❆ | 042 | Video

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[Private to Polly]

Where are you? I found a good spot. [She's sitting on a pile of pillows, with a blanket (or maybe a dish towel) wrapped around her head like a crown. And she's grinning. Her own smile, not Mercy's pretty little thing: Arya's smiles are big and open, but they have a little bite to it. The wolf blood will always run hot in her, even when she's happy.]

[Private to Riddick]

Will you do something for me?

[Public, later]

[Still seated cross legged on her throne of pillows, Arya stares down at the device in her hands. There's an odd little look on her face, below hair that's terribly messy after she pulled off the towel-crown - like she's confused but not, knows what she wants but doesn't, like she's hovering between two worlds. She feels like she is.]

I graduated.

[The words feel strange: she's never combined them in that order, that conjugation, and the newness is unsettling. But she hasn't been afraid of new things in a long time. She can't be afraid of this.

Reaching off screen, she grabs a cookie, and lifts it up to show the camera: it has a frosting smiley face.]

Do you always get sweets? [She's been here so long, but it feels like the one thing she never fully realized. Instead of waiting for an answer - it doesn't really matter, does it, not now - she takes a bite and tosses the rest back onto it's plate.]

I'm going home. I've been here a long time, three years maybe. And I'm--

[She hasn't grown, except when she returned home. She is twelve and thirteen and fourteen and fifteen all at once, and she can't take the stillness of her existence here anymore.]

I could stay, and make a deal. I could probably kick my inmate to graduating. I could have my family back.

[She chews her lip for a moment, looking off toward the pillow and blanket forts. Finally, she just rolls her eyes and huffs out a breath. That's stupid. She won't do it.]

But I still have family. And I'm going home to find them.

So - goodbye, I guess. This was a good flood.

[She flashes a smile, wolfish and toothsome and pleased, and turns the feed off.]

Comments

[robinwishes]

Hey.

[ She's back to being youngest lady inmate on the boat now, but she ain' angry. ]

Good luck out there, okay?

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

Thank you.

[She thinks she'll need it, but she doesn't want to make people worry. Westeros is a hard land, she knows that now, but it's hers.]

Good luck in here. If I come back, you can show me how to use a butterfly knife.

[robinwishes]

Yeah, totally. We'll skill swap. [ She's chill about it, at least. ] Go get your family, okay? Take care of 'em.

Video

[voluntaryapnea]

[He doesn't know Arya well. They've only talked a couple of times. He knows that Lydia is fond of her, though. And she hasn't caused a single problem on board the Barge the entire time that he's been there that he's aware of.

He offers her a smile at her announcement.]

Good for you.

Video

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[That's because she does her killing in silence, Stiles. But it's okay, or as okay as it can be - she regrets it now.]

Thank you. You can have your push pins back, now.

Private

[with_my_teacup]

Yeah? Depends on what, but probably.

Private

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

Will you take Beatrix's sword? I don't want to take it home with me. She might come back for it.

private

[indispensible]

Are you going to find pack?

private

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

All that I can. [Jon first, she thinks, then Sansa - then Gendry and Hot Pie, if she can find them. She'll find them all, and she'll keep them safe.]

Where are you? I want to see you.

private

[pvtparts]

And apparently a really good mood as well.

private

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

It's a good, dumb flood. [Better than anything that would see bloodshed, and she can't help but enjoy the war without the terrible connotations.]

[darknessb4me]

Good luck.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

I think you're the only one that's been here longer than me.

So, good luck to you too.

[strangehistorian]

Congratulations, Arya!

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

Thanks.

Can I tell people I met a dragon?

[mistconduct]

Well it's about fucking time.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

Fuck you.

[But she's got a big, toothy grin while she says it.]

private

[myresponsibility]

Good luck.

[It's sort of awkwardly said, because he still feels strangled and heavy and almost constantly slightly ill, but he doesn't want her to leave without getting a chance to say something.

He's learned that lesson, at least.]

private

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[Peter you are upsettingly depressed. She hems and haws for a second, becuase words??? are hard?????]

I don't know why you're sad, but - I hope you stop.

[beingdifferent]

I suppose congratulations are in order.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

I probably won't throw mud at you, if you do.

[She's still not sure she likes Esther, but. She has had a long time to grow exhausted by hatred.]

[adelphoktonos]

I hope you find them, malyatko. ["Little one."] Three years is a long time. I am glad for you.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[She mouths malyatko silently to herself, then turns an earnest look on Helena.]

Can I see you?

[private video]

[lydiascreams]

[Lydia is a little surprised by the announcement. Not because she doesn't think Arya deserves her graduation. She's a good girl. But because she doesn't want to stay and change things back home. It's pretty clear that she's been through a lot.

When she starts her feed, she has a soft, maybe proud smile on her lips though.]

I'll miss having you and Nymeria around. I hope you find your family soon, and spend some time on your snowy mountains.

[private video]

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[She nods quietly, looking off camera at something. She hesitates, just for a second.]

I want to keep your drawing. [She's not bringing much with her - she'll be traveling, and so much of it is useless, in the long run. But a small reminder, both of the Barge and Winterfell - she wants that.]

You look like my sister.

[She blurts it out, and looks vaguely embarrassed by it for a second, before pushing on.] We never got along, but I'm going to go find her. I'll show her your drawing.