Of all the stupid, idiotic, senseless things he had ever done, this was by far his number one. Even Hot Pie would be ashamed of him and that was saying a lot from the boy who still, inside the pits of Harrenhal only thought of pies.
After a brief introduction and three days at sea Gendry seemed to make a quick and transparent friendship with the King of the North. "It must be bastard kinship"; Jon had laughed. No, it was Starks being good people; Gendry thought.
Jon Snow was everything Arya had told him. Her best brother! The man was quiet but direct, soft spoken but blunt, he did what he said and wasted no time in doing it. Before they left for Eastwatch by the Sea he heard Tyrion mussing that Jon was too much like his father and that was the thing that was going to get him killed. Gendry only briefly had met Lord Stark but the entire realm still mourned the man, saying that he was the one that kept the King in check; even before being his hand. It was his death, not Robert's that set the 7 kingdoms on fire. He had met his daughter; a lost girl that still believed doing to right thing among dubious characters, and now he met his son, a King who was risking is life for proof of the upcoming war. Good people them Starks, but Tyrion did have a point. Most of them were dead.
And now he was here, on top of the infamous wall, (something he quite frankly never thought would happen since the odds of dying on their way with Yoren where too high), waiting for Jon Snow to confess he knew his sister. Not the Lady of Winterfell but his favorite one, Arya.
Well, at least something else was on his mind that wasn't an army of dead men...
Initially Gendry was going to tell Jon about Arya, but why should he? What good was to cast a spell of a dead girl's name that often made Gendry sad for days, closing shop and drinking and hammering his sadness away? Jon was a man on a mission, he needed to focus, Arya was a long tale for another day; if they lived that is. But faith had never been on his side, and now he had to confess to Jon everything Arya before those bloody fools of the Brotherhood said something first.
Bastards! Every single one of them. Why where they alive and Arya dead? They who captured them, kidnapped, ransomed and sold them without batting an eyelash, why were they still breathing, cracking jokes and in the company of Jon Snow when Arya never got to see her beloved brother again? And the Hound? Disgusting, he was the one that made Gendry lounge at the bars with his hammer. He called her wolf bitch and made jokes about her dead father, Gendry didn't know who was worse.
The snow crackled and Gendry could see from a distance that the few men from the Night's Watch that still remained at their post, quickly stood in attendance at the sight of their former Lord Commander. Jon was heading over to him since Gendry had told him he needed to speak privately with him, no need to have the brotherhood near them with their unique ways of thinking.
Jon stood and regarded every single man on their post, most were even older than he was but every man got a second of his attention and words of gratitude for their service. How alike and how different the siblings were. Jon was quiet and kept his thoughts to himself while Arya could make friends with anyone as long as they had a tongue but both had the same quality, Gendry didn't now how to describe it, people just gravitated towards them. They had a sense of finality and sureness that you believed every word they said. He would be lying if he didn't envy them, specially Jon Snow for now Gendry was seeing the difference between being an abandoned bastard in Flea Bottom and being the bastard of a man who cared to his mistake, took him under his roof, gave him a education, food and family. Jon would take care of us, he'd do anything for me; Arya said. Gendry now believed it.
"Do you know any of them?"- Gendry asked signaling towards the men in black as Jon finally joined him.
"No. But I know what kind words of assurance will do to a man when he's alone guarding the Wall and freezing his balls off. I always snuck my wolf to the top and covered myself between his furs. These men have no wolves"-
"Direwolves." Gendry corrected him. It was an odd opening for their conversation but he was going for it. No need to delay the inevitable. "Yours was Ghost right?"
"Right. Did I tell you about him?"- Asked a confused Jon. Gendry didn't blame him, he must have a hundred things in his mind.
"No, your sister did"
"My sister?" He asked looking at Gendry from head to toe with a skeptical look. "You met my sister Sansa?"-
"No, don't know nothing about that one. I mean Arya, I knew her. She was my best friend, I... I knew her" Gendry ended in a whisper. Memories came flooding in his head about Arry, Weasel, the infamous Ghost, but the one that hurt the most was the last one. Their parting ways of him leaving her for the brotherhood and Arya begging him to stay. He'd never forget her eyes, she never cried. Even facing certain death Arya shook her head and met it face up yet she started quivering the second he told her he was staying when the brotherhood. Tears went down her face, tears for him and his betrayal. If only she knew it was all for her...
Jon Snow stood in front of him now. The same Stark eyes looking at him with the same sense of betrayal. Gendry was taller than Jon but what the king lacked in height he compensated in presence, and with his hand on the pommel of his word he spoke firmly with an edge. "Explain"
And Gendry did what he was commanded. He told him everything. Their meeting in King's Landing, about the Gold cloaks, Harrenhal, Tywin and the strange man with red and white hair. He told him about the brotherhood and their abrupt departure, he told her about her bravery and willingness to save others. He also told him she was untouched by the horrors they had seen and how she was the strongest person he had ever met.
Gendry finished his sad tale of woe and Jon said nothing else. He walked further away on the wall, he remained silent yet Gendry followed him.
"She was coming to me"- he said at the wind. A sad smile mixed with sorrow and awe.
Gendry took this as an opening and spoke again "She was ecstatic to learn your brother and his troops where so close but all she wanted was to return home to Winterfell. She'd said we'd make sure the younger ones where ok before marching over to the Wall and dragging you back home were you belonged"
"Yes, it sounds like something she would do"- Jon said finally addressing him directly. He looked at him, as if debating something in his mind. He started walking again further to the edge of the Wall, this time signaling Gendry to follow him. Jon didn't seem like the backstabbing type so he put away thoughts of him pushing him over.
They sat in two small abandoned stools, they wind grew stronger, more violent so they had to raise their voice a bit yet the King seemed right at home. The Stark's and their cold...
"The reasons I left Winterfell for the Night's Watch now seem ludicrous after all that's happened, after all I know, but the Old Gods wanted me there, of that I am sure of"- Jon said as Gendry dared not interrupt him "And I have many regrets of the way I left. Rickon was far too young to have been left alone, I know now how a child's innocence is something to be protected and I often wonder what kind of life he lived alone, as a runway, only to go back home to the Crypts. And Brandon? He was still unconscious when I left! It must have been horrible to wake only to see that half of his family was gone. When Father died...
"Did you know I fled the minute I heard the news?"- Jon asked more to himself than at him. He wasn't crying but you could see in his demeanor that his father's death still hurt. It was the same as Arya, it was as if the fire inside of them dimmed when remembering Lord Eddard was no more. He kept on talking.
"Father's passing will always be a stone in my heart. And Rob's? To tell you the truth Rob's death is not real to me. I keep waiting for him to show up and demand his crown from me, he was so full of life, so full of everything that I think that's why still now the northerners hold him so dear. But every day, every single day something, someone kept me looking at the gates, my biggest regret and biggest mistake was leaving Arya. If you really knew her like you just told me you could tell that Arya Stark had no business going to Kings Landing! Rob had gone to talk to father the night before we all left, to try and convince him to let Arya stay, he asked me to join him but I knew it was a lost cause, Catelyn was set on sending her, wanting her exposed to court and see if she would act more like a lady"-
Gendry scoffed. "You could name her the Queen of the seven kingdoms and the only thing ladylike would be her kicking your ass with her heel" To this they both laughed, a much needed change from tales of regret and lost loved ones.
"Why are you here Gendry?"- Jon asked. His face free of any judgement, only curiosity and sincerity. "You've got no claim in this fight and by joining us you're going to make yourself seen. Daenerys keeps to her promises so she won't judge a child for their father's actions but you're still a Baratheon; its seems you're also the heir to the name, Cersei will still want your head and the storm lords will no doubt see you as a threat"-
Of all the stupid, idiotic, senseless things he had ever done, this was by far his number one. Gendry hadn't even thought about all these things, he just heard Davos there was a battle in the north and he said yes. Arya was right, he was stupid! But he also owed Arya everything.
"I'm here to make good on my promise to your sister. She wanted me to go and fight with her brother Rob but I never got the chance and she never got to see him. I made the wrong choice and I've regretted it ever since. If I die protecting you I'd at least make her proud. She'd first call us stupid for even being here in the first place but she'd be proud. I was too young to realize what she meant to me but I know now that she took me in her pack and that's the reason I'm alive now"
His ramblings hit a mark with Jon Snow as he was looking at him in another light. No words where needed, all was forgiven and now they had to move on.
"She's alive"-
"What?"
"Arya is alive"- Jon said again filled with awe.
Gendry stood up knocking the stool away, he felt dizzy, his head a rush with thousands of things to say. The King took pity on him.
"Before we left Dragonstone, my sister Sansa sent a raven. She said that both Bran and Arya were alive and in Winterfell. She said that both we physically fine but she was worried for their well-being. That Bran was vague and Arya was cold. I don't know whatever the hell that means but they're alive and that's enough for me. I'm not planning on dying today Gendry, I have a reason, a personal reason to go back and win this war. I need to go back and see my little sister again, to have her safe in my arms, muzzle her hair and give her a good scolding for staying hidden for so long. I'm going to need good men in Winterfell, smiths that can help us work with what we've got. Will you go with me Gendry? Will you go back with me to Winterfell and fight a war? Will you go back and make sure my sister knows you made good on your promise?"-
"She's alive" was all he could say. She's not dead, she never was. A gust of wind blew and it didn't seem violent but wild, free and full of life, like Arya. She was alive!
Of course he was going to her! If he'd knew this before he would have taken a ship straight back to the north and grovel at her feet. He didn't care if that made him weak, he'd owed her everything and from this day on he was going to make his life's mission that Arya Stark wasn't harmed again.
"I'm going with you Snow" he said with a smile on his face.
"Good"- Jon said standing up and shaking his hand. "Now let's get us a dead men we can show Cersei so we can go home"-
Home. Home to Arya. Arya was his home. He knew it now, something he suspected the little Stark knew years ago when he was stupid enough to chose the brotherhood over her.
Home. Home to Arya. First he needed to join Jon Snow and his men north of the wall and come but alive but he wasn't nervous, he wasn't going to die. Not before seeing Arya again.
"Not today" Gendry whispered with a smile on his face.
Home. Home to Arya. Arya was his home.
What are your thoughts on Episode 3? Fanfiction, feminism and fanservice are the words being thrown around, I loved it. I would have liked more deaths for it to be more realistic with the odds but Arya and Gendry lived and are seen smooching on the next ep so I'm good.
As always thanks for reading and leave your review.
Have a good one.
XOXO
New Girl