COMING UP

Sansa was placed in the front of the saddle with both legs draped off to the right side of the horse. While holding on to the horn of the saddle her thumb brushed against the metal plate over it. The metal was formed to look like the helmet that Joffrey's ' Hound' wore during combat. This was the only thing that told Sansa which saddle was Sandor's.

As they road Sansa grew more relaxed, against her back was the large arm of Clegane's holding the reins. Then to her was the hard frame of the giant man. She mostly kept quite during the morning hours; catching herself falling asleep until the side of her face drifted to touch Sandor's shoulder or frame just under his chin.

To snap herself out of her sleepless daze she spoke. "Do you have any children anywhere?" She asked this question and regretted it quickly. " No you don't...you use to many dirty words to be a father."

XXXXXX

He snorted at such a question. "I am sure there might be one or two running about, but none who bare my name." He had spent his fair share of time in the whorehouse, especially in his youth when he would drink himself into oblivion and bed any whore willing to look into his face. He had at least taken pride that he never assaulted or raped a woman, unlike his monstrous brother.

He shuddered at buried thoughts of being thrown a bag of gold and told to go to this house or that to go pay for Gregor's mishaps. He recalled a time when his brother found it humorous to steal a lady's virtue and then disfigure her, making her completely worthless for a potential marriage but still alive to remember the events. One in particular Sandor had a fondness for in his youth, Lady Claudia Evenshawl. Their house was small, but her father had been an honorable man and had assisted Clegane's father on many quests. She had hair as fiery as Sansa's, but eyes that were as green as a forest and a spray of freckles ever so light upon her nose. She never casted her eyes down when speaking to Sandor, never was shy to his touch and seemed generally interested in him. It was such an interest that made her a target to his brother, and when Sandor brought the bag of gold to her house he saw the damage his own blood created. Her once angelic face was nothing more than a mangled collection of gashes, cuts and open wounds. Forest green eyes were permanently closed and crushed in, where once soft, gentle hands would reach to touch his own, were now infected stumps that oozed putrid pus through the dressing, and her womanly features cut away from her. Last, her swollen belly where his brother's bastard now grew. All that pain and torture because she offered a few kind words in his direction.

His mind was deep in such thoughts that he almost didn't notice the troop of men coming towards them. A group of no more than five, but Sandor knew there could be more. Highway robbers. Instinctively, he shoved the reigns in Sansa's hands, and his warm breath kissed her. "Stay on Stranger, if this gets bad you continue forward. Stop only at the small villages." She would feel the back of her shirt lifted and the touch his bare hands gracing her flesh. A pouch of coins was tucked into her.

XXXXXX

A full day had not passed since leaving King's Landing, which hopefully meant no ravens had been received about the runaway Stark. Sansa's eyes turned towards the Hound as he was about to dismount, a chill running through her as she felt his rough hand lift her shirt. Sansa should have felt fear, but she didn't. Her face showed slight worry but nothing more than the average man might show. Sansa was raised on the tales of Robert's rebellion. And in those tales Sandor Clegane was mentioned along with his elder brother Gregor Clegane. Maybe it was her young naive mind playing with her, but she felt safe with this Hound.

" Good Dey'!" The one of the men waved, he led the crowd of five stopping only about ten feet away from the traveling pair. The stranger's eyes scanned Sandor up and down before snapping over towards Sansa. The man grinned which showed off his rotting front teeth. This man looked sickly but well enough to be an issue. "That's a pretty little bride to be riding with a ugly mangled mess as yourself. She for sale?"

Sansa's mouth parted lightly, she wanted to inform Clegane that she was right about chopping her hair off. But now wasn't the time. Sansa held the reins and kept hushed up while the men spoke.

" Why you not on the King's road? You take that little bitch?" Other man asked.

XXXXXX

"You can't afford to fuck a pig; I highly doubt you have the coin or cock to fuck her." His voice was cool and collected and his body showed no signs of nerves being rattled. He was an experience fighter and had face far worse than the likes of road thieves.
The man ordered to collect Sansa was slightly behind them on their left. Once given the go, he raced forward only to be met with a shoed hoof to the face. His scream was garbled with the pools of blood forming from his crushed flesh. "My horse doesn't take kindly to little cunts such as you. Now step aside and go find yourself a cliff to jump off of."
Apparently the men weren't fond of his sense of humor. Immediately they attacked, wielding iron blades, daggers and axes of their own. If he had kept his sword it would have been far easier to disarm and kill them, but he was capable with the weapons he had. He wasted no time ramming his blade into the throat of the first to approach them. A spray of dark blood spurted out of his neck and painted the side of Sansa's body and face with crimson color. Sandor leaped down to his right and stood off with the one wielding the axe. Though shorter in height, the man was large in girth and large droplets of sweat pooled off from his waxy, blubbery face as he charged towards the giant.

Iron clashed as the two men grappled together. Meanwhile another snuck up to attack the Hound's back. Though smaller than the two, he was more limber in frame and fast on foot. In his hands he held a rope and as he leaped onto the Hound's back he circled the cord around his neck in attempt to strangle him.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group took the opportunity to focus his sights upon the girl. His crooked lips curled into a rotted grin as beady eyes set their sights on her. "You gonna make me a nice fortune on the slaver's block."

XXXXXX

Sansa watched all this take place before her, it wasn't till the blood spattered on her face that fear filled her. Her hands lifted to rub the blood from her eyes. When the world was viable again she saw Sandor with the wire around his neck, the man on his back holding on for dear life. The words being said to her were lost due to being focused on what was taking place next to her. Her hands rambled around over the leathers on the saddle but all of a sudden the sickly looking leader road up and grabbed her. If he had locked his arm around her waist one second sooner all hope would be lost. But it seemed all seven gods stood with the young lady. Her finger tips latched with a knife tucked into Stranger's saddle. When jerked off the black stag reflex took hold and her arm shifted with the knife in hand striking the robber right over her own shoulder through the eye. He dropped Sansa and screamed but her grip never let the knife go. Blood sprayed as the man screamed and held to his bleeding face.

Sansa hurried to her feet holding to Stranger as her eyes looked about for an exit. When she saw one she darted to the woods as fast as any deer being hunted would have. The man she stabbed fell off his horse in pain to just have the Hound's own stag jump back on its back legs and slam down with hard hooves on to the man's back breaking his spin and hushing his screams. Sansa kept on till coming to a river that forced her to fully stop. In pure panic she looked each way as if trying to wield a bridge to appear.

XXXXXX

She certainly wasted no time escaping the hell out of there. The Hound's eyes bulged with fire as he caught glimpse of her darting off. It was that sight that provided the fuel to feed his adrenaline to kick it up and to finish his attackers off. With the rope and extra weight of the man still clinging to his neck, he focused his efforts on the fat mass attempting to crack his skull with the axe. As the man's axe rose to slam down upon Sandor's head, he took the opportunity to slice him from his groin up, emptying his guts upon the forest bed. Frozen in his stance stance, the fat man's eyes rose in fear, pain, shock and eventually drained of life and his massive body collapsed down around the men.
This provided enough distraction to buck the slender one off of him, taking power of the rope, Sandor pinned the man down as he attempted to crawl away and placed the rope around his neck and pulled. The rope tore into his neck, cutting away at tendons and flesh until he nearly capitated him.

He was left alone amongest a pool of blood, guts and stench. "Fucking girl ran off!" He cursed to himself as he picked the men clean of any coin and gear her could find. Yes he gave her instructions to do so, but still that was beside the point. "Bitch has my gold, my weapons...my horse!" He continued his little stampede until coming along the body of the leader. His back crumpled and sprayed out, he turned him over to notice his own dagger impaled into the man's eye. It took a bit of a pull to eventually remove it, but alas it came loose and he sweated the blade against the dead man's clothes. "Not bad."
He realized that he would need to train her. She got lucky with this kill, but may not be so lucky with the next. Having gathered all he could, he traced their tracks down to the water. From time to time he let out a clicking noise, a code for his horse to know that he was near. He silently hoped she had stayed out of danger till he caught up with them, having no energy left to go through another fight anytime soon.

XXXXXX

Sansa has fled on foot but Stranger along with the leader's horse followed her trail to the river. They both were drinking from the river when the clicking was heard. The black stag obeyed its master and trotted back to assist him. The new one was a dusty grey hue with bright golden eyes. Sansa plopped herself down on a stump as she just looked out at the river. Blood still splattered on her face and clothes.

All the lady could hear ringing in her ears was the final cries of the man she stabbed.

When heavy footsteps were heard Sansa turned to look who it was. At this point she had come to the idea that if any of the men appeared she jumped into the river and just drift down it. But luckily it was the dark expression of Clegane that she saw. Sansa felt her face crumble when she saw him standing there with his horse trotting towards his path. Her bloody face turned so she could as quickly as possible rub the overwhelming amount of tears out of her eyes. Sansa then stood on up and started to step back from the river towards Sandor's direction.

"Your reputation was nearly put to shame back there." She told him as she controlled herself.

XXXXXX

His neck was raw and burned like the seven hells due to the rope strangling him. Aside from a sideways glance, he ignored her statement and stomped past her and towards the water's edge to dunk his head and relieve his flesh of the burn. He lingered but only for a moment before rising to his feet and looking upon her. Closing the distance between them he paused just mere inches from her. The pad of his thumb traced ever so softly across the line of her cheek, wiping away a trail of blood from her porcelain skin. He lifted her chin to meet him. "The first is the hardest, but don't believe it gets better." He broke off the connection and pulled from his side the dagger she had used to kill the man. "It is yours now." He swung the blade around to offer her the hilt. "First rule, don't be stupid and get yourself killed. Do you know how many idiots hurt or kill themselves on their own weapon? People do fucking stupid things when given a chance." He was not without blame, as he had his own close calls as a young lad, but she didn't need to know those stories.

He looked about their surroundings. "Could have at least started us a fucking fire." He mumbled as he began clearing away brush to prepare a campsite for them. "There should be some meat left from yesterday. There are berry bushes nearby, go collect some."

XXXXXX

Sansa took the blade and looked down at her blood stained clothes. She then nodded in understanding to what he was telling her. Being safe was getting harder and harder for the young lady. But what was done was done, sadly to say this wasn't the hardest day of her life.

She then made her way to the saddle bags and pulled the dark dress from the pack. "I'm going to the shallow spot first to wash off. " she informed Sandor before gathering new rags and such.

Sansa stopped for a moment and looked at the grey horse; she then picked up its reins and tied it next to Stranger. Having her own horse would be very helpful during their travels.

Once off to the shallows found behind berry bushes, Sansa stripped from the bloody clothes. Once completely naked she dipped herself into the cool waters. Nothing like the hot springs of Winterfell, but definitely not the coldest water the young Northern had been in.

Washing the blood best she could out of her clothes was not an easy task due to it being a first time experience. Once washed, she focused on her own body, washing blood and dirt off her pale freckled frame. It wasn't long before the young woman placed herself on a rock risen from the water. But she didn't dress right away. The chill in the air hitting her still wet skin made her think of Winterfell. This was the closest feeling of home she had had in years. But she knew she needed to make haste, it was just hard to pull herself away from this memory. None the less she did. Creeping back to the shore where she would start slipping back into the maroon dress while her other clothes dried over night next to the fire.

Sansa trusted Sandor to keep away, not sure as to why she trusted him, but she did. Maybe it was childish nature that still lingered within her. She then proceeded on with the berry picking. Carrying them in the skirts of her dress that she had pulled up to form a fabric skirt as she walked back to the camp they had started. Sansa's bare knees visible as she walked with her dress rose to carry the berries.

XXXXXX

She was wrong to trust so easily, but that was the fault of youth; only time will train that character flaw out of her. He trusted no one, not even himself sometimes. Keep your enemies close...and he was definitly his own enemy.

He provided her the privacy she desired. Mentally and physically he was exhausted, he could only imagine what she was going through. There was no guarantee that they will wake to meet tomorrow and it seems they were risking a huge gamble that they would make it to her brother's camp alive. No, she needed a moment of peace, which was the least he could grant her.

He heated up their meal and sat near the fire as close as he was comfortable, which wasn't really close at all. Each flicker of flame sent a tingle down his spine. Fire was the monster he couldn't conquer and it surrounded him daily.
From his bags he pulled out his secret treasure and spent his solitude holding and gazing upon it in his hands. Each little detail was embedded into his memory core, and it was a ritual he performed daily. He was not a religious man, but he knew the importance of remembering. Too many forget their past and are doomed to repeat it in their future. He refused to forget. He wasn't a being incapable of change, but he definitely never allowed the past to slide off his shoulder. He remembered it all and allowed it to fuel his desire to move closer to the death he believed he deserved.

The soft padded sounds of her weight falling upon the forest floor made his lift his sights up. Haloed in the twilight glow, her beauty looked almost supernatural. He recalled tales of fairies and forest spirits tempting men to follow them their doom. Was she that temptation? Would she guide him to that dreaded fate? Only time would unravel that mystery.

XXXXXX

Already regretting taking a bath due to the chill running through her body, she walked on over to Sandor. She motioned for him to hold out his hands for the black berries found.

" I ate a lot while picking them. " she informed him as she filled both his hands with the black berries, before letting her skirts cover her properly, then went on to sit right next to Sandor, their hips literally touching.

There was reason for this closeness though; Sandor's cloak was much thicker. Probably made of bear skin. Without permission she wrapped it over her own shoulders as she leaned against the tree trunk behind the pair.

No perfumes lingered just the fresh smell of river water was placed on her, much better than blood and sweat.

" Day one. We're not dead and now have two horses. We're coming up in the world." She stated in her commonly used monotone manner. Her hands smoothed over her knees as she brought them up a bit. Blue eyes watched the fire dance before her, but suddenly she snapped out of her daze.

" Oh! I found this! For you!" Sansa stated in a more spirited way as she shifted so she could pull something from the belt across her hips. A aloe plant, root and all.

" For your neck." She pointed at her own neck to remind him of the rope burn he had gained.

XXXXXX

He definitely felt uncomfortable with her closeness as his body tensed up as she inched into him. He didn't mind her using his cloak, he preferred the cold and usually needed very little to keep him warm. Perhaps he had a bit of the North in his blood?

As juicy berries we popped into his mouth, he just grunted acknowledgments to her ramblings. "Best stop counting your days or else you will go mad."

It was then that she exclaimed and presented him with the plants. It was a touching yet unfamiliar kindness that he was truly not accustomed too. "Ummm..." Was the word "Thank You" that foreign to his tongue? He mumbled something inaudible before taking them. He sat there for a moment, allowing the night sounds to consume the silence that fell between them.

"I'm going to sleep." He announced, breaking the moment. "You will keep watch...now that you're a cold blooded killer I trust that you won't let me die from attack." He teased, as his lips curved ever so slightly into a grin as he rose from his spot. The man actually had a funny bone to his miserable self after all.

XXXXXX

" I didn't kill that man your horse did. " she stated with her normal manner of speech returning.

" That was the last thing I saw before darting off." Sansa stated as her eyes warned from the fire and back on Sandor.

" I've never hurt anyone until today though...If possible I'd like to not make it a habit " she told him simply before her gaze drifted back towards the fire.

" How old were you? When you first...hurt someone?" She asked him this without making any eye contact at all. She didn't mean to pry but her actions today haunted her even though she knew it had to be done. If she hadn't then the man would have taken her. Raped her and then once he was done with her he would sell her like live stock. It had to be done, she had told herself this over one hundred times since it happened.

XXXXXX

He could see the guilt consume her features, twisting its roots into her heart and weaving its course through every fiber of her being. "Stop." He warned as he stood over her. The sight of her was absolutely pathetic that he felt compelled to ease her suffering.

"You have nothing to be guilty about!" He knelt down in front of her. "You've been sheltered your entire life..." He paused, running his fingers through his stringy hair as he tried to formulate his thoughts correctly. Normally he was a man of very few words and usually those words ended or started with an expletive. "I had much respect for your father. He was an honorable man...perhaps too honorable...but he never left his power consume him. However, his biggest failure was how he raised you and your sister, but at least she rebelled. You.." His finger pointed at her. "You were treated like a delicate flower. Your days were consumed with needle point and music and how to properly curtsy."

He raised his finger and tapped the spot on her chest where her heart beat. "This right here was too consumed with fairy tales of your prince and the title you will have. Dreams of surrounding yourself amongest Lords and Ladies and of all the little offspring you would spawn. Look what that did to you. Your little heart fluttered for a sadistic monster and his insane mother. Your world of castles and balls and that fucking throne was all a fucking facade. You were helpless." He moved his hand away and sighed. "If he had taught you just the basics, you could at least defend yourself without the help of a man by your side. Learn this now Little Bird, the world is an ugly place and you can't trust anyone. Not even your own family. Don't think they won't bid you off to the first person willing to give them a boost in this fucking war. You need to learn to save yourself, to defend yourself and to look out for your own well being."

Finally he rose to his feet, the fire in his eyes still roaring. "I was about seven, a year after this..." His hand touched his scarred face. "My nursemaid's son had a litter of puppies but only one survived. My father had a moment of compassion...or guilt..whichever...and allowed me to have it. Ugly son of a bitch it was, but it was mine and we bonded well. I should have known Gregor would be up to something because he didn't bother the dog, despite how much he saw how it made me happy. I got too comfortable." He paused, took a deep breath and continue. "A few months later I caught my brother and his little gang. They had tortured my beloved pet and it was Alwick Summer who I saw take the bolder and smash its brains in. I don't remember if I screamed, but they laughed. The next thing I recall was picking up that bolder and smashing Alwick's skull in." The Hound chuckled. "My father sent me and my brother away to be trained after that and was when I was first called by my given nickname."

XXXXXX

Having the Hound talk to her in this sort of manner was different to say the least. No 'dirty words' as Sansa pointed out earlier to him when she pried into asking questions about his life. While his hand was placed on over her chest her blue eyes locked fully with his. And once he had stepped back and finished telling his tale she brought her eyes up to reconnect them with his.

"I wasn't the only one fooled by the Throne. Just as my family, yours was loyal to the crown. When I had dreams of being queen I was nothing but a foolish child...but my brother will not use me as a token like you say. Rob married for love not power. He would never ask me to do something he could not do." Sansa had faith in this but she had no idea what her brother's choice would lead to one day.

Sansa's eyes dropped back to the fire. "You should put more aloe on that rope burn...you'll sleep better." She stated this for two reasons, one she was done with this conversation and the other was a puzzle to the young lady still.

" Goodnite." She added before leaning fully back against the log and wrapping up best she could.

XXXXXX

He chuckled at her declaration, especially about her brother. "Fuck love. He married because he got his dick wet for the first woman to spread her legs. And if not for the first, she was the prettiest at that moment. And don't you know how many people he has fucking pissed off over that? How many enemies he created instead of allies? Who do you think pays for that? You. Don't underestimate power and what a person will do to maintain it. No doubt once you are back home you will be married off to fix his mistake." He turned and walked away. "I told you to stay the fuck awake tonight. We need a lookout. If I find you sleeping I will cut your eyelids off!" She had gotten under his skin and he had no idea why. Stupid girl. What does she know?!

He huffed his way over towards the base of a tree and threw his cloak down. He was still cursing under his breath as he slathered the clear goo upon his neck. He turned his back away from her and curled himself tight, making sure his weapons were tucked and ready in case he needed to jump to the rescue again. Sleep consumed him quickly and hard, for soon she would hear the deep snores of his slumber coming from his spot.