G.R.R. Martin owns all characters... I'm just borrowing them cos' I love them...
It was a few days after the Brotherhood left, that word came of King Joffery's death at his wedding dinner. Arya almost kissed the man who bought the news to Acorn Hall. Over supper he told Lady Smallwood and herself how it was the Imp and his wife, Sansa Stark, who was believed to be the killers. Arya had nearly choked on her stew when he spoke the words.
Sansa... killed Joffery... she would never have the gut's! She thought as the others discussed the news. Although, perhaps Jon was right about the Imp and he had persuaded Sansa to help him.
"The Lady Sansa has disappeared, fled, no one knows where and the Imp is the dungeon of King's Landing..." the man continued.
Yes, my sweet sister... run, run fast. You have done well. She thought with delight. Finally a Sansa she could respect and, better still, another name to mark 'DEAD' on her list.
She did not let her happiness of his death distract her from her mission. There was still many more to kill. She continued to train while Gendry and the Brotherhood were away. At night she would recite her list, minus Joffery's of course. It always made her smile when she skipped over his place, but this was short lived as she continued to name those she hated.
After she would give in to more pleasant thoughts... Gendry and the new sensations he had introduced her too. She would move her hands in-between her legs, feeling her hot wetness with her fingers and think of Gendry's hand touching her, his lips kissing her. Every night it was the same. Now that she knew such pleasure existed she could not get enough, and even though it was not the same as having Gendry there in person, she needed the relief. She was torn between thoughts of killing and thoughts of Gendry's touch. She found it hard to balance the feelings of pure hate and vengeance she carried daily, with the sheer love she felt for her Bull. Although she kept herself busy, she missed Gendry more than ever. Some days, she thought she would be content to live with him in Acorn Hall. She could help him in the forge, perhaps. They would be happy and content with that life. But then something would take her back to memories of Winterfell, her parents or her brothers, which would remind her that she would never be content without avenging them all.
Three months later, in the dead of night while the castle sleep, Arya was woken by screaming. She jumped out of bed and grabbed her breeches and tunic and dressed quickly. Suddenly Lady Smallwood bust into her room.
"Save us!... Arry... we are under attack. Men have breached the walls!" she screamed in terror. "Quick... we must hide... there is a passage..." she began to say.
"Who is it, My Lady?" Arya yelled as fear began to radiate through her body.
"I know not... but we must hide... now, come!"
They ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. The Lady knew of a small passage, the entrance of which was hidden behind a large fireplace, which led to some stairs. At the top of these stairs there was a small room which overlooked the courtyard. The window was only a small slit in the rock and barely visible from below. No one would find them there.
"What about everyone else, My Lady?" Arya asked in panic.
"I cannot save everyone... I wish I could! I promised your brother and the Brotherhood that I would care for you... we must save you Lady Stark."
As much as she wanted to protest and help the others, Arya knew that they could not save everyone. It was impossible. She had also promised Jon and Gendry that she would stay safe, so she followed Lady Smallwood to the kitchen. As they ran, they could hear the screams of everyone in the castle. Arya's blood ran cold as they entered the passage. She heard a babe's cry and a mothers pleading. It must be Kare and her little one, she thought in horror. Kare was a kitchen hand who had given birth to a little girl not six months past. As they shut the passage door, the babe cries stopped and Kare wailed an inaudible shriek. Lady Smallwood collapsed briefly, but regained her composure and led Arya up the stairs to the room. It was cramped, even with just the two of them, damp smelling and covered from ceiling to floor in cobwebs. It was still pitch dark outside, but they both stretched to the tiny window, trying to find hope of their friends amongst the screams.
Lady Smallwood gave up first. She fell to the floor and covered her ears with her hands. She hitched her knees up to her forehead and began to rock back and forth. Arya knew what was happening to her, as she had seen it many times in Harrenhal. She did not have the strength to lie to her, to hug her and tell her it would stop soon. She knew that's what the Lady wanted, but it useless to lie in this situation. One just had to wait and hope it ended sooner rather than later.
The screams persisted for hours. When dawn began to break, Arya pressed her head to the window and tried to see the attackers. Perhaps if I know what they want I can bargain with them. But no sooner had the though entered her head than she knew she was grasping. They want to steal and murder and rape... I cannot bargain with animals.
As light flooded the courtyard, Arya could see no men. She could hear women pleading and crying nearby and the sound of men laughing and jesting, but she could see no one. As time went on a group of castle folk were bought into the yard and lined up. They were beaten, the women's clothes were torn and they all looked terrified. Lady Smallwood was mumbling to herself incoherently and lying down with her arms around her legs. Arya knew she was not in this reality. Somehow it seemed kinder to let her stay in whatever delusion she was in. Nothing could be worse than the truth.
Suddenly, a very large man thundered into the courtyard. He towered over everyone around him. Arya's whole body tensed in fear as she recognised him.
"The Mountain." She shrieked as she clasped her hand over her mouth to stifle her horror. "Ohh god's... not him." she pleaded.
"I know she is here you lot of rats... tell me where she is or I'll have my men slit ye from neck to belly... and leave ye out here to rot while the dogs eat yer insides." The Mountain's tone conveyed that he was serious. No one would doubt that he do exactly that.
"She goes by the name of Arry Snow... where is she?" He thundered.
He's here for me. She cried. He must know who I am.
In that moment she wanted to run, she wanted to cry, but most of all she wanted Gendry, Jon, and her Father. Arya though she knew fear, she thought she knew terror, but what coursed through her in that moment was beyond anything she felt before. She knew she had to hand herself over... he would butcher everyone in the castle otherwise. He would probably do that anyway, but still, she could not sit back, watch and do nothing as he tortured them for information about her.
"Lady Smallwood... I have to go." She said carefully. "Stay here and do not move until Tom and the others are back. I'm sure they will hear of this soon and come fast. Do you hear me, My Lady? Do not move from here."
She looked up at Arya with petrified eyes. She tried to speak but not words came out.
"I have to hand myself over before they torture everyone... I have seen them do it before... I have no choice."
Suddenly she could see Jon's and Gendry's faces as they heard that she was with the Mountain. "You have to tell Gendry and Jon that okay? You must tell them I had no choice! Do you hear me?" she was yelling directly in to the Lady's face now as the realisation of what she was about to do hit her. The only response she got was a short nod.
Without thinking, Arya kissed her cheek and said. "Thank you for everything My Lady... be strong."
And with that she got up, left the room and climbed down to the kitchen, making sure the passage was still hidden. She took a deep breath and made her way outside. The castle was in complete disarray. Blood lined the walls and floor where the bodies of people she had come to think of as friends, lay. She seen a man, or boy rather who looked like Sye, the apprentice master. A pang of guilt coursed through her. He had looked so hurt and angry when he seen her and Gendry together and he realised she had used him. She never apologised to him. Tapestries were torn from the walls and everything that could break was in pieces on the floors. Before she could reach the door to the courtyard a sharp pain filled her head. A ringing noise consumed her ears and she dropped to the floor. She tried to shout but no sound came out.
"Where ya think yer going, ya little shit?"
She could hear the words but they sounded far away. Her head was in her hands and she was on her knees trying to fight disorientation.
"Get up rat."
Arya was dragged into the courtyard.
"Found this fella inside." The man said as he hurled Arya to the ground.
She slammed into the dirt and rolled onto her back, still clutching her head. She looked up and saw that the Mountain was standing over her, peering down with smile on his grotesque face.
"That's no boy." The Mountain said, sneering down at her.
"Gotya... you little bitch," he hissed. "Thought you made a fool of me you cunt?" he spat.
"What?" was all she could manage to say to him.
"The Queen's looking for you. Got me in a lot of shit when she found out you were alive all along and we had ya at Harrenhal. Called me a 'Stupid Cunt' for not knowing who you were." He bent down and grabbed Arya by the hair and pulled her to her feet.
"I'd flay ya if I had the choice... but the Queen said no 'arms to come to ya. You're a lucky little bitch, Stark."
Arya wanted to say something, to deny she was a Stark and run, but the disorientation took over and everything slowly went black.
Jon
Immediately after Jon returned from Acorn Hall, the men of the Night's Watch left the Wall to hunt Mance Rayder. He was a former man of the Watch who had deserted and united all the wildlings under his rule. He called himself 'King Beyond the Wall'. His plan was to attack the Night's Watch at the Wall and continue south until he held the Seven Kingdoms. Jon and his companions lasted two months in freezing conditions before returning to the Wall empty handed.
They encountered many wildings' along the way, all of them hostile. The wilding's hated the Crows, as they called the men of the Watch. Mance seemed to give them hope of a better future where they could go south and not be treated as savages. The wilding's had enough of the southern's keeping them locked beyond the Wall, like prisoners. If the only way to be truly free was to take the south by force, so be it. It was in there nature to take what they wanted when they seen it, be that a woman, weapon or land. If there opponent was strong enough to defend their property, they could keep it. If not, they deserved to have it taken away.
Back at the Wall, all the men had pestered Jon for information about his travels south.
"Where did ya go, Jon," Pyp asked. "Come on... was it to do with the war? You're Brother? Did you kill a few Frey's?"
"It was nothing to do with Robb or the war. Leave it... I'll not talk about it." he always answered.
He wanted nothing more than to send a raven to Arya, but with so many people talking about him being allowed to leave, he thought it best not too. He had to trust in Lady Smallwood and the Brotherhood to care for her... even Gendry, though he preferred not to think about him and Arya spending so much time in each other's company. He had agreed to let them be together, and he liked Gendry, but he knew Arya. She was the most wilful person he had ever known, so he knew she would find it hard to stick to her promise. Apart from any other reason, she would want to because she was not supposed to, it was not allowed and not the actions of a proper Lady. He had to push the thoughts from his mind. He had agreed to trust her. Still, he did not like to think of his little sister, alone with a boy.
By the time they returned from beyond the Wall, word had reached them of Joffery's death and Sansa's escape. Jon was shocked. He could easily believe that Tyrion had killed the King, but not that Sansa had any part in it. Jon and Sansa had never particularly gotten along in Winterfell. She always treated him little better than she had Theon, not a real member of her family. They never played together as youngsters, talked or even argued. They never did much of anything really. She was as opposite to Arya and himself as she could possibly be. She would certainly not be part of a murder, even the murder of a beast like Joffery.
Where could she be? he wondered in silence. Someone must be helping her, but who?
His usual enemies at the Wall, like Janos Slynt, a former member of the guard from King's Landing, would talk loudly at dinner. "Father a traitor, and now a murderer for a sister!"
He did his best to ignore them. He had been scolded by Commander Mormont after he broke the nose of one man who called Sansa an 'imp fucker', after word of her marriage to Tyrion reached them.
"You have to learn to ignore them." The commander had shouted angrily. "We have more important things to worry about, boy."
"My sister was forced to marry a Lannister... that is important to me, my Lord." He argued.
It was one of the reasons the Commander let him leave to find Arya. He knew Jon was on the verge of fleeing the Wall after word of Robb's murder. He wanted vengeance. His friends had talked him into staying after his father's murder and managed to do the same after Robb, but it was becoming a losing battle. When the Raven came from Acorn Hall, the Commander heard hope in Jon's voice for the first time since his father was imprisoned. He tried to reason with him at first, but when he saw that he would abscond, he had yielded and let him go. The punishment for leaving the Wall was death and he could see that Jon was on the verge of risking his life it meant finding one of his siblings alive. In truth, Mormont was surprised he had come back.
Jon and the Watch prepared for attack. Mance and the wilding's were coming soon. Commander Mormont reached out to all the so called 'King's' in the kingdom for help, but he had been rejected by most. They knew they had a certain protection with the Wall, but they were heavily outnumbered. It would be a messy attack and if the wildings breeched the gates, the Night Watch would lose.
The men lined the Wall, archers were ready and others kept oil simmering, waiting to throw it down the seven hundred foot drop to the ground below. Tension was rising in everyone. The wildings were strong, fearless, savage and there was hundreds of thousands of them. It was not going to be an easy fight.