Arya Stark (nothorsefaced) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-05-18 05:54:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, arya stark, katniss everdeen |
Who: Arya Stark and Katniss Everdeen
What: Archery Lesson and Chatting
When: Backdated: Early April
Where: Woods Behind Stark Manor
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Katniss hitched her quiver higher on her back as she walked further into the woods to meet her friend. It had been a while since they’d last caught up and she was looking forward to imparting some more of her archery knowledge.
It had been awhile since Arya and Katniss had actually seen each other and unlike Alyssa or Myrcella, Katniss was more of an outdoorsy type, like Arya herself. After all, they had meet on the walking trail Arya brought Nymeria on while Katniss had been hunting. How many other teenage girls went hunting through the woods with a bow and arrow? Certainly no others that Arya had ever met. Speaking of bow and arrow, Arya had been wanting to give it a try for awhile now. In the dreams, she was obviously better than Bran, but she’d never picked up a bow in real life and she didn’t know if it would be like with Needle and what better way to find out than ask Katniss to show her how to use one?
Arya was waiting in the woods behind her house, Nymeria laying down beside a fallen log that Arya was sitting on when she heard twigs breaking and got to her feet, Nymeria’s ears perking up.
Katniss smiled and waved as she tromped down the hill towards them. "Hey," she called as she got a little closer. "Everything ok?"
Hearing Katniss’ voice then seeing her friend, Arya relaxed as did Nymeria and she shook her head, “Everything’s fine. Just wasn’t sure if it was you or not.” In her dreams, Arya was always on the edge. Always on her guard. Her, Gendry and Hot Pie had escaped Harrenhal and were wandering the forests of Westeros, trying to find their way to Riverrun and evading guards or Lannister men, so it didn’t seem all that unheard of that she would be on her guard even in the waking world if she was in the woods. There might not be Lannister men out there, but who knew what other crazy people wandered the woods. “How’s it going?”
Katniss raised her brows at that and nodded. “Well it’s a good thing I was making lots of noise so you didn’t set Nymeria on me by accident,” she joked. She had, in fact been making more noise than she should have just in case she spooked one of them. She shrugged in response as she came to a stop in front of the other girl. “Things are ok I guess. I met someone else from my Dreams the other day. He’s nice. Works at Baxter’s Bakery. You?”
Arya laughed and nodded, knowing that if someone had been trying to sneak up on her then they certainly would have made less noise than Katniss had been, “That’s cool. Is he the first person you’ve met from them?” Arya of course had met quite a few people from her dreams, considering her entire family was in them as well as the Baratheons and a few other people she’d seen on Valarnet, “Well now you just have to become friends with him so you can get free pastries and things.” She smirked, “I’ve been fine. Just doing the usual. Nothing too exciting to be honest.”
"No, I met Portia first, before I'd even dreamed," Katniss gave little laugh. "She told me all about them and I didn't believe her," she shook her head and looked up at the tree canopy. "Peeta's...well, different, he takes it all in his stride y'know? They just seem to...overwhelm me sometimes, the dreams" she admitted bitterly. "I guess I can only hope for free pastries though," she tried to lighten the mood.
“I know what you mean. Mine started out fine, but then kind of nose dived and now they’re pretty intense.” Arya explained, reaching down to scratch Nymeria’s head, “Sometimes I want to have more to find out what happens, but then other times I’m glad I haven’t had any more.” So many bad things had happened and she understood why Bran didn’t talk about them much, “That’s good though that you have someone else to talk about them with though. Have you met Peeta in your dreams yet or just here?”
“Yeah, my dreams are the same. Although mine didn’t start off too great and only seem to be getting worse,” Katniss replied grimly. “I’m pretty sure that any more I have are going to be pretty grim. We’ll see what happens with Peeta, I uh...I’m not much of a...talky person,” she shrugged. “Yeah, although it sounds a little weird to say that we’ve dreamed about each other,” she joked.
“Are you sure your dreams don’t take place in Westeros?” Arya teased, smirking, “What is it with everyone having craptastic dreams? I mean, not everyone had bad ones, but it seems like the majority of us do.” So far the only person from her dream world who seemed to have even slightly good dreams was Myrcella. The only really bad thing that Arya knew had happened to her was Robert’s death. There was also being Joffrey’s sister, but that was true in real life too, “I’ve actually dreamt about a lot of people I know in real life.”
“Yeah, I know right,” Katniss shook her head and gave a little laugh at that. “It’s all pretty messed up. My dreams take place in a place called Panam and the...upper classes, I guess you could call them, like to put 24 of us in an arena every year and fight to the death because of some stupid belief it’ll stop the next World War or something,” she explained bitterly. She’d been having awful dreams lately. Of Cinna making her up to look pretty before being sent into a world of death. “What wonderful hell are your dreams like?”
“Well that sounds horrific.” Arya said, scratching Nymeria’s head between her ears as she watched Katniss, wondering how she’d do in a situation like Katniss’ in the dreams, “In mine, I live in a place called Westeros. It’s kind of middle ages and my family is one of the major ones. My father was friends with the King and he made my father his Hand and after that everything started to go south. After the King died, his son accused my father of treason and had him beheaded.” Honestly, the next time Arya saw Joffrey, she was going to punch him.
"Yeah, it's pretty grim," Katniss nodded with a tight smile. "Middle ages? Does that mean you're like in dresses and stuff?" she couldn't help but tease. "What do you mean 'his hand'? Didn't the King have hands then? That must have been a wonderful dream to wake up from, sorry. Your dad's ok though?"
Arya nodded, “Yeah. Unfortunately, I had to wear dresses when I was at home at Winterfell, but once I left to King’s Landing with my father and sister, I was allowed to wear trousers. My father let me do a lot more than my mother did.” In the waking world Arya wore dresses very rarely, the last time having been when she graduated from High School the previous June, “The Hand of the King. Like his advisor. His previous Hand had died and him and my father had been friends for years. My aunt was supposed to marry the King, I guess, but she’d died before that.” At the question about her father, Arya nodded, “Yeah, he’s fine here.”
“Ah right, so figurative hand,” Katniss nodded. “That’s good, there’s so much crap going around you’re never quite sure if it’s ok to ask after someone’s family,” she remarked grimly.
Arya shrugged as she got to her feet again, “I don’t mind. Things with my family are a lot better here than they are in the dreams. That’s for sure.” She had no idea just how bad they were really, considering she was away from any form of communication that would come from King’s Landing or Winterfell. With the exception of what Bran had told her. “So, are we gonna get this show on the road?” She was referring to the archery lesson Katniss had said she’d give her.
“Absolutely,” Katniss nodded. “I think we’ll stick to targets for now then graduate you to squirrels,” she said casually as she started to move a little further into the woods. She pulled out some chalk from her pocket and unwrapped it, walking up to a tree about 20 metres away and drawing three circles on the side of a tree facing Arya. She turned and walked back to the girl and handed over her bow. “Remind me again, you done this before?” she asked.
“Squirrels? Guess I could always give them to Nymeria.” Arya wouldn’t be surprised if the Direwolf had eaten squirrels and other small creatures that lived in the woods behind the house. Taking the bow, Arya held it the way she’d seen people do it in movies and things. It was different than the bow she’d shot in her dreams, much more modern, but it was basically the same, “In my dreams. In one, my younger brother was practicing with my older brothers and I was supposed to be doing embroidery or whatever and instead I snuck out and showed him up.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Katniss laughed at her friend. “Right,” she took an arrow out of her quiver and passed it to her friend to nock on the bowstring. “Stand up straight, feet parallel to the target, left arm pointed at it, elbow pointed out but with a slight bend,” she raised her friend’s arm a little. “How’s that feel?”
Arya took the arrow and nocked it on to the bowstring then did as Katniss said, pointing the arrow towards the targets she’d drawn, “Feels good.” She pulled back on the string, testing it to see how far she could pull it, knowing that sometimes it was hard to pull the string back, but considering it was Katniss’ bow, it didn’t resist much since it was well used.
“Ok, so now you need to lift your elbow. You want it either level with your shoulder or just above once you’ve pulled back. It needs to be a reasonably comfortable position you can fire from repeatedly,” Katniss guided her, nodding once she was satisfied. “You need to be looking down the shaft of the arrow as you’re sighting it, your hand against your face and the string in front of your eye, ok?” she told Arya.
Arya nodded as she did as Katniss said. Once her arms and the bow were in the position that the other girl had instructed, she pulled back, closed one eye to focus on the target then released, the arrow flying through the air. Arya watched as the arrow hit just above one of the targets, “At least I hit the tree.” Arya wasn’t the type of person who got upset when they weren’t perfect, because she knew that the only way to become perfect was to practice.
“That was really good,” Katniss smiled at her friend, patting her shoulder as she lowered the bow. “You’re a natural. Next time, concentrate on keeping the bow aimed at its target until the arrow is in it. The temptation can be to feel the shot is finished once you’ve released the string and drop your bow arm slightly. See the shot through to the end,” she told her. “It’ll get easier as you practice and get stronger but it’s harder to unlearn bad habits,” she dropped her hand and handed Arya another arrow. “Take two?”
Arya listened to Katniss with the same degree of attention that she had when she was learning to use Needle. As her friend handed her another arrow, Arya nocked it and held the bow up, pulling the bow string back and focused on the targets. This time she did as Katniss had told her and when he released the string, she held her bow arm up until the arrow was loose and she watched as it hit the inside of one of the targets. “Yes!” She couldn’t help but grin as she gazed ahead at the arrow that was embedded in the tree.
"Nice," Katniss raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Looks like I've got some competition," she told Arya. "Now do it again," she instructed, holding out another arrow.
Arya grinned as she took the next arrow and did the same as with the last, watching as it hit the target just next to the last one, “You might have some competition actually.” Her grin widened and she extended her arm for another arrow as she suddenly got an idea, “Hey, so this might seem out of nowhere, but are you seeing anyone?” It probably was extremely random, but Arya often had random ideas and this was one of them.
Katniss laughed at that. "Not quite, you've still got a lot of work to do my friend," she smiled at Arya, patting her on the shoulder then holding out her next arrow. "I...I...uh no, no, I'm not seeing anyone. Why?" Katniss asked, taken slightly aback by the randomness of the question.
“Well, do you know my brother’s friend, Damian? He’s on Valarnet too.” Arya released the next arrow and watched as it hit one of the targets. “His girlfriend broke up with him a couple of months ago and he’s been unhappy about it ever since cause he still has feelings for her, but I know he wants to get over her.” Damian living at the Starks’ house meant that Arya often overheard conversations between him and Bran, “She was his first girlfriend so I don’t think he really knows how to about dating or anything, but I think that what he really needs is to go on a date with someone else.”
“I...what?” Katniss asked, confused. “I...are you...are you trying to...set me up with him?” she asked, somewhat in a daze at the idea.
“Um...well, maybe. I mean, if you’re interested. I don’t usually do stuff like this, but I figured if I can help him not be so miserable then what the hell…” Arya watched Katniss, not sure how her friend was going to react. Once again, Arya had done something spontaneous, which was how she usually rolled.
“Umm...ok?” Katniss replied uncertainly. She couldn’t think of any reason to refuse that didn’t make her look like a miserable, unsociable cow. And let’s face it, she could do with some more friends.
“Really?” Arya hadn’t actually expected Katniss to agree, but now that she had, she’d have to think of a way to bring it up to Damian, “Give me some time to figure it out. I’m not good with this stuff, but I assume neither of you are really the romantic dinner type.” She knew that if she asked Sansa for help that would be exactly what she’d suggest.
“You’re not the only one who’s not good at this stuff,” Katniss mumbled. “I’m severely doubting my sanity at saying yes, I...you realise I’ve never...done anything like this before, right?” she told her friend. “Is it too late to say no?”
“I mean, you can say no if you want.” Arya wasn’t going to force Katniss to do anything that she didn’t want to do. She just thought that it’d be good for Damian to go out with someone else and thought it’d be better if it was someone that she already knew and Arya didn’t exactly have a whole lot of single female friends she could go to, “But I will tell you that Damian is really nice. And he’s like a ninja too.”
“Like a ninja you say,” Katniss smiled at Arya. She looked away as she thought it through, down at the target with the arrows sticking out of it and swallowed. “I can’t say the idea doesn’t make me nervous, but...I guess there’s no harm in it,” she admitted quietly.
Arya couldn’t help but grin as Katniss agreed to the blind date idea, “Great. I promise you won’t regret it.” She had no idea what she was going to do for this blind date, but she would figure something out soon, “Okay, so once I’ve figured something out, I’ll let you know. Sound good?”
“Ok,” Katniss replied quietly, wondering what she had gotten herself into.