Lady of Wolves/Chapter 1
"Useless," came a voice whispering out of the darkness the girl found herself in. "Weak, pathetic. Not worthy to be called No One."
The girl snarled at the voice, but realised that was a mistake when the ironwood staff smacked her sides again and sent her to the ground. The pain was no stranger to the girl, but it was the fury and humiliation that hurt the hardest.
The girl forced herself to stand, relying on instinct to lift the staff she held in the direction of the voice. 'If only I still had my sight...' the girl found herself thinking.
But no – that could never be.
The girl slowed her breathing and listened.
Two months was how long the girl had been training with the Waif, two months of fear and pain and rage. No more. The situation was clear and simple; all the girl had to do was stand her ground and be victorious in her fight with the Waif, and she would be one step closer to being No One.
The girl hefted her staff, ears straining to hear the tell-tale steps that foretold the movements of the other.
The sound of air parting reached her ears, and the girl raised her staff - not a moment too soon. The thwack of wood meeting wood resonated in the cavernous space of the training room. Then another blow came, and another, the girl finding it within herself to block them all, relying on instinct and hearing and hard-won strength.
'No more,' the girl thought to herself. 'No longer will I be useless and weak and pathetic. This time I will win.'
With this in mind, the wolf inside her snarled in satisfaction and rose up, lending strength to the girl and guiding her staff in the fight, until at long last the girl managed to beat back the Waif.
The girl smiled, the tip of her staff held to the other's throat, and three slow claps echoed in the chamber.
"It seems the Waif is no longer needed for your training. Come, girl, and follow." The new speaker was one that the girl had not heard in a long time, but it was impossible to forget the sound of the Kindly Man's voice.
The girl threw down her staff and followed, noting that the Kindly Man was leading them to the hall with the fountain, her blindness no longer an obstacle in finding her way around the House of Black and White.
The girl had every corner and passageway memorised, just like the number of steps it took to get anywhere.
That was one advantage to being blind; that and having her other senses sharpen and develop.
"Hurry, girl. The Many Faced God will wait for nothing and no one," the voice stated, breaking the girl out of her thoughts and hurrying her steps to the fountain in the middle of the entrance hall. "Sit."
The girl sat on the edge of the fountain, both repulsed yet strangely intrigued by the poisoned waters it held. It would be too easy to slip some to those who made her life this hell, the ones who took those she held most dear from her. Cersei, the Mountain, the Hound... these would all die one day, a long, slow, painful death. And she would be the cause.
The darkness in her couldn't help but smile at the thought.
A hand smacked her head harshly.
"A girl must leave everything behind to be No One," the Kindly Man reminded her, disappointment obvious in his tone. The girl was getting better at distinguishing the emotions and all that was held in the voices of men, but was still unable to let go of her past. "A girl with a past cannot be No One. Remember this if you ever wish to be one of the Faceless."
The girl bowed her head with acceptance, biting back the retort another version of herself would have shouted for all the world to hear.
Stone grated against stone, the girl shifting in her seat to hear better as the Kindly Man lowered a bowl into the fountain. He filled it with the water and passed it to the girl, waiting for her to adjust her hold before taking his hands away. "Drink."
The girl hesitated, thoughts of distrust entering her mind, before lowering the bowl. The girl felt the Kindly Man grab her hands and lift the bowl for her. "Drink."
The girl shuddered.
It was the first thing the girl had been taught here: trust nothing and no one unless it is yourself. Her blindness was caused by foolishly believing that the Kindly Man was her friend eight years ago, and there was no way the girl wanted to lose another of her senses. But then again, there was nothing for them to gain by taking another of her senses away. Not yet. And after all this time, the girl found it hard to believe that the only path they had chosen for her was death.
It could not be, but just to make sure the girl asked a question. "What will happen if I drink?"
The girl was not prepared for the Kindly Man to laugh.
"You are getting better. Had you not questioned me, you would be writhing on the ground with your dying breaths forced through your throat. But now... now, it gives you the power to change your face. You will be called No One, and you will be a Faceless Man. Do not waste the gift. Drink."
The girl hesitated one last time.
"You will also get your sight back," he added, almost as an afterthought. That was enough for the girl, for if there was one thing the girl regretted, it was losing her eyes.
The girl drank.
Almost immediately the pain hit her, collapsing her legs under her and throwing her on the floor.
Pain which erupted through her body, making her feel as though she was slowly being torn apart, one piece at a time, with burning fire forcing its way through her veins.
The girl tried to scream, but droplets of scarlet blood were the only things that made their way out of her mouth, laid twisting upon the stones, unable to speak or breathe. The girl couldn't see, and that made the pain so much worse, coupled with the realisation of failure.
The girl grabbed at Needle's outline from beneath her clothes, clutching the hilt tight, hoping her half-brother had remembered her before his death. Feeling the presence of the Kindly Man leaving, in her fear and desperation, the girl managed to speak one word, tears trickling down her cheeks as her body convulsed outside of her control.
"Why?" It was nothing more than a whisper, but the Kindly Man heard it all the same. Through her suffering the girl heard him answer.
"Arya Stark was too trusting. She would never be No One. Not as long as she carried a sword named Needle hidden under her robe." And with those partings words she felt the poison shred her last remaining tatters of life, and in her pain she rejoiced that she would see her family soon. Her father, mother and brothers... and darkness took her from the world.
~o0o~
Arya waited for the pain to stop, but if anything it got worse, almost unbearable to the point where she wished death would finally come to ease her suffering and deliver her to whatever cursed afterlife she had earned.
Finally unable to take it any longer, she screamed out, a long shrill note that spoke of suffering and pain unimaginable by many of the people who dwell on the earth. Her scream turned to a sob of shock and relief when she heard a soothing voice, one full of kindness and wisdom that soothed away the pain.
"You have suffered much, little Arya, but be brave, for you are needed. Remember: the lone wolf dies but the pack survives. Do not abandon the pack you will find, or else the world will suffer for your mistakes."
Arya's thoughts started to swirl around the words the voice had spoken, when she realised her body felt painfree all of a sudden, and different; longer, slighter, stronger.
In all actuality, the white light fluttering before her grey eyes was not her imagination either, especially as the stones beneath her seemed to become dirty all of a sudden, littered with leaves and small small twigs.
Arya's eyes closed as she fell into a deep oblivion.
