Of Lions, Wolves, and Dragons (Jon Snow)

36. Arya

Traveling with Brienne and Podrick had been harder than Joellyn had anticipated.  In retrospect, she should have expected it to be difficult.  The only other long journey she had taken was to Winterfell and back.  This was a long journey, but they went slowly and took several breaks because of the King, Cersei, and "their" children.  Searching through Westeros for the Starks did not allow for much time for breaks or taking it easy.

Just a few days into the journey, Joellyn was grateful when Brienne called them to stop for the evening.  The places where they had been resting were not comfortable, but it was nice to get off of the horse and walk about on her own for a while.  Brienne had managed to kill a few rabbits while Joellyn and Podrick gathered wood for a fire.  She and Brienne left Podrick to tend the fire and start roasting the rabbits so they could go to a stream they had seen nearby and gather more water for their journey.

Once they were far enough away from camp where Podrick would not have been able to hear them anymore, Brienne asked, "How are you faring?"

Joellyn shrugged, "As well as can be expected, I suppose."  Being with Brienne and Podrick got her out of King's Landing, which was one of the main reasons she wanted to be with them.  To get out of King's Landing and away from so many memories that would have haunted her.  However, the three of them mostly traveled in silence, so she had a great deal of time with just her and her thoughts which was not ideal.

Brienne nodded softly in return and replied, "I admire the bravery it took for you to leave your home and your family to help us search for the Stark girls.  Forgive me, Joellyn, I just worry about how you are handling everything."

Joellyn took a deep breath to steady her emotions and try to level her voice, but was unsuccessful and said in a shaky voice, "It is difficult knowing that Oberyn and Tyrion are both gone, but it is easier to be here than it would be to be there."

She and Brienne had reached the stream, so they began collecting water as Brienne said, "Just know that I do not expect you to heal from this quickly.  When Renley died, I was, and sometimes still am, devestated.  You lost two people who loved you more than Renley ever cared for me."

Joellyn had frozen in place without realizing it after Brienne finished speaking.  She had never really taken Brienne to be an emotional person, so it surprised her to hear such an honest confession of grief.  Trying to not be rude by staring, she resumed sealing the canteen and said, "All loss is difficult.  That's why we're both here.  To give ourselves purpose after our grief."

Brienne smiled at her and the two of them began their return to camp to check on Podrick and make sure he had not burned down their camp.  Their walk back to camp was in silence, so Joellyn began pondering when she should share that Robb was likely still alive and that they should be searching for him as well.  And if they found Robb, what would Robb do?  The plan was to take Sansa and Arya to Castle Black to be with Jon.  Would Robb want to go there as well?  Maybe he would want to take the girls somewhere else, but Winterfell was not an option.

Joellyn was pulled out of her thoughts by seeing Podrick stamping a fire out and she quicklyl realized it was the rabbits that Brienne had caught earlier.  Brienne realized this as well as she yelled, "Did you remove the skin?"

Podrick hung his head, "No, my lady."

Brienne, frustration still evident in her voice, asked, "Have you ever cooked a rabbit before?"

Podrick, still ashamed, shook his head as he replied, "No, my lady."

Brienne turned and looked at Joellyn in disbelief, and Joellyn shrugged, trying to stay out of the one-sided conversation Brienne was having with Podrick.  Brienne asked, "Did you ever cook anything for Lord Tyrion?"