no home sweet no sweet home

[persequor]

[ At Alexstrasza's tree ]

[ She finally stopped inside the woods. Sagging against a tree, she grabs her side. Her breaths come in shallow gasps. She inhales through her nose, exhales through her mouth. Calm as still water. I must be still water. This time, her dancing lessons don't help.

For once, Arya is completely alone. Nymeria some days left early in the morning to hunt and wouldn't return until evening. Arya did not worry, but she misses her companion keenly now. The girl and wolf are the same; their pack is all gone.

When she opens her eyes, she blinks. The vegetation ahead is verdant, moreso than the one where she is. Look with your eyes, she hears her dancing master say. Looking with her eyes, she spots a tree. An oak. An old, old oak, peaceful and warm. She doesn't think there are any weirwoods here. But this oak has the feel of a weirwood. Of Winterfell's heart tree.

Is the tree still there? Did they cut it down and burn it? Is it broken and dead too?

She sits in front of the tree like she used to in front of the heart tree. They would go together to say their prayers to the old gods. She remembers one night they spent in vigil outside. Rickon was not yet born and Bran was still a baby. Arya had said she could stay awake all night, but she fell asleep against Jon Snow. Only their father had stayed awake until morning. He had woken them all up, her and Robb and Jon, even Sansa had stayed outside, to see the sunlight wash over the red leaves. The tree had seemed on fire, but it wasn't scary. It was beautiful.

When she tries to pray this time, the journal trapped against her chest pokes her. Arya tugs it out and drops it beside her. The cover falls open. Her prayer is quiet and one she has been whispering to herself every night before sleeping. Today, it has a new name. ]

Joffrey. Queen Cersei. Ser Ilyn. Ser Meryn. The Hound. Theon Greyjoy.

Comments

/dictated for now

[perfectisnteasy]

... Arya ...?

o7

[persequor]

[ Oh. It's open. Cursiing the fact she didn't notice, she pulls it into her lap as she settles more comfortably. ]

Yes?

[perfectisnteasy]

S'goin' on?

[persequor]

Nothing. [ The answer is uncharacteristically quiet. ]

action!

[wilder]

[Ever since Ino had mentioned it months ago, Zelos had enjoyed coming to this tree. The feelings that came from it reminded him a bit of the world tree, even if that one was just a sapling last he remembered. Hope, life, magic- it's calming. And most importantly? It's quiet out here. Only the sounds of nature he's long gotten used to are out here. Sometimes he needed that.]

[So he's up rather high in the branches, relaxing since he has nothing to do with his day when he hears Arya approach. He keeps silent and watches to see what she does....listens to the names being listed off. ]

Some mantra.

[persequor]

[ She startles then glares up at the tree. ]

You shouldn't eavesdrop.

[wilder]

Then don't say it where people can hear.

[persequor]

I was whispering and you're up in a tree! Normal people wouldn't hear!

[draca]

[ With all her daily errands completed she wanders, explores, maps out the land with her mind with Drogon at her side. She needs something to keep her mind busy, to keep herself busy. The trees make her think of the Great Grass Sea, grasses of all sorts of colors spreading as far as the eye can see. Something about it brings her comfort, though only a little.

But when Drogon takes flight from her shoulder with a sharp cry she is dragged from the recess of her mind. She has wandered far, she realizes. Another cry, he has found something.

It is the black-and-red dragon that reaches the clearing first, Daenerys arrives a moment later. For a brief moment she is overcome by a sense of awe. The clearing is warm, beautiful, it fills her with a sense of peace, the old oak tree even more so. But it flees when she sees Arya at the front of the tree, praying. Something warns her, whispers to approach with care as her child continues to fly through the air.

And she does. Silent, save for her footsteps, until she reaches the tree. ]

[persequor]

[ She heard Drogon so she isn't caught unaware. When she hears the footsteps, she turns to find who it is. There's no smile today, but she shifts so she's sitting and can look at Daenerys. ]

Are all the dragons with you?

[draca]

Not today. [ She decides to leave the dragon to his own devices for the moment, knowing full well that he will not fly far from her. Her attention is focused on Arya, on the lack of smile on her face. ]

Is something troubling you?

[persequor]

No.

dictated

[chippedcup]

...Arya...? [She heard the quiet voice repeating the names, and wonders who they were.]

dictated

[persequor]

[ Her reply is subdued. ]

Hello, Belle.

dictated

[chippedcup]

What are you doing...?

dictated

[persequor]

Nothing.

[echivoc]

[ Cross is coming from the opposite direction, having left Alexstrasza's tree earlier and now heading back to it before he went to the castle. As he draws near, he spots the figure sitting in front of it speaking to no one in particular — or so he thinks. Her lips are moving, after all. ]

[persequor]

[ When she settles with her back to the tree, she spots him. Arya pulls her knees close to her chest and keeps her eyes on the ground. Maybe if she pretends she didn't see him, she'll be left alone. ]

[echivoc]

[ Yeah, if only that sort of thought process worked with him. He moves right to her and bends down on one knee a few feet away, eye trained on her. ]

Needed to get away from the castle?

dictated

[wintercat]

[She hears the softly spoken names. And she can guess their meaning- if only because she's filled with such bitterness and rage herself.]

Arya...

[Her voice is soft, concerned. She wouldn't be surprised if the her daughter is angry with her again. She kept more secrets- not even fully meaning to. She had kept her silence as much for her sake as for Arya's. If she didn't talk about, tried not to think about it, it was less real. It was solid the way Robb's fate was in her mind. She hadn't seen them- she hadn't visited them in the clinic.

It was a fool's comfort, she knew. But it was all she had. And she needed it to keep clinging to sanity and stability.]

Mother

[persequor]

I'm fine. I didn't go into the Dead Zone again.

Arya

[wintercat]

I'm glad. [What else should she say? Cautiously:] Something has happened.

dictated;

[songsandstories]

Are you mad at me? [There's guilt at that she told, and certainly she'll be getting words from her mother, but-- she needed to be told. Sansa's actions were never against her own family. Even the countless times she had to denounce her father and Robb.]

dictated;

[persequor]

…Yes.

[ To be fair, she's angry at everyone and everything lately. ]

dictated;

[songsandstories]

I-- if you want me to come get you, I will. [What can she possibly apologize for? She feels guilty of course. Robb was off fighting a war for her, to get her and Arya back. He wasn't there to protect Bran and Rickon.]