They traveled in silence, stopping eventually when they no longer saw the smoke of the Twins. She was starting to notice a pain in her side, and the pain in her head grew worse, the world starting to spin around her. Clegane got off his horse while Lana remained on hers, feeling like she might pass out.

The Hound placed Arya against a rock, and she was like a rag doll, just staying where she lied. He was surprisingly gentle about it. Lana tried to move her legs, but she felt her body draining, and as soon as she moved her right leg, the dizziness was overwhelming.

She was starting to wonder if she was bleeding out, and wasn't aware of it. It happened sometimes when adrenaline dulled the senses.

If it were true, then that wasn't good. Even if there was a body nearby, blood magic had its rules, and if she tried to use it again, it could potentially kill her. Sedona had told her that when pulling from another, the user has to use their own lifeforce. And like losing blood, one's lifeforce had to replenish. Hers was weak. She could feel it. If it was more than a flesh wound, she didn't know what would happen to her.

"Lana," Arya said with concern, although her tone was still rather dull. Clegane turned around and Lana glanced in his direction, feeling her balance starting to take her. The more she tried to regain it, the more she felt like she was going to fall. She tried to help herself down in a desperate attempt not to fall from her horse, but ultimately, she lost herself.

As she fell, Clegane grabbed her and eased her off. "I think I'm bleeding...and my head is dizzy," she said breathlessly.

Clegane carried her over to a tree, to which she rested against. He looked at his hand after placing her down, which was covered in blood. He knelt down and lifted her shirt. She watched his face, his hair and armor gently shining in the dark. When he looked at her hip, his expression grew somber.

"That's a bad wound," he said.

She nodded. She could deal with that. A bad wound was better than silence, as silence usually meant it was lethal. She knew she had enough time to heal, but she needed a fire immediately. "It's alright. Build a fire. I'll close the wound up with it," he said.

"A fire?"

She gently rolled her eyes when she closed them, then as she opened them said, "Please?" She didn't want to explain it right now.

He stood back up, and to her surprise, he got busy with building one. Once the flames were strong enough, and the logs firmly caught with fire, she rose to go near it. As she stood, she stumbled, wondering if she had a minor concussion as well. Clegane grabbed her shoulder and helped her balance. Fucking finally he just helps me.. She took off the metal belt around her waist and her tunic, leaving just the leather corset on underneath that stopped just above her belly button. It was used mostly to keep her breasts in place.

Arya watched on with curious eyes, although her usual charisma was gone.

Lana reached into the fire and grabbed a burning log, to which Clegane and Arya lurched forward. She forgot that they weren't used to seeing people touch fire without being burned. "It's alright, I don't burn. Dragon and all that," she said flippantly and held the flames to her side.

"For fuck's sake, really?" Clegane asked. "You're like those fire worshippers."

"Who worships fire?" she asked, wanting to laugh, but was too drained.

"The brotherhood. They follow the lord of light."

"Oh, I do too," she said, pleasantly surprised to hear about R'hllor.

Clegane looked away. "'Course you do."

"Your wound is closing," Arya said.

Lana glanced down, and saw the blood crust and the skin suture. "Fire has always been able to heal me. My adoptive mother," she said, not knowing how to describe Sedona. "Taught me how to use it in my favor. Sometimes I can use blood magic too."

Lana put the log back down when the flame was dying and grabbed another. She repeated it until her wound was mostly cleansed. Sedona told her that long ago he had blessed Lana with that ability, and R'hllor let it remain. When she finished, she put the last log in, and she could feel the emptiness of her body sustaining such a blood loss. Clegane looked her over, his eyes landing on her stomach. "That other wound looks fresh. And lethal."

She looked down to the pink scar on her gut. "That's where the blood magic comes in. Nearly died just before I met you two," she said, looking at Clegane. His gaze hardened on her. "That's why I wanted you help guard me. I don't fare well against men in armor," she said, arms open, self-satisfied that he finally realized she was being honest all along.

For a moment, she saw something flash in eyes. It wasn't much, but there was something humane about it.

"And instead he smacked your head, twice, and tied you to a tree," Arya said grimly and rolled over on the ground, her back to them. Lana was about to ask just what happened, but she held her tongue. She'd ask Clegane when Arya went to wander.

Lana lied down, not wanting to put her shirt back on, watching the clouds roll by as the moon gave them a soft flow. "I probably would have done the same in his shoes. Still annoying, though," she said.

"Everyone is awful in this world," Arya said.

"It's just full of a lot of murders, rapers and thieves, and they often cast large shadows on the good people in it."

The Stark girl was quiet. Lana hadn't even noticed that Clegane had gotten up. He came into her view, silhouetted by the moon. He had a flagon in his hand, and some bread.

"Sit up, drink some water and eat. Your body needs it."

She furrowed her brows, surprised that he was helping her now. She did as he said, her eyes latching to the food and water. He gave her the flagon and she drank a small portion of it, then she ate the bread that he handed her. He grabbed her shirt and threw it at her. "At least put the damned shirt back on."

"Why is that?" she asked with her mouth full of bread.

"It's distracting."

She slowly smiled, looking down at her bread. The part in her that was trained to manipulate wanted to use that to fuck with him after everything he had done to her. But she looked back at Arya, and realized the best thing for the girl would be to give her a peaceful night, so Lana put the bloodstained shirt back on.

°°°

They woke up the next morning to Arya missing, although they quickly found her down by the river, throwing stones into it.

Lana walked back to the fire pit that was still gently smoldering, grabbed her belt and put it back on. She leaned against the tree she slept under and adjusted her boots. Once they felt better, she leaned against the rough bark, looking around the shade that kept the grass cool, the sun gently touching everything as the sound of animals skirting about filled in the silence. The day was rather beautiful, although it didn't match the mood.

Now Clegane was unpaid, stuck with Arya, and Lana felt like she needed to move on, but didn't feel right leaving the girl either. Arya had talked so much about her family, and about how Arya wanted them to meet her. Leaving her now felt like it would scar the wolf girl more.

"What happened last night?" Lana asked Clegane, who was sitting with his elbows on his knees, picking at his fingers.

"Don't know the whys, but we saw her brother with his direwolf's head tied on to his body, paraded around on a horse. They started killing Stark men left and right. Arya tried to run in, but I smacked her in the head and carried her off."

"Her mother?" Lana asked.

"I assume they are all dead," he said like she was an idiot.

"That's awful," she said looking down to the dirt and grass.

"That's life here in Westeros," he said, knocking a bug off of his leg. "All the lords and ladies pretend to be people of honor, but like Ned Stark proved, honor gets you nowhere."

It made her think back to King's Landing, and how Ned Stark had been beheaded there for the truth he uncovered. Lana found it interesting that a lack in honor was something that Clegane noted. "Is that why you left King's Landing? Because it was a shithole?"

He glared at her, and then softened his gaze a bit. "I left because the whole damned place was on fire. If I have to be burned alive, it better be for someone better than that greasy little cunt for a king, if anyone at all."

She nodded, and understood that. "Where are we going now?" she asked, looking around, wondering what to do.

"Is it 'we' already?" he asked with a standoffish attitude.

"You gotta make gold somehow," she pointed out. She pointed to her stomach. "And I am not looking forward to traveling alone. I have shit senses for direction, and I am a huge target, even without a bounty."

"Maybe I want to work for myself. It might be nice not to answer to anyone."

She opened her mouth, the closed it. "But you have to work for someone, and that could be me. Why not me?"

"After everything I did to you?" he asked, the first time he acknowledged that he was a shit to her.

She honestly had a hard time fully faulting him for it. He made sure she was fed and watered the entire time, and he even helped her off the ground some mornings. "As much as I want to be angry with you, no matter how I think of it, you didn't know me. I really did look untrustworthy."

He laughed. "Yeah, that's the fucking truth."

She ate some cheese and said, "You follow me, and you can come back here and kill all the shit lords that you don't like."

He sighed, and then looked at her, gently narrowing his eyes. "I don't have an answer, alright? I don't want to follow orders anymore. I am done with that shit. But I wouldn't mind the gold if you really got it. But either way, it's not on my list of priorities at the moment."

Lana looked away, honestly surprised that he didn't just abandon Arya. "So what are you going to do about Arya? Is there anywhere for her? She could always come with me."

"Might go the Vale. See if her aunt wants her."

"If not, Bravos will take her. It will show her how to live on her own, to deal with her enemies, and how to survive. She doesn't strike me as a lady. I get it. The thought seems odd to me too, even though I am promised a castle," Lana said, rambling. She did that when she was nervous, and unsure. And all this chaos made her nervous.

Clegane looked at her and then chuckled a bit. "You're odd. Talk nothing like the women I know."

"Essos is full of women very unlike here."

"Then maybe she will blend in. If her aunt doesn't work, I don't know what else she will blend into. Can't take her to the Lannisters, as they already treat the other Stark girl like she's a whore and a toy for Joffrey, and she's to become their queen. Imagine what they'd do to that unruly little shit," he said, nodding to Arya in the distance.

Lana genuinely smiled at those words and looked to her hands, wishing she had a dagger to clean her nails. She hated the big, brown line underneath them. She had learned that clean hands tended to go far when gaining the trust of others, and cleaning her own became like a ritual. She had nearly forgotten about it after being tied up for so long.

She thought back to Clegane's words. He cared. In his own fucked up way, he cared. Maybe not entirely for the people involved, but it was clear he hated the way this world abused people, and had an obvious need to protect the victims of it. His gentleness for Sansa made more sense now. And the very fact that he was speaking to Lana more, and not restraining her, told her that it really was a trust issue all along, probably worried that she would stab him in the night.

There was a simpleness to Clegane, underneath everything else he portrayed himself to be. Something that just wanted things to not be shitty.

"Don't go start smiling over there," he threatened. "Don't got time for nice shit like that."

"I can smile if I want," she said, looking over as Arya approached.

"It's time to go," Clegane said, standing up, and so did Lana. She came up to just his chest, and just like that, she felt a gentle nervousness in her groin. A pleasant nervousness.

She walked over to Clemmy, ignoring any thoughts on Clegane. She didn't need that confusing her now. Her hip and stomach still hurt, but they would heal. She got on her horse, running a hand over the sturdy body and feeling its fur. "You're a decent man under there, Clegane," she said, settling into her horse, feeling good to not be tied up.

"Oh fuck off. I've killed men for saying less than that," he said with exasperation and neared Stranger.

"That's why I want to hire you. You have some morals. And you're cutthroat. That's a useful combination. It's usually one or the other."

"Can't find anyone in Essos as good as me, eh? Maybe I should sell my sword there, if I am so unrivaled."

"That's just half of your selling features for me. The rest wouldn't mean anything in Essos. You're well known in these lands, and it will help to have known warriors of Westeros on our side. You're supposed to be one of the best."

He chuckled with arrogance, or maybe pride. She couldn't quite tell. "That's because I am."

She gave a genuine, lighthearted laugh, gently shaking her head. It caused him glare at her. "You're fucking weird, woman," he said, but his tone was gentler than usual.

"I prefer unique," she retorted, not quite sure what to say to that.

He tutted. "I'll give you that. You're like finding a whore on her first day in service. Refreshing, but depressing to know what will become of her."

"And what is going to become of me?" she asked with half of a smile, Arya almost near them.

"You're going to be a lady of a great castle. It's only a matter of time before you're no longer running into battle to help someone, after being tied to a damn tree, and instead the one sewing wolf heads on your enemy. It's the only way lords and ladies survive in this world. Trust me, I know. I have been surviving here for a long time."

She rode next to him, and he gave her an unreadable gaze. "Well then, work for me, and stab me in the heart if I ever do something like that. I don't ever want to become that."

He chuckled. "Clearly I'd have to. Can't even keep you tied to a fucking tree."

The corner of Lana's lips quivered up and down as she tried not to smile. He is funny. He is an asshole, and yet he is funny. She wondered if he was just jaded on life. Her mind began to spin theories on him, but it was interrupted as Arya had finally arrived, climbing onto Stranger. Lana would give her silence, in respect to what happened.

And just like that, they were off. Only this time, Lana was free.

As they rode, Lana couldn't help but think that, even though he was comparing her to a whore, he thought she was refreshing.

Needless to say, she pondered hard on what someone like Clegane considered refreshing.