The camp was being broken down before the weak sunlight crested the hill the next morn. Arya had attempted to get some more rest, but did not have any better luck than she had before. Thus, she was risen and helping the men break down the camp before she saw either of the Lannister men. The deer hide had been returned to her as promised, scrapped clean and ready to be treated for use. She was also given a handful of meat strips she could eat from her horse along with all the men and did so lazily while she waiting for the troop to be ready. Luckily, they were as eager to get off the road as she and they were soon moving.
She soon found herself riding beside a man named Sir Bronn of the blackwater, who was gifted at using an excessive number of words to seemingly say nothing at all. Despite the pointlessness of most their conversation, she found herself enjoying his company and observing how he and Sir Jaime played off each other. They were clearly friends and it was interesting to get a perspective on the man she only ever saw guarding the king or posted blandly along a wall. The flagon of wine shared between the three helped keep the chill from setting in, and the day passed by surprisingly fast.
Lord Tywin rode further back, side by side with some of his councilmen, so she didn't really interact with him. They rode through the day, pressing forward until it was once again getting dark and then settling in to make camp. Arya decided to ride ahead and scout while the troop settled in. She hadn't gotten far when she heard noise behind her and saw her two daytime traveling companions drawing back even with her. "Haven't enough of riding yet today?" Bronn questioned as they pulled up to match her pace.
"I like to know what's ahead." She responded easily.
"Fair enough, I'm that way myself. Mind if we join you?"
Arya shot a look at them both. "Do I have a choice?" She questioned.
"Of course you've a choice, My Lady." Jaime answered her, shooting her that overly charming smile. "We simply don't want anything to happen to you before you rejoin your family. It wouldn't look good on us for you to die in our company after surviving for so long alone." She mentally reminded herself that they had no idea where she'd been or what she'd been learning and doing. No, they still considered her to be a helpless lady who needed their guard, despite the years of survival they spoke of.
They'd learn soon enough, she supposed, and she learned long ago that insisting alone never convinced anyone of anything. "You can join me if you wish." She allowed dismissively, nudging her mount "If you keep up."
They broke into an easy canter and the sounds of the camp soon faded behind them. They rode in silence for some time, eventually slowing to a walk when the reached a long open straight of road. The wineskin made another pass as their breath cloud thickened with the dropping temperatures of the coming night.
Arya pulled her mare up and dismounted, handing her reins to Jaime and then moving once again off the road. She gestured them both to stay behind and made her way to a tree a few steps into the wood. It was the first of it's kind she had seen and she'd been about to give up and turn around. She retrieved her dagger and used it to skin several strips of the dark bark from the bare trunk- making sure not to take so much as to kill the tree itself. The airy skirt she'd been wearing when she left Braavos was rolled up tightly in a pocked sewn into her cloak and she pulled it out to lay the bark in. Once she'd taken as much as she dared from the first three, she moved deeper to its twin nearby.
She turned to head back once she had enough to serve her purpose. On her way, she spotted a felled log that was held at an angle, leaving a rare patch free of snow hidden beneath. The clear patch beneath sheltered an abundance of a particularly hearty mushroom native to the area. She picked through the patch to take the ones ready to eat- you had to wait until they were a certain size or else they were much too bitter to stomach- and then added them to her neat pile. Once finished, she wrapped the excess fabric around it to make a bundle, which she secured to her saddle once she was back on the road. Task complete, she mounted and then reined her horse back toward the camp.
The return trip seemed to pass even faster and they were soon coming upon the clamor of the troop. The night promised to be cold- new frost already creeping across the frozen ground- and so large campfires had been lit in a neat row down the middle of the camp, the men gathered tightly around them. The same squire from before came to take her horse and she thought briefly to argue before deciding it wasn't worth it. Instead, she freed her hard-found bundle and made her way to the camp cook she spotted on arrival.
"Pardon, My Lord." She stated to gain his attention.
He looked up in surprise and then frowned. "My name to Tolden, My Lady, but I'm not a lord. What can I do for you?"
"Ah, apologizes. I wondered if you might have a large pot you could spare for the night?"
Tolden didn't look surprised- he'd been the one to give her back the raw hide, after all. "Aye, I thought you might ask." He moved around the wagon that was always stationed nearby him and retrieved a large and dented soup pot, plenty big and sturdy enough to serve her purpose.
"This is perfect. Thank you. I've something for you as well. It's not much, but they add good flavor to rabbit stew." She set down and unfolded her bundle, plucking the mushrooms from the top and handing them to the now smiling man.
"Thank you My Lady."
Arya nodded, toppling the bark shavings into the empty pot and then shaking out her empty skirt. It was stuffed back into her pocked thoughtlessly and then she gathered the pot and took it to the campfire nearest the head where Tywin and Jaime's tents had once again been erected. She set the soup pot right next to the flame and then scooped snow in until it was half full of bark water. She settled in and watched until the water began to simmer. Once it had, she stood and retrieved the neatly folded hide from her borrowed tent. She unfolded it and then carefully submerged it until it was fully covered by the bark tea.
It would need to soak a day so she was hoping the cook would afford space in the wagon to carry it flat when they set off the next morn. A bowl of stew appeared in her peripheral, the wrinkled hand giving away who held it before she ever glanced up to check. "Good ride?" He questioned as he sat himself beside her.
"Fruitful."
"So I see. Can I ask what you need to make?"
She finished her bite before responding. "I need pack. Didn't bring one with me."
"Are you a leather smith now? Interesting skill to pick up on the road." He said casually, blue eyes watching and expression giving away that he was still curious of where she'd been, even if he'd passingly agreed to let the subject go.
"Not a leather smith, no. I only learned enough to get by."
"Shame."
Arya glanced at him with a brow slightly raised. "Why is that a shame, exactly?"
"Jaime broke his sword belt. Not the first time he's done it, either. You'd think he would have learned better by now." Tywin informed her with the long suffering exasperation only a parent could convey.
"How'd he break it? It seemed fine earlier."
"He broke it days ago during a small scuffle while he was scouting. He has it tied to hold it in place."
"Risky solution." She commented.
"Not a lot of options out here."
"You've each a squire, someone to set up your tent, a cook, a cupbearer, and even a farrier in your envoy, but you don't have anyone who can work leather?"
The smallest hint of a smile curled one corner of the man's mouth. "I'll add it to the list next time we march."
"Probably a good idea if your son's so hard on his gear."
"His problem is that he's so used to buying a new one when the old get's worn that he's very practiced in making last what he already has."
Arya turned to look at him, brow raised further than before. "You do realize how sad that sounds, right?"
He raised his own brown in turn. "Aye, I know. Too much privilege growing up."
"He joined the Kingsguard when he was sixteen, right? The youngest knight to ever do so. That's quite the feat- you must have been proud of him."
"It was the proudest moment and worst day of my life." He continued at her look of confusion. "Jaime was always a good with a sword, near unbeatable despite his young age. He deserved his spot on the Kingsguard. That's not why he was selected."
"It's not? Why then?" Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, lost on the wind.
"The Mad King was paranoid. He feared everyone- enemy and alley alike. He feared I would use the might of my family to destroy what was left of his. He needed a way to keep me in check, so he took my heir under his oath."
"I, I didn't realize." She uttered, though it made sense even as he spoke the words. "I'm sorry."
"Why would you be sorry? You weren't even born yet."
"I can still be sorry it happened. I am sorry it happened."
Their eyes met and he nodded his head, slower than before. "Thank you." He finally replied, voice heartfelt. "But it's no matter now. He survived the ordeal, hale and whole, as you can see."
"Is that why he killed him?" Arya questioned hesitantly, unsure if she could ask- unsure if she should.
Tywin's neck twitched slightly and he shook his head. "That's not my story to tell. You'll have to ask him yourself if you want to know his reasonings… I will say, though.. There were days I'd have rather him been dead that have to stand and bare witness to the atrocities committed by the Mad King during his rule."
"Valar morghulis." She murmured, drawing his gaze once more.
"Aye, all men must die." He agreed.
Another week passed by in the same manner. She wasn't sure why she hadn't broken away from the army and ridden ahead, but something seemed to hold her back. It was late and she sat inside the Kingslayers tent once more, putting the finishing stitches on the task she was working on with a heavy needle borrowed from one of the men.
Satisfied with the job she'd done, she pulled her cloak back around her shoulders and headed to the entrance to find the man she sought. She tried the Lords tent first and found him as expected along with the councilmen who usually spent at least part of the evening in Tywin's company. He glanced up at her when she entered but otherwise paid her no mind as she inched her way around to his sons side.
"My Lady. What brings you to this most dour meeting?" He greeted her with the damnable little smirk.
"Will your father mind if you leave?" She questioned, ignoring the first as she'd started doing.
Jaime glanced over at the man to see him already watching the two of them. He raised a brow at the older man only to receive a hand raised to dismiss them. "I don't think he minds." Jaime responded sardonically and then pulled himself from his seat as she stepped back. "Where shall we go?"
"Your tent."
"An invitation to my own tent? How generous!"
She shot him a look from the corner of her eye. "You needn't have offered me your accommodations. I'd have been fine in the open as I have been. Where have you been sleeping, anyway?"
"Bronn offered to share his tent. To be honest, I'm starting to think I'd rather sleep in the open as well. The man snores something awful."
"Why not share with your father?"
A huff of laughter escaped the blond before he was able to stop it, incredulous mirth in his eyes. "For some strange reason, you seem to find my father's company tolerable. You're one of very few who could honestly boast such a thing. And more than that- you've somehow managed to make him like you in turn." He sounded confused again, but she thought he might have been putting it on for his dramatic act. "Tell me, how did you achieve such a feat? Many before you have tried and failed."
Arya rolled her eyes as she ducked inside, deigning not to respond. "Well regardless," He continued as he followed her. "I get plenty enough of my fathers company during my waking hours. I couldn't bare spend my sleeping hours with him as well."
They were facing each other, so he actually saw her roll her eyes the second time. She scooped up the long stretch of finished leather and held it out without ceremony. "What's this?" He questioned, not moving to take it immediately.
"You father told me your sword belt snapped and that you tied it to make due. You can't afford a critical malfunction in battle. It's risky enough that you've been using it as long as you have like that."
"You made me a new sword belt?" He questioned. "Simply because my father mentioned in passing that mine was broken? Why would you do that?"
Arya studied him for a long moment, trying to decide how to answer but knowing she no longer had the option to postpone. "Don't think too much into it," She finally began. "your father saved my life, I owe him a debt… More than one dept, really. I know he cares for you and I know it would hurt him if anything happened to you. If I can help prevent such a thing I will. And-…" She trailed off, sounding unsure.
"And?" He prompted.
"And I've grown used to your company. I fear I would miss you if I you were no longer. Who else would I talk to on the road if not you? Plus, you're too good a knight to be taken out by something so silly as not taking proper care of your gear."
"Bronn's company's not on par with my own, I know." He joked, taking the story strap. "This is nice work." He commented then, studying it closer. The bark she'd used to tan it left it the color of dark walnut, so it would match the rest of his gear quite nicely. It was plainly done- she was hardly the type to add fancy embroidery or design, but her cuts were even and her stitches neater than she'd ever had the patience for as a child.
He reached down to unknow his old one and slid his sword free, swapping the old leather for new with a practiced hand. Once done he ran his fingers across it, testing it's give under the weight of good steel. "Thank you." He finally said, looking up to meet her grey eyes.
"You're welcome."
The days continued to blend together and they eventually reached the Neck. Arya was growing more and more impatient with the slow pace. Those closest to her were able to pick up on the change. When they set up camp less than a days ride from Moat Cailin, Arya announced her plan to travel ahead.
"Take my son and his sellsword with you, along with at least two other men." Tywin ordered brusquely from his place at his more elaborate writing table inside his tent.
"I'll be fine on my own." She argued, feeling a flair of aggravation at having to do so once again. "I was on my own a long time before I can to be in your company, if you'll remember. I'll continue to be fine on my own after I've left it again."
"I'm sure you will be, but we haven't received word from Moat Cailin in some time and we have no idea what we might find when we arrive. There is safety in numbers, however much you seem to despair the idea."
Arya met his steely gaze, her own eyes just as suborn as they stared each other down for an uncomfortable amount of time. She could have pressed longer, but concluded it really wasn't worth the energy arguing with the man would take. "Fine," she caved. "but I pick the men."
"Fine." The elder lord mocked her.
She huffed at him and rose from her place to take her leave. She did understand why his Jaime found being in his presence so exasperating at times, she thought to her self as the cold hit her. He glanced around the camp and men who'd become familiar to her over the past weeks. She'd made a point to speak with as many of them as possible, wanting to know their story as much as their names. She'd always found talking to strangers enthralling, but she had a new appreciation for storytelling than she ever had in her innocent youth.
She approached a pair of brothers who sat two fires down and took a seat across from them uninvited. "Lady Arya." They greeted her with a welcoming smile.
She smiled back. "Good eve. We'll reach Moat Cailin tomorrow, have you heard?"
"Aye, we have. Not much further now." The brother on the left- Herrath- answered.
"No, not much farther at all." She agreed lowly. "I plan to ride ahead in the morn and wait for the troop in the town. Lord Tywin asked that I take a couple of good men with me. You needn't say yes, but would you care to journey ahead with me?"
"We'd be honored, My Lady. We'll be ready to go at first light."
"Thank you." She stayed for some time speaking with them, Herrath's brother being Samurel. It was full dark when she entered Jaime's tent and she settled down to rest. She'd gotten better at sleeping with the noises of the camp that never fully faded, but she still woke more often that would be normal for anyone else.
Notes:
Shorter chapter, but the next scene is going to take quite a bit of time and will likely turn into a chapter of its own. It hasn't been fully proof read, so please let me know if you notice any mistakes and I will be sure to fix them :) Thank you all so much for reading and for all the feedback you're already left! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Look out for the next soon!