A Song of Ice and Void 2 (Game of Thrones/Dishonored)

Raid

Everything was in chaos, boys running around madly as Lannister men ran them down, laughing as they did so. Arya’s eyes darted this way and that as she tried to find someplace safe, but danger seemed to burst out of the gloom from every angle.

Fires were burning wildly, casting flickering shadows of the gold cloaks racing after the boys. Without any weapons, they had little way to fight back against the grown men, most of them laughing as they slaughtered those they caught. Hearing the sound of actually pitched combat, Arya decided to go over there, rather than blindly run off on her own.

Blinking up to a tree top was a rush and a drain all at once. It was confirmation of her powers, of the magic she had, beyond even the strange, mechanical heart. It was also tiring, like she had just sprinted and climbed up the tree. She could feel herself recovering quickly, but she knew if she tried to ‘Blink’ several times in rapid succession, she’d be drained.

Having to wait anyways, the tree top gave Arya a better vantage point, and she shuffled past some of the branches to take in the fight unfolding below. There, she saw Yoren with a bolt sticking out his shoulder struggling against a dozen guards. A few already lay dead at his feet, but with the others pressing in, he was soon impaled by spears, once, then twice, finally sapping his strength to fight.

At that point, the knight on horseback, who’d sat back and watched the fight, had his horse trot forward. He stabbed his blade down Yoren’s neck, the Night’s Watch giving a dying gurgle before fully dropping to the ground.

“No!” Arya hissed, and the knight looked around in confusion. Before he could spot her, Arya turned and Blinked away. Tumbling onto the ground, the Stark girl ran, desperate to escape. I have to find Gendry!

These were clearly the same men who had accosted them earlier along the road, the ones who had been looking for Gendry, for whatever reason. Of course that doesn’t mean they won’t kill me as well! Arya thought as she rushed out of a thicket and straight into another of the Lannister men.

He was near bald, a buzz cut of thin hair doting his head, and had a sneer on his face as he turned to her, sword in hand. Behind him, she saw others, running about, some grabbed and restrained or otherwise corralled by the men. Many more were left, bleeding on the ground, some crying in pain, others deathly silent. There were desperate shouts from the cage of prisoners nearby the sneering soldier, and a dropped torch at the foot of the now burning wagon. 

Panicking, Arya whipped out her own blade, Needle extending out from its hilt, causing the man to leap back for a moment, before gazing at the sword with greed.

“Fancy thing, ain’t it? Where’d a boy like you get somethin’ like that?” She didn’t answer, her grip rigid tight until she took a deep breath, trying to remember Syrio’s words. “Give it up and I might just let you live,” he offered, only to scowl a moment later as she didn’t move.

“Fine by me, I’ll just take it from yer corpse!” He shouted, lunging towards her with a wild swing of his longsword. Arya darted to the side, stepping forward with a stab of her own, but not quick enough. The man managed to sweep his blade back, knocking her thrust away, the force of it nearly enough to disarm her.

Fighting to keep a grip, she attempted to attack again, only to be forced back by another swing. No longer caught off guard by her willingness to kill, the soldier hacked and slashed viciously towards her, making up for what he lacked in skill with aggression. Arya’s quick footwork was the only thing keeping her from being cut to pieces, but she was quickly finding herself backed into a corner against a large tree, stumbling over the roots.

Calling on her Marked hand, Arya blinked forward, past the man-at-arms. “What? How’d you get over there?” he cried as he turned and saw Arya behind him. She charged him with Needle, the strike catching on a stud of his armor, causing no harm, but pushing him back with a grunt.

He swung again, but once more she Blinked away, his sword slashing through thin air. This time, her blade struck before he could turn around, cutting into the unarmored back of his knee.

He howled, whirling around to face her. Arya was tempted to Blink again, but withheld, already feeling drained from two Blinks in a row. Her training was enough against her wounded foe, however. The wild blow had little strength behind it, the man’s footing weak as he turned with one leg injured. She parried, catching the blow and circling it free to push his blade to the side while hers angled for a perfect strike into the thigh of his uninjured leg.

Landing on all fours, he hissed. “Witchcraft!” Grabbing his blade, the man-at-arms attempted to rise again, stabbing forward, only for a slash of her thin sword to cut into his knuckles, making him drop the sword and whimpering in pain.

“You bi-urk!” His curse was cut off by Needle stabbing clean through his neck. He gurgled, dying no different than any of the others tonight had. The boys who ran, Yoren fighting against so many of them for us, this bastard…  they all died the same. The chilling fact made it more clear that whatever the Outsider was, there was still only one God: Death.

“This one could use aid. Might your magic save this one?” A voice called out to her from the burning wagon. The three men were still trapped inside, panicking.

“She’s a witch! She’s going to kill us!” Another one of the men shouted.

“Or curse us!” The last one agreed.

“I doubt whatever she could do would be much worse than remaining in here.” The long-ish haired man, who had first called out to her had a strained smile on his face, though whether it was from the fire or a hidden fear of her, Arya wasn’t sure.

She hesitated, unsure of what to do. The other soldiers haven’t noticed me yet. Will they turn this way if I spend the time getting them out? Those criminals might attack me if I break them free, or just expose me as a witch.

“Please hurry; time does not stand still for a girl or this one,” he urged, sounding a bit more desperate. Reaching down, she picked up the fallen soldier’s sword and tossed it through the wooden bars.

“Free yourself,” she told him, sprinting away, looking for Gendry. As she ran, she folded her blade back up with the press of a button, stowing it away. Having it out just makes me a target.

“Arry!” A voice called, and she recognized her false name after a moment and spun around, peering in the darkness. “Here!” Gendry’s voice called from a bush.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“You? I’ve been trying to find you ever since the alarm was raised! I got pushed out by the others while you slept like the dead,” the boy rolled his eyes, acting exasperated, but Arya could see the worry etched there, likely reflected on her own face.

“I had a weird dream,” she muttered, shaking her head at the questioning look he gave her. “Let’s just hide and wait it out.” Gendry nodded, not seeing a problem with that plan.

Unfortunately, problems found them regardless, one of the knights running by. He didn’t notice them, but as he passed, he swung his torch down low, letting it catch on the dry shrubbery.

“Shit!” Arya hissed, grabbing onto Gendry’s arm. “I’m going to get us out of here, just trust me, okay?”

“Uh sure. But how-” he yelped as she Blinked, teleporting both of them out of the bush and ahead into the clearing.

“What was thaaaaat?” Gendry cired, pulled into another Blink as Arya saw the horseman begin to turn. Through another set of bushes they went, with Arya ‘shush’ing him aggressively. The knight had heard their new position though, and as he neared, Arya Blinked a third time, even though she hadn’t had long enough to recover.

The effort left her woozy, exhausted. “I’ll exshplain later,” she slurred out, stumbling forward only to be caught by the tall boy.

“It’s okay. We’re safe now.” The sounds of fighting and misery were behind them, and for a while, Arya thought they were. It didn’t last, the cries of hounds filling the air.

The hunting party came well prepared this time, and the hounds soon had their scent, leading a group of men through the forest straight to them. Arya and Gendry tried to run, but a crossbow bolt splintering the bark of a tree beside them and a shout of “Halt!” Put an end to that.

The men circled the pair, two of them holding back snapping dogs on thick leather leashes. I could teleport away from the circle, but then they’ll know, and I don’t think I’d be able to Blink rapidly again. “Are you gonna kill us?” Arya asked, her hand sliding down to Needle.

The crossbow man laughed, a sinister hint to it. “If’n ye make me lose more bolts, then sure.” Not seeing another option, she let herself be grabbed by two of the men who roughly held her wrists. Gendry followed suit, casting her one helpless look before accepting that they weren’t escaping like they had before.

“Tha’s a smart lad. Don’t know how ye slipped our net, jus’ means you’ll have to march back tired now.” And march they did, the two of them taken to the clearing, the fires still raging in the outskirts. There were only about two dozen boys left (including Arya) now, and she watched as the fancy knight who had killed Yoren trotted forward from the other side.

“So these are all of them?” The knight asked dismissively. Before any of his own men could answer, Lommy reached up from where he lay on the ground, a bolt through his leg.

“Please, I can’t walk,” he groaned, and the knight looked down with disgust. Taking his blade and leaning over, he stabbed down into the boy’s chest.

“If you can’t walk then you’re no use to me. Now, which one of you is Gendry?”

Arya could practically feel the burning gazes at the boy beside her, but perhaps they were hidden by the dim lighting, for the knight didn’t call them out on it. She was sure one of them would break soon, especially if pressed, so Arya stepped forward, pointing at Lommy’s body.

“You already got him.” Taking another glance, the knight saw the bear shaped helmet at Lommy’s side, the other boy clearly planning to abscond with the masterpiece in the chaos. You didn’t deserve that though.

The knight shrugged, scooping up the helm as proof, and ordered his men to begin the march again. She didn’t know his name, but Arya would be adding another entry to her list.

A/N: Decided to give Arya her first bit of that High Chaos lifestyle, haha. Just a tiny taste though (for now). While she still ended up getting captured, don’t expect things to stay on canon rails for too long; Outsider Powers let her change a lot. Not everything though, some events are outside the ability of one girl to influence in a multi-sided war that rages across the continent.

Oh, and for anyone wondering, that was indeed Polliver she killed there! Things are going to change enough that she isn’t running into him in a tavern later on, I decided having her kill him here tied that up nicely. If you have any thoughts, as usual, let me know here or on the Discord.