002 ❅ Action/Video

[needlebearer]

[Having been here a couple of weeks now, Arya looks very different from the first time she addressed the network. She's cleaned up considerably from when she arrived, covered in the mud and blood of Harrenhal, an urchin shivering in a forgotten gray alleyway. She has gained a few bruises since then, particularly on her arms and legs, most of them brown and fading now, but there's one purpling welt on her forearm that she can't help poking at. She doesn't seem too bothered by the bruises, though. While she's arranged her hair in a slightly more feminine way, she's still wearing boys clothes; looser, more comfortable, easier to fight and tumble around in.]


Action

[Those of you passing through the Thor district may chance upon Arya sometime in the morning, looking a little dissatisfied and disappointed in herself. Maya's set her a task, but she's finding it a very difficult one to complete.]

No good. Maybe I just haven't found the right place yet, but...


Video

[It's late afternoon when she addresses the network. Her face still looks troubled.]

What sort of place do you go to, when you need to be alone and think?

[A pause. She's not sure whether to say the next part or not. The truth is, there's a lot that's happened to her over the last few months, ever since they left Winterfell, really. And she's just had to keep going through it all. To have to stop and examine herself now, to meditate and find the inner Arya, would mean facing it all, rather than just adding names to a list of people she'll one day give their retribution. It would mean grieving for Ned, something she's not had the space to do yet. And the idea is scaring her. Maybe not being able to find a place to follow Maya's instruction to her successfully is just a front for that.

She takes a deep breath, but the words won't come. She's just eleven years old, after all, how does she even try and process all of this?]

Robb, can you come and see me, please? I...

[She feels herself blinking back tears and, embarrassed, quickly shuts off the feed.]

Comments

[needlebearer]

[And Arya feels the tears well up again. She'd never been as close to Catelyn as some of her siblings, Sansa, for instance, and especially Bran, and after everything that had happened, she'd missed and mourned for Ned so desperately that she hadn't thought about just how much she missed and needed her mother until Robb mentioned her directly. How she longed for her to give her a disapproving look when she returned late for dinner, with her hair all tousled and her clothes ripped to rags; to feel her long, pale Tully hand on her forehead when she was sick.]

I miss her too, Robb. Is she all right? I've been so worried.

OMG ROBB NEEDS TO STOP MAKING HER CRY aksdjkasd

[robb]

[ Robb didn't realize how much he missed Sansa until this conversation. Christ, as a family they were a mess. Just all over the place and he missed it when days were simpler. When the worst thing they had to worry about was winter. ]

Aye. I had seen her shortly before our arrival to this realm. I had passed by the Trident to leave Jeyne--

[ a beat. remembering now why he was in the trident. ]

Jeyne. - Arya, I neglect to tell you - I have taken wife.

[ THINGS YOUR OLDER BROTHER FORGETS TO MENTION. ]

GEEZ ROBB B|

[needlebearer]

[Now that was the last thing Arya expected to hear. She freezes for a second, taking in what Robb's just said, and then a big grin splits across her face.] A wife?

[robb]

[ NO ARYA, RUN. HE'S GOING TO VERBAL BARF ABOUT JEYNE. ]

Yes. She's a Westerling. We met in the Crag. [ ACTUALLY SMILING BACK FOR ONCE. orz. Robb where are your priorities. ]

[needlebearer]

I'm glad. That you got to have some happiness.

[robb]

Aye. It's small comforts. You would like her, Arya.

[ a beat. ]

Are there any good things that came out of your trials?

[needlebearer]

[She stops and thinks for a moment. There had been so much horror and pain, things that she should never have seen, especially not at her age. But still.]

I got stronger.

I made some friends, too.

[robb]

[ That earns Arya a look of weariness. ]

Friends, Arya?