Hello there! First of all I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful reviews and for the follows and favorites, they really make me happy! :D

Also I'd like to apologize for the ridiculous delay. In addition to the lack of time, apparently my muse decided to go on vacation and left me with a major author's block, but I think she's back now. :P

Now on to the chapter!

The sunlight had long gone and the moon was shining bright on the night skies. Gendry tossed on the ground and found himself unable to sleep, despite the tiredness. He turned to face Arya, who was sleeping deeply by his side, and couldn't help but smile as he watched her. He had been worried about what they might face until finally reaching Saltpans, where they were going to find a ship to the Free Cities, but they had no trouble so far. They had been traveling for eight days now, and he was feeling extremely tired and sore all over from the intense horse riding. They had decided to make only brief stops in the beginning of their journey, so that they could get as far as possible from the inn in case someone decided to go after them. He was happy though, and excited to start a new life with Arya, in a new place, far away from Westeros and its constant troubles.

They had worked hard in the past few years, and the coin they had was enough for two passages to Braavos. Arya's former dancing master was from Braavos, and she was very fond of the idea of living there. "I can find a way to resume my lessons and become as skilled in sword fighting as I want to be, and you can find a smithy and make swords for the Braavosi. I'm sure there's a lot of work for you there," she had said happily, and he agreed.

Gendry thought back in the day they had departed from the inn. Hot Pie had helped them to prepare everything for the journey, which included the provisions – a good amount of bread, sausages, salted meat, hard cheese, water and wine. They left once everyone was sleeping, so that the others only would find them missing in the next morning. Gendry had had a hard time trying to convince Arya not to do anything against Hannah. Arya was fuming, and he was sure she would cause a lot of damage if Hannah happened to cross her way that day. Eventually he convinced her she had to keep pretending she hadn't heard Hanna's conversation with Pate – that was the name of the drunken man – and that she didn't know anything about his intentions.

Gendry finally felt his eyelids start to close and he was just drifting off when Arya all but jumped to a sitting position, panting. Her eyes were wide open, and she took a hand to her mouth, as if tasting something.

"Arya, what happened? Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?"

She turned to look at him, her eyes confused.

"Nightmare? No, not really… It was a… I don't know what it was. It was a dream, but at the same time it was very real, but it couldn't be real, could it?"

"What did you dream about?"

She stared at him, as if unsure whether she should tell him about her dream or not, but then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, as if trying to remember everything.

"I was a wolf, and there were other wolves with me, I had a pack. We were together, and we were hunting, and then we sensed the smell of men, of evil men. We tracked them down and we found them in horses, and they were riding in the same path you and I rode two days ago. I knew who they were. One of them was Pate, he seemed to be the leader. As for the others… I don't know their names, but I know their faces. They lived in the village and some of them used to go to the inn."

"Why would you dream with them?"

"I don't know…"

"What else happened?"

"We killed them. All of them."

"You… killed them?"

"Yes. I led the attack. I knew what they were doing and where they were going, and we killed them. All of them. I still can taste their blood in my mouth…"

Gendry was shocked, but he knew violent dreams weren't something new to Arya.

"It was just a dream, Arya."

"Was it? I don't know why, but I feel relieved now, as if we didn't need to worry anymore about being followed."

"You think it was true? How?"

"I don't know, I can't explain…"

There was a long silence. Arya was gazing down at her hands, her brows furrowed. Gendry would give anything to know what she was thinking, but he didn't ask. And he didn't need to, because Arya spoke again.

"There's something I never told you."

She raised her eyes to him, and he knew she was ready to tell him whatever it was. He wanted to know, but at the same time he was afraid to ask. But he gave her a questioning look nonetheless.

"Do you remember when we heard about the Red Wedding and what happened to my brother and my mother then?"

"How could I forget?" he said softly.

"A couple weeks before we heard the news, I had a dream. I was a wolf then too, and I dreamed that I found my mother's body in a river," her voice trailed off, and her eyes watered, but she shook the tears away and continued. "She was naked, and she had a big gash on her neck. I pulled her from the river and placed her on the shore."

The tears were falling freely now, and Gendry took her hands in his, in a soothing gesture. He understood what she had just told him. When they learned about the Red Wedding, they also learned how her mother had died. Someone had cut her throat, and her naked body had been thrown into a river. What Arya was telling him was that she had seen her mother's dead body – in the exact state it was supposed to be – in a dream even before she knew she was dead.

"It was the most disturbing dream I had ever had, and it did seem real, but I tried to convince myself otherwise. I thought she was alive, and I wanted to find her, and I couldn't even consider the possibility of her being dead."

He nodded understandingly.

"So you think the dream you just had was the same kind?"

"Yes, I do."

Gendry considered the idea. It must be truth.

"That means Pate changed his mind after we left and, instead of leaving and bringing his men later, he decided to gather men from the village to come after us, to save time."

"Probably. Who knows what tale he told them, but whatever it was, he probably promised them they would have a reward from the queen."

"I never thought there would be people in that village capable of doing us harm."

"The ones I saw in the dream... I never liked them. But it doesn't matter anymore. I think we're safe now," she said, a small smile flowering on her lips.

Gendry laid on the ground again and pulled her softly to him, holding her protectively. He kissed her forehead as she made herself comfortable, snuggling into him. She quickly drifted back to sleep, and he did the same.

The next night, they agreed to make their stop earlier than usual. They had made good time since the beginning of the journey, and Arya was feeling at ease now. After last night, she couldn't bring herself to worry about their safety anymore. She was sure that the only threat was gone, and now they could travel without worries.

They had supper, and then laid down together next to a tree, their cloaks beneath them. As soon as she laid on the ground, Gendry pulled her to him, as usual, wrapping his arms around her, and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. Her back was pressed against his chest, and she could feel his breathing tickling her neck.

She wasn't asleep yet, and she couldn't help but wonder if Gendry was. But before she could ask him, she felt his lips touching her earlobe, which sent shivers through her body. He started kissing and nibbling at her neck, and she gasped. His right hand had found their way beneath her shirt and now he was stroking her breast. Arya moaned loudly and pressed her body further against his before shifting her position so that she was facing him. His eyes were so full of lust that she shivered again, and suddenly she found herself pushing him on his back and crawling on top of him, their lips meeting in a hungry and almost desperate kiss.

Arya hadn't realized how much she had missed this. They hadn't made love since that first time, given that their attentions had been focused on running away. They had been traveling for nine days now, and the first eight had been so weary – and filled with worry that they might have been followed – that both of them would fall asleep instantly as soon as their bodies touched the ground by night.

And now the burning need came crashing, and Arya could tell that the intensity of his need matched her own. Both his hands were in her breasts now, stroking them vigorously as she grinded herself on him, relishing the feeling of his already throbbing hardness pressed up against her, their lips still locked.

And then Arya pulled away, breaking the kiss. She straddled his hips and looked down at him, her breathing fast and ragged. His hands left her breasts and grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it up. She helped him and was about to pull it over her head when they heard a noise coming from the woods. She put her shirt back and got to her feet in a blink of an eye, and Gendry followed suit.

"What was that?" he asked, looking at the direction where the sound came from.

"I don't know," she said, trying to see something, but all she could see was lots of trees obscured by the night.

There was a moment of silence and they looked at each other, and then the sound came again.

And it was followed by a howl, an unmistakable wolf howl.

Arya's eyes widened, and when she looked at Gendry again, he was pale.

"Was that what I think it was?"

"If you're thinking of wolves, then I'm afraid you're right," she said. For some reason the prospect of having wolves next to them didn't scare her in the least. But she couldn't say the same about Gendry.

"I don't like this. Arya, let's get away from here, they may still be far and-"

"No. Gendry, it's okay," she said, and with that she was walking forward, following the little sounds that only increased.

"Arya! Please, Arya, get back!"

He followed her and grabbed her arm. She turned around to face him, and she could see he was utterly terrified.

"Gendry, it's okay. Trust me."

"Arya, please… Let's find a safe place," he urged, and she could hear the panic in his voice.

"It is safe, Gendry. Please, trust me."

She stared firmly into his eyes, trying to show him she was certain of what she was doing. He sighed and finally let go of her arm, and she resumed walking towards the sound. He followed her closely, even though she knew he was frightened to death.

He's afraid, but he's following me nonetheless. She smiled at the thought.

Suddenly she stopped. She could hear the soft paw steps coming at her direction, and it didn't take long for her to see the wolf.

She heard Gendry gasping behind her, and she couldn't blame him. It was not an ordinary wolf. It was a huge, majestic female direwolf.

And Arya knew her well.

She couldn't help the tears that started flowing down her face, and she brought both hands to her mouth, and then she was crying and laughing at the same time. She stepped forward and so did the direwolf, and in the next second she was nuzzling Arya's face and licking her tears.

"Where have you been, my friend?" Arya asked before burying her face into Nymeria's soft furs. "You've grown!"

She suddenly remembered Gendry and looked back at him, and he was smiling fondly at her, any trace of fear gone.

"So that's Nymeria," he said. It wasn't a question.

Arya just smiled and nodded, and beckoned him to come closer, and he did. Nymeria turned her attention to him, licking his face the same way she had done to Arya, and he laughed.

"She likes you," Arya said, drinking at the adorable sight.

"She barely knows me," he said, growing confident and petting the direwolf behind her ears.

"She knows that I love you, and she can sense what you feel for me as well," she smiled again, and he grinned.

"I have no idea how is that, but there's no denying you two have a very special and strong bond, otherwise she wouldn't have found you."

"Yes, she found us… and she has saved us. Now I know it was her in my dream… in both dreams. I can feel it."

Nymeria followed them back to their little camp, and settled herself on the ground, a few trees away from Arya and Gendry. The wolves from her pack were nearby, but they kept their distance. Their presence made Gendry uneasy though, and she could feel his tension when they were lying again on the ground.

"You don't have to be afraid, Gendry. I thought you were okay with Nymeria already."

"Yes, I'm completely okay with her, but what about the others?"

"They won't hurt us. She's their leader, and she's a direwolf. They know better than to do anything that might displease her."

Gendry just looked at her and sighed, frowning slightly. She hugged him tight and placed a reassuring kiss on his jaw.

"Don't worry, she will protect me. She will protect us," she whispered before closing her eyes and letting the sleep take over her.

There's probably only one more chapter left, maybe two. Let's see how it goes. :)