~:The Storm:~
Arya stood in the darkness for a few moments, not knowing what to do, fearing that she was going to be trapped inside the ruined temple forever. A few rays of light crept through the cracks in the rubble, but none of the cracks were big enough for her to fit through. Captain Forel and Darion were probably dead by now and even if the Greyjoys hadn't captured Tyrion and Jorah, how would they ever find her in there to rescue her. 'Fear cuts deeper than swords' She told herself a few times as she tried to compose herself, trying to stay calm and think.
Arya soon realised that if she was going to escape the ruined temple she would have to do it on her own. She desperately pushed at the rubble which blocked the exit, but the boulders wouldn't budge, they were far to heavy for her. Her heart sank as she realised that it was no use.
Her arms and legs ached from all the effort she had put into trying to escape so she sat to catch her breath for a moment to rest, closing her eyes to try and think how she was going to escape. Her thoughts soon turned to Darion and Captain Forel, thinking of how they must have died. 'Queen Cersei, Walder Frey, Tyrion Lannister...' She whispered to herself before picturing the cruel captain's face. His eye patch, his icy blue eye and pale blue lips. 'Crow's Eye'
"Hurry up." Bran called down to her impatiently.
"I'm climbing as fast as I can." She shouted back over the wind that had suddenly picked up, blowing her long hair into her eyes. At the base of The Wall there was hardly a breeze, but as high as they were it was blowing strong and cold, blowing right through her thick blue dress to make her shiver. Her skinny arms and legs ached and her hands felt numb making it hard to hold on to the icy surface of The Wall. "Wait for me."
Arya had never been as good as Bran at climbing, but she loved to play with him much more than her sister, who had always wanted to do womanly things like sew and dance and sing. Arya hated those things and preferred to play at swords with her brothers and explore the castle and the Godswood.
"We're nearly at the top, hurry." Bran shouted back as he continued to climb on ahead of her, he was almost out of sight now.
Arya wished that she could climb as well as Bran and didn't want to be left behind so she kept on climbing up and up the ice wall as fast as she could until she had finally caught up with him. The storm was really starting to build up now making it hard to hold on as the cold wind continued to blow right through her thick cape and dress to make her shiver uncontrollably.
Arya made it to the top first and smiled as their bastard half-brother Jon came over to meet them. She then watched as Jon then offered Bran a golden hand to help him up before pushing him off the edge. Arya looked in horror as Bran fell from sight and Jaime Lannister turned to face her. He had a terrible scar across his neck and a bloody stump where his other hand had been torn away. His eyes were sunken and black and stared a hole right through her.
Arya screamed and turned to run, but it was so slippery on the ice and the icy wind blew hard against her making it difficult for her to get away.
She looked over her slender shoulder to see that Jaime was chasing her and closing, so she ran as quickly as her legs could carry her. Arya ran and ran along the top of The Wall but she just couldn't get away no matter how hard she tried. He closed her down inch by inch until he finally caught up with her and grabbed her, picking her up by her neck and squeezing with his golden hand.
"Let me go, let me go!" She screamed as she tried to wriggle free, kicking her lags. But it was no use, he was too strong for her. "Put me down." She gasped for air as he squeezed her neck tighter, making it hard to breathe.
Jaime Lannister didn't say anything, he just held her over the edge of The Wall for a few moments and stared at her with his black, soulless eyes. He continued to choke her, releasing her just before she started to black out.
Arya screamed as she fell down and down, through the clouds and the mist. She looked down but couldn't see the ground beneath her.
"Arya." She could hear her father call to her. "Arya."
"Arya." She heard somebody call out as she suddenly opened her eyes. She was sweating and her heart was racing after her dark dream. Arya had always hated dark dreams, but remembered that Maester Luwin had told her to pay them no mind.
"Arya." She heard Jorah call out again shortly after.
A few moments later she heard a scratching sound coming from the other side of the rubble. Arya quickly stood and peeked through one of the larger gaps in the rubble. "Nymeria." She said feeling pleased to see her loyal direwolf. Arya slid her skinny arm through the gap and waved her hand a little to get Nymeria's attention. Nymeria came across and licked her hand, which tickled a little. "It's no use Nymeria, I'm trapped."
Nymeria continued to try and scratch at the rubble and even tried to dig a little before sitting and howling.
Arya sat and smiled as she listened to her direwolf howling. It reminded her of Winterfell and gave her comfort. She had always loved to hear the sound of wolves howling.
"Over here." She heard a voice shout out over Nymeria's howling, it sounded like Tyrion.
Arya looked through the gap in the rubble again to see if it really was Tyrion. After being trapped in the darkness for so long the light hurt her eyes a little, making her squint. Her eyes welled up with tears when she saw Captain Forel, Darion, Ser Jorah and Tyrion. She felt so relieved and overjoyed to see that they were all alive, except for Tyrion of course. She stuck her arm through the gap and yelled to get there attention. "Over here."
It didn't take Darion and Jorah long to remove enough rubble to make a gap that Arya could squeeze through and finally escape the ruined temple.
"I thought that you were dead. I thought I was stuck in there forever." She said as she closed her eyes and hugged Darion. She was so relieved to get out of there and back out into the open. The fresh air and sunlight felt so good.
Darion hugged her back and smiled down at her, flashing his big white teeth. "We would have died had they not dug us out." He glanced over to Ser Jorah and Tyrion.
"We had to wait until the ironborn had sailed away before we knew that it was safe. I never did like the ironborn much." Tyrion said with a little grin on his scarred face. "Awful people."
"They were ironborn? What are they doing all the way out here?" Arya asked. She knew a little of the ironborn from her lessons with Maester Luwin and from what Theon Greyjoy had told her back in Winterfell.
"I believe that was Euron Greyjoy. He was banished from the Iron Islands a long time ago. A viscious cunt even by ironborn standards" Tyrion replied as he looked around. "We should figure out how we're going to get out of this place and back to Meereen, I need some wine to wash down all of the dust I've swallowed."
"Yes, the ironborn didn't find the small boat that we used to come ashore, maybe we could use that?" Arya suggested, pointing over to where they had left the small boat when they first came to shore. Luckily they hadn't seen it to destroy it or maybe they had just left it.
Captain Forel shook his head. "The sea is too unpredictable and I am not so familiar with these waters. It is too great a risk."
"We only need to make it as far as the Black Cliffs, Tolos?" Tyrion mumbled, thinking aloud as he looked out to sea. "Then we could find passage to Meereen."
"And if the current takes us we will be lost." Darion said, backing up what Captain Forel had said. Using the small boat was out of the question.
"Then we are going to have to walk out of here." Tyrion said as he looked up at them.
Arya knew he was right and reluctantly nodded her head.
Captain Forel stroked his big bushy beard. "Yes, we must follow the valyrian road north past the Painted Mountains and turn east before reaching Mantarys, then follow the coast north and then east until we reach Tolos on the Black Cliffs. There we might be able to bargain for passage back to Meereen."
After a while they all agreed that this would be the safest way back to Meereen. The Smoking Sea was treacherous even in a ship the size of Sweet Lily, sailing it in a small boat would be suicide. If they could make it to the Painted Mountains Arya could hunt for food and once they had made it to the coast and the Black Cliffs they should be able to find more food and water. They just needed to get that far!
Darion and Captain Forel then took the small boat and rowed out to take whatever supplies they could salvage from the wreck of Sweet Lily while Arya and Tyrion rested on the beach.
"We should go back to the temple and search for things that we can use or trade with." Arya said as she watched Darion and Captain Forel. She showed Tyrion the valyrian dagger and ring that she had taken from the dead priest. "I also found the valyrian weapons in there for Daenerys."
"I had almost forgotten why we came here." Tyrion said as he took the valyrian ring and studied it, nodding his head. "I agree. We came this far, it would be a shame to fail now." He replied as he handed back the ring.
After an hour or so Darion and Captain Forel returned with a few small sacks of supplies. Salted pork, dried fruit, hard bread and cheese, grapes, red apples, two skins of wine and three skins of ale as well as some odd looking yellow fruit which Arya didn't recognize. They also had a few iron swords, iron daggers, bows and a steel axe which Tyrion took.
They split up the supplies so that they each carried some to share the load and made their way back through the destroyed city of Oros to the ruined temple. Darion cleared away some more of the rubble so that Arya and Tyrion could both fit through. He made lifting the big stone boulders look so easy, she doubted even Hodor was that strong.
Once inside Arya and Tyrion decided to split up. Arya headed back down to the crypts to collect a valyrian sword and a valyrian short sword to add to the valyrian dagger that she had found while searching for the dragon egg. Arya hoped that Daenerys would be happy with the weapons she had found and it would be enough to convince her that they really were allies.
Seeing the gemstones that were set into the statues she was also tempted to try and prize some of them out, thinking that they could possibly trade them in Tolos. There was rubies and sapphires and garnets and emeralds of all shapes and sizes, but she decided to leave them out of respect for the dead. The last thing they needed now was a curse on them.
Tyrion searched the upper chambers to look for things that might prove useful on their trip. He found a valyrian short sword on the remains of a guard, some dried moss and some unused candles which could be used to start a fire as well as a few other things that might be useful for the long journey ahead.
After meeting up with Darion and Captain Forel outside the temple they gathered their things and headed north, following the ruined valyrian road out of Oros. In places the road was bumpy and very uneven so they had to watch their footing. One misplaced footstep and they could have easily turned over an ankle or worse, broken one and then they would have been truly stuck.
After a few days of walking north along the ruined valyrian road they eventually came to a small abandoned settlement. Progress had been good that day as the valyrian road was straight and fairly flat, but nobody spoke very much. Maybe everyone was saving their energy or perhaps there was nothing left to say. The situation was dire and everyone knew it.
The settlement was possibly a long abandoned farm or steading of some kind, the destruction was so bad it was hard to say. They were several ruined stone buildings scattered around, some larger than others. Some were more intact than others, but none had windows or a roof and were certainly not suitable to live in. Destroyed by the doom centuries before like everything else they had seen.
To the north the Painted Mountains loomed up ahead and looked quite eerie as the sun was setting. They had come so far but there was still such a long way to go. Arya knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but she just had to believe that they would make it somehow.
After looking around the abandoned settlement Arya discovered what looked like an old well. But when she dropped a stone inside she only heard a thud a few seconds as it hit the bottom, they wouldn't find any water here. 'Seven hells'
They and sat and ate in the shell of one of the smaller destroyed houses which would be their shelter for the night. A few of the walls still stood but the roof and upper floors were gone, destroyed by the doom. They were probably the first people to set foot there in centuries.
They looked up at the sky which was was unlike any sky any of them had seen before. Glowing red with a huge, sinister black and grey clouds on the horizon, like an approaching thunder storm, except worse. This seemed darker, unnatural and it was coming their way.
"I don't like the look of that." Tyrion said as he chewed on some hard bread.
"I have seen many storms at sea, but nothing like that." Captain Forel said, nodding in agreement.
"Whatever it is it's coming this way." Darion added.
Arya looked over and also felt a little unnerved by it. She hadn't seen as many storms as the others, but even she knew that there was something different, something wrong with that sky. There had been a light breeze all afternoon, but it was gradually getting stronger and the dust and ash was starting to blow up. "Maybe we should find some better shelter?" Arya said as she stood and looked around.
The others agreed and looked around the other ruined buildings to see what they could find. The wind was really starting to pick up now and the ash and dust was starting to get in their eyes and making it difficult to see and breath. It also didn't help that the light was fading fast as the sun set and the storm approached.
"Over here, quick!" Tyrion shouted over the wind as he waved over to them.
Arya tried to cover her eyes and mouth as she made her way over to Tyrion and saw that he had discovered a wooden trapdoor that lead down to a stone cellar. Captain Forel and Darion made their way over to join them moments later. It took them a little while to clear away the ash that covered most of the door, the wind didn't help as it blew it back almost as fast as they could clear it. Darion then pulled open the heavy wooden door. The rusted metal hinges creaked as they resisted, the door probably hadn't been opened in centuries.
Captain Forel and Tyrion entered first as Arya called out to Nymeria, who then followed Arya down the stone steps to the cellar below. Lastly, Darion entered and closed the door above them.
It was pitch black, but at least they were out of the storm.
Arya calmy knelt and pulled out some of the dried moss and three of the candles that Tyrion had collected from the ruined temple. The dried moss oon took a spark from scraping Frost against the stone floor of the cellar. She quickly lit one of the candles before the moss burnt out so that they could see.
Arya looked around to see that everyone's faces were grey and their hair was thick with ash. It was much cooler in the cellar than on the surface so she managed to get a small fire going for warmth and light. Darion broke up some old barrels and other bits of broken wood, hopefully it would be enough to keep the fire going until the storm had passed.
Tyrion went off to search the rest of the cellar to see if he could find anything of any use, but returned empty handed. All they could do was wait, so they sat around the fire and listened to the wind howling as the dust storm raged above them. Captain Forel drank some of the ale while Tyrion drank some wine, Arya and Darion had water.
"I'm going to get some sleep." Tyrion said as he rolled onto his side. "We may be trapped here for a while, I suggest you all do the same."
Arya lay in her bed as the storm raged outside. She could hear the rain pouring and the heavy wooden shutters that covered her window rattling as the strong wind blew against them. She had woken from a horrible nightmare, but at least she was comfy and warm in her bed, though the storm had made it difficult to get back to sleep
Arya rolled onto her side and pulled her furs up around her to try to get some more sleep, but none came. The wind howled as it grew strongerm making her shutters rattle louder. Arya wasn't afraid, but she was still getting used to having a bedchamber of her own and was a little spooked. When she was really small she used to hop into Sansa's bed whenever she got scared during a storm or had a bad dream. Tonight she had both.
Arya decided that it was no use, she couldn't get back to sleep. She got up and made her way out of her bedchamber and down the hallway, her bare feet felt cold on the stone floor. After a few moments she made it to Sansa's chamber, the one that she used to share with her until a few months ago. 'Sansa won't mind' She thought to herself 'We've been getting along much better lately' She thought to herself.
Arya slowly pushed the wooden door open and peeked inside. She could see that Sansa was asleep so quietly stepped inside and closed the door behind her, trying her best not to make much noise. She walked quietly over to her sister's bed. "Sansa I can't sleep...the storm and...I had a bad dream." She said softly so as not to startle her sister.
"Arya go back to bed, the storm will be over when you wake up. There's nothing to be scared of." Sansa said, trying to reassure her little sister.
Arya shook her head. "No I...I'm scared." She blushed a little, not that Sansa could see it because of the darkness.
Sansa rolled over to look up at her, she knew that it wasn't like Arya to admit that she was afraid, especially to her. "Has Old Nan been telling you stories again? You know you shouldn't take them seriously." She replied sleepily.
Arya frowned and shook her head. "No she hasn't, I know they're just stories. My dream was really bad." She said, feeling a little craven.
Sansa opened her furs and smiled up reassuringly at her. "Just this once."
Arya smiled and got into her sisters warm bed. "Thanks Sansa." She smiled at her before rolling onto her side so that her back was to her sister. Sansa snuggled up to her and wrapped an arm around her which she found comforting.
"Sleep well Arya"
Arya woke to hear that the storm was still raging above them. She sat up to see that Darion and captain Forel were still asleep, but Tyrion was awake.
"Why did you come for me? Why help me?" Arya asked him. She couldn't understand why he had helped her to escape from the ruined temple after the way she had treated him and after she had threatened to kill him so many times.
Tyrion looked at her for a moment before answering. "PArt of me wanted to leave you in there, but I couldn't do it." He admitted before taking a small sip of wine from his skin.
Arya nodded slowly, she couldn't blame him for thinking like that. The truth was that she would have done the same. She paused for a moment as she thought. "I...I didn't kill your brother Jaime." She admitted as she glanced over at him.
Tyrion looked at her as though he already knew. "You only said that to make me angry didn't you?" He asked before taking another sip of wine.
Arya nodded her head. "I did, though I did try to kill him." She chewed her bottom lip a little before continuing, telling Tyrion that Jaime had pushed Bran from the Broken Tower in Winterfell after he had seen Jaime with Cersei. "He didn't try to fight back. He said he had promised my mother he would keep me and my sister safe. I managed to land a few hits on him and then he gave me this." She continued, lifting her top slightly to show Tyrion the scar across her slender stomach.
Tyrion moved closer to look at her scar. "You did well, most people that faced my brother in combat fared far worse than that." He smiled as he sat back down again, leaning against the stone wall.
Arya pulled her top back down to cover her scarred stomach. "It was Nymeria that killed him, she thought that he was trying to kill me." She chewed her bottom lip again. "He didn't suffer, it was quick."
Tyrion nodded slowly before taking another small sip of wine. "Thank you for being honest with me Arya."
Arya smiled at him, feeling relieved. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted.
"You're not the first Stark that I've helped you know. I've helped your brother Bran too." Tyrion continued. "I drew up a saddle design so that he could ride again." He smiled over at her. "I also helped your brother Jon fit in at The Wall when he first arrived and I tried to protect your sweet sister from awful nephew Joffrey."
"I never liked Joffrey." Arya frowned. She never understood why Sansa had ever liked him. True, he was handsome, but Arya always knew that he was a bad one.
"He was always a little cunt." Tyrion agreed with her, raising his wine skin to her before taking another sip.
Arya looked over at him for a moment. "You're not so bad for a Lannister." She said to him, deciding to take his name off her list.
"And you're not so bad for a Stark." Tyrion laughed a little and then looked at her as he turned serious again. "So what happened to you in King's Landing? You just disappeared. Not even Varys knew where you were. Quite impressive!"
Arya looked at him and thought back to that terrible day. "I lived on the streets of King's Landing for a few days after my father's arrest, begging for food and trading pigeons that I had caught for coin until the day my father was killed. It was all Joffrey's fault, he asked for it, he called for Ilyn Payne to take my father's head. I was there, I watched as the crowd cheared him on and called for blood." Her thumb gently rubbed over the smooth pommel of Needle as she played over the events that led to her father's execution in her head.
"I'm sorry you had to see that. He was an honorable man your father. A good man."
Arya smiled, she had heard many times that her father was an honorable and noble man. She remembered the warm embrace of his hugs and his smile and wanting to make him proud of her. She wondered if he would be proud if he saw her now, what she had become and what she was trying to do.
"I tried to help my father but Yoren from the Night's Watch caught me and smuggled me out of King's Landing disguised as an orphan boy called Arry. That's how I disappeared."
"Ah Yoren, a man who enjoys his ale as much as I enjoy tits and wine." Tyrion laughed a little. "And a great sense of humor, unlike the rest of his black brothersI might add."
"You knew him?" Arya asked.
"I had the pleasure of sharing the King's Road with him until your mother took me captive, a good man." Tyrion smiled and nodded his head slowly as he thought back.
"He was." Arya agreed, smiling as she thought back to her time travelling with him and the others. It was Yoren who had told her to say the names of the people she wanted to kill before going to sleep at night, something she still did to this day.
"Was?" Tyrion asked, his eyebrows raised slightly as he looked over at her.
"He was killed in the Riverlands by the Mountain's men." Arya told him before going on to explain that she was then taken to Harrenhal and worked as a cupbearer to Lord Tywin while pretending to be the daughter of a stone mason.
Tyrion couldn't help but laugh at her deception. "And my father never knew that you were under his nose the whole time?"
Arya shook her head. "No, he never knew. Not until I saw him again at King's Landing and opened his throat." She answered. She couldn't help but smile inside thinking about it. "Tell me about what happened with you and my sister."
"I respect your sister a great deal. No matter how much Joffrey bullied her or how my sister treated her she always acted like a perfect lady, with dignity and grace. Which is more than can be said of you Lady Arya." He grinned a little at her, she knew he wasn't being too serious. "Your sister told me what you did to her bed when you were angry with her."
Arya couldn't help but giggle. "Her chamber stunk of sheep shit for over a week, I got in so much trouble for that." Arya said, remembering back to when she had sheep shifted her sister's bed.
"I bet you were, your mother was a fierce woman. I respected her too, even though she tried to have me killed."
Arya nodded in agreement, her mother was fiercely protective of them all, except for Jon. "Why did my mother try to have you killed?" She asked, it was the first she had heard of it. She had overheard her father talking to Jory back in King's Landing, but she didn't hear everything that was said and didn't fully understand back then.
Tyrion explained to Arya how Catelyn had accused him of trying to murder Bran, captured him and taken him to the Eyrie where he was held in a sky cell before his trial by combat and eventually released.
'If only my mother had known the truth' Arya thought to herself as she listened to Tyrion's story. "Have you ever done anything mean to your brother or sister?" Arya asked him, curious to see if Tyrion's mind had come up with something better than sheep shifting.
"I never did anything bad to Jaime, we always got along well. My sister though..." Tyrion shook his head a little as his eyes narrowed, thinking for a moment. "When I was twelve I added...umm...something to a pot of turtle stew which I believe my sister ate."
Arya didn't like to think what the something was, but she found it funny that Cersei had probably eaten it, whatever it was. Arya still hated Cersei even after all this time, but some day she would cross her name off her list and smile.
"I also stuffed my uncle's boots with goatshit once." Tyrion continued with a light chuckle.
Arya wished that she had stuffed Sansa's boots with goatshit too, she could almost see her face red with anger and had to giggle. She then smiled at Tyrion before explaining how she found her way to Braavos by escaping Harenhall and being taken by the Brotherhood Without Banners and eventually travelling with The Hound, Sandor Clegane. She told him everything up to when she found Tyrion and Jorah in Yunkai.
Tyrion listened to her story, almost in disbelief. He then explained to her how he had fled King's Landing after being accused of Joffrey's murder with the help of his brother Jaime and Lord Varys and escaped to Pentos. He told her how he had later been captured by Ser Jorah who had planned to take him to Daenerys to win back her favor and then how they had both been captured and sold as slaves before Arya and Darion's rescue in Yunkai.
When he looked over he saw that she had fallen asleep. "You're a brave little wolf Lady Stark." He whispered as he rolled over on to his side and closed his eyes.
EXTRA CONTENT - Daenerys
Daenerys sat at the head of the stone table in her private chambers with Barristan Selmy, Varys and Daario Nahaaris. "I have brought you here to discuss the current situation." She said as she looked around the table at each of her advisors. "What do we know of these murders?"
"Your Grace, the situation on the streets is getting more dangerous by the day. Three more Unsullied murdered today." Barristan Selmy said.
"The Sons of the Harpy I believe they are calling themselves." Varys added as he slid one of their golden masks onto the table for everyone to see..
Daenerys stared at the golden mask. She knew that the situation was starting to get out of hand. Even though she planned to set sail for Westeros to reclaim the iron throne she had no intention of turning Meereen back over to it's former masters.
"Your Grace?" Barristan Selmy said as he looked at her from across the stone table, breaking her chain of thought.
"Lord Varys, what do we know about these Sons of the Harpy?" Daenerys asked as she looked over him, hoping to find out more. "Who are they? Where have they come from?"
"I know very little I'm afraid. I believe they are led by someone calling themself 'The Harpy'. But, not even my little birds know who he...or she really is." He replied, shaking his head slowly.
"Your Grace, we need to stop them before things get out of control." Barristan Selmy added.
"Ser Barristan is right. Maybe give the people what they want for now? Open the fighting pits, give them something to cheer." Daario said as he winked at her, making her heart skip a beat. He always made her feel this way, though she tried to hide it.
Daenerys looked over as Missandei entered the chamber and walked hurredly over. "Your Grace. A man calling himself the Crow's Eye wishes a private audience."
"The Crow's Eye?" Daenerys looked over to Varys to see if he knew anything.
"Euron Greyjoy. I advise caution Your Grace. The ironborn are not to be trusted." Varys spoke softly.
"Your Grace, Varys is right, the ironborn are dangerous. Send him away." Barristan Selmy added, backing up what Varys had said.
"But Your Grace, he brings a gift." Missandei said as Daenerys stood.
"A gift?" Daenerys was confused. "Why would an ironborn sail halfway across the world to bring me a gift?"
Varys shook his head slowly. "I am unsure Your Grace, it could be a trick?"
Daenerys turned away as she thought for a moment before turning back to face Missandei. The situation in Meeren was complicated enough with the Sons of the Harpy, this was something that she didn't want or need. "What is this...gift?"
Missandei looked back at her nervously. "A dragon egg from Valyria."