"How far are we from the Twins?" Arya asked as she shifted closer the fire. She glanced at the pile of moldy rope next to her- the Hound's reminder that "one more fuck up and you'll be tied stiff and slung across Stranger's back like you're damned butcher's boy" still lingered in her mind.

"Two day's ride, about," he grunted and bit into a roasted rabbit. "Maybe longer. That hog farmer was right- the roads 'ave gone to shit."

"Is there any way that's faster?" she asked, looking down at her own chewy rabbit.

"Not that I know of," he swallowed another hunk of meat. "Though I'd stomp down a new road with my own arse if it meant getting rid of you quicker."

Another wave of silence washed over their makeshift camp. They'd barely spoken since they'd been in the village. From wordlessly claiming their sole blanket as his own each night to pissing next to the fire in full view of her, he seemed to not care or notice that she was there at all. But Arya still felt his eyes watching her almost every moment she was far enough away from him that she could take off and run.

She had finally convinced him to let her sleep without the rope binding her ankles and wrists. They both knew he was a light sleeper, and he had made it clear to her that he'd break her leg if she tried to escape as he slept. She believed him, and stayed rooted to her shabby bedroll he'd stolen from the hog farmer each night.

"My brother probably won't pay you, you know," she started, eyes flickering up at him. "You're the Lannister's dog. He'd be happy to see your head on a spike."

"I'm not their dog anymore," he muttered.

"He won't care. You did their bidding without a flinch- killed innocent people because they told you too." her nostrils flared and her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him.

"They paid me too, just like you're brother will after I bring you home unharmed," The Hound yanked the now bare leg bone off of his rabbit's body and tossed it aside. He leaned forward with a scowl, the fire reflecting in the blacks of his eyes. "I'm not the one who snipped your daddy's neck, girl, if that's what you're getting at."

"You let them do it," she said, her voice low and close to a growl. "You were Jofferey's shield since he was a babe. You watched him grow into a monster and you did nothing to stop him."

"What was I supposed to do? Hit his arse with a switch every time he twisted a kitten's neck? I was a shield, not his mother," he shook his head. "If I dared harm one cunty hair on his slimy little head, my skull would be sitting on a spike and picked bare by crows."

"But you were with him more than anyone else. You could have cut his throat as he slept or poisoned his cup and no one would know it was you!" she spat, seething.

The Hound shook his head with a huff.

"It doesn't work that way in King's Landing. There are too many little birds chirping about the city." he snorted.

"Robb won't care," she yelled back. "He'll just see you as another Lannister solider."

"He won't think so when he see's you alive, and when he hears that I protected your sister from the King."

Arya's fists clenched when he mentioned Sansa. He wouldn't help her, she thought. He wouldn't help anyone unless it benefited him.

"You didn't protect her if she's still stuck there with them," she countered, crossing her arms. "For all I know, she's dead because you left her."

"I kept half a dozen men from raping her in the streets, I stopped Jofferey from beating or beheading her when she tried to do stupid things, and I offered to take her North with me during the night of the Blackwater. But she stayed because her delusional pride convinced her she was invincible. It runs in all of you Northerners' blood," he nodded his head towards her. "Both of you will end up dead soon because of it."

"I can hold my own- I'm a Stark." she shot back. He laughed at this, making her anger bubble even more.

"You're daddy was the same way, but what happened to him?" he paused and stared deeper into her eyes. "The dumb cunt lost his head to a little boy."

"Don't call him that!" she jumped up, finger nails digging into her palms as she squeezed her fists. "Don't you dare."

"It's what he was. Just because he was honorable doesn't mean he wasn't stupid, and so far it seems his pups are the same way. There's no use for men like him who try to fix the world. It's too fucked up already," he grunted.

"Why are you so hateful?" Arya spat back. Something she couldn't read flickered in his eyes for a moment before his usual angry look of indifference set back into place.

"I know how things work. Men who overestimate what little goodness is left the world lose their heads, just like your daddy did, and just like you, your sister, and 'king' brother will," he scoffed, grabbing another rabbit off of the dwindling fire. "None of you are strong enough to survive."

Something finally snapped inside Arya at this. Seeing a rock next to her foot, she swiftly grabbed it and chucked at the Hound's head. He was still bent over, reaching for the rabbit when it hit him just above the temple. He jolted up, a somewhat shocked look washed across him as thin line of blood trickled down his face. Anger quickly set over him and he charged towards Arya, pinning her against the tree behind her before she realized what she had done.

"What did I tell you would happen if you hit me with a rock and it didn't kill me?" he growled, grabbing her wrists and squeezing them so hard she let out a yelp of pain. "Hmm?"

"You'd break both my hands," she said with a quiver in her voice.

"Do you think I won't do it, Wolf-bitch?" he said. She didn't answer at first, but when he squeezed even harder she finally squeaked out a "No." He leaned down next to her face.

"Next time you think about trying to hurt me or kill me, remember who's keeping you fed and safe," he said, loosening his grip on her wrists. "Get some sleep. We're leaving at dawn."

He shoved her towards her bedroll and went back over to his side of the fire, laid down, and started snoring almost immediately. She watched his form move up and down with each of his breaths. Turning away from him with a taste of disgust in her mouth, she closed her eyes and muttered her list, making sure to save his name for last.