Game of Gendrya

Only a Child.

"Arya, if you don't share the stupid bread I'm going to starve." Gendry was almost pleading. "You want bread, do you? Hot Pie gave this to ME. I need to eat, too." Gendry sighed as he nibbled on his wild red berries. "I don't even know if these are safe to eat, you know." He smirked. Suddenly Arya was scowling. The thought of being alone in the north was enough to make her shiver. That and losing Gendry, of course. She threw a small lob of bread at his head, looking straight forward the entire time. "Thank you...m'lady." He sniffled. He knew how much Arya hated the appropriate nickname, though it'd turned into a game as time went on. She looked at him and glared. Pushing him along as a slight smile appeared on her face. At first she had hated it, and although she still isn't too keen on the idea of being called a lady, when Gendry said it something made her heart skip a beat. It was a long way to go. Gendry told Arya that he'd bring her home, yet Arya didn't want to leave him. She walked along the path in silence for a minute while the sounds of dirt and deer hooves filled the air. "Do you think I could ride a deer?" She asked absently. "A deer? Surely you couldn't even get close enough to mount one, Ary." Gendry sounded concerned, knowing she would try if she had the chance. She shot a look at him, almost as if he had challenged her. "No. No, no, no. Arya, if I bring you back with an antler Through your bottom, they'll have my head." He laughed half heartedly, knowing some of it was true. "Who will? Gendry, I don't know who's home and who isn't. Besides, whoever is home.. I wouldn't let them." She muttered.  "You wouldn't let them what?" He said almost teasing her. He had always had a feeling Arya felt something for him. She was only a child, though, she would move on from her feelings soon enough and wed a high lord. "Hurt you." She said quietly. He has expected a shove or something, but Arya showed a sign of vulnerability.. Something she didn't show often. "Well. Night is beginning to fall. A little ways up the river may show a clearing. We can build a small fire then." He said sternly.  Arya blinked and nodded. What was this side of Arya?

When night fell was when the weather became brutal. Neither one of them had furs or blankets. The night was unusually cold though, even for the north. They sat close by the fire. "Gendry.. When we reach Winterfell.. Where will you go?" She asked suddenly, as if she had been wanting to ask for ages. "Oh. I don't know. I'll find someone to bring me to the wall most likely. Just make my way there myself. What makes you ask?" He looked down and half frowned. He hadn't thought much about it, but parting ways with Arya was not something he looked forward to. "Why don't you become a smith in Winterfell?" She asked quietly. "There is nothing for me in Winterfell. I am not a man of the north, Ary." Suddenly her eyes got smaller and her brow furrowed. "Nothing for you." She repeated. "Oh. No, Arya. I didn't mean it as a sort of.. of.." she looked at him with big eyes. "It's fine," she said quietly. "I know I am just a child. Or.. a.. you know. A lady." She seemed so upset. Perhaps the words he chose were not something he would have said if he was thinking clearly. It was cold. His breaths were short and his hands numb. "Arya.." "Long day tomorrow. You should get some sleep as well." Gendry nodded a short nod in response. She is a young girl. Her emotions must be getting the best of her.
When he had finished scarfing down his third of a small rabbit he and Arya had hunted, he decided he should go to bed, too. Arya placed herself in a tight ball just a few feet from the fire. She seemed to be shivering, and when Gendry checked to see if she was awake she was not. He then decided to remove his shirt and wrap it around her small body. He was much larger than she was, she would freeze on a night like this. He could not take much longer of the cold weather. This is not something he was made to live in.. Yet leaving her behind... No. She was only a child. She would wed a lord. He repeated the words to himself over and over again until he believed them. In truth, he knew Arya would not marry. Not because she was unworthy, but because she did not want to become a wife. She did not want children. Arya was Arya. She was not her sister, Sansa.
Arya stirred in the cold night while Gendry lay awake. Shivers ran down his back as the cold licked at him. He breathed a heavy breath, watching his own warmth escape from his mouth. "Arya.." he looked her way. "Ary. Arya." He began to humor himself by watching his breath escape from his mouth and into the night in cold, steamy bursts. Whatever he did he could not sleep. Just as he was starting to close his eyes, Arya rolled over, coming just inches from Gendrys face.
His eyes widened as he said her name once more. "Arya..." he whispered. Her eyes slowly opened. "What?" She asked. Her eyes widened by the closeness between them. "Ary."