warforged | oh sunshine in an empty place ( ota )

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

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[ she nods. ]

It's— [ her words jumble and all she can blurt out is, ] You just can't!

O...kay?

[Weird girl. Even for a paranoid one]

Fine, I won't bring you up.

[ even with the reassurance, she can't relax. her appetite is gone, but a month starving taught her to eat even when she doesn't want to. the meat sticks in her throat. she has to swallow with difficulty.

arya stares at her fingers, struggling not to cry. ]

[Well, looks like he messed up this one. He eyes her for a moment, before returning to his own food. It's awhile before he finally speaks up]

My birth name's Zelos.

[ eyes flitting toward him, arya wipes her cheek with the back of her hand. she frowns a little before asking, ] Why are you telling me?

It's a name I'd rather people didn't know.

[It was easier to be Kaneis. To let his past remain in his grave. He gives a shrug]

But a name for a name? It's only fair.

[ arya presses her lips together. she doesn't know what to make of it. is it a trick?

she runs her hand over nymeria's head. nymeria, who has stayed quiet throughout. ]

You can call me what you want. But not my name and not lady. [ earnestly, she adds, ] No one can know about that.

[So she is nobility. Huh. Strange]

Alright, alright.

[a beat]

What about 'little'?

Little what?

Dunno yet, just wanna know if I can still use that adjective.

[ for fuck's sake, zelos. ]

[It's very important okay!]

You're just going to think of something worse if I say no!

Well I guess I could use "Tiny"....

[ she gives him a good shove. ]

[Is shoved! He flails a little before he catches his balance]

Heeeey! C'mon!

[ she ignores his whining in favor of eating. at the way her day has been going, they're likely to be attacked. she wants to at least enjoy her food. ]

[Nonsense anything that attacks will likely go after the bright red thing first. You'll have more than enough time to get away]

[But ignoring his whining is normal, so he'll just return to his own eating since man, he's hungry. It's been a month, and having an actual appetite still sucks]

[ a hundred questions crowd her throat; she doesn't speak any. he knows her name and gave her his so she supposes she can trust him. she's hit him — twice! — and he hasn't hit her back or threatened her or insulted her.

he also said he wouldn't hurt her because there was no benefit in it. sellswords speak like that. if there was value in it, he'd turn on her. his easy cheer now means nothing. it only makes it worse because he speaks to her like her brothers would and she reacts like she would with them. ]

Did you have to bring back any food with you?

Hm?

[He considers]

Oh...probably. I was hoping to get some meat to trade with the villagers for other stuff, but- guess today wasn't my day. [He shrugs] Maybe one of the others had better luck.

[ she tosses her stick aside. arya and nymeria climb to their feet. ]

Kill the fire, then follow me.

[ arya lets nymeria trot ahead, jogging to keep up with the animal's long strides. ]

[....?]

Alright...?

[Not like he's got anything to lose. He tosses his own stick aside and kills the fire with a wave of his hand, before getting up to follow after.]

[ quiet as a shadow. calm as still water, she loops syrio's teachings. fear cuts deeper than swords. without armor to weight her down, arya dances from step to step, silent and graceful in a well-practiced way rather than the innate ease of later years.

soon, she overtakes nymeria. she keeps her eyes peeled on her surroundings, led on by intuition fed by little marks she finds. when they reach a small clearing, she turns around. she holds her finger to her lips for zelos to be silent before she climbs agile as a squirrel up a tree. a small rustling, scarcely noticeable over the sounds of the woods, comes from the tree next to hers, then the next one over: she jumps from tree to tree.

nymeria watches her climb then slinks off. despite her size, she is as quiet as arya, and vanishes as easily.

nothing happens for a long time. then distant sounds of a chase, quickly coming closer.

nymeria directs the stag into the clearing; arya, situated midway between them and where zelos waits, feathers it. it crashes to the ground, an arrow in its chest and another in its neck. a third arrow missed its mark; it digs into a tree.

arya swings herself down, her bow still in her hands. when she can see zelos, she dips into a perfect curtsy. ]

Edited 2014-05-13 21:05 (UTC)

[Zelos had followed as quietly as he could before he was signaled to be silent. So he stayed at the base of the tree, trying to follow her movements, but it's hard to do so with how quick and nimble she is. Soon, he gives up and decides to wait to see what happens.]

[He wasn't expecting Nymeria to lure a deer to them, or for Arya to shoot it down with ease. Since seriously, that's some hardcore stuff going on there. He takes a step back and makes a surprised noise]

Whoa! What-!

[WHAT EVEN JUST HAPPENED]

[ she smirks all too proudly. ]

It's yours. But not the arrows. Those are mine—

[ arya hurries first to the tree to retrieve the lone arrow there. after checking it over, she slides it into her quiver. ]

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