The first night she had almost dropped where she stood. She didn't remember how but it seemed she had at least managed to get her bedroll out as she had awoken under her blanket.

She stood up and stretched. It seemed the Gods were kind upon her with the weather at least. The sky was clear and a bright sun was rising in the air. It didn't look like it would snow today either. There were even some birds chirping in a tree nearby. It seemed the world had already forgotten about yesterday's horrors.

Maybe I have died and this is heaven. She pulled up her nose up at the thought. If that were the case then her family would be there to hold her and her feet wouldn't hurt anymore from running so much. She swallowed at the thought of yesterday's horrors to keep the thoughts at bay. She would think the happenings over later.

She turned to the pack of food that lay at the bottom of her sack. There was still a whole squirrel and a bit of rabbit left. Especially squirrels were often seen around these days and so they had hunted them freely and saved them as provisions. She wouldn't have to worry about food for some time yet. The thing she did have to worry about though was the direction in which she was going.

She had never been good at setting a course; she hadn't had the need to of course since someone else always took care of those. She found herself in one of those moments in which she wished that a highborn's education wasn't all about words and courtesies and rulers long forgotten. Arya would know what to do in a situation like this. Oh how she missed her family.

She thought of her father who was stern but kind. She thought of the last time her mother had brushed out her hair, how she would love for that to happen again. Her mother had always been very proud of their shared auburn color, but after dyeing it so many times she wasn't even sure if she could remember the red glow of it correctly. She wondered what her life would be like if her father had never agreed to come to King's Landing. Her family would still be together except for maybe Jon who had probably made the decision to join the Night's Watch long ago. Still they would be able to visit him and they would all be together. Her own head would've probably still have been full of songs and dreams of beautiful knights and their gallantry. She would've been wed to such a knight. Now she found herself heeding the words of The Hound instead. Knights only served to kill. And they would shamelessly beat little girls when it was asked of them. They were puppets twisting towards their master's every wish.

She would make sure she would never marry such a man ever again. The man she was looking for now would be as her father had wanted for her. Someone brave, gentle and strong. He would protect her, respect her and kiss her in the gentlest manner. Her hand reached her lips as she remembered her first kiss. His mouth had pressed cruelly to hers while outside men died of steel and fire. He had smelled horribly of blood and wine and was more drunk than she had ever seen him before.

She remembered how she had put her hand to his face and found it streaked with tears.

Had she put his hand to his face while he kissed her? It must've been that way. He had been rough but the unburnt side of his face had felt soft and yielding under her lips. In the end he had left all the same.

It seemed that every man that had given her good advice once had perished, so they could never be of help to her again.

It would not do to think about a different life however. She needed to find a road that would lead her to a village. She was in the middle of the forest and she didn't even want to think about the possibility of more men from the Mountain Clans coming her way. Or worse, Petyr's men. It was still a very good possibility although she doubted it would come to that, they had been travelling long enough to put a lot of distance between them and the castle. And there had not been any sign of a knightly purchase in all of that time. Yesterday's flight would at least help her in this matter; she herself didn't even know where she was. All she knew was that she managed to put a considerable amount of distance between her place of flight and the place she was at now, wherever that might be.

There might even still be a chance to find Aila and Mea. She knew she was running away with them when they fled the spot they were attacked. When she was tripped to the ground they must've ran on and disappeared. Will they be looking for me, or do they think me dead? If they did she couldn't blame them. The Gods had been with her that moment or else she would've never escaped. The sisters were both fast runners and they knew enough of nature to be able to feed themselves. But there was a slight possibility they had turned the wrong direction and- no, I won't think of it. Even just thinking over the possibilities made her feel dizzy. They would be looking for her as she was looking for them. But secretly she doubted anyone would find her here. What if no one will ever find me and I won't be able to find my way out either? She shuddered at the thought and immediately started repacking her load. She had to move or her thoughts might become reality or worse, drive her crazy. She got up and started in the direction that was most likely to get her out of the woods. For two days she travelled like this when suddenly it started snowing again. It wasn't even that bad but now that she was all alone it felt unbearably cold. The forest seemed to go on forever and she was becoming tired of the sight around her. Most of all she despised the squirrels. Were they a welcome source of food before, now they had turned into the bane of her existence. She had tried hunting them but she had only the dagger and the squirrels seemed to laugh mockingly at her as they swiftly jumped from tree to tree, always out of her reach. She did not know how to set a trap and even if she could she did not have the materials needed to set one up.

She tried to be careful with the portions of the remaining food she had. There wasn't much left and soon she would have to find a solution for the lack of it. It was becoming more and more impossible for her to keep on the façade of being Sylene. The freezing winds made that skin peel off of her to reveal the highborn unskilled maiden she still was underneath. At night she let her weakness show as she cried herself to sleep while big round eyes of night animals all around her watched her drift to sleep. This was not how things were supposed to go. This was never the plan. I am going to die here, she realized. No, she put that thought away and the next day she packed once again to hopefully finally glimpse something other than the endless forest around her. She had a cloak wrapped around her but it was a simple ragged thing that blew the wind right through at moments, it seemed to her.

The snow was beginning to fall at a faster pace and with it she began to shiver. Her feet kept on carrying her but her mind was losing concentration fast. She was only aware of the endless bitter cold.

A/N: And now I'm off for a week to a party at a festival woohoo!