Gendry felt himself doze off and woke with a jolt. He steadied the boat, fearing of tilting it off balance. He looked around, - blue, blue, coast!. The coast was on his right.

"You must keep the coast on your left side until you reach King's Landing," He remembered what Ser Davos said to him and adjusted the boat's position to keep the coast on his left.

Gendry had been rowing a whole day and most of the night now since he left Dragonstone. He looked to the sky and saw a blanket of stars. The cold brought by the sea made him wish he had a cloak to warm his body. The waves were larger now, making it harder to row and keep the boat balanced. He pushed the thought of an imminent death by drowning to the back of his head. He decided to concentrate on living for the moment.

Despite the ache in his shoulders and arms, the thirst in his mouth, and hunger in his stomach, he pushed himself to keep on rowing. He had a piece of bread and a sip of water before he dozed off, he reminded himself. Though his body complained of wanting more, it would have to do for now.

He kept on rowing until he saw the lightening colors of the sky - the dark blue turning to light blue eventually fading into a pale pink. He saw the hint of light from the sun about to rise. He looked to his left and saw the coast once again. He noticed parts of the land had no grass, no plants in sight, nothing but a damaged castle east of the ruins.

Rook's rest, he thought to himself.

He could faintly hear the voices of men coming from the port. He was tempted to stop there and look for more food. But he shook his head and kept on rowing. He remembered Ser Davos and his words of warning. Stopping for a rest may lead me to being captured again, he thought.

He recalled the image of Dragonstone and imagined what the reaction of Lord Stannis and the Red Woman might have been on learning his escape. He shuddered at the thought, and gripped the wooden oars in his hands tightly. His blistered hands complained of the pain, but he paid them no mind. He positioned the oars and pulled back on the water with great effort and kept moving forward. Time passed slowly and quickly at the same time. He found that concentrating on syncing his breathing with every stroke against the water helped calm him and distract him.

The sun was now high up in the sky. Noon time, he thought to himself. He stopped rowing for a while and took another bite out of his bread and drank some water from the flagon. He peered into his bag of food rations and thankfully he still had plenty left. He shook the flagon of water, and he wish he had more, as irrational as it may seem. He knows he should be thankful for even being given food and water, but the heat from the sun squashed his gratefulness. His immense thirst and fatigue was beginning to take a toll on him, he could feel it. His skin felt burned from the lack of shade to escape the sun's rays. His muscles were sore, though he may be strong even he had his limits. He feared he was nearing his limit too fast, while his destination remained too far. I can't believe I actually miss the days of walking on the road endlessly heading for the Wall, he thought to himself. He missed a lot of things, but food and solid ground were on the top of his list right now.

He looked at the blue sea surrounding him. At first, he actually enjoyed being out in the sea, the waters were calm in the morning and he was glad to be out of the dark cold dungeon. But then he came to realize how temperamental the sea can be. It started calm, but it quickly changed with the waves getting bigger and stronger. Those were the times where his fear overcame his need for sleep. His body wouldn't allow him sleep as long as the threat of drowning was imminent. Those turbulent waters lasted the longest, or maybe it just felt like it did. He looked down at the clear blue water, he dipped a few fingers into it, and later submerged his whole hand. The cool water on his skin felt good, and without thinking he cupped some water into the palm of his hand. He felt a sudden urge to drink the water. The water neared his mouth - closer and closer - he could smell the salt of the seawater, before he came back to his senses. I'm a bigger fool than I gave myself credit for, he thought while shaking his head to recover his senses and returning the water in his palm to the sea. Drinking sea water, ha, Seven Hells, I must be going crazy.

He gripped the oars again, grounding himself to the present. I need to keep on rowing, I might find some shade ahead, he thought. So he rowed and rowed and rowed. Alas, there was no shade in sight. He felt himself growing weaker with each row, and feared for his arms falling from his shoulders. His entire body ached from the unending rowing, and his bum grew numb from sitting so long on a wooden seat. The pain and heat was overwhelming his senses now, and his fatigue and lack of sleep wasn't helping one bit.

He looked ahead and saw a blurry image of an island with towering trees. He could have sworn that the coast was to his left, he turned his head to the left and saw it. He blinked, shook his head, but there it still remained, the image of an island. He was overcome with a sudden urge to seek solid ground again. He rowed now aiming for the island.

Forward and forward, with more and more urgency, but the island never got any closer.

He tried and tried, rowing more and harder, he felt drops of sea water splash against his face with every desperate pull of the oars to reach the island. Yet, he never reached it.

Where's the coast?, a voice said in his head.

It's right here on my left, he thought, as he looked to the left. But there was no coast on his left.

Panic and fear starting to course through his body. He looked ahead and the island he saw was gone.

He looked to the right, left, behind, right, then left again. He somehow found himself surrounded by a foggy haze. He thought back, tried to retrace what he did.

I was just moving forward, there's no way I could have strayed too far, he thought. But his fear refused to let him move.

What if I end up rowing back to Dragonstone looking for the coast? What if I end up on Rook's rest and see the Red Woman waiting for me? But if I stay here, the waves will get stronger later, the boat would rock, eventually it'll flip over..what if I doze off..his thoughts were endless, overruled by panic.

Stupid Bull, he heard a female voice say.

"I'm not stup-" he said out loud then stopped suddenly at the vision before him.

A familiar brown haired highborn girl was in front of him. Her hair was still cut crudely to make her look like a boy. She was dressed in the same dirty rags he last saw her in. Her skin seemed much paler though, almost translucent.

"Arya", he breathed, not believing his eyes or ears.

Seven Hells, am I dead? he thought.

You're not dead, stupid, said Arya.

"Then-how? Why? What? Are you-dead?" he sputtered helplessly, with the last few words catching in his throat. His voice was scratchy from the lack of water and lack of use. Seven Hells, she read my mind, he thought.

Don't kill me off, Stupid! she said. Then she sighed and said Told you so, you should have came with me to Riverrun, but no, she said while rolling her eyes. You're lost dimwit, and now you're imagining me.

Here he was in the middle of a foggy haze, imagining his closest friend chastising him.

He started laughing at himself right then. Even in his imagination, he was picked on by this little girl.

"I'm doomed aren't I? If I've reached the point of imagining you being here, sitting, and talking to me." He said out loud, vaguely aware that he's talking to no one, but still he missed having someone to talk to- imaginary or real, it didn't really matter that much to him right now.

She looked at him with those piercing grey eyes and smirked. You're only as mad as you think your self to be, she said.

She then turned and pointed to the left. Row going there until you see the coast, don't stop and change direction for any islands you may or may not have seen, she said knowingly.

He stared and wondered, what if this was another trick of his mind? What if he ended up being even more lost? What if he ended up back in Dragonstone?

He hesitated.

Go on, row, she urged. Don't get too close to the coast, watch out for the big pointy rocks.

He looked at her and smiled. I must be going mad for following her orders even now.

"Yes, milady." he said teasingly, like how he used to say it before.

He saw her grey eyes glare and then felt the rock of the boat.

And then she was gone. Even if imaginary, he wished she could have stayed a bit longer. He felt even more lonely after seeing her face. He held out his hand, touching where he saw her sitting, as if to check that she really isn't there. There was nothing now but a damp wooden seat. He missed her, he realized, she's surely in Riverrun by now, days and days away. A small inkling, a suggestion or an idea, he wasn't sure. For some reason or another though, he thought, "we'll meet again someday, I'm sure."

Gendry picked up his oars again and rowed to the left, as his imaginary friend said. If I end up in danger, I'll deal with it when it comes, he thought.

So he rowed, with a clearer mind than before, and his fear hidden away. Oddly, his pain became more bearable and, for now, his hunger was suppressed. He rowed and rowed, pushing more and more sea behind him.

Then he saw it.

Seven hells, it's the f-ing coast.

He laughed out loud like a crazy man, and thanked the gods. If a non-imaginary person were there, they'd think he found some gold.

He looked around now and realized that the fog has cleared and the sun was gone. A large round moon taking the place of where the sun was, last he noticed. He looked up and saw the blanket of stars and he felt thankful and at peace.

I'm still alive.

He smiled, as he tore off another piece of bread and savored it in his mouth. Even the stale bread couldn't dampen his mood. He let the first smile he had in a while linger on his face a bit longer.

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I had a bit of difficulty because describing someone rowing is quite boring. I apologize for the shorter chapter, but don't worry, I'm not going to write about rowing for the next few chapters. Next chapter, Gendry lands on solid ground. ;) I hope you like this story so far, please leave a review if you do. Even if you don't leave a review and i'll take your criticism to improve. :) See y'all next chapter. :D