elephant eyelash

ghostofharrenhal:

Part Two | Part One here

She came back over the next few days, sticking to the shadows under the trees and stones, the filtered sunlight glinting off her grey eyes. She stuck to the shadows, invisible but for her eyes, watching him like an animal, like a wolf. Like Nymeria, she thought fiercely, balling her hands into fists, fingernails digging into her palms. If she tried, she could still feel the weight of the rocks in her hands, could still feel her arms shaking when she threw them, but the memories were growing fainter, and it almost seemed like they had happened to another girl.

Hey eyes fell shut and she tried to call back the memories: the castle, warm even when the snow fell; the feel of a snowball in her hand, launching it at someone, a sister; the feeling of family, of being safe (it felt warm, she thought, but inside, where it counted). Her eyes opened to a hammer at her feet, a tall shape looming over her.

“You’re back,” he said, his voice deeper, rougher. A man grown, she thought again. And suddenly she was whirling away, sword in hand, sliding and spinning. “Arya,” he said, and it sounded like he was biting back a grin.

You left. She stepped forward, slashing at his chest, his face. He faltered, and the blade missed him by a hair. His eyes met hers, and he was afraid. Fear cuts deeper than swords, she thought suddenly, still pressing him, sword still swinging. His mouth opened and he breathed a single word. “Arya,” he said again, so faint she almost didn’t hear.

“You left!” she shouted as she advanced, fingers gripping the hilt so tightly they were like to grow brittle and snap off. “You were my pack and you left!” The words were pouring out of her now, raw and angry, ripped from her throat. “You left, and I trusted you!” She kept slashing, kept missing. “Everyone left, and you were part of my pack, you and Hot Pie both, and you left!”

The sword clattered from her hand, falling down onto the fresh earth, the sunlight gleaming off it like it was made of fire itself and she fell with it, hands balling back into fists, jaw clenched, tears running hot down her face. “You left,” she said again, the words somewhere between a sob and a growl.