((AN: All right, I got the computer crashing thing fixed, I think, so we're back on track. Thank you all for being patient and whatnot.
This chapter's going to seem a bit jumbled up because it was meant to be part of the last chapter. I don't know about you guys, but to me the format of the last one was a bit confusing. Thankfully, it's not going to be like that anymore. I hope this is a bit clearer. I have two more chapters to post tonight once I get them all fixed up for you, so read on and review! Or favorite! Or whatever! I'll take it all, thank you very much. :D ))
The streets of Meereen were crowded, just the way Arya Stark liked it. It made gathering information all the more easier. She could eavesdrop on any conversation without being suspicious and quickly get lost in the crowd if she was caught. To her surprise, the majority of the population loved their Khaleesi. They revered her, calling her 'mother' and worshiping her as a goddess. They would even fall to their knees and sing her praises whenever she was mentioned.
They're sheep, Arya thought to herself in disgust when she saw a small group of people fall to their knees. No one is as just and kind as they say. She must be truly terrible if she can force her people to worship her like this.
It meant nothing to Arya either way. This was where Bran told her to go and this is where she would stay until he said otherwise. The Mother of Dragons was only going to be a step to find her way home.
However, finding a way to get to that step was harder than she thought. The Unsullied that guarded the pyramid were the obstacle. Nothing got by them. Arya was impressed, but annoyed. She tried many different faces to fool them to no avail and finally decided that more unconventional methods would have to be used.
A group of cats had taken up residence in the pyramid. They came and went whenever they felt like it, as cats are known to do. They were the only ones who had the freedom to move around the pyramid without suspicion. It had been a long time since Arya used her gift on anyone other than Nymeria, but it was like dancing. You never forgot how.
She slipped into the mind of an orange tomcat and went on the prowl. The Unsullied were everywhere, but they were more relaxed than the ones outside. There were even hallways left unguarded for hours at a time. When she mapped it out, she realized that the path they held would take her straight to the Khaleesi's rooms. Arya caught only a glimpse of the fabled woman once before a tiny man shooed the tom cat away. She was always surrounded by what looked to be members of a council, not true soldiers like the Unsullied. Two of the voices sounded familiar but, with the cat's hearing, Arya couldn't be completely sure.
For three days, she spent most of her waking hours inside the cat, learning every nook and cranny of the pyramid and plotting out her route to the Khaleesi. When she came back to herself, she'd collapse and fall into a deep sleep. Most nights she'd be too exhausted to beg for food. A kind, old beggar that shared the dark alley by the pyramid she hid in would share his findings with her from time to time. Without him, she would've starved to death. Her only thoughts were of finding how the Khaleesi could take her home.
(If Arya paid more attention to the old man, she would notice the way he watched her carefully, trying not to be obvious with his concern. He hid the lengths he went to to protect her when she was looking through a cat's eyes. A man should scold a girl for being so careless, but he would wait until she knew him for who he was. He had a feeling that a certain lovely girl wouldn't be as grateful as she should be when the truth was known.)
On the fourth day, Arya's chance came unexpectedly. It was in the night when mostly everyone but the Unsullied was asleep. The skies had opened up and let loose a heavy rain that served only to deepen the darkness of the night, but Arya was oblivious to it. She didn't notice the odd taste of the rain or the oily slickness it left on the skin.
The kind, old beggar noticed, though, and when he stood up, he wasn't the kind, old beggar anymore. He was Jaqen H'ghar. The rain was unnatural but familiar. A man had seen its like before many, many years ago. If caught unaware by it, the rain had the power to dull the senses and lure weaker men to sleep. The last time he encountered it, luck had been on his side. Jaqen had had prior warning that the man whose life he'd been sent to end would have a Warlock in his employ as protection and the Warlocks of Qarth used this kind of weather magic whenever they could. This was different, though. More powerful. The magic was coming back with the dragons, he'd been told. He didn't believe it truly until now.
Oh, what a mistake this was, following the lovely girl across the world just because a man was worried. A man should be back where he belonged, serving the Many-Faced God as he had for so many years, but he feared that he wasn't welcome there anymore. Not after what was said when the others found him packing. But time enough for second thoughts later. Now a man had to get the lovely girl out of the rain.
Jaqen shook Arya to wake her, but found, to his disgust, that she wasn't sleeping. She had slipped away into the cat again. His knowledge of her ability was the one secret he let her keep. Not even his brothers and sisters in the guild knew what she was capable of. At first, a man had been impressed, but now he was annoyed. He would have to carry the girl.
The rain wasn't just falling outside, it was falling inside as well. It seeped through the walls and fell through the cracks in the ceiling. The orange tomcat wasn't affected the way the humans around him were. He was only dismayed at the thought of having to lick himself clean of the strange water later. Arya made the cat step over the unconscious body of one of the Khaleesi's handmaidens. What was happening? The cat's senses sharpened the nauseating smell of the water and it took all she had not to flee back to her own body. She had to see what if there was any danger to the Khaleesi. If anything happened to her, it would take Arya all the more longer to get home.
The hall that led to the Khaleesi's rooms was dry. No water fell from the ceiling or seeped from the walls. Arya spied a man in a dark robe at the other end, walking slowly to the Khalessi's door. In his hands he carried a wicked looking blade that obviously had only one purpose- death. As a cat, she could do nothing, but as a girl?
Arya rushed back to her body. Her eyes snapped open and locked onto Jaqen's. She didn't pause, didn't stop to wonder what the man was doing there in the alley with his arms around her as if to pick her up. She pushed away from him and drew Needle.
"Jaqen, the Khaleesi," she cried breathlessly as she ran past him to the pyramid. "Please." A man needed nothing more to get him to follow. He ran after her, drawing his own blades.
The Unsullied on guard weren't asleep, but they hardly reacted as the two ran past them. Later, they would say the only thing they saw were shadows moving faster than anything they'd ever seen before. Down the hallways they flew, so fast their feet barely touched the floor. Arya led the way through the route she memorized from the tomcat, never once stopping. Up the stairs, through the slick hallways, and then, finally, through the doors of the Khaleesi's chambers.
The Mother of Dragons held a knife that was better suited for cutting cheese maybe, but it was all she had. The only fear she felt was betrayed by the slight tremor of her hand.
Arya acted as the man in the robe raised his own blade. She sunk iNeedle/i into the man's back, twisting the blade to make it a death wound, but the man was gone. She heard a sound at the open balcony and turned. The man was there, his dark blue lips drawn back in a hiss. His arm drew back and he let something loose. Something shiny and sharp. She could only watch stupefied as it flew end over end toward her.
Jaqen lunged at her, pushing her out of the way of the blade, but he was too late. Arya felt it hit her shoulder and a wave of agony tore through her. Poison. It had to be if it hurt this much. In the distance, she heard the Khaleesi call for help. The only thing she could focus on at the moment, though, was Jaqen's worried face above her's. Why was he worried? If he wasn't worried, he was sad. She wanted to ask him what it meant, but her world faded into darkness.