Tales From The House Of Black And White

As the fire crackled and swayed happily in the deep darkness of the night, Arya tucked her cloak tight around her and breathed out a sigh. She'd been travelling alone, back to Winterfell and the ache in her chest hadn’t subsided. She'd thought it would, the further away she got from Braavos and closer she got to Winterfell. But it hadn’t for whatever reason it had only grown worse. Well. She said whatever reason, but the truth was she knew the reason. She just didn't want to admit it. A shiver ran through her as the night grew deeper and the wind began to blow more persistently. Gods! She'd forgotten how cold the North could become. Gone from it for so long as she had been. But she was a Stark. The cold was in her blood, it wouldn’t take long before she acclimatised to it again. But until then? She tossed some more firewood into the flames, building them up some more. As she settled into her thoughts, which desperately tried to turn in a direction she knew they needed to go. She wrestled with them. No. Not now. She wasn’t ready to think about it. May never be ready but she knew they couldn't stay unacknowledged for much longer. Later, she promised herself. She would think about them later but not tonight. It was too cold for deep thought tonight. They'd only be a distraction, deafening her to the sounds around her outside of her mind. And a slip like that could mean the difference between life or death, should she miss something. Something like the sudden snap of a branch off to the left of her. Whipping her head in its direction, she gripped the hilt of Needle that lay by her feet, between her and the fire. “Who goes there!?” She called out strong and true. “Show yourself.” She commanded next, drawing Needle in preparation. “Clever women don't allow a fire to blaze so strongly in the night, when they are trying to remain undetected.” The voice slid to her on the wind in a seductive, dark caress that perked her ears and warmed her blood. That voice, like velvet covered steel, with a lilt that would be best placed in song. She would never not recognise that voice. It was his voice. A voice burned into her memory that made her heart race, her mind rebel and her body to burn. “I left you in Braavos. Why are you now here, Jaqen?” She asked, not sheathing her blade quite yet as she did not know the purpose of his presence. But she did relax her grip and allow it to drop slightly. “Well that is the question isn't it. A woman left a man. A man let her go. So why now would he be following her once more? The answer is not a simple one. But if a woman has time, a man will explain.” He replied cryptically as he finally stepped into the light of the fire. He was dressed for this part of the world she noted. Heavy moleskin, fur edged gloves. An equally heavy sable clock, lined with fox fur and wearing a thick wool tunic and jerkin. And heavy wool trousers. His boots appeared to be fur lined as well and made of a fine leather, with a small, masculine stacked heel. He'd come prepared, she realised. He'd planned this. But why? “In the depths of a forest at night, all one has is time. So I suppose if you need it, you have it.” She replied, giving a dismissive wave towards the open space on the fallen tree she was sitting on. “Get by the fire, Jaqen. You're more at risk of succumbing to this cold than I am. I was born in it.” She added and watched him nod before he made his way over sedately to her side. The slow way he walked, combined with his relaxed body language, told her that she had no need for Needle yet, so she sheathed it once more, laying it back upon the ground at her feet. When Jaqen took up his place beside her, she watched as he also disarmed, laying out his blades at his feet as well. So it would be a peaceful talk, she noted. He was not here to put an end to her as she had first suspected. So then, what was he here for? “If you are hungry? There is still stew in the pot.” She nodded towards the small, iron handled pot that hung by the edge of the fire. Her freshly washed bowl and spoon sitting just below that on a rock. “It will still be warm. If you don't eat it, it will be tossed for the animals.” She added and he thought for a moment before he nodded. She watched as he ladled some of the remaining, still steaming stew into the bowl and picked up the spoon. She let them sit in silence for a while, allowing Jaqen his time to eat. She noted how he seemed pleasantly surprised at the taste and she couldn’t help but smile. Yes, she thought, she'd paid great attention to Umma’s lessons, when she'd been placed on kitchen duty. That woman had been able to cook like nobody's business and Arya had devoured, no pun intended, any and all lessons the older woman gave to her. “A man thanks a woman for the stew, it was quite tasty. It seems he made a good choice, when he placed her in Umma’s care for a time. She evidently taught a woman well.” He complimented her once he'd finished and walked over to the stream that was nearby. There he rewashed the dishes before he came back over. Setting them aside neatly, he took his place beside her again. “I was the only one interested in learning from her. So she took to it with gusto.” Arya replied with a light chuckle. “But I'm glad you liked it. Hopefully it helped warm you some at any rate.” She added and he smiled and gave a nod, before he pulled his pack from behind his back and started to root around in it. Soon he produced a small kettle and two cups, which he set down on a rock. He then got up and filled it with the crisp, clean water of the stream. She watched silently as he hooked this over the fire, sitting back down to hunt through his bag again. After a few moments, he pulled free a tin that she knew would contain tea leaves. Opening it, he handed it to her where she took it and smelled the contents. Detecting nothing but the fragrant leaves of Braavos’ special blend that they both enjoyed, she nodded and handed it back. He then scooped a few spoons of the leaves into the kettle, to allow them to infuse and warm alongside the water. Closing up the tin again, he slipped it back into his pack and then set it aside out of the way. “A man supposes he should begin telling you why he is here.” He said after a few minutes of silence between them and Arya nodded at this. “Yes I suppose you should. So. Why did you follow me?” She prompted and he sighed quietly. “He supposes it began, oh, roughly a year into your stay at the House. Which, just so you are aware, I have also left.” He began and Arya felt her mouth fall open at this. “You've left!?” She asked with a look of disbelief before he nodded slowly. “I have. After you? Things weren't…right any more. I saw…too many things wrong with the inner workings of that house. Things that, up until that night in the hall between us, I had been blind to. The Faceless men have lost their way. Strayed much too far from their original path and calling.” He explained and Arya didn't know what to say. So she stayed silent and simply reached over and rested her hand over his, that lay between them, comfortingly. Urging him without words, to continue. “Because of that straying? I could not, in good conscience, remain there doing their work. But more than that? The way I was forced to treat you because of the current workings of the House? It was unacceptable. And the damage it caused you, almost broke a man. He made a promise. To look after you and see that you learned what you needed to take your revenge. He was made to break those promises. There is no honour among thieves, lovely girl. But there is honour among assassin's. Or, at least, there is for this one.” He explained, and she felt her mouth fall open slightly at this too. But she didn’t say anything right away as she watched him pull off his glove, wrap it around the hand of the kettle, and bring it off the fire. He took some time then to pour tea for them both, before setting the kettle on the rock with their cups. Handing one of the cups to her which she accepted with thanks, he kept the other for himself, pulling his glove back on. They sipped in silence for a few moments, sliding closer together, she noted. An action that she didn’t think was a deliberate one, more they had naturally just brought themselves closer to one another. Whether that was because of comfort and familiarity or whether it was just because of the cold? She couldn’t say. But whatever it was they were now pressed, lightly, against one another's sides. She breathed in of him in a not so subtle show and she spied him smirking into his cup in amusement, quickly glancing at her from the corner of his eye knowingly. “Oh shut it! You didn’t say anything but shut it. Your scent has always been a comfort. You know that!” She chided him with a chuckle, a chuckle that he returned. “Yes, a man is aware. What he was not aware of was that a woman appreciated it so much, that she made it her own fragrance choice.” He lightly teased and she blushed then. Dammit! She’d forgotten she’d put on his choice of scented oils this morning. “Don’t get too excited. I was feeling nostalgic this morning.” She snapped, though it wasn’t unkindly or with venom. He just chuckled again but didn’t say anything else. “So you’ve left the House of Black and White because you didn’t agree with how things are done in general now. But you came to me because you felt things ended wrong between us, is that it?” She asked him with a sigh, finally bringing the conversation back to his presence in Westeros. “That is one reason, yes. I was made to break my oath to you, Arya. I do have honour, contrary to what you may believe. So I would like to atone for that, which is another reason I am here. Another is that I am planning to open my own business. It will be an apothecary and combat training facility for those who wish to learn to fight and to work with poisons, tinctures, health fortifiers and such.” “It won’t just be that though, will it? For a select few private clientele willing to pay the coin, you will be an assassin for hire, still, won’t you?” She asked him knowingly and he smirked. “Perhaps. We shall see.” He replied, his tone turning conspiratory. “I never questioned your honour, Jaqen. I questioned your choices and blind faith in the Faceless Men. You weren’t blindly following He of Many Faces, lovely man. Which I could have understood a lot better.” She explained, pausing to take a long sip of the flavourful tea and humming in contented pleasure at the warmth of it as she swallowed. “You were blindly following the whims and demands of human men older than you and myself combined. Men who had long since found riches and prestige off the backs of everyone else.” She paused again, this time to toss her hair over her shoulder, and then waving her finger to further enforce her next point. “There was nothing honourable about them, Jaqen. I saw it from the very start. You just needed to catch up. And I won’t hold the time it took for that to happen, against you.” She added and they lapsed into silence. Both simply enjoying the tea and the quiet calmness of the forest around them, Jaqen taking that time to also consider what she’d just said. “Well…” He breathed out before continuing. “I thank you for that. But regardless, I did things I never should have done, where you were concerned. I broke my promise. I would quite like, by your leave, another chance to do what was promised, lovely girl. I don't expect it and will understand if you refuse me. But I hope you won’t.” He explained and Arya almost choked on her tea then. But clearing her throat, she nodded. “Help me then. With what I now have to do. It won't be easy. We may even die in the process. But if we survive it? You can consider the promise fulfilled and you will have completely atoned for the oath-breaking.” She suggested, fully expecting him to refuse her. And she would understand if he did, but he didn’t rather he nodded. “Help is what you ask for, then that is what a man will give. He had already looked into the walker menace. It was one of the few things the Faceless took interest in for the betterment of everyone. Rather than just themselves.” “It's not just the walkers though, Jaqen. It's also a war over a throne as well. A war that, unfortunately, my family is embroiled in.” “A man is also aware of this. It is what caused him to meet a woman, is it not?” He asked rhetorically and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at this. “If you help me with these things. I will help you with your plans as well. Assist you in getting set up. I will also see to it that the Starks make an agreement with you for trade. Our maesters will always need good quality herbs, elixirs and tonics. And from a source that can be trusted.” She offered in return. She didn’t need to, but she wanted to. What she was to do was dangerous and life-threatening. If she was to drag him into this? She wasn’t going to do it without making sure he was given adequate compensation. “This is…agreeable. We have a deal, then.” He replied with a smile which she returned with a nod before draining her tea. “We should settle down for the night. We have a lot of travelling to do tomorrow and we'll need an early start. You should roll out your sleeping mat close to mine. The nights are cold here, even with a fire. So proximity is best for sleep.” She suggested and he nodded again in agreement. -X- He could hear the light chattering of her teeth, as she lay with her back to him. Even though the fire had died down, it was still plenty strong enough to provide warmth but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. They couldn’t risk making it stronger or larger. Not this late at night, it would only draw trouble to them. But they also couldn't risk getting sick either. So with a sigh, he reached over and yanked her mat to meet with his, he then pulled her into him, until her back was flush with his chest. Then, finally, he rearranged both their heavy blankets, so that they were layered on top of one another and draped over them. Immediately the warmth increased a few degrees and provided they stayed like this through the night? They'd become quite warm indeed. “Sharing one another's warmth is better than trying to stay separated, Arya.” He said by way of explanation and he felt her nod. “I know. I had thought about suggesting it earlier. But I didn't want to possibly make you uncomfortable. That's all.” She replied quietly and he released a huff of amusement at this. “Although I appreciate the consideration? I would never be uncomfortable being this close to you. So, fear not. Especially when it's something that makes logical sense.” He stated matter-of-factly. He smiled then when he felt her press closer, snuggling down deeper. Taking the hint, he wrapped himself around her tighter almost intimately. It seemed, he thought, that she didn’t feel uncomfortable like this with him, either. “Then it's a good thing both of us are comfortable enough together. Because the further North we get the colder it will be. So I dare say there will be a few more nights like this before we get to Winterfell.” She murmured before she released a long, settled sigh. And adjusted a little, an adjustment that pressed her quite intimately against him. But forcing himself to ignore this, he spoke. “We will do what we must to stay as warm as possible, Arya. In the wilds? There is no space for modesty or embarrassment. Not when it can mean the difference between life or death.” He replied, before he tucked the blankets closer around them both and tightened his arms around her. -X- He raised his brow in a manner most perplexed and surprised, as he stared at Arya, who was practically vibrating with anticipation. “Lovely girl…” He sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “A man knows he said a few nights ago that they would do what they must to stay warm. But he didn’t mean this. This is different from simply sharing close sleeping quarters to stave off the chill of the night.” He added pressing his hands together towards her almost as though he was pleading with her to rethink this. “I don't see how!?” She shrugged off. “We are both frozen through. That is a cave. It has a hot spring. It's exactly what we need. You can’t tell me you would prefer not to ease your muscles inside of it.” She added, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one hip as she gave him a look of question, one brow raised delicately. “On the contrary?” He responded with a mild glare of annoyance. “A man would perform quite the song and dance, to do so. But he can't, in good conscience, share said spring with a woman.” “Why not? Are you shy?” She teased and he frowned, curling his lip a little in offence. “A woman should mind her words, a man is rather proud of his form. It looks good. He saw to that. But to share a spring with her!? It is inappropriate.” “No it's not, Jaqen. We're both fully grown adults. To be perfectly frank and at risk of sounding crass. I am long past my majority, so we could fuck and have it be perfectly fine. A soak in a spring is nothing.” “At risk of sounding crass!? Lovely girl, there was no doubt. And yes, a man is perfectly aware of just how grown a woman is and that if they wished to shag they could and no one could say anything. But they are not lovers. Thus this wouldn't be right.” “Oh for the love of the Gods, man! You are thinking much too deeply about this. I'm getting in that spring one way or the other. You can join me or you can wait, I really don't care. I just care about getting my bones and blood thawed.” And just like that she turned her back and headed into the cave. He released a small growl of further exasperation, before his feet began to carry him after her. Gods be damned but she was right. He would kill a thousand souls if he had to, if it meant he could soak for a while and not fear that he'd lose his extremities to biting waters and icy air. Arya was right though. He was thinking about this too much. It was just a soak in a naturally heated spring and it would help keep them warm. It was just…difficult. The idea of sharing it with her. They would have to remove their clothes as they needed them to remain dry, small clothes included. So this was different than just wrapping around one another, fully clothed beneath blankets, to keep the iciness of the frigid night away. But to the hells with it. His need to remember what it was like to be warm was too great. So, fuck it, he'd get in with her. Soon they were both soaking in the spring and Jaqen was suddenly wondering just what he had been complaining about. Funny how moral compasses could shift when small pleasures become large ones. Such as this being the first time in three days where he actually felt like a living person again, rather than a moving ice sculpture. The cloudiness of the spring had helped though, he realised. The mineral rich waters going quite a ways to hide areas best left for your own eyes or that of a lovers. But still he couldn’t help but feel odd to be lounging like this with Arya. He figured this though, when he’d given it more thought, was more to do with a simple case of reconciliation. He had known her since she was a girl. Had been her guardian and her teacher. So he was having a difficult time merging the girl-child he had known and looked after with the adult woman now before him. Glancing over at her when he heard her shift in the water across from him, his eyes caught on what was around her neck and brushing the beginning of the valley between her breasts. Breasts that were, thankfully, hidden from his view beneath the water. “You kept it?” He questioned, noting the quiet surprise in his voice, drawing her attention to him as she opened her eyes to look at him and then down at her chest. “Well, yes. Of course I did.” She replied with a smile. “Why would I get rid of it? It’s a reminder of you, so it became something sentimental to me.” She added, the words coming easily as she spoke them. Not for the first time, Jaqen found his mouth falling open a little with something Arya had said. He hadn’t expected her to keep his coin, much less wrap it and wear it around her neck as she currently was. He hadn’t seen it until now, so he could only surmise that she kept it safely beneath her clothes. Smiling in amusement at her, he turned to reach behind him, rifling through his own clothes, where he soon produced a dove grey, neatly folded square of fabric, monogrammed with ‘AS’ and showed it to her. “You’re joking me!?” She chuckled richly. “You kept the favour I gave you during my first Unmasking festival in Braavos?” He hummed in amusement then, before he nodded and turned to return it back to its place tucked into the inner pocket of his cloak. Turning back to face her, he spoke. “I did. It has never left my person from the moment you gave it to me. It’s not only sentimental to me, it has also been somewhat of a lucky charm.” He explained as he settled back against the wall of the spring. “I had never taken you for the superstitious type, Jaqen.” She teased him good naturedly. “But it makes me happy to see you still have that at any rate. And that you carry it with you.” She added and he felt his chest warm in affection. “As seeing my coin on your person, does for me.” He admitted, their eyes meeting to hold one another's gaze. There was something in this look that he couldn’t explain but that he knew was reflected in both their eyes. The air around them grew heavier, in a way that had nothing to do with the humidity within the cave thanks to the spring. He felt his breaths shorten some, as a flush went through him. A flush that went everywhere. And suddenly he felt as though there was too much distance between them, even though the spring was roomy but not overly large. But for some reason, having her on the opposite side of it, bothered him. A strange change of mind, given he'd chosen his position for a reason. To ensure there was distance between them. But now it was bothering him and that…worried him. “You can come closer, you know. I won't bite.” Arya breathed, trying to keep her tone light and jesting. But it fell flat given he could see the beginnings of heat in her eyes. “You won't but I might…” He admitted unabashedly, causing her to suck in a soft breath. Gods, he thought, this had taken a turn. An unexpected one but one nonetheless. He wasn’t in the habit of ignoring what his body told him, even if his mind rebelled against it. After all, ignoring one's body and not being in tune with it could cause you to miss something vital. Something he had taught her as well. The effort it took for him to stay in place now, was huge and he could feel every muscle lock into place in a bid to keep him where he was. Tense. He was now very, very tense. If he went to her…well…he didn't know what would happen. But he had an idea and he wasn’t sure he would be able to prevent it. So he remained in place. “I won't mind…” She said, her tone showing the genuine nature of her words, even if her voice was quiet. He was moving before he could stop himself. Before he could think about how bad of an idea this was. Before he could even consider the risk that they were taking. He was moving and he was on her in moments, caging her against the wall of the spring, his hands braced on either side of her at the edge. As he looked down at her, he could see the heat in her. The want. All of it for him. How long had she harboured that, he wondered? Had she always felt this way? Or had it been something that had happened recently? He didn’t know those answers but he knew what he could see in her mesmerising stormy greys. It was undeniable. Unmistakable. It was something primal. Carnal. Something that only showed itself between two that wanted to join with one another. And he knew she could see the same in him as they continued to lock gazes, even if they weren’t speaking. When had it happened for him? He wondered next? He was always so aware of himself and what hummed through his body at any given time, so how had he missed this? Had it been something that had grown so gradually, that it managed to slip beneath his detection until it was firmly cemented within him? It was entirely possible he realised. But it did leave him concerned, because he wasn’t sure how long he'd harboured these notions about her. “To have courage is a beautiful thing, lovely girl.” He finally said, breaking the tense quiet between them. And he noted how his voice had dropped lower, his accent rolling through with more prevalence than usual. The sound pulling from low in his throat that it almost sounded like a purr and she wasn’t unaffected, he noted. “But it is foolhardy when not matched with an appropriate amount of caution.” He added, bringing his head down lower, as his lips curved into a seductive smile. “Well…” She replied coquettishly, her eyes glinting with her want of him. “You always did say I had more courage than sense. It hasn’t changed. I’m afraid to say it may be a permanent character flaw.” “A shame for you, but a blessing for me…” He replied quickly and then his lips were meeting hers and they were kissing. Cautious at first but soon she was surging upwards and wrapping herself around him, the kiss turning more feral and intense. It felt, to him at any rate, like a dam between them had just broken. One that they had unknowingly built to separate themselves from the other. Something that, given the nature of their meeting and how they came to know one another, made sense. A certain type of etiquette had to be followed when first they had met. Given the differences in their ages at that time and the position he’d held in her life. But now? Now things were different, he realised. Very different. The age difference was still there, that would never change. But what had changed was the stage of life that she was now in. An adult woman of almost twenty summers, one who was aware of herself in every way and aware of the world in all the ways that mattered and was needed. Now? Though they had ten summers between them, they were on even, equal footing. And he needed to stop looking at her in any other way than what she was. She was not a girl any longer. Not a scared little lamb hiding behind the tails of his cloak or robes needing his protection. She was a woman, strong, grown and more than capable of making her own decisions on what she did or didn’t do with her body and who she chose to share it with. He needed to stop doing a disservice to her, by not treating her appropriately and recognising where she now was in life. Not a girl-child, he thought firmly, reinforcing the belief and beating his mind into submission. A woman. A woman with a woman’s thoughts, wants and feelings. So when she looped her legs around his waist and drew his hips into hers, he didn’t stop her. Didn’t flinch from her, or try to hide his state. But, before he could tilt her hips and put them both into position for what he knew would happen? A low, rumbling growl came from the mouth of the chamber of the cave that the springs were in and he froze. That, he thought with a modicum of dread, was a wolf. And it sounded big. Bigger than normal. But before he could look, Arya broke the kiss. Then a name fell from her lips in a gasp…one he’d only heard once or twice before. Nymeria. Dire wolf. His mind supplied and with slow, steady movements, he carefully extracted Arya’s legs from around him. He’d never come face to face with one. Only heard of them from the old folk tales. Wouldn’t have believed in them, if he hadn’t experienced Arya dreaming her wolf dreams all those many years ago. A warg. He had almost forgotten that she was one. A tidbit of information that he had studiously kept to himself when she’d joined the House. “I had a feeling she was close. My…dreams began again a night or so ago. But I never thought she’d…” She shared with him, keeping her voice low and soft. “Take it slow, Jaqen. No sudden movements.” She instructed him, as she placed her hands on his shoulders gently and guided him to turn and then step to the side and back so that he was beside her. “I don’t know what she will do. She’s been wild for many years now.” He couldn’t believe what he was now seeing, across the spring from them was a wolf so large, she seemed to take up the entire opening of the chamber that led into the main cavern of the cave. Her fur was a stunning grey and her eyes, which flashed in the dim light of the cave, let in via an opening in the ceiling, appeared golden as the dire stared at them. They stayed completely still for a moment as Nymeria began to slowly pad her way around the edge of the spring, to come around to their side of it. Arya, for her part, carefully followed the wolf's position, never once taking her eyes from the large, imposing but beautiful female. Her hand had moved to encircle his wrist, making sure that he moved with her. Not that he had any intentions whatsoever of ignoring this majestic but lethal beast. But in this? He would, without question, follow Arya’s lead. Nymeria may have been wild for a long time, but she and Arya had bonded and bonds like that rarely broke. They could get buried in the wildness that would come forth, but they would never really break. “Really, girl? You don’t see me for years and the first thing you choose to do is interrupt and stop me from getting bedded? And try to scare the life out of the one planning to do it, to boot? That’s rude and he’s stronger than that.” Arya said in a light, teasing voice. And Jaqen wondered, not for the first time, if he’d put her on her ass one too many times in training that he knocked screws loose. Although he couldn’t help but mentally preen a little at the compliment, even if she grossly underestimated just how nervous he felt at this moment. Nymeria looked at Arya balefully then, before she huffed and then sat her ass on the ground, staring down at her old keeper haughtily. The wolf looked between Arya and then towards the cave entrance and back again. Shifting in her seated position each time, like she was impatient for something. Arya looked at him and they shared a confused look, before he spoke. “I know little about dire wolves. But I have seen that behaviour in hounds. I think she wants you to go somewhere.” He suggested with a shrug of uncertainty. He felt it was a fair suggestion and Arya raised her brow at this before she looked back at Nymeria. “Do you want to take me somewhere, pretty girl?” Arya asked and as soon as she did, Nymeria got to her feet quickly and started to pace back and forth. Again looking between Arya and the entrance. As good an answer as they were going to get, they looked at each other with uncertainty again and then moved to get out of the spring. They hastily got dried and re-dressed and then they were following the dire out of the cave and back into the bitter, frigid cold and soon they were entering a clearing close by. A clearing that was obviously a wolf den. Jaqen felt his nerves kick into gear again, as he looked around them. There had to be twenty to thirty wolves here. A massive pack and as soon as Nymeria stepped into the clearing all wolves stood at attention and looked at her, heads all bowed in submission. Their alpha. She was their alpha female. Arya gasped beside him, her hands coming up to cover her mouth as her eyes filled with the emotional realisation that he’d just had. This was Nymeria’s pack. She had made a life for herself after all and Jaqen suspected that something that had broken long ago had just healed within Arya. Nymeria walked further into the centre of the clearing, her head snapping back to look at Arya when she heard her try to follow. Arya’s steps froze then in understanding. She may have been brought into the pack grounds, but she wouldn’t be permitted to enter deeper inside. So falling back to his side again, she nodded to the wolf. They watched as Nymeria walked to what appeared to be a small group of large females, females that stepped a few paces back and Jaqen soon saw what they had been guarding. Pups. They’d been guarding Nymeria’s pups. They watched, amazed, as Nymeria nosed each of the seven pups and then her mouth closed around the nape of two. The two smallest ones and picked them up. She turned then and walked back towards them and stopped right in front, where she set the pups down and nosed them closer to them and then backed up and sat, her eyes piercing through Arya before swinging to him and nailing him with the same deep look. Glancing down at the two pups, Jaqen could already tell they were struggling. But they were still lively enough he noted, as the pure black one, a male he thought, reached over and began to playfully gnaw on the ear of the silver one, a female he figured. A female who lifted her comically large paw and swatted at her brother, snipping at him lightly. For runts of the litter, they sure were large and Jaqen wondered if they’d gotten more of Nymeria’s dire wolf genes than the rest. He and Arya glanced at each other confused, before looking back and watching as Nymeria nosed both pups even closer to them, more forcefully than before but still carefully. Both pups let loose small, startled howls as they tumbled onto their faces. “Nymeria!” Arya scolded the wolf, giving her a glare. “Be more careful, dammit!” She added, kneeling down and gently picking up the silver one, brushing off some of the snow from her pretty face. As she held the pup up to get a better look at them, Jaqen was able to see that she was, indeed, a female. She was silver furred all over, with eyes of piercing jade green. Beautiful. She was absolutely beautiful. He then looked down at the black boy who was now shaking the snow off his face and met the wolf's deep red eyes. He didn’t know what possessed him then, but he felt as though something passed between him and the pup. Something inexplicable and before he knew what he was doing he was bending down and picking the creature up gently, holding them up in much the same way as Arya had held hers. He was able to confirm then that yes, this one was a male. As soon as both pups were in his and Arya’s hands, Nymeria huffed quietly and with one last, long look towards Arya, she turned and headed back into the pack grounds. Arya and Jaqen looked at one another in shock as the realisation of what had just happened set in. Nymeria…knowing her pups wouldn’t survive otherwise, had given them to him and Arya. And that last look back? Jaqen rather thought it was Nymeria’s way of saying; You can’t have me any longer. But you can have them. Do better this time. And he had a feeling Arya had come to the same conclusion. They turned then, wrapping the pups in their cloaks and left the clearing. And as they did, they heard a chorus of howls. Almost as if the pack, collectively, was saying thank you to them. -X-