They had returned to the river to retrieve her now dry clothing and made camp not much further into the woods. She had changed back into one of the simple dresses behind a group of dense trees while he got a fire working.

He was still as gruff with her as he had been before in King's Landing. He had even tried to scare her away again, but she wouldn't have that. She had indeed been shaken a bit, but she had stood her ground and looked him straight in the eye.

She didn't want to be reduced to a little begging girl again, but she had had no other choice. She realized now that she would never make it to a safe place all on her own, there were simply too much shadows surrounding her.

Over the short amount of time that had passed since their reunion she had noticed that he had changed somehow. Mostly she could see it in his eyes. Before, when she had awoken, he had looked genuinely concerned about her. While back at the capitol she could only ever see a cold and endless rage in them.

Her choice to call him by his name still felt a bit uncomfortable to her but he wasn't a knight or lord and calling him 'ser' would only make him act that old angry way of his again. Calling him by his name would make it easier to get to know each other again, or at least so she hoped.

When she returned he had just put the rabbit on the fire. He looked up at her as she reentered their camp, the light of the fire flickering over his face. Even though it was yellow-y light she couldn't help but remember the night when the flames had burnt green and she had found him in her bed where they had shared a kiss. A kiss that was cruel and soft at the same time. She blushed fiercely at the memory and quickly moved her gaze towards the rabbit hanging on a spit over the fire. Perhaps she was staring a bit to hard at is because suddenly Sandor's voice sounded over the soft crisp of the fire.

"It won't cook faster even if you keep staring at it like that."

She sat down across from him. She had a thousand questions in mind but none found their way past her lips. Instead they both sat the silence out until the rabbit was ready to consume and they both ate their fill.

It was him who broke the silence after that. "So what's a singing bird doing all alone in the forest anyway?"

She hesitated for a moment before answering. "Flying."

"Away?"

"Yes."

Silence, again. He leaned forward and looked her straight in the eyes.

"If I'm to keep you safe then I'd rather know what we're up to. Who could chase us, what places not to go, you better tell me all, girl."

She knew she had to, it was only fair and logical. She hadn't expected she would have to recall all that had happened so soon again. She'd rather not remember them for a while and focus on being Sylene instead, but that game was over now. So she gathered herself and told him.

"I'm fleeing the Vale. From Petyr Baelish."

His expression changed. "So it's true then, he took you away." She could see he balled his fist when he said it. "That smooth bastard." He looked like he could hack some of the smaller trees nearby to pieces.

"I was Alayne there," she continued, staring off in the flames. "His natural born daughter," she added softly.

"Little bird... did he-?"

It took her a moment to shake her head from left to right. "I think he wanted to. He wanted my kisses... Not so much at first, but as time went on it got worse, and I... I didn't want to," she choked out. "But I had no choice, there was no one to run to."

Abruptly he stood up, the burnt side of his face was twisting and his fists were curled in tight balls.

She swallowed hard, she didn't expect this sudden act. Then he stalked off, into the blackness of the forest. Not knowing what to do she stood too, but something held her back and she did not follow him.

Is he leaving me again so soon? Is there really nothing I can do to hold him here? Maybe... maybe he didn't want her anymore now that she had been kissed by another, even if it was not to her consent. She had heard that men often thought this way. But she was never his to begin with. His kiss had been stolen at knife point, in that aspect he was just as bad as the others that had kissed her. Only she didn't feel quite the same about it. Still, if he were to leave then it was better she'd be glad about it instead of remembering his scarred lips. There was nothing to do about it now.

She lay out her bedroll and soon enough fell into a much needed sleep.

When she awoke again the first light of day was just breaking through the trees. The fire was being stomped out by heavy feet.

Of course he was still there. He never took his horse or belongings with him, why had she ever thought he would leave without them? Why was she always reduced to a stupid little bird when he was around?

"Slept well, did ye?"

To her own surprise she had indeed slept very well this night.

"Where did you go?" she had not meant to ask him so directly but with her head still heavy with sleep the words were out before she could think them over. She needed to know it anyway so she decided not to mull over it.

"Only to get a drink back at the river. Needed to clear my head and think things through. I was about to ask what direction you were going, but you were already fast asleep when I returned."

"Oh, sorry," she let out apologetic.

"No matter. But we'd better set our course now before the sun is completely out."

"Right, well, first of all we need to get out of the woods. Away from the Vale," she reasoned. She was determined to show him she was able to think for herself, but it didn't do her much good.

"Figured as much. We're not so far from the edge you know. You could've been out of the forest for days already if you didn't keep walking in circles." His unburnt side was to her and Sansa saw a smug smile appear on it. She felt her face flush red. She had made a fool of herself while he had observed it from afar.

"No need to be ashamed," he grunted when he saw her expression. "Didn't expect your Septa ever taught you how to make your way in the wild."

"How far are we from the outside?"

"If we leave now we might make it before the end of the day. You wandered a bit further into the forest yesterday, were closer when I first found you wandering about."

It was like he did it unconsciously, making her feel embarrassed, then talking it half right before rubbing it back in again. It made her nervous as she didn't know how to respond to him. She bent to gather her bedroll instead so they could be on their way. Sandor had already packed the rest of their meager belongings and strapped them to Stranger. It seemed he had been waiting for her to wake up and again a wave of embarrassment hit her. Their reunion had had its difficulties but right now it seemed to be even harder to communicate with the tall gruff man.

She walked over to Sandor to hand him her bedroll, she knew better as to strap it to Stranger herself, the horse held quite a reputation after all. He quickly placed it next to his own and then beckoned her to move over to where he stood. She hesitated at first but did so anyway and before she knew it his hands were on her sides and she was up in the air, close to his body, before she was placed upon the saddle. His hands left a shiver running up her spine when he returned them to hang at his own sides again.

"You're comfortable?"

She smiled and nodded. "I am, thank you." She truly was thankful to be able to ride for a change, instead of having to walk for another day. Her feet were so tired and they were growing more calloused with every day she travelled. She hated the look of it.

Sandor grabbed the reins and pulled the giant black horse to a slow walk.

They were walking for a little while when she suddenly found herself talking to him.

"I wasn't on my own at first, you know." Sandor stayed silent but looked up at her to spur her story on.

"I planned everything so carefully, when I left the castle." And unbidden to herself she found herself recalling the entire journey she had made so far from the Vale down to where they were now.

She told him of the plans to put Littlefinger off her tracks for at least a little while and how it seemed to have worked. She told him about her travelling companions; how she had loved the days they had spent together.

His gaze was upon her, he now led Stanger blindly through the forest, his expression unreadable. He had been silent all the while as she told him everything, glad of the chance to talk to someone again.

Then she told of the brutish Mountain Clan that had torn their group apart, her having to kill a man and ending up on her own in the forest.

His hand moved up to where hers was resting on Stranger's neck at that, but he pulled away again at the last moment.

"I was travelling to Maidenpool," she continued. "There will be ships there leaving Westeros."

"You plan on leaving for real then," he inquired.

She sighed. It would be harder now. With Sandor around she knew she would have to let the pretense of Sylene go. Her whole plan of leaving Westeros had been strengthened by that pretense.

"It's not so much of a bad idea. I've thought on it myself too, you know," he admitted. "But there's one thing you're forgetting."

"And what is that?"

"That winter is already half upon us and more ships than not have found their last rest at the bottom of the sea with the current weather conditions. It might not even seem that bad to you here, but out on the open water it's a different story."

She swallowed. Deep down she had always known that was the truth of it. But she hadn't admitted to it so far. This plan had been her only way out.

"Little bird... I don't think we ought to push that path to reality, lest we want to drown to a cold death." He was right, she knew but she didn't like the reality they were now left with instead.

"Then what are we to do?" she asked him. She couldn't come up with any other plausible plan at the moment.

He pondered things over for a moment before he spoke again. "We can't wander about without a destination. It'd be too dangerous," he told her. "Luckily, I know a place we can stay."

She looked down at him questionably.

"It's not too far from here. The place was sacked by the same mountain clan that attacked your little flock of hens. We will need to clean it out and the roof needs to be repaired but we'll at least have a roof over our heads as we make new plans."

"Won't it be dangerous?"

"Everywhere's dangerous these days. This place has already fallen to plunder so there's little to no chance they'll return there again. Nothing left after all."

She agreed in the end. He was right when he said that they couldn't keep wandering around, and it didn't seem like they would find a suitable solution anytime soon either. Besides, this way she could rebuild what little bond she had had with Sandor before they would really set off.

She settled herself more comfortably on the saddle and let Sandor lead the way.

A/N: Hey everyone! Just letting you know that a new college year has started again and I'm already dead tired from just these few days. I'll have to focus on finishing a project these first three weeks and honestly I have no idea how much I'll be able to write in that time. Luckily for you I'm ahead a bit so you'll most likely not notice it for at least a while, and after that, well let's hope I get a good healthy rythm back by then so I'll just be able to write as usual.
A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, they mean everything in writing this story!