A/N: So sorry for the delay with this chapter, RL took a surprising turn, but things are settling down again maybe I can finally get back into a settled routine.

Thank you for all my reviews, you guys are awesome, and I love you all for sticking with me, and patiently waiting for updates.

Last chapter's lyrics were 'but it's the pain that brings my force of nature back to life' and the song was Tornado, by Little Big Town. This chapter has a Delta Goodrem lyric if you find it, let me know :D

xBx

Chapter12: Gendry

"I don't follow," Gendry began. He wasn't the only one who seemed to be confused here, but he was the only one not too proud to admit it.

"You're not the only one." She told him, "I didn't expect anyone to follow that train of thought. I didn't even expect anyone to realise there was an ulterior motive for taking a detour to King's Landing, so you're further ahead than most." She told him.

He thought he saw a smile, a secret smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, but he couldn't be sure. Since her return, Gendry had been watching Arya closely more so than he realesed and he was now starting to notice the little things that everyone else overlooked.

Right now, all her emotions were once again locked up tight – yesterday he had noticed that she seemed to be more like her old self. She had shown anger, she had shown grief – not a lot, but a little. Yet now, she had gone back cold – but not completely. All the while she had been talking, Gendry had never taken his eyes from her; he had noticed her eyes. There was something stirring behind them – some undefined emotion that she was not quelling completely. It was only faint, but it was definitely something: the ice had finally cracked, and his Arya was finally breaking through.

"When Theon took Winterfell " Arya spoke clearly, bringing Gendry's train of thought back to the present, " he sent the majority of his men to lay a siege at Torrhen's Square. Winterfell sent their remaining fighting men south to defend, and Theon snuck over the walls and took the place with only a handful of men."

Gendry had no idea how she knew this – as he understood, all this had happened when they were on the run, possibly in Harranhal. If they had been at Harranhal at the time, that could explain her knowledge – perhaps she learnt of it while serving Lord Tywin? No one else seemed to concern themselves with how she knew this information, and so Gendry didn't bother to ask – he could ask her later if he really wanted to.

"We're going to do something similar, but in a slightly bigger way," Arya declared. "Their ships sit at anchor around Pyke, all those left along the shorelines are currently returning – soon enough every vessel, apart from the Iron Fleet, will be anchored there."

"You mean to attack Pyke?" Harwin asked, clearly under the impression that Arya had lost her mind. And while Gendry had to admit it sounded crazy, he knew her well enough to know she had something up her sleeve.

"We're going to make sure the Ironmen can not sail to the mainland: We're going to burn their fleet, every last vessel will be destroyed." She said simply. "The main host will march north. But I will send a small group ahead, in the direction of Seaguard, and when they reach the coast they will take a discreet vessel, and travel under the cover of night, to take the Ironmen unawares. It will take great care, great precision, and most importantly, great stealth. Half their ships will be aflame before they know it, and by then it will be too late to save the rest from going up as well."

There was a moment of quiet, as everyone digested this new piece of information. Gendry looked around the table for the first time – did no one else spot the obvious flaw in this plan?

"How do you mean to accomplish this? As I understand it, water is used to put out flames," Gendry said, not hesitating in using sarcasm. He was well aware of Harwin and Lady Stoneheart shooting him dark looks for daring to speak to a princess – and now his liege in such a way. But Arya wasn't a traditional lady, she never had been, and she hated being treated as such Gendry had learnt that quick enough.

He continued his point in the same tone: "And you're planning to set fire to ships, that will be sat on a very plentiful supply of water. Enlighten us as to how you believe this plan will succeed, if you please, milady." He added the 'milady' in an attempt to appease Harwin's notions of what was right. Arya gave him a threatening glare – for some reason she hated it when Gendry called her that. Yet Gendry couldn't find it in himself to stop – it didn't feel like a formality when he said it to Arya, it was more like a nickname: he was the stupid bull, and she was milady.

After shooting her glare at Gendry, Arya looked back at the group as a whole, a cunning smile beginning to grace her features. "Which brings us back to why I need King Aegon in King's Landing: There are some fires that even water can not quench." She said, giving Shore a significant look.

Shore seemed to understand her immediately. "You want to destroy their fleet with wildfire," he stated quietly, a wary look in his eyes.

As soon as he said the word 'wildfire' Harwin's eyes went wide, and even Lady Stoneheart shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the suggestion. Gendry didn't know what to think – he had heard the tales about the Battle of the Blackwater, and the wildfire. It was unpredictable, uncontrollable – he wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but at the end of the day, it wasn't his place to contradict her. She was their leader, their ruler; her word was their law.

"Arya, you can't be serious, it's too dangerous," Harwin warned her, his own courtesies plainly forgotten in the moment of shock at such a rash plan.

"If it's done discreetly, carefully and properly, it's not. I have no doubt that a pyromancer will make up one of the team, to ensure everything is done right, if I request it. This is why I need the most careful and surest of men. In the cover of night, I need someone to plant wildfire in the ships. I then need a good couple of archers to launch fire arrows at the ships. The wildfire will do the rest of the work – burning up everything it touches until there is nothing left. The Ironmen will believe themselves under attack, but when they come ready to fight, they will find no foe. When this is done, we will advance on the North. If we time it right, we will reach Moat Cailin after the fleet has burned – when they send word of attack, and a request for help, there will be no hope to give.

The ironmen will be stranded on Pyke until the iron fleet returns, or they build more ships."

"How will you know when to march?" Gendry asked shrewdly. "You can't be in two places at once." Somehow though, even as he said it, he knew Arya was going to somehow manage to do just that.

Arya looked at her raven, which had been perched in the corner for the entire meeting, silently watching everyone in turn. "This bird, is quite a clever bird," she said carefully, "I have been the only human to whom it has taken quite a liking to. And in turn, I've grown quite attached to thing – almost as attached as I am to Nymeria." She said significantly, letting the words hang in the air and Gendry understood perfectly.

He wagered he was the only one who did, as he was the only one who seemed to know about Arya being a Warg, as she called herself. Once again, Arya had seen something in him that made her trust him with her biggest secret. He could't understand it; no one had ever trusted him with anything before, especially not their life. And yet, Arya had barely known him a month when she told him who she truly was, and knowingly placed her life in his hands. Then just the other day, she had done the same thing and she shared her biggest secret – or one of, he had a feeling there was a lot of things she had left out about her time across the Narrow Sea.

He hadn't spoken to her since, about her startling revelation, and part of him was glad. It wasn't something he could easily get his head around, and if he was truly honest with himself the idea scared him slightly: it was not just Nymeria she could control, she had the ability to reach out into the skins of any animal, and if she truly wanted to any person.

"Right," Gendry said quietly, "You are going to be in two places at once."

Arya didn't draw attention to his comment, "I'm not telling the others this – the fewer who know, the better. You are the only people whom I trust enough to tell, and to help me see this through. Lady Stoneheart, I want you to take one boat, and three men – of your own choosing. Pick three whom you trust the most; I will trust your judgement. Harwin, you will do the same. Out of every man following me, you two are the ones who can move most quietly; armies have been searching for the elusive Lady Stoneheart, and the Brotherhood, for years, to no avail – you know how to be invisible when it counts. It counts now," Arya told them. "Shore, you are here, because I am going to need your help in convincing Aegon to allow me this, when I put it before his Grace."

Shore nodded. "I understand. And I shan't say a word until we speak to his Grace in King's Landing."

"Thank you. Gendry," Arya said, finally turning to him, "I'm going to need you to stay by my side while this is happening. You know why."

It was a simple statement and Gendry nodded to show that he understood. He knew that when Arya slipped her skin, she would be vulnerable; it would be up to him to protect her body while she was flying over the iron isles. If any of the others still gathered found this command strange they didn't let it show, though Harwin was watching him carefully.

"We'll discuss this more after Aegon takes the throne. Until then I ask you not to say a word of it, except to the six men who will be joining you." Arya said, a note of finality in her voice. "You can leave now, that's all I needed to say. I need to send a raven to Aegon, with details of my intentions – but I intend to strike out the day after tomorrow."

Gendry was the first to depart – if they were leaving the day after tomorrow, he had a lot of work to do. He was aware of Harwin following him half a step behind, and had a feeling the man had something on his mind. True to his instincts, when Gendry entered the forge, Harwin followed still maintaining a silence.

Gendry took his apron from the peg, and stoked the fire to get it blazing once again. He stole a glance at Harwin out of the corner of his eye – he had his grave face on, and so Gendry remained silent, waiting for him to make the first move.

Sure enough, after a couple of minutes, Harwin broke his silence. "Be careful, lad," he warned gently.

Gendry looked up at him, slightly confused, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean she's your princess, one day she will be your queen. You're setting yourself on a slippery slope, and it is only going to end in your heart being broken."

Gendry turned his back to Harwin to concentrate on the steel, and hide the emotions in his eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about."

This was a lie he knew exactly what Harwin was talking about, but he wasn't going to admit it. Hell, he hadn't even admitted it to himself, and he was quite happy ignoring any emotion he felt connected to Arya, right now.

Harwin sighed, "I'm not going to lecture you, but I've seen the way you look at her " "Harwin " Gendry interrupted him, " I'm really busy, so if you wouldn't mind?"

Harwin stopped talking, but didn't leave clearly there was something else on his mind. "You haven't said anything about what happened yesterday afternoon," Harwin hedged. "About your parentage."

Gendry shrugged, "What is there to say? My father was probably a dead king so what? Doesn't change anything; I'm still just a blacksmith. Or are you going to give me the same speech Arya gave me earlier? That I'm most likely King Robert's eldest son bastard or no and I have as good a claim to the throne as Aegon has?"

"Is that something you would want? To claim the Iron Throne for yourself?"

Gendry sighed and put down his tools, "she asked me the exact same question," he admitted. "And what did you say?" Harwin probed after a minute, when Gendry didn't look like he was going to continue.

"I told her I didn't want the throne." "Were you being honest?"

"Yes," Gendry affirmed vehemently, and then looked less certain. "I guess. I always thought my father was some drunk, who spent half his life in the ale house no money, no name, nothing. To find out he was the King it's a lot to accept. I was never raised to be a king, I don't know the first thing about ruling a kingdom. But then I think about that brat, Joffrey: he was raised to be king, and he was a monster any idiot could rule better than him."

"Including you?" Harwin suggested, and Gendry nodded. "Yeah, including me. But is it what I really want?"

"Only you can answer that," Harwin said, taking a seat in the corner as Gendry picked up his hammer and began working steel once more.

As he worked, he thought: he thought of everything, but through the entire process he was conscious of a very prominant recurring theme to his thoughts and was thankful that Harwin could not read his mind.

Yes, he had quickly dismissed the idea of being king to Arya, but that was more shock than anything else until she had mentioned it, the idea had never entered his mind. But now he thought of it, it was an interesting idea. But could he really do it? Would he have the support? The brotherhood did look to him as a natural leader, and if he were to lay claim to the throne he was sure they would follow. But that would mean taking them away from Arya even though Arya said she would back him, and he would still fight with her in the end, it would stop her from claiming the North any time soon.

If Gendry were to try and take the Iron Throne, he would have to fight against Aegon and the Lannisters success would not be guaranteed and if he were successfull it would take many years. Arya was desperate to go home: she had been trying to go home for five years now, and she was still a long way off could he really delay her indefinitely? No, he didn't think he could do that to her.

Also, once Arya went North once she was back home Gendry knew she would never leave again; if Gendry took the throne, he would be back in King's Landing and he would never see her again. These past four years had been hell, knowing she was out there somewhere but being unable to see her. Now, he knew if he were in that situation again he wouldn't be able to stand it as much as he tried to deny it, Gendry had felt different since her return. There was something about Arya that drew him in; he wanted to be around her, he wanted to share in everything she did. He longed to see her smile and hear her laugh he even enjoyed seeing her angry; seeing the passion that ignited within her made her more beautiful. He tried to ignore the extent of these feelings, he knew he shouldn't be feeling them, but feel them he did. No, if taking the throne meant losing Arya which he felt it probably did then he didn't want it.

But, perhaps it could mean the very opposite, a tiny voice in his mind countered. If you were a king, you would be someone: a someone worthy of the princess in the North, and a future Queen. He shook the thought out of his head as soon as it entered what did that matter? Even if, by some miracle of the gods, Arya were to return the feelings he had started to harbour and that would be the first and the last time he admitted to having such feelings being a king wouldn't make any difference to her. If anything, it would be more likely to put her off she would never marry someone who would e nd up trapping her in King's Landing.

Gendry shook his head to clear it once more the thought of marriage took him by surprise, and they were not thoughts he should be thinking. He had barely admitted to himself that his feelings for Arya were anything more than friendly and any possible return was out of the question: it would never happen. Nor would the thoughts that went around his head on a night, in those moments halfway between awake and sleeping, and the less he dwelt on them, the better. He had a choice to make: continue on as before, or make his claim and become a prominent player in the game for the Iron Throne; would he be a part of the war for the North, or start a war of his own for the south?

There were many factors to think of, but Gendry could only seem to focus on one: when he brought his choices back to their simplest form, it was a choice between the Iron Throne and Arya Stark. You've got to make choices, be wrong or right. Sometimes you have to sacrifice what you like, he told himself. But if choosing to claim the throne meant sacrificing Arya, then he had made his choice before he had even been given it: he chose Arya, he would choose her every time.

Something of his thoughts must have been visible on his face, for Harwin chose now to broke the silence that had settled for the past half hour. "Have you come to a final decision?"

"It's the same as my original," Gendry stated quietly. "I don't want the Iron Throne."

"Why?" It was a simple question, but Gendry couldn't find the right words to say how could he explain his reason without mentioning Arya, and adding fuel to the fire of suspicion that was already aflame in Harwin's mind? But while Gendry was trying to find his words, it seemed that Harwin had read some of them on his face, for before Gendry could speak, Harwin gave a low chuckle.

"What?" Gendry asked.

"It's nothing," Harwin shook his head, but Gendry frowned. "No, it's something. What is it?"

Harwin took a deep breath, and weighed his words carefully, "You and Robert; you're so alike, and yet so different."

Gendry frowned, confused, "What do you mean?"

"Robert's rebellion was brought about over Lyanna Stark. Your refusal to lay claim to the throne is brought about over Arya Stark, is it not? Your father chose to go to war for his wolf, and you chose to avoid war for yours."

Gendry shook his head, "I'm not avoiding war: I'm just choosing to fight herwar, instead of starting one of my own."

Harwin nodded and stood, "As long as you are certain, because we leave in two days and there is nothing worse than going into a fight while you are uncertain of whom you fight for."

In the end, Arya and her party were the last to depart Stoney Sept, a day later than planned. Lady Mormont departed first, the same day as the meeting, returning to Greywater Watch with a letter from Arya. Maege was to deliver news of Arya's intentions, and ready the men at the Watch for Arya's arrival in the course of the coming months. If she was fortunate to meet Thoros along the way, she would direct him east, to the Kings Road, to meet with one of Arya's armies.

Arya had split the men into three seperate armies, each with a selection of Aegon's men, her own men, and men of the Brotherhood:

One was to march directly east towards the Kings Road, with the intention of joining Aegon's men who would be returning fro the Vale about now. This group was lead by Manton, Wull and Lem, with their own selection of comrades.

Another marched south, travelling along the blackwater before breaking off to meet Aegon himself. Shore, Norrey and Ned Dayne took lead of this group, and departed Stoney Sept at the same time as the others, two days after Lady Mormont.

The rest were to travel with Arya, straight over the blackwater to continue into King's Landing. Arya hadn't shared this particular part of the plan, but Gendry had a suspicion she had something figured out; she had sent her raven off directly after the meeting, the contents of its letter known only to her. The men knew there were parts if her plans that Arya was keeping from them, but while they speculated amongst themselves they never once doubted, or questioned, her.

Gendry was asked for the details on more than ne occasion, but could not enlighten them. "I'm certain she has some plan," Gendry said time and time again. "Just trust her, we'll know everything we need to know, when we need to know it."

A/N:Thanks for reading, next chapter is back to Aegon, I'll get it ready to go asap

xBx