Song: Chick Habit by April March (just because if this was a modern AU this would be the ultimate Arya/Fianna ass kicking theme)
Fianna
Fianna didn't sleep a wink that night. Well, she thought it was night. It was hard to tell with how dark the crypts were.
When she began to cramp up sitting on the cold ground, she stood and began to pace anxiously around the cell. As she walked, she was internally panicking. What if the girl was an imposter, tasked with tormenting her and filling her with false hope?
Finally, after what felt like years, she heard the sound of footsteps echo throughout the deadened halls. Surprisingly, Fianna wasn't surrounded by other prison cells - which confused her. She knew that Tywin had taken hostages after he fought Roose Bolton's force months before. Perhaps they had been kept in a different area to her.
The flicker of a light began to flood through the hall and Fianna desperately stuck her head up to the bars of the cell door, trying to see out.
A face appeared suddenly, which frightened her enough to cause her to take a few steps back. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion as the unknown man reached down and opened up her cell door.
He wasn't old by any means, and he had a certain handsomeness about him. Even if his hair was long and shaggy, with a random streak of blonde to the side of his head.
"Who the fuck are you?" Fianna asked defensively, taking a couple of steps back.
"A man who has come to save you," he replied, with an accent to his voice she couldn't decipher.
Fianna was mistrusting at first, until Arya's head poked around and revealed herself to Fianna, "come on let's go!"
Fianna sighed with relief at the sight of the youngest Stark girl and rushed quickly out after that. Her longsword was taken somewhere in Harrenhal, but Fianna reckoned her ancestors would forgive her for leaving it behind.
As they rushed outside, it was quiet. Too quiet, in her opinion, and Fianna worried again then if this was all just a ruse.
"What now?" Fianna asked in a rushed tone, hunched slightly as she kept glancing around for any guards.
"I have rope," Arya held out her hand to show the wound up line of rope she held, "we're going to scale the wall."
"Fuck," Fianna swore, "you don't do things by half do you?"
Fianna followed Arya as she knew where she was going. They reached the wall then, and Fianna jumped when she noticed two young boys, one being around her age, standing next to a set of stone stairs.
"Finally," the rather thinner one complained, shrugging off the wall he had been leaning against and uncrossing his arms from his chest.
"Who are these two?" Fianna asked curiously, gesturing between the two strangers.
"They're friends, don't worry," Arya explained, and Fianna nodded her head to them, awkwardly smiling in politeness.
They trailed up the of stairs to get to the top of Harrenhal's walls, crouched low. Sentries were positioned on each corner of the walls of Harrenhal, but with it being dark and with the space they had left undefended, they could have slipped away easily, if they're careful. The guards were prepared for an attack, but not for an escape.
"Hot Pie will you come on!" Arya complained, looking down the staircase in exasperation.
"We're going to get caught!" He whispered loudly back, causing Arya to groan lowly and fly back downstairs quickly to convince him, the other boy followed after her.
Fianna was alone then, she hadn't a notion where the man with the white streak had gone to, which made her uneasy.
She distracted herself by starting to tie the rope to the wooden railing next to the stairs so they could scale down safely. She had been so focused on the intensity of the knots she hadn't noticed a silent creeping figure coming from behind her.
"Who goes there?!" He yelled suddenly, and Fianna could see Arya, Hot Pie and Gendry's head snapped up in panic. She widened her eyes at Arya and jerked her head to the side slightly to get her to leave while she wasn't seen yet.
Fianna stood and held her hands in the air, dropping the rope and turning to the sentry, "Sorry, dear. I saw an opportunity."
"The prisoner is escaping!" He shouted suddenly, alerting the other sentries. Fianna responded by curling her hand into a fist and sending it sailing towards the man's throat, which knocked the wind out of him.
As he reached up and clutched his neck, trying to catch his breath again, Fianna lifted her elbow and knocked it into his face, as she was taught. Fianna was rarely ever going to be able to match a male opponent in terms of height and mass, so she was taught how to defend herself using the strongest parts of her body.
Her elbow had hit his nose with a sickening crunch, blood immediately starting to spurt out of it. While he was distracted with this, Fianna reached out and wrapped her hand around the hilt of his sword, ripping it out and sending it sailing into his stomach.
She whirled around then as the creaks of footsteps on wood sounded out, to see two more coming towards her. But instead of running away, she marched forward to meet them with the stolen sword in her hand.
Fianna lifted her leg and kicked out at one, sending him soaring backwards. The other guard had his sword drawn too, but with every swing he flung Fianna caught it.
Finally she began to swing back and he was forced to defend, Fianna buried the sword into his neck the first chance she got.
As the other man was ready to jump her, she raised her new sword again to continue her onslaught but stopped at the feeling of steel against the side of her head.
"Drop it," a voice called out from behind her.
Fianna squeezed her eyes shut, cursing herself. She had no choice but to drop the sword and yield, but the sword did not leave the side of her head.
"You won't kill me," she stated.
"There are things worse than death, my girl," he replied, reaching out and gripping her by her long locks of hair. Fianna cried out as her head was pulled backwards.
"How did you escape?" He demanded in a shout, dragging her by the hair to face him.
"Some dumb cunt left the door unlocked," she smirked at him through the pain. He grunted angrily and dragged her back down the stairs, Fianna was sure to have bruises as her limbs battered against everything nearby.
Even though her eyes watered with pain, she still looked desperately around when they were back at ground level, making sure Arya wasn't caught.
They were no where to be seen, thank the gods. Fianna would take a beating from the guards over Arya getting killed for trying to break her free, any day.
Arya
She cursed Hot Pie out for an hour straight, blaming it all on him and his cowardliness. She had sacrificed her second name to free Fianna and escape to her brother's camp, and Hot Pie had gone and ruined it. Who knows, if they had been up there when Fianna was found maybe they'd have been able to fight the guards off long enough to escape.
Arya cursed herself too for not just leaving him behind, but she knew she just couldn't do that. When she heard the guards capture Fianna, Gendry dragged them all behind some conveniently placed barrels, and they didn't dare move until the coast was clear.
"What am I going to do?" She asked Gendry in a panic, scraping a hand through her dirty hair.
"Relax, Arya, we will figure it out," he assured her, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked uncomfortable doing so, and Arya reckoned he never had to comfort a girl before.
When the next day dawned, as usual she was due to fill the cups of the war council.
"Kings Landing will fall an hour after Stannis lands his force," the loud one was speaking. Arya wondered where he had mustered the courage to speak to Tywin in such a manner. "It's not too late for King Joffrey and Cersei and the court to ride west to safety."
"Surrender the iron throne?" Tywin drawled sarcastically.
"Better than seeing their heads mounted on the city gates! Stannis will execute than all!"
Good, Arya thought bitterly. Oh, if the Gods could hear her thoughts.
"No," Tywin disagreed, "a king who runs will not be king for long. He's a Lannister, he'll stand and fight."
Tywin stood up abruptly and paced to the fireplace, looking into the fire with such an intensity, Arya wondered which was stronger - him or the flames.
"Stannis two days from the capital and the wolf at my doorstep."
A wolf is closer than your doorstep.
"Scouts assured us Robb Stark remains North of Ashemark-"
"The last time the scouts assured us of Robb Stark's movement, he lured us into a trap. He's bound to have heard word of the Bua girl being captured, if only he'd become a man and march to take her back. But no, he rests entirely too close to Casterly Rock," Tywin ranted, visible signs of stress on his face. It appeared war was getting even to the strongest of the lords.
"He sent a splinter force to recapture Winterfell, the Greyjoys have done us a great favour. Stark won't risk marching on Casterly Rock."
"He's a boy and he's never lost a battle. Unless he marches on Casterly Rock as retaliation for the destruction of the Bua force, he'd have risked anything at any time had we not captured the girl. Now there's no telling what he'll do."
Tywin turned and leaned against the fireplace for a moment before pushing off and returning to his chair at the head of the table.
"We'll ride at nightfall," he spoke and Arya's eyes and mouth widened considerably in surprise. "I want a full nights march before he knows we're on the move. Clegane, you'll maintain a garrison here at Harrenhal. Track down this brotherhood and destroy them. The girl has proven a good servant she'll stay on with you."
"And what of the Bua girl, my lord?" Clegane replied, and Arya looked to Tywin expectantly for an answer.
"She's coming with us, I intend to marry her to my son Tyrion instead. I figure it would be more of an insult to the wolf pup were we to marry the girl to an imp rather than a highborn lord."
Arya slowly started to back out of the room as their talks came to an end. She needed a plan and she needed one now.
She couldn't find Jaqen anywhere, and when she did - night had fallen and he was just returning from a patrol.
"A girl owes one more name, the Red God demands it," Jaqen requested of her, which she was more than happy to give.
"How long after I give you a name does it take you to kill someone?" She asked desperately.
"A minute, a day, a month. Death is certain, time is not." He replied cooly.
"Tywin. He's taking his army to attack my brother, I need him dead right now!" She demanded.
"This a man cannot do."
"You promised you'd help me!"
"Help was not promised, only death. There must be others, give a name. Any name."
"Jaqen H'gar." She replied in a flat tone.
"A girl gives a man his own name?" He replied incredulously. "This is no joking thing."
"I'm not joking, a man can go kill himself."
"Unname me," he threatened.
"No."
"Please."
"Okay, I will."
"Thank you."
"If you help me and my friends and Lady Fianna escape." She smiled smugly.
"If I do this thing, a girl will obey." He conceded.
"A girl will obey."
"A girl will walk through the gates with the others at midnight."
Robb
"Still no word? We've sent a dozen ravens," Robb complained to Lord Bolton. He was holding a council meeting, discussing everything from Winterfell to Harrenhal.
"Still no word," Roose informed him grimly, "but my bastard and Tiernan Bua have just departed Baelfort. They'll soon be at Winterfell. Once they retake Winterfell-"
"Theon has my brothers," Robb interjected as a stark reminder.
"He wouldn't dare hurt the boys, they're his only hope of escaping the North with his head," Roose assured him.
"Send word to Tiernan and your son, any ironborn who surrenders will be allowed to return safely to their homes."
"A touch of mercy is a virtue, your grace," Roose replied, mildly appalled at the suggestion, "too much."
"With the exception of Theon Greyjoy," he added. "He betrayed me. And we will hunt him down wherever he goes."
"Your pardon, your grace," they were interrupted by the entrance of Ser Mick, Fianna's knight.
"Do, come in, Ser," Robb said politely, rubbing his forehead with pent up stress. The other lords took this as a cue to exit the tent and leave their king to it.
"How are you?" Mick asked politely, which prompted an outburst from Robb.
"How am I?! I've sent my mother away for sending the woman I love away, who's being held a hostage by my greatest enemy and if men are to be believed, she will be wed to him. The Bua force was slaughtered. The Lannisters have my sisters. The man I considered my closest friend has seized my home and my brothers. I'm fighting a war and I don't know whether I should march and save the woman I love or my brothers or my sisters."
When he finished his rant, he rested his elbows on the table and began to rub his eyes harshly. His face had reddened from the outburst and Ser Mick was silenced, ashamed for even asking.
"You've got a lot of shit on your plate," he whistled finally, causing Robb to look at him in confusion for his lack of formality. "But the question is, what are you going to do about it?"
Robb shook his head, entirely at a loss as his gaze was pinned to the map of Westeros that he had looked over so many times, he knew every nook in the kingdom's outlines.
"I have to get her back."
Theon
The smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils and made his stomach heave with every whiff. They were outside, and still the smell of the burnt bodies were overpowering.
They got lucky with the farmer's boys, they were similar in age to Bran and Rickon. Their bodies would be too badly burnt for anyone to properly distinguish that they weren't actually the young lords.
He stood with his arms crossed over his chest as his men hauled the bodies by rope into the air, for all to see. It was beside the gate too so that would be a welcoming sight for anyone who was to visit.
He tossed a gold coin to Dagmer and muttered, "give that to the farmer."
Dagmer only grunted in response, shoving it in his pocket. Theon wasn't even sure he would give him the gold coin, knowing him - he wasn't the most respectful towards his prince.
"Have the ravens been sent?" He asked.
"Yes, your grace," Dagmer replied.
"Good, inform the maester than when the birds return they are to be killed. We don't want word of this getting out to anyone." Theon nodded his head towards the burnt and charred bodies.
"Don't want the whole North after your head?" He asked cheekily, smirking at him to which Theon glared in response.
I, Theon Greyjoy, heir to Balon Greyjoy and Prince of the Iron Islands, hereby declare Robb Stark an oathbreaker. From whence he swore an oath to Walder Frey, Lord of the Twins, to marry his daughter in exchange for crossing the Twins and men, the oath has been proved void. A document discovered has detailed that King Robb Stark has been betrothed to Fianna Bua, Lady of Baelfort, signed and sealed by their lord fathers, Lord Eddard Stark and Lord Cillian Bua. The oath to Walder Frey is therefore void, and Robb Stark must answer to the gods themselves - which he swore in the name of.
FINALLY AM I RIGHT?
Not much happening in this chapter but it's all to come I promise!
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!
Rhatch89 - thank you! I hope you enjoyed this one. x
Guest - ...seriously? Stop reading it then. Because this isn't going to be one of those stories where nothing dramatic happens it's a fucking GoT story. EVERYTHING in GoT is horrible and dramatic. I'm gonna write what I think is interesting and I'm not going to write the two characters getting into a relationship and being happy for chapters on end without anything happening because that's boring as fuck. If you expected this to be one where Robb and Fianna cuddle for the entire story then be off with you because I'm gonna drag them through fucking hell. It's not "pointless" drama there's meaning behind everything I write in this story. But like I said, if you don't like it and you're not into that then you're more than welcome to stop reading.
JazyBear - I loooove Fianna and Arya together I have plans for the both of them later on in the book because I just can't resist, she's like the sister Fianna never had. I can't help but love Tywin either he's an absolutely amazing character and Charles Dance portrays him perfectly! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. x
Hiimprettyawesomehowboutyou - ...oops!
asdfghjklerica - I'm glad you like it! I agree, them snogging and getting together right after is a bit boring and too fast for them I reckon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
lilnightmare17 - thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this and continue to enjoy it! x
reaganrose1315 - ahah you'll just have to wait and find out!
Otakugirl1996 - I agree I loooove Tywin's character he's probably one of the best in the series he's so complex and calculating! Tiernan will have a part to play in that but you'll have to wait and see what it is!
StarkTeller - I don't wanna solely hate Talisa because it was Robb too but like it was just really bad writing in my opinion! Her character wasn't interesting and it didn't make sense how they got together after like two conversations I mean... really. At least with Jeyne he was protecting her honour that I'd understand! And thank you for pointing that out! I know it's supposed to be 'your grace' I just messed up I get jumbled up when I have to write "your grace" or "your lord" at the end of every sentence but thank you for pointing it out x
Shannan - I know right? I couldn't wait for them two to meet. Thank you so much for your kind words!
Ellie - You were right about that, Tywin wouldn't marry Fianna. But Robb doesn't know that, of course. ;) thanks so much for your review! I hope you like this chapter love! x