Arya secured Needle in her belt, before going with Gendry. Arya and Gendry started walking towards the fire-pit, where they should be breaking their fast. Hot Pie already sat on one of the tree stumps around the pit. "Goodmorning, Hot Pie. Are you already breaking your fast?" Gendry asked, as he sat down beside him. Hot Pie playfully hit Gendry's shoulder, "Aye. The breakfast is quite good today" he answered, looking at Arya. "Goodmorning, Arry." Hot Pie smiled gently, before returning his gaze to his porridge. Gendry grabbed a bowl and scooped some porridge into it. Arya did the same, and then the three of them finally sat down together.
Hot Pie and Gendry ate their porridge quickly, but Arya was a slow eater. Today atleast. She had a weird feeling in her stomach, like it was full but she knew she had not eaten since yeaterday evening. Shrugging the feeling off, she placed her bowl in the stack of used bowls, before returning to Hot Pie and Gendry. Today the whole camp should practice their sword fighting, in case someone invaded their camp. They all had to be ready at all times, and their sword fighting skills should be one hundred percent sharp. Arya stood infront of Gendry. She pulled out Needle, and Gendry pulled out his sword too.
They started practicing, and they both did quite well. The sound of the blades hitting eachother, could be heard miles away. "Not bad at all" Arya teased Gendry as he dropped his sword. Gendry rolled his eyes, "There is a reason why it's called practicing, and not battle, Arry" he sighed and picked up his sword once again. The droplets of sweat on his forehead rolled down on his neck, as the two of them were "fighting". "I'm older than you, i probably know more about sword fighting!" Gendry exclaimed in self defense, as they kept practicing.
"Well, apparently i'm better at the actual fighting." Arya smirked, enjoying the look on Gendry's face. "I'm going to take you down right now!" He yelled playfully, approaching her with the blade in his hand. Arya pointed Needle at him, a smug smile danced on her lips. Gendry himself was smiling now too. "Arry is a great sword-fighting-practicing partner" he thought to himself.
"Dear Gods, Arry! Did you cut yourself?" Gendry's mood changed in a milisecond. He rushed to his friends' side, and looked at her. Arya looked at him, more confused than ever. "What do you mean? We're just practicing, nobody is getting hurt." She tried to tell him, but he shook his head, "That's not what i'm talking about. You are bleeding!" He exclaimed.
Arya looked down at herself, a small gasp escaped her lips as she saw it; Blood. Blood had seeped through her breeches, and it had left a noticeable, crimson red stain. "Did you hurt yourself? Should i tell someone?" Gendry's questions became faint; The panic took over her body. Arya put Needle in her belt, her eyes wide. She started to run, run as fast as she could, away from the camp. She had no idea what to feel, or how to react. Arya could feel the tears build up in her eyes, threatening to spill.
Arya panted, looking down at her breeches, as if hoping the stain would be gone. It wasn't. Infact, it seemed like more blood had seeped through the material. Arya's stomach started to ache again, this time it was a more intense aching. She wated to lay down, scream and cry out in pain. She had never felt this kind of pain before.
The forest was so peaceful and quiet, unlike everything Arya felt at that very moment. She had to wash herself somehow. Once Arya reached the lake in the middle of the woods, she sighed in relief; She was all alone. First, she took off her belt and gently placed it on the ground. The last thing she needed was Needle getting stolen, so she hid her belt under some leaves.
Sighing, Arya gently removed her shirt, and threw it on the ground. She took off her shoes, and then her socks. Her whole body was so sore, as if thousands of swords had gone through her body. Arya removed blood-soaked breeches, and her soiled small clothes as well. Letting the clothes pool at her feet, she looked at the lake, her reflection very clear. She looked at herself; Her hair had started to grow longer, she would have to cut it soon.
Once Arya was completely undressed, she desperately tried to inspect, where the bleeding came from. She looked down, and some fresh blood ran down her inner thighs. Arya started to panic; She was used to see blood, but not from her. Then she remembered; Her mother had once said something about flowering, but it was a long time ago. It was hard enough to disguise herself as a boy at all times. How in the Seven hells would she be able to hide this?
Sighing, she took her soiled breeches and small clothes into the water with her. The water felt cool against her warm skin, a devine feeling spread through her body. The weird stomach ache was definietly still there, but the cool water had a soothing effect. Arya grabbed a rock, and started scrubbing her clothes. The blood was staining the water, turning it a slight pink color. She frowned at the sight, but scrubbing her pants and small clothes, as if her whole life depended on it.
"Come on," Arya growled to herself, getting more desperate by each passing second. This was a horrible situation, and she could do nothing about it. Here she was, standing in the middle of a lake, naked and desperately trying to scrub the blood out of her clothes, and with blood running down her legs.
Gendry couldn't help but think about Arry, and what happened. Without thinking, he ran after Arry, and into the woods. He followed Arry closely, but did his best not to get caught. He had to see if his friend was alright. After awhile of running, Arry had finally stopped. Gendry stood behind a huge tree, not making any noise.
Arry had started to undress, and then he saw it; To his very big surprise, Arry was actually a girl! Gendry's jaw dropped, and his mind kept telling him "This is impossible, this can't be." But there was no denying it. Arry was a girl, and he had just seen her without clothes. Gendry had no idea how to react, so he just kept staring at her. She seemed quite desperate and she was scrubbing her blood-stainedd clothes in the lake. "Dear Gods..." he mumbled to himself, finally putting the pieces together. The girl had flowered, and perhaps for the first time ever.
The girl got out of the water, and sat on the river bank on her knees, still trying to get the blood out of her clothes. She was still naked, which made him blush like a maniac. Gendry felt sorry for the girl; She couldn't help, that she started bleeding and then a boy had seem everything. How embarrassing it must've been for her.
Gendry wanted to take his eyes off of her, but he couldn't. He found himself admiring her. Admiring her strenght and the courage she had shown him. He slowly walked towards her, careful not to startle her.
When he got closer, he could see how big the stain was, and why she wanted it to be gone. Arya looked down at herself, when she could sense someone behind her. She quickly turned around, and hoped it was just her mind playing games with her. "Gendry! Oh Gods, please don't look. It's not what it looks like" Arya covered her body with her arms, a blush appeared on her cheeks. Gendry smiled warmly at her, "Don't worry, i'm not here to hurt you. Even though i'm quite surprised to see you are a girl" He muttered quietly.
"I know. Please don't tell anyone." Arya begged him, looking down in embarrassment. He smiled and sat down beside her, "Don't worry, they won't hear it from me." He reassured her. Gendry took off his shirt, "Here, take this on. Until your clothes dries. I can help you get the bloodstains out of your clothes, if you want." He offered. Arya took his shirt, and pulled it over her head. "You really don't have to-" Arya was cut off, "But i want to. I want to help you, and i will keep your secret safe." Arya couldn't help but smile, this was so nice of him.
"My real name is actually not Arry, it's Arya. Arya Stark of Winterfell" she told him, his eyes widened, "Then you are a real lady. Now in both ways." He chuckled nodding towards the bloodstain on the river bank, where Arya had sat. "I'm not a lady!" She hissed at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And congratulations, you have now flowered." He teased her, making her playfully hit his shoulder "Shut up, Gendry."
- I'm Not A Lady (Arya Stark/Gendry Waters)
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