Ok so this chapter is going to be a little different. I decided to do this chapter from Gendry`s point of view and depending on if I enjoy writing like this and what you guys think I will probably do some random chapters like this. It is going to start off from the beginning after the trial by battle with the Hound. So here is the first half. I am going to split it into two chapters so enjoy.

Chapter 4

Gendry could feel Arya shaking beside him as they watched the monster of a man with half a burned face battle Lord Beric. She was screaming at Beric to kill him to finish him. He had never seen her like this before, he wanted to grab her and make her leave but he knew better than to try that so he stood beside her watching as the battle went on and on, before finally the hound swung his sword down shattering Lord Beric`s flaming blade and buried his sword deep in Berics shoulder. Arya screamed curses at him as the hound began to roll around in the dirt trying to extinguish the flame that had engulfed his arm. Thoros ran to Berics side and began muttering above him. Gendry didn`t know what was going on, he was trying to see everything at once. The only noise was the screams coming from the Hound until Arya cried out and quicker than a cat pouncing on its prey she had unsheathed the sword of the man standing next to her and was running for the Hound. Usually Arya was too quick for Gendry but not this time. He had been expecting her to try something so when she charged the hound he was right behind her. He grabbed her around the waist with one arm and fought to drag her back before he ended up taking her to the ground. All the while she was fighting him clawing at his arm and kicking him. Screaming at the hound to burn in hell and to die. Arya was small but all of her rage made it difficult to hold her down. Gendry kept her his arm around her pulling her into him so tightly he was sure he would cut off her air, but she continued to scream until Berics voice rang through the cave. She stilled and Gendry`s eyes finally left the flailing girl that was now halfway beneath him and rose to see Beric standing there covered in his own blood.

"He will go to hell. Not today." Beric said coldly staring at Sandor Clegane who was still lying on the ground holding his burnt arm.

The Hound looked dumbstruck and Arya was shaking so violently it was making Gendry shake with her. Arya had stopped fighting him at this point but he didn`t dare loosen his grip on her. If she attacked the Hound he would watch her be hacked to pieces, and he wasn`t about to let that happen.

Some of the brothers helped The Hound to his feet.

"The God of Light has judged you Sandor Clegane and found you innocent on this day. You are free to leave." Lord Beric stepped aside as the Hound through a nasty look down at Arya and shoved his way through the crowd out of the cave.

Suddenly Arya was wriggling under him.

"Get off me" she snarled at him. It sounded as though she was fighting back tears.

"Stop it Arya!" Gendry held her down easily enough now and he caught her storm grey eyes with his own. "I will let you go when he is away from here." Gendry knew he was going to regret this later but right now he was keeping her safe. That was his only job to protect the girl. It had been his only job since the day he realized little Arry was no little boy. He knew she hated it but she would forget about it eventually she always did.

Arya stopped fighting him.
She knows there is no point resisting me she isn`t nearly strong enough but she thought she could kill The Hound?! Maybe she wants to die. Gendry thought. The thought angered him that she would be so stupid and selfish.

The men in the cave were staring at the two of them Gendry noticed. He looked up and met Thoros gaze.

"Take her out of here boy, and stay with her to make sure she doesn`t run off."

Gendry got to his feet grabbing Arya by the arm hoisting her to her feet before he grabbed her hand and led her outside into to evening. As soon as they were out of the cave she had ripped her hand from his.

"I`m not a child." She spat as Gendry continued to walk toward the covered spot he had found for them to sleep.

He glared at her over his shoulder, "Could have fooled me the way you just acted. Charging him like that. Going to avenge your dead friend with the Hounds sword through you are you."

He turned his head and continued to walk but he could feel her eyes burning through the back of his head.

"I could have killed him had you stayed out of it."

That was the last he could take. Did she really think she would have been able to kill him?! He spun around to face her. He was trying to keep his breathing under control and not let his anger get the better of him but it wasn`t working as he started to speak.

"You are not a stupid girl. We both know that, you don`t stand a chance against him as long as he is armed and awake. If it hadn`t been for me getting in the way," he said in a mocking tone "I would have been packing your dead little corpse from that cave. You want revenge fine, but make sure if you`re going to do it you get you live to tell about it, or at least wait until I am no longer around."

He waited for the screaming to begin but for once she just stared at him. Momentarily speechless, but he knew it wouldn`t last long so he pointed at the place he had found for them to sleep. He had already laid there furs under the large rock that jutted out from rock wall.

"Build a fire and stay here." He growled at her. He was so angry with her for bringing out this side of him. He hated being angry with her. He stared at her with what he hoped was a serious glare before turning and starting toward the trees.

"Why do you think you can just tell me what to do? If I want to go I will go!" She shouted after him. Gendry was no longer in any mood to fight with her.

"Damn it Arya please!" he shouted at her with a quick glance back. She just stood there staring at him but he knew if he didn`t keep walking she would fight him until she won so he continued to make his way into the trees.

He walked until he could no longer hear the men from the camp. He hoped Arya had listened and stayed. He should have stayed with her but it would have only been a bigger fight if he had. Gendry was finally breathing normally and had calmed down when he came to a small opening in the trees. He stopped and closed his eyes letting the chill of the night cool him down. It was freezing but Gendry was covered in a layer of sweat.

"Why do I let her make me like this?" he thought to himself. "I should just go and let her be on her own, see how she likes that."

But he knew he wouldn`t do that, as strong willed and clever as she was she wanted a pack. She didn`t want to be alone. He saw the hurt in her eyes when Hot Pie had told them that he wasn`t going with them when they left with the brotherhood, and he had seen the panic she tried to hide when he told her he was considering staying with the brotherhood. He knew better than to even think he could live with himself if he left her. Gendry shook his head trying to clear his mind. He opened his eyes and scanned the growing darkness for something. Finally he spotted what he had been looking for. He made his way over to a long thick branch that was lying on the ground. He picked it up and held it with his right hand. Slowly he began to swing it at the tree in front of him. Trying to remember the way Arya swung Needle. The way Arya did it though it looked more like a dance than sword play he thought. He had watched her in Harenhal as she practiced with her secret sword, trying to memorize her every move. He practiced with the pretend sword until his arm was sore and there were marks all over the tree trunk. He had been doing this for weeks now and he was getting better. If he was truly going to protect the girl he needed to be sure she was not the only one that could use a sword. Finally it was getting to dark to see very far past the trees ahead of him.

"I should get back to her." Gendry thought to himself. He stopped. "To camp" he blurted out loud. "I should get back to camp." He felt his guts twist at the accidental slip he had made and felt his cheeks burn red even though no one else was around or could have heard his thoughts for that matter. He continued to walk through the darkness until he could hear the men again. When he returned to camp a large group of the brothers were sitting around a fire talking amongst themselves.

"Ah! Blacksmith there you are. We thought your little wolf cub had run you off." They all laughed at how clever they thought they were.

Gendry ignored them and continued on until he reached the rock covering. There was an untouched plate of food on the ground next to her shivering body. Gendry put the remaining pathetic pieces of wood on the small fire and crawled under the rock sitting next to her. Her small body was shivering so hard he was sure her muscles would ache in the morning, and her teeth were chattering hard enough to wake up people in the nearest town. She is going to freeze to death Gendry thought. I should lay with her to keep her warm. Why did he think that? A moment of panic set in while he continued to stare at her. He knew he should, it would keep her warm but the thought of laying with her made him uneasy for some reason. Finally after a few moments of going back and forth in his mind. He convinced himself it made him uncomfortable because he had never laid next to a woman before, but Arya was no woman and she was like his little sister. Gendry knew better than to believe he thought of her as his little sister but he knew he would not be able to sleep beside her if he let himself think of her as anything else and she needed to be warm. So quietly he grabbed his fur and crawled over to her. She was twitching along with shivering and her lips were parted as if she was trying to say something. Her eyes were darting around under her eyelids. She was having another nightmare he realized. He grabbed her shoulder and shook her gently "Arya"

After saying her name several more times her eyes finally opened and met his for a moment they just stared. Gendry finally broke the gaze he was uncomfortable being so close to her now so he threw the fur over her and tried covering himself, but he wasn`t quick enough she realized what he was doing and started pulling away from him.

"Gendry wha"

He cut her off hoping she would not fight him this time. "You were shivering so hard that your teeth were chattering. You need to stay warm and this is the easiest way to do that."

He through his arm over her and pulled him into her. She was like a block of ice her skin was so cold. For a brief second he thought she would just go back to sleep but that thought was short lived as she started trying to wriggle free of him.

"You aren`t sleeping with me." She said as she tried to get away from him.

Gendry burned hot with embarrassment, he wasn`t going to fight with her, not now after he had already calmed himself not while he was so tired.

"I`m not sleeping with you stupid! I am sleeping next to you to keep you warm but if you want to freeze. I am not in the mood to fight with you!" He spat and got up leaving her with his furs and walked doubled over to keep from smacking his head on the rock ceiling above, back to the other side of the fire and laid down with his back to her. He refused to look at her to let her see how red his face was because of what she had said.

"Let her freeze then." He thought.

He heard her shuffling around behind him before he heard her voice.
"I don`t want your furs." She was above him and dropped them on top of him.

Before she could escape Gendry reached out and grabbed her pulling her to the ground, pulling her into him and holding her tightly against him while she fought him. He wasn`t going to let her escape and he knew soon she would stop fighting him because he was warm and she rarely fought him for long.
"I hate you, you stupid bastard." She said without looking at him.

Gendry smiled down at the top of her head knowing that was the end of her fighting.
"Be my guest. I will keep you from freezing to death so that you can keep hating me."

She laid still beside him and for the first time in a long time Gendry fell asleep comfortable.

He had only been asleep a few moments it seemed when he heard the voices. He had woken up but made sure to keep his eyes shut. He was lying on his back but he could still feel Arya`s small frame pressed up against him. She hadn`t moved away from him. He tried to keep from smiling at that realization as the voices were getting closer. He listened as he heard Thoros and Beric speaking as they stood a few feet away from them. He heard Lord Beric speak first.

"We could use him, we need a good blacksmith and as for that, the boy isn`t going to leave us and she won`t leave without him." They were talking about him and Arya he realized.

"It aint right the way he looks at her. She is just a girl. He`s been a man since his tenth year" Thoros said.

Gendry`s stomach flipped. What the hell did he mean the way he looked at her. He looked at her like a friend like a brother looks at his sister. He silently tried to convince himself.

"He protects her, Beric said quietly. "He knows who she is and he knows nothing can happen between them. He is a smart boy for being a blacksmith apprentice, but even then we don`t choose who we love. If he wants to love the girl let him. It is the only happiness that boy will probably ever know. Beside she is no little girl. She would kill the first man that tried to take him from her."

Gendry wanted to get up and leave. He knows who she is he knows nothing can happen. Why did he have to say that, actually Gendry had tried his best to forget that she was a highborn and that they were not equal, because he knew to her they were. She was not like any highborn anywhere else in the seven kingdoms. He prayed to the gods Arya was really asleep beside him. He prayed she could not hear what they were saying. He loved her as his only friend. He had made sure to not be too close to her so not to raise questions or suspicion form the other men. Apparently it hadn`t worked. He heard them walking away and he stopped holding his breath. He just laid there not moving hoping Arya was asleep but his gut sank when he felt her sit up. He could feel her eyes on him and he continued to pretend to be asleep. He must have convinced her because finally she laid back down beside him.

"Gendry loving me, what a stupid thing to say." He heard her whisper it to herself and he knew she had heard everything. Gendry kept his eyes closed trying to sleep but he couldn`t. The sick feeling in his stomach wasn`t going away this time. He just laid next to her pretending to sleep. Eventually he heard her making little noises, she always made them when she was soundly sleeping. He hoped she was having dreams of home, of her family he hoped that if only in her dreams she was happy at the moment. In the distance he could hear some of the other men shouting and laughing. "Don`t they ever sleep he thought" Finally they all were quiet and the only noises he heard were sounds of the forest and the Arya breathing beside him, and finally just as the sun was beginning to rise he fell asleep.