The Dragon & The Wolf (Daenarya)

chapter 3

Upon first leaving Winterfell, Arya didn't have any particular destination in mind. She rode the horse as fast as she could, in whatever direction seemed shortest. She refused to stop for more than a few minutes at a time, not when her stomach begged for food or her companion whined in complaint. If the stallion died of exhaustion, she'd walk.

When the sun came up the following day, Arya already had several hours of riding behind her. She'd made camp miles from Winterfell in a small, abandoned house that had only three standing walls. She tried to sleep but it was fruitless. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Daenerys there on the inside of her lids. When she laid on the frozen ground and searched for peace she could almost feel the warmth of her arm snaking around her cold middle. When the wind howled, she could hear the whispered affections Daenerys shared only when she thought the assassin was asleep, and when an animal cried in the distance Arya heard nothing more than Daenerys's pleasurable moans as they spent hours lost in one another.

With little more than a few long blinks of rest she gave it up as a lost cause, determined to get back on the road. The horse wasn't interested, but Arya wasn't in the mood to take suggestions. She was still too close.

Things became easier after 'the day', if only just barely. She began eating again, allowed both she and her steed to rest and began to think more clearly. She still had to keep busy, to avoid seeing Daenerys's face on every stranger, or hear her voice around every corner, but it wasn't all bad. This was the life she'd wanted when she was a girl, wasn't it? To be free, to go wherever she pleased with only a horse and a sword? To have no one and nothing to answer to? If it was, why did it feel so empty? Shouldn't at least some part of her, deep down under the hurt, be happy?

It took less than a month for her to ache for a purpose. She considered returning to Braavos, but it didn't seem right. How could she run when things were so dangerous for those she cared about? Westeros was a barrel of wildfire and Cersei Lannister held a torch in each hand. Even if Cersei did fear Daenerys's alliance to the North and remained in line it wouldn't last forever. Sooner or later she'd grow bold again and people would start to die. If her God smiled on her and Cersei died before the next moon they'd still have the Night King and his legion of Undead to contend with. Killing for coin in Braavos didn't seem important by comparison.

With this in mind, she guided her horse in the direction of the nearest port. She didn't have to remain in Winterfell to help those she left behind. Their needs were plentiful and there were some things she could do that all the Queen's armies couldn't. It wasn't much, but it was something.

R-C

It took longer than she would have liked to track and catch the Greyjoy ships. Once she'd decided what she'd do she was eager to get to it. Arya was ready and able to swing her sword and spill some blood, but the hunt forced her to maintain a small measure of restraint.

She found them outside the town of Lordsport in a small encampment, not far from the mighty seat of House Greyjoy in Pyke. She didn't know where the ships were hidden but she trusted they were close. No self-respecting son of the Iron Islands would venture too far from their boat. She snuck in one night when the moon was hidden by a sheet of clouds. Making use of the skills she learned chasing stray cats through the sewers of King's Landing she passed the sentries with ease and stayed in the shadows until she learned Theon's location. With Needle on her hip and a dagger up her sleeve she slipped into his tent and found him studying the crudely drawn map of a structure she didn't recognize. He had his back to the tent's opening and his attention elsewhere, he would have been easy prey.

It was a tempting option. He'd betrayed Robb, forced Bran and Rickon into exile and failed to protect his sister, Daenerys's ally, when their uncle attacked, but he also saved Sansa's life and earned Jon's forgiveness. He'd come to arrange a rescue with only a few handfuls of men and from what she heard throughout the camp, was determined to save Yara regardless of the cost. It had been too long since she'd killed but she could wait a few more days, if necessary.