Chapter #4Arya's New, Slightly Smaller, Companion by: RisingFan   The thick wooden pole jabbed into my side, nearly throwing me from my feet. It was the size of the largest lance I’d ever seen. No, that is a lie. In reality this mighty lance was little more than a twig being held between the thumb and forefinger of a bored young girl. My current traveling companion, Arya Stark. Was she a giant? No. I was once a knight, traveling my way across the land, trying to avoid this miserable war. Now, I had been reduced to the size of two inches and now relied on her for protection.
JAB. Ouch! She stuck me once more, throwing off my train of thought. She looked at me with a bored expression as she leaned over the tree stump that I was standing on. To her, it was the size of a small stool, to me it could have been the stage in an arena.
“Stop that.” I ordered.
“No,” she said, poking me once more.
“Stop it!” I shouted, my irritation mounting.
“Make me.” She replied, amusement creeping into her voice.
“You know damned well I can’t do that! I’m only two bloody inches tall!”
She shifted her weight and sat down, leaning forward and propping her elbows on either side of me on the stump. She hung her head between her hands. Good lord, even sitting she towered over me. I looked up at her, her mouth nearly directly over me.
“It’s not like it’s my fault. I didn’t do this to you, you’re lucky I found you instead of a wild animal, or some farmer’s bored teenaged daughter.”
She reached the hand holding the stick down and poked me in the side once more. We were in a clearing about a mile from the main road. We’d been traveling since dawn and were both rather hungry, so now we sat trying to decide how we would find something to eat. Or rather I tried to figure it out. The overgrown brat seemed content to try and dent my armor with that infernal log!
I crossed my arms in contempt and looked up at her.
“You are far too big to act this childish.”
“Oh, I’m not big. You’re just rather small.” Arya said with a smirk. “You’re quite the opposite of my last companion. He towered over me.”
“That doesn’t matter now, we need to find some food and shelter before nightfall. It’s getting colder.”
Arya stood up and walked over to our pack that lay on the ground a few feet away. She reached into it and pulled out a large coat she had bartered off of a trader. She put it on and it reached down to nearly her knees. We’d decided that this would aid in disguising the fact that she was a girl. The coat also had a collar that could pull up to help shield her from the wind. Once she had the coat on, she turned to me.
“We could stay outside tonight, between this and my blankets, I’ll be warm. And you can sleep in the pack.”
“Maybe, but then what would we do about food?”
A sly grin slowly crept across Arya’s face. She crept towards me looking ever more mischievous.
“You know, I am of The North. My mother told me stories of the last winter.” Arya hovered over me, lowering her face towards me as she spoke. “When the food was gone and the cold nights stretched on. She said that eventually they had to turn to eating livestock, and eventually…” Her mouth was only inches away from me at this point. “They had to eat each other. Starting with the smallest.” As she said that, her tongue flicked from her mouth and slammed into my chest in a short but strong lick, knocking me to my feet.
I wiped her drool from my armor, thankful that my face was spared. I stood and looked up to her. Her face was still hovering in front of me, now wearing a self-satisfied grin.
“I vote that we avoid cannibalism. I say we go on down the road a bit further to see if we could come across a tavern or a farm.”
Arya stood with a sigh, walked over to the pack, hoisted it to her shoulder and walked back. She lowered her hand palm up towards me.
“And by we walk, you mean me.”
“Of course,” I replied, climbing to her palm. “Would you have it any other way?”
She sat me on her shoulder as she started walking towards the road.
“Honestly, I’d rather trade you to a horny farm girl for a horse.”
We walked along the road until nightfall. Did we find anywhere to stay or were we forced to sleep outdoors?
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
<<-- Previous · Outline  · Recent Additions © Copyright 2024 RisingFan (UN: hawkergts at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
RisingFan has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work within this interactive story. Poster accepts all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the content uploaded, submitted to and posted on Writing.Com. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author