So there actually is a little interest in the story. When I posted, I didn't think anyone would be interested. So some interest is a win in my book.

Thanks to all of you who tried the story out, and a huge thanks to all of you who have decided to review, favorite, and/or follow it. I hope it continues to be an entertaining read.

By the time she reached the station, the one train going west was already chugging its way towards its full speed. Arya ran as fast as she could, the pebbles and dirt sliding and making her work that much harder to catch up.

There was one boxcar with it's sliding door open, and that's the one she tried for as she strained her legs to pick up her pace by a little. It was enough to get her fingers hooked onto the corner, but as fast as the train was going caused her to loose her balance. She dangled from the train car, her legs all but useless sliding on the gravel, and her one goal was to not have them chopped under the iron wheel.

With all of her strength, she tried to pull herself up but it was hard to lift her entire body with just her arms. Even as she tried to squirm and twist enough to get her one leg up, that needed help to lift herself into the boxcar, her foot slipped from the edge and fell back to the ground.

The sound of the wheels against the rails was deafening, and her fingers were starting to ache holding all her weight. There was a moment when she considered letting go, let the train go on without her and just wait for another to come along. The only thing to kept her fingers desperately holding on for her life was the fear of rolling the wrong way and losing a limb…or worse.

A burst of strength from her fear and desperation gave her what she needed to lift herself enough to straighten her arms and lift her leg over the edge of the boxcar door, enough to roll her body fully inside.

When she stopped rolling, the smell was the first thing to hit her. Piss and shit. It reeked of old piss and shit. Reflexively, she held her hand to her nose and took a look around. A bunch of men were standing from wherever they were, slowly making their way to her. She didn't expect so many in their boxcar; she didn't expect anyone, really. So worried about getting herself on the train, she didn't think about the other part her father warned her of: "men who'd cut your throat for your shoes."

Her fingers, still aching, reached for her dagger and gripped it tightly, holding it out and ready to fight. Two of the men backed off, but four others only smiled at her with their dirty, brown teeth and one of them pulled out a knife longer and broader than hers. That man's smiled stretched across his narrow head and his eyes slid from the top of her head to her toes. "Glad you made it 'cause you got some nice shoes there," he said to her when his eyes lingered on her feet.

"And a good shirt," another said. Her clothes were hand-me-downs that belonged to her brother Robb. After hiding behind garbage cans and squirming her way into a train car, they were filthy, but compared to their ratty old rags, they might as well have been new and freshly washed.

"Oh, come on, now. We have to be generous and ready to share," the man took a step closer to her, and Arya thrust her dagger at him to make him move back a step. "At least, that's what the mission squawkers tell me," he chuckled, then the men around him joined in. "And I think it's time you shared."

What seemed like out of the darker area of the car came a large hand that wrapped around the man's wrist. He squeaked like a woman before looking up to see a man towering over him. "Wanna pick on someone your own size?" the man from nowhere said, and the man with the large knife shook his head, jaw nearly dragging the boxcar floor.

The larger man pushed the other, and he fell into his "friends" before all of them slithered back from where they came from. The large man turned as though nothing happened and walked back into the shadows.

Now that the she was out of danger, Arya took the corner that put her at the opposite end of the car which happened to have the large man between them. She sat with the knees pulled close and her arms wrapped around them. The added energy and strength she got earlier seeped out of her until she was so tired she couldn't keep her eyes open. With everything she had left, she tried to stay awake because she didn't trust any of the men on the train, some less than others, but it was no use.

Daylight poured through the open door of the boxcar by the time Arya woke up, and the only one in there was her and the large man. Although now that she could see him in the daylight, he wasn't actually a large man but a very large boy. He was sitting on a bale of hay with his leg bent, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and his eyes closed.

"Are you sleep?" Arya called to him.

"If I were, I wouldn't be now, now would I?" he said to her without opening his eyes.

"Why'd you help me last night?" she asked, also half wondering if this was the same one that helped her.

"Was only a matter of time before they took your clothes and found out you're a girl. That's when they'd do other things that should never happen. Just wanted to nip it in the bud," he said, finally opening his eyes and looking at her.

Arya remembered what her brother and father did when they met new people, and she immediately stood up with all the confidence she could muster and walked to him, shoving her hand out to shake. "My name's Arya. Arya Stark." He looked at her hand as though it were a turd she'd offered, shook his head, rolled his eyes, and took a drag of his cigarette.

A little confused and a lot offended, Arya dropped her hand and stared at him. "What's with you?"

"If you're gonna' survive, kid, you're gonna have to learn a few things."

"Like what?" Arya asked, although with her rising resentment, she really didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"Well, for one thing, kid, no shaking hands and no tellin' people your full name. No one cares. You ride the rails for work and stay to yourself."

"Stop calling me kid," Arya turned her head away from him even as he chuckled.

"Sure thing, kid."

The boy was getting on her last nerve, and Arya was ready to kick him, but her head won over her temper. She had to learn what she could from him to get to her cousin. "So what else do I need to know?"

He worked his jaw for a moment in thought, then asked her, "Where you headed?"

"San Fransisco, California. It's where—"

The boy waved his hand, telling her to stop. "See, right there. I don't need or wanna' know all of that." He took another drag of his cigarette. "West. You're goin' west. That's all you need to tell anyone you come across."

Arya nodded, suddenly realizing that she really did need to learn about this if she were going to ride the rails all the way across country.

"What's your name?" she asked him, realizing that she knew nothing about him.

"Gendry."

"Gendry what?"

"Just Gendry." His brows creased, and he seemed to be thinking hard about something before he continued. "Look, kid, the rails ain't no place for girls, especially a girl like you."

Now she was completely offended, and her hands went straight to her hips as her mother and sister used to do when they were angry. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Didn't mean anything by it, but look at you. Clean clothes, no street smarts, well fed. It's clear as day you have a family and a home to go back to. Someone like you hasn't seen the worst of people, and that's a good thing! Keep it that way, kid."

Arya wanted to stay angry with him; she wanted to hate him, but she couldn't. Deep down, she knew he meant well. And his words just reminded her of why she was on this train in the first place.

"I don't have a home anymore. My dad and brother were killed, and now I have to go to the only family I've go left…in California."

With all that he'd said before, she was expecting him to tell her he didn't care, that no one cared, but he turned to her. "I'm sorry, kid." Then he gave her a weak smile, "But at least you still got family. Right? It's more than some of us got."

Taking a seat on the boxcar floor, Arya pulled her knees close again and started to relax for the first time since before her father and brother were killed. She was sure enough Gendry wasn't going to cut her throat for her shoes or anything else to her. The rocking of the train started to feel soothing so she closed her eyes.

"Kid, the first mission you find, make sure you get your hair cut short. Pretend to be a boy and you'll be safer. Don't tell anyone that you're a girl."

She listened to him talk, and it was almost dreamlike as she drifted to sleep again. The last thing she heard was, "And look out for the bulls, train cops. Sometimes they get rough."

A banging noise startled Arya awake. The boxcar was empty, and she heard more noises from outside. When she peeked out of the sliding door, several uniformed men went into boxcars, pushed out men, and beat them with their clubs. She hopped out of hers, and she heard a man's voice demand that she stop. She did the opposite and ran for her life, hoping it was the direction of the town and that she could find a good place to hide.

Because "The Journey of Natty Gann" was a children's movie, I think they lightened a lot of the experiences and language in her life as a hobo. Since I'm merging the movie with ASOIAF, I'm not held back by that.

I think you guys figured out that "ride the rails" means hobo'ing by train while there's also "going by hand" which means traveling on foot and hitchhiking.

Then we have the term "mission squawker" which is a preacher. Missions were formed to offer help for the exploding population of homeless, but only if they listened to a sermon from the preacher and/or prayed.

BTW, I did learn this nifty little bit of information. Although over time the words hobo and tramp were used interchangeably, they actually meant two different things. Hobos were people (mostly men) traveling the country for work. Tramps were people (mostly men) traveling without any desire to work. The way tramps got their necessities was mostly through stealing.

I hope I didn't forget anything and that you guys enjoyed this chapter.