Lone Wolf || Tyrion Lannister

Chapter Two

Despite his worries for the future, Ned allowed himself to be talked into joining Robert and the other men set for a hunt. Deciding to take advantage of their absence, Anari and Jon had another sparring session once they were certain that they had left and that no one was paying much attention. Dismissing Marleya to her own devices, the siblings made their way to their training spot.

Anari remembered Jon's advice from the previous lesson and did her best to ensure her movements were fluid and not obvious. Anari also tried not to give as much ground, pushing back when Jon lunged forward to gain the upper hand. Her familiar grin was in place as the two crossed swords with various strikes and parries.

Though, Anari scowled when he still managed to disarm her. "Good," Jon praised, lowering his sword from where he had it pointed at her neck.

"You still disarmed me," Anari replied sullenly.

"Have a more firm grip on your sword," Jon instructed. "Firm enough to have a good hold, but loose enough to move it easily." He showed her with his own hands, as Anari picked up her fallen sword. She mirrored him with her own hands, Jon correcting her a little to ensure she was doing it right. Once he was certain she was ready, the two began again.

Anari pushed back against his strikes while dodging the ones she couldn't parry. She fainted strikes to, hopefully, leave him vulnerable. Soon, it was Anari who began gaining ground, deciding that, this time, she was going to win. Running on adrenaline, Anari let out a grunt of effort before swinging her sword up, twisting her body around Jon. Using one of the moves he often did, Anari finally managed to disarm him.

Both of them were panting, but Anari had the widest grin on her face at the outcome. Jon found a grin of his own matching it once he realized what had happened. She moved so fast and flipped his sword from his hands, that he didn't notice at first. "I did it!" Anari laughed as she lowered her blade. "I actually disarmed you." Jon laughed at her excitement, picking up his fallen sword.

"Aye, you did." He agreed. "That was really good, you pushed back this time. You did really well." He was proud of her, he really was. It was moments like this where Jon wished the others knew of her achievements. He was sure they would be proud of her, of the progress she had made. Jon decided that this was the perfect time to end their sparring session, so they placed their wooden weapons in their respective hiding places and began their walk back to the main courtyard.

Ghost and Shadow, who had been resting off to the side, got up and followed. Shadow especially, when Anari ordered her. Each day, the wolves only seemed to grow, which only served to prove just how well each of the Starks was treating them.

The siblings walked in comfortable silence, Anari still silently preening to herself, knowing she had finally disarmed her brother. After so many years of Jon managing to win each spar, this was a big moment for her. It showed that she had gotten better and that she was learning, which was good. While Anari doubted she'd have to use the skills she was learning, it still made her feel good. It made her feel proud of herself for being able to best Jon, if only once.

Soon enough, they passed into the main courtyard. They didn't speak of the session they had, though, Anari decided to break the silence with idle conversation. "I've been teaching Marleya how to read," she said.

"Oh, really?" Jon questioned with a faint smile. "She didn't learn from her mother? Didn't her mother serve Lord Glover's wife?"

"She did," Anari nodded. "But she didn't have time to teach her much, only the basics." Anari shrugged. "She's getting rather good, I'd say. Though she-" Anari stopped talking when something caught her attention. Jon looked at her then followed her eyes to see what she was looking at. Anari and Jon froze in horror as they saw the familiar form of Bran Stark falling off the side of one of Winterfell's tallest towers.