aryaunderfoot | 3rd Winter [Action/Video]

[Another wave of incoming New Feathers is slowing down, and again there aren't any familiar faces added to the village. Arya hadn't realized just how much her hopes had gotten up until she was suddenly aware of how much it ached that she hadn't seen her father walking through town, or heard Jon's voice. Even stupid old Gendry or Hot Pie would've been a relief. As it is, she's frustrated and hurting, once again thwarted by a bunch of people who would rather make Spock's hands not work than bring her father back for her. Maybe Thoros said he couldn't bring back someone without a head, but the Malnosso can.

But they won't. Of course they won't. And she's stupid to think they would.]

[Early morning finds Arya out at the barracks, viciously attacking straw dummies with Needle. With each strike, she goes through her list aloud: Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Ser Gregor. Dunsen and Raff the Sweetling. Queen Cersei. The Malnosso, the Malnosso, the Malnosso. By mid-morning, she's tired and sweating and no less hollow. Not wanting to talk to much of anyone, she skips going back to House 2 to change and just cuts through the edge of town, over a bridge, and back out in the general direction of the Battle Dome, only straight into the trees instead. And she keeps on going, Nymeria padding along silently beside her.

It's mid-afternoon when she stumbles upon it. Deep in the woods, with nothing but the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds around. And she stands there a while, just soaking in the familiarity, before eventually going to nestle down among the roots with Nymeria.

Much later, just as the sun is going down, she opens the journal she's been ignoring all day and carefully follows the steps she remembers to sending a filtered message... not that she's mastered this art yet.]

[7% Filtered to Natasha Romanoff, Logan, Luke Skywalker, and Konan]

I lied to you all before. About my name, that is. It isn't Cat. [And here, with the bone-white bark of a weirwood tree at her back, Needle on her hip, and a keen-eyed direwolf at her side, she knows she can't deny being a child of the North any longer. After all, you can't lie in front of a weirwood. Fierce pride shines in her grey eyes.] I'm Arya, of House Stark.

I'd say I'm sorry for lying, but I'm not. It wasn't a safe name back home. But all of you should know the truth.

[/filter]

[She pauses for a moment, changes the filter back off, and then decides to address the rest of the town. The video clicks on with a good view of the white trunk at Arya's back, stretching up into a blood-red canopy of leaves. The tree definitely has a striking look to it. Arya seems pleased.]

Back home, these trees are sacred to the old gods of the North. Years and years ago, the Children of the Forest carved faces into them so the old gods could watch over the people and the woods.

In the north, every great castle has a godswood with a weirwood heart tree in the center. All of them have different faces. [Beat.] This one doesn't have a face, but I guess that makes sense without any of the Children being here.

Do we have other trees like this anywhere else in Luceti? I only found the one. Or does anyone have something like this back home?

[[ooc: Anyone who wants to hack the filtered, feel free!]]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Another headshake.]

My brother Jon gave it to me. It was a going-away present.

["Don't... tell... Sansa!" She can still hear it. There are tears stinging at her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall.]

I don't care how much work it takes. [Some things are worth it no matter what.]

[Spock's eyebrows crease as he looks at Arya in concern...
It is obvious that he upset her.]

Miss Arya... [Spock's tone was less harsh as he steps closer.]

What is troubling you?
[Spock realizes that it could be any number of things... People often became frustrated with Luceti and its workings, especially with the Malnosso up to what they usually do.
Was she home-sick? Did someone say something hurtful to her?

...The Vulcan couldn't really hazard a guess.]

[Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! She shakes her head stubbornly. She will not cry like some dumb little baby girl.]

Nothing is. Just this stupid place.

[Calm as still water. Strong as a wolverine.]

[Spock isn't too sure what to do... It's not like he can give her a reassuring hand or anything.]

Miss Arya... there is no shame in feeling grief or sadness. You are human, to feel is not a weakness.

So you've been sayin'. Yer starting to sound like a broken record.

Do those things still exist? These "Others"?

Oh, my armor does that, too. No guts are getting through that thing. Much better than steel and boiled leather, trust me.

I did, once. Clint and I. We camped under it once when we were out in the woods. [She gives the girl a crooked smile.] Unless of course there's more than one of those in the woods, but it seemed fairly unique.

There are lots of sacred things at home, but since I live at a temple, I think that's normal.

...We don't have trees like that one, though.

It does. You can use it to send messages to me without relying on the journal. Think of it as functioning like a voice message that will only reach me.

[She's been able to do this for surveillance of her small country. Even with her powers cut in half, it's easy enough to leave a few people with these.]

If your enemies ever arrive here or if you want to send a message without anyone else knowing about it, you can use that to contact me.

I don't feel sad. [Maybe if she says it out loud enough times, it'll be true.] I'm just angry.

[At least that part is true. She is pretty angry. Right about now, she wants to run Needle right through the eyeball of the first Malnosso she can find.]

[Beat.] But a broken record doesn't sound like anything.

[It would just be a book ripped in two or something, right.]

[Arya holds up her little origami wolf to eye level, taking a much stronger shine to it already. It means more to her than she can even think to say, to have something like this available. This kind of thing could have saved so much trouble and pain, back home.]

Thank you. [That has to be the first time she's uttered those words in a long, long time.] All I have to do is talk to it, right?

[She can't help a small grin at that.] It's the only one I've found. If you have to camp anywhere in these woods, this tree should keep you safe.

[Whether the old gods were here or not, she's never been in any danger as long as she's somewhere near a weirwood. Even in the circle of felled weirwoods, in the south where the old gods never went, she'd still been safe.]

[Soft snort.] Why would I trust you? You broke into my message.

My uncle said they do. He never lied to me about anything else, so I don't think he lied about that.

[Arya pauses a beat or two before she lets curiosity get the better of her.]

What kind of temple?

[Just on some off-chance that something like it might have been in Braavos...]

It means ya keep repeatin' the same thing over and over.

That's fine, I can wait. Maybe an hour or so?

Touché. Only because I distrusted you, first.

If they are, at least you haven't had to deal with them yet. Armies of the dead don't sound like a whole lotta fun.

I'll remember that for the next time we go out, then. A little extra safety never hurt anyone.

That's right. As long as we're both in Luceti, I will be able to hear you.

[She's a light sleeper, too. Konan offers a slight, teasing smile.]

A wolf seemed more fitting for you than a flower.

At whom?

[Okay, Spock was being more specific. But he was also more concerned now that he knew she was actually angry at something.]

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3rd Winter [Action/Video]

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