Crossing Worlds (A Sandor Clegane fanfiction.)

A Monster and Tension

(a/n: WARNING!! Implied attempted rape, no details but felt I should warn you.) 

Sandor wasted no time in grabbing his sword and sprinting in the direction of the river. He didn't have to look long before he found Aurora, partially unclothed...again. Standing near her with his hands on his ears was a man also in a state of undress. As soon as Aurora saw Sandor, she stopped blowing the whistle, a look of relief in her eyes. The man had not seen Sandor yet and, when he removed his hands from his ears, he continued stalking toward the young woman.

Normally, Aurora would have fought for herself, but she was still weak from her time in the dungeons and her beatings from Meryn Trant. Not to mention the fact that she was standing there in her underwear. Suddenly, Sandor grabbed the man by the neck and pulled him away from Aurora. He dropped his sword and Aurora watched in horror as Sandor began beating the man to bloody pulp, but she couldn't find her voice to tell him to stop. Instead, she grabbed her clothes and pulled them on. The sight in front of her was like a train wreck. She just couldn't look away.

Sandor eventually took a break from beating the man to look over his shoulder at Aurora. Her expression said it all. She was terrified...because of him. He dropped the man and turned to face the young woman. Her eyes darted between him and her attacker. When her green eyes met Sandor's, he saw the very thing he didn't want to. She saw him for what he was. A monster. A killer. Sandor picked his sword up off the ground and sheathed it.

He refused to meet Aurora's eyes as he brushed passed her back to their camp. It only took her a second to come back to her senses. She was acting like she'd never seen blood before! She turned and followed after Sandor. Aurora had to run to keep up with his long strides. "Sandor! Wait!" Aurora followed behind him until he turned sharply to face her."What?" Aurora looked up at him and gave him a soft smile. Sandor scoffed. "I don't want or need yer pity, woman. I know ya think I'm a monster, just like everyone else." Aurora arched a brow, a little angry. She really hated it when people assumed anything about her.

"You're an idiot, Sandor. You just saved me! How could I possibly think that you're a monster? Now, stop being such a dick and let me clean up that hand of yours," she ordered. Sandor simply stared at her for a moment. She really was a strange woman. How could she be completely rude and yet so caring at the same time? Sandor sat down and let Aurora take his hand in her much smaller ones. "Did you get enough of his blood on you? Geez," he heard her mutter and he bit back a chuckle.

Aurora poured a little bit of her water onto a cloth and began cleaning Sandor's knuckles as best should could by the light of the fire. Sandor watched in amazement as she handled his hand gently, as if it would break. Even though he was sitting down, Sandor was eye-level with Aurora. He studied her face while she worked. Her brows were furrowed in concentration as she tried to clean all the blood off his hand.

Suddenly, she picked her head up, surprising Sandor. She chuckled a bit until she noticed some spots of blood on his face. "You've got some..." she trailed off and, without thinking, she moved closer and began gently cleaning his face, saving the scarred side for last. Each movement was deliberate and gentle. Sandor closed his eyes, trying not to enjoy the feeling of having her that close to him. He couldn't get attached. But, when he opened his eyes and found himself staring directly into hers, Sandor knew it was too late. He was already attached in some way.

Aurora swallowed nervously as she looked into Sandor's brown eyes. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't seem to make herself do so. There was a silence between them, thick with tension of all sorts until finally, Aurora cleared her throat and moved back. "The fire is dying," she whispered. She went around the other side of the fire and sat down, pulling her knees to her chest. She sat there, trying to calm her thundering heartbeat as Sandor stoked the fire and began cooking their supper.

Aurora attempted small talk while they ate, just trying to lighten the tension between the two of them. First the incident that morning and then the incidents that evening had made things incredibly awkward, but Aurora wasn't going to let it affect her if she could help it. She kept casting glances across the fire at Sandor, only to find him staring at her, both of them wondering what was going on in the other's mind. Wherever they were going, it was going to be a loooooong journey.