Trials and Tribulations of the Oathkeeper

Chapter 174: Look to the Horizon

—The Sunset Sea—

Inside the cabin of her ship Lady Crane, Arya sheaths her sword Needle in the scabbard tied around her belt and a small dagger at her hip. Since leaving home and all of Westeros behind her, she decided to follow her own path – a new adventure, a new beginning afloat the Sunset Sea and traveling beyond the edge of the known world, fulfilling her promise to Lady Crane, her ship's namesake. What awaited her west of Westeros where all the maps stopped? No one knows, but Arya was determined to chart the possibly uncharted lands—the first Westerosi to do so. She had enough supplies for a six-month voyage but knew her crew would eventually have to acquire more or risk starvation at sea. After all, the last famous explorer of the Sunset Sea was her ancestor King Brandon the Shipwright – who sailed west with most of the Northern fleet to find new lands and was never seen again.

Laying a map on the table, Arya surveys the geological survey of Westeros and Essos before collapsing a spyglass. Placing it in her pocket, she turns to leave but takes one last glance back at the three painted portraits hanging on her desk: one entailed her family of House Stark—Eddard, Catelyn, Robb, Sansa, herself, Bran, Rickard, and Jon; the second depicted Robb, Talisa and her nephew young Eddard; and the last portrait showed Daveth, Sansa, Lyonel, Cassana, and Torrhen. Arya wasn't present for the birth of Rickard, something she regretted deep down. Giving a small smile, she turns to exit her quarters through a darkened passageway, then ascending the stairs leading to the deck and towards the light above.

"Full speed ahead!" exclaimed one of the sailors.

"Do another check on those rations! We were running low according to last night's count," mentioned another.

"Aye, captain!"

Arya calmly strolls through along the Lady Crane's deck as the crew around her works efficiently, tirelessly, occasionally trading glances with them and acknowledging their greetings. The ship sails at a steady clip, the mainmast, and riggings displaying the sigil of House Stark: a grey direwolf on a white field.

"Lady Stark," a sailor spoke.

"Greetings, my lady," another chimed.

I'm not a lady. That's not me. That's not who I am, Arya thought as she approaches the bow. The Arya who left for Braavos was still a girl, but this one is a different person altogether. She learned her lesson last time and informed her family where she was going. She has been no one, a girl with no identity. She has been Arya Stark of Winterfell. Who will she be next?

"Land ho!" shouted a sailor.

Arya tilted her head up to see a glimpse of an uncharted island before her. It took months, but she made it. The answer to one of many questions. There was an entire continent west of Westeros.

"Get the rowboats ready, captain," Arya commands. "The rest of you, take only what you can carry."

"Aye, aye, my lady! All right, lads – get the maps! Let's explore this land!"

Arya accompanies her survey team onto the rowboats as it lowers down onto the Sunset Sea. Once landing on the oceanic surface, each sailor began rowing with the oars—each stroke bringing them closer to the shores. Looking out at the rainforest as they approach, the rowboat lands on the beach – allowing everyone to get out. Arya walks on ahead, kneeling onto the sand and pressed a palm on the wet mineral, feeling the texture in between her fingers.

"Half of you head into the trees," she says. "The rest of you circle the island. I'd like us to take some things home with us."

—At Winterfell—