Chapter 7 - Val.

[Chapter Size: 2358 Words.]

Jon Snow POV.

Somewhere on North.

...

...

Val POV

Finally, we're back. Half of our group fell to the Wights in the east during a nighttime attack. We lost 200 free folk to save 500 from a tribe and bring them back to the camp.

"It's about time we got here," a frustrated voice next to me said.

"Come on, Ygritte. You still have to introduce yourself to Tormund, and I want to see Dalla. If she might be pregnant, I'll confirm it today," I told my fiery-haired archer friend.

"Okay, we split up here. I'll say that if Dalla is pregnant, I congratulated a new warrior of the free folk who will be born," the archer said. I nodded, and we went our separate ways.

I noticed everyone was talking more than usual as I entered the camp with my people. Despite many recognizing and greeting me, they seemed to shift their attention to talking about someone new in the camp. Normally, people noticed me as one of the leaders, but I was being ignored along with my group. I didn't pay much attention because Dalla and her well-being were the only things on my mind now; I didn't even want to go east, but there was an emergency. I continued until I found Mance's tent in the center of the camp.

I noticed a meeting was underway because there were men from all the leaderships outside. They didn't stop me, and I entered the tent quickly. I saw all the leaders discussing, but the most heated argument at the moment was between Karsi and the Lord of Bones, the latter being unfriendly. I saw Dalla beside them, but I frowned when I saw her hands resting on her stomach.

I got angry and interrupted their discussion, which they hadn't noticed until then.

"DALLA! What are you doing here? You're pregnant, and you should be resting!" Everyone looked at me after my angry words.

"Val! Good to see you. Yes, I found out a few days ago, but I'm only one moon pregnant. I won't die just because I'm at the meeting when neither you nor Mance should attend," she said firmly. I cringed at my older sister's words; after all, I am a very concerned sister. "Val, can you save your conversations for later?" Varamyr "Sixskins" spoke angrily at my interruption. I nodded, feeling a bit ashamed of my behavior, and went to Dalla to hear the discussion.

"And what are you all arguing about?" I asked.

"There's no one else north of here. Karsi refuses to send more men there," the Lord of Bones growled.

"Do you want me to send my people to death while yours stay here drinking mammoth milk?" she snapped.

"There's no one else in the northern zone?" I asked incredulously, and Dalla nodded.

"All dead, and I agree with the Lord of Bones," Varamyr commented.

"We need someone there, but I can't agree to send only Karsi's tribe. Lord of Bones and Varamyr, send your people!" I said firmly.

"My people are already planning to invade the South to distract the kneelers when we attack the Wall, and I don't take orders from a woman," the Lord of Bones spat on the ground.

"Then don't expect anything when Mance is away," Della said beside me.

The man was angered by my sister's comment but restrained himself.

"Why don't you send that new southerner from your tribe, Karsi? I heard he fights well. He might be useful," Varamyr said, and I noticed a glint in his eyes.

'New southern member? What the hell is this,' I thought.

"True, we have that kneeler here; he's definitely a disguised crow, and Karsi took him in a week ago," Lord of Bones growled.

"You can try to kill him, but you're likely to die," Tormund, who had been quiet all this time, said. The Lord of Bones stared at the red-haired giant.

"Just because he beat you and a few others doesn't mean he's strong or that we accept him like you. It just means you're weak," the man with the bone mask said.

"And he fought a giant..." Dalla commented, and Karsi started laughing.

'I'm away for a week, and a stranger shows up in the camp. He fought a giant? What man would survive that?' I reflected on this nonsense.

"HAHAHHAHAHA, by the way, Tormund, I know you guys are always drinking together; I hope you don't want to steal my niece's husband for your tribe." Karsi said with a critical smile. Tormund snorted.

"I tried, I admit, asked him if he wanted to be our leader when he defeated me in front of the tribe, he didn't even think twice before refusing," Tormund declared, and almost everyone widened their eyes at that.

"You would make a southerner our leader?" Harma growled.

"Mance is a southerner..." Tormund raised his eyebrows before continuing. "But that doesn't stop you from following him; he may have been here for a week, but he's as free as any of us, not even wanting to be a leader or the women trying to steal him stop him; he's just carefree about everything, only wanting to know about fighting and partying. Maybe that's why I like him," Tormund declared.

"You're shameless, Tormund," Karsi snorted, and Tormund just laughed.

"I heard he's looking for someone to teach him the old tongue," Dalla declared.

"How do you know?" Karsi frowned.

"Tell me something he does in this camp that everyone doesn't talk about for the rest of the day? He's practically the most famous person here nowadays, whether saying good things or bad things." My sister declared, and I could see how some leaders who didn't like this mysterious man frowned.

"But don't worry, I taught these things to Val; now my sister here will take care of teaching Jon Snow, the giant killer." Dalla continued and winked at me as I frowned.

"What is my sister planning with this?" I wondered what kind of man had earned that nickname. I couldn't help but be curious about him, though.

A few moments later, the meeting ended with everyone returning to their camp area.

"What are you thinking?" I asked indignantly.

"I'm thinking about you and my future nephews, Val," my sister said with a smile.

"Why do you think I would get along with a man I've never seen, and I don't even know if he has the strength to steal me?!" I said angrily.

"I've seen him before; Karsi's niece is his wife, but she can't control him. Maybe he needs someone fiercer," my sister said, and I just shook my head, finding it absurd.

"Believe me, you'll like him. He's more handsome than most women here." I scoffed at her comment.

"You need a husband and children, Val; it's time to find a lover." She told me.

"And didn't I say I would do that once we get through the Wall? I need to fight in these times, and I don't want to carry a child with great danger behind us; my nephew is already enough." I said angrily, but I quickly changed the subject to avoid talking more about a stranger and asked about her pregnancy and my future nephew.

My sister brought back the conversation about the stranger that night, and she forced me to go see him the next day, so I reluctantly agreed.

The next day, I went to Karsi's camp to talk to this Jon Snow. From what I heard, many suspect that he's a disguised kneeler here to spy on us, but I also heard that he killed an entire group of crows alone. Val couldn't deny being curious about a man with that kind of story.

When I arrived, I was invited to Karsi's camp. I saw a crowd gathered in a circle that morning, passed through them to see what was happening, and saw a tall, muscular, and handsome man training a boy.

"Keep the shield up!" he exclaimed to the child.

"But it's heavy!" the boy groaned, holding a shield, one of the few in the camp, as this weapon is hard to come by on this side of the world from what I know.

"It's because it's heavy that it can prevent a sword from piercing it," the man explained, his voice expressing power and authority.

This man took the bronze sword and struck the child's shield with a force that knocked him down; the boy was tired. We never had time or privilege to train our children or people. This sight was rare to see in the camp, even surrounded by 140 thousand people.

The man also showed that he knew how to handle and teach people, proving that he was from south of the Wall, but people respected him when they looked at him. He also didn't have that disdainful look that everyone says southerners have for us.

"Come here, you fought well. Time to rest a bit," he said, taking the boy's hand and lifting him off the ground.

Karsi's niece approached; they exchanged some words, and I noticed how Lucis became frustrated with the unfolding conversation. She looked at me for a moment and commented with him. He turned to me, studying me, his eyes were beautiful like I had never seen before, purple eyes that seemed to shine and a strong gaze of a great warrior. I must say that few among all here have this look. It mesmerized me.

'Maybe my sister is right that it's time for me to choose a father for my children...' a voice sounded in my head.

"You must be Val," said a firm voice, snapping me out of my thoughts, and I looked at the man in front of me. He was already so close without me realizing that I choked a bit.

"It's me, you must be Jon Snow, the giant killer as people say," I said, recovering.

"Great, Karsi said you would help me with the old tongue; no one in her tribe knows it. I'm interested in that if you can teach me. Tormund isn't exactly a teacher, so..." Jon Snow spoke with a relaxed smile.

"Yes, he isn't, and I'm here to teach you," I said confidently after my surprise passed. I returned to my normal self and gave him a mischievous smile, speaking again.

"However, there's a condition," I said, smiling at him, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't even that surprised by my beauty.

"You have to defeat me, prove that you deserve my attention, and I'll do it for you. If you beat me, I'll teach you the old tongue, but you must teach me to fight as well," I said.

"Great, get your weapon," he told me, and I pulled out the sword that I always carry from my waist.

Holding the sword he trained with the child, he walked to the center of the circle, while I walked behind him. The crowd turned their attention to the circle again, and many whispers about my fight against him began. He turned to me and took a combat stance; Jon had a completely warrior-like posture, unlike anything I've seen around here. His fur clothes were even too small for the weather, but there was no sign that he cared about it.

I took the first step, and he countered my first cut; I launched an attack, he countered, attacked from the left, he countered without taking a step, I cut from the right, and he just effortlessly moved his arm to deflect it.

There was boredom in his gaze; I was being treated like a novice fighter here and now. It hurt my pride as a spearwife. I fought fiercely for minutes, but to my frustration, the result remained the same without him even getting tired.

That was until he started attacking and taking his first steps. I could only walk backward trying to keep him at bay, but his attacks were steady, strong, and fast until he kicked my feet, and I fell to the ground with his sword pointed at my neck.

"I guess I won," he said with a smile. I saw how distracted he was, as if I were a child to him. It infuriated me, so I didn't waste time.

I kicked his leg in frustration, catching him off guard for a moment. He must have been so confident that he lowered his guard and didn't realize the situation until his body began to fall. I didn't waste time and mounted him, taking my bone knife from my waist and went straight for his neck.

However, before I could react, he grabbed my hand and disarmed me in a swift motion as he fell on top of me. When I realized it, he already had the same knife at my own neck.

"Now, do you surrender?" He said playfully with his words. He started laughing loudly, and I had to nod carelessly.

"Damn, how did you do that?" I said softly while he was still on top of me, met with only his smiles as a response.

People started laughing around us and applauding, talking about how the mighty giant killer was brought down by Val, even though he won the fight in the end. I noticed that even the boy he was training had wide eyes at this, and Lucis had a sadistic smile on her face, much like mine. She wanted to see that arrogant face surprised by his near defeat at some point.

"Well, now you can get off me..." I said a bit embarrassed. He got up, and I quickly stood up with a flushed face.

"Well... looks like I'm going to learn the old tongue." He was scratching his head as he commented with a smile.

"I'll teach you, but I want to learn to fight like you," I said, still with a red face, and I could hear some people laughing.

"We have a deal," he concluded.

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