a/n: Set in the same Modern (sorta) Alternate Universe as "N.W.H.S."
I changed the Stark kids' ages slightly:
Robb - 16
Jon - 16
Sansa - 14
Arya - 13
Bran - 10
Rickon - 8
Gendry - 16
Theon - 17
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Fic Summary: Robb and Jon, and their friend Gendry are in a band, the thing is, they need to find a singer since their old one moved, that is how they discover Arya's secret.
*(plus a little depth into Jon's origins!)*
********Game/of/Thrones********
*
North Winter High School,
The Bond Of The Band:
One-shot:
My Soul's Secret
Arya lay in a bed or grass, surrounded by smelly flowers that Sansa claimed smelled pleasant because she didn't know any better, but in truth just smelled like pollen that made her want to sneeze, but she could never quiet get there. She found a perfect little clearing in the Wolfswood that surrounded the back half of Winterfell Manor, out behind the Stables and Barn and Dog Run, it was were she went to think, or play, to get away, or to just get a breath of fresh air. It was here where she could let go of the lady-like pretence she barely held together in her mother's presence, she had no such notions while in the presence of her siblings.
Rickon was at the age where he thought everything was exciting and cool. Bran was at that age where he found it embarrassing to play with his sister. Sansa was too pretentious and the two of them wanted nothing to do with each other, and whenever they were in a room together, there was always a 95% chance that they ended up screaming at each other, with a 5% chance of it coming to physical blows—though she was smaller, Arya always won those. Robb was older by three name-years, but they got on like there wasn't a gap. And she got on just as great with Jon, who was the same age as Robb, but almost a month older.
When Arya was a little kid, for the longest time she had thought that her two big brothers were born together, that they were pure brothers. It was only later that Jon had sat her down, and told her the true story behind his birth, and why he called mother, lady-mother, and why she treated him a little different than the rest of the Stark children.
Ned and Catelyn married out of high school. The day that Ned turned twenty-one-years-old, he inherited his deceased father's fortune and property; over his deceased sister Lyanna, his deceased brother Brandon, and his other brother Benjen who had joined the Military. It was then that they decided to try having children. Both of them wanted many so that they could be a Big Happy Family; Winterfell Manor was big enough for it. After trying for nearly a year, they went to a doctor to see why Catelyn wasn't getting pregnant. There was something inside her that didn't allow babies to grow, that made her reject his seed. She took hormone injections, to see if that would help, but it wasn't long before they realized that it was for naught. But how they both dearly wanted children, for their house to become a home. It was Ned's suggestion to use a Surrogate Mother, Catelyn refused, but it had been her need for children that had made her finally agree. They looked for women that would donate an egg and carry the child to term, and Wylla was that woman. She was beautiful and intelligent, easy to get on with, and strong. She became pregnant with the child almost immediately. And though Catelyn would not be related to this child by blood, she would be connected to it by love, a love through Ned. A month into their Surrogate's pregnancy, Catelyn herself, by some miracle, got pregnant. Robb and Jon were born a month apart. And after having held both Jon and Robb in her arms, the woman couldn't help but feel more connected to the babe that had grown inside her than to the one that hadn't.
When Jon had told her that story, something had shifted and changed inside of her. They didn't make her see Jon differently, in fact, it made her love him more. No, what had changed was how she felt towards her mother. It wasn't that the girl stopped loving the woman, it was that she felt a sense of disappointment towards her. And the fact that Jon was the siblings' half-brother didn't change the way that they felt towards him; except Sansa, who always called him her 'half-brother', because she always had to be so 'prim and proper'—it made Arya sick; it was half the reason why she felt the way she did towards the girl. Arya and Jon took after their father the most, they had the sharpest Stark-features. Robb and Bran were a split between Stark and Tully, while Rickon and Sansa went towards their mother with pastel skin and flaming hair.
Arya was in her Spot now because she needed to get away. Her mother was trying to get her to take up the needle, like she had done successfully with Sansa, but that just wasn't the girl's thing. She hated sitting still and going through the monotonous sequence of threading the tiny needle through the same piece of material for hours. She needed to move, she needed stimuli for both her body and her mind. She needed adventures, and excitement—something to get her blood pumping hot.
She wanted to go hunting, but her father wouldn't allow it—he was very lenient and understanding of her (he always said she reminded him of his sister Lyanna who had her same fiery temperament)—but he drew the line at giving her a gun—he always said maybe when was older, but then her mother would shoot him a look and he wouldn't say anything more about it. She wanted to hold a gun, not a needle.
Arya sighed to herself as she picked clumps of grass from the ground next to her, before tossing them in the air, and watching them get blown from above her in the slight breeze. She could hear Nymeria—who she had liberated from the Dog Run—nearby, digging around, probably hunting little animals that she could hear moving around under the thick leaf bed. She liked all the sounds that the wood brought to her ears—especially the birds. There was so many different ones out here, and they had so man different songs that they liked to sing to each other. Sometimes, she wished that she could understand them, listen to what they were really saying—but then she knew that if she could, their songs would lose their beauty, and that would be horrible!
Sometimes, she liked to copy their notes. And if she got them close enough, she could hear the birds answer her. It was amazing, and she was pretty good at it. She loved the Wolfswood!
When the sun had moved from being directly above her in the clearing, Arya knew that it was time to head back to Winterfell Manor. She called Nymeria, her hands cupped around her mouth. She heard the dog's pounding paw steps and panting before she spotted the grey specked Husky dog as she bounded up to her Mistress, her dark amber-coloured eyes wide. Arya smiled down at her, petting her head and rubbing her chest like she knew the animal loved, before she headed back, Nymeria staying at her side.
Arya gave one last bird-song, and heard it returned as she came upon the Stables. She spotted her father's and brothers' horses in their stall; they'd gotten back before she had. When she arrived at the Dog Run, she gave Nymeria a hug before letting her back in with her brothers and sister. She watched at the all greeted each other happily, the family back together again.
When she heard music playing, she veered off her path towards the house, and followed the notes as if she could actually see them in the air, creating a trail for her.
Arya came to a stop as she came upon a stand-alone garage at the back of the Manor, that father never used for anything, so Robb and Jon had claimed it as their BroDen when they were younger. The wall-wide door was open, and that was why the notes had reached her so far away. They didn't notice her, and that was fine with her; she thought they played better when they didn't know she was there.
Jon played the drums, while Robb the guitar. Their bass-player was boy from their class named Gendry, he could also play the keyboard, with hair the colour of black ink, eyes as blue as the sky, with a broad chest and arms corded with muscle, and suntanned skin. Their singer had been boy called Theon, he had a pretty good voice for a boy, but he was no longer in the band because his parents moved him south. They had yet to find a replacement.
The Chasers, as they were called—Arya thought it had something to do with girls; maybe the fact that they did have any so they chased them after then?—finished off the last few notes of their current work-in-progress song.
There was a moment of silence as they seemed to process it, and then Robb let out an explosive groan. "That sucked!"
Arya hadn't thought so, but Jon and Gendry seemed to agree.
"We aren't going to get anywhere without a singer." Jon agreed, idly twirling his drumsticks between his fingers.
"And none of us can sing worth a damn, we sound like a bunch of alley cats, so we can't even temp—it'll mess with the music!" Robb lifted his guitar-strap over his head and set the instrument in the stand behind him.
"I have a pretty good voice," Gendry said, his guitar resting against his back.
Robb looked back at him. "Yeah, for back-up vocals—but that's it."
Gendry narrowed his eyes. "Speak for yourself, alley cat. I can sing better than you any day!"
"Wanna bet?" There was a challenge in Robb's eyes as he stepped forward.
"Let's go!" Gendry accepted the challenge, and set his guitar aside as he stepped forward too.
"Guys," Jon sighed, but didn't put much effort into stopping them, and instead sat back on his stool and waited for the show to begin.
And then the guys started to sing at each other. Arya winced. Alley cats? Maybe that wasn't harsh enough. But she could tell that they weren't putting much stock into their voice, and she grew greatly entertained as it just grew into a yelling match instead. She caught Jon's sparkling eyes, having finally noticed her, and smiled. She grinned back. The alley cats' screeching finally died down, and Robb and Gendry were left red-faced and glaring at each other; having accomplished zero.
"Hey, Arya." Jon called out lightly, greatly amused, and wanting to cause the two boys some embarrassment.
"Hey."
Robb and Gendry slowly twisted their heads to face her, mortified that someone other than the band had witness that.
"I wish I had some popcorn," she sniggered. "that was the most entertaining thing I've witnessed all year—and embarrassing." She walked until she was just outside the BroDen threshold—no girls allowed, not even little sisters. "So I take it your search for a new vocalist isn't going that well, huh?"
Robb glowered at her as Gendry chose to ignore her, and dropped heavily into the couch against the wall. "How long have you been there?" her brother asked.
"Long enough to know that the alley cats of the world would be offended to know that you compared yourself to them!" She grinned.
Robb spun around to Jon. "You knew she was there!" He accused.
"I have to get my kicks somewhere, don't I?" the drummer smirked.
"Both of you, shut up!" He told his siblings as they both sniggered at him.
"It really is better than TV." She sighed.
"You can do better?" Gendry asked her pointedly.
Arya pursed her lips and jammed her hands into her short pockets. It was intense under that piercing glare, and she fought back a shiver. She narrowed her grey eyes at him. It didn't matter that she wasn't even five-feet, or that her long hair, though her mother had braided it that morning, was coming loose and probably had a leaf or two in it from her venture in the Wolfswood; she refused to be baulked under his gravity.
Arya smirked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Come on," he told her, leaning forward.
She shook her head. "I'm not singing."
"Why? Because you can't?"
She glared. "You don't know what I can and can't do."
"Alright. Fine. I believe you," he said sarcastically, leaning back on the couch.
The brothers watched like it was a tennis match.
"Screw you!"
"What? I said I believed you," he told her, this time a smirk playing on his lips.
Arya growled. "I can sing!"
"I'm sure you can, but how am I supposed to believe it if you don't show me?" Gendry challenged.
She knew that he was baiting her. She could see it as clear as day. She never backed down from a challenge, never! He seemed to know that, too, by the expression in his eyes.
"I will!" She threatened.
"I'm waiting." He cooed, disinterested.
But Arya didn't move, fuming. She wanted to go over there and punch him, and though in that instant she knew it would make her feel better, it would only hurt her. She tried before. This wasn't the first time he'd egged her on, on some stupid challenge—and as an outcome, attacked him. He was like a brick wall, and the last time she'd ended up with a sprang wrist, wanting to scream as he looked down at her with that insolent smile of his.
Gendry levered himself to his feet, and strutted over to her, stopping at the threshold in front of her, looking down at her, his hands on his hips. "Come on, if you're good enough I'm sure you can temp for us until we find a permanent replacement. Is that alright?" He glanced over his shoulder at the brothers. They mumbled and shrugged their agreements. "What about it?" He turned back to her.
Her eyes were hot with anger as she glared up at him, and that was what she hated most—she had to look up at him, while he got to look down. This was a direct challenge, right in her face, in front of witnesses. This was not something she could lose. She didn't know if she could, in fact, sing worth a damn; all she knew was that she was good at imitating bird-songs—but that had to be better than what he had put to the fore.
"Your on!" She snarled, taking a step forward, and forcing him back a step, lest they be chest to stomach. "Play me something on the keyboard… if you can."
He didn't say a word as he spun on his heel, and went to set up his keyboard, while she placed herself firmly behind the center microphone, which Robb quickly adjusted to her height before stepping back.
"Any requests?" Gendry asked, she could feel his smirk.
She refused to look at him. She didn't need to think about it, she knew what song she wanted to do.
"'Somewhere Only We Know.'" She told him.
Gendry nodded, thinking about the notes for a brief moment, remembering, his fingers hovering over the plastic keys. "Say when."
Arya took a deep breath. She was nervous; she'd never sung in front of people before, she'd never even sung to herself—it was only ever humming or bird-song. She shoved the feelings behind her, it didn't matter if she was good, as long as she was better than him. She nodded and he started playing the upbeat keys, Jon and Robb automatically coming in. She waited for her cue, her eyes closed, and opened her mouth:
I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete
Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you gonna let me in?
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches are they looking at me?
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place, that I've been dreaming of?
Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you gonna let me in?
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know
This can be the end of everything
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know
Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you gonna let me in?
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know
This can be the end of everything
So why don't we go
So why don't we go
Aaah aah-ooh-oh
This can't be the end of everything
So why don't we go somewhere only we know
Somewhere only we know
Somewhere only we know.
After a moment, she sighed, and dropped her arms back to her side as Gendry played the last note. Pulling herself out of the ecstasy of the music, she opened her eyes to the silence. She looked at the each of the boys, who were looking at her in stunned silence. Was her voice that bad? She tried to think back to what she sounded like, but she didn't remember hearing herself sing, just the emotions that welled up inside her as she did.
"Whatever." She told them. "This was a stupid idea in the first place!" She spun around and ran from the Chasers, and the BroDen. She felt tears in her eyes, but ignored them. She burst through the Dog Run gate, and when Nymeria instantly came to her Mistress, she wrapped her arms tight around the animal and cried into her fur.
"Arya, wait!" Gendry shouted, jumping to his feet, getting over his shock first. But it was too late, the girl was already gone. "What is wrong with you guys?!" He pun on the brothers.
"Wow," Jon murmured, his expression full of wonderment as he stood. He looked at his brother. "Did you know she could sing like that?"
Robb shook his head slowly, his face cloaked with amazement. "No. And you wouldn't think it looking at her, would you? I assumed she was just another alley cat like us."
"She's even better than Theon!" Gendry groaned, rubbing a palm down his face. "I suspected, but I never knew."
The boys looked at their friend in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Jon asked.
"Ever since I moved up here from the South, when I was ten, I've basically lived here more than at my own house." Gendry explained. "And of course, hanging out with you guys, I get Arya like a ball-and-chain attachment. Haven't you ever heard her whistle?"
Robb shrugged in confusion. "Sure, she whistles all the time, so?"
Gendry rolled his eyes. "They were bird-songs, you idiot! I didn't notice until recently, though."
"Is that why you goaded her into singing?" Jon asked.
He smirked and shrugged. "I just wanted to see if I was right or not. I guess I was. And we all know she'd never back down from a challenge. I still don't know how you guys couldn't have known—I thought you guys were close?"
"We are, but it's not like we know everything about each other." Robb protested, feeling offended at being accused at not knowing his own sister.
"Everyone's allowed their secrets." Jon said quietly, but he felt that this was something that they should have known about her. Now that he heard what he had, he didn't understand how they couldn't have known about something that seemed to be such a big part of their little sister.
"So what are we going to do about this?" Gendry asked. "Arya thinks that she's just another alley cat."
"Well, we obviously do what we promised." Robb said. "She can be our temp-vocalist while we try and find Theon's replacement."
"If we even do that," Jon remarked. "Like you said, Gendry, she's better than Theon. Little sister or not, I'm not sure that we should throw her voice away like some used car, but maybe make a full-payment."
"First, we have to find her." Gendry said. "Any ideas?"
Jon raised a suggestive brow. "I think Nymeria would help our cause."
After her very brief, but girly reaction and sob-fest in Nymeria's thick fur, Arya had left the Dog Run alone and escaped to her Spot. She needed to be alone, truly alone. Though the big-hearted dog was one of her best companions, the girl wasn't in the mood for a feeling-fest; she didn't want to be sad, she wanted to be angry!
The birds were silent as she paced around in the grass and flowers; breaking steams and bending grass with unusually heavy and destructive steps. She was glad that the fowls of the Wolfswood were silent, she never wanted to hear another bird-song for the rest of her life—let alone sing one.
She couldn't believe that she had allowed Gendry to goad her into revealing her secret passion and talent. But she couldn't allow him having one-over on her without even fighting back—now she wished she'd just kicked him in the jewels and ran away. That would have left him with a lasting impression and he'd think twice about challenging her again. She smirked at the what she thought his expression might have been, but it soon fell away; she could never do that to him. She was loath to admit it, but she enjoyed the way that he challenged her, it was different than with her brothers.
She shook her head. It didn't matter. She was never going to talk to Gendry again, or her brothers! They'd just stood by and watched, like they always did when the other boy dared her.
She was pulled from her frustrated and confused thoughts as Nymeria came bounding into her Spot.
"Nymeria? What are you doing here?" Arya questioned, patting the dog's head as she heeled at her Mistress's feet. The girl was sure that she had latched the gate. She winced with worry.
"Jeez, she runs fast!"
Arya looked up, open-mouthed as Gendry appeared just as suddenly as Nymeria had, Jon and Robb right behind him.
"What are you doing here?!" She demanded, getting over her shock quickly, a lot quicker than they had.
"We need to talk." Gendry said.
Arya shook her head. "Go away, I don't want to talk!"
"Then listen!" Gendry walked up to her, and after giving him a sniff, Nymeria stood and went to find something interesting to do.
Arya glared up at him, her mouth firmly shut. She knew that she couldn't run away, though she was small and fast, Gendry would catch her eventually—he always did. She just wanted to get this over with, like ripping off a band-aid. "I'm waiting."
"You left before we could say anything. Why?" He asked.
Arya crossed her arms over her chest, and looked up at him with an insolent glare. "I said I don't want to talk. And you told me to listen. So here I am, not talking, listening." There was a spark in the boy's blue eyes as he looked down at her. He'd walked into that face-first, and they both knew it. "Say what you have to say, and then leave."
"Alright." Gendry signed and ran a hand along his lightly shadowed chin. "You're voice is good, Arya. Better than good, better than Theon's even."
Her narrowed eyes widened slightly in shock. "What?" She blurted.
He smirked down at her. "We were shocked silent at how good your voice is. Who could have thought that a scruffy munch-kin like you could belt out a voice like that, while still being related to these alley cats." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating her two brothers.
"Hey!" They both protested, but there wasn't much stock behind it because they all knew it was true.
Arya was silent as she searched his gaze, his was steady as he waited for her. So he wasn't just jerking her chain to torture her and make things worse, he meant what he said. She couldn't believe it, she really did have a good voice. Not just good, better, he'd said so himself.
Gendry could see it in her expression when she realized it. "So, will you sing for us?" He asked.
"You mean it?" She asked, "You weren't really playing? But I thought that there was no girls allowed?"
"You're our little sister," Robb piped up. "It doesn't really count."
Arya glared at him for a moment, but she quickly let her excitement take over. "Okay!" She accepted readily.
Gendry started to smile, but he grew wary quickly when he saw her quickly school her expression.
"One one condition." She jutted her chin out.
The boy groaned. "What?"
"I will help you out," she said casually, studying her trimmed nails, "if you sing for me."
"What?" He exclaimed. "I don't sing!"
"You're a pretty good backup singer, you said so yourself." She pointed out.
Gendry silently glowered at her.
"Come on, Gendry!" Robb said, smacking him on the back. "We need her!"
Gendry glared at him.
"You had no problem 'singing' at Robb earlier." Jon chipped in.
Gendry silently seethed for a moment. Back up singing was fine with him, because no one really paid attention to him, the same went with playing bass and the keyboard—but center stage? Arya rocked back on her heals, a happy expression on her face, acting like she'd already won. They both knew that she had, they needed her in The Chasers.
"Fine." He moaned. She whooped! in triumph. He held up his hand, stopping her. "But you have to give me until tomorrow."
"Alright." She agreed. "But I get to choose the song."
And she came on her Tipp toes as he bent and whispered in his ear.
It was the next afternoon and the three Chasers, and their temp-vocalist were in the BroDen. While Gendry had been preparing his voice, memorizing the lyrics to the song that she had chosen; Arya had also been studying up on the music notes that needed to be played on the keyboard. She wanted to play with Gendry like he had her. She was pretty good on the keyboard, not as good as the boy, but she knew better than Robb or Jon. What the boys didn't know, was that when they were out, she'd sneak into the BroDen and strum with their instrument; so she wasn't as stranger to any of the instrument—but of course she wasn't as good as them either.
"You know, your voice isn't that bad. It's actually perfect for this song." Arya said, smiling at the boy as they set up, Robb and Jon going over their parts as well.
Gendry felt an unwanted blush touch his cheeks at the unexpected compliment from the girl who only gave one when a pig flew—he must've missed it.
"Shut up and start playing." He told her, but smiled.
"You have to get in place first."
"Don't rush me!"
Arya laughed from her place behind his keyboard . "I don't have all day." She crooned.
Gendry glared at her from where he positioned himself behind the microphone. "Let's do this," he said, his blue eyes narrowed with determination, his feet planted firmly, his right hand grasping the microphone in its stand. Arya couldn't help but admire his form—he looked like a proper rock star!
She played the opening notes, Robb and Jon joining in accordingly. As she concentrated on the keys she needed to play, she watched out of the corner of her eye as he nodded along with the beat, waiting for his cue to start singing.
He sung,
Sail
Her heart soared as his voice washed over her and she backed him up on vocals.
********Game/of/Thrones********
-fini-
Note:
Songs included are:
- Keane ~ Somewhere Only We Know
- Awolnation ~ Sail
I hope you enjoyed, and review. I'm really on a roll with "The North Winter High School" Modern AU like I have with no other fics. I hope to keep writing for it. And that you keep reading. I still have a bunch of ideas for this Modern Universe, and I'm sure you can tell who my four favourite characters are.
Thanks for reading!
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