Also known as three times Arya and the Hound end in silence.
1.
She's skipping stones across the lake whilst she waits for the Hound to relieve himself somewhere off the road. The tiny pebbles bounce, three or four times before sinking into the water. Jon and Robb had taught her how to hold the little rocks between her thumb and forefinger and then hurl them sideways so they tumbled and rolled over the water. Robb had been able to skip a stone all the way to the other side of the lake in the Wolfswood. She'd almost done it once but her rock had sunk two skips away from the bank.
Hearing the Hounds footsteps returning she picks up her last rock. A heavy one. Maybe she could skip this one all the way to Kings Landing and knock Joffrey's pretty little head off. She heaves her arm back and is about to throw when another stone shatters the surface of the water.
She turns to see the Hound standing behind her.
"Useless games" he growls and drops the rock he was holding in his other hand.
Arya wants to laugh at him. Call him stupid and mock his throw. Instead she picks up a pebble and walks to him.
"The rock was too big." She says and hands him the pebble. He glares at her and throws the pebble away.
"Bugger off little wolf girl or I'll throw the next one at your head." He starts walking back to Stranger but Arya picks up another pebble and tucks it in his hand. For a moment when her hand touches his she notices the roughness, his big hands are calloused from the sword much like her fathers were.
"Grip it between your finger and your thumb and throw it. Like a side swing of an axe or sword." she instructs.
He glares at her but faces the lake and flings the pebble. It skips three times before sinking.
For an instant the corner of his mouth turns up slightly and she finds her own face betraying her. They watch the ripples settle in the water and when the surface is as still as stone he grunts.
"Useless games." He repeats and walks back to Stranger.
2.
"A drink for me and my son here" he bellows. The serving girl is a large woman who hurriedly gives him his wine but takes one look at Arya and scoffs.
"This ones too young for wine, I'll water down some ale." She says.
"Ha! And charge me for it full. Bugger off woman." He growls at her.
Arya sits there staring at her empty cup. She's not thirsty or hungry anyway. Not for food at least. She listens to the men about the tavern talk. There's a sheep herder with no sheep, a singer plucking at a harp in the corner, an old man with a cane and a cat and several young squires sit talking at the center table. Their knights are most likely in the back rooms with some girls.
"Tickled her silly he did. The old girl had no idea where Beric was but sung like a bird anyway!" A blond-haired squire who was missing one tooth laughed. Another one with a crooked nose joined in "I heard she promised him her daughters. The old man looked at her and said if they look like their mother he'll have to put them down."
Arya glared at them but they paid her no mind. They took turns mimicking the woman's cries. Without her realizing, her hand now rested on the dagger at her waist.
"Easy wolf girl." The Hound said.
"They'd scream like girls if the rats tried to eat them through," she snarled at him and went back to glaring at the squires. The Hound looked at her and creased his brow.
"More wine!" he yelled loudly, loud enough to attract the attention of the squires. The Hound turned in his chair and glared at them with his hand on the pommel of his sword. "It's too loud in here. A man can't enjoy his wine in quiet." He lifted his chin at the squires who all suddenly seemed to find the wood of the table more interesting.
The serving woman brought him more wine and wordlessly he filled Arya's cup, ignoring the look the woman gave him. They drank in silence.
3.
"Why do you hate your brother so?" Arya asked the Hound one day, when she'd gotten up enough courage and was sitting far enough away from him he couldn't swipe her with his sword.
"Elder brothers and sisters are sometimes curses for the younger ones," he remarked "Don't you hate your lady sister or do you miss her like you miss your headless dad?" Ignoring his barb Arya paused at the thought of her sister. It would have been a year since she'd seen her or maybe longer. She would not approve of the things she'd done and of the killing.
"It was fun to tease her." She could have said a lot more but stopped because she knew the Hound wanted to hear. He was pretending not to care, instead he kept his eyes on the fire and turned the sausages, but he'd been turning the same sausage for several minutes now and hers was being burnt.
"The little toad Joffrey enjoyed teasing her too." The Hound said. His voice was flat and she couldn't tell if he was goading her again.
"Not like him". Sometimes she hated her sister, but she reserved the much greater hate for the real monsters such as those on her list.
"She's the only blood I have left." Arya realised. Well, her and Jon but he was on the Wall and had a new set of brothers now. She felt bad that she didn't think of Sansa as often as she did Jon. The good memories had been hard to find since Kings Landing and the road and Harrenhall.
Sometimes they'd sneak into the kitchens to steal lemon cakes. Arya would be the lookout and Sansa would wrap as many cakes as she could carry in her dress (and Arya would remark that at least a dress was good for something) and they'd take them back to their chambers or share them with Bran and Rickon.
One day when Arya was sick after she'd been riding all morning in the rain, Sansa had sung her a song about lemon cakes to ease her sleep. Arya had been shaking with the sweats at the time and later told Sansa she didn't remember her singing her stupid song. But sometimes when she was sick like that, when she couldn't stop shaking she'd remember her sister's voice and the way it seem to heal her.
"If the talk is to be believed she's a Lannister now." He spat his words out and stabbed hard at a sausage.
"She'd never marry the imp." Arya stated.
"Maybe she didn't get to choose."
"We could take the Kings Road and find out." The thought drifted on the wind between them.
He handed her a sausage and a wedge of cheese and they ate in silence, listening to the dull cackle of the fire.
In the morning though they kept walking east down the High Road.
