Youmu wept when her father left her alone with Yuyuko, when Yuyuko's plan to cause the Saigyou Ayakashi to bloom failed, when her mother died, and finally the night Eddard Stark was executed. The half-phantom wasn't any older than Arya when she lost her mother, and oh how she cried then. That was nearly fifty years ago, and Ned's death had struck that same chord.
Ned Stark's death wasn't the only thing that happened, however, as a surge of magical energy filled her body the night she cried her eyes out. Youmu couldn't explain it, but she felt stronger and faster. Maybe it had something to do with the appearance of the bright red comet in the sky. The gardener prayed that this comet remains in the sky as long as possible if this was temporary.
They weren't in King's Landing anymore thanks to Yoren, a man of the Night's Watch who knew Lord Stark and thus what his youngest daughter looked like, so they'd set out and had come to the Blackwater Rush, West of King's Landing and the Kingsroad. Yoren said the road wasn't safe with the war that broke out as the Starks had called their banners in defense of Ned and the Riverlands. The former was headless, and the Riverlands were on fire thanks to the Lannister army that swept through them faster than the Riverlords could muster their own forces.
Traveling off the beaten path wasn't the easiest thing in the world for their little cadre of thieves, rapists, and other ne'er-do-wells. "The Watch needs good men," Yoren told them as they set out, "but you lot will have to do."
The man did, strangely enough, pluck two orphan boys, Lommy and Hot Pie, making the party an even thirty, not counting Yoren and Youmu. They took five wagons out of King's Landing, laden with supplies for the Wall: hides and bolts of cloth, bars of pig iron, a cage of ravens, books and paper and ink, a bale of sourleaf, jars of oil, and chests of medicine and spices. Teams of plow horses pulled the wagons, and Yoren had bought two coursers and a half-dozen donkeys for the boys.
Arya, still Arry, had been forced onto a donkey with the boys, and she was smaller and skinnier than even the youngest of the thieves and orphans Yoren dragged with them. Youmu was still under the guise of a kindly elderly woman so she was stuck riding one of the wagons, and whenever one of the men asked her what an old lady needed two swords for, she always smiled. "Don't worry about it, m'lord," she always said.
The dirt and faux makeup on her face had washed away after a rain shower a day or two outside of King's Landing but did nothing to show off the true youth she wore underneath, as Youmu discovered that stressmarks had begun forming on her face when looking in a puddle of rainwater. It shocked, scared, and angered her so much that she threw more mud and grime on her face in the vain hope that they'd fade underneath the disguise.
Her eyes drifted to a caged wagon with three chained men. Yoren must've been terrified of them as he vowed to never free them until they were at the Wall, and she didn't blame him. One had no nose, only the hole in his face where it had been cut off, and then the second was a fat bald one with pointed teeth and weeping sores on his cheeks with eyes like nothing human.
The looks they gave her sent shudders up her spine, but her train of thought was broken when she heard Lommy speak up in regards to Arya. "Look at that sword Lumpyhead's got there," Lommy said one morning as they made their plodding way past orchards and wheat fields.
Lumpyhead was what the boys had taken to calling Arya because of the evident lumps from the second and rougher haircut Yoren gave her after he grabbed her. "Where's a gutter rat like Lumpyhead get him a sword?" Lommy asked chidingly about Needle
Arya remained silent and stared ahead at Yoren's black cloak. Hotpie trotted his donkey up beside Arya's. "Where'd you get a blade like that, Lumpyface?" The fat boy was ever so curious, now.
"Lumpyhead," corrected Lommy. "He prob'ly stole it."
"I did not!" She finally snapped, baring her teeth to the boys.
"If he stole it, then we can just take it off 'im." Hotpie ignored the girl, boy's anger, "I could use me a sword like that!"
Lommy egged him on. "Go on, take it off him, I dare you."
"C'mere Lumpyface, gimme that sword!" The boy reached for Needle at Arya's side, "you don't know how to use it."
Oh boy. Youmu frowned, continuing to watch the interaction. She zoned out of the conversation a bit and instead focused on Arya's reactions and how she was handling the situation, at least until another boy spoke up.
"Leave him be." This boy had shaggy black hair with matching eyes, was tall for his age, and carried a bull-shaped helmet at his side. Lommy had taken to calling him The Bull for that reason alone, and he was someone the other kids didn't want to mess with.
"You better give Hot Pie the sword, Arry," Lommy said. "Hot Pie wants it bad. He kicked a boy to death. He'll do the same to you, I bet."
"I knocked him down and I kicked him in the balls, and I kept kicking him there until he was dead," Hot Pie boasted. "I kicked him all to pieces. His balls were broke open and bloody and his cock turned black. You better gimme the sword."
Youmu grimaced at the mental image the kid put in her head just as Arya pulled a stick from her belt. "Here, you can have this sword."
"That's a stick!" He then made a move to finally grab Arya's Needle, but she responded by thwapping the stick down hard on the hindquarters of Hot Pie's donkey. The animal hawed and bucked, sending the boy to the ground in the muck and mud.
Arya hopped off her donkey as well and jabbed Hot Pie in the gut, sending him flat on his back in the mud. She turned and pointed her stick at Lommy, hatred in her eyes. "You want some sword too?" The other boy merely shook his head.
Youmu spotted Hot Pie getting up on his knees, except this time with a massive, jagged rock. "Behind you!" She shouted. Her voice seemed to stun Arya, but the girl acted fast enough to spin around and duck under the rock Hot Pie threw her way. Youmu maneuvered to get off the cart she was on and made her way over to the fighting kids.
Arya wasn't done though, as she struck a pose that Youmu taught her in their lessons, and struck a fist that was coming to her, then a cheek, and finally, a knee. Hot Pie was taken down with this incredibly sturdy stick and lightning-quick strikes. The Stark girl finished up with a painful, rude thrust at the boy's groin, which would've poked out between his backside if it was a real sword.
By the time Youmu got over to the pair, Yoren had grabbed Ayra, and Hot Pie's breeches were brown and smelling of feces, and he was wailing as the girl was whapping him over and over with the now-broken stick.
"Enough," the black brother roared, prying the stick sword from her fingers, "you want to kill the fool?" When Lommy and some others started to squeal, the old man turned on them too. "Shut your mouths, or I'll be shutting them for you. Any more o' this, I'll tie you lot behind the wagons and drag you to the Wall." He spat. "And that goes twice for you, Arry. You come with me, boy. Now."
Yoren spared a look to Youmu as he grabbed Arya's wrist and dragged her off into the woods. The gardener was just about to call out to them before they disappeared out of sight, causing her to sigh. She turned back to the crying and bleeding boy and knelt before him and pulled some leaves from her pocket. "Here," she stated. "Sourleaf. It'll dull the pain. Now let's get you up." She managed to speak in her old lady voice as she pulled Hot Pie to his feet.
The boy was still crying and blubbering about how he was sorry, which only caused her eyes to roll. "Usually, son," she started. "If someone's carrying a sword, they know how to use it." Then she effortlessly tossed him up into the wagon. "And thanks for the Donkey. I'll use it while you lie there."
Arya, Arry, came back with Yoren rubbing her backside, which earned a raised eyebrow from the half-phantom. The evident pain of walking told Youmu all she needed to know, then she mounted Hot Pie's donkey as best she could as the caravan continued onward.
"She has a lot of anger, m'lord." She muttered while trotting alongside Yoren.
"Aye, but neither the fat kid nor the green-handed one deserves it." He spat, "and those fancy moves you taught her really helped to break that boy's pride down."
Youmu fell silent after that, as did Yoren. There was a lot of silence on the road. Day in, day out, and soon the half-phantom became aware that she'd only spoken to the members of her party, Arya included, in short sentences with requests for more food or drink being the most common.
Hundreds of people passed them, each group looking more war-weary than the last. One time a person rode up on them asking to buy what was in Yoren's carts for a quarter of their worth. "It's war, they'll take what they want, you'll do better selling to me, my friend." Yoren turned away with a twist of his crooked shoulders and spat.
After that, Youmu began to notice how many travelers were armed. Dirks, swords, axes, and even farming tools were occasionally brandished while their wagons were sized up, but that didn't scare her. What did were the graves that they eventually came across. The first was of a child, and the sight nearly broke her. After having Mycah die in her arms, she'd thought she'd get over the sight of dead kids, but as the graves became more and more numerous, Youmu realized that she'd probably never get used to it.
The group had to dig a grave of their own one morning after their sellsword companion, Praed, never woke up. Yoren parceled out the man's belongings. Someone got his mail shirt, another got his helmet, The Bull got his sword, and another man claimed the boots. Youmu disapproved of grave robbing, but Yoren pointed out that he wouldn't need them where he was going.
That evening, they stopped at a village and found an ivy-covered inn, and Yoren had counted the coins in his purse to determine that they had enough for a meal, but Youmu still had the gold from King's Landing, so not only was she going to be having a hot meal, but she was also going to be staying in one of the few free rooms left in the inn.
"Careful when flashing that coin 'o yours, m'lady." Yoren warned her as he chugged a mug of thick, rank ale, "if anyone else sees that gold, they'll be after ye."
Youmu was content with water as she didn't want to be put in a compromising position, especially with how dire the circumstances were. "That's why I'm only spending money on what I need to spend it on."
"A room is what you need, eh?"
"Considering the last week or so? Absolutely." Her gaze narrowed at him as he spat on the ground. Her back ached from being forced into this hunched position for so long, and she could tell her phantom half that it was itching to float free. Maybe as they get further North, she'll drop the disguise. They just need to get past the various armies.
"Ha!" Yoren's laugh was mocking, "if you thought that was bad, just wait till we actually get closer to the armies."
She scowled at that and looked away. "I'm going for a bath." The gardener then stood up as best she could from the crate she'd been sitting on and hobbled to the bathhouse and past the line of boys waiting outside the men's section.
There, she heard all sorts of news and hearsay from one or two of the women who bathed with her, even if she remained as far out of their notice as possible. Word that Jaime Lannister was captured by the Young Wolf, and that he'd been thrashing the Lannister armies still in the Riverlands. That brought a smile to her face. If Yoren's party could run into Robb's army, then she and Arya could be dropped off with allies, and get a proper escort home! Youmu could even serve as one of Robb's soldiers, and with her newfound strength, could really devastate the Lannisters and hopefully get some justice for Ned's death.
That's all a pipe dream, though. Is what she told herself while drying off and getting dressed once more in her soiled clothes, which nearly ruined the attempts to clean herself, but at least it was something.
Youmu was busy tying her hair ribbon back into place when the scene before her seemed one of near-battle. Six soldiers of the King's Landing City Guard dressed in black ringmail and their golden cloaks. One looked to be an officer who wore a black enameled chestplate with four gold circles on the black enamel, and he was currently in an argument with Yoren.
"The queen's not interested in your views, old man, and neither am I," the officer said. "I'll have the boy."
"You'll have no one," Yoren said stubbornly. "There's laws on such things."
The gold cloak drew a shortsword. "Here's your law."
Yoren looked at the blade. "That's no law, just a sword. Happens I got one too."
The officer laughed. "I've five men with me, fool."
"And I got thirty." Yoren spat
It was then that many, no, all of the men who were on their way to the Wall spoke up in the defense of Yoren and brandished their weapons. Soon, thirty men were surrounding the six of the City Guard, and that still hadn't dissuaded the officer, who looked quite smug up on his horse. He then pointed towards the young man known as The Bull.
"He's the one we want." Youmu's eyes looked to the boy, who was now standing beside Arya and had Praed's sword drawn in hand.
But it was a mistake to take his eyes off Yoren, even for an instant. Quick as that, the black brother's sword was pressed to the apple of the officer's throat. "Neither's the one you get, less you want me to see if your apple's ripe yet. I got me ten, fifteen more brothers in that inn if you still need convincing. I was you, I'd let loose of that gutcutter, spread my cheeks over that fat little horse, and gallop on back to the city." He spat and poked harder with the point of his sword. "Now."
The officer dropped the sword, sending up a cloud of dirt as it hit the ground. Yoren grabbed it and hefted it up. "Good steel's always needed on the Wall, and we thank ye for your generous donation." He then removed the knife from the officer's throat.
"As you say. For now. Men." The gold cloaks sheathed and mounted up. "You'd best scamper up to that Wall of yours in a hurry, old man. The next time I catch you, I believe I'll have your head to go with the bastard boy's."
"Better men than you have tried." Yoren slapped the rump of the officer's horse with the flat of his sword and sent him reeling off down the kingsroad. His men followed.
Yoren turned to look at the Bull once more and shook his head. "Queen wants you bad, boy."
Arya was lost. "Why would she want him?"
The boy shot a look at Arya. "And why would she want you? You're just a gutter rat!"
Arya looked offended. "Well, you're nothing but a bastard boy!" Or maybe he was only pretending to be a bastard boy. "What's your true name?"
"Gendry," he said like he wasn't quite sure.
Youmu's eyes widened as she strode over to the party, the disguise dropped entirely. The appearance of the massive phantom and a now-upright Youmu caused the entire party to collectively gasp and tense up while Hot Pie and Lommy shrieked like girls. "I know you."
"Me?" Gendry's eyes were as wide as saucers.
"Yes," she started. "You were at Master Mott's. You were his apprentice."
Before the pair could continue, Youmu felt herself being grabbed, spun, then slapped across the face! The short gardener fell to her knees and let out a yelp. The slap split her lip and caused a bright red mark to form on her right cheek, catching her completely off guard. Youmu's eyes were wide with shock and pain, but she didn't have time to comprehend what had just happened to her as her assailant grabbed her by the vest once more and hefted her up.
"What did we agree upon?!" Yoren shouted as spittle leapt from his mouth and onto her face. Youmu winced as her afflicted cheek throbbed in pain. "I tolds ye to keep that damn hunch on until we passed the Trident, and ye couldn't even do that!"
The half-phantom soon collected herself and narrowed her eyes up at him. "The Gold Cloaks already caught up to us!" She shouted, fire in her eyes now. "We're just lucky they were looking for a bastard instead of me!"
Yoren's gaze narrowed while he held Youmu up. "Yer comin' with me and havin' a chat 'bout this." It's not like he gave the woman any chance as she was easily a foot or so off the ground, but before they turned to head into a side-door for the inn, Yoren turned to the massed group. "Not a word 'o this to anyone, ya here?" And the door slammed shut.
Youmu then found herself carried up to her room and out of the sight of everyone else in the inn, and once there, Yoren finally set her down as his eyes bore holes into her. "You have no idea how much harder this'll be now."
The gardener rolled her eyes and caressed her now-bruising cheek. "I know I didn't run it by you at first, but I thought we were far enough out of danger and so-" she was cut off.
"That's the problem, ye didn't think!" His voice rose again. "D'you think you can just wave around who and what ya are and everyone will kowtow to you?"
"It's worked so far for me, and when they didn't, I cut them down easily enough." Her arms crossed over her chest defensively. The gardener found the man stubborn like an ox, rude as can be, and vulgar. He snorted and laughed at her declaration. It was the same tone of laughter that Yukari and Yuyuko used on her when she was being the fool.
"And what happens when that doesn't work?" Yoren took a step towards her, forcing her to take a step back.
"I, that won't happen. Once I'm back in the North, things will be fine!" The gardener was starting to have a feeling of self-awareness that she was acting like a child, but she stood her ground. Youmu wasn't going to let Yoren or anyone else tell her how she should hide or conceal herself at this point. She felt that she was strong enough to push back an entire army now! Well, not that strong, as she still couldn't fly, or cast danmaku, but her speed and strength was returning to her!
"Bah, just listen to you. 'Bout as self-important as that boy, Arry!" Yoren shouted, his anger clear in his words.
The half-phantom's gaze hardened but faltered. Yoren's words cut her, forcing her to think on them. He was right. She jeopardized the group's safety now if some smallfolk villager or potential Black Brother wanted some coin or a pardon and ran off after the gold cloaks. Youmu wasn't protected by being a potential member of the Night's Watch, so Yoren could easily hand her over just because she'd be more trouble than she was worth.
The gardener looked away and sighed, her head hanging now. "You're right," she started. "I'm sorry, Yoren-san. I'll be more careful going forward now."
He turned to spare another glance at her just before leaving. "...Just put the disguise back on after we hit the road, and keep it on until we're past the Trident! We can' be in any more trouble than we're in already."
"We're not far from God's Eye," Yoren said one morning. "The kingsroad won't be safe till we're across the Trident. So we'll come up around the lake along the western shore, they're not like to look for us there." At the next spot where two ruts cut across each other, he turned the wagons west.
Youmu had taken to riding next to him, as even with her 'disguise' donned once more, the men and boys had given her a wide berth, but as farmland gave way to the forest, she had to ride behind him now. "Any idea where we are now?"
"Headin' North, s'all I know now, m'lady."
She furrowed her brow and was about to speak up, but her belly growled in annoyance at the lack of food. She didn't need to eat as often or as much as normal humans did, but even a few days of not eating a meal got to her, so she was hoping that the party was going to be able to do some hunting soon.
Yoren left King's Landing with carts full of salted meat, wheels of cheese, bags of beans, and barley…and it had all been eaten by the time they veered off the beaten path.
That didn't last long, however, as by nightfall of leaving the King's Road, Koss and Kurz, who'd been taken as Poachers, started returning with game over their backs or around their belts. The boys and Youmu were set to pick blackberries along the road or over a fence to grab apples if they came across an orchard. Youmu was exceptionally good at picking apples and took great pride when the 'old ghost lady' returned with more apples than either Lommy and Hot Pie combined.
Arya was the most surprising to her though, when the girl showed up holding a rabbit by the ears! The Stark girl got an entire leg to herself, with the rest of the party having stew.
That was…days ago, according to Youmu's mental calendar. Now, they were standing in front of a burnt and burning Holdfast, waiting for Yoren, Murch, and Cutjack to return from its depths. Her eyes were fixated on the burned, staked corpses atop the Holdfast walls, their arms locked in place of fighting off non-existent flames.
This is what war looks like. She thought. War without magic, or spellcards, or afternoon tea with your opponent.
Yoren and the pair eventually emerged from the smoke, coughing and wheezing as they went. In the black brother's arms, a girl no older than two. Murch and Cutjack were carrying a woman in a sling made of a torn quilt, but she was missing her right arm below the elbow. "Please," she cried, over and over. "Please. Please."
The men quickly made space for them in one of the wagons as the two-year-old seemed to do nothing but cry and cry and cry.
"And be quick about it," he said. "Come dark, there'll be wolves here, and worse."
"I'm scared," Hot Pie murmured when he saw the one-armed woman thrashing in the wagon.
"Me too," Arya confessed.
"Me three," Youmu muttered as her left hand gripped Roukanken a little tighter from now on.
Arya rode ahead as far as the wagons would allow her, and Youmu followed after her. They rode in silence for what seemed like forever until a hand reached out to touch the Stark on the shoulder.
"How are you doing, Arry?" Youmu's voice spoke softly.
"I want to go home."
"Yeah," she replied. "So do I. We're getting there, though." The faintest traces of a smile creased her lips.
"But what if we don't? What if I never see Robb, or Jon, Rickon, or Bran ever again? I miss mom and Sansa…" Arya trailed off, her knuckles white as they gripped the reins of her horse.
That smile formed into a frown as the gardener tried to find a reply. "Trust me, Arya. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get us back to your family."
Arya thought about her teacher's words for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. When I'm back home, I'm going to help my brother kill them."
The gardener stopped for a moment and stared at the child. "...Who?"
"The ones who killed my father," Arya sneered, anger now in her voice. "The Queen, Joffrey, Ilyn Payne…" She trailed off.
Youmu put a hand on Arya's shoulder again as their horses clopped along silently. "They'll receive justice, not vengeance, Arya," she started. "Your brother's undoubtedly going to ride South, and when he does, he'll mete out justice for your father, for Jory, for everyone that died back in King's Landing."
"I hope he cuts their heads off like they did to father!" She was shouting now, causing Youmu to squeeze the girl's shoulder to quiet her down.
"Easy," Youmu whispered. "I hope he does too, but we need to think and focus on the here and now, alright? Take deep breaths and count to three. Calm yourself down. Orphan boys don't have fathers, remember?" She thumbed back to the caravan close behind them.
Arya was silent for a few moments but nodded in compliance as she took deep breaths. Youmu's concerns for the girl and her growing anger weren't abated that much. "I experienced something similar when I was your age."
That caused Arya's anger to simmer as she turned to look at Youmu. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yes, I lost my mother. It happened in front of me as some bandits attacked us on our way to a portal leading to Netherworld, and they would've killed me if my father didn't arrive. They ran off before he could cut them down in retaliation, and that was fifty years ago." Youmu looked up at the sky that was still being pierced by the glowing red comet as tears formed in her eyes. It may have been so long ago, but the lack of a mother affected both her and her father.
"My father was never the same, and he never found those who attacked us, so we were never able to get closure." She looked back to Arya, a sorrowful look in her eyes. "So I know every emotion and sensation you're feeling right now. I won't lie to you and say it gets easier or better, especially in the situation we find ourselves in right now, but once we're back in Winterfell, you can grieve in ways that aren't crying yourself to sleep every night."
"No fire tonight," Yoren told them. Supper was a handful of wild radishes Koss found, a cup of dry beans, and water from a nearby brook. The water had a funny taste to it, and Lommy told them it was the taste of bodies, rotting someplace upstream. Hot Pie would have hit him if old Reysen hadn't pulled them apart.
The maimed woman and screaming child died by evenfall. Cutjack and Gendry dug their graves on a hillside underneath a weeping willow, and all Youmu could hear on the wind were the faintest words. Please. Please. Please.
The moonlight and the red sword in the sky were enough light for the camp to see, not that anyone was doing any wandering around with wolves or worse hunting through the woods.
Tonight, Youmu was intent on sleeping in a wagon, only this time, Yoren joined her. The man stank, and his mouth looked like it was bleeding from the sourleaf. Her nose curled from the stench and just as she got up to leave he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. "You ain't smellin' so pretty yourself, m'lady."
The two hadn't said a word since the incident at the inn, and yet here they are. "Fair point, I guess." She muttered as she pulled her knees up to her chest.
"Might be you woulda been safer where I found you. All of you." He said, "safer in the city, seems to me."
"Or we could've taken a ship up North. I bet we wouldn't have to deal with pirates if we kept close to shore."
Yoren nodded. "A ship now might have been wiser. No chance o' finding more men on the way, but still . . . clever man, he'd go by ship, but me . . . thirty years I been taking this kingsroad."
"Have you ever lost men on the way back to the Wall?"
"Three," he began. "Old man died of fever, city boy got snakebit taking a shit, and one fool tried to kill me in my sleep and got a red smile for his trouble."
"Three in three decades. Better than most recruiters I'd imagine."
"Not bad at all, m'lady. Are ye planning on going to sleep anytime soon?"
"Are you?" An eyebrow raised on her head.
"Gonna try."
"Then I should do the same." Youmu sighed and tried making herself comfortable in the wagon just as Arya climbed up in with the duo and her thin blanket.
Yoren gave the scared nine-year-old a look and shook his head. "Are you really as strong as you say you are, m'lady?"
Youmu eased Arya to sleep while nodding to his words. "I am."
Yoren smiled. "I feel like I'll be needing your strength before this journey is over, then."
The gardener didn't reply this time and eventually drifted off to sleep holding the Stark girl close. She could hear the wolves howling in the distance, and on the wind, another, fainter sound. Screams.
Disguise be damned. I don't like this. Youmu grimaced as she rode into the abandoned holdfast that sat in the middle of the town the party arrived at. The strangest and scariest thing for this village was everything being completely abandoned. The food was gone, as were the animals, but everything was as if the people simply got up and left.
She hopped off her donkey as her other half slipped out from under her cloak, which allowed her to stand up fully with an audible crack from her back. Youmu grunted in relief before climbing the ladder to the top of the holdfast's wall to get a better look at the abandoned village they were in. Thankfully, the most noticeable landmark was the Gods Eye lake. It was an indication the party was near Harrenhal.
Yoren said Harrenhal was seated by Lady Whent, who's always been a friend to the Watch, which comforted her, but the lack of people still sent chills down her spine. Youmu kept a firm grip on Roukanken at her side and began pushing her thumb against the handguard nervously.
"Good idea, m'lady!" Yoren called out to her. "We'll stay in the holdfast tonight while I sleep on the bastard's idea."
She looked down at the Black Brother and nodded to him. "What idea's that, my lord?"
"Makin' us some rafts to get across the lake and to Harrentown. We'll keep the gates barred and shut. I feel safer with walls o' stone around me."
"I don't think that's a good idea if I'm honest," Youmu replied before taking a look at the group that'd assembled at the base of the holdfast's walls, "even the lord left this town."
"Yoomie's scared!" Lommy hollered, a laugh leaving his throat.
"I'd be a fool if I wasn't."
Yoren pondered for a moment before motioning the rest of the party into the holdfast, wagons and beasts of burden included. "Smart girl. Thing is, the folks who live here were at war, like it or no. We're not. Night's Watch takes no part, so no man's our enemy."
Youmu bit her tongue with her retort, not wanting to start another verbal duel with the man, so she merely nodded and sat down on a nearby crate. She shouldn't have needed or wanted to sit down, but the thought of stone around her and the party instead of open air helped the half-phantom to relax.
Afternoon passed into evening, and Youmu drew cooking duty for dinner. It made her happy to be able to do something she excelled at, so she eagerly took the duty on. The result was probably the best stew the party collectively had had in a few days, but with how hungry everyone was, everything looked and tasted great.
The gardener came to stand next to Yoren on top of the holdfast's wall and gazed out over the dark, quiet town. "I don't think we should have fires tonight." She stated.
"We ain't takin' part of this war." Yoren replied, "and I don't remember givin' you a say in what I do."
"It's just an idea." Youmu retorted as she got on top of a crate to look out over the abandoned, dark village. Of course, there's no moon out. The only light we have is that damn comet. She scowled.
"Mayhaps you should try an' sleep, m'lady."
"I'll pass. I'm not tired tonight." The gardener looked at her hands in the dim torch light and noted how they shook. She couldn't pin down the reasoning, but she had adrenaline pumping through her veins right now, which indicated that something was going to happen.
Why did bad things seem to happen on moonless nights?
Yoren fell silent, as did Youmu. They stood there for what seemed like hours, but before they knew it, things happened quickly. The old man must've fallen asleep as he stood up at the sound of a blowing horn from the tower Kurz was put to keep watch.
Youmu looked to the tower first, then out over the parapets of the holdfast and saw them. Riders. She couldn't determine just how many had ridden into the village, but she soon had enough light to count due to them setting every building ablaze with their torches. She grimaced and shielded her eyes from the sudden flashes of fire consuming everything. Lovely, visitors.
Her right hand gripped Roukanken's hilt while her phantom half hid behind the wall to not give away her identity or provoke the men to do something rash. Yoren leaned against the parapets and waited for the riders to come to a stop, and when they did, Youmu finished counting to a rough estimate of one to two hundred. A column of riders strode to the gates with one carrying a banner that Youmu believed was red, but with the orange glow of the fires and the comet, it was hard to tell.
"You in the holdfast!" shouted a knight in a tall helm with a spiked crest. "Open, in the name of the king!"
"Aye, and which king is that?" old Reysen yelled back down before Woth cuffed him into silence.
Yoren climbed the battlement beside the gate, his faded black cloak tied to a wooden staff. "You men hold down here!" he shouted. "The townfolk's gone."
"And who are you, old man? One of Lord Beric's cravens?" called the knight in the spiked helm. "If that fat fool Thoros is in there, ask him how he likes these fires."
"Got no such man here," Yoren shouted back. "Only some lads for the Watch. Got no part o' your war." He hoisted up the staff, so they could all see the color of his cloak. "Have a look. That's black, for the Night's Watch."
"Or black for House Dondarrion, " called the man who bore the enemy banner. Youmu could now see the gold lion of Lannister on the banner, and a knot formed in her stomach. "Lord Beric's sigil is a purple lightning bolt on a black field."
"Do you see a bloody lightning bolt?" Yoren was baffled.
"By night all banners look black," the knight in the spiked helm observed. "Open, or we'll know you for outlaws in league with the king's enemies."
Yoren spat. "Who's got your command?"
"I do." A man with a manticore on his shield and ornate scrollwork across his breastplate strode to the gate and looked up at Yoren. "Ser Amory Lorch, bannerman to Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock, the Hand of the King. The true king, Joffrey." He had a high, thin voice. "In his name, I command you to open these gates."
The roar of the fires grew, embers drifted into the black night sky and smoke filled the air. Yoren scowled. "Don't see the need. Do what you want to the town, it's naught to me, but leave us be. We're no foes to you."
"If you're no traitors, open your gates and let us see for ourselves." Amory's words were sharp and with the intent on making his way into the holdfast through any means possible.
"Told you, no one here but us." Yoren spat out the sourleaf he was chewing on. "You got my word on that."
"You lost, old man?" mocked one of the spearmen. "The Wall's a long way north o' here."
"I command you once more, in King Joffrey's name, to prove the loyalty you profess and open these gates," said Ser Amory.
For a long moment, Yoren considered. Then he spat. "Don't think I will."
Damnit Yoren, open the gate! The words in her mind shouted to the stubborn, arrogant man. As if soldiers will care whether or not we're neutral!
"So be it. You defy the king's command, and so proclaim yourselves rebels, black cloaks or no."
"Got me young boys in here," Yoren shouted down.
"Young boys and old men die the same." Ser Amory raised a languid fist, and a spear came hurtling from the fire-bright shadows behind. Youmu's enhanced reflexes kicked in, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she sprung into action. Yoren must have been the actual target, but it was going towards Woth; that didn't matter to the half-phantom. The Lannister men just delivered the first blow, and she was going to return it.
Youmu leaped forward, grabbed the spear mid-air, landed on another nearby crate, then hurled it back down into the cavalry group after spinning it around. She must've hit someone, as a pained cry was heard.
If Ser Amory cared, his bored voice didn't express it. "Storm the walls and kill them all." His hand waved, and more spears came hurling up at the men and boys now on the wall.
"Blades!" Yoren shouted. "Spread apart, defend the wall wherever they hit."
Youmu moved as quickly as she could, faster than any normal human could, and intercepted spear after spear before tossing them back down to the attacking crowd. Finally, she didn't have any more crates to bounce between, and was met with a hand reaching over the top of the parapet to pull its owner up. Youmu acted fast, pulled her sword out, and swung it downward to split the hand in two and caused the climber to fall back down.
Hot Pie stood near her, eyes wide and face white. "I don't know how to sword fight!" He dropped his short sword, scared out of his mind.
She gritted her teeth and shoved the sword back into his hand. "For you? Stick them with the pointy end."
Nothing else matters. Her thoughts echoed. Fight for your lives.
She heard Arya scream. "Winterfell!"
Hot Pie yelled. "Hot Pie!" And Youmu merely grunted at each hand and arm she slashed at.
A man with a half-helm, wiry grin, and missing teeth finally managed to get up onto the catwalk the small army had positioned itself, and he made a lunge for Youmu with his sword.
The gardener parried the strike while her phantom half wrapped its tail around his ankle and gave a sharp tug backwards, sending him falling forward onto Roukanken as it pierced through his rotten mouth and out the back of his head and helmet. She twisted and yanked on her sword, ripping half her victim's head off in a violent motion.
Death was all around her. Dobber took a knife to his gut. Qyle got his face bashed in by a shielded knight's mace, and Woth perished with a spear through the throat. Her eyes followed torches as they flew through the air and onto the thatch roof of the holdfast, lighting it ablaze. It was then that she saw armored shadows sprinting into the yard after breaking down the gate.
That's it, then.
Yoren was grabbing her and shaking her out of her stupor. "Girl!" He yelled. "Get out, it's done, we've lost. Herd up all you can, you and him and the others, the boys, you get them out. Now!"
She hastily nodded before sparing him one last glance. "Good luck, Crow." Youmu grimaced before grabbing Arya and Hot Pie.
"There's a passage under the barn! Grab as many as you can and head there, now!" Youmu reached over to Gendry after he severed the head of another foe. "Go!"
"What about you?!" Arya asked.
"Don't worry about me, boy. I'll be right behind you." Her eyes then shifted from blue to red and she leapt down into the courtyard, right onto a knight who just pushed his way past the broken gates. Hakurouken was unsheathed and shoved right into the man's neck after slipping past the mail that covered half of his head.
Youmu jumped off the dead man and swung Roukanken at another knight before he had a chance to scream, cleaving him from shoulder to hip. The 'eyes' of her other half alerted her to a spearman charging her from behind. She acted quickly and grabbed the bottom half of the knight she just killed and effortlessly spun then tossed the armored corpse at her next attacker. Youmu spun her sword to face behind her and sent a thrust, piercing another knight through the belly, twisting, and pulling out.
Youmu spun, weaved, and cut her way through anyone and everyone that came her way with the intent to do harm, but even with her superhuman speed and strength, she couldn't last forever. Crossbow quarrels were shot her way, with some even cutting through her skin and clothes. One whizzed through and sliced open her left side as if the fabric and skin weren't even there, and three more grazed her thighs and calves. She hissed and grit her teeth as crimson seeped through the fabric of her clothing, and she cursed the flames and smoke for obscuring her vision from the archers taking aim at her. If it wasn't for her reflexes and second-nature ability to dodge danmaku, the half-phantom would've been dead several times over.
She could feel the warmth of the fires on her now just before she cut a man down at the knees and then the head, ignoring his cries of pain in the process. Youmu must've been covered in blood, as the attacking Lannister men had fear in their eyes. It could've been because she was acting like a whirlwind of death, slicing, cutting, and ripping her way through armor and flesh as if they weren't even there. By the time Yoren yelled at her a second time to leave, a dozen corpses in various states of death were all around her.
I did what I could. Youmu took off to the burning barn and ran right into Arya. "I told you to get out of here!" She shouted.
"I was saving them!" Arya pointed behind her teacher at the now-empty cage that held the dangerous men Yoren warned her to stay away from.
"That was foolish!" She exclaimed before she scooped up Arya and dove head-first into the open trap door, dropping five feet.
Youmu panted and breathed hard, clutching the Stark girl tightly for a moment before the pair pushed forward into the cramped tunnel. A dozen feet through, she heard the most horrible sound, like a screaming, angry Oni coming after them, and a cloud of hot smoke and black dust came billowing up behind her, smelling of hell. She planted both her head and Arya's into the damp mud and waited for it all to be over.
They hid in the forest till the next evening when she made the decision to go back and see if there were any survivors. The moon still hadn't shown itself, so they used the faint illumination of Youmu's other half and a dim torch carried by Gendry to see.
One look was enough for Gendry. "They're killed, everyone," he said. "And dogs have been at them too, look."
The gardener scowled at the sight as she stood over the body of a fallen Lannister soldier. An angry scream reached the heavens as she brought her boot down on the skull, crushing it with a sickening splat sound. The noise caused the two kids to turn to her with surprise. Youmu had acted this entire trip as composed as possible with one exception, so to see the sudden outburst of anger was shocking.
"I'm not leaving till we find Yoren." Youmu's voice calmed once more.
"Gendry," she stated. "Go to the tower and see if anyone's alive in there. Arry and I will search for Yoren."
She had no way of knowing who was alive and who was dead, not without her soul sense ability. It was something unique to half-phantoms and ghosts, but she hadn't been able to use it in Westeros, even with the unexplained power boost she got after Ned Stark's death.
Arya found him. An axe was buried in his skull, making his face unrecognizable, but the tangled, unkempt beard couldn't be anyone else's.
He was going to take us home. Her angry eyes stared at the four dead soldiers surrounding the Black Brother. Youmu's hands worked tirelessly as she dug a grave for him. She wasn't sure if she should kick him or leave him, but Arya insisted at least Yoren have a grave.
Youmu did the work herself, and while it wasn't as deep as it should be, it was enough to keep curious animals from digging and picking at the corpse. Tarber, Cutjack, and Kurz were still alive thanks to the tower's only access being a second-floor ladder, and Lorch being too impatient to burn or starve them out.
Four adults wasn't too bad, but Kurz had taken an arrow pulling the ladder into the tower. He swore the wound was nothing after Tarber packed it with mud and moss from the nearby lake.
He died four days later with angry red welts and veins up his neck and chin.
Youmu took the man's bow and arrow when he was unable to get up, determined to feed everyone with something that wasn't acorn paste and bugs. She hadn't eaten since the night of the attack on the holdfast, but she always told herself she can hold off till coming across a friendly village or large enough game.
When the half-phantom returned with three fish, Kurz was buried under a mountain of stones, and Tarber and Cutjack were gone. Gendry told her they took off after midday when they were done burying the poacher.
Angry, she threw the dead fish at the bastard's feet and told him to dress and gut them for dinner, then she took off into the woods. She found a stream and knelt on her hands and knees, staring at her reflection for what seemed like hours.
Youmu's body shook and trembled. She realized it was the stress getting to her, and she hugged herself to calm her body down. I can't do this. I can't do this. I want to go home. I want to go home. Her thoughts echoed in her head. This is a nightmare controlled by that Baku and I'm going to wake up after she's satisfied.
This situation wasn't a dream or a nightmare, and every time Youmu counted to ten, she always woke up staring at the crying face in the water. It was Gendry who found her. A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump and stare up at the bastard boy.
Another deep breath. "Is dinner done?"
He didn't address the tears or the redness around her eyes. "Yes, m'lady. The fish are ready to eat, but a fire would only tell people where we are."
Youmu sighed and nodded at that as she stood up. Her skirt and bloomers sagged down her hips, an indication of how much weight she'd lost through this entire trip. She re-tied the undergarment's drawstring and added another notch in the belt of her skirt then scowled. "I've made smokeless fires before. The only issue will be finding dry fuel. Fish can be eaten raw if we can't find any dry wood."
She walked back with the boy silently, but her eyes met his as he glanced at her. "Is something on your mind?"
"You aren't going to leave us too, are you?"
"I have a promise to keep, and abandoning everyone won't do me any good for that promise."
"It's about the girl, isn't it?"
Her eyes narrowed. "What girl?"
"The one calling herself Arry." He frowned.
"What makes you think she's a girl?"
"I didn't notice when there were thirty of us, but now that we're smaller, she always runs off to make water on her own, like you."
Youmu bit her lip and sighed, a hand running through her hair. Someone having the brains to figure it out was bound to notice, but at least it was Gendry. "Yes, Arry's a girl, but you need to keep it from everyone, please."
"And why should I?"
"Because I'll tell you why the gold cloaks were after you back at the inn." She knew and could blow this boy's mind away if she told him right here and now, but there's no point doing it now. "After we're safe North."
Gendry thought about the offer for a moment before he nodded. "Very well. I'll keep it a secret until we're up North."
"Thank you." They arrived back at their makeshift camp and found Hot Pie picking at the spear wound in Lommy's leg.
"Leave it alone, boy!" She hissed through her teeth at the fat kid, who quickly scampered away. Youmu moved down to the prone kid and looked under the make-shit bandages and grimaced. Shit, he's going to die if we don't get him some help soon.
"We should've yielded." Lommy groaned, watching as Youmu pack some more moss against his ruined calf.
Her eyes rolled. He'd been going on about that for the last couple of days now, and at first she agreed. Yoren was a stubborn old man who nearly had his entire party killed and wiped out. As she got to thinking about it though, Youmu soon realized that Lorch's men probably would've killed them all anyway, so at least the group made them work for it.
"Aye," she started. "And hold out our throats for them to cut, too."
A noise behind alerted her to Arya climbing down from the tree she'd perched in.
"You were up there a long time. What could you see?" Gendry asked
"A fishing village, just a little place, north along the shore. Twenty-six thatch roofs and one slate, I counted. I saw part of a wagon. Someone's there."
"Any people?" She turned to the Stark girl while brushing her hands off on her skirt.
"Mostly just roofs," Arya admitted, "but some chimneys were smoking, and I heard a horse."
"If there's people, there's food," Hot Pie said, too loudly. Gendry was always telling him to be more quiet, but it never did any good. "Might be they'd give us some."
"Might be they'd kill us too," Gendry said.
"Not if we yielded," Hot Pie said hopefully.
"The only one here of value is me." Youmu spoke up, "best thing that happens is I surrender and they cut your throats. Easy and quick, then toss you into the lake."
"Oh yeah? And why are you special?" Lommy sat up on his elbows.
The group, Hot Pie included, stared blankly at the prone boy. It took Lommy a moment to realize the floating mass next to Youmu and let out a silent 'oh' before going quiet.
The gardener looked at the de-scaled fish and sighed. "We need more. . ." She muttered as she turned to the small group. "Dig a hole," Youmu commanded. "It doesn't need to be big. Something small, probably half a foot deep and across. Can you do that?" Arya and Gendry nodded.
"Good," she continued. "Find what you think is the driest wood and put it in the hole. I'll be back to start a fire."
It was evenfall by the time she got back with half a dozen more fish, the work was done, but Arya and Gendry were nowhere to be seen. She looked at Hot Pie. "Where?"
The boy jumped at the sudden voice. "T-they went to the village!" He said loudly.
Her mouth was agape before her teeth clenched together so hard they might've broken under the pressure. An angry exhale left her nostrils. "If they aren't dead I'll do it myself!" Her quiet angry declaration nearly caused the two boys to shit themselves brown.
Now she had a choice to make. Go after them, or wait to see if they come back. The decision was made for her by Arya coming out of a thicket of bushes and into the death grip of Youmu's hands on her shoulders. "Why didn't you wait for me?!" Her tone was angry but the expression on her face was one full of worry.
Youmu's eyes looked behind the nine-year-old. ". . .Where's Gendry?"
"They caught him," Arya whispered. "We have to get him out. We'll sneak up and kill the guards, and then I'll get the door."
Youmu's look narrowed, that grip still on Arya. "How many?"
"I couldn't count," Arya admitted. "Twenty at least, but only two on the door."
Hot Pie looked as if he were going to cry. "We can't fight twenty."
Youmu gazed at the boy. "But I can. So long as you two can get the guards at the door."
"We should yield," Lommy said. "Just go in and yield."
The gardener shook her head. That wasn't an option.
"Then just leave him, Yoomie," Lommy pleaded. "They don't know about the rest of us. If we hide, they'll go away, you know they will. It's not our fault Gendry's captured."
"You're stupid, Lommy," Arya said angrily. "You'll die if we don't get Gendry out. Who's going to carry you?"
"Yoomie and Hot pie."
"All the time with no help? Even Youmu will get tired." Arya's mind was made up, and so was Youmu's. She could handle twenty men. She'd just have to be careful. Arya looked at Hot Pie. "Are you coming?"
Hot Pie glanced at Lommy, at Arya, at Youmu. "I'll come," he said reluctantly.
Lommy sat up on his elbows again. "But what if the wolves come?
Youmu turned just before she left the small camp. "Yield."
The half-phantom silently leaped from tree to tree while the two children below her trudged through the forest. It must've taken them hours to get back to the village due to Arya double-backing to grab and pull Hot Pie along in the dark woods. The gardener never made a sound with her footsteps or movement, and dimming her other half's glow made her practically invisible in the near-black night.
Once the trees vanished, Youmu made one large, inhuman leap onto a thatch roof of the village, cushioned by her other half to prevent her from falling through and into the building. She quietly crawled to the edge and caught sight of Arya and Hot Pie one more time, leaving the thicket of a bush.
Youmu watched as they crawled under a gibbet of rotting corpses, and breathed a sigh of relief as neither of them made a single sound.
Until a crow landed on Hot Pie's back, and he gave a muffled gasp. "Who's there?" a voice boomed suddenly from the dark.
Don't. She begged in her head.
Hot Pie leaped to his feet. "I yield!" He threw away his sword as dozens of crows rose shrieking and complaining to flap about the corpses. Arya grabbed his leg and tried to drag him back down, but he wrenched loose and ran forward, waving his arms. "I yield, I yield."
Arya bounced up and drew Needle, but by then men were all around her. Arya slashed at the nearest, but he blocked her with a steel-clad arm, and someone else slammed into her and dragged her to the ground, and a third man wrenched the sword from her grasp. When she tried to bite, her teeth snapped shut on cold dirty chainmail. "Oho, a fierce one," the man said, laughing. The blow from his iron-clad fist nearly knocked her head off.
The laugh was cut violently short as Youmu made another inhuman leap toward the group and took the man's head clean off. Before his body hit the ground, the half-phantom spun to remove the arm of the one holding onto Hot Pie.
She was about to attack a third when three things happened. The first was a wet thunk of an arrow hitting something, the second was her shoulder being grabbed and body lifted up by her vest, and the third was a metal fist impacting itself on the left side of her face. It was the hardest punch she'd ever felt. Youmu could've sworn Ibuki or Hoshiguma hit her instead of a man. A molar fell out of her open, cracked jaw, and blood ran freely from her maw. If she was normal, her skull would've been split open and she'd be dead.
Her eyes gazed to the source of the wet sound and to her horror saw an arrow lodged in her phantom half. Oh. So that's what that feels like. Youmu had to get up. She needed to save Arya and Hot Pie. Her body was weak and heavy, like it was dying. Her ears were ringing from the devastating blow, and her vision was blurry, preventing her from seeing who'd just delivered the rib-shattering kick to her midsection.
Youmu flew ten feet from the gibbet and into the wet mud of the street. Voices were thrown her way with one probably being Arya's.
"I know this one," the utter monster of a man muttered. "She crippled my brother."
The half-phantom vomited up bile and blood while a hand held her belly. She gazed up at none other than Gregor Clegane, the Mountain That Rides. The gardener knew she was going to die here, but she wasn't going down without a fight despite her phantom half being immobilized by an arrow through it while feeling the psychic pain of having said arrow lodged in her stomach, a bruised or broken jaw, and several ribs being broken.
She didn't get a chance to retaliate as Ser Gregor moved behind her and got down on top of her. Youmu's eyes looked back at the man before she felt a metal gauntlet grab her head and began to squeeze. Her mouth opened wide in a silent, pained scream as Clegane began to crush her skull with just a hand. Her ears popped, and she felt her head starting to crack under the man's intense strength.
Youmu was ready to submit to her fate when a voice, thundering in command and authority called out. "That is enough."
Everyone froze, including Youmu, and looked at the one who ordered the soldiers to stop. Standing in front of an inn was a tall, slender, broad-shouldered man with piercing green eyes and a near-bald head. His hands were behind his back and there was a silent fury in his gaze as he looked at the group of soldiers holding Arya and Hot Pie. "You will take my men to the others who are hiding." The man's voice was full of authority.
"M'lord, what about her?" The archer asked, his bowstring pulled back with the arrow aimed right at Youmu's head.
"Put chains on her and put her in a proper room."
"B-but," another soldier spoke up. "You saw what she did to Polliver!"
"I know," that green-eyed gaze turned back to the injured gardener. "But her father would kill me if she died."
"I assure you," Youmu said weakly as she held up her shackled hands. "These aren't necessary."
"You leaped from the roof of a building and cut down one of my men," the green-eyed man said before he took a swig of whatever was in his cup. "Until I know for certain that you won't try that again, those will stay on."
She sighed. "May I at least have the shackles around my ankles removed?"
He was silent for a couple of seconds before a single hand motion had the guards remove them, allowing Youmu to move freely. The gardener felt like she'd been shoved through a grinder after the beating Clegane gave her, but she was alive, if barely. Her phantom half had the arrow removed in the night, and its tail tied to a rope around her waist, but she was alive.
"Why am I still alive, my lord?" She asked, but the swollen jaw made words hard.
"As I said last night, your father would kill me if you were to meet such an undignified end to Gregor Clegane of all people." His eyes were piercing as they studied the weak and battered half-phantom in front of him. He motioned to the table he was sitting at, giving Youmu permission to sit across from him.
Youmu was cautious, but took him up on the silent offer and sat across from him. She was still in her dirty and bloodied clothing she'd worn out of King's Landing while the commander of the men wore a red leather jerkin with a golden lion on the left breast. She narrowed her eyes at the food offered to her as well.
"Regardless of whether or not you know my father," she started. "Why am I not with the other prisoners?"
"I intend to send you back to King's Landing with the intent of having a much longer conversation with you once this war is over."
Youmu picked at a piece of blackened bread before taking a bite. "And if I may ask, my lord, who are you?"
"I'm Tywin Lannister," he stated plainly. "Hand of the King, Lord of Casterly Rock, and Warden of the West. You must be Youki's youngest. Youmu, correct?"
She froze. Tywin Lannister knows her father and who she is? Well, knowing who Youmu was wouldn't be impossible, especially if Jaime met up with him before this war started. "My father never mentioned you, my lord," the gardener dipped her head respectfully. "It would be a pleasure to meet you under better circumstances."
Those green eyes continued staring holes into her before he slowly replied. "I can say the same for the girl who humiliated my son in the streets of the capital."
"What your son did was foolish. I merely taught him a lesson, my lord."
"Indeed. The same way Ser Gregor did the same to you."
They were both silent for several minutes, just staring at each other before Youmu set her bread down. "I would prefer if you didn't return me to the Red Keep, my lord."
"You say that as if you're being given a choice." He almost sounded. . . amused?
"I'd like to help you end this war." A plan was formulated in her head at lightning speed. It was risky and didn't have any guarantee to work, but she had a trump card to play. Youmu promised to make sure Ned's daughters were safe, but she can't do that if she's separated from Arya.
Tywin looked curious and decided to humor the girl. "How do you intend to do that?"
"I can help negotiate with Robb Stark. I spent a month with his family, after all. I'd be a familiar, if somewhat friendly, face." Her hands moved to her skirt, gripping it tightly as the tension in her body tightened.
"That was well over a year ago by now," Tywin pointed out. "The Robb Stark you knew a year ago is now an experienced general and calling himself 'King in the North' in an act of total rebellion."
"Your grandson cut off his father's head. I'm sure you would have done the same in his place."
Tywin held her gaze for a silent minute before a sigh left his mouth. "It was foolish, yes. His son could've been brought to heel if Ned Stark was still alive. Instead, there are two Starks in King's Landing instead of three."
"One." Youmu retorted, which brought the briefest look of surprise from the Lannister's stony features. "There's one Stark in King's landing, my lord."
Tywin was silent once more but soon asked. "How do you know this?"
"Because I smuggled Arya out of the Red Keep when your daughter's men tried to take her." Youmu's voice held confidence now, and she had trouble hiding the ear-to-ear grin on her face.
"Why are you telling me this? To hope you can use her as a bargaining chip with me?"
"Not you, my lord." She replied, "a bargaining chip with her brother."
"A smart man won't end a war over one child."
Youmu frowned, knowing he was right. "That's true, but someone who's made several tactical mistakes just might."
Tywin pulled himself from his chair and turned to look outside the window nearest them and held his hands behind his back. A stern look took over his features before he replied. "Robb Stark has yet to make any mistakes that'd cost him the war. He has my son, the power of the North and the Riverlands behind him, and has won every battle he's ever fought against my men." He turned to look at Youmu. "So tell me, girl, what hope do you have to bring him to the table?"
She looked off to the side, thinking, but she spoke once more. "I'm not you or your family. If the Stark boy is approached by someone who's neutral to the both of you and someone he's vaguely familiar with, he might be willing to hear terms that are beneficial to both sides."
"Perhaps, but that doesn't tell me what you plan to do with his sister."
"I can use her as a bargaining chip and potentially trade her for other high value prisoners."
The faintest hint of a sneering smirk crossed Tywin's face. He knew what angle she was playing at. "A smart man won't trade a first son for a sister."
"No, but a mother would."
Tywin was silent for what seemed like hours before he spoke. "We set out for Harrenhal in a week, Lady Konpaku." He turned to her and asked. "Where's Arya Stark?"
Her heart leapt in her throat. He's actually going to give me a chance? She thought before a hand moved up to rub at her sore jaw. "She's…in the stables with the other prisoners, disguised as a boy named Arry."
"You're just going to give her to me?"
"I promised Lord Stark that I'd keep her safe. I can't do that if her identity is hidden or if I'm separated from her; so I ask that she remain with us on the way to Harrenhal."
"Fine. I'll need a new cup-bearer, after all. I just hope the plan you give me at Harrenhal is worth acting on, or else you'll be going straight back to King's Landing."
The half-phantom merely nodded while she bit her lip. Great, now I need to figure out a better plan that isn't 'wait till Robb makes a mistake'.
A/N: And there we go, our seventh chapter down and I'm deeply sorry this took forever to update. Life just hasn't been kind to my writing muse until just lately, so I'm already working on Chapter 8 as this is being published! Youmu finally had her own 'egos being like hedges' moment thanks to The Notable Deviation in Elevation, and next chapter we'll get our first battle in the Battle of the Fords and a real deviation from the canon timeline.