A song of Ice and Fire 1. Chapter 1

The cruel hand of fate (POV: MYCAH)

The sky's above consumed my vision with nights as dead as I was soon to be, deep purples blurring into vicious black's as I lay there upon the cobbles of the kingsroad my body crumpled and broken my hip sticking out at an angel, the agony nothing more than a numbness sting in my spine, my legs lifeless upon my command. Her face was still there with me, her words sketched upon her sweet lips.  
"Run Mycah, Run"  
It was the dawning of my 8th name day when I first met Arya Stark, I had a woke early and fled straight to the woods in hope of seeing the night time animal's which always brought me joy, the wild hares with their speed and agility could run faster than any man, any knight in a story. And the stag's. The stag's were my favorite, majestic, proud, my farther said they were the Sigel of the king and therefore were sacred to the realm, I could believe this of them. And so I crept as quietly as I could though the dark undergrowth of the Gods wood. At first I thought it was a ghost a simple mind trick being played upon me as a joke of the moonlight, a wolf bounding towards me, vivid white and snarling eyes a blaze at the scent of fresh prey. It was almost at my heels as I began to run my breath frozen in front of my eyes and the shock made me stumble and fall. Just as its snout was loomed of me it s teeth becoming sharper bearing down at me more blood thirsty at ever look I dared to take I heard her. Her voice sharp and sweet from behind me.  
"NO Nymeria, Bad wolf, Leave him"  
The great beast stopped dead then slowly began to walk towards the grass bank for behind which the voice had emerged. I followed cautiously my heart in my mouth, it was incredibly early for a butcher s boy to be wondering in the Gods wood, people could suspect me up to no good, in Winterfell strange acts were rare and morning wanderings in the best of times were frowned upon.  
"Hello, I was walking ser, not spying or up to nothing"  
I called And then I saw her, from the bushes on the far side of the clearing her head emerged her dark hair limp over one side of her face, and her features warped from the cold. I m just walking to she said with a strong stance and confident poise. A moments silence passed with only the snowy wolfs heavy breathing and the look of shared curiously between us.  
"I'm Arya, and this is Nymeria, she's a direwolf sorry if she scared you, I am training her but she does like to hunt" she told me.  
"I'm Mycah and it didn't scare me" I paused "But that wolf it's huge, and it crept up on me, you could have told me you were there  
" She grinned and her eyes lit up with pride and humor "I know, she's one of the only direwolf left this side of the wall, my brothers have the others but Nymeria is the best hunter other than John's maybe"  
I was still a little taken aback by this girl she was short maybe 6 years of 7 and was dressed in a white woolen gown with a black fur cloak several sizes too big for her draped across her shoulders. I returned my gaze to the wolf who's eyes seemed less daunting even kind and at this I remembered something my father and sister would say about how the Lord Stark of Winterfell found his children direwolf s as a sign of the house. I looked back to the girl in shock and wonder. I knelt on one knee as I had seen my family do when the Stark's would ride though the town  
"Lady stark" I said to the ground as I blushed deep red.  
At this she seemed to deflate, he body slumped over and she mumbled something to herself.  
"Excuse me my lady?" I asked still on my knees in the cold snow, I wounded weather I should rise but her eyes had locked on me in what seemed like rage.  
"That's my mother, not me. I'm not a lady. I'm Arya" she walked beside me and pushed me on the floor sharply. My fingers caught sharp rocks as I stumbled and fell onto my side. I'm sorry, "I'm sorry, I've never met a Lord's daughter before"  
"Well I'm just Arya"  
her voice broke as she saw the small cuts forming on my hands the slow trickles of blood down the side. She knelt down beside me herself and wrapped my hand in her fur cloak  
"I'm sorry too she said It s just, my scepter tells me I'm meant to be a lady. It s expected of me and Sansa, my sister. But she's perfect at it, she's makes gowns girls cry over and when she smiles all the boys try and talk to her and ask her for her kisses"  
She looked bitter at this but the sadness brought out a new side in this girl I had just met, for the first time she seemed like a girl to me, her face was very pretty not soft but confident. Sitting there in the Gods wood with her she seemed like a goddess herself and all too soon I became aware of her soft grip around my injured hands.  
"Not that I care, I want to be a knight, my farther always speaks about the kings guard, brave knights like Ser Barristan Selmy who can conquer lands and bring fear to whoever they want, no one would dare call them a lady" and once again her smile returned at this. If only I could find someone to practice my sword fighting with, I could train I could I don't remember ever making a conscience decision to befriend this lord s daughter in the woods, but it seems as if my brain could not stop itself. She stared at me in disbelief yet she her smile grew even wider at this.  
"Have you ever fought with swords before? Sticks? Mycah would you, would you really?" she said  
"Well, no and I don t think I would be very good. In fact you should probably ask your farther for help, I wouldn't do, I m a butchers boy" The doubt was clear in my voice.  
"NO you said you would, you have too now!"  
Her eyes bulged at me the startling blue was all I could see now so of course without knowing what I had got myself into. I agreed. The dawn was breaking over the tops of the trees and the woods around us was starting to awaken with the noises of everyday life.  
"I need to go back to the castle, before they realize I've left"she said  
this thought seemed to sadden her and although I would never admit it, I felt genuinely sorry to see this Arya leave. I told her at which butchers my father worked, where I would be found. And with only a nod and a slightly promise of another meeting Arya stark and her direwolf sped away.  
As i watched her walk away all i could think was how much i would like to have told her she was indeed more beautiful than her sister.


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2-  
It was 3 days before she came for me, and that evening, that night in the woods began to feel like a dream. I had imagined her I was sure of it. Her face pale in the moonlight and her smile as we became friends. And yet 3 days later round mid morn there she was standing at the table of my father s butcher shop looking for me. She didn't seem put off by the amount of congealed blood across every surface, the dead carcass of the animals I loved swinging from hooks behind me.  
"Mycah!" She yelled and ran over to where I stood. "Can we practice now, I know a place down by the river it'll be perfect" I knew my farther relied on my help in the shop so I turned to him  
"Can I farther? I won t be very long, please" He looked at Arya wearily and shot me a disapproving look however he knew she was a stark and to deny a stark what she wanted was very unwise of a peasant especially with Nymeria there giving him her devious wolf glares.  
"Ok my son, but be back soon" and at this she grabbed my arm and ran me out of the shop. When we got to the river bank it was a truly wonderful surrounding, the river a deep sapphire blue in the sunny day that rarely comes to Winterfell. And the light covering of snow was melting slowly creating the illusion of crystals upon the ground. And then there she was without the heavy black cloak obscuring her figure she looked more radiant then even my dreams had shown. She was dressed in a pale blue skirt down to her ankles and embodied with silver and a black leather tunic wrapped tight to her body with a sliver wolf printed across her shoulder. Her hair was slung up tight across the top of her head giving off a full view of her face, her strong jawline and the faint darkening of old bruises over her left side. We walked along the outline of the tree boundaries searching for large sticks that would be suitable for use as swords to practice with.  
"I've got some, an old stick of willow or oak" I yelled to her. It was bent and misshapen but there was two and they looked sturdy enough not to splinter under hand I threw her one and began to walk back to the center of the grass bank and took up a stance I had herd of knights using in combat. She laughed  
"What are you doing?"  
"I'm preparing to fight you" She looked at me sceptically  
"You look like a fool, you do know that I...I told you wouldn't do" I blushed as red as my hair and walked away from her  
"No come back, I ll show you"! She belt her left leg slightly and stood sideways  
"My brother Robb always stands like this when him and John practice". I echoed her movements and then she smiled.  
"Begin"  
We battled like that for what seemed like eternity she was fast, and quite good. Again and again she would run at me, face a blaze with concentration and each time I would retaliate, respond to her moves, I ducked and dived as she jabbed at me our bodies moving in one continuous movement as if we were one. The darkness came all too quickly that evening and it was only at the first sighting of the moon we sat at the bank and began to rest. I was panting hard at this stage and was flushed all over, I keeled next to the river and scooped up a handful of cool water. The shadowy evening sky reflected back at me the pale purples and deep blues, and then there was her face, over my shoulder.  
"Thank you" she said, she too was breathing heavily although her face was composed and relaxed.  
"No problem, me' lady" I replied in a sarcastic tone.  
She laughed and punched me lightly on the arm.  
"Seriously. Thank you Mycah, no one's ever taken me seriously about fighting before. Not my lord farther, or my brothers or anyone" her eyes were fixed upon mine, drawing me in, willing me closer to her.  
"It's... It's I had fun" I stumbled over my words, my concentration drawn away by her face. Then she did something I had never seen Arya do, even when she was upset, or scared or even during our combat. He cheeks became flush with Scarlett and her face turned the shade of autumn. Her face became closer to mine, are breathing still heavy became one beat of its own, everything vanished, the sky above me the gentle still of the river, far away noise of the village preparing to rest for the night. It was just me, me and Arya. Then suddenly she arose from the ground  
"I better go, See you around butchers boy" she smiled playfully and walked away from me. Leaving me sitting there. Breathless. At least 3 counts went by before I could rise again. I stood there on, now I come to think of it slightly damp dewy grass contemplating the day's events. Arya had come for me, like she said she would, would she come for me again? Could I go to the castle and ask for her? I doubted the caste guardsmen would take very kindly to a village poking around. And yet with all these thoughts bombarding my brain I could not move the image of her face, so close to mine, her breath upon my neck. Whatever happened one thing I was certain of, I must see Arya Stark.


End file.
