The Hound and His Little Bird

Chapter Ten: Almost

It was pouring rain outside. Sansa Stark certainly hadn't expected the change of weather during the last week. She hadn't thought the rain could be so heavy they could barely see in front of them. Sandor Clegane didn't want to stop riding with the rain, even when Sansa insisted it was a terrible idea for his burns to be out like that. In the beginning, she'd huffed in frustration that he refused to listen to what she had to say, but he'd ended up winning their arguments as usual. She hadn't minded because it was just a light drizzle.

Then it started coming down in buckets.

She was wishing she had insisted more that they stayed in the cavern that they had been sleeping in. The cave had been damp and chilly, but it was nothing compared to the bone-chilling rain that drenched them. Sansa's hair was plastered to her face, so much so she couldn't even keep it pushed out of the way. Her clothes clung to her like a second, extremely uncomfortable skin, and it was more difficult to attempt to ride with the Hound. Still, she couldn't let him ride on Stranger alone. He might insist that he was fine, but she could tell he was still physically exhausted after fighting off that fever nearly a week prior.

She hoped the rain wouldn't aggravate anything or make him sick. She worried very little about herself, even though she'd had very little to eat for several weeks now. It didn't help they had access to so little food ever since the Brotherhood without Banners had stolen what they'd managed to collect. And, with Sandor's burns, it was even more difficult to try to catch any of the animals in the forest. The few times they managed, Sansa ended up having to skin the animals. That certainly ruined whatever bit of appetite she might have had that day. But she refused to let Sandor get near anything bloody with his open wounds.

Now, the rain proved to be the next challenge. It made it extremely difficult to try to walk through the forest with both horses. Several times, Malia ended up slipping, one time down a very steep slope. Even Stranger had a difficult time trampling through the forest so flooded, so they were forced to ride on the Kingsroad out in the open. The road was surprisingly empty, most likely from the rain, but Sansa was still tense. She jumped at the strangest sounds, looked around her continuously, and kept her hand on her sword or a dagger out at all times.

Neither of them spoke much, mostly because the rain was difficult to hear over.

As they made it up the slope, Sandor stopped Stranger suddenly, cursing angrily. Sansa didn't understand at first, but when she looked more closely, she noticed exactly why he was so upset. It was the current river in front of them. The water was at least a mile wide, dark and with currents so strong Sansa knew they'd never cross on their own. After a moment, she managed out loud enough, "Which river will this be?"

"The Trident. Bloody hells, there's no fucking way to cross it with the animals." He cursed again, tugging Stranger's reigns in a different direction. "Fuck, have to take the ferry then." She didn't understand exactly what he was talking about until they'd come down from the Kingsroad and made it into the surrounding village. Or what was left of it anyhow. The Trident had clearly risen far higher than even now, for many of the buildings near the river's edge had been flooded and destroyed.

Sansa caught sight of the large boat, no ferry, sitting near the dock of the Trident. Sansa watched the current beat up against the sides, hard and fast, and asked, "Are you sure it's such a good idea to cross in this weather?"

"Don't got a choice, Little Bird," he grunted, walking Stranger forward towards the dock. "You want to get to your mother and brother before they start moving again?" Reluctantly, she had to admit he was right, so she nodded, ducked her head and kept herself quiet just like he'd told her any other time they might end up running into someone. He walked them up the dock, slipping down off of Strangers as a few men came down from the ferry to meet them.