart to? A stray tear trickled down Arya's cheek only to be wiped away by Jon's thumb.

"No buts...I want to see you smile, there is no reason to look upset; I'm still here aren't I?" He murmured, giving his sibling an encouraging smile. Although he felt much worse than he did two days ago, he was still holding himself together and that was what he wanted Arya to do too. She nodded in response, returning the expression while reminding herself that was no reason to mourn her brother who was still very much alive.

"That's better," Snow declared, having always hated seeing Arya in distress.

Lord Stark returned at that moment and knelt down placing a bowl of water beside him in which he submerged a small piece of cloth. After wringing it out of all the excess liquid, he placed the damp fabric across Jon's forehead to help soothe his fever.

"This will probably help you sleep," Eddard remarked already seeing the relief in his son's features.

"Father, can I sit with Jon a while longer?" Arya asked sweetly, even for her. She didn't want to go to sleep just yet especially when she didn't know when the next time she would be able to talk to Jon would be. Maybe she would be able to tomorrow or maybe he would get so bad tomorrow that he won't even wake up.

"If Jon wants you to," Ned replied going back over to sit near the fire where he had a better view of his surroundings. His eyes trailed over his other son during the movement who had soundlessly slept through the disturbance, clearly being more tired than he originally seemed.

"It's alright," Snow decided. It wasn't like he could deny his younger sisters requests anyway, the guilt would eat him up.

"I didn't get chance to thank you for saving me," Arya started, knowing this thanks was well overdue but was better late than never.

"There's no need for thanks, it's part of my duty of being your older brother, it's what older siblings do, protect their younger siblings. I would have done it every time because I care about you," Jon confessed, knowing in his heart that he would have made the same move for any of his brothers or sisters. Still there was another part of him which would sacrifice himself for his siblings for a whole different reason – knowing they were worth more to the world as Stark heirs rather than being a bastard son who only survived in this world because Eddard Stark wasn't the one to abandon a child.

"Then what about Robb? He's the eldest...who's looking out for him?" Arya quizzed wondering whether or not this was actually a really stupid question that she should have already known the answer to.

"Well, let me ask you this, if you saw that arrow aiming for Robb, would you push him out of the way?" Snow raised an eyebrow.

"Well I would try but he's a little heavy," she answered, making Jon laugh as he decided that maybe that wasn't the best example to give after all, nevertheless the thought was still there and so was the answer he was hoping for even if it was put in more realistic terms.

"The point is that you would do anything to ensure the safety of someone you cared about. The only difference is between what Robb can do and what you can, is what you're capable of doing physically, like you probably couldn't push Robb out the way of an oncoming arrow but you grab hold of his arm to stop him from walking in front of a galloping horse that for some reason he didn't notice. It's just easier for older siblings to do things because we're older but that doesn't mean we can't return the favour being younger either," Jon explained, being able to take both points of view. Although he wasn't that much younger than Robb to make much of a difference, Robb had always taken the duty of being the protector but that was a trait that would one day make him a great Lord of Winterfell.

"So basically we all just protect people we care about?" Arya smirked.

"Well when you put it that way, it really does make my speech seem all that long and pointless," Jon grinned poking his sister in the arm, "you should go back to sleep."

"Is that your big brother way of protecting me again?" The young Stark girl teased.

"No, that's my way of telling you that father is about to come over here and tell you the same thing only in a less friendly, more demanding way," Snow corrected right as Arya looked up to see Ned sitting in the same position by the fire warming his hands, not giving any signal whatsoever that would indicate him moving from that spot. Arya crossed her arms and pouted at Jon knowing that she had just fallen for his little trick, ok so maybe she did have a gullible streak. Jon chuckled, "ok I lied, but seriously you should sleep, goodnight Arya."

"Night Sir-thinks-he's-funny," the younger Stark stuck her tongue out at her brother before returning to her own bedroll feeling much calmer having had talked to Jon in such a casual way. Maybe he would be ok after all.