Disclaimer: Characters and past storylines belong to the series creators and George R.R. Martin.

Every night is a rinsing myself of the darkness that is in my veins.
I let the stars inject me with fire, silent as it is far but certain in its cauterizing of my despair.
I am a slow traveller but there is more than time to arrive.
Resting in the intervals of my breathing, I pick up the signals relayed to me from a periphery I comprehend.

from Night Sky by R.S. Thomas

Arya

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She'd not been sure of her direction, only that she was heading South, nor of who she would cross off her list first. Walder Frey had felt like the most pressing, as he'd been one of the only that was directly responsible for two deaths in her family.

She was not in any rush to get anywhere, and so, had taken to dropping in on people, and listening to their conversations. She did this not because she was interested in what they spoke of, but as a means to test herself, and stay sharp. No one ever noticed her, and she got better at switching faces quickly. It was on one such occasion, she eavesdropped on two men, Lannisters by their armour, resting under a tree. She lied on a branch looking up as they spoke below.

Stirring a small pot he had sitting over the flame, the smaller of the two spoke.

"If we were smart, we'd abandon the call and head east. The Targaryen Queen flies on a dragon with three heads, and her army's ten times bigger than the Lannisters. We're headed to a death trap I tell you."

The other lay behind him but answered with his eyes closed, "You idiot, she has three dragons, and they're too small to be ridden. Little flames, no more. The Queen has wildfire, caches by the hundreds. She'll destroy the Targaryen bitch before they even land on shore. And then the Queen will pay us in gold."

She smiled as she realized they were both idiots. She'd heard of the Targaryen Queen in Braavos, when she'd been blind and begging. Two slaves recently from Mereen, said that she'd nearly been killed there when her dragon had appeared, burned many of the men that tried to kill her, and flew off with her on his back.

"She'll have to do it quick, I heard the fleet will reach Dorne any day now. The Targaryen will be in the capital soon."

Her smile disappeared as the man spoke. She was all for this new Queen with dragon blood, but Cersei was on her list. She did not want her chance to be stolen, like it had with Joffrey and Tywin Lannister. She sat up quickly yet soundlessly. She'd had the feeling the capital was where she'd been heading, but it felt good now, to have a set destination, and goal.

She left the Lannister men behind her as she darted from one branch to another, feeling the thrill of two deaths heading her way. She would end Cersei before the new Queen arrived, but before that she would take out her father's executioner, Ser Ilyn Payne.

She reached the capital two days later, and snuck in by skill alone. All the gates were heavily guarded, and everyone was interrogated, and she watched for more than a day before she found her way in. She was glad she had no intention of leaving the city while the Lannisters ruled.

She found him easily enough. He'd taken to his vocation with ardour when Cersei had become ruler. She watched him chop off some poor bastard's head, and though he said not a word, she could see the glee in his eyes whenever a head rolled to the ground.

She was not happy when she realized he no longer had her father's sword; she'd planned on taking his head with it, and returning the blade to Winterfell.

Before she killed Ser Ilyn, she watched the kingslayer. She'd tried to get at Cersei but she was too heavily guarded. She'd only get one chance at her, and she would kill Payne first so the mad queen would know she was coming. Ser Jaime looked much the same as he had in the Riverlands, but he seemed much more preoccupied. The golden haired twins were never together it seemed, and she was surprised to find he spent his days trying to settle conflicts, and often bribed soldiers and goldcloaks to keep their mouths shut.

When the city spoke of nothing but Daenerys' fleet, and how it filled both the Sea of Dorne and the Summer Sea, she decided it was time to put an end to the Queen's executioner. It took her a few days to find her moment, he was always needed it seemed, and she used the face of a girl to get to him. Most men did not seem to suspect girls of being able to kill them, but ser Ilyn was not most men.

The minute she entered the executioner's chambers, he pulled a dagger from his belt, and bared it at her. She returned the gesture by peeling off her face, and pulling Needle from the folds of her skirt.

"I'd hoped to kill you with my father's blade, but it seems Needle will have to do."

She's not sure if he knew who she was, but she hardly cared. This was only the hand that had slain her father, all that mattered was that he die, slowly and painfully.

She stepped forward, but he did not move.

"You like cutting people's heads off," She said, her tone matter of fact.

When he blinked, she continued, "You like them tied up, so they can't move, like you couldn't when they cut out your tongue."

He blinked again.

"I'm going to cut off your head as you cut off my father's, but my blade is not meant for hacking."

She held up her Needle as if to show him, and took another step closer.

"This won't be easy so I'll need to make you a bit more pliant first."

And then she lunged. Once, she might have been afraid to face ser Ilyn, but she'd faced the Waif, wounded and bloody she'd beat her. The Knight was old, and he was no fighter, only a butcher.

She tricked him easily in her first attack, and sliced him on his upper right arm. He looked down for a moment at the dark streak on his torn woolen sleeve, then rushed towards her his blade pointed at her throat. She ducked his attack and managed to slide her needle across his thigh. He turned towards her quickly, grasping at his leg with his free hand, his face mad with rage, but did not move. Instead he held his dagger tightly, and waited for her next attack.

She smiled at his tenacity, knowing it would do him no good. She decided however, that she would take no more risks. She was ready to be done with him and to move onto her next target, Cersei.

She rushed towards him but as he aimed his blade her way she was already behind him and the moment his back was exposed, she slid her blade into his spine, and he fell to his knees silently, and then forward to the ground. She'd been careful not to kill him, but she was not entirely sure she'd paralyzed him fully, so she kicked his dagger away, and slid it into the fold of her dress where Needle had been hiding.

When he still did not get up, she realized she'd been successful, and so she grinned as she rolled him to his back. She moved so she stood near his left ear and knelt beside him. She brought her blade down close to his neck, blood sliding down to the floor the minute steel touched skin. She'd been sharpening it everyday since she realized Ice was gone, to make sure it would cut through bone.

"This is for my father, lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell."

She began to saw, blood gushing from his soft neck as she pressed down, and though he had no tongue, he tried to scream but all that came was a gurgle of blood.

And then nothing.