oh sunshine in an empty place ( ota )

[persequor]

Who: arya and you!!
What: arrival + wandering
Where: emerald sanctum + silverglen retreat
When: pre-kidnappings and post

a. emerald sanctum

[ for having been recently abducted to an entirely different world, arya stark is handling it remarkably well. joy had replaced her fear when she found nymeria returned to her. the direwolf is no longer a pup and had bowled her over, licking her neck and face while arya laughed and hugged her.

following the reunion, girl and wolf had taken to exploring. arya had tried climbing a tree, but the canopy was up too high and nymeria worried. after so long separated, she is loath to leave her wolf’s side. but there is plenty to see on the ground too. strange broad-leafed plants their green so dark and rich and beautiful flowers the like of which arya has never seen.

and the dragons!

she drew to a stop when she saw the first one — only for a moment before it vanished again among the green. her mouth dropped open into a perfect little o, her eyes wide and unblinking. dragons! real, living dragons!

even faced with such beasts, her fear feels like a distant thing. there are no guards and she has needle and nymeria and a thousand places to hide. she wanders in a state of half-curiosity, half-awe. giggling, she grabs a branch and swings herself back and forth. ]

b. silverglen retreat

[ she was warned of the dangers outside. still, arya awakes one morning and sets off after she and nymeria have eaten to the town. she has both her swords at her hip, needle gleaming and sharp and syrios’ heavy wooden blade, and a quiver of arrows and a bow at her back. she debated long moments whether to take a crossbow; she finally settled for the promise that she would practice with it when she returned.

on the way she practiced shooting at nearby targets. arya would grin after the arrows hit and run off to recover them. at the town, she and nymeria both got their fair share of looks, but nothing compared to how arya stared at the night elves.

they’re purple. it was all she could think and she made the mistake of voicing her observation. she apologized profusely and tried not to stare at anyone else once she was allowed in but—

they’re purple.

it has to be dye. but arya doesn’t ask. she wanders the streets, trying to keep her eyes on the houses, the shops, the wares. whenever her eyes slide over another elf, she drops them quickly to the floor. nymeria remains at her shoulder, growling at any that strays too close. ]

c. forests around silverglen retreat

[ make your own adventure! or ask me for a starter :') ]

Comments

[wilder]

[He relaxes with the arrow put away. Yeah. He rather not get shot by someone he used to know. Hell, he's even a little surprised at the offer]

Really? You mean it?

[persequor]

You were tracking it first, [ she says fairly. ] Nymeria can't eat it all herself.

[ she'll certainly try but. ]

[wilder]

Hm. Good point.

Yeah, I'll take some then. I am getting pretty hungry.

[Sure, maybe there won't be enough to trade after splitting it with a girl and her wolf, but hey. At least it should be enough to feed him right?]

[persequor]

[ he gets the hooves. ]

Do you have a knife? I didn't grab one.

[ but she brought two swords, one wooden. he is not allowed to judge. ]

[wilder]

[Wow you jerk]

Yeah, I got one.

[He'll start climbing down from the tree, a bit on the slow side. Man he misses when he could just jump off shit without getting hurt. But he'll finally reach the ground and dig in his cloak for his knife.]

[persequor]

[ arya walks around the stag to reach zelos. she holds out her hand for the knife.

behind her, nymeria slinks toward the dead animal. without turning around, arya calls her name. nymeria gives a piteous whine.

arya rolls her eyes in a "what can you do" gesture at zelos. ]

[wilder]

[He'll hand her the knife, watching Nymeria with slight amusement. No matter the world, that wolf follows Arya everywhere she goes. Some things never change]

I'm called Kaneis.

[persequor]

Thank you, Kaneis.

[ she gives him a smile and withholds her name. she returns to where she had been kneeling. this isn't something she's done herself — septa mordane would have fainted and the memory of the older woman is a pang — but arya saw it done and she remembers much of it.

biting her lip, she tries to skin the stag. turns out it's harder work than it looked. making a face, arya saws at the animal.

save the meat. ]

[wilder]

[He watches, a little unsure]

Uh...you know what you're doing?

[persequor]

[ no, she doesn't. ]

I've seen it done. [ a pause. ] I haven't done it myself. Not with something this big.

[ cat had not been squeamish either. but cat could skin and clean with quick clever hands anything nymeria felled. she did not need to look to anyone to know what do. she had been a rapier in all things, intuitively knowing where to strike.

arya is a child still in ways cat did not allow herself to be. she carries her doubts in her chewed lip, in the slight, hesitant hands. she wears her youth in the rounded planes of her face that a month starving couldn't fully erase and in the eyes that still register the wide-eyed wonder of nine instead of dispassionate cynicism she harbored at eleven.

two years is a long time. ]

[wilder]

[Sounds like what happens when one enters middle school. He notices those changes. She's definitely younger, and has been through a lot less. He's...not sure if that's a good thing or not, considering he doubts being dragged into a war against demons will do her much good]

[And he's still working on his skinning skills himself. But from what he's been practicing...]

Don't cut too deep into the meat. You wanna save as much of that as possible.

[persequor]

[ she corrects her hold and continues. her stubbornness wins out when she can rip one of the legs free. arya tosses it to nymeria. ]

There.

[ the wolf pounces on it immediately. tail curled high, she picks it up and carries the leg a short distance away. arya doesn't look for what she does. she eyes instead the carcass, trying to remember exactly where each cut was. ]

What do you want?

[wilder]

[He eyes Nymeria. What a big happy kill-stealing puppy.]

Uh- just gimme a leg. I can roast that.

[persequor]

Will you make a fire here?

[wilder]

Sure, I can do that. Lemme just grab some wood while you cut, okay?

[persequor]

O...kay?

[ get fresh meat, acquire new vocabulary. good day. ]

[wilder]

[yes good grow that vocab! Zelos meanwhile turns and goes off a little way to gather wood. He's gone for a bit, partly to find usable wood and partly to think through what to do about this situation, before he returns.]

[Once he's back, he looks for a good clearing to set up the wood. Finding a nice dirt patch, he sets up the wood in the usual way you set up a fire. ]

[But that's where normalcy ends because he's way too lazy to bring flint and do it the old fashion way. Instead once it's all set up, he lazily snaps his fingers and the wood bursts into flame.]

[persequor]

[ arya jumps. she stares at the fire, then looks to him for an explanation. ]

How did you do that?

[wilder]

Huh? - Oh! You mean the fire?

[he shrugs] Magic, I guess.

[persequor]

You know magic?

[ she does not doubt the existence of magic. disregarding the circumstances of her arrival, the presence of dragons alone means there is magic — and a lot of it — here.

but it's still incredible to her how easily people make use of it. she abandons her task to trail closer to the fire. ]

Gods above, [ she gasps under her breath. a quick laugh falls from her lips. ] What else can you do?

[wilder]

[Wow she's actually...happy he can light things on fire with his mind. That's a rather uncommong reaction. Surprise, awe, confusion- worry were the ones he was more used to]

[Oh well, he could get used to a happy reaction]

Heh...I can only do fire right now, I'm afraid. I think it's because I'm a Redsworn.

[persequor]

[ she giggles. ]

Did you get Red because of your hair?

[wilder]

[He makes an amused sound]

Maybe. There's a lot of people with red hair there.

[persequor]

[ so as not to waste any more time, arya returns to her task. she talks as she cuts. ]

They said I'm Greensworn, [ she chatters amicably. ] I can't set anything on fire.

Do you know any of them? Of the Green?

[wilder]

Greensworn, huh?

Only one, really. And I don't know her that well. I think her name's Rose?