A/N: I apologize for any mistakes, since I'm my own beta :P

Chapter 3

Arya absolutely couldn't believe that. Sansa looked up a bit and timidly said:

-Hi.

Arya looked, dumbfounded, at Marshal Mormont, who had a stupid smirk on his face, and said:

-What the fuck? I thought you said you were going to introduce me to the person who handpicked my candidates! What the hell is she doing here?!

Arya was angry. Oh, she was so angry. She knew it wasn't Sansa's fault that the rest of their family had died, but why didonly her come out of that attack alive? Why did it have to be her? Why did Jon have to die, and she get to stay alive? It wasn't fair. She and Sansa never did get along that well, and to see her here after losing Jon was just too much.

-Watch your manners, miss Stark – Mormont replied as Sansa looked down again; she didn't look like she was enjoying that very much either, and looked a bit angry herself, her cheeks red. – Your sister has proven herself very intelligent and quite an asset in the war against the Kaiju. She insisted to help in any way she could, and, since she's your sister, she would be the one who knows you best. So I chose her to select your candidates.

Like hell she knows me best, even Gendry knows me better than her, Arya wanted to reply, but held her tongue. In all those years they stood apart, not once did Sansa try to contact her; well, once, actually, after Jon's death. She called Arya several times, but the latter didn't pick up. She then tried to send her an email, which Arya did not read. She knew what she was doing to Sansa wasn't fair and wasn't nice, but she couldn't help it. She was just so angry at her, and she didn't even know why she was still angry at her, but she was.

-Whatever, let's just go – Arya shook her head and started to walk towards the entrance of the Shatterdome, without once looking either at Sansa or Mormont. She could hear both of them following her, but didn't look back.

She entered the open elevator and leaned herself against the wall inside. Mormont and Sansa came in after her; Mormont stood next to her, and Sansa, looking rather apprehensive, stood next to Mormont, preferring to stay away from her sister – at least for now. The elevator door was closing when they heard a voice coming from outside:

-Wait, wait wait! Hold it open! Hold it!

The voice came from a short, chubby guy with a goatee and curly hair who was hastily running towards the elevator, carrying a handful of bags under his arms. The chubby dude was being followed by another guy, who was also running and carrying bags – this one looked taller than the chubby one, and his hair was shorter and apparently smooth. Neither of them had an umbrella and both were dripping wet. There were two soldiers behind them pushing a tank on a wheeled metal platform towards the elevator – the tank was filled with a green liquid and had some organic thing that looked like a giant brain inside it.

Arya, too grumpy to give a damn, stood where she was. Sansa didn't move either, still blushing and looking away from Arya, apparently too scared to move (in a wicked way, Arya was satisfied that she caused her sister that much apprehension); it was Mormont who moved forward and put his arm between the elevator doors to stop it from closing. The chubby guy and his friend(?) ran into the elevator, panting, and Mormont waited for the soldiers bringing the tank to come inside before letting the doors close. The chubby one put down his bags and stretched, then turned at Mormont and said, smiling warmly:

-Thanks, Marshal! Damn, that rain's cold!

Marshal Mormont smiled and turned to Arya:

-Miss Stark, I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Samwell Tarly – The chubby guy nodded at her, smiling. – and Dr. Podrick Payne – The other guy did the same. – They're the lead scientists in the Kaiju research team and will be providing us with as much information as they can.

Arya nodded at them and looked at the thing inside the tank with curiosity.

-Look all you like, just don't touch, please – Dr. Tarly said, rolling his sleeves up to reveal tattooed arms. – Also, call me Sam. Nobody calls me "doctor" besides my mom. Hey Pod, – he turned to face Dr. Payne, smiling. – these are living, breathing human beings here, why don't you greet them properly?

Dr. Payne blushed and glanced daggers at him.

-Don't call me that – He said, angrily. Then he turned to Arya with a softer expression on his face. – But it is nice to meet you, miss Stark.

-Oh, you're Arya Stark? – Sam said, excited, an even brighter smile on his face. – Oh, I'm a big fan, miss Stark, and your brother too – he took her hand and shook it, and she forced a smile, really wanting to get out of that elevator. – Really, the things you've done, practically no one else can do that. I mean, piloting a Jaeger alone-

-Yes, Samwell, she knows what she did – Podrick quickly cut him off, Arya shooting him a thankful look. – I'm pretty sure you don't need to cite all her accomplishments to her.

-Yeah, okay, but, just saying, you're awesome – Sam said, letting go of her hand (having only now stopped shaking it.)

Sansa was eyeing Sam's arm and, for the first time spoke up, in a quiet voice, pointing at one particular tattoo on his arm:

-Is that White Walker?

Sam looked at the tattoo Sansa was pointing at and Arya did the same; it was true, that was a Kaiju alright. Actually, taking a better look, apparently ninety percent of his tattoos were Kaijus. Sam smiled at her and touched that particular tattoo with his index finger.

-Who, this little Kaiju? – He said, looking up at Sansa. – Yeah, you have a good eye! It actually took a while for it to be taken down; it managed to destroy a great part of the city before they killed it!

Sansa looked absolutely choked up.

-Yeah – She replied, in an even quieter voice. – I know – And then she turned her gaze to the floor.

Both Marshal Mormont and Podrick shot Sam death glares, and his face fell and he stopped talking. Arya looked to the floor. The elevator stood silent for several seconds after that. The silence was actually making Arya crazy – she hated silence, even more so awkward silence – so she pointed at the tank and asked:

-What is that?

Everyone but Sansa looked at where she was pointing and Sam smiled again, though it was not nearly as bright as his previous smiles, and had a shadow of sadness on it.

-Oh, that's a Kaiju brain – He replied. – Well, part of it, actually. I'm hoping to do some important research on it – At that, Podrick rolled his eyes at Sam for some reason. – Trust me, it's gonna change the way we see Kaijus forever…

-Yes, yes, Samwell, I'm pretty sure miss Stark doesn't want to be bored by your wild theories – Podrick cut him off once again, and this time it was Sam who rolled his eyes.

-But Kaijus are amazing, aren't they? – Sam said, dreamily, and Arya glared at him (though he didn't notice) – I really wish to see one alive and up close one day.

-No, you don't – Sansa said again, without facing him, in the same quiet voice. – Trust me.

His face fell again and this time the elevator stood in that same awkward silence until it had reached Arya, Sansa and Mormont's destination.

-Well, me must part for now – Podrick said, smiling gently, as Arya, Sansa and the Marshal exited the elevator. – The lab is further down. But we'll surely see each other again. Good luck to you all.

Sam raised his hand in a 'goodbye' motion – which didn't get a response – as the elevator doors closed. Arya turned around to see herself in the gigantic Shatterdome, and she, like the first time she ever entered the Shatterdome, looked around in awe, impressed by the sheer vastness of it, even though she had been in there countless times. She supposed it was because she had spent five years away from it and had kind of forgotten how it looked like.

Though it did look different from what she remembered; the walls and ceiling were the same, the uniformed people running around inside it were the same, but there was one major difference: most of the Jaeger docking stations were empty. In fact, she could barely see the side of one golden and green Jaeger far off in the distance, but that was it.

-Welcome back to the Shatterdome, miss Stark – Mormont said, also looking around. – If you don't mind following me, I'll show you who you'll be working with during the operation; our remaining Jaegers.

He started walking forward and Arya and Sansa followed, though Sansa was still staying very far away from her sister and looking down; Arya didn't give a damn. For all she cared, Sansa could go blow herself up.

They were now beside the Jaeger Arya had seen earlier, and she could now see it clearly: it was mostly golden, with green details, and the visor on its helmet-like head was thin. The head looked like it had a crown on top. But the most distinguishing feature about it was its third arm, right beside his right one. Right in front of the mech, there were three men playing basketball on a small court, and all three moved in perfect synchronization – one of them was tall and well built, looking like a Viking, and had long black hair and beard; he was mostly defending the basket. The second one, who had the ball and was moving incredibly fast, had short black hair and a goatee, and was fairly thin. The last one, who was trying to take the ball from the second, had black balding hair and no beard, and while not as big or muscular as the first one, was also well-built. Arya noticed that they weirdly looked like the young, middle-aged and older version of the same man.

Marshal Mormont pointed at the golden Jaeger, with a hint of pride on his face, and said:

-The Golden Stag, France. It's piloted by the Baratheon siblings, Robert, Renly and Stannis. They use the Thundercloud formation.

Arya raised her eyebrows.

-Baratheon? – She asked, surprised. – So, they are Joffrey's relatives or something?

-Renly and Stannis are Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella's uncles – The Marshal nodded. – Robert is their father.

-Whoa – Arya replied, sincerely surprised by the information. – I didn't know Joffrey's dad was a Ranger.

-Most people don't – Mormont said. – Joffrey, surprisingly enough, didn't brag about it. As for Tommen and Myrcella, I suppose they were too shy to initiate this sort of conversation.

Arya, instead of replying, just watched the three siblings play basketball, each of them acting like they were reading the others' minds and knew exactly what they were about to do – which, in a way, because of their connection in the Drift, was exactly what was happening. Arya looked away from them and got back to following the Marshal, who was now pointing at a really, really big black Jaeger with yellow details that was being brought their way by a wheeled platform. Two people in drivesuits, a guy and a girl, walked in front of it; both had dark brown hair, and the guy had a faint stubble on his face. His eyes were blue, while the girl's eyes were dark brown. The guy looked fairly muscular, but the girl looked more well-built than him; she was slightly shorter than the guy, though.

Marshal Mormont spoke up, still pointing at the black and yellow Jaeger:

-Drowned God, Iceland. Piloted by the Greyjoy siblings, Asha and Theon. With them, the Icelandic coast was flawlessly defended for six years.

Arya took another look at the Greyjoys; they looked fairly smug and grumpy – she decided it was best to stay away from them, at least for now; they didn't look like people who liked idle talk.

The Marshal turned right, and Arya and Sansa followed suit. A few steps further a black and red Jaeger, which looked shorter than the others, came into their line of view. Two bleached-blond figures were standing beside it, talking to a group of scientists (or at least Arya assumed it were scientists, judging by their white lab coats.) The one that was closest to Mormont, Arya and Sansa turned around when the Marshal spoke up:

-You already know Black Dracarys. You remember Daenerys and Viserys, right?

Dany had approached them and was offering her hand for Arya to shake, smiling gently.

-Stark – She said in her accented voice as Arya shook her hand. – Long time no see. It's good to see you again – Her face then became sad and she stopped smiling. – I'm sorry about your brother. He was a good man.

-Thanks – Arya managed to choke out. Funny enough, she didn't even know Daenerys that well, and she was the first person to express sympathy towards her brother's death since Arya had entered the Shatterdome.

-Black Dracarys will be in charge of the operation – The Marshal said. – You, Golden Stag and Drowned God will be covering it. Now, if you'll follow your sister, she'll show you to your Jaeger.

He started to move, but Arya spoke up:

-Wait, sir, what operation? You still haven't told me what I'm supposed to do here.

He looked down and sighed before looking back at her and replying:

-We're gonna attack the Breach. Blow it up.

Arya blinked at him.

-That's not gonna work – She said, well aware of Daenerys' gaze on her. – We've tried it before, remember?

-We're gonna do it with a nuclear warhead this time – He said. – Blow everything down there up. We've got to try.

-Well… wait, where did you get a nuclear warhead from? – She said, slightly surprised.

Marshal Mormont pointed at the Baratheons, now leaning against the wall with their arms crossed and talking to each other, panting.

-See the Baratheons over there? – He said, and Arya nodded. – They can get us anything. Now, if we're done here, I really need to talk to Tarly and Payne down at the lab. You should go greet Grey Wind, Miss Stark. I believe you'll like the changes our engineers made on it.

He turned around and started to walk away from her, Daenerys following him. Arya kept looking at his back before turning to Sansa and saying:

-Well, what are you waiting for?

Sansa blushed again, but didn't look down this time, and said:

-Follow me.

She started to walk away from Arya, who did what she said and walked after her, well aware of Viserys glaring at her a few meters away.