Part Two
Arya and Gendry left the village early the next morning. They thanked Josef for letting them stay and for telling the Red Woman that he hadn't seen them. Josef nodded, thanked Gendry and Arya for their hard work and what they did for his daughter, and that was the end of it. They set out with their small group of possessions unsure where to go next.
"Do you think we could go to Riverrun now and not have a problem?" Arya asked and Gendry frowned.
"Well, the Red Woman thinks we went away from Riverrun so maybe we won't have to worry about her. I'm not sure what Lord Beric and the Brotherhood would do if they found us. If the Red Woman was going to pay for me we could have cost them a small amount of gold," Gendry replied. For some reason the fact that he thought he was only worth a small amount of gold broke Arya's heart a little.
"Why don't we go south for a little while then head toward Riverrun. Maybe that will be enough to keep away from the Brotherhood," she said. Gendry nodded but he looked a little uncomfortable. They walked in silence for over two hours before she had to know what was bothering him. She has a pretty good idea because Gendry wore his feelings on his sleeve. She could take one look at him and know exactly what he was thinking. "You're worried about my family again."
"Of course I am," he said without hesitating. "I don't understand why you aren't. You're different from other high borns but I don't know your brother or your mother and from what you've told me about your mother she's going to hate me on sight. I'm a bastard that traveled alone with her daughter. I'll be surprised if she doesn't send me to wall the second she lays eyes on me." Arya wanted to be offended on behalf of her mother but she knew that Gendry was a little right. If she found out that the two of them not only traveled alone together but sometimes shared a room Arya couldn't imagine how she would react.
"She would be happy you helped me survive above all else," Arya said. "Everything else we can figure out later. They aren't taking you away from me." Gendry looked at her like he couldn't believe that she was a real person but he smiled softly as they walked.
They slept outside and managed to catch a rabbit that night but the next day they found another village that needed some help. They introduced themselves as Wolf and Bull and offered their skills in exchange for food and shelter. Gendry worked in the small forge while Arya helped build houses, plant crops, and train anyone who asked. Three days after they arrived at the new village Gendry presented her with the new sword. It looked a lot like Needle, the blade was long and thin in a similar way, but Gendry put a lot of small features in it. The best was the direwolf carved into the handle; a grey one with yellow eyes. She hugged Gendry a long time for her gift and tells him that she will let him know what she has named the sword.
They only stay in the village for a week before departing again. Arya could see that every step that they took toward Riverrun was making Gendry more nervous but she didn't call him out on it. There wasn't anything she could to calm his fears until they got to her mother and brother. Gendry was working on setting up a fire as Arya went to a nearby river to make water and freshen up. She was on her way back to the camp when she heard someone unfamiliar talking. Arya pulled out her new sword and kept quiet as she approached the camp she was sharing with Gendry.
There was a small fire burning and Gendry was on his back holding a hand to his lip which looked like it was bleeding. His hammer was several feet away, just out of his grasp, and he was looking up at a familiar person.
"Where is she?" the Hound asked. "Where is the wolf bitch? I know she ran off with you so tell me where she is." Gendry spit some blood at the Hound's feet and didn't say a word. The Hound pulled out his sword and pointed it at Gendry's throat. "Now, you don't want to do that boy. You are going to tell me where the wolf bitch is and you're going to do it now." Arya stayed in the shadows but wasn't entirely sure what she could do. The Hound was an extremely experienced fighter and there was a good chance that he would hear her coming. She also had no idea whether or not he would let Gendry live. Arya had seen the Hound murder a child in cold blood. There was always the chance that he would do it again. She couldn't hide though or eventually the Hound might hurt Gendry or come after her.
"I'm taking the wolf bitch to the Twins and there isn't anything you can do to stop me boy," the Hound threatened.
There was a large rock sitting nearby and Arya knew she could hit a target with a bow and arrow maybe she could stun the Hound enough for Gendry to get to his hammer. Between the two of them, if the Hound was stunned, maybe they could get away with this. Arya carefully picked up the rock as the Hound threatened Gendry again and aimed for his head. After everything terrible that had happened in the recent years she had to have some luck still. She let the rock go and prayed to the Old Gods that it would fly true.
It turned out that Arya really did have that much skill or that much luck because the rock smacked into the back of the Hound's head. It wasn't enough to knock him out but he stumbled and he looked a little dazed.
"Gendry, your hammer!" Arya exclaimed. Gendry scrambled to pick his hammer and smacked the Hound hard enough in the head that he collapsed. It was not, as Arya noted, enough to kill him.
"I was wondering where you were," he said and when Gendry smiled at her his teeth were red with blood.
"I heard you were in trouble so I came running." Arya said as she shrugged. They couldn't stay here now and they needed to put some distance between them and the Hound very quickly. "Let's see what he has on him that we can steal and then find his horse. Even with the two of us we should be able to get some distance between us very quickly."
"Sounds good to me." Gendry began to go through the pockets of the Hound as Arya searched for his horse. It didn't take long to find it hidden away from them and she brought it back to their camp. The Hound hadn't moved and Gendry had relieved him of all his weapons and all of his coins. The two of them climbed onto the horse and Arya briefly wondered if leaving him here meant that he was going to die but she didn't want to think about it too much.
"My family is at the Twins," she said carefully as they took off on the horse. Gendry, the less experienced rider, held tightly onto her waist as they took off into the night. Her family was at the Twins and she was going to see her mother and brother again. There wasn't anyone who was going to stop her from doing just that.
They rode hard for several days and stopped at an inn that gave them shelter and food in exchange for work. There was one man in the inn who said that he had heard of the Wolf and the Bull who were going around helping people. It made Arya feel happy that people were noticing that they were trying to make a difference. They didn't stay long at that village but Gendry did mend some pots for a few houses so they would be able to cook in exchange for a little food. They continued North for several days as they tried to make it to the twins. They were walking along the road, talking about nothing at all, when they heard voices. Arya immediately steered the horse off of the road and deep into the woods.
"We should try to get closer," Gendry said. "We don't know what's going on out there. Maybe they can give us some sort of hint about this giant war and who is going to win." Arya had to admit that was a pretty good idea and after carefully hiding their horse, and making sure they are armed, they both crept closer to the road.
"The whole world is blowing up," one of the men said. It looked like they were traveling South but didn't seem to be in a big hurry. Wandering around the Riverlands these days was not safe but these two didn't seem to mind one way or another. "The King in the North aligning with House Frey and fighting a war in the South while Winterfell gets sacked and two of his brothers die. This is who we're supposed to follow in the North?" The man spat on the road but Arya felt her blood run cold.
"The South might be tearing itself apart with gods know how many kings but at least they aren't losing their family homes thousands of miles away," the second man said with a laugh. Arya didn't want to hear anymore and she stumbled back toward the horse in a daze. Bran and Rickon were dead? That didn't make sense to her. They were her little brothers that she liked to chase around in the snow. They couldn't be dead.
"Arya," she heard Gendry said as they got back to the horse. He touched her arm but Arya felt something in her break. Her father was dead and now her two brothers were too. Sansa was lost to them in King's Landing, Jon was sworn to the Night's Watch and couldn't protect her. Mother and Robb were the only ones and she needed to get them as soon as possible.
"We should keep going," Arya said even though she could barely hear herself. Gendry seemed to sense that she wasn't entirely paying attention and it was easy for him to take her into his arms. At first Arya stood completely still, unable to react, but eventually she put her arms around him. She held onto him so tight she wondered if she was about to break his ribs but he didn't loosen his hold on her. He held her tightly and didn't say anything about the tears that were soaking the front of his shirt.
Arya didn't know how long they stood there, wrapped in each other, but eventually Arya pulled away. Gendry didn't say anything, she wasn't sure if there was anything he could say that could help in any way, but he did brush her tears away with the pad of his thumb.
"We should keep going," Arya said and her voice sounded steady.
"As m'lady commands," Gendry replied softly and for the first time it didn't sound like he was mocking her. Arya didn't have the energy to correct him and they both climbed onto the horse as they continued North toward the Twins.
"What do you think the Hound is going to do to me if he catches up with us?" Gendry asked after they rode in total silence for several hours.
"What do you mean?" Arya asked as she glanced over her shoulder. He was frowning and looked a little scared.
"Well, you're a Stark so he won't hurt you and he was looking for you but I'm no one. I'm also the one that clocked him upside the head with a hammer. If he ever catches up to me, I wonder what he's going to do," Gendry replied.
"You'll be under the protection of Robb by then so it won't matter," Arya replied. "And my brother isn't any idiot. He wouldn't throw away an amazing smith like you because he managed to knock out the Hound."
"For the sake of my neck I hope you're right." Just as the sun was going down an inn came into view. They had some coin on them and Arya really could use a place bed and a hot meal after toward. She told the innkeeper that they were brother and sister so they could share a room. It only had one bed and Arya chose to ignore the fact that Gendry's ears got a little red when he heard that. The innkeeper didn't notice, fortunately, and they were given some stew, bread, and ale. Arya was exhausted and she went up to the room immediately following her food. She wasn't entirely surprised that Gendry followed.
The bed was pretty small but there was enough room for the two of without things getting too awkward. Arya pointedly did not look at Gendry as he kicked off his boots and stripped off his shirt. For not the first time Arya wished she was a boy so she could take off some layers of clothing. She just wanted something comfortable to sleep in. She remembered the oversized shirts that she would sometimes steal from Jon and how comfortable they were.
"Hey," she said as she turned around. His eyes were stunningly blue in the low light of the moon that was coming in through the window. His black hair was sticking up in every possible direction and she found herself wondering how soft it would feel between her fingers. "Do you mind if I sleep in your shirt? I just want to get out of mine for a night."
"Oh, sure, I don't see why not," he said though he looked a little thrown by the suggestion. He turned around and gave Arya her privacy to change into his black long sleeved shirt. It smelled like him; a combination of smoke, steel, and the scent she had begun to associate with Gendry.
"You can turn around now," Arya said as she climbed into bed. Gendry looked down at her and he was giving her a funny look. He was staring and Arya was loathe to look away. She could get lost in those eyes. Gendry shook his head like he was trying to clear his vision and also climbed into the bed. Arya rolled onto her side, her back to Gendry, and she wasn't surprised when he wrapped his arms around her press so they could share their body heat. She could feel when he pressed his forehead to the back of her head and took some deep breaths.
"I'm sorry about your brothers and your home," he whispered into her hair. Arya didn't know what to say to that and as she fell asleep she swore that Gendry placed a soft kiss to the back of her neck.
It took several days for them to make their way north toward the Twins and as they got closer the more nervous Arya got. She could tell that Gendry was getting more and more uncomfortable at the idea of facing her mother. It was getting colder and they had started huddling together at night to stay warm. Arya was sure her mother would have plenty to say about that when she found out but Arya was trying not to think about it too much.
They were maybe a day away from the Twins when they came across a group of Frey soldiers. She wanted to approach them and ask for help getting to the castle when Arya heard the words "fucking massacre". She looked at Gendry who went extremely pale. Arya pulled out her sword and Gendry took his hammer in hand as they approached the camp but kept out of sight.
Her blood ran cold as they talked about betraying the Stark's at the wedding. How they pumped the King of the North with bolts before gutting him. How they stripped the Lady Stark and threw her body in the ocean after slitting her throat. How they attached the head of the wolf to the King of the North to parade him around. Arya acted more on instinct rather than anything else. She walked into the camp and stuck her sword through the back of the soldier without giving him a chance to turn around. Gendry immediately joined the fight and Arya realized for the first time that she was not strong enough. The Frey soldier grazed her shoulder and she hissed out in pain.
There was a chance that they were going to die. There was a chance that this was going to be the end of them and she hoped that they lived. She realized just how much she wanted to live in that moment. It was the thing that helped her defeat the soldier in front of her and she watched as Gendry smashed the last soldier with his hammer. The two of them stood around the fire, breathing hard and bleeding from superficial wounds. She glanced at Gendry who was staring at her with more rage than she had ever seen in him. He dropped his hammer to the ground, stomped around the fire, and took both of her arms in his hands. If he noticed the sword she was holding he didn't pay attention to it.
"Do not ever do something like that again," Gendry said lowly. "You tell me when you're going to do something like and we work together. You do not walk into a fight and not tell me. Never again."
"Never again," Arya whispered and her legs gave out. Gendry fell down with her and pulled her into his arms. It was like finding out about Bran and Rickon all over again. Her mother and brother were betrayed, they were dead, and now she was alone in the world. Jon was on the wall, he couldn't help her, and Sansa was trapped in Kings Landing. She was the daughter of a dead house. "I'm alone."
"You're not alone," Gendry promised her. "I'm never leaving you."
"Everyone leaves me," she said as Arya pressed her face into his shirt. It was comfortable, comforting, in a way that she desperately needed right now.
"I'm never leaving you," he repeated. "Now, where to next? You must have aunts or uncles that would take us in? There has to be somewhere we could go." There were; Uncle Edmure was lost and a prisoner after this wedding. They could go to her Aunt Lysa in the Eyrie but a nagging voice in the back of her head told Arya that was a bad idea. She pulled away from Gendry and looked into his blue eyes. Her mother or brother might understand that they would want to stay together but she didn't know her aunt well enough. Aunt Lysa might send him away and she wasn't prepared to face a world without him. If they went to the Wall the Night's Watch might take him and they already had Jon. She wouldn't let them take Gendry as well.
"We become outlaws," Arya said. "We do what the Brotherhood wanted to but better. We go around to villages and we help them rebuild for no gold. We'll kill groups of bandits that roam the Riverlands, the Crownlands, the Stormlands, all over Westeros. We'll ruin supply chains for the Lannister's and give them hell that way. We can't fight a war but we can make things harder for them and protect the smallfolk."
"Arya," he whispered. Gendry cupped her cheeks so she was looking him in the eye. "You're the daughter of a great house-"
"I'm the daughter of a dead house. There is nothing left in Westeros for except for you and you want to do good. So do I, so let's do it together," Arya said. She started to get nervous when Gendry just stared at her with that look like he couldn't believe that she was real. After what felt like a lifetime he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Let's become outlaws then," and it was decided.