The snow cushions their fall, but not enough to prevent injury.
Sansa's knee twists painfully when they land, and she can't help but cry out. The shooting pain makes her vision prickle darkly at the edges, and she finds it difficult to draw breath.
After a few moments of panic, her chest loosens and she gasps, sucking as much frigid air into her lungs as she can manage.
Her eyes sting and tears threaten to spill, but she holds them back, refusing to feel anything more just yet.
Soon she takes in her surroundings, realizing that despite it all, she and Theon are still clinging to one another, hands clasped tightly.
His eyes are closed, scrunched together, and she can see he's in pain too.
Reluctantly he pulls his hand from hers, and tugs his glove off with his teeth.
Biting hard on the glove, he uses his now bare hand to force his right shoulder back into place.
Aside from the sickening pop his joint makes, he doesn't make a sound; not so much as a whimper, and for the first time, Sansa truly wonders what Ramsey did to him.
Without speaking they climb to their feet, knowing they have to reach the woods beyond if they have any chance of escape.
Sansa's knee buckles under her weight, and she whimpers, trying to remain strong, and as quiet as Theon.
His right arm is useless at this point, so he does his best with his left to help support her, and they start stumbling towards the trees.
Their steps are inelegant and uneven, but determined.
They trudge forward through the deep mounds of snow, neither looking back; whether out of fear or defiance is a question they aren't ready to ask themselves.
They are mere feet from the edge of the tree line when someone steps out of the shadows in front them.
Sansa feels the bile rise in her throat and prays to the Seven she will be granted a quick death… but then she recognizes the young man in front of her.
"P—Podrick?" she rasps, hardly believing her own eyes.
"Yes, my Lady," he says, offering a stilted bow, as if he is as surprised as she by their encounter.
"What are you doing here?" she asks, taking half a step forward.
"I've been— we've been looking for you. To protect you."
She lets out a harsh bark of laughter.
Protect me? You're far too late.
"We," she repeats, her spinning mind catching up with what he said. "Who is 'we'? Is he—? Are you here with…?"
Podrick shakes his head no.
"I'm here with Brienne of Tarth. She was sworn to your mother. She promised to find you and keep you safe."
"That woman. From the Inn?"
"Yes, my Lady."
It isn't Podrick who speaks this time, but a great giant of a woman who steps out from behind a tree.
"Are you the ones who have been waiting for the candle to be lit?" Sansa asks.
"Yes, my Lady," Brienne nods, "and if you would allow me, I would like to get you to safety. You need to get out of the open."
Sansa glances at Theon, but his face is vacant, and she wonders how much of the conversation he's followed.
"Yes. Please help us," Sansa begs, not caring if she's making the wrong choice, because she knows any choice that isn't Ramsey is the better option.
Brienne and Podrick move swiftly, hurrying to get both Sansa and Theon out of sight from anyone who may be watching from the walls of Winterfell.
"Did anyone see you jump?" Brienne demands, and Sansa shakes her head no. "Does anyone know you are gone?"
"No, I don't think so. Theon is all but invisible around there, and I'm supposed to be locked in my room. No one but Theon comes to see me. Aside from Ramsey… and that isn't until late at night."
There is a look of sympathy in the other woman's eyes that Sansa does not want, so she looks away, refusing to be pitied, knowing that will make it real.
"I know you are probably in a lot of pain right now," Brienne says, "that was quite a fall, but I really must insist we get moving. The Boltons are preoccupied right now, but it was a more of a slaughter than a battle. I don't know how much time we have until they'll notice you're missing."
"I'm fine," Sansa insists. "Get us out of here."
They ride nonstop well into the night.
There are only two horses, so Theon rides behind Podrick, and Sansa sits in front of Brienne.
She wishes they weren't on separate horses.
Despite how much resentment she still holds for Theon and his betrayal, the fact that he saved her life makes her more inclined to not hate him entirely, and as Ramsey pointed out, he is the closest thing she has to family right now.
Far too often during their journey the woman, Brienne, asks how Sansa is doing, and she always responds that she is fine.
Truthfully, the uneven terrain and galloping horse are jostling her injured knee almost more than she can bear.
She remains silent, biting the inside of her cheek.
Once the sun sets and it grows dark the pain is easier to ignore; she's had a lot of practice in the recent weeks.
They ride as far as the light of the moon will allow them before it slips behind the clouds, leaving them in darkness. Only then do they stop to make camp.
"I don't think they'll expect for you to have made it so far, Lady Sansa," Brienne tells her over their small campfire. "Even so, as soon as dawn breaks I want us to move on."
Sansa nods vaguely, scanning the area around them, not trusting the shadows. She half expects Ramsey to spring from them and drag her by the hair all the way back to Winterfell.
Sitting far away from the warmth of the fire, Theon sits huddled and shaking with his arms wrapped around his legs.
He hasn't said a word since their jump.
Podrick is rubbing down the horses, and every so often when he thinks she isn't looking, he'll shoot Sansa a speculative glance.
"Where are you taking me?" Sansa asks.
"Somewhere safe, my Lady," Brienne swears. "I just haven't decided where that is yet."
"Nowhere is safe."
"Don't you have any more family you can turn to?"
"All of my family is dead. And I would not call upon any of our old allies, for fear of betrayal… or of bringing the wrath of the Lannister's or the Bolton's down upon them."
"Is there somewhere you like us to take you, my Lady?" Brienne asks, clearly needing a suggestion.
Sansa stares into the flames, trying to remember the last time she felt safe.
They could return to the Erie and wait for Littlefinger, but after what he abandoned her to, Sansa doesn't know if she could face him without attacking him.
It's not even as if she felt safe with him, she felt protected, yes, but Sansa's not sure it's possible to ever feel safe around a someone who has ten different ways to kill every man in the room if the need should arise.
Jon is a possibility, but his duty to the Watch would always come first if he were to take his vows seriously. She doesn't want to put him in jeopardy.
She has no idea where Bran and Rickon could be, or even of where to begin looking.
There is one person she recalls making her feel safe… if only for a moment or two at a time. As much as was possible anyway.
"I want you to take me to my husband," she says suddenly.
"My Lady?" Brienne questions, confused. "We just got you away from the Boltons. Why in the seven hells would you want to go back?"
"I didn't say anything about the Boltons. I said take me to my husband. I was a married woman already when I was shipped off to Ramsey Bolton, which means that our ceremony was not binding."
Both Podrick and Theon look up to stare at her.
"Are you speaking of the— of Lord Tyrion?" Brienne asks.
Sansa nods.
"I was under the impression that you and Lord Tyrion were not… that you had not…?" Podrick fumbles.
"Consummated?" she supplies.
"Yes, that. Don't you have to in order to be bound?"
"Do you really think Tyrion shared everything that happened between us with you? Sansa snips.
She slips into defensiveness, knowing that Podrick is right, but refusing to admit to anyone that she was in fact still a virgin when Ramsey took her.
Podrick blushes.
"Even so," Brienne continues, "no one knows where Tyrion Lannister is. He escaped from King's Landing and disappeared into thin air."
"Not quite. I know where he is," Sansa reveals. "I was at Littlefinger's side for months, and I picked up quite a lot of the information he thought he was hiding from me. I know for a fact that it was Lord Varys that helped Tyrion escape from King's Landing, and I know where he took him."
Podrick looks so hopeful.
"He's in Essos."
Pod's face falls.
"Essos?" he clarifies. "How are we supposed to get across the narrow sea?"
At this Sansa falls silent; she doesn't have any idea. She hadn't planned past the spur of the moment jump from the wall.
"Is that truly what you wish, Lady Sansa?" Brienne asks after a long stretch of silence. "To be reunited with Lord Tyrion?"
Everyone I know and love is gone or out of reach. I have nothing… no one… except for the one person who always came to my rescue in King's Landing.
"Yes," she says firmly, "that's what I want."
Whether or not Tyrion wants to be reunited with his Northern Ice Queen wife is another matter...
When she thinks of all the times he showed her kindness, or tried to help her, Sansa feels a trickle of shame down her spine.
Tyrion had always been kind to her, always come to her defense, even before he knew they were to be married. All that he did, he did with no motive other than that he is a good person.
Sansa regrets she didn't see it sooner.
"It's settled then," Brienne announces, pulling Sansa from her thoughts. "We're going to Essos."
XxXxX
The next morning, as soon as the sun begins to spread fingers of light over the horizon, they are on the move.
They head for the river, discovering luck is with them. Two hundred yards from the river is a hut that seems to have burnt down weeks ago.
"Raiders," Podrick sighs, shaking his head.
"There loss is our gain," Brienne says somberly, motioning them all towards the riverbank.
There, covered in brush and branches, is a small fishing boat.
It's cramped, but all four of them are able to fit.
Pod sits at the front of the boat, Brienne in the middle so she can row, leaving Sansa and Theon to sit at the back side by side.
Logically, Sansa knows she is in the best position; Theon is radiating body heat, and sheltering her from the icy breeze blowing off the water. That doesn't prevent her from jumping, or shifting uncomfortably every time their thighs brush.
Several times she has to close her eyes and remind herself over and over that it is Theon next to her not Ramsey.
The river takes them all the way to White Harbor, putting at least a day and a half head start between them and the Bolton riders.
"Theon?" Sansa asks softly as the harbor comes into view. "Would you like to go home?"
Theon shakes nervously and looks at her, wondering if this is some kind of trick.
Sansa raises her hand and points across the water to a ship flying the Greyjoy colors.
For the first time since right before they jumped off the wall, Sansa sees life return to Theon's eyes.
"B-But you need me, d-don't you?" he asks, speaking for the first time on their journey.
Sansa thinks over her words carefully.
"I do," she agrees. "I need you to return home and be Theon Greyjoy. I need you to remember my mercy, because one day I will return and reclaim my home, and I will need you then."
Theon's lip trembles, and he nods.
"I am in your debt, m-my lady."
Once they dock their small fishing boat, they waste no time. Sansa swallows her memories and gives Theon a quick hug.
Podrick escorts Theon to the Greyjoy fishing boat, while Brienne asks some questions around the harbor.
Sansa follows close to Brienne, keeping her hood drawn up and her head down.
Eventually, Brienne finds the information she'd been looking for. One of her father's boats will be departing White Harbor in the morning, heading for Tarth loaded down with pelts and dried goods for the winter.
"We can gain passage with them, my lady," Brienne explains. "Then we can take one of my father's other boats and set out to Essos."
"You're sure he'll just give you a boat?" Sansa asks, skeptical.
"I'm an only child, my lady. My father dotes on me," she admits, a slight flush to her cheeks. "After all, he did help to achieve my dream of being a knight… even if it was a short-lived dream. He funded my training, purchased my sword and armor… he'll help us."
"He sounds like a great man."
"He is that, my lady."
Podrick catches up to them shortly after that, and books a room at an inn. He only books one, though it does have two beds. The most convenient aspect though, is that it is off a hallway that accesses the back stairs, allowing them to come and go unnoticed.
They spend the day cooped up in the tiny room, and while she's used to prison cells by now, Sansa can't hide her discomfort.
Brienne tries to reassure her that she'll have plenty of room to roam about on the boat, but Sansa knows she won't breath freely until she is on the sea and beyond Ramsey's grasp.
Brienne and Podrick take turns watching the door through the night, refusing Sansa's help, insisting she get some rest.
She can't help but think how wasted their energy is; she can't sleep anyway.
When the dawn light illuminates their room, Sansa is the first one on her feet, preparing for their departure.
Brienne is trying to get Sansa to eat something when they hear the commotion downstairs.
They can't be sure what the problem is, but they don't stay to find out, instead slinking down the back stairs and making their way to the waiting boat bound for Tarth.
Once on the boat, Sansa stands holding onto the rail with white knuckles staring at shore, her grip only relaxing once they can no longer see land.
"You're free of him, my Lady," Brienne says quietly, she's standing right beside Sansa and can see how the girl's shoulders relax the further out to sea they get. "He will never lay another finger on you again."
For the first time in she's not even sure how long, Sansa feels a tiny bud of hope blossom in her stomach. She gives Brienne a tiny smile and turns her attention back to the water.
She's on her way.
She just hopes her husband will accept her.