a/n: Set in muted modern world of North Winter High School, where gender equality is just coming into fruition, where The Starks live in a humble home in the City of Winterfell in the Country of Westeros, and the Wall is a military training depot/academy.

The Ages are listed as the following:
Robb - 18
Sansa - 16
Arya - 15
Bran - 13
Rickon - 10
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Fic Summary: Arya was sick of standing on the sidelines, so when females were finally allowed, she didn't miss her chance to join The Wall Military Academy. She never expected it to be easy, in fact, she relished the challenge. Excelling in her first-year class unit, she's moved up with the third-year recruits and partnered with a boy named Jon who reminds her of home. But being the best-of-the-best doesn't always mean you'll be liked.

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North Winter High School:
The Athletic Proficiency Assessment Stadium

Chapter One:

It was a nice sunny Monday morning in July and already the City of Winterfell had been bustling busy since Friday, getting ready for the annual event that happened each July through the whole Country of Westeros.

Once a year, in all the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, there is a week-long event that's called Athletic Proficiency Assessment. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Well, Arya Stark thought that it was. In each of the main Cities starting South and moving North: Sunspear, Highgarden, Storm's End, Casterly Rock, King's Landing, Riverrun, The Eyrie, The Twins, and lastly, Winterfell the northern most country. For all the boys that attended the high schools, ages 15 to 18, the event was mandatory; the only way they could get out of it was if the had a broken limb, were dying or dead. The APA was a event that was mandated by the centuries ago Kings, and the present President for the military to recruit soldiers.

At these events, there was a recruiter from the Wall Military Academy that was dubbed a Wondering Crow, who watched the boys run the course and gave them recruitment offers to signed up for the Wall, which whiling training you as an officer, will give you a college/university education—it also came with pay.

This was a chance when all the "vultures" came, picking at the Wall Academy duds. Sport team scouts, police, firemen, all of them come as well and try to recruit the boys that the Wall failed to get, or they believed would succeed in their field.

The APA was like a spectator sport. It was in a open stadium-like structure with a field, bleachers, announcer booths, a digital score board that displayed at the boys' time rankings, and several big screens that showed the participants up close for the people in the bleachers and for official records and reference. All high schools in the country participated, even the small high school boys from the islands like Tarth, The Iron Islands, Dragonstone, and Bear Island come to the main land to the closest city where a APA Stadium was located and participated.

The Starks, just like all families with sons in high school attended, and sometimes even families that didn't. Robb, the eldest Stark son was participating once again in the APA course, and the whole family came to watch him. But it wasn't until the sixth day that his class was scheduled to make the course, so that was the day that the whole family went.

"When am I going to have do this like Robb?" Rickon asked Arya as they waited at one of the entrances of the stadium as a slow, but steady stream of people, filed in, as the pair waited for their elder sister Sansa to hurry-up-and-get-there-already-before-all-the-good-seats-were-taken!

"When you turn fifteen, but that's not for a few years yet." She assured the small boy.

"But what if I don't want to?"

"All high school boys have to, Rickon, it's the law. If you don't... you might get arrested." She teased him.

"But I don't want to go to jail, Arya!" Rickon exclaimed, taking her seriously.

She put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. "Just think of it as gym class, Rickon. Or a Track and Field event. Okay?"

"Those are kinda fun," the boy agreed.

"Yep," she ruffled his shaggy, flaming red hair, relieved. "You boys get to have all the fun, don't you?"

"If they let you do it," Sansa said, catching up with the pair, "you'd probably beat them all. What an embarrassment."

"Unlike you, Sansa," Arya growled, "I have more goals in life than hanging around in the mall waiting for the next shoe sale."

"It's called being a girl, you should try it sometime." She returned, with a very lady-like sneer. "Come on, Rickon, lets go before her beastly behaviour rubs off on you." And the sixteen grabbed the boy's hand and lead him away from Arya to find a seat up in the stacked bleachers that surrounded the course, leaving the short girl behind.

Arya sighed and verged with the stream of people to find a seat for herself. She always liked finding a seat within the front three rows so that she could actually see what was happening with her own eyes, but when she couldn't, she had to rely on the announcer and screens which was always a drag.

She found a seat, on the third row, crammed between two men she didn't know. She had found her parents and siblings, minus Robb, two dozen rows back and hollered at them to draw their attention and show where she was so they didn't worry, and then waited to the event to begin.

Robb was 18 now, and this was his last year in high school. It would be his last forced APA course run. Next year, he wouldn't have to participate if he didn't want to. In the four years running the course, he always landed in the top twenty, but it was the top ten, top five that the Wandering Crows had a real interest in. Robb had been approached three times, and declined all three offers. He was going to go to university and become a businessman like their father. In two years, Bran would turn 15 and be in high school, and it would be his turn to run the course. By the time that Rickon ran his first course, Bran would be on his last—if he didn't take a recruitment offer by then that was.

She could see Bran's interest whenever their Uncle Benjen was able to visit them. Benjen had run the course back in his time when he was in high school and got a recruitment offer from a Wandering Crow, he declined twice, but it wasn't until after his older sister Lyanna died in what was supposed to be a non-violent protest, that he accepted in his third year. Now, several years later, he was First Officer under the Lord Commander of the Wall Academy, a Colonel of the Night's Watch. When he would visit the Stark residence, the two youngest boys and Arya would crowd around him, pestering until he told them some tales from the Wall. Rickon was just being a boy for now, interested in war stories, Bran seemed more into the history of the Wall, but Arya wanted to go there, she wanted to be an officer like her Uncle, to become what was known as a Night's Watchmen, a Crow, like the older man. But unlike for Robb, Bran, and Rickon, for her, it was just a silly dream.

The Wall only took male recruits, it always had and always would. It was a tradition—if one could call it that, more like sexist—and it always would be. Her mother was always on her about finding an interest in something that was more appropriate for her, and Arya always knew the woman was talking about her being a girl. Being a girl sucked for Arya, seriously. Why did the men get to do all the cool things? But she guessed that it was at least something that even though they didn't allow woman into the military, they had professional woman sport teams, and ten-years ago they started to allow female police officers, firemen and the like. Women, they were moving up in the world—bullshit, they should be equal with men, maybe even be above them, by now. It was all those male presidents and kings, with their phallocentric ideals, and feelings of misogyny out of fear of the power that women could really handle and wield. She was a feminist because seriously—sometimes it was just disgusting.

"Alriiiight, ladies and gentlemen, today is the sixth day of our annual APA event!" The announcer called out over the speakers and slowly all the din of bleachers died down. "These last two days this year are pretty special because this morning I was just informed on a change to the event."

Now that had everyone's undivided attention, in all these years, going way back to before her father's teen years of running the course, never had there been a change. People were muttering to each other in confusion as well as interest.

"That's right folks, you heard it. I was informed, like all the other stadiums that the President and his Counsel members in had a meeting with the leaders of the Wall Military, have decided that this yearthis year on the last day of the APA eventwe are, for the first time in history, allowing the female student body of the high schools to sign up and run the course with a chance of being recruited by our assigned Wandering Crow!"

Stunned silence filled the stadium for a very long moment as the announcer allowed this very shocking news to sink in with the couple thousand of people that lined the bleachers. And the news was stunning. Arya was shocked too. The thoughts that she had just been thinking, the thoughts she had had for years now... were the Old Gods finally listening to her? Had they heard her nightly prayers? She had always thought that something like this would happen, but not for years, and that by the time it did, she would be too old and lost her chance at a shot. But it wasn't happening in years, it was happening now. Now was her chance, what she had been waiting for.

The people in the bleachers started their mutters again. Some found this news very interesting, others just shrugged it off, and others were so outraged by the fact that females could now run the course that they got up and walked out of there.

"Yes!" Arya blurted in excitement, pumping her fist, people gave her looks but she didn't care.

"Yes, I'll say it again. Female students are now allowed to take the course and be recruited into our military. I don't know about you folks, but to me, this looks like progress. I say our ladies deserve the chance to show what they're made off." The announcer voiced. "And now, we'll begin with our first class of senior students. This will be their last year of running the course, everyone, so lets cheer them on. More information will be provided at the next intermission."

For the next several hours, each senior class went through the course. Each boy ranked both by their time in finishing the course, and the skill with which each completed it. You would think that after three events, on their last and final run they would know the course and all the tricks and strategies that went along with it.

That was usually the part that Arya liked most, seeing all the mistakes, fumbles, screw ups that these boys made, their shity times. It made her so frustrated sometimes and happy and she knew that she could do it better than them if only she was allowed. But now she was going to be able to do it, and that was all she could think about. She barely had mind enough to realize that it was finally Robb's classes turn, but she pushed back her excitement and cheered on her brother. This was his last run and he deserved her attention, but that still couldn't stop her from imagining herself as one of those boys running the course with him.

-tbc-

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Note:

The Key:

The Wall = The biggest military training depot in all of Westeros.

Rankings = Colonel is under the command of the Lord Commander.

Athletic Proficiency Assessment or APA = the physical course test that grades each boy in high school from the age 15 to 18 in order to see if they are fit for the Wall Academy, or other such professions such as police, fireman, athlete; by order of the President with the leaders of the Military since the Wall was first became a training facility thousands of years ago.
- The APA Stadium is like the super bowl stadium, though not as fancy, one built in each of the major cities in Westeros.

Wondering Crow = A older, seasoned officer formerly of the Night's Watch contingent, who is charged with attending the APA annual events to recruit the boys with the best completion and time of the course.

Night's Watch = an elite contingent of military officers and soldiers (like the SEALs), called Crows.

The President = Robert Baratheon
His Counsel members = P. Baelish, Varys, Pycelle, Reny B., Stannis B., Jon Arryn.

Notes on the Starks:
- Lyanna died as a teenager while doing a non-violent protest for women's rights and equality in the Seven Kingdoms.
- Benjen join the Wall Academy after Lyanna's death at the age of 17 after his third run and is a Colonel of the Night's Watch that helps the Lord Commander at the Wall to train recruits.
- Robb declines the offer of recruitment to the Wall in order to become a businessman and work for his father, Ned Stark.

Thanks for Reading!

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