Back To Winterfell || Arya Stark

A Distant Memory

It was light when Arya awoke. Her eyes wearily opened but were quick to focus. The morning dew had become frosted pearls and her breath was like smoke from a dragon. She shivered as she stood up and her icy hands felt ready to shatter. She gripped Needle as she walked over to her horse. Hope you weren't too cold. She thought, putting its saddle back on and gathering herself together before hurling herself up and setting off.
      As she rode, her stomach clenched itself into a ball. She had not eaten for a while and she was starting to feel the effects. Her eyebrows scrunched up as she urged the horse on. She took no notice of the passing sights, the frozen puddles and white coated grass glazing her path in front of her. Her only thoughts now were home. Of the high walls and the grand halls, the archery targets and the stables where she used to play. Of her father and mother and Robb and Rickon and Bran and Sansa and Jon. She suddenly felt a huge pain in her heart. But it left her as soon as she saw over the rise of the hill.
      There in the distance lay Winterfell, it's towers rising to meet the clouds in the ashen blue sky. For a while she just stared taken by the sight of what was a distant memory. And if she peered closely she could just about make out the tallest trees in the Godswood.
      A rush of relief and excitement took hold, she squeezed her legs and urged the horse to go faster, willing it to with all she could. It was still far away and yet, Arya knew she was home. She didn't know what it was but she knew this was home, like a wolf knows it's pack.
      It was several hours before Arya made it to the gates that she'd so regularly seen from the inside.
      "'Ey up." Said a guard at the gate, moving himself in front of her. He was flattish and not fast Arya thought, as she sized him up automatically. "Where you going?"
      "In there." She replied calmly, staring at him. "I live here."
      "Fuck off." He said wearily to the guard next to him, like this happened to him everyday. Arya looked at them both, suddenly realising this was going to more difficult than she would have liked.
      "I'm Arya Stark. This is my home." Arya spoke, trying to sound genuine, although it was hard after so many years of being No One. The guards snickered to one another.
      "Arya Stark's dead." The second guard told her, this one was smaller and thinner. Arya knew she could fight them if she wanted to but she suddenly felt empty again. Everyone thinks I've been dead all this time, she thought.
      "Send for Maester Luwin or Ser Rodrick." Arya replied, surely they'd remember me, she thought. "They'll tell you who I am."
      "There's no Rodrick here." The second guard said with a confused tone.
      "Maester's named Wolkan." The first one said again, eying her in the face. Arya decided to ask them to send for Jon she knew Jon was not currently there for she had heard talk he was on a boat with a Dragon Queen but thought that if she asked it badly enough they might believe her.
      "Go ask Jon Snow, then, the King in the North. He's my brother."
      "He's a thousand miles away." The fat one said.
      "Look, it's cold and we're busy," the thin one began, "So, you know, best fuck off." The other guard silently agreed.
      "So who's in charge of Winterfell?" She asked, genuinely curious as what the answer was. They both sighed and rolled their eyes.
      "The Lady of Winterfell." He said tiresomely. Arya looked at him blankly. "Lady Stark." He said as if she were mad.
      "Which Lady Stark?" Arya was confused, there were no 'Lady Starks' left she thought.
      "You tell us. You're the one impersonating her sister." The fat one growled at her with a suspicious look on his face. Arya's heart stopped, Sansa? She thought. She's here? How? Wasn't she in Kingslanding married to the imp, or dead? But she would have to ask her later.
      "Tell Sansa her sister's home." She spoke confidently, gathering her thought again, although she didn't quite know how she'd be received.
      "Lady Sansa is too busy to waste her breath on you, just like us." The fat one said angrily. "So, for the last time, fuck off." He swung at her with a fist, but she dodged it easily. The guard looked embarrassed and uneasy, while Arya was bewildered and angry that they would even dare hit her. She squared up her shoulders towards them.
      "I'm getting into this castle one way or another." She said, keeping down her frustration. "If I'm not who I say I am, I won't last long. But if I am," she stared at them menacingly, "And Sansa finds out you turned me away—"
      "What's all this?" A voice from behind the guards spoke. The guards jumped and scuttled to the side.
      "M'Lady." They both said bowing.