ᴡɪɴᴛᴇʀ ʟɪᴠᴇs ɪɴ ᴍʏ ʙᴏɴᴇs

[wolfchild]

[ She stumbles into snow. The cold slices into her. Soaked, filthy, with travel-stained clothes turned almost to rags on her skinny frame and matted, tangled hair only just growing out again, she looks little like a girl, much less like the missing younger Stark daughter.

She sniffles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. Her face is uncomfortably hot yet she's freezing. Her shivering near knocks her off her feet as she clambers up the steps. ]

My mother…

[ Arya feels her eyes fill with tears. She was going to find her mother and her brother. She was almost home. It wasn't fair. ]

Comments

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[He'll follow her in, a little glad because he's worried about her. Girl you've been through too much]

[wolfchild]

[ Long past caring who might see, in the bathroom, she's already stripping off the sodden clothes. The skin from her lower back to her upper thighs is crossed with scars. A gift from Weese. Before getting in the bath, she looks back at him. ]

Can you get food? Like soup? A thick one.

[ Would it be insensitive to ask a rabbit to get her meat... ]

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[Not at all, he's suffered through worse, he'll give a nod]

Sure, I can do that for you. Some sort of broth alright? It'll warm you right up.

[wolfchild]

Thank you.

[ Into the bath! Thank you, whoever invented hot water. ]

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[And with a tap of his foot, a HOLE appears in the floor, which he vanishes into. The hole closes up behind him, leaving a pretty little flower jutting out of the floor.

What that's how everyone moves.

Eventually, he comes back, with a basket filled with a pot of hot broth (hey look it's got meat in it and everything), some bread, and a few cakes because hey kids eat cakes, right?]

Here we are. One slap up meal.

[wolfchild]

[ She'd picked the flower. Sitting on the flower, the bed's covers draped and tucked around her so only her face and hands are visible, she twirls the flower. She leaves the flower on the floor to hold her hands out. ]

Give it here.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[It's a special flower, you know, full of promise and hope. Still, he'll come over with the basket of warming grub, putting it beside her]

I got extra. You really look like you need it.

[wolfchild]

[ What is hope? Can I eat it? ]

There wasn't a lot of food. The meat went bad and there was only bread and hard cheese to split between us.

[ She rips a piece of the bread and dips it in the broth. ]

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[No but it does keep you warm at night]

You really have had it rough. Least you're safe here.

[Though how safe will she remain at home? He doesn't like it, not one bit]

[wolfchild]

This place isn't safe. I've seen people die here.

[ She eats another chunk of bread. It's such a pleasant change to have it be easy to chew. ]

It's just better than where I was.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

I'm here now, I'll make it safer. It's my duty.

...Most places sound better than where you were.

[wolfchild]

[ And then Alcy signed up Arya for everything dangerous ever. ]

I guess they are.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[And Bunny had a long and suffering life]

Still, chin up. You're enough of a fighter to get through.

[wolfchild]

I'm not. I'm scared.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[Oh, Arya. He offers her a smile]

It's not a bad thing, to be scared. It keeps you sharp, sometimes. [He hopes Pitch never hears him say that, he'll never live it down] You can still be scared, and be a fighter, you know. In fact, it makes you an even better one, because you know when to back away from a fight and live another day.

[wolfchild]

I'm just tired of being scared all the time.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[He'll pick up his flower and tuck it behind her ear]

Then remember: You won't be scared all the time. Just take a deep breath and take even a little moment to tell the world 'I'm not afraid of you'. NO matter how daft you feel doing it. It'll make it easier. I've met the thing that has power over fear, and trust me, you stand up to him? He's a pushover. He'd have nothing on you, little brumby.

[wolfchild]

[ Arya would send him off crying, sounds legit. ]

Fear's an animal too?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

More like a man. [Bunny pauses] Or rather, he was a man once.

[wolfchild]

[ She lowers the spoon. ]

What happened to him?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[Bunny gives her a sideways glance for a moment, trying to decide if he should tell her or not. To risk giving Pitch even the slightest amount of belief in this place. Eventually, though, he sighs]

He was overcome by the darkness he once guarded and kept locked from the world. It turned him into what he is today, a being that thrives on fear.

[wolfchild]

What happened then?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

He went to war with the world, driven by the shadows. [He frowns a little, his ears folding back] Many fought him and died, trying to stop him. Eventually, a group of beings were chosen by the Man in the Moon to defeat him.

He kept coming back, but they kept beating him down every time, to stop him being a real threat again.

[wolfchild]

A man in the moon?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Yes. Before humans came to the world, civilisation was made up of constellations. But in the war that Pitch, that man of fear I told you about, the youngest son of a great family ended up trapped on the moon. He was the only one of his dynasty to survive, and he stayed on the moon, watching over the children of the world.