runs with direwolves

Lady Ruby of House Stark. Currently in the Riverlands.

[hoodedstark]

dirty paws | ruby + jon

[hoodedstark]

@notalordsnow

Jon narrowed his eyes playfully back at her when she grabbed his chin, satisfied with her answer before rolling his eyes and pulling himself free from her grasp. “As long as we’re all aware of that fact.” He was taunted by some of the guards growing up for his looks, but out of all the things he was used to being called ‘pretty boy’ was hardly an insult. Jon nodded in agreement to her words. Of course they felt the same way. Both their concerns were for their families and their House after all. Jon hated being so far from home, he hated that they had to leave their younger brothers behind. But he knew that here with Robb, Ruby, and Faye was where he belonged. Gone were the days when they could carefully run around in the woods with little care in the world. The fighting was up to them now.

“We do.” He agreed, having entertained the thought of taking over the Twins by force. “The Frey’s are barely a challenge for us considering Walder Frey is more concerned about filling his belly with shit and ale…” Jon let out a sigh as he let his head drop back against the tree, his hand absentmindedly falling to the hilt of his sword that lay beside him. “But they are sworn to the North, if we moved against them it may cast doubt on some of our other allies. Robb cannot afford that kind of doubt right now.” Jon’s free hand balled into a fist, thinking of the smug smile Walder Frey was no doubt wearing right now. “Frey has us cornered and he bloody knows it. He knows Robb will have to agree to whatever he wants if we mean to pass.”

Ruby laughed, scoffing slightly and kissed him on the cheek. “We will never forget it,” she told him, sitting back and relaxing. It was good that they were at least here together. She had been afraid she’d never see any of them again. “I know. It would be ill advised to move against them. I’m just so angry that they can impede us so easily. We should be further south by now. Every day we’re stuck here...” Running a hand through her hair, she pushed it back. “We are in danger, our family is in danger. We’ve lost Winterfell, we’re losing ground here. Our alliance with Renly and the Tyrell never got to take place thanks to Stannis Baratheon.” Getting quiet, she looked back to Jon. “What are we fighting this war for, Jon? Why are we here?”

[hoodedstark]

in the quiet | ruby + damon

With so many preparations to be made, Ruby often found herself alone when it came time for supper. It was nice, most of the time, to be away from the loud and belligerent men that plagued Robb Stark’s camp, but sometimes she felt lonely. She could have sought out Faye or Merida, or anyone, but this time she wanted to spend time with someone who had become a little distant lately. Gathering some food in a basket, she set out across the camp to where she knew the council would still be, having come from there earlier in the day. She felt lucky to be heard by her cousin, but his men often denied her time to speak. For the most part she wouldn’t let them get away with it but today had been particularly long and trying and she’d snuck out early.

Spotting Damon’s tent up ahead, she made her way towards it. For the longest time she had denied any sort of feelings for him. He was often mean, but not to her. And brash, but considerate of how she was feeling. Whenever she was around him, he seemed like the Damon he had been when they were growing up, making her believe the other Damon was the face he put up as Lord of Boreal. She’d seen it happen before. You had to have a strong hand in the North. Damon’s hands both looked strong and sometimes she longed to be held by them.

But she had no real status anymore. Her parents were gone, she had no castle. Nothing to offer Damon except the possibility of children.

“Damon?” she asked softly, poking her head inside of his tent. It was empty and she made her way inside, setting the basket down on a table and pouring herself some wine. She would go and seek him out in a moment, invite him to have something to eat and just talk like they used to. She could use it. All of this left her drained at times and Damon always made her feel better.

She loved him.

[hoodedstark]

dirty paws | ruby + jon

[hoodedstark]

@notalordsnow

Jon exhaled heavily as he slid down against the bark of the tree, crossing his legs underneath him as he placed his sheathed sword next to him. The furs wrapped around him swallowing him even more in his current position. He was restless to say the least, sleep evaded him most nights making the long days of waiting seem longer. It was a risk to be camped outside the Twins for so long, it was a risk to be camped anywhere in one place for so long. Jon knew no force large enough could surprise them there but it didn’t make him feel any less uneasy. Bloody Frey’s. He knew they were a shady bunch but barring them passage… it seemed to him Walder Frey needed a reminder who his ancestors had sworn their allegiance to.

Hearing footsteps nearing, Jon looked up to spot his cousin approaching him, her direwolf padding up to meet Ghost before they trotted away, apparently they had their own conversation to have. “Did my ever absent smile give it away?” He replied with a grin, unable to resist mirroring her smile as she crouched down to his level. “Are you saying I’m not pretty?” He said, feigning offence with an arched brow as he followed her with his gaze, leaning back against the tree once she had sat down. “Mmhm.” He hummed in agreement, growing silent for a moment. He could hear the sounds of laughter from the men, and steel clanging against steel coming from the sparring grounds. “A lot of noise, not a lot happening… I despise this place.” He let out a sigh, missing the winds of winter every step further south they took.

Ruby raised an eyebrow at him in return. “Oh, Jon, you know you’re the prettiest one in all of Winterfell.” She held his chin in her hand for a moment, giving it a gentle squeeze. She knew some of the men used it against him, to try and tear him down. Letting her hand fall away, she stared at the trees in the distance, listening to the sounds of the camp before shifting her focus to the water around them. “We have come too far to turn back, but we’re stuck now.” None of them were happy to have been stalled out so easily by Walder Frey and his ridiculous demands. “This place makes me uneasy. Even Moon Dancer is constantly pacing. She knows something is wrong here.” But the feelings of a direwolf weren’t enough to build an accusation on.

“We should just force our way through. Don’t we have enough men to overwhelm Lord Frey? He needs a reminder of his place in all of this.” Ruby wanted nothing more than to take the man’s head in her hands and squeeze it until he popped, but she had no such luck. “The longer we sit here, the more at risk we put ourselves. The Lannisters are building their army and if we don’t move quickly, they will come for us here. This camp would be no good in a siege.”

[shiroyoshidas]

[hoodedstark]

dirty paws | ruby + jon

While she was happy to finally be with family again, Ruby missed her home. She missed her bed. Most of all she missed the cold. The Riverlands were humid and too warm for her taste. But this was where she was needed. She followed her direwolf, moving along a path before spotting Ghost up ahead. “Jon?” she called out hesitantly, wondering if he might be nearby. It was rare that any of their wolves would stray too far from their Stark.

Smiling, she spotted him sitting under a tree. “Sulking again, cousin?” she asked cheerfully, crouching down in front of him. “You should smile more. It’d make you prettier.” Ruby teased, finally taking a seat in the grass next to him. “The busy camp getting to you too?”