Chapter Text
Darkness had faded away but sunlight didn’t dare show up that morning, or so it seemed. ‘The sun is afraid, but I am not,’ thought Arya, bracing herself underneath an almost leafless tree, seeking protection from the pouring rain that was still falling heavy on the Riverlands. The Hound laid close to her, his broad chest rising with every big breath he took, snoring soundly with no care in the world whatsoever. He had taken her away from the Brotherhood’s protection, away from Gendry, and they had been running all night as the storm swept through the land mercilessly. She’d tripped over so many times she might have lost count if it weren’t for the many bruises on her knees and arms that reminder her exactly of how many times she’d fallen and the Hound had pushed and kicked her back up.
Finally he’d stopped, dragging her back by the arm so she wouldn’t take more than two steps away from his watch. ‘If you try to run away I’ll cut both your feet off girl,’ he’d told her before dropping on his back and closing his eyes. Sleep came to him at once, but even in his slumber the Hound was wary, one hand griping the hilt of his sword tightly.
Arya rose from the ground and laid back against the useless tree. Mud covered her breeches and her whole cape, water filled her thin shoes and there was dirt all over her face and hair. A worm made its way up her bruised leg. She took it by the tail and bit its head off in one swift movement; it was breakfast time after all, she considered.
Clegane stirred and opened his eyes as soon as she finished with her worm, as if sensing she’d moved. Stranger had trotted off underneath a nearby tree in seek of protection against the rain, only the horse had actually found a better place to take shelter while his master was almost completely soaked.
‘The horse is smarter than him,’ thought Arya bitterly, eying her captor cautiously as he rose from the muddy ground and shook his head in a miserable attempt to dry his dark hair, just like a dog would.
“Get up, now,” Clegane ordered as he moved to retrieved Stranger from his hiding place.
Arya had no other choice but to do as she was told. As she hoisted herself up the pain in her legs and the weight of all the mud on her breeches almost made her fall over, but she recovered just in time. The Hound didn’t seem to have noticed, and if he did he didn’t care. Walking back towards her, he ordered once again “Get on the horse”
However, Arya did argue the second time, “Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll find out when we get there,” Clegane said, jaw clenched, “Now get on the bloody horse before I tie you up and-
The sticky sound of boots on mud, a swinging sword and a furious scream interrupted the threat so abruptly that Clegane barely had time to react. When he did, Stranger was trotting away, as surprised as his master was, and the Stark girl had fallen backwards. He was being pushed away from her by a boy, a young boy he noticed, whose strength had surprisingly made him take a few steps back before he recovered himself and pushed the boy away with one swift movement of his arm.
The dark-haired boy went stumbling backwards but gained his balance back just in time to dodge Clegane’s sword. Bringing his own sword up the boy tried to block a second blow, but The Hound was stronger and disarmed him effortlessly. As soon as the sword flew away from his grasp Clegane delivered one quick blow to the boy’s face, making him fall hard onto his back.
“You little shite. Did you want to die today?” The Hound said, towering above him, “Because you came to the right man”
“Don’t!” Arya yelled, swiftly stepping between the boy and Clegane with the lad’s discarded sword in hand. The weapon was so heavy that Arya had to hold it up with both hands, a sight that almost made The Hound cackle.
“Step aside, girl, unless you want me to cut you in half too”
“You won’t. You need me, that’s why you took me away,” Arya said defensively, “Don’t hurt him. He’s my friend, he came looking for me”
“And now he’ll be your dead friend who came looking for you, move,” He shoved her aside but Arya recovered and went back to block his way.
She could see The Hound’s jaw clenching so strongly she thought his teeth might burst out at any moment, but she didn’t care. He could foolishly do as much harm as he wanted to himself, but she would not let him hurt Gendry.
“I won’t let you kill him like you killed Mycah,” The fierceness in her voice made Clegane even angrier, but the girl was still blocking his way and grasping the boy’s sword as best as her small arms allowed her to.
He was about to shove her aside once again and open this Gendry’s skull with one quick blow of his sword, but the Stark girl spoke again, “He’s a blacksmith,” she said.
“He’s a dead man, that’s what he is”
“He’s a good blacksmith,” Arya said, not yielding, “We’re at war. You’d get a lot of money if you sold him”
That seemed to get Clegane’s attention as he studied the boy who was now raising weakly, mud stuck on his hair and clothing and blood dripping out of his mouth profusely, a big bruise starting to form on the left side of his face where his fist had struck him. The boy had strong arms and a broad chest, the bits of his face that weren’t covered in blood or mud striking something quite familiar that The Hound couldn’t seem to place.
Nevertheless, if this Gendry boy decided to revolt or cause him any trouble, he could kill him as easily as he was about to before the Stark girl interfered. He needed the money, and it was only a matter of days before they reached the nearest village where he could indeed sell the boy for some coins.
“He’ll get his own food,” Clegane said, “If he does as little as to utter a word, I’ll kill him,” He slid his sword back in its scabbard, “Once I sell him off I don’t want to hear any more of your bloody complaining or I swear I’ll break every single one of your little wolf teeth”
Arya nodded, head turning to see Gendry standing behind her, watching the exchange with both anger and fear in his eyes. The rain had caused a puddle of red water to form underneath his chin, and as he nodded lightly in agreement, he winced at the movement his face made.
“Good. Now go get my horse. You scared him off, you bring him back”
Gendry didn’t move until Arya nodded in assurance and he was on his way, trying to keep himself from grimacing at every step he took into the woods. Arya started to walk behind him, but a strong hand sent her staggering backwards.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To help Gendry bring the horse back,” She shrugged off the answer.
“So you could escape with him and my horse? Do you think I’m as stupid as your friend?”
The idea hadn’t occurred to her, she’d truly just wanted to help Gendry find the bloody horse so they could be on their way and maybe find shelter for the unstopping rain. They had Gendry, so it’d be easier to leave a trail behind them for the Brotherhood without The Hound noticing, now that he had another person to keep an eye on.
But even if that didn’t work and she was never rescued by the Brotherhood, she had Gendry back.