1st Winter [Action]

[aryaunderfoot]

[Early this morning, somewhere deep in the woods, there is a wolf howling.

It's a long, mournful howl, and the wolf doesn't seem to want to stop. Occasionally, she'll pause for breath, and then throw her head back again after a moment's rest. This place isn't right. Her cousins aren't here, the smaller ones of her pack. The air is too warm, too full of the smells of spring. And the more she searches, the more she howls, trying to get some sort of answer out of these unfamiliar trees.

Around mid-morning, the crumpled form of a small girl can be found on the path leading from the village to the Battle Dome. She's not hurt, just very much asleep (and scrunching up her face with each wolf howl) and very much covered in grime (and smelling faintly of fish cart). And there's also the fact that she's in a New Feather dress. As the howling reaches a higher pitch, she awakes with a start, freezes, and tries to figure out what this place is. There's a chill in the air, yes, but it isn't winter building up to full strength. It can't be the Summer Islands, and it most definitely isn't Braavos. This place...

...is less concerning than the fact that there is a journal right next to her with "Arya Stark" printed right on it. She gives it an incredulous look for a moment before deciding that this must be a test of some kind. The kindly man must be behind it. With a shake of the head, the girl stands, pushes the journal with a foot until it's tucked out of sight under a nearby bush, and then turns back to the task at hand.

And tries to ignore the mournful howling that is practically tugging her in its direction. That's not something she needs to worry about. That was Arya Stark. Not her. She's nobody.]

[With so many things glaringly wrong with this place, she figures it's time to try scoping it out. The girl very cautiously approaches the village, keeping to the trees for cover until she's sure there aren't any Lannister banners flying anywhere. When there aren't any, it isn't much consolation; the buildings are huge, and the architecture isn't anything she's ever seen before. This place may not be full of lions, but it's not exactly a safe zone, either. She's not even sure what it is.

Eventually, she finds her way into town, going around to see what exactly there is to see here. She doubts she'll spot any familiar faces, but she still makes her way through all the shops in the main square, trying to get some kind of sense of what kind of town this is. The smith shop is familiar, the fashions in the clothing shop completely outlandish, the foods in the indoor marketplace entirely alien.

And she is so, so very lost. As she makes her way through town, the old phrase starts repeating in the back of her mind: Fear cuts deeper than swords. She can do this. She has to do this.

Towards nightfall, after much exploration and poking around, the girl makes her way back to the stables she passed by at some point. The horses are horses. That much is familiar, at least. This much she can understand completely. And the familiar, earthy, horsey smells are something of a comfort when you're trying to wrap your head around what in the world happened to bring you to a place such as this.]

[[ooc: Feel free to run into her at any point!]]

Comments

[thefinaljedi]

Flight is common in my world, with machines.

[He reaches onto his belt and pulls out a small metal ball covered in holes with a power switch on the bottom. A remote droid.]

We use something called a Repulsor to let things hover off the ground. Press the switch, and you'll see what I mean.

[aryaunderfoot]

Why would you call it a Repulsor? [Unless it's disgusting or something.

She gives him a warning look, as if she might punch him if this blows up in her face, and then carefully presses the switch.]

[thefinaljedi]

It repels the ground.

[When she switches it on, it starts to hover there, and and then swish around the room.]

[aryaunderfoot]

[For just a moment, the girl looks a little alarmed at the speed of the thing, but then she just looks plain old fascinated.]

But how? Everything always goes toward the ground.

[thefinaljedi]

It creates a cushion of air to press off the ground and counteract gravity.

[Err...she knows what gravity is right?]

[aryaunderfoot]

[That much she does know. Maester Luwin did a wonderful demonstration of it with a little pottery boy to try to scare Bran out of climbing. Not that it worked, but that lesson actually did stick with her.]

So it's kind of like a big air bubble, then?

[thefinaljedi]

Exactly, yes.

[The little droid floats back over his way, landing in his palm.]

You catch on quick, Cat.

[aryaunderfoot]

[There's a slight swell of pride at that, but she doesn't let it show too much.]

So does it just keep making a bigger and bigger air bubble to fly higher?

[thefinaljedi]

Until it starts going fast enough, yes. Then momentum carries it. And once it leaves the planet and make it to the stars then there's nothing holding it down.

[Luke can really oversimplify things for kids.]