The alarm clock buzzes and Arya groans, flinging an arm out from under her blankets to feel for the snooze button. "Five more minutes" she mumbles, reaching for the noisy contraption but only succeeding in knocking the clock off the desk.

"You said that half an hour ago." Sansa says, pushing her way into Arya's room and unplugging the clock with a quick tug. "Get up or Robb will leave without you."

To prove she's serious she pulls the covers off the sleeping Stark only to reveal her little sister curled up in crumpled school clothes. Arya doesn't have to open her eyes to picture Sansa's horrified face.

"Tell me you didn't sleep in that?"

Arya bit her lip. "...I didn't sleep in that."

It takes her another twenty minutes to extract herself from the bed and clean up in the bathroom, by the time she's down stairs Robb, Bran and Sansa are long gone.

"Not again…" her mother sighs. It's the seventh time her youngest daughter has missed her ride to school. Robb had agreed to keep driving his siblings even after he'd graduated and started college. He liked to leave early though and it was a bit too early for Arya who resigned herself to catching the bus.

She grins sheepishly at her mother and snatches the cereal pack from Rickon, pouring half the contents into a bowl. The younger Stark protests but Arya ignores him, pushing her hand deep into the box, crushing the cornflakes as she looks for the prize that was promised on the packet.

"Cool I won the toy" she wiggles a misshaped piece of blue plastic in front of Rickon whose lip starts to tremble.

"Muuuuuum!" he wails.

"Arya the bus is on the corner, you best be off if you're going to catch it, and Rickon, hunny we'll get you another toy." Arya could see the strain in her mum's features and relents.

"Here have the rest," she passes Rickon a peace-offering of soggy cornflakes and blue plastic and makes for the door.

The bus ride is fairly uneventful. She takes a seat at the front and chats with the bus driver who's been driving this route since her father was a kid. He was a bit odd and crass but that's why she liked him.

"Your father down south with those Baratheon's again?" he asks. Ned Stark worked as a business consultant for his friend Robert Baratheon. He'd often fly south for weeks at a time to attend various meetings and events.

"Yep but he swears this time is the last time." The same way he swore last time would be the last time and the time before that. Her father could never say no to his friend.

"I'll give you a tip boy. Us northerners should stay in the north. You tell your father old Yoren said that."

"I'm not a boy," she growled.

"Then get a new haircut."

It feels like Yoren drives slowly on purpose just so he can annoy her some more and she gets to school ten minutes late. She slips into her first class by the back door so she doesn't have to put up with Miss Mordane's chastising. The old lady used to teach Robb and Sansa and made the mistake of expecting Arya to be like them, smart and diligent and on time, needless to say they didn't seem to get on much.

By the time lunch rolls around Arya's bored and decides to take a walk around the school. She sees Bran climbing with some friends on the play equipment. She's sure the boy would install a set of monkey bars in their back garden if he could. Sansa's talking amongst a bunch of pretty girls and their pointing to a group of boys hanging out near the lockers. Arya rolls her eyes at their giggling and keeps walking.

She doesn't really hang out with anyone at her school. Every time she tried to make a friend they'd end up moving and switching schools so eventually she just gave up. Sometimes during lunch she'd sit and watch the groundskeeper hack at weeds around the oval; Harwin never minded when she'd spend her lunchtime following him around. Often she'd tag along with him and re-home the lizards and spiders safely away from his weed trimmer.

She decides to seek our Harwin again and heads to the groundskeepers shed hidden on the other side of the yard. It sits near a large vacant block of land that's thick with trees and bush. Some days she liked to play in the woods, pretending she was lost in miles of wilderness, no one but herself to count on. It was thirty minutes a day when she was free to just be herself, no teachers, no parents and no expectations to live up to.

When she reaches the shed though Harwin's not there. She thinks of exploring the woods behind it but this time they feel different. They look grey and dull as opposed to their usual vibrant green color. There's a cold wind blowing and not a sound to be heard from within the trees. Arya feels her skin prickle and chest tighten. Something tells her to leave, run if she can, that today she shouldn't be here.

"Creepy…" she mutters and turns on her heel. She spends the rest of lunch walking laps around the yard but staying away from the woods.

When the bell rings she isn't as slow to get to her math class. She takes a seat by the window and dozes lightly with her head against the pane, resting in the afternoon sun. Every now and then her eyes drift open and her gaze lingers on those woods.

She's caught in a strange tug-of-war, something in those woods is calling to her and yet something else just as strong is pushing her away. Arya feels it even when schools finished, when she's at home eating dinner with her family and even whilst she lays awake in bed, feeling her skin tingle at the memory.

She stays away from the woods for the next few days, even going so far as to have lunch with Sansa. It seems to work and the force that draws her to the woods becomes weaker.

"Arya Stark." Her math teacher calls on her and Arya sleepily lifts her head from her hands. The teacher is looking at her, eyebrow raised and expecting an answer….

"Seven?" It clearly wasn't the right answer and the teacher huffs and shakes her head in dismay. Arya rolls her eyes, it's not like she'd good at math and the teacher makes it so boring.

After a brief lecture about focus, in which she also learns the answer wasn't actually a number, Arya yawns and props her head on her hand, looking out the window again.

She's rewarded by glimpsing a blur of grey fur across the yard. Startled, she turns around curious to see if anyone else has spotted the dog. No one is looking outside though, all intently staring at the board. The dog is sitting just beyond the playground and she can swear its smiling at her. Arya's always liked dogs. She bites her lip and raises her hand.

"Can I go the toilet?" she asks. Her teacher looks less than pleased but nods.

Once outside she crouches low and moves slowly, offering her hand out. The dog, which is fairly large and with a shaggy brown coat, tilts its head curiously. "Here girl." She calls but the dog just eyes her and trots off.

"Hey," she growls and follows as the canine leads her around the school grounds.

So intent on trying to capture the dog she doesn't notice they're almost at the woods until the dog finally sits on the very edge of the tree line. "Hey girl are you lost?" She crouches down and looks from the dog to the woods. It's strange, the woods cause a chill down her spine but the dog makes her feel safe and warm.

"Here," she digs half a sandwich out of her pocket and holds it out for the dog, shaking it gently like she did the plastic toy in front of Rickon. The dog regards her with keen yellow eyes and whines but doesn't fall for it, instead trotting further into the woods.

Arya pauses, as much as she wants to play with the dog she doesn't want to go into the woods. But the dog runs back and gives a yelp as if she wants her to chase and Arya sighs. As she steps past the tree line her hands start to shake. "Fear cuts deeper than swords," she whispers though where she heard the phrase she can't remember.

She has to work to keep up with the dog that moves fluidly around rocks and trees. It's hard but she knows that she can't lose sight of the dog, it's not safe is she loses sight of the dog. They're deep into the woods now and Arya suddenly wishes she were back in her math class. The air gets colder the farther she goes and it smells of snow and pine needles.

She can't see anything except oak trees and one strange tree she's never encountered before. Its thick trunk is white as bone and its branches are covered in spiky red leaves. A face in the tree stares back at her, made from red sap it looks like the face is screaming.

There's an aura that comes off the tree but if its good or bad she can't say. The dog scratches at the earth beneath it and looks back at Arya.

"I don't…" she whispers to the dog who now looks more like a wolf. As if she's under a spell her arm stretches out and she's moving towards the tree. The wolf howls and the sound rings in Arya's ears. Her hands are closing in on the trunk and she takes a breath to steel herself.

When her fingers touch the smooth bark her eyes close and she's overcome with grief and rage and pain. She sees her father losing his head, her mother with cold eyes and a large red scar across her neck, Robb with arrows in his body, Sansa crying, Bran crippled, Rickon screaming and a man who looks like her with brown hair and grey eyes buried under ice. She sees and feels it all, a lifetimes worth of memories and grief hit her and she crumples to her knees.

The last thing she sees before she passes out is the yellow eyes of the wolf.