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(no subject)
Jun. 16th, 2015 04:19 pmNowhere can ever replace Winterfell. Nowhere can truly feel like home again, Arya knows.
But they can't continue to live in the small apartment that the city's designated the two of them. Not with two direwolves with killer appetites and a population that would sooner view them as beasts than the best friends of two young girls.
So, though they've more than delayed it, she and Sansa give into the inevitability and trek to the countryside to start to look for a new place for the four of them.
When they're out in the open air and Arya turns her face away from the city, it's easier to imagine she's anywhere else. That she might be back in Westeros, never too far from her mother or her father, her brothers. Never having felt the gaping ache of loss like she has now, the emptiness that only orphans can truly suffer.
If she closes her eyes, she can almost convince herself the earth smells like Winterfell, too.
But of course it's not, and soon Sansa's calling for her to follow, up the hill to look at a property for rent. It's nothing extravagant, of course, nothing more than what two girls without jobs can scrape together. But there's so much more space, and she can already picture Lady and Nymeria stretching their legs and roaming about like they ought to be able to.
It will never be home, but it might just do.
But they can't continue to live in the small apartment that the city's designated the two of them. Not with two direwolves with killer appetites and a population that would sooner view them as beasts than the best friends of two young girls.
So, though they've more than delayed it, she and Sansa give into the inevitability and trek to the countryside to start to look for a new place for the four of them.
When they're out in the open air and Arya turns her face away from the city, it's easier to imagine she's anywhere else. That she might be back in Westeros, never too far from her mother or her father, her brothers. Never having felt the gaping ache of loss like she has now, the emptiness that only orphans can truly suffer.
If she closes her eyes, she can almost convince herself the earth smells like Winterfell, too.
But of course it's not, and soon Sansa's calling for her to follow, up the hill to look at a property for rent. It's nothing extravagant, of course, nothing more than what two girls without jobs can scrape together. But there's so much more space, and she can already picture Lady and Nymeria stretching their legs and roaming about like they ought to be able to.
It will never be home, but it might just do.
(no subject)
Jan. 13th, 2015 11:28 pmWhen Arya awakens with a start, Nymeria's already sitting upright. It's almost as if she's ready for attack, though the moment she catches Arya's gaze and the tears in her eyes, the wolf nuzzles her instead.
It's nothing unusual. Arya has nightmares almost every night. That's what makes going to school even more miserable, the baggy circles under her eyes while the children around her shriek and play after what she can only guess are blissful dreams. They've never suffered anything, she can't help but think, a bitterness that can't be eased bubbling in her chest. It's like tar, turning her insides dark.
But while she always wakes with her heart racing, she doesn't always awaken crying, and that's what pulls Arya from her bed, feet padding along the carpet as she seeks out her sister in the next room, savagely rubbing the dampness out of her eyes. If Sansa's sleeping soundly, Arya knows she shouldn't disturb her, but she creeps in anyway, raising her fist to the door once she's already inside. She can't help it. There's no one else. No one else in the city, no one else in the world. That's what she dreams about every night, after all, the flocks of birds that fled when her father's head fell, her sister's scream and the rest of them, the rest of them that she could only imagine in gruesome detail: her mother, Robb, Bran and Rickon. Jon.
All gone.
"Sansa?"
It's nothing unusual. Arya has nightmares almost every night. That's what makes going to school even more miserable, the baggy circles under her eyes while the children around her shriek and play after what she can only guess are blissful dreams. They've never suffered anything, she can't help but think, a bitterness that can't be eased bubbling in her chest. It's like tar, turning her insides dark.
But while she always wakes with her heart racing, she doesn't always awaken crying, and that's what pulls Arya from her bed, feet padding along the carpet as she seeks out her sister in the next room, savagely rubbing the dampness out of her eyes. If Sansa's sleeping soundly, Arya knows she shouldn't disturb her, but she creeps in anyway, raising her fist to the door once she's already inside. She can't help it. There's no one else. No one else in the city, no one else in the world. That's what she dreams about every night, after all, the flocks of birds that fled when her father's head fell, her sister's scream and the rest of them, the rest of them that she could only imagine in gruesome detail: her mother, Robb, Bran and Rickon. Jon.
All gone.
"Sansa?"
Arya hates school.
She doesn't even need a full day to decide that. She'd decided it before arriving, honestly, but Sansa had mentioned they'd take her away from her sister if she didn't go, that it was the law, and she wasn't having any part in that. Enough people in her life were gone, she wasn't about to let Sansa go anywhere without a fight.
But she still fights Sansa about the whole thing. Especially the fact she's not allowed to take her sword. It's stupid, a double-standard, because nobody would stop her from taking sewing needles, she's sure, but apparently Needle is dangerous. She can't help it if they're afraid. But she still gives in and even brushes her hair and goes and decides by something they call recess that she's absolutely done with this school business.
She's never felt so stupid. And that's really saying something.
At least she'd known what Septa Mordane was talking about, even if she wasn't any good at it. At least she understood, theoretically, how the instructions were meant to work. But here there's discussion of history she's never heard of, mathematical and scientific formulas that sound as foreign as Dothraki in her head. There's languages, too, but nobody's offering to teach her Valyrian here.
It just doesn't seem fair at all, and when the bell rings she marches outside and brushes past the crowd of classmates until she finds a spot in the shade beside a tree. Slumping down beside it, she reaches into her bag and pulls out the food Sansa had bought her at the store. But she wants none of it.
None of it tastes like home.
She doesn't even need a full day to decide that. She'd decided it before arriving, honestly, but Sansa had mentioned they'd take her away from her sister if she didn't go, that it was the law, and she wasn't having any part in that. Enough people in her life were gone, she wasn't about to let Sansa go anywhere without a fight.
But she still fights Sansa about the whole thing. Especially the fact she's not allowed to take her sword. It's stupid, a double-standard, because nobody would stop her from taking sewing needles, she's sure, but apparently Needle is dangerous. She can't help it if they're afraid. But she still gives in and even brushes her hair and goes and decides by something they call recess that she's absolutely done with this school business.
She's never felt so stupid. And that's really saying something.
At least she'd known what Septa Mordane was talking about, even if she wasn't any good at it. At least she understood, theoretically, how the instructions were meant to work. But here there's discussion of history she's never heard of, mathematical and scientific formulas that sound as foreign as Dothraki in her head. There's languages, too, but nobody's offering to teach her Valyrian here.
It just doesn't seem fair at all, and when the bell rings she marches outside and brushes past the crowd of classmates until she finds a spot in the shade beside a tree. Slumping down beside it, she reaches into her bag and pulls out the food Sansa had bought her at the store. But she wants none of it.
None of it tastes like home.
(no subject)
Jul. 31st, 2014 01:22 pmShe's not very good with maps and it takes Arya longer than it should to find the apartment, longer still to figure out the elevator that takes her up to her floor. Everything is so different here and she hates it, hates not knowing how things work and hates that as a result, everyone else seems infinitely more knowledgeable than her.
She can't even figure out the key to the place she's supposed to live. It's different to any of the ones she's used in Winterfell, different to the small one she's used to lock up her belongings before journeying on the Kingsroad. She's so frustrated that she wonders if maybe she has the wrong door, even if the slip of paper inside the envelope insists it's #47. So she tries #48 and it's just as useless, and she kicks the door in frustration. "Seven hells," she curses. Maybe it'd be easier to just go and live on the streets like back in King's Landing instead.
At least she can afford dinner here, if she can figure out how the currency works.
She can't even figure out the key to the place she's supposed to live. It's different to any of the ones she's used in Winterfell, different to the small one she's used to lock up her belongings before journeying on the Kingsroad. She's so frustrated that she wonders if maybe she has the wrong door, even if the slip of paper inside the envelope insists it's #47. So she tries #48 and it's just as useless, and she kicks the door in frustration. "Seven hells," she curses. Maybe it'd be easier to just go and live on the streets like back in King's Landing instead.
At least she can afford dinner here, if she can figure out how the currency works.
[Playlist]
Aug. 4th, 2013 04:58 pmi. Dog Days Are Over – Florence + The Machine (x)
Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive
ii. Howl – Florence + The Machine (x)
If you could only see the beast you've made of me
I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground.
iii. The Wolves – Bon Iver (x)
Someday my pain
Someday my pain will mark you
Harness your blame
Harness your blame, walk through.
iv. Paradise – Coldplay (x)
Life goes on
It gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear, a waterfall
In the night, the stormy night
She closed her eyes
In the night, the stormy night
Away she'd fly.
v. Tornado – Jonsi (x)
You grow, you roar
Although disguised
I know you.
You'll...
You'll learn to know
You grow, you grow like tornado
You grow from the inside
Destroy everything through
Destroy from the inside
Erupt like volcano
You flow through the inside
You kill everything through
You kill from the inside.
vi. Dirty Paws – Of Monsters and Men (x)
Her dirty paws and furry coat,
She ran down the forest slopes.
The forest of talking trees;
They used to sing about the birds and the bees.
The bees had declared a war;
The sky wasn't big enough for them all.
The birds, they got help from below,
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow.
vii. Bluebird of Happiness – Mojave 3 (x)
Gotta find a way to get home strong
Gotta find a way back home
Gotta find a light to guide me along
Gotta find a way back home
Running for your life won't get you so far
Running for your life so far
(Never wanted to feel this pain
Never wanted to feel so sad.)
viii. Heir To Winterfell – Ramin Djawadi (x)
Instrumental.
Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive
ii. Howl – Florence + The Machine (x)
If you could only see the beast you've made of me
I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground.
iii. The Wolves – Bon Iver (x)
Someday my pain
Someday my pain will mark you
Harness your blame
Harness your blame, walk through.
iv. Paradise – Coldplay (x)
Life goes on
It gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear, a waterfall
In the night, the stormy night
She closed her eyes
In the night, the stormy night
Away she'd fly.
v. Tornado – Jonsi (x)
You grow, you roar
Although disguised
I know you.
You'll...
You'll learn to know
You grow, you grow like tornado
You grow from the inside
Destroy everything through
Destroy from the inside
Erupt like volcano
You flow through the inside
You kill everything through
You kill from the inside.
vi. Dirty Paws – Of Monsters and Men (x)
Her dirty paws and furry coat,
She ran down the forest slopes.
The forest of talking trees;
They used to sing about the birds and the bees.
The bees had declared a war;
The sky wasn't big enough for them all.
The birds, they got help from below,
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow.
vii. Bluebird of Happiness – Mojave 3 (x)
Gotta find a way to get home strong
Gotta find a way back home
Gotta find a light to guide me along
Gotta find a way back home
Running for your life won't get you so far
Running for your life so far
(Never wanted to feel this pain
Never wanted to feel so sad.)
viii. Heir To Winterfell – Ramin Djawadi (x)
Instrumental.
