"I may have some extra socks in my bag, Uchiha," Qhorin said.
Sasuke tried to hide the disgust on his face. The man was just being kind, after all.
"No, thank you," he said.
With careful application of fire manipulation, he could keep himself warm for as long as he wanted. That didn't mean he liked having snow on his toes, of course, but he would rather gouge both his eyes out than wear another man's sock.
From across the fire, Dalla's eyes narrowed at him. "I don't like you," the girl said.
Feeling petty after his feet became the center of attention, Sasuke glared back. "I don't like you either."
Belk and Calle watched the exchange with amusement. After a second, Dalla's eyes filled with tears. She pouted as if to hold back on crying, but soon she ran to her mother to bury her tear-stained face on her lap.
Dacey, who had been sitting next to him, tried to kick him on the shin. He moved his leg away before she even started moving.
"Why did you do that?" she hissed.
He shrugged. "What? She started it."
"She's a child."
"So are you, and I would've said the same thing."
The girl huffed and turned away as if to show how upset she was. Sasuke almost felt like praying to one of these new gods. How beautiful life would be if people that got upset with him just stopped talking?
After a moment, Belk turned to the black brother. "What brings you 'round these parts, ranger?"
Qhorin gestured with his head toward the children that had already nodded off to sleep. He didn't have to say anything, but the grim set of his eyes told the entire story.
Belk grunted. "I figured," he said "It's a foul thing, that. Custom or otherwise."
Beside her husband, Calle's expression twisted in anguish for a brief second before she schooled her face and simply nodded. The moment seemed to pass by without anyone taking note, but Sasuke wasn't an Uchiha and a shinobi for nothing.
"I don't think your people share the same view," Qhorin said.
"They're not my people," the clan chief said, frowning.
"They're just people," Calle added, "and people are people everywhere."
"I don't think people south of the Wall kidnap women and children and forcefully take them to wife," Qhorin said.
Calle glared at him. "Then you don't think enough, crow."
The ranger didn't seem to have an answer to that and simply shrugged. The mood in the tent turned sour for a bit until the clan chief stood up from his seat.
"We don't have much to give," Belk said, "but we can spare some mead for you and milk for the children. And you can rest at our fire before you take your leave."
"That would be appreciated, chief Belk." Qhorin gave a slow nod to the man. "We won't be staying for long. These kids have been away from home for a while now."
After that, Belk left the tent to continue whatever his duties were outside, while Calle brought out nuts and dried meat for all of them as well as the promised drink.
Again, Sasuke refused everything offered. This time, it wasn't because it looked terrible, but it didn't sit right with him to take from these people who already looked like they were struggling to feed themselves.
He'd noticed that, despite the children looking relatively alright, all the adults looked skinny and gaunt. He suspected they were giving whatever they could spare to the children. A noble idea, to be sure, especially as they were willing to give out the little they had to other children in need.
But he wondered how long they would be able to keep that up. A hungry hunter can't hunt for long, not when he becomes too weak to do it.
There was also the fact he'd seen too many women and children and not enough men. Considering what it took to survive in this land, he would imagine the ratios to be reversed, but that didn't seem to be the case here.
"What do you plan to do now, Uchiha?" Qhorin asked, glancing at him as he sipped mead from some kind of horn. "I don't imagine a man like you will wish to stay here with the wildlings?"
"Hn." Considering, he looked down at the gaggle of children that had fallen asleep around the fire after they drank their milk. Even Dacey and Tilda had nodded off by now, the former curled near his legs. "I promised to take them back home," he said. "After that…" he trailed off.
Qhorin waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, the man didn't question him again, just joined him in quiet contemplation as the fire crackled and the noises of the people outside the tent occasionally drifted in.
In his own mind, Sasuke tried to follow that train of thought. What to do after Bear Island? Should he return here? Had the Sage sent him to this frozen, desolate place for a reason?
Thinking about the people in this hamlet, as well as all the others that must be spread out all across the land, he knew there were plenty of people he could help here. But…
He was a shinobi, in the end, not a ruler or a revolutionary. Even the Sage of Six Paths couldn't compel him to gather all the people of this land and try to change their ways and give them better lives.
From his newly acquired memories, he knew how immense the lands beyond the Wall were, and how many hundreds and hundreds of clans and villages and hamlets lay dotted around these forests and hills.
Sasuke couldn't not imagine a more wretched existence for himself than trying to lead these free folk, and he wasn't such a selfless man as to put his own desires to the side like that.
No, he didn't think he would be returning here. He needed to travel. Go to different places and meet different people. If the Sage wanted him to help others, Sasuke would, but he would do so on his terms.
Just as he nodded to himself, assured of his decision, he heard a commotion begin outside.
-------
Vote and Review if you can!! Reminder that 100 Power Stones unlocks a Bonus Chapter!