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[tooktheblack]

There was a reason the direwolf was the sigil of House Stark: sheer stubbornness. Jon had run across that many times before now, certainly, but it was never quite so evident as when Ghost had managed to streak his fur with dirt and leaves and bits of gore from some kill in the jungle (monkey, Jon suspected, not that he'd ever seen one outside of a

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[crazyspacegirl]

Bathing the dog was only half the reason that River and Zoe and Simon Chicago were headed toward the waterfall. Zoe had been singing about swimming since early that morning, and River had a feeling that the only thing that would get her to stop would be a visit to their favorite spot for that activity.

As they approached, they came across a once-familiar face that stopped even Simon Chicago in his tracks. The dog had come across a lot of people that were not quite the same as he'd known them before, but it wasn't often that he came across a canine friend from the past who didn't know him. He whined and wagged his tail, and kept himself between Ghost and his girls until he could be sure that the direwolf was still at least friendly.

[tooktheblack]

Ghost didn't recognize the dog, no, but he could tell it wasn't a threat at this point and he was inclined to let him pass, if that's what he wanted. Ghost was more interested in keeping Jon from attacking him with soap and water than anything else and the dog was secondary to that.

He cocked his head though, assessing the three of them.

[crazyspacegirl]

"Hi Ghost," said River. She'd heard that Jon Snow had showed up again, but she hadn't come across him herself yet. She hadn't really considered how she'd feel to see him or Ghost again without the possibility of Susan or the kids she'd been so fond of.

"Hi Ghost," echoed Zoe. "Rickon?" She sounded so hopeful that River almost couldn't bear to disappoint her. She'd hoped that Zoe wouldn't remember the friend she'd lost.

"No, honey. Rickon's gone. Let's go swimming."

Simon Chicago took that idea and ran with it, leaping into the water and sending up a mighty splash.

[tooktheblack]

The splash startled Jon and he flipped up from his back to tread water. There was a white dog in the water now, followed by Ghost, and there was a woman and a little girl. Looks like he wasn't entirely alone on this particular swimming expedition.

"I see you managed to get Ghost back in the water. Well done, I've been fighting with him for longer than I really want to admit."

[knowthyexits]

Sarah watches the animal run just past her, carrying something with him. Her attention is torn for a long moment before she composes herself and realizes that there's someone nearby and talking to the dog, and probably not to her. "Do you need that back?" she calls out to him. "I can...well, I can try," she offers, warily.

[tooktheblack]

"I just need the direwolf back," Jon said, looking up to see who spoke and freezing for a moment. The hair's wrong and the voice is wrong, but she looks like Queen Cersei.

"What...your Grace?"

The Watch takes no part. It got harder and harder to remember the longer Jon was away from it.

[knowthyexits]

"I..." She's ready to respond when she focuses in on the 'your Grace' part, which causes her to take a moment and remember where she is and what she's talking about, never mind who she's speaking to. "What?" is all she manages before she hurries to shake her head. "No. No, I'm not anyone's Grace. Trust me," she says evenly.

[tooktheblack]

"You're not Queen Cersei, then?" Jon asked, shocked that the woman would wear her face but not have her voice, her golden hair. He guessed those things could be changed, especially if Cersei were trying to hide, but this woman seemed dumbfounded by the very concept of a typical style for a woman of her, of Cersei's station.

[_kinginthenorth]

"The question isn't whether he'll come back," Robb says dryly from behind him. "It's whether it does any good to clean him. I do wish you the best of luck, though."

[tooktheblack]

"He's been hunting," Jon returned lazily, turning to see Robb. He'd know his voice anywhere, though, even when chasing after Ghost who was bound and determined not to have a bath.

"Probably a futile effort but I don't want him scaring off Reynald or anything with blood on his muzzle."

[_kinginthenorth]

Robb nods. "I appreciate it," he says, "though I don't think Reynald is too likely to mind. I'd rather he not try to pretend he's a wolf by smearing things on his face, all the same." It had been one of Eddara's games, and had driven her mother to fits.

"Still, if you want help, Grey Wind actually likes a swim. He might persuade him."

[tooktheblack]

"Nothing like a brother to trick someone into doing something," Jon said wryly. "But you're right, it might work. The soap is already on him so he'd really only need to swim around for a little while to accomplish what I had in mind."

[giftless]

Edmund missed the greater part of this exchange, coming onto the scene from the jungle in time to catch a mass of white fur and white suds duck behind the falls and to hear Jon's words. Honour, who had chosen this day of all days to walk with Edmund as opposed to stalk him in the undergrowth, took a few steps back warily, sensing, in that way that direwolves do, what was happening. With that, Edmund could put two and two together rather quickly.

"I can't believe I ever thought you were vicious," he told the wolf. Shaking his head, Edmund walked to the pool's edge to greet Jon. "I think you've got the right idea about this."

[tooktheblack]

"He's a bloody mess at the moment but I did manage to get the soap on him," Jon said, unable to keep from laughing. It was stupid that the biggest concern of his life at the moment was trying to clean Ghost's fur but that was both the blessing and the curse of the island.

"Don't guess you've ever washed a direwolf before, hmm?"

[giftless]

"Haven't had a need yet," Edmund said. He hurriedly added, "Knock on wood," with a wary glance over his shoulder at Honour. The direwolf looked insulted, if that were possible.

"He manages himself and has yet to stink up the place. I'm... grateful, honestly."

[tooktheblack]

"The white shows all the blood," Jon said, eying Ghost cautiously. "I wouldn't care except I thought he might frighten Reynald or something with it. Grey Wind hunts, I'm sure, but I didn't...there's nothing better to do on the island, is there?"

Even if chasing a direwolf down for a bath was a futile effort it had wasted an afternoon.

[quite_a_delight]

Marshall didn't spend a lot of time by the waterfall. He preferred the indoors, by nature, which made him a pretty huge cliche, but there wasn't a lot he could do about that. The outdoors were best viewed from behind a camera lens.

Unfortunately, when he'd brought Claire's camera out that day, pausing to catch the wolf on film as it dodged and skittered along the rocks, he didn't notice the man until he was fully in the shot.

"Whoa," Marshall said, snapping the view window shut and powering the camera down, and while he didn't blush, he was visibly caught off guard. Catching a half naked-- maybe fully, considering Marshall couldn't see what was going on below the surface of the water -- guy in the water fall in the middle of the day would kind of do that to a person.

"Hey, sorry. I, um... I didn't see you there."

[tooktheblack]

"It's all right. I'm trying to get my wolf to concede to a bath but it's a futile effort so far," Jon explained, content to float in the water for a little while. It wasn't like Ghost was going to let himself be caught, at any rate, and eventually he'd come back. He always did.

"Though if you want to shoo him into the water, that'd be helpful. He's been running away from me all afternoon."

[quite_a_delight]

"I could be wrong, but attempting to shoo a wolf sounds like the type of decision I'd come to regret," Marshall pointed out with a wry smile, shifting the camera bag on his shoulder so that he could unzip and slip the camera inside.

"Maybe you should be tricking him into thinking the bath was his idea."

[tooktheblack]

"I thought about that," Jon admitted, "But it seems Ghost is smarter than I give him credit for. He won't bite you though, unless he thinks you're a threat, so you should be safe enough. I just wouldn't reach out for him unless he approaches you."

Always a sound decision regarding direwolves.