bookgendrya

[bookgendrya]

-read below-

Since it’s a speculation about the future I had this… weird idea… I honestly lost hope about knowing what is going to happen in twow or ados but I asked someone that knows… ( I sang her a song, I didn’t have to kiss her btw)

HIGH HEART

Something old lingered in that place, Arya could feel it into her bones as she watched her breath turn into a small cloud fading into the night. She could hear something whispering through the trees, the leaves and the howling wind having a secret conversation, the night sky dark and menacing like a bruise, no moon, no stars, only a trembling fire casting long shadows through the camp.

Something old came from the night.

She noticed her as the figure emerged from the woods, small, long white hair almost touching the ground moving along the shadows, the flame burning slower, its light shy as the ghost approached. 

Swift as a deer Arya moved from her cot, the voices turning clear as she got closer hidden like a mouse, Lem and Tom, Thoros and Beric were there too, talking with the small woman. The ghost talked about her dreams, too old for kisses and wine they said she was, dead kings, dead lords, squids, a black dog, a wolf howling in the rain… Arya felt a chill run down her spine as she tried to decode those words, riddles ancient and yet new, painting the future the ghost saw in her dreams.

A twig cracked behind Arya, she turned around startled, someone had caught her spying.

It was just Gendry, of course.

- What are you doing here?- he whispered, as if he cared about not giving Arya’s position away

- The same thing you are doing!- she snapped, her eyes still focused on the queer woman, she had red eyes like Jon’s direwolf.

He snorted and got closer - Making sure you are not running away and getting yourself killed?- 

What did he care about anyway… he had chosen the brotherhood, he was the one getting himself killed, she did not care for sure.

- I don't want to speak to you…- this time she turned around to face him, glaring at him with her silver gaze.

He scowled unsure about what to do, if Arya wanted to hate him for not being her playmate forever she could suit herself, fucking highborns.

Arya focused again on the small woman, dreams of clangor and bells, a maid slaying a giant in a castle made of snow, words that made no sense to her.

- You cannot hide from me child, come into the light…- 

Arya’s heart jumped in her chest, the voice of the ghost loud and adamant, a cold sensation at the base of Arya’s neck. The woman’s mouth opened in what once had been a smile but now resembled more a grimace, like the ones painted on mummers’ and actors’ masks.

Arya was no craven, she was brave like a wolf, she was not afraid and so she stepped from her hiding spot, Lord Beric looking at her with an indecipherable expression.

The woman studied her, her red eyes seeing inside Arya, burning through her skin. Arya breathed in the night air, she was not afraid, her eyes looking straight back at the ghost not allowing herself to look down. 

She called her a child, a wolf child, a blood child… her old hands, in anger, or fear, or folly, closed around Arya’s arm like old bones, her nails digging into Arya’s skin.

-I thought it was the lord who smelled of death…- cried the woman

-You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need

none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!- Arya winched, the woman’s cold grip driving blood from her, something older than fear in those unnatural eyes.

- Let her go! - Gendry’s voice thundered as he took Arya from the woman.

Arya didn’t need his help, she glared at him and opened her mouth to just say so when the ghost laughed, an unnatural laugh, like a screeching of old stones, bloodchilling.

- Let the children be… there’s no harm to them…- stepped in Thoros, his face lit by his precious flames.

- Rain is coming …- the ghost stared at the sky, her milk-white hair moving with the wind, something whispering to her, something Arya could almost feel, something as old as the north talking to the small woman.

Arya took a step back bumping into Gendry, he seemed as confused as her looking at Lord Beric for an answer, an order, an explanation.

- Old faces, old curses… nothing good comes from them…- croaked the woman 

- I can tell you what I know, boy, what the weirwood whispers to an old shadow… I can smell the blood in you, dangerous blood to have… I’ll tell what I know… my price a kiss… -

Instinctively Arya turned to look at Gendry, his expression still, like a deer faced with a hunter's arrow. 

- What? No!- he said after a second

- Don’t you want to know what blood runs in your veins, the storms that made you, the days that were and the days that will come?- continued the old figure, grief and hunger in her whole being 

-No…- continued Gendry, his hand still holding Arya’s arm 

- I don’t care about your visions!- he finally said, the flame flickered again under the wind turning almost to embers, it smelled like rain.

Staring in the dark, those ancient red eyes, Arya wondered what those eyes could really see… in dreams… in the wind…through time and space… she wasn’t scared… 

Arya had dreams too… wolf dreams… were those just her mind playing with her? 

Were the gods trying to tell her something?

- I’ll give you your song! Let them be… or Lem will keep his promise and you’ll meet with his steel… - said Tom, not a sign of his proverbial humor in his voice

The small woman kept her stance.

- Old… so old…. what a curse… It’s been so long since I have known the warmth of a kiss… I’m nothing but old bones and old flesh… You like denying an old woman of her last pleasures… pity… I have never kissed king’s blood…- 

Goosebumps on Arya’s skin, was it a curse that those who saw the future had to speak in riddles? Thoros opened his mouth as if to speak, his eyes never leaving the dying fire.

- Look in your flames pink priest… but not here… this place belongs to the old gods… not fond of your fire… you’ll see my words are right… I’m but what remains… fading like mist in the morrow…- 

Arya bit her lip, she was not scared of the crone, not like Gendry or Lem or Tom or even Thoros… she was a wolf… the old gods protected her too… and so she spoke…

- I’d kiss you to know the future, what do you see? Do i get to my family?- 

Tom coughed twice to hide his laugh, saying something about her being crazy.

- Are you gone stupid?- Gendry’s voice behind her, his hand still holding her in place close to him

She ignored him, he didn’t listen to her, not about the things that mattered, she was not going to listen to him.

- Please, my… - Arya had no idea how to address the small woman

- I need to know!- her mind thinking about Robb and mother in Riverrun, Jon at the wall, Winterfell and it’s walls so high and safe, the smell of home and food, she was so close, if it hadn’t been for the brotherhood she would have already reached them, she was sure.

- Ney! Stay away from me… I don’t need your sorrow… you smell of death… stay away!- thundered the crone 

Arya stomped her foot on the ground, like a child throwing a tantrum, she wanted to know, she needed to know what the future was holding for her. 

- I’ll stay until you talk! You’ll have to bear my smell of death until you tell me what I want!- spoke the daughter of Eddard Stark, she left Gendry behind her walking straight in front of the woman favored by the gods

The ghostly figure winced, her eyes closed, listening to the wind.

- Let her be Arya! She has already suffered a great pain! Go back with Gendry…- Lord Beric spoke 

- Ney, your Grace… too late… Child… you’ll have what you ask… and may we never meet again, dark heart!- 

Arya could feel the anger in the woman’s voice, the pain, but she wanted to know.

The storm was approaching, heavy clouds upon them carried by the wind, a silent lighting, no thunder.

- You are destined to great sorrows child, your tears will never dry on your face, I hear war cries, beasts howling, blood on their fangs and on the ground they run upon… and yet home gets further away… always a step out of reach… you’ll see through many eyes and yet all you’ll see will be death… I can hear waves crashing against waves as a giant welcomes you… and where the lights never go out I see darkness… death… and at the end, if someone comes home, wolf child, it’s no longer you…-

Arya’s nails were digging into her palm, she was a liar, a stupid liar like everyone she had met since leaving home! 

- You’ll cry tears of blood upon stone, upon snow… I see golden eyes, silver ones too… and…- 

The crone stopped for a moment, as if sniffing the air around her

- You’ll not find your family in riverrun… a different fate awaits… the twins… a promise, a vow, a wedding… you’ll never find the ones you seek…I see only death on your path beware…-

- You are a liar!- cried Arya

- I can’t change what awaits you… my eyes are not mine alone… my ears have lived a thousand different lives… If you don’t like your fate the fault is yours and of the painful road that comes… and yet… you’ll be granted something I can only dream of…- 

Arya took a step back, her heart thundering in her chest, she did not care what the small woman said, she was going to get back to her family one way or another, no matter the price.

- …you’ll see spring…- the ghost spoke as if speaking a curse  

- Now Begone! Away from this old bones!- 

- Tom, I’ll have my song, the same one…- breathed the woman putting as much distance as possible from Arya, sitting on the ground close to the singer

- Let’s get back Arya…- Gendry’s voice almost startled her

He guided her away, their backs to the fire, a sad melody filling the air.

- And boy…- they froze in their place

- You’ll soon learn the price you’ll pay for the brothers you chose… death hanging from the same trees that you’ll hide behind… orders from a heart of stone…stone… and ice… stolen steel… you’ll find one half and mend what it’s broken… a ghost of a long lost king you’ll never love… a name you’ll never have…and I can hear voices… of whom you’ll meet and of whom you have met… and as snow falls south all roads will cross again…- 

Gendry kept walking, trying to ignore those cryptic words, nothing good came of knowing one's future… for what he knew no bloody gods were whispering to the woman… and if pain and death was all she could promise it was just because they lived in a world made of those things.

- You’ll learn to listen… you’ll have the chance…sweet irony… they’ll have blue eyes… but your children will be nothing but wolves…- 

The words of the woman got lost in the wind as Tom kept playing his song, the figure now only crying holding herself and rocking back and forth. 

Arya cursed and kicked a rock while Gendry kept dragging her back away from the fire. 

- She is a liar… she is just old and crazy and wants our wine…- spat Arya, the words she had just head haunting her mind and turning into tragedy

- Of course, Arya… Don’t believe a word she just said… no one can see the future… and who says he does is a fraud like my master said ‘bout Thoros… She did not make sense… we will take you to your mum and brother no matter what!- 

Gendry tried to reason with her, looking at the anger simmering in her eyes.

- Yes… to get some gold…- she replied, cold

- I’m not doing it for the gold!- he said back

Arya said nothing and sat down in her place, her arms crossed. A light turned the sky yellow and then it bruised to black again, and as the thunder struck came rain.

Someone cursed, someone kept sleeping, only a few noticed… as she had arrived the ghost of high heart was gone… faded back to her mist and woods… 

- She was right about the rain…- spat Arya feeling the cold droplets fall on her skin

Gendry snorted 

- Aye, the sky was dark since noon and I’m sure even Anguy could smell the rain coming… Easy to see the future when it’s happening already… listen to me Arya… she is wrong… she doesn’t even know what she was talking about… like you heard all that bullshit ‘bout my blood or something… - 

- Maybe your blood is important…- she said flatly, her skin hurting where the nails of the small woman had pierced her skin

- My blood is worth shit… if they had given her some more wine she would have started calling Lem king and Tom his sweet lady of the forest…- 

The rain was pouring, Gendry’s black hair wet and sticking to his forehead, too mad to be distracted by the storm.

Arya smiled, maybe he was right, maybe the woman’s words had been that… just words… 

She had cried and prayed for death, she had killed and spilled blood… and maybe her heart was dark, full of hate and she smelled of death… but her future was going to be different… 

- Feel better?- he asked her after a few seconds ignoring Lord Beric’s squire complaining about the rain waking him up

She nodded.

- Now let’s find someplace dry to sleep in…- he said, the matter over.

They did not speak anymore of the words heard, not Arya’s curse to suffer and lose herself and what she loved, not the wedding at the Twins, not the eyes she was supposed to see through… they did not speak of wolf children nor the ghost’s dream of spring… 

Arya thanked Gendry when he gave her a dry coat; they had found shelter together with Jack and Harwin between the trees. 

- Still hate me now?- smiled Gendry stretching close enough to her 

She bit her lip. 

- Are you coming to Winterfell with me?- 

He did not answer, but she heard all she needed to hear. 

The silence hurting as much as the unspoken answers to their questions.

A troubled sleep fell on the camp, rain soaking them to the point of fever, haunted dreams in a haunted place. 

All I know is future flickers, still unwritten, but if you listen to the weirwoods on a starless night, as the wind howls tales of things that will become, if you close your eyes and let the dreams come… between all the bloodshed… and the cursed thrones and heavy crowns… between ice and fire… you’ll see a winter that must be braced to once again witness spring… you’ll see some good and some bad… and if you wait long enough you’ll see two children someday meet again.

Hope you liked it <3<3 Thank you to everyone who read and a huge thank you to everyone who made beautiful works for this appreciation week, my gendrya shipper heart was very very happy.

[bookgendrya]

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premise: Now I know why a book hasn’t come out in 13 years… just thinking about everything gave me a huge headache. I wanted to have some coherence in this small fic and study all the loose ends after Affc seeing what things in Adwd could have happened in the 5 years and so on and my brain exploded, this gap solves some problems but creates some huge holes everywhere… thank god I’m not Grrm… Generally speaking, I think that Arya would have grown up in the Fm but having serious problems about forgetting who she is (killing the deserter, Raff, the dreams ecc…), her being disobedient would have caused her a lot of problems… I have to be sincere, I'm not the biggest fan of the Fm… cool secret assassins? creepy cult of death? not for me… please let’s just explore and make friends in Braavos it’s colorful and so full of interesting people!! or let’s go back frolicking in the woods with the brotherhood… Anyway I’m very conflicted about Arya keeping or not the abilities she learned with the Fm… they are useful and would be cool for some plot twists and stuff… but I really hope she stays Arya and doesn’t become “no one” and if she stays herself it would be wrong for her to have the powers of a faceless man… Btw if my baby Arya ends up losing herself forever I’ll cry. I think it would have been cool in the 5 year gap if she got involved with Dany and consequently reached Westeros with her… but I don’t know how it could happen… In my head her arc will take her to face Lady Stoneheart, unite with Nymeria and her Pack, fight alongside Jon (if he fucking wakes up, it’s been 84 years George plis)... I see her as someone that will really care about the smallfolk and be a good “guide”… I think the main difference between what will happen in the next books and the 5 year skip is just that now Arya will be still young and her training with the faceless men will be rushed… she’ll be like barely around 13 I think when leaving braavos instead of being at least around 16/17 so probably too young for whatever Grrm will make her do anyway. Btw i feel like the time that has passed since the beginning Agot is like ten years and it’s just been like three or something… soo much happens to these poor characters help After this rambling premise expect a very cute and fluffy fanfiction… I’ll try to stay coherent to the books as much as I can but… it is what it is…

THERE IT GOES

At some point they had met again, while an endless winter had turned the world into a silent and unwelcoming land, she had been travelling, northbound, a pack of wolves in tow. Relentless, riding a she-wolf huge as a horse, howling under the starless sky, cold wind guiding her home.

The brotherhood had stayed… their merciless leader, thirsty for justice and blood… When winter had come some had fled south, some had left hunting for food, for survival but most had stayed, he had, hunting for men: Frey, Lannister, Bolton men… hundreds of bodies hanging lulled by the wind, frostbite erasing their faces.

The brotherhood had attacked her, unaware that Arya Stark of Winterfell was hidden under her cloak, their torches reflecting in the wolves' eyes. 

As they crossed swords, well sword and hammer, he noticed the familiar blade: Needle, a sharp pain and the sound of his nose breaking had brought him back from his thoughts. 

- Arya?- 

Her name, it had been so long since someone had called her name. 

He had been the first to join her, kneeling in the snow, swearing his loyalty to her, asking her to let him follow her, fight for her… her brother needed men to fight against the dead and so Arya agreed. 

An army of wolves and outlaws now followed her north, a righteous leader now guiding them… a Stark. 

At first it had been had, after all the time they had spent apart, deep silence, long stares and quick glances: her long braid, his broad shoulders, building from the ashes what had been between them. 

Slowly the silence had turned into small conversations and blossomed into nights spent talking about the past, Arya’s adventures in Braavos, what had become of the Brotherhood… cold gazes turning into warm smiles, learning to be friends again.

Something unspoken, something different this time, something new and probably dangerous but something they both felt and so they decided to let it happen. 

Arya understood what the feeling in her belly, the flutter in her chest meant, she also understood that the way Gendry looked at her, his hands playing absently with her hair, his eyes following her, his scowl melting into a smile every time she was around, she understood it meant something. 

Arya definitely wasn’t a coward and was quite aware that wasting time while the world was slowly ending under the unstoppable ice crawling its way south was stupid, so she decided to take the matter into her own hands. 

Nymeria and her pack had been hunting, the men resting inside of the ruins of what once had been a great holdfast, Gendry’s turn to tend the fire. 

- Do you wish to fuck me?- she had asked bluntly, no accusation in her tone

Young Gendry would have blushed and told her how improper for a lady that matter was, he would have left or cursed at her and they would have fought… but they weren't their young selves anymore.

He had stayed silent for a while, the crackling of the fire and the howling of the snowstorm outside the stone walls the only sounds. 

- Sometimes…- there was no point in lying, and there was no point in arguing with her about what she could or couldn't talk about

- But you don’t have to worry about that… It’ll pass… you are a woman… you’re nice... and I’m an idiot…- he explained hoping she wouldn’t be upset about his words

She wasn’t. 

- Is that why you are following me now?- some accusation in her tone 

- No, it’s not that… following you is… just the right thing to do… it’s what I should have always done…- 

Arya smiled and walked forward, to then sit close to him, he must have said the right thing.

- Yes… you should have…- 

Deep silence again.

- And… I’m sorry for being… I know it won’t happen… It’s just… you are pretty and I’m... a man…- 

She scrunched up her nose

- So you're telling me that all brotherhood knights must want to fuck me as well… since they are men…- 

-Some of them... more than you would imagine… but it doesn’t change things… they follow you because they believe in you… they respect you… I do respect you…- 

Arya bit her lip, they were marching toward danger, toward war and death, but it was stupid to stop life so early, Nymeria and the wolves kept hunting and running and birthing their pups even if the world was going to end… even winter couldn't stop what was just… natural… 

- You could kiss me… I think I’d like that…- she said looking at him with her gray eyes 

His heart skipped a beat, Arya always had the worst timing for some things, or maybe the best timing, he wasn’t sure… 

- I could never no that…- the knight in him spoke 

- I thought you wanted to… you just said…- she started, her voice nervous 

- Of course I want to… but… it would be wrong…- Gendry truly hated himself in that moment 

- Why?- 

-It just is… - 

She snorted and crossed her arms 

- Stupid! if you don’t kiss me right now… you’re a coward!- she spat, her eyes never leaving his. 

He sighed and looked at her lips, he was many things… but he definitely wasn’t a coward.

here it is, I'm late again... having to spend the summer with my Italian chaotic family doesn't help... I really like the next fic I wrote... I'll post it in a few minutes... enjoy<3<3

[bookgendrya]

day 7: future speculation or au

honestly i think this is a mix of speculation and of an au, because the speculation part is that my shipper heart hopes to see gendry becoming a stark, now i don’t think we could possibly see any gendrya offspring in the books, if they end with arya being a 14 year old in ados, but i'd like to think that they get married and decide to start a family/pack of their own, we are talking about the girl who fiercely defends the people close to her nevermind if they are blood related to her or not and we are talking about the boy that honored this trait of the girl he liked when he lost her from his side. i did talk a little about this in an ask i was sent, but i want to draw another parallel between lyanna and arya, with both of them having pregnancy complications, most particularity in the birthing part of the deal, currently we don’t know what made lyanna die at her birthing bed but we know that arya went through large periods of malnourishment during her developing years, so i can imagine that with every birth of a new child arya gets a little bit closer to meet lyanna’s fate, so arya and gendry decided together to stop trying for more children after the third one (i choose this number because arya and gendry both are the third child from what we currently know and if r+l=j is the truth) but arya and gendry still have a lot of love to give as parents so they start to adopt orphans and any person would meet arya and gendry’s combined fury is they dare to say that those kids are not starks as well as their biological children are.

[bookgendrya]

"Did you see people?" asked Gendry. "Mostly just roofs," Arya admitted, "but some chimneys were smoking, and I heard a horse." The Weasel put her arms around her leg, clutching tight. Sometimes she did that now. "Whoever it is, you should yield to them," Lommy whined. "I need some potion for my leg, it hurts bad." "If we see any leg potion, we'll bring it," Gendry said. "Arry, let's go, I want to get near before the sun is down. Hot Pie, you keep Weasel here, I don't want her following." Arya V, ACOK

[bookgendrya]

Day 7: Future speculation or au

[bookgendrya]

-read below-

THE WOODS HER ONLY HOME

Hot Pie was practising the bird calls Kurtz had taught him before, before he had left them too, the wound on his shoulder taking him in a fever.

- Shut it!- grunted Gendry, he had been helping Lommy walk since a lance had broken and pierced his leg.

- I’m a blackbird…- explained the boy trying to keep up 

- Well, you just sound stupid!- said Arry, the little crying girl following him like a shadow.

Hot Pie bit his tongue and kept going, he didn’t want to fight with Gendry or Arry, they were the only ones that hadn’t left him or Lommy behind.

 In those brief moments when they forgot about their quite tragic situation it was almost nice being together. If they had met before leaving Kingslanding they could have been friends, he would even have given some of his mother’s pies to them… he didn’t even remember how those tasted like… the only taste in his mouth the foul one of acorn paste… 

A sound through the woods. 

- That was a good one, Pie! Were you trying to be a thunder?- spoke Lommy, his dirty hair sticking to his pale forehead

Hot Pie blushed.

- It was his stomach, stupid…- explained Arry

- Well, I’m hungry! If only you listened to me… we will die if we keep walking circles in the woods, if we go on the road maybe…- 

-No!- said together Gendry and Arry, sometimes it seemed they thought with the same one brain.

- But why? We did nothing wrong…- started Lommy - If only Yoren had yielded to the guards nothing bad would have happened! If we ask for help they will give us food or maybe…- 

Gendry stopped for a moment and looked at his blonde deadweight

- Maybe they kill us - he said more tired than actually annoyed 

- But my leg hurts and we are starving, there are wolves everywhere and we are probably lost!- continued the blonde boy

- We are not lost!- Arry turned around and looked straight at the others

- And if you are so hungry you could eat some bugs or worms, I could dig them up for you!-

Lommy made a disgusted noise, there was no way he would have eaten one of those disgusting little things.

- You can keep those for yourself wormbreath… we should look for an inn where they can make us real food! Ouch…- 

Lommy now sat with his ass on the ground.

- Why did you do that, Bull?- cried the boy 

-I’m tired and you are getting heavy…- spat Gendry 

- Maybe we can stop for a while to rest…- tried Hot Pie ready to let his body fall to the ground, he saw Arry and Gendry look at each other, one of their silent conversations.

- Fine…- said Arry - But we’ll have to walk some more before nightfall…- 

The sun was still high in the sky, its light piercing through the leaves turning the ground into a constellation of lights and shadows. Lommy had closed his eyes but kept complaining in his sleep, Hot Pie had placed a hand on his friend’s forehead, it was burning like an oven, that wasn’t good. 

- Where are you going?- asked Gendry, his eyes on Arry

- I’ll be back in a second…- he explained with an annoyed tone

- What about the little girl…- 

- Well she is not crying now… and she is distracted playing with that rock… she’ll survive a second without me!- said Arry hurrying away

- Where do you think he is going?- sked Hot Pie

Gendy had a weird expression on his face, he probably was thinking about something, he always made that face when he was thinking. 

- Probably needs some quiet and peace before having to deal with you all again…- he said flatly 

- But he is going to be back, right?- 

Gendry scowled and rolled his blue eyes.

- Of course… Arry doesn’t leave anyone behind… but if you keep talking I will and you’ll have to help Lommy walk yourself!- 

Hot Pied swallowed his next question and stretched himself on the ground for a moment, waiting for Arry to return.

Arya went back to the other as quickly as she could, a smile on her lips. 

- Fucking finally!- grunted Gendry, he seemed a little distressed holding the little girl from the ground, Arya almost laughed, it was clear he had never been around babies much during his life.

- She was eating dirt again…- he explained holding the girl toward her direction as if to say that now that was Arya’s problem.

Arya smiled as softly as she could at the little one, she must have felt so confused and scared, so young without her mother… 

Arya made the little girl spit on the ground what had been in her mouth, some dirt, a leaf, the rock she had been playing with before.

- Like that, little one…- she said, using her hand to clean the small face… The girl complained a little bit but in the end she left Arya clean her up. 

- You are good at this…- Gendry was now looking at them 

- I mean with babies and…- he continued his trail of thoughts out loud 

- I’m good at a lot of things…- answered Arya meeting his gaze, the sounds of the woods the only thing around them for a moment. 

- And you!- Arya went back to focus on the young girl - You can eat only what I give to you! No more dirt!- the baby just made a little shriek and hugged Arya as she often did. 

- You are being so loud! I need to rest!- complained Lommy, his face so pale he hardly looked alive. Arya felt too sorry for the boy to talk back at him… she had no idea what she would have done if she had got hurt… wounded wolves rarely survived for long.

- I have good news if you care to hear it…- she said catching everyone’s attention 

- Not much from here I found some trees… they had crabapples on them… if we go there we can have some…-  

Hot Pie jumped on his feet, the weariness from the long walk forgotten.

- You sure it’s not dangerous? Could be part of a farm or something…- started Gendry 

- I say we go!- stated Lommy 

- I saw no one there and there wasn’t a wall around the trees… sometimes the seeds just travel in the wind… I think it’s safe. - 

Gendry nodded, some food would have been good for them, it was worth the risk.

Arry had climbed barefoot on the tree making the green fruits fall to them, they were sour and in some they found some worms but for a moment they had felt like kings before a banquet. 

Gendry had helped Arry down from the tree, not because the small boy needed his help but like, he did it just to do something nice. Arry finding some food had been the first good thing happening to them in a long time.

- What?- Arry’s voice woke Gendry from his thoughts, he had been looking at the small boy cutting a crabapple in smaller pieces to help the little girl eat.

Gendry looked at him confused.

- You were looking at me…- he said, his grey eyes waiting for an answer, not many people had grey eyes in KingsLanding

- And? Is it forbidden?- he joked taking a bite from his crabapple, sour but still good. 

Arry just blinked and then shrugged.

- I just thought you wanted to ask me something, I don’t know…- the conversation died there.

Lommy knew a cool trick where he could catch a piece of fruit after he had thrown it into the air, Arya had tried to do the same but her crabapple had fallen on the ground instead… she had eaten it anyway and the little girl had laughed at it… it was nice… the sound of laughter… 

- You think she had a name?- asked Arya after a while looking at her little friend jump around the roots of the tree

- Maybe…- said Hot Pie 

- Her mum died without telling us tough…- continued the boy, some sadness in his small eyes 

Arya sighed, she knew that look, she missed her mum too… 

- We should give her a name…- proposed Arya thinking about the way Sansa had been so good at naming her dolls… Arya knew good names too… she had learned most of them from old Nan’s stories… 

- Why?- asked Gendry

- Well, she is not crying anymore… we can’t keep calling her crying girl…- explained Arya as if it had been obvious 

- To me, she looks like a little weasel, we should call her that…- said Lommy, his leg was now resting slightly raised on a stone

Arya frowned 

- That’s unkind! She looks nothing like a weasel!- 

- I can see it...- 

- Shut up Hot Pie!- continued Arya, she wondered if the little girl understood what they were talking about, it had hurt being called Lumpyhead or Wormbreath by Lommy…

- Hey Weasel, come here! I can give you an apple!- continued Lommy catching the girls attention 

- I think she likes it…- he said 

-Am I right Weasel?- smiled Lommy giving her the crabapple, she started sucking on the peel all happy

Gendry noticed Arya’s pout, she had been biting her lip too 

- Can you think of a better name?- he asked

Arya’s mind for a moment filled of names, names she had loved, names she missed, names she wanted to call again… 

-Err…- she started

-Then Weasel it is…- Gendry ended the discussion and then moved a bit on his right to leave some place for Arya to sit with her back to the tree trunk.

- Fine…- she said sitting close to him, Weasel was better than “crying girl” anyway.

After a while Arya felt Gendry’s eyes on her again, she gave him a questioning look.

He sighed and then whispered under his breath 

- I can’t keep carrying Lommy…- he seemed almost sorry about it.

- But, you are strong… you can! You are saying this just because he is annoying you!- whispered back Arya keeping an eye on Weasel walking toward them with some grass between her small fingers

-I’m not… at first he could at least walk a bit… carry his own weight… but now it’s getting worse…- 

Arya looked at him for a long moment 

- What are you saying? That we should leave him behind?- she scolded him 

- If he keeps complaining maybe we should…- answered Gendry, he wasn’t serious, Arya was sure he was just tired. 

- There has to be a way! We are not leaving him!- 

Gendry sighed, of course Arry was being stubborn about it, whoever had called Gendry bullheaded had never met Arry. 

- Why do you care? He called you mean names and he is never useful…- he said looking at Arry 

- Please! It’s just the right thing to do… Yoren would have wanted us to stick together… It wouldn’t be right to leave someone behind, he needs our help… don’t you think I know I would reach my… I’d be faster on my own? But we have to stitch together!- 

Gendry nodded at those words and looked at the trees around them 

- We could make a stretcher with what we find around… carry him like that… - he finally said, it would have been easier with someone helping him

Arry smiled so nicely and for a second a weird thought crossed Gendry’s mind.

The idea of the stretcher had been a good one and the next day they carried Lommy in turns, always walking north, under the sun during the day listening to the wolves howl at night. Sometimes they fought and felt hopeless but sometimes things could be good and in those moments they could let themselves hope that there was a good ending to their journey: that Lommy wasn’t going to die as Yoren and Kurts and too many had died before, that Hot Pie was going to taste his mum’s pies again, that little Weasel was going to grow up safe and with people that cared for her…

But it didn’t last for long, and now Lommy lied dead, his blood staining the grass, Arya, Hot Pie, Gendry walked toward death, a hopeless march under banners painted with dogs… and little Weasel ran, ran and kept running, the woods her only home.

Some missing moments with the gang... I love so much the way Arya protects little Weasel in the books and I really hope she is still alive somewhere being the little feral dirt eater we all love so much<3<3

[bookgendrya]

day 6: five year skip proceeds au

i’d hope i’m not the only person that thinks that in a possible reunion where the context is that five years have passed since they saw each other for the last time, arya and gendry would not know how to act and be awfully awkward around each other: i mean, they would have gone through something like this: “strangers to friends to friends (with jealousy coming from both parties) to… strangers again” as much as i want a gendrya hug i don’t see it happening in a reunion, we have to look at how both sides feel about their separation, if we start with arya, she’s deeply convinced that gendry choose to abandon her and probably didn’t want to be her friend so it just makes sense to me that even when arya is the friendly one of the two, she would be the most reserved about this, not wanting to reach out and get close to him again, in an attempt to protect herself as she wouldn’t want to be hurt again. now if we look at gendry, i really believe that he knew that his friendship with arya was coming to an end close to the time when he made the decision to stay with the brotherhood without banners, besides people often forget that gendry is smart and observant, so i fully believe that he knew back in asos that under normal circumstances their friendship would have never existed in first place, so he makes the most rational choice he could have ever made and he even tries to apologize to arya, he wouldn’t do that if he didn’t feel that arya is important to him. we don’t know what gendry’s reaction was when the brotherhood without banners found arya’s mother corpse and when the news of the deaths that the red wedding brought reached the brotherhood, but from what we see of him in his appearance in affc, he seems to be haunted by anger and regret and he even positions himself in a sort of penance state trying to right what he deemed his past wrongs. for me gendry seems to be waiting for arya to come back into his life in any way or form meanwhile doing the best he can to keep arya’s memory alive and honoring her. so from the way i see it, gendry’s waiting for this reunion but at the same time i think he’d be shocked to see that arya’s actually alive, that she has finally come back. poor gendry is probably going through every emotion there is all at once. i think that arya would be genuinely happy to see that gendry is alive but she would keep her distance from him since in her mind she thinks that gendry didn’t want her around him once and why things would change now that they are reunited with each other. so i'd love to see a “strangers to friends to friends (with jealousy coming from both parties) to… strangers again to friends again and possibly more” happening.

[bookgendrya]

Day 6: 5 year skip proceeds au

They elope in the night, fleeing into the darkness, into the forest, guided by the incessant howling of the wolves. 

It was an impulsive decision made out of fear of marching north, home, only to be separated again by stupid lords and their stupid games.

They take their oaths in the freezing air of a misty morning, under a big oak. The trees around them and the embers of the fire are their witnesses

They are not dressed in embroidered cloaks, but in tattered war banners and golden leaves. There are no wreaths of winter roses, wildflowers will do.

There is no silk gown to slip off, just old boots, rusty chain mail stolen from a corpse. There is no featherbed, deep and soft, just the grass crisp with frost.

[bookgendrya]

day 5: found family

(please bear with me… this stupid game doesn’t have a body model that’s different from the adult one when you’re creating teenagers… so yeah, weasel it’s a child instead of a toddler and everyone else looks like adults… i think i should have prefaced that on the first day and not on the fifth… well anyways…) arry’s pack… honestly do i need to say more? grrm really had arya and gendry filling the positions of mother and father of the group (like i said, i see you old man) even when gendry did it reluctantly.

[bookgendrya]

Gendry put the hammer down and looked at her. "You look different now. Like a proper little girl." "I look like an oak tree, with all these stupid acorns." "Nice, though. A nice oak tree." He stepped closer, and sniffed at her. "You even smell nice for a change." "You don't. You stink." Arya shoved him back against the anvil and made to run, but Gendry caught her arm. She stuck a foot between his legs and tripped him, but he yanked her down with him, and they rolled across the floor of the smithy. He was very strong, but she was quicker. Every time he tried to hold her still she wriggled free and punched him. Gendry only laughed at the blows, which made her mad. He finally caught both her wrists in one hand and started to tickle her with the other, so Arya slammed her knee between his legs, and wrenched free. Both of them were covered in dirt, and one sleeve was torn on her stupid acorn dress. "I bet I don't look so nice now," she shouted. Arya IV, ASOS In the black of night she rose again, donned the clothes she'd worn from Westeros, and buckled on her swordbelt. Needle hung from one hip, her dagger from the other. With her floppy hat on her head, her fingerless gloves tucked into her belt, and her silver fork in one hand, she went stealing up the steps. There is no place here for Arya of House Stark, she was thinking. Arya's place was Winterfell, only Winterfell was gone. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. She had no pack, though. They had killed her pack, Ser Ilyn and Ser Meryn and the queen, and when she tried to make a new one all of them ran off, Hot Pie and Gendry and Yoren and Lommy Greenhands, even Harwin, who had been her father's man. She shoved through the doors, out into the night. Arya II, AFFC

[bookgendrya]

|| Parallel Scenes of them Protecting Each Other

“I do!” Arya wouldn’t let them die for her like Syrio. She wouldn’t! Shoving through the hedge with Needle in hand, she slid into a water dancer’s stance. […] The officer jabbed his shortsword toward the Bull, who’d come forward to stand beside her. Praed’s cheap steel in his hand. - Arya II, ACOK

“Aye that’s so. Go on and loose your shafts then.” Arya sprang to her feet. “Don’t!” She showed them her sword. […] “You go on down the road. Just walk right past here, and you keep on singing, so we’ll know where you are. Go away and leave us be and I won’t kill you.” […] “No place for a little girl to be wandering alone.” “She’s not alone.” Gendry rode out from behind the cottage wall, and behind him Hot Pie, leading her horse. In his chainmail shirt with a sword in hand, Gendry looked almost a man grown, and dangerous. Hot Pie looked like Hot Pie. “Do like she says, and leave us be,” warned Gendry. - Arya II, ASOS

[bookgendrya]

-read below-

HORSEFACE

- Gendry?-

He didn’t answer.

- I know you are awake, you breathe different!- 

He made an annoyed noise and turned around facing her, it was dark, only a few moonbeams filtered through the windows of the inn.

- What do you want?- he asked, his voice tired, it wasn’t like he didn’t like sleeping with Arya, better than having to share a cot with Anguy or Lem for sure, but sometimes she could be such a pain.

- I can’t sleep…- she said as if he could have a solution to her problem, he could sleep and he really wanted to just do so.

Arya bit her lip looking at Gendry’s face, she wasn’t sure if he was just tired or if he was actually scowling, it wasn’t her fault her thoughts were keeping her awake.

- Doesn’t sound like my problem…- he managed to say before turning around, his face against the rough fabric of the sheets.

Arya stayed silent for a few moments, Gendry thought she might have given up when again, she called him.

- mm?- 

-Are you still awake?- her voice tiny

-No- he kept his eyes closed smiling to himself 

A second later Arya’s elbow went against his back

- Ouch, stop- he choked back a laugh trying to stop Arya’s attack, she was laughing too now.

-Shh you are going to wake everyone up!- 

-Maybe that’s what I want!- she continued, trying to steal their pillow from under his head

-Of course, if m’lady high can't sleep why should we… ouch… stop!- with a swift movement Arya had taken their pillow and, biting back a laugh, she had struck him in the face.

- Don’t call me that!- 

-Give me that pillow!- 

She smiled, he wasn’t mad, she had learned during all the time they had spent together how to distinguish between when Gendry was upset or just being his grumpy and scowling self. 

He had been upset a lot lately, it was nice to hear him laugh again, it was nice to play together and not have him always spend time with the brotherhood.

-Yield first!- she grinned looking down at him

-You wish!- a second later her back was against the straw mattress, her hands trying to hold on to the pillow desperately 

He was bigger and heavier but she was fast and she never gave up.

She was Arya Stark, she was a wolf.

- Don’t bite me!- he complained moving his hand back, a tactical mistake on his part.

In a second Arya reversed their positions standing on top of him, their pillow safe in her hands, ready to strike again.

- I win!- she laughed

- You cheated!- 

- I didn’t!-

A sound froze them and their laughter.

- If you both don’t shut up and go to sleep I’ll beat you bloody!- growled Lem, still half asleep, his hand holding onto the doorframe as if it was the only thing keeping him from strangling them noisy idiots.

They stayed in sacred silence for what felt like ages, both too awake to go back to sleep, both trying not to laugh about Lem’s sleepy outburst.

- You’ll be the death of me…- Gendry sighed after a while taking back the pillow all for himself.

She didn’t answer, Arya just smiled, her wild wolfish grin.

- We won’t have to listen to Lem and the others for much longer… When we are back with my family no one will tell us what we can do or not do!- she said, pure happiness in her voice, it was like that every time she talked about her family, he was happy for her, he truly was, but he didn’t really share her excitement.

-Well maybe my mum will try… but I think…- she sounded focused, almost talking to herself. 

He sighed, he didn’t want to think about her getting back to her family, he did not want to think about her mum and her brother, he wanted to sleep but now he wasn’t sleepy anymore. 

Gendry almost thought that Arya had fallen asleep, but her eyes were open, staring at the ceiling as if thinking about things, what things he had no idea, maybe her home and family… nice things… 

- Gendry?- 

- Arya - 

- Do you think I’m pretty?- she whispered as if the question itself was something to be ashamed about.

He didn’t really think much about his answer, Arya was his friend, of course he liked her, so why was she even asking him such a stupid question?

- Yeah, sure…- he said, looking at her in the darkness 

- I’m being serious!- she complained, turning to her side looking at him with her northern eyes, he had been serious too, but whatever, he had no idea why she had decided to act like such a girl in that precise moment.

He got closer as if really looking at Arya’s features, whatever to make her happy, whatever to make her go back to sleep.

She stayed still looking at him studying her face, the moonlight playing delicately on her skin. 

Gendry moved a strand of chestnut hair away from her eyes, it had grown longer since Harrenal, since the bad days, lately Arya even looked too much like a proper little lady for his liking, it was harder to pretend that they were equals and that they were going to be friends forever. 

Arya just bit her lip and waited for an answer, voices and memories from what felt like a lifetime ago replaying in her mind.

- I mean…- Gendry started - I think you are… I wasn’t joking before… you are pretty enough I guess… a better sight than most of the brotherhood for sure…- he started, Tom would have scolded him for talking like that… that wasn’t the way knights and lords and whoever spoke to their ladies in songs, but most of the songs were about idiots wanting to convince women to love them, well actually to sleep with them, that was the goal most of the times.

Not his case, he knew life wasn’t like in the songs, and he cared too much about Arya to lie to her or even think about hurting her. 

- You looked nice with the green dress… but I like you better like this… - he continued thinking about how easily the fabric had been ruined by them playing, Lem’s words still burning in his mind, sometimes he just wanted her to be just Arya, not some fancy lady too highborn to be his friend.

- You have a nice face I think…- he concluded, well she kind of did, most girls had nice faces anyway.

Arya seemed to think about his answer for a while, as if trying to detect a lie in his words. 

- I don’t… Sansa always called me horseface, Jeyne Poole too… - she said, trying to sound as unbothered as possible, he knew her too well to believe her.

What to say tough?

- Fuck them… I like your face…- he blurted out, god job, poets were going to quote him for sure… 

Arya just smiled, she knew he was her friend and did not want to hurt her feelings, he wasn’t a liar, she liked that about him, but even if he liked her face, what did he know of girls anyway? Sansa had been right, and now after all the time she had spent away from home… she wondered if her mum would have even…

- Why do you care anyway?- he asked interrupting her thoughts 

- It’s just… I’m all dirty and my hair is all tangled up…  I ruined Lady  Smallwood’s dress… and I can’t sew really good… what if they don’t want me back? Like maybe Robb won’t pay the brotherhood to have me back… because I’m ugly and… he needs the money for the war… and I’ve been bad… I have killed people… and I didn’t save my…-

She dried swiftly a tear escaping her eye, her voice frantic, whispering her dark thoughts, her stupid thoughts.

- Arya…- he tried to stop her

- My mum is not going to want me anymore… I’m broken now… I never acted like she wanted and now… she is going to see me like this and… - 

- Arya, don’t say that…- he stopped her, his arm going around her and taking her closer, hugging her sweetly.

- Of course they are going to pay for you… I’m sure they would give away even your fancy castle to have you back, alright? And your mum is going to be so happy to see you again… She is not going to care about anything else… -

Arya just rested her head on his chest, her eyes filling with tears she did not want to spill. She had seen Gendry cry before and he had seen her cry too… it wasn’t about that… she just didn’t want to be scared… she didn’t want to be the wild, messy, dirty Arya she inevitably was.

- What if they can’t recognize me?- she asked again

-Don’t be stupid, Harwin knew it was you, and… you are more Stark than a wolf… They’ll know… and if they don’t you’ll tell them about what it was like when you were home…- he tried to be as nice as he could, he didn’t want her to cry or be upset, he could also tell her that if they were really that stupid and didn’t want her back, well, he would have always been her friend.

- Sometimes… I don’t know if I’m really Arya Stark anymore… if I have ever been or if it was just a dream… sometimes it gets difficult to remember… some faces are blurry and sometimes I can’t recall how my mum’s voice sounded… - 

- Of course you are Arya Stark… and you remember the important stuff… you can’t just forget who you are…-

-But…- 

He looked her in the eye, his hand resting on her face. 

- Trust me… you are too much of a pain in my ass to not be a lady from a great house… - 

She rolled her eyes and tried not to smile, he noticed tough, he smiled too… She was a lady… and he was just her bastard friend… a nobody… he would have missed her when she would have been back with her family… she would have probably forgotten him quickly enough… not important enough to have some space in her memory for him… it was better if she forgot about all the hell they had been through even if it meant forgetting him but... 

But maybe she would have missed him too… just a little bit… while sleeping on feather beds and eating fine foods… dancing dressed like a proper lady… maybe she would have missed her bastard friend… just a little bit…

- I told you… I’m not a lady…- 

He smiled back at her, sometimes he wished that to be true.

- I’d rather have you call me horseface than a lady… - she continued pouting

- What will you do when you get back to Winterfell?- he asked, Arya yawned, after waking him up now she dared to fall asleep before him? No way.

-It’s going to take ages before we get there… I have to help Robb win the war… I have to kill Ilyn Payne and…-

He ignored many things in her answer, like the fact that she still believed he was going to be with her in Winterfell, the fact that probably the way to help Robb win the war was getting married off to some stupid fat lord she would have hated, the fact that the war was stupid and Stark soldiers were as mean as all the other bloody soldiers he had met in his life. 

-Yeah… but when you get home… when is going to be all over…- 

She smiled and for a moment he watched her mind travel miles away, travel north, travel back when things were nicer and easier.

- I remember my dad sitting in the Godswood with Ice… he listened to the old gods… I want to show you… it’s not like here in the south… there you can feel them… in the north… and I want to see snow again… sleep in my bed for like a month… no two months… I will visit Jon at the wall, I need to see him again… I know he is not going to care about me being… different… he is going to like me anyway…- 

Gendry nodded and said nothing, it sounded nice, it was stupid to even think that but for a moment he felt something weird for this Jon, this perfect brother straight from Arya’s memories, something that tasted a lot like jealousy… he liked Arya too… he had just said so… whatever… it was nice Arya had people to go back to… 

- Of course he is…-

Arya smiled and snuggled closer to him, her eyes fluttering asleep, he wondered if one day, in her huge castle surrounded by her happy rich family she would have remembered that moment, if she would have remembered him.

Arya felt her body heavier, her mind almost empty now, ready to run like a wolf in her dreams, to run like a wolf until she reached her family again.

Soo… I don’t really know if this fic really respects the prompt… (yey me… good job) I guess I wanted to explore the different meanings that Memory can have for this ship… Arya remembering her family, being scared they won't remember her or like her, Arya being scared to forget who she is and on the other side, Gendry hoping his friend will remember when they’ll be separated because he knows they will.

It came out as a fluffy night talk with a pillow fight and an annoyed Lem like a cherry on top, I hope you enjoyed it.<3<3

[bookgendrya]

HIGHBORN LADY, LOWBORN BASTARD. "I . . . you're highborn then, a . . . you'll be a lady . . ." Arya looked down at her ragged clothes and bare feet, all cracked and callused. She saw the dirt under her nails, the scabs on her elbows, the scratches on her hands. “Septa Mordane wouldn't even know me, I bet. Sansa might, but she'd pretend not to. "My mother's a lady, and my sister, but I never was." "Yes you were. You were a lord's daughter and you lived in a castle, didn't you? And you . . . gods be good, I never . . ." All of a sudden Gendry seemed uncertain, almost afraid. "All that about cocks, I never should have said that. And I been pissing in front of you and everything, I . . . I beg your pardon, m'lady."  - A Clash of Kings, Arya V Tom was singing when they returned to the hall. My featherbed is deep and soft, and there I’ll lay you down,  I’ll dress you all in yellow silk, and on your head a crown.  For you shall be my lady love, and I shall be your lord.  I’ll always keep you warm and safe, and guard you with my sword. Harwin took one look at them and burst out laughing, and Anguy smiled one of his stupid freckly smiles and said, “Are we certain this one is a highborn lady?” But Lem Lemoncloak gave Gendry a clout alongside the head. “You want to fight, fight with me! She’s a girl, and half your age! You keep your hands off o’ her, you hear me?” “I started it” said Arya. “Gendry was just talking.” “Leave the boy, Lem,” said Harwin. “Arya did start it, I have no doubt. She was much the same at Winterfell.” Tom winked at her as he sang: And how she smiled and how she laughed, the maiden of the tree.  She spun away and said to him, no featherbed for me. I’ll wear a gown of golden leaves, and bind my hair with grass,  But you can be my forest love, and me your forest lass.   - A Storm of Swords, Arya IV  "It's only a trick, I told you. The wildfire ruins the steel. My master sold Thoros a new sword after every tourney. Every time they would have a fight about the price." Gendry hung the tongs back up and took down the heavy hammer. "Master Mott said it was time I made my first longsword. He gave me a sweet piece of steel, and I knew just how I wanted to shape the blade. Only Yoren came, and took me away for the Night's Watch." “You can still make swords if you want,” said Arya. “You can make them for my brother Robb when we get to Riverrun.”  “Riverrun.” Gendry put the hammer down and looked at her. “You look different now. Like a proper little girl.”  “I look like an oak tree, with all these stupid acorns.”  - A Storm of Swords, Arya IV An old man sat down beside her. “Well, aren’t you a pretty little peach?” His breath smelled near as foul as the dead men in the cages, and his little pig eyes were crawling up and down her. “Does my sweet peach have a name?” For half a heartbeat she forgot who she was supposed to be. She wasn’t any peach, but she couldn’t be Arya Stark either, not here with some smelly drunk she did not know. “I’m...”  “She’s my sister.” Gendry put a heavy hand on the old man’s shoulder, and squeezed. “Leave her be.”  The man turned, spoiling for a quarrel, but when he saw Gendry’s size he thought better of it. “Your sister, is she? What kind of brother are you? I’d never bring no sister of mine to the Peach, that I wouldn’t.” He got up from the bench and moved off muttering, in search of a new friend.  “Why did you say that?” Arya hopped to her feet. “You’re not my brother.” “That’s right,” he said angrily. “I’m too bloody lowborn to be kin to m’lady high.” Arya was taken aback by the fury in his voice. “That’s not the way I meant it.” “Yes it is.” He sat down on the bench, cradling a cup of wine between his hands. “Go away. I want to drink this wine in peace. Then maybe I’ll go find that black-haired girl and ring her bell for her.” “But...” “I said, go away. M’lady.” Arya whirled and left him there. A stupid bullheaded bastard boy, that’s all he is. He could ring all the bells he wanted, it was nothing to her.  - A Storm of Swords, Arya V

[bookgendrya]

-read below-

LADIES, OUTLAWS AND OTHER BROKEN THINGS

They had made camp quite early in the day, Arya had asked why but no one had cared enough to answer, only Harwin had smiled and told her to enjoy the moment, to rest when they could, but Arya didn’t want to rest, she wanted to reach Riverrun and her mother and brother.

Now she laid with her back on the grass, the late sunlight painted the leaves golden, the air smelling of change, autumn and whatever Greenbeard had been roasting on the fire, probably some rabbit to eat with Lady Smallwood's supplies. She could hear the men laughing and talking, scaring away the birds from their nests, for a moment she thought of Winterfell and its people, her father’s men and the way they looked at him, the same way the brotherhood looked at Lord Dondarrion and his lighting.  

The people they met on the road seemed to like the brotherhood way more than her brother’s man, the Northmen, her own people. They always welcomed the brotherhood in their houses treating them as friends while they moved around the Riverlands between a battle and a song.

A bug climbed its way on Arya’s hand and she smiled as she looked at it move between her fingers, she had eaten bugs like that one before when she had been so hungry... but now she didn’t need to hurt the creature, Sansa would have screamed at the sight of it, well it was quite ugly but Arya didn’t care, there was a wild grace in the way the poor creature moved: so small in a world ready to crush it.

Gendry had looked for Arya for quite a while when he had found her almost hidden between the grass, she was playing with some bug making it walk from one hand to the other, in Gendry's opinion better company than the lord’s annoying little squire. He sat quite loudly on her left, his legs aching from the horseriding. As a city boy he had never learned how to ride properly, not like Arya... sometimes she looked like she had been born on a horse, born to lead, born to do something great.

He had never stopped to think about what had possessed him to follow that wild little lady but he was still alive because of it, she was like one of those great people, those people that you could see were great not because of their power or title, they just had something. It would have been nice to follow her, fight for her, for a moment he had allowed himself to believe that that was exactly going to be his future.

Gendry had never really doubted Arya, she could be wrong sometimes but in the end, they had survived the road, escaped from Harrenal, kept their heads attached to their shoulders… it had felt right: knowing his place had been on her side, surviving together, even if she was a lady or a princess or whatever it hadn’t really mattered on the road, that had been nice.

Now everything was different, he wasn’t dumb, he could see it very clearly, Riverrun, Arya had told him about Riverrun so many times, the last time she had even looked the part of the lady she really was, he had been sure: in her home she had thousand of those dresses even prettier than the green one.

He had felt useful before, at his master’s shop, following Yoren’s orders, even at Harrenhal smithing for cruel men, he could be useful in Riverrun too but he wasn’t sure that was the right place for him, serving another lord, waiting for the next bad thing to happen, his life not even in his own hands.

- Your new friend?- asked Gendry after a while breaking the silence

- I like it, doesn’t seem scared even if I’m so much bigger…- she answered, her eyes still captivated by the small creature

- What? You like being the big one for once?- he laughed

- Shut up…- she complained

They stayed silent for a few moments more, some cold wind making the trees sing above them and the clouds run like white mares through the sky. A lone leaf fell from its home dancing on its way down, soon all her sisters would have fallen too, it was sad but it was the way things were supposed to happen. 

The leaf fell graciously in Arya’s hair, it was still green in some places, Gendry moved closer and took it away looking at it, pensive. 

- It’s getting colder…- he said noticing the stains of gold and orange where once had been only green

- Winter is coming…- Arya almost felt closer to home pronouncing those solemn words the same way she had heard her father do so many times

- I know that… m’lady… -   

- Stop it… do I even look like one? No one would think I’m a lady…- 

He scowled 

- But you are one …- 

Arya ignored him and kept playing with her bug friend, she wondered how old it was, if it had a bug family somewhere in the weeds… 

- It’s sad… when the cold comes he won’t survive…- she said 

- It’s probably going to be dead way before winter… something is going to eat it or crush it… - 

-Why you say that?- 

Gendry closed his eyes just for a moment, the green of the grass against the black of his hair 

- It’s just the way it is, bugs are born bugs and die soon… Not everyone is lucky to be born with a fancy name in a castle… ladies are ladies… bastards are bastards… bugs are bugs…- 

Arya rose from the ground sitting straight, she looked down at him.

- I don’t think it’s fair…- she bit her lip

Her brother Jon was a bastard but he was so much more than that, everyone was more than what they were born like… everyone she had ever met in her life had proved to be more than their role painted them as… beautiful queen could be evil and princes in shining armour could be monsters… giants could be kind, bastards could be her pack, outlaws could be loved by the people and ladies could be more than just that.

- I could be a knight or a septon as good as any man could… I could have my people and lead them in battle… I know I could do it…- she said. 

Gendry smiled, it wasn’t as hard as he thought: imagining Arya leading a huge army… she had been braver than most knights... probably even better at riding than most of them… and yet she was born for pretty dresses and castles… maybe she was right, it wasn’t fair… maybe the world was all wrong… upside down… but who was him to change unchangeable things?

A loud noise came from the camp, a horse had been spooked by something and made quite a mess. They both rose alarmed just to hear Lem curse the horse while he and other men calmed it down. 

- Look!- Arya’s voice made Gendry look in her direction.

Something unexpected had happened, the small creature, Arya’s little friend, scared by the commotion had revealed a pair of small wings, thin like paper and beautiful like dew on a spider web and in a second it had flown away from her hand. 

- It can fly!- smiled Arya searching with her eyes the creature, the sunlight making her squint.

The small insect soared above the camp, above the nice girl and the loud outlaws, over the trees and the lands over once had soared dragons, born a bug, its shadow not even nearly as scary but the view as beautiful as it had always been.

I am lateeee, I was supposed to post yesterday but whatever... time is just a construct I guess <3<3 I swear on my honour that Arya's little bug friend is going to have a happy life full of sweet flowers and safe meadows where no one is going to eat it or crush it<3<3

As always I'm not sure if I did a good job but I hope you'll enjoy it... 

[bookgendrya]

day 4: memory

so for the memory prompt i wanted to bring relevance to the fact that after arya and gendry separated from each other, it seems that every time that the memory of gendry came into arya’s mind she tried to quickly deviate that line of thought and suppress it at all so it seems to me that is arya’s own way of protecting her feelings, that she is actually more hurt by his decision to stay with the brotherhood that what she even lets herself accept to. i mean… this was the boy that was able to read her and her actions without words needing to be exchanged between them, gendry understood arya, in a way most people aren’t able to. if arya had a change of plans in mind, gendry would be the first of her companions to just know about it without needing a further explanation, she trusted him and him only, because gendry proved himself to be loyal to her, he went back for her and she went back for him without a second thought, in arya’s own eyes they were the perfect team and most importantly they were equals, their own set of skills and knowledge complemented each other just like their personalities. they survived the worst of the worst together, they have shared trauma that only the other one could understand and i can see arya having the realization later on then when the brotherhood without banners gets introduced to their little team, their bond starts to sever and she isn't able to understand gendry’s decisions anymore. so arya’s mind goes exactly to the time that she didn’t have to even question gendry’s loyalty, back in harrenhal and i think that in the harrenhal chapters that’s where arya and gendry butted heads the most in all of their journey together but it’s what her mind remembers fondly and the memories she decides to keep with her because back then she was certain that gendry wanted to be her friend and part of her pack.

[bookgendrya]

Lady/Apprentice Smith

Harwin went to one knee before her. “Arya Stark, of Winterfell.”

“I did my work, is all. Bellows and tongs and fetch and carry. I was ‘sposed to be an armorer, […]”

With Family/Orphaned

She looked glumly at her sister. Sansa was chatting away happily as she worked. […] The boys were at practice in the yard. She wanted to see Robb put gallant Prince Joffrey flat on his back. […] Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair. […] It wasn’t Septa Mordane waiting in her room. It was Septa Mordane and her mother.

“She died when I was little. She had yellow hair, and sometimes she used to sing to me, I remember. She worked in an alehouse.”

Too Skinny/Strong

“You’re too skinny,” he said. He took her arm to feel her muscle. Then sighed and shook his head. “I doubt you could even lift a longsword, little sister, never mind swing one.”

The master called over a tall lad about Robb’s age, his arms and chest corded with muscle. […] “This is Gendry. Strong for his age, and he works hard […]”

Criticised/Praised (by the person, who was given their work)

The septa examined the fabric. “Arya, Arya, Arya,” she said. “This will not do. This will not do at all”

Ned turned the helm over in his hands. It was raw steel, unpolished but expertly shaped. “This is fine work. I would be pleased if you would let me buy it.”

The Coat of Arms/The Swords

“That would look silly. Besides if a girl can’t fight, why should she have a coat of arms?” Jon shrugged. “Girls get the arms but not the swords. Bastards get the swords but not the arms. I did not make the rules, little sister.”

“If the day ever comes when Gendry would rather wield a sword than forge one, send him to me. He has the look of a warrior. […]”

[bookgendrya]

day 3: roles

i always have some difficulty to connect that these ragtag children i have come to adore are in fact a princess and a newly declared knight, which it is a romance trope in itself (i see you grrm) and also as a fun fact when i read the books the first time as a teenager i was so convinced that gendry wanting a knighthood for himself was in some way to be able to match with arya’s nobility, since knights seems to occupy a social standing between the smallfolk and lords and nobility in general. (i don't share that opinion anymore since i think it was really naive of me and now i see gendry's knighthood as a decision mostly for himself and a way to be able to make a change in the quality of life of every person under his protection) and now for myself i can perfectly picture arya, after getting over the hurt that gendry’s knighthood caused her and after getting their friendship back mocking gendry for said knighthood every chance she gets, afterall she wasn’t the stark daughter that was obsessed with gallant knights and the romantic stories in which they were often portrayed but arya got one anyway.