A Time for Wolves

Arya II

Many days after her arrival at Eastwach, Tygett Rivers told her, at her insistence, that there had been no way to talk Cotter Pyke into sending her to Castle Black. She left the night after that. If anybody had noticed, they did not follow her. She had not sworn the Night's Watch's vows yet. She walked by the Wall, so there was no way she could get lost. She had only to keep walking forward until she got to Castle Black. She passed by some other castles in the way; the abandoned castles of the Night's Watch. She slept in some of them, to shelter from the cold during the nights (her journey lasted four days and their nights.)

In the first of those nights, in a castle that, according to Old Nan, was called Torches, she had a nightmare that did not let her sleep. She dreamed that she was again in King's Landing, facing Baelor's sept, about to witness her father's execution. She tried to run to him, but she was stopped by a man who was all dressed in black. He was Yoren. But when the Yoren from her dream spoke to her, he did not say what the real Yoren had told her then. Instead he said something that she later remembered her father had told her once: "Winter is coming, and when the snows fall and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives."

"My family was killed," Arya answered. "But I survived. I have no pack anymore, and I am a lone wolf now. I could survive on my own up to now. I don't need another pack." But Arya knew that it was a lie, and she did want to belong in a pack; a pack that would last forever, as she had thought when she was a little girl that her family would.

She wrenched free from Yoren's embrace and she tried to run away, but then she realized that they were not in King's Landing anymore, but somewhere in the Riverlands, near the Twins, and her companion was not Yoren, but the Hound. He continued with the exchange of words she had started with the other man. "Some of your pack were killed, that's true, but not all. You could live as a lone wolf so far, but it's not winter yet, and when it comes, you'll need your family," he explained. "But you already know that. Otherwise, you woul not be here."

And suddenly she realized that the scene had changed again: she was now far in the North, walking by the Wall, and she could see Castle Black in the distance. There was someone dressed in black there, waiting for her. It was Jon. Arya ran to him, but each moment he was further away from her. She tried to run faster, but the wind pushed her back. Snow started falling over her, heavier every second. She slipped and fell to the ground. She could not get up; every time she tried she fell again. The snow started to bury her, and she could not see anything anymore. She screamed as loudly as she could, trying to call Jon, but the only one who heard it was herself, who woke up shuddering upon hearing it. Eager to resume her journey and get to Castle Black, Arya set out immediately after opening her eyes, though the sun was just beginning to come out and it was mostly dark.

When she finally got there, many nights after that, two young men in black saw her come and approached her. "Good evening. Could you tell us your name, and the reason why you are here?" One of them asked.

Arya decided to assume a new identity, because she had to hide from Jon until after she had said her vows, and saying that she was a Cassel would only draw his attention. "My name is Gendry, and I come from King's Landing. Yoren found me living in the streets of Flea Bottom and he offered me to join the Night's Watch. He told me they would feed me here, and that I would have a place to sleep in. I accepted, and I traveled with his group, but we were attacked. He died, and most of them did too. After that, I decided to make the rest of the journey by myself, and here I am. Can I join the Watch, then?"

"Of course you can! The Watch accepts and needs all the men who want to be part of it," the young man said. "It's a shame Yoren and his recruits have been attacked, especially now that we need them so much." He turned to his brother. "Grenn, would you look for some steward to find the boy somewhere to sleep?"

"Sure, Pyp. Do you think they'll be awake?"

"It's been hours since midnight. I am not awake, Grenn! You wake them up."

Grenn took Arya to the room of one of his brothers who belonged to the order of the stewards. He was the fattest boy Arya had ever seen. He told her his name was Samwell, but he preferred to be called Sam. She told him her name was Gendry. He welcomed her to the Night's Watch and took her to a room she would have to share with two other men who were also recruits in training like her. Before leaving her there, he asked her curiously, "Gendry, I can see you are already dressed in black. May I know where you got those clothes from?"

"They gave them to me at Eastwach. I got there first, but I wanted to go to Castle Black, so I left and walked until I got here."

"And is there any reason why you prefer Castle Black to Eastwach?" He asked her, intrigued by her answer. Arya bit her lip, trying to make up something, and Sam, suddenly worried about her silence, started apologizing. "Please pardon me, Gendry. It was not my intention to bother you with my questions. If you don't want to answer, there is no reason why you should."

Arya decided she could probably trust that kind and shy boy, at least a little. She told him part of the truth.

"I didn't come to the Wall only looking for food and shelter, but also for my family. The war has taken both my parents and all of my brothers, save one. He is in the Night's Watch, and he lives in Castle Black. I came here for him."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Sam said, and he sounded sincere. "Who is your brother, Gendry? I can take you with him, so you can tell him you are here."

"No!" Arya hastened to reply. "He mustn't find out that I am here. Not yet. Not until I say my vows and become a man of the Night's Watch."

"But why not? If you have journeyed from King's Landing to find him, why not tell him?"

"He is my older brother, and if he found out that I am here, he would not let me take my vows. He would say I'm too young, only a child, and that the Night's Watch is too dangerous for me." It was not a lie: if Jon discovered her intentions, it was true that he would not let her join the Watch, because she was too young and, mostly, because she was a girl. "Sam, swear on your life that you won't tell him," she asked him, looking intently to his eyes.

"Even if I wanted to tell him, I wouldn't be able to, because you haven't told me his name," he said, smiling. "But I swear to you that, if you decided to tell me, I would keep the secret with my life. I swear it, if you want, on the Old Gods and the New."

"I believe you, Sam," Arya said, satisfied with his answer. "But for the time being, I would like to keep my brother's identity secret."

"As you wish, Gendry. Well, I think it's past time we went to bed. You will have to wake up early for your training, so you'd best get some sleep. Good luck!"

"Thank you, Sam," she answered, getting into her new room and lying down as silently as possible to avoid waking her roommates.

She woke up when the young men who had slept with her got up to get dressed. She waited until they were ready and followed them. When they asked who she was, she introduced herself as Gendry, and they introduced themselves too: they were called Satin and Hareth. They went together to the common hall to have breakfast and she realized that she was very hungry, as she had hardly eaten anything in her way from Eastwatch.

They sat at a table and the young men told Arya about the Night's Watch, and they also talked about themselves and their lives before going to the Wall. Satin had been born in a brothel, and Hareth in Mole's Town. When they asked her, she said she came from Flea Bottom. She had lived there for some days, in the streets, so it was not a difficult lie to maintain.

Then they spoke about their master-at-arms, Iron Emmett. They told her he was a strong man and a very skilled swordsman. He was kind and a good trainer too, they said. They also told her about the other recruits that were training like them to join the Night's Watch. She was surprised to learn that some of them were wildlings. That was probably the first time there were wildlings in the Watch, Satin said, and they owed it to their new Lord Commander. From that moment on, the conversation focused on said Lord Commander, who was, because of his actions in Lord Mormont's Great Ranging, his performance at the Battle of the Wall, and the fact that he was probably the youngest Lord Commander of the Night's Watch in the entire history, greatly admired by the recruits.

"I fought by his side when a group of wildlings attacked the Wall. He was hurt and could hardly walk, but he fought impressively nonetheless. He shot many wildlings with his crossbow. But he didn't want to kill them. He doesn't agree with our never-ending war with them. He says we have a real enemy in common and that instead of killing each other, we men should join together to defeat the Others. I agree with Jon Snow. The wildlings are only people, just like us," Satin said, both proud and excited.

"He is Jon Stark now, Satin," Hareth corrected him. But Arya had stopped paying attention to the conversation.

She was surprised and speechless with pride when she learned that Jon was Lord Commander. But she could not let Satin and Hareth notice that she knew him. She thought then of a good way of changing the subject slightly, and she asked Satin if he really believed in such things as the Others. He seemed to be a grown man, old enough not to believe in those foolish stories for children. Hareth answered for him, with a somber expression.

"The Others are real. Not even the men of the Night's Watch believed it at the beginning, but it's the truth. Some of them have now seen it with their own eyes. The white walkers killed many of them, and the wildlings were compelled to face the Watch in a desperate battle to escape them and take shelter behind the Wall. You can ask Iron Emmett during our training session, if you don't believe us. He hasn't seen them, but he knows as we do that they are real, and he will not lie to you."

Arya decided that they were making fun of her, so she didn't ask anything else about it. Frowning, she finished her breakfast without saying another word to them.

She made sure her sword was sheathed and hidden under her clothes, because she could not let anybody see it and ask her where she had got it from, and followed the others to the armory, where each of them picked an armor of their size and a tourney sword. Arya picked a helmet too, to conceal her face in case Jon went to the practice yard to watch them. In the yard they met three other men, who were also recruits. Soon after them came the master-at-arms, and he greeted them all before starting the practice session. Satin introduced her to the other recruits and to Emmett as 'Gendry'.

It was easy for Arya to defeat most of them. They did not know how to fight, and the only advantage they had over her was their strength, which they would not use to avoid hurting her (no decent man would ever hurt a child.)

"Gendry, I see you've got some skill with the sword. You don't fight with the traditional style, but you seem to know how to do it. Have you ever had fighting lessons before?" The master-at-arms asked, intrigued.

"Sort of. My father taught me. He came from Braavos, and he trained me in the Water Dancer's style," Arya said, because she knew the water dancers came from Braavos.

She asked him how much time he thought she would have to wait to say her vows. He answered he was not quite certain, but she insisted until she got an answer. Eventually he let out that she would be ready in two or three moon turns.

During the class, Emmett looked at her especially. He would probably have preferred to see the new boy's face, but he did not ask for it. After they had lunch, the First Steward Bowen Marsh assigned a task to each of them. Arya was charged with cleaning the stables. It was not a pleasant chore, but it was tolerable. When the day was over, Arya went to bed happily, hoping that for once her plans would work.