Chapter Text
The Cave
Chapter 1
The Getaway
The night sky was alight with shades of dancing green. Sansa’s heart was racing along with the almost musical clashing of the swords outside.
“No one would hurt you again or I’d kill them!” The large man with black as raven’s hair and a scar that marred the entire right side of his face said in a voice so deep it seemed to shake the walls around them.
Sansa wasn’t so small for a girl of her age but next to this beast of a man she looked like a little frightened child, which she felt like in this moment. Long red hair flowed down her back in loose curls, slender hips, still developing breasts and arms and legs that could pass as toothpicks compared to this man’s rippling muscled limbs, even without the steel layer of armor that seemed to cover nearly his entire body.
She trembled at his words but had to consider his offer before making such an irrevocable decision. To stay in King’s Landing even if they weren’t under attack from the Baratheons was a great risk to her.
If Joffrey won tonight not only was she running out of time before she would have to marry the evil boy who killed her father but her own body had recently betrayed her and she was out of time as far as keeping her maidenhead.
If Stannis won she had no guarantee that she wouldn’t be raped and killed as Queen Cersei informed her only hours before. But to trust this man in front of her with not just her future but her life wasn’t exactly easy, he hadn’t made it easy! One day he was saving her from nearly being raped during the bread riot and the next he was spewing his hateful beliefs at her and laughing in her face as if she were a fool for believing in anything good.
Her mind drifted back to that day the riot happened when he was the only one brave enough to come looking for her after four men had her cornered, pinned to the cold hard ground, her dress torn and more then one ready to rape her. Sandor Clegane or the Hound as everyone here called him had been the only one that came for her, protected her and killed for her.
She still remembered him picking her up off the ground after killing those horrible men and holding her close as she trembled and cried and for the first time since she watched her father’s head being cut off had a moment of feeling safe. It seemed ridiculous looking back on it. Four men had just nearly raped her and yet she hadn’t felt as safe as she did in Sandor’s arms since leaving her old home in Winterfell. Gods just thinking of her old home had tears springing to her eyes.
“You’ll take me home?” She asked taking a step closer to him.
“Aye, I’ll take you home little bird.”
Wasting no time Sansa went to the trunk at the foot of her bed and grabbed her bags, stuffing them with her gowns from Winterfell. They’d be a little small on her as she has grown since coming to King’s Landing but they were warmer and would help her to blend in with the common folk better. She left all the pretty silk gowns behind without a second thought.
After collecting her most sensible shoes, her softest slippers, most comfortable smallclothes and favorite nightdress she only had her precious doll that her father had given her right before his death and the Tully book her mother had given her on her last day at Winterfell. They were the only things she had of her parents, she thought sadly before shaking herself and refocusing on the task at hand. After collecting both into the two bags she had gathered she still felt as if she were forgetting something but couldn’t think of anything else that she would need.
“Alright, I’m ready!” She said in a quavering voice as she stepped closer to the big man who had been patiently waiting by the door. Just as he was about to unbar it and open it Sansa thought of something else that might come in handy for them.
“Wait!” She exclaimed before dashing to her dressing table and grabbing all her jewels, box and all, and quickly stuffing it into her bag. As an after thought she grabbed her brush and comb that were right next to where her jewelry box had been.
“Okay, now I’m ready!” She stated proud that her voice sounded stronger and firmer then the last time she’d proclaimed it.
“Stay behind me and close at all times little bird.” The Hound stated before pushing her chamber door open and stepping into the darkened hallway sword already at the ready in his hand.
It wasn’t until they were in the barn and both Sandor and her were mounted on the large black Warhorse of Sandor’s named Stranger that Sansa felt she could breathe again.
“Hold on tight little bird.” Was the only warning she got before Stranger took off as if the fires of hell were at their backs and thinking of the green wildfire that lit the city she had to think, maybe it was!
She didn’t think much after that, just held onto Sandor for dear life as the city moved by them in a blur of speed. The wind roared in her ears and slapped at her cheeks and for a moment she felt as if she were flying through the air like the bird Sandor claimed her to be instead of riding on a horse.
The further away they got the darker it got, the quieter it got and the freer she felt.