tooprettytodie | (no subject)

Valkyrie wiped the sweat out of her eyes and for not the first time since arriving on the island, lamented the loss of her magic. She didn't realize how many tiny ways she had used it every day, for things even as simple as keeping a cool breeze on her so she didn't get all sweaty. In a place as humid as the island, that skill would have been very helpful.

It was a minor thing to be annoyed about, but it helped take her focus off of the way her arms and shoulders were burning. The practice sword that Edmund had made for her wasn't terribly heavy, but she had been drilling with it all morning. She hadn't learned much yet, but Valkyrie was a dedicated student and wanted to learn everything to perfection.

Leaning the sword against a tree, she got a drink of water from her canteen and massaged one of her shoulders. She was mildly pleased with how hard the muscle there felt and wondered if maybe she should go hunt down Percy later since she felt like she was looking especially good in her sleeveless tank top and yoga pants.

Nodding to herself, she picked up the practice sword again. She would practice for another hour, then go see if Percy wanted to get lunch.

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"No, the Dragon is their sigil," Jon explained, then nodded toward Ghost. "I was born a bastard but my father," at least in their telling of it to him, anyway, "Was Lord Eddard Stark. The direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, so the Starks are known as Wolves."

"Oh, I see," Valkyrie said. That made a lot more sense than them being actually related to dragons somehow, because that would be just icky.

"Is that what he is then, a direwolf? He's gorgeous. Terrifyingly huge, but gorgeous."

Jon nodded. "Yes, a direwolf. He was one of a litter of six my brothers and I found a few years ago."

It was so long ago, now, and Jon was so far removed from the boy he'd been that day in the wood. He wondered if now, Ghost would have even taken to him.

"He's a big boy, isn't he?" she asked, although the answer was obvious. Apparently 'dire' was a synonym for 'really freaking big'. She knew that he was dangerous, but he looked so... fluffy. She wanted to just bury her hands in his fur.

"What's his name?"

"Ghost," Jon explained, laughing. "Because he's silent and pale like a ghost. It's not terribly creative but I think it suits him, more or less."

At the mention of his name, Ghost perked up a bit. "He can be sort of aloof, sometimes, but is generally kind. I've never had issues with him unless someone's hurt me."

"It's a very fitting name. Better than Snowball or something like that," she said. Snowball would have been an amusing name for a beast like that though.

"Do you think he'd let me pet him?"

"I think so, yes," Jon said, nodding toward Ghost. "Ghost, she means no harm."

He didn't think Ghost perceived a threat but it was better to establish that up front.

Valkyrie knelt down and held out her hand, fist closed, so that the wolf could sniff it. She didn't know a lot about dogs and less about wolves, but she was sure that was the right protocol.

"Hello, Ghost. It's nice to meet you."

Ghost greeted her with a lick to the hand and Jon was glad; at least he was going to behave today and not cause a scene. Not that he ever had, really, but Jon had never had him around so many people before.

"He likes you well enough, it seems."

"That's good, because he has very large teeth," she said, scratching the animal behind the ear. She figured if he hadn't attacked her yet, then doing something like that wasn't going to cause him to flip out.

"So he must eat you out of hut and Compound then, or does he hunt for himself?"

"He hunts for himself," Jon said with a quick, sharp laugh. "I have never had to give him anything except when he was a pup and still needed milk. He's been hunting most of his life. It's better game back home, certainly, but he manages here."

Valkyrie had a momentarily disturbing thought that he probably ate monkey or something like that, which was seriously gross. Maybe he took out small dinosaurs. He looked like he could take out a small dinosaur.

"No special treats or anything?" she asked before turning back to Ghost. "Not even some bacon for you? You poor thing."

"I try not to feed him by hand overly much. He still needs to remain sharp in case of battle."

It wasn't likely that such a battle would come to the island, mind, but Jon liked to be prepared for any eventuality.

"You hear that?" Valkyrie said to Ghost, ruffling his fur playfully.

"He thinks you might get soft. A big fierce dire-wolf and he thinks you'll get soft."

"I've seen it happen to dogs before," Jon said but he thought the girl did have a point. A dog was no direwolf and there was a wildness in Ghost that Jon didn't think would ever be bred out entirely.

"Well, I'm sure he doesn't want to get soft either," she said, standing up from where she was kneeling and turning back to Jon.

"I guess you've got a similar philosophy for yourself?"

"Exactly. I never know when I might be on the Wall again," Jon explained. "And I need to be ready at a moment's notice. Warcraft isn't honed overnight, after all."

"And I know everyone says that time doesn't pass back home but... the island messes with everyone so much, it's not really worth the risk, is it?" she said. It was one of the reasons that she continued to train, because she didn't want to be soft when she got back home.

"No, there have been threats on the island where my expertise was needed," Jon said, nodding in agreement. "It is better to be prepared and never have a battle than be unprepared and die."

"What sorts of threats?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. She'd heard the island was sometimes dangerous, but she didn't know any specifics.

"When the toys attacked? Were you here?"

It was a strange and confusing night, that one, made even worse by the fact that Reynald had been in grave danger and Jon would give his life to protect him.

"Yeah, but I mean... was anyone really hurt during that?" she asked. She knew that the things had been murderous, but in the grand scheme of things it had seemed almost laughable.