Just something I want to see happen. Set after 2x08, The Prince of Winterfell. Based solely on the TV Show. Some language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or A Song of Fire and Ice, unfortunately.
Arya had been walking days on end, not stopping, just moving forward and trying not to collapse. She knew their pace was slowing from exhaustion, but still she would not stop knowing that if she did, she may not have the strength to continue. It had been a long and arduous journey and when it was done she would not be the same. She was no longer little Arya.
Gendry and Hotpie were struggling to keep up with her, she noticed. She still did not linger, however, forcing herself to move forward. A part of her wished they had stayed at Harrenhal. At least they had food and a place to rest. Out here in the wild with no one but them was more frightening than Arya would admit to. She sighed heavily. I wish I had Needle.
Her stomach made a sudden growling noise, begging for the food that they had already run out of. There was not a river in sight so she couldn't quench her thirst either. Unknowingly she had slowed, allowing Gendry to catch up to her. He walked steadily beside her, a solid presence and for a moment Arya let herself be comforted by the fact that she was not alone. Just for a moment she let herself believe that others could be trusted. What a fool I am. Eventually she walked alone once more, Gendry muttering something about finding Hotpie.
The sun was beginning to set and she turned around to find her companions were still not in sight. For a moment, she felt panic, like a wolf pup that lost its pack. She stopped her marching, sighing to herself in annoyance. Sometimes travelling with others could just be so inconvenient. Alas, what was she to do? She slid down to the ground, leaning against the rough bark of one of the trees, waiting for the two boys to get there. Her eyes felt heavy but she kept them open; she knew all too well the dangers of falling asleep in unknown surroundings. She was cold, surprisingly. When one was of the North, cold was second nature. It did not affect you. She blamed her weaknesses on going without food for the past two days. That and the fact she had been walking for much, much longer than that.
Idly, she wondered where Nymeria was. She had not seen her Direwolf since her journey to King's Landing. Though she wished the wolf had found a home, a part of her secretly hoped that Nymeria was out there, somewhere in the dark woods, waiting for her.
Her idle thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps and immediately she sat straight, alert. She scanned the area around her as she quietly got to her feet, reaching for the small dagger in her belt, one she had nicked off a passerby. She gripped it tightly in her small hand and once again wished she had Needle there with her. And Nymeria. The footsteps came closer and Arya let herself melt into the shadow of the tree behind her, trying to make herself as small as possible. Not that hard a task, really, she thought bitterly.
"Where's in the Seven Hells is the damned King's Road?" Came a growling voice as the owner of the footsteps finally appeared, followed by three others. All four were men, big and heavy, with scarred and dirty faces. They were grubby but looked well fed and on second look, Arya noticed they were armed. Bandits, her mind told her. She had the sudden urge to run, but knew that they would detect her if she did.
"I don't know, Boss, it was this way the last time we was 'ere." Said one of the other men, dumbly, glancing left and right.
"Well it's clearly not, now is it, you blithering idiot?" The first man, the 'boss', replied with a snarl. Don't let them see me. Don't let them see me. Arya knew she was not weak, she was strong and fierce but she was no idiot either, just as she had told Lord Tywin; if she were to go up against these men she would most assuredly lose.
"Boss! I found the mark we made the last time! King's Road is this way." The 'blithering idiot' smiled, showing off his rotting teeth. As the bandits began to head the other way, Arya let out a small sigh of relief and stepped back, only to have her foot get caught on one of the roots of the tree and fall to the muddy floor. Oh no.
Immediately the gang of bandits stilled. The boss turned around slowly, a wicked glint in his eyes. He trekked slowly to where she lay and Arya willed herself quiet. It didn't help her, however, when the bandit found her, and smirked widely.
She tried to scramble back away from him but he grabbed her by her tunic before she could get away and pulled her up, holding her in the air, one-handed.
"Well, look at what I found; a little girl." Her eyes widened. "Did you really think you could pull of being a boy, girl?" He snarled at her, shaking her a little. "You need more than to cut your hair or put on boy's clothes." She struggled, trying to get out of his grasp, fingers clawing at his grubby hands and legs kicking out. The dagger she had been holding lay useless in the dirt. The man licked his lips, looking at her lewdly. "My and she's a pretty one too."
Arya felt an involuntary shiver go down her spine, she had heard terrible tales of things that happened to women on the road. But she was just a girl; this could not happen to her, could it? For the first time since in a long while, Arya felt panic threaten to overtake her completely. She struggled more, but the man's grip only tightened.
"Tell me, little girl, you ever been with a man before?" She felt herself freeze, face paling. "No?" He mocked. "Well, why don't the boys and I show you then?" He cackled, looking back to his companions, who joined in his laughter with twisted looks of happiness on their faces. No... no, this can't happen. This can't happen. She closed her eyes, trying to quell her fear, trying to make herself move but found that she could not. She took a few deep breaths, and forced her mind to turn elsewhere; she thought of Winterfell, her home. Of her Mother and Father sitting at the high table. Of her siblings. Sansa. Rickon. Bran. Robb... Jon. I want to go home.
"Arry!" A loud bellow interrupted her thoughts, making her return to the present where she was being held captive by bandits. She saw Gendry running to them and, though it took her a moment to realize, but she noticed her was headed straight for them. He tackled the bandit, who'd been holding her up, taking them all by surprise and she rolled to the floor. Immediately she reached for the dagger that she had dropped, finally spurred back into action. Gendry wrestled with the bandit, and she flinched when a knife nearly cut into his face.
Arya felt a hand in her hair, yanking her up painfully by the roots, causing her to let out a strangled scream. She gripped the dagger tight and plunged it into the bandit's arm. Immediately he let go of her hair, shrieking in pain and rage as he pulled the dagger out of his flesh. "You little bitch!" He made to grab for her with his good hand, but she ducked under it, kicking him directly in the knee cap. He howled in agony as he collapsed. One down. Arya whipped around and saw that now two of the bandits had ganged up on Gendry. She sprinted to the mass of fighting bodies, wanting to come to her friend's aid.
She didn't get very far though, when she was yanked back an arm going around her throat, the other going to the top of her hand. She watched as Gendry sent a particularly powerful kick to one of the bandit's head and he was instantly knocked out.
"Stop!" The man holding her shouted, the 'Boss', she realized. "Or I'll snap the girl's neck." Gendry met her eyes for a moment, before dropping the hammer he had been holding, one he must have collected from the fallen man. Immediately the other bandit hit him around the back of his head, and her friend fell to the floor, unconscious. Arya noticed Hotpie was, too, lying in the dirt and she felt her hope drain away from her. She had no more allies.
The 'Boss' tightened his hold around her neck and leaned his face to her ear. "Before, I was going to be nice to ya, maybe let you live... But, now you've angered me, and I am going to make you feel so much pain, that you'll be pleading for me to end your life." He whispered. Arya felt her own anger rise. She was a Stark of Winterfell, and she would not let this man frighten her anymore. "Anything to say, little girl?"
"Yes." She met the eyes of the other bandit, standing across from them. "Winter is coming." She smirked, and just as she was about to ram her head back into the Boss' face, a huge blur of grey and white tackled down the other bandit, growling loudly. In shock, Arya realized it was a huge wolf, a Direwolf. He tore into the man's neck, killing him, before turning around to face them, blood dripping from his jaw. Arya recognized the wolf immediately.
Grey Wind.
A second later, she heard a horse galloping just as it broke through the trees, it's rider pushing it towards them. Arya knew this was her chance, and snapping her head into the Boss' teeth, she broke free, diving out of the way just as the rider unsheathed his sword, swinging it out as if it were a part of him. The horse and rider passed by her, and Arya watched in horrible fascination as the blade of the sword swung straight through the bandit's neck.
His head rolled. His body fell. Dead.
She stared as his blood soaked the grass, snaking its way deep into the ground. She still lay in the dirt, exhausted and already drifting. She tried, in vain, to get up and scurry away as the rider approached her, Grey Wind at his side.
"Are you all right?" The rider asked her, voice impossibly familiar. She could see him crouch and glanced up into an achingly recognizable face as his blue eyes examined her and widened in shock, joy, relief and confusion. She struggled to raise herself, so she could greet him as she had been wanting to for the past several months. She just wanted be with her big brother, with Robb. His arms automatically went under her, helping her up.
"Arya..." His voice cracked. As soon as she was in his arms, he held her tight to him, her head tucked under his chin, holding her like she just a babe. For once, Arya did not fight him and her own skinny arms went around him as she buried her face in his chest, tears coming to her eyes. "Oh, Arya... You're alright. Everything's alright now. You're going to be alright. You're safe." He whispered over and over, as if not only trying to reassure his sister but also himself. They stood together another few minutes, before Robb headed to his horse.
"Wait." She whispered and he immediately obeyed, looking down at her curiously, blue eyes meeting brown. "Gendry... Hotpie..." At Robb's brow furrowing even more, Arya elaborated. "My friends, they helped get here Robb... I can't leave them... I can't!" She cried, almost desperate. With startling realization she noticed that her tears had begun to fall.
"Sh, sh. Don't worry, little sister. My guard will be here soon, and when they arrive, I'll have them help your friends." He comforted her. As soon as she was more calm, he headed for his horse once more, still cradling Arya. She, however, was not prepared to go.
"No, Robb, we have to wait, what if something happens to them?" He looked almost saddened by her questions. "I can stay... You can go get your guard... I can stay." She whispered, looking at him pleadingly. Immediately his grip tightened.
"We'll both stay, then. The guard will be here eventually." He stated, decidedly. Suddenly he put his forehead to hers, looking straight into her face. "I just found you, Arya. I am not letting you out of my sight." He kissed her softly on the top of her head and quickly turned to order Grey Wind to search out his men. The wolf ran off and Robb sat tiredly against one of the trees, much like his sister had done moments before. She lay cradled against him. He stroked her back lightly, as if to reassure himself that she was really there.
"Arya, what happened to your hair?" Robb asked suddenly, tugging at one of her brown locks, wondering why of all things, he had decided this was the most important thing to know. After hearing Arya's light giggles, he knew what compelled to ask such an unimportant question. He soon joined in her chuckling when he heard her laughs slowly turn to sobs. He rocked gently back and forth, not knowing what else to do.
"Robb. I can't believe you're here! I never thought I'd see any of you again. I was all alone, Robb. There was no one and now you're here... I missed you all so much... I missed my big brother... I am so sorry if I was ever mean to you. I'm sorry that I didn't save Father. I'm sorry... It's all my fault." Her sobs turned to hysterical hiccups. Arya let it all out, all of the pain and grief she had kept bottled inside for so long, to stay strong and fierce. But now, in the protective embrace of her brother, she felt like a child again, which she really was.
"Look at me." When his sister didn't listen, Robb place a hand under her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Look at me. Now listen close, sweet sister. It was not your fault. Father's death was not your fault. That was all on the Lannisters. You cannot blame yourself. You're only a child, you couldn't have done anything. Do you understand?" He said adamantly. He could not let Arya live her life in guilt. Eventually the little girl nodded, and Robb almost sighed in relief. He pulled her close again and rocked her soothingly.
Arya was half-asleep when the guard arrived, barely aware that her brother commanded them to help her friends. The fact they did so without question and with the utmost respect made her smile in realization; Robb was King in the North. He was a good king, she already knew, he was too much like their father not to be.
When she felt Robb shifting under her, she made to stand up, but he wouldn't let her, instead his grip tightened and he stood with her in his arms. She got the feeling he was not going to let her go anywhere for a while yet.
"Go forth to camp and tell the Lords on the council that Princess Arya has been returned to us." Robb commanded one of the guard, whose eyes widened in shock as he glanced to the girl his King was carrying. Arya knew she must have made quite a sight; she was filthy from the road, covered in blood and dirt, starved. That and she looked like a boy. She didn't care though; she was on her way home. Besides, she was never much of a lady to begin with, never mind a princess.
As the guard left, Robb went to his own horse and placed her on the beast gently, before climbing up behind her. She swathed by his warm cloak as he reached across her grab the reins, leading them away from the bloody site. This time, when her eyes began to close, she let them. The horse moved at a calm pace and her exhaustion sweeping over her.
"It's going to be alright now, Arya, you'll see." Robb said in a quiet voice as she drifted off.
For once, Arya believed him.
That's it! I may add some more later, but for now I'm done. It was kind of random but I felt like a little happiness was deserved to the Starks because I'm getting the feeling things will not go well for them :( I may also do something similar for Jon later on.
Anyways, tell me what you think!
RW