Untouched Gold / Tywin Lannister / Avalon Targaryen (1)

51. In Love In A Tree

Nora was in love.

"Nora, Nora, Nora!" Bran declared shouting to her. "Come on! I want to show you something."

"Where are we going?" Nora declared as Summer and Rickon chased after them. 

"I want to show you the tree with the face." Bran remarked.

"Bran, a tree with a face, thats awesome!" Nora declared. 

"I want to climb the broken tower too before we head back." Bran added. "Race you!" Bran declared running ahead of them.

"I dont know where I'm racing to, its not a fair race!" Nora called as her little feet pounded into the snow. 

Bran hadn't been up to the broken tower for weeks and since he was heading to the capital soon, this might be his last chance. He was excited to show nora. He raced across the godswood, taking the long way around the heart tree had always frightened him a bit but he had to be brave. Show Nora he was a man. He had a little crush on her too. 

"Trees should not have eyes," Bran declared and Nora shuffled to a stop behind him seeing the tree. She moved in front of him and reached out to touch it and Bran pinched her waist making her jump. "or leaves that looked like hands." Bran added as Nora spun around to face him as his wolf came sprinting at his heels.

"Bran!" Nora giggled out. He tried to wink at her before he started climbing. "Wait Bran where are you going?"

"For a climb, I will be careful." Bran assured.

"He is an excellent climber." Rickon added.

"Well then I'm coming too." Nora agreed. 

"You stay here," Bran told Summer. "Lie down. That's right. Now stay." The wolf did as she was told. Bran scratched her behind the ears, then turned away, jumped, grabbed a low branch, and pulled himself up. Summer started to howl out. Nora followed his footing but she wasnt as good at climbing as Bran and she didnt like heights, looking down she was nervous of the fall. Bran noticed her stopping and climbed back down to where she had stopped. 

"It's okay." Bran assured. "I will meet you in the courtyard." Nora nodded as she tried to make her way down. 

"RIckon!" Nora called down. 

"Yeah?"

"Can you find my brother Tyon? I think I'm stuck." 

"I'm on it!" Rickon agreed. 

"Or sandor if hes back from the hunt!" Nora added. Summer fell silent, staring up at him through slitted yellow eyes. A strange chill went through him but Bran kept climbing. Once more the wolf howled.

"Quiet," he yelled. "Sit down. Stay. You're worse than Mother." Bran grumbled. Nora watched him disappear as well. The howling chased him all the way up the tree, until finally he jumped off onto the armory roof and out of sight.

His mother was terrified that one day Bran would slip off a wall and kill himself. He told her that he wouldn't, but she never believed him, mothers were worry warts Bran decided. Once she made him promise that he would stay on the ground. He had managed to keep that promise for almost a fortnight, miserable every single day, until one night he had gone out the window of his bedroom when his brothers were fast asleep, he found that was the most fun, sneaking out in the middle of the night and climbing down his wall and then back up when he was done and no one was the wiser until he found Ned in his room. He knew he had been caught then he saw his mother and thought I'm dead. 

+

"Hey, whats wrong?" Avalon pondered, Arya had run right into her.

"I'm useless!" Arya shouted on the brink of tears as she kicked at the snow.

"You are most certainly not." Avalon corrected. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"I'm not like sansa and Jayne or even your Kelsea. I'm not perfect!" Arya whimpered out.

"No one is perfect." Avalon corrected still holding onto Arya. Draco peered in on them. 

"Sansa is."

"She just pretends to be." Draco corrected from above.

"He is right." Avalon assured. 

"Jeyne used to call me Horseface, and neighed whenever she came near." Arya remarked softly so draco couldnt hear. "I'm not pretty like them."

"You are beautiful. Why would she say something like that?"

"Because I can ride, I'm a good rider. I'm better than sansa... its the only thing I'm better at then sansa." Arya remarked.

"One lies." Draco declared marching towards them. "Two. Fuck her. All of them. You dont want to be like Sansa, you want to be the bad ass rebel that rules the world. Not someone elses puppet."

"Draco! I swear we lost all our manners on the ride here, we don't talk like that." Avalon declared. Draco shrugged and Arya smiled hugging him. 

"Thanks for saying that." Arya whispered. 

"Lady Ava," Rickon declared barreling into her legs.  "Nora is stuck in a tree."