Arya

Arya shifted her weight slightly and adjusted her grip on Needle. Above her the sky was a clear blue with just enough clouds to prevent the sun from being unbearable. She was wearing one of her new outfits, dark brown pants with a matching shirt, a light-yellow vest, a torn red bandana around her neck, a thick belt that had Needle could hang on, and a pair of fine leather boots with soles thick enough to allow her good traction but not so thick that she felt like she was stomping around with weights on her legs. A few sea birds were singing their song though to Arya's ears they were about as tone deaf as she was. Slowly placing her right arm behind her back, elbow bent in such a way that it made it seem as if she didn't have an arm at all, she brought Needle up before focusing on the training dummy.

It wasn't something most knights would have used to train; certainly Ser Rodrik would have scratched at his whiskers, perplexed by how strange it looked. The basic structure was what one would expect, made of the same tough yet cheap wood that even a poor farmer could get a hold of. Some fools like making their training dummies out of the same wood they made their grand tables out of but they were, as stated, fools. It didn't make one a better at swinging a blade if the target was high grade ironwood. No, this needed to be something that could be put together cheaply and, should it be ruined, replaced. "Place your coin in your sword, your shield, your armor," she had once heard Ser Rodrik tell Joffrey when the royal shit had complained about the quality of Winterfell's training dummies during the Royal Visit. "To waste it on other things is to state your life is worthless."

The fabric that covered the dummy though was where it became different from the ones in Winterfell's training yard. It was the same heavy burlap stuffed with straw but rather than remaining faceless or, if someone were feeling rather spiteful, decorated to look like a hated foe, Arya's dummy had spots marked upon it in red paint. At the throat, the eyes, the cheeks, the heart, the lungs, the sides. These spots were where a man was softest, where a blade might easily slip through their flesh and pierce their organs, robbing them of life. And near all these points were small bells, barely bigger than her thumb.

'All men are merely flesh and water,' she thought to herself as she slowed her breathing, the lesson from one of her very first 'dancing lessons' ringing through her head. 'Thus I must not be flesh but solely the water. Quick, elusive, flowing.' She darted forward and her blade stabbing at the throat of the dummy.

The bells remained silent.

'The water only thrashes and crashes when it must.' She spun and stabbed at the side, hitting another circle. 'It is silent, killing without hardly a bubble. It is others who scream and die.' Arya moved around the dummy and drove the tip of Needle under the armpit of the dummy. 'The water is swift, it is quiet, and it-'

She took a step, pitched forward, and even as her blade pierced the dummy the burlap shifted and a bell chimed.

"Fail," Mystique said from where she sat upon a barrel. She had decided against her white dress, having told everyone flat out that it was impractical to move about the massive galleon that Magento had chartered for their voyager in some flimsy white fabric. When Gendry asked when such a garment would ever be practical even Arya and her hatred of dresses had rolled her eyes and muttered "boys". No, instead her mentor was wearing black leather pants, white bandages wrapped around her torso, and a dark vest with two thin Braavosi swords on her hips. Of course Arya couldn't be sure if she actually could be considered "wearing" the outfit since she made it using her own powers… but those kinds of questions tended to leave her muddled. The logic and limits of her mentor's powers were not something one should spend a long time studying. "Your weight shifted too quickly to your right foot and that made you topple."

"I know," Arya said petulantly, returning to the starting position. She couldn't even blame the ocean for making her mess up because the waters of the Narrow Sea were as smooth as frosting on a cake. The ship was cutting through the water with ease, the sails catching the breeze but not jerking the boat about madly and thus offering an excuse for her failing… again. 'No,' she thought as she sheathed Needle (for as Mystique was fond of reminding her "when we start again we truly start again so that we grow to hate it… that will make us push past the beginning and return to the end all the sooner") and look down at her hands.

Her decidedly adult hands.

When they'd begun to make their way from Harrenhal Gendry and her had found themselves stumbling about, tripping over their own feet and pinwheeling their arms as they struggled to maintain their balance. Magneto had merely smiled that infuriating little smile of his (and how she had grown to loathe that grin of his whenever she fell to the ground or bumped into something) while Mystique had explained the cause. While their bodies had matured to their physical prime their minds and instincts were decidedly still the same. That meant that Arya was moving as if she still had the body of a child, rather than a woman. Her center of gravity had changed thanks to her breasts, small that they might be. She had hips that caused her to sway a little when she walked and though she didn't know if she believed it Mystique had told her she had an ass that would make even the New Gods drop to their knees and worship it. Arya didn't really care about that; she cared about how her backside now made her stumble when she did a tight spin as her ass wanted to keep going even as she tried to stop. She was taller too, not overly so but enough, and with longer arms and legs that meant that for those first few weeks on their journey to the eastern shore she had been like a fawn trying to rise up only to collapse in a heap.

She was stronger now too. Once, when she had been very young, Maege Mormont of Bear Island had come to visit with her nephew Jorah. She had been a short, stocky woman that had the body of a man. Sansa, she remembered, had been frightened of her but Arya had merely watched in delight as the Lady of Bear Island challenged every man in the training yard to battle and dumped them all on their backs. Arya was nowhere near that powerful but Magneto's ritual had forced upon her body years of training in a few hours. And while she loved that (though she would deny that she spent time occasionally stripping down and posing in the mirror, admiring how she looked, running her hands along every inch of her strong body and loving the sight of her muscles and how her fingers felt against her own skin… filthy lies, all of that) that also meant she had to be more careful in how she fought. What before would have been a basic swing with a training axe, for Mystique didn't believe in mastering merely one weapon type, now saw her hacking off the dummy's head. Leaping away from a strike would send her further back than she expected, which in turn would cause her to tumble and fall.

All of this led to a rather annoying paradox: she had to think about how she moved in order to fight properly. But to fight properly one had to not focus on their strikes but instead allow instinct to guide them. But Arya's instincts were now telling her the wrong thing so she needed to focus on what she was doing. And round and round the wheel went.

Thus the training. To relearn all that she had learned. It would have been frustrating if not for the fact that Mystique had pointed out that every warrior had to do what Arya was doing… just over a longer period of time.

"Do you believe your father was able to learn how to swing a sword and then could become lax for a decade?" Mystique had prodded her when she whined a bit too much for the blue skinned woman's taste. "He had to train, every day. You've seen it with your brothers. You were going to have to train… and it would have seen you going over the basics again and again as your body changed."

That didn't mean Arya had to like it.

"You know," Mystique mocked, hopping off the barrel and walking over to her, circling around her before giving her a slap right on the ass that had Arya yelping and glaring at the woman. "Pelvis forward. You aren't a whore wiggling your butt for coins."

"I know," she repeated.

Mystique shook her head. "You have it easy, you know? Only one body type you need to master." Her form rippled, first causing her to transform into a stout little man with a thick beard and limbs like tree trunks, then into a 8 foot tall willowy woman with a gaunt face, then into Arya's younger self. "You only have to master one body."

"I know."

"You know. That is good. But now you need to use that knowledge. Many men know but few can do."

From above a chuckle rang down and they both looked up to spot a man with dark green hair and brownish-green tanned skin easily scuttling about the main mast. He was wearing the torn jacket with a hood sewn onto it, a pair of Myrish glasses pressing on his forehead thanks to a thick cord. He easily darted above them, flipping through the air and catching a line before landing on one of the smaller masts without even needing to grab onto it. He just… stuck.

"You seem to be getting poetic in your old age, Mystique!"

"Fuck off, Toad," Mystique said with a smile that might have been sweet if not for the threat of murder flashing in her eyes.

"Oh, is the Queen going to demand my head?" Toad did another flip, shooting out his over 6 foot long tongue to wrap around some rigging and extend his leap so he could fling himself into the crow's nest. "Have to catch me!"

"You have to sleep sometime, Toad!" Mystique called out.

The green-tinted man leapt down, slowing his fall by grabbing some ropes but otherwise easily landing before them. "Is that an offer?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows at her. "I always guessed that Mags experimented with sword-swallowing but you?" Mystique made to swat him but he darted away, hiding behind Arya. "Please Shadowcat, don't let her hurt me!" She laughed at that and Toad joined in. "There, that got you to settle down, didn't it?" He patted her on the shoulder. "Try it again now… I bet you complete the entire exercise."

"I can teach her on my own, Toad," Arya's mentor complained.

"Yes but that will take time and I was getting bored." He leapt up onto the rail, crouching just like his namesake. "Shadowcat isn't like you… she still has some softness in her. A gentle touch is needed at times to get her settled." Arya fell into her starting position as the two talked. Mystique might insult Toad and try and smack him but she knew that the two of them would fight with everything they had if the other were ever in danger. It reminded her of how she'd been with Bran… Jon and her just utterly clicked and Robb liked to pretend to be more stern than he was but she and Bran got in scrapes all the time… but when they needed to work together they would.

Bran. Jon. Robb. Sansa. Rickon.

She repeated their names in her head.

'No matter what Magneto says… I will not forget my family. New or old.'

She launched herself into a flurry of motion.

Robb and her racing their horses outside of Winterfell. One spot struck.

Jon giving her Needle. Another struck

Sansa sitting with her when she'd been scared thanks to one of Old Nan's tales and telling her what all the scary shadows really had been. Struck.

Bran and her stealing pastries from the kitchen. Struck.

Rickon hugging her leg and giving her sloppy kisses that made them both laugh. Struck.

Father hiring Mystique to teach her. Struck.

Mother complimenting her when she completed a sums lesson that had baffled Sansa. Struck.

Mystique helping her pick out new clothing and explaining how to dress like a woman, making her finally understand what Septa Mordane had been getting at. Struck.

Gendry and her sitting around the campfire swapping stories. Struck.

Toad instantly bowing to her the first time he saw her, making her blush and at the same time not feel awkward about her transformation. Struck.

Magneto declaring her Shadowcat. Struck-

A taloned hand suddenly reached out, slashing through the air and destroyed the dummy. Arya barely managing to spin out of the way and she still had to phase when wood splinters began to hit her, which was risky enough as it was seeing as she didn't have full mastery of her powers yet; after an incident involving her taking a nap had seen her phase through the ship and almost drown Magneto insisted she wear a special metal bracelet at all times on her right wrist. He was tuned to it and thus if it moved too far away from him he'd be able to recall it, and her, back.

The deck was showered with straw and fragments of wood. The canvas head flew at Mystique who knocked it away with a spin kick. Toad used his tongue to retrieve one of the arms. The sound of bells tinkling as they fell all around her filled the air, making it seem like a tribe of demented fairies were suddenly dancing about her. Arya though merely sheathed her sword to her belt and glared at the massive figure who had decided to end her training a bit early.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked, hands on her hips, not showing an ounce of fear as she stared up… and up… at the new arrival on deck.

"It was, halfpint," the towering man growled, flexing his fingers, thick inch long black claws gleaming in the sunlight. He had the dark hair of a Northerner though his was far more curly than Arya's own straight locks, along with great muttonchops that framed his fang-filled jaw. He was bare-chested, having stripped off his shirt and the giant shaggy cave bear cloak he took to wearing, revealing his scarred torso. While not as tall as the Mountain the bestial man certainly made everyone around him look small… and Arya absolutely punny in comparison, even after her "growth spurt". He let out a huff as she continued to look up at him, lips curling back to reveal two of his extended canine teeth. "You were annoying me with the noise."

"I have to practice and the bells are the best way," she stated, not backing down. "And I didn't hit a single one that-"

"Not the damn bells. Your feet. Could hear you stomping about the deck. Was keeping me up."

"I was not "stomping"," she complained.

He smirked at tapped his ear with one talon. "You were to me."

"She wasn't any louder than normal," Mystique complained. "You just wanted to destroy the dummy, Sabertooth."

"So what if I did?" he asked, walking over and snagging a bottle of what he called 'grog' that was lying on the deck, yanking the cork out with his teeth and draining half the bottle before wiping his mouth with the back of his hairy hand. The man wore furs even though he had quite and impressive pelt himself.

Mystique huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "I am trying to train her and these exercises-"

"Are worthless," Sabertooth said dismissively, finishing off his bottle and throwing it overboard only for Toad to snag it with his tongue and drop it back into the crate it belonged in. The brute walked back over to Arya and looked down, shaking his head. "She's wasting your time, halfpint. You could kill anything right now and I don't just mean dummies." He held out his hand, close to his chest, and with the other mimed dropping something into it. "Get a bunch of small arrowheads." He closed his fist. "Phase your fist into your opponent's chest," he drove his fist at her, Arya flinching even though she knew he wouldn't ever strike her… even without Magneto and Mystique on board she just mentally knew that for all his faults Sabertooth wouldn't hurt her… unless she truly gave him a reason. And even then he still might restrain himself as it seemed like she amused him greatly. "And then pull it out, leaving the arrows behind." He held his arms out wide and bowed ever so slightly. "There… dead."

"And that leaves her getting in, getting out, and not causing a mass panic," Mystique complained. "I am teaching her subtly, swiftness, creativity."

"She can phase through fucking walls," Sabertooth sneered, rolling his amber-colored eyes. "She don't have to do subtle."

"Ah, that's our Sabertooth," Toad said, climbing up the mast… most likely to stay out of swatting range. "Always cruel but never cunning."

"Watch it, Frog, or I'll crush you under my boot." He looked back at Mystique who had walked over to the crate and selected a bottle of Arbor Gold, wiggling it out towards Sabertooth who, with casual ease, yanked the cork out with a claw so Mystique could take a swig of it. "And I can be cunning. Shown that plenty of times. But there is cunning and then there is what you fools do. Constantly planning and replanning and replanning the planning of the planning. And you spend so much time planning that you don't notice that the enemy has already slipped into the camp and put a blade between your ribs." He walked over to Arya and, with a swift sweep of his hand, picked her up by the back of her shirt and lifted her up. "You listen to Mystique and her ilk and you are going to waste a lot of time before you're dead."

"Put me down!" Arya snapped.

"No. My neck is hurting from staring down at you. Want you at eyelevel for this." Arya thought of phasing out of his grasp but decided against that, as he'd just end up grabbing her again. He wanted to make a point and she had to admit she was interested in hearing it. It was true what he said… he wasn't the hulking beast people thought he was when they first saw him. Even she had made that mistake. No… Sabertooth was smart… he just did things differently from the rest of the Brotherhood. Perhaps that's why they kept him around, because he saw the flaws they missed. "She wants you to make things complex not because that's what's needed… but because she gets bored." He thrust out his free hand and caught the bottle Mystique threw at him, looking at it before finishing that one off and tossing it to Toad. Marching over to a crate that he dropped her down onto it, Arya landing so that she could stare at him eye to eye. "All those twists and turns and such… you know why I don't do stuff like that?"

"Because you aren't very limber?" Arya snarked.

Sabertooth chuckled at that. "Because I don't need to. She has to get showy because she ain't that strong… oh, stronger than most wenches, I'll give her that, but compared to the rest of us? She's average."

"Oh Sabertooth," Mystique purred before pulling out her sword and performing a flashy series of swings. "I'm never average."

The large man merely jerked his thumb back towards her. "See? Bored. Seen so much and done so much that she needs to liven up her life and death battles with some fancy footwork. Me? I have more simple tastes."

Arya smirked. "I know. I've seen you at supper."

"I'm satisfied with my bloodletting however I get it. And you should be the same as well. Because while mommy over there will spend weeks planning out how to get into one room in a castle I've already gutted all the guards, killed the lord, fucked his wife, eaten everything in the lauder, stolen the gems, and made my way to the next castle. And had a hell of a more fun time than she ever will." He shrugged and walked away. "Think on that, halfpint." He paused at the hatch that led into the bowels of the ship. "And all of you keep the fucking noise down!" He stopped down the stairs and out of sight.

"We didn't really wake him up, did we?" Arya asked.

"No, he just felt like being a fucking ass," Mystique said as she walked up to her, offering her hand.

"I can get down by myself," Arya complained, hopping off the crate. "See?"

She then took a step forward, tripped over her own feet, and slammed into the deck.

"FUCK!" she roared in frustration, rubbing her nose.

"Let me see," Mystique said, Arya trying to bat her hands away. "Let me see."

"I'm fine!" Arya complained.

"You are not now hold still." Mystique pressed on her nose and Arya winced. "I don't think it's broken but it will be tender."

"I nearly completed the dummy trial and I still fall flat on my fucking face!" Arya complained, slapping the deck with her hand in frustration. "Why do I keep doing this?!" She squeezed her eyes shut, hot tears building the lids. "And why I am crying?! This isn't a big deal and I know its stupid but I'm crying!"

She heard Mystique plop down beside her and felt her wrap an arm around her. Arya briefly wanted to phase away, to complain that she didn't need to be cuddled, but it also felt very nice for someone to hold her close and she wanted to lean into Mystique's touch and she just didn't understand why she couldn't even decide on how to feel!

"I know it's hard but I told you, this is-"

"Me getting used to this body," Arya said softly, finally settling on comfort rather than a need to look mature and thus pressing her head against her mentor's shoulder, rubbing her face against Mystique's skin. She felt the scales ripple and the skin soften and knew that the blue woman had altered her form to be more human-like, only for Arya's benefit. And she loved Mystique all the more for that simple gesture. "But I'm tired of… being a stranger in my own body."

"I know," Mystique said. "Believe me I know. But you will figure it out. Things will get better and when they do you will be able to do things the humans can only dream of. You are going to achieve wonders."

"Even if I decide to just shove arrowheads into people's chests." She finally opened her eyes, letting a few tears fall, but already she had better control of herself.

Mystique huffed. "So long as you don't tell anyone I trained you to do that. I have a reputation to uphold, you know." They sat there for a few minutes more, until Arya was sure that she would be able to walk about without stumbling due to her heightened emotions, then she helped Arya up, patting her on the shoulders. "That last go… you were going to complete it. Not a single bell rung. What did you do to focus like that? What were you thinking of?"

Arya shifted. She knew what Mystique wanted her to say, that she'd achieved a sort of "fen mindset" or something like that… it was something Mystique had learned from the warriors of Yi Ti, of being able to clear the mind of all distraction and battle wholly in the moment. If it had been Sabertooth he would have wanted to hear that it was the opposite, that she'd focused on her rage and that had made her so lightning quick. That she'd… rattled off the names of all that had done her wrong and dreamed of how she would kill them or something like that and that's why she had been able to move like lightning while being as silent as snow. She didn't know what any of the Brotherhood would think that it had been focusing on her loved ones, new and old, that had seen her able to almost complete the task.

She was saved from answering by Sabertooth coming up from below deck once more, only this time he was joined by Gendry. Her friend was also shirtless and he wiped his brow with a wet rag to get the sweat off his skin. He had been practicing in the depths of the ship again (as doing it on deck threatened to make the ship rock thanks to the extra weight he gained in his metal form) and he rolled his neck about as he loosened his muscles one more time. While Arya hadn't gained much height with her growth spurt Gendry had, coming up just about a head under Sabertooth and nearly as thick and wide as him. Arya had seen the looks both of them had received when they'd walked towards the ship to leave Westeros behind, the fisherfolk shocked at the muscles their powerful bodies had. She was small but built strong, not an ounce of fat but rather filled with the same strong muscle as Mystique, while Gendry… he even without being metal was just so… solid…

"Arya?" Mystique, who had kept her skin blue but made it as smooth and warm as normal human flesh, asked. "What's wrong? You are very flush."

"I… I don't know," she admitted, shifting and wiggling a bit. "I feel… tingly?" She groaned, frustrated she couldn't put it into words and it was only when Mystique reached over and grabbed her wrist that she realized she'd begun to rub her breasts. "What the-"

Her mentor groaned. "I am ready to teach you many things but I thought I had plenty of time before I had to give you that talk."

"What talk?" Arya asked, Mystique somehow managing to blush even when a deep sapphire. "What?" She asked again as Mystique snapped her jaw shut while Sabertooth sniffed, looked at them, smirked… and then Mystique let out a growl like a wolf and Sabertooth laughed and walked over to sit down near the wheel that Toad had taken command of.

"Why are they acting so weird?" Gendry asked, walking over to her and tossing her a spare water skin. Arya fumbled it a bit, cursing her grown up form for making her so uncoordinated, before glancing at her friend who was squeezing his out into his mouth, a few droplets escaping his mouth and trickling down his chin. She stared, tracking the beads as they rolled down his throat and along his broad chest… "Arya?"

She gave her head a shake. "Yeah. Sorry. Not sure what has them acting like dolts." She grabbed her shirt and began to pull at it rapidly, moving some cool air along her suddenly flush skin. She felt her nipples harden a bit thanks to the breeze she was creating and after a moment let go of the garment and took a swig from her water skin. Gendry, for his part, was suddenly staring at her before quickly turning to look at the others. Mystique had her head in her hands, muttering to herself about something Arya couldn't make out, Toad was doing all he could not to look at them, and Sabertooth had nearly fallen off the barrel he'd sat on due to his laughter. "I'd ask but you know what they'd say," she complained, folding her arms over her chest.

"It's an adult thing," Gendry supplied.

"Which was annoying a few months ago when that was the answer to everything." She waved her hand in his general direction. "But we are adults now!"

"Are we?" Gendry asked.

"Uh… yes, we are."

"But are we?"

"Yes we- no, I'm not falling into that trap, make your point," Arya complained.

Gendry chuckled lightly at that.

"Ah, I see that everyone is here," Magneto stated as he emerged from the hold before Gendry could speak. He didn't so much climb out as he rose in the air, hands held palms up as he gracefully floated up before them all. He was wearing a variation of the outfit he'd worn when he'd first revealed himself to Arya and Gendry at Harrenhall, his cape fluttering in the mild ocean breeze.

"Where else would we be?" Toad asked, adjusting the wheel slightly. "You told us all to be up here."

"And it's not like there are many of us on the boat," Mystique playfully pointed out. The Brotherhood of the Blackfyres had selected a galleon that could be crewed by only 2 to 3 people, if needed, and even then handling the ship wasn't that hard for them. Toad could scale up the mast and catch any line that broke, Sabertooth could hold the wheel steady even in the roughest storm, and of course Magneto merely needed to gesture with his hand and the entire ship would go exactly where he wanted. Thus it was only the six of them on the ship... though Arya had been promised that there were more members of the Brotherhood waiting for them in Essos.

Magneto frowned at that, lowering himself to the deck. "Can you blame an old man for wanting a bit of grandeur?"

"Yes," Arya said with a smirk, the old man chuckling at her comment to show that there were no hard feelings. Even if he was to be their king he would never lord himself over his family. And Arya and Gendry were now family.

"Well, now that we are all gathered... oh?" He turned as a squawk came from below deck and the Master of Magnetism beamed as the purple dragon hatchling flew up out of the depths of the ship. "Ah, how forgetful of me. But of course you should be here." He held out his arm and the dragon...

...flew right past him and landed on Arya's shoulder, rubbing her chin with his head.

"Humpf," Magneto huffed, Mystique and Toad snickering at the face he was making.

"Sorry," Arya said, reaching up and scratched the dragon under the chin. "I guess he just likes me more."

"That's because you keep feeding him scraps when you think no one notices," Gendry pointed out. He quickly turned to metal as Arya tried to swat at him, phasing her hand through him before she could bust a knuckle on his metallic skin.

"Tell everyone, will you?!" she complained.

"Shadowcat," Magneto said in a warning tone. "What have I told you?"

"Don't feed Lockheed without you present," Arya said for the hundredth time.

The naming of the little dragon had been quite an affair. Everyone had wanted a chance to make a suggestion, save for Sabertooth but even then he had called the little chick "The Annoying Purple Asshole" and for a little while Arya had pressed for T.A.P.A. to be the dragon's name. Mystique argued that they should pick a name related to Harrenhal, since the dragon had been born there, while Arya suggested the names of great warriors. Toad and Gendry had put their heads together and in the end suggested their best idea: Tim.

It had been decided not to let Toad or Gendry name anything ever again.

In the end Magneto had overruled them all, reminding them that it was HIS dragon egg (even if the purple dragon preferred to cuddle Arya) and thus he would pick the name. Lockheed was the Valyrian God said to guard the underworld, letting only those worthy to pass. The Common Tongue terms 'Lock" and "Heed" naturally came from his name, for he held the door to the plane of the dead and all that wished to return to the world of the living would be best to heed his warning. It was a fitting name for a dragon... even if Gendry still insisted that Tim was a strong, noble name.

Magneto motioned for their attention and they all grew quiet. "Very soon we shall arrive and I wish to make a few things known to our newest members. Essos is more tolerable of powers such as ours than Westeros is but that does not mean they will accept you flaunting your abilities. Should you do so it is very likely that some magister or priest from some strange religion will wish to capture you and use you to their benefit." Magneto glowered at that thought. "They would die for such an action but it is an unneeded risk. We are preparing to change the world and it wouldn't do for us to reveal everything so soon. Understood?"

Arya and Gendry nodded, even if the two of them chaffed a little at the scolding for something they hadn't even done yet.

"For the time being you will not walk the streets without one of the older members of the Brotherhood at your side. It is easy to become lost... many have turned a corner and never been seen again. It would grieve me should that happen to you." Again the two nodded. "When we arrive you will be settled in our House and then your training will truly begin. We will test you against other members of the Brotherhood in our Danger Room and-"

Toad suddenly perked up and then leapt up high, quickly scaling the mast and getting into the crow's nest. "LAND HO!" he called down to them.

Gendry and Arya shared a look before gleefully rushing to the railing, Magneto sighing at the impatience of youth before walking over to them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. Beyond the rail and across the sparkling blue water laid the secret city that would be their new home, guarded by a massive Titan who stood watch over the opening of the bay.

"May I present... Braavos."

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes: So I had to choose between posting this first or Jeor's chapter. Went with Arya since we havne't touched base with her for a long time.

We see Arya training to deal with her new body and how it isn't all that great to suddenly be taller and shapelier.

Toad is based on the first X-Men movie in terms of appearance but his attitude is more puckish and jokester than he was in the films. Sabertooth was a HARD one to decide upon, looks-wise, as while Tyler Mane has a good look I can't see his Sabertooth being the cocky bastard he is here. The Wolverine movie version is also too clean cut for me. So I did a merging of the two… the face of the 2nd, the look of the first. But personality is a mix of the original animated series Sabertooth and the Exiles' take: sarcastic, gruff, mocking, takes no shit, but also willing to verbally spar with the likes of Arya without the fear he'll rip her head off.

.