Game of Thrones: Tragedy and Reunions

Next chapter of my Game of Thrones story.

Reviews

magnus374: Answer to all your reviews; yeah, you bet she does. Yup, but as Sandor said, the first kill is the hardest; and yeah hard luck on Bran and Meera.
Emeloo2: No probs, glad you enjoyed them.
HarryPotterLover1996: Cliffhanger indeed, you'll find out what happens to them in the next chapter :) Well, here it is enjoy :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Arya

As they walked Arya pondered Jaqen's warning. Annoyed as she was at being practically helpless, she allowed Gendry to guide her. It was that or stumble over every tree root and rock she came across. She trusted Gendry to keep her out of the way of them. Her helplessness didn't just annoy her, it worried her too. After Jaqen's warning she thought continuously on everything that could potentially pose a danger to them.

'There's so many things that could be a threat,' She thought. 'Lannister soldiers, bandits, dangerous creatures. So many things!'

As if reading her mind Gendry slowed their pace until they stopped and then spoke. His voice was hushed and urgent.

"Arya, what he told us, about danger." He hesitated and then continued. "I know it goes without saying that we be careful but, with you in this condition..."

"I know; I can't exactly fight."

She heard him sigh before speaking again. "Yeah, but, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. I've got a sword from the forge here and I grabbed this from that guard's body."

Arya felt him place something in her hands; she felt it, the hilt, the delicately wrought hilt and the familiar slender blade ending in a sharp point.

"Needle?" She breathed, hardly daring to believe it.

She knew Gendry was smirking. "Thought you'd recognize it. If we are going to face danger, we might as well be armed and ready for it."

Arya agreed and, after a few clumsy failed attempts, slid Needle into her belt and they continued on.

As they walked Arya was silent, thinking about her family; wondering how they were all doing. She had been cut off in Harrenhal for a long time, and only knew what was going on outside by overhearing the guard's talk and by eavesdropping on meetings. Yet even that did not glean any new information. Now that she was back in the outside world, she wished she could think of a way to figure out what happened, without arousing suspicion. Finally however, unable to bear the constricting feeling in her chest as she thought about them, she spoke.

"Gendry, I was wondering..." She paused thinking how best to describe what she wanted to tell him. "Do you... think my family's really all right?"

There was a pause and then he replied.

"I...I don't know, I mean; why are you...?" He hesitated, clearly unsure.

Finally she explained about her fears and concerns.

"The last time I heard anything about my family, Robb and my mother were still out fighting, Sansa was in King's Landing, Bran and Rickon were home in Winterfell. But what if that's not true anymore?"

Gendry sighed. "I see what you mean; there's nothing we can do yet...We'll just have to try and find your brother's camp and then...see what we can find out."

Arya sighed. "I guess; well, let's get going. If we don't hurry, we can be sure that danger will find us."

Gendry agreed and they quickened their pace.

However they could only cover so much distance before tiring, they eventually had to slow down and then stop.

"Gendry?" Arya asked; concerned.

"It's late, sun's gone down. We'll just get lost if we try to travel through the dark. We'll have to stop for the night." He replied flatly.

Arya groaned, as much as she wanted to keep going she knew he was right.

"Right, we'll stop here then."

Gendry agreed and helped her to a flat, rock free patch to rest and soon they were both asleep. They were far from comfortable, out in the open and without a fire, but they were able to make do.

Arya didn't know how many hours had passed when she was awoken by a pair of rough hands, definitely not Gendry's, grabbing her.

"What the...?" She was cut off by the harsh voice of the man who had grabbed her.

"Shut up, not a sound!" He growled.

She could hear other voices and realized Gendry had been grabbed too. Who were these people? Her mind raced.

"Well, what do we have here, couple o' travellers," one of the men stated. "Let's see what you two got?"

It then became clear to Arya that these men were bandits. She fought to keep the panic out of her voice as she spoke.

"We don't have anything," she stated. "You're wasting your time."

"We'll decide that, girl." The one holding her declared.

Arya sighed, Gendry had clearly been disarmed, but it wasn't hopeless yet.

Due to the way she had been grabbed Arya's coat was still wrapped around her, Needle was still in her hands. If she could just move enough to use it, it might provide enough of a distraction for Gendry to grab his sword again. She twisted in her captor's grasp, ignoring his growls for her to stay still.

Finally however another bandit spoke. "Ugh, they got nothin'."

The others growled and then another spoke. "Well, let's kill them and get outta here."

Panicked, Arya acted on impulse. By luck she had managed to twist her body around just enough to be out of harm's way. Needle tore through the fabric of the coat and pierced the bandit holding her. He screamed and dropped her. However this caused the blanket to unravel and her to lose her grip on Needle. There was shouting and the sound of screams and steel on steel as she frantically tried to find Needle again. Suddenly she froze, everything had gone quiet. She waited tensely and then suddenly a voice spoke.

"Arya?"

She breathed a sigh of relief, it was Gendry. He put Needle in her hands again and helped her stand up. She was able to slide it into her belt and then spoke.

"What happened?" She asked.

Gendry then explains about how her distraction had allowed him to grab his sword. He then fought off the surprised bandits and forced them to run away.

Arya inhaled sharply. "Were you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." He paused and then sighed. "Well, it's morning, we better hurry."

Arya gave a short laugh. "You're right, but before we go...?"

"Oh yeah, let's take those old bandages off."

Arya nodded and waited for him to begin.

She closed her eyes and soon felt Gendry's hands working at the bandages. Soon the pressure caused by them disappeared and Gendry spoke.

"Right, they're off...so?"

Arya slowly opened her eyes and sighed. Her vision was only marginally better. Most of her sight was still engulfed in darkness, what little she could see was blurred. She told Gendry as such and he nodded before tying the fresh bandages into place. Once they were secured he took her arm again and they walked on.

"Well, I'm guessing that was one of the dangers your friend warned us about." Gendry stated.

Arya nodded. "Hopefully we'll be better prepared for the next two."

So, listening carefully in case the bandits came back and pursued them, they continued onwards, continuing north.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.