The rest of the ceremony Jon had to wait out. His fellow recruits were called one by one as the order had done for ages. It seemed to take an eternity. When all was done the now men of the watch left for the warm insides of the keeps. The light of the moon reflected on the icy wall which dwarfed the keep and made the night brighter than Jon had been used to back at Winterfell. With the recruits gone the courtyard was quiet again. Apart from the the crackling of burning wood in some of the lit fire pits and the occasional footsteps of the unlucky souls which had been on guard duty for the night, Jon seemed all alone. Just as alone as he had to go beyond the wall.
Lord Commander Mormont appeared again in the courtyard getting the attention of Jon almost immediately. 'It is time' he said while making a gesture to Jon to follow him. Jon hurried behind the old bear as he was known within the keep. Together they walked through the tunnel underneath the wall towards the gate that separated the realms of men and wildling.
When they reached the gate the old bear turned to Jon. 'Be quiet, be fast and stay low. Dont light any fires, dont draw attention to yourself. Be back before the sun rises and come back as a men of the night watch or dont come back at all.' he said sternly. Jon gave a serious nod in return which the old bear accepted with a not of his own 'Good'. He took the sword which was leaning against the ice walls which made up the tunnel. A great sword which looked fierce and sharp. 'Take this with you, it is my family's sword. My family keeps the old gods like yours, there are not many of us here. I hope it will protect you may the need arise.'. 'Thank you Lord Commander.' Jon replied taking the sword in hand. 'Thank me by returning as a man.' the old bear said while giving the sign for the gate to be lifted. Slowly the metal and wood which made up the gate rose. Just as Jon took his first step towards the gate quick light footsteps hurried towards them from the tunnel. 'Ghost!' Jon exclaimed. Jon's dire wolf had hurried from his chambers, Lord Mormont didn't object. 'Go now, boy.' he said. Jon did as commanded.
A mile from the wall just before where the trees started Jon looked back at the wall. The ancient structure was as impressive form here as from right below it. Only a couple of miles' the old bear had said Jon thought. 'Right, lets continue boy' he said to Ghost.
About an hour later Jon had been wandering the woods for quite a while he should have come across the first weirdwoods by now. Snowfall had set it which filled the footsteps Jon had left behind. While it would not be difficult to reach the wall again, it did make the way in the forest more difficult. It seemed hopeless. Jon started resting while sitting down on a rock. He couldn't wait long, he had to stay in motion to keep warm but making his way through the snow was tirresom. While sitting he had taken the sword from his hip making it more comfortable to sit down on the rocky surface. He inspected the blade, sharp, well maintained. Expensive steel for sure if not Valyrian steel. The leather on the hilt was old and thorn, one could tell on first sight the endurance of the leather was of a whole different level of the blade itself. Jon inspected it closely. Below the leather one could make out some wood. Intrigued by the wood Jon took of one of his gloves pealing away a bit of the leather at one of the gaps. 'Weirwood!' Jon exclaimed seeing his own breath due to the cold.
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