This is a chapter that doesn't exist in the books, but I figured would be a pretty good one to include since the departure of the royals from Winterfell isn't exactly covered. We only know that they departed the same day Tyrion and Jon went north to the Wall, so I figured that an Arya chapter that occurs right after the Jon chapter would make the most sense to write. This chapter comes before 'GOT Tyrion II' for those of you following along with the books.

Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I claim any ideas, places, or characters from the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series. Cheers

The day had finally come for the king and his family to leave Winterfell, meaning that Ayra would be travelling along with her father and Sansa to the capital. She would miss Winterfell, but up until that morning, Arya couldn't have been any more ready to leave, especially if that meant that she could explore all the places that they would see as they rode down to King's Landing.

But today, Arya lacked the excitement that she had once been so full of, and was quite sad. I wish Bran was coming with us. Her little brother still had not moved since his fall. She had visited him twice, and twice she cried after doing so.

And then there was Jon's goodbye to her. Why does he have to go to the stupid Wall anyways? Arya was unable to understand why Jon couldn't simply come with her to King's Landing, or stay with Robb in Winterfell. To stay with his family. But Jon had gone off north with uncle Benjen and the Queen's funny brother nonetheless. Arya had watched them leaving, holding back the tears in her eyes as she did so.

"Arya!" She heard her father calling for her from a distance away, even over all of the noise that was occurring in the yard. Arya had been busy searching for a good place to hide Needle on the trip down. She had been able to find a good spot place in the wagons, so as not to alert anyone, especially Sansa and Septa Mordane.

"Coming!" Arya gave a nod at her handiwork before streaking off towards the voice of her father, Nymeria hot on her heels. She dodged one way then another, avoiding a great number of men who were carrying a great variety of things. Most of them were the king's men, and most of the things belonged to the Queen. Arya found it all unnecessary.

Finally, she came up to her father, who was standing near the South Gate alongside of Jory Cassel and Olyvar. He looked down and spotted her. "Ahh, there you are. Your septa has been looking for you."

"If you had told me that in the first place, I wouldn't have come to you." She grew soft smiles from Father and Jory, but an audible snicker from her cousin, who was attempting to hide it. Arya was glad that Olyvar would be on the trip with them. She shuttered to think what it would be like just having Sansa along.

After Father shot Olyvar a silencing look, he turned back to Arya. "You still have to go to your lessons, sweetling. No matter how much you hate them." Arya frowned at her father's response. Even though he always looked guilty, the routine had been established; whenever Arya missed her lessons, she would be lectured by her mother, then sweetly talked to by her father. It was an annoying pattern to you.

"Uncle, can't Arya miss her lessons for the day?" Arya beamed as Olyvar attempted to come to her rescue. "We are leaving today, and she won't be back in Winterfell for some time. It's quite a special occasion, you know."

"My boy, I severely doubt that Lord Stannis ever let you miss any of his lessons on Dragonstone." Father's swift response drew a sheepish look out of Olyvar. From all the things he had said about his mentor, Arya found Stannis Baratheon to be like Sansa, unable to have any fun. She was surprised that the humor hadn't been driven out of Olyvar. He would have had more fun here in Winterfell.

"Now, Arya." Arya's attention turned back to her father. "I don't want to have to hear from your septa that you've been skipping your lessons while we are travelling south. Understand?"

"Yes, Father." Arya said, annoyed that her father had been able to defeat both her and Olyvar with little effort, as well as Jory chuckling at their defeats.

"Good girl. Now, go to the wagon. We will be off soon."

"I'll go with her, uncle Eddard." Olyvar stepped towards Arya, putting his hand on her shoulder and looking back at Father. "I have something to discuss with my men anyways."

"Very well. Though I believe Robert expects you at the front with the rest of us. It won't be wise to keep the king waiting."

"Tell him that I'll make my way to the front eventually." Olyvar called back, as he and Arya had already started walking back towards the wagon. Nymeria had turned around as well, and wasn't too far ahead of the both of them. "Robert won't mind my absence too much, I'm sure."

As they walked back to the wagon, Arya took in her cousin. Everyone said that he took to the Tully hair color, but Arya thought it looked more brown than auburn. Did his father have brown hair? She knew that Olyvar's brown eyes were passed from his father, the late Lord Arryn. The sharp brown eyes that resembled those of a falcon.

She saw Olyvar check over his shoulder once or twice, and knew exactly what he was doing. He finally looked down at her. "Well, did you find a good place to hide it?"

Arya felt herself blush. "How did you find out?" She hissed at him, in barely a whisper.

"I saw you holding it this morning. I knew right away." She gave an annoyed look in response to his grin. "Come on, don't be like that. This means we can play together on the way down the Kingsroad."

"Except Septa Mordane will only take it away from me." Arya said begrudgingly. Jon had warned Arya of that fact before giving Needle to her, and implored her to hide it from her septa at all times.

"Ahhh, that overbearing septa of yours. That is a problem." Arya laughed. Olyvar always took her side when it came to Septa Mordane. She suspected that Olyvar had a dislike for the septa ever since she scolded him for interrupting Arya and Sansa's lessons so they could come and play during his last visit. "Well, we'll have to find a way around that somehow."

"As you say, my lord." The two of them had a laugh at her impersonation of Sansa. "Olyvar, what's the Kingsroad like?"

"What's it like?" Olyvar looked to her then up to the sky to ponder her question. "Well to start, it's bloody long. And in the North, there aren't many things to look at besides the pines and fields. The neck is full of bogs and swamps, but we did pass the ruins of an old castle on the way. I forget the name though."

"Moat Cailin?" Arya asked. She had heard the name of a keep near the Neck from talks that her father and Ser Rodrik.

"That's the one. Fairly sure, at least. Once you get south, there's a lot more to see and explore. The Trident is an amazing sight."

"Isn't that where the king won the throne from the Targaryens?" Arya recalled hearing the story from Old Nan, Robert engaging in single combat with Rhaegar Targaryen whilst numerous other battles were waged around them.

"Yup. They say that Robert caved in Rhaegar's breastplate with his warhammer, and scattered the embedded rubies into the Trident. That's why they call it the Ruby Ford these days. Ahh, here we are." They had finally made it to the wagon what would be carrying Arya, Sansa and their septa down south. "Now, be sure to stay out of trouble. At least when I'm not around."

Arya smiled. "So we can get in trouble if you're around?" He laughed, but she knew that Olyvar wouldn't tell her father a word of her planned explorations. It was more likely that the Lord of the Vale would gladly take part in them instead.

"You're going to get me in trouble, dear Arya." He ruffled her hair playfully before she swatted his hand away, both of them wearing smiles. "I have to speak with my maester. I'll be sure to have dinner with you, Sansa, and Uncle tonight." He started walking away, waving back at his cousin, which Arya returned enthusiastically.

Rhaegar's rubies. The thought of exploring the Ruby Ford was almost unbearable for Arya. Her excitement was renewed, and she couldn't wait to explore all the Kingsroad and the south could offer. While she was lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Sansa climb into the wagon alongside of her.

"What are you so happy about?" She asked suspiciously.

"Oh, just something Olyvar told me about the Kingsroad."

A/N: Ahh, mischievous little Arya. I figured that it would be good to involve Olyvar as a motivator to Arya's behavior, simply because he's still a kid too and wants to have just as much fun as her (and when you've been Stannis' ward, you need all the fun you can get ;) )

Thanks again for the reviews you guys. I'm happy that this project is actually building a lot of steam and support. It's fun and challenging rewriting the series whilst still maintaining as much of the canon as possible. I'm worried I might diverge a bit when we come to ACOK territory, but we'll cross that bridge when it comes.