A/N: Sansa's POV of her encounters with Sandor
Sansa remembers the first time she saw the boy well. He was learning to swim and doing a poor job in her view. She and her mother had been sunbathing on the rocks in front of the great castle, basking in the warmth of the late summer afternoon. The first thing Sansa noticed was that only his head was covered with a thick black pelt that hung to his shoulders; the rest of his body was bare. Instead of fins, he had two long limbs that wildly kicked against the water. Though he was a bit older than her, he was much larger than she, even in her seal form. A beautiful young woman held him in her arms. Was she his mother? Sansa couldn't tell. Warily she swam closer for a better look.
"Mother, what is wrong with the human boy?" Sansa asked softly, her seal voice manifesting itself in quiet woofs that cut through the gentle sloshing of the waves.
"Nothing as far as I can tell," Lady Catelyn answered after careful examination of the boy. "How do you mean, Sansa? Please, answer me in the Common tongue of men. You need to practice your words."
Sansa could not tear her eyes from him and could hardly find her words at his beauty. Her two older brothers Robb and Jon and their father's eel ward Theon Greyjoy had already taken their human forms and explored the dry land, as the people called it, and brought back fantastical tales of the beautiful human females walking upright. Intrigued, Sansa listened carefully to every detail in wonder, wishing for the day she too would be allowed to take her human form.
At night Jon would tell her tales of great armoured men on horseback who rescued beautiful maidens. She had always imagined the men to be just as lovely but now that she was faced with a human male, Sansa's breath was taken away by him.
"He is very beautiful, isn't he?" Sansa finally answered.
"Yes, he is." Her mother gently nuzzled into her neck. "But?"
She wrinkled her nose and flapped the water. "But where are his fins and flippers? And why is he covered in that cloth-no wonder he cannot learn to swim!"
"Humans wear what they call clothing as they do not have pelts. You will not have a pelt either, once you take your human form. You will have to wear those cloths around your body, too, as humans have very unusual notions about others seeing them in their natural state."
Humans are beautiful but strange creatures indeed, she mused. "But he has a pelt on his head-where is the rest of it? He must be cold-look how he thrashes about."
"Humans only have thick pelts on their head. Sometimes the males wear them on their faces too but only as they near manhood. They have a light fur covering on their chests and legs as well."
Confused, Sansa lazily swam around her mother, lost in thought. "They are most unusual. " She woofed softly. "Why are we not like them? Or like the rest of the fish of the sea? We Starks are both."
"We have the blood of the first titans and we are a breed unto our own. One day you will take your human form, grow legs and venture onto land. But remember, you will always have your skin. Once you put it on, you will then be able to return to the sea as a seal."
Sansa thought it over. Perhaps taking her human form would have its advantages after all. She would very much like to see the boy on land instead of thrashing about in the water. "Could I perhaps one day find the boy where he lives on land?"
"Yes, if you wish. You are too little for that yet, though."
"I wish I could go now."
"Use your human tongue to speak."
"Mother, don't you think his mother should look out for him as you do for me, and not let him flail about?" Sansa said reprovingly. "It is unseemly."
"Their way is not ours but that does not make it wrong." Catelyn guided her into the surf crashing against the rocks. "Mind your tongue and do not judge those different from you. The selkie who wishes to be a true lady always seasons her words with grace."
"Forgive me, Mother. I merely meant that it is not dignified to let him go on so. He is so delicate. I should help him."
Her mother's gently tone turned serious. "Listen to me very carefully: we must stay away from the humans in this form. They hunt seals, you know. The taller boy killed the wife of your Aunt Lyanna's mate, and he took the lives of their pups as well. He smashed them against the rocks not far from here."
Shivering, Sansa gasped audibly. "Oh mother! How terrible! Is that the place we offer fish once a year over by the alcove?"
"Yes."
"The old gods of the kelp forest will punish him for his wickedness."
"It is true, in time they will indeed. Some humans have been known to steal selkies skins when they are on dry land so they cannot return to sea, thus keeping them captive."
Horrified, Sansa's eyes filled with tears. Would the beautiful boy grow up to be such a man?
As if reading her thoughts, Catelyn added, "Nevertheless, we must not blame the younger boy for his brother's cruelty; don't you agree?"
"Yes," Sansa sighed with relief. "I feel so very badly for the young one." Warm affection blossomed in Sansa' heart for the boy as the day went on. Smiling softly, she happily spent the rest of the afternoon watching him laugh and play with his sister and longed to join them in spite of her mother's warning.
Unable to resist any longer, Sansa ducked under the water and swam beside them, flapping her fins at them before darting away. "The cruel one's words are harsh to both the boy and the girl." Sansa pouted when she returned. "The girl called the seal killer Greg-or. What does that mean in the Common tongue?"
"That is his human name, dearest. It means nothing, so far as I know. Humans do not always give their offspring names that have meaning."
"Oh, that makes me sad," Sansa shook her head, for she was rather pleased that her name meant 'kissed by fire' in reference to the color of her pelt. She longed to give the beautiful boy a name that meant something special but Sansa did not know the Common tongue well enough to come up with one just then.
"Nevertheless, he should not speak in such a way to his siblings," her mother chastised. "It is not our way. Now promise me you will not try to swim with him again, no matter his beauty."
Sansa was uncertain she could keep her promise, for the sound of the boy's voice beckoned to her like a siren's call. "Yes, Mother," she finally answered, knowing her mother expected her obedience. "and I would never speak to Arya or Robb that way, let alone Bran or Rickon. Not even Jon."
"I know you wouldn't dearest. Did you hear the beautiful boy's name when you drew close to them?"
"Yes," she struggled to form the word. "San-dor. Doesn't it make a lovely sound on the tongue?" Sansa repeated it in a soft bark. "San-dor. It is beautiful in both languages."
Her mother smiled knowingly and nodded. "Come, it is time to go back home." With that Catelyn dove into the water and nudged Sansa to follow her.
Home for the Stark family was a great coral reef structure known in the northern sea as Winterfell. Fresh air mysteriously filtered through the sea water and into its walls, allowing the family to shed their seal skins and take human form if they desired, or stay beneath the surface of the ocean for as long as they wished.
"Maybe the boy could visit us someday in Winterfell, for he could breathe the fresh air there." Sansa flapped her fins together excitedly as they approached her father and brothers in the great hall.
"She speaks of a human boy we watched learn to swim today." Catelyn explained, leading her elder sons away.
"He must never come here, do I make myself clear?" Ned emphasized sternly. "No human must know of this place. It is not our way. If you bring him here, it will endanger every selkie in the ocean, do you understand?"
"Yes, Father." Sansa sheepishly whispered.
That night at high tide, Sansa dreamt of the beautiful boy with the black pelt surrounded by fire on the water. The heat of the blaze blew hot against her face as she swam to save him. The dream was so real that for days afterward she beleaguered the maester with requests to divine its meaning.
"You had a vision, lass," was all the old seal would say as he gnawed on a lobster. "It is a common trait of your people. You have the blood of the first titans in you."
"Yes, Mother told me the story, Maester Luwin. Tell me, will the boy die?" Sansa asked impatiently, though her voice was barely above a whisper.
"No, child. You will save him and one day, you will be separated and then find him again. Then he will save you."
Puzzled, Sansa spent the rest of the evening swimming in circles to clear her mind until her sister Arya called her to break her fast with the family.
From that day forward Sansa could not resist looking for the boy at every opportunity. One day, as she swam near the great cove in search of abalone, Sansa witnessed Gregor strike his sister in the water with a violent force. Fear swept through her as she hid beneath the surface and watched helplessly as the girl's lifeless body sank into the ocean. When Gregor left, Sansa dove into the waves until she found her but by then it was too late, for the beautiful boy's sister had returned to the old gods of the kelp forest.
Not knowing what else to do, she carried the girl to Winterfell and asked the maester to help her. "I cannot bring one back from the old gods, pup, as much as I would like to," he gently patted her with his flipper. "I am sorry."
Her father scolded her terribly for bringing the dead human girl to them but she did not care. Grief overwhelmed Sansa. San-dor was suffering, she knew, and for days Sansa would neither sleep nor eat, and frightened her mother by refusing to venture to the surface.
After a sennight, driven by the knowledge that his suffering must be far worse than her own, she decided she would look go for San-dor. Sansa found him sitting beside the ocean, mending his nets alone. She longed to go to him, to take her human form and hold him in her arms but in her grief and inexperience Sansa could not make the transformation complete.
She wanted to tell him in the Common tongue what she had seen Greg-or do, and had even practiced her words so he would understand, but San-dor would not venture into the water so she could approach him. Helplessly Sansa swam nearby, sobbing along with him as he cried on the shoreline.
One day he seemed to take notice of her, and so eagerly Sansa swam circles and jumped out of the water for his entertainment, hoping to alleviate his grief in any way she could. The next morning he brought her a fish, and after she ate, Sansa redoubled her efforts, jumping and swimming as fast as she could around the lagoon as he laughed. Never had anything sounded so lovely to Sansa.
Daily they continued this way until Sansa and San-dor both grew into adolescence. Sansa continued to pray to the old gods that he would return to her on the ocean. After much perseverance, the joyous day finally arrived when San-dor at last returned to Sansa's watery home.
Overjoyed, Sansa carefully kept herself hidden as she swam nearby, watching the beautiful boy with a full heart. He is much larger now, she smiled to herself, but his eyes are stormy, like the ocean after the rain. Curiously she moved closer.
She heard the voice of San-dor's father say that seals are good luck, and that the gods sent her there. Humans are taught that we are lucky for them? The very notion delighted her. San-dor said it was his name day and that he wanted to gift her a fish. He wants to give me a gift? How wonderful! Pure joy washed through the young seal, and unable to resist, Sansa leapt onto the deck next to the boy and proudly accepted his offering.
Before she ate, she carefully bit the head and tossed it toward San-dor. Just as she found her voice to thank him, Greg-or threated to kill her as he had done her Aunt Lyanna's mate's wife, Elia, and her children. Horrified, Sansa dove back into the water at the very moment San-dor came to her aid.
He saved me, just as one of the human knights in Jon's stories! Sansa thrilled silently. Suddenly the situation turned far worse: there was a struggle between Greg-or, San-dor and his father, and somehow the boat caught fire. A great explosion rocked the vessel. Terrified, Sansa shouted his name just as San-dor's body splashed down in the water near her.
His father's body fell not far away, and Gregor's soon followed. Once assured that San-dor floated safely on his back, Sansa then swam over to the other men . It was clear the father was dead. Sadly, Sansa let go of him, allowing the tide to carry his body beneath the waves. Sansa barked out a distress call to her family but no one came.
Next she warily approached Gregor, who was face down in the water. He made not a sound, and gingerly Sansa turned him over to see the entire front of his body was burned beyond recognition. With a measure of distaste, the young seal pushed him away from her and then returned to San-dor. You will no longer hurt anyone, and the old gods have given justice to my family and San-dor.
He struggled against Sansa as she swam circles beneath him, moving him away from the burning wreckage. The thick smoke choked the Common tongue words in her throat. "Mother, save him if you can," she barked softly. "Gentle the rage inside him so I can help him." Concentrating hard, Sansa repeated her prayer as she swam in circles until suddenly she transformed into her human form. Delighted, she bobbed her head out of the water and took in her reflection.
Sansa saw that she had deep blue eyes and she had shed her pelt altogether, save for long red hair on her head. Beneath the water, she kicked her fins and discovered she was still very much a seal below, but such was to be expected until she reached dry land. Smiling at the frightened boy, she encircled her arms around San-dor.
He stared at her with tear filled eyes in disbelief. "My father, my brother-please-"
He saw my transformation, Sansa panicked briefly until she noticed his beautiful face was burned terribly on one side. Swallowing her fear, she forced the Common tongue from her throat. "San-dor, San-dor, you are hurt, my friend. Rest in my arms. You saved me. I will help you."
"What-what is your name?" San-dor asked. The burns were already blistering, blackening his delicate flesh.
He wants to know my name. She longed to tell him the meaning, but he was in far too much pain to understand so instead Sansa whispered, "My family calls me Sansa." Not knowing how else to comfort him, she kissed his cheek, marveling at the smooth softness of his skin. Maester Luwin could help him; surely Father will understand. "I will take you to them."
