Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Arya

In the distance, a faint light pierces the sea mist and shines near the horizon. "It's a star," Arya said. "The stars of my hometown." De Nio said. His father was yelling orders.The sailors climbed up and down the three tall masts, busy with the rigging and the heavy purple sails.Below, the oarsmen sit at the edge of two long rows of oars and paddle hard.The deck creaked to one side, and the three-masted galleon "Daughter of Titan" turned to starboard, ready to enter the port. Hometown stars.Arya stood at the prow, one hand resting on the gilded figurehead, the Virgin with the fruitbowl.For a moment, she imagined home ahead.

What a stupid idea.Her home is long gone, her parents are dead, and all her brothers and sisters have been killed except for Jon Snow on the Wall.She wanted to go to the Wall, she had told the captain, but not even that iron coin could sway him.All along, Arya seems to be unable to get what she wants every time, wanting to go to one place, but arriving at another place.Yoren promises to take her back to Winterfell, but ends up leaving her in Harrenhal and in her own grave; to the Hollow Mountains; then the Hound took her and took her to the Twins, and then Arya left him to die by the Trident, and went to Saltpans herself, hoping to take a boat to Eastwatch, and...

Braavos might be good.Syrio was from Braavos, and Jaqen...it was Jaqen who gave her the iron coins, but he wasn't really her friend, like Syrio—but what good were friends to her?I don't need friends, just "needles".She gently stroked the smooth ball of the sword hilt with her thumb, wishing again and again... To be honest, Arya didn't know what to wish for, or what awaited her in the distant starlight.The captain promised to take her, but had no time to speak to her.Some of the crew avoided her, others gave her presents—including a silver fork, fingerless gloves, and a cap of soft wool trimmed with leather.Someone taught her how to tie a sailor knot, and someone else poured her wine in small cups.Sailors who tried to get close to her would beat their chests and repeat their names over and over until Arya could say them too, but no one ever asked her name.They called her Salt because she was a ship in the town of Saltworks at the mouth of the Trident.It's a good name, she thought.

The last evening star in the sky also disappeared... Only the pair directly in front remained, "So they are two stars." "Those are two eyes," Denio said. "The titans are looking at us." The Titans of Braavos.Once at Winterfell, Old Nan had told her the tales of the Titans.He was as tall as a mountain, and whenever Braavos was in danger, he would wake, with fire in his eyes, and swing his creaking stone limbs into the sea to crush his enemies. "Braavosians feed him little noble girls, for their meat is pink and juicy." Old Nan's stories always ended like that, and Sansa would let out a stupid scream.But Maester Luwin said that the Titan was but a statue, and Old Nan's stories were but stories.

Winterfell had fallen, burned, and in ruins, Arya reminded herself.Old Nan and Maester Luwin were probably dead, and so was Sansa.I always wonder what good they are.Mortals are mortal, that's what Jaqen H'ghar had taught her when he gave her the old iron coin, and she'd picked up some new Braavosi words since leaving Saltpans, like "please," "thank you," "Sea", "Star", "Fire Wine" and so on, but the one she talked about the most was "Everyone is mortal".Most of the Titan's Daughter's crew knew something of the Common Tongue, for they had spent the night in Oldtown and King's Landing and Maidenpool, but only the captain and his sons could talk to her.Denio was the youngest, a happy fat boy of twelve, who took care of his father's cabin and helped his elder brother settle accounts.

"Hope your titans are not hungry," Arya told him. "Hungry?" Denio said confused. "It's okay." Arya wasn't afraid even if the titans would really eat pink little girls.Anyway, she is as skinny as a stick, so how can she serve a giant as a delicious meal?And she was almost eleven years old, almost a grown woman.Besides, Ah Yan is not an aristocrat. "Are the Titans gods of Braavos?" she asked, "or do you also worship the Seven?" "All gods are revered in Braavos." The Captain's Son liked to talk of his father's ship, as well as his own city. "Your Seven have a shrine here called the 'Shrine of Outland,' but only Sailors of Westeros worship there."

The Seven were not mine, they were mother's, and they let the Freys kill her at the Twins.She wondered if she would find the godswood in Braavos, where there was a weirwood.Denio might know, but she couldn't ask.Ah Yan is from Yanchang Town. How can the girls in Yanchang Town know the old gods of the North?The Old Gods were dead anyway, she told herself, as were mother and father and Robb and Bran and Rickon.She remembered what her father said a long time ago: When the snow falls and the cold wind blows, the lone wolf dies, and the pack lives.What he said was ironic.Now the lone wolf, Arya, lives, while the pack is hunted and skinned.

"The Moonsingers led us to this sanctuary from the dragons of Valyria," said Denio, "so their temple is the most magnificent. We also worship the Father of Waters, but he Every time a bride is married, the palace has to be rebuilt. The rest of the gods are concentrated on an island in the center of the city. You, your... God of Many Faces is there." The titan's eyes seemed to become brighter, and the distance between them increased.Arya didn't know the Many-Faced God, but if he could answer her prayers, he might be the one she was looking for.Ser Gregor, she thought, Dunson, Raff the Sweetmouth, Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei.Only six remain.Joffrey was dead, the Hound had killed Polliver, and she had stabbed the notepad, and the pimple-faced stupid squire.If he doesn't catch me, I won't kill him.She had left the Hound on the banks of the Trident, dying of a fever from an infected wound.I should show him mercy and stab him in the heart with a dagger.

"Ayan, look!" Deniola pulled her arm and turned her around. "See? There!" he pointed. The fog receded in front of him, and the bow of the ship divided the ragged gray curtain.The Daughter of Titan cleaves the gray-green water, her sails like billowing purple wings.Arya heard the shriek of seabirds overhead.At Denio's finger, a row of rocky ridges suddenly rises from the sea. The steep slope is covered with soldier pine and black spruce, but there is a gap in front of it. The titan stands here, with shining eyes and long green hair facing the wind. fly. His legs stepped on both sides of the gap, each stepping on a mountain, and his broad shoulders shrouded the rugged mountain peak. Those legs were made of stubborn stones, the same texture as the black granite sea reef where he stood.Around the giant's waist is a green bronze battle skirt, the breastplate is also bronze, and the head is wearing a crown-decorated half-helm. The flowing hair is made of green hemp rope, and the eyes are two caves in which the fire is burning.One of his hands rested on the ridge to the left, holding a huge rock in bronze fingers; the other reached skyward, clutching the hilt of a broken sword.

He was only a little bigger than the statue of King Baelor in King's Landing, she told herself, and yet the ship was still out at sea.As the three-masted galleon gradually approached the ridge where the waves beat, the Titan's body became even more terrifying.Denio's father directed loudly in a deep voice, and the men continued to work on the rigging.We're going to paddle under the titan's legs.Arya could see the numerous arrow holes in the great breastplate, and the titan's arms and shoulders were stained with spots where seabirds nested.She bowed her head and looked up.Baelor, blessed by the gods, was not even up to his knees, and he could span the walls of Winterfell with a lift of his legs.

The Titan let out a loud roar. The voice was loud for his size, and the terrible roar drowned even the captain's voice and the sound of the waves lapping on the pine forest mountains.Thousands of seabirds leaped into the air at once, and Arya flinched back until she saw Denio laughing. "He told the arsenal of our coming," cried the boy, "you needn't be afraid." "I'm not afraid at all," Arya snapped back, "but he's a little loud." The wind and waves drove the Titan's Daughter with full force, pushing her quickly towards the Isthmus.The double-layer paddles swiped smoothly, the sea water was stirred into white foam, and the shadow of the Titan covered the sky and the sun.For a split second it seemed as if they were going to smash to pieces against the rock beneath his feet.Arya was huddled in the bow with Denio, the sea water splashing on her face, smelling salty.She had to hold her head high so she could see the titan's head. "Braavosians feed it little noble girls, for their meat is pink and juicy." She seemed to hear Old Nan's words again, but she was no little girl, and she wouldn't be frightened by a stupid statue. Even so, she reached for the needle as she passed under his legs.The inside of the rock's thighs were dotted with more arrow holes, and Arya looked back to see that the arrow holes were still a good ten yards beyond the crow's nest above her head, and there were murder holes under the titan's battle skirt, and her pale face was behind the iron railing. watch them. Then they pass. The shadow disappeared, the pine forest ridges on both sides gradually receded, the wind weakened, and the boat sailed into a large lagoon.Another sea reef rises in front of it, like a fist protruding from the water, covered with spikes, and the rocky crenel at the top is densely covered with trebuchets, ballistas and fire-breathing crossbows. "This is the arsenal of Braavos," Denio said as if he had built it. "There, a warship can be built in a day." Arya saw dozens of galleys moored in the On the side of the pier or in the sink, there are many painted figureheads emerging from countless wooden sheds on the rocky shore, like hounds locked in a barn, fierce, fierce and hungry, waiting for the call of the hunter's horn at any time .She tried to count them, but there were too many of them, and more piers and sheds and docks as the shoreline snaked. Two rowing boats came forward, like dragonflies gliding on the water, with white paddles flying up and down.Arya heard one of the captains shouting at them, and then the Titan's Daughter's captain yelled back, words she couldn't understand.With a loud horn, the two oarboats parted, so close that she could even hear the drums inside the purple hull, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, like A living heart beats. Then the galleys and the arsenal were left behind, and ahead lay a vast expanse of turquoise water like rippling stained glass.Standing in the middle of the water is the city, with its majestic vaults, towers and bridges sprawling in all directions in grey, gold and red.These are the hundreds of islands of Braavos in the sea. Maester Luwin had told the children about Braavos, but Arya had forgotten a lot of it. She just remembered that it was a flat city, not built on three hills like King's Landing, with the only protruding It was all built by people out of brick and granite and bronze and marble—it seemed to lack something, and it took her a long time to realize: the city had no walls.But when she told De-neo, the other party laughed. "Our walls are made of wood and painted purple," he told her. "Our fleet is our walls. We need nothing else." There was a creaking sound from the deck behind.Arya turned to see Denio's father approaching, wearing the purple wool coat of a captain.The merchant captain, Tenicio Tris, was beardless, with a gray beard trimmed short and neatly shaved around his square, windblown face.On the way across the sea, she often saw him joking with the crew, but as long as he put on a straight face, people would flee like a storm.He's straight-faced now. "The voyage is almost over," he told Arya. "I'm going to Square Wharf, where the Neptune's customs officials will board the ship and inspect the cargo holds. They'll take a long time, they always do, but you don't have to wait for them. Pack up your things, I will put a small boat down, and Yorko will take you ashore." ashore.Arya bit her lip.She came here across the Narrow Sea, but if the captain asked now, she would rather remain on the Titan's Daughter.Ah Yan is too thin to row an oar, she already knows this, but she can weave ropes, furl sails, and steer the helm in the vast salt water.Denio took her up to the crow's nest once, and although the deck below seemed only a little bigger, she wasn't afraid at all.I also do accounts and clean cabins. But there was no need for a second little boy on the galleon, and besides, she had only to look at the captain's face to see how anxious he was to get rid of herself.So Arya just nodded. "Go ashore," she said, though going ashore meant living among strangers. "Valar dohaeris," he touched his eyebrows with two fingers, "please remember Tenisio Tris and the help he gave you." "I will," Arya whispered.The wind tugged at the cloak, stubborn like a ghost.Time to leave. The captain said, "Pack up your things." In fact, she had nothing, only a few clothes, a small bag of coins, gifts from the crew, plus a dagger on the left waist and a sewing needle on the right waist. Before she had finished packing, the boat was ready for Yorko to row.He was also the captain's son, but older and less friendly than Denio.I haven't said goodbye to Denio yet, she thought, crawling down to him.She wondered if she would see Denio again in the future.I should say goodbye to him. As Yorko paddled, the Titan's Daughter gradually shrank, while the city grew bigger and bigger.On the right is the port, a tangle of quays and dockyards, not only the pot-bellied whalers from Ibben, the swan-boats from the Summer Isles, but also many native rowers, and a little girl Can't count at all.There was another port far to the left, separated from the boat by a prominent low-lying headland, and the buildings on land were all below the waterline, only the roofs protruding.Arya had never seen so many large buildings in one place.If King's Landing had the Red Keep, the Great Sept of Baelor, and the Dragon's Den, Braavos had at least twenty temples, towers, and palaces, and every one of them equaled and surpassed.I'm going to be a mouse again, she thought darkly, like at Harrenhal. From where the titan stood, the whole city appeared to be one big island, but as Yorko rowed her closer, she saw that Braavos was indeed many small islands, with arched stone bridges spanning several waterways, linking them together. connected.Across the harbour, the gray stone houses lined the streets, and the houses were built very close together, leaning on each other.To Arya, they looked very strange, each with four or five stories, but very thin, with steep tiled roofs like pointed hats-she didn't see thatched roofs, and the familiar West There are also very few Luo style wooden houses.There was so little wood, she realized. Braavos was a city of stone, a gray city in a sea of ​​green. Yorko paddles north of the port, into the Grand Canal, a wide green waterway that runs straight into the center of the city.They passed under an arched stone bridge carved with dozens of different fish, crabs and squid; a second bridge carved with leafy vines; Thousands of painted eyes stared down at them.The sides of the canal are fed by a number of smaller channels, and smaller tributaries feed them.Some houses are actually built over the canal, making the canal a kind of tunnel.Narrow boats in the shape of water snakes pass in and out of the tunnels, they have painted prows and high tails, and they are not rowed, and are poled by men standing at the stern, wearing gray, brown or mossy dark clothes. Green cloak.Also, she saw flat-bottomed barges piled high with boxes and barrels, with twenty polemen on either side; and curious floating houses with stained-glass chandeliers, velvet curtains, and brass prows. picture.Over the ditches and houses in the distance, a huge limestone pipe could be seen, supported by three strong arches, extending into the mist to the south. "What's that?" Arya asked Yorko pointing. "That's the Sweetwater Canal," he told her, "that crosses the bogs and shallows and feeds fresh water, and eventually this fine sweet water feeds the fountain pools." She looked back, and the harbor and lagoon were out of sight.In front, tall and burly stone statues lined up on both sides. They looked solemn and wore brass robes, which were stained with seabird droppings.Some stone statues hold books, some hold daggers, and some hold hammers.One of them held aloft a star made of gold, and the other tipped down the stone flagon so that the water would flow continuously into the aqueduct. "Are they gods?" Arya asked. "They are the Sea Kings of the past," Yorko said. "The Isle of Gods is still ahead. See it? After six bridges, on the right bank is the Temple of the Moonsinger." It was one of the buildings that Arya had seen from the Great Lagoon, a magnificent white marble palace with a large silver dome and milky glass windows showing the different states of the moon.Beside each doorway were a pair of marble virgins, as tall as those Neptunes, supporting crescent beams. There is another temple in the past. The red rock building is like a strong fortress. There is an iron brazier with a diameter of 20 feet on the huge square tower at the top, and a raging flame is burning in it. Small fire. "The red priests love fire," Yorko told her. "They worship R'hllor, the Lord of Light." I know.Arya remembered Thoros of Myr, dressed in battered armor and faded pink robes, he could no longer be called a red priest in appearance, but his kiss could bring Lord Beric back to life.She watched the mansion of the Red God pass slowly, wondering if the monks of Braaavos had his power too. Next is a large brick building covered in moss.If it wasn't for Yorko's explanation, Arya would have thought it was a warehouse. "This is the 'Sanctuary,' where we enshrine many small gods that have been forgotten all over the world. You may hear people call it the 'Da Za Yuan.'" A small canal runs between the high moss-covered walls of the Da Za Yuan, Here he turned the ship to the right, through a tunnel, and out into the light again.Further shrines tower on either side. "I never knew there were so many gods," Arya said. Yorko snorted.They turned a corner and passed under another bridge.A small rocky hill appeared to the left, topped by a windowless temple of dark gray stone, with rocky steps leading from the doorway to the covered pier below. Yorko stroked the oar backwards a few times, and the boat lightly hit the stone pile.He held on to an iron ring to temporarily stabilize the ship. "I leave you here." The pier is dark, the steps are extremely steep, and the black tile roof of the temple is pointed, just like the houses along the waterway.Arya bit her lip.Syrio was from Braavos, and he may have visited the temple, and he may have climbed the steps.She grabbed a hoop and got onto the pier. "You know my name?" Yorko said from the boat. "Yoko Terry." "Valar dohaeris." He pushed his oars and returned to the deep water.Arya watched as he paddled back, until he disappeared into the shadows under the bridge.The paddles died down, and she could almost hear her own heartbeat, as if she were somewhere else suddenly... perhaps back to Harrenhal, with Gendry, or wandering with the Hound in the woods by the Trident.Ah Yan is a stupid child, she told herself, I am a running wolf, and running wolf will not be afraid.So she patted the hilt of the Needle for good luck, and rushed into the shadows, stepping up the steps, two steps at a time, so that no one could accuse her of fear. At the top, in front of you is a pair of carved wooden doors twelve feet high.The one on the left was weirwood white as bone, the one on the right was ebony with a faint glow.A moon was carved into the center of the two doors, but the weirwood was ebony inlaid and the ebony weirwood inlaid, in a way that reminded her somehow of the heart tree in the godswood at Winterfell.The doors are watching me, she thought, pushing with her gloved hand, but neither door would budge.Locked tightly. "Let me in, fool," she yelled, "I came across the Narrow Sea." She pounded with her fist. "Jaqen asked me to come. I have iron coins." She pulled out the iron coins from her bag and held them up in front of her face. "See? Valar morghulis." The door opened without answering. They open inward without sound, without human intervention.Arya took a step forward, another step.The door closed behind her, and for a moment she couldn't see.The sewing needle is in my hand, but I don't know when it was pulled out. A few candles burned along the walls, so faintly that Arya couldn't even see her own feet.Someone murmured, but the voice was too soft for her to make out the words.Others wept.She heard light footsteps, leather rubbing against stone, a door opening and closing.Water, there is water. Arya's eyes adjusted gradually.The inside of the temple appears to be much larger than it looks from the outside.The sanctuaries in Westeros are all heptagonal, and the seven altars are dedicated to the seven gods, but there are far more than seven gods here.Numerous statues stood along the wall, tall and menacing, with red candles flickering at their feet, like distant and dim stars.Nearest was a marble woman twelve feet high, with realistic tears streaming from her eyes into a bowl she held in her arms; beyond was a lion-headed man seated on a throne, carved from ebony; Beside one door stood a tall horse of bronze and steel, its thick hind legs rearing up; further on, she could make out a huge stone face, a pale baby holding a long sword, a A shaggy black goat the size of a bison, a hooded man leaning on a stick, and many, many figures looming in the darkness.There are some hidden hollows between the statues, the shadows are thicker, and there is a burning candle here and there. Silent as a shadow, Arya moved from row to row of stone benches, dagger in hand.The floor was stone, too, but instead of the polished marble of the Sept of Baelor, the stone here was rough.She passed several whispering women.The air was warm and stuffy, making her yawn.She smelled candles, oddly, like some strange spice, and as she got deeper it smelled like snow and pine needles and hot broth.This smells good, Arya thought, feeling a little braver, brave enough to sheath the needle. In the center of the temple, she found the source of the sound of water that she heard earlier. It was a pool ten feet in diameter, illuminated by dim red candles, as black as ink.By the pool sat a young man in a silver cloak, weeping softly.He put one hand into the water, scarlet ripples rippling in the pool, and then he retracted his fingers to suck one by one.He must be thirsty.There were stone goblets by the pool, and Arya filled them to him.The young man stared at her for a long time when she brought the water glass. "Valar morghulis," he said. "Valar dohaeris," she replied. He took a deep sip, then dropped the glass into the pool with a soft "plop".Then, he stood up staggeringly, covering his stomach with his hands.For a moment Arya thought he was going to fall, and then saw a dark stain under his belt, growing as she watched. "You were stabbed," she blurted out, but the man ignored her.He stumbled toward the wall, crawled into a hollow, and lay down on a bed of hard stone.Arya looked around and saw other voids.In some caves, there are old people sleeping. No, a vague yet familiar voice whispered in her ear, they were dead, or dying.See with your eyes. A hand on her arm. Arya turned at once, but it was only a little girl, pale, in a disproportionately large hooded robe, half black on the right and white on the left.The face under the hood was gaunt and thin, with sunken cheeks and dark eyes that looked as big as teacups. "Don't catch me," Arya warned the waif. "I killed the boy who caught me last time." The girl said something. Arya couldn't understand, so she shook her head, "Don't you know the common language?" A voice behind her said, "I will." Arya didn't like being surprised like this all the time.This time it was a hooded man, tall, wrapped in the same black and white robe as the girl, but in a larger size.From under the hood, she could only see the slightly reddish candlelight reflected in his eyes. "What is this place?" she asked him. "The resting place." He said softly, "You are safe here. This is the house of black and white, child, but you are too young to seek the favor of the God of Many Faces." "Does he have seven faces like the southern god?" "Seven faces? No, he has as many faces as there are stars in the sky, little one. In Braavos, people worship as many gods as they like... but at the end of every road, there is He is the God of Many Faces. One day, he will also be waiting for you, don’t worry, you don’t need to rush to seek his acceptance.” "I'm only here for Jaqen H'ghar." "I've never heard that name." Her heart sank. "He's from Lorras, with half red and half white hair. He promised to teach me the secret, and he gave me this." The iron coin was clenched in her fist, and she let go of her fingers, only to find it absorbed into her sweaty palm. The pastor looked carefully, but didn't touch it.The big-eyed waif looked at it too.Finally the hooded priest said, "Who are you, boy?" "Ayan. I'm from the town of Saltworks by the Trident River." She couldn't see his face, but somehow could feel his smile. "No," he said, "who are you?' "Squab." This was her second answer. "Your real name, child." "My mother called me Nana, they called me a weasel—" "who are you?" She swallowed. "Ally. My name is Ali." "Close. Your real name?" Fear hurts worse than swords, she told herself. "Arya," she said softly for the first time.The second time she shouted at him, "I am Arya of House Stark." "Yes," he said, "but there is no place for Arya of House Stark in the House of Black and White." "Please," she said, "I have nowhere to go." "Are you afraid of death?" She bit her lip. "No." "Let's try it." The priest took off his hood.There was no face under the hat, only a yellowed skull with a little broken skin stuck between the cheeks, and a white worm wriggled out from the hollow eye socket. "Kiss me, child," he said hoarsely, his voice dry and hoarse, as if dying. He wants to scare me?Arya kisses what should have been his nose, then picks out the corpse worm in his eye, intending to eat it.Corpse worms melt like phantoms. The yellowed skull was also melting, and the kindest old man she had ever seen in her life was smiling down at her. "Child who eats worms," ​​he said, "are you hungry?" Yes, she thought, but not for the food.